The command echoed through the bond, reverberating in Michel’s head. A small gasp escaped him as the words wrote themselves on his heart.
Aeron’s eyes were wide with shock and hurt. “Demon’s balls, you didn’t have to command us.”
Michel swallowed the lump of betrayal that threatened to overwhelm him. Why had she included him in the command? He’d only been commanded through a bond once before, but that was more than enough. It was an unspoken rule between bonded individuals that commands shouldn’t be issued without a dire reason. Michel understood why Ris had done it, but it still stung. To be bonded was to give up some measure of control over one’s self, and a command reeked of subjugation.
“Why?” Aeron rasped, his eyes shining with the same betrayal that tugged at Michel.
Ris took a deep breath and blew it out slowly before looking away. “You know why.”
“You’ve never—” Aeron shook his head, his jaw clenched.
Unshed tears glittered in Ris’s eyes. “What else was I supposed to do? You weren’t listening.”
Aeron looked at his feet, his fists balled at his sides. “I’m sorry.”
Ris slipped her arms around Aeron’s waist and laid her cheek against his shoulder. Michel looked away, unable to watch the display of affection.
“I am, too,” she murmured.
Jagged teeth of jealousy tore at Michel as he listened to the quiet murmurs of apology from the pair. Eventually, they joined him, sitting at the fire, shoulder to shoulder.
“Well?” Michel asked, carefully avoiding looking at them. “Are you going to tell her or do you want me to do it?”
“I’ll tell her,” Aeron rubbed at his jaw. “It’s my story after all.”
Silence passed while the sun glared down at them. Michel tensed, hating the pain that seeped into him from the air, the land, everything.
“I don’t remember my parents,” Aeron murmured. “My sister and I lived in the slums of Odenfeld for as long as I could remember. Living off of scraps, stealing when we had to. It wasn’t much of a life, but Addie was always sick….”
Cloth rustled, and Michel glanced over to see Ris wrap her arms around Aeron. Hot and sour envy washed over him.
“Odenfeld? Where is that?” Ris asked.
“It’s gone,” Michel said through gritted teeth. “Lost when the Lady released her curse.”
Like so many other things. His hands curled into fists. What else would be lost in this wasteland?
Aeron cleared his throat. “I ran with a gang of thieves and cutthroats. It made me enough that I could get Addie medicine. I wanted to take her to the Lady’s city so we could find a healer. But, Gravin….” He shuddered.
Michel didn’t blame him. Even in the Lady’s city, news had reached them of the gruesome murder.
“When I told Gravin that I was leaving,” Aeron’s voice barely rose above the cries of the wind, “he said that I would regret it. I should have never told him. I should have just left without saying a word.”
Addie’s death was a wound that would never heal. Much like Ollie’s death had been.
“You don’t have to tell me,” Ris said quietly. “It’s okay.”
Aeron shuddered again. “It’s not. You remind me of her. Addie was tough and stubborn. She never let her illness stop her. I wanted to leave the gang. Wanted to break free and get Addie somewhere safe. Somewhere she could get help. But Gravin was a sadistic bastard. He said my leaving was a betrayal. That my sister’s life wasn’t more important than his gang of thugs. Gravin tortured and killed Addie. Waited for me to find her, then called the city watch.”
“They blamed you, didn’t they?” A tear drifted down Ris’s cheek.
Aeron buried his face in her lap, his shoulders shaking as he cried.
“Aeron was sentenced to death,” Michel said. “Anyone sentenced to death was taken to the Lady for execution. As soon as she saw him, she proclaimed him innocent and took him in as a paladin to protect him.”
Silence descended. Michel hated it. It ate at his resolve to stay away from Ris. He wanted to rip her away from Aeron. He knew it was wrong, knew that she wasn’t in love with Aeron. All of her words, her gestures indicated she cared for Aeron, but at the same time, there was a distance between the two that spoke of longtime friends not lovers.
An image filled his mind of Aeron and Ris in a passionate embrace. Bile rose in his throat along with hot anger. The visual grew clearer. He tried to push it away. To focus on the moment and ignore the thought, but it wouldn’t disappear.
