Irmina took one last look toward the northeast before she nodded.
As they made their way down the stairs, Galiana asked, “So do you care to explain how you knew where Ancel went?”
Irmina hesitated for a moment before answering, “Ever since the night in Castere when I tapped into a Matersurge to help Ryne defeat the shade, I’ve had this pinprick in my mind that comes and goes. It’s similar to how I identify a beast I’ve tamed, yet different. Somehow it felt familiar, but …” She paused. “I always suspected, but it wasn’t until … until after last night when I spent time with him again that I knew for certain what I had felt was him.”
Galiana’s breath caught in her throat. She’d read about this affinity in Stefan’s Chronicle of Undeath, but not once in all her years did she encounter anyone who could corroborate the telling.
“Now, it’s stronger,” Irmina said. “Not constant but I sense him more often.”
“Do you think he can feel you?”
“I-I don’t know.”
They gained the second landing with its massive archway and continued their descent. Pictures carved into the walls depicted the gods of the Streams—Ilumni, Amuni, Bragni, and Rituni, all engaged in different battles. Galiana wondered how long it would be before what was happening now culminated with the breaching of the Nether’s seals and these same gods crossing the Planes into the worlds once more. The thought brought a chill to her old bones. She pulled her cloak around her and leaned on her staff.
“At least you know he lives,” Galiana said.
Irmina nodded, but the tight lines about her face didn’t lessen.
They proceeded the rest of the way in silence. When they reached the area before the walls, Ashishin were already tending to the wounded. Galiana’s heart fell. Of the full cohort, four hundred strong, maybe only forty had survived.
Face haggard, his armor ripped in several places, Stefan approached. “They were waiting for us.”
“Did you make it into the glen?” Galiana asked.
“No. Wraithwolves guarded the entrance from this side.” He took a deep breath. “We would have taken them too … if not for the man.”
Galiana frowned. “Not the same one from—”
“No, not the one who took Thania. This man was different. He stood near the entrance also. I could’ve sworn he was looking directly at where we hid. The strangest thing about him was that each Dagodin reported as seeing a different person. He seemed inconsequential, friendly almost, like a person you would immediately take to. I snuck closer and fired my bow when he wasn’t looking. H-He turned to the arrow and … and a black tentacle snatched it out of the air.”
Irmina made a choked sound.
“You know him?” Galiana asked.
Irmina nodded numbly. “I believe so. If he’s who I think, he should be dead. I killed him at Castere.”
The Streamean Temple’s bell tolled.
“More shadelings?” Stefan shouted to the tower above him.
“Riders, sir!” yelled a Dagodin. “Coming from the northeast along the Eldan Road. Also a daggerpaw and the giant on foot.”
“It’s them,” Irmina exclaimed.
Stefan snarled. “Tell me that’s not Ancel.”
“It is,” Galiana replied.
He rushed toward the gates.
Galiana ran to the nearest tower, climbed in the wooden basket and yelled for the Dagodin above to haul her up. Rocking back and forth, the contraption ascended until it passed through the hole in the tower’s floor. Galiana scrambled out and stared across the field.
There, riding hard for Eldanhill, hooves kicking up water and snow were three figures. Behind them, Ryne’s gigantic form and Charra’s whitish blur were unmistakable. Several mountain men on draught horses were pursuing.
Galiana frowned. Why—? A scream from below cut off her question.
The ring of clashing steel and the pained cries of men and beasts echoed. Below the walls, clansmen were attacking Ashishin, striking down a few before they realized what happened. In some spots, mountain men battled each other.
The entire area seethed as Dagodin and soldiers joined the fray. The twang of bowstrings brought Galiana’s attention back to the archers next to her and their targets beyond the wall. Several clansmen were sprinting toward the newly Forged barrier and the pillars that gave it life.
Chapter 23
Irmina parried the Nema’s attack. The impact of his axe vibrated up her arms. She didn’t dare Forge. In quarters this close, the risk of hurting one of the defenders was too great.
