The Fall of the Keepers

Chapter 34 Take me to your Leader

I had so many questions for Ghost, but I couldn't seem to find the right words to phrase them. Ranen seemed thoughtful, if not a little brooding, and Idris was staring off into space with an unreadable expression. Religion was near to nonexistent in Itova, King Brantley and his purge had seen to that. People like Jasper had no use for God or the supernatural when they believed science was the ultimate answer. But science couldn't fix my brokenness, it couldn't take away the prison I was trapped in deep inside the pit in my soul.

It wasn't that I was convinced any religious rituals were going to heal my hurt, that was ridiculous. But I was drawn to this God himself, and I wondered if he was powerful enough to put my broken pieces back together. If he loved me enough to die for me, maybe he loved me enough to fix what nothing else could. If he could conquer death, maybe mending a life wouldn't be hard for him.

I'm not sure where the conversation might have gone, or what I would have done if we hadn't been interrupted. Ghost raised his head, eyeing the dark entrance to the cave with rapt attention.

"Seven individuals are approaching."
He murmured so low we almost didn't hear him.

My hand went for my sword that lay beside me but our robotic friend held up his hand.

"Easy, we might have a more polite conversation if they aren't at the wrong end of a blade."

I wasn't particularly concerned with being polite as much as I didn't want to be murdered on my second day in the Wildlands. We had our wielding abilities certainly, but out here everyone did which made them all a good deal more dangerous.

Out of the shadows morphed seven figures that could have just as easily come out of an ancient legend Cato might have told. They were all of a lean build, slender and tall, with long silver-white hair braided back with turquoise and sapphire-colored strings of beads. Their eyes were a mix of crystal blue and stormy gray, and one female had a striking violet pair. Three were female and the other four males though they were dressed so similarly it took me a moment to tell. Each had on a silver tunic, pale gray breeches, and knee-high boots made of some sort of animal skin with gray fur on the top. They wore silver-plated armor over the chest and arm guards of leather that matched their boots, large heavy looking white furs covered their shoulders fastened with a navy clasp that bore a strange symbol I couldn't quite identify.

Their faces were angular, with pale skin stretched over sharp features. Silver and turquoise paint had been applied to their faces in streaks giving them an added level of fierceness. Each carried a weapon, one a war mace that could crush a person's skull with one blow, three others had carved silver bows that would have been beautiful if their arrows hadn't been pointed at our hearts. Another woman wielded two curves daggers with a wicked edge I did not want to become aquatinted with. The remaining two held spears that were six feet long with heads that appeared to be carved from bone.

"Give us your names, and your reason for trespassing on Clan lands."
The man with the mace ordered in a sharp tone.

"What was it you said about being at the wrong end of a blade?"
I asked Ghost, giving him a glare.

We were outnumbered and our new companions looked like they knew just how to use those deadly weapons they carried.

"We are mere travelers, attempting to make it to the village not far from here."
Idris spoke up, her voice perfectly calm.

"The city of ghosts? Now, why would you want to go there?"
One of the men with a spear asked incredulously.

I had to stop myself from rolling my eyes. So it was an abandoned village we had been striving to get to all this time, something we hadn't been able to tell from a glance thousands of feet up in the air.