Ash (Fire & Blood Book 2)

by Alexa B. James

  “That’s troll blood,” I whispered. “Ravage is here.”

  A warm body moved in close to mine, and Ruin whispered, “How do you know?”

  “He’s the only one who can kill the trolls—he uses his mind powers and forces them to kill one another.”

  Ruin leaned into my ear. “How do you want to do this?”

  I reeled back. “You want me to plan this?”

  “Yeah.” Ruin pressed his lips to my ear. “None of us can compete with you in strategy. Do you need to feed first?”

  “No.” I didn’t think I did, though every other time the need just snuck up on me. “I’d say we should go back and try to find another way in, but I’d bet my last dollar that this is the only way in and out. It’s clearly set up that way.” I leaned past the cave wall, doing my best to take in every inch of the space. When I glanced back at the entrances lining up on our side of the wall, there were flashes of movement within.

  “I think I see movement in the tunnels. Do you see that?” I asked Ruin.

  “Something shifted there, yeah.” He leaned a little further. “Do you think they’re more of his warriors?”

  “I’m not sure…” Someone poked their head into view, and I saw the bulbous citrine eyes of a troll, reflecting the light from the army. I couldn’t distinguish the troll’s body from the rock, but I was almost positive that I was seeing their distinctive eyes. “No. It’s not more warriors. That’s Irma’s family group.”

  “What does that mean?” Ruin whispered.

  I patted his shoulder. “I’ll tell you in a second.”

  Now that I knew what I was looking for, I saw the gleam of troll eyes in several caves. Timothy said that they were watching Ravage. I wish I’d have had the presence of mind to ask Timothy if the trolls were seeking revenge or if watching the army was all they planned to do.

  We returned to the others, finding them crouched over a crude drawing of the bridge in the dirt. They had positioned themselves in an area where a small stream trickled down from the darkness above. The cold spray coated my face, but the trickle was loud enough to drown out our voices.

  We couldn’t risk using Ignis fire, so we squinted in the low light filtering through the cave from Ravage’s army. Death lifted a stick of charcoal and handed it to me. Taking the stub while they stared expectantly up at me, I marveled at how right it felt.

  This was who I was.

  I wasn’t a pawn for Ravage to steal my power and bend my will to his own. I wasn’t a sick, half-dead damsel that needed to be carried around the cave systems. I was Kori Ignis, chief strategist of the human rebellion.

  Gripping the charcoal tighter, I crouched over the drawing. “How much do you guys know about trolls?”

  All three of the men looked taken aback, and then Ash and Ruin looked over at Death, who was watching me intently.

  “What do you want to know about trolls?” He asked.

  “Anything would be useful. Did you guys know about trolls before Irma and her family?” I asked.

  Death nodded. “Some of them came up when Mt. St. Helens erupted again. Lava had cut them off from their family, and they had to travel overland to get back to them. It was back before Queen Hell accepted that the world as we knew it had ended. She viewed the mass migration as an exposure risk and sent me to convince them to return underground, and if they wouldn’t obey, to kill their leader so the next leader would be more pliable.”

  It was the longest chain of sentences that I’d heard Death string together since Nightendale, and perhaps before that. During this whole run for our lives, Ash and Ruin had plenty they wanted to say to me, but Death only made sure I was comfortable and ran. I’d slept more in his arms than the other two combined. Knowing this was not what I should be thinking about, I marshaled my thoughts back to the here and now.

  “Did the trolls turn back?”

  “No.”

  “So, you killed their leader?” I asked.

  Death didn’t answer for a second, as he stayed perfectly still, watching me in a crouch. “I tried. Their leader was an elderly woman named Moss. She told me that I was wasting my energy because she was invincible, and I explained to her that I had no choice but to try. Moss just sat down and closed her eyes, and I did everything I could to kill her. Her skin was harder than stone. When I threw rocks at her, they fissured and broke apart. I accepted defeat, and the trolls kept moving. After I recovered, I travelled with them to ensure they made it to their destination without detection.”

