by Sarah Hawke
The Matriarch’s lip twitched, but she couldn’t speak. She remained ghostly pale, and I could see her limbs trembling in fear beneath the glowing bands of energy holding her in place.
“Since you carry her sword, I assume your sister is dead,” Marcella said, slowly turning back around.
Kaseya nodded. “Yes.”
“Disappointing…but not unexpected,” the Inquisitrix murmured. “She willingly chose to face you despite my warnings. I knew that you and your slave-master had grown powerful, but Ayrael held out hope until the end. She truly believed she could make you see reason.”
“There is no reason in this madness,” Kaseya hissed. “You think you can burn down Nol Krovos in order to save it?”
The Inquisitrix cocked a red eyebrow. “My dear girl, why would I possibly want to save it?”
Kaseya’s cheek twitched. “You would punish all your amazon sisters for the crimes of the Matriarch? For the crimes of the moshalim ?”
“You misunderstand. Once our ‘sisters’ come to realize their true power, they will have no more need of this island or the monsters who infest it. They will join me willingly, and they will help me forge a better world—a just world—where power is wielded by the righteous rather than the wicked.”
“If Vorsalos is your vision of that world, then you can count us out,” I said. “You’ve spent years convincing everyone from here to Highwind that you are on a grand crusade to destroy the Aether and punish those who channel its power, but you don’t care about any of that, do you? Your crusade was never about order or justice—it was about revenge . Revenge against all the moshalim who lied to you. Revenge against the people who shunned you. Revenge against the woman who stole the man you loved and cast you into the flame.”
“Revenge is justice in its purest form,” Marcella said. “And there is no justice in this world besides that which we make for ourselves. If I will not avenge our fallen sisters, who will? If I will not avenge our lost loves…” She trailed off and swallowed heavily. “Nol Krovos cannot be saved. The moshalim cannot be redeemed. They must simply be destroyed and forgotten. There is no other way.”
I took another step into the room. “Zalheer wouldn’t agree.”
Now it was her turn to freeze in place. “What did you say?”
“Zalheer wanted us to stop you,” I said, sensing an opportunity—perhaps our only opportunity—to gain an advantage. “He’s the entire reason we’re here. He showed us our first visions of the Fount, and he believed we were the only ones who could save it.”
Marcella’s eyes narrowed dangerously. “You spoke with him?”
“Yes, not long after you sent Ayrael to try and convert him. You might have had better luck if you’d told him who you really were. He called you the ‘Corruptor.’ He was convinced you were insane.”
“He wouldn’t…” She trailed off and visibly steadied herself. “I knew he would be stubborn. If he managed to survive this long, he had to be. But once I go to him, he will—”
“He’s dead,” Kaseya said.
Marcella’s face sank. “What ?”
“Your ‘Hand’ did such a terrible job of trying to convert him that he joined us instead,” I told her. “He died defending Icewatch from all those barbarians you riled up.”
She took a menacing step forward, and sparks of electricity crackled at the tips of her gauntlet-covered fingers. “You lie.”
“I wish we were,” I said. “There was so much he could have taught us. And maybe if he’d been here right now, he could have made you see reason.”
Marcella’s eyes stared right through me as if they could pluck the truth directly from my soul. Perhaps they could. Her hands began trembling at her sides, and I swore I could actually feel the ripples of pain shuddering off her.
“You really didn’t know, did you?” I asked. “You thought you could just club him over the head and bring to Vorsalos and then reintroduce yourself?”
“He was supposed to have died many decades ago,” Marcella whispered. “When Ayrael told me the truth, I ordered her to…”
She grit her teeth and trailed off, and for reasons I didn’t entirely understand I felt a genuine pang of sympathy for her. But this woman didn’t deserve my pity. She had ruled Vorsalos like a tyrant, and she had slaughtered hundreds if not thousands of innocent people during her rise to power. She and her Senosi minions had butchered dozens of sorcerers. The Inquisitrix was a monster, no matter what mask she chose to wear today.
