Chapter Thirty Four

New Paths

When dusk came, Inerys woke to find the repairs to her saddle had already been made. It rested upon Ephaxus’ back as if nothing at all had transpired the night prior. She frowned, fingers fidgeting a moment at her side before she crossed her arms in order to quell the twitch. For the saddle to be mended and made ready for flight meant they were leaving. And soon, if her intuition served her well. There was nothing else tying them to the city and the Council was growing impatient.

She sucked in a breath, but managed to stifle the shiver of her spine. Their departure for the capitol was inevitable, she knew, but the knowledge did little to ease her nerves. To know her fate would be decided by a group of people she’d never met was a difficult truth to face. However, she did have the power to choose how she chose to face it.

And whether or not to contact a man who had given her the means and choice to do so.

A hot, humid breeze swept over her and Inerys subconsciously reached a hand up to Ephaxus’ snout. His scales were warm beneath her palm and he leaned as much weight as he dared into her touch. She blinked, pulling her thoughts from the stone concealed in her pocket. He watched her, patiently waiting as her mind returned to the present. Once she realized as much, her cheeks darkened.

“Apologies,” she said with a wince, “I was a bit lost in my own head.”

Before he could answer, Ayduin called, “Good, you’re awake. Gather your things, we’re leaving within the hour.”

So soon?

Inerys shifted on her feet, then noticed Ayduin and Vaelor were she and Ephaxus’ only company.

“Where’s Rhydian?”

“Finishing up at the Tower,” she said, “He’ll be back soon enough. We want to be skyward before the moon rises.”

Vaelor shook out his hide and rumbled an agreement. By the look of it, his saddle bags were already packed and ready, save for the blanket neatly bundled in Ayduin’s arms. Inerys returned her attention to the saddle, her lips thin. Repaired or no, she wanted to have a second look at those anchor straps before they went anywhere.

Ephaxus offered her his wing, mindful of the tent still sheltered beneath it. She climbed her way up, slow and deliberate in her inspection. Her fingers grazed the supple leather, keen to locate any imperfections that may have been missed, however improbable. The Talhavar were thorough. Still, her own examination helped put her mind at ease and once she was satisfied, she hopped down to see to her own packing.

She dismantled her tent with a practiced efficiency, stowing it away behind the saddle and seeing to the remaining furs and blankets. By the end of it, the only thing missing was her pack. The cursed thing was likely still where she’d left it beside the bed back at the Tower. Provided Rhydian had not already retrieved it. With luck, he had, for she wasn’t exactly eager to return to the Tower herself. If she had to, though, she would. Her future was rife with uncomfortable situations, so she might as well get used to them now. The sooner she dealt with them, the sooner she could move on.

“One thing at a time,” she murmured to herself.

With the hour closing in, she fixed her cloak about her shoulders as she sought Ayduin.

“How long will it take to reach the capitol?”

“A few days, weather permitting,” she replied, giving Inerys a once-over, “are you ready?”

She nodded, forcibly shoving down her anxiety. “As ready as I’ll ever be.”

The woman raised her chin in approval. “Good. Soon enough, this will all be behind us, hmm?”

“Hopefully,” Inerys said, biting her lower lip, “but soon enough, we’ll have to face the Patriarch too. I’m not sure which is worse, if I’m being honest.”

“That’s the thing about people in power - you rarely know who they truly are.”

She shivered. “I suppose you don’t.”

Ayduin was silent for a moment.

“I know it’s easy for me to say, but try not to let the uncertainty get the better of you. You’re not alone in this.”

“I appreciate that,” Inerys said, mustering a small smile, for it was true, she reminded herself.

She inclined her head with a small smile of her own.“The Council wishes to sate curiosity, more than anything, I suspect. With luck, that will be the end of it and we can all be on our way.”

“That almost sounds too easy.”

She shrugged.

“It probably is, but spending your life fretting over all the unknowns it has to offer is miserable. A little optimism goes a long way. When you’re smart about it, of course. Hope for the best, but plan for the worst, hm?”

“That’s all we can do.”

