The Inner Circle: Holy Spirit (21 page)

‘
Where’s your tree?’
the boy asked.

‘
Far away from here,’
Ilgrin replied, gazing in awe at the living buildings above his
head. It was beautiful. Somehow the silts were able to grow
structures out of organic plant material. There homes were
alive.

‘
Come back inside,
Jobe.’ A woman popped her head through one of the windows and
glared at Jakob suspiciously. ‘What’s a Sa’Tanist doing this far
in? You shouldn’t be allowing him this close to town.’

‘
Town . . . ?’ Ilgrin
trailed off only to recognise a small forest in the middle
distance. There grew a patch of fifty or so trees with massive
bulges in various places that seemed to be a hub of life. Silts
flitted this way and that through the trees going about their daily
business. Some of the trees had wheat growing around their
circumference. Others had small pens with pigs or chickens in
them.

‘
I’m sorry.’ Ilgrin
smiled up at the woman. ‘I’ve got important business with this
human. I didn’t realise there was a town this close.’

‘
How in Maker’s name
could you miss it?’ The woman shook her head. ‘Come inside now,
Jobe,’ she called before disappearing from the window. The young
silt flapped his wings clumsily and landed on a branch far above
their heads. Ilgrin turned once more to admire the silt town. These
people weren’t monsters as he’d been taught--they were farmers. He
stifled a gleeful laugh.

‘
Hurry up--’ Jakob
grabbed Ilgrin’s arm and pulled. ‘--before you get us both
killed.’

‘
These people aren’t
going to hurt us.’ Ilgrin allowed himself to be dragged along.
‘They’re townsfolk.’

‘
Maybe not,’ Jakob
growled under his breath, ‘but they’d be happy to contact those who
will if they think anything is amiss. I’ve sacrificed too much to
have you ruin it now.’

‘
All right, all
right.’ Ilgrin yanked his arm free. ‘I’m coming.’

After crossing an expansive field
devoid of any signs of life, other than the knee-high grass, Ilgrin
found himself confronted by a steeply inclined cliff-face. ‘How do
you intend to get up there?’ he asked, seeing no option other than
flight.

‘
There is a way just
a little farther up,’ Jakob said weakly. His tone had changed. He
didn’t sound nearly as certain of himself as he had before.
Something tapped against Ilgrin’s shoulder and his own mood
darkened. He put out his hand and a murky grey droplet splashed
into his palm. It was rain. But it wasn’t. Ilgrin’s palm was not
wet. He slid a finger through the droplet and watched it smear grey
and sink in to his flesh. The dark smear remained. Ilgrin could not
wipe it off. He felt anger building in his chest. He was furious
that Jakob hadn’t told him about whatever this stuff
was.

‘
Whisp rain.’ Jakob’s
eyes shone with fear. ‘We need to get back to the others right now!
I’m going to need a ride.’

‘
But I thought you
said--’

‘
Never mind what I
said,’ Jakob barked. ‘If we’re caught out in a storm there will be
no hope for either of us.’

Ilgrin gasped as the droplets became a
drizzle, coursing across his flesh and sending waves of nausea
running through his stomach along with an impending sense of
doom.

‘
Hold on.’ Ilgrin
threw his arms around Jakob and beat his wings into the air. ‘Where
are we going?’

‘
Just stay close to
the cliffs and keep moving south,’ Jakob called back, his voice
coming out in sudden bursts. ‘When you see a small but slender
opening, you’ll have found it.’

Purple lightning exploded from the
clouds and struck the earth. There it lingered, snaking about for a
while before fading, leaving a black streak stained onto Ilgrin’s
vision. The place that’d been struck was bathed in darkness, the
very light having been sucked out of the air. A second flash of
lightning crashed into the silt town in the distance and terrified
screams filled the air as the tree-houses burned, froze, exploded,
or shattered.

‘
We have to do
something!’ Ilgrin cried mournfully, the rain now beating against
him in torrents.

‘
Nothing can be done
for them,’ Jakob hissed malevolently, before opening his mouth and
biting into Ilgrin’s arm. Ilgrin howled in pain and punched the man
in the face. Jakob laughed hysterically as blood trickled from his
nose. ‘Do it again! Do it again!’ He giggled, eyes rolling in their
sockets.

