“What?” Neph blurted before he could stop himself.
Jala shrugged and nodded her head. “Pretty close to my reaction. I was stunned and speechless and devastated all at the same time. Did you know, when you kill a Divine you take their power and their place?” she asked with a bittersweet smile and chuckled darkly when he shook his head. “Neither did Finn, so now he is the Lord of Death,” she said as she pulled the holy symbol from her night robe to dangle it before him. “Hence, my reverence for Death now.”
“That bastard is responsible for my afterlife if I die?” Neph grumbled and shook his head in disbelief. “Shit. I have seen Finn forget to dress fully before leaving the hall. I shudder to think of my soul in his care,” Leaning back farther in his chair he rubbed his jaw as Jala took another long pull from the wine bottle. She didn’t drink often, but when she did, it usually ended poorly. “So, Seth takes Legacy to see his true father in hell. That’s got to be mentally scarring to a kid,” Neph concluded dryly. “Was this your idea, or Finn’s?”
“Seth’s idea,” Jala said miserably. “And now he has taken Zoelyn and I don’t know why and he kept calling her Undrae. The Shifters in Glis despise her for her powers, Neph, and Seth is a Shifter. What if he kills her? There is nothing I can do to protect her there and she was in my care. She doesn’t deserve to die. She was trying to protect my son from him.” The words poured out of her and she fell back onto his bed, the wine carefully balanced in one hand while her other rubbed her face.
“From what I heard through the door, he didn’t sound homicidal,” Neph offered with a shrug.
“When he was alive and still working as an Assassin, his call name was The Gentleman. He never sounds homicidal, Neph. Seth can smile and wink at you as he slits your throat.” Jala’s voice rose with the words and he could see her panic returning. “I have to get to the Darklands,” she added in a low whisper.
“Oh, no you don’t,” Neph said quickly. “Finn is the Lord of Death right?” he asked as he dropped his feet down from the table and rose from his chair. The last time Jala had journeyed to the Darklands it had nearly killed her and he wasn’t about to let her go again even if it meant knocking her out.
“I just said he was, didn’t I?” Jala snapped as she sat up on the bed with an expression on her face that was equal parts irritation and concern.
“Then pray. Finn will hear you,” Neph ordered.
“Well in that case it would have made more sense to go to the temple now wouldn’t it,” Jala grumbled her eyes narrowing at him.
“Jala, temples exist for our comfort so we have a place to recognize our faith. The gods do not require us to be in a certain spot to hear us.
They are gods, after all. Hold your symbol and pray,” Neph said gently and settled back into his chair once more. He half expected her to bolt for the door at the mention of going to the Darklands, but to his relief she seemed to be listening.
“Fine, then explain what is in the vaults while I plead with my dead husband,” Jala sighed as she wrapped her hand tightly around her holy symbol and closed her eyes.
“It is times like this that I realize my life will never be normal,” Neph sighed and waved a hand toward the bottle. “Share the booze and I’ll pour my heart out.” Wordlessly, Jala handed over the bottle and he took a small drink. She hadn’t left much and he considered grabbing another bottle, but decided a dry throat was better than a drunk Jala.
“Well?” Jala snapped.
“More praying. Less talking. I’m trying to decide how to start this,” Neph grumbled. He had never actually spoken of the Delvay secrets before. No one did. His father had only told him the story once and RenDelvayon had made it quite clear that he didn’t repeat it to anyone outside the family. As far as Neph was concerned, though, RenDelvayon’s judgment had always been off, and he trusted Jala far more than he had ever trusted his family, aside from Zyi. “You know what the Guardians are right?” he asked finally. There was no way around it that he could see. In order to explain it clearly, he had to start at the beginning.
“The ones that created the prison and the Barrier,” Jala answered, sounding a bit distracted.
“The original Guardians were Delvay. Our people started it all. Over the course of time there was a split, however, and two factions emerged. One side was focused on the preservation of the world. The other side was focused on elimination of threats at all cost. Needless to say, the differences in views was drastic and the fighting within our cities grew to the point that the preservationists withdrew. They stopped referring to themselves as Delvay and began recruiting those with the same beliefs from other nations. In a matter of years they were known simply as the Guardians and had a shroud of mystery surrounding them that only the Delvay truly understood,” Neph paused and took another drink of wine. Jala was watching him now with a calmer look on her face, though the holy symbol was still clutched tightly in her hands.
