Chapter 25 #2
“There is something else…” Bhartina said.
“There is a powerful artifact in the ocean a mile northeast of Shantivan. A sage who lived here years ago spoke of sensing it. She sadly passed a year ago, but we did investigate, and there is a structure in the ocean. Unanchored yet stationary. We could not get close enough to examine it fully. It is guarded by a vidyut jaksaanp. Her name is Ilyapani, and she will not suffer anyone to live if they come too close.”
“What’s a vidyut jaksaanp?” C’ael asked before I could.
“An eel,” Ramashi said. “A monstrous eel.”
Great. “Did you ask the Authority about the artifact?”
“Yes, we did, and we were ordered not to go near it. That’s all.”
“It has to be a portway,” C’ael said. “Didn’t you say there was one in the sea somewhere?” he asked me.
“Yes…this must be it.”
Every settlement I knew of was built near a portway to discourage the devouring force from attacking, because the Authority had known they wouldn’t want to hurt innocent people.
“Then we need to find out for sure,” C’ael said. “But first the temple.”
“The sun will set soon,” Bhartina said. “You cannot do this at night, not while the storm rages. Wait till dawn.”
I looked to C’ael, who nodded.
Dawn it was, then.
I was grateful when Bhartina showed us to a different room than the one I’d shared with Araz when here last. The slight smile she gave me left me in no doubt that this move was deliberate.
The stew that Ramashi had cooked up had smelled delicious, but I’d been unable to savor it, my mind going to Zarael and Jaantor to Falima and Dodi and all the people on the cloud ship who’d never made it to sanctuary.
I’d promised them safety, and I’d failed.
Zarael had stayed to help me and now was gone because of it.
Because of him.
The primordial evil.
The fucker had a lot to answer for.
I showered under scalding hot water, then changed into the soft linen pajamas given to me by Bhartina before joining C’ael in the bedroom.
He stood at the window watching lightning dart across the sky. He reminded me so much of Araz in that moment that it was hard to catch my breath. He turned to me, holding out his hand, inviting me to join him to take in the view. I slipped my palm into his, allowing him to draw me close.
“Tomorrow, we reach the flame,” C’ael said. “The flame that is a part of Iblees…An anchor to Araz.”
My stomach clenched. What if it wasn’t Araz that called us here?
What if it was the primordial evil? Some plot to get me far away from where I needed to be?
I held on to the words C’ael had delivered.
The message about Araz having seen the kiss between me and the evil that held his body hostage.
I held on to that as proof that the person C’ael had spoken to was indeed Araz.
But the primordial evil also knew of that moment…
What if he’d used it to lure me—No! Why send me to the flame?
To Iblees’s flame? How could he even know about it?
I couldn’t allow myself to doubt now. We were here, and we needed to see this through to know for sure.
I squeezed C’ael’s hand. “We should get some sleep.”
He turned toward me, looking down at me, eyes dark with emotions I couldn’t quite define. “What do you think will happen? Do you think he’ll speak to us? What will he say?”
Was that a flash of fear in his eyes? I reached up and placed my palm to his cheek. “C’ael, what’s on your mind? What are you afraid of? Talk to me.”
His throat bobbed. “He made me, Leela. Iblees made me, and now I’m here with you. Your friend. Your companion. You need me. But when Araz is free, when he returns, what will become of me? What will my purpose be?”
My chest tightened. Oh gods, of course he was worried. Why hadn’t I considered this for him? “C’ael, you’ll still be my friend. I’ll still want to spend time with you.”
His gaze flicked to the bed, and comprehension bloomed in my mind. “Yes, some things will change. Boundaries will shift, but our closeness here”—I placed my palm to his chest—“will always stay the same.”
His eyes grew misty. “You’ll still care?”
My eyes heated, a lump forming in my throat. “Of course.”
He leaned in, pressing his forehead to mine. “Friends no matter what?”
“Friends no matter what.”
He smiled and pulled back. “Now we should really get some sleep. Tomorrow is a big day.”
I trailed to the bed in his wake, my heart still tight from our conversation. He turned down the sheets and looked back at me with a grin, and a pang lanced through my chest. C’ael mattered. More than I’d like to admit.
The storm continued to beat down on the island, the dark clouds so low that they’d swallowed the top of the mountain. Thank goodness the temple wasn’t at the summit. The rain was now sleet, the ground covered in a thin layer of frost and ice.
We climbed slowly, keeping far from the edge of the winding path that led up to the temple.
The wind hit us in wrathful gusts, desperate to throw us off the path.
Jasha took the lead, his powerful frame acting as a shield and taking the brunt of the elements.
C’ael made up the rear, his hand on the small of my back as if afraid that I’d slip at any moment.
I’d made this journey once, with Araz. A nighttime jaunt with the stars for company and Araz’s body heat for warmth.
