CHAPTER ONE
Laman's Well
The roiling rock and the quickening sun
despise the old and outmatch the young,
In the sky you'll grow into a man, my son!
When you’re a’ coursing in the torrent.
-Jendini coursing song
On the world of Shard, dawn teased the sleepy Lowlands and whispered promises of a rich harvest. Dayn Ro'Halan walked the family land, wondering if this was finally the time to level with his father, Laman. A welcome breeze carried the first songs of gold-breasted chimebirds to their ears, notes of approval to find such early risers. The spring air tasted of sweet barbwood blossoms and creeping winkleaf, but even more of expectation.
Laman's mood remained hidden in the early light. No farmer's son would dare ask what Dayn sought, permission to leave Shard to seek offworld adventure. Not just permission, Dayn reminded himself, a blessing.
His pace slowed as his brown eyes drifted upward. The sky teetered between deepest black and blue gray, but the entire eastern horizon shimmered as if sparks from a massive bonfire swirled in a great ribbon, flowing from northern to southern sky. The torrent. One day he would race in it, too—just like the coursers in the stories.
Dayn rose early every morning to gaze at the mass of rock that floated between the worlds of the Belt. Thoughts of leaping and lassoing his way through boulders bigger than the village inn, flowing faster than a river, or outwitting the dangerous creatures that lived among the streams of rock gave him a thrill that crops and harvest never could. It’s the closest I’ll ever come to flying without wings. Another summer of practice, and I’ll be ready to enter the Course of Blades with the bravest coursers. Even if I don’t win the race my first time, the whole World Belt will see—
Laman cleared his throat loudly and Dayn jumped. His father stood several paces ahead, waiting for Dayn to rejoin him. “I suppose every lad in Wia Wells is witless the morning of Evensong,” Laman said. His eyes held an amused twinkle.
“Sorry, I was watching the torrent.” Dayn grinned apologetically as he hurried to catch up. He did not feel ready, but this was as good a time as any to feel his father out. “It's always such a sight.”
“We’ve no time for getting lost in the sky this season, now that the Council's seen fit to free up our land again.”
Dayn cringed at his father's words. How do I tell him that getting lost in the sky is exactly what I mean to do?
“It is a sight, though. The crumbling bones of old worlds, if the stories are true.” Laman softened as he followed Dayn’s gaze skyward, but his face left no doubt as to what he thought of the old stories. “I never cared either way, so long as it stays in the sky where it belongs. Our fields have enough rocks as it is.”
“I don’t think the torrent would ever strike Shard,” Dayn said. He watched Laman carefully for any reaction to his next words. “Wouldn’t it be something, to see it up close?”
“More interesting than a field survey, I suppose,” Laman said, leaning on his silverpine staff. The grain of the staff was old and strong, passed down through six generations of Ro'Halans. Carefully carved names from Laman's line banded around the wood, so the memory of their ancestors always felt near. Dayn hoped they would approve of him after today.
“Does the farm weigh on you, son?” The question made Dayn’s heart skip. “A Shardian's calling is not so easy to bear. Does a life in the capital interest you?” Laman chuckled at the grimace on Dayn's face. “Something else, then?”
“I wouldn't forsake Shard's covenant,” Dayn said quickly. The moment felt perfect to speak of coursing, especially with the torrent itself urging him on in the distance. “One day I’ll have a farm of my own, but...I tire of it, sometimes. Father, don’t you ever want more than this?”
“So that's what is eating at you.” His father sounded pleased, and Dayn brightened hopefully. “Your mother thought it was some girl from Southforte. She'll learn not to wager against me one day.” Laman nodded to himself before continuing. “Do you want to leave the village?”
“How did you know?” Dayn breathed. The fear that his parents would take his dreams to race in the torrent for young foolishness began to waver. “I've been meaning to tell you.”
“I guess right about things half as much as I guess wrong,” Laman said with a wink. “Keep that to yourself, though. It would be a shame for the Elders to find that out after my first year on the Village Council.”
