Crown of Ash (Blood Skies, Book 4) (30 page)

He misses his home
, Cross thought. 
I never knew. 
I never had any idea that
our
spirits were any
one’s
dead but our own,
or
that they came from anywhere except our own world. 

“Even once we made the voyage to your world,” Kyver continued, “we still couldn’t reach the Obelisk, because it doesn’t actually lie
in your world
.  It hangs halfway between there and the Whisperlands,
trapped on the boundary because of the Rift’s unstable nature.  The Obelisk can
only
be reached
from this side
, in the realm
of shadows.” 

“How did you get here?” Cross asked.

“
Only the spirits humans use can make the trip directly,” he said.  “For us to travel to your world, w
e had to…occupy, I think you would say…lives on your side.  We had to have vessels
that we could reside in once we got here
.”  He looked up at Vala, and she nodded, as if encouraging him to finish.  “We couldn’t just pass through.  We needed to replace other living creatures
with ourselves
.”

“Desh,” Cross breathed.  “You replaced the people of Desh.  Christ…”  He felt himself wanting to rise, but he knew his leg was in no state
to do so
.  “How?  What happened to them?”

Kyver’s grim nod told him all he needed to know.  Cross felt his insides go cold. 

“There really wasn’t any choice,” Vala said.  “We had to make sure that our dead were safe.  And we all know what would happen to your Southern Claw without the aid of magic.”

“So Desh’s people are dead?” Cross said.  There was a touch more anger in his tone than he’d intended.

“Yes, they’re dead,” Vala said.  “Our presences occupy their bodies, and what was inside those bodies has gone.  Over time, some of the host bodies take on the physical aspects of our native forms.”

“But Desh vanished a long time ago,” Cross said.  “
Years
before the Obelisk fell into the Rift…”

This is a waste of time
, a voice said in Cross’ head.  It took him a moment to realize it wasn’t his own
, but
one of the reptilians. 

That must be how they communicate in their
native
tongue
, he thought, not entirely convinced the thought was his own, or that it was even safe to
have
thoughts, less they be detected.  He looked around, but
he
couldn’t tell which of the reptilians had addressed him in his own voice.  Several of them were quite bestial, and had only vaguely humanoid limbs.  Their eyes glowed green and yellow in the dusky light, and their weapons were
made
from
jagged bones and ironwood. 

The smell of the campfire grew stronger as the wind pushed the smoke back in their direction.  The small conglomerate watched him, waiting. 

“All right,” Cross said with a nod.  “So was the Eidolos right?” he asked.  “Will you help me stop the Shadow Lords?”

“Why do you think you’re still alive?” Vala asked.

“You’re not the friendliest person, you know that?”
Cross
said.

“All right, all right,” Kyver smiled.  “Relax, Vala.”  He looked at Cross.  “Yes.  We’ll help you
secure the Obelisk and keep it out of the Shadow Lord’s hands
.  We’re not keen on the notion of helping that Eidolos, but if
doing so
help
s
keep our
dead
safe
then
it’s worth the risk.”  He narrowed his reptile eyes and smiled.  “I take it the Eidolos
ga
ve you some insight or information that will prove useful.”

Cross pursed his lips, and nodded.

“Well?” Vala said.

“No,” Cross said.  “
If
I tell you, you have no use for me
after that
.”

“Not true,” Kyver said.  “Because you’re the only one, I think, who can use
that
.”  He pointed behind
Cross
.

One of the reptilians – a tall and scaly
creature
with a cobra-like head and thick muscular arms covered in green scales – opened his armor coat and revealed Soulrazor/Avenger, which dangled from a
cord tied
around
the hilt
.  The harlequin blade shone dully in the autumnal light.

“That,” Kyver said, “may be the only chance we have.  It’s strong enough to combat the Shadow Lord’s magic.  And it should prove useful in battling the creatures
down
in the Carrion Rift
, should we wind up there
.”

Cross looked at it for long, silent moments. 

“What do you know about it?” he asked.

“I know it can heal you,” Kyver said.  “We’ve been watching you for a while, Eric. 
We know that even without magic
you’re very resourceful, and very capable.”

Cross snickered.

“I haven’t been feeling much of either lately,” he laughed.  “What do you know about the Shadow Lords?”

To his relief, the Grey Clan started to disperse.  They moved back to their tents and campfires and returned to sharpening weapons and arranging supplies, walking the shadow-drenched perimeter and staring out into the vast and surrounding dark.  Kyver,
Vala
and a few others remained.  To his surprise, the reptilian handed him his sword
, and
his wounded leg
started
to knit itself back together almost
the moment
he touched the weapon
.  It worked with the rapidity of a spirit, even if it lacked
a spirit’s
subtle touch. 

It had never healed him with such speed before, and it wasn’t a peasant experience. 
He felt
like
hot
knives
pushed
in
to
hi
m
as
his skin
laced
back
together, and he had to clench his teeth
and struggle against the pain
.  Tears came to his eyes, and his fingers dug into the muddy ground.

