Sarina recoiled in obvious surprise. “This is different.”
“I don’t see how. If anything, this is more direct than skulking about alleyways chipping away at the Crell one patrol at a time.”
“I just don’t understand what the Alliance has done to earn your loyalty,” Tam put in. “They would shove you, me, Krystia, and Elade inside a cage if they could. Why do you give a damn what happens to them?”
“They’re still better than the alternative,” Jason muttered. “At least the Solarians can be reasoned with.”
Tam scoffed and paced away. “I don’t know how many times you’ve told me to take things more seriously, and here you are willing to put your life in danger for a ridiculously dubious cause. I don’t get it.”
“Then stay here if you want,” Jason told him. “Or go to Solipei and buy yourself that castle, I don’t care. But I have to do this, with or without you.”
With a deep sigh, Tam turned back around and shook his head. “You know, I think that’s what pisses me off the most. You know damn well I’m going with you no matter what you do.”
“What?” Sarina stammered. “You’re actually going with him?”
“First, I’m going to yell at him for a while longer,” Tam said. “And when he doesn’t give in, then yes I’m going with him. Isn’t that how this always works?”
She lifted herself from the wall and glared at all of them. “What the hell is wrong with you people?”
“We’re idiots,” Tam said. “But we’re a team of idiots.”
Sarina turned to Jason. “You’re just using them. A month ago you wouldn’t do something this stupid, but you’ve changed. This…this spirit has messed with your head.”
Jason sighed. “Sarina—”
“No,” she cut him off. “You know what? I was wrong—you haven’t changed a bit. You’re still dragging these people around on your own little quests, not giving a damn about what they want or think or need.”
“That’s…a bit harsher than I would have put it,” Tam murmured.
“You don’t have to go, either,” Jason said flatly as he finally locked his eyes with hers. “In fact, maybe it is for the best if you just stay here or go back home to Asgardia. At least then we won’t have to listen to you bitch and moan about everything.”
Sarina’s jaw clenched beneath her cheeks, and for an instant Jason wondered if she might throw something at him. But instead she turned and retrieved her backpack, then strode directly for the door.
“Wait a second,” Tam said, holding out his hands. “There’s no need to be hasty here. Why don’t we all just take a deep breath and settle this like adults for once.”
“It was settled years ago,” Sarina said. “Good luck playing hero. I’m sure your father would be proud.”
The door slammed shut behind her, and Jason stared blankly at the stained wood. Two years ago, she had stormed away in a similar huff, and he hadn’t gone after her. It had only taken him a few hours to regret it. But back then he had been in the wrong; he had done and said some stupid things. He had dragged them numerous empty dig sites deep within Crell territory, and he had nearly gotten them all killed more than once.
But this time, things were different. He didn’t understand why she was so angry all the time. As a people, Asgardians tended to wear their emotions right on their sleeves, and Sarina was no different. It was one of the things he liked about her so much—she always found a way to cut through the bullshit. But this time she was just angry for no reason, and Jason didn’t feel like coddling her anymore. If she wanted to come back, that was her choice. If not…well, he wouldn’t lose any sleep over it.
“You probably want to go after her,” Tam said after a moment. “She can run pretty fast, you know.”
“Good for her,” Jason muttered. “We’re packing up. We’ll hit the road as soon as everyone is ready.”
“Sarina is right, you know,” Selvhara whispered.
He whipped his head back around and glared at her. “Don’t you start.”
“You know we would follow you anywhere. It’s a rare thing to inspire that kind of trust.”
Jason sighed again and ran a hand through his hair. “Seriously, no one else has to go. Elade and I can handle this.”
“I’m not afraid of war, and I don’t care about gold,” Selvhara told him. “I will go to protect as many people as I can, but you’re making a mistake.”
“It wouldn’t be the first time, and it probably won’t be the last,” he said grimly. “Now come on, let’s get moving.”
Krystia stood next to him as the others muddled about and gathered their belongings. She wrapped her hand around his and smiled. You need to be careful.
He looked down upon her, marveling again at how lovely she had become, and how strange it felt to at once barely know a person and at the same time know them more intimately than anyone else. General Iouna was truly a lucky man to have earned the love of such a woman, especially while Jason was stuck with an emotionally stunted barbarian.
I will be, he promised.
Good, she told him, standing up on her tip-toes to give him a quick peck on the lips. “I’ll let Darius know you’re coming,” she said aloud to the others. “Good luck.”
***
Krystia ran her fingers through Yuar’s coarse hair as she half-heartedly steered him towards the Sylinar District. A part of her wanted to turn around and tell Jason the truth about Garos and the coming war, and she had already backtracked several times with the full intention of doing just that. But the rest of her knew there was nothing else she could do, not if she wanted to go through with her plans to remove King Areekan and liberate the Unbound.
