Fire Study - Study 03 s-4

by Мария Снайдер

  Gede relaxed and chuckled with Roze. “She will twist your words. You should kill her now.”

  Roze drew a breath.

  “Wait for the ritual! I have something you want,” I said.

  “What could you have that I can not take from you?”

  “According to the ritual, a willing victim releases more power than a resisting one.”

  “And you will submit to me in exchange for what?”

  “For all my friends’ lives.”

  “No. Only one. You choose.”

  “Moon Man, then.” I hoped the others managed to escape.

  She released her hold on me. I stood, but she pointed. “Lie in the sand,” she ordered.

  “Can I ask another question first?”

  “One.”

  “What happens to the Fire Warper after this ritual?”

  “Once you’re dead, our deal is complete. We have promised him your power and fed him in exchange for knowledge about the blood magic. He will then have enough power to rule the underworld.”

  A shout reached us and I felt a magical onslaught.

  Roze turned to the commotion and gestured to her Warpers. “Take care of them.” Unconcerned, she said to me, “You know they will not get close to us. My Warpers and I have enough power to stop them.”

  “Yes, I know.”

  “But I don’t think you believe it. Watch what I can do. This used to drain me of energy. Now it takes only a thought.” Her gaze went to Moon Man’s.

  His face paled and his body jerked once then stilled. The shine in his eyes dulled as his soul left his body.

  CHAPTER 33

  I DIVED OVER HIS PRONE form and inhaled his soul before crashing to the sand.

  Gede gasped. “He was for the ritual.”

  Roze laughed and said, “Don’t worry. She’ll now give me two sources of power when I cut her heart out.”

  “We made a deal, Roze. My cooperation for Moon Man.” I brushed the sand off my clothes.

  “And you won’t cooperate when I press a knife to Leif’s throat?” she asked. By the expression on my face, she knew I would. “You’re too soft, Soulfinder. You could have raised a soulless army. They would have been undefeatable. Magic doesn’t work on them. Only fire.”

  Another cry split the air, but this time from the opposite direction. A Vermin raced toward us.

  “Now what?” Roze asked him.

  “The Keep’s gates are under attack,” he said, panting.

  She glanced at the Warpers fighting with the Keep’s magicians. A vision of the battle formed in my mind. The ferocity of the combat dwindled. The confusing array of magical images was gone and Gale’s whirling dust devils had died. People fell to the ground after being hit with Curare-laced darts. Leif, Ari and Bain lay paralyzed. Janco fought a soldier, keeping the man between him and the blowpipes. His movements slowed as another Warper focused his magic on him.

  Roze’s Warpers had gained the upper hand; it was only a matter of time.

  “There is nobody left to rescue you,” Roze said.

  Her comments hit home when she called a few Warpers away from the battle to deal with the revolt at the gates.

  But there was one person I didn’t see and that gave me some hope. “Roze, you haven’t figured everything out.”

  She looked dubious. “What have I missed? Valek? Oh, I know he’s here. Magic might not affect him, but Curare will do the trick.”

  “No. The Fire Warper.”

  “What about him?”

  “You haven’t taken into account that he might have different plans than you.”

  “Don’t be ridiculous. Gede and I feed him. We give him his power. Who else would help him?”

  “I would.”

  I ran toward the fire. Roze’s yell sounded faint over the roar of the blaze. The heat encompassed me in a loving embrace. Burning pain transformed into pinpricks of pleasure. But this time the world didn’t settle into the smooth plain of black. Souls filled my world, writhing and crying with misery. The air stank of decay and infection.

  Help! Help! they cried.

  The Fire Warper ordered them to be quiet and pushed them away from me. “She is here for me,” he said. “She will not help you.”

  He studied me. “You have brought me a treat. No only a soul for the sky, but Moon Man’s bright power will increase my strength.”

  Moon Man stood next to me. He peered about the fire world with mild interest.

  “I’m sorry you’re here,” I said. “I didn’t plan for it to be you.”

  “Why not? I am your guide, Yelena. In life and in death. That never changes.”

