Bridge of Dreams

Chapter 26

As they walked to Nadia’s house, Lee’s thoughts were racing fast and hard. He understood the danger of conflicting heart wishes. Ephemera manifested the heart, for good or ill. It didn’t distinguish between a wish that would benefit people from a wish that would do harm. And while the Landscapers could keep the world from manifesting every idle wish that came from the hearts of all the people, even they couldn’t stop a true heart wish—or prevent all the changes that heart wish would create.

If there was anyone who could minimize the damage being done right now, it was Glorianna Belladonna. But first, he had his own fences to mend. Since he was walking beside Sebastian, that was a good place to start.

“I’m sorry about the bird.”

Sebastian shook his head and smiled. “Bop would have learned about butter sooner or later.”

Maybe. “It will give you practice spelling out words.”

Sebastian rolled his eyes. “Just what I need. The bird teaching the baby to spell.”

Lee grinned, but the grin faded when they reached the gate in the wall. He lengthened his stride to reach Glorianna before she walked into the house. “Can we talk before we all talk?”

She studied him, then looked at Michael. Nodding, the Magician carried the blanket into the house.

“I know you have to tell them the border is unstable,” he said.

“Yes, I do,” she agreed.

“Could you brush over why it’s unstable?” He wished he could see better, wished he could read whatever was in her face.

Finally, she asked, “Why?”

He didn’t try to dissemble or evade. Not with her. “Opportunities and choices. Zhahar and her sisters were one of six Tryad who went into the city of Vision to anchor Tryadnea to another place. The other five failed, and I think the discovery of what they were was a big reason they failed.”

“And gave Vision’s citizens someone to blame for the bad things that were happening,” Glorianna said. Then she tipped her head. “Lee? How did anyone know the Tryad were Tryad? I had the impression they were very careful to keep their nature a secret.”

“Zhahar was revealed fairly quickly.”

“By a Shaman and a Bridge. Unless they changed aspects in front of someone, who else besides someone like you or Danyal would sense the difference?”

He thought about that and understood where she was going. “Someone told on them. Someone pointed out the stranger and whispered in the right ear.”

“Someone with enough bitterness in her heart to want the rest of the Tryad to suffer.”

Lee pulled off the hat. “Guardians and Guides, Glorianna. How are we supposed to prove that to anyone?”

“We can’t. And it’s not our place to try. The Tryad have to choose whom to follow. We can’t make that choice for them.”

No, they couldn’t make that choice. But that didn’t mean there weren’t choices they could make.

He brushed his fingertips down Glorianna’s arm. “One heart can change a landscape. As a Guide, you know that.”

“Yes, I do. So be careful what opportunities you create and what choices you make, brother.” She tugged him toward the kitchen door.

“What does that mean?”

“That means you would be smart to get as much help as you can.”

“With what?”

“How do the Tryad have sex?”

Lee groaned. “Not really something I can ask.”

“I agree. But the answer will have a significant impact on the choices that are made. So let Teaser ask. He’s bursting to find out, so let him do it.”

“You think Zhahar is going to talk to Teaser?”

“No, I think Sholeh will talk to Teaser and tell him a whole lot about Tryad customs and traditions and history that will be helpful in understanding these people. All things Teaser wants to know about, since he looks at the Tryad and sees lots of potential new lovers.”

“Daylight,” Lee muttered.

“Zeela, on the other hand, will tell him the mechanics of Tryad sex, either for her own self-interest or because she’ll realize he’s going to pass the information on to you. Either way, you’ll know if that door is closed to you.”

He huffed out a breath. A year ago, Sebastian would have been a better choice to find out about the Tryad. Now he would still listen intently, but not to be a lover in dreams or flesh. Now he would consider whether Tryad sexual preferences would cause any trouble in the Den.

“How did Sebastian go from being the hot badass women drool over to being the prissy prig who enforces the rules?” he asked.

“Sebastian is still hot, women still drool when he walks by, and enforcing his own rules is hardly being a prissy prig,” Glorianna said primly as she opened the kitchen door. “And since you look enough alike, if you wore your pants tighter, women would drool over you too.”

He choked. She laughed and walked into the house, leaving him sputtering.