She was also still annoyed with herself about not catching onto the meaning of Jason’s vision until just a few minutes ago. She had seen the details in his memories when they joined minds, but she hadn’t bothered to work out the implications. Now she understood the meaning all too clearly: when Areekan died and the Alliance priests suddenly lost their channeling abilities, Jason and his friends would be the only defenders remaining in Garos. The only question was whether or not they would be able to escape the destruction in time.
Krystia closed her eyes and forced herself to breathe normally. She was already having trouble coming to terms with the fact she was about to murder a man in cold blood, not to mention send a destructive wave of chaos rippling across the country. Now she was about to send the man who had rescued her at Isen—the man who had literally dragged her out of the ashes of her family—to his death. Her stomach twisted with fear and guilt and pain….but as always, she settled the pangs with assurances that this was ultimately the only way to free her people. It was the only way to right thousands of years of injustice. It was the only way to save Torsia.
Krystia had almost convinced herself by the time she reached Ethan’s safe house. He was sitting at the table when she walked in, a piece of fruit in one hand and a glass of liquor in the other—though neither appeared to have been touched. Distantly, she wondered just how long he had been sitting in this position.
“I take it you’ve heard the recent news,” she said.
Ethan nodded fractionally and gestured to the corner of the room with his chin. Krystia followed his gaze and unwittingly leapt back in shock when she saw another man standing in the shadows. He was human—or at least, he used to be—and he was shrouded in a dark cloak and thick cowl. His skin was deathly pale, and his eyes were as black as burnished chunks of obsidian.
Apparently, she had been even more distracted than she had realized. Even a Zarul Shadow couldn’t have hidden his presence from her…could he?
“There is work to be done,” the Shadow said, his voice a coarse, cold whisper. “Are you prepared?”
“Of course I am,” Krystia replied, reaching out to probe his thoughts. Even on the surface, his mind was unlike anything she had touched before. Normal human emotions were like a rocky surface, jagged and uneven…but his were as smooth and st
raight as glass.
“I’ve gone over all the tactical reports and logistical information, and I have some ideas,” Ethan said. “With his help, infiltrating the King’s Tower shouldn’t be a problem.”
Krystia nodded distantly but kept her eyes fastened on the Shadow. “We need to speak together for a few minutes. Alone.”
She had assumed he would at least put up a token defense, but instead he backed away to the far side of the chamber without as much as an annoyed peep. Forcibly pulling her eyes away, she conjured a sound proof bubble around the table.
“Your son and his friends are leaving for Garos.”
Ethan’s face twitched. “What?”
“He had a vision,” she explained. “He saw himself and the others as the only defenders of Garos during the attack.”
“Interesting,” he whispered as he set down the fruit and glass and clasped his hands together. “Precognition is a rare talent.”
“So is having an Immortal living inside you,” Krystia replied mildly. “He has taken the vision to mean that he is the only hope of saving the city from the Crell. But of course it could just be predicting that they will all die there.”
Ethan seemed to mull it over for a few moments, though as usual she had a difficult time reaching into his thoughts. He, more than perhaps anyone else she had met, knew exactly how to protect himself from telepathy. Though she was certain she could rip everything out of him if she really tried, and she had no doubt that one day it would come to that…
“Well, there’s nothing we can do about it,” he said after a moment. “Still, I’m surprised the others went with him, especially Selvhara. Without her powers…”
“Jason restored them somehow,” Krystia said. “Apparently whatever the Breakers can do, he can repair. I don’t understand how or why, but I’m hoping perhaps he can teach me. I didn’t want our Crell friend to know this little detail—it might come in useful later.”
“Yes,” Ethan said, a faint smile tugging at his lips. “Yes, it might. So Jason might not be a true Ascendant, but he is full of surprises, isn’t he?”
“I’m sure he’ll have plenty more, assuming he survives the battle,” she murmured. “I know we don’t have a choice but to go forward, and I know having them out of the city is a boon…but I still don’t like sending them to the front lines.”
“They will survive,” Ethan told her, and she could tell that he meant it. “My son may be foolish, but he knows his way around a battlefield. So does Selvhara and his Asgardian huntress.”
Krystia thought about mentioning Sarina’s tantrum but decided against it. If anything, she liked Jason’s odds better without a crazy barbarian tagging along. “Elade will be with them also, no thanks to your demons.”
Ethan grunted. “For now, let’s concentrate on the present, shall we? We have a lot to discuss with our new friend.”
“Yes,” she whispered, glancing back over her shoulder to the Shadow lurking in the corner. “I suppose we do.”
***
For perhaps the first time in his life, Tevek Dracian didn’t marvel at the Celenest skyline as he flew on griffonback. He barely even acknowledged the sparkling towers or the squadrons of griffon-riders looping about in perfect formation; his mind was singularly focused on the inevitable and likely unpleasant meetings he would need to endure once he landed. He had rehearsed his forthcoming conversation with Gabriel probably a hundred times already, and each time his planned responses grew more and more bitter. He needed to get this off his chest soon before it drove him mad.
