Norrix nodded. “The plane is fueled, and it will only take me a few minutes to gather what I need. When you’re packing, keep in mind credit cards won’t work in Ashana. Cash might, depending on where the other party is from, but the best currencies are ‘shiny’ and ‘odd’.”
“What kind of odd?”
“I made a deal where the other party wanted six left shoes. Not pairs, just six size-nineteen left shoes in different styles.” Curiosity had almost made him ask, but in the end, he hadn’t wanted to know. “Another time I saw a domino trade happen, where twenty-three exchanges were made to facilitate one transaction. Everything has worth to someone, somewhere.”
CHAPTER EIGHT
IQIOHR
IQIOHR WALKED ALONG the rocky beach next to his Esne. This area was barren and kept that way especially for the purpose of going to Ashana. The nearest tree or building lay miles away.
Tezcatlipoca’s incessant chatter and mockery made Iqiohr want to claw parts of his mind out from inside his skull. From the start, the god posed the biggest threat of all the mages trapped inside the magic. When Iqiohr became Scorpion Mage, he’d almost lost everything to Tezcatlipoca, felt himself dying, slowly devoured as he tried to take the glyphs for himself.
The only saving grace Iqiohr had were thoughts of his Esne. He’d fought hard and survived to return to her. She became his anchor, gave him the strength to fight. She loved him. He saw it in her eyes all the time before. Sometimes he still saw it now. As long as she looked at him like that, he could win.
But as the eclipse approached, Tezcatlipoca’s power grew, and he was increasingly harder to contain. Time disappeared. Iqiohr woke in places he didn’t remember going. His soldiers obeyed orders he hadn’t given them. The god bragged enough the plan wasn’t difficult to figure out.
Iqiohr went along with it, biding his time. Once the knife was back in Aztlan, he would fight for his life and his Esne one last time. Whoever started the sixth sun would rule. There was no point wasting strength before the eclipse.
Now that meant he had to send his constant companion away. It wasn’t easy to let her out of his sight, much less have her go somewhere so far away as Ashana, when he could scarcely remain in command. Iqiohr had hardly been able to wrest dominance back when Tezcatlipoca seized control that morning. But there was no one else he could trust.
Tezcatlipoca had wanted to hurt her, relish her pain as he took her. Iqiohr lost the majority of the magic they’d taken that morning, but he’d beaten Tezcatlipoca back, and as long as there was a chance his Esne carried a child... a son, none of the mages would harm her even if they escaped the cage he kept them in.
He clenched his fist around the black key to Ashana. Obeying a will other than his, those same fingers relaxed and handed the key to her. “You need to open the portal.”
His Esne had been quiet on the boat ride from the island to the mainland. He’d expected questions. Sensed she wanted to ask so many things, but she hadn’t said anything. At least that he was aware of. He’d lost a few minutes then and on the walk along the beach. As he pressed the key into her hand, she looked at him with confusion replacing the adoration he usually saw.
“I cannot accompany you any farther. Keep walking along the path. Where it ends, hold out the key and turn it to the left.”
She walked a few more steps along the shore and extended her hand.
Iqiohr braced himself. The ground shook, taking his soldiers unaware and sending some to their knees. A ball of light the size of a fist manifested in the air over his Esne’s head. The tremors increased as the beacon exploded in a burst that took the rest of his men down as he threw an arm up to cover his eyes.
The shaking and brilliance faded to a more subdued glow, and he lowered his arm. The portal blazed a deep purple, edging into pinks and golds. On the other side, another lake was visible.
Iqiohr watched his Esne walk away from him toward the portal that would take it... her to Ashana.
This was the first time since they were children she would be gone from his side overnight.
It will return. Tezcatlipoca’s smug voice filled his head. We have the little Esne.
His daughter. Once he thought she would be a second anchor to his old life, but she only ever looked at him with fear.
His Esne paused, turning back from the edge of the portal.
