G. x
My heart plummets, gaze shooting skyward to themanymoons above. Mostly Moltenmaws, but also a few Moonplumes and Sabersythes. Ode to a great battle that took place here many phases ago.
I sigh, pinching the lark back into shape, seeing no reason to keep the secret since nobody else seems to be. “There’s a moonfall coming. Several, actually.”
“What?”
“The king informed me earlier. It’s over fifteen cycles away, but not everyone’s privy to that information.”
Clearly.
“Creators …”
I release the lark, setting it back on its path. “Apparently there are new runes on the arches that protect against them.”
Hard to believe. If the Tri-Council had derived that sort of knowledge from the Book of Voyd, surely it would’ve been passed on. Unless they’re more bent than a weeping wisp branch.
I lean forward, looking down the street towardsaidarches. They bulge from the lofty white wall that surrounds the city’s center, caging hundreds of huge towers that look like clustered dragon’s teeth pointing skyward. A thunder of vibrant Moltenmaws churn above, white-armored guardsperched between their wings, their attention pinned to the streets surrounding the Citadel. “Probably why so many folk are headed in that direction.”
“But there’s not enough space beneath them to fit the city’s population. Not even close.”
“No. And it won’t just be Bothaim’s residents rushing for the gates should this news flutter beyond the city.”
Which it will.
The idea of being stuck in the grasp of that giant pale shackle of a wall until the atmosphere settles again makes my skin crawl, given only Tri-Council members are bestowed thegiftof being able to hear the Creators beyond the gates. Precautions since the war that put so many moons in the sky above.
Fear and all that.
“Let’s keep moving. The sooner we discard the meat on your back, the sooner you’re free to find somewhere safe to bunker down.”
“And you? What will you do?”
My lips thin, the breath of an almost-kiss still making my temple tingle. All the while, my Other’s memory pokes at me. Like it sloshed back to the surface and settled on the shore of my icy lake, ready to slice the soles of my feet every time I dip down there to discard something.
“I’m still working that out,” I mumble, then cut across the street, dodging frantic folk and larks zipping through the air. Knowing what I’mnotdoing.
Hiding in a cute, wholesome, wonky little home while Kaan Vaegor worries about everyone else in this Creators-damn world but himself.
He told me to pinch the return fold if I need him. Good, because I need him not to die.
Ifollow Utris past a thorny kutak bush and through the freshly torn hole in the wall, into the rough-hewn stairway beyond. Inhale the thick, rotten-smelling air, so hauntingly still it feels almost solid.
“Gurdeth aahgth … du ien dah,”Utris murmurs, and the ground trembles. The stone smushes back together like it’s made of clay, casting us in total darkness.
I pull out a small jar of captured moonlight I acquired from a traveling merchant for the odd cost of a strand of hair, using it to inspect his handiwork. Smooth, as though the hole was never there. “Impressive.” I flip back my hood, deciding this working-with-an-accomplice thing is pretty handy. If only it could last. “I’m guessing you hear Bulder fairly well?”
“Not really,” he grunts out, readjusting his hold on Rekk. “But I listen hard and practice plenty.”
Good for him. I practice zero, then spit a few basic words and hope for the best when I have no choice but to call on him. I’ve gotten used to getting ignored. Sometimes he offers something as misshapen as my words, which often stomps harder than his long, judgmental silences.
“I’ll lead the way.” He begins moving down the twisty staircase. “In case I accidentally drop the fucker.”
We haven’t gone far when the air pressure tightens in a familiar way, making my hackles rise. Evidence we’ve passed beneath the arches that cage the Citadel and silence the Creators.
My eardrums squeeze so much they’re on the verge of popping, stirring visions of flaming battles and sprays of boiling blood—
I stuff the memories back beneath my icy lake and crack my neck from side to side, wondering if the runes work the same as the ones that null those battling in the Pits of Khindard …
