The World Weavers

by Kelley Grant

  Master Anchee put a hand out to keep himself from falling, reaching toward Parasu’s statue. Clay knocked him aside before he could touch the deity, putting his body between the master and the statue. Master Anchee was knocked out of the pattern, but Clay’s shoulder hit the statue. He cried out once, an agonized sound. His body fell heavily to the ground.

  “Clay!” Ava screamed. She flew over to him, tried to turn his body over. Dani helped her, and she patted at Clay’s cheeks. Dani put his head to Clay’s chest.

  “His heart isn’t beating,” he told Lasha as she knelt beside him.

  As Sulis staggered over, supported by Ashraf, Lasha’s hands glowed, and she pushed them against Clay’s body, once, twice, making the body jump.

  “Stop,” Amon ordered. Lasha ignored him, pressing down on Clay’s chest, and then breathing into his mouth.

  “It will do no good,” Amon said, pulling her away. “His being, his essence, is in the statue now.”

  They all stared at him and then at Parasu’s statue.

  “It killed him?” Ava shrilled. “My mandala killed him?”

  “He is not fully dead,” Amon said gently. “Though his body is. That is what we are creating, traps.”

  “Why didn’t you warn us not to touch the statue?” Sulis asked, tears running down her face as Ava slowly approached the statue.

  “I thought only Parasu’s energy could be sucked in by the trap in Parasu’s statue,” Amon said helplessly. “I did not know it could take us instead.”

  “Clay realized it,” Master Anchee said, his voice full of sorrow. “He tried to warn me. I was too weak. He saved me.”

  Lasha stepped up beside him, “Too proud to take my energy,” she said softly, anger in her voice.

  Ava reached a hand out to the statue, and then hesitated.

  “Will it suck me in, if I touch it?” she asked.

  Amon shook his head. “It is full of energy now. In order to set the trap, we will have to empty it again.”

  Ava looked horrified at the idea of emptying Clay out of the statue. She touched it and her eyes unfocused.

  “He’s here,” she told the group. “He’s still alive in here. We have to get him out.”

  Sulis looked over at Amon, who shook his head, and then down at Clay’s body. She didn’t know how they were going to break it to Ava that Clay could not return to a corpse. Nor could he stay in the statue, which needed to contain Parasu. Sulis realized with horror that Ava’s next mandala would be chalked to drag Clay out of the statue—­and Sulis’s next dance would be to finish Clay’s death and send him on.

  Jonas gasped and clutched his chest, feeling a sharp pain and then a sense of emptiness. He could not feel Parasu inside himself for the first time since winter.

  “Tribune?” The Magistrate put a hand on Jonas’s arm, his voice full of concern. “Are you ill?”

  He guided Jonas away from prying eyes at the altar, to a chair in the office area. “I will fetch water and a healer,” he said.

  “Water, but the healer is unnecessary,” Jonas said. The pain was gone, but the sense of emptiness remained. “I think the pain was Parasu’s. I must meditate to open myself and communicate with him.”

  The Magistrate fetched water, and Jonas motioned him to leave, to close the door.

  “I will check on you in a half sandglass,” the Magistrate said, clearly still worried.

  “That would be wise,” Jonas said. “I do not believe this is a physical pain, but I appreciate the intercession if I am incorrect.”

  Left alone in his office, Jonas knelt on a bench beside his deity’s altar. He poured some of the water into a copper bowl on a stand, and added a few drops of scented oil, then lighted a candle under the bowl. As the water steamed, he relaxed enough to search in his mind for Parasu.

  Parasu’s presence trickled into Jonas’s body, but he could feel that Parasu’s attention was focused elsewhere. Time passed as Jonas kept his mind open for his deity, waiting for him to help Jonas understand what was happening. Magistrate came to check on him twice, but he knelt and waited.

  Jonas jerked fully awake suddenly, his deity within him. He hadn’t realized he’d been nodding off in his vigil.

  You have been faithful, Parasu said approvingly. You felt trouble, and kept yourself ready for my needs.

