Glyphbinder (34 page)

Kara might never be able to leave the Underside, but things here were going to change. The Mavoureen would no longer torture human souls. Once she found this Great Home, she would torture the Mavoureen. She would make them fear
her
.

As she followed Aludan, Kara saw a distant speck on the horizon. It grew larger as she approached and with each passing moment. First, it was the size of a bug. Soon, it was the size of a house. By the time she was close enough to make out the details, it was the size of a mountain that stretched both above and below from a wide center, mirrored as if by a great still lake.

The mountain — no, it was more like a volcano — was formed of charred black rock. Smoke rose from vents across its mottled surface, dotted with tiny windows that glowed with sickly yellow light. It was so wide Kara could not make out its sides.

Aludan the spike ball rushed closer, and Kara followed him. Aludan landed on a charred black platform covered in demon glyphs, becoming an insect once more. It scrambled forward on four legs.

The platform was wide enough to host a Selection Day ceremony, and an army of revenants waited to greet her. They stood with swords raised in salute. Aludan rushed over to them.

“Hurt them!” Aludan shouted. “Tear them apart! Make them—“ The demon exploded in a shower of black blood.

Kara landed and blinked at the space Aludan had occupied, Tarel at her side. It was now a smoking crater. Aludan had ceased to be. How was that possible?

Revenant boots shifted and echoed with a hundred metallic clangs. The dead soldiers parted to reveal a path leading into the volcano. A twelve-foot tall Mavoureen strode from inside it, and unlike the others, this one looked human. Male.

He was tall, almost twice as tall as her, and his skin was charred black. He had a narrow chin, glowing yellow eyes, and a severe face. His thick goatee looked to be made of volcanic rock.

Tarel took a breath and gripped her arm as they stared at the army and its massive general. “Can I at least get a sword?”

“You should not be here, Torn.” The demon man bared charred teeth. “Or is that you, Kara?”

His voice reminded her of Aryn giving a speech, silky and soothing. Kara readied two Hands of Heat. She really hated speeches.

“Let’s not fight.” The demon waved his hand. Tarel vanished in a burst of white light.

Kara stepped forward. “What did you do to him?”

“I sent him home.”

“You’re lying.”

“This is my realm. My kingdom. No one remains here unless I wish it. Tarel’s soul stands now before Order and Ruin.”

Kara lowered her hands. “You gave him back?”

“As an olive branch.” The demon inclined his head. “I am Paymon, grand magister of the Mavoureen. Some call me the Patriarch. Will you speak with me a moment? If you still wish to rampage afterward, we will at least have an understanding.”

Kara unscribed her glyphs. “Why would I listen to you?”

“Because you know you cannot kill me. You truly believe you’re stuck here forever, but you could not be more wrong.” Paymon’s grin widened. “I could send you back. If you wish it, I will cancel our contract with your dear Sera. I will make her soul free once more.”

“Liar.”

“Walk with me. Hear what I have to say. If you still wish to battle afterward, I will indulge you.”

Kara took his measure. Despite the great power inside Torn’s body, this Mavoureen felt different. She was not sure she could dispatch him as easily as she had the others. Looking at him felt like staring at an academy elder, like staring at power barely contained.

“What have we to talk about?” Kara asked. She needed time to make her decision.

“The Alcedi.”

“The lies you told Cantrall?”

“They are not lies. They are our mortal enemies.”

“Then why don’t you fight them and leave us out of it?”

“Because you are the key to our conflict. Your souls give us power. You make us strong.”

“Our souls aren’t yours or anyone’s.”

“Then why give yourselves freely to the Five?”

Kara lit her hands again. “Now you’re just speaking nonsense.”

“Am I?” Paymon’s silky voice tugged at her mind. “Why did the Five create you, if not to consolidate their own power? Why teach you to worship them? They, like us, thrive on your souls.”

Kara had heard enough. She summoned a wave of flame as tall as Paymon and tossed it at the Mavoureen. It blazed through revenants and turned them to ash. The wave passed through Paymon without even singeing his curly black hair.

Kara huffed and glared. “What are you?”

“I am the shadow that forms the night.” Paymon spread his arms. “I am the terror that chokes the dawn.” A dozen black spikes appeared in each of his open hands. “I am the death of the very soul, Kara Honuron, and I find you amusing. Perhaps you will listen after I’ve torn you out of that feeble flesh.”

