“Now, tell me what the hell is going on,” Marco said. “What is Tir a Tir? We’re supposed to be looking for Tir Yadar!” He’d been crankier than usual ever since getting stabbed.

“We are,” Ellerie replied. She’d refused to speak openly while they were still out on the streets, so Josip had found an inn that had enough rooms for everyone, plus a private dining room for the group to get together. “We have a good idea of the route to Tir Yadar, but we didn’t know where to begin. Now we do. Tir a Tir is the starting point.”

“We think it’s the starting point,” Bobo said.

Ellerie glared at him, but had to concede the point. The book had been ambiguous about where the author’s journey had begun. “Fine,” she said. “We think the road starts in Tir a Tir, but we don’t know for certain. This is Tir a Tir, though. The amulet I was holding earlier shows a skyline with seven mountain peaks that could be seen from the city. It matches the mountains we saw here. The heights, the silhouettes, the relative positions—it’s an exact match, or it would be if there weren’t so many buildings in the way. The city must have been smaller once.”

Josip said, “I grew up in Bancyra and I’ve never heard of Tir a Tir.”

“It was a very long time ago,” Bobo said. “Names and languages change over the centuries. It’s possible the entire city fell to dust, and Aencyr was built in the same location.”

Ellerie said, “Now that we know where to start our search, we need to plan the next steps. According to the route we’re following …” She hesitated. Marco didn’t know about the book yet, but she couldn’t keep it secret any longer. It was too difficult to explain what they were doing without it. “In the book we’re following, the author went due south first, to a shrine of some sort. Bobo translates it as the all-shrine, but we’re not sure what that means, and it’s unlikely that it still exists. Josip, do you know of any shrines to the south?”

“You mean a shrine to the old gods?” the man asked. “There are still a few around if you know where to look. I don’t know of any in that direction, but there are some people here I could ask.”

“It would be good to know for sure so we can decide how far south to go, but if you can’t find anything, we might be able to skip that part. After the author visited the shrine, he went east along something called the valtos road.”

“A swamp road? That’s why you asked me about swamps?”

“Yes,” Bobo said. “We’ve found the mountains we were looking for, so if this is the right spot, the swamp is probably the one you showed us on the map. Silent Waters, you called it?”

“Nera Athoryvos, yes, but I don’t know of any road going through it.”

“Can you ask around and see if you can find someone who’s crossed it?” Ellerie said.

Josip nodded.

“That’s all you have to go on?” Marco asked Ellerie. “What if you’re wrong?”

“Then I’m wrong,” she said. “Varsin knew this whole expedition was a risk. I didn’t make any promises that we’d find what we’re looking for.”

“Then what happens? You’d just give up and waste our entire investment?”

“It won’t be wasted,” Ellerie said with sudden certainy. “We still know more than we’ve ever known before. Regardless of whether this is the starting point, Tir a Tir and Tir Yadar must be on the same continent. I found other sources to corroborate that even before I left Terevas. And the winged snakes just confirm it.”

“The what?”

Bobo said, “The book we’re following mentions winged snakes during the author’s journey to Tir Yadar. According to every book I can find on the topic, winged snakes only live in Cordaea, mostly around Bancyra. Even if Aencyr isn’t the right starting point, we’re still close.”

“But it would be a guessing game after that,” Ellerie told Marco. “If this isn’t the right place, you can send a message to Varsin asking him what he’d like to do. I wouldn’t mind continuing on, but I can’t speak for everyone else. I don’t know how long it would take.”

“There’s something else we should all consider,” Bobo said. “If Aencyr is Tir a Tir, then Tir Yadar might still be settled as well.”

“That was always a possibility,” Ellerie said with a shrug. “Varsin would get what he wants, and it would still be an important find among historians, but for the rest of you, I don’t think there would be any shares to distribute.”

“I think we’d all understand,” Corec said. “Though we might need to look for paying jobs on the way back home if you don’t need us anymore.”

