by Logan Jacobs
“So, I was feeling pretty upset, and then I heard a song coming through the woods,” Cinis continued. “It sounded so beautiful and comforting, and I followed it to the river that’s closest to the Ardere. Ephy was waiting for me, and she said she was worried I might need help because you told her I was fighting alone against Ignis.”
“She did?” I asked, and I couldn’t help smiling as I imagined how sweet the light-green siren probably looked when she said this.
“Yeah, you must have really sung my praises,” Cinis said with a coy glance.
“I only wanted to help her see that not all fire beings behave like Ignis,” I quickly explained, and my face got hot under the Ember Priestess’ gaze all of a sudden. “She was frightened, and I explained the situation to her so she wouldn’t feel as though all fire beings are terrible.”
“I like that you did that,” Cinis said at once. “Do you really feel that way?”
“I’m offering my home to you, aren’t I?” I chuckled. “I’m also prepared to kill your greatest enemy, so I think it’s clear how I feel.”
Cinis’ red-amber eyes heated a little, and her lashes fluttered slightly. Her beauty was staggering before, but when she looked at me so openly with that cast in her star-studded eyes, it made it hard to breathe. I found myself staring back at her while her heat radiated a few temperatures hotter, but then she smiled a little and cleared her throat.
“Ephy didn’t only want to help me,” Cinis continued in her husky tone. “She seems to be quite eager to help you, too. She was so happy when I told her I would come see you next that she asked me to pass along a message. Apparently, you have interest in a warlock with a brass brooch and a gray robe.”
My fingers began to tingle. “I do, did Ephy find some information?”
“Yes, she said she found the man you’re looking for,” Cinis reported. “She sent all of the sirens to watch the water all over the kingdom, and they finally found a very anxious warlock having a meeting with a necromancer woman. The man said your name, and said that your estate was going to find him. The necromancer woman paid him money to leave the kingdom and never return. She threatened to trap his soul in the bowels of the tar swamps for the next one hundred years if he didn’t find a way to disappear fast.”
I sat back in my seat and crossed my arms while I processed this, but I was baffled.
“This doesn’t make sense,” I muttered. “Who is this necromancer?”
“Ephy didn’t know,” she replied. “She said she’s very afraid of necromancers, though.”
“I can understand why.” I nodded. “But we have never even worked with the necromancers, or the warlocks.”
“Never?” Cinis asked with a calculating look. “Are you sure?”
“I wasn’t certain about the warlocks at first,” I explained, “but I’ve gone through the ledgers, and so far, there’s nothing. And I’m absolutely certain we’ve never worked with the necromancers, because there’s too high of a risk.”
“What’s the risk?” she questioned.
“That they’d exploit our efforts and send us targets just so they have a constant stock of the dead to draw from.”
“Ew,” Cinis muttered.
“Yeah, so what the hell would this woman have an issue with us for?” I pointed out. “Whether she paid this warlock to kill Master Abbot, or paid him to give her intel so she could kill him… neither makes sense. I have to be missing something.”
Cinis pursed her lips and shook her head, and then she leaned back on her chair further. She seemed prepared to give me time to think things through, but when she mirrored me by crossing her arms under her ample breasts, her cleavage plumped up even more. I ended up admiring her figure more openly than I intended, and I couldn’t help but notice her nipples were perked beneath the taut leather of her bralette.
She looked soft all over while she radiated the most pleasant heat, and my gaze had just dropped to the tight leather straps around her thighs when a tentative knock came at the door.
I instantly jumped up and straightened myself out.
“Come in!” I announced, and Cinis bit her lip to try and hide her grin.
The handle jiggled, and the door opened just a crack. “Master?”
Elis’ nose inched through the crack first, and when he finally peeked around the entrance, his eyes went wide as silver dollars at the sight of Cinis.
“This is Elis,” I introduced as I beckoned the boy to come all the way into the office. “Elis, this is Cinis.”
“Hello there, young one,” Cinis said as she looked over her shoulder and past her iridescent wing.