“So the side that is locked here is the extremist faction,” she concluded with a faint nod.
“Somewhat,” Neph agreed. “Before the Barrier, there were battles that lasted for decades, if not longer, and there were enemies that made Myth seem laughable. I understood fully when your Grandfather spoke of the ancient evils. My people still tell stories about them. War was right. They are here, and I know exactly where some of them rest.” He paused and smiled bitterly. “My people not only built Sanctuary, they were the reason it was built. The final straw for the Guardians was a battle that the Extremists wouldn’t back down from. They were literally ripping the world apart in order to kill their enemies. In an effort to save the innocents, the Guardians froze the entire battle in time. Delvay, as well as their enemies, were trapped in stasis, and eternally locked in combat. The ones trapped were the heroes of my people, our strength, and our legends. Without them we were lost and when the Guardians offered us refuge we took the bait. We took our heroes, too. I can only imagine how hard the Guardians must have laughed when they realized not only had we fallen for their trap, we did the heavy lifting for them and brought our fallen with us to be locked up for safe keeping.”
“Can they be awakened?” Jala asked and it was obvious by the look on her face she now saw the reason Kadan had thrown his armies away trying to hold the city.
“There is the tickler. When Veyetta fell, it was a fraud. The High Lady of Veyetta knew she couldn’t hold the city against Troyelle’s army.
The Veyetta had a trick similar to the Soulreavers, but rather than spirit they turned to shadows. The twist for the Veyetta was that they literally had to step from their mortal bodies to access that ability. I’m sure Lady Veyetta locked the bodies away with the intent to reclaim them once the storm had passed. Excuse the pun there, I couldn’t resist,” Neph grinned as Jala rolled her eyes and waved for him to continue. With a nod he sighed and pressed on. “My Grandmother was waiting for that exact moment, though. When Lady Veyetta called her people into the shadows, my Grandmother wove an extension of the stasis spell over Veyetta. If you break the bindings on the statues of our fallen you free the Shades of Veyetta as well,” Neph explained with a sigh and took another drink from the bottle, draining the rest of the wine. He leaned forward and sat it down with a solid thump on the table and smiled bitterly.
“So, if Rivasa finds them, we are all screwed,” Jala said with a sigh.
“Essentially. The only solace I have right now is that I don’t think the Rivasans have a mage strong enough to break the magic. However, they do have Magebreakers and draining the power might do the trick,” Neph replied. “The saddest part is, if I could wake just my people, Delvay would be whole again. My people have been failing for years and it was no surprise when my country fell. If I could somehow manage to wake them up, just the heroes, mind you, not only would my country thrive, I wouldn’t have to lead it. I devoted my entire time at the Academy to learning as much magic as I could in hopes of waking them, and now Rivasa may beat me to the punch and kill everyone in the process.�
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“We have to get your city back,” Jala whispered. Her face had gone pale and she eyed the empty bottle with longing. “That’s what the black threads were. Everything Hemlock said makes sense now,” she mumbled and then looked up at him with a determined gleam in her eyes. “I’m sending Vaze to Delvay to gather intelligence. When he returns, we will move,” she announced.
“Jala, they hold a fortified city. You don’t have an army big enough to break through the walls, and after the last council meeting, I doubt anyone will volunteer to help us,” Neph said with a sigh.
“I didn’t say anything about taking an army,” Jala pointed out, her violet eyes locking on his. “Marrow says I am an army. When Vaze returns, I will prove it.”
“Valor is going to kill me,” Neph groaned as he leaned back in his chair to stare at the ceiling. He had been trying to figure out how to take the city back for weeks now, but he knew Jala didn’t have the military strength and he certainly didn’t have it with the few remaining Delvay he had. The idea of just Jala going was insane, though. He had to find a way to talk her out of it, and quickly.