  “Did you learn anything about their culture?” I asked. “What I observed is that Irma and her family lived modestly but were generous with what they had. They were easy tempered and peaceful. Do they fight in any circumstance? What do they value?”

  “They value family and their ancestors. From what Moss told me, a new troll is born every hundred years. The oldest among them turns to stone, and a new troll is born from stone. She would die soon, and a new troll would be born. That was why leaving their home was so devastating to them, much of the rock that had been there was once their family—but it was more important to be with the rest of their living family group.”

  “So, they lost two trolls when Irma died—their leader and the new troll that was going to be born,” I muttered. “They lost Sonny and Honey too. Would this motivate them to avenge those deaths?”

  “I don’t think so,” Death said. “Moss knew words from all human languages from the last three thousand years, but she didn’t understand the concept of conflict or death or war. It’s not part of their world.”

  “Well, it is now. Irma told me that the trolls discovered that they could kill vampires if they had to.” Reaching down, I drew circles for the caves along the rough drawing on the ground.

  “All right, I know how this is going to sound, but my brother Timothy came to me in a—prophecy—I guess. Well, we were able to talk for a few minutes.”

  All three men gaped at me.

  “I know how this sounds, but please just hear me out.” I swallowed hard, and even though I suspected that the men were too shocked to respond, I continued. “Timothy is travelling with Irma’s family group. He says there are two hundred of them there, and they’re watching Ravage and his army. Now I just saw the sheen off at least thirteen troll eyes in separate caves. If the trolls are in all of those, I’m guessing that means Ravage brought his entire army here.” I circled the middle of the picture. “I’m also guessing that he’s assured himself that we’re all alone out here and the queen’s forces are trapped behind that bridge. There’s fresh troll blood on that bridge, so there’s already been a confrontation there before we caught up. I think I know a way where I can connect with Timothy again. If he can enlist the trolls to help us, we can make a living battering ram through the vampires, where we can all make it through to the Queen of the Deep. Vampires can’t hurt them—well, Ravage is the only one, meaning, we’d have to distract him—but I have ideas for that too.”

  “So, hold up…” Ash waved his hands in the air. “You’re telling us you had some sort of vision where you saw and talked to your brother Timothy. And you know it’s real, how?”

  I reached my hand into my coat and pulled out the iron coin. “Timothy gave me this in the vision, and then I had it on the other side.”

  “Can I see that?” Ruin held out a hand. When I placed it in his hand, he rubbed a finger across it. “Kori, did you get this before I found it on you?”

  I licked my lips, which suddenly felt dry. “Um, no. That’s when I got it.”

  Ruin’s blue eyes rose to meet mine. “Kori, you were dead. Did you have that prophecy while you were dead?”

  I bit my lower lip, not sure how to answer.

  “Fuck no, Kori.” Ash stood. “This plan you’re making is contingent on letting you die?”

  “We know how to immediately revive me,” I said. “I’d only need a few minutes.”

  “I’m with Ash on this one, Kori.” Ruin handed me back the coin. “It’s too risk
y. It’s required more blood to revive you each time, and we don’t know what’s happening when you die. You could not wake up next time.”

  I turned to Death, who was still just crouched there, watching me in the low light. “I need at least one of you on board for this to work.”

  “Fuck that, Kori,” Ash growled. “I said no.”

  Death continued to watch me in silence as he considered. He shook his head, ever so slightly. “The risk is too high.”

  “This is the fucking plan…” Ash leaned closer, “One of us will head back and find the nearest cave system. We’ll ask the trolls for help and come back to report.”

  “That won’t work. The trolls won’t recognize that you’re friendly. They’ll just see a vampire warrior on their own, and they’ll either hide or attack—depending on if they’ve learned to be vengeful due to recent events. We’re depending on them wanting to take action against the vampires that murdered their family members. My brother has gained their trust…”

  “Then why don’t we go, all four of us, and try to find your brother. The path through the trees only took us at most an hour.”

