For a moment she was relieved, and then there was swooping just overhead. Amma ducked away from it, twisting her hands up in the vines again. Greenery shot overhead, trapping the last harpy’s talons. The bird-person screeched, struggled to free itself, and finally tore away just as Damien sent bloody blades to cut into it and send it over the mountain’s edge.
Amma’s pulse was flying, the heat of the water building to an almost intolerable degree, but the air was silent. She swayed, and there was a splash before it all went dark.
CHAPTER 11
TEN THOUSAND EYES, AND GODS CHOOSE TO BE BLIND
At least moonlight is incredibly flattering.”
Amma groaned, rubbing at her face.
“As is being soaking wet.”
She grumbled out something unintelligible with her head down, doting on Vanders who had reappeared that morning.
“And who knew you had a mole right on your—”
“By Osurehm and Sestoth and even the dark gods,pleasestop talking.”
Damien knew he was acting all too blithe, but he couldn’t help himself. “If it is any consolation, I am much less concerned about all of the horrible, impending possibilities now.” He grinned, waiting for her to ask why, but she didn’t, which was going to be a terrible waste of a very good joke, and he didn’t get to deliver those often. “Don’t you want to know why?”
“No, but I suppose you’re going to tell me whether I ask or not.”
“Because if it all does end up going wrong, I’ve properly seen you naked now, so I can die utterly satisfied.”
That wasn’t entirely true—Damien was far from being satisfied with the extremely short glimpse he’d gotten of Amma when he’d plucked her out of the water—but saying so did get a little, embarrassed chuckle out of her, and he was very proud of how red he could make her face go at reminding her about it.
Instead of lingering at her side, however, Damien picked up his pace on their final ascent along the ridge, leaving her just a few steps behind. He didn’t mean to be cruel, though it wouldcertainly be the first time, only to poke at her a bit, but it quickly did become cruel to himself. Yes, he had laid out the fabricated rule: chastity until they reached the oracle, but it was proving significantly harder than he expected. Her matched distress was a bit of a reprieve. Even knowing he was on a dark quest for the Grand Order of Dread and that he intended to free his demon father and destroy the realm, she still tried to take a peek at his cock, at the very least, and that wassomething.
After he confirmed the night prior that Amma had only fainted but was in no real peril, he’d wrapped her in their cloaks and tried to get some sleep himself, but it didn’t come. Instead, his hand went into his satchel, rescued by Katz in the wake of the harpies, and he pulled out the occlusion crystal hidden there.
With Amma solidly out, he held the shard above his head, catching the moonlight in it. No yellow eye stared back, though he did feel watched by the stone and his father. He didn’t slice himself on the shard’s edge, but he did allow noxscura to seep up from his palm and feel for the magic it once had. Its power was sapped after being out of the infernal mountains for so long, but Ashrein Ridge bled right into them. He could have tried to refuel the shard, but had stuffed it back away instead, not ready to face Zagadoth.
“I passed out again.” Amma’s voice was small, pulling Damien from his thoughts.
“Well, the hot spring was…hot,” he offered.
She only grunted.
“Perhaps you need a conduit for channeling your arcana. Most divine mages use weapons.” Damien slowed, allowing her to catch up to him again. “These things do take practice.”
“How can I practice if I go unconscious every time?” She was holding her hands up before her and glaring at them.
“Not every time,” he reminded her. “And when you do faint, I’ll be sure to drag you to safety as you’ve done for me.”
Her lips twisted out of the frown they’d put on.
Damien was beginning to feel it, that lightness in his head that came from being up so high. It was a sort of clarity, the reason the oracle was purported to live in the mountain peaks, and while it didn’t let Damien push any of his fraught thoughts away permanently, he did place them to the side for a moment.
Below, large swaths of treetops all moved together with the briskness of the wind, making them seem small and pliable. Clouds had moved in over the day, casting the world in greying hues, but Amma’s face, when he did finally look back at it, was glowing with the same warmth it always held. The only difference now was the intrusive thought about what it would be like when she wasn’t there, and how horrible that was going to be.
“What?” she asked, clearly still embarrassed though there was really no reason.
He shook his head. “We’re nearly there.”
When they crested the next ridge, they were met with a rabbit which wasn’t unusual, but the small tray it held was a bit strange, even for Damien who had experienced this once before.
Resting back on its haunches, the rabbit extended the tray instead of bolting as creatures of its size and predisposition usually did. Amma and Damien traded looks then peered into the cups. Damien lifted one, took a sniff of something putrid, and immediately handed it off to Katz. The imp took it with a slowness, but for once his depression abated, looking as close to pleased as a creature of his makeup could muster, and he took a drink.