Ris and Aeron together.
Never. He would kill Aeron before he let that happen.
“Michel? Are you okay?”
Her voice brought him back to reality.
What in the Light was he thinking? Kill Aeron?
He stared at his hands as he clenched and unclenched them.
“Michel?” She pressed a hand to his cheek, turning his head until he looked at her.
“This is wrong,” he said. “Everything in this place is wrong.”
His magic reached for hers, dancing about them in a harmony of violins and trumpets. Honey and moonlight. Warmth and softness. His breath caught for a second as his eyes met hers. His hand rose of its own accord, and his fingers brushed the velvet of her cheek. She wrapped cold fingers around his palm, pulling away, both physically and with her magic.
“You should get some rest.” Ris squeezed his hand. “I’ll take first watch.”
It felt as if she had punched him in the chest. He nodded unable to find words after her rejection. Why didn’t she want him? Why did she prefer Aeron?
His thoughts spun in a frenzied circle. They were wrong, but he couldn’t stop them. Around and around like a ceaseless merry-go-round. He tried to focus on the moment. Focus on breathing. Nothing worked.
Like the taint that surrounded him, the ideas sank deeper into his mind. Thorny, splintered thoughts that strangled him in a web of jealousy. More images formed. His fingers wrapping around Aeron’s throat. Aeron thrashing in the sand as the life drained out of him.
No.
Michel pulled his mind back to the present. An ache formed deep in his bones. An itch to act on the impulses that filled his mind.
No. This wasn’t the way. This wasn’t him. It was the corruption of the land infecting him. A slow decay of his spirit. How long did he have until his control slipped and he gave in?
Lady, he prayed, let us survive this.
23
They have escaped. Ruin, War, and Plague have gone into the world, and I pray to the Light that my creation has the strength to stand fast. The Darkness glories in their release and taunts me with my failures. I have no hope and fear I will fall into the Void. Light, help me.
~Excerpt from “The Lady and the Darkness” as translated by Sir Gwilam Cavanaugh
The sky spread above me in a blanket of endless blue as I tossed and turned on the rocky sand. Restlessness itched in my bones and my heartbeat echoed in my ears. An unknown fear haunted the edges of my awareness, pulling at me. It wrapped itself around my mind and wormed its way into my spirit, sending unease coursing through my veins.
Shapeless. Nameless. What was it that I feared? It wasn’t real. It was a symptom of the Bonelands and the corruption that lived there.
Cloth rustled, and a shadow covered the sky. Something was above me, blurred by the bright sun. Panic made me grip my bedroll as my heart knocked against my ribs.
“Bad dream?” Michel whispered.
“I guess.” My voice came out in a harsh croak.
Evening wasn’t far away. The edge of the horizon was dusted in coral before it stretched heavenward and mixed with the deeper shades of blue. I sat up and rubbed my face.
“You should go back to sleep,” Michel said.
I should, but I couldn’t.
He knelt next to the dying fire, stirring it to life with a small stick. We’d brought some firewood
with us, but I had no idea how long it would last. Would our food and fuel run out before we found what we were looking for? Or would we die in the Bonelands because we ran out of time and resources?
Images of people I didn’t know and buildings I’d never seen danced on the edges of my vision. I closed my eyes, blocking out the sight.
Thud-thud.
I pressed my hand to my chest to quiet my pounding heart. The constant threat of demons, the strange visions, the increasing pull of the taint. My magic hummed below the surface, tempting me to draw on it and cleanse the land. It sang a haunting melody and begged me to use it. I felt like I was slowly going insane.
How many days had we been in this cursed place? How many more until we found the Heart? Would we even find it? Had I led us on a fool’s errand? We would die out here, forgotten and alone.
I drew my knees to my chest and laid my forehead on them. Doubt filled me, eating away at my resolve. Was the vision the Lady had shown me of the future a lie? Had she deceived me? It all spun in a maddening circle, round and round in my mind.
