Ready? I said across our link, sending reassurance with my thought.
He nodded, returning a wave of trust laced with affection. Together, we reached for the woman’s mind.
Like an arrow, our combined strength pierced the barrier between Mieshk’s domain and ours. Waves of hideous intent leaked through the puncture, and I recoiled, snaring the exposed tendril of Paono’s mind and dragging it back with me.
Too late. The nightstrand that had possessed the cook streaked through the gap and dove down the tunnel from the aether into my mind.
At once, I had no control. Nothing. Like a puppet, I climbed to my feet. I felt the nightstrand’s despair, her inability to control the impulse that had sent her into my body and now compelled her to take control of me. During Vanished times, she’d been a farmer. It had been a simple, pleasant life. She didn’t want to harm anyone, but Mieshk’s command was too strong. Mieshk had demanded that I die, and the nightstrand would see the command fulfilled.
With great reluctance, she lifted one of my feet and set it down a step closer to the edge of the pedestal. The next footfall was quicker, and then I was running toward the edge of the precipice.
“No!” Paono and Raav yelled at the same time.
I heard the scrape of feet behind me, but couldn’t stop. The edge of the pillar loomed closer.
I’m sorry, the nightstrand said in my mind.
Get! Out! Tyrak barreled into the woman’s spirit, and I tripped. My shoulder hit bare stone first, followed by my face. I skidded across the top of the pedestal. My head slid past the edge. A fatal drop was right before my eyes.
Finally, Tyrak ejected the nightstrand from my body. Grabbing full control, he brought me to my hands and knees and forced me to scramble away from the drop. For once, I didn’t mind him using me like a puppet.
Across the cavern of the aether, I heard Paono yelling at the nightstrand enslaved to Mieshk. Choose the aurora! he screamed.
I can’t! she yelled. She’s calling me back.
But in that last moment, the strand regained a shred of will. Not enough to choose the aurora, but in a last act of defiance, the Vanished farmer gave herself to the fire. Not more than three paces in front of me, the edge of the pillar cracked away, molten at the edges as a large block fell and crashed to the slope below. Flame roared in the brush where the fallen section of the pedestal landed.
Following the nightstrand’s last act, the former cook from the Evaeni coughed as she struggled, finally back in control of her body.
Chapter Sixteen
I LAY ATOP the pedestal, my head pillowed on Raav’s leg. With gentle fingers, he smoothed stray hairs off my face. His eyes were haunted. How many times would he have to watch me nearly die?
I took a deep breath and sat up, pausing to look him in the eyes. As I drew breath, intent on reassuring him, he shook his head and waved me off. I nodded. We needed to keep momentum.
The group gathered around the captive parted to make way for Paono and me. My knees were still weak from the horror of being possessed. I’d known Tyrak could take control of my body because of our shadowbond, but I hadn’t expected it from an ordinary nightstrand. Maybe Mieshk’s compulsion had given the soul the ability to capture me. Or maybe I’d opened too far.
In any case, my skin still crawled from the experience.
Still bound with tight coils of rope, the cook struggled to sit. After weeks on the island, her cheeks were sunken, and her eyes peered out from dark hollows in her skull. Though Daonok crouched beside her shoulders, he made no move to help but rather waited for my command.
I nodded at him and slipped a hand behind her back. Together, we levered the woman upright and helped her scoot back to rest against the vertical cliff rising behind the pedestal.
“You’ll kill me, I imagine,” the woman said in a weak voice.
Before I could respond, Daonok slipped a blade from his boot holster. “You did just try to murder one of us. I don’t see why I shouldn’t slit your throat right here.”
I tried to catch his eye. We needed this woman’s help. She’d been through weeks of misery with Mieshk, and I doubted more threats would make her want to talk. But he seemed to anticipate my objection and cast me a sharp glare. I pressed my lips together. Okay, we’d give his method a shot.
The cook turned her eyes to me. “She wants you. So badly it consumes her.”
