7: Enemies and Shadows (10 page)

“There’s no point in forcing yourself.” Kahlil smiled at Pesha. “I wouldn’t really appreciate the competition, anyway.”

Pesha looked up at him, startled. Then she shyly returned Kahlil’s smile. “I guess you wouldn’t.”

Besh’anya painted the last stones with Jath’ibaye’s blood. The blood glowed as it soaked into the carved surface of the stones. Black symbols seeped out from the stones, letters of Eastern script. Kahlil couldn’t read them. They twitched like tiny spiders.

Besh’anya and Saimura both went silent. The low murmurs of Ji’s voice rolled through the air. Her words throbbed like the echoes of thunder.

Ji spat on the ground and the black symbols rushed in over her like a swarm of insects. The symbols crawled through Ji’s yellow fur and dug down to her skin. Tiny black forms crawled over her face. They swam over her yellow eyes. Her tongue and the pink flesh of her mouth darkened as she continued speaking strange Eastern words.

“Is that supposed to happen?” Pesha whispered to Kahlil.

Kahlil glanced to Saimura.

Saimura watched the black symbols with calm interest for a few moments, then returned to his own work. He braided copper wires around a pure white stone. Besh’anya watched Ji in fascination. Jath’ibaye glanced back once and then returned to studying the northern horizon.

“I think so,” Kahlil replied.

Ji went suddenly silent. With a loud crack, all of the stones split and a wave of searing wind rushed in over Ji. The black symbols encased her, glowed red, yellow, and at last, a blinding white.

“Bring the yasi’halaun. Now.” White light glowed from Ji’s mouth and throat as she spoke. Kahlil grasped the yasi’halaun and brought it to her.

“That’s good,” Ji said once Kahlil had come within reach of her. “Unsheathe it.”

Kahlil did as Ji instructed. The yasi’halaun was longer than it had been and also thinner. The hilt in particular had changed. It had shaped itself into a sharp tip, like an ice pick.

“Drive it into the ground, blade up,” Ji said.

Carefully, Kahlil pushed the hilt of the yasi’halaun into the pebbled ground. He expected it to fall but it remained upright. The tip of the blade nearly reached Kahlil’s chin. It was flatter than before and there were marks that had never been there. Hundreds of long parallel lines etched the surface of the blade.

“Besh’anya,” Ji called, “anoint the blade.”

Immediately Besh’anya moved to Kahlil’s side. She lifted the jar of Jath’ibaye’s blood and poured just a few drops over the blade. The blood trickled down the tiny grooves in the blade. The bloody trails began to steam and glow.

“Get back!” Ji commanded.

Besh’anya rushed behind Ji. Kahlil strode towards the chasm, keeping his body between Jath’ibaye and the yasi’halaun. Jath’ibaye stepped closer to him and their hands brushed against each other.

“Don’t go too far,” Jath’ibaye said.

Ji began chanting again. This time she spat words quickly, with the angry intensity of commands. The yasi’halaun shuddered. The needle-thin grooves in the blade began to separate into long spines. They spread like fingers fanning out. Arcs of light leaped from the tips and danced over the ground. Kahlil could hear the pebbles of bones gasp and then go silent. The bones looked powdery, like the ashy remains of coals. They crumbled and scattered on the breeze.

Arcs of light bolted from the yasi’halaun towards Ji. The blazing symbols that covered her flashed like lightning. The yasi’halaun’s hungry arcs split and speared the surrounding ground. Steam rose off of Ji’s hide. She clenched her eyes closed and continued her furious chanting.

Saimura stood and held up the stone he had bound in copper wire. It resembled a skull but was far smoother. Saimura whispered something over the stone and then he laid it down on the ground. Kahlil felt a soft throb pass through the ground.

“It will summon hungry bones,” Jath’ibaye said. “Hopefully no one else.”

The arcs of light from the yasi’halaun danced and bolted over the ground, devouring hundreds of trapped souls at once. The arcs snapped and crackled and split into more and more tongues of light as they continued feeding. Again and again the yasi’halaun attempted to feed on Ji but her protections held.

Jath’ibaye tensed slightly and turned to the east and said, “The bones are coming.”

