“Still lost, keep going,” Finn prompted and waved his hand for Seth to continue.
Seth nodded with a smirk. “There is a spell among the forbidden magic that can raise the dead. With a sacrifice of equal value you can return life to the fallen. Uindraely Merrodin discovered long before the Barrier that if you intentionally use a sacrifice that is not equal, you can create a Broken one,” Seth paused and motioned toward Zoelyn. “The creature that returns from the grave is not whole or truly alive. She exists on the borders of both, Finn. An Undrae does not remember its former life as she would if the spell worked properly. They are not the person they were before the grave. They siphon life as well as magic in a desperate attempt to make themselves whole. Uindraely Merrodin grew infamous in her practice of raising them in armies. Uindraely has been dead for hundreds of years, however, and yet here is one of her creations.” Seth paused again looking at Finn meaningfully.
“I’m trying to picture her as a threat, Seth, I really am, but the way she is cuddling the wall is killing my imagination for that,” Finn said dryly as he continued to watch Zoelyn.
“They are as they are taught Finn. This Undrae was formed of a young girl on both sides of that spell. The sacrifice as well as the fallen would have been innocent of nature. Imagine another raised in this method, though. Imagine one that was created with a darker purpose. This one is harmless, I will agree with you on that, but someone is creating them and it is stealing from you when they do. It’s possible that this girl was a test, a practice if you will. The next one raised could be much more dangerous,” Seth explained calmly.
“So how do we find her creator?” Finn asked after a long moment. “I can’t sense anything about her so I can’t trace it through magic,” he added thoughtfully and glanced at Seth.
“I will help this one if you will allow it. Perhaps when I have her in fit condition again her creator will come forward. If not I may be able to gather clues from her that will answer our questions. All I need is time and I will find the one that needs to be punished,” Seth answered with a smile.
“Do it then, but do it on the same rotation as Legacy. Jala is extremely pissed right now and I really don’t want to push her further. You can gather the girl or help her or whatever you need to do when you bring me Legacy,” Finn ordered and turned back for his throne. He paused beside Vaze’s motionless body and his shoulders slumped. “And, Seth, take Vaze back home and maybe, just maybe, Jala won’t realize you stabbed her Uncle. If she does, I am going to relay every prayer I get from her directly to you, and I’m using the term prayer lightly. They really aren’t prayers, Seth, not even close,” he added with a shake of his head.
Seth nodded quickly and moved forward to pick Vaze up by the belt once more. “I will return for the girl in a bit,” he announced with a nod.
Finn glanced back at him and smirked. “You are so lucky I dismiss Fiona on the nights that Legacy is here. She would be bitching for days over this and I would have you running the most tedious disgusting assignments I could think of as punishment for having to listen to her.” “If only you would dismiss her permanently,” Seth sighed as he disappeared from the room with Vaze.
Finn chuckled and his gaze returned to Zoelyn. She had been watching them both in utter silence afraid to make even the slightest sound.
Slowly she straightened against the wall and returned his gaze. “You tried to defend my son,” Finn said quietly. “I didn’t understand,” Zoelyn whispered hoarsely.
“Seth terrifies you and yet you still tried to defend Legacy,” Finn mused as he carefully picked his son up and sat down in the throne. He balanced the child in the crook of his arm and watched him sleep for a long moment before his eyes found hers once more. “Legacy is the only thing I have left of my former life. I have severed all other ties. He means more to me than anything and any who defend him I consider friend. You have no reason to be scared of me…” His words trailed off and he raised an eyebrow at her. “Zoey or Zoelyn? Jala used both when she was ranting and I’m not sure which you prefer. I think I favor Zoey myself. It’s less formal.”
“Zoey is fine,” she agreed as she moved cautiously away from the wall. “Why is he still asleep through all of this? Is he OK?” she asked hesitantly.
Finn grinned widely and nodded. “That was one of the reasons that we specified that Legacy be awake when Seth arrives. This child could sleep through the end of the world. It’s amazing really,” he chuckled.