“I can’t allow that. I don’t know my way around Delvay so you have to be there to guide me,” Jala returned with a smirk.
Chapter 8
The Darklands
Zoelyn staggered as her barefoot caught on another cobble stone. Pain lanced through her foot and it was only Seth’s hand on her arm that kept her upright. The image of her heavy boots propped in the hall beside Legacy’s door surfaced in her mind and she mentally cursed herself for removing them. Another rock bit at the bottom of her foot and she stumbled once more.
“Continue like this and I will carry you the rest of the way under my arm,” Seth sighed.
“I can’t keep pace with you, barefoot, without tripping,” Zoelyn replied in a voice that quavered like a child’s. She hated herself for the sound of it, but it couldn’t be helped. She was terrified to the core. The dead surrounded them on all sides, hovering just out of reach and watching them with an intensity that made her stomach roil.
“Fine then,” Seth said as he stopped in his tracks and carefully shifted Legacy to rest in the crook of his arm. He pulled her closer and wrapped an arm around her waist to lift her. Turning quickly, Zoelyn twisted free of his grasp and staggered back several feet from him. He watched with a smile and looked past her to the spirits that filled the city. “Not a wise choice, little Undrae. They are hungry,” he warned.
“She hates to be called that and I can’t say that I’m fond of the word either,” Vaze said quietly as he stepped from the shadows behind Seth. His armor covered him from head to toe, masking his face, but Zoelyn recognized his voice clearly, and relief washed over her in a flood.
Seth sighed dramatically and turned slowly to face Vaze with a look of annoyance. “Shadow hopper, you are very much out of your league. I suggest you scurry back to Jala now before you irritate me further.” “Zoelyn, are you all right?” Vaze asked, ignoring Seth’s words completely.
She nodded quickly and looked frantically for a way to get to him. “Terrified, but not hurt,” she gasped.
“Just a moment and I will take you back home,” Vaze assured her gently as he squared his shoulders to face Seth. “You have an arrangement with Jala concerning Legacy. That is difficult enough for Jala to accept. You crossed the line when you took her ward. The girl is under Jala’s protection and I will be leaving with her.” His tone had grown cold as he spoke, and his hand dropped to rest lightly on his sword hilt.
“Am I supposed to kill you while holding Legacy?” Seth asked in amusement. He grinned and shrugged one shoulder. “I could, you know, perhaps without even waking him, but I think it might trouble the child when he woke covered in his Uncle’s blood don’t you?”
“There doesn’t have to be a fight here, Seth. All you have to do is continue to Finn with his son and leave the girl with me, ” Vaze replied sharply.
“The Undrae,” Seth began, emphasizing the word, “is coming with me. You don’t understand what she is, Shadow hopper, and I do. If you are worried for her well-being, then follow, but if you try to stop me, I will kill you. I am not like the other guardians of the Darklands that you have faced. Only the Lord of Death stands above me on power here. Remember that before you threaten me.”
Shadows rose around Vaze and he moved almost faster than Zoelyn could follow. In one breath he was facing Seth in the next he was beside her with one arm pulling her back into the darkness. Zoelyn clung to his arm desperately as the shadows swirled around them then faded to mist. A strangled gasp broke from Vaze, and he staggered into her. His hold on her arm loosened as he dropped to his knees on the rough cobbles.
Zoelyn watched him in panic and slowly looked past him to where Seth stood just behind them. She hadn’t even noticed him move, and yet there he was with a bloody dagger in one hand and Legacy sleeping soundly in the other. Seth casually wiped the dagger off on his pants and slid the blade back into its scabbard at his side. With an amused smile he watched as Vaze crumpled fully onto the cobbles.
“Now you walk, regardless, little Undrae, and I suggest you do your best to keep up. The dead are hungry and you have just enough life to tempt them,” Seth informed her as he reached down and lifted Vaze effortlessly by his sword belt. Seth wasn’t tall enough to lift the man’s body fully from the ground and Vaze’s arms and legs hung limply against the loose cobbles.
“You killed him,” Zoelyn gasped, her eyes locked on Vaze’s still form as Seth half carried him down the street. The shock of what she had just witnessed left her frozen in place with her mind reeling. It had all happened within seconds. In one breath she had been on her way home to Merro and in the next her savior was dead at her feet.
