I watched the wary battle worn men. “They will rotate out soon.”
Of course, I couldn’t tell her the truth. Most soldiers that spent more than three rotations did not live to see their children grown. The only exception was the clans of southern La’Thenya. Something about their bloodlines gave them some kind of immunity to the bloodmist—a curse in itself. Because of that, they were charged with operations along the ravine, keeping watch so the rest of La’Thenya could sleep at night.
The stairs to the Void-walk creaked as the boards gave under my weight. We climbed up several flights of stairs until we finally reached the landing. Before us was a sight that I had not seenfor many years. It stunned me as I stood before the expansive horizon of the Bloodmist Void.
It was like seeing a storm of red and black clouds layered atop an ocean at night, with nothing above and nothing below in any direction you looked. But it was no ocean beneath those clouds and they were not clouds.
The winds this high were brutal and they whipped my cloak like a lash across my back. Anna clung to me, her expression tight with fear as she took in the reality of what our world faced.
There were many protective charms placed where a deep ravine had formed and split the land, separating Valeria from the destroyed battlegrounds that were once the Scaled Plains. No one that entered came back.
I scanned the decks of the Void-walks, seeing various patrolling soldiers but none were nearby. The wind was too brutal for them to worry about any fools that wandered up here.
The walk snaked around Divide’s Edge, running along the ravine that separated us from the bloodmist. Some of the walks protruded out across the ravine, but no one dared use them unless necessary during a battle. While rare for a wraith to fully break free from the bloodmist, it did happen. Everi was coiling in my hands as I scanned the Void.
“This was all caused by your ancestor from the play, Aryus?” Anna asked, her voice quiet, as if she were scared they might hear her.
“And an army of mages that began drinking blood for power—blood mages,” I said.
She placed her hands on the wooden rail of the Void-walk, staring like she could see through it.
“There’s so much power locked beyond the ravine. I can feel it, like it’s summoning me. What was The Great City like—Venustas—the one from the play?”
My everi stirred, her words unsettling me.
“It was the most powerful city in all of Valeria. Not long before it fell, its king, alongside Aryus, conquered their foe, driving the enemy into ruin. It was thought that there would be peace after that.”
But Aryus took that away from all of us. Contempt swept through me as I bore witness to the wreckage that still haunted us because of my ancestor.
“We have spent enough time here,” I said. “Let us go.”
Anna nodded, heading for the stairs. I followed behind her but a sudden bellow from behind stopped me.
“Wraith! Sound the alarm!” shouted one of the soldiers further down the Void-walk.
I turned, searching for the storied creature told of in tavern tales and children’s bedtime stories, shocked and disbelieving at the same time.
I had never see one before—what were the odds one would come now?
As the deep sound of the gong passed through me, my pulse increased—and I saw it.
It hovered like a ghost, its cloak long and flowing, the hood drawn across its face. The ends were frayed and caught in the winds. I reached for Anna, ensuring she was behind me, as its skeletal hand rose from beneath its cloak.
The wind grew colder and the gong chimed endlessly. Terrified screams sounded behind us as the soldiers shot everi imbued arrows toward it, but none reached it.
“It is still trapped,” I whispered.
It was struggling against whatever contained it within the bloodmist, fighting to break free.
Without warning, a piercing shriek sounded, forcing me to drop and cover my ears. My everi rushed through my body, adding layer and layer of barriers between that thing and me before I did the same to Anna. A thundering clap followed,muted by the barrier, but by the time I found it again, it was on top of one of the soldiers.
“Run,” I said.
Anna moved down the stairs and I cast a glance toward the soldier. The wraith was gone, as was his face.
Swallowing hard, I ran after Anna.
The wraith was fast, shooting from person to person, its shrieks filling the air as the gong slammed through the city. The soldiers were shooting at it but none were connecting. Grabbing Anna’s arm, I pulled her behind the market stall with the weapons.