  His weariness melted away, the pins and needles in his numb feet disappearing as Parasu fed him a wave of energy.

  Thank you, Jonas sent. You were in pain. How may I serve you?

  I don’t know, Parasu said, confused. It came upon me suddenly. I do not usually feel overwhelming human emotions, but I felt fear. I was struggling against something mighty that would consume me. But the fear passed. Then joy arose, and I was suddenly more alive and complete than I ever had been before.

  The longing in Parasu’s mindvoice brought tears to Jonas’s eyes.

  Then it all disappeared, Parasu said. My being does not feel different. I do not know what happened.

  Did you sense a direction? Jonas asked. Was it something being done in the desert, at this temple we will travel to?

  Jonas felt a wave of negation. It was in the ether, Parasu told him. That plane of existence that deities and the One occupy, outside of human experience. I felt no physical presence on the earth for this battle.

  Should we go to the Herald? Jonas asked. See if Aryn felt the same?

  Parasu sent a wave of negation and resentment. No. We must show no weakness to the other deities. I cannot have them take advantage of us if somehow I have become weakened in the ethereal plane.

  Who would attack you there? Was it the One? Jonas asked.

  Parasu hesitated for so long Jonas feared he’d left again.

  I do not believe so, Parasu said. I feel exactly as I always have since the Sundering. I do not believe I am damaged.

  Could it have been a premonition? Jonas asked, wondering if deities had such things.

  Parasu considered it. We do not have visions as you humans do. But sometimes our consciousness escapes the boundaries of time and we are able to gain a view of the future. It has not happened to me since the Sundering, but sharing your body has made me stronger. Parasu’s presence became stronger, more confident. That is the only explanation that makes sense though. I am truly fortunate to have such a wise servant in these uncertain times.

  Parasu’s warm regard made Jonas flush with pleasure.

  Yes, Parasu said. What I was seeing was the future. We will have a difficult, painful battle to regain what we were before the Sundering. But when we are complete once again, when we have regained our lost selves, we will have great joy in our victory.

  Jonas smiled with relief.

  I felt urgency, though, Parasu said. We will march as soon as possible. You will convey this to Voras, without telling him of my vision. Tell him our sources say it must be soon. We will not allow him to delay us with his vendetta against the Northern Forsaken.

  Your will is my own, Jonas told him. It will be as you asked.

  Parasu was satisfied as Jonas levered himself off the kneeling bench. His body was energized from Parasu’s touch—­a little too much so, and Jonas thought of cold water and nonarousing things as he wrote a summons for the Templar and the other Voices. Once his body calmed a little, he would explain what was needed to the Magistrate and set forth what his deity wanted from him.

  “How can we do it?” Sulis whispered to Alannah. “How can we force Clay out of the statue—­kill him?”

  The group of Chosen and Guardians were halfheartedly eating late meal. Sari had greeted them when they left the temple. It had been painful, telling her about her old friend’s sacrifice for the Chosen.

  Alannah shook her head. “It will not be difficult,” she said softly, and Sulis looked at her. “I put my hand on the statue; I spoke with Clay while everyone was filing out
of the temple. He does not fear death. He is happy to rejoin the One. All I will need to do is connect him to the Altar of the One, and he will go of his own free will.”

  Tears filled Sulis’s eyes. “I don’t want him to go on,” she said.

  “Which is why he stays,” Alannah said gently. “He needs to convince Ava it is okay for him to leave; otherwise, it could destroy her.”

  “But we do not have time,” Amon said. “I know it is cruel of me to say so. I believe Parasu knew when we emptied his statue. The deities will be alert. They will be coming as soon as they can. We must empty the other shells and prepare for their arrival.”

  Lasha shook her head. “There’s no way the Chosen could repeat that ceremony tomorrow, or the next day. Look at them—­they’re exhausted.”

  Alannah looked directly at Lasha. “What happened with Anchee?” she asked.

  Lasha shook her head, frustrated. “He thinks I’m too young. He has not opened himself fully to me. Even now he resists my energy.”

