Scrape.
Drip.
It halts, shadows streaming from the tips of its blunted, bleeding fingers. “This one doesn’t look quite like that one.” Its voice dips low,taking on a chilling edge, then rises to a shout. “This one doesn’tlooklike that oneat all.”
I rise to my feet, unsheathing my sword, but the Incarnate mirrors my motions, hissing in its rage. Movement surges from the trees, Shades drawn to the outburst.
“Bard,” I say, and press my bloodstained thumb to the diagram on my blade, then drag the finger down its length. It ignites at once. The Shades recoil, halting their progress, but the Incarnate isn’t afraid of the light. It hisses again and launches toward me.
Bard rings out a beautiful chord just as I swing my burning blade.
Just as the Incarnate flings out a hand, sending a spear of shadow from its fingers.
Just as pain lances through my flesh, piercing beneath my collarbone.
Just as I send the creature’s head tumbling from its stolen body.
Chapter Twenty
Inana
The corpse stands upright and headless for several seconds before it falls limp to the ground, blood and shadows streaming from its wound. I don’t know when I rose to my feet. Maybe it was when Dominic did. Maybe I’ve been standing for minutes on end. All I know is the terror that courses through me. The disgust. I managed to keep my composure until now, my nerves steady despite the horrifying sight the fire revealed in the clearing.
Despite the Incarnate.
Its uncanny imitation of a living being.
The unsettling wrongness in all the aspects it couldn’t mimic.
Now, as I watch the creature die, watch its skin char beneath its own shadows and melt from bone, every ounce of composure I kept fades away. My body shudders with tremors, my heart races like it will burst from my chest, and nausea churns in my—
My stomach lurches, and it takes all my restraint not to heave its contents beside the fire. If I did, I’d only make a mess of myself, masked as I am. I crouch down, no longer able to hold myself up. Sloth whines and nudges my cheek while a rough hand pulls me to my feet.
“We have to go, Inana.” I belatedly realize it’s Dominic’s voice. It carries a note of concern, but it’s gentle too. Shame sweeps over me.Gods, I’m pathetic to react this way. “No,” he says, and I realize I muttered the words out loud. He braces my shoulder with a palm, strong and firm. “Anyone would feel the way you do after seeing an Incarnate for the first time. I know I did.”
I lift my eyes, take in Dominic’s face. It’s splattered with blood, which almost makes my stomach lurch all over again, but his dark gaze steadies me. My mind clears slightly, and I remember I’m not the only Summoner here. A melody weaves behind me, and I turn to find Bard, his hands shaking as he strums his mandolin. There’s a harshness to every chord, like he too is struggling through the terror of what we just witnessed. Or perhaps it’s due to the Shades that stalk us outside the firelight. One paces on four limbs, its arms longer than its legs. Others shift side to side, watching us with their hollow eyes. Another slinks along the edge of light, pulling itself across the snow on its belly.
“We’ve provoked the Shades,” Dominic says. “They aren’t calming down enough. We need to leave.”
“What about the bodies? Shouldn’t we turn them over so their faces—”
“We don’t have time. Not while the Shades are restless. Besides, they’re only interested in the living. They will neither mimic nor consume the dead.”
I’m relieved. As much as I grieve for what happened to these people, I’d rather not look at them again, much less touch them.
Dominic must trust I’ve gathered some semblance of calm, for he releases my shoulder and takes a step back. His other hand is still gripped around the hilt of his flaming sword. “Let’s go. Slowly. Calmly.”
Another surge of fear tunnels through me at the thought of leaving the light of the campfire. Still, my feet obey as Dominic leads the way, a step at a time, away from the fire. Then to the edge of the firelight. Then a step outside it. The three of us huddle close together, Bard and Dominic circling me, Bard with his song and Dominic with his sword. I clench my jaw, hating that I feel so useless right now. I should be helping them. I’m a fucking Summoner. That’s my job. But no matter how many times I try to bring some calming story to my tongue, no sound emerges. Nothing.
It’s humbling, to say the least.
The farther we move from the campfire’s light, the closer the Shades get. Thankfully, Dominic’s flaming sword is just as bright as the campfire, if not brighter. Its range of light is merely smaller.
“Can’t you just…cut them down?” I ask through chattering teeth.
“We’ve already upset them with the first act of violence, and that was against an Incarnate. Shades don’t see Incarnates as one of their kind anymore, nor are they interested in them like they are in humans. If we attack one of their own, though, they will turn frenzied.”
“This isn’t a frenzy?” I ask, but I know the answer. The dragon was a frenzy. This…this is just aggressive interest.