He already knew the blade had a mind of its own. 
H
e
just
wasn’t sure if he was happy about
it
.

Kyver sat down cross-legged in the dirt.  Vala watched with some interest as Cross’s leg
healed
.

I feel like a pig on display out here
, he thought bitterly.

“The
Shadow Lords
are
all warlocks,” Kyver said. “A couple of them are supposedly Southern Claw defectors, but no one is sure about tha
t.  The rest are from the wild:
fringe settlements, border towns,
cannibal tribes,
things like that.  No one seems to know how they came under the common banner of the Witch Queen.”

Azradayne
, the reptilian said, or
one
of the reptilians said.  It was hard to know
which
, since they all used Cross’s voice when they spoke into his mind.

“Who’s Azradayne?”
he asked.

“Something not of our world, or of any world we know,” Vala said.  “But whatever she is, she
’
s learned to tap into the Obelisk’s powers just like a human witch.”

Terrific
, Cross thought.

“So she and her Shadow Lords want the Obelisk all to themselves, and they’ve stake
d
a claim here in the Whisperlands to accomplish that,” he said.

“You’re not very quick, are you?” Vala said.

“I
heal
quick,” he said.  The blade smoked cold on the ground beside him.  “So when do you take me to them?  To the
Black
Citadel?”

“As soon as you heal,” Kyver said.  “And as soon as you destroy the Druid.”

“The Druid,” Cross said slowly.  “You mean that antlered thing that nearly tore me apart?”

Kyver nodded.

“Um…why?”

“You’ve been here long enough to know that the geography of the Whisperlands doesn’t always follow what you might think of as ‘the rules of reality’,” Kyver said.  “Logically, there should be some other way, some other path or stretch of wilderness that one could cross, some desert or river or
field
that would allow you
reach the Black Citadel.”

“But there isn’t, is there?” Cross said with a grim and knowing smile.

“No.  There isn’t.  In order to reach
the Citadel
, we
have
to pass through the Corpsewood, and the Burned Hills.”

“You guys have a knack for naming things,” Cross said.  His leg had finally healed enough for him to sit up and bend it.

“They’re the native names,” Kyver laughed. 

“
Your
people can’t handle him?”

Kyver shook his head.  “And we’ve lost our fair share trying.”

“So what makes you think I’ll fare any better?” he asked. 

Again, Kyver’s eyes went to the sword.  “It’s unique,” he said.  “The power of The Black combined with the
energies
of the White Mother.  You have a far better chance
of defeating the Druid
than any of
my
people
do
.”

Cross
nodded.
 
This wasn’t going to be easy.

It never is.

“Fine,” he said.  “You show me where to go.  I’ll take care of it.  And then you’ll show me how to get to the Burned Hills.”

“We’ll help you,” Vala said.  “Even though some of us don’t want to.”

“Thanks,” he said. 

Kyver nodded, and
he and Vala
left
Cross
alone.

Someone brought him a blanket, and he wrapped himself tight.  Cross pulled his legs in close and huddled alone in the dark.  The chill was suddenly
intense
. 

Worry gnawed at hi
m
.  He tried to push it away, to ignore it, but the ache of tension settled in
side
hi
m
like a worm.  His stomach churned and his hands shook.

He had so much to lose.  He hadn’t really realized it before, but it wasn’t just the notion of
letting
the Southern Claw
fall
or the Ebon Cities win that
terrified
him.  It wasn’t even the idea of failing
Snow and letting her sacrifice – the
sacrifice made by
all
of Viper Squad – be
in vain.

I
f he failed, he’d lose Kane, and Ash, and Grissom.  He’d lose Ronan and Maur.

He’d lose Danica.

That thought was the most
terrifying
of them all. 

I don’t care what happens to me
, he realized. 
And
I haven’t for a long time.  I just want them to be safe.

He couldn’t sleep.  It had always been difficult to rest in the Whisperlands. 
It should have been easy
there in the
clearing
,
now that
he finally had a moment of safety.  He watched
members of the
Grey Clan quietly mingle with one another,
huddled in their tents or blankets,
and
he
listened to the dark
wind
and the crackling fire. 
T
he hairs on the back of his neck rose at the sound of some distant and shadow-born beast.

His heart felt cold. 

I’m not going to survive this
, he thought. 
Even if I defeat this hunter beast, even if we make it all of the way through the Corpsewood and the Burned Hills, the Shadow Lords will be the end of me.

He felt that certainty in his bones.  He didn
’
t doubt it.

And as much as he tried to deny it, he was
horribly
afraid.

He walks
to a shore
covered in
dried wood and ground bones.  Shadows cling to the sky.  Drifts of rolling dust cut across his path like charcoal rain.  The
river
runs fast
and deep
.