Chapter 43 #2
‘What are you?’ Ezer asked.
‘I am the Acolyte, dear child. A voice for the voiceless. I am a host. A vessel, with Wrenwyn’s blood in my veins, and I am sworn to carry out the commands of the One until my time is done.’
‘You’re a murderer,’ Ezer said.
His shadows seemed to hiss, like snakes. But he held them back from her. ‘Your mind is still weak. Still young and mortal, and though you read the Tome … you still aren’t ready to see. That final choice is yours, Ezer.’
‘What the hell is that supposed to mean?’
Before her, that dark crevasse was still whispering.
She heard it clearer now as hatred swam through her. As his shadows circled at his feet like hungry hounds, just waiting to be unleashed.
She wished she could control her own magic. She wished she could send an army of ravens to shred him, bit by bit.
But when she reached for her power – an ember, a spark – there was nothing to grasp hold of.
‘When I made it here, when I came to the same door as you, I found a child of Wrenwyn’s … the Acolyte. She was my ancestor. My blood. I’d never had true family before, not like that.’
Her heart was beating all wrong.
Her breathing was too shallow.
‘She was not ready to pass on. So I killed her,’ Erath said. The shadows slithered across his body and up the sides of his face. ‘I swung the knife and took her place.’
She backed up a step. The shadows turned and slithered back towards her as they sensed her fear. They were hungry for it.
He was still lost in his story, like he’d been waiting his whole life to share it with someone.
‘I loved Prince Draybor like a brother,’ Erath said.
‘Once I became the Acolyte, once I mastered my newfound magic, I flew back across the Expanse to reason with him. I found his father dead, and Draybor finally king in his place. I tried to show him what living looked like. I asked only for a chance to share the truth with his people.’ His voice darkened.
‘Instead, he called me an abomination. He declared war upon me and vowed to slaughter each person who turned to my side.’
‘The darksouls,’ Ezer said. ‘The monsters.’
‘They are not monsters,’ Erath growled. ‘They are creatures, once weak, made strong. I created the shadowstorm to keep them safe. And while the war rages … it is only because we need time.’
‘For what?’ Ezer asked.
‘Time to borrow more souls,’ Erath said.
‘Time to uncover the key. The Five hid one in each realm, fragments of a master key meant to unlock the Door to their infernal cage. We believe … that a key is being held inside the Citadel. Somewhere behind the safety of their Wards.’ He smiled.
‘And as we gather more souls, more who will deny the lies of the Five, we grow stronger. Our onslaughts increase.’ He looked at the crevasse in the cave floor.
‘We will keep giving the One the souls it requires, and in turn, the One will strengthen us, sending through the reinforcements we need, until we find the next key.’
The next key.
Which meant …
‘We must unlock the realms, one by one,’ Erath said. ‘And when the Long Day ends, and Realmbreak comes to pass, the Five will indeed give a blessing – a curse – to Lordach.’ He leaned forward, dark eyes on hers. ‘Their King has fallen. A new one has risen in his place.’
Her heart gave a terrible tremor.
That meant that Arawn …
Arawn was King.
‘And what he will ask of the gods, what blessing he will request … one of my own tells me it will be far worse than what his father would have chosen. It would have been a set of wards for all of Lordach. But this king? He will ask for a weapon instead. A way to counteract my power. A way to destroy my shadowstorm. And then this stronghold … it will no longer be safe.’
Arawn’s own words came back to her.
What my father will ask for – and what I would ask for if I were already King – they would not be remotely close to the same.
She couldn’t imagine a weapon being able to break through the power the Acolyte held.
She could see only Arawn, Izill, Alaris, all the people she’d come to know and trust …
Dead.
Dead at the hands of this monster before her.
‘What will you do if you win the war?’ Ezer asked. ‘What will you do if you manage to break through, and find this key?’
‘I will first give everyone a choice. Join us … lay down your belief in the Five … or die.’
Her stomach turned as his shadows circled his throne.
‘And then I will unlock the Veil that holds this realm back from the next. And we’ll be able to go through.’
‘Through to where?’ Ezer asked.
The Acolyte smiled. ‘Into the next realm, just as my ancestors did to gain entrance to this one. They found its key and came here to conquer. My job is to carry that on, until we enter the next realm. And the next. Until all realms see and believe the truth. We will crush the Five, realm by realm. And when all of humankind stops believing their lies … the Five will finally fall. They will lose their hold on the Thirteenth Realm. We will hold all the keys to unlock the cage. And the One will finally be free.’
It was an eternal darkness he had planned.
Like dominoes falling, taking out realms one at a time.
Piece by piece.
She looked at that crevasse.
She could hear the hissing whisper now, stronger than before.
‘Why are you telling me this?’ she asked. ‘I tried to kill you.’ And then, because she guessed he could already sense it, she added, ‘I still would if I could.’
His shadows stretched towards her, but he pulled them back, reined them in with a simple squeeze of his fist. ‘Blood of my blood,’ he said. ‘You are more like me than I realize.’
‘I’m nothing like you,’ she said.
She hated this man, this monster.
He’d killed her mother with his own wolves, his own creation … and he hardly seemed to care. He was blind to all he’d done, every wrong, because he believed it was right so long as it was in the name of the One.
He was the villain in her story. And she was the hero that would secure his end.
Erath looked down at his hands, at the shadows swimming between them. ‘The sheer power available to me is endless. But imagine, Ezer … what it would be like if we were to join together. If you could take that furious magic churning inside your veins … and unleash it in the name of the One.’
She backed up a step.
Suddenly, she felt sick as the pieces began to click into place.
She shook her head. ‘I won’t join you.’
‘You will,’ he said. ‘Because you are my blood. My bones. My breath.’ His shadows slithered away from him, reaching for her across the dais. She sucked in a breath as they began to circle her.
Like sea wyverns surrounding their prey.
‘You have been lost in this realm,’ he said, ‘a fledgling with no one to show you our ways. I will teach you. I will show you just how glorious the gift of our blood.’
Something shifted in her chest.
She looked at Six and nodded subtly.
The raphon’s tail twitched once.
‘You’re home,’ Erath said. ‘Falling into the footsteps of fate. And someday, when my time is done … I will have trained you so well, that you will be able to lead better than I ever could. You, Ezer, Child of Erath and Descendant of Wrenwyn … you are going to take my place. Someday … you are going to become the next Acolyte.’
Horror washed over her.
‘But like me … you may need a little convincing. Let us pray that you will be strong enough to survive it.’