  “But you said Gede was my new Story Weaver.”

  “You were looking for an easy road. Which Gede provided. You could have reclaimed me as your Story Weaver at any time.”

  “How?”

  “You just needed to ask. Or rather begged for my return—much better for my ego.”

  The Fire Warper stepped between us. “How sweet. Now take me to the sky,” he demanded.

  “No,” I said.

  “You cannot refuse me. We made a deal.”

  “I promised to come back. I didn’t promise to take you into the sky.”

  “Then you and Moon Man will stay here in misery and I will use your power to reach the sky.” He advanced and grabbed my arms.

  My skin boiled as searing daggers of pain spread throughout my body. I screamed, but he didn’t have the ability to take what he wanted. I had to give it to him.

  He tried another tactic. Waving with an arm, a window opened and I could see Roze and her Warpers. Leif, Bain, Ari, Janco, Gale, Cahil and Marrok all were staked in the sand.

  “They lost. There are a few more left, but when they are captured, the fun begins. However, if you lead me to the sky, I will stop Roze and release all your friends and family.”

  I looked at Moon Man.

  “If you do not help the Fire Warper,” Moon Man said, “we are stuck here and Roze will send each of them to suffer in this world with us.”

  This was the one scenario I had hoped to avoid. “Are you saying that’s what I should do?”

  “No. I am merely pointing out the consequences.”

  “Then what should I do?”

  “Your decision to make. You are the Soulfinder. Find your soul.”

  I wanted to strangle him, but he was already dead. “Do you think you could give me a straight answer one time?” I demanded.

  “Yes, I could.”

  I gazed out as frustration and futility twisted tightly around me. Sensing I was conflicted, the Fire Warper let the souls draw near to me so I could see the fate of my friends. Their cries grew shrill in my ears and the heat baked my skin, making it difficult to concentrate. The fetid odor assaulted my senses.

  “Watch,” he said, and pointed to the scene beyond the fire. “Roze has ensnared Irys in a cocoon of magic. She will force her to lie upon the sand and be tied down.”

  Sure enough Irys walked toward Roze. She knelt before her. Irys’s eyes glanced to the side before the other Warpers secured her in the sand. I followed her gaze and spotted Valek.

  He fought four Warpers with swords, but I knew they threw every ounce of magic at him. And by Roze’s intent gaze, she aimed all her power against him. Even though the magic didn’t work, he still felt the presence and it slowed his movements. A soldier waited nearby with a blowpipe, seeking the first opportunity to hit Valek with a dart.

  “And Valek will be next,” the Fire Warper said. “What do you want to do? Watch your friends and lover die or guide me to the sky?”

  I held out my hand to Moon Man and to the Fire Warper. “Come,” I said.

  CHAPTER 34

  A TRIUMPHANT GRIN SPREAD on the Fire Warper’s face. Moon Man remained unflappable. He held my hand. Even though it appeared to be made of smoke, his hand felt solid in mine. Moon Man looked at me. The oval shape of his eyes matched Roze’s. Why hadn’t I noticed the resemblance before?

 
; Roze’s comments replayed in my mind. Could I reanimate Moon Man’s body after I took him to the sky? According to Roze, soulless bodies were unaffected by magic. Could I create a small force to help Irys and Valek?

  My bat flew around my head. Odd. How could he be here?

  Moon Man sighed. I missed the point. It didn’t matter how the bat had gotten here, but why was he here at all. Bats. Opal’s glass bat. I reached for my pocket, but the answer halted the motion. Opal’s sister. Tula!

  When Ferde had stolen Tula’s soul and strangled her, I had used my magic to breathe for Tula, but as soon as I had stopped, she had stopped.

  I didn’t possess the power to raise a soulless army.

  The magician born one-hundred-and-fifty years ago wasn’t a Soulfinder, but a Soulstealer.

  I was a true Soulfinder. And I knew what my job entailed. The Fire Warper grew impatient with my delay and reached for my free hand; I yanked it away. My bat cried out with joy and disappeared.

