The Shadow Of What Was Lost by James Islington Page A

sink
in.
    Davian felt the blood drain from
his face; he leaned back, as if physical distance from Ilseth would somehow
help. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
    Ilseth held out his hands in a
calming motion. “I am not going to turn you in,” he said quickly. “But I do
need you to be honest with me. It’s true?”
    Davian stared at the floor for
several seconds, heart thudding as he struggled to sort through a wild tangle
of emotions. Finally he took a deep, steadying breath, squaring his shoulders.
There had been no black smoke from Ilseth's mouth. The Elder was telling the
truth - he wasn't going to turn him in.
    “It… might be,” he admitted
reluctantly. “I’ve never had visions of the future, if that’s what you mean.
But I’ve always been able to tell when someone is lying to me… it could be a form of Reading, I suppose. I’ve never really been sure.” He frowned. “How
did you know?”
    "We've been watching you.
Your inability to use Essence is an indicator, and..." Ilseth shook his
head. “The details are not important, Davian, and there isn’t enough time to
explain everything. What is important is that you trust me. I need you
to use your ability now. I need you to Read me, to believe what I’m about to
tell you.” He looked Davian in the eye. “Will you do that?”
    Davian nodded. He was
concentrating on what Ilseth was saying; his ability would do the rest. “Go
ahead. I’ll know if you’re lying.”
    Ilseth gave him a relieved smile,
then began unwrapping the package in his hands. The white cloth fell away to
reveal a small box made of bronze, with intricate details etched into each face
of the cube. Ilseth held the box carefully, almost gingerly.
    “Our meeting in town today was no
accident. I came looking for you,” the Elder admitted. He hesitated. “What do
you know of the Boundary?”
    Davian frowned. “The barrier of
Essence in the north? It's... old. Impassable.” He rubbed his forehead, trying
to remember. "It's from the time of the Eternity War, I think. From the
golden age of the Gifted. So it was created... a thousand years ago? Two?"
    “Closer to two.” Ilseth didn’t
take his eyes from the box in his hands, its burnished surface seeming to glow
in the dim light. "And do you know why it was built? How it came into
being?"
    "Only what the stories from
the Old Religion say." Davian scratched his head, trying to recall what
little he'd been taught of the Eternity War, drowsiness still slowing his
mental processes a little. "It was to seal off Aarkein Devaed and his
creatures... to trap him before he completed his invasion. Before he wiped out
everyone in Andarra, if you believe that sort of thing."
    "That's right."
Ilseth's tone was serious. "It's not a myth, though. Devaed was very much
real - not the embodiment of evil the Old Religion would have you think, perhaps,
but he was certainly a very powerful, very dangerous man. And the creatures he
commanded were real, too. Truly terrible things that even the Darecians, at the
height of their powers, couldn't kill."
    Davian frowned. "How can you
be sure?"
    "There were once entire
books devoted to that period of history. Accounts from people living during the
Eternity War." Ilseth gave a rueful shake of his head. "Like
everything else, though, we kept them at the library at Tol Thane. I'm one of
maybe five or six people still alive who once took an interest in that
era."
    Davian nodded slowly. Tol Thane
had been burned to the ground in one of the first attacks of the war, and the
vast store of knowledge the Gifted had kept there had been destroyed. He'd
often heard the Elders lamenting how much had been lost that day.
    "I believe you," he
said eventually. "But what does all this have to do with me?"
    Ilseth gazed at Davian for a long
moment, assessing him. He took a deep breath. "The Boundary is weakening,
Davian. Failing. We know how to fix it, but it was created by the Augurs... and
without the Augurs'