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‘Is that right?’ Ki’Remi rasped his cold, logical mind, unable to grasp what she was sharing.

‘Tis. However, our leaders exist in a dominion higher than Sarvastivada, in the uppermost reaches of the Seventh Heaven, in the fortress city of Sivania. Where only the most ancient of gods exist, so old that no one knows their ages. From here, the Sura High Council governs the Ascended, which comprises various deities of different capabilities. Still, the Divine Immortal ruler is Sulfiqar, the Sacran God-Emperor and deity above us all. For millennia, I was one of his Saatifa, his guards, acting in a medical capacity given my healing and energy powers, the Ssignakht.’

Ki’Remi rubbed a hand over his face. ‘Issa, you’re blowing my mind.’

‘I’ve only just begun,’ she quipped, but he grasped the sadness and grief in her eyes.

‘Go on,’ he rasped, stretching his sinewed arms on either side of the banquette’s rim, eyes narrowing as he sensed the following juncture of her story was harrowing.

She took a shaky inhale. ‘In recent years, Sulfiqar, who has lived an eternity, got afflicted with some unknown disease that is wearing down his immortality. He concluded the remedy was to siphon the pure essence of other high-octane, redoubtable beings. He began to hunt down the most powerful immortals and consume their souls.’

‘How is this possible?’

Issa shrugged. ‘They are gods and can make up shit as they go. In the past, when a soul arrived in the afterlife, it was weighed against the scarlet feather of Sa’at, the pinion of truth. This tradition was nullified by Sulfiqar, who now controls the outcome. If the soul is found pure and imbued with life force, he ingests it to strengthen himself. However, if it is too heavy from evil deeds, it is fed to a monster, Sammit, controller of the Sullied, who exists in the bowels of Sacra’s hell. Sulfiqar’s desperation has led Sacra and the High Heavens into an age of utter ruthlessness on the brink of war. Now he mows down good and bad souls alike to feed his insatiable greed to remain immortal.’

She lifted her chin. ‘My father, a formidable Ssigis General, was asked to surrender his soul to extend Sulfiqar’s immortality. He refused.’

Ki’Remi pursed his lips. ‘What happened?’

A bitter laugh escaped her mouth. ‘Sulfiqar cursed him. Bound his spirit to a talisman that siphons his essence away, sliver by sliver.’

His jaw tightened. ‘Thefokk?’

She nodded. ‘TheSirr Sanctumstone delivers a slow execution. One that can’t be reversed unless, of course, by Sulfiqar himself.’

This was beyond ludicrous.

‘The Most High was not done,’ she continued, voice quieter now. ‘He cast father, my family, and I from the heavens onto the surface of Sacra and turned us into daemons.’

His breath stilled. ‘Daemons?’

Issa lifted her chin, and for the first time, she looked away. ‘Also called the Sullied. With wings of jagged black. Silver-burning eyes. Our souls transformed into twisted spirits. Our forms became warped. They threw us into the slums of New Savartin like waste where we burrowed under the ground to hide from the blinding light.’

A pulse of fury shot through Ki’Remi’s chest.

He imagined her, this strong and defiant woman, brought to her knees, crawling in the filth of a world not meant to hold her.

She swallowed. ‘I used my innateSsignakhthealing power, which I still retained, to stave off some of the Sullied effects in me and also on my family, unable to watch them suffer. I took it a step further to get rid of the curse.’

Ki’Remi’s eyes narrowed when her voice trailed off. ‘What did you do, Elaris?’

She met his gaze again, unflinching. ‘I stole.’

Silence.

His heart thudded once. Twice.

She continued.

‘Given I’d previously lived in the upper realm City as a medic guardian, I was well acquainted with the secret doorways and paths to Sivania. I climbed a secret tether from New Savartin to Sivania and broke into the Repository of Souls in the DivineImmortal City. I filched a most significant sanopic clay jar filled with the universe’s supreme transcendent, ancient souls.’

Ki’Remi inhaled. ‘You snatched a vessel of freakin’ spirits?’

She lifted a shoulder. ‘Twas the price of salvation.’

His mind reeled. ‘You used them?’

‘A dozen of them,’ she admitted. ‘To heal myself and my family. To restore us to our former humaniforms. I ingested four archaic souls, amplifying mySsignakhtenergy transference power. I did it to try and save my father, to free him of the talisman. However, I was unable to restore him. TheSirr Sanctumstone won’t let him go.’