Kara didn’t know if she could destroy him. She did know, however, that she could destroy the platform. So she scribed two Hands of Land and blew the platform into a thousand rocky shards.

Revenants tumbled like droplets from a waterfall, spinning into the purple void. Kara slid backward on her Hand of Breath as Paymon launched dark black spikes, standing on air. Laughing.

Kara incinerated each with Fingers of Heat, but they kept coming. Despite the power of Torn’s body, the conflict wore on her. Nothing she glyphed at Paymon harmed him. He slid aside or slipped through everything. It was like glyphing at a shadow.

Kara realized the futility of what she was doing. She used her Hand of Breath to rocket further up the volcano. Paymon chased her, his feet replaced with roiling black clouds. He called up to her as he rose, his silky voice clear and amused.

“What shall I shred first? Your arm? Your face?”

Kara focused a great collection of air beneath her feet. Then she hurtled straight into the massive volcano, burrowing into its surface with no regard for the earth in her way. Earth exploded behind her, great chunks tumbling into the purple void.

Paymon was still outside, but Kara didn’t care about Paymon. She burrowed forward, then down, heading for the volcano’s center. It might be the size of a mountain, but it was still formed from earth.

She could not destroy Paymon. But if she found the center of this volcano, she could probably destroy his entire giant house.

She wondered if he would still be smiling after that.

BY THE TIME THEY REACHED the surface of Terras, Byn was tired of leaning against Xander to walk. He pushed off and stumbled forward on shaky legs. He had to remember how to walk at some point. Might as well start now.

He was still reeling from Melyssa and Xander’s report that Kara had used her strange new glyph to swap bodies with Torn, High Protector. Now that man was dead and Kara was gone. Forever.

Trell’s walk was shaky but steady, and as far as Byn could see, the people behind him didn’t walk much steadier than he did. Each step Melyssa took was difficult, but Jyllith helped her walk. Melyssa had healed them all enough to walk, and Byn had no idea how she had done that. No one had enough blood to accomplish that. He supposed Melyssa knew something about healing they did not.

Aryn trailed behind them, glowering at Jyllith. Sera still would not meet Byn’s eyes, and Jair would not meet anyone’s. He stared at his feet, walking like a man marching to the gallows.

Byn looked ahead and scowled. How could they come all this way only to see Kara die? That wasn’t remotely fair to anyone. Her father, Xander, held her lifeless body close as he carried her at the back of the procession. Kara’s victory. Kara’s funeral.

When Byn had left Solyr he had thought of it as an adventure. It had been a death march instead. Why had Sera forsaken him? Did she believe that a simple demon glyph could drive them apart?

When they reached the surface, a shaky Melyssa waved them to a halt. Xander settled Kara’s body against a ruined building. Bloodied and exhausted, Byn and the rest of the survivors sat down and stared at the riotous storm crackling overhead.

Byn realized how ridiculous it all was. This sky was not much when compared to the Underside, but who was he to judge? He had
seen
the Underside. He felt himself laughing. The tension and terror that had weighed him down since he had escaped the moat of Highridge Keep rolled off him in waves. He was tired of grief.

Wherever Kara was now, Byn knew that the Mavoureen wouldn’t have her. If anything, the demons would be running for their lives. Kara had saved him, saved their friends, and saved the world. Byn wouldn’t mourn her because she would hate it if he did.

Beside him, Jair curled into a ball and clutched his ears.

“Byn?” Trell asked quietly. “Are you okay?”

“Better,” Byn said. “Better than I’ve been in a good while.” He leaned back to rest his back on the wall. “We won.”

“We did,” Trell said. Cautiously diplomatic. He glanced at Melyssa. “Do we return to the stone?”

Melyssa shook her head, still pale and weak. She had even healed Kara’s body before she stopped, for all the good that did. By the time she did that, Torn’s soul was already gone. None of them begrudged him that. Seventy years of torture was quite enough.

Jyllith sat down beside Melyssa. “I’m sorry. That stone was bound to Cantrall’s soul. With him gone, its power has no meaning.”

“You’re lying.” Aryn stomped over and grabbed Jyllith’s arm, dragging her to her feet.

Melyssa stood as well. “Aryn! Stop.”

Aryn clenched Jyllith’s arms in his charred hands. Her red hair flopped about as he shook her, violently. “You’ll take us back to Highridge, or I’ll tear off your wretched head!”

