The group stopped for the night further in the forest, in case Percival and the others came back to the clearing. Quidvis insisted on keeping watch, but Rian didn’t dare sleep. He trusted Quidvis less by the moment. Halbert stayed awake too. They continued in the morning, reaching the plains of Acra before long.
At midday, they passed Fern, the small village on the plains. They passed Isley late at night, not stopping until the walled city was out of sight behind them. At least it was warm enough they wouldn’t need a fire. Halbert said nothing that night, and he hadn’t spoken much that day. He was frowning a lot, but Rian didn’t get a chance to ask him what was wrong with Quidvis always close by, always watching.
They reached Jasper the next night and continued toward the forest, where they stopped to rest. It was a colder night, but not so cold they had to light a fire. Ransey ate some of the meat Eiva had brought. It smelled terrible after so many days, but he still seemed to both enjoy it and hate it. Quidvis was watching him without expression.
Ransey finished the meat quickly. “Flesh from animals doesn’t give Mortua more power.”
“I know,” Quidvis said. “I may be able to free you from Mortua, but not from her curse.”
“I don’t want to survive with the curse,” Ransey said. “I will help you stop Mortua, then I will be free.”
Quidvis continued to stare without expression. “It is a very interesting curse. Especially as she originally gave it to you as a blessing.”
Ransey looked away from the All-Keeper. He glanced at Rian and Halbert. “Rian and Halbert are going to need burial ground.”
Quidvis sighed. “They will have a chance in Veron.” He finally stopped staring at Ransey.
Would they actually have a chance to go to burial ground in Veron, or would Quidvis find a reason to keep them away? Rian didn’t feel like he needed burial ground, he just felt strange. He wasn’t becoming fully undead again despite having gone so long without burial ground. Had Quidvis lied about that as well?
They reached Veron the next night and went straight to the castle, where a knight led them in to the throne hall. Ninette and Odell sat on the two thrones. Only a little moonlight came through the many windows along the hall. A few torches kept the hall from being gloomy. Eiva gave Camella’s letter to Queen Ninette, who read it before handing it to Odell. The two talked quietly for a while, then the queen nodded slowly.
Ninette looked at the rest of them again. “We will aid Virida against the Sancta.”
Halbert bowed low. “Thank you, Your Highness.”
“Is Knowledge Unending still here?” Quidvis asked. He hadn’t told the king and queen he was the All-Keeper. “We have need of it.”
“It is still in the library,” Ninette said. “You may do what you need with it.”
Ninette and Odell insisted Rian and the others stay at the castle as long as they needed to. Quidvis decided they would deal with Dienia in the morning. Rian left his room shortly after going inside, but Quidvis was out in the hall, staring out the window. Rian went back into his room. He wasn’t sure Quidvis would let him go to the graveyard, and he had a bad feeling it would be best if Quidvis didn’t know where he was going. Burial ground would have to wait.
Rian slept little that night, feeling even stranger, even more wrong than before. He thought he heard the voices of the dead in the distance, but he couldn’t make out what they were saying. In the morning, Rian and Halbert still didn’t get a chance to go to the graveyard.
“You’ll have time after we deal with Dienia,” Quidvis said.
Rian and Halbert glanced at each other, but said nothing.
After Eiva and Ransey had breakfast, the two of them, Rian, Halbert, and Quidvis, went to the library. Quidvis set the heavy book on the podium at the far end of the library.
“Hopefully Dienia is distracted and weakened enough that she won’t know we’re entering her Sanctum,” Quidvis said.
He opened the book to a seemingly random page near the middle. Rian, Halbert, Eiva, and Ransey gathered close. Quidvis’s bright magic flickered across the yellowed pages of the book. Just as the last time, Rian could see the words in the book, but they were out of focus, changing while he was looking at them.
The light of Quidvis’s magic faded out, then came a flash of white. When the flash faded, they were standing in a slightly transparent library. It looked the same as the last time. Similar to the library in the castle of Veron, but much bigger. Rian felt Dienia’s presence, but it was weaker than the last time. Books flew from the shelves to either side of them, flying together to loosely form the shape of a person.