Inerys could stand for a bit more of the former. Recently, she’d spent an unhealthy amount of time anticipating the worst and also preparing possible avenues for escape, should she need them. Flying was an option, provided Ephaxus wasn’t separated from her, but she wasn’t sure how far they would actually make it before being captured. She wasn’t a strong enough rider yet to keep to the saddle in tight quarters and Ephaxus’ back was in no shape to handle more complicated maneuvers or speed. Any Talhavar would be able to recapture them with ease.

Finding a way out on her own may be an option, but she would surely be under intense scrutiny once they arrived. There was also the matter of others’ Awareness to consider. Her own range and sensitivity was relatively limited, but the same could not be said of others, especially of higher Ascensions. She could only imagine what the Council members themselves were capable of.

Then, there was the matter of the stone. If things went sideways, she could always contact the Patriarch. Whether or not his was a worse fate for her, she didn’t know, but at least it was something. Provided the rumors about him were true, the Council might concede without open conflict and both she and Ephaxus would be permitted to leave.

She mulled around the idea, resisting the urge to slip her hand into her pocket and palm the stone in question. On the fringes of her mind, she sensed Ephaxus’ attention, the thread of suspicion he held. Her heart skipped, but she kept her expression neutral as she glanced his way. He watched her with no small amount of interest and her heart yearned to tell him of the stone. The thought of doing so caused something inside her to stir. Not her passenger, but something else. A warning, of sorts, to keep what she and Thallan had discussed to herself.

She swallowed, mouth suddenly dry.

Perhaps she should return to the Tower, if only to find Thallan and question her further.

When she considered, she hesitated. Would the woman still be there? She had delivered her invitation, after all. Inerys wouldn’t be surprised if she’d taken her leave, fled back to her own country.

Frustrated, Inerys rubbed at her face.

There was no helping this soul-oath now. For better or worse, she was on her own. Unless she contacted the Patriarch within this mysterious Dreamscape of his. Even Sorisanna had admitted he would be a wellspring of knowledge from which to learn. She could always ask after the oath, couldn’t she? She had been permitted to discuss it with him, after all.

Her jaw tightened. Doing so meant actively seeking the man and leaving herself open to Spirits’ knew what. Still, maybe it was worth it. It wasn’t as if she could ask for a second opinion on the matter. Not now, at least.

It would still take them a few days to reach the capitol, given they could only travel when the sun was down, which gave her time to think.

“How much longer do you think Rhydian will be?” She asked.

As if summoned by the question, Inerys caught his scent on an inbound breeze. Tanuzet swept down from the darkening sky with her usual grace and landed with a soft hiss. Upon her back, Rhydian briefly surveyed the aviary before dismounting with her pack, mercifully, looped over one shoulder. She breathed a shallow sigh of relief.

“Thank the Spirits.”

“Is everything in order?” He asked Ayduin.

She nodded. “Packed and ready to leave.”

“Now that I have all my things,” Inerys said as she approached.

When he looked to her, his expression tightened, but he offered her the pack. She accepted it with a silent thank you and moved to rifle through its contents. There wasn’t much of use to anyone inside, but it was always safe to check.

“Everything is as it should be. You’ll find two scrolls and a small collection of medicinal pills inside as well,” he said.

Indeed she did.

Curious, she drew out one of the scrolls. Though, when she opened it, her shoulders fell.

Ayduin raised an eyebrow. “What is it?”

Inerys kicked a toe into the ground, heat rising in her cheeks. “I can’t read it.”

She wasn’t sure why she was surprised. The Adai weren’t human and neither was their language. The script flowing across the parchment was all but alien to her. Although, it did give her pause.

Their language.

Why was it she could understand them when they spoke? The realization hadn’t dawned on her until now. When she’d encountered the Matriarch in the Wilds, she hadn’t understood her, yet after she had been bitten, something changed.

Ayduin placed a hand on her shoulder. “Is that all? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

“I’m fine. Mostly, anyway. I just had something occur to me, that’s all.”

“Care to share it with the rest of us?”

Inerys toyed with the ropey scar along the back of her arm. “Did the Matriarch speak your language?”

“She did,” Rhydian said, eyeing her expectantly as well.

She swallowed, cursing the dryness in her throat.

“She said something before she attacked me. At the time, I couldn’t understand it. It was another language, just not one I could understand. After I woke up in the Tower, though, I could speak and understand you and Sorisanna without any issue. I'm fairly certain we don't share the same mother tongue.”