Danyal watched everyone gather around the kitchen table. Storms and bright water. Heat lightning. Thorn trees and breathtaking Light. He couldn’t get a feel for the other people crowding into the room. Their hearts were all submerged by the intensity of feeling in Sholeh Zeela a Zhahar, Sebastian, and Glorianna Belladonna.

Tension tightened his muscles, making his burned shoulder and hip ache as he began to understand that only specific people were being given a place at the table. Zhahar and Morragen sat beside each other, with Nadia on Zhahar’s left. Sebastian and Glorianna sat across from them, with Lee on Glorianna’s right. Michael sat at one end of the table, and he had been given the seat at the other end. Yoshani, Teaser, Kobrah, Caitlin Marie, Lynnea, Jeb, the Apothecary, and the Knife filled up the kitchen.

“There’s a problem,” Glorianna said. “The border between Tryadnea and the Den has faded to the point where no one can cross over.”

“You said it was stable,” Morragen said. “I’m here, away from my people, because you said it was stable.”

“It was. Tryadnea is still connected to the Den, but it can’t be reached by using that border. At least one person made a heart wish so powerful it broke down a border between two compatible landscapes held by the same Landscaper. Held by me.”

Morragen stared at Zhahar. “You would condemn our people in order to be with a man?”

“My son isn’t just some man,” Nadia warned, leaning on the table to see past Zhahar, who stared back at her mother, looking shocked and pale.

“I didn’t!” Zhahar said. “How could you think I would do that? I didn’t wish…” She glanced at Lee and didn’t continue.

Yes, you did, Danyal thought. But you had no reason to think your wishing could change anything. And yet Zhahar sounded sincere. Then he looked at Michael, who was watching her closely. Whatever the Magician was hearing in the heart music surprised him.

“Zhahar,” Lee said gently, “heart wishes can change a landscape, but this disruption of the border isn’t permanent. It can be fixed.”

“I didn’t do anything!” Zhahar cried.

A moment later, Zeela came into view, pushing the chair back as she stood up and glared at Morragen. “Zhahar didn’t make the heart wish to break Tryadnea away from the Den. I did.”

Morragen also stood. “Why would you condemn our people?”

“Why not?” Zeela snapped. “It’s not going to make any difference. No matter what we do or how hard we try, the connection will break in a few months, and nothing will have changed. We’ll be adrift again, feeling more bitter because we failed again, and you won’t be able to stop it any more than your mothers could.”

“That’s enough!” Morragen shouted.

“Our connection to the Den is going to break sooner or later, so why not let it break now? Then Zhahar will have a chance to love someone, which is more than you ever had. Do you think we were too young to understand the fights between you and the grandmothers? ‘Give him your body if you must do the base act, but never give him your heart.’”

Zephyra came into view for a moment, tears in her eyes. “Stop this. Zeela, please stop this.” She faded as Morragen appeared again.

“No, I won’t stop this!” Zeela shouted. Her hands clenched into fists as she faced her mother’s warrior aspect. “You three have already decided you don’t like the connection to the Den. You’re never going to like any of them because they’re one-faced. We could see it in your eyes last night. The disappointment that this place isn’t whatever it is you search for.”

Wondering what he had missed last night, Danyal glanced at the other people around the table, then at Yoshani—and realized he hadn’t missed anything. Which meant Zeela’s accusations might have been valid in the past but had no basis in the current truth. But he saw the way Glorianna, Lee, and Michael were studying her so intently, so he focused on her heart-core—and sat back, shocked.

Coating Zeela’s stormy core was a bog full of poisoned air.

Michael gave him a “Do you feel it?” look. When he tipped his head in a subtle nod, the Magician returned his attention back to Zeela.

“We want to build a life here, so we’re staying,” Zeela shouted. “You can go back to Tryadnea and drift away again.”

Morragen again. “How dare you!”

Zeela bared her teeth. “I dare because I’m a warrior, my sisters’ protector. Like you, Morragen.”

“And your own heart will break when you understand that it’s the part of your sisters you can’t protect.”

“At least one of us will try!”

“That’s enough,” Morragen and Medusah said coldly.

“The two of you can still silence Zhahar and Sholeh and bend them to your will,” Zeela said just as coldly. “But not me. Not anymore. I wish—”

Glorianna, Nadia, Michael, Lee, and Sebastian jumped to their feet and shouted, “No!”

Shaken, Danyal watched the other people in the room. Even the people who hadn’t reacted so vigorously seemed to be holding their breaths.