  I sought Roze with my mind, seeing her soul and the souls of all her victims trapped within her. Their blood had been injected into her skin to bind them to her. I pushed at the blood, sweeping and forcing it through her pores, pulling the souls free, sending them to the sky.

  She yelped and rolled up her sleeve. Black liquid oozed from her arms, dripping onto the sand. The putrid smell of rancid blood surrounded her like a fog. Each one I removed weakened Roze until only her own power remained.

  Then I projected my mind to Gede and did the same to him. One by one I plucked souls from the Warpers, weakening them.

  The Fire Warper cried an oath and lunged for me. Moon Man intercepted and fought him so I could return my attention to the Keep.

  Roze’s magical hold on Irys had slipped when I extracted her power. Freed from the magic, Irys used her own skills to draw a knife close to her and cut the rope. Once loose, she ran to a few others who had not been pricked with Curare but who, like her, had been captured by magic.

  Gale and Marrok joined her and they attacked Roze. Valek’s opponents had been distracted by the scene around them, giving Valek the opportunity to dispatch them. The man with the blowpipe ran off. Valek turned his full attention to Roze.

  Satisfied all was well with my friends, I focused on the Fire Warper. He held Moon Man in a tight grip, compressing Moon Man’s soul to bind him to the fire world.

  “Stop,” I said. “You’ll gain no more power today.” I pulled at Moon Man with my magic and he popped from the Fire Warper’s grasp. “I find souls and ensure they arrive at the proper destination. He doesn’t belong here. But you do.”

  I moved past him. He tried to stop me, but he was a soul just like all the others and I controlled him. Moving through the fire world, I found those who didn’t belong and released them to the sky. The Fire Warper screamed at me with each one, but I ignored him. A long time passed as I freed them all, but my energy increased with every rescue.

  “Why aren’t I tired?” I asked Moon Man.

  He smiled. “Think about what you have learned today.”

  I glanced around. The Fire Warper’s power had diminished with each freed soul. Perhaps stealing his power had increased my own?

  “No.” Moon Man looked a little exasperated, as if he couldn’t believe how slow I was. I did take some pleasure from his expression. To alter his calm demeanor required much effort on my part.

  The Fire Warper glowered at me. “It is only a matter of time before I regain my strength,” he said. “There is always someone who desires more power and I will be waiting for them.”

  “Not if I can help it,” I said.

  “Then you will have to spend eternity with me to prevent it. The knowledge is out there now. Another fool will figure out how to contact me through the flames.”

  He had a point. But I was the Soulfinder. In order to do my job, I would have to stay in the underworld and send the souls to their proper places. Thinking about my job, I remembered a promise to Moon Man.

  “Can you guide me to the shadow world?” I asked him.

  “No. But you can lead me.”

  “And you call yourself a guide?”

  He smiled serenely.

  “I hate you.” I clasped Moon Man’s hand.

  I thought of the shadow world with its gray plain and sky. The red glow faded and soon the featureless expanse spread in front of us.

  “This is only the corridor between worlds, Yelena. Look deeper to see the real shadow world.”

  Another cryptic instruction. For all my abilities, I still couldn’t get Moon Man to give me a straight answer. I pushed away my frustration and focused on who I was trying to find. The Sandseeds who had been killed by the Vermin in the Avibian Plains.

  The flat area began to undulate and transform into the plains. Small outcroppings of rocks grew and the smooth gray ground sprouted grass and a few bushes. A cluster of canvas tents popped up and circled a fire pit. The scene before me resembled a Sandseed camp. Yet there was no color. Only black and white and every shade of gray.

  Sandseeds huddled together in this camp on the altered Avibian Plain, living in the shadow cast by the real world. They clung to their memories of life, not realizing peace awaited them in the sky.

  I walked among them and talked to them. Their numbers grew and I had to stop myself from reliving the horror of the Vermin’s attack and massacre. I made promises to watch over the living Sandseeds who had hidden during the attack. Days and weeks could have passed while I convinced them to move on. I had no concept of time.