“A rather obvious statement, but if you recall I did warn him first. It was more like suicide than homicide, in all honesty. Which is what I will label your death as if you don’t start walking,” Seth replied casually.
The air chilled around her and Zoelyn glanced back to see several of the spirits closing on her. Fear overwhelmed her judgment and she bolted after Seth, the cobbles biting painfully into her feet as she ran. She slid to a halt just behind him and tried desperately to avoid looking down at Vaze’s body.
“Wise choice, little Undrae,” Seth chuckled as he turned a corner and headed for the black stone palace that sat brooding in the heart of the city of the dead.
Zoelyn swallowed heavily, her eyes tracing up the spires of the palace to the massive dark forms that circled like vultures above it. She had never seen a dragon before, and just a glimpse of the creatures ahead of her made her realize she didn’t want to see one any closer. “I don’t want to go there,” she whispered.
“I say the same thing every time I come home,” Seth said wistfully as he continued down the street at the same ground-eating pace.
* * *
“Seriously, Seth? Really? You didn’t have enough to do tonight so you decided to throw in kidnapping and murder for extra entertainment?” The man’s voice cracked through the throne room with enough anger that Zoelyn cringed back against the wall. He was dressed in black armor and a long hooded cloak, but she could still make out enough of his features to realize he looked like a twin of Sovaesh. The only true difference she could see was that this man’s face was free of the brand marks that Jala’s friend bore on each cheek.
Seth shrugged as he dropped Vaze’s body onto the floor before the throne and he smirked. “Does the Lord of Death require me to point out that Vaze is not actually dead?” he asked with sarcasm lacing his words.
“Wait, what?” The man froze in place and examined the body on the ground before him critically before looking back up at the Assassin. "OK, so he isn’t dead, the kidnapping accusation is still valid, though,” he amended as he approached Vaze’s still form and prodded him gently with the toe of his boot. “What did you do to him?” he asked with more curiosity than anger in his voice.
“I drugged him, Fi
nn. Well, I also stabbed him of course, but it was a non-lethal wound and I have no regrets about it. He earned it when he annoyed me,” Seth explained calmly. “I brought the girl for you Finn,” he added as he glanced back at Zoelyn.
“You know I was joking when I said the temples needed to start the virgin sacrifices again, right?” Finn asked cautiously, his gaze flicking between her and Seth. “She is kind of young, too, Seth. I mean it’s been a while and all, but I’m not into child molesting. Sorry.”
Seth sighed heavily and rubbed his face. Moving past Finn he carefully placed Legacy on the throne and shook his head. “Your son could sleep through anything. There has been yelling and screaming and jostling and he is still snoring.” Seth shook his head and straightened once more as he walked over to stand at Finn’s side and draped an arm loosely across his shoulders. His attention returned to Zoelyn and he pointed a finger at her. “I didn’t bring her here for you to fuck, Finn. Look at her closely with the eyes of a god rather than the eyes of a lecherous mortal.”
“I preferred life as a lecherous mortal,” Finn grumbled.
“So did I, but we must let go of our past and serve the present,” Seth replied in a consoling voice.
“Why can’t I see her soul? I don’t sense any of my power attached to her at all, and from the looks of her, I really should. She looks ready to die at any moment in her current condition.” Finn sounded puzzled and Zoeln tried to shrink back farther against the wall to escape his stare.
“She is Undrae Finn,” Seth explained as he dropped his arm from Finn’s shoulder and stood straight once more. “She looks starved and terrified, but she doesn’t look like a monster to me,” Finn observed with a glance to Seth.
Seth sighed dramatically and rolled his eyes. “Monster is not the true definition of the word Undrae. Originally the word meant her kind,” Seth informed him as he pointed casually toward Zoelyn once more. “In the beginning, the proper word was Uindraely named in honor of the mage that created her kind. They are also called Broken ones or leeches.” Seth paused and watched Finn closely for any sign of comprehension.
The Elder Blood Chronicles Book 4 The Blessed Curse Page 18
