“I always thought you couldn’t kill something that’s already dead.” He kept his hands intertwined behind his head as he walked. “How come you were able to hurt it?”
She had asked herself this same thing since her failed attempt at opening the gateway. “I think it’s because their forms had to become more physical and less ethereal in order to kill. Otherwise, their swords would go through us as surely as ours would go through them.”
“You’re really convinced about this, aren’t you?” His smile didn’t falter, but it didn’t mock her. She was surprised to see genuine curiosity in his eyes.
“You will be too, when one holds its blade to your neck.”
She turned away and smiled when Ash pulled his collar higher over his neck. Curious he may have been, but he was also easily scared.
“And you think you can find something in Z’rasie that’ll help you stop them?”
She nodded and hoped she was right. “I do.” Her grandmother wouldn’t have sent her all this way if she wasn’t sure it was worth the journey. Her clan was close; they didn’t send a member away unless they were sure it was worth it.
Naavah Ora had never been away from them. She hoped they were all right.
Ellasan watch over them. Valynaan protect them.
She caught up with Doran. “Do you know which way we need to go?”
“It’s been a while since I’ve been to Z’rasie,” Doran said. Her hope sank. It would take a lot longer if they walked the wrong way for days, maybe even weeks. “But Ash here grew up in Onwwe, and there’s a saying that a Z’rasien can always find his way home, no matter where he is.”
Ash grinned at her. “I sure can. Follow me.”
Meviris grant me patience.
Ceallach an Eòlas.
Chapter 36
Levi
Ash was an odd man. He had taken the lead once they’d announced why they were heading to Z’rasie, but Levi doubted Ash believed it. Ash was sceptical. Their mission sounded impossible, but Levi had seen one of the spirits himself. He agreed with Naavah Ora—Ash wouldn’t be sceptical for long.
Levi was surprised when Naavah Ora had taken a spot at the rear. He was so used to seeing her at the front it was strange to think of her as submissive. She didn’t like Ash. Levi was curious about him—he was wanted by the authorities for selling illegal explosives and chemicals, had fled his own home only moments ago by blowing up his front door, and had singed his eyebrows in an attempt to pack as many vials as he could, yet he didn’t look like a man on the run. He was carefree, not bothered in the least that the city guard were either dead or looking for him. Levi didn’t think he’d be as calm as Ash if their situations had been reversed.
Ash had shown regret about the victims of his wares. Levi believed him when he said he hadn’t known that people would die, but that didn’t make Ash less of a gullible fool. Why had he sold his explosives to someone who wanted to do harm?
He couldn’t imagine how Ash and Doran knew each other. They talked like they were old friends, but just how much history did they have? Doran’s first question to Ash had been whether he was all right, and there it had been again, that constant guilt that possessed Doran. The guilt Doran himself hadn’t even been aware off. Levi doubted Ash had anything to do with it, but he still wanted to know. He had been open with Doran, but Doran himself hadn’t given up much personal information.
Ash walked a fair distance ahead, a little brown cat beside him. Behind Levi, Naavah Ora glared daggers into Ash’s back.
“How long have you known each other?” Levi asked Doran.
“Ash? A few years, but it’s been a while since we’ve last seen each other. He kicked me out of a jewellery store when we first met.”
Levi struggled to imagine Doran with earrings. “Why were you in a jewellery store?”
Doran shrugged. “It was my first time in Z’rasie and didn’t understand their laws very well. The locks there are different to the ones in Ceidir. I took too long over one of their safes.”
“You were robbing them?”
“No. I mean, not completely. I hadn’t eaten in a week and I didn’t have enough left for a room or a bath. I was in bad shape, but I figured a jeweller wouldn’t miss a couple of gems. The owner found me prying open his safe. Ash worked for them at the time, as security.” Doran laughed. “He picked me up and threw me into the street.
“Later that evening, I was looking for leftovers people had thrown out. Restaurants and inns are great for that, and one of the cooks took pity on me. I didn’t even have to ask, she just gave me some hot soup and a bit of bread. Ash found me sitting behind the inn, eating my soup. He recognised me and sat with me.”
“What did he say?”
“He asked me where I was from because I didn’t look like one of the locals. I hadn’t been travelling for long, my skin was still pale. I stood out. He wanted to know what it was like, travelling from one place to another without knowing where your next meal was going to come from, or where you’d sleep that night.”
“He wanted to travel?”
Now that he thought about it, Levi couldn’t imagine Ash settling down in a permanent home anywhere. Even in the short amount of time he’d known Ash, he hadn’t struck Levi as someone who could sit still for long.
“Always had done, but he’s not an idiot.” Doran grinned. “Not usually, anyway. He knew the road could be dangerous, and he never took to the sword or daggers like you have. He knew he’d get killed if he left on his own, but he’s suspicious of strangers too. He’d never have followed that one bandit like I did. Of course, things have changed since then. He could do with a little more suspicion.”
“But he followed you?” Doran raised his eyebrows, and Levi blushed. “I mean, you said yourself that you weren’t in good shape when you met.”
“We didn’t leave right away. He asked me if I wanted to stay the night at his place, and offered me a bed. I hadn’t slept in a real bed for weeks, so I said yes.”
“Were you…?” The thought did odd things to his stomach.
Doran laughed. “Ancients, no! Ash isn’t interested in men. He’s made that very clear on several occasions.”
“So you have tried to…” Levi didn’t know how to ask. He had no experience himself and wasn’t as open as Doran. He couldn’t just ask. Could he? He wasn’t trained in social situations. He didn’t know what the limit was, he only knew that it shouldn’t have bothered him.
“With Ash? No. Never. I know where I’m not wanted, Ginger, but I was never interested in Ash that way, anyway. Idiot panicked over nothing.”
Doran made smiling easy. “Why did he panic?”
“I mentioned he’s suspicious of people? He showed me where I could sleep, and told me in the same breath that his door was locked with these special traps he’d made. Only he could get in without blowing an arm off. I was so tired it didn’t occur to me to ask him about it until the morning.”
“He’d turned his door into a trap?”
Doran chuckled. “The whole house, actually, but I didn’t see it until I woke up the next day. We talked about travelling, what dangers I’d run into, and he had that faraway look in his eyes, saying he wanted to come with me but he didn’t know how to defend himself. So, I pointed out the traps. He didn’t think they were a big deal, just something he’d been playing with.”