* * * * *
Ushanti finished her mixture and hobbled over to Glissa. The elf thought she heard the old woman grumbling, but it might have been an incantation.
“Lift your leg, elf,” said Ushanti. “This will hurt.” The leonin healer poured half of the foul-looking mixture over Glissa’s knee. Steam rose from Glissa’s calf and ankle as the concoction trickled down her leg. It seemed to be burning through the corroded metal. Glissa fought back a scream as the fire in her leg exploded and sent icy-hot tendrils of pain up her thigh.
Ushanti placed the bowl at Glissa’s feet. “Put your foot in the bowl,” she commanded.
The steam made it hard for Glissa to see the bowl, and it took most of her concentration to fight back the pain from the fire running down her leg. Finally she placed her foot into the bowl. At first she felt nothing except the lingering pain from the treatment. Her entire foot was numb. Then it began to tingle. The tingle turned into pinpricks, then into stabbing pains. It felt as if long needles were working their way into her flesh.
Glissa held her breath and gritted her teeth through the pain. Steam from the bowl rose into the air and met the steam surrounding her calf. As the steam swirled around, the elf exhaled and took another deep breath. The fire in her ankle and calf decreased little by little as the steam dissipated, but the memory of that intense pain lingered. It was some time before the muscles in her thigh relaxed to the point where she thought she could walk.
“The infection has been cleansed,” said Ushanti. “Our daughter can heal the wound left behind. We must retire now.”
“One last thing, Elder Shaman,” interjected Raksha as the old woman turned to leave.
Glissa was sure she saw a sneer cross the healer’s lips as she turned, but no trace of it lingered as she faced her leader. “Yes, Kha,” she said, bowing low.
“This figure the elf saw in the Tangle,” said Raksha. “Find him for us that our new friend …”
“Glissa,” said the elf as Raksha turned to her.
“So that we and our new friend Glissa may deal with him.”
“You wish us to enter the fire trance?” asked Ushanti. “After healing the destroyer, we must once again face the vision of her demolishing our world?”
“Yes.”
Ushanti stared at Raksha for a moment, but it was obvious all her bluster had been drained away by the force of her leader’s presence. She shuffled back to her cauldron and grabbed two handfuls of sand-one yellow, one blue. As Ushanti sifted the sand through her clenched fists into the cauldron, the smoke changed colors. Brightly limned azure wisps snaked their way up to the low ceiling. Ushanti bent low over the cauldron until the smoke enveloped her head.
Moments passed, and Glissa stared at Raksha, Rishan the healer’s daughter, and the other young healer. None of them; seemed at all worried that the old woman might suffocate within the smoke.
Ushanti began to moan. “Robes,” she cried. “Shimmering robes. Reflection. Faceless. Watching. Waiting.”
“Where is he?” asked Raksha.
Rishan moved over toward the brazier. “Look beyond the robes, Mother. See past the faceless figure. See the place. Look behind.”
“Cannot,” said the old seer. “He holds us. Riveted. Cannot move. Cannot look away. No eyes. Only reflection.”
“Look into the reflection,” said Rishan.
“Blackness. Only blackness,” said Ushanti. “It drinks in the light. Wait … a sun rises. Black sun on black sky. Illuminates … chimney. Black chimney. Huge. Reaches for the sun. Foul water cascading down. Bones everywhere. Nim!”
The last word was a scream, and Ushanti’s knees buckled underneath her. As she fell, Raksha caught the old seer and lifted her from the smoke. Her lined face seemed more sunken and sallow than ever. Her eyes were open, but there was no life in them.
Raksha carried her through another set of curtains, followed by Rishan. He held the healer as a father might hold a child who has fallen asleep in his arms. A few moments later, the Kha returned. “Walk with us, Glissa.”
Glissa looked at Slobad.
“Yes, the goblin as well.”
Glissa rose gingerly and tried out the strength of her ankle. It was still tender, but she could walk without limping. She sheathed her sword and followed Raksha back through the maze of curtains into the courtyard. The moons were all set, but the light from the fires was bright enough that Glissa couldn’t see the stars overhead. The leonin leader strode to the statue and stared into the flames.
“This is Dakan, the first Kha,” said Raksha, pointing at the statue. “It is he who took the Razor Fields from the beasts. It is he who built Taj Nar. It is he who crafted the Mask of Suns.”
Glissa noticed that the mask on the statue was a replica of the one Raksha had slung over his back.
“Dakan brought the leonin into the light and taught the tribes to keep the fires burning during the dark hours,” continued Raksha. “This fire, like the Mask of Suns we wear in battle, brings us closer to Dakan and keeps the sun in our hearts even when it is not in the sky. We maintain the fire day and night to stave off our enemy-to hold back the darkness.”
He turned to face Glissa. “You witnessed that darkness this day,” he continued. “Faced it and beat it back long enough for this goblin trickster to open a door in our defenses.”
“We didn’t mean to-”
“No need to apologize,” said Raksha. “Slobad will fix that flaw in his design.” He fixed a gaze on Slobad that made the goblin tremble. “No, you fought valiantly, even while hindered by a wound that would have kept our best warriors crying in their beds. We welcome you into Taj Nar as our champion to help us fight the nim.”
The leonin paused.
“But?” prompted Glissa. She sensed they wouldn’t enjoy leonin hospitality for long.
“Come,” said Raksha as they walked to the battlements. “Our two enemies are one enemy. Today we leonin slaughtered hundreds of nim.” He pointed below. On the slope beyond the tower’s walls, Glissa could see the dark shapes of dead nim. “Yet tomorrow a thousand more could walk from the Mephidross.”
“You cannot leave Taj Nar,” said Glissa, realizing the burden of leadership that sat so heavy on this young leonin.
“We cannot,” he said. “Nor can we send any warriors into the Mephidross.”
“They are needed here for defense.” Glissa nodded her understanding.
“Indeed,” said Raksha. “Even if we could spare troops, our best warriors could not hope to survive the Mephidross long enough to gain the Vault of Whispers. That is where you two will find our common enemy. That foul place is the chimney Ushanti saw in her fire trance.”
“Us two?” asked Slobad, speaking for the first time since Raksha had commanded him to be quiet. “Not me. Slobad has no special strength to survive in that place, huh? Stay here and fix door. Nothing special about Slobad.”
Glissa patted the goblin’s shoulders. “I do not want to put Slobad in danger,” she said. He saved my life … twice. Can he not stay here and wait for my return?”
Raksha shook his head, but there was sadness in his eyes. “You will need his guidance to avoid the nim and the reapers. Do not worry. Slobad will find a way to survive. He always does.”
Raksha turned back to Glissa. “It is vitally important that you do survive this next trial, Glissa. We do not believe you are a destroyer of worlds, but Ushanti’s visions cannot be discounted. There is a darkness swirling around us, and we-you and I-are standing in the eye of that storm.”
Glissa stared at the young Kha. It was the first time she had heard him refer to himself in the singular. “What do you mean?” she asked.
“Our fates are entwined,” said Raksha. He grabbed Glissa by the shoulders and looked into her eyes. “I have not told anyone this,” he said. “But I, too, saw your robed figure that night-and he has haunted my dreams ever since. We … I am afraid to sleep at night.”
Slobad gasped.
“You will stay quiet on this matter, goblin,” growled Raksha, “or we will take your head ourselves. No one must know of this matter. We fear the leonin would panic if they knew their Kha now lives in terror of a hidden enemy. Find our enemy, Glissa. Find him and stop him. The fate of more than just our two lives is at stake.”