Feet planted in sand wetted by a recent high tide, I looked down on my enemy.
Mieshk smiled.
Horrorstruck, I stabbed her again, only to be knocked back by whatever force kept us apart.
As I backpedaled, rough hands fell on my arms, plucking Tyrak away. Mieshk sat up, climbed to her feet, looked down at the gashes in her chest. Flame poured from the wounds.
As I watched, her flesh sealed over the holes. Her lips peeled back from teeth the color of Ioene’s dark stone. “I hear you have the ability to heal quickly,” she said. She scratched at her chest where my dagger had pierced her then cocked her head. “As it happens, me too.”
I kicked out behind me, my heel connecting with the knee of the bodyguard who held me up in the air. He grunted, but his grip didn’t loosen. Mieshk curled her twisted hands into fists and spun to face her father.
Trader Ulstat had backed away, and was now knee-deep in the water, trying to dislodge the boat from the gravel so that he could escape. His eyes were wide, white-rimmed.
“Stop,” Mieshk commanded.
He froze.
“Come here, Father.”
The man staggered forward as if pulled by a string. When he reached his daughter, she grabbed him by the chest and thigh, lifting him overhead as if he weighed nothing.
“Mieshk,” he said. “Please. I had nothing to do with this… In fact, I warned you about the Istanikers.”
Mieshk laughed. “Even if that were true, I don’t need you anymore, Father. I’ve just captured the only people who can threaten me. Well, almost.”
People? Who else was she talking about?
With her chin, Mieshk gestured at the other bodyguard, then twitched her head toward the edge of the beach. I glanced over, and my heart sank. Paono was crouched at the base of the rock shelf. Upon being noticed, he yelled and ran for us, barreling into the bodyguard holding me. The man staggered, but his grip only tightened. A moment later, the other guard had Paono in his grasp.
“Wait here,” Mieshk said. “I have something to get rid of.”
The Ulstat heir marched down the beach toward the lava flow, the weight of her struggling father no apparent burden. As she drew near the molten river, Trader Ulstat started to scream. Steam rose from his skin and his clothes smoked. After a few more paces, the man’s hair, clothing, and shoes burst into flame. His shrieks echoed off the surrounding cliffs. I smelled burning flesh, and with a final heave, Mieshk threw her father into the lava. He burst into full flame, and his screams died as the lava sucked him down.
When Mieshk returned, sparks lit the dark orbs of her eyes. “It’s time to return to Ashkalan,” she said.
Chapter Eighteen
I DRAGGED MY toes as I walked. Behind me, one of Mieshk’s bodyguards pressed Tyrak’s blade against the back of my neck. I felt Tyrak’s despair over the situation. Yes, I healed quickly. Maybe not as quickly as Mieshk, but I’d survive many wounds.
If the man slit my throat, though, I wouldn’t live to see Raav again. I had no doubt of that.
Nor did I doubt Mieshk would kill me if I caused her too many problems. She wanted me for something. The cook had said as much. But she could make do with just my soul. And now Mieshk had Paono, too. Shortly after capturing us, she’d tried to command him. Like me, he was immune. But that didn’t matter now.
I craned my neck to look over my shoulder. For the first half hour or so, our bodyguards had carried us over their shoulders. By arching my back, I’d watched Mieshk’s horde of followers jostle and stumble as they fell in behind us, a loose mob of mindless thralls. Soon after my capture, torches had flamed to life aboard the Midnight. Caffari’s vessel had weighed anchor and quickly come about, heading back away from the encampment. Mieshk had simply shrugged, snarled, and laughed.
And no wonder. She had nothing left to fear from my allies. No one could get close to us. The minute someone got within range of her command, she’d have them in her power.
As for the others, those who had come overland, at least they were safe. Mieshk hadn’t bothered to search the slope above the encampment. No doubt, my friends would return to the anchorage. At this point, I’d begun to think their best chance was to just pack up and sail away.
But I doubted they’d leave. Most likely, they’d make some stubborn attempt at a rescue. There were clever people aboard the Midnight and Zyri’s Promise. I hoped they’d think of something. Because I had no more ideas.
