The Shadowglass

by Rin Chupeco

  The older man sighed resignedly. It was clear they’d had many discussions like this before. “Very well, Your Majesty. Lord Kalen, Lady Tea—will you be needing horses? Your own may need rest after such a strenuous journey.”

  “I have a special steed, General, one with an inexhaustible supply of energy. But we will be doing most of our work on my azi.”

  The general shuddered. “I never thought I would see the day when those beasts could be ridden into battle like flying cavalry.”

  “Do you intend to confront the Faceless within the mountains?” Kance asked me.

  “I would like to concentrate on decimating as many of the Drychta as we can first. Their small numbers have the advantage up the cliffs.”

  “We will do our best to keep the battle as short as possible. Let’s go, gentlemen. The Yadoshans are waiting.”

  “Will you two be all right?” I asked Khalad.

  The Heartforger nodded. “I am worried about Likh though. Her symptoms should have dissipated by now. I’ve talked to Knox. Aden had been examined by one of the remaining Yadoshan asha who arrived from Steerfall, and it seems he’s already closer to recovery than she is. We’ve tested all our food. If there were any spells in it, we’d be afflicted as well. I don’t see why she should be recovering any differently.”

  “Keep an eye on her, especially today. I don’t want any of those Drychta within a mile of Likh.”

  “I’ll kill them if I have to.” Khalad sounded fierce.

  Both the Yadoshans and the Odalians had reached an agreement by the time we returned. Knox grinned widely when he saw us. “Lady Tea,” he crowed, hefting a battle-ax. “Much better than a daeva hunt, don’t you think?”

  I groaned. “Only Yadoshans would look at this as a game, Knox.”

  “If we play to win, then why does it matter?” He bowed respectfully to Kance. “Your Majesty, we’ve come to lend our strength to yours. First Minister Stefan bids us to follow your orders as if they were his own.”

  “I am honored by the faith your leader places in me, Lord Knox. My scouts have told me that King Aadil himself is within these mountains, and that there is some unrest among his soldiers, though the reason eludes us. We aim to take advantage of their unease and attack as soon as we are able.”

  “Can’t the Lady Tea traipse into their heads and use runes to force information out of them? She seemed quite capable of it when we interrogated that Drychta spy.”

  “That’s not how it works, milord,” I said.

  “Drychta spy?” Kance asked curiously.

  The man coughed, chastened. “Ah, nothing important, Your Majesty. My men await your orders.”

  “The Faceless will be quick to fend off any intrusions, milord,” I reminded him. I’d already tried a quick Scry into the mountains but had detected nothing.

  “Then let us begin. The Drychta are used to cavalry, and several phalanxes will be necessary. My Deathseekers shall attack first. It will be best to stay out of their way. My men shall move with archers behind them to cut down any approaching fighters. Once engaged, I would like your men to attack from both sides in a pincer maneuver. Lady Tea and Lord Kalen will direct the battle from overhead, on their azi.”

  “Done and done, Your Majesty. Though I wager the azi’ll cut our work for us.”

  “I’ve had my own experiences with daeva, and they are unpredictable, to say the least.” Kance’s voice was clipped. “I will put my trust in my men, and in yours. Let’s move out, and may whatever gods listening bestow their grace on us all this day.”

  The azi was primed and ready, snorting out thick gusts of smoke as we slid down its neck. We had scarcely settled when it rose, wings flapping, sending up small tornadoes of dust, causing soldiers to scurry out of its way. Kance watched as the daeva took us into the clouds. We watched as the army pushed forward, banners of red and gold streaming across the plain to meet the Drychta’s black and yellow. We circled the empty space above them, waiting for Kance’s signal.

  A blast of trumpets sounded below, and my thoughts spurred the azi into action. It swooped, and a fireball cut down a swath of soldiers in its path before most were even aware an attack had commenced. Desperate, they turned, fleeing the burning ground, many of them running straight into the Deathseekers’ line of fire. The flames they channeled from their hands were smaller than my daeva’s, but enough to accomplish their aims. Kalen’s Wind runes gleamed, mapping a constellation across the sky that goaded the fires into spreading among the demoralized Drychta. The Odalian army marched forward, fresh and eager to join the fight with the Yadoshans converging, cutting down enemy stragglers too slow to move out of their way.