Tezcatlipoca’s presence pushed Iqiohr aside. He gestured two men forward. “Apan. Gajo. Go with the Esne. Ensure it does what it’s supposed to.”
“Why trust it at all, Scorpion Mage? We can go in your place and get what you need.” Gajo’s eyes followed her with a heat Tezcatlipoca didn’t appreciate.
When Gajo returned, perhaps he should lose one.
Now there was the matter of making the Esne obedient. Iqiohr harbored too much affection for such a useless witch. It couldn’t provide any of the magic he required. If it didn’t breed, it would have no use at all. He’d saved his Esne from a fate of being available for all the men in Aztlan, in spite of it having no magic. It owed him servitude and attention.
“No. There may be unwanted attention on the book or the knife. It’s better if someone unknown to the other mages buys it. And it will obey because one of the reasons to breed an Esne is for control. Bring the small witch.”
The guards around him separated in precise rows. A twelve-year-old boy led a four-year-old witch forward, his larger hand engulfing hers. When the little witch resisted, the boy snapped at her and tugged harder.
“Do you like this little witch?” Tezcatlipoca asked when they stood in front of him. The boy, Tizoc, was Iqiohr’s current chosen vessel to kill him and become the next Scorpion Mage. The boy had never been ill, his body hale and large for his age. He would continue to grow, and being born of a witch, would take to using magic with ease.
Tizoc nodded. “Yes, Scorpion Mage. She’s young, but she’s pretty.”
“It, my boy.” Tezcatlipoca gave Tizoc an indulgent smile. He was just learning how to treat a witch, after all. “It is young, but it is pretty. You can indulge them once in a while, but never forget what a witch is. A way to grow your power. They are not like wives.”
“I understand, Scorpion Mage.”
As usual, the Esne sensed its daughter was near. It turned around and couldn’t keep the hint of terror from its eyes when it saw Tizoc holding the little witch’s arm. His Esne offered the little Esne a smile and held up a hand.
“Make it wave.”
The little witch struggled, but Tizoc raised their joined hands in a wave.
The Esne’s smile faltered. It might not have magic, but it could bear him a line of witches and sons. And it was smart. It understood the message. If it failed in the mission, he would give its daughter to Tizoc. It was never too early to start training an Esne to serve.
CHAPTER NINE
FABLE
FABLE LAY ON THE BED in her cell and watched the new story Nantli shared in her mind. A baby monkey climbed a high tree, trying to get a bright yellow banana bigger than him, but the tree kept growing all the way to the moon. A mommy bird caught the monkey, put him in a nest and sat on him, making Fable giggle, but no sound came out.
The Scorpion Mage stung her throat and took her voice a long time ago. He said she cried too much. No one knew Nantli and Fable could still talk and share pictures, anyway. That was their special secret.
The door slammed opened and before Fable could jump to her feet, one of the mean men came in. He didn’t say anything, just grabbed her arm with his hard hand and pulled her off the bed. Fable cried out, but couldn't make a noise.
He dragged her through the hallways, squeezing her wrist until her bones hurt when her short legs couldn’t keep up with his fast walking. He yanked her outside to the dock and made her sit in a chair on a boat. She pushed her hair out of her face and blinked in the bright sun.
Another man jumped in the boat, making it rock, then he sat down and rowed away from the island.
Where were they
taking her? She’d never gone across the lake before. Would Nantli be there? What if Nantli couldn’t find her again? Fable tried to pay attention so she could tell Nantli a story about how brave and good she behaved later, but it was hard. Her hands shook and her vision kept going blurry. Crying would get her in trouble.
As ahuizotls swam near them, their big heads poked out of the water. Sometimes they scared her, but today the mean man scared her more. His eyes were almost all white and his hair had stripes. The meanest men always had white eyes and hair.
When they crossed the lake, the mean man pulled Fable off the boat and pushed her hard at a boy, making her stumble on the uneven stones. The soldiers laughed, but the boy caught her, helping her stand up. She’d seen him before on the ball court. He’d never talked to her before. He had black eyes and hair, and his hand didn’t hurt when he held hers. He was the biggest boy of all of them and sometimes he hurt the other boys.
