The Elder Blood Chronicles Book 3 From the Ashes (21 page)

“I was thinking if I don’t help her she will
attempt it herself and likely die in the process. I dropped her at
the fringe of the Darklands, Vaze. I gave her plenty of time to
reconsider her choice.” The woman spoke again her voice low and
calm.

It’s Anthe speaking
, the voice
informed her once more, louder. Marrow brushed roughly against her
leg and she looked down to meet his yellow eyes.
Did you suffer
a head wound or something
? he demanded, his voice rising in her
mind.

Every other wound but that, I think
,
Jala replied, the effort of forming the words seeming nearly
impossible. “Finn, need go Merro,” she gasped, her words sounding
thick and clumsy even to her ears.

“Jala, you are in no condition to raise him
now,” Valor replied sternly, then turned to scan the grove jostling
her in his arms as he did. Jala fought back another wave of nausea
and pain, inhaling deeply. “Where is Chastity? Did you leave her
there, Vaze?” Valor demanded his voice rising.

“I would have brought her had I seen any sign
of her. She was gone, Valor. I looked,” Vaze replied, his voice
defensive.

“Ash’s magic. Finn, I need Finn,” Jala gasped
again, hoping they would hear her. Each word was a chore and she
hated him for forcing her to speak so loudly. “Death is just
weakened. Needs done before she has strength again,” she managed
and clutched her throbbing hand closer to her chest. The wound in
her stomach burned like fire, but she didn’t allow herself to look
down at it. That would draw attention to how severe her wounds
were. Freeing herself from Valor, she stood wavering beside him and
drew the hood of her borrowed cloak over her head. She could feel
the blood running down her collar bone from the claw marks on her
neck, but she only needed a little longer. Just enough time to see
Finn raised and then she would submit to any healer they found.

“You need a healer, Jala,” Valor said gently
as if she needed the obvious pointed out to her. Carefully, he took
her arm once more and tried to steady her on her feet. White fire
lanced through her as his arm brushed the stomach wound and she had
to clench her teeth to keep from gasping.

“Finn first,” Jala insisted stubbornly. Her
last magic hadn’t been directed at Death. She had cast the spell
for a different purpose and she knew she had limited time before
Death was at full strength again. Pushing feebly away from Valor,
she glared at Vaze. They were running out of time to act. Time
traveled so much faster in the Darklands that Death could already
be recovered. “I don’t have much magic left but I will take myself
if you won’t help me,” she mumbled, her words barely audible.

“Calm yourself, I never said I wouldn’t take
you. I simply had the audacity to try to speak reason to you,” Vaze
sighed and the shadows rose around them once more. “We will have
words about this later, Anthe,” he promised as Goswin faded to
shadows.

Merro

Jala staggered forward as the shadows
released them once more. Her vision wavered and the world seemed to
tilt drastically below her feet.

“Damn it, Jala, unwrap the cloak let me see
how badly you are hurt,” Valor demanded softly as he grabbed her
arm once more and steadied her.

Judging by the amount of blood I smell on
you and the way your thoughts are processing, I’d say there are
pigs hanging at the butcher’s shop that are in better shape
,
Marrow observed in a level tone as he sat down in the street in
front of her, his yellow eyes holding a note of disapproval in
them.

Jala ignored them both, her gaze sweeping
across the town instead. When they left, Merro had been little more
than a scattering of half-built houses. Now there were buildings
everywhere. Footsteps sounded beside her and she glanced over to
see Vaze staring down at her with narrowed eyes.

“What if we raise Finn and you are so injured
that you die shortly thereafter? Do you suppose he will go on a
quest to rescue you? Perhaps the two of you can take turns at this
for the next year or so,” Vaze said his tone thick with
sarcasm.

“I doubt that would happen,” Valor muttered
and let out a long sigh.

“It won’t happen. I’m not going to die,” Jala
replied as fiercely as she could, which, judging by the expressions
her three comrades gave her, was not fierce at all. “Just help me
find Ash, please,” she mumbled. Another pain ripped through her
stomach and she bowed her head to hide the expression of agony.
She’d seen a late-term miscarriage once in the Bliss temple and the
woman’s screams had been terrible.

