The War Beyond (The Hollow Covenant #2)

Chapter 1 Hakara

Hakara

Langzu – in the wilds

The Shattering had little regard for where people lived, their social ties, the jobs they were working.

Some woke to find the earth shaking beneath them.

Some slept while it happened, their rooftops collapsing onto their bodies.

Houses were cleaved in half, families were separated, the ground opened, and the aether rose from between the cracks.

When the dust finally settled, cities had been leveled, governments thrown into disarray. And all the realms of the world became isolated.

The stars wheeled about in the sky as a bloody corpse covered me like a heavy, fleshy blanket. The only breathing I could hear was mine, which was good, because a moment ago, the beast I’d been fighting had been breathing as well – large, rasping breaths that filled the hot night air.

“Still with us?” Dashu’s face appeared above me. It was spinning too. As I blinked, his features began to align. Bronze skin, gently curved nose, dark eyes, high cheekbones. My gaze focused on the enamel flower hilt of his sword, the white blossoms as delicate as his blade was sharp.

I struggled to sit up, trying to shove the still-warm body off me. Soft, pale flesh gave way beneath my palms, antennae-like filaments brushing against my fingertips. But beneath that was a solid, weighty bulk. “Lithuas? Is she…”

“Escaped,” Dashu said.

The whole entire reason we’d gotten into this fight in the first place. “We need to go after her. Send scouts. Keep her in our sights.” I scanned the surrounding landscape and saw only the remnants of a battle long-since ended. She’d been right there. I remembered the smirk on her face.

He was shaking his head even before I’d finished speaking. “She’s a shapeshifter, Hakara. We tried. She’s long gone. I saw the aspect fall on you. Are you well?”

I sagged and then wiggled a little, mentally cataloging my injuries. “Still among the living. Didn’t pass out this time.”

He held out a hand to me and I took it. The world spun a little more as I righted myself, the earth beneath my feet crunching. Had a fair bit of it covering my clothes too, probably some in my hair.

“Don’t say that like it’s an accomplishment.” Alifra’s voice cut the night. She stood next to Dashu, her russet hair pulled into a bun, blood spattered on her boots. “There’s not as much cause for you to pass out when you’re not acting as our bruiser.”

Reflexively, I touched the patch I’d sewn over my heart.

The two crossed swords. I knew what it looked like – as if her words had struck me in a way that pained.

Maybe they did. This fight had been my idea, my fault.

And we had nothing to show for it except the dead aspect and more injured Unanointed.

I let my hand drop, lifting my chin. “We killed one of Kluehnn’s aspects, didn’t we? ”

The second one since we’d raided the den at the border of Kashan. What a mess I’d made of things. Some leader I was proving to be.

Should have seen the ambush coming from the very beginning.

But when Alifra and I had traveled to a nearby town to contact a woman in the Unanointed’s spy network, I’d spotted Lithuas there in the guise of Mitoran.

She’d been at the market, asking after unearthed corestones.

Was I supposed to leave her be? She’d used her shapeshifting abilities to take over the Unanointed, to subvert them to her cause and to Kluehnn’s.

Using us to find corestones so he could enact restoration.

So I’d followed her, in spite of Alifra’s protests, and then I’d ordered my remaining Unanointed to attack.

I could still see the smirk on Lithuas’s face as she’d turned to us on the road, as her gray hair had melted to silver and she’d drawn her sword.

And then at a quirk of her finger, an aspect of Kluehnn and three godkillers had come roaring out from between two boulders.

She didn’t need to eliminate us. She only needed to weaken us. The fewer of us there were, the less chance we had of causing trouble. And she’d succeeded.

A figure at the edge of my vision leapt into the sky before my eyes could settle on him, black wings spread.

Thassir still followed us, had still joined in the fray when we were in trouble, but I’d not spoken to him since he’d admitted he’d known what Lithuas and Kluehnn were planning.

I could still feel his presence in my head, like someone had glued a string there and pulled it until it itched.

I knew without asking that he’d been on the ground, waiting, wanting to be sure I wasn’t hurt before he returned to the skies.

As though he had some ownership, some right to me.

He should have told me everything when I’d discovered he was a god.