“Mieshk,” I said. A statement, not a question.
“Your soul will be the final offering, the sacrifice that binds the power to her,” she said. “We were supposed to bring you to her, or if that were impossible, free your spirit from your body so that she could capture it.”
“Who is ‘we?’ Are there more of you out here?”
“Half a dozen, scattered across the mountain’s flanks.”
“Each intending to take me down alone…” I said, rolling my eyes.
The woman sneered. “You’d be surprised at how well Mieshk motivates her followers, human and nightstrand alike. After that other nightcaller failed to return, she needs a new second-in-command. Whoever wins the honor will have triple shares of food. Authority topped only by Mieshk herself. Freedom from her commands.”
I flinched. How could this woman think Mieshk would keep her word on anything? As the cook narrowed her eyes at me, I felt my lip twitch.
I stood. “Go ahead and kill her.” Daonok knew the situation. We couldn’t free more spirits from their bodies, not with Mieshk waiting to capture them. But the woman didn’t know that.
“Wait,” she croaked. She licked her cracked lips. “I didn’t say I wanted that reward. I didn’t come here willingly. The strand took you, too. You couldn’t resist any more than I could.”
I’d stepped a few paces away and now turned, expression flat. Daonok kept his dagger at the woman’s throat.
“The farmer,” the woman said. “She brought me here. She was the one that fought you, not me. And seeing as she’s not controlling you now, she’s probably returned to Mieshk. Enslaving another of the human followers.” Her eyes roved the top of the pinnacle. “Or watching us.”
The woman didn’t understand the spirit had sacrificed herself to the fire. I pulled Tyrak from his sheath and turned him back and forth, letting the glow from the heavens reflect off the blade. I wasn’t sure whether to trust anything the woman said. Unlike the ambushers we’d captured, she didn’t seem to show much remorse. Then again, she might just be in shock from the experience. I wanted to know if I could trust her, but asking questions might lead the woman to lie to save herself. Better to see what she volunteered first.
“Mieshk will know you’re coming,” she continued.
“That’s obvious,” I said, stepping closer, blade raised. “Tell me something useful.”
The woman swallowed. “She plans to leave for Ashkalan as soon as she has you. Or your soul. But she may not wait. When the fire is in her, it drives her to a frenzy. You’re losing time.”
“You’re the one who’s losing time,” Daonok growled, pressing the dagger against her skin.
“She sacrificed almost all of her slave strands to make her fires brighter,” the cook said, nearly stumbling over her words. “All but the six she needs to finish at Ashkalan.”
“Finish what?” I asked, playing dumb.
“I don’t know. I can only say that whatever she wants to bring forth means doom for anyone who stands against her. She has six strands, including that farmer. Three runes left. And a final step. That’s what she wants your spirit for.”
Six, including the farmer, which meant Mieshk had only five captive nightstrands. Not enough to open the gate unless she sacrificed her own, which would surely happen if we delayed too long. “What happens if you don’t return?”
The cook trembled as she spoke. “She doesn’t care about me.”
I shared a glance with Daonok. “How good are those knots? I don’t want to waste a fighter by leaving them here to guard her. But obviously, we can’t take her with u
s.”
“Good enough.”
“You’re leaving me here?” the woman asked. “What if you don’t return? I’ll die of exposure.”
“A long, slow death. It’s true,” I said. “So maybe you should give us information that will help us defeat her. Then you can be assured that someone will come back and free you.”
The woman blinked while she considered her words. “Her sentries. Most are in the open, but there are some you won’t see. You need me with you if you want to win.” She shook her head. “But I’m afraid it’s pointless. As soon as you get within earshot of Mieshk, she can command you to her will.”
“An honest answer. That’s a start.” I glanced at Daonok. “Get her up and bind just her wrists. I think we can make use of her.”
The ledge had been a trail during Vanished times. As I crept forward, I spotted chisel marks and holes where something—probably a railing—had been embedded in the stone. Most likely, the trail had continued past the pedestal, crossing the sheer section where I’d strung the rope, but in the thousand years since, rockfall must have wiped it out.
