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    NINETEEN


    <h2 style="text-transform: uppercase">TOMFORD</h2>


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    “I’m telling you, we’re going to Vinden,” Wade said from back in the boat where he’d spent the entirety of their journey providing gusts of wind for their sails.


    Tomford, being a Vatner, had been on quite a few different types of vessels, but none that could move as fast as this one. Even taking the long way around the continent, they’d reached Loft within a day and half since they departed Fyrie. Over land, it would have taken Tomford more than double that.


    “What if the rhinn are still holding the city? Or worse, monsters?” Emeryn asked. Her face looked paler than usual. Her mood had been sour ever since stepping into the boat.


    “Then we’ll know,” Wade responded, steering them toward land.


    “You want to search for your family?” Tomford asked.


    Wade kept his eyes on the city as they approached. “No, they won’t be here. I want to know if the Loftians have reclaimed the capital or not. Also, Loft has far better ships than this piece of junk. We’ll need to switch either way.”


    “I sense many mages,” Freyn said.


    They were near enough to see the outline of a city now, but Vinden was still far off on the horizon.


    “You can sense them from this far away?” Emeryn asked, impressed.


    “I can.”


    Wade suddenly started laughing.


    “Have you gone completely mad now?” Emeryn asked.


    Tomford followed the Loftian’s gaze but couldn’t spot anything amusing. Then he saw a flicker of movement. “What is that?”


    “The welcoming committee, of course!” Wade shouted. “See the flag? It’s blue!”


    “I don’t see a flag,” Emeryn said.


    “You’re blind. Don’t worry, you’ll see it soon enough. We’re spending the night here and then we’ll leave in the morning. There are only a few hours of light left.”


    “Fine,” Emeryn grunted. “You don’t have to convince me to get away from the water, even if it’s just for the night.”


    Wade peered at her. “We’ll be spending plenty of time on the open water, geomancer. You better get used to it. Won’t be a pleasant journey if you’re going to empty your stomach every couple of hours.”


    Emeryn’s face paled further. Tomford tuned out their teasing and bickering, thinking back to his time with Od.


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    * * *


    Tomford let his hand skim the surface of the water as their skiff traveled across the lake without the need for sail or oar.


    “Do you like the water?” the old man asked. It stretched out as far as the eye could see in all directions. It was the largest lake in Maydian and would normally take more than a day to cross. At the speed they were traveling, Tomford knew they would make the crossing by nightfall.


    “It’s water.”


    “Without it, all life would perish. Yet, you say it has nothing to do with healing.”


    “That’s not the same, and you know it. What I was trying to explain was how it is not required when a healer uses their power to heal.”


    “Oh, but you’re wrong.”


    “How so?” Tomford asked.


    “Belief matters tremendously in matters of magic, and I don’t mean only the religious kind.”


    “I don’t follow.”


    “A man who believes he needs holy water to heal cannot cure disease or knit together flesh without it. One who believes she has to touch the water to control it will very much need to do so. Belief shapes everything around us.”


    Tomford let his hand submerge under the cool surface of the water. “You’re saying I could heal someone without even touching them?”


    “I’m asking you why you ever thought you needed contact to heal?”


    “It’s how I did it the first time, healing my friend’s broken limb. Then, when they forced me into the priesthood, that’s how it was taught to me.”


    “And so, you believed it to be true. In your mind, you need physical connection, rather than just reaching out with your power.”


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    Tomford nodded, frowning.


    Od continued, “But a hydromancer can search for water underground without touching it. A pyromancer does not need to touch a flame to ignite their powers.”


    “Geomancers need to touch the ground,” Tomford argued. It was true for all of them, except for Emeryn. Though, was it because Sarien did something to her to change that?


    “Truly?” Od asked, winking. “Reach out with your magic and see if there’s anything wrong with me. Tell yourself it is possible. Hold it for truth.”


    Tomford narrowed his eyes but did as the old man asked, drawing on his inner stream. Instinctively, he reached out with his hand before stopping himself and pulling it back.


    Healing was possible without touch. Holding that claim firmly in his mind, he attempted to reach out with the soft glow surrounding him. It pulsed and strained for a moment. Tomford concentrated with all the mental strength he could muster. The glow appeared to stretch before returning to him. It was impossible.


    “Can’t be done,” Tomford said, putting his hand back into the cold water.


    Od raised an eyebrow. “What are you babbling about, Tomfool? You almost did it.”


    “How do you know? Other healers are the only ones able to see my glow.”


    Tomford’s hand suddenly seized and he slapped himself in the face. It fell limply back into the lake.


    “Don’t do that!”


    “Stop taking your own assumptions for fact!” Od barked.