“We only knew him for a few days, but he seemed like a good man,” Kaseya said. “And he loved you, right up until the end.”
“But he wouldn’t have wanted you to do this,” I added, choosing my words carefully. “He was mad at Lysara, sure, but he realized that revenge wasn’t the way. He wanted to—”
“Revenge is the only way,” Marcella growled, her tear-soaked eyes flicking back up to glare at me. “She is the one who did this to me! She is the one who cast him into exile! And it is long past time she paid the price for her crimes.”
The Inquisitrix stretched out her left hand, and a jagged torrent of purple-white lightning leapt from her fingertips. The Matriarch’s screams echoed through the cavern as the current of electricity jolted through her.
“No!” Kaseya said. “You can’t—!”
The words had barely escaped her lips when Marcella whipped around and unleashed another torrent from her free hand. The crackling bolts struck Kaseya’s protective barrier and shattered it like tiny hammers smashing glass. The amazon cried out in pain as she flew across the room and crashed into the wall.
“No!” I roared. The Aether surged through me; my hands burst into flame before I even consciously realized what I was doing. My body became a living conduit of energy—I had never been able to harness this much power before, not even when I had nearly overchanneled myself to death back at Icewatch. I thrust out my hands and unleashed a cone of fire so blinding it was as if I had ripped out a piece of the sun.
And it didn’t do a damn thing.
The flames broke over the Inquisitrix like waves over a boulder, and when she finally turned her attention upon me they extinguished altogether. I stared down at my hands in disbelief—how had she countered me so easily?—before a bolt of lightning suddenly struck me in the chest. My defensive barriers crumbled as if they weren’t even there. My muscles seized, my skin burned, and I slammed against the wall so hard I nearly lost consciousness.
For several long, aching seconds, the only sound I could hear was the sizzling of my clothing. The smell of burned flesh flooded my nostrils and nearly suffocated me. It took all of my strength just to turn my head to Kaseya. She was slumped against the wall, conscious but still paralyzed from the assault.
“Maan es kaal ,” Lysara said, her voice weak and quaking. “The gods will punish you for this!”
The Inquisitrix slowly turned back around, sparks of electricity still crackling up and down her gauntlets. “Even after all this, you still believe in the useless, silent specters that offer us nothing and expect everything in return?” She snorted contemptuously. “There is only one power worthy of worship in this world, and its will is absolute. The ancient Avetharri knew this better than anyone. Why worship ghosts when they could simply harness the power of the Aether instead?”
Marcella pointed a blade-tipped finger at the glowing crystals festooned about the walls of the cavern. “This Fount is all that remains of a vast nexus that once spanned multiple continents. It is unlike anything else in the world, and before their destruction at the hands of the dragons they created, the Avetharri entrusted their favored slaves to guard it.”
I clawed my fingers into the dirt and propped myself up into a crouch. Focusing through the pain, I channeled a burst of restorative energy through my body and echoed the spell on Kaseya. It wasn’t much, but it was enough to break our paralysis.
“Our ancestors eventually proved themselves to their Dal’Rethi masters,” Marcella went on. “They were tra
ined as warriors and sorcerers, and they were taught to fight in pairs—men and women, standing side by side, the protectors of the one true source of divinity.” She turned and scowled at the Matriarch. “And over time, our people squandered their gift. The moshalim perverted our history and twisted facts to meet their own ends. The Blade Dancers who fought as one—the Mas’Kari —were transformed into masters and slaves once again.”
“You can’t bring them back,” I rasped, still struggling to hold myself upright. “You can’t change the past; you can’t undo what has already been done.”
“You’re right,” Marcella admitted. “But what I can do is start over. I can deny the foolish and the wicked their power. I can ensure that those born with pure souls and noble hearts will be ascendant…and I can punish anyone who stands in my way.”
I grit my teeth as I tried and failed to stand. “You really believe you can collapse the Corridors?”