“Bring it when we’re ready.” The mean man smiled, but it wasn’t a nice smile. “Punish it as appropriate.”
Fable’s whole body trembled. He hadn’t told her anything. What was she supposed to do?
The boy nodded, and the man left. “My name is Tizoc. What’s yours?”
Fable stared at the ground.
“Is it true the Scorpion Mage stole your voice?”
She nodded. That wasn’t a secret.
“I’ve never heard you speak, but I thought it was because you were scared or didn’t like us.”
A loud clicking sound, like a key turning in a lock, made everyone look away from her. The ground shook. Fable almost fell again, but Tizoc caught her. Stuck next to him, Fable couldn’t see anything. Too many people stood in her way. The ground shook harder, and a light hurt her eyes.
“Bring the small witch.” Her head snapped up at that voice. The Scorpion Mage. He didn’t like her.
When she resisted, Tizoc turned his head toward her and tugged harder. “Come on. We have to do what they say.”
She stumbled forward, the guards making a path until they stood in front of the mage.
Fable forgot about the Scorpion Mage when the circle of light came into view. Nantli stood in front of it with her arm out. What was that thing? Why was Nantli so close?
“Do you like this little witch?” Iqiohr asked.
Tizoc nodded. “Yes, Scorpion Mage. She’s young, but she’s pretty.”
“It, my boy.” The mage gave Tizoc a nice smile that wasn’t really nice. “It is young, but it is pretty. While it is okay to indulge them once in a while, never forget what a witch is. A way to grow your power. They are not like wives.”
“I understand, Scorpion Mage.”
Nantli turned around and found Fable in the crowd.
“Make it wave.”
She didn’t want to wave. If she waved, it meant this was real. Nantli, I don’t like this boy.
Be brave, little one. I’ll be back as soon as I can.
Take me with you. I was good. I didn’t fight.
I—
The mean man pushed her mom into the portal, and she disappeared.
Fable screamed, trying to force sound out. Her mom was gone. She felt dizzy and wanted to fall down, but Tizoc didn’t let her.
People left, but Fable wanted to stay. Maybe if she stared long enough or wished hard enough, Nantli would come back. She tried to be brave, but her mom never left before. The Scorpion Mage was making her. Part of her heart felt missing, and her head felt too quiet. The constant presence of her mom was gone.
But Tizoc was bigger and when she didn’t move, he just picked her up and carried her along the edge of the lake to the boats. His hands didn’t hurt. He made her go where he wanted, but he was gentle when he guided her onto a barge and helped her onto a seat for the trip back to the island.
Nobody ever stayed with her so she couldn’t make friends, and had to be by herself. Some boys tried to fool her. Sometimes they were nice before they did mean things.
She told her mom she didn’t like this boy, but she wanted to. He felt safe, even though that was dangerous.
No one was really safe in Aztlan.
CHAPTER TEN
NORRIX
NORRIX ZIPPED HIS BAG closed and hefted it to his shoulder with a grunt. He didn't need much — a couple changes of clothes, and human identification, just in case. The bag was still heavy with currency for Ashana.
He met Stryx and Ember in the garage and drove the short distance to the airfield, where the Ildum kept their jet in the on-property hangar. It was easier to have their own transportation, given the unpredictability of commercial flights, and the off-the-beaten-track places they needed to go.
It didn’t get more off-the-beaten-track than Ashana — the Shrouded Place. A zone only ‘sort of’ in this world ‘sometimes’. The gateways opened for those who held a key, which could only be obtained in Ashana.
Glowing silver with strygoi magic, Ember walked around the jet with him for his pre-flight check, and stood behind him, keeping one hand on his shoulder in the cockpit. She bombarded him with questions about how to fly the plane. Probably to distract him, and he almost relaxed.
He needed further distraction after take-off as they flew west, over the ocean and into the sun.
Into.