‘
Just breathe,’
Ilgrin encouraged himself, despite facing the increasingly
difficult challenge of maintaining his sanity. He needed to go back
to the town. He had to go back to kill the child. His name was
Jobe. Ilgrin pictured it in his mind’s eye. The little boy would be
struggling to escape from his burning home. Ilgrin would clench his
throat and squeeze it, squeeze it until the child was dead. He’d
squeeze and squeeze. A gagging sound snapped Ilgrin free of his
thoughts. He’d been strangling Jakob.

‘
You deserve to die,’
Ilgrin hissed, despite having intended to apologise.

Jakob whipped out his knife and pressed
it against Ilgrin’s throat, but he battered it away and watched the
piece fall. ‘That’s mine,’ Jakob shrieked, pushing against Ilgrin
so hard that he had no choice other than to let go. Jakob
plummeted. He screamed and laughed as he went.

‘
Good riddance,’
Ilgrin spat, watching Jakob’s descent. As the man fell closer and
closer to the jagged cliffs, Ilgrin found himself becoming
increasingly excited, but he also felt disappointed that he’d never
get to see the impact. An unknown silt leapt away from the cliffs,
raked his toes forward, caught Jakob, and banked back to the safety
of the cave from which he’d come.

‘
This way.’ The silt
waved urgently before disappearing from view.

‘
No!’ Ilgrin cried,
having come to enjoy his dance in the rain. But wait . . . he could
kill them. It’d be worth leaving the rain to kill them. Ilgrin
tilted his wings and plunged toward the crevice in the rocky
cliff-face. He found himself in an extremely narrow tunnel devoid
of any life.

‘
El-i-miir,’ he heard
himself murmur, voice full of malice. ‘El-i-miir.’ The name was
familiar. He wanted so badly to kill, or at least to die. Ilgrin
slammed his head against the wall of the cave and laughed
hysterically as blood poured from the wound. He caught some in his
hands and lapped at it in his excitement. She was beautiful, his
El-i-miir. Come back, she whispered in his mind. Her voice was a
soothing stream in the mayhem of Ilgrin’s soul. Come
back.

Ilgrin sobbed and clenched his fists as
the narrow tunnel opened out to reveal a large cavern lit by
lanterns hanging from the wall. There was a table at the centre of
the room. Jakob was on the floor. A woman with long black hair
leaned over him. Ilgrin struck at her, his fists clenched.

‘
Teah,’ a male voice
boomed when a second silt leapt out from the dark and attempted to
restrain Ilgrin. ‘Can they be helped?’

‘
If they have any
chance, we’ll need to act quickly.’ Teah straightened up and turned
to face Ilgrin. Even through his madness he was startled by her
appearance. The woman wore black lipstick and eye makeup. She had
countless necklaces and chains hanging from her neck and equally as
many bracelets around her arms. But all of that paled in comparison
to what he saw next. When Teah tilted her head this way or that,
for just a fraction of a second something would glisten above her
head. It had no discernible shape, but whenever the light caught it
at just the right angle it would appear bearing similar colours and
patterns as one would see dancing across a soapy film.

‘
Quickly,’ the male
silt urged. ‘He’s past the madness. He’ll soon be dead.’

‘
I’ve done all I can
for Jakob,’ Teah said ominously. ‘We’ll just have to wait and see.
Now, for you.’ She looked over at Ilgrin nervously. ‘Sa’Enoch.’
Teah retrieved a large flask and removed the cork. She moved her
fingers above the container as though coaxing something out and
sure enough a white mist drifted up to hover above her hand.
Someone was screaming. Ilgrin jolted when he realised it was him.
He was in agony. His heart beat too fast and his throat was closing
up. His stomach twisted and cramped.

‘
Hurry, Teah,’ the
male silt said nervously. ‘It’s almost done.’

Teah ignored the man, instead turning
to the sieift that’d formed into a white ball between her hands.
She whispered to it quietly and it plunged into Ilgrin’s chest. If
he’d thought he was in agony before, it was nothing compared to
this. Ilgrin writhed in excruciating pain as battle was waged
within him. The darkness didn’t like the sieift. The whisp rain
would put up a fight before giving up its home. And then the pain
subsided.

CHAPTER
Fifteen

The Clouds Are Caving
In

‘
Knock, knock.’
Far-a-mael’s voice intruded on Seteal’s thoughts as it penetrated
the canvas wall of her tent.

