Aegis of The Gods: Book 02 - Ashes and Blood (18 page)

Head down, Mirza leveled off as they crested the foothill and reached the Red Ridge Mountains proper. When Ancel gained the same expanse, he spared Ryne a glance. His mentor’s eyes were closed, but he did appear to breath evenly.

Ancel let his shoulders relax as he took in their surroundings. The clouds had finally given up their fight with the moons. Silver-blue illuminated the rest of the way, allowing the mountains to throw their shadows out across the land in a vast shroud. Whereas the ground before rose in gradual inclines, here, the walls shot up before them, cliff-like, glittering with thousand-foot long icy teeth. The phenomenon continued up the mountain.

As he was about to voice the opinion that there was no way he could drag Ryne farther up, Mirza pointed and led them alongside the steep slope. The deep shadows had hidden a wide path free of precipitation. A glance up revealed why.

Above them, an overhang protected this shelf of land—the ridges after which the mountains gained their name. They spanned to overhangs, each jutting out farther than the one below it, protecting each in turn. Out into open space was a set of the icy teeth. He realized then what it was: a frozen waterfall cascading off the ridge above.

The view to the land below was breathtaking. For miles, moonlight illuminated the plains and hills in a mosaic of white, silver, blue tints, and shadow. Whiteness still wreathed the area where Eldanhill should have been. A glow lit the clouds in the town’s vicinity.

“In here,” Mirza called, his voice echoing. His head popped out from the dark moments later. “We’ll be safe for now.”

Ancel squinted. The darkness became a wide cave mouth. He let out a long exhale and dragged Ryne’s prone form inside. Darkness swallowed him.

Strong odors of wet earth and mustiness filled his nostrils. From a few feet away came a shuffling and Mirza’s muttered curses. Running water gurgled nearby. A sudden flash of light filled the interior, and he averted his eyes. As his sight adjusted, he took in his surroundings.

The ground was worn smooth from use. What appeared to be old clothes were piled near the blackened embers of a firepit. A small waterfall cascaded from an outcrop at the back of the cave, the falling water pouring into a stream that ran past them into a small clear pool before continuing into darkness.

Galiana stood near the cave mouth holding a lightstone. “Don’t worry, I made sure to hide the entrance with a Forging. No one can see the light.”

In one of the corners were several stacks of branches. Mirza was already gathering them.

“You can set him down now.” Galiana nodded to Ryne.

Ancel looked down. Ryne was still holding onto his arm. His face carried a slight blue tinge similar to the day they first encountered him. Ryne’s eyes were closed but his breathing was steady. Ancel pried his fingers loose. At the same time, he released the Eye and his hold on his Etchings.

The room spun and blackness took him.

C
hapter 27

S
ometimes the snow fell so heavily it blotted out the surroundings, but as the flakes touched the ground, the blood of the fallen painted it red. Moans of the dying, wails of the mourning, screeches of the bloodthirsty, and the gurgles of death washed through the air upon the howling wind. Mangled armor and torn bodies lay strewn as far as the eye could see as if flung by a massive storm.

There had been a storm, Sakari thought. A storm of death.

His shadeling army boiled black across the land tearing into the Dagodin ranks.

And shattered.

Garbed in armor to match the bloody snow, the Tribunal’s soldiers held fast. Their shield wall dropped with the precision of a hundred thousand dancers synchronized to one song. A symphony of steel played. Shadelings died.

Several hundred beasts Blurred up and over the shield wall. Bolts of fire and lightning met them. The concussions from both should have rocked the Dagodin formations below the shadelings, but the Shins had formed a layered barrier to protect them. Dark blood spattered upon its surface. Bodies landed, appearing as if they were suspended in the air above the enemy’s ranks.

As for his vasumbrals, the writhing, worm-like monstrosities churned underground before boring up and out. Earth and snow crashed into any nearby soldiers, flinging them from their feet or crushing them. Maws agape the beasts snatched men by threes or fours, their black bodies bulging as they swallowed. Foolhardy Shins attacked them with any manner of Forge, from icy spikes able to skewer a man in half, to searing fire waves or bolts crackling with energy. Unaffected, the vasumbrals wreaked havoc, absorbing as many Forges as they could, growing stronger, maturing.

But not fast enough. Not against this army.

The telltale hiss that imitated a giant sword slicing the wind rose over the din of battle. Those weren’t any blades. More portals were opening to allow the Tribunal’s Matii in—Dagodin, Shin, High Shin, and Raijin by the thousands.

Mater surged moments later. A swath of light cut through a shadebane, decimating its number by half. The daemons threw up their own shield too late, barely saving a few of their number.

With the Exalted and the Raijin joining the fray, he knew he needed to call a retreat. This wasn’t the time or the place to war against them. Not unprepared. Not without the Skadwaz and not with immature vasumbrals. Besides, Ryne and his ward had fled. Of that, he was sure.

