Read Online The Splintered Eye (The War of Memory Cycle) by H. Anthe Davis - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: H. Anthe Davis
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that we must send you onward. To the Haarakash, I think. The Sisters will not approve, but they are…overprotective. The Haarakash practice a sort of necromancy but they have always been good neighbors to our enclave at Turo, and they should be able to unbind you—perhaps even remold your soul. We will arrange passage for you. It is some distance, but our followers will see you there in safety.”
“Thanks, but…what are the Haarakash?” said Cob. With Arik’s help, he had let go of the sword, and now moved to shrug his tunic back on. The Mother Matriarch’s grip tightened on his shoulder as he tried, though, and he looked again to see her eyelids fluttering as she wavered on her feet. He slid from the altar quickly and caught her around the waist, steadying her. She was painfully frail under the thick cloth of her brown dress.
“ Y’all right?” he said.
“ I… It has been a drain on me,” she said faintly. “The emptiness that touched you. I think that you must not try your bonds while underground again. We knew no better, but it came in from all around us, and our lights could not stop it. Daylight, morning light, heat and sun that it can not quench—that is what you require. The Haarakash can give that to you. Their land is called Accursed, but also the Summerland, and their ways are those of light though they do terrible things.”
“ I’m sorry. I dunno what—“
“ It is well, Guardian. But you must take care. As your wolf says, you are hunted.”
Cob frowned and started to speak, but Sister Talla swept in like a shining knight to wrap her arm around the Mother Matriarch and tug her away. “You must rest, Mother,” she said, casting Cob a look that verged on hostile. “Others will see to our guests.”
“Talla...Talla, I am well,” said the Mother Matriarch, but the strain in her face was obvious. “We must send him to Turo—“
“ We will, Mother. Be at peace.” With a sharp word, Sister Talla summoned another young priestess, who bustled up with a candle and bowed her head to Cob and Arik. “See them to their accommodations—or perhaps the bathing room first,” Sister Talla said, “and then continue rekindling the flames. We have much work to do to make this place a shelter again.”
“ Yes, Sister,” said the priestess, and beckoned to Cob and Arik.
Cob nodded, then pulled his tunic on properly and slung his coat over it. The chill in the chamber had not dissipated. The way this place had gone from stiflingly warm to freezing in mere moments frightened him, not least because he knew it was his fault.
When he closed his eyes, he could see the prison circles again. See himself reaching out to touch them, break them, send the magic away.
Into the Dark.
His scar twinged, and he pressed his hand over it, wincing. The Guardian was silent and still, as if sensing a predator, but if something really lingered in the temple complex, Cob could not feel it. All he felt was cold and tired and scared.
With Arik close at his side, he stepped down from the dais and followed the priestess into the shadowed hall.
Chapter 3 – Arrow’s Flight
Deep in the uplands of Corvia, Lark huddled in the leafless brush and took another swig from the leather flask. Pungent bitterstar liquor burned down her throat, but it was a welcome burn. The rest of her felt frozen.
Dimly she knew that she should not be drinking—not while out in the cold and certainly not while perched on an overlook high above the valley floor—but it was the way of life with the Corvish, and she was adapting to it. Anyway, she had plenty of reasons to drink, like being abandoned here by the Shadow Folk while her goblin child, Rian, was lost elsewhere.
Perhaps ‘abandoned’ was a strong word. The shadowbloods did still whisper to her from time to time, requesting updates and giving new orders. But they would not tell her where Rian was or
“Thanks, but…what are the Haarakash?” said Cob. With Arik’s help, he had let go of the sword, and now moved to shrug his tunic back on. The Mother Matriarch’s grip tightened on his shoulder as he tried, though, and he looked again to see her eyelids fluttering as she wavered on her feet. He slid from the altar quickly and caught her around the waist, steadying her. She was painfully frail under the thick cloth of her brown dress.
“ Y’all right?” he said.
“ I… It has been a drain on me,” she said faintly. “The emptiness that touched you. I think that you must not try your bonds while underground again. We knew no better, but it came in from all around us, and our lights could not stop it. Daylight, morning light, heat and sun that it can not quench—that is what you require. The Haarakash can give that to you. Their land is called Accursed, but also the Summerland, and their ways are those of light though they do terrible things.”
“ I’m sorry. I dunno what—“
“ It is well, Guardian. But you must take care. As your wolf says, you are hunted.”
Cob frowned and started to speak, but Sister Talla swept in like a shining knight to wrap her arm around the Mother Matriarch and tug her away. “You must rest, Mother,” she said, casting Cob a look that verged on hostile. “Others will see to our guests.”
“Talla...Talla, I am well,” said the Mother Matriarch, but the strain in her face was obvious. “We must send him to Turo—“
“ We will, Mother. Be at peace.” With a sharp word, Sister Talla summoned another young priestess, who bustled up with a candle and bowed her head to Cob and Arik. “See them to their accommodations—or perhaps the bathing room first,” Sister Talla said, “and then continue rekindling the flames. We have much work to do to make this place a shelter again.”
“ Yes, Sister,” said the priestess, and beckoned to Cob and Arik.
Cob nodded, then pulled his tunic on properly and slung his coat over it. The chill in the chamber had not dissipated. The way this place had gone from stiflingly warm to freezing in mere moments frightened him, not least because he knew it was his fault.
When he closed his eyes, he could see the prison circles again. See himself reaching out to touch them, break them, send the magic away.
Into the Dark.
His scar twinged, and he pressed his hand over it, wincing. The Guardian was silent and still, as if sensing a predator, but if something really lingered in the temple complex, Cob could not feel it. All he felt was cold and tired and scared.
With Arik close at his side, he stepped down from the dais and followed the priestess into the shadowed hall.
Chapter 3 – Arrow’s Flight
Deep in the uplands of Corvia, Lark huddled in the leafless brush and took another swig from the leather flask. Pungent bitterstar liquor burned down her throat, but it was a welcome burn. The rest of her felt frozen.
Dimly she knew that she should not be drinking—not while out in the cold and certainly not while perched on an overlook high above the valley floor—but it was the way of life with the Corvish, and she was adapting to it. Anyway, she had plenty of reasons to drink, like being abandoned here by the Shadow Folk while her goblin child, Rian, was lost elsewhere.
Perhaps ‘abandoned’ was a strong word. The shadowbloods did still whisper to her from time to time, requesting updates and giving new orders. But they would not tell her where Rian was or
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