The Ember Priestess’ voice was so soft and soothing that it almost reminded me of Ephy, except lower and more seductive. The tone made goosebumps rise on the back of my neck, and if I was only just meeting her, I would’ve never guessed she had the blood of a titan in her. She sounded more like a sultry angel, and this softer side of her only made me side-eye her plump cleavage again.
Elis stared at the woman, too, but in a vastly different way. He looked terrified and curious at the same time, and I cleared my throat before his speculation could run wild.
“She’s from the Ardere,” I explained.
“Dex!” Cinis anxiously hissed.
“What? I told most of my assassins about you already,” I assured her, and the Ember Priestess was biting at her smile again. “Just to keep everyone filled in where the Ignis situation is concerned. Not for any other reason.”
“Hmm,” Cinis murmured.
“Uh… don’t worry, Elis, you can come on in,” I assured the boy once more, and he finally inched a little further into the room.
“You’re the descendant?” he asked in a tentative voice.
“I am,” Cinis answered. “Or an Ember Priestess, whichever title you prefer. There’s no need to be shy, I’m not going to hurt you.”
Cinis said the words so low and gently, but her large, bat-like wings and black fingernails seemed to have Elis’ full attention.
“W-What’s an Ember Priestess do?” Elis asked without moving an inch.
“I harness the smoldering heat of the universe.” Cinis shrugged, and her wings shifted in response. “Some fire descendants tend to infernos, or ash, or even sparks. I have a cousin who harnesses white heat, which melts everything it touches, but I look after the embers of our world and govern their power.”
“Wow,” Elis breathed through slack lips.
“Yeah, wow,” I agreed, and the Ember Priestess sent me a sultry smile.
Elis held his hands clasped in front of him, and he shadowed half his body with the door, so Cinis stood up from her chair and approached the boy at the back of the room.
Then she crouched down and got on her knees to meet his eyes, and she let her bat-like wings hang behind her.
“Hi, Elis.” She reached out her hand. “It’s nice to meet you.”
Elis’ eyes were even wider as he gawked up close at the large hooks on the priestess’ wings, but then he must have realized how peculiar her red-amber eyes were because he stared into them for several long seconds while he went pale.
Eventually, he apprehensively took her hand in his.
“Hi, Cinis,” he said with a shaky voice. “I-I’m Elis, and I’m one of the youngest apprentices here.”
“Ah, I see. I thought you were an established assassin,” she said in a husky tone.
“Your hands are really hot,” Elis blurted out.
“Yes, I’m rather warm all over,” Cinis chuckled. “Fire and smoke and all that. It is nice to meet you, Elis. I don’t want to interrupt your meeting with the Master, though, so why don’t you go take the seat by the desk? I’ll give you boys time to talk.”
“Uh, yeah, sure.” Elis nodded and took his hand back.
When Cinis stood up, her wings unfolded just a bit, and the boy jumped back and knocked his head on the door frame. Then he quickly slipped past her and hurried to the desk, and the Ember Priestess sent me an amus
ed grin.
“Thanks, Cin,” I chuckled as I headed for the desk, too. “Now, Elis, is there something you needed to tell me?”
“Yeah.” The boy nodded and pushed his hands into the chair. “I’ve actually been listening to you both.”
I frowned at the boy, and I saw Cinis cock a disapproving eyebrow.
“Elis, you can’t listen in on people’s conversations all the time,” I told him. “This is a dangerous business we run here, and some things need to be kept secret in this estate. Understood?”
“Yeah, okay,” the boy mumbled. “But I think it was actually a good thing that I listened in, because after hearing your conversations, I have important information for you.”
“What is it?” I asked and furrowed my brow.
“After you left, you know, to kill the dragonkin,” the boy started.
“You killed a dragonkin?” Cinis interrupted. “How the hell did you manage that? I thought they were near impossible to kill, barely anyone has ever done it before.”