Ellerie nodded, then turned back to Marco. “To be honest, finding Tir a Tir itself should be considered an important discovery, but, unfortunately, only a few elven historians have ever heard of it. And while the architecture here is old, I don’t think it’s old enough to be original. It might be like Bobo said, that Aencyr was built over the top of Tir a Tir. If we don’t find Tir Yadar, I might come back here and study the city in more detail. Perhaps some of the old structures are still around, but buried.”

It could take years to learn anything significant, but it would be a worthy topic of study, and finding Tir a Tir was an accomplishment she could be proud of—even if it had required some help from Bobo. The two of them could write a book and release it in several languages, and make names for themselves among the scholars and historians who studied the Ancients’ civilization. Even if they did succeed in finding Tir Yadar, Tir a Tir would still be worth investigating.

Before anyone responded, a stoneborn man entered the room, dressed in fine clothing. He gave an elegant bow and looked around, glancing at a compass he was holding in his left hand. His eyes stopped at Corec—or, perhaps, at the sword that was propped up against the wall behind him. The man slipped the compass into his pocket, then said something in Nysan. Josip’s eyes grew wide.

Marco translated. “He begs pardon for the interruption. He’s a messenger for the Lady Hildra. She requests the honor of your presence at her estate tomorrow.”

Corec shared a confused glance with Katrin. “Who is Lady Hildra?” he asked.

“She’s one of the leaders among the dwarves in Aencyr and the Skotinos Mountains,” Josip said. He looked like he wanted to add more, but then he eyed the messenger and closed his mouth.

The stoneborn man switched to heavily accented trade tongue. “Yes, yes, many apologies for wrong language. Lady Hildra requests your visit tomorrow. If tomorrow not good, perhaps another day?”

“I don’t understand,” Corec said. “I don’t know this Lady Hildra. Why does she want to see me?”

“The Lady is expert in … how you say … relics?” The messenger pointed to the sword. “She knew you were coming. Since you stop here, she sends me to invite you. She asks that you bring sword.”

“What does she want with it?”

“Only to look, only to look. If not sure, some sort of … compensation, perhaps?”

“We’re just here briefly,” Corec said. “I don’t know if I’ll have time. Let me think about it, and discuss it with my friends.”

“Of course. I go now, and wait for your response.”

“Will the carriage drivers know how to find her?”

“Yes, yes. All know where to find Lady Hildra.” The messenger bowed to Corec again, then to the rest of the group. “Good day.” He left the room.

Corec frowned. “That was odd. She wants to see the sword? How did she know about it?”

“Lady Hildra knows all sorts of things,” Josip said. “If she wants to see you, you should go. She holds a lot of power in the city; she could cause problems for us if she feels slighted.”

“The stoneborn here have lords and ladies?” Boktar asked with distaste. Ellerie held back a laugh. He’d teased her before about the nilvasta using human titles of nobility.

Josip nodded. “Half of the Bancyran noble houses are dwarven. Hildra doesn’t belong to any of them, but everyone calls her Lady Hildra anyway, and she oversees the city’s dwarven council. Even the queen, up in Desat, sometimes asks her for advice.” He paused. “Well, that’s what I’ve heard.”

“Why would she care about the sword?” Corec asked.

“She’s a wizard now, but they say she used to be a weapon smith—the best in all of Bancyra.”

“So, it’s just professional curiosity?” Ellerie suggested. “That doesn’t explain how she knew about it, or that we were coming.”

Corec sighed. “I don’t want to waste time with this, but I suppose we should stay on good terms with the locals. The sword can protect itself if she tries anything.”

“Unless you’re dead,” Katrin pointed out. “Isn’t that what Venni told you?”

“Ahh, true, I suppose, but I don’t imagine she’d go to the trouble of a formal invitation if she’s planning to kill me.”

Katrin rolled her eyes at him.

