There were too many unknowns. Ash wasn’t comfortable moving forward, but he’d promised Doran that he’d get back to them as soon as he was done here. He had seen the angry spirit army that was after them—his friends could use another hand. But if he rushed into this and made a mistake at the wrong time, there wouldn’t be enough left of him to be of any use to Doran.
Ash weighed his options. He could leave Vaska and go to Vasael’In to help Naavah Ora on her impossible quest, but Kult would live. Or he could take a few days longer to make sure Kult was as oblivious as he appeared to be, but might then be too late catching up with the others.
He hurried back to Kult’s mansion. If he looked through the windows from the right angles, he’d be able to see if there were any more guards inside. Kult wouldn’t be back home for a couple of hours yet, and Ash wouldn’t need that long. Place the trap, set it off, and get out again—simplicity itself. It would detonate hours later, long after Ash had left the city. Long after anyone could implicate him.
Ash searched the house as best as he could. It appeared quiet inside.
Kult’s wife was sitting in their library on the ground floor. His young daughter was playing on her own in her room.
“Mengha!” That complicated things. He wouldn’t stoop as low as Kult had done. He wouldn’t kill the whole family just to get revenge on one man.
Good thing he’d made a backup plan.
Over the last two weeks, Lady Kult had visited friends with the child five times. Ash had hoped that tonight would be one of those occasions, but she didn’t look like she was about to move. He was prepared for that possibility, but had hoped not to have to use it. His backup plan was more personal and involved a knife to Kult’s throat. If he screamed for help before Ash could kill him, it would make his escape more difficult.
He had no other choice now. He wouldn’t kill the family. Lady Kult and his daughter were better off without him anyway.
Ash checked again that he had everything he needed, and slipped inside through an open window on the top floor.
With what little power I had left, I sealed my soul away. I knew it would take me centuries to recover and find a soul strong enough to hold mine, but I could use those years to plot my revenge and his ultimate end.
Determination and love are powerful motivators, if you can find something that deserves both.
Chapter 56
Naavah Ora
Naavah Ora had done everything she could to make them safe. She’d cast every protection spell she knew. Opening the portal would take a considerable amount of energy, but she wasn’t willing to take chances. The protection spells were necessary; she couldn’t risk anything following her on the way out.
“Be ready,” she said.
“We are.” Levi held his knives ready in his hands.
“Make it quick.” Doran looked around the forest as if there were spirits watching them from the underbrush.
A little paranoid, perhaps, but at least they were alert.
Naavah Ora focused, and the familiar touch of the mists swirled up around her legs in no time. She smiled; she was getting better at this.
She called it forth to her wrists and sent it out into the clearing. Slowly, carefully, she built the gateway before her.
She didn’t dare reach out lest her touch shatter it.
“Valynaan protect me. Ellasan keep me. Ithrean guide me.”
She hoped Ithrean still heard her.
Naavah Ora stepped forward and walked into Dunhă. She smiled wide when the familiar landscape appeared all around her. The light-purple sky, the city in the far distance, the grass… the beautiful red grass. How she’d missed it.
Her excitement was short-lived. The corruption was everywhere. Even the grass turned dark and wilted closer to the city. Was this what would befall the entire realm if they lost? She shuddered.
“Ithrean, where are you?” She couldn’t believe her gods were dead, yet the sight before her left little room for doubt. But this was Ithrean’s home. If there was anywhere to hide, the protector of the dead would know about it. Until Ithrean could come out and fight herself, Naavah Ora would do it for her.
Naavah Ora frowned. She couldn’t move. Her feet were rooted to the spot; the only way she could go was the portal. She’d never felt so unsettled.
There were no spirits around that she could see, at least, and she wasn’t here to explore. She’d come to see how much time they had left, and from what she’d seen it wasn’t much.
She’d worry about why she couldn’t move another time.
Naavah Ora stepped back out, and the portal collapsed behind her.
“What did you see?” Doran asked.
“What I feared. The corruption has all but consumed Dunhă. It’s spreading faster than I hoped.”
“How long do we have?” Levi asked.
“I can’t be sure. Not long. We need to hurry.”
“And the spirits?” Doran searched the clearing and looked no more reassured for not finding any.
“I don’t know.” She didn’t like that she hadn’t seen one. The spirit realm had always been bustling with activity in a calm, peaceful way. The perfect silence that had swept over Dunhă made the corruption feel all the more wrong.
Naavah Ora had only one fear left now. She hoped this, at least, hadn’t come to pass.
“The corruption is like a sickness. It infects everything.” Even the grass. Its beautiful red had been the first thing she’d noticed when she stepped through by accident as a child. It was one of her favourite things about Dunhă. That even the grass was dying felt like a personal blow against her.
“I’ll stand first guard,” Levi said. “Get some sleep.”
She hadn’t realised how tired she was. Placing every protective spell she knew and opening the gateway had taken too much from her. She needed to improve, fast, or she wouldn’t be able to keep it up once Ceallach made his move against them.
The uncomfortable feeling that, if the spirits had wanted to attack tonight, her efforts wouldn’t have been enough settled in the pit of her stomach and twisted her insides with every breath. Ithrean must have protected Dunhă with spells far superior to her own, and it was dying regardless. What could she do that her god couldn’t? Why hadn’t the spirits attacked? She hadn’t felt watched like the last time she’d stepped through. The spirit realm had been deserted.
If they aren’t in Dunhă, where are they? The thought left a burning imprint on her soul.
She hoped they weren’t too late; although, given what she’d seen, her final prayer was dying unanswered along with the rest of Ithrean’s home.
If you know someone is going to destroy you and everyone you love, destroy him first. Don’t hesitate. I learned that lesson too late. I hope you never have to.
Chapter 57
Levi
Levi didn’t sleep easy that night. He’d stood watch for only two hours before Doran relieved him, but what Naavah Ora had seen still disturbed him. No spirits had attacked. By the time they’d packed their things and left camp in the morning, there still hadn’t been any sign that spirits had followed Naavah Ora. He was grateful they didn’t have to fight, but he was weary. Naavah Ora had felt watched before when she’d entered Dunhă, and it was clear that the Dread King wanted the Suf’afir dead. Why hadn’t he taken his chance when Naavah Ora had stepped through the mists? Doran and Levi couldn’t follow her there. She would have been alone. Easy prey.