    Tomford crossed his arms and glared at the old bastard. “You’re starting to get on my nerves.”


    Od waved his arm across the water. “You’re free to get off at any time.”


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    Emeryn


    The group conceded to Emeryn’s insistence that they needed to stay near the boat during the night. Though Wade threw up his hands in exasperation, she argued that there was no way of knowing what lurked in the streets of Vinden. Their mission was of too great import to take on unnecessary risk.


    Sarien had told them as much and Goslin was all too eager to concur, since it meant she would stay out of harm’s way. Emeryn smiled and hoped he took his own advice and stayed away from danger. Knowing Goslin, she didn’t have much hope. If anything, he’d be on the front lines of any assault. Perhaps the monsters wouldn’t return, she hoped.


    The Loftian ignored her sage advice and disappeared at the first possible opportunity. Emeryn and the others bunkered themselves in an abandoned family home near the shipyard for the night.


    Emeryn understood why Wade left. Having the chance to meet up with old friends and check up on the status of his own home country was invaluable. He’d led the Loftians against the invaders. If she were in his boots, she’d want to make sure the capital had truly returned to them.


    When they approached land earlier, Loftians greeted them. They spoke of the invasion and the subsequent occupation of rhinn, priests, and the monsters they brought. But most of all, they spoke with steel in their voice of rebuilding and of being their own masters again.


    So yes, she understood Wade’s need to see for himself if what the Loftians said was true. Emeryn just hoped that the surly, foul-mouthed Loftian didn’t return the next day to announce he intended to stay behind. His role was critical to their mission. Without his expertise and wind magic, they’d never arrive at the mysterious Dark Continent.


    Though Lana claimed that Wade was not someone who would abandon a task half-completed. He’d grumble and swear, and put himself in charge because he thought it was necessary, but he would not leave. Emeryn hoped her friend was right.


    As it turned out, she needn’t have worried.


    “You aren’t ready to leave yet?” Wade asked, his voice booming through the house.


    “Soon enough,” Emeryn said, drinking from a mug of tea. She found the leaves in one of the cabinets and it smelled of earth and berries, reminding her of home. “What did you learn?”


    “Very few were actually killed in the invasion. The rhinn are gone and the monsters with them. The survivors are rebuilding the city. They’ll be fine. I’ve also informed them the rhinn are mostly on our side these days. There were not pleased to hear it.”


    “What of the council?”


    “All dead, I’m afraid. The bastards tried to fight back and when that didn’t work, their next ingenious idea was to try to start an uprising. The priests of Wyndemir executed them for it.”


    “But isn’t Lana?”


    Wade nodded. “Lana’s father was among them. At least the rest of her family was spared.”


    “Poor girl,” Tomford mumbled, descending the stairs to join them. “She doesn’t even know.”


    “Everyone has lost someone in this war. I’ll tell her when I see her next.”


    “You’re not staying behind?” Emeryn asked.


    “What? Of course not. We need to get to those sleeping gods or whatever and bring them back, or Vinden won’t be around much longer. Correct?”


    “Correct,” Emeryn said.


    “Then let’s go already. I’ve secured us a proper vessel. It’s time for the open water.”


    “Do they have any injured in need of healing?” Tomford asked.


    Wade straightened and gave Tomford a weighing look before sighing and shaking his head. “I’m sure there are plenty who would treasure your help, but this is not the time for it. You cannot help everyone, healer.”


    “He’s right,” Emeryn agreed. It was an admirable suggestion from Tomford, but they needed to be on their way.


    Tomford’s skill was precious. They would need it where they were travelling. Finding and retrieving the imprisoned gods was just one part of the grand plan.


    Taera was on the dark continent. She and the growers were searching for the other gods as well. Dealing with the Kin’s god meant pain and injury, if their next encounter turned out anything like the last. Sarien wanted them to capture Taera and bring her back with them. How this was to be accomplished was anyone’s guess.


    As they drifted back out onto the water, now in a considerably larger boat with a giant sail, Emeryn thought back to her last interaction with Taera. A sense of panic rose in her, but she quelled it.


    Facing Taera again without a solid plan meant defeat. None of the attacks she’d launched on the god were effective. At best, she was able to break her physical form which slowed her down momentarily. It was enough to escape, but not enough to stop Taera’s terrible reign over the Kin.


    Emeryn’s own primary objective was to free her people. No longer would they cower under their broken god’s power. No longer would their minds be dominated. That, she vowed.


    She knew she needed immense power to break Taera’s hold. To that end, she would need to use a technique she’d been mulling over since childhood.


    It was time to make the earth quake.


    The boat jolted and Emeryn hurried to the side, ejecting what little she ate for breakfast.