“We can handle the resupply without you,” Boktar told Corec. “We’d planned three nights here, so we’ve got plenty of time.” He turned to Ellerie. “Unless you want to leave sooner now that you know we’re in the right place?”

Ellerie was tempted, but everyone needed a rest. There was also a nagging worry that the sooner they headed out, the sooner they might learn that she’d been wrong after all. It was easy enough to tell Marco that the search might fail, but she wasn’t eager to lose the sense of hope she’d felt ever since the mountains came into view.

“No,” she said. “Three nights is fine.”

#

Lady Hildra’s manor house was in an upscale neighborhood just beyond the north river, outside the official city boundaries. Opulent villas and mansions lined the waterway, each estate surrounded by enough land that the neighboring homes couldn’t be seen.

Hildra’s own manor was more rustic, reminding Corec of his father’s ancestral home. The servants showed him to a room they referred to as the workshop, where weapons were hanging from the walls and suits of armor in various states of repair lay disassembled on work tables. There was a rolling door on the far side of the room which opened into an outdoor smithy. The fires were cold, but it was clear that Hildra hadn’t given up smithing when she became a wizard.

Given the way Josip had spoken of her, Hildra was much younger than Corec had expected. She appeared younger than Boktar, who, despite being in his eighties, was still south of his middle years. Hildra was shorter than Boktar, at four and a half feet tall, but she was just as stocky. She wore a man’s loose blouse and leggings, and she was hanging a leather apron over the back of a chair when Corec entered. There were heavy steel bands around her wrists.

“Welcome to Aencyr, traveler,” she said in trade tongue. “Corec Tarwen, if I’m pronouncing it correctly?”

“Yes, that’s right.” He’d included his name in the note he’d sent her.

“And I am Hildra.” She didn’t mention any titles. “Thank you for coming. I’m happy to compensate you for your time.”

“I’m more interested in learning why you invited me. Your messenger said you’re interested in my sword?”

“I study enchanted weapons and armor, among other things. I trust you know that the sword carries a magical enchantment? I felt it coming this way days ago. Might I ask where you obtained it?”

“It’s not mine,” he said. “I’m safeguarding it for the stormborn.” That was as much as he was comfortable saying. The stormborn didn’t like to discuss the South Valley ruins with strangers.

Hildra raised an eyebrow. “The stormborn can craft enchantments? I’m afraid I know little about their people—I don’t often leave Bancyra.”

“They didn’t create the sword, but it was found in their territory in the Storm Heights Mountains.”

“How did you come to be in possession of it?”

“Nobody else can touch it safely. Someone told me it’s attuned to me.”

She cocked her head to the side. “Fascinating. Bonded weapons are rare. Including your sword, there are only three in the city right now, and two are in this room. Might I examine it?”

Corec shrugged and detached the scabbard from its harness. With his breastplate and chain shirt destroyed, he no longer wore his armor, but he’d strapped the harness on over his clothing. He drew the blade and laid both it and the scabbard on one of the work tables.

Hildra approached and looked over the weapon, then reached for it.

“Wait!” Corec exclaimed. “Don’t touch it!”

She lifted the sword by the hilt, hefting it in both hands. “Stronger defenses than I’ve seen before,” she said. “Good balance, but too unwieldy for my taste.”

“It’s not hurting you? How can you lift it?”

“I have a gift for enchantments,” she said. When she turned to face him, her eyes had gone completely black. She dropped the sword and it fell to the stone floor with a loud clang. “You’re a warden!” The black faded and her eyes returned to normal. “Why are you here?” She seemed tensed for a fight.

Corec held his hands out for peace. “Only because you invited me. I came to Aencyr to help a friend with something.”

“Who are you? Seven? Four’s a priest, and you’re no priest. That just leaves Seven.”

Not only did she know that the wardens existed, but she also knew details about their identities?

“I’m Eight, I guess.”

“There isn’t an eighth. There’s never been an eighth.”

“I’m … new. How did you know I was a warden?”