  Again, as I sent each one into the sky, my strength grew. “There are many more souls clinging to the shadow world,” I said to Moon Man, thinking about all the towns and cities in Sitia and Ixia. “Let me return you to your body and you can tell the others my fate.”

  “I can not return,” he said. “My body has died, unlike yours. And even if you heal me, I would be unhappy and would wish for death.”

  “Like Stono and Gelsi?”

  “Yes. Eventually both will find their way back to where they belong.”

  “Then I will send you to the sky. You deserve to be there.”

  “Not until you understand.”

  “I do understand. I’m doing my job. I’ve resigned myself to living here to keep Sitia and Ixia safe from more Warpers!” I clamped my hands together to keep them from wrapping around Mr. I-know-everything-and-you-don’t Man’s thick neck.

  “Have you truly resigned yourself?” he asked.

  “I…” I huffed in frustration. I would rather be back with Valek, Kiki, my parents, Leif, Irys, Ari, Janco and my other friends. I had learned my true job, but there were still many aspects of my magic and others’ magic to explore. I thought about Opal’s unique ability. Then I remembered my glass bat.

  Had it survived the fire? I felt inside my pockets. Odd how my clothing had survived the flames. My fingers touched a smooth lump. I pulled the animal from my cape. The inner core glowed with magic. Staring at the light, I saw Leif’s sad face. He peered at me in sorrow, then disbelief when I smiled at him.

  “Hello from the underworld,” I said.

  “Yelena! What the…? Where are…? Come back!”

  “I can’t. Tell me what has happened?”

  He gave me a quick sketch of how the battle had played out after I jumped into the fire. Most of the Warpers were dead, only Roze, Gede and four others remained alive. They were in the Keep’s cells, awaiting trial.

  “They will be hanged for treason and murder,” Leif said. He grew somber. “We buried Moon Man last week.”

  “Last week? But—”

  “You’ve been gone for weeks. We keep the fire burning, hoping you’ll return. Also Valek will not let us quench it. He’s been helping the Councilors and Master Magicians recover from their ordeal and to smooth out relations with the Commander via Ambassador Signe. Valek went from the scourge of Sitia to the hero of Sitia.” Leif smiled sardonically.

  Valek. The one person I wouldn’t mind spending ete
rnity with.

  Leif continued, “And the rest of us are coping with the aftermath. Many students were killed by the Vermin. We’re still sorting out who is left. Your friend Dax is okay, but Gelsi died resisting a Warper.”

  Moon Man was right, Gelsi found her way back. I hoped Stono wouldn’t suffer too much before his soul found the sky.

  He paused. “The Sitian army’s hunting down the remaining Vermin who escaped. The Sandseeds have moved back to the plains to repopulate.” Leif sighed. “You’re missed by everyone. Why can’t you come back?”

  “Someone needs to keep the Fire Warper from regaining power.”

  Leif frowned as he thought, then looked hopeful. “Bain has burned those old Efe texts to stop someone from learning about the blood magic.”

  “But there are others who know how to perform the ritual, and, even though you will execute them, they will be here in the fire world and able to communicate to someone who is determined to seek them out.”

  “You’re a Soulfinder, can’t you send them somewhere out of reach?” Leif asked.

  “They don’t deserve to be in the sky.”

  “Why not?” Moon Man said.

  My mind thought over what I knew of the sky, which was very little. “I think they would taint it. It’s pure and their vile deeds would soil it.”

  “Finally. What is the sky?”

  What indeed? When I sent souls there, I felt refreshed, energetic even though I used power, which usually caused me fatigue. I added souls to the sky. Adding to the power blanket surrounding the world.

  The source of magic!

  The world’s soul.

  Moon Man beamed at me. “Now you can send me there! And then you can return to your life.”

  He chuckled at my dubious expression. “You will find a way, Yelena. You always do.”

  “Last piece of cryptic advice?”

  “Consider it my farewell gift.”

  I hesitated for a moment. Once Moon Man was gone I would be all alone.