They shared a grin. Sunrise began to paint the edges of the horizon with gray light, but the torrent still shone. Laman watched it as he continued.
“Times are changing in Wia Wells?changing for the better. Our lads keep putting the rest of Shard to shame almost every harvest. And if I do say so, you are among the best. The Elders say you finish your lessons before anyone else your age is halfway through.”
“I never really noticed.” Dayn's face flushed furiously. Fortunately, his father's eyes remained on the torrent. Laman’s pride would dry up like water in a cracked gourd if he knew Dayn flew through his lessons only to free more time to practice coursing. Yet Dayn gladly accepted the unexpected praise. Half a season remained before his seventeenth naming day, but he still felt surprised to stand of a height with his father, or be trusted to help with so much around the farm.
Laman gave a firm nod. “You just keep at it. One day these fields won't seem so small.”
“Yes, father.” Dayn wore the same worn field linens as Laman, simple and faded from the Shardian sun, and his skin already held the rich brown tones of a seasoned farmer. Freshly braided cornrows held down his unruly black hair, which reached his shoulders once fully combed out. His strong jaw and restless brown eyes were unmistakable hallmarks of Laman's bloodline, too—although his high cheekbones favored his mother, Hanalene.
“Ah, look. The sun’s beat us to work,” Laman said, a frown crossing his brow. He set off again as the first sliver of sunlight peeked over the eastern horizon. Dayn followed, disappointed with himself. The torrent gradually faded into the pale blue of gathering dawn.
“We must hurry,” Laman said, oblivious to Dayn's dismay. “Be a shame to be late for Evensong...Wia Wells hasn’t hosted since I was your age, and I don't care to dwell on how many years ago that's been. First time I laid eyes on your mother. Or she laid eyes on me, I should say.” He arched an eyebrow at Dayn. “With all those families down from Misthaven, you better watch yourself.”
Dayn shook his head ruefully. “Joam's the one with that luck.” Mistland women used Evensong to matchmake, although no one ever said so. Unmarried men often took on a hunted look long before the merrymaking ended. “Ever since he won Sweetwater, half the girls from Wia Wells want to do his chores or braid his hair.”
“The lad’s talented with the staff,” Laman said diplomatically. He studied Dayn from the corner of his eye as they walked.
“His boasting will be ten times worse tonight,” Dayn grumbled. Joam Ro'Gem was Dayn’s best friend, but a touch of envy still edged into his voice.
“I'd imagine you’d be excited to go offworld, too,” Laman replied. Joam father Milchamah was a fast friend of Laman, at least when they were not arguing over some wrinkle of Council business. “The deserving always find their way to victory at Montollos.”
“He thinks he's deserving, all right.”
“But as for you...”His father fixed his steady brown gaze on Dayn. Whenever Laman used that even tone, things went better when Dayn took heed. “You’ll honor our family name farming in the Mistlands?or competing along with your friend in the Cycle, whichever you set your mind to. I figured Joam is helping you with the staff, as much as you’re gone these days.” Thankfully, Dayn's guilt-ridden silence went unnoticed. “Your path will work itself out, once your head is settled on which way is best to go.”
They walked quietly for a moment. Excitement stirred within Dayn as he mulled over his father's outlook. He’d let me go to Montollos and enter the Cycle, sure as mist rises. Only, I’d enter
the coursing race instead of the weapons tournament. Joam had urged Dayn to reveal his coursing plans for weeks. Dayn gathered his words, newly encouraged.
“Some Elders say this summer we'll see a skytear at night, and next season it will be bright enough to see during the day.” Dayn spoke lightly, but peace how his heart pounded! Skytears passed through the World Belt once or twice a lifetime, sprouting tails as they neared the sun. It seemed the easiest way to steer the talk back to the torrent, then coursing. “Elder Kaynerin said a skytear means that strange days are coming. Could it get trapped in the torrent?”
