The shadows of xuntwin, p.1
The Shadows of Xuntwin, page 1
THE SHADOWS OF XUNTWIN
BROKEN WYNN BOOK 2
M. L. BANKS
FOX HEART PRESS
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination and are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locals, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.
Copyright © 2024 by M. L. Banks
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review. Thank you for your support of the author’s rights.
Cover design by Miblart at www.miblart.com
Published in Canada
This book uses Canadian spelling.
ISBNs: 978-1-7381169-2-8 (pbk.), 978-1-7381169-3-5 (ebook)
For my dad who has supported every wild idea.
CONTENTS
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Chapter 46
Chapter 47
Chapter 48
Chapter 49
Chapter 50
Epilogue
Pronunciation Guide
Acknowledgments
PROLOGUE
Most prisons are dark with cold metal bars and little natural light. The cells at the guard tower were small but clean, and they each had a window to the outside, making them better than where the Shadowed Ones had been kept. Vergahn, the Chosen of Nubrai, knew that there were people over on the mainland who had so little that they lived in similar conditions, not because they were being punished, but because their leaders let them live in poverty. Their kings and queens wanted their population to struggle, for if they were fighting to secure food and a safe place to sleep they were unlikely to challenge the throne.
Vergahn had been to the mainland and he had seen many wonders in the cities there. But what had impacted him the most was the poverty and violence he had witnessed. In Nubrai, he made sure that none of the people went hungry, that no one slept in the streets. They worked together to ensure that they all had what they needed. Vergahn did not want Nubrai to become like the mainland – that’s why his work was so important.
Vergahn nodded to the guards standing on either side of the door. He believed that what made a prison a prison was the elimination of freedom, not the discomfort of the accommodations. Perhaps this was a justification for what he had done, but he was not about to lose a resource, and the existence of this prisoner needed to be kept secret. One of the guards leaned forward and grabbed the handle, opening the door for Vergahn as he bowed his head, and Vergahn entered.
The walls inside were the same golden white as the rest of the palace. It was not known what the original purpose of these small living spaces was, and they had gone unused until Vergahn had become the Chosen twenty years ago. The stone looked new, maybe a hundred years old rather than hundreds of years old. Some of the Faithful thought it was “magic” stone created by the gods themselves. As the Chosen, Vergahn did not dispute this idea. Privately, he felt it was likely that the stone had simply been treated using a process they no longer possessed. Something else that had been lost during the Dark Times.
The hallway opened into a simple sitting room with windows that looked out over the sleeping city. There were no bars, for where would his old friend go? The guards at the door were intended to keep prying eyes out, as the existence of this prisoner was a secret from even his closest advisors. The couches that had been here had been moved to make room for bookcases and a desk. Vergahn noted that the shelves were all full again, and he would need to make sure another was brought to contain the neat piles of books and papers that sat on the floor.
Osoric Kynell stood from the desk, running a hand through his short hair. Even in here, Osoric insisted on keeping to his own practices, claiming that he had been taught to keep his hair short in the temple in Draihan where he grew up. Vergahn had always wondered if this were true, as Osoric had little regard for his home nation except when it came to this one thing. It was a habit that would forever make him stand out among the people of Nubrai. But then, maybe that was the point.
Vergahn saw that Osoric’s white robes from the Order of the Golden Eye had been hung on the back of his chair. This was the first time he had seen his friend without them on, and Vergahn wondered what it meant, if Osoric had finally accepted he would not be able to return.
Vergahn gestured to Osoric, motioning for him to sit. His wife had been glad when Osoric had been exiled from Nubrai, unaware that Vergahn had kept his friend in hiding. She thought Osoric was not someone he could trust. He understood where she was coming from, and she wasn’t wrong. Vergahn had known Osoric for over two decades, and while they were not always on the same side, they did both want to protect Nubrai. Vergahn could trust that Osoric would always act in the best interests of the Island.
“Have you found anything?” Vergahn asked, gesturing towards the books.
“No extra guards today? Are you not afraid to be in the company of a Draihan spy, the creator of the Shadowed Ones and the betrayer of Starfall? Or have you crafted new stories about me?” Osoric asked instead of answering.
“You did create the Shadowed Ones,” Vergahn said, used to the accusation.
“We created them,” Osoric corrected.
“You agreed to this. What’s really bothering you?” Vergahn felt his shoulders relax, feeling more at ease than he had all day.
Osoric gestured to the books. “These are useless. All were written in Nubrai after the Dark Times, and they all repeat the same information. Wynn are born, not created. Their abilities are limited and catalogued. Reading between the lines, these documents are more about what the wynn cannot do, rather than a discussion of their abilities. There are no questions, no desire for discovery, just upholding the status quo. The Kingdom of Xuntwin is rarely mentioned, and when it is, it is used as a cautionary tale. The people of Xuntwin tried to make stonetych, and this led to their destruction. Don’t make the same mistake.” He looked around the room, hand clenched in a fist. “I can’t do anything from in here!”