‘
What?’ Seteal stood
in anticipation of the man’s company.

‘
I noticed that you
rejected my invitation to come see me yesterday,’ Far-a-mael stated
as his grotesque figure entered the tent. ‘I thought I’d come and
see you instead.’

‘
What do you want,
Far-a-mael?’ Seteal stuck out her chin defiantly. ‘Haven’t you
taken enough?’

‘
I need a favour,’
Far-a-mael said, a thoughtful expression on his face.

‘
You must be joking.’
Seteal laughed aloud.

‘
Perhaps “favour” was
the wrong word,’ Far-a-mael mused. ‘Perhaps what I’m suggesting is
more of a proposition.’

‘
A proposition?’
Seteal pursed her lips. ‘What kind of proposition?’

‘
In the upcoming
weeks, we’ll be engaging in battle with Old World.’ Far-a-mael
tapped his chin through his beard. ‘But we really know very little
about the enemy. I intend to attack no matter what, but it’d be
nice to know what kind of odds we’re going up against.’

‘
You want me to
project to Old World,’ Seteal stated dispassionately. ‘You must be
stupid. The last time I left my body, I couldn’t get back in. What
makes you think it’ll be any different this time?’

‘
I can serve as your
anchor,’ Far-a-mael replied. ‘I can tie you to the Ways through the
stability of my aura. Even if you begin to reject the Ways, my aura
will remain firmly attached. I’ll easily be able to pull you
back.’

‘
Why didn’t you do
that last time?’

‘
Because you were
already gone.’ Far-a-mael shrugged as though it were obvious. ‘The
bond must be prepared before the projection.’

‘
Why?’

‘
Why
what?’

‘
Why would I help
you?’ Seteal said indignantly. ‘You must know how much I hate
you.’

‘
Have you heard the
happy news?’ The old man began pacing back and forth across the
tent. ‘Due to the kindness of my heart, I’ve welcomed El-i-miir
back into the fold. I’ve even promised her the Wil’ca
trials.’

‘
I’m so glad,’ Seteal
murmured unenthusiastically.

‘
The poor girl has
nowhere else to go, especially since her pet demon disappeared.’
Far-a-mael sighed. ‘It would be a shame for me to have to change my
mind.’

‘
That’s it?’ Seteal
raised her eyebrows. ‘That’s the deal? I help you get information
about your enemy and you allow El-i-miir to return to the Frozen
Lands? What do I get out of it?’

‘
I know of your
intentions, Seteal.’ Far-a-mael narrowed his eyes at her. ‘You wish
to kill me.’

‘
How could you
possibly . . .’ She trailed off.

‘
Elglair, remember?’
Far-a-mael tapped his head. ‘We have our ways of finding things
out. How could you want to kill your own grandfather?’ He finished
with a flourish, as though he felt the information would catch
Seteal off guard.

‘
I know who you are,’
she said coolly.

‘
And you still want
me dead?’ Far-a-mael chuckled in astonishment. ‘My dear, you are a
girl after my own heart.’

‘
I’m nothing like
you,’ Seteal snapped, taking an unconscious step back.

‘
Nevertheless.’
Far-a-mael shrugged. ‘You have none of the platitudes of your
mother and you did just admit to wanting me dead. Well,
congratulations, you’ve got what you wanted.’

‘
You’re
dying.’

‘
Of course.’
Far-a-mael nodded. ‘Look at me. At best, I’ve got little over a
month. So, how about it? Let your friend return home, have the
satisfaction of knowing I’m dead, and . . . you can return to
Elmsville with the peace of mind that the Elglair will never bother
you or your family again,’ Far-a-mael looked pointedly at Seteal’s
enlarged belly.

‘
I’ll think about
it.’ She exhaled slowly.

‘
Very well.’
Far-a-mael nodded graciously. ‘But don’t ponder your options too
long. I won’t live forever, you know.’

*

El-i-miir rested atop her black horse
and waited just outside the camp. She didn’t know what for. She
could easily return the horse and nobody would be any the wiser.
She could back out and return to the Frozen Lands just as
Far-a-mael had promised she could. But oddly enough, Seeol had
taught El-i-miir something about love--and sending Ilgrin away had
been a mistake.