Aisha settled into the mundane simplicity of the repetitive task. The low, rasping sound of their whetstones on steel brought back memories of happy times in Praamis. They had trained together under Master Serpent, learning the art of combat and death from the Night Guild’s foremost assassin. Errik had highlighted the importance of keeping their weapons sharp and ready for battle. In many ways, their friendship had begun as they sat honing their blades side by side.
It felt so strange to be right back here again. They were hundreds of leagues from their home, in a place few in the world ever saw, surrounded by enemies. Yet even here, in this strange city, they could find that familiar spark of joy. It was what made them so right for each other, had kept them as the best of friends despite all of the darkness and cruelty that surrounded them in the Night Guild every day.
“How long is that going to take?” Hailen’s voice cut into Aisha’s thoughts.
She turned to find the young boy staring at them with an irritated scowl. “What?”
“The sharpening!” Hailen thrust a finger at the whetstone in her hands. “The Hunter always likes to do that when he’s mulling over a dilemma or trying to solve a problem.” He shuddered. “It grates on my nerves so bad. I hate it!”
“Oh, sorry.” Aisha looked down at her spearhead. “I can stop.”
Hailen nodded. “Thanks.” He rolled his head to loosen up the muscles of his neck. “Kind of hard to get any reading done with that rasping sound.” He sighed. “It’s already hard enough just to understand Suroth’s coded translations of a translation of an ancient Serenii text without any noise. Listen to this.”
“Maybe you should take a break,” Briana suggested gently from the chair beside him.
“Yeah, I’ll just take a quick stroll around the block.” Hailen’s tone was sharp, his expression flat. “Oh, wait, no I can’t.”
Briana’s face fell.
Shame burned in the young boy’s eyes. “Sorry.” He pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. “I’m not blaming you, Briana. I know you did what you had to for all of our sakes. It’s just that I escaped the Cambionari in Voramis because I was sick of being cooped up. I didn’t think I’d be right back here so—”
“Cambionari?” Kodyn asked. “Those are the demon-hunting priests of the Beggar God, right?”
Hailen nodded.
Kodyn’s brow furrowed. “If you’re one of them, why not go to them instead of staying here?” He turned to Briana with a questioning glance. “Can the Secret Keepers attack other priests in order to keep their secrets?”
“I’m not really Cambionari.” Hailen shook his head. “More like I was their student. They were teaching me how to use my powers.”
“To hunt demons?” Briana asked. Aisha had been beside Briana when Kodyn relayed his mother’s story of the monster that had worn Lord Chasteyn’s face.
“In part.” Hailen inclined his head. “But there’s more to it than that. As the last Melechha, I think my blood is the only thing that can save the world from the Great Devourer. But in order to do that, I need to understand as much about the Serenii as possible. I have to understand how their magic works, because it’s their magic that’s going to seal the rift.”
Aisha felt a moment of compassion for the young boy. Her Umoyahlebe gifts seemed a featherweight compared to the monumental burden he bore. The survival of all mankind and the fate of Einan rested on his shoulders. She could see why Evren was so protective of Hailen—not only as his brother, but as the hope for all of Einan’s survival.
“Tell you what?” Aisha grinned. “If it helps you save all of us from the Great Devourer, I’ll put away my whetstone. Seems a fair trade, right?”
The joke brought a smile to Hailen’s face—a small one, but genuine, piercing his weariness. “Yeah, sounds good.”
“Next chance I get,” Briana said, “I’ll talk Ennolar into giving you a chance to walk around the temple.”
Aisha had seen Briana “talk”; the Shalandran could be more convincing than a donkey kick to the gut.
“Thank you.” Relief brightened in Hailen’s violet eyes. “I’d like that.” He turned back to the desk, but paused, glancing over his shoulder at Aisha and Kodyn. “When you’re out there,” he said in a quiet voice, “see if you can find Evren for me? It’s been a while since he left and…”
“We’ll keep an eye out.” Kodyn stepped closer and placed a hand on Hailen’s shoulder. “He’s one of us, just like you are. We watch out for our own.”