“Dex isn’t just anyone,” Elis immediately bragged, and he had the most serious expression as he twisted in his chair to look at her. “He’s the best assassin in the whole kingdom. Probably in the world.”
“Ohhh.” Cinis smiled. “Well, that does explain it.”
“It does.” Elis nodded and turned back to me. “So, like I was saying, after you went to kill the dragonkin, I was talking with the Master because I want to learn how to slay dragonkins, too. And he told me all about them, and how big they can get, and how their scales develop, and then he was telling me about the dragonkin’s wife.”
“His… what?” I asked as my heart began to pound in my ears. “Are you talking about the dragonkin I killed? He had a wife?”
“Well, he’s not supposed to,” the boy returned. “He had one a long time ago. Master said it was a whole scandal because the woman was a necromancer.”
“Shhhit,” I heard Cinis sigh near the wall, and I barely managed a nod of agreement.
Chapter 16
I slowly leaned forward so my hands were folded on the desk.
“Elis, I need you to tell me everything the Master shared with you about this dragonkin,” I told the boy.
“Well, apparently the Necromancers’ Estate tried to disbar the woman for… uhhh… marrying a beastkin,” the child explained. “Master Abbot said there was this huge uproar almost twenty years ago about it, and everyone talked about it for months after that.”
“But they aren’t still married?” I asked as I exchanged a tense glance with Cinis.
“No, she agreed to end the marriage with the dragonkin,” Elis added. “She left the beast and returned to her guild, but she ended up a scorned woman over it. I guess hardly anyone talks about it anymore, but the Master said it was a big to-do when it happened, and the guild did everything they could to try and cover it all up like it never happened.”
“I can imagine,” I muttered as I sat back in my chair. “There’s certainly no law saying a creature or person can’t marry outside of their species, but it almost never happens when it comes to the beastkin. Especially a dragonkin. They’re far too vicious and detested by society.”
“And imagine the repercussions if the pair bred as often as humans do,” Cinis snorted.
“Gross.” Elis shuddered, and the Ember Priestess smirked.
“A violent breed of beastkin and a necromancer,” I mused. “Elis, did the Master say if this woman remarried after this scandal?”
“I don’t know,” Elis admitted. “That’s all the Master told me. The topic sounded pretty gross to me, so I didn’t ask any more questions.”
My intuition told me the Master probably told the boy the abbreviated version of the scandal, but it was hard to believe someone bold enough to marry a dragonkin would so easily give up the marriage. Sure, others before and after her had made sacrifices in the name of their houses, but this did sound like an extreme situation.
And it involved two beings who were notoriously dangerous to cross.
“Damn,” I said mostly to myself.
“Sorry I don’t know anything more, Master.” Elis frowned.
“Don’t be sorry, you’ve been very helpful,” I assured him.
“Yes, I suppose we’ll have to forgive you for eavesdropping,” Cinis said in a husky tone. “Just this once.”
Elis blushed as red as a tomato, and a small smile appeared on the right corner of his mouth. “It won’t happen again.”
“I’m sure,” I chuckled. “If you think of anything else, then please come back and tell us. In the meantime, go and practice your swordwork, but only in the indoor training area today. The smoke’s getting too thick out there.”
“Sure, Dex-- I mean, Master!” The boy nodded and jumped up from the chair. On his way to the door, he skittered a little to the side to avoid Cinis’ bat-like wings, and the Ember Priestess sent him an amused wave before he shut the office door behind him.
Then I let out a sharp exhale and ran my hands through my ice-white hair.
I thought back to the evening I’d gone to kill the dragonkin. I had travelled across a large portion of the city to get the work done, and although I took every precaution necessary, I wondered if the necromancer had seen me. She would have needed to discover the dragonkin’s body soon enough, but if she did, she could have followed me back to the estate, found out I worked as an assassin, and then found out Master Abbot had given the order. It would make some sense for that to be the sequence of events, but I couldn’t decide if I was just connecting some dots that didn’t exist.