“Arcane sight,” she replied, getting over her surprise and picking up his sword. She laid it carefully back on the table, then polished off a smudge with her shirt sleeve. “You must have seen your own bonds. Any warden or bondmate with arcane sight can see them too.”

Corec had never learned an arcane sight spell, but that was the least important part of what she’d said. “You’re Three?” he guessed. “Or you work with her?”

“I’m the third warden. I was the fourth when I was chosen, but the last third passed away some time ago. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen another of us in person. Badru usually tells me when there’s a new one.”

“Badru?”

“He’s the first among those of us who are left. You should know he might show up in your dreams someday. That’s how he talks to us.”

“The First? He never told me his real name.”

“He’s … not well. He’s been at this for a long time. I offered to send him help once, but he’s stubborn.”

“If you’re Three …” Corec started. Then he laughed and shook his head. “We came here for another reason, but I was hoping to find you too.” As he spoke, he realized it had never occurred to him to ask Leena to search for Three.

“Oh?” Hildra asked.

“The First said you could help me. If you can answer my questions, I’d be happy to let you examine the sword.”

“I’m not so mercenary as that,” the dwarven woman said. “I’ll answer your questions either way. If you’re even newer than Seven, I imagine things must still seem very strange.”

“Thank you,” Corec said. He was about to ask how to end the warden binding spell when another thought occurred to him. “You’re right—this is all new to us. My friends and I are still trying to figure out what to do. It seems like the wardens don’t really have any sort of real purpose.”

“That’s not a question,” Hildra pointed out. “As for a purpose, would you really want some ancient spell forcing you to serve it? You should always live your life on your own terms. Maybe the wardens once served a higher cause, or maybe that’s just a story we tell each other; I don’t know. I provide guidance for those who will listen, and I conduct my studies.” She hefted his sword again, and gestured to the other weapons around the room. “That’s enough for me. It should be enough for anyone.”

Hildra’s choices sounded a lot like Yelena’s. Maybe the wardens weren’t so unusual after all.

“I think I understand,” Corec said.

“No, you don’t. Not yet.”

“What do you mean?”

Hildra gave him a serious look. “You can go about your life however you want, but, together with your bondmates, you’ll represent a great deal of power. Eventually you’ll be tempted to interfere, to do something to help the people around you. And you should—but not everyone will want the help you think they need. One person can only help so much. Can you stand aside and let people make their own decisions, even when you know the outcome will be a disaster? Or will you force them to do what you think is best?”

“I’d never force anyone to do what I want.”

“You’ll be tempted. You’ll watch nations rise and fall; you’ll see them make the same mistakes time and time again. You’ll want to save them from themselves, but where does it end? You conquer a small kingdom and you rule over it for, what, a hundred years? A thousand? You crush its enemies and you conquer its neighbors, because wouldn’t it be good if they, too, could benefit from your wisdom? Soon, you have an empire, and your word is law. People are afraid to speak their own minds because you think you know more than anyone else, even your own bondmates.” She paused, looking off into the distance.

“That’s what you did,” Corec said with sudden realization.

“Bancyra didn’t become the most powerful kingdom in Cordaea by accident. But that was a long time ago and I’ve learned better. As far as anyone knows, the Sorceress Queen has been dead for eight hundred years. Let the people find their own destiny. Stick to gentle advice and subtle guidance. A simple word here and there can change the course of a nation’s future for the better. The wisdom is in knowing what that word is, and when you should say it.”

Corec wasn’t sure how to respond. He hadn’t planned anything more ambitious than building a small home near Four Roads. “I’ll be careful.”

She chuckled. “You’ll learn—give it a few centuries. Now, you said you had other questions?”

Corec nodded. “The First told me you know of a way to end the warden bond?”

“I do. You’ve run into problems with your bondmates already?”

“I didn’t have any control over the binding spell until recently. I had no idea what I was doing. The first five people I cast it on didn’t have any choice in the matter, and I promised them I’d find a way to end it. The two who want to end it, at least.”