 At first the waves of heat rolling over the white sands disguised the hungry bones. But steadily Kahlil differentiated the white serpentine form from the white hills around it. It moved like a centipede and with alarming speed. Most of its massive body had come from some huge undersea creature. A skull that was nearly all teeth gnashed through the pebbled sands. Long quills of bone arched from its spine. Kahlil imagined that they might have once been the supports for huge dorsal fins.

The bones that supported the creature were obviously the remnants of dozens of tahldi. Their legs bounded over the sands. Their skulls snapped furiously from where they hung amidst the huge sea creature’s ribs. The bodies of animals it had already devoured hung inside the hungry bones like organs. Some were newly impaled and still bleeding. Kahlil thought he could make out the form of a human torso. The roar of the hungry bones drowned out the distant ocean and split through Ji’s chanting. 

Jath’ibaye lifted his rifle.

A sound almost like a sigh came from the yasi’halaun. Suddenly the arcs of light shot out and burst through the hungry bones. The roar of the hungry bones became a wrenching scream. It writhed and jerked as the bones of its body crumbled to ash. Kahlil could feel its body slamming into the ground as it tried to shake free. But the light of the yasi’halaun was like a voracious disease. It leaped from bone to bone in thousands of blazing arcs. It flashed across the surface of the bones and the bones blew away in streams of ash.

It was growing stronger, Kahlil realized. He glanced back to Ji. Her head was bowed. Steam rose from her body and escaped her open gasping mouth.

The moment that the hungry bones collapsed completely, the yasi’halaun’s lights arched back and slammed down against Ji. The symbols protecting her burned a dull yellow. She swayed slightly but continued her chanting, her voice low and commanding.

Steadily the yasi’halaun folded closed. Its greedy tongues of light flickered, crackled, dimmed and then disappeared.

Ji sighed heavily. Saimura went to her side and offered her water from his canteen. She flopped down on his lap.

“I’d call that a success, wouldn’t you?” Ji asked breathlessly.

“It was amazing!” Pesha’s voice and face showed her unabashed awe.

Kahlil looked to Jath’ibaye, whose attention remained fixed on the distant ruins in the north. The gray mists churned and rolled. Flickers of red light exploded through the darkening clouds. Kahlil wondered what sort of sorcery those lights portended.

“We should get back to the watchtower,” Jath’ibaye pronounced.

 Kahlil went immediately to retrieve the yasi’halaun. It had grown still longer and the fine lines that had marked the blade were now pronounced grooves. Kahlil felt an electrical hum pass through his hands as he pulled it from the ashen ground. The buried hilt had grown as well. It stretched out like a thirsty taproot. It was too long for its scabbard now, stretching up almost as tall as him. Kahlil wrapped it in his coat.

Jath’ibaye walked to his side.

“You want me to carry it?” Jath’ibaye gestured to the yasi’halaun.

“It’s not as heavy as it looks,” Kahlil replied. He studied Jath’ibaye. “You look worried.”

Jath’ibaye nodded. Kahlil knew he was thinking about Loshai and Fikiri. Kahlil didn’t want to bring it up, particularly in front of other people.

“Can’t figure out what you’re going to wear to Nivoun’s funeral?” Kahlil asked.

Jath’ibaye smiled at the question. “Yeah, that’s what I’m wondering about.”

As they marched back over the ash and sand, they heard cheers rising from the rocky plains. Tai’yu whooped. Hirran bounced up and down, waving her arms and grinning like an overjoyed child. The line of a dozen attendants and secretaries had easily tripled. Common men and women as well as guards clapped and hooted. Kahlil thought he recognized several of the people from the group who had been testing mines. There were no traces of confusion or horror in their faces now. They laughed and grinned as joyously as the rest.

Chapter Seventy-Four

Kahlil sprinted forward. Behind him, hungry bones tore through the dunes of white sand and dark ash. The hisses and growls of the hungry bones rolled over Kahlil like waves breaking above his head. Sand slid under his feet. He stumbled and forced himself to keep running. His lungs burned. His thighs felt like they were turning to liquid as he broke over the rise of the last dune.

Below, he could see white arcs burst up from the yasi’halaun’s dark form. Ji looked tiny beside it. Besh’anya, Saimura and Pesha were farther back. Kahlil threw himself forward, half-running, half-sliding through the sand and ash.

Behind him, the hungry bones surged over the rise. They leaped down after him. Their immense bulk loomed over him, blotting out the sun. Kahlil dropped into the Gray Space. The frigid cold struck him like a shock of ice water. The hungry bones slammed into the sand and tumbled down the dune.