Glorianna stared at Morragen and Zeela, her green eyes filled with fury. “Ephemera, hear me. This storm is fierce but changes nothing.”

Within moments, the sky darkened and thunder rumbled loud enough to rattle the windows. Moments after that, rain pounded the ground.

“I left the cottage’s windows open!” Lynnea wailed before she, Caitlin, and Jeb hurried to shut the windows in the rest of the house, while Teaser and the Knife shut the kitchen’s windows and door.

“This storm changes nothing,” Belladonna said, extending her hand toward Nadia.

Nadia gripped her daughter’s hand and repeated, “This storm changes nothing.”

Belladonna held out her other hand. Sebastian gripped it. Looking at Morragen, he said, “As the Den’s anchor, I want the border between Tryadnea and the Den to hold. I want the chance to get to know my new neighbors.”

The rain stopped just as Jeb, Lynnea, and Caitlin returned to the kitchen.

Teaser opened the kitchen door, stared out the screen for a moment, then muttered, “Daylight. Can flowers swim?”

“Best we deal with what’s outside later,” Jeb said.

“Sit down,” Belladonna said, her eyes still fixed on Morragen and Zeela.

Don’t do it, Danyal thought, watching Zeela while trying to get a sense of the depth of Belladonna’s anger. What he felt in that divided heart frightened him. If you bring this storm down on your people, you will never forgive yourself.

Morragen sat.

Lee said, “Please, Zeela. Do as she asks.”

Zeela sat.

Belladonna released Nadia’s hand. She tried to release Sebastian’s too, but he held on until she looked at him.

Heat lightning and thorn trees. But that connection was enough to add the thunder of clean water to the thorn trees.

When Glorianna sat down, the others did too.

“You don’t have to condemn your people to have something for yourself,” Glorianna told Zeela.

Danyal considered the little he knew about Sholeh Zeela a Zhahar—the private things he’d seen when he’d packed up her possessions after Zeela had been knifed, and the story Yoshani and Michael had put together that could explain what had happened to the Tryad long ago.

“It’s about heart, isn’t it?” he asked gently. “That’s why what you want you also fear. Because it’s about heart.”

“It usually is,” Sebastian replied, looking at Lynnea.

Medusah came into view. She stared at each of them in turn but said nothing.

“Then I was right about the missing piece of the story,” Michael said. “It’s not just about us being able to accept you. It’s about you having enough heart—enough courage—to accept us. If enough of you want a connection, hope for a connection to another piece of Ephemera, there are some of you who can take that hope and wind it into an anchor that will hold for a while. But that’s an anchor attached to a rope that frays a little more every day. In order to build a solid bridge between your people and another, you need heart.”

“Yes,” Glorianna said softly, thoughtfully. “It’s not enough to be physically present in a place; you have to live in the place. Interact with people. Build a life.”

“You don’t know what it’s like to be an outsider,” Medusah said bitterly.

Caitlin let out a pained laugh. “Oh, some of us do. Some of us know all too well what it’s like to be different from everyone else around you.”

I wish I could bring her to the Temple of Sorrow, Danyal thought. I wish I could help her release some of that old pain.

But she surprised him by smiling at Glorianna. “Now I’m learning that it takes time for the heart to embrace being accepted. And it takes time to learn that something doesn’t have to be the way it’s been.” She ducked her head, as if shying away.

“What is it, Caitlin?” Nadia asked.

“It was just a thought,” she mumbled.

When she didn’t say anything else, Teaser gave her an elbow bump. “They’re waiting for the thought.”

She’s someone he likes but doesn’t think of sexually, which must be strange for him, Danyal thought. Someone he pesters and teases—and wouldn’t hesitate to defend. And that has changed him.

“Well, Sholeh and I were talking last night,” Caitlin said hesitantly.

Sholeh appeared long enough to frantically shake her head, but it was Zhahar who came into view, looking pale and sick.

“She explained about the connections Tryad made to hold Tryadnea to other landscapes, and that got me thinking about the journeys,” Caitlin continued. “Every person who lives in Darling’s Harbor takes a walk between the Sentinel Stones when they reach their majority. They spend weeks preparing for it, putting their gear together and making up a pack much like Michael used to carry for his wandering. Families celebrate, and there are both laughter and tears because no one knows if that person will ever come back. And then the people making the journey walk between the Stones to find out where they belong in the world.”