The.
Sun.
“It would help me know what to look for if you could describe Musette’s symptoms more fully.”
“Musette's magic feels wrong. I don't know how to explain it. I never touched her magic before, so I don’t know what’s changed about it. We killed all the spiders feeding on her, but she still can’t wake up or remember what happened after the mages separated us.”
“Could it be something to do with her becoming strygoi like you? Maybe her magic is changing too quickly, or the process started too soon?”
She shook her head. “No, my magic welcomed the strygoi magic. They wove together without fighting. I don’t think the process is meant to hurt or cause Musette to go into a coma.” Her voice turned bitter and the hand on his shoulder curled into a fist. “It has to be something that mage did.”
“But when your magic changed, you and Stryx had already bonded, right? Forgive me for saying so, but I’ve seen Soră act... Let’s call it erratically before. Maybe it jumped the gun this time and is trying to change Musette’s magic before she’s bonded with Idris?”
“I suppose it’s possible. But if Musette wakes up strygoi, that means witches can become strygoi without needing a vampire to kick-start the process. Selene seems sure that’s not possible. And what if he did the bonding and what’s poisoning her magic affected him too?”
Stryx joined them, keeping his hands well away from the controls by putting them on Ember instead. “My mother also said things are changing, would happen fast, and the magic could be adapting.”
“Selene would know.” Norrix couldn’t help glancing between Stryx and the controls. “What if rather than combining with Musette’s it’s trying to turn her into something else? You said you have a third sister. What if since your other sister isn’t here, instead of Fate, the magic wants Musette to be Death?”
“Musette can’t help the magic if it kills her. I don’t think that’s it. It felt more... I don’t know, confused, I guess. Not right, but not malicious. Idris wouldn’t give her blood and venom before because she couldn’t consent. She hadn’t even met him. But they’re in my Dragă space now. Maybe she’ll want to bond with him and that’s what will wake her up.” She grinned. “I hope Idris likes ice cream. He’s going to be watching her eat a lot of it.”
“We’ll keep looking for a way to wake her.” Stryx slid his hands up her arms to her shoulders and squeezed.
Ember let her head fall back against Stryx’s chest. “I know. I wish I could do something instead of just waiting. I wasn’t good at waiting before I became War, now I want to use my sword on everything.” She heaved a sigh and changed the subject. “What can you tell us about Ashana, Norrix?”
> “Ashana is Las Vegas for the Other World.”
“Where is it? Close to Port Storm?”
“No one knows where Ashana itself is, only where to find a gate to get there. It’s a sort of vortex between worlds.” Norrix checked the sky around them and his gauges. “We’re high enough. Sit down and put your seat belts on. Sometimes there’s turbulence when the gate opens.”
Keeping her hand on Norrix’s arm, Ember sat in the copilot seat. Stryx buckled her in and took the jump seat behind her. “How did people get there before airplanes?”
“When the world wasn’t so crowded, the portals could open on the ground. They still can in some places, but they require a lot of space. Activating a key when there isn’t enough room burns the key out and can trap you in between. The easiest way to open the gate now is high in the sky, away from everything and everyone.”
Norrix removed a simple metal key from his pocket, inserted it into an imaginary keyhole, and turned it left. A thunk, the sound of a huge tumbler in a lock, turning shook the plane. The air in front of them shimmered, black on the other side. “Hold on.” He piloted the jet into the portal and waited for their reactions as Ashana came into view.
It resembled a large island floating in the air. A single, tall building rose from a confused landscape. A volcano loomed in one corner, lava flowing down one side to form new land in a boiling ocean. Other parts of Ashana held a jungle, a desert of sand dunes, an ice field of glaciers, a swamp, a lake, a meadow, a range of mountains, and a forest.
Stryx only quirked an eyebrow, but Ember gasped and leaned forward. “Wow, look at this place! It’s incredible. It’s day and night at the same time.” She pointed to the line where midnight black met light blue.
Myth's Legend: Norrix Page 5
