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By Michele aka Ygraul Verdemorte |
Chapter 47. Raven |
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endaran hovered at the threshold of consciousness. Soon after Ebony had convinced him to break fast that morning, she had followed it with a heady dose of mandrake and he had slumped gratefully into oblivion. Gummy-eyed and dizzy, he peered now through the cage of his eyelashes. It was nearing dusk. He recognized the warbling songs of the thrush that only sang at this time. It was a lullaby that he remembered from Ascalon and he smiled faintly to hear it now. He did not know where he was. Outside somewhere, far enough from the fortress that it would be safe to draw the demon out and slay it without involving innocent bystanders. Master Bei had described the process to him and he had already read several primers on the topic. He would be bound, more so than he was now, so that the demon could not attack them using his frail body. There would be banishing inscriptions and charms placed upon his body to protect him so that the demon could not turn on him and seek his destruction. He was slumped against a tree, his legs still bound with strips of silk and his arms folded and strapped within the sling. He lifted his head and saw Ebony laying out her tools as Mog and Lemony purified the circle that had been cleared of branches and debris. The monk muttered prayers and waved incense while Mog followed behind with water and salt. There was a long ceremonial sword laid out before Ebony and at the center of the circle there was a shimmering tub of water. She had the necessary jar of black earth and red cinnabar to poison the water and push Threnody away. She was of the ocean, the realm from which all the most cunning and terrible demons arose. He was propped against a tree, left to sleep while the preparations were completed. Scanning the perimeter of the clearing, he saw Morisedd watching the proceedings on the opposite side, his bow at the ready. Uriel lurked beside him in her fiery elementalist finery, her diadem burning fiercely in the twilight. There were others, but he did not recognize them, warriors and rangers preparing for battle. Xiang Yi sat beside Pendaran, grim and gaunt as the monk watched the proceedings. “Ah my love, so it has come to this,” Threnody said within his mind. He could feel her eyes boring into him and she was not pleased with what she saw. “We have an agreement, leave me be.” “But you are seeking to break it. You are mine, by agreement.” “For one hour of the month and no more.” “I protect you.” “From everything but you.” “I know where your master is,” Threnody said quietly. Pendaran closed his eyes, his throat clenching with unwelcome grief. “I can tell you how to find him and then you can fulfill your foolish vow. After all, it was because of you he died.” “I did not kill him,” Pendaran said, trying to retain what little composure was left to him in his maddened state. “If you had come to me at the appointed time, your master would not have left himself open to the assassin. Of course I told the assassin your master was vulnerable and she had only to walk into his rooms and await his return. You see? It does not pay to disobey me, Pendaran. People you love will die when I am crossed.” He bowed his head, knowing her words to be true as he sorrowed for his master. What had he done? Tears clouded his vision, but rage also arose within him, clearing his mind as nothing else had. He sensed in her gloating voice a willingness to tell him everything and he must know the truth. “An assassin killed him?” “Yes,” said Threnody coldly. “How did she get into the compound?” “Getting in was not a problem once I helped her disguise herself as one of the summoner’s victims,” Threnody laughed harshly, “What a sweet man Master Bei was to give shelter and succor to his murderer.” “Keisha,” Pendaran thought, “I remember her face now. She was the woman in the black wig playing the zither when Zhou and I went to plead Uriel’s case before the Ministry of Earth. And the fire… she created a diversion to use the shadows.” Threnody laughed viciously, relishing Pendaran’s misery. He swore at her, his heart aching to think of Zhou’s last moments betrayed by someone he had sought to help. If only he had remembered where he had seen Keisha and alerted him. If only Threnody had not possessed him. He should have accepted his death the first time instead of accepting a devil’s bargain. His desperation and selfishness had cost his master an eternity of torment. “See the crystal that lies at the center of Ebony’s altar?” Pendaran blinked away his tears looked toward the place where Ebony was setting out the tools she would need during the ritual. There was a small gathering of charms and stones laid out on a low flat area of the ground near the center of the circle. Near its center an innocuous crystal on a worn necklace of leather gleamed softly from within. “Yes, what of it?” “That belongs to your master. A piece of him and the demon called Xenarach reside within it. I know a way you can use it to go to him. Assuming you wish to free him from torment.” “How?” “I will only tell you if you agree to flee from here.” Pendaran laughed bitterly. “Flee? Have you noticed I am tied up?” “I will give you another form and then you can snatch up the crystal and use it to find your master.” He had promised Zhou that he would not let him become an emissary. He remembered the Realm of Torment, the maddening despair and fear that lay like a miasma over it. He remembered the screams of the suffering souls who were trapped there and he could not bear the thought that his master was condemned to dwell there forever. “I prefer to be human,” Pendaran silently shouted at her. “When you have successfully fled them, I will make you a man once more. It is up to you. Of course, you could let them drive me away from you, but that means you should never let your children near the sea.” A thrill of fear shuddered through him. Now Mabane and his unborn daughter were under threat. He swore at Threnody, hating her but knowing she was not lying. She had him where she wanted him and she was not about to take her claws out. “What do I have to do?” “The crystal will take you to your master. You have only to attune it to the Celestial Sigil and you may open a portal to him.” Better that he died in service to Zhou than live with his loved ones under Threnody’s threat. “Very well.” His body collapsed in a flash of blinding light and he was suddenly very small. He fluttered free of his mounded clothing and hopped on two feet toward the altar. Fluttering his gleaming black wings, he rose a little from the ground, raven formed and as yet unnoticed. He turned his sharp eyes upon the crystal and leapt up, taking wing easily with instincts that did not belong to him. Xiang Yi shouted and attempted to throw a blanket over him, but too late. Pendaran rushed toward his quarry, grasping the humble leather thong of the crystal in his beak. Ebony shrieked in shock as his wings pounded the air before her. “No! Don’t shoot him, it’s Pendaran!” she cried as Morisedd nocked an arrow and Uriel began to chant a fiery spell. Up he flew, his broad wings laboring past leaf and branch toward open sky. “Pendaran, come back! Whatever she offered you can only bring sorrow!” But he was above the dense canopy streaking toward the dark silhouette of the fortress as dusk yielded to night. His swift black form streaked through the open air, covering the laborious miles they had traveled in minutes. By the time they reached the fortress he would be long gone. “Sorry,” he thought, imaging the grief his departure would cause. He would miss them but at least he would die for a worthy cause. |
