the master live?”
With a tremulous hand, he pointed toward a peak just beyond the trees. Soundless lightning lit the sky, revealing the silhouette of a fortress on a cliff’s edge. Having come so close to the mountainside, I could even see tiny pinpricks of hazy yellow light. Windows. A knowing swirled in my gut as I stood, peering over the naked tree line.
“That’s where we must go, Mira.” She chirped in agreement.
“No, no, no, no, no…” The boy scurried off in the opposite direction, slipping out the way we’d come.
I glanced at Mira. “No personal escort, I’m afraid.” I stepped over the ashen heap of demon and followed the path toward the fortress on the cliff. My underlight blazed bright with each step toward the mountain. I mumbled the words to cast illusion, not wanting to forewarn demons on guard for this master. My illusion would hide my glow, but not me. I pulled up the hood of my mantle, covering as much skin as I could, wanting to blend with the bleak surroundings. Now that I’d encountered a gang of nasty demons, chances were there would be more about.
Another internal switch flipped on the second I stepped out of the shadow of the trees. The sensation buckled my knees and dropped me to the ground—the distinct signature of flickering flame and impenetrable iron washed over my entire body like the sweetest balm in the driest desert. I breathed in a ragged breath.
“Jude.”
Chapter Nine
I sensed him, even far below the fortress. My VS pulsed strong along the bond I shared with Jude. Mira swooped low and landed beside me, chirping with nervous agitation.
“I’m fine.” I picked myself back up again. “He’s there, Mira.” I dusted off my knees and leapt into a jog, trying to reach the edge of the cliff, then almost tumbling into a giant chasm.
“Ah!” I caught myself, my toe slipping over the edge, knocking gravel loose.
A sprinkling splash revealed this wasn’t a chasm. Lightning flashed again, revealing a wide, winding river, blacker than the earth, dividing me from the other side where the fortress stood on a mountain peak.
“Mira,” I whispered, realizing we were about to cross the border into another soul eater’s realm. She landed on my outstretched arm. “I’ll need to sift across, but I need you to be my eyes. Go over and tell me if it’s safe for crossing.”
She clicked her beak and winged across, her faint glow shining on the water, shimmering like a diamond on black glass.
Sifting could only be done to a place you knew or could see and visualize plainly, as if you’d been there before. I only hoped there was no invisible veil marking the division of kingdoms. But Uriel had said nothing about that. Of course, Uriel had never been here. The information he transferred to me had been gathered from a captured demon long ago. I hadn’t asked what devices had been used to extract such a secret. I knew by now the stereotype of angels in white robes singing on puffy clouds was false.
A few seconds later, Mira swooped back with her guttural chirp. With grim determination, I stared across the stygian water, barely able to see the bank on the other side. Mira perched on something, her white glow in the darkness giving me a visual. Closing my eyes and saying a prayer, I sifted.
Two seconds later, I stood next to Mira, who perched on a jagged crag of the mountain. I glanced back and forth, wary of demons now that I knew they were out and about. The atmosphere on this side was heavier, denser, more sinister than the air in Lethe’s realm. I put my hand to my chest.
“Can you feel it?” I whispered.
She clicked her beak, twisting her sharp hawk gaze in every direction. I realized it would’ve been a huge mistake to leave Mira at home. I needed her if I was going to make it through this alive. Lethe was a ghostly wasteland. Here, malevolence rippled in the air like a sentient being.
“Okay,” I said softly. “I don’t want to walk around too far in this
With a tremulous hand, he pointed toward a peak just beyond the trees. Soundless lightning lit the sky, revealing the silhouette of a fortress on a cliff’s edge. Having come so close to the mountainside, I could even see tiny pinpricks of hazy yellow light. Windows. A knowing swirled in my gut as I stood, peering over the naked tree line.
“That’s where we must go, Mira.” She chirped in agreement.
“No, no, no, no, no…” The boy scurried off in the opposite direction, slipping out the way we’d come.
I glanced at Mira. “No personal escort, I’m afraid.” I stepped over the ashen heap of demon and followed the path toward the fortress on the cliff. My underlight blazed bright with each step toward the mountain. I mumbled the words to cast illusion, not wanting to forewarn demons on guard for this master. My illusion would hide my glow, but not me. I pulled up the hood of my mantle, covering as much skin as I could, wanting to blend with the bleak surroundings. Now that I’d encountered a gang of nasty demons, chances were there would be more about.
Another internal switch flipped on the second I stepped out of the shadow of the trees. The sensation buckled my knees and dropped me to the ground—the distinct signature of flickering flame and impenetrable iron washed over my entire body like the sweetest balm in the driest desert. I breathed in a ragged breath.
“Jude.”
Chapter Nine
I sensed him, even far below the fortress. My VS pulsed strong along the bond I shared with Jude. Mira swooped low and landed beside me, chirping with nervous agitation.
“I’m fine.” I picked myself back up again. “He’s there, Mira.” I dusted off my knees and leapt into a jog, trying to reach the edge of the cliff, then almost tumbling into a giant chasm.
“Ah!” I caught myself, my toe slipping over the edge, knocking gravel loose.
A sprinkling splash revealed this wasn’t a chasm. Lightning flashed again, revealing a wide, winding river, blacker than the earth, dividing me from the other side where the fortress stood on a mountain peak.
“Mira,” I whispered, realizing we were about to cross the border into another soul eater’s realm. She landed on my outstretched arm. “I’ll need to sift across, but I need you to be my eyes. Go over and tell me if it’s safe for crossing.”
She clicked her beak and winged across, her faint glow shining on the water, shimmering like a diamond on black glass.
Sifting could only be done to a place you knew or could see and visualize plainly, as if you’d been there before. I only hoped there was no invisible veil marking the division of kingdoms. But Uriel had said nothing about that. Of course, Uriel had never been here. The information he transferred to me had been gathered from a captured demon long ago. I hadn’t asked what devices had been used to extract such a secret. I knew by now the stereotype of angels in white robes singing on puffy clouds was false.
A few seconds later, Mira swooped back with her guttural chirp. With grim determination, I stared across the stygian water, barely able to see the bank on the other side. Mira perched on something, her white glow in the darkness giving me a visual. Closing my eyes and saying a prayer, I sifted.
Two seconds later, I stood next to Mira, who perched on a jagged crag of the mountain. I glanced back and forth, wary of demons now that I knew they were out and about. The atmosphere on this side was heavier, denser, more sinister than the air in Lethe’s realm. I put my hand to my chest.
“Can you feel it?” I whispered.
She clicked her beak, twisting her sharp hawk gaze in every direction. I realized it would’ve been a huge mistake to leave Mira at home. I needed her if I was going to make it through this alive. Lethe was a ghostly wasteland. Here, malevolence rippled in the air like a sentient being.
“Okay,” I said softly. “I don’t want to walk around too far in this
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