  I glanced up toward the forest, but all I saw was an unbroken tree line glowing in the near darkness. “Where’s the path?”

  My heart began to race, and I jumped to my feet and walked along the trees. There had been a clear path leading through the trees twenty minutes ago when we arrived, but now the forest was unbroken.

  “It’s gone. How can it be gone?” There wasn’t even a break between trees. The roots and bare branches intertwined. I jogged down the length of the forest, only to end at the cavern wall. Ash jogged alongside me, stopping at the next stone barrier.

  “What the fuck?” he asked.

  “The trees must have moved.”

  Ash took a step forward onto the upraised root system. Immediately, the bone-white wood stalks slithered like snakes, wrapping around his ankle.

  “Fuck!” he said, and the word echoed around the space.

  I grabbed Ash’s shoulder as the roots snaked higher. “Use the Ignis fire.”

  A blue flame ignited on Ash’s hand, and he brought it down. The roots receded, uncoiling from around him and diving into the ground.

  Ruin and Death were suddenly there, leaning over Ash as he inspected his ankle. Blood streamed down his foot where the tree had engulfed him.

  He used his sleeve to wipe the blood away, only to show unmarred skin. “I’m fine.”

  “Good, but there’s trouble.” Death said in a low voice. “I hear warriors coming this way. We need to either hide or fight.”

  We all looked around, but there was no place to hide.

  “Sound travels,” I said as I shook my head. “You wouldn’t just be fighting the group that comes to investigate. You’ll be fighting the whole army.”

  “Better to do it in the tunnels than out in the open,” Ash said as he shook his foot.

  Death crossed his arms over his chest. “I’m going to be on attack, Ash you take anyone who gets by me, and Ruin, you stay with Kori. You’ll be the last defense.”

  “No—wait.” I grabbed Death’s shoulder. “Listen to me, please. Ravage will come with his army. There is no way we will escape if we fight alone. We have to hide.”

  Death’s arm quivered under my fingers, and I thought that he was going to tell me that they were going to fight no matter what I said, but instead he whispered. “Where?”

  “Against these walls. And we can just pray they won’t see us.” I gestured to the small stretch of wall that led up to the tunnel.

  The tunnel illuminated with a soft white light beside us as the heavy thumping sound of boots approaching echoed ever closer.

  Death’s hands went around my waist, and he lifted me off the ground. My three vampires moved silently, stopping next to the cave wall. Death pinned me there, covering my body with his, but there was absolutely no cover.

  We were out in the open.

  Hiding had sounded like the best course of action a few seconds ago, but I had made a mistake.

  Death’s body pushed against mine, and I savored the feel of him. What a tragic way for this to end. After days of running, we were all going to be found within five hundred yards of safety.

  Chapter Twenty

  Kori

  The squeak and thump of boots echoed so loudly, I could swear the warriors were already upon us. Their flashlight beams grew brighter in the cave while darting back and forth.

  “It’s probably just another troll,” a warrior with a soprano voice said from within the cave. “I’ve seen more of them this trek than in patrols for the last hundred years.”

  “The king says to check it out, so that’s what we do,” a second, lower voice echoed.

  Ash looked my direction from where he stood against the cave wall. I couldn’t see his expression, but I could feel his gaze, passing over my features, like he was memorizing them.

  I wanted to tell him that memories or no, I never stopped loving him. I never stopped loving them. I hoped they already knew that.

  I reached toward Ash, when three feet away, two bulbous yellow eyes opened, straight out of the stone. The cave wall shifted and broke off in a smooth movement. The figure stretched, growing until the twenty-foot silhouette of a cave troll hulked over us.