  Palou overheard and looked sharply at her. “I will speak with him,” he said. “You need that connection if he is to survive.”

  Sari looked over at their group and cleared her throat to get their attention. “We will need to take Clay’s body out of the chasm in the morning for the burning ceremony,” she said. “Will you want to go with it, to send him on?”

  They looked around at each other. Then Grandmother shook her head.

  “There is nothing to send on in that body, so it would be a waste of energy we are already lacking,” she said. “We will have our own ceremony when we have truly sent him to the One. We will rest tomorrow.”

  In the morning, Sulis and Alannah tried to convince Ava to let the guards take Clay’s body, while Ashraf and Dani fed Nuisance and talked quietly.

  “Ava, we cannot put Clay into a corpse,” Alannah said. “His body is dead. If his spirit were not trapped by the ancient spell, he would be with the One now.”

  Ava shook her head stubbornly. “We can’t do this without him. We need him. You have to find a way to bring him back. He’s still alive.”

  She’d refused to leave the statue and Clay’s body when the rest of the Chosen left the Obsidian Temple. She’d spent the entire night resting against the stone as the guards wrapped his body.

  “He needs it,” Ava said. “If they burn his body, where will he live?”

  Sulis put her hand on Parasu’s statue for the first time since the ceremony. Clay’s warm presence was inside.

  You must convince her to allow this, Sulis told him.

  His voice filled her mind, but not her ears. I have been trying. She is a stubborn one, our Ava. Since I told her to let me go, she has refused to touch the statue again, to communicate with me. Tell her I do not wish to go back to that empty shell. Even if you could put me in that body, it has been dead too long. I would be crippled in mind and body.

  Sulis relayed that information and Ava burst into tears and turned away from the body. Dani hugged her as Sari motioned for the guards to carry Clay’s body out.

  “You cannot force me to draw the pattern to chase him out,” Ava said stubbornly. “I will not kill Clay. He’s my best friend.”

  Alannah glanced quickly over at Sulis. “You won’t have to draw that pattern,” she promised.

  Amon approached them and Sulis braced herself for a nasty comment from him. If he upset Ava, Sulis wouldn’t wait for the One to knock him off balance. A fist to the chin would work as well.

  He looked at Ava and knelt beside her, taking her hand. “I am so terribly sorry,” he told her. “I did not know what would happen. I know now why the Southerners did not empty the statues. The empty statues are a deadly trap for energy users. I am so sorry that a wise advisor died because of my ignorance.”

  “He isn’t dead,” Ava said. “He’s still alive in the statue.”

  Amon opened his mouth, caught Alannah’s glare and wisely closed it again. He patted Ava on the back. “Yes, well,” he said awkwardly, and walked away to study the stone around the Altar of the One.

  “No chalk lines,” he pointed out to Sulis and Ashraf. “They were absorbed with the energy. The stones are swept clean. Ava’s hand is completely healed as well.”

  Sulis came closer to study the rock. He was right. Her memory of the previous day was jumbled, so she could not say if the lines disappeared after the ceremony, or overnight.

  “What do we do about Ava?” Amon whispered to Sulis. “We need her whole, so I don’t want to force her to send Clay to the One. But we also need to empty the statue to trap Parasu. And we need to empty the other three before the deities come.”

  “Alannah says Ava won’t be necessary to connect Clay to the One,” Sulis said. “He is willing to move on.”

  Amon looked relieved.

  “But he won’t move on until Ava is ready,” she warned, and he frowned. “He thinks forcing her to accept his death before she is ready will make her more unstable. He will convince her; give him time.” Sulis tried to sound certain. Sulis wasn’t certain she herself would ever be ready to let Clay go. Ava would have an even harder time.

  “Sari told me the army is on the move,” Amon said quietly. “I know the Chosen need to rest, but it is urgent that we finish emptying the statues and prepare for the deities.”

  Ashraf said from behind Sulis, “Do we have to empty Parasu’s vessel before we perform the ceremony on the other statues?” he asked. “Sending Clay to the One could be the last thing we do, after all the other vessels are empty.”

