The three of them followed Sweet Pea out back and found one of the huge creatures.
Sweet Pea whistled, and the beast lumbered to them. They led it around to the front of the cabin, then formed a sort of bucket brigade, carrying the gallons and packages of bottled water from the ground, up the side of the Sindon, and into the huge basket strapped to the top of the creature.
The task went much faster than Nicole expected it would. Once other Makalos saw them working, they came to help, and it only took a few minutes to finish.
Sweet Pea told Nicole and Austin how to guide the Sindon, then Austin helped Nicole up into the basket, and they made themselves comfortable on the large bench.
Nicole leaned forward eagerly, excited for her second ride on one of the huge creatures. She grabbed Austin’s hand and held on tightly as Sweet Pea told the Sindon to take them to Macaria.
The beast lumbered to its feet, then started forward.
Austin was anxious for a few moments, then relaxed as the creature eased into the slow pace. “If you hadn’t told me it could go much faster than this, I wouldn’t have expected us to reach Macaria before next week.”
Nicole laughed, leaning against his shoulder. It had been such a long time since they’d last been alone together. She couldn’t believe how busy they’d been.
It took five minutes for the creature to get them out of Taga Village, where it would be able to reach full speed. Once it really got going, Austin hollered with excitement. Nicole grinned, enjoying his enthusiasm. Trees blurred past them, the moon was bright overhead, and the blanket Nicole had brought kept them warm from the cool early summer night air.
Faster than Nicole remembered, they’d reached the far outskirts of Macaria. Austin instructed the Sindon to take them at a slow pace across the vast fields past the bleached-white city.
Nicole looked at him in surprise. “What, no fast ride this time?”
He smiled at her. “No. I want to enjoy our time together.”
The smile disappeared and he turned to face her, putting his arms around her and pulling her close. His eyes were serious and dark as he studied her.
“I love you, Nicole,” he said.
Nicole nodded. “I love you too.” Her breath caught in her throat. He was being so serious—so much more serious than usual.
She didn’t get the chance to ask what was going on before he’d leaned forward and pressed his lips against hers. Forgetting her question, she melted in his arms, threading her fingers through his hair.
He pulled her into his lap, breaking their kiss long before Nicole was ready for it to be over. “When are you going to fight Lasia?”
Nicole groaned inwardly. She really didn’t want to talk about that right now—not while in his arms. “As soon as Sanso says I’m ready.”
Austin’s face clouded over at the mention of the Ember God, but he gave a half shake of his head and smiled, then tightened his hold on her. He kissed the corner of her mouth, then trailed kisses along her jaw and nibbled her ear. “Happy very late birthday,” he said.
He cleared his throat and pulled away, calling to the Sindon and asking it to take them to Edana Kingdom. Nicole squealed when the Sindon took off at full speed, pressing her against Austin. He grinned. “All according to plan,” he said against the wind that roared past. He looked in her eyes, studying her face.
Nicole smiled, tangling her fingers in his hair. Then she melted against him, pressing her mouth to his.
She became breathless much faster than usual. It must have been a combination of the physical closeness to the man she loved and the rush of the Sindon’s speed. Her fingertips tingled, her chest warmed, and she pressed herself closer to him as he pulled her tight, his lips warm and inviting against hers.
It was exhilarating.
The Sindon stopped, and with a groan of disappointment, she pried herself away. She grinned inwardly, though, when she saw poor Austin’s frustration. He was just as annoyed as she was that the trip had come to an end.
They navigated the Sindon as close to the city and castle as they could. The power that prevented magic from entering the city also stopped the Sindon.
Watching out for vampire birds, Nicole and Austin started the tedious task of getting the water out of the huge basket and to the cobblestone road below. Even with the creature fully sitting, it was still difficult work. Austin stayed in the basket and lowered the gallons of water as far as he could while Nicole reached up on tiptoe and took them from him, placing them on the road.
It took half an hour, and by the end, Nicole was sweaty, breathless, and exhausted.
“What’s the plan now?” Austin asked.
“Well, we can’t take it to the natives, since I don’t know where they live. But . . .” Nicole looked around. “They’re always watching. I’m sure they’ve already noticed us.”
Austin nodded. “You’re right.” He picked up one of the gallons of water and opened it. He was about to pour it on the ground when he glanced at Nicole. “You’d probably better do it—they’ll understand it from you more than from me.”
Nicole agreed. She took the gallon of water, opened and closed it—making sure her motions were obvious. Opening it again, she poured a little of it on the ground. Hopefully, that was enough for the natives to know what it was. “Suntkou, Tochko,” she called, “this is for you. For helping me. I hope it helps you in return.”
She also hoped she’d eventually know if it had.
She waited a moment, but nothing happened. She couldn’t help feeling a little disappointed that no one responded to her.
“Well, I guess that’s it,” Nicole said. “Should we head back now?”
He shook his head. “I’d like to take you somewhere—a place where I spent a lot of time while you were stuck with the natives.”
Nicole smiled. “Let’s go.”
“First, we need to make sure our ride doesn’t leave without us.”
