The Inner Circle: Holy Spirit (38 page)

Ilgrin ached for the pleasure of being
touched in such a way, but he kept his eyes squeezed shut for fear
of catching a glimpse of his lover. The angel was one of the most
beautiful creatures Ilgrin had ever laid eyes upon, but she was not
El-i-miir. He grunted as he pushed into her. El-i-miir’s beautiful
blue Elglair eyes filled his mind. Her supple lips touched his. He
buried his face into her neck. She released a gasp of climactic
pleasure, and a moment later so did he.

CHAPTER
Twenty-Nine

The GaTHERING wINDS

Jakob kicked his horse to a
gallop, having chosen to give Kintor a wide berth. He didn’t want
to risk running into Ilgrin. After all, he’d been ordered to remain
in Hel and assist the mothers and children. Such orders were an
insult after everything Jakob had done for that silt. Just
becau
se he was human, didn’t make him
useless. Jakob knew what was coming and had family in Beldin who he
still felt somewhat responsible for.

Ilgrin had lost his mind,
originally only wishing to defend against the Elglair and then
choosing to attack the Elglair. Now he wanted to take over the
entirety of New World. And Jakob had little doubt that he could
accomplish it with a legion so powerful as Hel. Oh, he’d said all
the right things. He’d nodded and agreed. It was in a Sa’Tanist’s
best interest to agree with their Devil at all times. Jakob was all
about self-preservation, but Ilgrin had gone too far. Never had
there been a Devil before him willing to wage war on the entire
human race.

Something struck Jakob’s chest with
enough force to knock the wind out of him. His horse continued
galloping, but Jakob hovered in mid-air, the front of his shirt
clutched in a huge grey fist. Noah’s foul breath blew across his
face as the mutant demon lowered his horned head.

‘
What a surprise,’
his deep voice rumbled. ‘You’ll do nicely for supper.’

‘
Noah,’ Jakob choked.
‘No!’ Noah opened his mouth to reveal razor sharp teeth that he
lowered toward Jakob’s throat. ‘I’ll do anything. I can get you
Ilgrin,’ he pleaded.

‘
I don’t want
Ilgrin,’ Noah rumbled as he pulled away, his face lighting up with
an idea. ‘I want his girlfriend.’

‘
What?’

‘
There is an Elglair
affiliate farther along this road,’ Noah said. ‘I want
her.’

‘
How am I supposed to
capture an affiliate?’ Jakob recoiled at the impossibility of his
task.

‘
I’d suggest you
start by gaining her trust,’ Noah replied chillingly. ‘Just make
sure to have her at the southern gates of Belos when Ilgrin’s
legion attacks the city. I’ll be watching you. I know exactly how
slippery a Sa’Tanist you can be, but don’t dare make the mistake of
trying to escape me. It would cost you very dearly.’

‘
As you wish, Noah.’
Jakob swallowed nervously as the giant beast lowered him to the
ground.

‘
Noah is dead,’ the
beast replied. ‘My name is Sa’Tan.’

*

‘
My ladies,’ a young
man’s voice called out from behind. Suspicious of just about
everything, Seteal turned to eye off the blond, curly-haired man.
‘I see you’re in need of a mount,’ he said confidently.

‘
Who are you?’ Seteal
narrowed her eyes as she removed Parrowun from her breast and wiped
his chin.

‘
I’ve escaped the
city. Much like yourselves.’ The young man smiled broadly. ‘As you
can see, I have a spare horse. These animals are all I have so when
I fled I took them with me, but I only need the one.’

‘
You’re lying,’
El-i-miir said softly. ‘You weren’t even in the city.’

‘
Quite right.’ The
man laughed nervously. ‘You must be a very powerful
gil.’

‘
Actually no.’
El-i-miir narrowed her eyes. ‘I never graduated.’

‘
I certainly wasn’t
in the city.’ Jakob smiled reassuringly. ‘I skirted past it. Having
seen what was coming, I had no desire to get involved.’

El-i-miir nodded, satisfied by his
adjusted answer. ‘And you’ve decided to offer us your horses out of
the goodness of your heart?’