Melyssa batted at Aryn’s arms. “Release her!”

Aryn just snorted, but he did stop shaking Jyllith. “Why?”

“I’m sorry,” Jyllith said. “I can’t help you any longer. Do what you must.” She shuddered violently. “Five know I’ve earned it.”

“No,” Melyssa said, but Xander took her arm.

“Let it go. You’ve no stake in what she glyphed on Aryn, and you well know it. What good is she to us if she won’t help?”

“I’m telling you the truth,” Jyllith said quietly. “I would take you out of here if I could. Five take me, I’d kill myself to take you out, but that link is gone. Cantrall’s soul is screaming its heart out with the Mavoureen.” She straightened. “He earned that.”

“Then we’ve no more use for you. No use at all.” Aryn shoved her away. “It’s time for you to burn.”

Jyllith fell to her knees and lowered her head.

“I know none of you can forgive me for what I did to you. I never expected you to. But my life is yours, Aryn.” She took one deep, shuddering breath. “You ... you don’t have to make it quick.”

The world went silent as Aryn stood over a woman who had made him into a demon. Tossed him into the Underside. Byn hated Jyllith. She had tried to feed Sera to the Mavoureen. Yet he couldn’t help but pity her as she knelt without pleading, without running. She knelt waiting for Aryn to burn her alive.

Aryn lowered his blackened hands, stared at his ruined flesh. His whole body shook. He started laughing.

“You want to suffer, don’t you? You’ve murdered countless innocents, and you think burning will allow you to atone. You’re wrong. You can never atone. You’ve damned yourself forever.”

Jyllith stared at the ground, trembling.

“It doesn’t matter whether your soul travels to the Underside or the Five when you die. Nothing can save you. You’re going to spend the rest of your life crying over the people you murdered, and when that’s done, you’re going somewhere cold and dark. Forever.”

Aryn gripped Jyllith's hair and wrenched her up, bringing her face to his own. Blistered flesh stretched as he bared charred teeth.

“There’s nothing, not one damn thing, I could do that will hurt you more than living with that. Have a nice life, you heartless bitch.” He shoved her away and strode off into the blasted academy.

Jyllith collapsed. “He was to kill me. He said he’d kill me!”

“He didn’t.” Melyssa placed a hand on her shoulder and stroked her red hair. “We’ll find another way to fix things.”

Jair mumbled something, hands pressed to his ears. His eyes were darting around as if he didn’t really see them, and that worried Byn. Was another soul trying to take control? If it did, a good strong punch should put him down.

Sera cleared her throat. “What now?”

Byn scowled and thought back on Trell’s words when they first arrived at Terras. Sera had scribed demon glyphs because she loved him. As a result, she had convinced herself they could never be together. Byn knew now how to prove her wrong.

He took the dream world and walked over to a gnarled, ruined tree. He cut a finger and scribed one of several new glyphs he had learned on this journey. The most recent of those was what he had seen burned into the door of the Terras glyphing room.

Just before he ignited the glyph, a Hand of Breath slammed into him. It knocked him to the tiles of Terras. Sera jumped on him, beating him with clenched fists.

“Why would you do that? Why would you even try?”

He caught her fists in a weak grip, grimacing at how little strength he had left. “Stop.”

“Why would you give yourself to them!”

“Because it doesn’t matter whether you’re Demonkin or not. I love you and I always will.” Byn pulled her close. “We just beat them on their home turf! You think some demon glyph is going to steal your soul? I won’t let it. We’ll find a way to save you, but we’re doing it together, dammit!”

Sera stopped struggling and pressed against his chest. “You giant idiot.” She nuzzled him, soft and warm. “You stupid jerk.”

Byn stroked her gray-streaked hair and laughed. “I love you too, honey.” With her in his arms, his world made sense.

So long as they were together, his world would always make sense.

KARA SAT ON A ROCKY ISLAND somewhere in the Underside. Paymon had seared her left arm clean off, evaporating the entire thing with a single spiteful shout. It wasn’t growing back and it appeared Paymon, unlike everything else in the Underside, had the power to permanently destroy things here. She wondered how he was dealing with his permanently destroyed volcano.

Kara was tired. She had been running for what felt like years. Paymon was tracking her through the Underside, finding her no matter how far she flew or how often she fled. Unlike her, he did not tire. He also wasn’t interested in talking, not any more.

