Page 66 of Fate Promised
“Those scars are because of me.”
“How?” He was across the room, looking out the window. As far from her as he could get. She patted the bed. “Come back and talk to me.”
Silence filled the room. He turned as if to leave. As if to walk away from her.
26
His heart felt frozen in his chest. “Hoyt is after you because of me. I’ve stayed away all these years to prevent our enemies from attacking you, yet it’s happened, anyway. They can’t attack the vulk, so they attack the ones we—” He closed his mouth. He’d been about to say, the ones we love.
Triska frowned. “Tell me what happened with your mother.”
He paced, unable to look at her. “We lived in Huska, it’s close to Hork. Your mayor said the town is trading with the eaglewalkers of Hork, yes?” He didn’t want to think about the eaglewalkers from Hork and the one who wanted to court Triska. He sucked in a long breath, willing his claws to remain withdrawn as much as possible.
“Yes, that’s right.”
“Huska is a large village. A nice place, by a small, glacier-fed lake. I’d only been a vulk about six months, and I was … homesick. I snuck out of the pack den to see my mother. As a new vulk, I was still training. I’d joined in on a few battles, but I hadn’t responded to any rifts by myself yet.” Did she understand what rifts were? “A rift is a place where spawn come up from Peklo. Normally they open and close briefly when the two realms rub together, but sometimes it’s long enough for spawn to come through. Or other creatures might make it up here, like the harpies we saw in the vanishing isle.”
She nodded.
“Well, a rift had opened near Huska. And the spawn that came out was the one kind that has no odor, so I didn’t know it followed me.”
He frowned as the day, so many years ago, rushed back.
It was summer but unnaturally hot for that time of year. In the center of town, there was a stone-lined pit for bonfires and clan meetings. Arranged along the outskirts were all the shops, and he’d found his mother underneath the awning of the shop she worked at. He’d strode up and surprised her. They were sitting on the stoop catching up when he heard the screams.
At first he’d thought it was kids playing, but then there were more screams. He shot up, leaping into the courtyard toward the direction of the noise. Stepping from the shadows of the forest was a shadowy figure, at least five feet taller than Juri. It looked like a man who’d wreathed himself in black flame, his features blurry and indistinct beneath the odd fire.
A shade.
Juri had inhaled sharply and drew to a halt. No sulfur floated on the air. Shades were skinless, there was nothing for the stench of Peklo to stick to. As it was the middle of the day, the fiercest clan warriors were out hunting or farming, but those in town ran toward the shade, clutching weapons.
Over the past six months he’d learned a lot about how to fight as a vulk, but this wasn’t a goblin or a bauk—the ogre-like creatures of Peklo. Juri clenched his hands into fists, and he crouched. What had Kyril said about shades when they’d discussed spawn the last time? They were rarely seen in Ulterra but extremely lethal. They grew stronger by consuming the dead in Peklo.
Great … but how were they killed? Had Kyril said to fight fire with fire, or that fire increased a shade’s power?
The shade was focused on his mother, its red eyes burning.
“I think you took a wrong turn,” Juri said.
The shade turned toward Juri, and Juri let out a shaky breath. Good. Stay focused on him.
The shade tilted its head. “I followed you the past mile and wondered where you were going.” The shade’s voice was like the sizzle of a fire when water was tossed on it. “Who knew the vulk had family?” The shade raised its hand, and black flame streamed toward his mother. Juri leaped for her, rolling with her onto the ground, but her arm was ablaze with black flame.
In front of the shop was a hitching post for horses and donkeys. A water trough sat there, half filled with rainwater. He picked it up easily, even though it was the size of a large log, and doused his mother. The flame extinguished. He tossed the trough aside and reached for her, helping her to her feet. Her arm was seared and red, one painful mass of burns. “Can you run?”
She nodded.
“Get out of here.”
Several clan members ran up to Juri, brandishing their bows and swords. He nudged his mother’s non-injured arm. “Go now. Run to safety and then find the healer.”
She grabbed his shoulder and squeezed it. “Stay safe.”
Crackling and hissing filled the air, and Juri turned back toward the shade. Inside the flames wreathing its face, two burning eyes glowed. “I can kill a vulk and a vulk-bearer. My lucky day.”
His hackles rose. He ran in the opposite direction of his mother, leaping onto the courtyard, and sprinted. Every moment the shade spent after him gave his mother more time to get away.
This time when the shade hurled its flame, Juri was ready. He dodged, rolling on the ground. The shade stepped forward, leaving flaming footprints behind it. “The time of the vulk is over.”