The two paused, brows rising.

“Do you think it’s the piece of her inside you? Interpreting, somehow?” Rhydian asked.

“I’m not sure. If that were the case, I’d assumed I’d be able to read too.”

“It could have something to do with how she speaks with the wyverns,” Ayduin suggested.

“Something to do with the mental core and the connection to audible language, then?”

Ayduin shrugged, “Wouldn’t be the first time she’s been able to communicate outside her species so easily.”

“Another question for the Patriarch, then,” he said.

“I’ll add it to the list,” Inerys sighed.

He nodded. “Until then, we should be going. We have a lot of ground to cover. We’ll stop a few hours before dawn. Sorisanna wants you practicing those new techniques as soon as possible.”

“Which means one of us will have to read those scrolls to you,” Ayduin said.

“Indeed.”

Inerys tucked the scroll back into her pack, careful not to bend the edges.

“Right,” she grumbled.

Rhydian activated his Pocket and stepped inside. A heartbeat later, he emerged with a jar in hand, the crimson liquid inside catching Inerys’ interest. She’d been so wrapped up in her own thoughts, she’d forgotten to eat.

“You’ll need all the extra essence you can get,” he said.

Nodding, she took it without question.

~*~

Inerys sat silently beside Ephaxus, trying and failing to prepare herself for one of her new techniques. Ayduin, who had thoroughly read through both techniques, sat beside the fire a few feet away, carefully monitoring a half dozen skewers set with chunks of venison, tomato and some rooted vegetable that reminded Inerys of an onion.

“Has the essence had enough time to settle?” She asked.

“I think so,” Inerys said, checking her channels.

As expected, the flow was bolstered by the blood she’d consumed during the flight.

“Good. The techniques are advanced, but fairly straightforward. However, they will require you to forge new connections through your body to connect your meridians, which isn’t always pleasant.”

“Connect them?” She asked, confused.

“Had you been able to follow your foundation Ascensions normally, you would have linked your various meridians one by one. It’s a necessary step in unifying the physical body. With your cores expanding as quickly as they did, your channels expanded, but didn’t forge new paths.”

"It seems my meridians are lacking just as much as my education," Inerys said, doing her best to keep her annoyance from her voice.

"A fact that can always be changed," Ayduin said, "not so long ago, you were coming apart at the seams. Now that you're more or less stable, the refinement begins ."

"I suppose it does,” she said, looking to her ungloved hands and the faint trails of light along her silvery skin. “Where do we start?”

“With your primal meridian,” she said, turning the sizzling skewers one by one.”

Inerys’ stomach flipped. “Wait, what? The one she’s attached to?”

The woman nodded. “The very same. Now that I’ve had time to think about it, her attaching herself to it makes sense. The primal meridian is also known as the life line and right now, yours is relatively weak compared to the rest of your body.”

“What if strengthening it strengthens her?”

“If it does, we’ll have to find a way to deal with it later. Leaving it in its current state won’t be doing you any favors.”

Inerys’ skin pricked.

“Can’t we start with another one?”

Ayduin shook her head. “The meridians through your heart and lungs are strong enough for your current Ascension. Besides, the second technique only works once your primal meridian’s been opened.”

So she didn’t have a choice.

Lovely.

She flexed her jaw, but said, “I’m not sure I can enter a meditative state right now, but I can try.”

The other woman studied her..

“Lucky for you, I picked up a few things while we were in the city. They should help you relax.”

“Oh?” She said, curious as to what the woman might have found.

Ayduin plucked the skewers from the fire, then placed them upon a wooden plate pulled from her Pocket. She set the plate upon a nearby rock to cool, turning her attention instead to what appeared to be some sort of tea. The scent was distinctly floral, though Inerys couldn’t say she could place the scents. They were unique, even if she did not know the flowers’ identities. The woman also retrieved a bundle of long, narrow sticks from one of her saddle bags, selecting one before briefly holding it to the fire to light the end. Smoke curled from the glowing tip, releasing a sweet, potent scent far more sharp than that of the tea.

Inerys wrinkled her nose, to which Ayduin met with a borderline apologetic smile.