Even from within the Gray Space, the arcing white lights of the yasi’halaun were blindingly brilliant. They shot out instantly, ripping through the hungry bones and devouring the souls trapped within. In seconds only heaps of ash remained.

Kahlil stepped out of the Gray Space and collapsed down next to Pesha.

“That one was huge,” Pesha said.

Kahlil just nodded. His heart was still hammering in his chest.

“Have some water.” Besh’anya handed her canteen to Kahlil. He drank deeply.

“Thanks.” Kahlil returned the canteen to Besh’anya.

“Are nine enough or are you up for another run?” Saimura only glanced up briefly from the stones and wires in front of him. “None of these summoning stones are ready yet.”

Kahlil looked to Ji.

Arcs of the yasi’halaun’s light lashed continually at Ji’s defenses now. Eastern wards flared from Ji’s body, forming luminous halos around her. Ji ignored them and continued to chant the ritual that controlled the yasi’halaun. Steam rose off her as if she were cooking from the inside out. Three days of controlling and resisting the yasi’halaun’s hunger had burned away what little flesh there had been on her body. Her hide hung over her bones like a discarded washcloth. The few remaining hungry bones were those hunting along the edge of the chasm. They had to be lured closer to the yasi’halaun by a living body.

The sooner they finished with the hungry bones the better.

“I can try for another if Ji’s up to it,” Kahlil said.

Ji didn’t even bother to open her eyes. She gave the briefest nod of her head. Kahlil got to his feet and dusted the ash off his legs. The muscles of his thighs trembled. Just one more run. There couldn’t be many more hungry bones remaining.

 Already the white sands of the northern chasm were transforming into miles of gray ash. Twilight breezes easily lifted the fine ash and sent vast plumes rolling across the yellow sunset, turning it orange. The air smelled of fires.

Pesha coughed. Besh’anya handed her a kerchief to tie over her nose and mouth.

“I told you that you’d want one,” Besh’anya said.

“And you are as wise as you are lovely,” Pesha replied. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” Besh’anya laughed at the flirtation and offered Pesha a motherly smile. “Though you should save a little of that flattery for the Greenhills girl you were charming last night.” Then Besh’anya’s attention shifted to Kahlil.

“If it gets much darker, you won’t be able to see.” She stepped closer to Kahlil and lowered her voice to a whisper. “Ji needs to rest. She just won’t say so.”

Kahlil nodded.

“Yeah, now that I’m standing I can really feel the strain in my legs,” he said. “I don’t know if I could make another run like that last one. Sorry, Ji, but I think we’ll have to call it a day.”

Kahlil noticed the look of relief that flickered over Saimura’s expression. He wondered if Saimura had purposefully refrained from finishing any more summoning stones.

Again Ji offered only the slightest nod of her head. The low words of her chant changed. Slowly the needlelike spines of the yasi’halaun began to fold back down into a massive blade. Kahlil sat back down next to Pesha.

The knowledge that he wouldn’t have to run again was like a release for the exhaustion he had been holding back. Now fatigue flooded his body. He closed his eyes, forehead resting on his arms. Maybe tonight he would sleep well. It had been hard with Jath’ibaye gone. His dreams had been more troubled. That voice kept calling him, whispering to him all night.

“Kyle’insira?” Pesha’s whisper unnerved him, but he didn’t open his eyes.

“Yes?”

“I wanted to ask you about something.”

“Is it important?” Kahlil asked. He prayed it wasn’t more about Besh’anya. He didn’t know how much more he could manage to speculate about her attributes with Pesha.

“I don’t know,” Pesha said. “It’s just a strange patch of space I’ve been watching.”

Kahlil instantly opened his eyes and sat up.

“Where?” Kahlil demanded. “Don’t point. Just tell me.”

“Just in front of Ji,” Pesha said. “All afternoon the yasi’halaun kept striking that spot, but there’s nothing there, is there?”

As Kahlil watched, a last tongue of the yasi’halaun’s light crackled at the empty air again and again. Something there attracted the yasi’halaun’s hunger. None of them could see it, but the yasi’halaun sensed it. Something was there, waiting in the Gray Space.

“Shit.” Kahlil bounded to his feet.

