Promise of Wrath (The Hellequin Chronicles Book 6)

  I ran after him, and watched him run into the city, away from Bašmu, who was tearing apart several buildings. I left Mordred; the snake was the more immediate problem. I ran toward the monster, using my blood magic to power the fire inside of me. When I was close enough, I entered the nearest building and ascended to the roof.

  I aimed a ball of flame at the snake and threw it, hoping it would notice. The second the flame hit, the snake looked my way. I got the impression that it recognized me, because it barreled toward me, knocking dozens of soldiers aside as they tried to slow it down.

  “That’s right, you big scaly bastard: come fight me!”

  The snake reared up taller than the three-story building I was on. I was forced to look up at its opening mouth, its long tongue tasting the air. It struck with incredible speed, and I used my air magic to propel me up above its head. The snake was smart, and tried to move out of the way, but I adjusted my trajectory and landed on top of its head. I ignited a blade of fire, and using the power I’d built up with the blood magic, plunged it down into the brain of the snake. I released the fire blade and did it again, pouring more and more white-hot flame into the wound as the snake bucked and twisted, before collapsing onto the rooftop, crushing the building beneath its weight.

  I lay on top of the snake for some time, before finally sliding off onto the rubble just as Irkalla arrived.

  “You cooked it,” she said, tapping the snake’s mouth. “It’s warm.”

  “It’s dead, too,” I said. “So is Isabel.”

  “Yes, I heard. I’m not entirely sure this worked out the way Siris wanted.”

  “She wanted you all dead, so I’m guessing not so much.”

  “We have the lead vampire under our control: the one who turned so many of those who attacked us. He’s nothing special, not even a master. We’ll interrogate him and find out what he knows. Siris isn’t going to give up; she’ll come back at some point. But we annoyed her today, and today is what counts.”

  She offered me her hand, and I took it as I got back to my feet. We walked back to Nanshe and Nabu, who were busy helping the injured.

  I spent the next few hours helping those who needed it, which meant first and foremost making sure those who were hurt but alive didn’t succumb to their wounds. After watching more people die, it didn’t really feel like much of a victory, and when I finally got to my bed that night, I mourned for those who had lost their lives. Siris would be found and she would be punished, but it was something Nanshe and her people needed to do, not Avalon. It was something I was certain they’d want to handle themselves.

  “The snakes weren’t as powerful as I’d expected,” I said to Nanshe the next morning when I entered her home.

  “Good morning to you too,” she said with a smile. Nabu and Irkalla were already seated at the table, each of them eating a plate of fruit and meat.

  Nanshe offered me a plate and I gratefully accepted. I was famished, and quickly made my way through a vast amount of food.

  “The snakes were fresh out of their prison realm,” Nabu said. “I honestly thought they were dead. Apparently, merely hibernating.”

  There was a small stone tablet inside his robe, and he caught me looking at it, pushing it into an inside pocket.

  “Could they have used something other than a realm gate?” I asked.

  “No such thing exists,” Nabu said. “From what I can gather, the gate was destroyed by the snakes’ emergence. There’s nothing left of it.”

  I got the feeling there was something he wasn’t telling me, but it had been a long few days for everyone, and maybe it was just that everyone was exhausted.

  “How many casualties?” I asked Nanshe.

  “No idea at the moment. Lots. Hundreds, if not thousands, dead.”

  “I’m sorry about what happened here. And now Mordred has escaped. This is not the finest job I’ve ever undertaken.”

  “More survived than died,” Nabu said. “Gilgamesh has taken it upon himself to hunt down Siris. She will be caught and punished.”

  “Not by Avalon,” I said, giving voice to my previous thoughts. “It’s too early in the alliance. It needs to be seen that Avalon will allow you all to continue with your own governance. If Avalon came in and killed her, it will look like you can’t take care of your own problems, and that Avalon will interfere the second we disagree with an ally’s method of dealing with their issues.”

