The Elder Blood Chronicles Book 3 From the Ashes (17 page)

“What is he?” Jala broke in. She had thought
he was simply an Immortal like the rest of them.

“The Divine of Fear,” Vaze answered with a
faint smile. “He can read your fears all the way down to the
darkest secrets you have. He can locate you through your fears as
long as you walk in the sunlit world. He can cause fear and remove
fear with the flick of a finger. There are perhaps three
individuals that I know of that are completely fearless, everyone
else is under Lutheron’s thumb.” Vaze looked to Valor then Jala and
gave a bitter smile.

“I fail to see what this has to do with Jala.
This sounds more like your life history,” Valor pointed out in a
tone that showed he was not impressed.

“The youth have no patience,” Vaze sighed and
rotated the meat once before leaning back away from the fire. “Once
I had determined what Lutheron was, I acted with more caution but
kept my knowledge to myself. As I grew older, I began exploring my
fallen homeland for secrets of the Veyetta magic. Over the course
of several years I mastered the shadows, which led me to all kinds
of interesting secrets such as the other children of my blood. I
had thought I was alone, with no one else in the world outside of
the Fionaveir. More importantly, it led me to my father, War.” Vaze
looked to Jala once again with a knowing look on his face.

Nodding slowly, Jala fidgeted with the edge
of the blanket. “I’ve spoken with him once,” she admitted
quietly.

“What did he ask of you?” Vaze prodded
quietly.

“For War,” Jala replied.

Vaze nodded with a smile. “That’s what all of
the Divines as well as the Aspects are like, Jala. That’s why I
left you at the temple rather than bringing you home with me. It
took me a while to convince Lutheron to leave you be, but
eventually I did. The nightmares I had as a child, they weren’t
random. They were induced. We are divine blooded, Jala. Our prayers
are worth more than a thousand mortals. Each time you awaken from
sleep in a cold sweat you are praying to him. Every time you pick a
fight you are praying to War. Every time you kill, you whisper
praise to Death and so on. I convinced him to let you be feared by
thousands rather than know fear yourself. I convinced him you would
rise as a Merrodin and all who thought your line dead would know
fear. I put you in the wretched place you are right now because I
was trying to help you. You see, I no longer knew fear at that
point. I had the shadows and my own formidable skills by that time.
I was no longer useful in that aspect to him, but you were.” Vaze
trailed off and then looked to Valor and locked eyes with him. “So
you see, Valor, I’m here to help because I have a very guilty
conscience. I thought I was spinning a tale for Lutheron. I thought
at best she would attend the Academy and marry well. I thought the
only way she could find out who she truly was, required asking the
Fionaveir. I never even considered Anthe. As Fiona said, I am an
egomaniac and I thought I had the perfect plan. I never truly
believed Merrodin would rise again.” Vaze sighed and rubbed his
face then looked to Jala and nodded respectfully. “This is one of
the few times I will say this and likely the only time you will
ever hear it yourself from me. I was wrong and I am sorry.”

“I suppose, given the fact that you are here
to help that I should forgive you,” Jala sighed, trying not to
think of how she had pleaded with Victory and Havoc to take her
with them. If not for Vaze’s plan they most likely would have.

“Jala, what did you fear most of all,” Vaze
prodded gently.

“Losing Finn,” Valor cut in, his voice thick
with anger.

Jala’s gaze snapped up to Vaze and her mouth
fell open slightly. “Why? Are you saying I was feeding too much to
Lutheron so someone eliminated my fear?” she asked.

“Jala what do you fear most now?” Vaze asked,
ignoring her question.

“Failing at this quest,” Jala answered
quietly, unsure where he was leading her.

“Lutheron didn’t want me to retrieve you from
here. He was adamant about it. This might confuse you because when
you bring Finn back you will fear losing him again, right?” Vaze
asked.

“I know I will. If I lose him again there is
no way I could ever get him back. Death will not be robbed twice,”
Jala said, her voice filled with misery. “I am so bloody sick of
manipulations. I would like to think there is at least one aspect
of my life that isn’t a plot of some kind.” Rubbing her face, she
leaned forward, resting her elbows on her knees. She wasn’t
entirely sure she wanted to hear what else Vaze had to say.

“Do you know what happens when you are forced
to confront your fears too often?” Vaze asked.