He considered breaching the shield over the town and taking the young man’s father and the woman, Irmina. He sensed her presence there and knew the council was still within Eldanhill’s confines. Acquiring either would not break the accords as they had both attacked him directly. However, destroying the shield would expose the rest of Eldanhill.
That
would violate the agreement.

So much had transpired as he hoped, as his master decreed, but so much had gone wrong. Ever since Benez, he and Thanarien had searched for years to find the Dorns, all to no avail. Rumors spread like snow from the heavens, each one dissolving when they grew warm. Someone had used his master’s own methods against them, spreading lies as if they were the truth, subtly changing fact into myth and myth into fact.

Now, he’d failed by no fault of his own, or at least it would appear that way to Kahkon. The accords had always been a hindrance, but the Eztezians forced it upon the Nine as reassurance before accepting the Etchings. As much as it seemed that he had wanted to fulfill the orders to kill Thanarien, they prevented him and any other netherling from doing so. He could not help his smile. A useless habit he’d picked up from humanity, but he smiled nonetheless. The pact was of no consequence now though, not as far as Thanarien was concerned. His old master had broken that protection himself.

A chance still remained to trap Thanarien and his ward, but he doubted anyone else knew the location of the nearest Entosis. If they did, then Charra would need to lend a hand. He knew he needed to tread carefully now. His job was a precarious undertaking. Hopefully, he’d bought enough time.

After surveying the remnants of the battle once more, he decided it was time to withdraw. He nodded to the ebony, glossy-winged form of the archdaemon, its color tinged with deep blue, and watched as it concentrated, fixing its mind along the link with all its brethren.

As he turned away, Sakari waved a hand and several portals appeared, their blackness blotting out the land behind them. He stepped through. The portals would be left open long enough for the vasumbrals and the daemons. Whatever shadelings made it back through would be a plus. The rest he would abandon to wreak havoc and keep the Tribunal occupied for a while.

He had a homecoming to prepare.

C
hapter 28

O
n one knee, head bowed, Irmina waited for the Exalted. The stillness of the room needled at her, making her want to stand, move around, anything to dispel her apprehension. The marble floor of the Mystera’s main audience hall was cold even through her leather armor. Dagodin and Ashish
in had escorted Stefan and the other council members to another building. Full-throated screams echoed from that direction, rising above the howling gale outside. She flinched with each painful wail.

When the door opened, five people strode into the room, chilly air and swirls of snow accompanying them.
If not for the softness of the three females’ features, the difference in sex
would have been impossible to tell, especially with their matching, pristine white robes. Colors shimmered from their sleeves as if a living rainbow inhabited them. As she noticed within their room at the Iluminus, the reek of festering flesh wafted from the Exalted. Throat constricting, Irmina swallowed against a sudden lump.

The Exalted’s heads were bald and speckled like eggs. But where an egg would be smooth, their skin reminded her of old, pale leather. It was wrinkled and dry, loose in spots, pulling at the edges in some areas, while tight and shiny in others. Not a single pair of eyes among them contained an iris and instead appeared to be radiant, golden pools. The hands exposed by the openings of their long sleeves bore the same splotches as their faces and heads and were just as sickly and emaciated. Irmina always thought of Jerem as old, maybe ancient. When she gazed upon the Exalted, one word came to mind.

Eternal.

“Stand.” Their voices were one.

She obeyed.

“What is the meaning of this, Raijin Irmina?” The voice was the disembodied one she remembered from the Iluminus.

Irmina tried to discern who spoke but not a single pair of lips moved.

“You were ordered to kill this Ryne, whoever he was linked with, and the council.”

“You did none of this but still saw fit to call on us,” said the voice that dripped like water.

“You failed,” said musical tones.

“Yet you dared summons usss,” hissed steam from liquid poured over hot coals

“Punishment,” Thunder rumbled.

The voices rose around her, their doubts repeated, their threats maintained. They came from so many directions her head spun. If there had been a wall close by, she would have leaned on it to steady herself. Instead, she did the one thing she could think of; she allowed herself to delve into the Eye. Almost instantly, a sense of calm settled over her.

With serenity came clarity. Each voice grew more distinct. She could attach each to a face. Disembodied belonged to the woman on the far right, her nose slightly crooked. Musical tones tinkled from a man with smoother features than the others, his skin a shade darker, a wry smile on his face. Owned by a woman a hand taller than the other two females, dripping water pattered faster and faster before cutting off as Irmina stared directly at her. The hissing voice was a woman who made a habit of interlocking her fingers as she spoke and whose expression showed no emotion. The last man, thunder, had eyes that reminded her of storm clouds. Their voices dwindled to a faint buzz as Irmina looked from one to the other.

