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

before now,
anyway. It is my father’s colors. I should have armor in your
colors.” Valor said with a sigh, his eye still searching the
forest.
    “That’s not important to me you know,” she
pointed out quietly and fell silent as the fog ahead of them
swirled. “Did you see that?”
    “And that.” Valor motioned with his hand to
the left. “And that, and that,” he said again pointing to their
right and then above them to the left. “I would imagine they are
moving behind us as well,” he said, though he didn’t shift in the
saddle to look behind them.
    And that, and that, and that . Mocking
voices hissed from the surrounding trees. See the living, soon
to be forgotten . The voices hissed louder. The words seemed to
echo out of the fog.
    “I will never be forgotten. I am High Lady
Jala Merrodin and I will be eternal in the minds and hearts of
everyone that knows me,” Jala called back to the voices which fell
silent at her words. Angry murmurs began to build from the fog in
their place and Valor shifted in the saddle behind her.
    “Whatever you plan to do you had better do
it. I wouldn’t simply taunt them and leave it at that,” Valor
hissed in her ear.
    “I can make you eternal as well. I can make
sure you are always remembered and never forgotten again,” Jala
called, her voice pitched loudly to carry through the trees. “I’ve
come to make an offer to you; an offer that will ensure you will
always be remembered.”
    “This is a first. Would you have me believe
that you didn’t simply wander into our lands? That you actually
sought us out?” a man’s voice called from the fog louder and
clearer than the rest had been.
    “It is the truth. We have come here seeking
you, though our guide bid us to go around,” Jala replied. “Are you
the leader? The one that holds the Forgotten together?” she asked
loudly.
    “I am the one they follow,” the man replied
as he stepped from the mists and regarded them. In life he must
have been impressive. In death he was terrifying. His skin was
bleached as white as old bone, while his eyes remained sunken and
black. Large spikes extended from the armor on his shoulders with
skulls impaled upon them. Most were simply bone, but others still
had traces of flesh clinging raggedly to them. Had Valor stood
before this man, the Forgotten Lord would have towered over her
knight companion and the axe he held looked as though it could
shatter any sword.
    “Then I name you Axis, for you are their
center and thus I will remember you,” Jala said calmly, hoping her
plan worked.
    The man froze, his expression filled with
distrust. “You cannot simply do that. You cannot simply name a man,
and say that it is his,” he began, though there was a note of hope
in his voice.
    Jala tilted her head and raised an eyebrow at
him. “Can I not? I was once told by a dear friend that we have
three names in life. The first is given by our mothers when we are
born, the second is a nickname that is given by friends, and the
third is earned through our deeds. In my eyes you have earned your
name by leading your people. Thus I grant you a name and promise
you will no longer be forgotten.”
    Murmuring filled the fog though it was no
longer filled with anger. In places, the mist parted enough for her
to catch a glimpse of another figure. Here a woman watching them
curiously; there a small child.
    “Step forth and tell me of yourselves, so
that I might remember you all,” Jala offered, her eyes locked on
the small blond haired child watching them from beside a tree. In
life the girl had likely been adorable. In death she was a mockery
of innocence. Her small pursed lips were blue and her skin was the
color of a fish’s belly. Her eyes were the most disturbing,
however. Unlike the other dead Jala had seen, this child’s eyes
retained their original color of pale blue. There was no childlike
light in them, however. They were cold and held nothing but
hatred.
    “Why would you do this?”