The Inner Circle: Holy Spirit (40 page)

Noah growled
as he swooped and spiralled dangerously. He swatted at
Seeol, but somehow each time he missed his mark. A storm gathered
quickly in what’d previously been a clear sky. Noah fell into the
throngs of battle, but refused to release Ilgrin or El-i-miir.
Seeol leapt and dipped about his face, biting him again and
again.

‘
What is this?’ Noah
roared, unable to make sense of his inability to crush a miniscule
bird.

Noah fell out of control, bowling
through the legion as they dipped and flew. Blades accidentally
scratched at his back and jabbed into his side. Talons raked his
arms and legs, leaving gouges that rained blood on the city
below.

‘
Get it off!’ Noah
shouted, slapping at his face to no avail.

Thunder and lightning lit up the green
sky and hail stones began to fall, the largest and most dangerous
never failing to hit Noah.

‘
Let my friendlies
go!’ Seeol raced across Noah’s face and ripped off his earlobe. ‘My
friends.’ He took a bite of his nose. ‘My Miish Miish!’

He bit the beast’s eyeballs and
finally with a cry of defeat his toes unfurled and El-i-miir
fell.

Ilgrin followed. In that moment,
the battle ceased for him. Not a soul existed, but for hers. Her
face was placid, dress billowing up around her and arms flailing
lifelessly. The earth rushed up to take her and Ilgrin stretched
out his toes. Elglair eyes burst open, sky-blue with white spheres
of cloud at their centre. Her face was one of sordid disbelief. The
city streets came closer and El-i-miir’s expression was one of
terror. She screamed as Ilgrin dipped toward her. He snapped his
feet unevenly around her waist and lower leg. His wings flared,
Ilgrin braced himself for impact. The tallest buildings rose up
above them. He pushed his wings against the fall and tumbled along
the road.

A human soldier raised his sword about
to plunge it into Ilgrin’s chest, but his eyes glazed over and he
ran away screaming like a child.

‘
Thanks.’ Ilgrin
turned to find El-i-miir limping toward him, having affiliated his
attacker.

She narrowed her eyes and gritted her
teeth. ‘Get inside.’

‘
What do you . . . ?’
Ilgrin trailed off as his mind fogged over and he felt himself
moving toward a small building on the corner.

El-i-miir hurried along beside
him. She glanced at him intensely and immediately Ilgrin knew what
he had to do. Unquestioningly he slammed his shoulder against the
door so that it burst open. Only once El-i-miir had entered the
dark interior did Ilgrin follow. He peeked around the door to make
sure no one had seen them before closing it carefully. El-i-miir
and Ilgrin opened their mouths simultaneously and spoke the same
words in perfect harmony.

‘
Do you want to tell
me what the torrid is going on here?’

‘
Well?’ El-i-miir
added after a short pause, releasing him from her
possession.

‘
Oh . . . I’m sorry,’
Ilgrin shook his head uneasily. ‘I thought I asked the question.
You affiliated me!’

‘
I’m not sure whether
I can trust you.’ El-i-miir waved her hands about frantically. ‘How
did I get here?’

‘
It was Noah,’ Ilgrin
said in despair. ‘He played me like a fool. And Jakob . . . I can’t
believe I trusted him.’

‘
Jakob?’ El-i-miir
gaped. ‘I knew there was something off about him. Tell me
everything.’

‘
Jakob is my friend .
. . or, at least, I thought he was,’ Ilgrin said sadly. ‘He’s the
Sa’Tanist who helped me overturn Du’Korah, the previous
Devil.’

‘
Oh, Ilgrin, you are
a fool!’ El-i-miir cried. ‘Your parents must’ve warned you about
demon worshippers. They must have! You know their kind cannot be
trusted.’

‘
Well, yes, of
course,’ Ilgrin said back, ‘but they also told me that my kind were
entirely evil.’

‘
Aren’t they?’
El-i-miir replied somewhat hysterically. ‘Look around
you.’

‘
It wasn’t meant to
be this way.’ Ilgrin sighed. ‘I didn’t want anyone to die. It
worked in Kintor and I’ve heard we’ve had the same results in
Sotrel and Sham.’

‘
What?’ El-i-miir
gasped.

