The Inner Circle: The Knowing (20 page)

Crouching on his knees, Ilgrin lined up
the head with the body as a circle of onlookers gathered. El-i-miir
glared at him with paralysing intensity. The others huddled
fearfully.

‘
Don’t do it,
El-i-miir,’ Seteal warned, her voice reaching Ilgrin’s ears from a
world far removed. ‘It’ll make you no better than them.’

‘
I have to,’ Ilgrin
sobbed along with El-i-miir. ‘It’s too important. We’ve come too
far. Whatever the cost, it’s worth it. It has to be.’

El-i-miir wailed as Ilgrin snapped a
hand around Far-a-mael’s throat.

‘
Oh,’ Ilgrin sobbed,
his fingers tingling as they wrapped around cold flesh. ‘Maker
forgive me.’ His tears mingled with the man’s blood. The tingling
sensation spread to his hands, his arms and then his chest. He
remembered the feeling, although it had been so long. The gil’rei’s
skin became a pool of liquefied flesh as the separated parts of his
neck writhed beneath Ilgrin’s touch. Vertebrae crunched as bones
and nerves slithered back together. Far-a-mael’s face was flooded
with colour as blood beat by his heart and pulsed through arteries
that’d been collapsed only moments earlier.

A single rattling breath escaped the
old man’s lips and his eyes burst open. He rolled onto his side
coughing and wheezing.

‘
What have you done?’
The gil’rei managed to ask as he stumbled to his feet. He grabbed
El-i-miir’s shoulder and shook her until she fell to the earth.
Ilgrin’s senses returned in a rush.

‘
Gil’rei Far-a-mael.’
El-i-miir put a hand to her throat. ‘I thought . . .’ She trailed
off. Far-a-mael tried to speak, but instead wound up coughing
uncontrollably. His face was flushed, his eyes bulged. He bent over
gagging and choking. A spray of blood intermingled with specks of
something black spattered across the dirt.

Far-a-mael gagged repeatedly, but
something was blocking his airway. His face turned red and then
purple and then at last he vomited, but it was not partially
digested food the escaped from within. Out poured a substance that
drained the light from the air surrounding it, a darkness caught
somewhere between liquid and gas. The whisp hit the earth with
force, rebounding, churning back into the air and thinning to a
mist as it departed.

El-i-miir’s face, previously so
doggedly determined, now bore naught but despair. Far-a-mael sat
with a dazed expression, his flesh having faded to grey as the
darkness worked its way through his pores. Realising his
opportunity, Ilgrin turned to run. He didn’t know where he’d go,
but the Elglair were bad news. Anywhere would do.

He stopped short, realising that he
shouldn’t leave after all. He turned to Far-a-mael, who stood with
a fierce expression in his eyes. A lump caught in Ilgrin’s throat.
He fell to his knees encumbered by a sense of impending doom. He
couldn’t let them capture him. Ilgrin pushed back, fighting against
the intrusive thoughts and feelings forced upon him. He stood and
stumbled several strides, but he was so tired.

The young woman lifted her hand and
murmured, ‘Sleep.’ And that was exactly what Ilgrin decided to
do.

*

Seteal sat in the grass, the dark blue
dress El-i-miir had purchased bunched up around her legs. It was
not the most expensive dress in the world, but certainly superior
in quality to anything Seteal could’ve afforded.

‘
Ye be all right
there, lass?’ Briel asked as he made his way past, dragging the
unconscious silt.

‘
I’m all right,’
Seteal murmured. Her eyes followed the lumbering man until he
reached the wagon. There he tethered the demon by its ankle to
prevent escape. A soft flutter of wings stole Seteal’s attention.
She turned to find Seeol standing in the grass, gazing up at
her.

‘
I’m sorry,’ he said,
regret forging a heavy tone.

‘
I know you are,’
Seteal traced her fingers through the grass. ‘It’s not your fault,
but we’re not safe around you.’

‘
I should’ve stayed
in Narvey Wood like El-i-mish said.’ Seeol bobbed his head. ‘I
didn’t know what things existed, but it’s too late now.’

‘
I know.’ Seteal
looked at him solemnly. ‘You’ve seen too much.’

‘
I couldn’t make me
stay away. The other one will make me kill things.’ Seeol’s
unmoving eyes bored into Seteal’s. ‘The naughty one will do naughty
things.’

‘
Then you mustn’t
go.’ Seteal sighed, her own heart aching for the simplicity of life
in Elmsville.