“Quidvis, is that you?” Dienia asked. Her voice echoed all around them. Something sounded off about the surprise in her voice.
“You know it is me, Dienia,” Quidvis said, his expression cold. “You and the others would know I have returned. You have kept this from the Sancta.”
“I did not have a part in that,” Dienia said quickly. “I was here, recovering from what Mortua did to me.”
“What Mortua did to you was deserved,” Quidvis said. “Not that she deserves much better.”
Dienia was silent. The pages of her books had stopped fluttering.
Quidvis took a step closer. “It is time Ivrua was free of you.”
“Quidvis…” Dienia’s books flapped, a frantic twitching. “I have done nothing against you.”
Quidvis still had no expression. “You have disappointed me.”
A flash of light hit the books. The books scattered, falling to the ground across the room. Dienia cried out. Rian glimpsed an ethereal woman, uncomfortably bright how Mortua had been, rushing at Ransey.
“She’s coming at you, Ransey!” Rian said.
Quidvis glanced at Rian, surprise flitting across his face. Quidvis drew his sword and stepped between Ransey and Dienia, striking fast. Another flicker and Rian saw the blade cut through Dienia. The goddess shrieked, fading out in a flash of light. The library shook violently.
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“The Sanctum will fall apart without her,” Quidvis said.
His light gathered around the group, then they were back in the library in the castle of Veron. The book shut itself, the sound thunderous in the silence.
Quidvis touched the cover lightly. “The book will remain,” he said quietly, staring at it without expression. He let go of the cover. “The magic is gone from it.” He turned to face the rest of them. “Dienia had been badly weakened by Mortua, and my first strike weakened her yet further.” He frowned at Rian. “You saw the goddess?”
“A flicker of her,” Rian said. Was that a bad thing?
“Perhaps a lingering remnant of your abilities as Speaker of the Dead,” Quidvis said, still without expression.
Rian tried to keep his expression as empty as Quidvis’s. He didn’t want the All-Keeper to suspect the magic of the Speaker of the Dead had survived, or that Trivius had left a part of himself in Rian. Now Rian knew that was what Trivius had done, could feel it inside of him. That was what Trivius had done when he put some of his magic in Rian during the attack on Derwen.
Quidvis finally looked away. “We will deal with Amoris next, but not yet.”
Dienia’s scream still echoed in Rian’s head. Dienia had done terrible things and didn’t care what happened to the people of Ivrua, but was Quidvis any better? What was Quidvis planning? Rian wandered the halls of the castle for the rest of the day, not seeing Quidvis. Rian wanted to go to the graveyard, but he doubted the energy could reach him any more than before.
The next morning, word came from Haren. They too would turn against the Sancta, with Virida and Urvus. Ninette and Odell had asked for Haren’s help. Word came from Virida that Camella would go to Caerulis, where she would help the prince she was betrothed to. They would try to convince the court and the king and queen of Caerulis to side with them against the Sancta.
Rian thought Caerulis would be the hardest to convince, as the Sancta was in the main city. Quidvis was restless that morning, pacing while Rian and the others sat in the chairs in the library. They had moved a few chairs together from other parts of the otherwise unused room.
“Will we go back to Virida?” Eiva asked.
“We need allies, but I doubt Caerulis can be convinced,” Quidvis said. “The Sancta itself is in Chayer. Ilidu could escape at any moment.”
“Percival could be anywhere,” Ransey said.
Quidvis nodded, still pacing. “The Knights of Veron will help me search for him.” He stopped pacing, then left the room without a word.
Rian and the others looked at each other.
“I don’t think he’s the quiet, shy Ectu he appeared to be before,” Eiva said. “Or the benevolent All-Keeper the Sancta would have us believe he is.” She glanced at Rian and Halbert. “We still don’t know what he’s done to the two of you, but I doubt it’s what he said he did.”
“He’s up to something,” Ransey said.
Rian didn’t see Quidvis in the castle the rest of the day. Beyond the thick windows, the sky was full of dark clouds. It rained all day. In the morning, Quidvis was still nowhere to be found.
“Maybe he left,” Eiva said. “But why?”