‘
Well, no.’ The man
frowned. ‘Have you ever tried riding one horse while guiding
another? It’s rather slow going. If you could ride my spare animal
I’m sure we’d both benefit.’

‘
I’m Seteal.’ She
finally smiled, approaching to shake the man’s hand.

‘
Jakob.’ The young
man nodded back. ‘If the young lady wouldn’t mind, she could share
my mount . . .’ He nodded toward Ieane who blushed and proceeded to
introduce herself. El-i-miir climbed reluctantly onto the spare
horse in front of Seteal. ‘So where are you heading?’ Jakob asked,
encouraging his horse to a trot.

‘
Gor Na--’ Ieane
began, only to be cut off by El-i-miir.

‘
Belos for now,’ she
intervened.

‘
It’s a terrible
affair, this Old World invasion, isn’t it?’ Jakob said in a clear
attempt at small talk.

‘
Perhaps more so for
us than for you,’ El-i-miir sneered.

‘
El-i-miir!’ Seteal
reprimanded. Clearly the woman had developed a dislike for the poor
man, or maybe she was just upset about Briel.

‘
No, no.’ Jakob shook
his head. ‘Your friend is right. I’d imagine that the Devil has a
special vendetta against the Elglair. I’ve heard that your people
had some involvement with angel possession.’

‘
You sure know a lot
for a commoner,’ El-i-miir said suspiciously.

‘
Well, you know how
it is.’ Jakob shrugged. ‘Idle pub talk spreads like
fire.’

‘
I don’t think you
even drink,’ El-i-miir mused.

‘
You are very good.’
Jakob clapped his hands together.

‘
She can detect any
lie,’ Ieane piped in.

‘
That’s enough out of
you, thanks, Ieane,’ El-i-miir snapped abrasively. There was a
short silence thereafter, before El-i-miir once again turned to
Jakob. ‘You look familiar to me. Have we met?’

‘
I imagine an Elglair
as powerful as yourself feels that she’s met most people before
actually doing so,’ the man said slowly and with a sense of caution
that made Seteal feel nervous.

‘
Actually, no,’
El-i-miir pursed her lips, but didn’t pursue the conversation any
further. ‘Oh, Maker,’ she gasped before ducking her head
forward.

‘
Are you okay?’
Seteal asked. Parrowun squirmed uneasily in his sling.

‘
Yes, I . . .’
El-i-miir sneezed into her hand, which remained obscured from
Seteal’s vision. Parrowun’s face flushed red and it crinkled up. He
started to cry. ‘I’m sure it’s just a nose bleed,’ El-i-miir said
softly as Seteal attempted to comfort her son. She caught a glimpse
of El-i-miir’s hand and saw that it was spattered with
blood.

‘
El-i-miir,’ Ieane’s
face filled with fear when a droplet of blood fell from her nose as
well.

‘
What in Maker’s name
is going on?’ Jakob spat onto the road and Seteal noted his saliva
to be tinted red.

‘
Stop the horse!’
Seteal cried.

‘
I don’t understand.’
El-i-miir sneezed again, spraying the horse’s main.

‘
Stop the
Maker-forsaken horse!’ Seteal shouted as she threw her leg over the
side of the animal and toppled to the ground.

‘
What are you
doing!?’ Ieane squeaked.

‘
Just get away from
me!’ Seteal cried over her shoulder as she raced into the woods
beside the road.

‘
Seteal!’ El-i-miir
shouted after her but didn’t follow. Her voice faded into the
distance as Seteal ran through the undergrowth, Parrowun wailing in
her arms.

‘
Shh.’ Seteal stroked
his head. ‘Mommy’s here. Mommy loves you.’ She rocked the child
back and forth, kissing him on the forehead and clutching him
tight. ‘It’s okay, baby. I’ve got you,’ she whispered as slowly
Parrowun regained his calm, dark eyes gazing up at her adoringly.
Something snapped in the middle-distance and Seteal squinted
against the harsh sunlight through the trees. She took a step back
toward the road, satisfied that Parrowun would behave.