With caution, we were able to move forward without needing a rope. Where rubble made the walkway treacherous, we crossed the debris one at a time just in case someone dislodged a key stone and sent the pile avalanching off the trail. Progress wasn’t quick, and I felt every minute as a chance for Mieshk to give up waiting, kill a follower, and head for Ashkalan with her six requisite souls. But we couldn’t risk losing anyone off the drop.
Plus, I had the feeling that Mieshk would wait longer than the cook suspected. She’d hated me from the beginning. I imagined she wouldn’t give up hopes of capturing me lightly. Plus, there was this plan for a sacrifice. My sacrifice.
Between difficult sections, I walked with my head high. I’d taken the lead off the pedestal, and I knew the rest of the group was watching me. My concern over Mieshk’s power was pecking at my thoughts. I really didn’t like relying on Trader Ulstat for a major part of this attack. But we had no other options; the fate of the world depended on us stopping Mieshk before she opened that gate.
Shortly after leaving the pedestal, I spotted Shards of Midnight ghosting along the outer edges of the shallows. Black in the night, the ship would have been nearly invisible if not for the white insignia of House Ulstat painted on the side. I closed my eyes and wished them luck. Our plan depended on it.
As we rounded the southern extents of the island, the trail descended toward the beach, switching back on itself to drop quickly without traveling far.
“Lilik,” Raav said when he rounded the sharp bend and started stepping down the staircase onto the next leg of the trail. He pointed.
My eyes widened. From this vantage, I had a better view across the cliff and down into the lagoon. The glowing mural was beautiful from here.
I gasped in shock when I realized that the painting on the cliff face had changed. Before, it had shown Ioene as she looked now, a volcano with dancing aurora overhead and a single glowing figure on her shore. But now, the mountain looked shrouded in darkness. The aurora had dimmed and the fires were veiled. Waves smashed the shores to either side of the picture, and on the beach two figures now stood. One glowed more brightly than the other. I knew instantly who the figures represented. Paono and I stood together as darkness fell over the island.
I swallowed. What did it mean? Was Ioene’s fate sealed? Or were we the only hope for stopping the disaster?
Out of our group, only Raav and I—and maybe Paono—had seen the mural before. There was no point in telling them about the changes. Hitching my rucksack higher onto my shoulders, I marched onward.
The trail deposited us on the brush-tangled slopes above Mieshk’s fortress. At this distance, we were too far away to make out individual figures. But occasionally, a shadow passed in front of a group of torches, momentarily blocking their glow. Mieshk and her followers hadn’t yet left for Ashkalan. I breathed a sigh of relief.
Behind us, an amphitheater of steep crags cradled the slope. The distant crash of waves echoed off the cliffs at our back. To our left, the massive lava flow that had once been a barrier between my hideout and the Nocturnai’s village moaned and cracked as it oozed to the sea. To the right, the slope fell gently toward the shore. And straight ahead, a steep but navigable descent led to Mieshk’s fortress.
The moment we’d caught a glimpse of her compound, Paono had dragged a cloak over his glowing skin. The shimmering cloud around him had gathered close and sunk into his flesh. But still, he needed to stay low to the ground or blocked from sight by others of our group. According to our plan, he’d remain here for now with his mind open to the sparks. Together with the cook’s knowledge of sentry positions, his ability to sense Mieshk and her followers would give us critical information.
As soon as we stepped off the steep trail, Daonok and two scouts had crept ahead. We waited in anxious silence for their return.
Light pressure on my arm caused me to turn. Even in the faint light, I could see the worry on Raav’s face as he looked down at me.
“I’ll be back,” I whispered to the group.
I slid my hand into Raav’s and urged him away from the others. Ahead, a jagged boulder thrust up from a foilwood thicket. After rounding the large stone, I stopped and leaned a shoulder against it. My part in this operation was dangerous. After nearly seeing me jump off the cliff edge, I could understand why Raav was nervous.