Michel sat next to me and wrapped an arm around my shoulders. A silent reminder that I wasn’t alone. My magic coiled around his, unbidden, but it soothed the rough edges of my fear. For once, I didn’t pull back and didn’t resist. Fire and water danced together in harmony.
I leaned into him and let the doubts and worries that plagued me spill from my lips.
“Am I crazy? Are we going to die out here?”
He said nothing, just held me.
Tears poured down my face, and my body shook. “Something is pulling me, dragging me deeper into this horrible place. I have to find the Heart. If I do, then everything will be all right. But, what if the vision the Lady showed me wasn’t real? What if it’s the Darkness trying to trick me?”
Our magic continued its slow, waltz, spinning and turning. It was dangerous to let this happen. To give in and let our magic do as it pleased. It wrapped us in notes that bathed my senses in warmth and comfort, reminding me of home. I lost myself in the gentle flow of violins and trumpets as they swept us up in their dance.
“What are you doing?” Aeron asked, his voice tight with worry.
“It’s none of your business.” Michel pulled me closer, a possessiveness to his tone that I’d never heard before.
“It is my business,” Aeron growled. “Our job is to protect Ris. What you’re doing is dangerous.”
“We’re not doing anything that concerns you.” The hard edge in Michel’s voice bothered me.
“You two need to stop fighting.” Reluctantly, I moved away from Michel.
He held my gaze for a long moment before standing, his fists clenched at his sides. “I’ll get the horses ready.”
Our magic settled back into its normal state once he walked away. I sighed. The loss of him left a hole in my heart. Strange. When had he become so important to me?
Thud-thud.
I pressed my hand to my chest once again.
Aeron touched my shoulder. “Be careful, imp. Letting your magic blend with Michel’s freely like that could end up killing you both.”
“I wasn’t thinking.” I pushed my palms into my eyes. “I’m too tired to think.”
“That’s no excuse.” Aeron’s words slapped me.
He was right. I knew better. I buried my face in my hands. Few were able to overcome the desire to mix their magic and ended up drawing far more than they could handle. The result was the death of one or both of the bonded pair.
“I know my limits.” I did, but the taint that surrounded us blurred the lines that were normally clear.
Aeron sighed. “What you’re feeling, it’s not real. It’s your magic.”
I closed my eyes and rubbed at my forehead. My feelings for Michel weren’t all caused by the magic, no matter what Aeron claimed. I cared about Michel. How deeply, I wasn’t sure. We hadn’t known each other long, a couple of weeks at the most, but we’d been through so much in that time that it felt as if I’d known him for years. I was comfortable with Michel even after everything Tolbert had done to me.
I opened one of the packs and pulled out some supplies for breakfast. Tea, travel bread, a couple of tins of beans, and a hunk of hard cheese. Not the most palatable of meals, but it was better than nothing. I warmed some water while Aeron took the beans and heated them in a small pot.
“How are you feeling?” I asked.
Aeron shrugged. Dark circles lined his eyes, and his cheeks looked more hollow than I’d ever seen them. His normal easy-going smile hadn’t made an appearance in days. I missed it.
Peals of laughter filled the air. Both of us flinched at the sound. Aeron’s wooden spoon scraped against the pot, growing louder and more frantic with every laugh. I wasn’t sure if he was trying to block out the sound or get every last bean.
My doubts about my hunt for the Heart resurfaced. Maybe Aeron could answer some of my questions.
“Hey, fox-face, what do you think will happen when we find the Heart?”
“Nothing good,” Aeron murmured.
I stared at the hard cheese in my hand. “I’m the Lady’s vessel. What will become of me if I do what she wants?”
Aeron poked at the fire with a piece of kindling. “The Lady’s daughters were meant to carry her power. To keep it in the world should she decide to return to the Void.”
“I know all that. I meant, will I disappear? Turn into something else?”
Aeron’s forehead knotted up. “Listen, imp, all the Lady’s daughters fell to the Darkness. It’s why we’ve hidden and sheltered all of their descendants. To prevent them from suffering the same fate. No one, except the Lady knows what will happen if she uses you as a vessel.”
