The Diamond Sphinx (The Lost Ancients Book 6) Read online

  “Yes, yes. Things went off track when the Ancients were lost. Hasn’t been right since. That was why my sister and I came here, you know.” She came over and handed me a cup of tea.

  One I almost dropped. I knew Siabiane was old, even older than the other elves I’d met. “Older than the Ancients?”

  She was stirring some honey into her tea and looked up with a grin. “Older than their demise anyway. We came to this land when a massive disturbance was felt by our seers back in our homeland. Unfortunately, we got here after the Ancients had vanished and the syclarions had been severely diminished. We’ve done what we can, but I fear things are coming back that never should have existed and history might repeat itself. But in an even more catastrophic manner.”

  The tea was perfect; something I’d always admired Mathilda for being able to do. The flavor faded at her words. “Worse than the Ancients being destroyed?”

  “Yes. And you’ve felt it too, or you wouldn’t be running away with two of the cursed relics.” She looked to me, and then up to Irving.

  “I didn’t have much of a choice.” The sapphire manticore was trapped inside of me. It would only come out upon my death. Or when I turned into whatever monster I’d become at the Spheres. It didn’t help that it jumped back inside me right when I returned to myself.

  The basilisk had been alive—at least in the sense it had been able to move around and go after victims. Irving had swallowed it. Twice.

  “But you would have, regardless,” she said. “I know you, probably better than you know yourself. You know those pieces are deadly. They were with someone with a good heart originally, yet they caused one species to disappear and another to regress hundreds of years. You know what would happen if they were wielded by someone evil with an agenda.”

  “You’ve used the word disappear now twice. Don’t you mean killed?”

  “I always use the right word, even when it makes people unhappy. I believe we do not know for certain what happened to the Ancients, beyond that they are gone. It would be foolish to assume that the only avenue for their being gone was being killed.” She nodded then looked pointedly to my pack. “Hello, ladies.”

  My pack was flopping around as three pairs of tiny hands tried to find the way out. I finally undid the tie and the faeries stumbled out.

  An orange head popped up first, and Garbage yelled and ran to Mathilda. The other two scrambled to their feet and did the same.

  “They sometimes forget they can fly,” I said as Mathilda watched them run. “Not sure exactly why.”

  Garbage hit first and flew up to hover in front of Mathilda’s face, the other two followed suit.

  “Is good. Fix. Good. Stay safe.” Garbage was positively rambling and was pointing to me and nodding furiously.

  The other two landed and started jumping around on Mathilda. There was so much genuine affection for her that I was almost starting to feel left out.

  “I know, girls, you have done well. But your task isn’t over.”

  Garbage flew to me and patted the side of my face. “Fix. Save. Is good.”

  At first I thought she meant that since they had fixed and saved me, they were good and done with their task. Then the other two flew back to me as well.

  “Is ours.” Leaf said.

  Crusty was silent but kissed my cheek.

  “Good. They know this isn’t over and they honestly adore you. I wasn’t sure you wouldn’t have dumped them—they can be difficult.”

  I started laughing, that was an understatement. “I made a promise to be their guardian. And even though you left, that promise stood. Although it looks like it was the other way around as well.” There had clearly been some deal between the faeries and Mathilda as well as the one between her and me.

  Mathilda’s face stilled and a line crept between her brows. “If I were to say the promise is done, that none of you have to watch for the others. Would you leave?” She wasn’t just watching me, although I was her primary focus. Her eyes darted to the faeries as they flew and bounced between us.

  I didn’t even hesitate. “They’re my family now. I wouldn’t leave them—ever.” Had she asked me that a year ago, my answer might have been different. However, the past year had changed many things—one of them was how I felt about the faeries.

  “Ours,” the faeries said in unison.

  Mathilda nodded with a smile. “Good. The road ahead of you all is far too difficult to leave to the powers of a promise or even a geas. Geas can be broken with sacrifice. Love can’t be broken.” She looked to the window and true dawn appeared as if waiting for her. “Now, how about some breakfast? We have a few years to catch up on. And I do want to hear about my sister.”