  Irkalla placed a hand on my arm. “There are no traces of Mordred. He’s lost to the wind.”

  “He’ll turn up; he always does. Sooner or later, he’ll want to come after me, or someone else. Right now, Isabel’s murder has given him a new purpose: killing Siris and those backing her.”

  “People like Nergal?” Nabu asked. “We know he was involved, but he was never here. We wouldn’t have won if he had been.”

  “No one gets this far in a plot like this without help—a lot more help than one person can offer. Too many things could have gone wrong. There’s another realm, a lot of people willing to die for her cause, training, money, and above all, power. Someone helped her: someone with influence. I don’t know their motives, but I expect they’ll turn up again, so be on the lookout.”

  “Are you going to stay in the city?” Irkalla asked.

  I shook my head. “I’m going back to Avalon. I want to make sure no one tries to disrupt anything when you arrive.”

  “I’ll be going myself in the next few days,” Irkalla said. “I would appreciate the company.”

  “It would be my pleasure. First, I wish to pay my respects to those who died.”

  “The burial will be tonight,” Nabu told me. “You’re welcome to come.”

  I stood. “Thank you. Until then, I’ll take my leave.”

  I left the three of them to their breakfast and went out into the city. Those responsible for what had happened were still out there. Mordred was still out there, and I wasn’t sure exactly why Isabel had been killed, other than to piss him off. Siris had a lot to answer for, and I really hoped I’d never lay eyes on her again. But if I did, I’d make sure she didn’t get away; some people don’t deserve a second chance. Some people deserve to be removed as a blight on this world, and Siris had nailed herself to the top of that list.

  I hoped Gilgamesh was up to the task of finding her. I doubted she’d make it easy, but more than that, I doubted she would quit.

  CHAPTER 24

  Now. Dwarven city of Thorem.

  I woke up in a white room, looking up at the ceiling. There was no machine or temple anywhere to be found, and for the briefest of moments I wondered where the hell I’d been taken.

  I forced myself upright and swung my legs off the bed. Two runes were inscribed in the room’s door, which was certainly dwarven in design, so I couldn’t have been taken too far. The runes said silence and monitor, and both were glowing a faint blue color.

  “I can read runes,” I said to myself, although it came out as a whisper. The room seemed somehow to muffle sound. “Gotta say, that’s a bit weird.”

  “It’s a dampener,” Jinayca said as she opened the door. “The monitor rune is so we can hear you speak and check on your vitals without having to come in and out. Also, you’re not speaking English.”

  “Yeah, I figured that bit out,” I admitted, and lifted my T-shirt to see that another of my blood-curse marks had vanished. “How long was I out?”

  “Long enough for several of your friends to argue with our doctors about not wanting to leave you, and then argue with them some more about Chloe.”

  “How is she?”

  “Aren’t you going to ask how you are first?”

  “Don’t much care how I am, Jinayca. I’m alive, and can apparently read and understand dwarven runes, along with being able to speak your language without trouble. We’ll figure me out later. Chloe first.”

  “We got you some fresh clothes, if you’d like to change?”

  I shook my head. “Chloe.”

  Jinayca l
ed me through a hallway and into a large room with several chairs and two doors.

  “Where are we?”

  “Away from the temple, back up on the main level of Sanctuary. We weren’t really sure what to do with you.”

  “Where are my friends?”

  “I’ll contact them and let them know you’re awake. I advise you to change your clothes once you’re done here, and come meet me at the elders’ building. We have things we need to discuss.”

  You have no idea, I thought to myself. I wanted to ask about the temple, about my memory, my mother, and anything else that came to mind, the second I’d seen Jinayca. But Chloe was more important. She was the only one of us who was hurt, and there was no way I was leaving anyone behind when we left. If she was getting worse, or if the dwarves needed something to help her, I wanted to know. I needed to know how to make her better before I worried about myself.

