Page 445 of Of Empires and Dust

“The arrogance born of youth, I know. But my mam is here. I have felt her, I have seen her, and, god or no, if you keep me from her, I will tear you apart.”

“I can guide her.” Ella turned to see Tamzin standing beside her, the woman’s eyes gleaming a deep blue, her twin axes looped at her belt.

“She is a Blooddancer of Fenryr,” Sennik snapped. “She is no kat. I will guide her.”

“You couldn’t guide a blind pig to slaughter if your balls were slathered in cheese.” Tamzin looked back at Ella. “Understand this. When you reach out in Níthianelle, the entire realm can hear you. It is one thing to move through this place in silence. It is another to scream at the top of your lungs.”

“I will take my chances.”

“It is not just you who is at risk. Everyone here,” she gestured around at the others. “And those in the mortal plane. I do notknow what Gifts Bjorna’s and Vethnir’s Tuatha possess. This war between our clans has been cold as ice for centuries, because we have hidden and because we all fear what we do not know.” Tamzin looked up at the Ilyienë. “This tree is something beyond what I understand. It is an anchor, an amplifier. If your mother is here, she will hear you. She just won’t be the only one.”

Fenryr looked at Ella, his eyes misting with golden light. Under the weight of the wolf god’s stare, Ella’s blood seemed to burn with fire, and the wolf within her snapped and snarled and thrashed, until eventually it whimpered, and Ella drew in a sharp breath. She could feel Fenryr’s hands in her mind, in her soul. “What… what are you doing?”

Fenryr released his hold, and Ella dropped to her knees. “Searching. You truly believe your mother is still here.”

It wasn’t a question.

“She is alive.”

“Loyalty above all,” Fenryr whispered. He turned to Tamzin. “Where is your Bloodfather?”

She shook her head. “Wherever he needs to be. He does not tell me his every step.”

“He does not tell himself… And he always seems to go missing precisely when he is needed.” Fenryr drew a long breath, his gaze moving from Tamzin to Ella, then back. “I am trusting you, kat.”

“And I am trusting you.”

Fenryr helped Ella to her feet. “If we use this tree to reach out through Níthianelle, the otherswillcome. It will cost lives.” He looked into her eyes. “Your father freed me from my chains. He risked everything to do so. And so I will stand with you in this.” The god nodded slowly, looking down at his feet. “And you speak true. I have been more words than actions. Let Bjorna and Vethnir come. Let them remember the power of the wolf.” He drew a long breath. “Let it be done. I will not leave one of mypack behind. If your mother roams this place, we will find her. Loyalty above all.”

Tamzin placed her hands on Ella’s shoulders. “This will not be like before. Before, we were constantly in motion, moving quietly, not disturbing the aether. Now we will be lighting a fire on a mountainside in the dark of night. Vethnir hunters will come, Bjorna, wraiths. The hungry will find their food. I am not trying to dissuade you. That would be like trying to shift a mountain. I just want you to understand. We do not call out in the Sea of Spirits for a reason. When we do, it has a cost.”

“I understand.”

“In this planeandthe waking world. If the Vethnir are close or they have a Starchaser amongst them… Is it worth it?”

“I will do this, with or without you.”

Tamzin nodded and squeezed Ella’s shoulders. “Close your eyes. And listen to my voice.”

Ella did as she was told, feeling the beating of her heart alongside that of the Ilyienë, Faenir beside her in the waking world.

“There are… layers… to Níthianelle. Planes of existence wrapped around each other and buried within. Souls can drift between them, and Blooddancers can walk them. If your mother is here and Fenryr cannot sense her, she will be hidden within their depths. That night you thought you saw your mother, you were dreaming. What were you dreaming of?”

“A time when I was a child.”

“Take me back to that memory. To that moment. To what you were feeling at that exact moment.”

Ella nodded and closed her eyes. Her home took shape around her, the fire crackling, the smell of stew clinging to the air.

“Ella, could you fetch me a wooden spoon?”Freis’s voice echoed.

“Can you tell us the story of Cassian Tal?”Calen’s voice followed.

“Not again.” Ella remembered being irritated. Calen had always asked for the same stories, the tales of Cassian Tal, of the man who slew Durin Longfang and Taran Shadesmire. Another lie from their parents. But Ella would have given the entire world just to hear her dad tell those stories again, more of those lies, just to hear his voice.

“Maybe a different one?”Freis’s voice called out again and again.“Maybe a different one? Maybe a different one?”

“I can hear her,” Ella whispered. As she did, white smoke swirled before her and took her mother’s shape, and that of Calen’s and Haem’s and their dad’s. “I can see them. They’re right there.”

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