The loud snapping sound, similar to
that of branches breaking caught Seteal’s attention a second time.
She turned around and squinted again through the trees. There was
something. She lifted a hand against the penetrating sun to catch a
glimpse of what seemed like a bulky, grey animal. Certain that her
mind was playing tricks, Seteal cast her eyes over the strange
shape until she reached the top. It was then that she saw it had an
eye and realised that it appeared to be focused her.

Despite the thundering of her heart,
Seteal was determined not to disturb Parrowun. She turned as calmly
as she dared and hurried back to the road. The grey thing didn’t
follow and by the time she reached the others, she realised it was
probably just her mind and the sun playing tricks on her after
all.

‘
What was that all
about?’ El-i-miir frowned. ‘You didn’t think we’d caught what Fes
had, did you?’

‘
Let’s just go,’
Seteal muttered, relieved to see that her friends and Jakob were
now free of the bloody discharge. With a hand from El-i-miir, she
leapt back onto the horse and they continued on their
way.

‘
What if we’d been
dying,’ El-i-miir murmured. ‘You’d just run away? Honestly, Seteal,
the better I get to know you, the more peculiar you
become.’

Ignoring El-i-miir’s comment,
Seteal cast a glance back into woods where once again, if only for
a second, she thought she glimpsed the grey beast as it moved
parallel to them. But she was just imagining things. Seteal often
saw Master Fasil right before her eyes. It didn’t mean he was
really there.

She looked into Parrowun’s big eyes and
was surprised to find him smiling up at her. His tiny arm wriggled
out of the blanket and he curled his tight little fingers around
Seteal’s thumb. Her heart melted at the sight. He was so tiny and
yet already so strong. The grey beast vanished from Seteal’s mind
as she stared at her son with a heart full of pride.

*

Far-a-mael watched his new hadoan of
thousands gathering in the plains above Esp. He smiled, but
immediately regretted the decision as his lip tore open and some
black gunk spilt onto his gown. He tried to wipe it away, but his
hand only added a smear of puss to the garment. Grumbling
disparagingly, Far-a-mael turned his attention back to the hadoan.
Vague glimmers of light momentarily flickered into existence before
his eyes as the Ways churned about their eternal dance. All too
soon, the weaving vanished and Far-a-mael was left as blind as any
ordinary human.

‘
It’s time to get
these men marching.’ Far-a-mael turned, only to find his new
sy’hadoan had vanished. The boy had a weak stomach and seemed
almost always on the verge of throwing up in the presence of his
War Elder.

‘
Do I have to do
everything myself?’ Far-a-mael shook his head and kicked his horse
down the hill. He didn’t dare try affiliation, not in his present
state. Far-a-mael had lasted a great deal longer than he’d
expected, but didn’t imagine his luck was going to hold out. His
dream was to return to Old World and see Hel in the hands of the
Elglair, but he was determined to at least make it so far as Beldin
where he could recruit more New World soldiers to the
cause.

‘
Das-nil!’ Far-a-mael
shouted when he spotted the sy’hadoan. ‘Sound the marching
trumpet.’

‘
Yes, War Elder
Far-a-mael.’ The boy turned and scurried away as quickly as he
dared. Moments later the trumpet blew and a sea of horses and their
riders surged forward.

‘
Onward to Beldin,’
Far-a-mael said tiredly.

CHAPTER
tHIRTY

dISRUPTION

El-i-miir wandered through her
frozen dream. Great and unusual ice structures rose up around her,
making her feel impossibly small among them. Before her was a blue
glass flower. It had been trodden on by a thousand feet. Its stem
had
snapped and its petals had shattered.
‘He’s coming,’ hissed the wind. Bathed in the shadow of immense
structures, El-i-miir picked up the sharp remains of the glass
flower. She put it close to her nose, but the ordinarily pleasant
scent had become a bitter odour.

‘
Wake up. He’s
coming,’ mourned the Ways.

A tear slid down El-i-miir’s
cheek as the musty smell of reality entered her nostrils. She
ignored the pull, preferring to remain in this sad representation
of the Frozen Lands. It was still home . . . after a fashion. ‘Get
up. Run,’ the words screamed in her mind. The sun began to rise in
the east and the tops of the tallest sculptures started melting.
El-i-miir realised she had nothing on her feet when cold water
began to trickle up between her toes.