The Inner Circle: Holy Spirit (17 page)

‘
Get out,’ Seteal
said coldly. ‘I will not have that name spoken in my
presence.’

‘
Look.’ El-i-miir
sighed. ‘I’m sorry.’

‘
Get out.’

‘
Seteal. I’m
sorry.’

‘
Get out!’ Seteal
shouted. Thunder rumbled outside, the room vibrated and the candles
went out. The bed slid several handswidths toward the door, books
flew from a shelf, and a chair sailed across the room to splinter
against the far wall. El-i-miir left the room in a rush.

‘
Thank Maker for
that.’ Master Fasil smiled from his place beside Seteal. ‘I was
beginning to think she would never leave.’

CHAPTER
Eleven

Your People

Seeol entered his private dining room
riding on Ieane’s golden-gloved hand. Seteal and El-i-miir sat at a
splendidly carved table with Briel and Fes placed opposite. Seeol
had invited all of his closest friends, feeling that he owed them
an explanation as to the events that had recently transpired. It
was equally as important that he got some answers of his own.

‘
Please join us,
Ieane,’ Seeol said as the girl entered and placed Seeol at the head
of the table.

‘
It wouldn’t be
appropriate.’

‘
Sit, Ieane.’ Seeol
gestured toward an empty seat at the other end of the
table.

‘
I couldn’t.’ The
girl flushed red. ‘I’m your humble servant. It’s not my place to
dine with you.’

‘
You is are my
friend.’ Seeol repeated the gesture with his toe. ‘Join us
pleasingly.’

‘
I’m . . . your
friend? Thank you, Holy Spirit,’ Ieane sat down and immediately
started fidgeting.

It ha
d
only been the preceding night that Seteal made it back into her
body. She’d seemed tired and Seeol felt it was fitting to give her
time to rest. He’d arranged rooms for all of his friends along with
an invitation to join him for a private meal the following evening.
He’d likewise sent out invitations to Briel and Fes, who’d been
trading in the area. Far-a-mael, too, had been invited, but with
the alliance having already been formalised, he’d declined,
claiming to be too busy.

‘
I’m just going to
say it.’ As expected, it did not take Seteal long to cut through
the silence and ruin the mood. ‘What the torrid is going on here?’
she said abrasively, her eyes moving over Ieane’s subordinate
posture with contempt.

‘
Seeol--as you call
him--is the Holy Spirit, the Hand of Maker,’ Ieane said
proudly.

‘
You’re not a holy
anything,’ Seteal directed at Seeol, feeling embarrassed for the
Jenjen in their foolishness.

‘
Why did you
leave me?’ He locked
eyes on El-i-miir.
The long black hair tumbling over her shoulders, framing her
exquisite features, took his breath away. She was more beautiful
than he’d remembered and her betrayal hurt his heart the most. He’d
expect such a thing from Seteal. She was hot-headed and did
whatever she had to do to survive. He’d even have expected it from
Ilgrin, as they’d never really been as close as the others. But
El-i-miir was supposed to be the nice one. ‘I was scared,’ Seeol
growled.

‘
I’m sorry, Seeol.’
El-i-miir failed to hold his gaze. ‘You were becoming too
dangerous.’

‘
Nothing badness ever
happened to the Jenjenjen,’ Seeol spat. ‘They love me and only
friendly things ever happen. Maybe if you’d petted me more, nothing
bad would ever happen. You’re mean to me.’

‘
They’ve upset You!’
Ieane pounced to her feet. ‘Shall I arrange their execution, Holy
Father?’

‘
No!’ Seeol stared at
the girl in bewilderment. ‘All I ever want is love. You all have
love and can’t do anything but kill each other.’

‘
Listen, Seeol.’
Seteal put her hands flat on the table. ‘You’re just going to have
to get over this. We did what we had to do to survive. You were
holding us back.’

‘
What about my
survivals?’ Seeol lowered his voice, the pain he felt becoming too
much to bear. If he’d have had tear ducts, it would be very likely
that he’d be crying. ‘I’d never have lefted you that way. I’d have
fought to the end, because that’s what friends do.’

‘
Seeol,’ El-i-miir
said with an expression lacking empathy. ‘You have to understand.
It’s different with you.’