Hildra nodded. Unlike Yelena and the First, she didn’t lecture him about the appropriate use of binding spells. “This life isn’t for everyone. For me, it was my husband. My first husband, I mean. We married before I was chosen, and he didn’t like how close I grew to my other bondmates. He was also jealous that I bonded my sister before I’d even told him about being a warden. I suppose that should have been a warning sign—though whether for him or me, I couldn’t say.”

“Can you teach me how to do it?”

She hesitated. “I can, but it may not be everything you’re hoping for.” She rolled up her left sleeve and pointed to the uppermost rune on her arm. Unlike the other three, which glowed with a purple light, the top rune was just a white outline, barely visible on her skin. “The bond is severed on the other person’s side, but it doesn’t go away completely from your end. You’re limited to eight bondmates, and that bond can never be used for someone else. You might be able to bond the same person again, though. I haven’t tried it, but there’s no reason why it wouldn’t work.”

“What happened to your husband?”

“We separated, and he went his own way. He grew old and died, like any other stoneborn.”

“I’m sorry.”

“It was a long time ago. In truth, I can barely remember him, but our son and daughter live on.” She tapped two spots on her right arm, where the two lowest runes would be hidden by her sleeve. “One of my bondmates died in a cave-in two hundred years ago, but the others are still around. My daughter is in Desat, serving as an advisor to the queen. My son lives in Aencyr from time to time, but he’s somewhere down south at the moment.”

“Your bondmates don’t stay nearby?” Corec asked. Yelena’s bondmates had seemed to remain in Tyrsall most of the time.

“I wouldn’t say that, but your sense of time changes when you’ve been around as long as we have. We go where we’re needed. Right now, Bancyra is peaceful, which allows us to follow our own pursuits. I conduct my research, my son writes his books, and my sister’s probably out in the orchard checking our fruit trees. I’ll introduce you to her before you leave.”

Corec nodded. “I’m not concerned about the limitations. I’d like to learn how to end the binding spell.” Being limited to six bondmates didn’t seem like much of a sacrifice, considering he’d never intended to have any at all.

“Then watch what I do with your arcane sight. I can demonstrate it on my husband’s inactive bond.”

“I don’t know an arcane sight spell.”

Hildra frowned at him. “You should have learned one by now. You’re not a wizard, but you’re not a trifler either.”

“A what?”

“Maybe that doesn’t translate well,” she said. “A dabbler? They’re arcane mages who can’t control which spells they learn. But you and I are wardens. We have some control over it, and arcane sight is too useful to ignore—like mage lights.” She paused. “You know a mage light spell, don’t you?”

Corec held his palm up and released a mage light. It floated up to hover near the ceiling as he thought over her words. Was she saying she wasn’t a wizard after all? She was like him?

Hildra smiled. “Good. If you can learn that, then maybe I can teach you an arcane sight spell. Let’s start there, and then I’ll show you how to sever the bond.”

#

“You can end the binding spell?” Razai asked, hoping she hadn’t misheard.

“She showed me how, but I haven’t tried it yet,” Corec replied. “I wanted to tell everyone at once.” He looked around the room at his other bondmates. “Not just Razai and Ellerie, but all of you. For anyone who wants out, if Hildra’s right, I should be able to undo it.”

“I don’t want out,” Treya said clearly.

Katrin didn’t speak; she simply grasped Corec’s hand. Shavala shook her head. Sarette didn’t react at all, but then, of all of them, she was the only one who’d chosen the warden bond for herself.

Ellerie frowned. “Lady Hildra just happened to be Three, who we didn’t know how to find?” she asked. “And she just happened to send for you without knowing you were also a warden? Doesn’t that seem too convenient?”

Corec shrugged. “We knew she was somewhere in this direction. She’s definitely a warden, if that arcane sight spell is working right. She and I have the same … I don’t know what to call them. Those lines or tendrils that are linked to the runes.”