  Amon frowned, not liking that option, but he nodded reluctantly.

  Giggling made them turn. Sanuri had her hands pressed against Parasu’s statue and was whispering loudly to it. She giggled again.

  “You leave him alone,” Ava shouted, standing to grasp Sanuri’s arm roughly.

  Dani stepped forward, alarmed, but Sanuri grabbed Ava’s other arm. She leaned forward and kissed Ava on the cheek, and then placed her hands against the statue.

  “You talk,” she said. “We all talk.”

  Ava sank down, leaning her cheek against the statue. She closed her eyes and tears streamed down her face. She nodded a ­couple of times, as though responding to Clay. Sanuri sat beside her, reached over, and wiped tears from Ava’s face.

  “Not sad,” Sanuri whispered. “Happy. Love.”

  Sulis turned away, into Ashraf’s chest, choked up from Ava’s grief. Ashraf put his arms around her and she cried onto his chest.

  “You need to rest some more,” he told her softly. “Away from this place. You are still exhausted from yesterday. We don’t have to make any decisions today. Just let everything go.”

  Sulis let him lead her out of the temple, his arm around her waist. She didn’t look at anyone, hoping they wouldn’t judge her for her weakness.

  They exited the temple and nearly ran into Master Anchee and Lasha, who were arguing in the courtyard.

  “Why can’t you take my energy?” Lasha was protesting. “Why do you shut me out?”

  “I take as much as I can without . . .” He trailed off, seeing Ashraf and Sulis.

  “Without what?” Lasha persisted, unconcerned with witnesses. “Ava takes fully from Dani, even though she tried to kill him once. Why can you not connect with me?”

  “You are so young,” Master Anchee said.

  “So you don’t trust me to give you energy?” Lasha asked.

  “No,” Anchee said, shaking his head. “It just feels wrong, stealing energy, stealing life force from a girl who could be my daughter.”

  Sulis felt fury rising in her. She rounded on Master Anchee.

  “Are you stupid? Are you so ungrateful?” she growled, unleashing her anger.

  “Sulis,” Ashraf warned.

  She shrugged it off. “Her energy is a gift she is giving you. It is precious and
beautiful and you scorn it. You endanger the rest of us with your idiocy.”

  Master Anchee was staring at her, his eyebrows high in his forehead. Lasha had her hand clamped over her mouth to stifle a giggle, her eyes dancing. Sulis pushed past them both and stormed off.

  Her angry energy didn’t last long, and she slumped against the food hall building when they were out of sight, feeling drained.

  “Perhaps we should find a bed we can slump into?” Ashraf suggested, grinning.

  Sulis pushed off the wall wearily. “No offense, love, but I lack the energy for romping.”

  “Then I’ll simply hold you until you sleep,” he said quietly. “I’ll tell you stories about our Hasirof clan and the empire we’ll build after this is all over.”

  Sulis’s eyes filled with tears again. “I would like that,” she said. “Very much.”

  CHAPTER 13

  “There’s another troop of Forsaken.” Onyeka pointed toward the encampment as they hid on the ridge. “That group is geased as well.”

  “Why do you say that?” Kadar asked. He couldn’t see much difference between the cohorts of the army.

  “It’s a huge group, three times larger than the rest. But in spite of that, the fighters are doing exactly what a model fighter should do—­no pranks, no joking around. When they’re done with the tasks assigned, they simply sit. One of our spies had reported seeing a cohort like this. He and the other troops were told the men in it were criminals, so they would not befriend the geased men. We’d never put two and two together before. Look, see, their commanders are with them all the time.”

  “Commanders?” Kadar peered through his eyeglass to confirm that several of Voras’s men were with the group. “There’s more than one. Aaron said that only one person controlled the geased fighters.”

  Onyeka shrugged. “They would have learned from their mistake up north. They will spread the command to make it harder to free the Forsaken. We have seen many more Knights and soldiers come into camp the past ten-­day.”

  “They’re getting ready to move the army, aren’t they?” Kadar asked.