Fly or Fall

Chapter Thirty-Two

"It's not too late to change your mind," he sounded sympathetic.

She laughed. It wasn't a humorous laugh. It was bitter and jarred, like the sound of ice cracking. "It is."

The other voice sighed, exasperated, as if he'd made this argument before and he no longer had the energy for it. "Have you made any progress with your other mission?" He changed the subject.

"No." Sage heard her shifting. "I haven't had much time. The healer girl has been watching me like a hawk."

"You think she suspects you?" Sage's breath hitched; she didn't like the sound of the underlying threat in his voice.

"No," Layla waved him off. "She knows nothing. She's only concerned for my wellbeing."

"Okay, but you need to find the artefact soon," he warned. "The Wythynians will not give us much time. If we don't do this..." he left the threat hanging the air as if the mere mention of the Wythynians was implication enough of the consequences of failure.

Layla took a moment to say, "I understand." Then she added, "And your mission. Is everything ready."

Sage could hear the smile in his voice as he said, "Yes. Everything is in order. Before the week's end the empress will be dead."

>>>>>>>

"Are you sure this is safe?" Anna asked as she eyed the gate warily.

"As sure as I can be." Kellen came to stand beside her. "No one has used this gate in nearly a century. I'm not even sure it still works but if it does, it's the fastest way off this island."

"Okay, but why Teri'are?" Kol moved to stand on Anna's other side. "Couldn't the gate take us directly to Ellimer?"

"That's not how gates work," Hae explained. "One gate is tethered to another, linked through magic and can only open where the other gate is."

"And that other gate is in Teri'are," Kellen filled in.

Hae frowned crouching in front of the gate. It was a large arch built from black stone and brandished with several Volenoth symbols. The symbols were etched into each of the stones. She let her finger graze the first symbol at the bottom of the arch. It was the symbol for Ulah, the Gomean goddess of the oceans and life. It was two hooks side by side, a curved line crossing over the top of the second hook and another curved line crossing over the midpoint of the first hook and then intersecting with the other curved line at the top of both hooks. Ulah was also the goddess of protection and safe journeys, so it wasn't an odd occurrence to see her symbol on the gate. The other symbols were spells cast upon the gate, she recognized a few but not all.

Getting back on her feet she turned to Kellen. "What I don't understand though," she said, "is why there's a gate here on this island. Paralous was supposedly a deserted island before the arrival of your tribe. How did this gate windup here? Who built it? And why?"

Kellen turned his spring gaze from Anna to her. "I'm not certain," he told her. "I only know what I've been told. The gate is the reason my tribe is on this island. A hundred years ago when the war started my tribe fled Teri'are to this island using the gate. And it hasn't been used since then."

"Okay, so if the gate does work and we end up on Teri'are, what then? How are we supposed to get to Ellimer from there?" Kol questioned.

"There are other gates," Cleya said coming from behind them. She had her shawl wrapped tightly around herself to keep warm from the night chill. "There are sixteen gates all across Omora," she went on. "Nine of which were destroyed during the war with the Wythynians. The remaining seven have remained a closely guarded secret among our tribe. But I am choosing to trust the three of you with this secret." She pulled out a rolled-up piece of parchment from her shawl. "By the will of Mou, may you find success in your quest."