The Shadowglass (The Bone Witch #3)(104)

“I am far too cautious to do the latter. But my advice will be worth your while,” the former oracle promised. “I vow on the graves of Ashi, Mithra, Anahita, and Sraosha underneath my feet that I will protect Kion. I will guide King Kance into a golden age of prosperity, and Empress Alyx and her daughter as well. I will take care of Likh, Lord Khalad.”

The Heartforger bared his teeth. “Like hell you will.”

“You lie,” the bone witch repeated. “Once I create shadowglass, you will take it from me, weak as I am, and force your own will into the world. You know the original legends better than anyone else. Blade that Soars proved capable of seizing shadowglass, and he would have, had not Hollow Knife chosen to halt the spell. You of all people know that shadowglass can be wrested away from the one who creates it.”

“You blighted people on a whim,” Lord Fox snapped. “You can no longer resume your place in Kion society after this unless it’s in chains. You have no plans of letting us leave this place alive.”

“I trusted Althy!” Zoya cried. “Shadi, Mykkie—everyone trusted you! How dare you? How could you?”

“Do you not believe my intentions?” the Faceless implored the Dark asha. “How could I be so strong as to steal shadowglass in the face of you all? I am powerless now, as I will be then, and I will choose to be so willingly.”

The Dark asha looked back at her, stared hard. She folded her hands behind her. “Where are the letters you stole?” Lady Tea asked. “The ones you took from the bard?”

Druj drew the papers from within her robes. “I had to take them, of course. I could not have my disguise revealed, not then. The dead Altaecia in your story would have turned suspicion against me. I could not learn of Kance’s plans while I was the oracle, so I had to adopt Altaecia’s—”

She broke off. The former oracle smiled, and a peculiar sleepiness overcame me.

“I do not know how you learned of the Blight rune, for the Gorvekai never told you,” the bone witch all but purred. “But they told me many things after I emerged from my second trial at Stranger’s Peak. They told me of more uses for runes that not even you know of and modifications to the runes you do. Did you know that the Scrying rune can be woven into common items, not only a person’s mind? In letters, for instance? Did you know that the spell can be modified to find one specific individual and not the others who touch it? Or that it could serve as a beacon for me to find you?”

A sharp gasp left the oracle.

“You knew you could hide your mind from me. You were clever. I would not have thought of using Althy’s face for your disguise, to strut about like she was still alive. You wove wards around Kion to prevent me access, convinced Alyx it was necessary. Even with the daeva, I could not find your thoughts, and so I relied on other means. Did you not realize the uselessness of your camouflage the moment you abandoned the Hollows and sailed to Drycht? That I knew who you were hiding as, where you were, the instant your hand touched the parchment?”

The papers fluttered out of the Faceless’s grasp and drifted to the ground.

Immediately, a foreign presence pushed into my mind, frantic, seeking leverage. But the bone witch’s presence was already there, forcing her out—though not without some effort. Lord Kalen moved, the Wind he conjured holding the Faceless motionless. Lady Zoya lifted her hands, no doubt adding to his strength.

But the Faceless attacked again, with both her mind and another weapon. A roar thundered behind me.

A terrible beast climbed out from the sand, blocking our exit—not a daeva, but with a daeva’s height and breadth. It was a corpse with a skeleton-like face, sharp bones jutting around it like a lion’s mane. It sported eight legs like a spider, each tipped with cruel hooks. It snarled at us with dead eyes. I knew who it was.

The blighted King Aadil leaped, too quickly for me to anticipate, but Lord Kalen stepped into its path, taking the blow meant for me. There was a sickening crunch as its hooks closed on his shoulder, tearing through flesh. Lord Fox dashed forward and swiped at the beast’s head, slicing off the top of its skeletal cranium. The gaunt creature skittered back, shook itself, and jumped again.

“Thanks.” The Deathseeker sent a wall of wind knives digging into its bony midsection, slicing off more limbs. Aadil howled.

The Faceless was relentless, burning a vision in my head, digging into my psyche, trying to mark her victory. But the Dark asha was just as obstinate. I felt her mind pushing out Druj to prevent her from wresting control. I saw the others struggle with the same assault, protected only by their strong willpowers and the asha’s assistance.

How Lord Fox and Lord Kalen could still fight was bewildering to me; I could feel nothing but pain radiating from inside my skull. I understood why the bone witch feared the woman’s skills; to attack us all at once while still maintaining command of the blighted Aadil was not an easy feat—one the Dark asha could only do with darksglass.

Both familiars moved in unison; blades snapping, their feet quick and agile, they circled Aadil on either side, some unspoken strategy passing between them. Lord Kalen was the first to attack, worrying at the shinbones that kept the beast upright. The demon snapped at him, giving Lord Fox a chance to swipe at its rib cage. The former king staggered; the Deathseeker took out its right shoulder, and the Kion general cut through a hip bone.

Lady Zoya had been sidestepping the fracas, zigzagging as she ran from one section of sand to the other. Her actions confused me until the ground gave out underneath the Aadil-beast without warning, sending it scrabbling for a fresh hold. But it was a mere distraction for the beast, and the asha swore. “I can’t draw Water here or channel it with other runes,” she rasped. “There is something in this place that absorbs the spell before I can unleash it!” She cursed again. “And look!”