‘
Why?’ Seeol croaked,
his heart racing.

‘
Well . . . we can’t
really be friends, can we?’ El-i-miir’s patient tone was forced.
‘You’re . . . just a bird.’

‘
How dare you?’ Ieane
stood up and slammed her hands against the table.

‘
Oh, come on.’
El-i-miir rolled her eyes at the girl. ‘It’s not like he’s got real
feelings. It’s mostly just mimicry.’

Seeol stared at El-i-miir and then
Seteal and then back again. He looked over at Fes and Briel, both
of whom seemed impartial to what had taken place. He couldn’t find
the words to say. He was frozen. To them, no matter what he did or
said, Seeol would always be less than human.

‘
My Lord is truly
merciful to not have smote these blasphemers on the spot,’ Ieane’s
voice shook with emotion, ‘but I won’t sit here and listen to such
heresy.’

‘
Little girl,’ Seteal
raised her eyebrows. ‘Seeol isn’t your Holy Sprit. He’s just a
whisp-mutated elf owl.’

‘
I am the Spirit!’
Seeol shrieked furiously. Seteal had abandoned him. She’d left him
for dead and now she wanted to destroy his new home, too. It wasn’t
enough to shatter their friendship. She needed to see him
miserable. ‘These are my people now!’

‘
Your people?’
El-i-miir said in bewilderment. ‘What you’re doing here is just
plain wrong. You’ve manipulated these people into following you.
They think that you’re Maker, for Maker’s sake.’

‘
I am Maker’s
spririt!’ Seeol shouted bitterly. ‘And I does doing done prove it!’
He leapt from the table and flew across the room to land
aggressively atop his bookshelf. There he grabbed the Devil’s Stone
and peered into El-i-miir’s eyes, eyes filled with derision. As
long as he was an owl, she would never see him as anything
but.

Darkness sprung from the stone as Seeol
visualised the humans below him. He would make her see him as an
equal. He would make her see him as a man.

*

A book fell from the shelf and hit the
ground with a thud as Seeol scratched about on top.

‘
What are you doing?’
Seteal sighed impatiently. ‘Come back down and we’ll
talk.’

‘
No,’ Seeol snapped,
his voice unusually deep.

Having become the size of a small
chicken, Seeol tumbled backward, a ball of feathers whose wings
were unable to keep him aloft.

‘
Seteal!’ Fes cried.
‘He be changin’!’ She leapt away from the table.

‘
It’s impossible,’
Seteal gasped. ‘I stopped that.’

Seeol screamed. The sound was a
twist between that of an animal and a human. The room filled with
alarmed guards who could do nothing but watch in horror as Seeol’s
face rippled in agony, his facial muscles becoming increasingly
able to show such an expression. His wings cracked forward and
human fingers sprouted from the ends. Seteal yelped and pushed
herself back against the wall as Seeol’s beak melted into lips and
a nose dug its way out of his face. As his proportions increased,
Seeol’s feathers re-sheathed and sank back into his body. Rich
brown hair sprouted from his scalp and a moment later Seteal found
herself staring at a young man curled up naked on the
floor.

‘
Seeol?’

‘
It’s a miracle!’
Ieane clapped her hands together. ‘If you cannot see the truth now,
you must be as blind to the light as the Devil himself.’

‘
Seeol,’ Briel said
quietly. ‘What’ve ye done?’

‘
Issssh.’ Seeol
rolled over, to reveal a young and unexpectedly handsome face. The
only feature remaining of his previous self was the colour in his
bright golden eyes. ‘Sprisssst.’ He tried to speak but couldn’t
figure out how to work his lips and tongue to do so. He tried to
snatch at his face with his toes whilst beating his arms against
the floorboards.

‘
Someone had better
be gettin’ some clothes on him.’ Fes turned away. ‘It nah be
decent.’

‘
I’ll arrange some
immediately.’ Ieane raced out of the room.

‘
Some privacy,
ladies.’ Briel inclined his head toward Seeol. Seteal and El-i-miir
joined Fes in looking away until Ieane returned.