The crowd of followers was a few hundred paces behind us, grunting and staggering. Occasionally, someone fell and just barely regained their feet. And every once in a while, someone just didn’t get back up. Mieshk had starved these people, worked them to the edge of collapse, and now they were compelled to follow us on a steep climb over the shoulder of the mountain.
As I glanced back again, my toe caught on a rock. I stumbled and went down on my knee. My legs were exhausted, too. The trek from our anchorage to Mieshk’s fortress had worn me out. But I made myself get back up. I’d tried to refuse Mieshk’s forced march when the bodyguard had first set me down. In response, Mieshk had dragged the point of her knife down Paono’s arm, cutting deep. Like me, he healed quickly. But that didn’t stop it from hurting.
We’d climbed around a third of the total elevation of the mountain’s peak so far, ascending jumbled scree and boulder fields. Weeks ago, I’d come this way. Poisonous gasses had made me giddy, and I’d fallen into a crack in the earth. And another time I’d used my new knowledge of the danger to eliminate a pair of hunters chasing me. Unfortunately, Mieshk seemed to be aware of the hazard, and she often stopped to scent the air, giving any fumes a wide berth.
Soon enough, we came to the base of an escarpment that sealed off further progress. I didn’t understand Mieshk’s logic—I’d even hoped her madness had led her to a dead end that we could use to our advantage—until she stepped up close to the cliff band.
Lips pulled back from those awful teeth, she raised her hands and closed crack-riddled eyelids over the black orbs in her sockets. Flame burst from her hands, and the rock ahead of her melted. She took a step forward, etching a tunnel through the cliff as she did. Guided by her gestures, molten rock oozed out the opening, trickling down the hill and hardening. Soon, she quickened the pace by softening the rock to putty and throwing gobs out the opening.
While we waited, the crowd of followers bunched up behind us, milling. I glanced at their faces and saw both anguish and blankness. While we waited, Paono closed his eyes and furrowed his brow as if concentrating. After a moment, he shook his head.
“It’s no use,” he said quietly.
What are you trying to do? I asked over our link.
I thought maybe I could break her hold over their sparks. I might be able to free one or two, but the others would just turn on them.
I nodded. Paono why didn’t you stay with the others? You could be safe right now rather than a prisoner.
I didn’t know what else to do. I felt the panic in your spark… I know I was supposed to be focusing on everyone, but I couldn’t help it. Lilik, you matter more than the rest of them put together.
The ridge was just a narrow fin of rock separating the eastern flanks of the island from the southern extents. Soon enough, Mieshk finished her remolding, and we were passing through the glass-smooth passage and out onto the southern expanse of Ioene.
I thought about Paono’s declaration as I walked. A few weeks ago, I would’ve felt the same about Paono. He’d mattered more than anyone except my da and brother. But now I cared for Raav, too. And the others who’d come here were my responsibility. No, more than that—they were my friends.
It would be a lie to tell Paono he mattered more to me than everyone else, and in a way, that hurt. Over the past weeks, I’d forged many bonds. Maybe I wasn’t as close to them as I’d been to Paono when it was just the two of us gutterborn kids struggling to get by. But they were important to me all the same. I’d changed in ways that Paono hadn’t. To me, it seemed
like just another step in our eventual parting. Not that it mattered much, given our situation.
“I don’t regret this, Lilik,” Paono said aloud. “I’d rather be with you than let you face this alone.”
“Will you two clap shut?” Mieshk said. “It’s just so pathetic. I hate weakness.”
“So caring for other people makes you weak?” I asked. “I suppose it could feel that way for someone who’s never been loved. “
Mieshk just laughed. “Love doesn’t matter. It never lasts. But power… Power feeds on itself. And thanks to my dear father’s sacrifice, I have the souls I need. I’m one step closer to gaining the power I deserve, finishing the quest my mother started.”
I caught Paono’s eyes as Trader Ulstat’s story sprang into my mind. Mieshk had found the research papers her parents had collected. But her mother hadn’t wanted to open the rift. She’d been trying to understand how to fight her affliction. Even in her cruelty and her madness, she’d tried to understand the voices in her head. She’d fought against the Hunger’s attempts to control her. Could we possibly convince Mieshk that she had misinterpreted the scrolls?
