Page 149 of Ashes of Aether
“Alucinatas,” I whisper.
A barrier of aether encases me. The wall hums and ripples.
Arluin turns the corner. His black curls are like oiled crow feathers in the dying moonlight.
He marches toward me. My heart hammers in my chest.
With my haste and my fatigue, I worry the illusion won’t be powerful enough to fool him. But now, I can do nothing except wait. And pray to gods who never listen.
Each footstep shoves my nerves further over the edge. The tension within me is so taut I fear it will cause my spell to shatter.
He halts three strides from me. His gray eyes scan over the wall and then the floor. Every time his gaze passes over me, my pulse beats at a terrifying tempo. My heart drums so thunderously I fear Arluin will hear it.
Unable to watch, I squeeze my eyes shut.
“I left a corpse here,” Arluin says to the necromancer behind him. “Now it is gone.”
I dare to open an eye. The other necromancer is built like a stake: tall and thin. Wrinkles weather his face, and the strained light reflects off his bald head.
“Corpses do have a tendency to do that,” the necromancer replies. “One of the others must have raised it.”
Arluin shakes his head. “No, they couldn’t have.”
“Then perhaps a ghoul ran off with it and feasted on its flesh.”
“Perhaps,” Arluin says, his eyes narrowing. “Or perhaps someone else took it.”
“The girl you search for?”
Arluin clenches his jaw. “I know she’s here somewhere.”
“If she is a mage, she could have teleported to anywhere in Imyria. She is likely long gone.”
“She has never left Nolderan before, so she couldn’t have teleported anywhere off this island.”
“You are sure? It has been three years.”
Arluin’s fists tightens. He doesn’t reply.
“We have what we came for, do we not? I understand you have personal reasons for seeking the girl, but you must consider what is at stake. It won’t be long before the world learns Nolderan’s fate, and when they do, they will be on their guard. Achieving our ambitions will be a far greater challenge. We must strike swiftly, while they are still all unaware.”
Arluin exhales deeply, his fingers running through his nest of dark curls. “Very well. Find the others. We will send our undead back through the Death Gates and then we will leave this place.”
The tall necromancer bows his head. “Farjud,” he says, melding into the shadows. He leaves in a heavy cloud of darkness.
Arluin lingers. He stares at the wall behind me. I wonder if he can sense the residue of my magic from when I defeated the undead. Or if he can sense the dark magic which marks my wrist.
I glance down. The knot remains secure and hasn’t loosened in battle. I pray it will be enough.
He continues his examination. I hold my breath. A moment passes. Then another. My chest aches from the lack of air.
Finally, with one last look at the wall, he turns and vanishes down the street.
Forty
Bythetimedawnarrives,theghostlybeamsareextinguishedandalltheDeathGatesareclosed.Nolderandescendsintoanevenheaviersilence.
I don’t know whether the necromancers have left, so I wait longer still.