Chapter 2
RETURN OF THE LOSER
Once I’d given Kalani and the brothers the name of the mountain range where the camp was based and assured them that we would be safe there for a while, the journey passed in silence, an unspoken agreement to wait until we landed to swap tales.
There was too much time to think, to consider all the ways I could fail now. Evil sat on the throne. It had its claws in every Asura in the sky world, and I had no idea how far his influence could spread.
Could he control the Asura stationed on land? Could he control the pari, the rakshasa? Chandra had been unaffected, despite being Asura, and Kalani and the stone-faced brothers were untouched.
But would it stay that way? Could I trust them?
Would he corrupt me too?
Although I hoped my companions might have answers, I doubted that they would. This force, this ancient evil, predated everything and everyone. If I wanted to learn more about it, I’d need to find someone just as ancient to tell me its story.
All I knew was what Chandra had recounted, that it couldn’t be killed, only contained. That there was a dagger that, when plunged into the heart of the vessel, would trap the force within it. A dagger that needed to be wielded by someone with strong Deva blood.
Me.
I’d been prepared to do it, to stab Araz in the heart, when I’d believed he was gone. When I’d been certain that his soul had been incinerated. But now I knew different. He was still there. Trapped in his body.
I had to find a way to get him out. To save him.
There must be a method that could free him from the clutches of evil. If I could call back the Deva, then surely they’d have an answer.
Yes, that would be the plan. To find a way back into the sky world and activate the obelisk.
The one that could summon back the old gods.
My heart sank a moment later as I recalled where I’d come by the knowledge about the obelisk.
The primordial evil had spun the tale, using it to get me on board with his plan to storm the sky world.
What if he’d lied? What if there was no obelisk?
By the time the Ustara Mountains came into view, the sky was tinged gray. The journey had taken significantly longer when not by thunderbird.
“How do we get in?” Kalani asked, snapping me out of my thoughts and into sharp focus.
I’d looked down on this range mere hours ago, but now, in the gray light of dawn, everything felt off. It took a moment to acclimatize and realize that we were approaching from a different angle than when I’d left.
“It’s to the right. Follow that valley and you’ll see a hole in the mountain, like a cavern.”
Kalani took the lead, and the brothers followed.
I clung to her, peering around her shoulder at the winding valley below the jagged mountains.
This area was a desolate wasteland of spindly brush.
Lifeless and unforgiving. No wonder no one had thought to look too closely for the camp, not that they would have found it while an ancient elemental ward kept it hidden.
But I’d shattered that ward in order to escape and go after the primordial evil, and now that I’d failed to stop him from claiming the throne, all the people in the camp were in danger.
What if he came back to finish what he started?
Gods, my mind was filled with questions with no clear answers. I hated that.
The cavern came into view below. A few hours ago, the dark aperture had been filled with rainbow light created by ancestral djinn energy spilling from four crystal pillars to converge in an orb that held the soul of King Raknara. My father in a past life.
I’d been named Vayelle then. A princess. A warrior.
I needed to tap into that part of me now more than ever.
Kalani took us down into the cavern, landing smoothly to one side of the softly glowing crystals.
They still contained the souls of kings long dead. Beings who had walked beside Iblees in his last incarnation as Ilyarien.
The stone brothers landed a moment later. I pulled away from Kalani, my limbs stiff and frozen, protesting as I willed them to relax. Now that we weren’t airborne any longer, knowing that we were safe acted as a signal for the aches and pains that had been holding themselves at bay to unleash.
I gritted my teeth on a wince, carefully sliding away from Kalani to give myself enough room to swing my leg over, ready to dismount. Pain lanced through my hip.
I sucked in a sharp breath, then exhaled the word, “Fuck.”
“Take it slow,” Kalani said softly. “I wager that riding a thunderbird is much more comfortable than a chaysavar. The long hours may have locked your muscles.”
“Yep. My body hates me right now.” And the ground was so far down. Landing was going to reverberate up my legs and hurt like a bitch.
Dhoona appeared below me and held out his hands. “Allow me to help you.”
I fell forward into his arms like a board, grateful for his secure grip as he lifted me off the steed and lowered me gently to the floor until my boots touched ground. I clung to him, thighs burning and trembling.
“You need a hot bath,” Kalani said. “It will help with the pain. Is that possible here?”
