Guardian of the Vale Read online

  Guardian of the Vale

  Guardian of the Vale

  Tamara Shoemaker

  Contents

  Advance Praise

  Dedication

  AIR * EARTH * WATER * FIRE

  Epigraph

  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

  Epilogue

  A Message from the Author

  Acknowledgments

  About the Author

  Also by Tamara Shoemaker

  Copyright

  Advance Praise

  MARK OF FOUR

  “Set on a future-Earth, Mark of Four weaves technology and a magic system in such a way that I am sure I must be an Elemental myself! The story is full of tension--from both conflict and from a love triangle—which kept me interested and rooting for Alayne all the way through!”

  —Bryen O'Riley, author, The Chronicles of Quat fantasy series

  SHADOWS OF UPRISING

  “In Shadows of Uprising, Tamara Shoemaker perfectly illustrates her mastery of young adult fantasy. Alayne’s heartfelt journey through grief is one more obstacle to achieving unity with her powers, and her complex friendships are something every young adult can relate to. Shadows grabs you and won’t let you out of its powerful clutches.”

  —C.D. Gill, author, Behind Lead Doors

  GUARDIAN OF THE VALE

  “Guardian of the Vale is a powerhouse of action, drawing together and knotting up the plot threads introduced in the prior two books while layering in even more conflict. This book has all the juicy stuff: betrayals, magic, uncertainty, intrigue, suffering, romance, and tough decisions. Be prepared for some sacrifices and surprises as the series races to a stunning, high-octane conclusion.”

  —Emily June Street, author, Tales of Blood & Light fantasy series

  To my parents, who sometimes--and justly--suspect their daughter identifies as a Water-Wielder.

  AIR * EARTH * WATER * FIRE

  FOUR ELEMENTS * FOUR POWERS * FOUR PATHS

  GUARDIAN OF THE VALE

  “The probability that we may fail in the struggle ought not to deter us from the support of a cause we believe to be just.”

  -Abraham Lincoln

  Prologue

  When Continental Media reported over a thousand students missing from Clayborne Training Facility, the outcry was less than might have been expected. While there was shock and horror in the homes of the Elementals and the Naturals whose teen children attended the school, the Elemental Alliance largely hushed the matter. Representatives from the Alliance, in typical fashion, entrenched their moles into media outlets and news sources, so that when Continental Media reported the events, what amounted to state-sanctioned kidnapping was reduced to students being detained in “holding stations” and “Alliance outposts” for safety until the struggle between the Naturals and the Elemental Alliance could be resolved.

  In only weeks, this struggle stretched society's hinges. Elementals and Naturals no longer peacefully coexisted. The Elemental Alliance espoused a mob mentality that raised Elementals superior to Naturals. Elementals, with their ability to wield the four foundational elements—air, fire, earth, or water—commanded a certain form of power that Naturals, who had no such ability, could not. The EA claimed that the Naturals’ existence risked diluting the Elementals’ power through miscegenation—muddying the race, so to speak.

  So, Naturals fell prey to the strong wave of dislike and disgust engendered by the Elemental Alliance's strong influence in society.

  Following the disappearance of Clayborne's students, no outcry reached the steps of the High Court in the Capital. Few news stories spilled from Media Imaging Units, or MIUs, across the Continent, and fewer efforts were made by the Continental Guard to recover the teens—the military leaders instead hiding behind the Elemental Alliance's explanations.

  While it was perhaps strange that no parents stormed the High Court or rioted in the streets as a result of Chadwick Jones's nasal-sounding reports, even stranger was the slow and steady disappearance of these same parents and families, like the steady drip of a faucet: one family gone, and then another and another, until, like the ever-widening ripples that spread from a rock tossed in an enormous pond, the waves of shock dissipated into a dull and terrifying silence. Any family that contained or even just supported Naturals vanished.

  What Chadwick Jones and his team at Continental Media failed to report—although every individual in the higher rankings within the Elemental Alliance knew of their existence—was the absence of twenty-four.

  Twenty-four students from Clayborne Training Facility had failed to enter the Elemental Alliance's butterfly net when they'd swept the students into their shuttles during school exams, and twenty-four students created many sleepless nights for the top leaders of the Elemental Alliance, including Tarry Shane Beckyr, head of the organization, and Simeon Malachi and Beatrice Pence, her seconds-in-command.

  Posters appeared on MIUs; Wanted, Reward Offered emblazoned the top of the picture.

  But the posters only pictured one face out of the missing twenty-four students. Only one picture made its way into the highways and byways of City Centres across the Continent.

  Her honey-gold hair and wide green eyes blinked from the MIUs; a long, heavy braid lay over one shoulder.

  The words beneath every image said the same thing: Alayne Worth, Quadriweave.

  Chapter 1

  A friend's eyes hid the darkest betrayals. Blue eyes that had once flamed in some weird, twisted love the previous year met Alayne's and incited no reaction inside her but disgust and dislike. She kept her face smooth, bland, emotionless.

  Kyle crouched before her, his freckled arms hugging his knees, his smile friendly and open, the easy smile of a friend.

  Traitor.

