Ghost in the Winds (Ghost Exile #9) (46 page)

Morgant laughed, and Annarah blinked at him. 

“Gods!” he said. “The best liar of them all is an honest woman, it seems. I…”

Thunder rang out, and Iramis returned. 

The city sprang back into existence around him, drawn back from where Callatas had unknowingly banished it to the netherworld. The Desert of Candles vanished as the golden rift snapped shut overhead, and Morgant found himself standing in the Plaza of Princes in the heart of Iramis. The Palace of the Prince towered over him, the Towers of Lore themselves rising to his right, and in the distance, he saw the pinnacle of the Tower of the Valikarion. 

And the plaza was filled with people, thousands of people, people that Morgant had seen die a century and a half ago. 

No. People that he thought he had seen die.

“Husband!” 

Morgant turned and saw that the woman and children atop the fountain’s plinth had turned back into living flesh, jumping over the edge of the basin and running to Nasser. Amidst the crowds filling the Plaza of Princes a tall Iramisian man with a valikon over his shoulder ran to Annarah, two children trailing after him, and Morgant had never seen such joy on her face. Annarah’s husband and children, he guessed. Around him the Plaza of Princes erupted into cheers and shouts, and Morgant looked around in wonder.

Two hundred years he had lived, and he had never, ever, seen anything like this. 

He turned in a circle and saw Laertes, and for a moment they stared at each other.

“Well?” said the former centurion. 

“I,” said Morgant. “I…I cannot think of anything to say.”

Laertes snorted. “Gods! Now there’s the true miracle.” 

Morgant turned again, intending to find Caina, and saw her collapse at the base of the plinth, blood leaking from her nose and ears. 

###

Kylon bent over Caina, catching her as she fell, the last wisps of the Star vanishing from her grasp. 

Around him, a colossal tidal wave of joy and jubilation rose from Iramis and washed over his arcane senses, so overwhelming that he could not have blocked it out if he had tried. He had never sensed anything like it.

Right now he felt nothing but cold dread.

Caina wasn’t breathing, and she didn’t have a pulse.

Chapter 30: Eternity

Caina walked through nothingness.

Part of her mind was aware that she lay dying upon the ground, that the strain of drawing that much power had been too much. The rest of her mind seemed clear and untroubled. 

With her mind, she saw the vision that Samnirdamnus had shown her, the vision of the unending war between the nagataaru and the djinn.

But now, unencumbered by flesh, she saw it clearly.

The vast dark host of Kotuluk Iblis surrounded the world, but now it was in disarray, fleeing into the netherworld as the revitalized djinn pursued them. Caina saw the Lord of Storm and Frost, as terrible as a storm and as unyielding a mountain, commanding the host of the Azure Sovereign. With him now were thousands of djinn nobles, nobles that Callatas had trapped in the material world and bound to the people of Iramis, transmuting them into crystalline prisons to give the nagataaru a free hand as Callatas summoned them to work the Apotheosis. 

Under that assault, the nagataaru broke and fled, scattering back into the netherworld as their furious enemies pursued them. 

“This is what you wanted all along, isn’t it?” said Caina.

“My darling demonslayer,” said Samnirdamnus, walking alongside her, “how clever you are.” He wore the form of the Emperor, but this time, there was no sardonic edge to his voice, and he smiled at her. “What do you think?”

“The Azure Sovereign came to this world to rest,” said Caina, “and you were appointed to watch over him as he hibernated. When Callatas stole the Star, you put your plan into motion. You needed to find a way to rescue the Azure Sovereign and stop Callatas, and you needed someone who could not be controlled by a possessing spirit.” 

“Precisely right,” said Samnirdamnus. “I searched long and hard…and then you were banished to Istarinmul. Your Emperor knew that danger threatened in Istarinmul, that Callatas was a threat to the world, but even he knew not the good he did by sending you to Istarinmul and to me.”

A dark thought occurred to Caina. “Did you arrange my life? How I became…what I am, I mean. Maglarion and Corvalis’s death and the rest of it.”

“Certainly not,” said Samnirdamnus. “You always made your own choices, Caina Amalas, and I was unaware of you until you killed the Moroaica in the netherworld. After that, I watched you, and helped you when I could.” He smiled again. “You are a spy, as I am. You understand the rules of the game. Your transformation into a valikarion was an unexpected but welcome outcome. I doubt you could have defeated Cassander or Kharnaces without that edge. And now you have accomplished all my hopes. The Azure Sovereign is awakened once more. The nobles of my Court are freed. Iramis is returned, and best of all, the nagataaru have been dealt a terrible defeat. They will not threaten your world again.” To Caina’s lasting surprise, he bowed deep before her. “Thank you, Balarigar.” 

