Crown of Ash (Blood Skies, Book 4) (31 page)
Read Crown of Ash (Blood Skies, Book 4) Online
Authors: Steven Montano
He steps onto the logs
and
balances over the water
. The
black flow carr
ies
bits of animal matter and gritty fat. He smells blood and tar.
Clouds like grease stains claw at the broken tree line. Eyes
watch him from
the edge of the
forest
.
The log is slick
. He stands steady, waiting. The white-black blade is in his hand. He is whole. This time, he is ready.
Behind him, he hears Kyver and the Grey Clan move into position. They
hold
iron nets and bone spears, bladed bolas and glaives. They hide in the shadows and wait for the hunter to show itself.
They don’t have to wait long. The shadow beast
takes
shape
from a cloud of
bones and blood
. Its massive
body
rises
from
the ground.
M
ismatched shadow horns and tendril
limb
s glow with spectral luminescence.
It stands as tall as three men
and
grips a spear made of ashen knives. Green-white eyes
reflect
on the murky surface of the water.
He doesn’t move. He waits for it, knowing it will come.
Mongrel soldiers made of forest remains and shadows emerge from the river. They are dead bodies and black crusts of earth, broken bones and claws like rusted nails. They are two, then ten, then twenty.
The Grey Clan fires at them. Arcane bullets tear into zombie flesh. Speckles of dark blood and molded skin fly onto the shore.
He smells gunpowder and blood. The h
unter’s denizens growl as they’
re torn apart.
The beast
moves
. It
takes
to the sky, become
s
the sky. It blocks out the night.
The spear
comes down
, but he
’s waiting
.
He
’
s played this battle out
again and again in his mind. His blade has joined with him. They share a consciousness. It responds to his thoughts, and is a part of his body. He and it are fused
as one
.
He moves at the last second. The spear
strikes wood
, and the log cracks. A sound like splitting bones
rings out
. He loses his footing, but only for a moment. The shadow beast looms o
ver h
im, blocks out everything. It’
s
a waterfall of soot darkness.
The blade flies, and he follows. He breathes grave fumes and feels liquid rot.
Energy
from the sword extends around him like a bubble. He floats in
side the hunter’s form like he’
s lost in a black sea.
He dives forward, swallows grit and oil darkness. The blade cuts through the shadow heart. A scream like a crashing train fills his ears.
He falls. Hard ground rushes up at him, and the wind is knocked from his lungs as he c
rashes
to the shore. Pain shoots up his limbs.
The air is silent
but
for the shouts of the Grey Clan,
their
crie
s of victory.
He
catch
es
his breath. His ribs ache
and his legs are sore, like
he’s
been pelted with stones.
He stares at the blade in his hand. He wonders which of them is truly in control.
THIRTEEN
DAYS
A few days passed
while Danica sat in prison.
It felt like
a few
years.
Cell Block D12
was large,
grimy
and dank. Gritty moisture dripped from the
steel
ceiling, and the heat was strangling. Drifts of metal debris floated through the air like laggard metal insects.
F
lickering thaumaturgic lamps
cast dim
illumination
, but
the corners and recesses of the chamber
were
drowned in
shadow.
There was no segregation of
the
prisoners –
Cell Block
D
12, like every cell block in Black Scar, was just a big open room
. There were no beds, just blankets, and most of those
blankets
were soiled and
rancid
. Food was provided at irregular intervals
through grooved metal pipes that churned out sloppy gruel into large vats
, and water was supplied through
large
faucets
. There were a half-dozen of each
food and water
stations
, and they
were often
claimed
by the strongest inmates.
There were roughly
50
inmates per cell block.
Black Scar
prison
housed nearly
3
,000
prisoners
, and
it
brought in more
every day
, because they were always running out
.
Life for women in Black Scar was particularly
brutal
.
