Page 107 of A War of Embers

Sighing, I step away from Zeke towards the man trying desperately to keep himself alive. He doesn’t even notice me coming up behind him, too distraught over the fire following his every inch of movement.

“This is pathetic,” I inform the Kyanite guard. “Honestly, I would just stop crawling, the flames aren’t going anywhere. And even if they did, you lost the use of your legs. What do you think you’re going to do when the fire dies off? Who is going to rush to your aid?”

He either doesn’t hear me or chooses to ignore me entirely as he hisses out in pain between his teeth, continuing onwards.

“I’m a little sad I didn’t get to be the one to start the advance,” I tell the guard. “I haven’t gotten into any fights lately, courtesy of my new home.” I step in front of him, peering down at his grotesque body. Crouching down a few feet away, I tilt my head and continue to stare at him as if he’s morbidly fascinating to watch die. “My new home,” I reiterate, “is not these woods. Far from it. See I’ve been in a land across the Blood Sea.”

“Only death lives there,” the guard spits, apparently listening to me after all.

“Oh good, I was beginning to think I was talking to myself. It just feels so freeing to be able to say this out loud for once.” Standing up, I dust off my pants as if they’re greatly dirty and continue with my spiel. “Unfortunately for you, you’ll never be able to tell anyone what you hear today. But I’ll tell you something, be glad the dragon is the one who got to you and not my mate.” The limbs of the guard quiver violently at the mention of Zeke’s beast. “Right, you didn’t know about dragons. Me either. But trust me, he’s not the scariest being in the realms. And lucky for you, you won’t be alive to find out what is.”

“Keres,” Zeke calls out in exasperation. “Quit gossiping with your new friend and let’s go. Need I remind you we need to leave by sunrise?”

“It felt freeing to say it,” I laugh. Zeke doesn’t share in my amusement, his hands resting on his hips as he glares at me to get a move on. Sighing, I look back down at the pathetic guard. “Well, it appears I don’t have all night to watch you suffer.” Lifting the sword, I briefly catch the widening of the man’s eyes before I lob his head off his body in one fell swoop of my blade. The head rolls several feet away, stopping at the base of a tree and the horror etched onto his face staring up into the night sky.

“Is this how you normally kill people?” Zeke asks, leaning forward slightly to squint towards the lone head. “Dismember them?”

Pursing my lips as I think about his question, I nod a few moments later. “The soul inside of me who uses a sword is fond of it. Though there’s not as much blood since you decided to light everyone on fire.”

Zeke snorts before the fire suddenly dies out everywhere. “There, now no one will know I was here. They’ll think something else happened. But let’s get going, I don’t want to spend all night traveling through this fucking forest waiting for more people to come out and try to trap us.”

He has a point. Quickly walking over towards him, we begin on our trek once against. “It felt nice,” I quietly admit. “To say how much better off I am with Rowan than being stuck here. Freeing, even.”

“Sometimes words have power we don’t realize until we say them aloud. When we keep them bottled in, we tend to rethink and do ourselves more harm than voicing our fears. When we landed, did you still feel like dying?”

I…don’t know. Some part of me, the half of my brain ingrained into wanting to die after so long, now hesitates because I know where a better option is. Something I was unaware of before. Now, standing here, I feel as though I could take on the Lords and Ladies of the Districts for their mistreatment of their people. “I think I’ve spent so much time thinking about dying, envisioning it and what it would be like to never be needed by people, never used for malicious purposes, that it’s hard to imagine being free.” I pause to let the words sink in. “Being in Aïdes, with Rowan, I know a different way but it’s taking time to realize there’s other options beyond the focus I had for so long.”

“But you’re not ignoring the notion there’s an alternative path anymore?”

“No.” I simply need time to come to terms with this newer idea. Deciding to help Rowan with the war is my way of proving to myself I can live peacefully without the threat of harming people I care about.

The forest stops, gaping open to another pathway heading directly towards the mountains. Down south, I can see the lights from the Cinnabar District glow as the nightlife comes out. Once upon a time, I would be hiding on the outskirts of town from most people, just biding my time until I was called upon again.

A longing to go into Halley’s hits me in the center of my chest. Frank Hallsman might be the closest thing to a friend I have on this side of the Blood Sea, but even he would give away my hiding spot if it meant he got a chance to live. Not that I would blame him for doing what he needs to do to survive.

“Here?” Zeke points in the opposite direction of Cinnabar, towards where the mountains throw shadows over the already dark Districts. “Kind of spooky, isn’t it?”

I never really thought of the mountains as anything other than a place to vanish when I needed time alone. “Unlike your mountains, these don’t contain creatures.”

Zeke snorts. “Don’t be fooled. There are creatures here and I’m not talking about the children stolen from the Wraithlands. The people here are a different breed entirely, brainwashed or forced into their service. Something wicked happens to a person and they tend to do wicked things themselves.”

An interesting theory. I suppose there’s merit to what he’s saying. Some of the most dangerous people come from choosing violence to get noticed. In the other Districts, I know a few pit people against each other, the last person breathing becomes the new immortal when a slot needs to be filled.

“How much further do you think we’ll go before we reach the Godlands?” Zeke asks, his gaze moving up towards the top of the mountains.

“From what I know, the mountains act as a barrier. They’re enclosed on all sides by mountains. According to rumors, you get to a certain point in the journey and they either kill you or grant you access. I don’t know how people get access. No one alive currently has ever ventured there.” And as far as I know, only people come when they’re desperate enough to seek out the need of the High Lords and Ladies. But none of the stories I have heard of people coming here, end with them coming back.

“If we die, I hope you understand it won’t be Rowan you’ll have to deal with in the Cliff of Embers coming to find you. It will be my ghost, ready to kick your ghost’s ass,” Zeke snarks.

Amusement lightens my steps as we continue on. Although Tellus is a very large place, the environment has a way of bringing you where you want to go quickly. Some think there’s magic physically in the land itself, while others believe it’s our own bodies aiding our quest. I don’t know which is true, but I can tell the closer we are to the mountains, the less the ground seems to be rotting away beneath our feet. Instead, the soil appears lush and rich as flowers and weeds liven the pathway.

Some part of me still thinks Sereia’s magic through her storms is having an impact on the environment, but I have no idea anymore. Maybe the High Lords and Ladies are protecting their own little environment, sucking in the nutrients from the ground in other places to make up for it. Either way, it’s none of my business what the High Lords and Ladies are doing to Tellus. My only desire is to release the immortal souls from within me so I can start to try and find out what it means to really live.

The once lush pathway turns to mostly gravel beneath our feet. Flowers still bloom, but they’re few and far between now the higher we climb. From here, I can just make out the Blood Sea over the treetops of the forest below.

Although I know going into the mountains brings us to a higher altitude, the pathway is rarely visible to those down by the coast. Glancing off toward Cinnabar, it’s easy to see the raging storm Sereia is currently producing over the city. Dark clouds blacken the sky, but stop along the town’s edge. Definitely her magic playing havoc on those she cannot touch since she isn’t permitted to leave the sea.

“They’re too focused on the weather to pay attention to the ground,” Zeke mentions, looking off towards Cinnabar as well. “I bet they’re so used to the rain, they think it’s only affecting their land.”

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