Page 62 of The Shadowed Oracle
“Let’s see, we are…here,” Dean said, slapping his finger down on the map they’d been poring over for the last ten minutes. “Directly between Lestrian and Banebrook.”
He sat next to Ingrid at a large circular dining table, explaining where they might find possible havens. It was late, the dark woods only lit by stars and luminescent plant life, and the two of them were alone now that the twins were tucked away in their bedrooms for some needed sleep.
Dean continued. “Both countries, unfortunately, have been staunch followers of the old ways. Loyal servants of Makkar and Hydor. But Karis and my mother chose this spot for the portal carefully. We can take the backroads in any direction.”
Ingrid nodded, trying to soothe herself with the promise of this information. She desperately wanted to put her trust in Dean and jump headfirst, as she’d promised. Yet, the urge to stay put, even for a little while, was strong. A quaint, isolated, candlelit cabin was exactly the kind of place Ingrid had pictured when urging her companions to flee. The kind of place she’d like to find for herself, someday.
But, as with most things Ingrid became attached to, it couldn’t last.
After this late-night deliberation, quickly covering the possible allies and where they sat on the map, they’d be packing up and heading back out into that unforgiving forest.
Seeing as the options were limited at best, Raidinn and Tyla had gladly shirked the responsibility of being involved in the discussion, and the decision had been left to her and Dean. She understood why. If the twins didn’t have any input, they couldn’t feel the deathly shame of leading them all to their demise.
“The most practical place is here.” Dean extended a finger toward a large territory in the south. “The kingdom of Maradenn. They’ve resisted Hydor’s attacks and rhetoric for centuries. Their first ruler was the brother of the first Oracle, who fought alongside her in the Great War. And their current king, Nestor, fought alongside Karis for years.”
“So, he’ll be sympathetic to our situation?”
Dean’s lips thinned, curling into a frown. “I don’t know if that’s the word I’d use to describe Nestor. He’s mostly known for his ability to keep his peopleoutof wars, and way the hell out of other Viator’s business.”
Ingrid sighed. “That’s our best option?”
“Yes,” Dean said hesitantly, then cocked his head, realizing he wasn’t selling it very well. “But Maradenn is nearly impenetrable. Two inner walls protect the castle, which itself could fit Nestor’s entire army and most of his subjects. And his army is, for lack of a better word, large. One of only a few legions Makkar fears. They’d make a perfect ally. If, you know, their king hasn’t abandoned hope already.”
“And if he has abandoned hope? We tell him what exactly?”
“That we have an army on Earth. All he’d need to do is let them come through his portal.”
“And you think he’d let us?”
Dean paused here, giving her a strange, extended look. The newest member of his team might have been reluctant to accept her role as some sort of savior, but shewasthorough. The insistence on meeting the murderer following her for weeks wasn’t an outlier—she was always like this. If she set her sights on something, that’s all she saw, all she thought about, all she wanted until the job was done.
“Yes, I do think he’ll let us. He has to.”
“Why?” Ingrid’s octave rose as she spoke. “Won’t he be a little skeptical? Also, isn’t the portal sacred or something? You said it was always guarded. Won’t he?—”
“It’s guarded, yes,” Dean managed to get a word in. “But once we tell him that we can help win this war, I think he’ll welcome us. At least I hope.”
“It’s not just us, though.” She paused. “He needs to welcome ourarmy.” The word “team” seemed ill-fitting after the conversation she’d had a few hours before. When Ingrid was forced to face the reality of where they were, and how small their numbers were, she had asked about the rest of the world-walkers Karis had collected on Earth, holding on to a prayer that they’d give her good news.
What she got was better than she could’ve imagined.
Thousands, they said. The result of Karis’s search for those exiled and stranded Viator living on Earth. The lost ones in search of an answer for why they felt so different, and why those haunting feelings came to them in the night. There were thousands of them.
But first, Dean and the other three would need a way to make contact. Every line to their safehouses and bases was unreachable in Ealis, and Karis had only built one portal. The creation of which had taken so much out of the Oracle that it nearly killed him, leaving him bedridden for weeks, so he never tried again.
Above all, they needed Maradenn’s portal.
“And if he refuses,” Dean said, “We’ll just find a way to do it without his permission.”
“You mean lie to him?”
“More like omitting,” Dean smirked. “We do have one advantage in our small numbers. We don’t pose much of a threat.” He glanced at her, adding, “As long as no one figures out what you are.”
Ingrid felt nauseous at the thought of it. Of being discovered. Of ruining something three decades in the making. She peered down at the old cartography and noted the distance from where she currently sat and the proposed destination—the Kingdom of Maradenn. It would be a long trek, even if they’d had transportation, but as it stood, they had only their legs.
Feeling the tug of modern comforts already, Ingrid waved a hand over the map and said, “Okay, so, Maradenn is the number one option. Which I’m not opposed to. But going by this map, I’m guessing this will take, what? Three weeks on foot?” She breathed in through her teeth. “Is the second option any closer? I am being hunted, in case you forgot.”
“I’m aware. We have ways of concealing ourselves now, don’t worry.” He swung a leg under the table and slid one of his bagscloser using his foot. From it, he pulled one of the canning jars he’d packed during their impromptu getaway.