  By the time the girls and I had polished off a mountain of scrambled eggs, toast, sausage, and more tea, she was caught up. More or less.

  “I feel this Alric person is of far more importance than you are letting on.”

  The girls were in food stupors, so it was just Mathilda and me. There was no reason I should feel odd telling her about Alric, but I skirted as much information about him as I could. Obviously not enough, judging by the look on her face.

  “Fine. He and I are involved.” As I spoke, I realized why I hadn’t wanted to say it. I’d run away from the love of my life. Not something normal people did.

  Garbage was barely awake but managed to make a rude noise. Soon all three were making kissy noises.

  “Yes, thank you for the sound effects,” I said. “I’m in love with him.” It felt odd to say, but good too.

  Mathilda laughed and tilted her head. “And he feels the same.” Her smile dropped. “But you fled all of them—even him.”

  I set my teacup down with a sigh. I couldn’t really explain what I’d felt when I’d changed. I had no idea what I changed into, or why it happened. How could I explain it to her?

  “There was a battle. You’re right, an evil mage is trying to gain the relics. He wanted something at the Spheres. I thought it was the basilisk, and it probably was part of it since he’s trying to gather all of the relics. But he was trying to raise an army of undead. Victims of the basilisk relic over the past thousand years or so. I was able to stop that. But there was something more…something else.” I shook my head as that moment of my change flooded over me. The Sphere exploding. The pain as my body tore itself apart as it changed.

  “The Spheres.” Mathilda’s face went a few shades paler. “What happened to the Spheres?”

  “One was destroyed. That explosion seemed to be his focus for the spell he used in raising the undead out of the sand. And part of how I changed.” I’d not gotten to that part in my tale yet, but her fear scared me almost worse than that battle had.

  “You changed.” Her eyes were sad. “I wasn’t sure it would happen. It was hard to really tell when I first found you. You were so lost.” She seemed to be talking to herself more than to me. “What did you change into?”

  I pulled back at that. I figured if she knew I might turn into something she’d at least know what. “I have no idea. What did you think I was going to turn into and why didn’t you warn me? Was it something in the exploding Sphere that changed me?”

  “I didn’t know you’d turn into anything. I just knew there was a lot missing from the person I’d found. You had physically recovered, not your memories, but you were you when I left.” She shook her head. “I believed you were someone who’d gone through a brutal attack and needed the time to recover. I left when I believed you had recovered, but maybe there was still more. I am sorry.”

  I reached for some more tea, but it was cold. Refilling the cup gave me a chance to sort things out. “So, the Sphere wasn’t the cause? That thing I turned into was the real me?” I was proud that I didn’t scream, nor cry, nor run out of the cottage. I did almost spill hot tea on myself before I set the cup back down.

  “I have no answers; not yet at any rate. I’d say the shattering of the Sphere was somehow related. But it didn’t change you.”
She reached over and lifted my chin. “This is who you are. But whatever you became might be you as well. That doesn’t mean it’s a bad thing.”

  I kept thinking of how pleased Nivinal looked when the Sphere shattered and my change began. He’d expected something to happen, something beyond his undead minions and finding the basilisk. In addition, if an evil mage was pleased with my transformation, there couldn’t be anything good about it.

  Chapter Three

  Mathilda shook her head. “There are dark things afoot, there’s no denying that. But right now, I need help with my garden, and that takes precedence.”

  I wasn’t sure exactly how to process that, but I also didn’t think I was ready to find out what I’d turned into—providing she even knew. And manual labor was a good way to forget things.

  Except for forgetting that I’d been sleeping badly on the ground for a month.

  After a few hours of pulling weeds and vegetables from her wild garden patches, I just wanted to curl up in a pile of leaves and sleep. Parts I didn’t even know existed were finding ways to hurt.