Austin turned to the Sindon, snatching the rope that dangled from the creature’s harness. “Sweet Pea said if we tie it up, it should be fine.” Austin surveyed the thick rope, obviously considering Sweet Pea’s words. “Maybe we should do a bit more than that.” He messed around with the rope for a while, but finally gave up. “There isn’t enough for what I want to do.”
Nicole watched as he called dried blades of grass from the surrounding underbrush and commanded them to tie themselves into the frayed ends of the rope. She was sure it wouldn’t have worked for someone not magical—the grass would have shredded and become useless. But under his command, they strengthened and stayed together.
Soon, Austin had a great deal more rope than he’d started with, and he tied it around the base of a large tree.
After a few more pulses of magic, the rope had integrated itself into the deadened exterior of the tree.
Austin stepped back, surveying his work. “Now the Sindon’s not going anywhere.”
“Does it need food?” Nicole asked.
Austin frowned, staring up at the large creature. The Sindon’s eyes were shut—it looked like it needed rest. “Not sure. Sweet Pea didn’t say anything. We’ll hurry, just in case.”
He threaded his fingers through hers and led the way into the city. Nicole could tell where he was going—the tall spires drew nearer and nearer until they had reached the castle steps. Austin led her up and took her through what must have once been an impressive doorway. Only half of the right section remained. The other side had either disintegrated or been removed.
Most of the ceiling had caved in over the hundred years since the place had been deserted, and the crescent moon and several stars peeked in, casting a glow on the building’s interior.
Austin headed to a large torch fixed against the wall nearest the door. He muttered some words, and a fire started.
He surprised Nicole by leaving the torch there, taking her instead through the massive entry hall, lighting torches, candles, and lanterns along the way. Soon, the whole place was ablaze
with light.
Careful not to stumble over the loose rock on the floor, Nicole looked back the way they’d come. The castle was beautiful, but also creepy. It had fallen apart just enough to mask the gorgeousness it once had, but with the moon and stars, the dark stone, and the light dotting the hall, it was still impressive. She sighed to herself, content to be with her favorite person in her world while exploring the vast ruins of another world.
Austin took her to a large library. It wasn’t as amazing as the actual Edana library, since it was just one room, but it was still impressive. Bookshelves lined five stories. Chairs, their stuffing torn away, were positioned in clusters throughout the place. It wasn’t very wide or long, but those five stories made Nicole’s insides melt. She could get lost there without ever leaving the room.
Unlike the rest of the castle, the ceiling in this room was fully intact.
Noticing Nicole staring up, Austin grinned. “I consider us lucky—most of the books are still in pretty good condition, considering.”
“This place is amazing!”
“I thought you’d like it.”
She carefully pulled out a tall volume, letting its pages fall open. She gasped—it was an illustrated bestiary. “So incredible,” she whispered. She looked at Austin. “I wish we had time to dig into these.”
He nodded. “Even with the two months I spent here, I barely scratched the surface. Most of them are written in other languages, but a couple are in English. One in particular will interest you a great deal.”
Nicole replaced the book and followed him to the other side of the room. A small bookcase was nestled in the corner next to a huge stone fireplace. Nicole hadn’t noticed it—it was easily overlooked.
“I think this is where they kept their most important books,” he said, crouching in front of it. “It’s the only place where English ones are kept, from what I could tell. I wasn’t able to explore the top levels very much—they’re too unstable.”
Nicole glanced up. There weren’t ladders in the room. “How did you even get to the next level?”
He pointed at the door they’d come through. “There are stone stairs just out there.” He turned back to the bookshelf and hefted a huge one with a red leather cover. Getting up, he turned and walked to a large table in the middle of the room, setting the book on it with a slight thump. “Come see this,” he said.
Nicole bent over the book and started flipping through the pages. It seemed like a dictionary of magical people, foods, recipes for spells, and the legends that went along with all of these. There were tons of illustrations.
“Hey!” she said, gasping. “It talks about Aretes!”
Austin nodded. “Yup.”
“That’s amazing!”
She scanned through a few of the entries on Aretes, including one that mentioned Aretes who were fully gray when they got their magic. The entry said only one had ever survived Restarting.
“It’s like that Silver on the other planet,” Nicole said. She looked at Austin. “Your dad was right to be worried about him. If this is true, he probably won’t live through his Restart.”
“I know,” Austin said. He pulled the book toward himself and started flipping through the pages, obviously not as distracted by that entry as Nicole was. “What I wanted to show you was this section here.” He pointed, then shifted the book back to her.
Nicole glanced over the description. “The art of reanimating corpses.” The author of the book obviously felt like it was a practice that wasn’t used often enough on enemies after they died. She looked at Austin, then back to the book to read more. After performing the charm, the body came alive for several seconds and shared the spirit’s greatest secret. “Is it referring to the spirit’s greatest secret before death, or the spirit’s current greatest secret?”
“Its current greatest secret,” Austin said. He pointed to a paragraph on the opposite page that said as much.
Nicole straightened, staring at her boyfriend. “What would Keitus’s greatest secret be?”
Austin nodded. “Your thoughts went where mine did.”
“Why didn’t you bring this up earlier?”