Lee almost bounced out of his chair.

“So I was thinking that maybe some of the Tryad’s troubles were caused because they weren’t connected with places that had people interested in meeting them. Lots of the people in Ephemera don’t meet many beyond their own.”

“There’s truth in that,” Michael said.

Caitlin looked at Glorianna. “Maybe you could come back to Darling’s Harbor with me, and we could talk to Peg and some of the others about having a few of the Tryad living and working in the village.” She glanced nervously at Medusah. “Do any of your people have experience sailing or fishing? We have a lot of sailing and fishing.”

“We have lakes and rivers, but not big water,” Medusah replied.

“Doesn’t mean some youngsters wouldn’t be interested in learning a different skill,” Jeb said. “Have to figure out how to fairly divide the work time.”

Glorianna nodded. “Something that could be discussed, especially since it’s reasonable to assume that each sibling in a Tryad would have different interests.”

“Hate to say it, Auntie Nadia,” Sebastian said, “but the people in Aurora might be a bit too prissy prig to welcome people as unique as the Tryad.”

“They weren’t nice to me the last time I went shopping in the village,” Teaser said. Then he looked thoughtful. “But that might have been because the shopkeeper noticed the way his wife was smiling, and I’m pretty sure he’d never put that kind of smile on her face.”

Lee groaned. “Teaser.”

“What? I’m just saying.”

“Aurora isn’t the only possibility,” Glorianna said.

“I don’t think Dunberry has recovered enough from the deaths the Eater caused to be receptive, but Foggy Downs might be open to a few new residents,” Michael said.

“What is the point of this?” Medusah asked. “Your border is breaking, and we’ll be adrift again.”

“It has faded, which isn’t the same as breaking. Is breaking what you want?” Glorianna countered. “If Danyal is right and it’s about heart, our accepting you will never be enough. You also have to accept us, have to be willing to look at someone who isn’t like you and see more than someone who is a one-face. You have one young man who is a Bridge. With training, he would be able to connect Tryadnea with other parts of Ephemera. If there is one Tryad with that gift, there may be more. You may even have the equivalent of Landscapers among you—Tryad who maintain the balance of Light and Dark in Tryadnea. And you may have darker powers swimming in your bloodlines as well.”

“I don’t know what you mean,” Medusah said.

“Yes,” Belladonna replied, “you do know.”

Medusah’s face tightened but she didn’t argue.

Silence. Danyal heard the ticking of a clock somewhere in the house.

“That’s it, then?” the Knife finally asked. “The border gets fixed and everything is the way it was?”

Danyal saw gentle sadness and understanding in Yoshani’s face when the holy man said, “The border will be fixed, but everything has changed. Hasn’t it, Glorianna Dark and Wise?”

“One heart can change a landscape,” Glorianna said softly. “And a heart can change and grow to the point where it no longer fits in a landscape. Sebastian and I will go back and repair the border when we’re finished here. But despite how well it’s marked, I don’t think you’ll find that border, Sholeh Zeela a Zhahar. I don’t know if you’ll ever find your way back to Tryadnea. So I’ll remind you of Heart’s Blessing. Let your heart travel lightly, because what you bring with you becomes part of the landscape.”

“W-what does that mean?” Zhahar asked.

“It means Ephemera has responded to all the conflicting heart wishes—including yours,” Glorianna said gently. “You didn’t want to go back to your homeland. Now you can’t.”

Zephyra came into view, her eyes full of tears. “Why couldn’t you give us a chance to understand?”

Danyal wasn’t sure whom the question was meant for. He wasn’t sure Zephyra knew either.

Choking on a sob, Zhahar ran out of the room.

“I’ll go,” Lynnea said before hurrying after the other woman.

“What is Zhahar supposed to do, Glorianna?” Lee asked.

“Her life, her journey, her choice,” Glorianna replied.

“I got back.” Lee removed his glasses and carefully rubbed his eyes. “When I needed to, I was able to get back home.”

“But you don’t quite belong here anymore. And you’re not staying.” Glorianna squeezed his hand. “So let’s consider how to get you back to where you need to be.”

“What about me?” Danyal asked.

“Your life, your journey, your choice,” she said, looking into his eyes.