  “There, I think we’ve done what we can,” Mathilda said. She dusted off her hands on her skirts, grabbed the basket of vegetables, and headed toward the cottage. “And my guest bed is far more comfortable than leaves.” She held up her hand. “No, again, still not mind reading, you stared at the pile of leaves near that oak for a full two minutes.”

  I paused for a moment, and then followed her in.

  The faeries had been napping the entire time we were out there but flew up when we entered. It was hard to tell, but they looked guilty.

  “Go out. Back later,” Garbage said as they flew for the door.

  I nodded to Bunky and Irving. “Follow them. Keep them out of trouble, and one of you come back if it gets ugly.”

  The constructs both bobbed in their version of a nod and flew out after the faeries. That had been our standard operating procedure during the past month—so far they hadn’t needed to send one of them back.

  “You really have a good group.” Mathilda put the kettle on for more tea and started gathering cheese, meat, and bread for lunch. “Both those five, and the ones following you.”

  I almost spit out my tea. “The ones following me?” I would have loved to spend more time with Mathilda, for the food and bed if nothing else. But I wasn’t ready to deal with what I’d become and trying to explain that to my nearest and dearest—even if I’d thought about it briefly.

  She nodded but seemed to be carefully ignoring my panic. “Your friends have been on your trail for a bit. But, since they didn’t find it for quite a while, they are a few days from finding you. They love you, you know. I can feel their energy.”

  I trusted Mathilda, but I wasn’t sure about that. My biggest issue was that I might hurt them, but there was a tiny worm of doubt that they were upset at what I’d become. “Can this cottage still move? Could we just keep staying ahead of them?” Maybe there was a way I could have both comfort and seclusion. And I could put off dealing with everything a bit longer.

  “Yes, it does, but no, we aren’t moving. Whatever you became is a part of you and so are those people. You can’t keep hiding.”

  I sat back in the chair and mindlessly ate the food she’d placed before me. I was well and truly trapped. If Mathilda decided I needed to be reunited with them, that’s what would happen. Another check box in the similarities between her and her sister.

  “What if I change again and hurt someone? I really wasn’t in control when it happened. I could have killed all of them and not noticed.” I put down the bit of cheese I’d been nibbling.

  “Yet you didn’t.” She came closer and peered intently into my eyes. “I don’t for one moment believe you are evil. I never would have left the faeries with you if I had even a doubt. You might not have been aware of them as your friends when you transformed, but I’d warrant that you did avoid them with a purpose. You will not hurt them. I sense that things are happening too fast now. I can’t explain more than it’s a feeling. You can’t hide anymore.”

  I sighed. I hated it when a voice outside of my head agreed with the logical side inside my head. “So do we wait? Go find them?”

  Mathilda nodded to herself. “We wait. However, I have a feeling you’ve been betrayed by the faeries. I think they went to go help the rest of your friends find you.”

  That would explain the slightly guilty looks they’d given. Even when they were raining destruction over entire towns, they never looked guilty. And most likely the minkie interference was gone too. I ran my fingers through my hair. “Do you think I have time for a nap?”

  “Aye. They continue to feel far enough away that it should be a while before they find us. The faeries can help direct them, but won’t speed them up. Go rest, I’ll wake you when the faeries return.”

  I stumbled down the short hall and collapsed into the guest room I’d used long ago. I was out the minute my head hit the pillow.

  My dreams were scattered. Images of a life in Beccia, the one I’d had before this entire thing started. Working as a digger. Hanging out at the Shimmering Dewdrop. Going home to an empty house. They merged with images of my friends and me on the run, fighting, getting hurt, never relaxing. I woke up with a start. I knew which path I needed to be on. My old life was gone, something I thought I’d come to terms with a while ago—but now knew for certain.

  “Is awake!” The voice came a second before three bodies bounced on my gut. Three tiny bodies that managed to hit with way more force than their size would indicate.