Hailen’s grin brightened the gloom of the small stone chamber. A renewed determination sparkled in his eyes as he sat and hunched over Suroth’s journal once more.
Aisha shot Kodyn a warm smile. She’d always admired the way he took the younger Hawks under his wing, like with Sid. He had protected them, just as he now protected Hailen.
The sound of whooshing air caused Aisha to turn, in time to see the wall sliding open and Uryan striding into the room. Deep lines of sorrow etched her pinched face, and in her hands she carried a crumpled fragment of parchment.
The Guardian strode toward her without a word and thrust the scrap of papyrus toward Aisha. Aisha drew in a deep breath and took the outstretched parchment. Striding to the nearest glowing gemstone, she reached for the pendant and closed her eyes.
Thimara, now’s your chance to show me the truth.
The spark of Thimara’s life flared bright the moment Aisha’s fingers made contact with the stone pendant. The spirit didn’t try to seize control of Aisha’s body as it had before; instead, it simply flooded her mind with thoughts, a desperate urgency.
Aisha’s eyelids popped open and her gaze fixed on the scrap of parchment. Crude, illegible scribbles dotted its surface. Aisha couldn’t make sense of them, yet Thimara’s presence filled her with a strange sense of understanding. Not an understanding of what was written, but what the dying Secret Keeper had intended to write.
Again, that acidic bite returned to her stomach, accompanied by the image of a clear liquid. This time, however, she had more than a vague sense. She could actually feel what the spirit wanted to say.
“Blistering Hemlock!” Thimara’s words burst from Aisha’s lips. “Black Thistle Powder and ground Bloodcap mixed with Raven Hedgevine.”
Uryan’s face paled. “How?” Her fingers trembled as she formed the word. Long moments passed before she recovered from her shock and managed to continue. “Thimara had come up with that formula, but discarded it as useless.”
“Yes.” Aisha felt Thimara’s presence burning bright within her, filling her with hope. “But mix in Silent Goldenglow and it works!”
This staggered Uryan. The stern-faced Guardian actually took a step backward and reached for the wall to steady herself.
“Such a thing would be impossible!” Uryan shook her head. “Destroying the poison requires an immense amount of heat, such as generated by an open flame or a smith’s forge. But that would burn the victims’ skin long before it counteracted the toxin. Such heat needs to be generated from the inside out to have any effect.”
“Maybe, but maybe not!” Excitement echoed in Briana’s voice, and she leapt to her feet. “Silent Goldenglow causes a fever!”
Uryan’s eyes narrowed. “A fever,” she repeated the words, “that, if hot enough, would burn out the poison.” Her lips pressed into a frustrated line. “But it would kill its victims first unless we could find a way to stop the brain and heart from overheating.”
A word flashed into Aisha’s mind, clear as crystal. It made no sense to her, but she said it aloud anyway. “What about Frostcure?”
Briana and Uryan’s eyes widened.
Briana recovered from her surprise first. “Use the ice stones! My father told me of their purpose, used to preserve plants and animals that require extreme cold.”
Uryan scowled. “It seems the Arch-Guardian shared more secrets with you than we believed.”
Briana ignored her. “But wouldn’t they work just as well in this case? At
least for the direly ill, those on death’s door. The cold should help to protect their brains and hearts as the fever burns away the poison!”
The Secret Keeper remained silent for a long moment, her expression pensive. Finally, she shook her head. “I do not know, but it is worth experimenting with.” She fixed Aisha with a meaningful stare. “If that is what Thimara wrote, perhaps she believed it was the best way.”
Aisha handed her the parchment. “I hope so.” She knew it was true.
A spark leapt from Aisha’s hand to Uryan’s as the Guardian took the paper. The woman jumped and pulled her hand away, startled. Her brow furrowed and she stared at Aisha for a long, silent moment. Then slowly, her expression changed. Her mouth relaxed, color returned to her bloodless lips, and a hint of a smile actually cracked her stern façade.
“Thank you.” A simple gesture, yet the look in Uryan’s eyes spoke volumes. Her expression held gratitude for not only uncovering a potential cure, but for the words about Thimara.
