Page 74 of The Cruel Dawn
“What about sparing innocents, Lady?” Separi asks.
“In this instance? Who is really innocent? Why should the wife of Wake’s captain be spared just because she holds no weapon? Her husbandisthe weapon, and she holdshimevery night he returns to her with the blood of other innocents on his tunic. She feeds him. She loves him. She pays for her silk and wheat with the spoils of war. They hold hostages, like Olivia. Wake’s army continues to destroy this realm as though it’s theirs to destroy.”
I touch my amulet to settle my suddenly queasy stomach. “I will give them a choice,” I say. “They can give me Olivia out of fear, or they can do so out of love. If they choose neither, they will die. There is no compromise, not anymore.”
Separi frowns but dips her head. “Yes, Lady.”
Though I’d argued with Zephar about sparing innocents, here I am, days later, as merciless as he was. I clear my throat and add, “Minimal casualties.”
“You can make a better threat,” Philia says. “Demand that they release Olivia, or you’ll destroy their precious, stupid little storybook, jewels and all.”
“It’s not a stupid little—” Separi starts to say.
“That’s an approach,” I say, speaking over the Renrian. “If I must, I will use the book as leverage.”
Never in a million ages would I destroy theLibrum Esoterica—but Philia doesn’t need to know that.
The air feels heavy. We’re still being watched—though I can’t say by whom or what.
As we ride, the plains grow drier and grittier. The fine crystals in the dust glimmer in the daystar’s light, blinding us. The trail curves to the west, then veers north again, ascending over foothills, and then sends us back down steep paths that bring some relief from the heat. We ride alongside rust-colored gorges that fall off sharply, down where the sharp rocks explode from the earth. I don’t dare peek over these cliffs—gouges from the fingernails of desperate travelers mark the edge of the bluff.
I see no ravens. That’s good.
I try not to think about Danar Rrivae, Jamart, Lively, Sinth, and the other Voidful whose bodies surround the Broken Hammer.
A ring of far-off blue mountains spreads seemingly forever, until it reaches that tallest peak lost in the clouds: Mount Devour. The Abbey of Broken Worlds sits at the peak, hidden in the clouds, unchanged.
Vallendor Realm already looks defeated. Everything around me is dying. Nothing lives here, no chirping birds or blossoming tree branches, no squirrels or crickets. The only sound is our horses’ hooves on the winding path.
…
As the nightstar climbs high in the sky, we reach a town that has been smashed and burned, as though a fiery giant has stomped through it. The land sounds marshy—squelching like boots pulling out of mud—but there is no water here. The air remains dry, and the sky looks as fractured as a broken mirror. An arch of scorched white marble looms before us, with thick weeds threading through its many cracks.
But then Ilook.
Carts, horses, and people have all been consumed by flames, and their blackened remains now tumble across a charred meadow. Scattered across the landscape are wine barrels and tarnished mugs, chests burned down to their steel clasps, pots and kettles, knives and giant spoons, and swords that had clearly been useless in the town’s defense—useless against…me?
Did I do this?
“No,” Separi says.
I startle. “Did I ask that aloud?”
Separi squints at me. “Yes.”
Philia giggles. “You’re losing it, Kai.”
“This is the town known as Fihel, Lady,” Separi says. “Destroyed by mortals not long ago.”
“Look.” Philia points to a single banner hanging from the marble arch: the golden tree beneath a shower of coins and runes.
My teeth ache, dull and heavy in my head. If Fihel was destroyed by human hand, that hand was guided by this new god.
Who destroyed Fihel?
Whoisthis god?
I slide out of my saddle. The horses look skittish, uneasy at the stench of burning in the air. They’re as ready to leave as my companions are.