“I’ll be okay,” I said.
“Shh. Don’t make promises you can’t keep. I can’t stand it.”
The pain on his face was so stark. I laid my hand against his cheek. “But I believe it. I have to.”
He shook his head. “I see the doubt on your face. Are you sure this is the best plan? “
I shrugged. “We tried to think of everything, but… You know. Best laid plans and all that.”
“I wish it didn’t have to be you.”
“There’s no other choice. It’s the safest way. ” I stopped short of reminding him that anyone else could just be commanded to kill me. But the thought occurred to him anyway. His hands trembled as he reached for my shoulders.
“It was so easy to put my sword through you. It made me realize… You’re fragile. All life is. Someone could just take you from me.” His gaze fell away while his hands curled into fists of frustration. “Here’s what I hate: the only way I can protect you is by begging you not to go. No matter how strong I am or how much power my trader-class birthright gives me, Mieshk can undo it with just a word. So I guess I’ll ask it. Will you stay here with me? Let someone else fight for once?”
It wasn’t a fair question. Of course I would do anything for him, but if I heeded that request, Mieshk would win.
“You know I can’t. This is the only way. But if you’re asking me to prove that I care for—that I love you…” I swallowed, my throat thick around my words. “I do. It’s just that there’s no future for us if I don’t face her.”
At the mention of the word love, his jaw tightened. Raav cupped his hands around the back of my head, long fingers threading through my hair. He lowered his face to mine. His lower lip trembled as he kissed me. He ran his hand down my back, hesitating at the ridge where his sword had pierced me.
Suddenly desperate, he pressed me back against the boulder. His body was tense against mine, his lips hungry. A cry rose in his throat as his hands traveled my back, my sides, edged over my ribs.
“I can’t lose you,” he whispered. “I just can’t.”
My hand grabbed the back of his neck, pulling him closer as my lips parted again. He grabbed my lower lip gently in his teeth, bit then sucked. My knees collapsed as heat spread from my belly.
Footsteps crunched around the side of the boulder. I tried to ignore them, but someone cleared their throat. Loudly.
“Lilik, it’s time,” Daonok said in a low voice. “The Midnight has just dropped anchor.”
Raav groaned as he separated from me. I closed my eyes, leaned
my head back against the boulder, and sighed.
“All right,” I said finally. “Let’s end this.”
As I stepped away from Raav, he snatched my hand. I turned and met his anguished eyes.
“Come back to me,” he commanded.
“I will.”
I hoped.
Chapter Seventeen
SHORTLY BEFORE WE’D stepped off the ledge trail, Daonok had slipped the gag between our captive’s lips. A precaution, but possibly a necessary one. Now, he and the cook crouched at the front of the group. I moved forward to join them, and with a shared nod we set off, escorting the prisoner closer to the fortress. I walked on my toes as Tyrak had taught me for stealth, ears perked for any suspicious sounds, eyes searching the jumbled slope for strange glints or motion.
After about two hundred paces, the cook raised a hand to call a halt. She pointed at a cluster of boulders another hundred paces down the hill. Squinting, I spotted the sentry. Crouched so that his back looked like a hump of stone, I never would’ve noticed him without her help. Thank the tides we’d run into the possessed woman.
Ever so slowly, I lowered my rucksack from my back. With careful hands, I pulled out the stoppered flask of root pulp from the Eikkas tresses. Sidling forward, I handed it to Daonok, then took hold of the cook’s arm in a firm grasp.
Daonok carefully pulled the stopper from the flask, slipped a crossbow bolt from his quiver, and dipped the tip into the pulp. After cocking the bow, he crept forward, then braced his weapon hand across the other forearm. The crossbow snicked as the bolt sprang free, hissing through the air. It sank into the sentry’s body with a muffled thump. The hunched figure—a man judging by his size—slumped. With a nod, Daonok returned.
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