The red light in Trivius’s sockets glowed brightly, more than the last time Rian had seen them in a dream. By the light, he could more clearly see the piles of bones around him.
“Now you are whole again,” Trivius said.
“I’m still not going to free you,” Rian said.
Trivius laughed, the sound echoing all around Rian. “So you say now. When you realize the truth, you will free me.”
“And what is the truth?” Rian asked. “I know the previous Speaker of the Dead was your most trusted knight.”
“It has been a very long time since I’ve had a Speaker,” Trivius said, the light of his eyes flaring angrily. “A long time since I’ve been trapped in this place, kept from the land of the dead. The true land of the dead, not Mortua’s pale imitation.”
“Who sealed you the first time?” Rian asked, trying to ignore the bad feeling rising inside of him.
“My brother,” Trivius snarled. “Quidvis. The All-Keeper. He had the help of his children, but I know it was his idea.”
“What are you?” Rian’s voice came out quiet.
The red light became so bright it looked like a roaring fire. “I am the true Keeper of the Dead. You are my Speaker, but unlike the Speakers of Quidvis and his children, my power will not destroy you. You will be the embodiment of my power. That is why Mortua fears you. When I was briefly free of this place, I saw how far the world has fallen under the influence of Quidvis’s children. Had I known you were my Speaker then, things would have been different.”
Rian looked away from the blazing fire in the skull’s sockets. It had become too bright. He didn’t know what to think of all of this. The red light faded a little and Rian looked back up at the skull.
“I know this is a lot of knowledge,” Trivius said. “For now, I will let you think.”
The Bone Garden faded away, darkness rushing in. Rian woke up on the surface of the graveyard in Chayer, the dirt falling away from him. Halbert was already up, putting his cloak on. He pulled up the hood and turned to face Rian. Rian put on his own cloak and pulled up the hood, thinking while he did.
“Did the dead speak to you?” Halbert asked.
“Yes,” Rian said. “They said Mortua must be stopped from gathering power, even if it means helping the Sancta stop the cults.”
Halbert nodded.
Rian hesitated. “I saw the Bone Garden. I’ve seen it once before in dreams.” He found it hard to say the next part, not entirely sure what it really meant. “I’m the Speaker of Trivius.”
Halbert tensed. “So he says.”
“I think he was telling the truth,” Rian said. “He said he’s Quidvis’s brother, the Keeper of the Dead.”
Halbert came closer. “Tell me everything he said.”
“And me,” Eiva said, joining them where they stood.
Rian told them all Trivius had said, the three of them sitting on the ground. The sun had finished rising when he was done.
Eiva nodded slowly. “I think he might be telling the truth. Which is even more terrifying.”
“I wonder if the records Percival was referring to at the trial spoke of this,” Halbert said. “The Sancta has kept secrets before. I wouldn’t put it past them to keep it secret that Quidvis has a brother.”
“But what did Trivius mean that Rian will be the embodiment of his power?” Eiva asked. “That doesn’t sound good.”
“I suspect we won’t know until the time comes,” Halbert said. “We should still reseal the Bone Garden properly when the objects have been purified. We can’t yet be certain of Trivius’s intentions. He tried to take over Virida when he escaped the last time.” He stood. “For now we should go to the Sancta and tell them nothing of this.”
The three of them made their way to the imposing building of the Sancta. Inside, they found Frida on her way into the Sancta and gave her the dagger.
“Where’s Ransey?” Frida asked, looking exhausted and worried.
“Mortua has given him magic that allows him to draw power from eating flesh,” Eiva said.
Frida grimaced. “I’m not surprised Ransey would do even that if Mortua asked him. We have a lead on two more cults. These seem to be the last two, that we know of. Ransey hasn’t returned to the Sancta yet.”
“Where are the cults?” Halbert asked.
“Derwen and Brush,” Frida said. “Both are in Virida.” She hesitated. “If you keep the hoods of your cloaks up, you can see part of this morning’s trial. If you want to.”
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All three of them wanted to. They went with Frida to the round room. It was already crowded, and the High Priests had gathered at the center of the room. Dow still sat in the chair at the center of the room, looking even more disheartened than before. Rian didn’t see his parents in the crowd, but they might be there somewhere. Frida stayed near the doors with Rian, Halbert, and Eiva.
“Andred and Mae are officially on trial now,” Frida said quietly. “So am I. This morning they wanted to talk to Dow again, or more like tell him all the ways he’s offended the Sancta.”
Percival looked out at the crowd, then at Dow without expression. “You know the dangers of wild magic, Dow. I know you do. And yet you have called on the help of necromancers several times. Not just those who had the misfortune of discovering necromancy and didn’t use it further. You called on the fully undead.”
“It was the will of the gods—” Dow said.
Percival shook his head. “The undead have proven once again that they can’t be trusted.”
Rian had a bad feeling about this.