Irmina frowned, her brows knitting as she realized something else. Their voices were inside her head, similar to what she herself did when she connected with beasts to tame them. Touching upon her Gift to control almost any creature, she pushed back against the voices, the minds, and expelled them.

Gasps escaped the Exalted’s lips, and more than one wore wide-eyed expressions of shock. Within moments though, their features became serene.

Emboldened by their faltering, Irmina folded her arms. “This would go easier if I knew your names.” Several sets of hairless eyebrows arched at her statement. “And please stay out of my—”

A hand raised by the man with the stormy eyes cut her off. But the effect wasn’t just from his hand. Something constricted against her throat, preventing her from speaking. She snatched at her Matersense and choked back a yell at what she saw.

Mater boiled around the Exalted in thick bands, undulating, overlapping and in so many strands and colors she was unable to separate each or discern the difference in the essences much less the elements. Elongated strands of Mater stretched from the man’s hand to her throat. As his fingers tightened so did the tendrils around her neck. A stern look from the disembodied woman, and the pressure eased. The woman cocked her head and stared at her counterpart. He sighed, and the elements retreated.

Heart thumping, blood roaring in her ears, Irmina sucked in a breath. Her fear threatened to skitter within the boundaries of the Eye. By sheer force of will, she inhaled deeply several more times before her hand stopped its shaking, and her heartbeat eased.

“Raijin Irmina,” the woman with the disembodied voice said. “I am Exalted Malinda. It is uncommon. No. I will be frank. What you did has not been done in five hundred years. So please pardon Exalted Buneri.” She tilted her head toward the man whose stormy eyes now flashed, his lips curling as he sneered. “This,” Malinda continued, pointing to the younger male in their group, “is Exalted Leukisa.” She motioned to the taller of the other two women. “Exalted Ordelia and this is—”

“I’m Verturi,” hissed the remaining woman, eyes cold and dead.

“Thank you.” Irmina bowed. “I meant no disrespect, but when you’re in my head, I find it hard to think.”

“We understand,” Leukisa said.

“But you must still explain,” began Ordelia.

“Why the Council is alive,” added Malinda.

“As well as Ryne and the one he’s linked to,” finished Buneri.

Face a blank mask, Verturi merely tilted her head to one side.

“The shadeling army attacked as I was about to strike at Ryne. He went to fight them.” Irmina kept her gaze steady and unflinching as she spoke. “Galiana Materialized with Ancel before I could do anything. The remaining Shin did the same for the people who were left.”

“Those traitors are not Shin,” Buneri said. “Never have been. Never will be.”

“Where did she take them?” Malinda asked.

Irmina bowed, making her voice carry the appropriate amount of regret. “I-I don’t know, Exalted.”

Buneri snorted.

“And the others?” Malinda asked.

Irmina glanced up to meet their eyes. “From what I overheard before they departed, they headed to Cahar and the port there.”

“Hmm. How is it then that you managed to take the council?” Ordelia’s lips curved into a slight smile.

Irmina sensed she needed to be extra careful around her. She shrugged. “You saw how many of their Matii are dead near the gates. I managed to defeat the ones responsible for the council before they Forged.”

“Well, at least she gave us that much,” rumbled Buneri with a smirk and slight shake of his head. “But let me guess, Malinda, you will say to allow her to live.”

“She managed to get us the boy’s father,” Malinda said. “Come now, Buneri, you did not expect her to challenge the Eztezian did you?”

“Expectation and orders are two different things.” Buneri folded his arms, placing his hands into the sleeves of his robe. “The question is did she try?”

“What you wanted would have been suicide,” Irmina said, “but I would have tried.”

“Sometimes death is preferable to not making an attempt.” Verturi’s expression remained blank, but a certain glint in her eyes told she expected nothing less.

“And if I died,” Irmina allowed her annoyance to drip from her words, “who would tell you that the man who brought those shadelings was himself a netherling? The very same creature, in fact, that once posed as Ryne’s bodyguard?”

Not only did their expressions change, but their thoughts, their voices rose in a thousand whispers like the rustlings of a reedy field on an especially windy day. Concern, disbelief, but above all, fear skittered across those thoughts. Squeezing her eyes tight, Irmina tried to shove them from her mind. They receded to a buzz but did not completely disappear.

Irmina opened her eyes and studied the Exalted. Brows wrinkled, lips pursed, Buneri waved his hand occasionally as he strived to make some point or another. Of them all, his expression said he was the least concerned. For the most part, Malinda simply nodded. Ordelia and Leukisa seemed to agree on whatever they argued. Verturi made periodic objections. Finally, they appeared to reach a common decision, and all gazes turned to her.

“There’s a way for you to redeem yourself, Raijin Irmina. We know where they fled. We shall send you with a contingent of Pathfinders and High Shin to capture them.”