The Elder Blood Chronicles Book 3 From the Ashes by Melissa Myers Page A

fond memories, but I’m sure we will find something suitable to
say about them when others ask.”
    Jala’s smile faded a bit and she nodded
slowly. Turning back to Fiona she cleared her throat. The fragile
pieces of a plan were forming in her mind and it was difficult to
keep from growing too hopeful. “Fiona, are there those among the
Forgotten that are like you. I mean strong undead such as yourself
that have an actual form or are they all wailing banshees?” she
asked, trying to keep her voice neutral.
    “There are a few among them that are
formidable, their leader being the foremost in that. He is quite
powerful. Not even I would care to fight him. That’s why it’s best
to avoid them,” Fiona answered, looking up from a rotting bag that
was her latest find in the bone heap.
    “I don’t want to avoid them, then. I’d like
to go see them before we continue on,” Jala said with another faint
smile forming on her lips. If what she had in mind worked,
retrieving Finn was about to get a lot easier.
    “What do you have in mind?” Valor asked
quietly. If he was at all concerned he didn’t show it.
    “Finding a suitable way to remember them,”
Jala replied quietly.
     

     
    “This is their border. Are you sure you wish
to continue in this? I don’t think they will listen to you,” Fiona
said.
    Jala nodded slowly, her eyes roving over the
terrain ahead. Tall black pines covered the ground as far as she
could see, while heavy fog blanketed the forest floor. That,
combined with the ever-present gloom of the Darklands, and it was
nearly impossible to see anything in the Forgotten territory. “I
still wish to speak with them,” she said quietly.
    “Your funeral,” Fiona said with a shrug and
motioned a gauntleted hand toward the forest. “I will wait here for
you. If you cannot return to this exact point, I will find you
along the borders. If you return that is.”
    “Not coming with us, then? I do so hate to
part with your charming company, Fiona.” Valor said
sarcastically.
    Jala turned in the saddle to look back at him
with a slight shake of her head. “Don’t mock the dead, Val,” she
scolded lightly.
    “Especially when you are about to be one of
them,” Fiona added dryly, offering a last tight smile to the pair
of them as they rode across the border.
    “Is it just me or did the temperature drop
another ten degrees once we entered the fog?” Valor asked
quietly.
    “Twenty, you must not have noticed how severe
the change was through all that metal,” Jala replied, pulling her
borrowed cloak tighter around her.
    “So the plan is to offer them a name?” Valor
asked, quietly his eyes roving the terrain.
    “Somewhat,” Jala agreed, not bothering to
scan the area herself. She would have to rely on Valor and Valorous
to spot anything approaching. Their vision was much better in the
low light than hers and she had come to rely on them as her eyes in
the past few weeks of travel. “I have to say, I don’t really mind
the cold as much as I did when we first arrived. The cold seems to
deaden the sense of smell and I don’t think I want to smell myself
after countless weeks of travel and several days of sleeping in a
cave with dead bodies,” she said softly. There was no real point to
being silent here. Fiona had warned them that no matter how much
stealth they tried to use, the Forgotten would know where they were
once they crossed the border.
    “Don’t forget the demon blood that we have
both been thoroughly doused in. I know I practically got a shower
of it when we fought Nasurai,” Valor added with a sigh.
    Jala glanced back at him and smirked at his
look of disgust. Valor was typically fastidious about his
appearance and he was absolutely filthy right now. “I’ll pay the
cleaning bill for your armor,” she offered.
    “There won’t be a bill on this armor. It’s
too damaged already. I will be melting it down when we return to
Merro. It’s something that should have been replaced