  A terrible rumbling came from the direction of the mountains. The azi’s heads huddled together and hissed, its mind prodding gently at mine, asking for control. I relinquished my hold, and it landed on the ground, sending troops from both sides scattering. Danger, it whispered to me, dangerdangerdanger.

  “Tell the Odalians and the Deathseekers to retreat!” I barked at Kalen. “Something big is coming their way!”

  “You heard the lady!” Kalen yelled back at the troops, amplifying Wind so that his voice carried clearly across the battlefield. “Stay back if you value your lives!”

  The Odalians were quite willing to obey, the Yadoshans a shade more reluctant. “What is the azi telling you?” Kalen asked me tersely.

  “I don’t know yet, but it feels foreboding.”

  As soon as I said the words, I had a vision of scaled claws fighting their way up through the surface of the ground, dripping black, acid-like vomit in their wake. I clutched at Kalen’s arm. “The indar.”

  “I don’t see any—”

  My words proved prophetic. The ground moved beneath us without warning, a terrible earthquake that threw allies and enemies alike off their feet, as if the whole world trembled with fury. A fissure appeared before us and widened, the soil breaking apart as something black and malevolent scratched its way to the surface. The azi sneered, all three heads breathing contempt, as the new daeva cawed at the air with a high-pitched cry that I swore could be heard all the way to Istera.

  “Back, men!” Knox shouted. This time the Yadoshans yielded, widening the distance between them and the terrible beast, which climbed out of the bowels of the earth. The indar was a tar-soaked abomination, and the ground underneath it sizzled as its foul-smelling secretions spread across the soil, burning the land with every drip. It was a monster with feathers and wings, if feathers and wings could be carved from stone. I knew that, like the azi, it could fly, though its heavy body ensured its flight was limited. And like the savul, its weapon of choice was poison secreted in heavy sacs underneath its limbs, serving as both projectile and armor.

  “Keep away!” General Lode snapped. “Archers only! The rest, retreat and protect the king! Deathseekers, keep it busy!”

  The azi and the indar circled each other. Kalen focused on channeling Shield runes in the air, and I added my strength to his as I burrowed the rest of myself into the azi’s movements. The indar’s mind was a swamp of putrid, undecipherable emotions, all of them hungry and sluggish, but I could detect the faintest human presence, nestled deep within the bog.

  Druj. Who else could possess such skill? But while Aenah and Usij were quick to confront me head-on, using their force to barrel into my mind, overwhelm me, and take control of the azi, Druj’s thoughts slid away whenever I drew too close, evading my prodding with ease, much to my mounting frustration. The azi was the first to attack, all three heads lashing forward. The indar was quick, despite its bulk, and evaded the attempts. Like its possessor, it was content to move out of the way rather than attack, though its poisonous sweat still presented a danger. The azi growled as some of the poison spattered its skin. Pain flashed through our shared link.

  “Hold on,” Kalen said through gritted teeth, and I felt him expand the Sh
ield. I watched with amazement as his runes crept over the azi and covered it, a makeshift armor forged from spells.

  Kalen was taking power from our Heartshare, I realized—and through me, the azi’s strength. I had linked with other asha before, but they had never been able to share the azi’s strength. I heard the fighting resume behind us; the other Deathseekers had banded together, attacking the indar with their own volley of spells and runes, though they distracted more than maimed. Some of the braver Odalian archers sent arrows bouncing off its hide, but the Yadoshans, more keen on inflicting genuine injuries, were busy sinking their swords into every Drychta they could reach.

  I cursed quietly, wading through the thick mental mire to reach the indar’s core. Though the Deathseekers’ spells had little physical effect on the daeva, they were successful at diverting some of its attention away from me, allowing me to pinpoint the center of its thoughts. I sensed a faint struggle, some independent, reptilian aspect of its mind resisting Druj’s control.

  But then the indar’s thoughts shifted. It turned from the azi, no longer interested in an offensive. It turned its attentions to the Odalians, toward the circle of soldiers protecting Kance, Likh, and Khalad.

