“A lifetime of seeking for a way to uncover the heart,” Thali said,as she ran her fingertips across her ruined hands and wrists. Sonara fought back a gag from the aura as pieces of Thali’s skin flaked away. “I knew it was here, close by, in these mountains… buried deep. But I could never get to its exact hiding place.” She laughed again, but there was no joy in the sound. “But then Karr arrived, and he uncovered the damned door right to it. Of course, the door wouldn’t let me inside. Wouldn’t let me enter, because itknew.It knew that I carried its enemy beneath this shield of Canis bones.”
Her ruined hands moved upwards, towards her Canis mask. She unclasped it from the back, threepopsthat sounded in time with the beating of the planet’s heart.
Danger,Sonara’s magic hissed.Danger and darkness and the end of the end.
“At long last,” Thali said, sliding her ruined hands to the front of the bone mask. “I can bring Eder home.”
She removed the mask. And Sonara nearly screamed at the sight of the girl’s face beneath. Azariah gasped, stepping close to Sonara as she pressed a hand to her mouth.
Thali’s skin was held together only in patches upon her skull, as if moths had eaten away at her face. Her ears were mere shreds, her nose down to the bone, her eyeballs hanging loose in the sockets, her eyelids eaten away.
An aura ofdecayrushed from her again, and Sonara now understood why.
She’d always thought the aura came from the poor remains of the Canis that had died, giving their bones to make Thali’s mask and gauntlets. But it came from the destroyed skin beneath. Or perhaps from whatever lurked inside of Thali.
A darkness Sonara had yet to meet.
“I am weary,” Thali whispered. She closed her eyes and cracked her neck on both sides, stretching in the freedom of no longer wearing a mask. “Hundreds of years, my ancestors have carried Eder’s soul, searching for the heart so they could deliver him back to it again. They failed, but Eder’s soul carried on, the same way Eona’s did. Searching, always searching. Eventually he came to reside in me. I was determined to be the one to bring him home. He kept me alive, using his dwindling power so that I could remain a host. A host who loved him. Desired him.Worshipedhim and gaveeverythingso I could set him free.”
She turned, lifting her hand to Cade.
“The sword, as part of our deal.”
Cade stumbled backwards, as if he were horrified and disgusted at Thali.
But she moved, so fast it should have been impossible, and in a blink, Gutrender was in her hands.
Cade froze in shock, even Rohtt pausing beside him as they watched Thali admire her newly won prize.
She sighed longingly, then removed it from its sheath. Its golden color sparkled in the dark heart’s glowing light, in the flaming torches littered all around.
“What are you doing?” Sonara called up the steps. “Thali, drop the blade.”
“Eder’s time was running low. Too much longer, and he would have vanished, gone forever. He held on as long as he could. So when I was in Stonegrave—when the poor little princess was sleeping, unaware that she was my pawn—I spoke privately to Jira.Itold him about the heart’s power.Iconvinced him to take the deal with Geisinger.To bring the Wanderers here, to dig it right out of Dohrsar. Because I knew that the planet would respond to the threat. That it would send forth a wave of terror and fear and draw the soul of Eona out of hiding. Make her soul act out and reveal itself, in desperation to save Dohrsar when the greatest threat it had ever known came calling.”
She smiled with rotting black teeth.
“It worked. Eona’s soul did reveal itself, but not as I suspected. I thought… I thought it was Karr alone. That Karr was the one holding her soul. I thought perhaps Eona’s soul called to you, Sonara, and made you kill him, so that she could set things in motion. I wasn’t certainhowher soul had ended up in a Wanderer, but… Eder felt the whisper of Eona within him. And when Karr revealed that door with his power… we knew.” Her hollow eyes fell to Sonara again. “It was you, Devil, that ruined things.” She cackled, then hacked on a cough that had her spitting blood. “The Devil of the Deadlands, so unbelieving and undeserving of the planet’s power. I should have known, but I never sensed it in you. Perhaps because you were too stubborn. Too afraid of your magic.”
“How long have you known?” Sonara asked.
“Not long enough,” Thali said. “You ruined my plans. I was going to join the Wanderers from the beginning, but thenyouinitiated the attack, and I knew that Eona had made a move. I decided to stay with you, to see if you would do something else, led by Eona. But when it was taking too long… I offered myself up. You took me right to the Wanderers, thinking I was giving myself over as a worthy sacrifice to the cause. There, I was able to get Cade to see reason, to let me lead him here, the pulse of the planet’s heart so powerful in its fear.So bright.” Her eyes looked past Sonara, at the heart. She gripped Gutrender tighter, her fingertips oozing as the skin melted away. “This is far more poetic. Powerful. The way Eder would have wanted, for he once brought his own army back here, and fought Eona before the heart. Now he’ll get to do it again. And this time… he will win.” She turned to look at Sonara, her eyes protruding from her skeletal face. “Eder, my love. My soul. The time is now, for you to be set free.”
Before anyone could cry out, before they could move to action, Thali lifted Gutrender.
And drove it deep into her own chest.
Chapter 41
Sonara
Thali did not fall.
Her body twitched, and she leaned forward on the golden blade, soaking it with her blood.
Then she moved. She lifted her head, cracking her neck side to side before looking down at the blade protruding from her chest.
“A hideous thing, this sword,” she said. “I always wondered what my father saw in it.”