Austin leveled a look at her. “Do you really want to go back to Renforth’s world?”
Nicole groaned. “Heavens, no.” She never wanted to see the stupid Shiengol ever again. But still . . . “Think about it, though. What could Keitus’s corpse tell us? What if it’s something we haven’t thought about yet, something that would give us a huge edge against him? I mean, he’s been ahead of us pretty much the whole time. I want to put a stop to that.” She trailed her finger down the thick pages. “Is there anything bad that could come from doing it? I mean, could Keitus learn anything about us?”
“I don’t think so,” Austin said. “At least, the book doesn’t mention any possible consequences. From what I could tell, the charm itself would be difficult to perform, since you have to find the body and make sure it’s fully restrained—apparently, sometimes it decides to try to kill again.”
“Well, Keitus is pretty stuck where he is.”
“Yes, he is.” Austin shut the book and prepared to return it to the shelf.
“Wait—let’s take that with us.”
He looked at her. “You’re sure? What if there are enchantments on it that will make anyone who removes it from the room die or something?”
Nicole hesitated. “Do you think that’s possible?”
“Of course it is. Haven’t you seen The Mummy?”
Nicole laughed. “Several times.” She pulled out her phone. “Let’s take pictures instead.”
“Good idea,” Austin said. “I’d considered doing that, but wasn’t sure it was worth it. I spent a lot of time in this library and pretty much have the whole charm memorized, but if I’m not able to go to Renforth’s world for some reason, it would be better to have something more permanent available.”
Nicole took several pictures, making sure she got plenty of angles in case something didn’t come through right. Then she tucked her phone away and indicated it was okay for Austin to put the book back.
The two of them left the library hand in hand. Each of the little glowing lights Austin had created on the way in died as they passed. Nicole grinned—being an Arete was pretty awesome.
The Sindon was still in place when they got back, but all of the water had disappeared. Nicole smiled in relief. Hopefully, it would help the natives.
Austin was thoughtful and quiet the entire ride back to Taga Village, which was over fairly quickly. Once they got back, they went to Azuriah’s fortress and knocked on the door.
Pambri opened after several moments. She looked tired, and Nicole realized it was pretty late. She apologized, but Pambri waved her off.
“We’re late nighters,” she said, then invited them in. “What can we do for you?”
“Can we talk to Azuriah?” Nicole asked. Those were words she never thought she’d say.
“Sure.” The Shiengol led them back to the same library where Nicole had received her new clothes earlier that day. They were still laid over the couch where she’d put them.
Azuriah looked up from where he sat in front of the roaring fire, his legs crossed, a book in his lap. He blinded them with his bright gaze. “Why are you here again?”
Nicole ignored his question and approached, pulling her phone out of her back pocket. “We have something we need to run by you.”
“Oh, really? And why would you need to run it by me before the king?”
Nicole didn’t know how Azuriah figured out they hadn’t yet been to see Dmitri, but she didn’t let his question distract her. She showed him the first picture on her phone—the one with the title of the charm in it. “Think we can do this on Keitus’s corpse?”
Azuriah took the phone and scanned slowly through the pictures. Nicole didn’t even need to show him how to do that—he seemed pretty comfortable with the device.
He didn’t say anything for at least five minutes as he read
through the entire charm. Finally, he handed Nicole back her phone.
“Yes, we can.”
Nicole grinned, looking at Austin, who had sat on the couch by her fireproof clothes. “Fantastic,” she said.
“Where did you find this?” Azuriah asked.
Austin joined them. “In the castle’s library at Edana.”
“Is the book still there?”
Austin nodded. “We didn’t take it out of the room.”
“Good,” Azuriah said.
Austin grinned at Nicole. “Told you.”
“It would have been stealing,” Azuriah said. “Those books belong in the library. They aren’t yours, even if you did find them.”
Nicole hid a smile behind her hand, not wanting Azuriah to think she was laughing at him. But she couldn’t help tease Austin a little more. “Wait a second. Are you saying if we had taken the book, we wouldn’t have had our organs randomly stolen to build a dead guy’s body?”
“What? That’s ridiculous.”
Nicole chuckled, meeting Austin’s exasperated gaze.
“One can never be too careful,” Austin said, ignoring her amusement. He turned back to Azuriah. “Anyway, what are the chances of us getting back to Renforth’s world?”
Azuriah shrugged. “It depends on his mood. I’ll ask him and let you know.”
“Do you think it’s a good idea?” Nicole asked. “Doing this charm?”
Azuriah ground his teeth. “Yes.” His response was curt—he obviously didn’t want them to think he actually liked the idea.
Nicole couldn’t help but tease the cranky Shiengol. “You’re very welcome, though we would have gotten the charm even if you hadn’t begged us to.”
Azuriah stared at her.
“Oh, and we’re ready whenever you need us,” she finished.
“Who said you’d even go?”
Nicole frowned. “It’s my phone. I’m going. I have to be there in case the corpse says something important.”
“And you’re the only one who would remember something important?”
Nicole’s frown deepened. “Oh, come on. I’ve been able to help a great deal.”
Enshroud, Mosaic Chronicles Book Eight Page 10