My mind flashed to the steam bath, and I squeezed my eyes shut as if that would serve to dispel the memory of that afternoon.
How could I have been so wrong? How was I deceived so easily? I’d let him touch me…Let him…a sour taste filled my mouth, and I swallowed to dispel it.
“Leela?” Dhoona’s hands flexed on my hips. “It will be all right. We will find a way to stop the primordial evil.”
I nodded. I had to believe that. I had to believe in me or all was lost. “Come on, we should go check on the others and figure out what we’re going to do to keep them safe.”
“People?” Yudh asked. “And what is this place?”
It hit me that they knew nothing about the setup here. About djinn and the Asura working together to try to find a way to free Iblees. There was a lot to fill them in on.
“Leela?” Yudh prompted.
“This is the devouring force’s camp, but the stories you’ve heard about them…They’re all lies.”
It didn’t take long to fill them in on the truth.
About the Deva leaving the throne to Iblees, about the djinn god and the war with the Asura.
About how they’d locked him away in some kind of supernatural prison where the primordial evil had managed to get its hooks into him.
I told them about C’ael and his connection to Iblees. What I understood of it anyway.
I expected disbelief, some kind of pushback questioning the validity of my claims. But all I got was quiet acceptance.
I gave them a moment to absorb everything. They were obviously in shock. “Look, I get it. Your whole worldview has changed. This can’t be easy for you all.”
Kalani snorted softly. “Honestly, it surprisingly is. I’ve spent my whole life quietly distrusting the Asura in power. This jagged feeling inside me that something was wrong. You just validated that subconscious knowing.”
“Yes,” Dhoona said. “Yudh and I have felt the same.”
The knots in my belly that I hadn’t consciously acknowledged loosened. I’d expected to have to fight a little more to make them believe, but I guess everything they’d seen happen in Aakash Sansaar was enough to convince them.
“We should go find the civilians.”
“So Iblees is still in Araz’s body?” Kalani asked as we made our way to the cavern exit.
“No, Iblees and Araz are one and the same, aren’t they?” Dhoona said.
I nodded at Dhoona. “Correct. I think.”
“The Authority has much to answer for,” Yudh said softly.
“And they will, once we call back the Deva. The primordial evil told me about an obelisk that if activated could summon them. I don’t know if it’s true, but…maybe we can find out.”
“It is true,” Kalani said. “Mother spoke of it once. A long time ago. It’s not a common fact among the general population, but the higher-ups know about it.”
Some of the tightness in my chest released. We had a plan. A real fucking goal. This…this was good.
I led the way out of the temple and into the mountain marketplace where stalls stood abandoned and the silence gaped like an open wound.
Impossible to believe that a day ago this place had been teeming with all the sounds and colors of life.
Kalani walked into the market, her pace slowing by a stall hung with beautiful beads and scarves. She looked back at me, her eyes filled with shadows. “All this time…”
“Yeah, all this time. We need to find everyone.” Truth was I had no idea where everyone would be. Still in the assembly room clearing out the dead bodies? Gods, I didn’t want to go back there.
“Leela?” C’ael materialized a few yards away from us, his gray form solidifying and blooming with color.
Kalani looked at me, one eyebrow raised. “C’ael, I presume?”
I nodded.
C’ael didn’t acknowledge the others, his attention fixed on me, eyes wide, gaze soft, as if I was the one who’d just materialized out of thin air. “You came back.”
The vibration of incredulity in his tone grated. “Of course I came back. I said I would.”
“Yes. Yes, you did.”
“Where is everyone?”
He studied me for a beat, then his shoulders dropped. “In the village hall. You didn’t stop him.”
There was no accusation in his tone, but I couldn’t help the spike of irritation that his statement evoked. I exhaled to quell it and shook my head. “No, and we need to figure out what to do with everyone.”
“You think he’ll come back for us?” He sounded almost hopeful. My stomach tightened.
“Do you want him to come back, C’ael?”
His jaw flexed. “Of course I do. Iblees is my maker. My…friend.”
C’ael was connected to Iblees, and it made sense that he’d feel his absence and want him back.
But he needed to understand the distinction.
“Iblees is your maker, but the primordial evil isn’t.
And right now, it’s evil that has the wheel.
Do you understand that?” He swallowed hard and nodded.