Laman snorted. “Elder Kaynerin enjoys too much wine. He'll be first to blame the skytear if stripeworms take his crops, or a ridgecat steals into one of his sheep pens. That sorry talk is no better than Misthaven folk wagging their tongues about the Dreadfall.”
Laman reached down to scoop a handful of the reddish-brown earth. The gray in his hair stood out more than Dayn had noticed before. His father's voice grew resonant with feeling as the soil sifted through his outstretched fingers.
“The torrent, the skytear. It's fine talk for stories with Defenders or fool coursers, but this is real. This is who we are. Our Pledge is the oldest covenant in the World Belt. No Shardian has ever known a day of hunger, of thirst, or wanted for anything their whole life. In return, we give freely of the harvest to the Belt.”
All mention of coursing died on Dayn's lips. Fool coursers. So that’s what he thinks. The remaining earth sifted out of Laman’s fingers, just more dust on the wind.
Laman kissed his teeth irritably at sight of the sun peering over the horizon. The morning isn’t what either of us expected, Dayn thought numbly.
“I mean to be to the northern edge well before noon. Go find your sister, she’s supposed to be fetching survey jars from the barn.”
“Yes, father.” The Village Council tested each farm’s soil to ensure the land’s fertility. “I was wondering why we left them behind.”
“Tela wanted to help load your mother's paintings for Evensong, but she needs to take on more of the chores. You won't be around here forever.” Laman gave Dayn an unreadable look. “Here. Take this, lad.”
Dayn easily caught his father's silverpine staff. It felt heavier than mere wood could account for. Dayn imagined he could hear six generations of Ro'Halans, their disapproving whispers swirling around him. Laman had never before entrusted him with the family staff. He spoke to the question in Dayn's eyes.
“Grahm killed a gravespinner this big?” his father formed a space between his hands large enough to cradle a ripe dewmelon “?digging in his woodpile last night. It had an egg sack.”
“Oh, no.” Dayn groaned at the ill news. If the spiders infested Grahm’s land, they would quickly spread. To the north, gravespinner webs blanketed the wilds for leagues. No chimebirds sang in the redbranch there.
“That's why I wanted to finish our survey early. If silk traps need burning out, we best do it now. I’m sure it was chance for a spinner to venture this far from the nidus caves, but all the same—find her quick. The jars are in the old barn. Check there first.”
“Yes, father.” Dayn swallowed hard, and angled south. The morning was growing worse faster than the sun could climb.
The old south barn provided the perfect hiding place for his coursing gear, and Tela loved to snoop. Dayn quickened his pace, imagining her prancing around with his wingline or harness. If she ran off to show his parents, tonight's festival would be a miserable affair.
Unplowed soil blurred beneath his feet. He noted several patches of inkroot poking through the covering clover, but the weeds would have to wait.
“Tela!”
Halfway to the barn, a movement to the west caught Dayn’s eye. A formless gray shape slid along the lip of the old Ro’Halan well then dropped to the earth. “Tela? You better not be hiding.”
He twirled his father's staff apprehensively and crept closer to the rough white flagstone. What in peace’s reach... a cave crab? Dayn watched in stunned amusement as the plate-sized creature scuttled right past him, as though it meant to abandon its drab shell for more speed. It would not last long away from the water. He could think of a dozen good pranks a creature with those pincers could offer, but let it pass. A sound made Dayn look back toward the well. His grin melted away.
Dozens more of the gray crabs spilled over the well’s edge, dropping to the earth in small puffs of dust. They skittered away in every direction, a handful streaming past Dayn as though he did not exist. He hopped out of their paths, not wanting to lose a toe, and soon found himself near the edge of the well. Hands tightening on his father’s staff, he leaned over for a look inside.
Oddly enough, the well ran higher than usual this morning. Dayn could easily scoop out a drink without the bucket. Calm ripples cradled the gathering sunlight and returned his reflection. No cave crabs remained.