She shifted slightly, making her body a smaller target. The clansman swung his axe in a wide arc. A quick duck under the blow allowed her to ram her sword up into his throat. The point tore up through his mouth. She yanked the blade out. Gurgling blood, he collapsed.
Spinning, she sought another victim, but most of the mountain men were already down or engaged with other soldiers. The twang of bowstrings drew her attention to the towers. Archers were firing beyond the wall. At the gate, Stefan’s bow work was a blur as he nocked and fired in quick succession, hardly pausing in between.
The familiar sense of a mind mired in fear and worry, yet remaining calm, touched hers. Ancel. She rushed to the gate and out.
Across the fields, members of both Nema and Seifer clans ran toward the barrier. Arrows struck some, and a few among them fell. Those not dead struggled to their feet to stagger on.
His face a mask of concentration, Stefan continued to shoot, each arrow flying true. Each of his targets dropped, never to rise again.
But the hail of arrows from Stefan and the Dagodin weren’t enough. The clansmen and their pets steadily gained on the barrier and pillars.
In desperation, Irmina reached her mind out to the closest animal. A daggerpaw. Focused as it was on its current task, she met little resistance as she slid into its mind. The beast issued a confused snarl before she waded through its heightened senses and primal emotions. Sifting through the murk of its thoughts, she located the leaders for both the daggerpaws and the wolves by their musty reek.
Weary from the earlier Forging, she took a deep breath, stiffened her back, and spread her senses out to the other animals. When she found the ones she sought, she eased from the daggerpaw’s awareness, split her thoughts in two, and forced her consciousness into theirs. She found where the clansmen overrode the will of their pets and ripped control from them. Her commands spilled forth in a series of images.
Kill your masters.
A chorus of howls and roars soared above the clash of steel, the hum of bowstrings, and the strained grunts of men. Wolves and daggerpaw alike fell upon any clansman intent on destroying the barriers. Screams cut off in dying gurgles and whimpering cries as the beasts tore out throats and savaged bodies. Once they began, there would be no turning back.
Irmina left the beasts to their grizzly work and gazed out to where Ancel and the others galloped toward the barrier. Ryne’s huge form bounded along with them just as she remembered from Carnas, this time sloshing through snow as if it didn’t exist. Chasing not far behind were several clansmen.
An earsplitting screech echoed once more. Shadeling wails answered.
The creatures near the tree line finally noticed the incoming riders. They raced across the empty fields, closing fast.
Irmina’s heart sped up as the riders approached the glowing barrier. The shadelings were less than thirty feet away now. Ancel was whipping on his reins. Together, all of them passed through the luminance.
She let out a relieved whoosh. She should have known Galiana would have the foresight to attune the barrier to affect shadelings only.
The mountain men in pursuit weren’t as lucky or as fast. The shadelings tore into them as they tried either to make the barrier or turn to flee the way they
’d come. A wave of black fur and billowing forms washed over them.
Heads down, the three rode hard for the gates with Ryne and Charra flanking them. Irmina and Stefan retreated inside and waited with everyone else. Stefan’s face was haggard and strained.
The group passed through the wide doorway. A windlass cranked; the gate rumbled shut.
Heart racing, she resisted the urge to run and fling herself into Ancel’s arms. He dismounted and took in his father’s glare with a shake of his head and slumped shoulders. Charra sniffed at the dead men inside the walls.
“What happened out there?” Galiana asked as she joined them.
Ancel told their story. When he spoke about the divya, the High Shin and the Pathfinders, Irmina narrowed her eyes. Control of the artifact had to be the reason the Tribunal wanted her to get rid of the council.
Guthrie stepped up among them, face mired in worry. “You do realize the clans were yours, Stefan, or were supposed to be.”
Stefan opened his mouth and then closed it as he took in the dead clansmen and those held under watch by the Dagodin and soldiers. Finally, he said, “I never suspected any of this. Not from them.”
