Jade Fire Gold(65)

Ahn gasps, eyes bulging as her hands go to her mouth.

We are here.

I am standing in a circle of death.

The grass, wildflowers, and insects in the area have shriveled up and died, creating a funeral wreath fit for the corpse they surround.

A corpse that looks like a husk of a man.

His skin is desiccated, as if all liquid has been drained out. As if he died decades ago and was left to decay among the harsh elements. A dreadful, shocked expression remains on his withered, bloodless face. What is left of his lifeless eyes stare up at the Heavens.

This husk of man—it could have been me.

A small cry tears my attention away. Ahn is shaking uncontrollably. I take her by the elbow and guide her away. There is no need for her to relive what she did.

But as we walk, all I can think about is how the world would be a safer place without the Life Stealer.





25


Ahn


Back at the cave, I skin the hare as quickly as I can, trying not to think of death—from my hands. Altan’s reaction to the bandit I killed told me everything: he’s afraid of me. He thinks I’m dangerous. A murderer. A monster.

He isn’t wrong.

I clean the carcass in the stream and stake it over the flame. Soon, a delicious aroma rises as fat drips down onto the crackling fire, but that hollow feeling of having taken a life, even if it is for sustenance, lingers. My appetite vanishes.

Altan wanders out of the cave, a little unsteady on his feet, his black outer robe hanging over his bare shoulders. He sniffs the air appreciatively and I hand over the skewer. He promptly tears in with gusto. After a few bites, he stops.

“Sorry.” He tries to pass the half-eaten hare back, a sheepish grin on his face.

I wave him away. “Not hungry.” My stomach rumbles on cue and I squirm.

“Clearly, your stomach disagrees.”

“You’re injured, you should eat more.”

“I’m injured, I can’t help you if you faint from hunger.” He parades the meat in front of my face until I finally give in and take it back from him.

As I nibble half-heartedly, he stretches and tests his arm, flexing this way and that. Inevitably, his outer robe slides off.

I cough, almost choking on a piece of meat. “Why do you keep wandering around half-dressed?”

He blinks in confusion. “I wasn’t—”

“Are you still feverish? My grandmother says you need to sweat a fever out. She used to bundle me up in blankets even in the desert heat. It works. Try it.” I’m speaking too fast and my voice sounds too high to my ears.

Altan shrugs and wraps his robes tightly around himself before settling closer to the fire.

“Don’t complain if I sweat up a stink.”

“You already stink.”

“So do you.”

I burst out laughing. We do smell bad.

“I thought you said you didn’t know how to use your life-stealing magic,” he says out of the blue.

I stop laughing. Why did he have to bring that up now?

“I don’t know how to use it. It just happened. I panicked; I didn’t want you to die.” I chuck the hare bones into the fire. “I didn’t know what I was doing.”

“Leiye says you need your magic to find the sword, is that true?”

That was what my father told me. Our evenings together in his study come back to haunt me. Bitterness seeps into my heart, twisting it. The pain of his betrayal is fresh even as I avoid thoughts of him. Deep down, I know I can’t run away from him forever.

“The sword itself is supposed to draw me toward it like a compass,” I say.

“Have you felt its . . .” Altan searches for the right word. “Its pull?”

I shake my head. Something flickers across his face. Disappointment? But why would he care? His job is to get me on the ship. I don’t want to think about the sword or my dark magic, so I pull my ring out and show it to him.

“Why didn’t you sell this?”

Altan pats down his empty pouch. “You knew?”

I nod and slip the ring onto my finger. The familiar sight of the silver-etched phoenix soothes me.

“It seemed important to you.” His tone holds a question.

I don’t feel like answering. Not when I have questions of my own. “This is more than just a job for you, isn’t it?”

Silence.

I try again. “How did you get involved in this mess that is the Shi Empire? Things seem peaceful in Mengu. Is the money you’re getting from Leiye worth all this trouble?”

Altan leans his back against a boulder, gazing up at the night sky.

“It’s not about the money,” he finally admits. “My mother was from the north, but my father was from Shi. He spoke up against the priests, and they hunted us down. Leiye told me if I helped you find the sword of light, you’d be able to take down the priesthood.”

Take down the priesthood? Was that Leiye’s plan all along? He does intend to betray my father. The thought of it gives me both hope and fear. Leiye may be brave enough to stand up to my father. But he is only one man—a mere boy. My father has the weight of the Empire and the priesthood behind him. It feels like a futile fight. And yet, he’s trying.

I . . . am less brave.

Don’t you want to avenge your mother’s death? questions a small voice in my head. I don’t know if she’s dead, but I do know who drove her to desperate means—the priests. If the sword can stop them, then finding the sword should be my goal. But it would mean mastering my life-stealing affinity, and I’m not sure if I can.