“You become apathetic to them,” Valor
answered for her.

“Tell me Finn Sovaesh has learned his lesson
here. Tell me that when you bring him back he will live a sedate
life and retire as a swordsman.” Vaze looked to both of them.

“I can’t say that. I don’t think Finn would.”
Jala said quietly.

“So you are saying she is going to lose him
again?” Valor asked with a glare.

“I’m saying the possibility is so high that
Lutheron wasn’t willing to gamble. If you do lose him, Jala, are
you going to curl into a ball and cry yourself into oblivion or are
you relentlessly going to go after whoever killed him?” Vaze
asked.

“So I would be feeding War and Death but not
Fear,” Jala surmised with a faint nod. Everything was clicking into
place and she could see the manipulations War had hinted at, but
hadn’t actually mentioned.

Vaze nodded slightly and clicked his tongue.
“You got it, kid. It’s a balancing match between them. And you are
a risky bet for Lutheron right now. Better to let you die here than
risk your feeding War. He has been starving the hell out of War for
years. A skirmish here or there is natural of course, but what’s
coming…” Vaze paused and shook his head at both of them. “No, Myth
got him good with this one. Lutheron wanted the threat of war. He
wanted everyone scared, but he thought he could nip it in the bud
before it bloomed. Then Myth hit him with the
coup de grace
of the Blights,” Vaze smiled bitterly. “The best part is, Lutheron
helped raise Symphony for bloodless revolution. He has been
planning this for years and Myth bent him over the table in one
quick move.”

“Myth is in league with War then?” Jala asked
cautiously. She wasn’t sure if she fully understood all of the
strings being pulled yet, and if she was going to avoid being a
puppet in the future she needed to know who was on what side.

“Nope, Myth has a little theory going and I
think she is trying to test it.” Vaze began and turned the meat
once more. “You see Myth believes that the Barrier surrounding this
world is so strong because it feeds off all of us. We essentially
power it by our existence. So if you kill us all off…” He trailed
off and looked up at both of them.

“The Barrier falls and Myth is no longer a
prisoner,” Valor finished, shaking his head slightly. “And I
thought House Politics were complicated.”

“Ahh. You optimistic boy. It hasn’t gotten
complicated yet. I’m getting to that part now,” Vaze said with a
grin. “OK, Jala, you and I are of War's bloodline, right?” She
nodded and he smiled and continued. “Offense is our specialty
because of that. I know you have noticed that it is easier to hurt
that heal by now. Me, I can’t heal at all. Frankly, I’m amazed you
have the ability. Now the more we kick the shit out of others, the
stronger our Divine blood grows. With me?”

“So, by War provoking me into starting a
fight, he is enhancing my Divine blood which in essence makes my
prayers to him stronger,” Jala said hesitantly.

“You got it. This makes the Divine sound like
horrible manipulating creatures, I know, but you have to look at
their nature. They aren’t evil. They aren’t good. They represent
their namesake. Don’t hate them for prodding you. Understand that
it is their nature to do so, and make your own decisions. In
essence they have the mentality of a child when it comes to their
Aspect. They want more candy. That’s all there is to it,” Vaze said
and shrugged at her.

“The way War explained it, though, I really
don’t have a choice in the matter if I want Merro to survive,” Jala
protested.

“Jala, they will always make it sound like
that. They are bullies. Sit back and look for other options.
Sometimes they will be telling the truth and there really is no
other alternative. Other times they are just trying to weasel more
candy from you.” Vaze smiled at her and gave her another wink then
turned to Valor. “This is where you come in, pretty boy. I am
Fionaveir, and because of that I won’t be around often. You need to
be her confidant on these matters. If she can’t see another way
out, look for one for her. This cannot become common knowledge or
the Divines will get pissy, and a pissed off Divine is an ugly
thing. Keep this between the two of you.”

“What about Finn? Surely I can tell him.”
Jala protested.

Vaze stared at her for a moment and then
sighed. “Jala, I know you love him and I respect the hell out of
Sovaesh for what he has made of himself with nothing to start on,
but hun, let’s face facts here and be brutally honest. What is
Finn’s common approach to problems?”

“Kill it,” Valor replied with a smirk.

“Or intimidate it,” Jala offered with a
sigh.

