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Her smile grew into a small laugh, genuine, judging by the pastel yellows staining her aura. “I’m starting to think you have a lot more than you want me to believe.”

He decided she was no longer intimidating, just insufferable, and… what was the word Sterling used? Snarky! Fucking snarky beyond belief. Jarek was patient, but Draven wouldn’t have put up with such disrespect, and as far as Lilith was concerned, that was the face she was spitting in. Why not follow through?

He pressed a finger to his temple, mumbling nonsense under his breath before he could articulate strung together phonemes. “Sleep,” he commanded, knowing she likely wouldn’t, and he’d do nothing about it. “It’s going to be an early morning.”

She didn’t respond, and he didn’t wait for one before leaving her. If he refused to play her games, then they’d both be left unsatisfied, and that seemed better than him giving into her or using the Serpent’s means of manipulation.

Aside from the strict orders given, he couldn’t let Draven surface, no matter how vile or misconstrued her actions, or how much of a problem she would continue to be. Not with her. He’d done enough to rattle her very existence. The least he could do was not be the monster she knew him as, and a part of him, unworthy of it or not, wanted her to see him as something else.

The Alokyian border split the forest like a scar from coast to coast. Gaping and too deep to climb down and back up unnoticed, the only means to cross for most were sporadically placed bridges that were lowered by the now manned guard towers.

Constructed after he had been put in stasis, the border served as protective assurance for the true followers of the Serpent after Valen took control of their homeland. Jarek’s father was like that. Cruel, but in such a way those suffering would thank him for it. He didn’t want bloodshed, so he offered the Asura family and those loyal to them a chance to leave—to take their ideals and people off of the main continent—and to never return. They took it and have been secluded on the peninsula since, free from the empire’s influence, both spiritual and physical.

Jarek waited at the top of a slope, gazing down at a particular tower. They were all but abandoned until about thirty years ago when Rimore pushed back against the empire’s sudden advancement off the Failish mountains. According to Kyer, it trickled in and out with activity, but after Lilith’s show in Reave, crossing undetected became even more of an issue since every tower was occupied.

Not to mention the machines.

Over the winter, voids, the same mechanisms that were guarding Brialis in Ironfall, skulked between towers like drones of wasps defending their hive. Not many, but a few were enough of a problem, even for Jarek. Ghostsoil crafted to look like a living creature without the inconvenience of tender flesh; it was brilliant

He was almost disappointed he wasn’t there for the unearthing of the material they were shaped with. He could picture the look on Chiman’s idiotic face discovering a metal capable of harnessing souls under their very feet. As if Valen hadn’t been given enough.

But the material did have one major weakness: heat. Smelting it—a process that took a few days for common ore—took weeks. Heating the sand needed to be slow; otherwise, the ingots would crack and disintegrate quickly. The same concept applied to fully optimized machinery. Heat slowed it, weakened it, and ultimately made it less effective, which was a large reason why ghostsoil was rarely seen off the mountains during the warmer seasons.

It’s not winter, Jarek told himself.

In between stints of watching Lilith, he familiarized himself with their routine. Shifts rotated once a moon, and this group wasn’t due to change for another few weeks. Even with Lilith’s delays, they still had ample time to cross unnoticed. Lanterns shone from within the trees when darkness hit on the other side of the cut, and those carrying them made their rounds back and forth. Perfectly and predictably consistent.

Jarek made a fist, then flexed the fingers of his left hand as he led them to the tower.

For the Flares to use their blessings, their vessels had to channel their energy through their bodies. It cost energy from the god and energy from the body to use it. The Diseased Serpent was no different. Each blessing took something from Jarek, but shadow-walking siphoned the most.

It was a convenient ability before making Lilith’s acquaintance. The Serpent could pull him anywhere as long as he could see it in his mind. Longer distances required more energy, shorter distances less. After Lilith touched his arm and broke the Serpent’s seal keeping him alive, his arm felt… weak. Heavy and useless like it should feel after spending so much time in stasis. To pull his arm into a manifestation was like dragging it through mud.

If he used the god to excess, his body weakened like any other vessel, though he also ran the risk of giving the Serpent too much control. He wouldn’t collapse unconscious. It was more like he lost parts of himself he couldn’t get back.

If he wanted to remain in his right mind tonight, he needed to use the god sparingly.

He halted the pair at the spot they were meant to stay with a raised palm and lowered his voice to a growl.

“Wait here and don’t move until I call for you.”

The boy nodded obediently, but Lilith’s gaze was lost, staring at his arm. Her mood had dipped, becoming sullen the closer they got to the border, and she peeked over her shoulder frequently.

He folded his arms and angled toward her a different way. “Not the time to have nothing to say, Evelian. What is it?”

Her gaze gently lifted to his face. “They’ll be able to tell when the bridge is lowered.”

“I know.”

“There’s no other way to get across?”

“Unless you can leap across a twenty-meter-wide gap in the earth, no.”

Anxious green light trickled around her frame. “How do you plan to do it?”

“An animal attack.”

That piqued her interest. “What kind of animal?” she asked. Jarek scoffed, and she had the audacity to look insulted. “Won’t they know it’s you? Or a blessed snake?”