  “We good!” Crusty yelled as she leapt higher.

  I rolled to my side, dislodging the tiny faery projectiles. “Yes, I’m awake. What were you three doing?” I noticed that Bunky and Irving were hovering above us, but neither seemed upset.

  “We find them!” Crusty yelled again. I was groggy enough that her yelling was worse than usual. Unfortunately, I couldn’t grab her and make her shut up.

  Garbage noticed my reaction though and walked up from my belly to wave a tiny finger in my face. “Is time. No more hiding.” She tilted her chin up as if daring me to contradict her. “We right.”

  I wasn’t sure if Mathilda had influenced the faeries or if they’d decided this on their own, but I had run out of options. Especially when even my own mind was working against me. I had run away with just the thought of saving my friends. And fear at what I’d become. But I’d found no answers on my journey. And enough of my friends were magic users that hopefully they could take me out if things went bad.

  “No bad thoughts.” Leaf shook her head. They could only hear my thoughts if I focused and sent directly to them—supposedly. I wasn’t sure how true that was.

  “Are you inside my head?” I narrowed my eyes.

  All three tiny faces looked as innocent as possible.

  Mathilda stuck her head in the open doorway. “Well, your sleep will be off. But you needed that nap. Have some dinner; tell me more about Siabiane, then back to sleep.”

  I pushed the faeries off of me; Crusty tumbled a bit before joining the other two in the air. I did feel better, but wasn’t sure I could sleep again that soon. Who was I kidding, if Mathilda wanted me to sleep, I’d be lucky if I made it to the bed.

  She had set a nice dinner with places for her and me and a single large plate for the faeries. Thinking about her knocking me out brought up another change since I’d last seen her—I was no longer a magic sink.

  “Did you notice anything else about me?”

  She took a long sip of tea. “Like your magic? Aye. But it’s an odd magic and I didn’t even know how aware of it you were.”

  “Odd? How? Can you teach me to use it like you do? Alric’s tried to teach me, but it’s going slowly.”

  “And?” She nodded. “There’s something else there.”

  I’d just taken a mouthful of stew, so I had a few moments to compose my thoughts. Not that it would do much good to lie to her. “I think he might be deliberately
going slowly. Maybe because my magic is odd?”

  “The magic you carry is closer to that of the elves than human or other species. I doubt that is the reason. However, I agree with his caution. You were a complete magic sink when I met you.” She narrowed her eyes, as if trying to see inside my head. “That does not simply change.” After a few intense moments, she pulled back. “Which means that one of the states was false. Either you were not truly a magic sink, but were spelled, or drained so heavily that even I couldn’t tell the truth, or your current magic is simply a spell. One that I also can’t pick through. One way or another, a powerful spellcaster was involved.”

  “So you can’t teach me?”

  “Now, I didn’t say that. I can, but I agree with your young swain’s thoughts—slowly is best. And more of the organic magic, I think. Working with natural impulses.”

  I thought of the one spell I did well, push. “Agreed, I seem to do best with those.”

  “There, now that’s settled, I need to hear all about your adventures. I would have asked you while we were working, but that nectar thief is lurking and he doesn’t need to hear this.” She put the tea and two cups on a tray and carried it over to the small fire.

  “Is he dangerous?”

  “Only to my supply,” she said. “But the faeries will be on watch for him tonight, won’t you?” She waved a hand to where the girls were just rising from the table. “My nectar still is behind the cottage, and I have promised them a bit if they keep the thief away.”

  “We guard!” Crusty zipped too high and barely pulled back before she smacked into the ceiling. The other two also flew around the room but refrained from slamming into things.

  “You sleep.” Garbage stopped in front of me and gave me a stern look. Once she decided I was sufficiently cowed, she led her troop out.

  Mathilda watched them go through a small gap in her window with a thoughtful expression. “You have more who have joined you?”

  “Another twenty, but I left them to watch the others.”