The Inquisitrix smiled. “One corridor. One conduit. One pure, cohesive source to harmonize the Aether and bring order to its currents.”
I swallowed and nearly choked. “You think you can become a god.”
“Gods are silent and useless,” Marcella said. “I am neither.”
She reopened her right palm and unleashed a brilliant, coruscating beam of energy directly into the center of the crystalline forest. The entire cavern exploded in light as if the sun itself had just landed on top of us, and the walls began to glow so intensely I had to shield my eyes with my hands. The Matriarch let out a horrific shriek, and I actually heard her flesh sizzle from the raw heat of the crystal. Her body was completely enveloped in a blinding beam of light…
At which point she literally disintegrated right before my eyes.
“Justice,” the Inquisitrix said. “And now, at long last, reckoning .”
She unleashed a second beam of energy with her other hand, and this time the crystals didn’t just glow—they exploded. A shockwave of raw force pummeled me against the wall, but somehow I managed to erect a new Aetheric barrier just before the impact crushed every bone in my body. I echoed the spell on Kaseya a split second before the tiny shards of stone began pelting us from all directions. I felt more than saw her crawl over next to me, the brilliant light reflecting off her blue eyes and scratched face. When she grabbed my hand and squeezed, I knew for a fact we were going to die.
Mas’Kari.
The word echoed through my mind, and when I glanced up I saw her conjure a shimmering, shield-like barrier of blue energy over her left forearm—the exact same shield we had seen in the Dal’Rethi stone. I had no idea how she had done it, and she didn’t either. But she squeezed my hand even harder and dragged me towards the Inquisitrix despite the invisible ripples of force pounding against us over and over. Somehow, I mustered the strength to move one leg after the other.
Mas’Kari.
The Inquisitrix was only a few yards ahead of us now, her body sheathed in a blinding pillar of light as she drank in the power of the Fount. The closer we approached the weaker the shockwaves became, almost like we were trying to breach the eye of magical hurricane. My right hand ignited with flame again, though I didn’t know why. If my first assault hadn’t even scratched her, how could I possibly hope to—?
Mas’Kari.
The flames grew brighter in my palm, but I didn’t realize what was happening until I actually looked down. Instead of a small, smoldering ball of fire, my hand was holding a long, sword-like beam of Aetheric energy—again, just like in the Dal’Rethi stone. I couldn’t explain what was happening or how I miraculously understood this channeling technique, but once we closed within a few feet of the Inquisitrix I knew exactly what I had to do.
Screaming at the top of my lungs, I slashed Marcella with the fiery sword.
She cried out in anguish as her own magical barrier shattered. The blade burned a line of seared flesh across her arm and chest as she whirled around with the brilliant beams of light still blazing from her hands. Kaseya pulled me back beneath her shield an instant before I was disintegrated, and somehow the shimmering disc withstood the attack. Marcella slumped to a knee, still shrieking, as another explosion riddled the cavern and began collapsing the ceiling…
And then there was only darkness.
Epilogue
When my eyes fluttered back open, it was so dark and cold I assumed I was finally going to wake up in the abyss where I belonged. My legs ached, my head throbbed, and I fully expected a gaggle of demons to begin tormenting me at any moment. But then I heard a familiar voice calling my name, and I realized that eternal damnation would have to wait.
“Jorem. Jorem! Get up, you lazy idiot!”
A sudden weight lifted off my torso, and when my vision finally refocused I saw Valuri standing over me, her green eyes glowing intensely as she dug me out of the rubble. She was a mess—her armor was slashed open in a dozen different places, and it probably would have been covered in dried blood if not for the curtains of rain still pummeling the island.
“Kaseya…” I croaked.
“Red’s over there,” Valuri said, grabbing my hand. “She’s banged up pretty badly, but I think she’ll be all right.”
I coughed and wiped a thick layer of grime off my face. Apparently the entire cavern had collapsed around us; we were completely surrounded by a sea of shattered rocks and debris. Without Val’s Senosi strength, we would have been buried alive…
“You should be dead,” Valuri said, slouching down next to me. “When I found you, Red had a glowing shield on her forearm. It’s the only thing that kept you from being crushed under ten tons of rock.”