That is a horrible thing to remember at
the present. Is that the agony you expect to come
? Marrow asked
as he stood once more and pressed his broad head hard against her
leg.

“Find Ash, please Marrow. Can you detect his
scent anywhere?” Jala pleaded, her hand clutching at the thick fur
around his neck.

The Bendazzi turned his head slightly and
lifted his nose to the air. His ears swiveled as he surveyed the
town and then shook his massive head.
I don’t smell him but that
means nothing. I’m a cat, not a hunting hound. There are too many
scents here for me to pick a single one out easily. There are
horses approaching however
.

Jala looked back up to the road and she
watched in confusion as several armored knights approached. The
lead rider swung down as they pulled to a halt and the woman
advanced quickly, her eyes barely glancing across Jala and Vaze as
she stopped in front of Valor. She stared up at his face for a long
moment, her expression unreadable to Jala.

I don’t think she even saw me. I’m getting
rather sick of that reaction. Bendazzi are to be feared, not
ignored. I think it’s the white fur. It makes me look peaceful.
When I had black fur even you feared me
, Marrow complained,
shifting his position for a better look at the horses who most
certainly noticed him. Their restless shuffle and nervous whickers
seemed to soothe him and he settled back farther against her leg.
At least the animals have proper respect
, he grumbled.

“My Lord Valor,” the lady knight said in a
voice that was near breathless. Dropping down to a knee before him
she bowed her head deeply. “I am here to serve,” she said with such
a fervent tone that both Vaze and Jala turned to stare at
Valor.

“Bridgette,” Valor said in a stunned voice,
looking down at the woman with an expression of shock on his face.
“Bridgette, by all of the Aspects, what are you doing here? Get up.
I have no time for dramatics,” he said as he shifted back from her,
looking rather uncomfortable. His gaze rose to the remaining
knights who seemed amused by the display.

“I’ve come with your regiment. I’ve been
Commanding officer in your absence, Lord Valor. I have reports for
you, of course,” Bridgette said quickly as she rose to her feet and
brushed the dust from her armor. She seemed to notice their
disheveled state then, her eyes locking on Valor’s torn clothing
and utter lack of armor, then moving slowly to Jala who stood
huddled beside him wrapped in the torn filthy cloak Valor had
loaned her. By the woman’s expression, though, she didn’t notice
the dirt and blood at all. Her attention seemed focused instead on
the black and silver color of the cloak, the colors of house
Hai’dia.

“No time for reports at the present,
Bridgette. Where can I find Neph?” Valor said impatiently. He still
seemed uneasy in the woman’s presence and Jala noticed his eyes
flick to the waiting knights more than once as he spoke.

“Not sure why you would want to find him, but
if you truly do, he is near the center of town at the big house
with the purple doors,” one of the knights offered with a
smile.

“Thank you, Foster.” Placing a hand carefully
on Jala’s back he urged her forward. “Come on, Neph will know where
Ash is,” he said gently, his other arm moving quickly to steady
her. Glancing over his shoulder, Valor nodded to the knights.
“Allow me time to see to Lady Merrodin’s needs and I will find you
for the reports, Bridgette,” Valor said in a louder voice.

“Well that could be interpreted several
ways,” one of the men behind them mumbled and there was a round of
muffled laughter.

Jala felt Valor tense beside her but he
remained silent. She fought back the urge to look up at him. Her
feet were too unsteady. It was better to simply focus on the ground
and moving as quickly as she could. With her good hand braced
solidly on Marrow’s powerful neck and Valor’s support at her side,
she urged her feet to move faster and ignored the stumbling.

She could feel Vaze’s eyes on her as she
walked, but didn’t spare time to glance at him, either. There was
only one thing she wanted to see right now and that was a large
house with purple doors.

“People are already muttering, Jala. You
aren’t making a very good impression as the returning High Lady,”
Vaze whispered beside her.

“Bugger their gossip,” Jala muttered, her
eyes moving from building to building desperate to see the color
purple.

“I’m afraid there is going to be quite a bit
of gossip after my unfortunate choice of words,” Valor sighed
beside her.