“One has to be careful when burning jasmine. It can be overbearing if burned for too long.”

Inerys inched closer, keeping her inhalations measured. “What is that, exactly?” she asked, gesturing to the stick.

“Incense,” she replied, “it’s burned for many uses, but this one helps relax both the body and the mind. When paired with the tea, you’ll find your meditative state easily.”

“What sort of tea? I’m afraid I don’t recognize it.”

Ayduin removed the small boiling tin and poured the contents into a mug.

“A combination of chamomile and lavender. Do you not grow the flowers where you come from?”

Inerys shook her head. “I would have recognized them if we did. I’m beginning to realize the Seven Cities lack a great many things.”

“That they do,” she agreed. “Now, take your cycling position and drink this. Allow yourself a moment to settle, then take one deep breath through your nose for each sip you take of the tea. Once you find yourself drawn into your body, focus your attention along your spine. You should be able to detect the meridian running through its center.”

She could do that. Surely it wouldn’t be all that difficult, considering what else she’d gone through thus far.

“When I do, where do I go from there?”

“Direct the flow of your essence into the base of your neck. You’ll have to forge a new connection from your main meridian through your heart, down into your spine and down its length to the center of your pelvis.”

Inerys pursed her lips. “Into my physical core?”

Ayduin nodded. “Be warned, it will be painful.”

“By now, I’m quite used to pain,” she sighed.

“You’ve gone through worse and come out the other end, you’ll be fine.”

She’d be lying if she said the woman’s slight smile did not boost her confidence.

The scent of the jasmine was difficult to ignore, but at least the night air was helping to dispel some of its potency. She peered down into the steaming liquid, dutifully crossing her legs to do as instructed. Slipping into position was easy, almost second nature, but her breathing technique still needed work.

Closing her eyes, she drew a deep breath, allowing her lungs to expand. She took her first sip, focusing upon the scents and taste of the herbs. She repeated the process until she lost count of how many sips she’d taken, how many breaths she’d made. Her shoulders slowly unraveled, her nerves soothing when she vaguely registered a familiar, resonating rhythm along the fringes of consciousness. Ephaxus’ purring, perhaps? The thought came and went and soon, she fell into the steady flow of her essence.

For the first few minutes, she monitored its path through her body, winding like a river through her flesh. All this time, she had focused so much on what was there, what she could easily sense, that she didn’t realize there were more paths to discover. Or forge. She sensed dormant avenues all throughout her body, but they were weak. Whenever she attempted to hone in on one, it vanished, almost like something drifting on the fringes of her sight. Present, but elusive wherever she tried to seek it directly.

Turn your attention to the base of your neck.

Hesitating, she did so.

Within the center of her spine, she found what she was looking for: a long, thin thread of light. It tethered one end of her spine to the other, isolated from the rest of her active essence. The fragment of Ezra’s soul stirred at the attention, turning its own on her. The wiry red and gold threads of her passenger hugged her life line about half way up her spine, merging with it like some sort of sinuous parasite. She recoiled from it, wanting nothing more than to deny this thing further access to her body.

You have to do this, she told herself.

Even now, she recognized just how fragile her lifeline was. Compared to the bolstered, surging current of her heart’s meridian, her primal was abysmal. And the Matriarch’s fragment was feeding on it. Her temper flared, threatening to draw her out of her state. Before it could, she wrestled it down, forcing it into submission and bending it into determination.

She took hold of her flow of essence, meridians and channels quivering at the sudden seizure. She directed it up through her heart to the fork where it split into two loops through her body. Instead of allowing it to continue on its normal path, she pushed it upward toward the base of her skull to create a third passage.

Her whole body burned.

Fire scored her from the inside, blazing its way through her flesh as she forced it forward in by inch. Inerys wanted to let go, to release the essence rioting against her while her body quivered. Sweat beaded her brow, though she didn’t feel it. Every bit of her attention was focused on this one task, for it it wasn’t, she would never see it through.

Heat roared down the length of her spine, the floodgates of her primal meridian thrown open by the force of her energy. Relief and pain coursed through her in equal measure, the meridian walls expanding, straining to accommodate the influx of essence. Her passenger quivered, but she ignored it.

She had one more connection to forge, after all.