I blinked the last of the fog from my eyes and glanced to my right. Kaseya was lying there, unconscious, as the rain washed the dirt from her face. I could sense that she was alive, but that was about it.
“Do I even want to know what happened?” Valuri asked, squeezing my arm and cupping my cheek in her hand.
I swallowed heavily. “A reckoning.”
She frowned. “I can’t sense the Fount anymore. I almost ran out of strength before I dug you out.”
I knew she was right even before I closed my eyes and reached out to the Aether. I could still feel its power coursing through me like normal, but the Fount was gone. I couldn’t even sense any latent energy within the crystals scattered about the rubble.
“The fleet battle is over, as far as I can tell,” Valuri said. “But half the island is on fire, and I have no idea how many people survived. I don’t know what’s going on with Nol Pratos, either, but I have a feeling that the rest of the Senosi left with their mistress.”
“Did you see her?” I asked, my voice hoarse. “Did you see the Inquisitrix?”
Val nodded gravely. “After the explosion, I saw her stumble away. I have no idea where she was headed, but that was several hours ago.” She pursed her lips. “She did it, didn’t she? She collapsed the Three Corridors.”
“Not exactly.”
I closed my eyes and let out a deep breath. If Kaseya and I could still channel the Aether, then the Inquisitrix obviously hadn’t completely purged sorcery. Perhaps I had wounded her enough to keep her from finishing whatever ritual she had been performing. But if she had still managed to collapse the Fount, all that power had obviously gone somewhere …
One corridor. One conduit. One pure, cohesive source to harmonize the Aether and bring order to its currents.
“I don’t like that look one bit,” Valuri said. “Please tell me this isn’t as bad as it seems.”
“It’s probably worse,” I whispered.
“Oh.”
She squeezed my arm again, and she leaned forward to kiss me on the cheek. I could feel her lips trembling. For perhaps the first time since I had met her, Valuri Sorvaal was genuinely scared. And I didn’t blame her in the slightest.
“What are we going to do, Jorem?” she asked.
I sighed and reached out to touch Kaseya’s arm. “I have no idea.”
The adventures
of Jorem, Kaseya, and Valuri will continue in The Amazon’s Vengeance in early 2019!
HUNTRESS: ORIGINS
Prologue
The fugitive sorcerer crossed through the shadow-infested alleyway, his dark eyes flitting back and forth with the casual paranoia of a man who had lived his entire life on the run. In many parts of the world he would have been treated like a living god, but here in Vorsalos, the crown jewel of the Shattered Coast, his gifts only made him prey.
My prey, specifically. And it was long past time for my hunt to begin.
I crept along the edge of the rooftop above him, the soft patter of my footfalls completely drowned out by the rain. I had no trouble following him when he dipped into an adjacent alley and vanished into the rising fog. I knew precisely where he was going, for one, but even if he unexpectedly changed his route I didn’t need my eyes to track him. His Aether-infused blood was like a beacon in the darkness; I could actually feel the latent magical energy pumping through his veins. If I ever got close enough, I would probably be able to smell it, too. My mouth was already watering at the prospect of a fresh meal.
You’re better than this, Valuri. Keep your hunger under control—if he commands half the power you think he does, you’ll be able to sate yourself soon enough.
Grinning in anticipation, I vaulted from one rooftop to another. The sorcerer emerged from the fog exactly where I knew he would, and I continued my pursuit. I had been stalking him for almost a week now, and I had already memorized his habits and routines. Last night he had spent his entire evening drinking and gambling at one of the seedy taverns on the edge of the district, but tonight he would be visiting the brothel. Once inside, he would meet up with a blonde whore named Rayna, share a glass of wine with her at the bar, and then take her back to her room and fuck her senseless. He would emerge a few hours later, drained and drunk, before stumbling back to his home in the cistern.