‘
It’s true.’ Ilgrin
smiled. ‘We took Noble in Shinteleran as well. Compared to the kind
of war Far-a-mael was hoping to start, there’s been relatively low
loss of life. Only the armies were destroyed, but the average
citizen has only had their weapons confiscated.’ Ilgrin shuddered
at the sound of screams being cut short in the streets.

‘
Have you been to
Sham, Ilgrin?’ El-i-miir said slowly.

‘
Well, no, not yet.’
He frowned. ‘I’ve been leading the primary legion.’

‘
Have you been to
Noble?’

‘
No.’

‘
Sotrel?’

‘
No.’

‘
Oh, Ilgrin.’
El-i-miir covered her mouth. ‘I’m afraid you’ve trusted too
much.’

‘
You don’t know
that,’ Ilgrin grumbled. ‘You’re just assuming the
worst.’

‘
Look how easily
they’ve turned against you,’ El-i-miir pointed through the window
at one of the city walls. ‘How do you know that they weren’t only
being loyal to you on account of their steadily diminishing faith
in the Holy Tome? They’re all too willing to turn back to murder at
the flip of a hat.’

‘
It wasn’t like
that,’ Ilgrin said furiously. ‘Noah held the crown. He tried to get
me to kill you. I wouldn’t and so they believed him and . . . um .
. . they’re not all evil. They can’t be,’ he finished
weakly.

‘
Crown?’ El-i-miir
cocked her head. ‘I don’t know what in Maker’s name you’re talking
about. All I know is that someone you called your “friend”
kidnapped me in the dead of night and offered me up to a legion of
demons. From where I’m standing, you don’t seem to be a very good
judge of character.’

‘
I . . .’ Ilgrin’s
jaw worked up and down. He was dumbstruck as to how he should reply
to such a perfectly made argument. But then again, he could
scarcely remember what they were even arguing about. ‘I’m sorry,’
he said at last.

‘
Yes, you’re sorry.
I’m sorry. We’re all sorry, Ilgrin,’ El-i-miir spat briskly as she
moved to peek out through a dirty window. ‘Unfortunately “sorry”
isn’t going fix what you’ve started here.’

Ilgrin approached slowly, but with a
sense of surety. He held his breath and narrowed his eyes
furiously, but refused to lose his temper. He put a hand on
El-i-miir’s shoulder and turned her around. ‘This is not on my
head, El-i-miir. Don’t you dare forget it. Not for a single second.
Your people started this, not mine.’ He prodded the air with his
finger a milliwidth from El-i-miir’s face. ‘Maybe it’s even your
fault personally.’

‘
What?’ El-i-miir
scoffed. ‘You’ve lost your mind.’

‘
No,’ Ilgrin snapped.
‘Think about it. If you’d warned Seteal about Far-a-mael instead of
being such a coward, she’d have never gotten to the Frozen Lands.
Seeol would still be in Narvon Wood killing stray dogs and wouldn’t
have been travelling with you on the road out of Sitnic. Without
Seeol there to change into his other self and kill Emquin,
Far-a-mael wouldn’t have captured me. He wouldn’t have been able to
concoct a story about an Old World invasion and the Elders would’ve
rejected his application of War Elder.’

El-i-miir stared at Ilgrin for a long
time, her face scrunched up in disbelief. ‘That is just so
convoluted,’ she said after a pause.

‘
Yes,’ Ilgrin winced
at his own speech. ‘It kind of was. Even so, this war is the fault
of the Elglair.’

‘
I have to find
Seteal,’ El-i-miir said dismissively, her eyes becoming distant as
she tapped into the Ways. ‘She’s in the woods to the south.
Goodbye, Ilgrin,’ she stated without even the slightest hint of
affection.

‘
But,’ Ilgrin gasped,
‘I just saved your life.’

‘
How very gallant of
you,’ El-i-miir said, exiting the musty building without a backward
glance.

‘
El-i-miir,’ Ilgrin
raced after her and onto the street.

‘
Watch out, miss,’ a
soldier barked loudly, racing toward them.

‘
Leave us.’ El-i-miir
tossed her hand lazily and the man continued past. A shadow fell
over them. Large wings spread and a silt swooped. Ilgrin snatched
out his scythe, but El-i-miir spun around with a snarl and the silt
disappeared back the way he’d come.

*

‘
Seteal.’ Someone
shook her shoulder. ‘Seteal, get up.’

‘
What?’ She rolled
over, but immediately felt giddy. ‘El-i-miir? Ilgrin!’ She gasped,
spotting the silt with Parrowun cradled in his arms.