My thoughts churned in an endless loop, Aeron’s words reverberating through me. No one knew except the Lady. All of them fell to the Darkness. I was stupid for insisting we come here. There was no way I could find the Heart in this vast, empty wasteland. Michel and Aeron would be smart to leave me and return to the Bastion. Leave me to rot with the rest of the tainted creatures. Let me turn into another Ruin. It’s what I deserved for leading them to their deaths.
We ate in silence, not lingering or savoring the meal. What was there to enjoy?
“Run, little healer,” I heard Tolbert taunt. “Run and hide.”
Once the meal was finished, we packed away the utensils and supplies before mounting up.
“Do you think we’re getting any closer?” I asked.
Michel looked around. The soft light of the setting sun revealed the same landscape we’d seen for days on end. Rippling, black sand stretched out for miles in every direction.
“It’s hard to say. With no landmarks, I can’t even begin to guess where we are.” Michel scratched his bearded cheeks. It was strange to see him unshaven. He looked more like a nomad from the Western Wilds than a paladin from the Bastion.
We rode forward, continuing in a southern direction. A chill built quickly once the sun set, and the land disappeared in shadow blending with the night sky. It felt like we were riding in the Void.
My skin itched with the need for a bath. Days of travel had left a layer of grime so thick I was sure it would never come off. Coupled with the heat of the Bonelands, I stank of sweat and taint. I wanted to go home. The desire swept over me so suddenly that it left me breathless.
I gripped the reins. Why didn’t they just leave me? It’s what I deserved for leading us to our deaths. I picked at a hole forming in the leg of my pants. Anything to keep from looking at the twisted, distorted images that flashed in the air all around me.
A man laughing while streaks of blood oozed from his eyes. A child playing with a broken doll, her face hollow with hunger. A couple locked in a passionate embrace as their skin blackened and burned. Tolbert smiling as his knife slid over my flesh.
Pinpricks of light formed and turned into a bedraggled group of men and women, digging by the light of oil lam
ps. I rubbed my eyes, but the image didn’t disappear.
I stretched my magical senses, looking for signs of corruption, but with the taint in everything around us, I couldn’t feel any differences. “Are they real?”
“Yes,” Aeron replied, “and maybe they know where the Heart is.”
A tiny seed of hope bloomed.
Michel drew a pistol. “Get ready.”
“Wait—”
“Anyone out here is possessed or under the Darkness’s control.” Michel’s tone was uncompromising.
Did that include us? Were we compromised just by being here? Something about that thought felt wrong.
Before I could stop him, Michel aimed and fired, hitting one of the diggers in the head. Blood and gore splattered the other diggers. They stared with wide eyes, disbelief painted on their faces. My expression mirrored theirs. I’d never seen him so cold-blooded.
A moment. A heartbeat. Their surprise turned to hate. Fingers to claws. Teeth to fangs. The air around me quivered with ravenous hunger as demons pushed their way from beneath the diggers’ skin.
I drew my pistols. The thrum of Aeron’s drums played counterpoint to Michel’s violins. My magic came willingly, lovingly into the song. The corruption in the diggers, the taint in the land, called to me.
Euphoria filled me as I grabbed the corruption and wrapped it in my fire. So easy now. So delicious. I drew it in and burned it.
Turned it to ash.
Devoured it.
Cleansed it.
The acrid tang of taint filled my nose as I ripped it from the land and the creatures. Ecstatic laughter rang through the air, and I threw my arms wide as I savored the intricate harmonies that swept away the shadows and corruption. It filled me. Left me gasping for more.
“Burn!” The voices screamed in delight as tongues of flame licked skin and flesh from the demons’ bones. I held them in the fire, refusing to let them die. Images flashed around them. Piles of burning bodies, their hands stretched out, begging for release.
A jolt of panic shook me to my core. What was I doing? Frantically, I pulled back my magic. Reined it in before I lost complete control.
A Sea of Broken Glass Page 22