“What do you need?”
“Information! Critical analysis! Why does no one in Nubrai ask any questions?”
Vergahn paused at this comment. “They think they have the answers already. What is your leading theory?”
“Stone wynn interact with the stonetych – they can make it function. This must be the key. A strong enough stone wynn should be able to fix the pillars. Maybe even create stonetych. The key is to find the right stone wynn.”
“So you have given up on the artifact?”
“Not given up, but it’s in pieces.” Osoric waved his hand dismissively. “I saw what Gerrin Hayne did in my lab that night. I had heard stories, but I didn’t believe it until I saw him take out seven guards without even touching them. And then he… helped Nyrnn Ashall, and somehow she rendered fifteen people senseless despite her having nearly no training as a heart wynn. If the wynn can do these things… they must be the answer. Until the second artifact is here, that is what I need to follow.”
Vergahn was surprised. “The second artifact?”
“I may be locked up in here, but I know you. What I don’t understand is why you think you will find it this time. You must be desperate to try again.”
Vergahn swallowed. More desperate than Osoric knew. “Pillar seven has completely failed. Two others are weak, only holding the pulse intermittently. We are running out of time.”
Osoric took a deep breath. “I see.” He looked at a map of Nubrai that had been hung on the wall, the pillars clearly drawn around the Island. They provided a defence for Nubrai, using some unknown means to repel potential invaders. A defence that had started to fail over twenty years ago. The pillars had been around as long as the Island, and were said to have been crafted by the god Gall’or. Unfortunately, like the rest of the stonetych, no one knew how they worked, or how to fix them. Osoric had been able to recharge the pillars for a time, but the cost had been high. His bravest assistants had been turned into the “Shadowed Ones,” roaming the city and preying upon the people of Starfall to power the pillars. This had all ended when Nyrnn Ashall had somehow locked the Shadowed Ones in the echo state and then broken the s tonetych used to create them.
Osoric nodded. “It will be different now – the King of Draihan is determined. Protecting Nubrai will take a different set of skills. Who are you sending to retrieve the second artifact?”
Vergahn gave him a look.
Osoric laughed, shaking his head. “You’re sending the heart wynn? To the mainland? Oh… I see. Because of her mother. That’s clever.”
“She is highly motivated. Perhaps she will be able to find it. Cal’in is going with her.”
“And does he know what is going on?”
Vergahn shook his head. “He has been given all the information he needs.”
Osoric let it drop. “Despite everything, Cal’in was trying to protect Nubrai. Protect you. You will need to be careful in his absence. Not everyone is happy with the decisions you are making, and from in here I can’t help.”
“I have the Hidden Eye to protect me.”
“If you can trust them. You stopped visiting for three days last week, and then returned looking… tired. The guards wouldn’t tell me, but it was firbane, right?”
Vergahn remembered the taste, surprisingly sweet, hidden in his wine. He wouldn’t have noticed if not for the fact that he had been looking forward to that drink all day, and had, for a moment, worried that the batch had gone bad. The healing pod had saved him from the worst of it, but the feeling of his airways constricting was hard to shake.
“A disgruntled servant, nothing more,” he said, pushing away his worries. It was not the first time someone had tried to kill him, but it had been the closest they had come to succeeding. When his guard had located the worker he had already been dead, a victim of his own poison. Vergahn didn’t remember such things happening during his father’s reign, but perhaps they had simply been covered up.
“I may have a solution for you, a place where you can ask your questions. Be patient.” Vergahn stood and pointed to a table on the far side of the room that had a board and pieces placed on top of it. “Let’s finish our game.”
Osoric stood and walked across the room. “It’s been almost three months. If Nyrnn and Cal’in haven’t left yet, you need to motivate them.”
“Any suggestions?”
“Make them feel like they need to act now. You’ll think of something. Remember, you are the Chosen. You control the pieces – you just need to see the whole board.”
The two men moved to the small table and sat, the words hanging in the air.
CHAPTER ONE
In the east ward, two infirmaries stood side by side, old warehouses that had been retrofitted to house the patients – people whose energy had been stolen by the Shadowed Ones to power Nubrai’s defences. There was nothing the healing pods could do, nothing the healers could do. So the patients were being stored in a building that had once stored grain. Two hundred and thirty-seven people were in places like this, but at least they were still alive.
It had been three months since the terrible night in Osoric’s lab. The Shadowed Ones were gone, which meant there would be no new patients. At least, Nyrnn hoped that was true. In the aftermath, the Chosen had decided that the truth of what had happened was too dangerous, and so he had made the Shadowed Ones into the heroes. The city believed that the fifteen new patients had fought and eliminated the Shadowed Ones, rather than being the Shadowed Ones. They were kept in the palace and Nyrnn had seen flowers and small offerings left by the gates to honour “the Fallen,” as they were now called.