Aisha felt her lips return the smile—Thimara’s action, not her own.
With a nod, the Secret Keeper left.
Aisha turned back to her friends and found Briana, Kodyn, and even Hailen staring at her. “What?” she asked.
Kodyn smiled. “You know what.” He gestured toward the door. “All that, with the crazy knowledge and understanding those scribbles.”
Aisha blushed. “It’s not me, really. It’s Thimara…she’s the one—”
“You’re doing it, too,” Kodyn said with a wink. “And making it look good.”
Aisha’s blush deepened. A warm glow settled over her, filling her with happiness.
“Come on,” she said, sheathing her spear, “there’s one more thing I need to do before we go.”
Kodyn’s eyebrows rose, questioning.
Aisha held out a hand. “Just trust me.”
Without hesitation, Kodyn took her outstretched hand. Aisha opened the door and led Kodyn down the passage toward the front chamber and out of the vault-like Temple of Whispers.
Outside, the last rays of the afternoon light had turned to dark grey, the sun long set. The moon had just begun to shine its brilliant face down on the city and the first stars dotted the evening sky.
Aisha relished the cool breeze that wafted across her face, the warmth of Kodyn’s strong hand in hers. He followed her without hesitation, a strong presence at her back, comforting in his silent acceptance.
As they reached the Sanctuary, she released his hand. “Watch my back, will you? This is important.”
Curiosity shone bright in Kodyn’s honey eyes, but he said nothing, simply nodded.
Drawing in a long breath, she turned toward the Sanctuary—toward the hundreds of blue-white spirits clustered around the temple where they had breathed their last. Empty eyes fixed on her, open mouths pleading for vengeance, for justice. But now, Aisha understood the meaning of their cries. They had been murdered—killed by a poison masquerading as disease—and they wanted her to avenge their deaths.
She clasped the pendant around her neck and suddenly the voice sharpened. Their words echoed in her mind, their pleas for justice and vengeance clear as crystal.
Once, Aisha might have fled or flinched from the intensity of their cries. Now, she stepped toward them. Come! She held out her free hand toward the Kish’aa. Come, and you will have your vengeance!
Spirits of the dead rushed toward her, a tidal wave of blue-white light that only she could see. The moment they touched her outstretched hands, their energy faded, absorbed into her body. Energy crackled down her arm and settled deep in the core of her being. The images, memories, and emotions of a dozen lives and deaths flashed through her mind. She staggered beneath the onslaught yet forced herself to stand firm.
The power of the spirits flooded her, filled her to overflowing, then rushed into the locket beneath her fingers. She pulled in the Kish’aa until it felt as if she would explode. Lightning set every nerve in her body tingling, every muscle alight with flames. Blue-white sparks danced between her fingers, crackled in her veins, burned away every trace of fatigue.
Finally, she could take no more. Her hand fell by her side and she stepped back, her body humming with brilliant energy. She gasped as she glanced down at the pendant around her neck. The once-black stone was now a burning blue-white. Light consumed the entire stone, shimmering in its depths.
It truly was a storehouse for the power of the spirits!
A sense of awe washed over her, and she tucked the pendant quickly into her shirt as she turned back to Kodyn.
Kodyn’s jaw dropped. “Aisha, you look…” He swallowed and blinked, as if at as some impossible phantasm. “…powerful!”
Aisha grinned. “The Kish’aa cry for vengeance against their murderers. And by the Keeper, they will have it!”
Chapter Thirty-Three
Kodyn replayed the scene from outside the Sanctuary in his mind for the tenth time in the last hour. He hadn’t actually seen anything—she’d simply stretched out her hand toward the temple—but he could almost swear he’d felt something. A strange whisper of power, like the tang that hung in the air just after a lightning strike.
Worry had twisted in his gut as he watched her muscles twitch, and he’d almost stepped forward to catch her when she staggered back. Yet when she had turned around to face him, the blue-white sparks dancing through her choclat-brown eyes shocked him. He had wanted to watch that play of light for hours. That had made her even more beautiful to him, filled with so much life and energy.
