Page 12 of A War of Embers

The man rocks back on his heels, eyes shuttering as he looks me up and down. “Why?”

Why? Because apparently the almighty Blood Witch is useless. “She claimed someone would be waiting for me here, are you him?” Friend or foe? It’s hard to tell just by looking at him. Typically I can get a read on people based on how they react, but my body is still reacting to the climb and there’s too much adrenaline to figure out his morals.

“I am Nox.” He places his fist over his heart. “I receive messages from the Blood Witch. Usually I am directing a soul to the Cliff of Embers, not an immortal.” His dark eyes blacken. “You are an immortal, are you not?”

“I’m getting really tired of people reacting as though I chose this and making it an insult,” I grind out. “Can you take me to her son now?”

Nox immediately shakes his head. “Absolutely not.”

A growl rattles my chest. I slam my hand on the ground before pushing upwards so I’m standing, towering over his crouched form. “What the hell is going on here? I just want someone to help me! For fuck’s sake, can you point me in his direction so I can find him myself then?”

Nox slowly rises, the corners of his mouth turned down. “He will come here. We do not go to him. He stays in the Wraithlands, out of bounds of the people in this realm.”

Great, so the powerful asshat is roaming around where no one is allowed to go. “What are the Wraithlands exactly?” Because after jumping into the Blood Sea, something people absolutely do not do, I may venture to these forsaken lands and drag this guy out by his hair.

“It is where the monsters dwell,” he repeats slowly, like I’m utterly helpless for not knowing this bit of information prior to coming across the Blood Sea. “Only ghosts and monsters live there.”

“Ghosts?” I scoff. The urge to roll my eyes at his theatrics is almost unbearable, but I shake my head to rid myself of the temptation. Now it’s my turn to talk to him as if he’s completely beyond help as I say, “Ghosts are not real.”

Nox tilts his head. This time, the corner of his mouth twitches upwards. As if my naivety amuses him. “What are shadows if they are not ghosts?”

The immediate manifestation of thoughts regarding all shadows I’ve seen in my life suddenly sends a chill down my spine. It’s the way he implies it, like shadows are harboring our every fear, following and haunting us in their incorporeal form. “The Lord of Shadows lives amongst monsters,” I mutter to myself. His brother was a monster, was he not? To be a Lord over them, surely this man feels connected to his dead twin where the monsters reign. Louder, I ask Nox, “When can I meet with him?”

“Zeke already left to inform him,” Nox says. “He was told by Char whom you’ve already met.” Nox presses his lips together, humming briefly. “Why did Char not eat you?”

I tug on my braid in annoyance, choosing to ignore his question. “Can you show me where I can wait for the Lord of Shadows or not?”

“If you tell me why Char didn’t eat you.”

Never in my life have I succumbed to feeling such dire anger rising inside of me. Like a string being pulled taut until it begins to fray, my patience wilts. Something ashen floods my mouth, the taste so overwhelming I lurch forward as if to vomit. Instantly there’s a vibration in the air, steady and growing until it suddenly ceases entirely.

Nox jumps backwards, his hands outstretched in front of him to warn me away. “Gods,” he murmurs, “I didn’t realize.”

I spit on the ground, the ashy taste on my tongue slowly dissolving. Dragging the back of my hand over my mouth, a smear of blood mars my skin. Reaching up, I gently dab beneath my nose, finding the source. “Realize what?” I snap, but I notice he’s not even looking at me, but at my feet. Glancing down I spy my sword, the one attached to one of the souls, shimmering against the dark ground next to my boots. The hilt crackling slightly with the familiar blue light dancing around it.

“You cracked the veil.”

My gaze whips back towards him. “What did you say?”

“The veil, you called upon your magic and it cracked it. Look.” He points beyond me in awe.

Over my shoulder, high into the sky, a dark smoke rises, as if the air itself is burning in an arbitrary place. My eyes are drawn towards the sea, catching the sliver of land far beyond. From here, the veil is a beating light. It pulses as if alive, but there’s a small speck I can see even from here that matches the chip from this side. “How is it cracked? I couldn’t have done that, I don’t have any magic.”

Nox clears his throat. “I believe the sword belongs to you. If you called upon it from here, but it was in Tellus, then it traveled through both veils to be here.”

“That’s not possible.”

“Tell that to the sword at your feet.”

“I can’t use magic,” I repeat slowly, since he seems to be incapable of understanding me. “I’m an immortal. I have no magic. I have souls,” I pound my fist into my chest for emphasis, “that were imposed upon me.” Never have I been able to call upon any of the souls weapons before. Even when I was activated, I assume the souls grabbed the weapons from my house where they were stashed prior to completing a punishment. None of the souls possess the type of magic to use it willingly, at least as far as I’m aware. Only Lady Gwenyth is able to control me with her magic holding the souls in place.

For a long moment, Nox simply stares at me. “Char is the monster that lives in the sea. The Blood Witch does not control it, but allows it to live within her domain. It is less powerful underwater, but still devours the offerings of flesh made to assist in souls seeking eternal rest here. Yet it did not eat you. Perhaps it could sense the magic within your souls.” He crosses his arms over his chest. “I have never met an immortal with more than a single soul housed inside of them. Is this why the Blood Witch allowed you passage?”

Bending down, I grab the sword off the ground and drag the tip against the dirt, carving symbols into the ground absentmindedly. “She claims there are five, but there are four. Says her magic is not enough to pry them out, but her son may be able to. So I came here.”

Confusion clouds his features. Slowly he repeats my words back, “Pry them out? You want to die?”

Angling my chin upwards, I nod stiffly, “I do.”

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