“I don’t want Seth’s help. I want to go home. Please? I just wanted to help Legacy and I see now that he doesn’t need my help.” Zoelyn wasn’t sure if he would listen, but he seemed kind enough. He was certainly not what she had expected from the Lord of Death. It was obvious now that Legacy was in good care. She wasn’t sure about herself, though, and she knew she only had moments before Seth returned.
“If I thought Seth intended to harm you, I wouldn’t have agreed to his request, and while he may have made you sound like bait for your creator you won’t be. I won’t allow that. I will make a deal with you, however. Considering that we are friends, now.” Finn paused as he waited for a response.
“What kind of deal?” Zoelyn asked cautiously.
“Humor Seth for the duration of Legacy’s visit. If you still despise him by the end, I won’t let him bring you back again, and you can continue with Jala’s attempts to help you. Seth knows what you are, though, and Jala doesn’t. It’s very possible that Seth knows how to help you and it may take Jala months to figure it out,” Finn answered calmly.
“Will you ask him to stop calling me Undrae?” Zoelyn asked.
“Call him demon in return if he does. He hates to be reminded of what he is as much as you do, apparently. I suppose none of us achieved what we wanted from life. I never once wanted to be called Death and yet everyone but Seth uses that title for me now,” Finn sighed.
“He is a demon?” Zoelyn choked her eyes widening. None of the stories had ever described the Crow King as a demon. He had seemed like nothing more than Elder Blood to her. The demons in the stories were hideous and covered in scales with fangs and claws, yet Seth was beautiful. Even his golden bird like eyes had seemed normal to her after living for years on the Glis border. Most Shifters had animal traits in their human forms.
“The prettiest one I have,” Finn agreed with a grin.
“Ahh. You flatter me so, Finn.” Seth’s voice broke through the shadows with sarcasm lacing each word. “Did Jala notice?” Finn asked, his head snapping upward in the direction of Seth’s voice.
“No, and I doubt Vaze will tell her. That was likely an experience he will go a very long way never to mention again. I humiliated him,”
Seth answered as he dropped down from the rafters landing gracefully on the stone floor a few feet from her.
“You heard our deal?” Finn asked.
“I did. Apparently, if I want to abuse her and devour what’s left of her soul, I need to do it quickly,” Seth replied with a grin.
“Way to reassure a frightened girl, Seth. You are truly a lady’s man,” Finn said dryly.
“I try,” Seth murmured, his gaze moving to Zoelyn once more. “Follow me or be dragged, you choose,” he said as he turned to walk from the room.
“I’d follow,” Finn urged with a quick nod. “He meant that part about dragging.”
“I never accepted your deal,” Zoelyn pointed out, her eyes flashing between Finn and Seth as the Assassin paused in the doorway, looking back at her with mild annoyance.
Finn chuckled and shook his head at her. “You didn’t have to. It’s all you are getting from me. Sorry, hun. Friend or not, I told Seth he could help you. I can’t send you back without breaking my word to him, and he is the only friend I have in this wretched place. I’m not about to break my word to him.”
Zoelyn stared at him for a long moment and nodded. She could understand Finn’s logic and couldn’t fault him for it despite how much she wanted to wail like a child. Turning, she headed f
or the door with resignation written clearly on her face. Finn had been her last savior from Seth’s attention and he had offered her limited hope. She had no choice but to face whatever Seth had in store for her and could only hope she survived it.
* * *
Firelight danced on the dark stone walls as she followed Seth toward another flight of stairs. The lamps were set at each landing, leaving the areas between thick with shadows. Zoelyn paused, reluctant to continue. The path behind her was just as foreboding, however. Seth continued ahead for a few moments in silence, then slowly stopped and turned to look back at her. His expression was equal parts question and annoyance.
“This is the third flight of stairs we have climbed. How much farther are we going?” Zoelyn’s voice was barely above a whisper, yet it still seemed to echo like a scream down the hall.
