“Yes, and here’s why—that creature you saw in Rihad’s fireplace, the man covered in snakes? Daggar described it today to me, calling it the fabled leader of the skrill—the Sahktar.”
I stiffen, remembering that word. First from Tennet’s ravings after the skrill had chewed on him during the attack over the coliseum, then when Fortiss whispered it to Rihad, back in the caverns of the First House. “So that’s a real creature.”
“It’s real, and it’s stirring. He’s seen visions of it in his prophecy chamber—which he says he’ll show me at dawn tomorrow. Apparently, the visions are most powerful in the morning.”
“Or, you know, he’s insane,” counters Tennet.
Fortiss doesn’t honor that with a response. “There are a few references to the Sahktar in some of the archived books here as well, he says, but remarkably few. Allthosebooks are now held in Daggar’s personal chambers for his private use, however, because some of them had gone missing over the years.”
“Missing,” humphs Tennet. “Stolen, you mean.”
“It’s the only thing that makes sense. Daggar gave Rihad some books—those they’d already made many copies of—but not the ones most precious to the Eighth House. Through the books he could get his hands on, Rihad must have figured out how to communicate with the dark powers on the other side of these mountains, and they told him what the other books contained. Most likely, Rihad commissioned others over the years to collect the ones he decided he couldn’t access magically. The chamber where those most precious books were originally kept was visited by no one other than Lord Daggar—only him, and only to perform the rituals of cleansing at the appointed times four times a year. It’s a ritual that falls to the house lord and has since the dawn of the Protectorate. According to Daggar, the vault where all these books were originally held has been disturbed a handful of times over the decades, books misplaced or disturbed, so eventually, he moved the most important ones. But there are other things he left in that chamber, too—talonstones. So many of them that if one or two went missing, he wouldn’t know or care.”
At the word talonstones, I go still. “What are they?” I ask sharply.
Fortiss’s lips twist. “I thought you’d be interested in that term.”
“The what?” Tennet looks at both of us blankly, and Fortiss leans toward him, balancing an elbow on one knee.
“You really don’t remember anything you said to Talia that night after the skrill attack, do you?”
Tennet scowls. “I?—”
“Don’t worry—it’s probably better that you don’t. In your delirium, you mentioned talonstones, specifically the phrase ‘from talonstone to grounding stone’, indicating a path could be formed between the two. And apparently, in the bowels of this castle—in a chamber Daggar practically gave me a map to, so vivid was his description—there’s an entire crate of these talonstone things.”
“But what are they, specifically?” I press. “Where did they come from?”
“He didn’t say, and I didn’t ask.” He shoots me a wry grin. “But you can bet I want to find out. Still, that’s when my conversation with Daggar turned…more fraught. Apparently, about a month ago, at a time that seems to coincide with the closing days of the tournament, a storm broke over the Meridians, blocking the Unlit Pass from sight. Pressure built, so strong it drove the weak and the sick into deeper illness and caused powerful headaches in the warriors. That lasted for days, and then it was abruptly gone, as if a dam had finally broken or a door burst open from a constant assault. And that’s when they started hearing about attacks along the mountain road.”
“Attacks,” Tennet echoes, rubbing his jaw. “Snake attacks? You’re saying the skrill got loose?”
Fortiss shrugs. “Maybe skrill, maybe not. But something was on the move. At first the attacks were easy to ignore, marauders killed at night on the road between the Eighth House and Merrivale. Deaths that were unwitnessed and unremarked upon. Mostly, the villagers and Eighth House residents alike attributed it to the acts of the Savasci. They’re known to the point of legend around here, and Daggar treats them as a rumor unsubstantiated. Something to be avoided, but handy in the case of dead bodies that he doesn’t want to explain. But there havedefinitely been more deaths than usual—enough that Daggar is now officially concerned.”
“But the Savasci were at the First House, or at least a solid chunk of their party were,” I say. “Were they somehow able to get word to the women here? How?”
He grimaces. “That’s something I don’t yet know, and something else I need to find out.”
“What do you mean, women?” Tennet asks. “Who are these Savasci?”
I smirk at him. “What, you mean there’s something that Caleb hasn’t told you?”
“They’re not our focus right now,” Fortiss insists. “I’m willing to concede that this prophecy chamber may simply be an old man seeing things in the dark, but the rest of his tale needs investigating. We’ve got to get into Daggar’s inner chambers and read the books we’re missing—and we need to find these talonstones.”
Tennet shrugs. “Unless Rihad already took everything of value. If there was any book in Daggar’s inner chambers or in this secret vault of talonstones that was a threat to him, he would have destroyed it.”
“Maybe—but maybe not,” I say. “If there was a book that was truly valuable, but too noticeable to be moved, Rihad would simply ignore it until he needed it. Especially if he could somehow access it through magical means. Better to keep it here, locked up tight under the very nose of someone who doesn’t know enough to understand when it’s being accessed, until he was ready.”
Fortiss nods. “I think so too. Rihad thought he would have plenty of time. I suspect he fully planned to return to here after the Tournament of Gold, officially breaking down the borders between the Protectorate and the Western Realms and drawing a dark army of skrill to him to sweep back east.”
“Uh-huh. Have you told Lord Daggar any of this?” Tennet asks.
“I have, yes. I’ve told him everything. Rihad laid the foundation of his actions through secrecy and cunning, but that’s not how we’re going to overthrow him. If anything, we need to be more forthcoming among the houses, more honest about everything that we do, everything that we’re thinking.”
As Fortiss speaks, he swings his gaze to me, holds my eyes as if we are the best of friends and he can trust me with anything. I’m sure my cheeks would burn with uneasy self- awareness if I wasn’t already reeling from the idea of Rihad using the Eighth House as his personal treasure chest for all things dark magic. “He said something else about you, Talia. You really set him off—first in a way that he seemed to fear, and then…I don’t know. He asked a lot of questions about your role in the tournament.”
I grimace. “Look, I didn’t?—”
“‘The dark shall draw the dark.’” Fortiss cuts me off, narrowing his eyes at me. “You ever hear that before? I don’t think Tennet said it.”