Yet so long as he was hunting her, he would not be hurting anyone else. She would occupy him as long as she could. She doubted she could end her own life — she had tried it already — but at a minimum, she could blank her mind. Erase who she was. Paymon could not torture a senseless doll.

She sensed the soul when it appeared behind her. She spun, scribed a glyph with her one remaining arm, and tossed a spike of earth straight at its chest. The spike passed through the robed, spectral body.

Kara sucked in her breath. “Cantrall!”

“Hello, Kara.”

“Your plan failed. You failed.” Kara didn’t bother with any other glyph. He was just a shade.

“Thanks to you.” Cantrall raised his fingers to the bridge of his nose, attempting to squeeze it. He failed. He laughed.

Kara glared at him. “What’s so amusing?”

“You. You’re the most incredible person I’ve ever met. When the Mavoureen tore my soul apart and ripped open my mind, I did all I could to protect you. I’m so sorry I failed.”

Kara swallowed against a wave of unwelcome guilt. “You hurt me. You hurt my mother!”

“That was a puppet, whatever was left when they finished with me. I did not expect to become myself again. I suppose,” he glanced down at his spectral form, “there’s still a ways to go.”

“You expect me to believe you were against this?”

“I was there when Melyssa separated your parents. Melyssa wiped my memories after we were done, for my own safety, but some hint remained. If I had known those memories would reveal you to the Mavoureen, I would have died before I let them capture me. But I had to protect my brother.”

“You killed your brother.”

“And that’s going to haunt me so long as I exist.”

Kara huffed. “What are you trying to do now? Gain my trust? Why? The gate is locked.”

“That gate,” Cantrall agreed. “Not all of them.”

“You’re saying there’s another way out?”

“For the Mavoureen, no.” Cantrall smiled at her. “The Five made certain that those demons could never enter our world through the fabric of the Underside. Only a gate made by our own hands could admit them, and Terras has the only gate like that.”

“So what are you saying?”

“That the Mavoureen cannot escape the Underside.” He gestured to the swirling, purple clouds above. “Our mortal souls can. Tell me. From where does a Soulmage draw their power?”

Kara tensed as her lessons at Solyr came back. “My spirit isn’t trapped here. A Soulmage could retrieve it!”

“And do you know anyone like that?”

Kara felt warm all over. “Jair.”

“Good.” Cantrall stepped closer. “You’ve never done this before, so I’ll explain how to call out to him as simply as I can.”

As Kara listened, she felt new hope.

“WELL,” XANDER SAID, as he watched Byn hug Sera on the ruined ground of Terras. “That was a rather idiotic thing to do.”

“You stupid jerk,” Jair whispered.

Trell blinked at him. His eyes had turned bright orange. Orange? Orange was Kara’s color!

“Jair?” Trell barely dared believe it.

“Trell!” Jair stood up. He rushed over and threw his arms around Trell. “Five take me, I think I love you!”

Trell stared and gawked. Jair was Kara, somehow. Kara’s soul in Jair’s body. Then Xander pulled Jair away, almost crushing his shoulders. “Kara!”

Jair stared up at him. “Are you really my father?” That was Kara, talking through Jair’s lips.

Xander nodded as new tears welled in his eyes.

“What happened to you?”

“I wasn’t strong enough to keep you safe. I lost you and I lost Ona. Ten years passed before I remembered who I’d lost, how I’d lost you. I’m here now. I always will be.”

Jair nodded. He held himself the same way Kara had, calm and poised with feet spread. Balanced and ready.

“You must return to your body.” Trell glanced at her motionless corpse. “Do you know how?”

Kara/Jair followed the direction of Trell’s gaze. When she saw herself, she frowned. “You saved my body? But ... it was shredded.”

That’s when Sera and Byn all but tackled her, nearly knocking her to the ground. Trell felt a grin as they shared a group hug. For a moment, it was like they were in Solyr again.

“We saved it for you.” Sera hugged Jair’s body tight. “How did you ever get back? Jair, how did you find her?”

Kara/Jair hugged them back. “It was Cantrall. I couldn’t believe it. He told me how to call out to Jair.”

“Then what are you waiting for?” Byn thumped Jair on the back. “Get back in your body!”

Kara/Jair stepped back. “I can’t...” Then Jair shuddered, clutching his head. His eyes faded from orange to black as he dropped to his knees, staring up at them.

“What’s happening?” Xander demanded. “Where’d she go?”