She was the guide and the monster the Shaman Council had hoped he would find—and it was time to make a choice. “What color are my eyes?”

Glorianna gave him a puzzled smile, but there was no hesitation before she said, “They’re blue, with a ring of gray, but whether they look more blue or gray depends on your mood. They’re like Michael’s eyes in that way.”

She saw the man as well as the Shaman, and the wonder of that opened a part of his heart he hadn’t known was closed.

“I would like to return here, because you all have so much to teach me,” Danyal said. “I would like to walk in Sanctuary again and spend time in the Den.” He laughed softly at the dismayed sounds coming from Teaser. “But I need to return to Vision. I need to tell the other Shamans what I’ve learned about the enemy who has come among us. And I…” He looked at Glorianna Belladonna, Guide of the Heart. “And I would like to talk to you. Privately.”

Glorianna shifted in her chair until she could see the Apothecary and the Knife. “And you?”

“If the shadowmen don’t find a way to eliminate this enemy, we’ll be pushed out of our own city,” the Knife said. “So I want to go back.”

The Apothecary nodded. “I could do some good with fresh-picked plants, but I need to be able to get home to do that good.”

Glorianna nodded, then turned to Lee. “What did you bring?”

Standing up, Lee opened the blanket. “You’ve been able to make access points out of a stone bowl or a brick, so I thought these might work as an access point to Vision.”

Nadia, Michael, and Caitlin looked at the gongs and chimes and shook their heads.

Glorianna stared at the gongs, then pushed her chair away from the table. “No. They’re not an access point. Not for me.”

“Lee, where did you get those?” Danyal asked.

“Glorianna?” Yoshani said with a hint of alarm that brought Michael to his feet.

Lee set one of the gongs upright and reached for its mallet. “Maybe you need to hear it in order to—”

“No!” Danyal shouted. Springing to his feet, he rushed around the table, sucking in a breath at the sudden pain in his hip. He grabbed Lee’s wrist so hard the other man dropped the mallet. “Where did you get these?”

“From the temple at the Asylum,” Lee replied. “They were the only things I could think of that were easy to carry and might resonate with Vision.”

Danyal released Lee’s wrist. Then he laid the gong down on the blanket, careful to prevent it from making any sound. “My fault. I’ve been trying to understand you, Lee, and understand how you connect with the world. It’s not our way to share Shaman training with someone who isn’t a Shaman.”

All the color drained out of Lee’s face. “What would have happened if I struck the gong here?”

“These gongs release sorrow,” Danyal said quietly. “And there are people in this room who carry a great deal of sorrow. You could have opened a door in some hearts that I don’t have enough skill to close. In a temple meant for such things, I could do it. But not here.”

Sebastian swore. Michael looked grim.

Lee immediately looked at his sister. “Glorianna.”

She reached out, almost touching the gong. “Even the Eater of the World had no secrets from Belladonna,” she whispered. “At the end, just before I followed the music and found my way back to the Island in the Mist, I left a heart’s hope plant for It. A tiny thread of Light.” She looked up at Lee. “That landscape isn’t closed anymore. Hard to find, even harder to reach, but it isn’t closed.”

“Lady of Light, have mercy on us,” Michael said as he went to Glorianna and placed his hands on her shoulders.

Danyal felt the thorn trees wrapping around the house, felt the teasing prick of thorns against his skin. Not really there. Not yet.

He waved a hand over the gongs. “These are not a good choice for you.” Ignoring the hot ache in shoulder and hip, he leaned over the table and held a hand over each wind chime. He picked up the largest of the three, the one that would have the deepest tones. “But this…” He moved his hand to make the chime ring. “This is joy.”

He felt a change in the rest of the people in the room, but he kept his eyes on Glorianna. The Light within her made her skin glow.

“Where did this come from?” she asked.

“Until they are brought to The Temples, the chimes, like the gongs, are ordinary,” Danyal replied. “But the Shamans breathe a measure of their gift into them in order to serve a specific purpose.”

“Temples,” she said, staring at the wind chime. “But there is also a Place of Light.”

“A portion of The Temples is—or was—open to all who sought comfort or guidance. The rest is the Shamans’ piece of the city. Within that is the piece where the masters live. It is removed from the rest of the city, but not unaware of it.”

“A Place of Light,” Yoshani said.

“And the access point for you, Danyal,” Glorianna said.