It’s not that Nyrnn wanted the credit, she didn’t. She wasn’t a hero. She had somehow used the artifact to lock these people into the same echo state that they had been inflicting on others. But she had also destroyed the one means they had to protect the Island. She had saved herself and her friends, but at what cost?
She shook the worries away; she needed to focus. Cal’in had insisted he could discover the location of the second artifact, the one that could wake the patients, but Nyrnn didn’t trust him. He had been working for Osoric and running interference as Robern, and later Nyrnn, had tried to solve the mystery of the Shadowed Ones. He said he had no choice, his wife being one of the Shadowed Ones, but Nyrnn could not forget what the betrayal had felt like.
Nyrnn needed to find the location herself. Needed to do something. She saw her destination up ahead.
The Explorers’ Guild was one of the newer guilds, its guild-house built only a few decades ago from the dark stone common to the quarries on the Island. The juxtaposition with the light stone of the ancient city made the Guild seem heavy. While there had been an attempt to copy the architecture of the city with columns to either side of the main door and decorative cornices, all the details were simple in comparison with the older buildings that surrounded it.
Above the door there was a large wooden carving of a dog looking towards a star. It stood out as animals were rarely used in symbols in Starfall, the stonetych taking the role that many animals might have had. When Nyrnn had read about the Explorers’ Guild, she had learned that they had adopted the symbol in reference to a mainland practice of using dogs to help hunters navigate the deep forests. Nyrnn wasn’t sure exactly how this worked – could the mainland people talk to the dogs and ask for directions? Was that what their wynn could do?
The mainland sounded strange to her. Nubrai had been built by the gods hundreds of years ago. Gall’or and Tetwynn had created the buildings and the stonetych, most of it still working today. The mainland had not done as well. The land closest to Nubrai was covered in a thick forest inhabited by the Free People who lived among ruins of the ancient Kingdom of Xuntwin. The nation of Draihan was further south, and Nyrnn had heard little about them other than that they always seemed to be at war. Draihan raiders had come to Starfall three years ago and kidnapped wynn children and killed many more. Their people were violent and cruel, and would destroy Nubrai if not for the pillars that kept them safe.
Nyrnn wiped her palms on her green cloak and took a deep breath. She needed this to work. She could feel the small form of a null stone in her pocket, silencing her abilities as she travelled through the streets. She could have taken a sled, it would have been faster. But it had felt good to come here on her own, something she never would have done, never been able to do, before.
Nyrnn walked up the steps and through the front door. The foyer was large, the ceiling reaching up several stories as sunlight streamed through small coloured windows. As Nyrnn walked across the stone floor, her steps echoed off the hard walls. The same bored apprentice sat at the desk as had been there last time Nyrnn came seeking answers.
“Nyrnn Ashall,” he said, giving her an annoyed nod. “Back again.”
Her cheeks flushed. “I have an appointment.”
“Really? Who would agree to meet with you?” His tone was condescending. When Nyrnn had first come seeking information about the expeditions, she had assumed she would be able to go right in, view the records, and talk to whomever she liked. But it didn’t work that way at the Explorers’ Guild. They viewed their work as very important and, as she had been told several times, either you were a member or you were not. She was not.
She pulled a message from her pocket and handed it to the apprentice. “I have an appointment with Master Beller.” The apprentice inspected the seal and handwriting.
“Master Beller wants to see you?” he asked in disbelief.
“That’s what the letter says,” she replied. After being denied access to the Guild’s records, Nyrnn had changed her tactic and wrote to the surviving members of her mother’s expedition team. Finally Master Beller had responded.
The apprentice sighed. “Fine. Follow me.” Nyrnn’s heart lifted as she was led deeper into the Guild. The hallway was narrow but tall, with glow stones along the walls. As they walked, Nyrnn peered into open doorways, seeing large rooms filled with desks covered in books and scrolls. She saw strange white stones on the tables, stonetych she did not recognize. The rooms were all empty, the Guild strangely vacant.
The apprentice stopped at a door, and looked back at Nyrnn. He knocked.
“If he’s not here…” the apprentice began. Thankfully a “Come in” interrupted him. The apprentice grudgingly opened the door and stepped into the small office with Nyrnn following behind him. The room was about three times the size of the faculty offices back at Shimmerview Academy. Each wall was covered in shelves that held books and stonetych. There was a desk in the middle of the room with a man seated behind it. He looked to be around Nyrnn’s father’s age, his long grey hair pulled back behind him. Nyrnn was startled to see a deep scar ran down the left side of his face and beneath a patch that covered one eye. She could see more scars peeking from beneath the sleeves of his shirt.
