If saving her meant my true end, then I’d do it without hesitation.
In the dark, William followed his captors through the brush. They seemingly had no rhyme or reason for the path they took, often going around in a full circle. They managed to avoid branches and thicker bushes, and the binding allowed William to avoid them as well. While the binding forced him to retain a constant distance away, it didn’t prevent him from hearing some of them talk.
Closer to the front, Sonverte and the Royal Tree talked in hushed tones that didn’t quite reach William. However, the two closest to him didn’t speak so quietly, and they seemed to not care about William being so close.
“With him around, we can finally destroy the church,” the one on the left said in a much too eager tone. William didn’t mind this too much, the church was run by one of the men who made his life torture. It was what the other one said that disturbed him.
“Yeah! Once we destroy the church, then we can destroy the city. It’ll be perfect, we’ll all be free.” William wanted to interject, but the binding didn’t allow him to speak. The conversation continued anyway as everyone ducked slightly to avoid a branch.
“What do you think the fakes will do?” The one on the left said, in a slightly worried tone. “You think they’ll sit there and let the city be destroyed, or will they do something?”
“Won’t matter,” the one on the right said. “We have the real one, he’ll be able to deal with them easily enough.” Again, William wanted to fight against the binding, to argue and scream that he had no idea what they were talking about. Of all his lives, he only used his power to create undead once. If they were talking about the church, then they’d be more familiar with his power than he would be. William wished he could bite his tongue, or do anything, but then his bones would be theirs, and that’d be a worse problem. If they got his bones, then they’d be able to make necromancers as they pleased, which begged the question, why keep him alive?
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William followed the group through the paths, brush, and dirt. He quickly realized that the path they were on was the same one he and Elena had taken all those weeks ago. Silently, he toyed with the bond. While he couldn’t destroy it, on occasion he was able to form a bond to someone, instead of accepting a bond from someone. He’d known the Iteri could do that, but no matter how he tried it wouldn’t work.
As he inspected the bond, he wondered who could have taught her how to do it. None of the Iteri could be alive, and if they were he would know about it. Maybe one of the Guards taught her? He quickly dismissed the idea since they hadn’t been themselves in a long time.
They walk through the woods to the Royal Tree, the same building he and Elena had seen. Talismans hung from the branches, and streamers wrapped around the trunk and hung from many branches. The woman, the Royal Tree, walked forward and to the back of the tree, not to the front. There doesn’t seem to be anything there, but she places her hand against the tree and pulls back what looks like a thread. She pulled it to her lips and spoke, “I bear the name of the land, and the land bears mine.”
William hadn’t seen anything like it. It didn’t look exactly like something the Iteri could do, similar, yes, but different. Where was she from? Inside the tree was a stairwell that lead down, far down, under the roots. Inside are large caches of books and tomes. Some of them bore scorch marks. Were they from the ruined library? He speculates that she learned the binding spell from these books, but that alone wouldn’t be able to explain her skill.
Farther in are caches of bones. Many of them look like human bones, but there are some that look like Jaan bones. Anger wells up inside him, and again he struggles to speak and break free. As if sensing his irritation, Royal Tree looked back, and spoke, “I didn’t kill them. I found them, gathered them.” This failed to completely subside his irritation.
Farther in the hole, sconces lined the walls, stone formes where dirt once laid, and a wrought iron gate greeted them at the deepest level. There, Royal Tree forced William to open it. When he does, it leads out into a bazaar. “So, it does work when he does it.” William wanted to interject and ask what she meant, but she spoke. “The Cold Mother would open pathways for trad. The paths are still open, but people in this world couldn’t reach them without her power. Come, there are certain things we need here if we’re going to free her.”