  I sat alone in the room, my anxiety rising with every second no one came to speak to me, and just as I was about to go find someone who might hurry things along, two dwarves walked in. The first was male, his beard trimmed short and his head shaved; the second was a female with long, red, plaited hair. Both carried no visible weapons and wore simple tunics and trousers.

  “Nate Garrett?” the female dwarf asked.

  I nodded.

  “My name is Grundelwy,” she told me. “And this is Jurg. We’re the physicians who have been attending to your friend Chloe.”

  “How is she doing?” I asked, feeling the lump in my chest move toward my throat.

  “Not good, Mr. Garrett,” Jurg told me.

  “As you know Chloe has been poisoned,” Grundelwy began. “The venom itself would be quite mild in someone who had a healing ability above and beyond that of a normal human. But Chloe, for all her witch magic, is human. This venom is attacking her body, and she’s getting worse. The venom will keep attacking her until she dies.”

  “Is there a cure?”

  The two dwarves glanced at one another. “There is, yes,” Jurg said, “but not in the way you think. Her only chance is to use magic to increase her healing ability.”

  “What about runes on her skin?” I asked.

  “That might work if she were conscious long enough for them to take effect, and she was able to activate them herself, but with her being in and out of consciousness, placing them on her skin would make things a lot worse. The activation would have to be done by an external person, and that, too, could have dire consequences. Basically, drawing powerful enough runes on Chloe in her current state could kill her. On top of that, her witch magic means she can’t be healed by normal magical means. They’re not compatible.”

  “What’s your plan?” I really hoped the plan had something concrete. I’d be okay if it was something I could hit repeatedly until it gave up what Chloe needed.

  “Spirit scrolls,” Jurg said.

  “What?” The words suddenly jolted something loose. “Wait, Zamek said something about those. What are they?”

  “Jinayca can explain better. She was with the detachment of people who were tasked to recover them from the blood elves. Until we lost them, very few dwarves were allowed to know of their creation. But essentially, they’re rune-scribed scrolls that have been infused with the power of spirits.”

  “When someone bleeds on it, it creates a contract between the person and the spirits inside the scroll,” Grundelwy said. “From that moment on the spirits and the user are bonded until the user dies, for however long that might be. But in the short term those spirits would give enough power to Chloe so that she could heal herself.”

  “This all sounds very vague,” I pointed out.

  “It is,” Jurg admitted. “Jinayca will want to talk to you about them.”

  “Can I see Chloe?”

  They nodded in unison and led me into a smaller room like the one I’d woken up in. Chloe lay in bed with runes inscribed all around the base. One of them pulsated in red, in time with her heartbeat.

  “I thought you said runes would kill her,” I whispered.

  “Runes on her body. They’re healing runes, but only in the sense that they are slowing the progression of the venom and keeping Chloe stable. They’re stopping the pain, too.”

  “Thank you both,” I said and they left the room.

  “Hey,” I said to Chloe as I sat beside her.

  She opened her eyes and smiled. “Kasey came in earlier,” she said, her voice weak. “Said I looked like shit.”

  “That depends on how you view zombie as a skin color.”

  Chloe chuckled. “I’m not feeling so great, Nate.”

  I took her hand in mine, and she squeezed. “We’re going to get you some help, and then we’re going to get you home. All you have to do is stay here and let these people wait on you hand and foot. We’ll be back before you know it.”

  Chloe smiled and closed her eyes. I panicked for a second, before realizing she was falling asleep. I laid her hand down and ignited my fire magic, turning my finger hotter and hotter, until the fire that surrounded it burned white. I held it against the end of the bed, pressing it into the stone until it burned a pattern there.

  It was only when I’d finished that the physicians ran into the room asking me what I was doing.

  “Your stone doesn’t stop magic here,” I said, “so I helped out.”

  Jurg walked over to the end of the bed and stared at the burned rune I’d carved there, his mouth dropped open in shock.

  “What is it?” Grundelwy asked as I walked toward her.

  “It’s—”

  “It’s one of the twenty-one original runes,” I told her. “It says power. It’ll increase what the runes on the bed can do. I hope it’s enough.”