  “Protect the king!” Kalen snarled, even as I ordered the azi to block the indar’s path. But the indar threw its head back and brought its wings down in one violent motion. A fountain of black bile spewed out, arcing forward like a sickly rainbow, showering its surroundings with its poison. I saw some of the Deathseekers switch to the defensive, forming Shield runes of their own, protecting a bulk of the army from the acid. But I watched, sickened, as some were not as lucky.

  Screaming, those soldiers dissolved before our very eyes as the tar ate their flesh, steam rising from their writhing bodies. “Water!” General Lode roared, and to my horror, Likh leaped forward, the wards around her gone as she sent cloudbursts onto the unfortunate victims, soaking them in a sudden flood. A Drychta lunged for her, but was beaten back by a determined Khalad, who had found himself a sword amid the chaos.

  I reached out with my mind and compelled every suffering soldier I could reach, sending them into blissful unconsciousness. It was the only mercy I could afford them.

  My grip on the indar slipped as I did, and I swore again through my tears, plunging back into its head and repeating the painstaking process all over again. You are weak, a voice whispered into my ear, confident enough to taunt rather than take advantage. Your compassion makes you weak, Lady Tea.

  I focused my will and tried to attack, but, laughing, he slid out of my grasp once more.

  The soldiers surrounding Kance were at full retreat, but the indar stubbornly raced after them, knocking other Odalians and Yadoshans out of the way. My azi stormed into its path, crashing deliberately into the other daeva just as the latter raised its hideous wings again. Kalen grabbed me, held me close as black rain spattered around us, making harsh sizzling noises as some of the Shield runes melted at the potency.

  I located the indar’s core again, reached for it. There was another mind latching on, tightening its hold as it sensed me. I shoved against that presence, only to encounter resistance. I tried again.

  The azi’s left head snapped forward. Heedless of the acid, its teeth latched onto the indar’s feathered neck, fangs sinking into its jugular. The daeva shrieked with pain for the first time since the fight started, but it was not enough to shake off Druj’s control. The azi cried out as well, and I felt the terrible sizzle of its hide as if it were my own skin. I screamed but wouldn’t, couldn’t, let go, even as the agony grew intolerable.

  A blaze of lightning cut through the indar, separating it from the azi. “Asha!” Althy’s voice sounded over the din, strong and sure and safe. “To me! Aim for its eyes!”

  New arcs of lightning filled the horizon, cutting into the other daeva. I turned and saw Althy surrounded by other Kion asha, linked and sending swaths of bright light, sharp and cutting, burrowing into the indar’s flesh. They did little to hurt the daeva, but the light dazzled it. Yowling, the indar twisted to and fro, its lidless eyes unable to turn away from the brightness filling its vision.

  Tea, I heard, from far away and close at the same time. A sudden spasm of strength went through me, catching me by surprise. The energy trickled up to the part of me that continued to cling to the indar’s thoughts, which were still under Druj’s control. I seized it, pushed with all my might.

  A blaze of light exploded into the abyss when my thoughts touched both the daeva’s and Druj’s, and it was enough to startle the Faceless into letting go. The indar’s mind fell into mine.

  Die! I shouted. Die, die, die, die, die—

  I don’t know how long I shrieked. It was only Kalen, shaking me gently, that brought me back to myself. “Tea,” he murmured. “It’s over.”

  The indar lay on its side, surrounded by a pool of its own black acid. Druj’s mind was gone, retreating somewhere inside Mithra’s Wall. A subdued, shaken cheer rose among the soldiers as they watched the rest of the unaltered Drychta army run, leaving their dead comrades behind, while some of the Yadoshans persisted in chasing the stragglers. The Odalian banner flew over Kance’s location, flapping in the wind. The king was safe.

  The door in my head that separated Fox from me remained closed, but I was sure Fox had gotten through somehow, that he had added his strength to mine to allow me to triumph over Druj. I reached for him, expecting to find my brother’s warm, comforting presence. But there was nothing. The barriers between us remained intact, and I was alone.

  Still holding on to Kalen, I burst into tears.

