Sins of a Sovereignty (Amernia Fallen Book 1)
Page 31
“Could I? Yes, but only if you promise not to hurt her. She is good to her children, and the father is too. Both very dear to us and the forest.”
“I give you my word,” said the elf. He wrapped a gloved hand around the black-feathered arrow pinning the ripper to the tree and pulled it out with a harsh tug. Green blood dripped from the ripper’s gray skin as she climbed to the ground and stretched her legs. She scuttled off suddenly like a dart through the underbrush.
“This way!” she shouted and Adan followed, running as fast as he could to keep pace
“Elf needs to move faster if he wants to meet the mother!” she yelled, crawling over white roots and under violet leaves veined with blue.
“And the ripper needs to slow down if she doesn’t want to get shot!” retorted Adan as he ran over boulders and under fallen logs. Underbrush vanished to reveal a starry night sky, and Adan had to stop himself from falling over the cliff’s edge. The roots of the white wood trees jutted from the mud downward into the abyss like spiral staircases. Adan just barely stopped himself from falling in.
“You must go down,” said the spider, suddenly appearing beside him. “Down into the mist. She waits for you there.”
The Spider Witch sat perched atop her husband, who in turn sat upon his web of black and silver silk. The web was built at the mouth of a mine, long since abandoned and forgotten by time. Husband crawled down when he saw Adan coming, the muscles in his eight legs twitching as they delicately touched the earth. “Look, Husband,” said the Spider Witch. “We have a visitor. Hello, Adan.”
“Hello madam,” replied the elf, taking a bow.
“What bringsss you to thisss place?” asked Husband through his spider jaws. “We told you not to return until you could repay your debt.”
“You did,” said Adan, “and that’s why I’m here.” He threw the runic tankard at Husband’s feet, causing the spider thing to recoil violently. “Consider my debt repaid,” said Adan with a smirk. “I don’t know what you want with the bottle—just promise me after this you’ll never speak to me again.”
The Spider Witch let out a gleeful laugh and clapped her three-fingered hands together. “The Bottler’s bottle and all the madness inside. Quickly, Husband, get it and wrap it in silk. But be gentle. How’s your son, Adan?”
“Calcifer lives,” said Adan as Husband began to wrap the bottle in silk vomited from his mouth, “although he’s been asleep since the Wild Hunt took Norfield. His body needs time to repair itself.”
“Interesssting,” said Husband. “The monssster hunter who became a monssster. Ssso poetic, isss it not?”
“What’s more interesting is that they call themselves the Wild Hunt,” said the Spider Witch. “Seems like only yesterday we saw the Hunt verb across the night sky, doesn’t it?”
“It doesss,” said Husband. “Tell usss, which one of the noblesss met their end?”
“Which one?” chuckled Adan. “There’d been three.”
“Three!” said the Spider Witch, laughing. “Three nobles dead?” She cackled and Husband joined in, his voice a sharp hiss. “Tell usss, who died first?”
“Phineas the Great,” said Adan. “They say the Wild Hunt came for his soul but he was too fat for his chains. The next to die was Pendragon, in a duel to the death with the Arrow Lord. The third was Evrill, disgraced and humiliated. Her death was a mercy.” They laughed again, a long, piercing laugh that sent animals scurrying back into their burrows. “What now?” asked Adan.
“What now?” repeated the Spider Witch, her voice crackling like broken glass. “Now the little elf man goes back to his Blackfeathers. You’ve repaid your debt, Adan. You’ve served your purpose. Go meet your end in peace.”
“And what of the Tankard?” he asked, pointing with his scimitar.
“Our busssinesss isss our own,” said Husband, stomping his front legs into the dirt. “Elvesss ssshould not asssk quessstionsss, or they’ll end up in our web like the othersss.”
“Calm down, deary,” said the Spider Witch. “Isn’t it obvious, Adan? We desire a permanent order. An end to the chaos and the endless circles of hate. We want to see the castles crumble stone by stone. The Life-Bringer’s sins are greater than you know, child, and the cosmos demands his blood.”
“I don’t understand. What do you mean the cosmos demands blood?”
“Ignorant whelp,” growled Husband. “The young know nothing. They are ssstupid and foolisssh. Let me drink hisss blood.”
The Spider Witch ignored Husband and leaned forward on her back. “The cosmos has a name, child… Nemesis. Do not forget it, for its power is limitless and its knowledge infinite. Events have been set in motion that cannot be undone, and when he returns, the sky will go dark and the stars will be unmade. The forgotten god will be freed from his prison, and when he does, Amernia will fall.”