She’d been so involved in worrying about Ancel and the fight, Irmina had forgotten Ryne’s revelation at the council meeting. The other members gathered, whispering amongst each other while shooting furtive glances Stefan’s way.
“You can’t be serious,” Stefan said, his tone an angry hiss, but his face showing more hurt than anything.
For some odd reason, despite her previous feelings, Irmina sympathized with the man. All those years ensuring his people’s safety, only to be distrusted when the shade reappeared among them. The price of keeping secrets.
“There are three factions at work within the mountain men,” Ryne announced. “One serves the shade, one serves the Tribunal, and one is with you. The issue is weeding out the traitors.”
“How are you so sure one serves the Tribunal,” Galiana asked. “Ancel said himself they were following his father’s orders.”
“I spoke to them.” Ryne shrugged. “It was the accent that confused Ancel. The man said finder’s orders, not Father’s. The Pathfinders. From the tracks, they’ve been there a while. I believe they were prepping the Chainin for some Forging.”
Irmina noted Galiana’s slight twitch at Ryne’s mention of the divya’s name. The reason dawned on her then. It must have been what Thania used to extend their lives. “So what happens now?”
“I destroyed it,” Ryne answered. “Something so powerful shouldn’t be in the hands of common folk.”
Galiana’s lips curled, but she said nothing.
“You realize this means the Tribunal will resort to its old ways. Starting wars, using raiders and slavers for the sake of death to maintain their own youth.” Stefan’s voice was calm, but underneath Irmina could tell he seethed.
“Better that than the alternative. Who’s to say they ever stopped that practice anyway,” Ryne said. “Right now though, you have another issue. A bigger one if what I saw and heard on my way rings true.”
Irmina hissed as she remembered Stefan’s words concerning the glen and the stranger. “It may be worse than you think. Either Sakari’s alive or there’s another just like him.” She repeated Stefan’s report. Oddly enough, Ryne didn’t appear surprised, doing little more than nodding as she relayed the news.
“Who’s this Sakari?” Galiana asked.
“My old bodyguard … a netherling.”
A chorus of shocked whispers echoed from those close enough to hear.
“What worries me more than him is what’s out there with him.”
Irmina frowned. What could be worse than Sakari being alive and a netherling?
“Sakari, I would be able to fight. Barely.” Ryne’s voice became distant.
The screech that sounded like metal scraping against metal came once more, scrawling across Irmina’s skin.
“That is what I’m afraid of. It’s the cry of a vasumbral. In ancient days, the Skadwaz used them to devour entire cities. They feed on Mater and provide that power to whoever controls them.” His gaze locked on the barrier.
“Oh Ilumni,” Irmina uttered. “If that’s true, we’ve given them a feast.”
“Where would such a creature come from?” Ancel asked.
“Hydae,” Ryne said.
Silence hung over them. Utter disbelief fluttered across Galiana’s face. “But wouldn’t the wards on the Kassite have to be broken for the beast to cross?”
“Yes,” Ryne answered, still holding Ancel’s gaze. “When Ancel Forged using the Chainin, he broke a ward and weakened one of the Nether’s seals.”
Chapter 24
Heart sinking into the bowels of his stomach, Ancel shook his head in denial. Ryne had to be mistaken. I destroyed one of the Kassite’s wards? I weakened one of the Nether’s seals? I possibly exposed Denestia to dangers the world had not seen in millennia? Stuff of legend and myth, much of it not even told in the stories? He cringed, picturing the destruction he possibly wrought.
Most faces around him displayed pity. All except Kachien’s and Mirza’s. Kachien’s expression was of genuine concern. Mirza’s eyes smoldered, and his clenched fist shook.
“All you Ashishin make me sick,” Mirza said. A few people gasped at the disrespect. “You get your hooks in a man, and you don’t let go. My father, my mother, now my best friend.” He hawked and spat. “All the world is a plot to you … a great game to be played, and we,” he cast his hand out, “the pieces to string along. Well, you know what? Fuck you. Fuck you all. I’m here for my friend, my family, and my people. If it takes me until my dying day, I’ll see them free.” He stalked off.