“Nothing here but us farmers,” Dayn said with a puzzled look. I’ll ask father about this, later. He shrugged and made a face at his rippling twin below. “Are you ready for the Course of Blades?”
The mouth did not move.
Dayn watched in horror as his reflection melted away to reveal death lurking beneath the water. A drowned man floated in Laman’s well. The gray face hung close enough to touch, obscured by Dayn's own staring reflection. The bloated body hung motionless in the water, suspended in shadow.
The eyes opened and snapped onto Dayn’s face. The cinder-black pupils turned his spine to mush. Dayn instinctively recoiled, but—
It won’t let me move! He willed his legs to run, but an unseen force trapped him in place. A bone-white hand, covered in cuts and sores, broke the surface of the water to grasp the flagstone. Drowning had not bloated the gray man’s body, as Dayn first thought. He now saw a hulking and brutish frame, covered in a black layer that looked more crust than skin. The powerful arm shook with effort, and thick pieces of the scabrous black coating sloughed away and sank in the well. Terrible pain lanced the man’s face, which looked grotesquely human to Dayn’s eyes as he watched, frozen helplessly.
The man’s features contorted in loathing as he examined Dayn’s face. “Were never...my brother. I—” Green slurry poured from his mouth and into the water. His stare never left Dayn, even as his hold on the flagstone weakened. Unbidden thoughts began to spawn in Dayn’s mind, as though a putrid bog seeped into him through that stare.
What…what is he doing to me? Get out of my head!
Froth surged along the water’s surface, churning up more crabs, all dead. Shock interrupted the gray man’s gaze, and the invisible bonds holding Dayn vanished. Before he could back away, the snarling man lunged up to seize his arm as the water surged back into the well's depths.
Dayn shouted as the gray man pulled him down. The flagstone walls spun crazily around him. He cried out as pain bolted through his shoulder. His plunge abruptly stopped, and the man’s cold grasp slipped from his wrist.
“Peace be praised,” Dayn croaked. His father's staff, splayed across the mouth of the well, had saved him from the fall. The grain sagged under Dayn's weight, and his shoulder felt ready to wrench free of its socket. Panting, he pulled himself closer to the well's coarse flagstone.
A horrible, fetid odor overpowered the air, as if the receding water had uncovered some deep rot within the earth. Dayn's stomach heaved and fresh terror replaced his relief. The gurgling well water echoed beneath him. Clusterthorn. It’s rising again!
His feet churned for a toehold on the slick rock. A wild lunge of his hand knocked Laman's staff aside. It clattered past him and down into the well. The echoed splash came much too soon.
Dayn heaved himself over the edge, flopping onto the ground with a grunt. He leaped to his feet and lurched into a sprint. Thirty spans later, he stopped to peer back. No sound broke the early morning calm, save his heart thudding against his chest.
Dust and blood! What was that?
“Hey, boy!”
Dayn spun
around, relief washing over him. He spotted his best friend Joam Ro'Gem approaching from the village road, an excited bob in his step. Joam's father Milchamah strolled alongside him. They each carried a staff. Dayn rushed over to them and skidded to a stop.
“What's wrong?” Joam looked at him quizzically. “You look like a ridgecat just tried to braid your hair.”
“Have you...have you...”
“Easy boy, catch your breath. Those great bounds of yours would carry you to the moon on any world but Shard.” Milchamah thumped the end of his staff into the loamy soil for emphasis. “One day she might let you go.”
“Have you seen my sister?” Dayn finally managed.
“No,” Joam said, frowning. “We passed your mother on the road. Another fine batch of her paintings for Evensong, it looks like. Maybe she can favor me with a portrait tonight. For my new standing as champion.”
