by Scott Rhine
The crone’s heart beat faster. “Does this sister have long nails?”
Tumberlin looked puzzled. “Never. She’s a warrior woman, that one. Nails would only get in the way. Even her hair pins are weapons.”
Unwilling to let loose of this unraveling thread, Zariah pressed, “Perhaps her anger has made Alana hate her own femininity.”
Tumberlin corrected her, again without thought. “Nerissa is his step-sister. Alana was her mother.”
“Of course, I’m old and misread my notes. I meant Nerissa. You can go now.”
When the wraith opened his mouth to ask about these new feeding techniques, Zariah waved her hand and Tumberlin vanished. After his trace was gone, she allowed herself to gloat. “You’re mine now, sheriff. I know your dirty, little secret. What a naughty boy you’ve been.”
Her glee was cut short by a power ripple through the continuum. The sleepers in the amphitheater woke screaming. It took all night to calm the masses. She didn’t need the emperor’s warning note in the morning to tell her that the sheriff had escaped, or where he was heading. Whatever he was doing on that mountain was wreaking havoc on at least three planes and twisted her insides like the flux.
But she planned to be ready when he arrived in her lair.
****
About the time the sun went behind the horizon, the world took a deep breath and held it. There was a moment of total silence. Jotham leapt to his feet and looked out the hole in the roof. Over the Lone Mountain, a dozen lightning bolts struck in unison. The flash illuminated the landscape like noon and shattered the moment with a deafening crash and rumble.
When everyone recovered, he said, “I suspect I know what’s keeping our friend the sheriff.”
****
Nothing on the plateau moved. Tashi could no longer hear the wind, but clouds above him streaked by at an extraordinary rate. The City of the Gods was now brightly lit from all angles with no sun to be seen. He felt suspended in a single moment. A porcelain mask appeared in the ripple at the top of the suspended staircase. Blue flames were visible through the gaping mouth- and eye-holes. The voice of Intaglios was formal and without emotion, as if he were an actor reciting from a script. Every aspect of this encounter began to resemble a stage production.
“Congratulations. You have climbed the Stairs of Petition and reached the center. What boon do you desire?”
Tashi replied, “The question that must be answered.”
###
The second volume of this series, “Dreams of the Fallen”, should be releaseby March 2012.
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