Syssi's gut clenched. "Why?" she asked, even though she knew the reason probably made no sense. Most of the terrible wars on Earth that had cost millions their lives had been about religion or ideology, which were both nonsensical reasons.
"Religion," he said as if reading her mind. "They believe that by killing us, they appease their hateful, evil god of destruction. They are a cult of death and deception, while we revere life and truth."
"Same old story," Syssi murmured. "Evil seems to be a universal virus, not just terrestrial."
"It would seem so, but I've been exposed to the Brotherhood, and from what I've seen, they could learn a thing or two from the Shedun. Our enemies have perfected evil to an art form."
Kian lifted a hand. "Let's not play the game of whose enemies are the worst. It contributes nothing to our discussion."
She knew he wanted to spare her from hearing details of how terrible those Shedun were, and she was grateful to him for it. She didn't have the stomach for it.
"You are right," Eluheed agreed. "I'd better continue with my story so we can get to what I need your help with. When Elucia fell, we implemented a plan of last resort, a desperate protocol to save Elucia's future. Each shaman grabbed several sacred charges and fled with them to a different planet. I ended up on Earth, on Mount Ararat, to be precise, and I hid them in a cave high up where only I could get to them. They were safe there until the mountain erupted, and my charges were buried under tons of lava rock."
"What are these charges?" Syssi asked.
"I can't tell you that, and I also can't tell you the mode of travel we used. That's the best-kept secret of my people. I will forfeit my life before I reveal it."
The conviction in his voice indicated that he would really take this secret with him to his grave.
Still, she might find out how they had done it in a vision, or maybe she could deduce it.
He'd said that the shamans escaped with something that Elucia's future depended on. Perhaps it was genetic material collected from their people so they could restart their population when it was safe to do so?
The location he had chosen to hide his charges evoked the story of Noah and the ark. Some scholars believed that ithad not contained two animals from each species but rather their genetic material, which made much more sense given the modest dimensions of the ark. In Eluheed's story, the Shedun represented the flood, and the shamans represented Noah.
"Are you the only Elucian shaman on Earth?" Kian asked.
"As far as I know. For safety reasons, we were not told where the others were going."
"When was the volcanic eruption?" Syssi asked, hoping for more pieces of the puzzle she was trying to solve.
Eluheed closed his eyes, and Syssi could see him reliving the memory. "July of 1840. The cave I used was destroyed or buried under new rock formations. I've tried to find a way to reach them ever since, but I don't have the means or the know-how. That's why I approached Kian, but he said that even the clan might not have those kinds of resources."
"Could what you hid in that cave survive so long without your care?"
He nodded. "My charges can withstand far worse than a volcanic eruption, but I need to find them in case my people come for us."
For us? That was an odd way to refer to genetic material, and he'd said that there were no other Elucian shamans on Earth.
"Do you mean come for you?" Kian asked.
"Yes." He turned to Tamira. "I hope you will come with me."
"Naturally. But first I need to find my son." She smiled. "Maybe he will want to start a new life on your planet."
So, that was what Eluheed had meant. He planned on taking Tamira with him. And since he'd said that his people would come for him, that meant some kind of space travel.
Why was it such a big secret? It was not like Kian or she was expecting him to give them the technology of how it worked. He was a shaman, not an engineer.
"Of course." Eluheed gazed lovingly into Tamira's eyes, then turned to Syssi. "Kian said that your visions have helped locate people in the past. Perhaps you can see beneath the rock and find a way to reach my charges that will not involve drilling through half the mountain." He winced. "Not that drilling is even an option at that elevation. The only ones who can get there are professional climbers of the highest caliber and mountain goats. We can't bring heavy equipment up there."
He looked at her with desperate hope. "I know it's a long shot, and I know how tricky visions can be. But I believe that I was brought here for a reason, and that you or Kian or others in your clan are the key to finding my charges and helping me get them back home." His Adam's apple bobbed. "I hope some of my people survived and that, after more than a thousand years, they have managed to rebuild Elucia."
"I'll try," she promised. "Whether I succeed depends on the Fates and what they want to show me."
Relief flooded Eluheed's face. "Thank you. I will be forever grateful."
"I'm honored that you trusted me with this secret, but I need to warn you. When I summon the vision, the Fates might show me things that you don't want me to see."