“What about the others?” he asked.

She shook her head. “Do you agree, Magician?”

Michael hesitated. “If you’re saying the sound of that chime is your way of reaching Vision, then you, Danyal, and Yoshani are the only ones whose music is in tune with the place.”

“Does that mean the Shaman can get back but we can’t?” the Knife asked.

“It means we found one connection between here and there,” Glorianna replied. “It’s more than we had an hour ago.” She stood up and stepped away from the table. “I need some air. Shaman? Come find me in an hour.” She pushed the screen door open and walked out.

“With all that rain, she’ll be ankle deep in mud before she takes three steps,” the Apothecary said.

A beat of silence. Then Lee said, “No, she won’t.”

Lee found Glorianna working in the flower beds farthest from the house.

“By rights, Zeela should be the one out here pulling weeds,” he said.

“Would Zeela know which plants are weeds?” Glorianna asked.

After a moment’s thought, he shook his head. “I don’t think any of that Tryad knows much about plants, except what they think is pretty.” He knelt beside his sister, immediately soaking the knees of his trousers. “Give me the other pail. I can’t see well enough to tell the weeds from Mother’s plantings, but I can clean up the stones.”

Glorianna handed him the pail, then went back to pulling weeds.

“I’ve been acting like an ass since I got back,” he said.

“A bit. Sebastian and Teaser figure it’s because of the girl. Since they’re incubi, it isn’t surprising they would focus on the female. Mother thinks it’s because you’re scared.”

“What about you? What do you think?”

“I’ve been thinking of Michael’s mother and how, because the boundaries between landscapes aren’t clearly defined in Elandar, she could be in a place where she didn’t really belong. I’ve been thinking of how that must feel.” She stopped working, studied him for a moment, then returned to the weeding. “If you were certain you were just visiting, that being here was temporary, you wouldn’t need to push to make sure you didn’t belong.”

“I’m not trying to get away from all of you,” Lee said.

She laughed quietly. “Yes, you are. And you should.”

“Are those words coming from my sister or a Guide of the Heart?”

She hesitated, then said, “Not your sister.”

Not his sister. Nothing he said right now would surprise her, so he spoke the truth. “I can’t do what I used to do. I can’t travel to check on the bridges connecting landscapes the way I used to. I can’t see well enough to travel alone—and even if I could, I’m tired of that life.”

“I agree,” Glorianna said. “You should be traveling with a companion whenever you need or want to travel.”

“What kind of companion are we talking about?” Would Zhahar be interested in traveling through the parts of Ephemera he knew? Would her sisters object to traveling?

Glorianna made a humming sound and bumped his arm. “Shift over.”

“You didn’t answer the question.”

“A Guide wouldn’t answer such a question, and as your sister, I’m disappointed that you can’t figure that one out for yourself.”

“You’re starting to sound like Sebastian and Teaser.”

“Then you don’t want to know how much speculation Caitlin and Lynnea have indulged in about you and Zhahar.”

Lee sighed. If he had a choice, he’d take incubi curiosity over inquisitive female relatives any day. Except Glorianna.

“I wasn’t trying to hurt you,” he said after they’d worked in silence for a few minutes. “Using the gongs in the temple helped me, so I didn’t think they would hurt you.”

“I know.”

“Do you?” He gathered up a few more stones, then shifted slightly to reach another part of the bed.

“Yes, Lee, I do.” She hesitated. “The gong. It was an access point, but you wouldn’t have wanted to see the landscape I would have found.”

A dark landscape, no doubt. Maybe even a piece of the landscape that trapped the Eater of the World? No, that wasn’t likely unless a piece of Vision had already been part of that landscape. But if there was a dark landscape in Vision now that could resonate with Belladonna…

“Has Michael said anything about me?” Lee asked abruptly. “About what he hears in me?”

“You’re a bit out of tune with the Den and Aurora. Have some sharp notes you didn’t have before. You’ve been to a part of Ephemera the rest of us haven’t seen, so that’s not a surprise to us and shouldn’t be a surprise to you.”

“But what he’s hearing is me? He’s sure of that?”

“What else would he be hearing?”

“Wizards. A Dark Guide.”

She eased back to sit on her heels, so he did the same.