Seeol glanced away. ‘I cannot
stay.’

‘
Then follow us,’
Seteal whispered uncertainly, ‘but keep your distance. Give us a
fighting chance the next time you change.’

‘
Maybe I won’t do it
again before we get to the frozen places.’ Seeol spoke without
conviction. ‘Elders can turn horses into humans.’ He bounced and
danced in a circle flicking his tail with renewed enthusiasm. ‘They
can make me nicer.’

‘
Sure they can,’
Seteal replied distractedly.

‘
Where’s Emquin?’
Seeol asked abruptly.

‘
Who’s
Emquin?’

Seeol’s head twitched about in every
direction, until it stopped on the tattered remains of the silt’s
horse. ‘I killeded Emquin,’ the bird moaned.

‘
Oh, the horse?’
Seteal raised her eyebrows. ‘It’s okay Seeol. It’s only a
horse.’

‘
Like I’m only an
owl?’ Seeol accused with narrowed eyes. ‘You is just like him.’ He
pointed a toe at Far-a-mael standing in the middle distance. He
bounced once, opened his wings and disappeared amidst the
trees.

Seteal shook her head. The poor little
creature couldn’t distinguish between himself and ordinary animals.
She dusted off her dress and rose to her feet, pausing to rest a
hand against her cheek. It was tender, but not as painful as it had
been. The ache in her heart was quite a different problem. Seteal
wandered over to the silt where it lay sprawled on the earth. Its
eyes were shut tight, but its chest gently rose and fell. She
stared at the demon. She just stared for the longest time.

The silt’s cloak had been removed and
its shirt was torn, revealing a white chest with blue nipples.
Although she couldn’t decide why precisely, Seteal felt disgusted
by what she saw. In some ways the young demon looked oddly human .
. . and yet he didn’t. All of the necessary features were there:
two eyes, a nose, a mouth. But the angles and shapes were
wrong.

When the creature didn’t respond to a
gentle nudge from Seteal’s toe, she kicked it in the ribs. Once
again, it didn’t respond in any way other than to grunt. Seteal
kicked it again. And again. She laughed giddily and spun around
with arms outstretched.

Long white fingers wrapped around
Seteal’s ankle and squeezed so tight that blood couldn’t reach her
foot. Intelligent purple eyes stared into Seteal’s, pain and fury
painted across the silt’s features. With a flick of his wrist,
Seteal was flung off balance so that she fell into the grass.

‘
Leave me alone,’ the
silt grumbled.

Seteal obeyed, slithering backward
along the earth. How could she have been so stupid? It wasn’t like
her to be so mean. She mentally slapped herself. It was a demon. It
deserved much worse than what she’d done to it.

‘
Do you remember me?’
Seteal spat, tears running down her cheeks. ‘Do you remember
me?’

‘
Yes,’ the demon
replied, apparent sadness in its voice. The sadness had to be a
trick. Demons could only think and feel evil thoughts. ‘I must
apologise for my behaviour,’ the silt’s voice shook. ‘I shouldn’t
have taken you like that. I wasn’t thinking.’

Driven by fury, Seteal dove at the silt
and slapped it so hard that its cheek turned blue. ‘I was raped!’
Seteal screamed. ‘You left me there to be raped!’

‘
What?’ The demon
clutched its cheek protectively. ‘I did no such thing!’

‘
You left me there,
alone, in that field,’ Seteal sobbed without restraint. ‘You took
me away from where I was safe and abandoned me. And he was there.
He ruined me!’

‘
I’m so sorry,’ the
demon’s face fell. ‘I didn’t know.’

‘
Didn’t you?’ Seteal
wiped away tears. ‘I think you knew. I think you knew and you
wanted it to happen because you’re evil.’

‘
That’s not true,’
Ilgrin pleaded. ‘I’ve never wanted to hurt anyone.’

‘
You’re disgusting,’
Seteal taunted the creature.

‘
That’s enough,
Seteal.’ Far-a-mael appeared out of nowhere with an oddly satisfied
expression on his face. ‘What’s your name, boy?’ He turned his
attention to the silt.

‘
Ilgrin Geld,’ the
demon replied after a moment’s hesitation.

‘
Mister Geld.’
Far-a-mael chuckled mirthlessly as he turned to Seteal with raised
eyebrows. ‘Did you hear that? He’s got an Abnatian name. Have you
ever heard of anything so ridiculous?’

‘
I don’t think I
have.’ Seteal burst out laughing, surprising even herself by the
malice in her tone.