Caina blinked. “You…are welcome. I had no idea of any of this. I learned the truth piece by piece…”

“That is the way for mortals, I fear,” said Samnirdamnus. “You cannot be told the truth. You must learn the truth for yourself. Though that may not be a problem for you any longer.”

Caina frowned. “What do you mean?”

KNIGHT OF WIND AND AIR.

Caina flinched. For a terrible moment, she feared that the colossal voice belonged to Kotuluk Iblis. Yet it was different entirely. It was just as alien as the voice of the lord of the nagataaru, just as powerful. But it lacked the horrible malice and lusting hunger of the voice of Kotuluk Iblis. Instead, it seemed implacable and stern and unyielding. It reminded Caina of the voice of Annarah’s pyrikon in the netherworld. 

It was the voice of the Azure Sovereign.

“My lord Sovereign,” said Samnirdamnus. 

YOU HAVE DONE WELL. I KNEW NOT THE DANGER THAT WOULD BEFALL WHILE I RESTED FROM MY LABORS. THE PLOT OF KOTULUK IBLIS HAS BEEN UNDONE, AND HIS MORTAL SERVANTS DEFEATED. YOU HAVE PROVEN WORTHY OF TRUST. 

“Thank you, my lord,” said Samnirdamnus. “I think that the Balarigar, too, is worthy of trust.”

YOU SPEAK TRULY. INVITE HER, IF YOU WISH IT.

“What do you mean?” said Caina.

“You are dying,” said Samnirdamnus. 

“Yes,” said Caina. Part of her knew that she was laying in that dry fountain, Kylon bending over her. 

Oh, Kylon. Kylon…

“If you wish, you may leave your mortality and humanity behind and become something new,” said Samnirdamnus. 

“Become what, exactly?” said Caina, frowning. 

“A Knight of Wind and Air,” said Samnirdamnus. “A djinni of the Court of the Azure Sovereign.”

Caina blinked, taken aback. “Is that…even possible?”

“For one such as you, yes,” said Samnirdamnus. “If you wish, you can lay aside your mortality and become one of us. You will ride with us as we pursue the nagataaru from world to world, from star to star. For that is the purpose of the Court of the Azure Sovereign, our duty, the reason for our existence. Our duty is to shield the mortal worlds from the nagataaru. Sometimes we have been victorious, and sometimes we have been defeated. But with your help, we shall win even more victories. We shall defeat the nagataaru on a billion times a billion worlds, and drive them before us until the cosmos reaches its completion.”

Caina gazed at the battle raging before them, and a wild exultation seemed to take her. It sounded…it sounded almost like what she had been born to do. The nagataaru were a refined form of the evil she had fought all her life. There had been a fierce joy in defeating them, and she imagined herself riding with the horsemen and chariots of cloud and storm, chasing the nagataaru from world to world. It sounded like the kind of battle she had been made to fight. 

Except…

“Do spirits know love?” said Caina. 

Samnirdamnus shook his head. “Love is a quality of mortals. Spirits have duties. We require nothing else.”

Caina thought of the mortal world, of Kylon most of all. She thought of others, of Damla and Annarah and Morgant, Nerina and Malcolm and Azaces, of her Ghost circle, of the friends she had not seen for years in Malarae. 

Suddenly the thought of existing as a spirit seemed a cold and lonely thing. 

“I cannot,” said Caina. “I cannot. I could not leave the others.”

“Ah,” said Samnirdamnus. “I thought you would answer that way.”

“Well, you are a spy,” said Caina, “and you’ve been doing it longer than I have.” 

“Truly,” said Samnirdamnus. “Then I bid you farewell, Caina Amalas, and wish you victory, for I have no doubt you will seek new foes.” He reached out and touched her forehead. “A piece of myself I leave you, to heal you when you are wounded. It will restore your life now, and you may need the ability in the future.” 

“Farewell, Samnirdamnus,” said Caina. “Thank you for all your help.” She smiled. “Go terrorize the nagataaru.”