“They hurt me, Glorianna. They got inside my head and…hurt me. They wanted to use me to get to you, and when the words and whispers didn’t work, they used the drugs and eyedrops.” He swallowed hard. “They kept saying that if I tried to get back, they would be close by and would come back with me. To get to you, the person who had revealed what they are. What if all of this was a way to reach your landscapes, to reach you?”

“They let you heal, let a Shaman keep them away from you, in the hope you might lead them back here?”

“Listen to me. It worked, didn’t it? I’m here.”

“You’re here because the Shaman who was protecting you disappeared and was almost killed, and you had the good sense not to stay where the wizards could find you. You got back here because you met Zhahar and realized the significance of that triangle of grass that had appeared in my garden. You brought people with you who have made me wonder some things about the city of Vision, but what you didn’t bring were any wizards. And I would know if there was a Dark Guide in my landscapes.”

The relief produced by her words made him dizzy, but he had to push. “How would you know?”

“Ephemera?” Glorianna said sweetly. “How would you tell me if a wizard besides Sebastian was nearby?”

Moments later, Lee scrambled away from the flower bed and landed on his ass. “Daylight!”

“How easily do you think wizards and Dark Guides are going to be able to hide if stinkweed and turd plants announce their presence?” Glorianna asked.

“Make those things go away,” he gasped. He waited. “Did you make them go away?”

“Yes, but that odor certainly lingers. We should work in another part of the garden.”

They picked up their pails, dumped them in the barrows Nadia was using as holding places, and moved upwind.

“That stink isn’t going to blow in the house, is it?” Lee asked. He didn’t want to think about how his mother would respond to that.

“Give me some credit,” Glorianna muttered.

Not too many stones or weeds in that part of the garden. Of course, he and Sebastian had cleared this patch a few hours ago.

“That young Bridge needs a teacher,” she said.

“Maybe some of the instructors at the school survived.” Not likely, but there were some fully trained Bridges who hadn’t been at the school when the Eater attacked.

“Do you think any of those instructors would work with a Tryad?”

“Why wouldn’t…” He stopped. Considered. “They would see a demon and not a unique species of human.”

“Opportunities and choices,” she said quietly. “What opportunities and choices are you considering, Lee?”

He stopped working and said just as quietly, “At the Asylum, I was a different kind of Bridge. Some of those people weren’t mentally ill; they were just in the wrong place. As much as crossing a bridge in our part of Ephemera can be a risk, as much as we don’t always like the landscape where we end up, we know our hearts brought us to that place. I helped a few people in the Asylum cross over to another landscape. I’d like to help more and work more directly with the people crossing over. And, yes, I would like to help that young Bridge learn to use his gift. And I’d like to do it in a place that wasn’t so damn hot.”

“Something to think about,” Glorianna said. She stood up. “It’s time to talk to Danyal. If Zhahar wanders this way, have her help you with the stones.”

Alone, Lee continued clearing out the stones made from anger—and wondered if he was also clearing out the ground inside himself.

Danyal took a dozen long, slow steps down the path leading away from Nadia’s house. The ground was damp, but it hadn’t rained enough to turn the path muddy. A very confined storm.

He turned and walked back toward the house, feeling the muscles in his burned hip stretch and slowly warm up with the movement. He stopped, rolled his shoulders to warm and stretch those muscles, then turned and repeated the steps—and tried to ignore the fierce itching that had started this morning beneath the skin that was peeling.

The third time he turned back toward the house, Glorianna stood at the end of the path, watching him.

Beautiful woman. Powerful woman. Dangerous woman.

“I’m trying to decide what you’re doing,” Glorianna said.

“I can walk only for so long before the hip hurts and I need to sit,” he replied. “I can sit for only so long before the muscles need to work. I’ve already walked from Lee’s cottage to your mother’s house today, so I didn’t want to walk far.” And he’d thought the paths in the woods would be too muddy for him to walk far.

“You could have paced the length of the yard.”

“I mean no offense, Glorianna, but your mother’s house felt too crowded.”

She laughed. “Shaman, right now, my mother’s house is too crowded.” Her green eyes studied him. “Let’s walk while you tell me about Vision.”

She fell into step beside him, walked the dozen steps, stopping exactly where he had, and turned.

“In the city of Vision, you can find only what you can see,” he said.

“Does that also mean you can see only what you want to find?”

He stumbled. There was no obstacle on the path, but he stumbled. “It’s the same thing.”