‘
I wonder what story
you’ll tell us?’ Far-a-mael bent to stare into the silt’s eyes.
‘Why would a silt have an Abnatian name?’

‘
I was raised from
infancy by humans in Abnatol,’ Ilgrin said through gritted
teeth.

‘
You see.’ Far-a-mael
turned to Seteal. ‘They can’t help themselves. They’re liars, all
of them. It’s all they can do.’

‘
Yes, I can see
that.’ Seteal shook her head disparagingly.

‘
Da ye be sure?’ Fes
made her presence known. ‘We be travellin’ the world for many years
and I be able to recognise an Abnatian accent when I be hearin’
one.’

‘
Nonsense,’
Far-a-mael scoffed at the Merry Islander. ‘Know your enemy. It’s
the first rule of war. His accent simply implies that the silt has
studied Abnatians to increase the plausibility of his
story.’

‘
What be ye plans for
him then?’ Briel asked, stepping up beside Fes.

‘
Capturing a live
silt is indeed a rare opportunity,’ Far-a-mael murmured
thoughtfully. ‘Upon our return to the Frozen Lands, I’ll present
him to the elders for interrogation.’

‘
No.’ Ilgrin’s eyes
widened with fear. ‘Please let me go. I’ve done nothing
wrong.’

‘
Be quiet.’
Far-a-mael waved his hand at the creature, who fell back
obediently, leaving Seteal to assume he’d tampered with its
aura.

‘
Gil’rei Far-a-mael.’
El-i-miir’s timid voice drifted out of the wagon before she did.
‘He’s telling the truth.’

‘
Poor El-i-miir.’
Far-a-mael laughed condescendingly. ‘Her abilities have been
knocked out by such an extreme act of affiliation.’

‘
But
Gil’rei--’

‘
That’s enough.’
Far-a-mael’s expression hardened and his eyes darkened with anger.
‘I’m your gil’rei, your superior, your master, and I’ll ask for
your opinion when I want it. You are a rei. You know nothing and
you’ll keep your mouth shut until you’re told
otherwise.’

El-i-miir’s gaze fell to the earth.
‘Yes, Gil’rei.’

‘
Oh, I’m not even
close to finished with you, child,’ Far-a-mael spat furiously. ‘You
forced this revolting creature to perform a resurrection. How am I
to distinguish you from one of them? You sicken me to the stomach,
but rest assured I am yet to come up with a suitable
punishment.’

‘
I saved your life,’
El-i-miir squeaked.

‘
You sound like
one of them.’ Far-a-mael jabbed a finger at Ilgrin. ‘That’s
how
they
try to justify their actions. You didn’t save my life. You
recreated it at the cost of someone else’s.’

Briel put a hand on Far-a-mael’s
shoulder. ‘I think that’ll be enough.’

‘
Don’t touch me.’ He
slapped off the man’s hand. ‘You would all do very well to stay
away from me,’ he finished sharply and stormed off to his tent.
‘We’ll be moving on before the hour is done.’

*

It wasn’t an unusual day. It was
perfectly ordinary and Ellona was happy. She put a hand against her
enlarged stomach and spoke to the little one forming within. She’d
been married to her childhood sweetheart for only a year when
they’d fallen pregnant. She couldn’t have been happier. Life was
everything she’d dreamed it would be.

The kettle sung in the kitchen, but
Ellona couldn’t remember having put it on. Her memory had been
playing tricks on her since she’d fallen pregnant. She smiled, put
down her book and headed to the kitchen. She removed the pot and
put it on the counter. As she did so, she accidentally knocked it
over, causing boiling water to spill out and burn her hand.
Throbbing pain forced her to the sink where she poured water over
the wound.

The deep moaning sound of deforming
wood soon stole Ellona’s attention. She followed the noise and
stared in horror as the ceiling darkened to black. The timber
twisted and warped as it began to drip blood to the floor. Beside
the red liquid, something black also fell.

Ellona dashed for the front door, but
it refused to open. Surely this wasn’t what she feared, not so far
north. ‘Anything but that,’ she begged Maker. ‘Please.’

The black liquid rained from the
ceiling, heavy droplets of darkness covering everything. Ellona
felt her sanity slipping as it oozed across her skin. She put a
hand over her belly and picked up a kitchen knife. She put the tip
against her flesh, but screamed and withdrew her hand. Thick ropes
of black mist stretched out from the walls and squeezed her fingers
around the handle.