Had Quidvis gone to find Percival himself? Why would he go alone? Clearly he didn’t need their help, but had he given up on pretending he did? Leaf and Blossom sent word to Ninette and Odell that morning that they and many of the Ectu in Tarthala would fight the Sancta alongside the other countries. Maybe they could stop the Sancta. Of course, that wouldn’t do much good if Ilidu escaped.
Rian saw Halbert only a few times in the halls of the castle that day, but Halbert barely spoke. He looked pale and distracted. Was something wrong? Did it have to do with what Quidvis had done to them? Rian worried all day and into the night. He lay awake in bed. It was a strangely comfortable bed, but he couldn’t sleep.
He tried to let himself stop seeing, but he couldn’t. Neither could he stop any of his other senses. Rian closed his eyes, blocking out the moonlight through the window. He had the window open a crack to let in the breeze. He was hot, and he couldn’t just not be hot, how he could before.
Rian woke up in the musty cave, but it was blurry and out of focus. He could barely hear the voices of the dead. They sounded desperate, but he couldn’t make out their words. The cave faded away and he woke up back in the hot room. The dead couldn’t reach him.
When morning finally came, Rian was exhausted. He needed burial ground, but it hadn’t helped the other times he’d gone there. It was a gloomy morning, but it wasn’t raining. There was still no sign of Quidvis anywhere. Rian wandered the halls of the castle again, feeling useless.
For now, all they could do was wait for word from Camella on if Caerulis would turn against the Sancta. Rian didn’t see Halbert in the halls. Later in the day, he went to find Halbert. They should try burial ground again. They had to try something.
“What are you doing?” Eiva cried out.
Rian ran into the library. Two of the chairs at the center of the room had been knocked over. Eiva was backed up against a bookcase. There was something wrong in the way Halbert stumbled closer to Eiva, in the way Eiva looked completely terrified of him. Rian hurried over, grabbing Halbert’s shoulder.
Halbert turned sharply. Rian took a quick step back. Dark, thick blood ran from Halbert’s eyes, nose, and mouth. It was much darker and thicker than blood should be. The white of his eyes was filled with red that covered part of the iris as well. He had long fangs, covered in the dark blood that was coming out of his mouth.
“He tried to grab me,” Eiva said.
“Halbert?” Rian said. He didn’t know what to do.
Halbert grabbed him suddenly, his grip surprisingly strong. He bit hard into Rian’s neck. Rian cried out, trying to pull free. Halbert let go, moving away and gagging. Rian reached up and touched his neck. His hand came away slick with blood, but it was barely warm. It was the same thick, dark stuff coming out of Halbert.
Something was very wrong. Neither of them should even have blood. Halbert collapsed onto the ground, not moving. Rian hurried to his side, ready to move away if Halbert tried to grab him again. Halbert’s eyes were closed. He wasn’t breathing, but he hadn’t been before.
“What’s going on?” Ransey asked. He had just stepped into the library doorway.
“We don’t know,” Eiva said, her voice shaking. “Something’s wrong with Halbert.”
Ransey knelt on the other side of Halbert, frowning when he saw him. He looked at Rian and frowned only more. “I think what’s happening to him will happen to you.”
Rian tried not to think about that right then. “We should get him to burial ground. Maybe it will help.” What else could they do?
Ransey helped Rian get Halbert to his feet. Eiva went with them to the graveyard. Thankfully they didn’t come across anyone on the way. Halbert didn’t wake up on the way there, or when Rian and Ransey lay him on the ground. The energy of burial ground felt even more distant than before.
“What Quidvis did is blocking the energy,” Rian said. “And our magic.”
Halbert stirred, then he screamed, stumbling to his feet. He started to fall, but Ransey caught him.
“He’s unconscious again,” Ransey said, laying Halbert back on the ground.
“Clearly burial ground isn’t helping,” Eiva said.
Rian hesitated, then focused on the magic of the Speaker of the Dead inside of him. He barely felt it through what Quidvis had done to him. He would have to bring it to the surface all the way to use it, but he was afraid of doing that. Could it even help Halbert? And how long did Rian have before the same would happen to him?