Shadows Return

looked on. “Someone set a dra’gorgos on them.”
    The khirnari’s eyes widened. “On Aurënfaie soil? The audacity!”
    “And where there’s a dra’gorgos, then there’s a necromancer, too,” said Micum.
    Thero repeated the procedure with Alec’s hilt, with the same result.
    “Are they dead?” asked Riagil.
    “I don’t see that. But what this proves is that there were Plenimarans with the Zengat.”
    Micum frowned. “Then I’d say that they were taken east, rather than west. Can you use these to find them?”
    “Perhaps….” Thero examined Seregil’s hiltagain. “If there was a bit of blood, even a drop, I might…” He set Seregil’s hilt aside and picked up Alec’s. After a pained moment, he looked up. “There’s a tiny bit of Alec’s blood here.”
    “You use blood magic?” Riagil asked, surprised.
    “It’s not necromancy, but something my master’s master learned from the hill folk.”
    “The Retha’noi, you mean?”
    “Yes, Khirnari. I believe they are closely related to the Dravnians in your own mountains. Such spells are in my lineage of magic now, though this one is not very powerful. The only thing I use it for is findings.”
             
    Thero scratched the bit of dried blood from the hilt and pinched it between his thumb and forefinger. With head bowed, he whispered the blood calling to blood spell, then waited silently for the images to appear.
    But nothing came to him except a distant blur of light, dancing just out of reach.
Alec! Alec, come to me.
    But nothing else did, except that strange blur, and it told him only that Alec was probably alive.
    He broke off in frustration and opened his eyes to find everyone watching him. “I think he’s alive, but I can’t place him, or even see him. Something’s shielding him, but it’s like nothing I’ve ever encountered.”
    “But he
is
alive?” said Micum.
    “I’m quite sure of it.”
    “Well, what can you make of this, then?” Micum took the hilt from him and pressed the tooth into Thero’s hand. “You can bet this bastard bled. If we can find him, maybe he can tell us where they were taken. Where is he?”
    Chagrined at not having thought of it himself, Thero smiled up at Riagil. “I told you he’s a clever man.”
    He clasped the tooth between his palms and whispered the spell again. This time the images came at once, fast and clear. The man who’d lost the tooth was alive and laughing with some others. By their speech, dark complexions, and beards, he knew them for Plenimarans. Some noble’s own men-at-arms, by the look of them, or brigands. With Plenimarans, it was often difficult to tell the difference.
    “They’re calling him by name…yes, it’s Notis.” Thero strained to see more of the man’s surroundings. The spell was a hard one, and made his head pound as he pushed himself to his limit. Sweat was beaded on his brow and upper lip by the time he opened his eyes. “Virésse! By the Light, the man is in Virésse, in some sort of barracks or on a ship. I can’t tell which, but he’s most certainly there. I recognize the harbor.”
    “What’s a Plenimaran slaver doing there, of all places?” wondered Micum.
    “He may not be a slaver by trade,” Riagil told him. “Not even Ulan í Sathil would stoop so low as to trade in bodies. But this Notis may be in service to one who does, and that man may be a trader in other commodities.”
    “The point is, he’s in Aurënen!” Thero exclaimed. “We have to find him and make him tell us what happened. That’s the only link we have to where they might have been taken.”
    “Khirnari, can any of your people do that traveling spell that brought us here?” asked Micum.
    “No. That, like the blood spell, is no part of Aurënfaie magic. But if we ride hard, we can be back in Gedre soon enough, and there I can put you on my fastest ship. Whatever you need, you have only to ask.”
    Thero stood and bowed to him. “We accept your kind offer, Khirnari, with our deepest thanks. It’s still a great wide world to search in, but this gives me hope.”
    “Thank the Four,” Micum murmured, leaning heavily on his stick. “If they are alive, then I won’t stop until I find them and bring them home!”

CHAPTER 33
    Child of No Woman

    THE FOLLOWING DAY , Alec and Khenir were allowed in the garden again, veiled and under guard, as usual. Apart from the ever-present escort, this was the best place for a potential escape, and close to the cell he