  The Drychta staggered out from the base of the mountains, many on fire. I watched others jump off higher peaks, screaming as the flames consumed them until they were but balls of light, falling like rain.

  As they plunged down, I saw them change. Their bodies warped and shifted. They did not hit the ground with lifeless thuds, but with raspy chitterings and undulations as their midsections broke and re-formed and gave way to new segmented bodies, horrible insect-like mutations fused with mammalian limbs. Still burning, they skittered forward, shrugging off the fires like they had their humanity, creeping toward the stricken Odalians and Yadoshans who retreated from the sight. Nothing in their training had prepared them for such macabre alchemy.

  It was the nanghait that saved them. Rushing forward with its trunk-like legs, the daeva scooped up the first of the grotesque insects. Its jaws unhinged, and it stuffed the creature into its gaping maw, its crunching curdling my blood. Another insect leaped forward, but the nanghait was ceaseless, simply shifting its head to present a second hungry face to consume a fresh meal, and then another, and another.

  The taurvi lifted its head and sang a lullaby, a seductive melody that should not have been possible from those ruined mandibles, those protruding fangs. The blighted Drychta slowed, transfixed by the sound, as did other soldiers nearby—including me. It stole into my head, erasing all emotions in me but rapture. All thought of fleeing, or moving, slipped away. The aeshma lumbered close, ignoring us. It rolled itself into a ball and mowed down the immobile Drychta without pause, stampeding through the flock even as they sat and listened to its brother daeva’s deathsong.

  But the savul was a much more brutal beast; it clawed eagerly into anyone close enough to obstruct its path, and I could hear General Lode over the din, yelling at the rest to fall back, to keep away from the daeva.

  The zarich breathed ice and mist. The crackling stole up Drychta legs, rendering them useless as it sliced through their scaled bodies. And still, the azi above us continued its pillaging, promising more infernos.

  The others had not been idle. Arcs of Fire and Ice and Wind and Lightning filled the sky as the asha and the Deathseekers attacked, halting the Drychta’s progress. Lord Agnarr and his men knelt, hands firm against the ground. The nearest Drychta took a step and sank into unexpected quicksand. The earth s
huddered as spikes jutted out without warning, impaling others.

  “Tea!” Lord Fox rode into view, cutting down every Drychta in his path. His eyes were trained on the azi flying overhead, and he exchanged his blade for a bow that was strapped across his shoulders. He strung an arrow and loosened it quickly when the three-headed daeva sailed nearer to the ground. There was no visible wound, but the azi veered away.

  “Tell your pet to stop burning the Hollows, you idiot!” the man roared up at the sky. “You’ll burn everything!”

  The Dark asha heard him. The zarich stomped forward and took a deep gargle of air. Mist formed around my mouth even as the cold extended into the mountain, containing the conflagration for the moment.

  But her brother was far from done. He leaped off Chief and sliced his way through the rest of the Drychta. His eyes were on the savul, still on its rampage. He cut down the remaining blighted—and drove his sword into the daeva, bloodying its shin.

  Its roar was one of surprise. For a moment, it seemed recognition blazed behind its yellow, bulging eyes. Its maimed claw, after all, had been responsible for the man’s death. Still caught in its bloodlust, the daeva swung at him. Lord Fox did nothing to deter the attack. Its talon slashed through his chest.

  Both reeled back unexpectedly. The savul shrilled from some invisible pain. The undead general sank to the ground with his hand over his lacerated chest and his mouth pulled back in a snarl, gulping air he did not require. From above, the azi’s reaction was immediate. It landed beside the savul, stumbling in its haste. The first to jump off its back was Lord Kalen, slamming his blade against a blighted Drychta’s unprotected side when it ventured near.

  “Fox!” She had changed much since the last time I had seen her. Her hair streamed behind her like the night, clothed in the hua of three dragons she had worn at our first meeting, dark eyes still a mystery, but her cheeks had hollowed and her skin had lost some of its luster. An unspoken thought passed between her and Fox, between her and Kalen, between her and her daeva—and both savul and azi turned to protect the three, snapping and clawing at the dwindling Drychta still putting up a fight.