  They peered down, their yellow eyes fixing on us and blinking slowly. Then the giant made a low whistle sound, and three more trolls separated from the cave. They came to stand over our charcoal drawings, hulking there in plain sight. The two closest to us shuffled over and bent into the wall, leaning inches away from Ash. The trolls closed their eyes, and even to my vision, there was no distinction between the trolls and the stone. They had blocked us from the cave, but all the warriors would have to do is walk around them to see us four standing here.

  I kept my breaths shallow and quiet as the footsteps echoed closer.

  “Shit, you’re right. Trolls,” a low, male voice called, and it was so loud the vampire had to be standing directly on the other side of the trolls sheltering us. “Three of them. Fuck.”

  There was a crack of gunshot, and then a loud booming. Beyond Death’s arm, the trolls marched away into the bone-white trees. I held back a cry for them to stop as the branches snaked around them, but the trolls kept walking as if they didn’t even notice. The branches snapped back, releasing the giants as they walked away into the darkness.

  “Should we go after them?” the male-sounding vampire warrior asked from close by.

  “And do what?” the other warrior asked with a note of mocking in her voice. “Shoot their impenetrable hides with silver bullets and hope they don’t ricochet back at us? Meanwhile these fuckers will suck us dry. These trees don’t care whose blood they’re drinking—they’ll just kill you and keep your souls.”

  The second warrior swore low. “Who surrounds their entire kingdom in blood-sucking trees? Damn, one is enough.”

  “The Queen of the fucking Deep apparently.” A flashlight moved over the space slowly, but when it neared where we were hiding, it vanished, blocked by the trolls impersonating rocks.

  “You really think the Queen of the Deep is dead?”

  “We better hope she is,” the first warrior said as the flashlight did a second sweep. “The king just killed all of those trolls blocking her bridge—I’m not sure that she’ll take too kindly to us slaughtering creatures on her doorstep—” the warrior grunted, “Actually, judging by her gardens here, who fucking knows? Any-fucking-way, I’m not going any further without the king clearing the way. We go back and report.”

  The light retreated as their footfalls grew progressively quieter, but we stayed, huddled against the wall in case it was a trap.

  After what felt like forever, the rock shifted beside us, and the two trolls separated from the stone. They crouched down to look at us with their bulbous yellow eyes.

  “Too many trolls would die in your plan, little dead woman,” the troll closest to us said as their tusks f
lashed in the low light. “The vampire king can make trolls kill trolls.” He said the words like the concept was the most unnatural thing he’d ever heard of.

  I had to swallow a couple times to speak. “I think we could do it in a way where no one dies,” I said through Death’s arms. “We know what Ravage wants—and that’s to drain my body of blood and steal my power. He won’t risk me getting damaged. We need to use that against him.”

  “Your brother is a friend of mine,” the second troll said. “He says that you’re good at planning battles where a few can win against many.”

  “We don’t have a smaller force, we have an equal force,” I said.

  The trolls glanced at each other. “Force…” the first one said, rolling the word around in his mouth. “What is the meaning of the word ‘force’ used in this way?”

  Death nodded. “A group of people that work together in a military effort. I know you value words. This one is our gift to you,” he said as his arm dropped. He was still sheltering around me, but his arm no longer impeded my view of the trolls.

  The trolls repeated the word back and forth in a way that seemed almost ritualistic, and then the first one turned back to me. “The number of trolls and vampire warriors are close, but the Broken Prince makes their force much bigger.”

  “Broken Prince?” Death asked.

  “That’s what they call Ravage,” I said up to Death before looking back to the trolls. “You’re completely right about that.” I pressed my hand into the cold stone beside me, anchoring myself. “Helping us would risk your lives, and many of you have died to help us already.”

  “More of us have died for standing in the army’s way,” the troll said. “We are here to ask the queen for her protection.”

  “We’re here to ask the queen for shelter too.” I stepped out from under Death. “We could help each other. If you’re huddled around me, the Broken Prince won’t force you to fight each other. There’s too much chance of you crushing me.”