You can"t attack him. Intent on each other, they paid no heed to Hakkon until he sprang forward with an inarticulate cry. Too late, his father rose. He was still reaching for Hakkon when the Zheron"s guards moved in. The Khonsel shouted at them to sheathe their swords, but the thrusts caught Hakkon in the back. For a moment he stood frozen, his hands at Olinio"s throat. Then he slowly crumpled to the floor. Olinio shrank away, wheezing.
Don"t, Father. Don"t!
"Let me go."
An icy calm descended over his father, but anguish roiled beneath it. He could not attack Olinio; he would not be so foolish.
"Nay."
He needed to speak, Keirith realized. The effort of remaining silent taxed his control too much.
His father moved toward Hakkon. Geriv"s sword rose until the point hovered at his chest. Without even glancing at it, he knelt and pulled Hakkon into his arms.
Thoughts of Urkiat swirled between them. And Malaq, stabbed in the back just like poor Hakkon. How many more must die before Xevhan was stopped?
"If my testimony is not enough, here is more proof." Xevhan"s voice sounded exulting, triumphant.
The killing l.u.s.t stirred.
"The mute was going to kill the only man who could testify to the murderer"s ident.i.ty."
Blood, it whispered.
"This is holy ground," Fellgair said. "And your men have polluted it by committing murder."
Retribution, it promised.
"If your temple is unclean, so is mine. For on its holy altar, this man murdered our beloved Pajhit."
Their head snapped up.
"I demand his immediate execution."
Their eyes watched him.
"Give me a sword. I"ll do it myself."
The killing l.u.s.t sang, drowning out the contending voices. It thundered through flesh and bone, driven by the wild pounding of their heart. It shattered the fragile barrier between their spirits, uniting them in the single, overwhelming desire to destroy.
If death was the price for revenge, they would welcome it. Death brought release. Death brought freedom. Freedom from memories and nightmares. Freedom from shame and fear. Freedom to hunt with the wolf pack and fly with the eagles. Death was easy. Death was sweet.
They rose, smiling. With one mind, they formed the words. With one voice, they spoke them.
"Vazh do Havi. Remember Kheridh"s vision. Remember the dagger in the Zheron"s hand. That dagger drips with Malaq"s blood and Kheridh"s. Their blood cries out for justice. For the death of this unholy priest who profanes this temple with his lies."
"He is the liar! A liar and a madman!"
His fear was delicious, as potent as the song coursing through them, as sweet as the death that awaited them.
"Water cannot cleanse you. Fire cannot purify you. Earth cannot hide you."
Xevhan shouted orders that the Khonsel countermanded. Xevhan turned on him in a fury and Geriv stepped forward, naked sword at the ready. He, too, was shouting and at his command, more men poured into the chamber.
The bloodsong echoed off the walls, surrounding them, consuming them. Only the Khonsel seemed immune, but he had fought in many wars. He knew the lure of the bloodsong and could resist its seductive call.
Their gaze swept the chamber, savoring the communion of thirsty spirits, and found Hircha. She had neither spoken nor moved since the Zheron entered. She was watching them, her eyes huge in her narrow face. Defying the bloodsong, they backed away from the two groups of men to shield her from the swords; someone must survive to tell the tale.
"False priest. Murderer. For you, there is only death. And an eternity in the bottomless Abyss."
Xevhan"s gaze darted toward the guard on his left. He licked his lips, eyeing the sword with longing.
The bloodsong"s rhythm slowed. Patience and control, Patience and control, it sang, it sang, stillness and calm. stillness and calm. The song of the shaman seeking the G.o.ds-given vision. The song of the hunter stalking his prey. The song of the shaman seeking the G.o.ds-given vision. The song of the hunter stalking his prey.
"Can you take us, murderer? Are you strong enough?"
Xevhan"s fingers clutched the vial of qiij. The ring on his finger shone with the bright beauty of fresh-spilled blood.
"Come to us," they crooned, drawing the words from their shared memories of that first encounter with him. "You want to. You want it so much you"re shaking."
Even then, they had sensed what this man was, but in the days that followed, they had allowed themselves to be deceived because they were so lonely, so frightened. They should have recognized his cruelty, his delight in hurting others.
