Tall, Dark & Apocalyptic by Sam Cheever Page A

you next, I will be the last living thing you will ever set eyes upon.”
    She sent a wave of power through the image and exploded on the air, her final warning throbbing through the large, nearly empty space, shaking the walls and sending the pitcher of nectar to spill across the stone floor.
    Satisfied with her spectacle, Edwige told Ebon to return to her.
    They had much planning to do.

CHAPTER ELEVEN
     
    Yeira added a thin length of broken wood to the growing pile in her arms. The wood smelled peppery and was unnaturally lightweight. Its center was honeycombed and mushy, filled with a liquid she knew from experience gave off a mind-altering smoke, which seemed to focus the thoughts on sexual things.
    At least that was where Yeira’s mind went under its influence. She wasn’t sure if that was a general thing or just a personal one.
    She wished there was another option for their fire but the poivron tree was the only one that had survived the poison of the dead lands, even with the reborn magic aiding it. She’d just have to make sure Audie was upwind of the smoke. It wouldn’t do to have him get any ideas.
    A soft hissing sound danced past on a pepper-scented breeze. She stilled, her gaze sliding toward the spot, several yards away, where the air sparked and seemed to thicken.
    Yeira reached for her weapon before remembering it was gone. She dropped the wood she’d gathered and stepped back, her fingertips tingling with the first surges of energy.
    The countenance that appeared a moment later sent the magic sliding back. The little gnome’s face, with its oversized, bulbous nose and unruly eyebrows and beard, peered at her from the depths of a spacial void. As soon as Yeira realized who it was she dropped to one knee, lowering her head with respect. “Eminence.”
    The Watcher of the World fluttered a spidery-fingered hand impatiently. “Stand, child. I have news.”
    Yeira straightened, her heart pounding with dread. News from the millennium-aged Watcher of the World was generally epic. “The Healer is well?”
    The gnome’s tiny face puckered crankily. “My brother is fine. He sent me to you.”
    Relieved, she asked, “What did he wish me to know?”
    “The witch, Edwige, she is on the move.”
    Yeira heard the soft crunch of Audie’s footsteps behind her. She lifted her hand, signaling him to stop. “You have located her?”
    The little creature turned beady, black eyes toward Audie. “Hunter. Good. Your services will be needed. The dark one goes to vanquish her once-beloved apprentice.”
    Yeira frowned. “Joris? She wants to kill him?”
    “He has conspired against her with other reborn. She learned of his perfidy just this day.”
    Yeira felt the Watcher’s words like a series of individual blows to her chest. Joris had been telling her the truth. He would have helped her take Edwige down. “He wasn’t lying…” she murmured, despair twisting her stomach. She could have helped him stop the dark one.
    Audie was suddenly there, a hand going to her back as he addressed the Watcher. “Eminence, where will we find them?”
    The little gnome tugged on his unruly, gray beard and wrinkled his nose. His silver hat, taller than his head and pointed, slipped down his forehead and he tapped it with the tip of a long finger to set it back to rights. “I am working to locate the ambitious Joris now. He was last seen in the thirteenth world but Edwige spooked him into a time void. He is spinning from world to world, time to time in an effort to evade her spies. When he settles I will contact you. Do not move until I do.”
    Yeira glanced at Audie before answering. “How long will that be, Watcher? I have no bluestone…no weapon…and the dead lands are beating upon this wood as we speak.”
    The little creature’s scowl deepened. “Be glad you are there. It is only the masking spell from the dead nest that saves you from Edwige’s spies. But worry not. You will hear from me in a few days at most. In