  Alayne's eyebrows bunched as she glanced around the clearing. The tall trees spotted the ground, dappling it with morning sunlight. Other students shifted restlessly as they waited for Daymon's orders to start moving.

  Alayne subconsciously fingered the scar on her side beneath her shirt—a leftover from when the Vale, the source of Elemental powers, had been inserted inside her as a one-year-old baby. It itched often these days.

  Alayne found Daymon, her Guardian—or rather, the Vale's Guardian—standing atop a fallen tree, his profile fierce as he stared down the hillside to their right, searching for hidden dangers. He'd turned into a resourceful guide for their group, saving them several times from discovery by Elemental Alliance soldiers who combed the countryside looking for the twenty-four. Now, Daymon and Alayne led them to the Capital to find his uncle, Manderly Manders, one of the leaders of the resistance, a group called the Last Order.

  The Capital—once called Croylar Mol Iompayr, though the name had never stuck after the Great Deluge due to its length and unwieldiness—was the most dangerous place to go, as it was the seat of the High Court and of the Elemental Alliance. But it was also the headquarters of the Last Order, and the Last Order was Alayne's hope for recovering her parents and the rest of the group's hope for safety amid Shadow-Casters who c
ould twist anyone's mind to further the interests of the EA.

  Thus far, their group had managed to escape death, but there had been close calls.

  “You didn't sleep well,” Kyle said.

  Alayne returned her gaze to Kyle. “Why do you say that, Kyle?”

  “You look tired. Plus,” he said, reaching for her hand—she jerked it back, and he shrugged—“You had a bad dream. We were all watching you—tossing and moaning in your sleep. Kept me awake. And now you're brooding.”

  Alayne flushed as dread seized her. Had she given anything away? “What did I say in my sleep?” Kyle was a traitor; he'd sold her out to his mother, Beatrice Pence, a leader in the Elemental Alliance. All year, Kyle had assured Alayne of his love for her, but in the end, his stronger desire for his mother's love and attention had won out. Kyle had at last agreed to feed her information about Alayne.

  Alayne's discovery of his two-faced methods sickened her to no end, but she couldn't show it. As yet, Kyle didn't realize that Alayne knew he was a planted mole.

  “Nothing. Or nothing that made any sense.” He shook his head. The muscle in his jaw locked as he exhaled. “What did you dream, Alayne?”

  Alayne crossed her arms. “Nothing. Nothing of significance anyway. M—my parents.” Her parents had gone missing the previous year when the Elemental Alliance had taken control of the High Court. Naturals like Alayne's father, Bryan, had scrambled into hiding for fear of being rounded up into the Elemental Alliance's Natural Re-Education Centers, or Cleansing Camps, as they were later called. Just another word for a place where people were brainwashed—or if they couldn't be brainwashed, killed—for not aligning their thinking with the EA's mindset.

  Alayne had lost track of her parents in their mad flight. She had no idea where they were, but a deep sense of dread had clutched her stomach after they had disappeared.

  Kyle's expression softened. “We'll find them, Alayne. We will.” He reached once more for her hand, but Alayne scrambled to her feet. To hear his sympathy in the midst of his betrayal was too much. She couldn't handle it. She turned and started toward the spring that bubbled down the hill from where she and the rest of the students had set up a makeshift camp.

  “Aw, come on, Layne,” Kyle's voice followed her. Alayne sincerely wished he wouldn't, but she heard the leaves rustle behind her as she reached the water.

  She knelt, splashing some over her arms, hands, and face. The tingle of the element on her skin sent a vivid shock through her system, refreshing and invigorating her.

  I wish I were only a Water-Wielder, not a Quadriweave, she thought. Her life might then have been a normal one. Possessing the Vale came with its drawbacks. She couldn't hide in anonymity. Not only was she targeted by the Elemental Alliance, who wanted to use her for her capabilities, she was also under constant watch by the Guardians of the Vale, and rarely could she find herself in a place of peace. The tension of possessing the one thing the rest of CommonEarth wanted and would do anything to obtain was slowly eating her alive.

  If not for the Vale, she would perhaps be at home in Skyden, helping her mother prepare supper or practicing blade-throwing with her father in the backyard, instead of fleeing through the woods to the Capital, smiling in the face of a betraying friend, and hiding from anyone and everyone who wished to use her for the power she wielded.

  But no. She was a Quadriweave, wielder of all four elements—the only one in CommonEarth who had that ability. A life in hiding was the consequence.

  She eyed the water longingly. She'd wait for her full bath until the boys in the group went hunting.

  “Layne.” Kyle interrupted her thoughts.

  “What?” she snapped.

  “The scouts are back. We're nearly there.”

  “Where?” Alayne asked, refusing to look at him.

  Impatience lined his voice. “Skies, Layne, where do you think? The Capital. Good old Croylar Mol Iompayr.”

  Alayne cringed against the side of the hill, the sharp point of a stick between her ribs, her ear pressed against the leaf-strewn ground. The steady tromp, tromp, tromp of human feet thudded through the earth less than a hundred yards from their camp.