“I’m not saying she’s not a warden; I’m saying maybe she’s not the real Hildra.”

“The servants seemed to believe she was. Unless you think she replaced the entire household? I suppose that’s possible, but why bother? If she wanted to talk to me, she could have done so without the pretense.”

Ellerie relaxed. “No, I just get nervous when things are too easy. It makes me wonder why.”

Corec laughed. “Easy? I’ve been trying to fix this for almost a year now. Maybe we just got lucky for a change.” He turned to Razai. “Do you want to try?”

“Let’s do it,” she said.

“There’s something I should tell you first. Hildra said her husband grew old and died. He lost the long life that the bondmates receive.”

“I don’t care about that!” Razai snapped. Then she had a worrying thought. “Wait. When you say he grew old, you don’t mean all at once, do you?”

“Uhh, no. He lived a normal lifespan. Normal for a dwarf, anyway.”

“Then it’s fine. I just want it gone.” Razai was a hundred thirty-seven years old and hadn’t noticed herself aging since her early twenties. At this rate, she’d live to be as old as an elf. She hardly needed to extend that any further.

Corec said, “She also thinks I might be able to cast the spell on you again if you ever change your mind.”

“Why would I ever want to do that?”

He shrugged. “I don’t know. I’m just telling you what she told me.”

“Just try it, will you?”

Corec nodded and closed his eyes, concentrating. A moment later, he looked up. “It’s done.”

Razai hadn’t felt anything. She checked the extra sense that had come with the warden bond, but could no longer feel Corec’s location in her mind. “That’s it?” she asked. “Is it gone?” She held her hand up in front of her forehead to see if it reflected any light. “I stopped trying to conceal the rune. Did it go away?”

“It’s gone,” Corec confirmed. He rolled up his right sleeve. The third rune down—twin to Razai’s own, approximating a pair of curved knives—had faded to a faint white outline against his skin. Above it, Treya’s circle with a curved line through it and Katrin’s odd horseshoe rune still glowed a brilliant blue. “She said your side should go away completely, but mine will stay like this.”

“But you can’t track me anymore?” Razai asked.

“No, the link is dead.”

Razai took in a deep breath. She’d suspected Corec’s promises to find a way to end the spell would come to nothing, and now that it had happened so suddenly, she hadn’t had a chance to figure out how she felt about it. “You did what you said you’d do,” she admitted. “I suppose I should thank you for that.” She didn’t actually thank him though, wondering if he’d notice the wordplay. So there, Father, Razai thought to herself, hiding a wild grin. You’ll have to find someone else to do your bidding. Vatarxis hadn’t contacted her since she’d been bonded, so she’d never even learned why he’d wanted it to happen in the first place.

“You’re welcome,” Corec said. “Ellerie?”

The elven woman looked uncertain. “Will it affect anything else? I still don’t know what Yelena meant about the warden bond strengthening our magic. Will I be able to cast the larger arrow shield? It takes more power than I could have managed when we first met. And there are some other spells I’m trying to learn.”

“We didn’t really discuss that. I got the impression Hildra didn’t talk to her husband much after they severed the bond. She might not know.”

“Then maybe I should wait. Let’s find Tir Yadar, and then see if there’s anything I can do to help you with Prince Rusol. After that we can end it.”

“Are you sure?” Corec asked. “Before, you didn’t want any help from the binding spell.”

“We’re finally close to Tir Yadar, and we’re more likely to succeed if we use all of our resources. It won’t hurt to wait a while.”

Razai snorted. The elf was as crazy as the rest of them. As for herself, Razai still had a job to do—a well-paying job that she’d promised Renny she’d finish—but in a few more months, she’d be done with it, and she’d never have to deal with the rest of the group again. Except Leena. Leena was all right. And Treya was Renny’s friend, so she’d probably meet her again. And Boktar wasn’t too annoying. But that was it, definitely.