The yasi’halaun had already snapped closed. Ji knelt down on the ground in utter exhaustion.

“Ji,” Kahlil shouted. “Move!”

The Gray Space screamed as it ripped open wide. Ji shoved herself back up to her feet. She swayed unsteadily. Geysers of flame licked the torn edges of the Gray Space and the massive centipede-like bulk of hungry bones surged out. Behind it, Kahlil caught a glimpse of Fikiri.

“Pesha,” Kahlil yelled, “move your ass now!”

Behind him, Kahlil heard Besh’anya’s startled cry. Saimura screamed Ji’s name.

The hungry bones smashed down on top of Ji. Her body crumpled under them. Kahlil heard her yelp. Then he plunged into the silence of the Gray Space. The hungry bones pounded over Ji’s broken body as they bounded toward Pesha, Saimura and Besh’anya.

Fikiri was still somewhere in the Gray Space. Kahlil concentrated on the texture of the Gray Space. Then he caught Fikiri’s movements. A faint ripple passed through the colorless landscape as Fikiri moved just beneath its surface.

Fikiri strode toward the yasi’halaun. Kahlil raced through the Gray Space after him. Fikiri was closer but Kahlil was faster.

Fikiri dropped out of the Gray Space. His form became perfectly clear. He smiled in triumph as he extended his hand towards the yasi’halaun. Kahlil only had an instant to stop him. He lunged into the space occupied by Fikiri’s body and slashed through the thick Gray Space, aiming to rip the other man in half from the inside out.

Fikiri felt Kahlil’s presence a moment too soon. As Kahlil tore his way out of the Gray Space, Fikiri dropped back into it. For a sickening instant, their two bodies passed through one another.

Kahlil burst out of the Gray Space. Nausea and dizziness rushed over him. He staggered and almost fell. His vision briefly blurred into a haze. He clenched his eyes shut to help them clear.

“Pesha!” Kahlil shouted blindly. “Get the yasi’halaun out of here!”

He could hear the roar of the hungry bones and Besh’anya shrieking out a string of Eastern invocations. Finally, his vision cleared.

The hungry bones arched up over Besh’anya. Besh’anya stood with her hands raised, gripping a heavily engraved stone. With each word Besh’anya shouted, a dull gold light pulsed from the stone. Saimura knelt beside Besh’anya, desperately drawing symbols in the ash at her feet. His low voice droned beneath Besh’anya’s. The hungry bones swayed back and forward in time with the pulses of the stone in Besh’anya’s hands. Steam rose from between her fingers.

Neither Fikiri nor Pesha were anywhere to be seen.

Kahlil turned back to the yasi’halaun. The long dark blade still jutted from the ashen ground. Beside it, Ji’s crushed body lay in a pool of dark blood. A sharp pang of anguish shot through Kahlil. This time he would find Fikiri and kill him.

Kahlil plunged back into the Gray Space.

He found his enemy at once. Fikiri had broken into the Gray Space that Pesha occupied. Their desperate movements sent waves of distortion through the colorless landscape. They heaved and rolled as one mass. Kahlil made out the shadows of thrashing limbs.

Kahlil moved next to them and punched through the membranous wall of the Gray Space. He tore deep into the Gray Space but not through to the outside world. His entire body ached from the exertion. The texture of the Gray Space bit into his hands as he ripped it farther open.

His fingers brushed over moving bodies. He groped for a hold on Fikiri. At last he caught hold of a mass of Fikiri’s dirty blond hair. He gripped tightly and jerked Fikiri back from Pesha. The membrane of the Gray Space tore further as Kahlil wrenched Fikiri through it. The ragged edges slashed them both. 

Kahlil caught only a glimpse of Pesha. Dark blood poured from her nose and mouth. Her eyes were wide in fear.

 The opening between them snapped closed, leaving a ropey scar in its wake. Kahlil prayed that Pesha would have the presence of mind to do her duty.

Fikiri twisted in Kahlil’s grip and pulled free. He spun to face Kahlil. Both of them drew their black curse blades. Guns were worthless in the Gray Space. The bullets simply didn’t move quickly enough. They circled each other. Kahlil needed this to be a fast fight. He didn’t have the strength left for a drawn out battle. He guessed that Fikiri knew as much.

A strangely smug smile flickered over Fikiri’s features. Fikiri bolted backwards. Kahlil lunged after him. Fikiri threw himself through a faint distortion in the Gray Space. Kahlil charged past it. He wheeled around, searching for Fikiri.