“Quiet, boy,” Milchamah said. “I didn't come all this way to watch your gums flap in the breeze. Let the boy spit out why he’s so worked up.” Only a few years older than Laman, fine wrinkles rested lightly on Milchamah’s sun-browned face, from years of good farming and rough humor. Gray strands threaded through his long braids, just visible under his wide straw hat. He spoke around a sweet tree twig which Dayn never saw him without. “Now what’s so important to break your neck over the morning of Evensong?”
Dayn pointed, but quickly let his hand drop when he saw how badly it still shook. Peace, but I've never been so afraid in my life! Milchamah and Joam both looked curiously at the well.
“A man was in there. The water sucked him away, there was this awful smell, and...” Dayn trailed off.
“Spill surge.” The old farmer said after a moment. “The worst ones could make a well overflow for weeks. But if you say someone drowned, I better take a look.” Milchamah made straight for the well.
“I didn’t say he drowned,” Dayn said faintly. Joam and Milchamah shared a long look that made his face burn.
“Strange things dance around skytears,” Joam offered. Dayn waited for some joke at his expense, but Joam just chattered on as they strode over. “You won’t believe what happened at Urlan's farm this morning?”
“Boy, if I want your opinion I'll snap my fingers. Skytears,” Milchamah growled in disgust. “And I already warned you to keep that other matter quiet.” His scowl widened to include Dayn. “The less people who know, the later our guests find out.”
“Sorry, father,” Joam said with a wounded look.
“Spill surge could cough up some Misthavener's lost cuddlebear, maybe even some heartrock from the deepest water.” Milchamah reached the well and snorted. Dayn sidled up to it anxiously. The water lay still.
Gone. I know I didn’t imagine it. He or it, whatever it was, felt real.
“What could give Shard a fever?” Dayn asked.
Instead of answering, Milchamah pitched forward, suddenly shoulder deep in the water. Dayn and Joam both jumped back with a yelp. The rangy farmer straightened, his sleeve soaked, and Laman's staff in his hand.
“See, all kinds of things get lost,” Milchamah said, his face tight. Joam’s jaw hung open at sight of the carved silverpine.
Dayn took the staff, mortified. Peace! Father just gave it to me this morning! I need to dry it before the grain warps!
“I know what I saw,” Dayn mumbled as he toweled the staff off with his shirt.
“No one’s missing, boy. Don't you think word would spread if someone fell down another well? And how would they end up here?”
“It's easy for our eyes to play tricks at dawn,” Joam suggested, after a wary look at Milchamah. Joam stood a foot taller than either of them but acted meek as a day-old kitten around his father. “And you know how Tela wanders when she catches a notion,” he added. He was a good friend, saving face for Dayn.
“She’s not the only one catching notions,” Milchamah observed.
Dayn dropped his eyes. He could offer no ready answers.
Milchamah seemed to argue with himself for a moment as he frowned at the waterlogged staff in Dayn's hands. “Son, are you sure about this?” he asked.
Joam nodded eagerly. “Sure as the mist rises.”
Milchamah spat around his sweet tree twig. “What I'm seeing now doesn't help much.”
Dayn looked uncertainly between the two. The mischievous light in Joam's brown eyes made him nervous. “Sure about what?” he asked.
“You should know by now.” The rangy farmer studied him openly. Sweat began to form on Dayn’s back. “I'm here about Montollos.”
“Montollos?” Dayn fought down a flash of panic. He shot Joam a searching look, but his friend chose the moment to start counting his toes.
“Joam told me all about what you've been planning,” Milchamah continued somberly. The rangy farmer glanced to the south, to the barn, and that made everything plain.
Dayn's mouth went dry. He knows about my coursing gear! This dustbrained whelp let something slip, and now Milchamah’s here to tell father. They’ll never let me leave the farm after this! “Joam, you didn’t?”
“Best find Laman, boy. Did you think you could hide forever?”
Numb fury crept over Dayn as Joam stood there with a too-innocent grin spreading over his face. The rest of Milchamah's words washed soundlessly over Dayn as he stared murder at his best friend.