Ancel ached to walk away also, leaving the dead and dying, the stench of blood and burning pitch, the suffering, the lies … all of it behind if he could, but if things were as Ryne said—he had no reason to doubt the man—this was his responsibility. He held himself straighter, molding his spine into steel. “How do we kill them?”
Ryne smiled, a hint of pride in the way his lips curled. “Simple as that?”
“Death’s always simple.” Ancel recalled the saying from the Chronicle of Undeath. “Aren’t those your words?”
“Indeed.”
“How do you fight something that devours the power which drives the world?” Stefan arched an eyebrow.
Ryne touched his sword hilt. “With steel. Mater can’t touch the creatures as far as Forging goes, but simple metal, imbued or not, will do the task.”
“And how do we get close enough?” This from Guthrie.
“First, we must discover how many of the beasts Sakari commands,” Ryne answered. “Right now, the best course is to flee, but to do so we need a distraction. It’s the only way to buy time to get your people free of this place and for me to scout them out.”
“If he even allows us,” Irmina said.
“Why can’t we leave like the Tribunal’s Matii did?” Ancel asked.
“Only two people here are strong enough to be High Shin.” Ryne’s eyes shifted from Irmina to Galiana. “Two High Shin alone couldn’t hold portals long enough for everyone. And the Tribunal would know where we Materialized to anyway. To make things worse, we don’t have enough Dagodin to defeat the creatures, but if we had more Matii we could keep them occupied for most of you to escape. Vasumbrals are glutinous by nature. As long as there’s a chance of a Forging, they will remain.”
Irmina spoke up. “I may know how to get some more Matii … a lot more.”
All attention shifted to her. Galiana wore a pensive frown.
“I’m sorry,” Irmina mouthed to him. She inhaled and then blew out a slow breath, her shoulders drooping. “I was sent her by the Exalted.” That brought a hiss from Galiana. “As a Raijin, my task was t
o kill the council.” Her gaze hardened. “And to kill you, Ryne.”
Her intentions came as no great surprise to Ancel. The way she cried the night they made love had left him suspecting something of this nature. Ryne nodded as if he expected no less. Stefan tensed. Lips pursed, Guthrie shook his head slowly. Devan placed himself firmly between Irmina and Shin Galiana, looming over her as he did so, his fist clenched near his sword. The other council members put more distance between themselves and Irmina, edging closer to the Dagodin out of earshot near the wall.
“When I found out who you were … I couldn’t—” Chest heaving, Irmina turned away from them.
Ancel glanced from her to Ryne, narrowing his eyes. What was he missing? There seemed to be more between those two. For a moment, he pondered if they’d been involved, but dismissed the thought. What he witnessed in Irmina’s eyes was raw pain. Only one thing ever affected her like this: her parents’ death.
Ryne had nothing to do with that. Or did he?
Brushing at her face, Irmina composed herself and faced them once more. “Rest assured, I no longer intend to follow their orders against the council.” Her omission of Ryne was troubling. “However, if we need more Matii, the easiest solution is for me to signal the Tribunal that the deed is done. They’ll attack within minutes only to find the shadelings outside the walls.”
“What if they decide to ignore them and leave us to our fate?” Guthrie asked.
“They may be a lot of things, Guthrie,” Galiana leaned up off her staff, “but the Tribunal will fight the shade. The threat makes them weaker against the Sendethi and Barsonian rebellion and might be a precursor to their demise if left to fester.” She paused for a moment. “To everyone’s demise.” The last came out a whisper.
“Do we trust her?” Devan nodded to Irmina.
“Yes,” Galiana said convincingly, “I do.”
“Why?” Guthrie glanced from Galiana back to Irmina.
“She has been an agent for me and Jerem for years. As I said at the inn, she knows now we had nothing to do with her family’s deaths. Besides, Jerem would never allow her to come here if he thought she was a threat to our cause.”
Aegis of The Gods: Book 02 - Ashes and Blood Page 18