“I could not do otherwise,” said Samnirdamnus. “Farewell, my darling demonslayer. I always knew that you were the one I was looking for.”

He vanished and joined the host of the Court of the Azure Sovereign as it pursued the fleeing nagataaru deeper into the infinity of the netherworld, and Caina knew no more.

###

Kylon gazed at Caina, his mouth seeming full of ashes. 

After everything she had survived, for her to die here seemed hideously unjust. But she would have wanted it that way, wouldn’t she? Saving all those people. Bringing Iramis back out of the shadows of the netherworld and into the light once more, its loremasters and valikarion ready to hunt those who abused sorcery. 

If only…

She took a shuddering breath, and her eyes twitched open, wide and confused.

They were blue once more. 

###

For a moment Caina could not remember where she was or how she had gotten there.

She was lying in a basin of cool stone, the dusk sky overhead streaked with red. Kylon knelt over her, his face streaked with soot and sweat and blood, his expression almost slack with relief, his hands gripping hers. 

“Kylon,” she croaked. 

He smiled at her, still grasping her hands, and she wondered what emotions he sensed from her. Confusion, most likely. 

“Kalgri,” said Caina, a burst of fear going through her. “She went after you. Is she…”

“Dead,” said Kylon. A flicker of pain went over his face. “I was wounded, probably mortal. I took a vial of Elixir Restorata, and I timed it so the explosion went off on her face. That…was the end for her.”

“Good,” said Caina. “I’m glad. I’m so glad. I…I was sure she was going to kill you, that I would lose you…oh, gods, I’ve missed you so much…” 

One of his hands moved down to stroke her cheek.

“Yes,” said Kylon, his voice quiet.

“Where am I?” said Caina. 

Kylon blinked. “You don’t remember?” 

There was a roaring noise filling her ears, and she wondered what it was. Had they ended up by the seashore somehow? Or a windstorm? No, it was…

Cheering. 

Thousands of voices raised in celebration, mixed here and there with clear metallic tones. At first, Caina thought they were bells, but she realized they were gongs struck in celebration. The people of Iramis, Annarah had told her once, had no bells, but instead sounded gongs to send signals and mark significant moments. 

Iramis…

Her eyes widened as she remembered Callatas and the gate, Samnirdamnus, and the Azure Sovereign, and the titanic sights that the Knight of Wind and Air had shown her. The last few hours had felt like a mad, hallucinogenic dream after she had permitted Samnirdamnus to enter her mind after she had taken up the Star and the Staff and the Seal. 

And then…and then…

The astonishment exploded through her. 

“Oh, gods,” breathed Caina. “What did I do?”

Kylon smiled, the widest smile she had seen on his face since their first night together in Rumarah.

“See for yourself,” he said, helping her to stand. 

The Staff still lay next to her, and Caina gripped it with her left hand, the Seal on her finger clinking against it. Kylon gripped her right hand and pulled her to feet, and Caina looked around, half-expecting to see the bleak Desert of Candles and the forest of gleaming crystalline pillars. 

Instead, she saw Iramis. 

The city had been restored, the towers of white and golden stone rising around her, a vast plaza stretching before a fortified palace. The buildings bore the same geometric designs she had seen in Silent Ash Temple and the other Iramisian ruins she had visited. People filled the plaza, thousands of people, and she saw more of them on the streets leading to the rest of the city. Caina blinked in amazement, swaying a little on her feet. There had been a quarter of a million people in Iramis on the day that Callatas had burned the city. 

No. He hadn’t burned the city, had he? 

Caina climbed out of the fountain, Kylon following her.

The others awaited her below, Annarah and Nasser and Morgant and Laertes. Morgant didn’t look happy, not exactly, but instead…shocked, as if something had happened that his cynicism simply could not process. Laertes looked sober as ever, no doubt working the logistical problems that the return of Iramis to the waking world would present. But Nasser and Annarah…the woman and the children from the fountain clustered around him, restored to flesh once more. A tall, strong man with an Iramisian valikon slung over his shoulder stood next Annarah, his arm around her waist, two boys under the age of ten hovering near him. 

They looked at her and Kylon, and to Caina’s surprise, Nasser offered her a deep bow. 

“Balarigar,” said Nasser, his wife taking his arm as he straightened up. “It is my very great honor to welcome you to Iramis at last.”

“I’m an idiot, you know,” said Caina. 

Annarah blinked. “What do you mean?”