No, I doubted we could. As Trader Ulstat had said, Mieshk had shown the signs of madness when she was only five—decades before the usual onset. We had no hope of reasoning with her.
“First, I’ll imbue the final runes with the nightstrands that call the power forth, and then I’ll bind the force to me with a final sacrifice.”
As she said the last words, Mieshk turned her revolting grin on me. My feet slowed. Tyrak’s point dug into my neck.
The closer we got to Ashkalan, the more impatient Mieshk became. Much of the time, we’d followed the flagstone paths laid down by the Vanished, but once the high cliffs surrounding the city came into view, she paid no more heed to finding an easy path. Instead, she forged our trail, melting down stone and burning brush. The breeze smelled of brimstone, and the air around her shimmered with heat.
Our guards forced us to march about twenty paces behind her. Every time my hand or foot fell on the recently-melted stone, I expected to be burned. But the rocks, fused into shiny black glass, were merely warm and smooth to the touch. Whatever magic allowed Mieshk to heat stone to melting dissipated quickly.
As we rounded the southern point of the island, the group of followers had started to straggle, forming loose clusters that trailed across the mountainside behind us. I didn’t know whether to feel relieved or more desperate. They couldn’t help us, but the nearness of other humans had been comforting in a strange way.
Ahead, the narrow corridor that granted access to Ashkalan loomed. When we were close enough to make out details in the surrounding cliffs, I felt the Hunger. Here, it was nothing but an oily presence, a sense of impending doom held back by a silken curtain. But soon, we would be within a hair’s breadth of its inexorable pull.
I balked. We had to do something. Frozen in my tracks, I threw myself wide to the aether and reached for Paono’s captive strands. Again, I felt the bond he kept with me, and on the other side, the crystalline prison holding the Vanished spirits.
It’s no use, Lilik, Paono said into my mind.
At once, my frustration boiled over. It’s no use because you won’t even try! I said. You’re afraid of hurting someone—maybe killing them—but by doing nothing, you’re letting her win. People will die anyway.
Paono closed his eyes as he shuffled forward. He maintained the silvery link that bound us, and abruptly I felt a tugging across that bond.
It hurt, feeling as if my lungs and heart were being pulled from my chest. I clamped my lips over the cry of shock. He was trying, and the last thing I wanted was to sabotage his attempt.
Our guards had no such motivation. With a grunt, the man holding Tyrak at my back fell to his knees.
“What is this?” Mieshk shrieked, whirling.
Despite the growing agony in my bones and the sudden weakness in my limbs as Paono pulled energy from my spirit, I spun and kicked at my guard’s weapon hand. Tyrak flew free, and I dove. My elbows cracked against fused obsidian, and I slid after the dagger. My fingers brushed the hilt then closed around the gold threadwork.
I came to my feet with a growl and slashed at the stricken guard.
Abruptly, the pain in my body vanished.
Paono fell to his knees, clutching his head in his hands. “I can’t hold it,” he cried. “I can’t Want to keep hurting people.”
Mieshk’s thugs jumped at me. With a grunt, the first led with his shoulder, a charge I dodged by whirling just in time. Tyrak’s spirit joined mine, and he urged me to convert the spin into a roundhouse kick that landed on the man’s spine, sending him sprawling.
The other guard’s fishing knife sliced across my left shoulder, cutting through my sleeve, through skin and muscle. My arm fell useless to my side.
Breath hissing through clenched teeth, I dropped into a low crouch and spun to defend against the next attack. With Tyrak clenched in my good hand, I flicked my gaze back and forth between the two guards. The man I’d kicked climbed to his feet. Together, the pair advanced. I met the closer guard’s eyes. His face showed no expression, or if anything, distaste at what he was compelled to do.
“Fight her!” I yelled. “Resist her commands!”
A flicker of pain crossed the man’s face, but he couldn’t stop his feet from advancing. Yelling, Paono threw himself at Mieshk, but she raised an arm and summoned a wall of fire before him, halting his charge.
