All the lords laughed at that, even Jakel.
“Great. I'm so glad you're calm enough to crack jokes,” Earth drawled.
“Maybe you can try an apology next,” Fire said.
“Yes, all right,” I huffed. “I'm sorry. I overreacted.”
“No shit,” Fire drawled.
“I believe the words you're looking for is, 'Apology accepted.'”
“We accept your apology, Ember,” Air said. “And I'm sorry we didn't think about drawing the Corrupter out sooner. Death comes out all the time, so it didn't occur to us. What we need to do is compel him to emerge with Aranren.”
“So, what would make it necessary to bring Aranren out of the fortress?” Vexen asked.
“Death,” Air said.
“Yes, what about Death?” I asked.
“Death would make it necessary to use Aranren.”
“Are you playing with me?”
“Death cannot kill,” Air explained. “He is consciousness. He needs a body to commit murder.”
“But he has Death Magic,” I said.
“He can summon the magic in itsnaturalform,” Water explained. “If you were mortal and near the end of your life, he might be able to summon your death a little earlier. But he cannot simply kill you. If he could, you'd already be dead.”
“Huh,” Keltyr said. “We should have thought of that.”
“The intricacies of a consciousness and its magic are complicated,” Air said. “And Death has gone beyond the natural. It's not surprising that it didn't occur to you.”
“So, he needs Aranren to kill,” I said and then snorted. “That's ironic.”
“That Death cannot kill?” Water asked. “Yes, indeed. But he doesn't need to. Not when he controls Aranren. Thus, to force him to bring the Corrupter out of seclusion, we must lure him into killing.”
“You want to use Ember as bait, don't you?” Vex asked.
“Yes,” Air said.
“But we've already established that Death is keeping Ember and Aranren apart.”
I blinked. “Oh, great Goddess. I've been thinking that Death is afraid of me, but that isn't it at all. He's afraid of losing Ara to me.”
“Yes, of course,” Earth said. “So, you can be used as bait if you look weak enough that Death believes he can kill you before you free Aranren.”
“Weak enough,” I murmured pensively. “I need to go somewhere without my team.”
“Yes, that should work. But it will have to be believable. Where would you go without your lovers?”
I considered it. “It would have to be somewhere secure, or they wouldn't let me go alone.”
“And somewhere youreallywant to go,” Fire added in an urging tone.
“Like to see a friend,” I whispered in epiphany.
“Took you long enough,” Fire said.