But
Black and Cole
could both handle themselves
, and
they hoped
that
if
they stuck together
they’d
be able to fend off
any
would-be rapists
. T
hey slept in shifts
, and
they also had
their new “friend”
Gath
to
watch
their backs,
but
Black
was
n’t
about
to rely on him
very
much
at all
.
The air tasted like sweat and
urine
. Every now and again the distant doors to
the cell block
slid open
a
nd
prisoners were
either
deposited or extra
cted, but for the most part
the metal chamber
remained
sealed, and the grimy population was left to fend for itself.
The inmates wore
sodden clothes and crumbling shoes,
and
their
skin was
covere
d in grey and green grime. Cell Block D12
was the size of a small barn
. F
ights frequently broke out
,
and
they
often ended with someone dead
.
Some of the
inmates
amused themselves and
staged contests
by
throwing
their
shoes, steel rivets
they
ripped from the walls
,
or
even
severed fingers
or toes
.
Whoever was most accurate or made the most distance won, which didn’t mean much except that no one was bored for a few minutes while the game was being played. Even then, most of the games ended in
brawls
.
They
hung
at the edge of barbarism. It
never
t
oo
k long for
some
prisoners
to lose their minds
and devolve into utter madness, if they weren’t
mad
already
upon arriving at the prison
.
Most of the inmates in Cell Block D12 were human, but there were a few prisoners of other races:
Vuul
,
Gorgoloth
,
Gol
,
and even a Doj, who held unquestioned dominion over a good portion of the water supply.
Black sat with her back ag
ainst the wall
.
Sweat ran down her face, and her body was so covered in filth she felt sure she’d never get clean. Her bones ached, and her vision faded in and out. She hadn’t slept much since they’d arrived.
She and Cole
occupied
a
far
corner of the room opposite the doors. Dank water dripped
down
from the ceiling and formed a perimeter around their
refuge
of dry steel
and
dar
k rubbish.
The flickering green lamps
didn’t
penetrate
the gloom in the
ir
corner, which allowed them to stay hidden in darkness.
Cole was asleep and
wrapped in one of the few blankets they’d been able to get their hands on.
The two of them had
managed to avoid
drawing
too much
attention
.
Part of the reason was because
Cole had
told the
wiry
Gath
that
both she and Black would sleep with him
if
he kept them well-stocked with food and water
and gave them time to
recover
their strength
.
Somehow he’d fallen for it.
Thank God men are really stupid,
Danica thought
.
Gath
was
actually
fairly
efficient at providing
sustenance
for them, and
he was good at keeping their existence
a secret
.
He seemed connected, capable of getting goods and information from others, which was of vital importance to surviving in Black Scar.
All things considered, we’re doing okay.
I figured we’d have been raped ten times over and dead by now. Which I’m sure would
just
thrill the shit out of Rake.
Rake. She
couldn’t believe he’d
whored out
t
he Revenger’s
services to Koth, of all places.
Selling prisoners
to the Ebon Cities had been part of
the
plan from the
very start
, but for
Rake
to actively throw his lot in with the renegade necropolis
of Koth
meant he’d grown dangerously ambitious, and had bigger plans than
Danica had
ever given him credit for.
The
alliance
between Koth and
T
he
Revengers
didn’t bode well for anyone
.
They wouldn’t have enough power
to
directly
challenge either the Southern Claw or the Ebon Cities,
but
they
would still be a force to be reckoned with
. And
if they decided to join forces with a third party –
like, say,
the city-state of Fane, which
she and the others
had recently learned
sought
independence from the Southern Claw –
the
y could form
a new superpower, a
new
faction in a world already torn a
part
by conflict.
We’d be screwed. That’s all there is to it. As it is, humans are barely holding their own. A third
side
in
the war would tear everything apart.
And what did they want with Cross? Her guts twisted with worry every time she thought about him. Rake had clearly wanted Eric
from the beginning –
searching for him
was what they
’d
really
been
doing in Blacksand all along
.
Whatever they had planned for
him
probably
had something to do with Soulrazor/Avenger,
which was just more bad news
.