“Bugger that gossip too,” Jala muttered once
more. There was a time when words had cut her to the bone. Cassia’s
scathing remarks had hurt then. Now, however, it seemed laughable.
She knew what true pain was, now. Words were nothing when compared
to having someone you love die in your arms while you sat helpless
to save him. Insults seemed pathetic compared to watching a friend
agonize as Valor had when faced with the fight in Death’s hall.
They could gossip all they wanted, as long as she had Finn and her
friends safely beside her.

“There it is, not much farther,” Valor
assured her quietly. She nodded as they drew closer to the house
and nearly sagged with relief as the purple door swung open and
Neph stepped out.

“Neph,” Jala gasped, her eyes growing glassy.
The pain in her stomach and hand had become a steady, unbearable
pulse. “Neph, I need Ash, please,” she added frantically as the big
mage rushed down the stairs toward them.

“Jala!” Neph cried, his expression filled
with panic as he took in their appearance. “What the hell happened
to her, Valor?” Neph demanded in a tone filled with accusation.

“She fought Death. Be glad she still lives,”
Vaze answered before Valor had time to reply. “She also insists on
raising Finn before she is healed because she is a stubborn ass. So
could you please locate the missing Soulreaver before your High
Lady falls over from blood loss?”

“I have no idea where he is. I haven’t seen
him since you left Merro,” Neph answered with apology clear in his
voice.

I smell him now. The Soulreaver. The scent
is coming from the house
, Marrow cut in, his head tilting
toward the open door behind Neph.

“Inside,” Jala gasped, pulling free of Valor
and stumbling forward. The child kicked inside her and her throat
grew tight. It was the first time she had felt her son move. The
muscles of her stomach tightened and pain ripped through her
savagely. Knotting her hand in Marrow’s fur, she staggered up the
stairs and through the door. She could hear the others behind her
but they didn’t matter now. All that mattered was Finn and her
unborn child. If she acted quickly enough perhaps she could save
both.

“Jala he isn’t inside. I just came from
inside,” Neph said as he quickly followed her up the stairs and
through the door, his words trailing off as Ash stepped out of a
side door and bowed his head to her. “Well he wasn’t in here,” Neph
muttered sourly. “I will have words with Sovann about his wards of
protection.”

“Ash, do you have his body still?” Jala
gasped as she stepped quickly toward the Soulreaver. Her feet
tangled as she moved, and had it not been for the massive Bendazzi
beside her she knew she would have fallen.

Ash studied her with his pale eyes and slowly
nodded. He was dressed, as always, in pure white tunic and pants
that seemed to flow around him. That, combined with his pale skin
and snow-white hair, made him seem like one of the spirits of the
Darklands. “I have him prepared. They told me you had left the
Darklands. I came here at once,” Ash said, his voice soothing and
calm. Stepping back, he motioned her past him into the dimly lit
room.

“I’m sending for a healer. I don’t like the
way she is staggering. I thought you were guarding her, Valor,”
Neph snapped as he turned back for the door.

“I was guarding her and I did what I could to
protect her,” Valor objected weakly.

“He protected me from everything he could,
Neph. This damage, he couldn’t save me from. I brought this on
myself,” Jala cut in before the conversation could turn more
heated.

Nodding to Ash, she stepped through into the
parlor. Finn’s body had been laid out carefully on the table and
she moved as quickly as she could to his side. “Soon,” she
murmured, tracing a finger across his face. Swallowing heavily she
withdrew the spirit stone from her pocket and handed it carefully
to Ash. “I’m not sure how much time we have. I didn’t kill her. I
only weakened her,” Jala told him quietly, her gaze never moving
from Finn’s too-still face.

Ash took the stone from her silently and
moved to stand on the other side of the table. He closed his eyes
as he turned the stone over in his hand and then tightened his
fingers around it. After a long moment his eyes opened again and he
tilted his head a bit to the side. “Jala this soul is damaged.”

Jala looked up sharply, panic rising in her
chest. “Damaged?” she gasped. “Can you fix it?” Her voice was
pleading and her heart was hammering at the thought that he might
say no.