  “How do you know our runes?” Jurg demanded. He sounded both irritated that I knew them, and more than a little shocked.

  “Apparently the dwarves put them in my head,” I told him. “It was a long time ago, and I’ve just learned that I know your entire language. Unfortunately, that’s the only rune that might actually help. Do you have any more serious patients?”

  They both shook their heads and, after one last glance at Chloe, I left. I went back to my own room and changed into the black and dark-blue leather armor they’d left for me. There were small overlocking scales on the inside, and while it looked heavy, it appeared to weigh no more than a T-shirt and trousers would. Dwarven armor was regarded as the finest ever created. I’d heard tell of it stopping an arrow and spear, and of it taking a blow from a mace. I was happy to be wearing the leather breastplate, jacket, and the boots. I got the feeling this was more than just a gift of a clean set of clothes. No doubt I’d need these protective qualities soon enough.

  I left the hospital and walked through the city, receiving stares from those I passed by, with the occasional nod from others. So many dwarves just going about their business, living day by day, even with the very real fear of a blood-elf attack. If nothing else, dwarven resilience was impressive to behold.

  The guards allowed me admittance to the elders’ building, and I soon remembered the way to the chamber where we’d first met Jinayca. One of three guards opened the door for me with a curt nod, and I found myself smiling at a room full of friends.

  “We were worried about you,” Kasey said, embracing me as I entered the room.

  “I’m fine. Just worried about Chloe,” I told everyone, stopping questions about my condition before they started.

  The silence lasted for only a few seconds before Mordred said, “Lost another curse mark?”

  “Yes,” I told him. “Apparently I can read runes now. It’s very exciting.”

  “Where did you get that knowledge?” a familiar voice asked from the side of the room.

  I turned in the direction of the voice and saw Irkalla. She looked identical to the last time I saw her, and wore a dark-blue sleeveless tunic, showing several scars on her upper arm: a lasting testament to what had happened in Acre.

  She hu
gged me. “Good to see you after so many centuries. It’s a shame our paths have not crossed in such a long time.”

  “You too. But why are you here?”

  “Apparently your friends were not the only ones to receive a tainted tablet.”

  “Anyone else we might know?” Remy asked.

  “A few,” Irkalla said. She pointed behind me as Nabu entered the room carrying a multitude of scrolls, which he placed on the table.

  “We were in London,” Nabu told us all. “We were to have talks with Brutus about security for the exhibits at the London Museum. There were rare artifacts that we were allowing to be shown: weapons and the like. It was just a formality, but we received one of those tablets.”

  “I’ve never seen them before,” Irkalla said, “although I imagine I’d recognize them anywhere now.”

  Nabu offered me his hand, which I took. “Nathaniel, I’d say it was good to see you, but, um, I’m not entirely sure it is.” He turned to Zamek, who was seated at the end of the table. “Anyone else coming?”

  “Not that I’m aware of,” Zamek said. He put his feet up on the table, visibly relaxing.

  “Thank you all for coming,” Jinayca said as she entered the room and motioned for the three women with her to take a seat around the table.

  “Nate,” the oldest of the three, Cassandra, said, while her daughter, Grace, and granddaughter, Ivy, sat at the table, both nodding a greeting in my direction.

  My mouth dropped open in shock. The Fates were here, in Sanctuary. The last I’d seen of them, they were Kay’s prisoners.

  “Let me guess: bad tablet?” Remy asked, narrowly avoiding a playful cuff on the ear from Diane.

  “Of a sort,” Cassandra said, as her gaze settled on Mordred.

  “I had nothing to do with it,” Mordred said, standing. His hands were shaking as he placed them on the table. “If you’d prefer I wasn’t here, I understand.”

  “Sit down, Mordred,” Ivy told him, her voice held no hint of the hatred she’d once felt for him. “We’re aware you weren’t involved, and you are just as important here as anyone else.”