  Daymon lay next to her, his blue eyes darkened to navy, concern evident on his face as he, too, listened to the footsteps. After a moment, his gaze drifted past her to where the rest of the Clayborne students lay spread throughout the undergrowth.

  Twenty-four students hiding in the undergrowth within a whisper's distance of one of the Capital's military companies. Alayne's mouth tightened. “This far out from the city?” she whispered.

  “They're probably meeting the rest of their convoy and traveling in together,” Daymon breathed. He raised his head above the crest of the hill. “They're Elemental Alliance.” He lowered himself again. “They're wearing the three circle badges on their uniforms. They haven't seen the camp; they're following the river and it's not likely...” His eyes centered on a point beyond Alayne, and a growl erupted from his throat. In a flash, he scrambled over Alayne, and sprinted down the line of students to a small First-Year, Bryce Marshall, who huddled beneath a copse of pines on the steep hill.

  His solid form tackled the boy, and together, the boy and Daymon rolled down the incline, slamming to a stop against a solid oak where the ground leveled.

  Alayne stared at them, eyes wide. Gathering her scattered thoughts, she pulled herself level with the crest, peering over. The company's last soldiers marched in formation along the path below. No one in the company gave any sign that they'd heard the disturbance on her side of the hill. Her heart lodged in her throat as she glanced back at Bryce and Daymon. Daymon had overpowered the boy and held him rigidly against his chest, the boy squirming in his arms. Daymon's hand clamped over Bryce's mouth.

  Alayne didn't know Bryce Marshall all that well. He had been a First-Year, and the few times she had seen him around campus, he'd been holed up in the corner of the common room or slouched in the back of a classroom. Since their flight from Clayborne, the few times he'd spoken, Alayne had been irritated by his smart mouth and snide comments. She wondered what he had done that had startled Daymon.

  Alayne glanced over the hill crest one last time. The last of the soldiers vanished around a curve of the river, and their footsteps faded into the distance. Alayne sat up, working the twigs entangled in her long, honey-gold braid from her hair. The other students lying on the hill stood shakily, brushing the dirt and leaves from their clothing.

  Rachyl wound her long hair around her head in a heavy coil and pushed a sturdy stick through it. “That was too close.” Her normally placid face creased with worry. “That was the closest the Elemental Alliance has come to finding our trail.”

  “That we know of, anyway,” Alayne murmured.

  Daymon marched up the hill, anger tightening his jaw as he gripped Bryce's arm.

  “It wasn't too bad,” Bryce commented as Daymon pushed him more forcefully than necessary toward Alayne, and he stumbled to a stop next to Rachyl. “Why are you worried anyway?” He cast a sidelong glance at the girl. “You're the Leader's niece. You could talk your way out of this whole situation. I don't know why you're still here anyway. Do you actually enjoy being on the run?” He shook his limp, shoulder-length hair from his face.

  “Shut up.” Daymon gave Bryce a shake.

  The boy glared at Daymon.

  “What was that all about?” Alayne glanced from Bryce to Daymon and back again.

  Bryce said nothing. He shrugged and fastened his gaze on a spot over Alayne's right shoulder, his expression fixed in a defiant smirk. Alayne raised her eyebrows.

  “He started to bend.”

  Alayne snapped her gaze back to Bryce. If she hadn't been so distracted by the passing company of soldiers, she would have noticed his touch on the element strands. Self-blame made her words harsher than she intended. “You did what?”

  Bryce shrugged. “Nothing. Nothing worth all this fuss anyway.”

  Alayne stepped closer to
the boy, and anger tightened her chest. “You started an element bend when hundreds of the Elemental Alliance soldiers were marching right past us?”

  Bryce wasn't giving ground. “If Houser had let me finish my bend, the Capital would have been hundreds of soldiers short,” he said, mimicking Alayne's tone.

  Daymon released Bryce with a rough push. His fingers curled into fists. “Look, kid, I don't care how good you think you are. There are twenty-four of us—twenty-four students that escaped from Clayborne. That's it. We've got a chance—a small one—of making it to the Capital and finding my uncle who can connect us with the Last Order. And you just about blew it. Did you really think you were good enough to take on an entire company of EA soldiers all by yourself?” He glared at Bryce.

  “Not me.” Bryce smirked. “But she is.” He motioned to Alayne.

  Alayne's mouth dropped open.

  Daymon's eyes blazed navy fire. He stepped toward Bryce, but Alayne swiftly laid a hand on his arm.

  “Wait.” She turned her attention to Bryce. “Talent and ability is not in the equation, Bryce.” She motioned to the rest of the group, who had gathered around, standing in tense formations along the hill. “There are several of us here who could have faced off equally with many members of the EA. But our goal is not that lonely company marching through the woods. Our goal is to reach the members of the Last Order, and we have to maintain absolute secrecy. If you can't do that,” she paused and pointed the way they'd come, “Clayborne is that way. You're free to go.”

  Bryce glanced uneasily at Daymon, shifting his gaze to encompass Rachyl, Kyle, Alex, and several other students. At last, he scuffed the toe of his shoe in the leaves. “I'll stay,” he mumbled.