“Is it?”

“Are you saying the Shamans don’t want to find this evil that has come to our city?”

“Maybe you shouldn’t be the ones looking.” She waved a hand dismissively. “That’s a conversation for another time. Tell me about your city. The Vision you know.”

“I wasn’t expecting the heat in the southern part of the city. Can’t say I like it much. I grew up in one of the northern communities, close to the mountains. Summers were hot there too, but there was also snow and crisp, invigorating air.”

???

“But not in the summertime,” Glorianna said.

“When I first arrived at the Asylum, there were days when the heat was so stifling, so oppressive, I’d wish—”

“Not. In the. Summertime,” she repeated firmly.

He blinked at her, a little hurt by her tone. Then he thought about what he’d said—and what he’d been about to say—and could guess what Nadia would say if it began snowing over her house.

“In the summertime, we cooled off by going to the swimming hole or sitting on a flat rock with our feet dangling in a stream. We enjoyed snow in the wintertime.”

!!!

He felt Ephemera’s currents of power swirl around him a moment longer before the world wandered off.

“Is it going to be like this from now on?” he asked as they resumed walking.

“Shamans are the voice of the world, are they not?” she replied. “But like most Landscapers in this part of Ephemera or Magicians in Elandar, most Shamans provide balance between the currents of Light and Dark—and it sounds like you have some of the ill-wishing and luck-bringing ability mixed in. But you, Danyal, are Voice-guide. Something in you was willing to be more, to be a true voice for the world. So, yes, it’s always going to be like this now.”

“I don’t have any training for this.”

“Neither did Michael. He knew about the wild child, felt its presence, knew he could make things happen. But the response wasn’t as…direct…as it is now. So he’s learning too.”

“But he has you to teach him.” Feeling her hesitation, he added, “That’s not a way of asking if your commitment to Michael is as strong as it seems. I know it is. But I can’t help feeling a little envy that he doesn’t have to figure this out on his own.”

“And you do because…?”

“I have to go back.” Danyal sighed and stopped walking. “I don’t want to. I’ve found something here among your pieces of the world that my heart has been searching for. But I have to go back.”

“Doing one doesn’t mean you can’t have the other.”

“How do we destroy the Dark Guides, Glorianna?”

“How do you cleanse all dark feelings from the human heart?”

“We can’t.”

She nodded. “You can’t. Ephemera manifests what is in the heart. So it shaped the Guides in response to the cries of many hearts that recognized they needed someone to stand between them and the world. The Dark Guides were also shaped in response to a need. They have walked in the world for a very long time, Danyal. When I took a chance and performed Heart’s Justice outside the walls of Wizard City, I did it to save Sebastian. And I did it to take Wizard City out of the world. But in doing so, I stripped away the human mask from all the Dark Guides.”

“So it’s possible one of them arrived in Vision years ago?”

“It’s possible one crossed over a resonating bridge and found your city. Alone, he could have influenced hearts, helped those who fed the Dark currents. But his efforts were always balanced by the Shamans.”

“How do you know this Dark Guide is male?”

“Their females have no ability to wear a human mask. They’re feral breeders who had to be hidden from people,” she replied. “Wizards are always male, and the Dark Guides are the elite among the wizards.”

“I see,” he said softly.

“Now, with the Dark Guides exposed and the remaining wizards cut off from their stronghold—”

“They found a bit of rot within the city that matched their own. Because they wanted to find that rot, they found the city.”

“Most likely.” Glorianna sighed. “Danyal, your city has already changed. The Shamans have to change with it. You have to learn to see the enemy, because they can see you. You can hide pieces of your city, but you can’t hide the city. Another part of Ephemera is aware of you—a part that has people who understand how to connect two pieces of the world with a bridge. The wizards have found you. Now you have to decide what to do.”

Danyal shook his head, not in denial but in weary frustration. “I was sent to the Asylum because the Shaman Council consulted bone readers and fortune tellers and concluded that I had the best chance of finding what we needed. A madman and a teacher. A guide…” He hesitated. “And a monster. I found them, but I don’t see how that has changed anything.”

“It changed everything, Shaman. It altered your landscape.” Glorianna linked her arm through his. “Come on. Sebastian and I need to check Tryadnea’s border. Then we’ll all sit down and decide what is going to be done.”