“Not a whole lot of examination toward the
nature of the problem though, eh?” Vaze shrugged. “A lot of times
that is OK. In most issues it can be solved with that approach.
It’s messy, but it works. In the case of determining the motives of
the Divine, though, I suggest you use a bit more discretion in your
choices,” Vaze finished.

“Can I ask one question?” Valor said quietly,
glancing to Jala once quickly and then to Vaze.

“Feel free,” Vaze replied with a shrug as he
began cutting strips of meat from the haunch and stacking them
carefully on a trencher of bread.

“Magdalyn, whom I’m guessing was Jala’s
mother, was from Goswin. Does that mean Jala is related to Madren?”
Valor asked quietly, taking care to avoid looking at Jala as he
asked.

Vaze snorted in amusement and bit his lower
lip to keep a smile from forming. “As funny as that would be to say
yes. No, they are not related. Magdalyn’s mother was a refugee from
Gaelyn, actually, and raised in Goswin. Twice damned, I
suppose.”

“It wouldn’t have been that bad. At least
Madren would have stopped flirting with me,” Jala sighed. “I feel
sorry for him. I really do. He is always so scared and it’s obvious
how lonely he is. I know what it’s like to be lonely. Granted, I
didn’t handle it quite the same as Madren does.”

“Well now that we have the suspicion
hopefully out of the way and you understand why I’m here. May I
explain why I asked if you had water as an element, Valor?” Vaze
began as he set the meat carefully down by the fire and wiped his
hands.

“I’ll admit I was rather curious,” Valor said
with a raised eyebrow.

“Because you have both been in here for over
forty days without a bath and while I am used to rough crude
warriors you both reek. Not trying to be rude but it’s the god’s
honest truth and if you can manage the water, I can manage the
shadow screen that will allow you both to bathe very close to this
camp so you aren’t in danger from the denizens of this plane,” Vaze
said looking up at them.

“Are you serious?” Jala asked, leaning
forward hopefully.

“I’d rather do that than use arcane magic to
clean you and tell Death right where we are. The shadow magic is
innate as is his elemental magic. It shouldn’t trigger any alarms
at all. With the way you both smell currently, the demons will know
when you are within a mile of the city. Not only will it improve
your mood to be clean, it will help with the element of surprise,”
Vaze said with a shrug and pulled a set of clean clothes from his
bag holding them up before her. “They will be big, but they smell
like soap rather than blood and bile,” he offered.

Valor smiled at her expression of hope and
stood, slowly looking around. Selecting a place near the rocks he
wove his hands in an intricate circle and the wind around him
picked up slightly. Nodding with approval he focused again and drew
his hands upwards slowly. The air in front of him shimmered
slightly and water began to seep upwards through the ground to pool
in the funnel of air he had shaped. His eyes narrowed as he
concentrated. The water began to swirl slowly and then faster until
the bottom of the make-shift tub was darker than the top. Pulling
his other hand slowly downward he drew the darker water out of the
pocket of air and then allowed the swirling motion to subside.
Steam rose from the water as he motioned her toward it. “Purified
and heated.” he said as he sat down once more.

“Thank you so much,” Jala breathed, moving
toward the water quickly.

“Hey,” Vaze called behind her. Turning to
look back she barely caught the package he threw to her. “Soap and
such. Enjoy the bath.” Vaze explained as the shadows around her
began to thicken blocking out the campsite from her view
completely.

She could hear them speaking softly but paid
no attention to what they were saying. Since they had entered the
Darklands she had only been able to sponge bathe a few times and
that hadn’t been any time recently. Their water supply had become
too low for such niceties, and while there was water in the
Darklands, neither she nor Valor was inclined to drink it. As far
as bathe in it…the thought of stopping for a bath had never even
crossed her mind until Vaze had suggested it. There simply hadn’t
been any place that seemed safe enough, until now. The knowledge
that both Valor and Vaze sat only a few feet away gave her the
security she needed to simply slide into the water and close her
eyes. All fears had fled her mind as Vaze had explained everything
to her. Not even the impending fight with Death seemed too much
anymore. After all, as Vaze said, conflict was her birthright. It
would all be over soon. Within a day or two she would be back in
Merro and Finn would be raised. She allowed herself a faint smile
and sunk lower in the water. “Just a bit longer, Finn, and we will
have you out of there,” Jala whispered.