They should, considering they each carried one exactly like it. Fire powder. It was used on their dead to make them burn faster and was almost as sacred as fire itself.
"Do it," Caden ordered when she glanced at him for permission.
Jane nodded once before emptying her pouch over both prisoners. Van made a give me motion to one of his Trateri who was holding a lit torch. One of the precautions they'd taken against the possibility of the swarm.
"Never thought I'd be releasing the souls of my enemies into the afterlife," Van said with a shake of his head.
"Desperate times," Gawain said without sympathy.
Van touched the torch to the second prisoner's body before moving toward the one who'd set this entire chain of events off by insisting he speak to Eva.
The fire powder ignited with a hiss behind Van. Fire spread across the second prisoner's body, a faint purplish glow enveloping him.
Van lowered the torch to the first prisoner's torso. A whoosh filled the air seconds before the prisoner's body sat up.
twenty-one
Vanjerkedbackwardswitha muffled shout. He dropped the torch, reaching for his sword and drawing it in a quick movement.
The torch bounced and then lay still as the prisoner slowly crawled onto his hands and knees.
Flames licked the front of his body, melting flesh as he stood. He listed to the side as he fixed milky white eyes on Caden.
He smiled.
There was no pain in his expression, and there was an emptiness behind his eyes. A void that felt like it wanted to suck away all emotion and life.
"Does somebody want to tell me how a dead man is moving?" Van hissed as the sound of hoof beats came from behind them.
Chirron reined to a stop with a horrified expression.
"Chirron, good. Maybe you can explain—" Van pointed at the human torch. "Whatever this is."
"Why is he on fire?" Chirron demanded. "Someone needs to put it out."
"You're entirely missing the point. Why did someone who was dead come back to life? Explain that. How is this even possible?"
In another set of circumstances, Caden might have found Van's unease humorous. The clan leader had always been overly confident, bordering on brash and impetuous. Seeing him brought down a peg should have been satisfying.
Except he wasn't the only person freaking out.
Caden could see fear and alarm on everyone's face.
This was a situation so far out of their control that it was hard to maintain focus in the presence of the impossible.
Jane swallowed hard, an appalled expression on her face even as she held her ground.
Caden lifted a hand signaling her to wait. This was an opportunity to understand this new enemy of theirs.
Gawain circled the burning human as he studied the quickly deteriorating body. His fellow clan member, Emersyn, shadowed him from the other side.
Chirron shook his head, looking like he was struggling to find the right words and failing.
Van glanced at Merc. "How about you? Know anything useful?"
The Tenrin shot him an emotionless look before taking flight and returning to his former perch. He squatted on the branch of the tree, observing the situation carefully.
Van squinted at him. "Fucking birds."
