Dreadgod (Cradle Book 11) (49)
The Herald Redmoon mimicked his expression exactly. “Then should we seek the mercy of our jailers, or should we remain imprisoned?”
It was confusing enough to track their conversation, but Yerin had pieced enough of it together to have some idea of what was going on. After Lindon had banished Reigan Shen and the Dreadgod cults from Sacred Valley, Redmoon Hall had separated from the other cults, only to find themselves stuck.
They were pinned between two Monarchs: Akura Malice and Northstrider. Both had warned them, somehow, that they should stay where they were and make no attempt to contact the Phoenix.
The only thing Yerin didn’t understand was why the Monarchs hadn’t just wiped them out. If she had traveled here with Lindon only to find Redmoon Hall reduced to kindling and scarlet smears, she wouldn’t have shed a tear.
Anyway, apparently the Sage wanted to offer their services fighting against the Phoenix, while the Herald wanted to contact the Dreadgod and trade their loyalty for freedom.
Which put Yerin in the very strange position of being on the same side as the Sage of Red Faith.
Though Yerin had done nothing, not even moved her madra, both heads snapped to her at the same time. It was a struggle not to draw Netherclaw.
“Here is one matter even you should see clearly,” the Sage said.
“Agreed,” Redmoon responded. “I will thoroughly record her experiences for analysis and collect madra samples. You—”
“You think I would trust this operation to a Herald?” The air around Red Faith boiled, and he seemed closer to throwing techniques than at any point since entering the room. “My drudge is more qualified to perform this operation than you are. I was analyzing spiritual composition before the Phoenix laid your egg.”
“You are notoriously unreliable,” the Herald said coldly. “If you harm the subject, not only would that cost us her willing cooperation, but we also cannot ignore the threat of reprisal.”
“When have I ever placed my project in existential danger? What about you, who seeks the Phoenix’s favor? What if it demands you turn her over to satisfy its hunger?”
Redmoon hissed but waved a hand. “Conceded. I will trust you this far, but if you betray our project, I will be sure all those in the Hall—and the heavens, if necessary—know who is responsible.”
“I take responsibility for all my mistakes.” Red Sage gave his former Blood Shadow a pointed look. “All of them.”
The Herald didn’t bite the hook, but the air between them was thick. Blood aura seethed around both of their angry spirits.
From beginning to end, Redmoon hadn’t said a word to Yerin. She raised a hand. “Real treat to meet you,” she said.
Then the Blood Sage marched past her, and she followed him.
He led her down a hall to a room crowded with materials that reminded her of the tools she’d seen in the depths of the labyrinth. She hesitated to even set foot in the room, considering the death aura that hovered in the air, but the Blood Sage didn’t consider her hesitation at all.
Red Faith strode in without a pause, absently swinging a chair around as he rifled around in some shelves for an elixir. Glass clinked as he pointed to his side.
“Sit so that I may examine you. I can bind you if you wish, but the pain will be minor. Negligible, to one of your constitution and advancement. Have you had any mental enhancements?”
Yerin’s mind ran through all the emergency measures Lindon had left for her, but she sat in the offered chair. While her whole body was tense and she watched every motion of the Sage, she found that she oddly did trust him.
At least, she thought she did. She suspected he wouldn’t lie to her about his intentions, now that she was within his power. If he planned on stripping her skin away and carving her up from the inside out, he’d say so. He would probably expect her to understand.
“Can’t see why there’d be pain at all,” Yerin said. “Give me a dream tablet and tell me what you want to see, and I’ll squeeze it in there as best I can.”
The Sage vigorously shook a violet mixture in a sealed vial until it shone brightly. “That would be sufficient to retrieve your recollection of one incident, but I intend to extract your entire experience of raising your Blood Shadow according to my techniques, which will be simpler if your mind is temporarily enhanced. Any preexisting mental enhancements may have unforeseen effects with this one, so I need to understand the situation correctly. And I may also require extracted memories from your manifested Shadow—”
“Ruby,” Yerin interrupted.
The Sage tilted his head to one side until it almost touched his shoulder. “Interesting. Do you find that your sense of identity has been at all corrupted by the addition of your Shadow? Are you suffering from any delusions, nightmares, or hallucinations that suggest you yourself are, or ever were, Ruby?”
“Can’t see how we’re both making it through this when every word you say makes me want to snap your neck like a winter branch.”
He shook the elixir again. “Irrelevant. Unnecessary of me to even ask when I will understand in but a moment. Now, mental enhancements. You received a supplemental cognition booster from the Eight-Man Empire, didn’t you? Have you received anything else?”
“Guess that’s what you’d call it, sure. No other changes to my brain except dream tablets and some—”