Moments later, fire erupted in a circle around me. I screamed as scorching heat dried the tears in my eyes, and the ends of my hair curled. I pulled my arms in, made myself small. I could see nothing but flame.
Mieshk’s voice pierced the roar of the inferno. “I only need one of you for the sacrifice. Keep fighting, and the other dies right here.”
The stone around me boiled in a ring. Agonizing heat sank into me from all sides, yet I didn’t burn. She had that much control.
In a blink, the fire vanished. The sudden darkness made it impossible to see. When my eyes finally adjusted, I saw Paono on his knees, hands raised.
A guard’s rough hands clamped my arms. With a sneer, Mieshk advanced, stone softened to putty clutched in her hands. She formed a pair of shackles from the stone and slapped them on my wrists. My skin sizzled, but an instant later, the rock cooled, leaving me with cuffs of obsidian. Lifting me with ease, the guard threw me over his shoulder and started marching for the entrance to Ashkalan.
Chapter Nineteen
“LILIK,” PAONO WHISPERED.
We huddled on one of Ashkalan’s terraces about halfway between the harbor and the top of the city. The evil presence of the Hunger pressed close, filling shadows and spilling from open doorways and windows. Every breath felt like a shudder. Every heartbeat was a boom from a funeral drum.
During my first visit to the city, I’d seen it through both Zyri’s memories and my own eyes. Despite the ruin and the emptiness, Ashkalan had been full of promise. I’d imagined we could return the city to the place of beauty and wonder it had been during Vanished times, make it better, even.
But now, nothing good dwelt here. Ashkalan’s future was darkness. A black void from which the end of the world would unfurl. Within the hollows of my bones I felt the approach of that nothingness. I despaired, knowing that the Hunger would swallow us all. Even the dead.
“Lilik,” he whispered again.
I planted my hands against the grit that littered the terrace, tiny crumbs of pumice that had rained down upon Ashkalan’s perfect stone over the centuries. With great effort, I dragged my eyes to my friend. I lacked the energy to speak, and instead raised an eyebrow in question.
“I’ve been trying to contact the others. It frightens them when I speak into their thoughts… if they can hear me at all. But I finally got through to Tkira and your friend Daonok.”
I shrugged. What good would it do?
At the edge of the terrace where a low wall guarded the walkwa
y from the drop to the next level, our guards stood at rigid attention. Surely, the evil here sank into their heads and sapped their wills as severely as it did mine. But still, Mieshk’s compulsion held sway, forcing them to continue standing watch. Down on the bottom tier, where a curved wharf was studded with a dozen stone docks, Mieshk’s other followers stood facing the center of the harbor. They lined the waterfront in a ragged line. Whenever a new person staggered from the corridor at the city entrance, Mieshk commanded them to join the group below.
At the far end of our terrace, Mieshk Ulstat blazed against the darkness of the night, low flames dancing over her molten flesh. Fire burst from her hands as she charred another rune into the seamless stone wall before her. After she had finished sketching the outline, she reached for the wooden bucket filled with a mix of seawater, mud, and ash. She dipped her hand into the slurry and slapped her dark paint onto the wall to begin filling in the outline of the rune.
“Lilik, they don’t know how to help. What should I say?”
I returned my gaze to Paono. Despite the oppressive nearness of the Hunger, he sat in relative tranquility. How could he resist the darkness? After the fight outside the city, the guards had forgotten to take Tyrak away from me again. Now, the impulse to pull him from his sheath and sink his blade into my chest was overcome only by the unconquerable malaise that blanketed my heart. That and the glassy shackles binding my wrists.
I shrugged.
“Raav asked Daonok to deliver a message,” Paono said. “He says he believes in you. You’ll find a way free.”
But I wouldn’t. Not from this. The sadness filling my body trenched deeper, sorrow so profound it might swallow me before the Hunger did. My gaze tracked across the horizon and back to the city, landing on Mieshk. As she finished painting the rune, she stiffened, shoulders back and melted face turned to the heavens. As if gathering energy from the air around her, she brought her hands forward and laid her palms on the rune.
Darkborn (Shattering of the Nocturnai Book 4) Page 15
