The Inquisition (Summoner, #2)(84)

As whispered greetings were made, Fletcher looked at his team through his scrying lens, Athena’s eyes cutting through the gloom. They were all damp and exhausted from the trip across the river and most had barely slept since the night they had encountered Isadora’s team – unless poison-induced unconsciousness counted. Othello and Atilla were already dozing, their arms around each other’s shoulders. It was true, a night’s rest would do them all good, but was this the right call? Hundreds, if not thousands, of people could die if the Wyverns attacked Hominum that night.

‘All right team, infuse your demons and get some shuteye,’ Fletcher said, slumping to the ground in defeat. ‘I have a feeling we’re going to need it.’





38


Fletcher woke to the sound of drums. They pounded with a deep, incessant throb, booming low and loud across the pyramid.

He was not the only one awake. Mason, the escaped slave, watched him through half-closed eyes. The boy remained silent, but nudged Malik with his foot until the young noble groaned. Moments later he was as awake as Fletcher was, the pulse of noise startling away the vestiges of sleep.

The room was a dim, bare cube, with sleeping bodies surrounding the remains of a fire now reduced to cold ashes. The light of dawn glowed from the corridor outside. They had slept through the night. He looked over and saw Malik was clutching a pocket watch. He peered at it. They had two hours left … was that enough time?

‘What the hell is that noise?’ Jeffrey mumbled from behind Fletcher.

Fletcher turned to see most of his team were awake too, as well as Lysander, Sacharissa and Caliban, who had stayed up all night on watch, in order to wake them in time and to let them know if Isadora’s team arrived. Evidently, they had not.

‘We need to find out what it is,’ Sylva said, peering out of the chamber furtively. She jerked her head back in immediately, her eyes wide with shock.

‘There are orcs out there,’ she whispered. ‘Fetching water from the river. We can’t risk going outside.’

‘That’s not the plan anyway,’ Malik said dismissively. ‘This is the safest place we could be. But yes – we need to find out what that sound is. It could be some sort of ceremony involving the pyramid.’

‘I don’t care what it is,’ Fletcher said. ‘We’ve waited long enough – the sponsors should have woken us earlier. We have to start the raid. Now.’

‘I know what it is.’ Mason spoke for the first time. His hands trembled ever so slightly, and his eyes were closed.

‘It’s the end of the orc trainin’,’ he continued, taking a deep, quavering breath. ‘Where they separate the weak from the strong. ’Appens every year. This is terrible timin’ – the area’ll be crawlin’ with orcs.’

‘Will they come into the pyramid?’ Fletcher asked.

‘They might,’ Mason replied, his eyes still closed. ‘The shamans’ll test the young ’uns for the ability to summon today, just as ’Ominum’s Inquisitors do. If there’re any adepts, they’ll be takin’ ’em into the pyramid. They come in through this back entrance and leave through the front. That’s all I know.’

‘And that’s all we’ll know, if we don’t go out and check.’

It was Verity who had spoken. She was sitting in the corner, watching her Mite crawl over her hand. It was black, and small for a Scarab, just as Apophis had been.

‘Nobody will notice Ebony here, if she flies out and takes a look.’

As she spoke, she rummaged in her satchel before tugging out a flat rectangle of crystal the size of a dinner mat. Its edges were reinforced with a steel band to prevent it from shattering, though one edge was already beginning to crack.

‘A gift from my grandmother,’ Verity said, holding it up for all to see. Ebony alighted on it, and Fletcher was amazed at the clarity of the image as the Mite’s view came into focus. Even the Oculus back at Vocans had not been so crisp and clear.

‘Glad it will be of use,’ Verity continued, tossing her hair. ‘I’ve been lugging it about this whole trip without using it once. I’d rather have one like yours, Fletcher.’

She turned her big brown eyes on him, and Fletcher smiled at the compliment. Sylva rolled her eyes.

Ebony swooped past his head, flicking a spindly leg against the lens strapped to his face. The overlay of Ebony’s view appeared, and he felt dizzied as the Mite zoomed around the room. Athena’s view was a lot more stable and less prone to sharp turns.

‘Any objections?’ Verity asked.

‘None,’ Malik said, admiring Verity’s scrying stone.

He turned to Fletcher, since Seraph was still sleeping beside Othello and Atilla on the floor, his own snores adding to the bass chorus. All the others were awake now.

‘Let them sleep,’ Malik said, grinning. ‘Fletcher, what say you?’

Fletcher paused, listening to the ominous throb of the drumbeats.

‘We need to know when the coast is clear, so we can find somewhere better to hide in the pyramid,’ Fletcher said, tapping his chin. ‘We’re sitting ducks in here. It can’t hurt to do a bit of investigating.’

Before he had even finished speaking, Ebony had buzzed out of the chamber and into the light, the image blurring as the demon jinked left and right. Higher and higher she flew, Fletcher’s overlay filled with clear blue sky and the glare of the blazing sun. Then, just as the others began to grow restless, Ebony turned and looked to the ground.