He was the offspring of two of the most powerful elder gods.

Which meant he was old, older than the rise and fall of kingdoms. I’d thought that if I ever met such a god, they would be grand, overpowering, like trying to gaze into the brightness of the sun.

Gazing at Thassir was like looking into the depths of a sinkhole.

He’d let Lithuas hide him from Kluehnn’s wrath, agreeing not to interfere with their plans. He’d kept to that terrible bargain, allowing realm after realm to be restored without ever lifting a hand or doing anything to stop it. And everyone had suffered for it.

Dashu wiped his blade clean and then sheathed it. Beyond him and Alifra, I saw three slain godkillers and the surviving Unanointed, already tending to their injured and their dead. Dashu exchanged a glance with Alifra before turning his attention back to me.

“The fight could have been worse for us. But it also could have been better, and we’ve lost two more people. What do you think we should do if we happen upon her again?”

Alifra tucked her small crossbow onto her back. “Will we be ready?”

Bah. I knew what they were getting at. All the subtlety of spitting camels, those two.

Thassir could chew through godkillers when he was really into the swing of things, but Lithuas was one of the seven elder gods.

You didn’t get much more powerful than that.

We needed to kill her to truly cripple Kluehnn’s efforts.

And to kill her, we needed to work together.

And that was the problem, wasn’t it? Couldn’t use the god gems if my arbor wasn’t summoning aether for me to breathe in.

And if I couldn’t use the god gems, I wasn’t a very good bruiser.

Oh, I did my best. I was a mediocre fighter, hovering only a hair above poor by pure strength and determination.

I had none of Alifra’s calculating smoothness, none of Dashu’s deadly grace.

But I could take a beating and keep going.

I winced as I took a step. Seemed I hadn’t escaped completely unscathed.

I was bruised as an overripe piece of fruit bounced off the back of a cart.

With the god gems, I could move as quickly as a god, be as strong as one, obtain invulnerability for as long as I could hold my breath.

And I could hold my breath a good long time.

Even in a fight. It was what I’d trained for.

“You want him to act as my arbor again.” They wouldn’t be asking me for this if they knew.

“You have to make a choice,” Dashu said. It was like they were flanking me, cornering me with their words. “Whatever happened between the two of you, you need to either break the bond and choose another arbor or reconcile with him.”

“I don’t like either of those choices.” In truth, I wasn’t sure which was the better one.

“You don’t have to like them,” Alifra snapped. She cast an arm toward the Unanointed, a few of whom were obviously trying to catch snatches of our conversation. “Your team is relying on you, but so are they. You want to lead them? Then lead. You can’t let personal feelings get in the way.”

I looked to the sky. Personal feelings seemed a light way to put it.

I shook my head, leaning on my knees. And here I was, keeping Thassir’s identity secret – protecting him.

Realms lost. Lives overturned. Could he have stopped all of that?

He could have tried. “Ah, fuck it. It’s not just personal feelings.

” I checked for listening ears and leaned in.

“Thassir doesn’t have an aura, but he’s a god.

He’s not an altered. I found out after the orchards. I saw his blood. It shimmered.”

They both stared at me.

“Do you understand why I might not want his help? Do you understand why I do?”

I watched all the implications filter through their minds, wondering if I’d looked as bewildered, betrayed, bereft. Alifra licked her lips. “Did he know about Lithuas?”

“Yes. She knew his parents. She spared him in exchange for him agreeing not to interfere with Kluehnn’s plans.”

I knew what they were thinking; I’d followed this path in my own mind.

The gods were dangerous. They were selfish.

They’d come to the surface world to take some piece of it for their own.

I didn’t trust Kluehnn, but that didn’t mean I trusted the gods he fought against either.

And a god who was this old, who’d chosen no side?

How trustworthy could he be? He’d saved my life, he’d stood up to Lithuas when none of us had the strength.

I couldn’t be sure he would do it again, if given another chance.

Would he hesitate when we all needed him the most? As he had for so many years?

Dashu made a small sound of disgust. “Break the bond, Hakara. Find another arbor. He’s a god. We’re the Unanointed because we don’t follow Kluehnn. We don’t follow any god. The altered were once mortal. He never was.”