Yards ahead, Fikiri dropped out of the Gray Space almost on top of the yasi’halaun. He grabbed the hilt and jerked it up from the ground. Kahlil raced for Fikiri, but he knew he was already too late. Fikiri staggered slightly as the full weight of the yasi’halaun slumped against his body. He would be gone in an instant.

At Fikiri’s feet, Ji suddenly jerked upright. Her hide was black with blood and pieces of her bones jutted up from her flesh. She pushed herself up onto her broken hind legs.

Fikiri started back at the sight of her. The weight of the yasi’halaun kept him from moving quickly. Ji fell as much as lunged forward. She sank her teeth deep into Fikiri’s forearm and jerked him back violently. Fikiri’s mouth opened wide in a howl of pain. The yasi’halaun fell to the ground. Fikiri plunged his curse blade into Ji’s throat.

Kahlil burst out of the Gray Space. He heard Ji’s soft whimper like a roar. Ji fell limply to the ground. Kahlil wanted to kneel beside her, to pull her into his arms and protect her. But he knew she was already dead. Not even she could survive such a wound.

Fikiri thrust forward with his curse blade. Kahlil barely managed to block the blow with his own blade. Fikiri fell back, breathing hard. His blade arm drooped slightly. Kahlil started after Fikiri. Then he caught the flash of Fikiri’s smug smile. Fikiri wanted him to advance. Kahlil stepped back. His heel bumped against the hilt of the yasi’halaun.

It was like Fikiri to try and draw him away. In battle practice he had always relied on feigning. Kahlil refused to be drawn. For a moment Kahlil and Fikiri stood simply watching one another and waiting.

Behind Fikiri, Kahlil caught the huge mass of the hungry bones striking at Saimura. He felt the force of the hungry bones’ impact against the ground. He heard bones breaking. Saimura rolled to his feet and hurled a summoning stone away into the hills. The hungry bones surged after it. Again there was an earth-shaking crash as the hungry bones smashed themselves into the ground.

The noise almost drowned out the sound of the Gray Space wrenching open. Kahlil’s attention flashed back to Fikiri. He hadn’t moved. Instead Pesha burst out a foot from Kahlil. She looked terrible. Dried blood colored her nose and mouth. Deep scratches crisscrossed her face and arms. She stumbled towards Kahlil.

Fikiri seized the moment. He charged Pesha, curse blade forward. Kahlil instantly dropped into the Gray Space and threw himself between Pesha and Fikiri. He sliced the Gray Space open. Fikiri came hurtling in. Kahlil pounced on him and drove his own curse blade into Fikiri’s body. His blade skidded across a hard surface. It was that damn armor he wore beneath his tattered black robes.

Kahlil stabbed again, this time aiming for the soft joint of Fikiri’s groin. But Fikiri jerked back. Kahlil’s blade ripped through the fabric of Fikiri’s robe and tore a deep furrow into the white bone armor beneath it. Fikiri kicked at Kahlil. An inscription on the armor flashed. The kick landed incredibly hard, pounding through Kahlil’s body like a hammer blow. Kahlil staggered back and Fikiri stumbled free of his grip.

At the edge of his vision, Kahlil saw Pesha lift the yasi’halaun and then drop into the Gray Space. Fikiri noticed the motion as well. He spun from Kahlil and immediately charged the faint shadow of Pesha’s movements.

Kahlil lunged after Fikiri, slamming into him. Pain exploded through his beaten chest as the collision sent two of them went sprawling forward. Rough patches of the Gray Space slashed Kahlil’s arm. His curse blade slipped from his grip.

Then suddenly he and Fikiri were jerked wildly through space. A sick sensation flooded Kahlil. The landscape surrounding him changed completely as they fell through another distortion.

Carved pillars jutted through crumbling stone walls. Archways of marble steps rose from cliffs and stretched out into empty air. A huge doorway stood alone on a stone stoop. Payshmura suns and moons decorated nearly every surface. They were in the ruins of Rathal’pesha.

Corded scars twisted and tangled through the Gray Space like spider webs. Kahlil jumped to his feet. Countless rough patches of the Gray Space scratched his skin and ripped through his clothes. It would be insane to move more than a few feet through the Gray Space here.