‘
I’ll be puttin’ some
clothes on ye now, son,’ Briel said, for the benefit of the guards
as much as the young man. In response, Seeol howled so fearfully
that Seteal felt compelled to turn around.

Briel wrestled with Seeol’s arm in an
attempt to get it into a sleeve, but the boy kept shrieking and
pulling his hand away.

‘
He doesn’t like
people touching his wings,’ Seteal said, approaching slowly and
kneeling beside him. ‘If you’re going to be human, you have to wear
clothes. Do you understand?’ she asked, making sure to keep her
eyes locked firmly on his.

‘
Yessh.’ Seeol bobbed
his head, which looked rather odd for a human.

‘
I know it’s scary,’
Seteal soothed, ‘but you have to trust me.’ She touched Seeol’s
hand, her eyes running over his soft, warm skin. He pulled weakly,
but Seteal tightened her grip. ‘I won’t hurt you.’ She slid the
sleeve over his arm, before proceeding with the other. ‘Briel will
help you with your pants, okay? You have to let him.’

Seeol bobbed his head, but struggled
against Briel nevertheless. Seteal took his hand and averted her
eyes as Briel put the pants on. ‘Shoes?’ Briel asked.

‘
I think that’s
enough for now.’ Seteal bit her lip. ‘We’ll get him used to this
first.’

Seeol twitched his head to the side and
started pulling at the shirt with his teeth. He stood up, but
immediately fell over without even using his hands to soften the
blow, instead just flapping them out to the side. The bird-man
moaned in pain and waved his arms up and down to no avail.

‘
Hept.’ The young
man’s face showed an expression of horror.

‘
Try to use this,’
El-i-miir said as she approached. She pointed at her tongue. ‘You
have to learn to form words in a different way. Use your
tongue.’

‘
Isss sad,’ Seeol
finally managed after several minutes of trying. He rose to his
feet, gripping the wall for support. There Seeol stood before
Seteal and the others, a broad-shouldered and decidedly handsome
young man. His face was youthful, giving Seteal the impression of a
boy no older than the age of seventeen.

‘
Yoooush shee? Ish am
the Holllsy Spirrit!’

Dan-i-el 7

7. After this I saw in the night
visions, and behold, a mighty beast, dreadful and terrible, and
strong exceedingly: and it had a great iron beak. It devoured, and
broke into pieces, and stamped the residue with the feet of it: and
it was diverse from all the beasts to exist before it, and it had
two great wings.

8. I considered the wings, and behold,
they disappeared, becoming little wings. And behold, the beast
became a little beast with golden eyes and a beak that spoke
blasphemous things.

9. I considered the blasphemous things,
and behold there was a man of exquisite beauty beholding the
Sa’Tanic eyes of his soul.

Scriptures of the Holy Tome

CHAPTER
Twelve

Sa’Tanist

Ilgrin flared his wings and swooped low
through the trees decorating the mountains in the southernmost
parts of Kilk. The sun would soon be rising and he couldn’t risk
being seen. If that hadn’t been reason enough, he was also
exhausted. Ilgrin had long since lost count of the days since his
departure from El-i-miir in the woods.

Leaving the women alone had been
a dangerous choice. He felt bad for that, but hadn’t exactly been
thinking clearly at the time. Besides, he’d witnessed Seteal
single-handedly kill upward of six silts without lifting a finger.
Along with El-i-miir’s powers of affiliation, Ilgrin was certain
they’d be able to take care of themselves. Flaring his wings and
thrusting forward his feet, Ilgrin slowed to land on a solid
branch. It was difficult sleeping so exposed in broad daylight, but
he really didn’t have much of a choice. Anyway, he doubted people
would find him this far up in the mountains.

As the sun began to rise and
Ilgrin felt his eyelids growing heavy, he was struck by a sense of
awe as he gazed out toward the south. There, in the distant sky,
radiated a darkness that no amount of daylight could cure. The
mountaintops plunged into pitch-black clouds that stretched
endlessly into the distant horizon. The clouds were unlike any
Ilgrin had seen in New World. They squirmed about each other as
though a violent wind pushed each on a private path its own.
Occasionally, purple streaks of lightning hit the earth or filled
the clouds, but instead of vanishing a moment later, they lingered,
squirming and whipping about before disappearing.