My stomach contracted at the memory of him.
Of being with him. My eyes heated in defiance of the chill.
I blinked back sharp tears, forcing myself to put one foot in front of the other despite the fact that my limbs felt like blocks of ice.
The coat Bhartina had loaned me was meant to be waterproof, but water had found its way in, trickling down my neck in an icy caress.
The lower half of my face was warm beneath a scarf, and leather gloves kept my hand from freezing.
Jasha was similarly dressed, but C’ael had declined the offer of warmer attire, saying he didn’t feel the chill like everyone else.
Lightning danced across the sky, cutting across storm clouds to bathe the gloomy settlement below in hues of silver and blue. It died, leaving the world awash in the gray light of dawn.
Another flash, this one so bright it stung my eyes.
Crack.
Jasha bellowed, falling back, his foot landing wrong. He slipped, arms windmilling as he tried to fight the fall.
I grabbed his arm, yelping as his weight made to drag me down with him. C’ael snagged me around the waist, hauling me back against his chest. I tugged Jasha to safety with me, wrapping one arm around his waist.
Fuck.
I took a beat, forehead pressed to his bicep, as my heart thundered loud enough to rival the storm.
The sky roared as if enraged at being denied a casualty, and a moment later, the pelting sleet stopped, leaving us to the mercy of belting wind.
“We need to move,” C’ael said.
I nodded, looking up to find Jasha watching me with an indecipherable expression. I released him, and we continued up the narrow path for a moment before Jasha came to a halt.
“Path is gone!” he yelled over the howling wind. “Lightning.”
I peered around him. The spot where a path should have been was now an empty, scorched space. The lightning that had almost knocked Jasha off the mountain must have hit here.
It was too wide a gap to jump. I studied the rock face between the ledges. “I can climb across.”
“It’s too dangerous,” Jasha said.
“I can do it.”
He glanced back at the rock face, then turned to me, a muscle in his jaw jumping as he studied me for several beats. He must have seen the determination in my eyes because he nodded curtly. “You follow my lead.”
My exhale warmed the scarf around my mouth. “C’ael, you can get across if you teleport.”
“Like hell am I leaving you,” he said. “I’m climbing too, just in case.”
In case I slipped, and he needed to catch me. I smiled across at him. “Okay, let’s do this before it starts to rain again.”
Jasha went first, hooking the fingers of his right hand into the notch I would have picked to start, then finding the perfect boot notch. He grabbed hold of another indent with his left hand and found a boot notch for his left foot, then swung fully off the ledge.
I couldn’t help but be nervous. He was a big guy. How stable was the rock face after being roasted by lightning? But he seemed to be doing okay. Almost halfway across, he looked back.
“You see the path?” he called over the rising wind.
“I do.” I grabbed hold of the same notches and swung my body off the ledge.
“Don’t look down,” C’ael called out. The worst possible thing to say to someone dangling over a chasm with a death fall. But I’d done this before. I knew how to keep my cool. I moved along in Jasha’s steps, head turned his way so I could watch where he grabbed and where he stepped.
“I’m right behind you,” C’ael said.
We were about three-quarters of the way across when Jasha stopped, spitting words that sounded like curses.
“What is it?”
“There is no path now. No hand hold or foot hold. The rock is smooth.”
I took a breath and did the unthinkable.
I looked down.
My heart thundered at the reality of the drop.
No. Focus, Leela. You know what you’re looking for.
I found it a moment later. A ledge a few feet below Jasha and a few feet from the other side. That could work.
“Jasha, drop to the ledge below you. Then you can leap onto the rock face on the other side and climb up from there.”
He looked down, cursing once more.
“Can you do it?” C’ael called out.
“Of course I can!” Jasha proved it a moment later, letting go of the rock face and dropping onto the ledge. He landed in a crouch then stood slowly, examining the rock face ahead of him.
Now that he was on the ledge, it was clear how small it was. My chest tightened as an awful thought hit me. What if there were no nooks to grab hold of on the rock face in front of him?
Jasha shook his head and turned back to the main mountain face. He began to climb, moving across. “Wait up there!” he called out. “Just in case.”
My arms strained, leg muscles throbbing as I held on. Jasha made his way across the mountain and up, finding enough hand holds to get him safely to the other side, up and over.
The knot in my chest relaxed. We could do this.
I got to the dead zone spot that Jasha had reached.
“Careful!” both Jasha and C’ael called at the same time.
Breathe, Leela. Focus on the jump. On the ledge.
Every part of me attuned to where I needed to be.
I leaped.
The sky roared. The heavens opened, and a gust of wind punched me in the gut. My heart leapt into my mouth as the ledge hurtled past me, and comprehension dawned.
I’d missed my landing.