“Good. We’ll find a way to free Araz. I promise. ”
Something shifted in his eyes. A shadow of doubt. A knowing that made my pulse quicken. “What?” I stepped closer. “What is it? What aren’t you telling me?”
“I…I can’t feel him any longer. Iblees. I could before. The connection was there. Like a humming thread between us, but now…Nothing.”
My stomach dropped. “That doesn’t mean anything. The distance—”
“Has never mattered before.” He looked across at me with misty eyes.
Like hell would I let him infect me with his doubts. “No. I don’t believe it. Araz saved my life. He held back the primordial evil long enough for me to escape. The fact that you can’t feel him doesn’t mean that he’s gone. He’s Iblees now. A fucking god. And I know he won’t be destroyed easily.”
I didn’t know any such thing, but I needed to believe it. If I didn’t…if I doubted, then I would lose the will to fight this thing.
“The wards around Aakash Sansaar could be affecting the connection,” Kalani said. “They’re powerful.”
C’ael stood a little straighter. “Wards. Yes. There was a connection until a few hours ago. Was that when the wards went up?”
Wings of hope beat in my chest. “Yes. A few hours.” I exhaled. “Iblees is still alive, and we can save him.”
C’ael nodded, his posture straightening with purpose. “We have to get the people somewhere safe. He let them live because he didn’t have enough poison. Wahida told us that he took all that she was able to make for him. But he will be back to finish the job. I know it.”
“Who is Wahida, and why would she make poison?” Kalani asked.
“She’s the medicine woman of the camp,” C’ael explained. “The primordial evil controlled her mind and forced her to the make the poison that killed the warriors of the devouring force.”
We were defenseless if he came back. Which I had no doubt that he would.
I nodded at C’ael. “Take us to the others.”
With no idea how much time we had left, I’d have to work fast to save us all.
The village hall was nothing more than two shacks built side by side with a doorway connecting them. It was crammed with djinn and Asura. Someone handed out bowls of stew while someone else passed around bread rolls. But the delicious aroma of food was overshadowed by the stench of sorrow.
So many lives lost. Warriors who’d been kin to these people—brothers, husbands, fathers.
All eyes turned to me as I entered, and the low hum of conversation petered out.
Little Dodi broke away from his sister, Falima, and ran over to me. He wrapped his arms around my waist and squeezed. “You came back.”
What was it with these people and thinking I’d abandon them? Did they believe that they were expendable?
A flash of heat lanced through me, and I gently pulled away from the boy, crouching so that we were eye to eye. “I want you to listen to me carefully, okay? As long as I live and breathe, I will always come back for you. Do you understand?”
He nodded, his delicate throat working as he blinked back tears. “I didn’t know. I didn’t see that part in my dream, so I didn’t know. I don’t know what will happen now.”
“It’s all right. You don’t have to know because I’ll tell you.”
I stood slowly and put my hand on his shoulder as I looked at the forlorn group of people gathered around me. The weight of their hopes and dreams settled on me like a mantle, the responsibility for their survival now mine.
“I want you all to pack some essentials. We’re going to leave in a few hours.”
“Where will we go?” Falima asked.
“Anywhere that isn’t here.”
“There is nowhere on this island that he won’t find us,” Falima said.
Her words sparked an inkling of an idea. If they weren’t safe on this island, then maybe they’d be safe on another. A place like Shantivan. But how would we get there?
“Kalani, is there a way to get to Shantivan? A ship? Something?”
“The only ships that circle the Isle regularly belong to the Ether Riders, and I have no idea when they’re due to arrive or on which cove.
But…” She chewed on her cheeks, and I could almost see the cogs in her head turning.
It took everything I had not to prompt her to continue.
To let her finish her thought naturally.
“The vayujaari may be able to give refuge in their storm city,” she said finally.
“It’s several miles southeast of here, but we can get there and back before high sun if we leave now. ”
“And what if they’ve been compromised by the primordial evil?” Yudh said.
“And what if they haven’t?” Kalani countered. “Look, we can’t make assumptions. We need to know for sure, and…they may have information about this evil. From what Mother taught me, the vayujaari are as old as the Deva.”
She was right. We had to try. “Everyone, pack your essentials. We’ll be back soon, and we will leave this place, one way or another. I promise you that.”
“What about the revenants?” Falima said. “What are we going to do with them?”
My stomach sank. Fuck.