Destiny's Blood

Chapter 38

The landscape spread bleak and forbidden around them, no plant, no water, no life. The companions had walked for the better part of three hours, and their legs now felt heavier, their stomachs emptier and their throats drier.

Avienne leaned on Yoma, her features tight. Zortan had re-splinted her bandage twice, both times just as tightly, and each time the ankle had swollen further. The smuggler did not complain once, but her lack of smiles, jokes and swears was worrisome. A small cropping of hills lay before them and Zortan led them to a spot between three hills, blocked from view.

“We’ll rest here briefly,” he said as he lowered the bag, and then he vanished around the next hill, scouting to make sure the area was safe. Yoma helped Avienne sit down.

“How’re you holding up?” Yoma asked, offering some dried meat to Avienne.

“Bloody painful. If I had two good legs, I would kick Zortan.”

Yoma smiled and nibbled at the meat, forcing the food down. They still reeked of blood and for the first time in her life, she found herself craving a bath. Dirty, she was used to. Disgusting and bloodied, she was not.

She took a swig and handed the water skin to Avienne, who sighed and looked it forlornly before taking some herself. She winced as though it was poison.

“I hope my brother’s having better luck than us,” Avienne said as she handed the skin back to Yoma.

“With any luck, Gobran found them and brought them somewhere safe by now,” Yoma said. She offered meat to Zortan as he joined them again.

“It seems safe, but we shouldn’t linger long.” He crouched by Avienne and felt her ankle. “I’m going to have to re-splint this.”

Avienne shrugged her assent. “If stars didn’t explode in front of my eyes every time you touched me, it just wouldn’t be the same.”

“Just don’t lose consciousness, or we’ll have to leave you behind if the enemy closes in.” Yoma was about to protest, but then she saw that Zortan was smiling. Avienne slit her eyes at him, but the humour in them was obvious. Zortan turned his attention to undoing the splint and Avienne squeezed her eyes shut, her face losing what little colour it had left. The moon, full and bloodied, was now almost over them.

“Why did this moon not shine before?” Yoma asked.

“The moon was created to reflect ether from the sun to the dark side of the planet,” Zortan answered as he skilfully wrapped Avienne’s foot again. “For Mirial, which is so close to the First Star, it’s like a warning system. Imagine not drinking water for a long time and then drinking too much. You would make yourself sick. If you drink a bit at first and get used to it, then your body can drink greater portions. That’s what the moon is to Mirial. Small sips of ether before it gets to gulp.”

Yoma looked at the moon. “So that means the sun will rise soon?”

Zortan nodded and stood up, finished with Avienne’s ankle. “Yes. Adina kept the planet safe from the sun with her ether, but without her controlling it, the planet has resumed its normal rotation.”

“Is that so bad?” Yoma looked out at the hills, as dead as everything else on Mirial. “This land looks like it could use some light.”

Zortan sighed. “The sun of Mirial is wild with ether right now, and could flare up at any moment. A flare would wipe out the entire area touched by sun — maybe the whole planet, now that Adina no longer protects it.”

Yoma shook her head. “That’s ridiculous. Why didn’t Adina just reset the sun, or however it works?”

Zortan was very still for a moment, gazing at the moon but not seeing it. He spoke softly. “Because she couldn’t. She would have given her soul to save her people, but only the heirs can actually link with Mirial. All that she could do was channel its ether, not take full control of it. And that wasn’t enough.”