Either way, if this necromancer had discovered my identity, she could have also discovered my mirror magic.
I drummed my fingers on my desk as I considered this, but I felt certain I would have been the victim of her fury if she did know it was me who killed the dragonkin. Killing the head of our estate house implied she only knew the dragonkin was assassinated, which was understandable. If she did still have dealings with the beast, she had to have known he was making scores of enemies for himself with his hunting tactics.
It was only a matter of time before someone decided something needed to be done about him.
I hunched myself over the wooden desk and pinched my lips together with my fingers.
“Are you alright?” Cinis asked.
I glanced up and saw the Ember Priestess watching me intently from her place near the wall. She had her full, pouty lips puckered in thought, and her cleavage rose and fell steadily as she twirled a braid around her finger.
I didn’t reply for a moment because I was trying to figure out where to go next, but then I pushed my hands off the desk and shoved my seat out from under me.
“I’m fine,” I said with the sudden feeling of determination, and I headed straight for the door and out into the corridor.
“Where are you going?” Cinis asked and hurried along behind me.
“To my room,” I told her. “I need to arm myself.”
“For what?” she asked.
“The day ahead,” I chuckled. “I have a titan to kill, but for now, I’m going to see a necromancer.”
The Ember Priestess stayed right on my trail as I scaled the steps to my room three at a time, and when I entered my vine-covered sleeping quarters, she hastily followed me inside.
“Why are you going to see a necromancer?” she startled. “They’re horrible creatures, and--”
“And this is my most promising lead,” I interrupted as I headed to my ivy-covered wall.
“How is this the most promising?” Cinis demanded. “It sounds too vague to warrant you leaping up and just storming off to--”
“I am not storming,” I chuckled as I grabbed my tungsten and Jupiter glass bolts. “I am making the necessary preparations, as always. The night the Master died, a warlock was seen spying on him in his office. The warlock then fled and travelled north.”
“So?” Cinis said and propped her hands in the small cinch of her waste.
/> “So, the warlocks notoriously deal with the necromancers,” I continued and grabbed a quiver. Then I stored my Jupiter bolts inside before grabbing a handful of serrated steel bolts as well. “They are rarely seen in the north after dark, and north happens to be the direction of the dragonkin’s home. I assassinated him in the northwest quarter of the city roughly three hours before that warlock arrived within our grounds. That is enough time for the dead dragonkin to be discovered by a secret necromancer lover.”
“You think the pair really were still together?” Cinis asked, and she looked too intrigued to be worried for a moment. “How could they have possibly kept that a secret for so long?”
“Probably with the help of some darker magic,” I said with a shrug. “Either way, the woman was seen paying the warlock off, threatening him, and insisting he leave the kingdom altogether. That implies she is responsible for the crime I want to punish the warlock for. The Master died hours after that warlock was spotted, too. All of the pieces that didn’t align earlier are falling into place, so it’s time to take action.”
I began to secure my crossbow sling over my shoulder, and then I headed for my wall of blades.
Cinis was right behind me again, and she grabbed my arm to stop me.
“You can’t go into the Necromancers’ Estate alone,” she insisted. “There could be hundreds of them there.”
“I agree, so I’m not going there,” I assured her. “I’m going to the dragonkin’s home. If that is where the necromancer found the body, then it’s likely I’ll find evidence of her inside and be able to formulate a plan to catch her.”
“Are you sure you want to do this, Dex?” Cinis’ eyebrows pinched with worry.
“Do what?” I asked and reached for my longsword that had a raven’s head sculpted into the pommel. “Go out into the field? This is what I am trained to do, Cinis. I need to avenge my master. He… well… I was just an orphan when he took me in.”
The beautiful woman blinked at me for a few moments.
“Yes, but necromancers…” she sighed as she rested her warm fingers on my arm. “They’re so cunning, Dex. What if this woman catches you off guard and kills you? She could… I don’t know, bring you back to life just to torment you for the rest of eternity. They can do that, you know, they have that kind of power.”
