I'd thrown myself to the mercy of the Trials without knowing a single thing about them, had faced death time and time again in those endless tunnels, had threatened a patriarch of the High Houses and gambled away my future in defense of a lover who'd betrayed me in the end. But this was something inside of me. Thiswasme. And it was the most terrifying thing of all.
I took a deep breath and closed my eyes, sitting cross-legged on the floor like I'd seen some of the acolytes do during their meditations. I knew this would be nothing like that but I had no other ideas for how to get started. So I settled in and focused my breathing likeBriahad taught me, centering myself and my balance likeMyrinehad instructed, and cleared my mind like Dante had always begged me. But even so, when I reached out, I felt nothing there. Absolutely nothing.
I huffed in frustration, rearranged myself so I was more comfortable upon the rock, and tried again. My irritation wasn’t helping, I was sure, but with bothGryfonand the rock beneath me serving as both literal and metaphorical pains in my ass, I couldn’t shake it. I tried to summon the darkness, tried to even remember what it felt like to pull it from within me, to send it shuddering through the world around me. But the harder I strained, the more my exhaustion kept creeping in and, with it, my fear of that endless floating void.
I wasn’t sure when I’d drifted off. I only became aware of my return to consciousness by the deep ache in my back bone as I grunted and shifted awake on the rock. With a hiss of pain,I maneuvered to my feet, squinting in the light of the morning sun in search of what had awakened me. I hadn’t recognized the sound itself, nor the shift in the wind which had accompanied it, and I saw why a moment later. Because the sight before me was nothing I ever knew was even possible, much less recognizable.
My lips parted in pure shock as I stood to my feet atop the rock and stared out at the shadows streaming like lightening across the desert. Above them, their cause. A fleet of a half dozen flying beasts with armored men and women upon their backs. The riders were hunched down in their saddles, stern faced and blinking against the breeze as their mounts swooped low over the scorching sands. And the creatures they rode upon were unlike anything I’d ever seen. Magnificent four-legged beasts made of a white so pure it nearly blinded in the desert sun. Their enormous feathered wings fanned out and pumped around them as they soared through the air toward our camp. It wasn’t until I glimpsed their red eyes that my awe was replaced with fear.
But it was too late. My hair whipped up and around my face as they passed above me, so close I could have reached up and gripped one of those massive claws. They landed in a swirl of dust so vast I could hardly see through it. My feet hit the sand and I was running before I could process what I'd just witnessed.
It was early, I could tell from the way many members of the camp had yet to emerge from their tents. They did so now, hands raised to shield their eyes from the light as they stepped out into the sun, whispering about the newcomers. I'd barely made it to the edge of camp whenZyaemerged from our tent. Her gaze shot sideways, meeting mine at once, and her brows furrowed in question. I shook my head to tell her I didn’t know any more than she did and then we were both moving forward along with everyone else, driven by our insatiable curiosity regarding such creatures and those with the power to ride them.
“We received word fromSharifa,” one of the riders was saying, a man at the head of the column, the leader I guessed. He remained on his mount as he spoke, the animal standing firm in the sand, head held high as it gazed at the surrounding crowd. “You’re making good progress for a group this large.”
“We have no choice but to,”Gryfonreplied. I could just glimpse him through the mass of craning necks and beastly bodies. His full lips were slanted into a frown as he gazed confidently up at the man before him. “Our scouts claim theGeisthave sent out whole squadrons to track us down.”
“Pavosiansquadrons get lost in the desert all the time. They don’t know the sands like we do.”
A few around nodded in agreement.Gryfon’s gaze only hardened.
“Rainier—”Gryfonbegan, his tone full of warning, but it was the name itself that sent me reeling.Rainier?As in,SaintRainier? A Champion of the Trials from nearly two thousand years ago, the founding father of a minor house,thatRainier?
Gaping, I turned toZyaand found her just as shocked as I was.
“Primawants the girl inArchíby the end of the week,” Rainier interrupted. It was clearly a command.
Prima.I was sent reeling once again.
“We'll arrive when we arrive,”Gryfonreplied in that smooth, confident drawl of his.
Some of the beasts snorted. A few pawed at the ground, restless. One even began to growl. Their riders looked just as displeased by the obvious lack of respect this warrior had given their commander.
“Prima’s orders—” Rainier began.
“Primawas the one who sent me out here in the first place. She entrusted this mission to me. She'll have to trust me to complete it.”
Rainier frowned at that. A corner of his jaw ticking was the only sign of his true irritation. After a moment, he nodded.
“Very well,” he intoned, having apparently lost all interest. “I'll meet withFarid,Sharifa, and Vidal before you depart. If you have anything further you wish to relay toArchí, find us before we leave.”
Gryfonnodded once and then the riders turned their beasts and prowled off through the camp toward the tent that contained its leaders. Men and women in leather and silk practically leapt out of their way as the creatures lumbered through, hot desert sun shining off their cobbled snakeskin backs and red eyes darting back and forth.
“That was Rainier,” someone said from my side. I knew it wasZyawithout looking. “TheRainier. How in holy gods is he still alive?”
“He’s immortal,” I answered without thinking, reminded once again what that word truly meant.
Chapter Twenty-Five
“This is your last chance. Walk in the light and be saved, not for this world, but the next.”
— From the Rite of Execution
The humans didn't have any magic. Not a drop in all their ancient lineage, or so the prince claimed. And yet, looking out at the majestic, sprawling city before me, I found it very difficult to believe all of this had been created by human hands alone. We were in Ucharia, the capital city of Estrele, one of three human kingdoms on this side of the wall and, according to Ksenia who'd apparently become my unofficial tour guide, they were the only human kingdoms left.
Uchariaalone stretched out in both directions directly behind the wall for miles. The palace grounds boasted some open courtyards and sprawling gardens but, outside of its gates, the people ofUcharialived in tightly arranged blocks made up of towering buildings and narrow cobblestone streets. Their markets were stalls made thin enough to line the narrow streets without impeding traffic to impassibility and their water was said to flow from somewhere they calledthe coast, pulled in through underground piping and a whole network of engineering that I had absolutely no chance of understanding.Kseniaclaimed their population numbered in the hundreds of thousands and that was justUcharia. I could hardly fathom that many lives all shoved together in one place. The last count anyone had ever had of Sanctuary had been around twenty thousand.
The wall itself was a sun-worn behemoth of rough beige stone, much like my manacles had been, and there were men working upon sections of it at all times, calling out orders to one another and hauling fallen bits of rock here and there for repair. It stretched twenty feet high in all directions and ran both north and south farther than I could see.I noticed, upon closer examination, it also had little ribbons of green running through it as well. A vibrant jade set against the beige to give a faint marbled pattern that wasn't easy to see from a distance.