“Two more flights,” Seth answered calmly as he watched her. The questioning part of his expression had faded, leaving only the annoyance.
Her gaze returned to the shadows and she nodded reluctantly and forced herself up the few stairs that separated them. She had expected him to continue, but he held his ground and watched her approach.
“There is nothing in the entire Darklands that would attack me directly, little Undrae. As long as you walk behind or beside me you have no reason to watch the shadows so closely. While you may not know what is there, I do, and it is all terrified of me,” Seth said with a faint hint of amusement. He didn’t bother to wait for her to respond; he simply turned and began walking once more up the seemingly endless stairs.
“Why won’t you call me by my name? You know I hate that word,” Zoelyn muttered as she stumbled after him. Fatigue was quickly overcoming her fear of Seth. She had been awake nearly twenty hours and even when fully rested she was weak compared to others. Her stamina had never been an issue before, though. Dominic knew she was sickly and never asked much from her, and with Jala her life had been even simpler. Jala asked nothing of her at all, beyond the attempts to learn about her powers. Seth, on the other hand, seemed inclined to push her until she dropped. Her feet were already raw and bleeding from the barefoot journey through the city and palace.
“When I know your name, I will use it. Zoelyn is not your name. Until I learn who you truly are, you are Undrae,” Seth respon ded calmly.
“I don’t know Seth is truly your given name should I call you demon instead?” Zoelyn grumbled.
“Call me Crow king. Call me Demon. Call me bastard,” Seth shrugged and smiled at her. “They all fit and none of them offend me. I’ve earned those names. Finn believes my current existence bothers me for the wrong reasons. It’s not what I am that pisses me off, it’s the fact that I died to become it. I was called a demon long before I actually became one. The word itself has lost all insult. What I hate is the reminder that I lost.”
“In the stories, you are an evil spirit,” Zoelyn said with a glance in his direction. She wasn’t sure how well he would welcome the topic of his reputation, but the conversation was keeping her mind from her aching body and her exhaustion.
“I think I’ve been dead for so long that most have forgotten who I was in life. Only the High Lords truly remember me now. In their stories, I am so much worse than an evil spirit.” His voice had a wistful quality and he shrugged again. “Water under the bridge. I don’t care what they say about me now. They can believe I’m simply a spirit and it works in my favor. They will think I’m weak and can be bound. By the time they recognize their error they will be dead.”
“Who?” Zoelyn asked with concern. From his words it sounded as though Seth wanted to kill everyone that spoke of him.
He paused on the landing of the next stairs and motioned to a step. Zoelyn watched him in confusion until he lowered himself gracefully to sit and motioned once again for her to join him. His gaze dropped to her feet and the blood smeared tracks she had left on the stairs. “You complain about what I call you, but you don’t complain about wounds. It makes no sense,” Seth sighed.
“Undrae is more painful than scrapes,” Zoelyn replied softly as she eyed the stair with longing. “I’m not sure I will have the energy to get back up if I allow myself to rest. Can we please just continue?”
“Yasny is waiting near my door. I can sense her there. I’m inclined to let her stew in her curiosity. She has to be frothing at the mouth to know who I’ve brought to my tower. I never bring others here.” Seth grinned, his gaze moving to the top of the stairs and back to Zoelyn. “Sit and rest. If you don’t have the strength to continue, I will help you.”
“Who is Yasny?” Zoelyn asked cautiously as she lowered herself to the cold stone beside him.
“You saw her flying above the palace in her scaly form. In life she was known as High Lady Yasnara. Her husband Kaverax is the one circling with her. They were the former leaders of the Dragons. Yasny is still social. Kaverax no longer cares about anything,” Seth explained. He leaned back against the wall and his eyes trailed across her once more.
“How can I touch you without hurting you?” Zoelyn asked hesitantly. It was obvious he wasn’t going to answer her question about who he wanted to kill, and she wasn’t sure he would want to answer this one either. She needed more information, though, to understand what was going on, and if he wouldn’t answer this one she had a thousand more to follow it up with.