Unlike his last visit, there was no great entourage awaiting him on the landing platform of the King’s Tower. At first he found it odd and perhaps even a touch insulting, but then he belatedly realized how active the city was compared to normal. Guardsmen scurried about the various platforms in near panic, and entire regiments of soldiers had gathered in the streets below. Something important had obviously happened during his trip.
Thankfully, he didn’t have to wait long to get his answer. By the time he had dismounted, the familiar armored figure of Squire Talroy was hustling over to greet him.
“Lord Dracian,” he said, exasperated. “It’s good to see you, sir.”
“I’m neither a lord nor a sir, Belek,” Tevek said, clapping the younger man on the shoulder. “You can just call me Tevek now.”
“Uh, yes, sir. I mean…Tevek. Sir.”
Tevek smiled. “What’s going on here, son?”
“We received word yesterday that the Crell forces along the border are on the move,” Talroy told him. “They could be in position for an attack as early as the day after tomorrow.”
Tevek closed his eyes and swore under his breath. As if their current problems with demons and Unbound weren’t enough…
“Highlord Alric, General Iouna, and His Majesty’s Voice all send their regrets for not greeting you personally,” Talroy went on. “They are in the middle of a military briefing.”
“Ah,” Tevek said, nodding. “Then lead the way.”
The younger man winced. “The Highlord promised to meet with you in his office once the meeting was over. In the meantime, he suggested we wait in the lobby.”
“I see,” Tevek murmured, resisting the urge to keel over like he’d just been punched in the gut. Less than two weeks ago, he had arrived in Celenest as an honored guest of the king…and now they didn’t even want his advice about a forthcoming war. Gabriel had worked even more quickly than anyone had anticipated, and unfortunately Areekan must have gone along with it. “I assumed he had no idea how long this meeting would last?”
“Not that I’m aware of,” Talroy said. “For what it’s worth, sir, I can’t believe they’re treating you this way after all you’ve done for them.”
Tevek clapped the man on the back again. “It’s not your fault, son. But let this be a lesson to you that not even paladins can afford to ignore politics.”
Talroy nodded distantly as he glanced back over his shoulder to see if anyone else was within earshot. “There’s something else I should tell you. I’ve been helping Elade.”
“Elade? She’s here?”
“She was, but not anymore. She came here with Jason Moore and the others from Lyebel. She was attempting to hunt down the source of the demonic infestation, and she believed the warlock responsible had moved to Celenest.”
“Did she tell you anything else?”
Talroy swallowed heavily. “She had reason to believe the warlock was Ethan Moore.”
“Ethan?” Tevek gasped. “But that’s…”
He trailed off, and he could almost hear the mental click as all the pieces finally slid together in his mind. The unexplained success of the Resistance in Lyebel, Adar and Ria’s reticence to discuss details of their operation…
“I had heard that General Moore died in the massacre at Tibel a few years ago,” Talroy said, “but apparently he survived and took up demonology. Elade didn’t tell me much more before she left, but she did leave behind this note. I’m afraid I can’t read it.”
Tevek took the scroll of parchment and rolled it open. “It’s written in a vaeyn dialect,” he said, reading it over. The note was longer than he’d expected—she detailed everything that had happened since he had left for the Citadel, including her confrontations with Adar and Lavonde, her trip to Celenest with Jason, and then her battle against the demons here. Now she was apparently on her way to Garos to battle against the Crell…
“Busy girl,” he whispered.
“Did she say anything interesting?” Talroy asked.
“Many things. She believes that Ethan is up to something else, and I’m inclined to agree. It’s probably something big, and we need to be ready for it.”
Talroy frowned. “Why do you say that, sir?”
“Because I know how the man thinks. He’s a planner and a manipulator, and this whole situation has his fingerprints all over it.”
“You think he’s helping the Crell?”
“Never,” T
evek said flatly. “At least not directly. Since the end of the war, his all-consuming purpose has been freeing Galvia and avenging the death of King Whitestone. Whatever he’s up to now must be related to the Crell.”
The young man seemed to think it over. “Do you have any ideas how?”
“Not a one,” Tevek conceded with a sigh. “And I’m not sure there’s any way we’re going to know until it’s too late. He found out she was looking for him, so he’ll be careful enough to stay out of sight.”
He rubbed a finger across his temple and tried to physically rub the stress from his mind, but of course it didn’t work. This situation was already untenable with two of his old friends betraying him at the same time, and now this…
“We should go inside,” Tevek said, rolling up the parchment and stuffing it into his pack. “We might as well wait around for Gabriel to finish with his meeting.”
The two men entered the tower and took a seat inside the large office His Majesty had arranged for the knights to use as a temporary command post. They didn’t speak much beyond idle conversation, and Tevek decided to mentally revise his forthcoming conversation with Gabriel one more time. After what felt like hours, the double doors at the end of the room opened and a lean, white-haired man with dark eyes strode in. He smiled at the other two men, but there was no warmth behind it.
The Godswar Saga (Omnibus) Page 74