‘
He was crying,’
Ilgrin said softly. ‘You’ve lost a lot of blood.’

‘
Give him to me.’
Seteal grabbed a handful of grass and pulled herself along the
ground. ‘He’s mine. What’re you doing here anyway? I thought you
wanted to kill us all or some such.’

‘
I never wanted
that,’ Ilgrin said, but he failed to make eye contact and moved his
feet uncomfortably in the dirt.

‘
Give me my son,’
Seteal said forcefully while allowing El-i-miir to guide her to her
feet.

‘
Are you strong
enough?’ Ilgrin asked.

‘
Give him to me,’
Seteal lunged for the baby and snatched him from Ilgrin’s arms.
‘You can’t hurt him. I won’t let you.’

‘
Hurt him?’ Ilgrin
gasped, his expression reflecting his disgust. ‘Why would you even
say that?’

‘
Seteal? Are you all
right?’ El-i-miir put a hand on her shoulder, but all Seteal could
see was Master Fasil’s hairy knuckles. Her dress was covered in
blood. There was dirt on her face. Her hair was a mess and there
was a bruise on her cheek.

‘
Get away from me!’
Seteal cried out irately.

‘
Seteal.’ El-i-miir
reached out to her, but the woman responded only by turning to run,
dodging around trees and racing through knee-high grass. ‘Slow
down,’ El-i-miir panted as she hurried after her and Ilgrin leapt
from tree to tree.

Once outside the tree line,
Seteal ran onto the road to look for help. El-i-miir leapt toward
her, spun her around and slapped her across the cheek. ‘Do you want
to get us killed?’

‘
I’m sorry,’ Seteal
shook her head and tried to control her sobbing before Parrowun
seized the opportunity to start crying as well. ‘I don’t know
what’s wrong with me. Trapped in here, I feel like I’m losing my
mind.’

‘
Is that . . . ?’
El-i-miir trailed off, focusing on something over Seteal’s
shoulder. As she turned to see what the woman was looking at,
Ilgrin’s face crumpled into one of fury. With two powerful beats of
his wings he crossed the road and slammed a fist into Jakob’s
stomach. He picked the man up and threw him across the dirt so that
he continued sliding several strides.

‘
Ilgrin,’ Jakob
gasped. ‘Stop,’ he lifted his hands protectively, but they were
useless against the strength of a demon.

‘
Why?’ He slammed a
fist into Jakob’s face so that his blood spattered the dirt. ‘Why?’
He threw the man’s head back against the road.

‘
Stop it, Ilgrin,’
El-i-miir shouted. ‘You’re killing him.’

‘
And?’ Ilgrin tilted
his head, his face an expression of malice. He put a hand to
Jakob’s throat, wrapped his elongated fingers around it and
squeezed.

‘
I can explain,’
Jakob spluttered, his eyes bulging.

‘
Then do it quickly,’
Ilgrin growled.

‘
Noah made me do it,’
Jakob squirmed. ‘He’d have killed me otherwise.’

‘
Then you should have
let him,’ Ilgrin said in disgust, but removed his hand anyway.
‘You’re a worm.’

‘
I know that,’ Jakob
panted. ‘I’m sorry for what I did to you,’ he wheezed at
El-i-miir.

‘
What you did is
unforgiveable.’ She shook her head in contempt.

Seteal’s focus had been firmly
fixed on the dirt at her feet. Her hair hung messily, shrouding her
face, keeping her safely hidden from the world. Now she slowly
raised her chin to look upon the assembly of unlikely associates.
Her eyes locked on El-i-miir’s and she found herself asking the
woman a simple question. ‘Is it?’

El-i-miir turned to face
her.
‘Pardon me?’

‘
Jakob kidnapping
you: is it really unforgivable?’

‘
Of course it is,’
El-i-miir said in frustration.

‘
I see.’ Seteal
nodded
and turned away. ‘Then you must
really think me a fool for forgiving you.’

‘
Seteal,’ El-i-miir
whined. ‘Where are you going?’

Moving one foot in front of the other,
Seteal headed west, where she would be hidden by dense forest in
circumnavigation of the city. ‘I’m going home,’ she said so softly
that it was doubtful whether anyone heard. A moment later she found
herself walking with Ilgrin to her right and El-i-miir to her left,
Jakob seemingly having been left to fend for himself.