“Your body craves life and I don’t qualify. I exist somewhat like you on both sides of living and dead. You have one foot among the living and one among the dead. For me, it’s closer to one toe among the living, the rest with the dead. I breathe. I bleed when wounded. I sleep, and that is about all I have in common with the living. I don’t eat food or drink or worry about other bodily concerns. I feel pain, but not pleasure; I know anger, but not joy. I have just enough life left to remember what I lack.” He spoke the words nearly in a monotone voice with no expression at all on his face.
“How do you know so much about what I am?” Zoelyn asked, her voice faltering again. She couldn’t bring herself to say the word Undrae, even if Seth said it had other meanings. To her it would always be an insult.
Seth smirked at her and seemed amused. Slowly he shook his head and turned his gaze to the top of the stairs. “Lady Yasny led the dragons for two thousand years before Lady Nerathane betrayed her. I was old before Yasny was hatched. I have forgotten more knowledge than most people in Sanctuary will learn in their entire lives. That’s one answer and I could leave it at that.” He paused and adjusted his dagger before shifting to more of a slouch against the wall. “I will give you a better one, though. I knew Uindraely Merrodin far better than most, and you are not the first Undrae I’ve known. The ones she raised were brutal creatures with less personality than you have. They were like the Blights; their thoughts revolved around survival alone.”
“And you are going to help me just to find out who created me? I don’t understand why it’s so important. I don’t see how a single soul could mean so much to Lord Death. He has thousands of souls outside his city.” Zoelyn’s words were barely a mumble. Her mind was still fully awake and filled with questions, but her body was failing her. She knew she was exhausted, but didn’t expect her body to surrender this quickly to rest. It was taking everything she had just to keep her eyes open.
“It may not be important to Finn, but it is very important to me. Uindraely’s magic was supposed to have died with her. The fact that it didn’t, is a matter I’m afraid I will obsess over.” Seth spoke quietly, his amber eyes still watching her every move. “You really do have incredible stamina despite your current weakness. You should have passed out by now. I have been dusting the stairs with Dreamsweet for the past two flights and I know you must have absorbed enough of it to knock out a horse. Yet you are still talking.”
“Why?” Zoelyn managed to gasp as she struggled to keep her eyes open once more. His words made her want to panic, but her sluggish body refused to respond to her demand to stand.
Seth grinned at her coldly. “Becau
se I want you to be dependent on me, little Undrae. I intend to replenish you, but I won’t let you know how I did it. If I give you the secret, you have the power to help yourself. We haven’t reached that point yet. Until I decide otherwise, you need me if you want anything resembling a normal life.” He pushed off the wall and leaned toward her.
Zoelyn shook her head and tried to force her eyes to focus. Her tongue was thick in her mouth and she wasn’t sure she could even talk. “You said you would help,” she mumbled as her vision blurred further. Her thoughts were racing with a thousand words, but just the few she had spoken had been nearly impossible to voice.
“I will, but in my own way. I’m not doing this for you, little Undrae. I’m doing this for me. In time, you might even understand what I mean by that,” Seth whispered. “That’s a good girl. Take a nice long nap,” he murmured as her body surrendered at last and she slumped forward against him.
Zoelyn struggled to open her eyes once more, but it was taking everything she had just to remain conscious. Seth’s arms wrapped around her and she felt him lift her carefully. Her head lolled against his chest as he began climbing the stairs slowly.
“I was beginning to think she had a poison resistance,” a woman’s voice echoed from above them on the stairs.
“This one is strong despite her current condition. When I am done with her she will be nearly unstoppable,” Seth replied. “And yet, still under your control,” the woman purred, sounding entirely too pleased with the idea.
“This is my project, Yasny. Don’t waste your time attempting to decipher what I have in mind. This girl isn’t a tool for the sunlit world. She is mine and that is all you need to know.” Seth’s voice had grown cold with the words.
The Elder Blood Chronicles Book 4 The Blessed Curse Page 19