"We can feel your fear," they whispered, drawing the words from their shared memories of Morgath"s torture. "We can read every thought. Uncover all your dirty little secrets." A wolf"s growl rumbled in their throat. An adder"s hiss caressed their tongue. "Come to us, a.s.sa.s.sin."
Although they were expecting Xevhan"s spirit to attack, the force of his a.s.sault shattered their union. The world tilted as his father reeled. Keirith heard him cry out as he fell. Dimly, he was aware of a commotion in the chamber. Golden flames burned in the depths of Fellgair"s eyes, but before Keirith could decipher their meaning, Xevhan"s shocked recognition radiated through him. Confronted by two spirits, he hesitated, torn between his hunger to destroy him and his desire to pursue his father, so much weaker, so much easier to cast out.
Go, Father! Now!
His father"s spirit fled, desperately seeking a hiding place. Keirith fled after him, flinging up barriers to protect them. Xevhan obliterated them all. Exhausted as he was from helping the queen Shed, he was still so much stronger than Keirith had imagined.
The lingering effects of qiij fed that relentless pursuit. Its heat licked at Keirith"s spirit, threatening to annihilate him. annihilate you. And I"ll cast the shreds of your spirit into the Abyss.> Scattered like the ashes of a bonfire. Scattered and forgotten.
Xevhan"s delight oozed through him like malignant sap. This is what his father had experienced when Morgath attacked, this hopeless realization that there was no place to hide, no barrier strong enough to shield him. And the boundless terror of that malevolent spirit savoring his fear and prying into his memories. Summoning his power, Keirith attacked, driving Xevhan back. His momentary surprise gave way to a ripple of pure pleasure.
Again, Keirith attacked, shame as potent as qiij. The upwelling of wrath surprised them both. His father"s spirit lashed out; even Xevhan, powerful as he was, retreated before the furious a.s.sault. It was hopeless; his father knew it. He possessed neither the skills nor the strength to sustain the attack, but it was fueled by something more potent than qiij or shame or hatred.Fierce and protective, his father"s love flooded Keirith. Once, he had been blind enough to resent his strength, believing it somehow diminished his. Only now did he realize that it only made him stronger.
Was it that knowledge that made Xevhan falter? Or was the strain of The Shedding finally taking its toll?
Keirith summoned his power, drawing energy from unyielding stone and honeysuckle-scented air, from the shuddering fire of the torches and the pool of Hakkon"s blood. He summoned his power for Hircha, for Urkiat, for the nameless men who had died under the Zheron"s dagger. For Malaq, his friend and mentor. And for his father who loved him.
He summoned the power and held it while the bloodsong swelled, eager yet controlled, hungry yet calm. The song of the hunter closing in for the kill. With heart and mind and spirit, Keirith hurled the coiled energy at Xevhan.
Shock turned to disbelief, disbelief to fear. And when the relentless power continued to surge, the fear changed to terror.
It was Xevhan"s turn to flee and his to pursue, carried effortlessly on the tide of his power. He was an eagle swooping in for the kill, deadly talons seeking fur and flesh and bone. His father cried out a warning, but he could no more allow Xevhan to escape than he could harness the power he had unleashed. All he could do was ride the torrent that connected him to Xevhan.
His spirit ripped free of his father"s body. For a moment, he drifted, observing the shock of those below who watched Xevhan totter backward. The familiar peace stole over him. The thread connecting him to Xevhan was as slender and fragile as the spinneret that had connected him to the eagle. If he severed it, he could fly away forever.
Hunger for vengeance overrode the desire to escape. He channeled that hunger into the thread, spinning it thicker and stronger. His father cried out his name, but already the power was pulling him forward, carrying him down.
The world lurched as he rooted himself in Xevhan"s body. Lurched again as Xevhan slammed into a wall. Colors exploded before him-russet, gold, brown-all the colors of autumn. Trees filled his vision-slender birches, thick-trunked oaks. He was home and it was harvest time and he was flying through the forest.
He blundered into a tree and pushed it aside. Another rose in its place and he burst through it, scattering evanescent shards of wood that flickered like embers in the night sky. He ripped through an interwoven barrier of saplings that screamed as his power shredded them. Nay, not saplings. Shields. Erected by the man who had murdered him.