Percival looked at the crowd again. “Necromancy will not be tolerated.” His voice carried throughout the room. “It never should have been. For now only the fully undead will be condemned, but we will put a stop to this scourge. Mortua has spoken, declaring that Rian of Fen and Halbert of Rise have turned against her despite having been sent to aid her.”
The other Head Priests were nodding. Dow had gone pale. He looked right at Frida, then at Rian, Halbert, and Eiva.
“You have to get out of here,” Frida whispered. “Now.”
“As I understand it, they are here at the Sancta today,” Percival said. “The knights have already set to work in locating them. The renegade knight known as Eiva is with them, led astray by their lies.”
Rian, Halbert, and Eiva left the room quietly with Frida, making their way through the empty halls quickly. Frida looked around them sharply as they walked. There was no sign of knights yet.
“If you help us, they will turn on you further,” Halbert said.
Frida stopped and looked at him. “I’m not sure they were ever an ally to me. Only Dow was. Get out of here, get far from Chayer. I will delay the Sancta however I can.” She said nothing more on the way to the doors, where she held out a folded piece of parchment to Eiva. “This will help you find the next two cults. Now go.”
Rian heard many coming along both halls that led to the entry hall. Eiva took the paper and slid it into her pocket. Rian, Halbert, and Eiva left the Sancta. Rian hoped Frida would be alright. He hoped his parents would be alright. If the Sancta was officially hunting undead again, of which Rian and Halbert were the only two known, how long would it be before they went after all necromancers? Then they would go after Rian’s father. Rian, Halbert, and Eiva left Chayer, setting off across the plains.
“The Sancta may search everywhere for us,” Eiva said.
Halbert nodded. “They likely will.”
The three of them walked in silence awhile.
“Where is Rise?” Eiva asked. “I didn’t know there was a village named after the season.”
“It’s in Caerulis, not far from Chayer,” Halbert said. “I haven’t been back there since I left forty-two years ago. Ransey is from there as well, though he wasn’t born there.”
They reached the small village of Sage at night but didn’t dare stop so close to Chayer. They were deep in the forest between Virida and Caerulis when the sun was rising. They stopped briefly so Eiva could rest. At night they were in the village of Scutch, on the plains of Virida. They stopped for the night out on the plains, with the village barely in sight behind them.
They reached the main city of Derwen the next night. The last time Rian had been there, Trivius’s army of dead knights had been attacking and Trivius had been inside Arwel. Rian felt almost as hopeless as he had that night. How close behind them was the Sancta? Would they suspect Rian and the others would still go after the cults? How much had Mortua told them?
Eiva went to the inn, and Rian and Halbert went to the graveyard. Rian didn’t hear the voices of the dead that night, or see Trivius in the Bone Garden. Eiva met up with them in the graveyard just after sunset.
“What did the parchment say?” Halbert asked.
“It has names,” Eiva said. “The next two cult leaders and what city or village they might be in. One is in Derwen.”
“How will we find them?” Rian asked.
Eiva smiled. “The archive will have a census. They might not be on it, but it’s somewhere to start.” Her smile faded. “I’ll go there and check. We shouldn’t all go. We don’t want the archivist getting suspicious and reporting us to any Sancta Knights nearby.”
Rian and Halbert waited in the graveyard. Eiva returned around midday.
“I know where he lives,” Eiva said. “He’s a brick maker. His house is near the city wall. He’ll likely be at work if we go now, and he lives alone.”
The three of them searched the alleyways until they found the house Eiva said was the one. It was a narrow two floor wooden house. Eiva tried the door. It was unlocked. There wasn’t much furniture inside. The three of them searched as quietly as they could at first, but it quickly became clear there was no one else there. The basement was the room where the cult had been doing rituals.
The bloodstained table at the front of the room had leather straps on it. The dagger wasn’t there. Maybe the cult leader kept it with him during the day, like the one in Wels. Upstairs, Eiva found the man’s journal.
“He too mentions the dream where Mortua gave him the dagger and told him to sacrifice in her name,” Eiva said.
“Could someone give him an object through a dream?” Rian asked.
Eiva shook her head. “I don’t think so.” She frowned. “There’s nothing else here that might tell us who is really behind it.” She closed the journal and set it back on the nightstand, exactly where it had been. “Do we know for sure this isn’t Mortua’s doing? Would she do this to get to the two of you? She could probably give someone an object through a dream.”
“She wouldn’t neglect her duty,” Halbert said, sounding certain. “She would just turn the Sancta against us, how she’s done now. I don’t think she’s behind this.”
Eiva sighed. “Then we have nothing that can tell us who is. We know the daggers have a dark enchantment, and the dream wasn’t magic, if that’s when the daggers were given. There could be more than one person behind this.”
“For now we’ll focus on getting the dagger,” Halbert said.
Eiva nodded. “We should keep an eye on the house tonight, see if the cult has a meeting.”