Sebastian

darkest wishes.
    We will be invaluable to the human world—and we will use our new position to slowly, carefully winnow out the strongest of our enemies, diluting their power generation after generation until they become little more than useful tools.
    But there is one fear we dare not speak lest it resonate through the currents of the world.
    If the Eater ever finds us, will It realize that we abandoned It when It most needed our guidance, that we left It to fight Its enemies alone?
     
    — The Dark Book of Secrets

     
     

 

     
     

Chapter Seven

 

     
     

     
    Koltak braced his hands on the waist-high stone wall that circled the top of the Wizards' Tower and stared at the open land east of the city. Already the sun had risen high enough to vanquish the night's shadows. Already the shadow that had filled him with revulsion and excitement was surrendering to the bright summer light and fading away.
    Damn that fool of an apprentice that he'd sent running to fetch Harland. If the boy was too spineless to knock on Harland's door at an unseemly hour, the moment would be lost, and he would be just another fool who had raised an alarm over a shadow caused by natural contours in the land. He couldn't afford to sound like a fool, but if he was the one to see the very thing generations of wizards had watched for, that would go a long way toward balancing out his youthful mistake. Wouldn't it?
    "I trust you have good reason to send for me at this hour and interrupt my meditations."
    Koltak jumped at the sound of Harland's voice, but he didn't take his eyes off the land. His hand trembled as he lifted it and pointed. "Look."
    Harland came up beside him. Out of the corner of his eye, Koltak saw the leader of the Wizards' Council stiffen.
    "Do you see it?" Koltak asked, keeping his voice low.
    "Yes, I see it."
    Relief swept through Koltak. He had a witness. No one would doubt Harland. But that meant…
    A shadow is the warning . That was what he'd been taught all those years ago when he was a third-year apprentice beginning his training for tower duty. A shadow that ripples. A shadow that seems cast by something below the earth rather than by light shining down upon the earth .
    "Do you think someone should go to the Landscapers' School and ask them to check the hidden garden?" he asked.
    Harland looked at Koltak, a feverish glitter in his eyes that was at odds with his solemn expression. "And say what? That we know about the garden they have guarded so vigilantly for generations? A garden they still believe is a secret known only to themselves? A garden only the Landscapers and Bridges can find, despite our years of effort to determine its exact location at the school? They have never acknowledged the existence of that garden, and despite how often we visit the school to help them weed out the dangerous elements among their own kind, we have found no evidence of its existence. No, Koltak. The Landscapers would have sent a message if they had noticed any sign of danger—even though we failed them the last time our help was needed."

    Koltak winced at the reminder. He'd resented being excluded from the wizards chosen for the task because of his "family connections." Afterward, he'd been grateful that he wasn't among the wizards disgraced by their failure to seal that garden.
    "But…" He looked around to confirm that they were the only ones on the top of the tower. Still, he lowered his voice. "What about the shadow?"
    Harland nodded. "A warning, certainly, that something dark and dangerous has grown powerful enough to threaten Ephemeras landscapes." He paused. "For fifteen years, the council has feared this day would come, but we had hoped she would never become strong enough for this warning to appear. It would seem our hopes were in vain."
    Koltak whispered, "Belladonna."
    "Yes," Harland said. "Belladonna. An enemy who could destroy everything we have protected—unless she is destroyed first."
    "She has eluded us for fifteen years! Most wizards can't even cross over into any landscape under her control, even in the company of a Bridge. How are we supposed to find someone we haven't even seen in fifteen years?"
    "I don't know," Harland said bitterly. "But we must find a way." He reached out and gripped Koltak's shoulder. "Tell no one about the shadow. Say nothing about what you have seen. I must meditate on this warning before discussing it with the rest of the council. We do not want to spread alarm among the