His power surged, feeding on the terror. This was what Morgath had experienced: the dizzying invasion, the intoxicating arousal of battle. Xevhan fought hard and that only made it sweeter. Brutal and relentless, Keirith pressed the attack, thrusting at his opponent"s spirit, penetrating it, savaging it. Xevhan"s scream echoed through him and he quivered with antic.i.p.ation. Xevhan"s body convulsed and he shuddered with pleasure.
He was close now, so close. He could feel Xevhan"s hold on his body weakening. It required only a final push to expel him. But he was tiring. The battle was draining them both. He sensed a tiny crack in his enemy"s spirit and gathered himself for one last a.s.sault.
For Malaq.
Xevhan"s spirit shattered. A cascade of discordant emotions inundated Keirith-denial, hatred, terror-and with them, random thoughts and memories: a b.l.o.o.d.y, pulsating heart, a child"s laugh, a man"s reproving voice. Keirith flung off the contamination, casting out the shreds of Xevhan"s spirit, flinging them into the void.
Somewhere, a scream was fading into silence. His strength was fading, too. So tired now, too tired to fight. The brilliant colors of the forest dimmed. He looked up to find his father struggling helplessly in Fellgair"s arms. The world shrank to their faces-his father"s contorted, Fellgair"s calm. He tried to speak, to bid his father farewell, but he could only lie there, caught by the golden fire dancing in the Trickster"s eyes.
Abruptly, the fire went out. The dance vanished, leaving two dark pools that grew larger and larger until they filled his vision. Gratefully, Keirith allowed the welcoming darkness to claim him.
Chapter 45.
HE WOKE TO FIND himself staring up at a whitewashed ceiling. The sc.r.a.pe of sandals alerted him to another presence. He turned his head to see a figure retreating through the doorway.
Keirith reached for his father"s spirit and felt nothing. He bolted upright. Bracelets clattered against his wrists. A scarlet robe fell to his ankles. A ring with a red stone adorned his right forefinger. Black tattoos snaked up his slender, swarthy forearms.
With a tentative finger, he touched the tattoo on his left arm. Involuntarily, his hand jerked back. He forced himself to touch it again, running his trembling fingers down the length of the twisting snake. Again and again, he traced the snake"s shape until he was rubbing it with mindless ferocity as if to scrub it off. His fingernails scored four red marks in his flesh. The snake slithered through them, mouth agape, laughing at him.
In the flickering light of the oil lamps, the ring winked. He wrenched it from his finger and hurled it away. He tore the bracelets from his wrists and heard them clatter dully against the tiles. But the snakes remained, jeering at his pitiful attempt to obliterate them.
The wave of nausea made him double over. Dully, he noted that Xevhan"s second toe was longer than the big one. He covered his eyes to shut out the sight of them. Helplessly, his fingers played over his face, feeling the clammy forehead, the smooth cheeks, the small cleft in the chin.
Xevhan was dead.
Xevhan was gone.
And now he possessed his body.
"Oh, G.o.ds . . ."
He flinched at the sound of that voice. His voice. Deeper than it should be, breathy with horror. He should feel triumphant instead of sick. He had killed his enemy. He had won. He was Keirith the Destroyer. Keirith the Eater of Spirits.
"Feeling better?"
His head jerked up. Khonsel do Havi stood in the doorway, observing him. Belatedly, he realized this was the Khonsel"s chamber. Thin cracks snaked up the whitewashed walls. A thick layer of dust covered the stool. A broken vase spilled wilted bitterheart onto the floor. Judging from the light outside the tiny window, it must be close to nightfall-or dawn.
"How long have I been sleeping?"
"A night and a day."
"Thank you for bringing me here."
"Your quarters were damaged."
Stupid, Keirith. The Khonsel thinks you"re Xevhan.
He took a deep breath. "Khonsel do Havi, I am not the Zheron. I am Kheridh. My father-"
His father would only know he was gone. He would believe he was dead. He would suffer that same lacerating grief all over again.
"Please. My father. The Spirit-Hunter. Is he alive?"