Image after image flooded through his mind, of Wayfarer in the Lhoin’na forest with the majay-hì and Vreuvillä and then Osha with the Shé’ith trainees. The images ended with three memory-words in Wynn’s voice.
—Something ... not ... finished—
Chap closed his eyes, realizing Shade had been struggling with the same worries as he had himself.
New images rose up from her, along with a feeling of sorrow and fear.
This time, Chap saw image after image of Shade with Wynn, of Wynn petting Shade and mouthing the word “sister.” These were followed by memories of Shade walking beside Wayfarer in the depths of the Lhoin’na forest.
Chap understood.
Shade—as well as Wayfarer and Osha—should not go on. They should never have left in the first place and needed to return and finish what had been started for both of the young ones, for Osha to learn his link to the Shé’ith and for Wayfarer to understand her connection to the ways of the Foirfeahkan. Both would probably resist; Shade herself already suffered for knowing she had to return as well rather than rejoin Wynn.
Chap could think of only one reason why Shade had waited this long; she had expected him, her father, to realize all of this and act upon it. He should have before now, but like her, he had resisted. Now that they had reached the mountains, neither of them could put off what had to be done.
Promises would have to be broken.
Osha would be the most difficult to convince, so Chap decided to start with Wayfarer. He went to her as she struggled to pull a spare folded canvas out of the wagon’s back.
—Put that down ... and listen—
She dropped to one knee before him. “What is it?”
As gently as he could, he called up memory-words in her to explain what had to be. Their time among the Lhoin’na was not yet finished. As little as he understood why, he put his faith in his daughter’s judgment as well as his own intuition in the matter. He had no idea what reaction to expect.
Wayfarer touched his face with a nod and lifted her head to call out. “Osha ... please come.”
The tall young elf stalled and handed off a trunk to Chane. When he came near, he frowned, eyeing Chap first and then Wayfarer with growing suspicion.
“Do you need help with that canvas?” he asked her.
Wayfarer shook her head and took a deep breath. “Chap believes that we—you and I and Shade—must now turn back to the Lhoin’na.”
Osha’s features flattened in shock. At a guess in the dark, he might have paled. Chane dropped a trunk, and even Ore-Locks drew near.
“What?” Chane rasped and glared at Shade. “I promised Wynn to bring you back.” He then turned on Osha. “You are all coming with us. That was the arrangement!”
Chap choked down an instinctive snarl. He would not demand the talking hide to argue with the vampire again. He was in charge here, and Chane was going to learn that for the last time.
Before he could take a step, Shade cut in front of him. She went straight to Chane and huffed softly twice. Once again, Chap was disturbed by how deeply his daughter was connected to that undead.
Chane’s brow still wrinkled in anger at Shade, but before he could speak again ...
“She does not want to go,” Wayfarer said, looking to both Shade and Chane. “Chap does not wish us to leave either, but he believes there is more for us among the Lhoin’na. It may even have to do with what must be done ... for where you are going and why.”
Chap studied Wayfarer. She seemed so different. How much more had changed in her?
Osha was less than convinced and, after a voiceless hiss sounding too much like Chane, he stormed off. Wayfarer closed her eyes, dropped her head, and swallowed hard.
“I will talk to him,” she whispered.
The girl rose and went off after Osha, and Shade followed her.
Chap, left alone, looked up into Chane’s seething expression.
“And it took you all this time to figure this out?” Chane demanded. “I do not believe that.”
Chap could not restrain a snarl this time, but instead of acting, he looked at Ore-Locks.
—May I ... speak ... through you?—
Ore-Locks nodded his consent and turned to Chane, repeating what Chap said in memory-words.
“He did not know whether to counsel us or not,” Ore-Locks told Chane. “Like you, he labored under a promise, unwilling to break it but feeling the need to do so. It was Shade who tipped the balance ... and made the decision for him.”
At that, Chane blinked in doubt as he looked off after Wayfarer and Shade. Ore-Locks stepped closer to Chane, and it was clear he now spoke for himself.
“You, I, and Chap can travel faster on our own,” he said quietly, “but even after we supply the young ones for a return trip, we will have more than we planned to carry on our own. It is time to get started ... without any more squabbling!”
With his jaw clenched, Chane looked to Chap one last time. Then he turned away to continue emptying the wagon. Ore-Locks heaved in a deep breath and then exhaled as he too went back to unloading the wagon.
With that, it was decided.
Some things were reloaded into the wagon. Once supplies were sorted out, the younger trio had what they would need to return. The chests with the orbs, the heavy canvas, sacks of food, and flasks of water remained piled on the ground.
Chap had never liked partings that took place in the darkness.
But he watched as his daughter and Wayfarer climbed into the wagon’s back. Taking the bench, Osha held the reins and said nothing to anyone. Wayfarer looked down at Chap.
“I will see you again,” she almost whispered in a weak voice. Though she tried to smile, the effort was obvious.
Osha flicked the reins, turned the wagon north, and never looked back. In some ways, he had been trapped into this choice. It was clear that he wished to return to Wynn, but he would never leave Wayfarer—and Shade—alone in a foreign land.
It did not take long for the wagon to vanish into the darkness, and once again, Chap found himself alone with a vampire and a dwarven guardian of the honored dead. Chane looked tense and bleak all at once as they turned to preparing their supplies to be hauled into the mountain. Ore-Locks appeared only too willing to assist in moving onward, but they now faced reorganizing supplies for transport.
First, Chane removed the spare clothing from his pack and filled it with apples and onions. In the end, they stuffed as much of the food supplies as they could into any extra space inside the orb chests. While the thought of this bothered Chap, he refrained from protest. They had to reduce the bulk if not the weight of all they had to carry.
Still, even with such condensing, there was much for two people to move in one trip.
Ore-Locks and Chane headed off—heavily burdened—for the first trip.
Chap stood watch over what remained behind, and he waited for quite a while. Finally, the two men returned, and they managed to carry what was left by tying sacks to each other’s shoulders and slinging flasks of water on top. One chest had already been transported, and two remained. Chap was alarmed that they had left an orb unguarded, and he would not have made such a choice. One of them should have remained behind and the other should have made several trips. However ... Chane had always been overly cautious in this regard, so somehow, he must have felt the orb was safe.
Moreover, there was nothing to be done now, and Chap expressing his anger would only delay them further.
Each of the men hefted a chest, and only then did Chap follow Ore-Locks and Chane up the rocky slope along a winding path and into the dark of the mountain.
A short ways up, Chane said, “Wait.”
Setting his chest down briefly, he took out his cold crystal and ignited it, holding it with two fingers of his left hand as he managed to lift the chest again. By the filtered light, Chap saw something glinting beneath his feet, and he looked down. Illuminated fragments of flat rock, which appeared to have been cut from stone, had somehow been pressed into the steep slope.