The memories of their first kiss sprang to the forefront of his mind and sent blistering heat racing through his body. He pushed back against the pleasant distraction. His focus at that moment had to be on stopping the Gatherers from poisoning the city’s water. If they didn’t, everyone in Shalandra—from the Palace of Golden Eternity to the lowest Mahjuri—could wind up dead.
Not while I draw breath! Grim determination settled within his chest and he tightened his grip on his daggers’ hilts. We’re going to stop every one of those bastards, no matter what the cost.
Sundown had found him chafing with impatience to depart, and it had taken all of his self-control not to bark at the Secret Keepers leading the expedition. Even now, as they slipped in silence through the network of Serenii tunnels, he had to fight the urge to speed up, to run ahead of the Secret Keepers. Only the fact that he didn’t know the way kept him firmly in line with the priests.
The Secret Keepers had used an entrance that led from the wall of the Artisan’s Tier deep into one of the Serenii tunnels. The moment they entered, two had produced palm-sized green stones. The stones gave off a dim glow, and whenever they passed one of the red gemstones set into the wall at regular intervals, they caused them to light up so bright they illuminated the passage for ten paces in every direction.
Kodyn had to marvel at the ingenuity. More Serenii magic, he decided, just like the runes carved into the wall.
His eyes roamed the indecipherable markings and symbols. The curious part of him ached to know what they meant—Hailen might be able to tell him—but he’d have to think about that another time.
The eight Secret Keepers they accompanied were all stern-faced, broad-shouldered men and women. They had abandoned their thick brown robes, ornate white headbands, and flowing shendyts. Now they wore lightweight, sleeveless tunics and trousers, all the better to move and fight freely. Their headbands were strips of white-enameled metal—a half-circlet, half-coronet. Though they carried no weapons Kodyn could see, he had little doubt they would hold their own.
He brought the image of Ennolar’s map to mind. The tangled lines had depicted all of the hidden routes that led around Shalandra, yet made no mention of the Heartspring. According to Robban, the Secret Keeper leading their hunting party, that had been intentional. The Heartspring’s location numbered among Shalandra’s best-guarded secrets.
Evidently not well-guarded enough, Kodyn thought with a snort. Somehow the Gatherer
s managed to find out where it was.
Robban had suspected the traitor on the Keeper’s Council. By tradition, a handful of the city’s secrets—including the location of the Heartspring, the presence of the Serenii tunnels, and who knew what else—had to be shared with a select few of the highest-ranking Necroseti. It seemed this particular secret had been entrusted to the wrong person—a mistake that could kill everyone in Shalandra.
So why in the bloody hell aren’t the Secret Keepers moving any faster? Kodyn stifled a frustrated growl. If it was me, I’d be running like a Fox fleeing the Praamian Guard.
His answer came a moment later. Robban stopped at what looked like a blank section of wall and held out her hand for one of the glowing emerald lamp stones. The moment she moved the gemstone close to the wall, the symbols and markings began to glow bright green. The wall lit up in a strangely beautiful mandala, complex lines of brilliance etched into the golden sandstone.
Kodyn’s eyes followed the swirling lines until his head ached. He would never have found it searching on his own, even with all of his years of experience as a thief. No wonder the Secret Keepers believed it was secure. It would be impossible for anyone to find—anyone who didn’t know what they were looking for, that is.
Robban pressed the black ring on her middle finger to the center of the circular pattern and a quiet thunk echoed in the tunnels.
A hiss escaped as the wall slid to one side to reveal a shorter, narrower passage into darkness. Fresh air wafted across Kodyn’s face, carrying the scent of water. He fancied he could almost hear the rush of water from far in the distance, though it might have simply been the excited beating of his heart. Within, the gemstones glowed a bright white instead of the dull red of the passages without.
“We move in silence,” Robban signaled, her face set as hard as the stone in her hand. “Midnight is still two hours off. We’ll have to hurry, but there should be time to get into position to catch the Gatherers by surprise.”
Heirs of Destiny Box Set Page 110