Page 134 of Bloodwitch

“Sleeping Lands,” the Northman said, and there was fear in his eyes as he backed down the stairs. “Death,” he warned. “Death.” Then the Northman rushed back through the magic doorway.

Merik hurried after. He had heard of the Sleeping Lands—of course he had. It was an uncrossable frozen wasteland that sucked in unprepared travelers. Only the Nomatsis… the No’Amatsis, rather, had ever managed to cross it.

Once more, the door’s magic pummeled against Merik. This time, though, when he toppled through and landed inside the cavern beyond, something was wrong. When he inhaled and called his winds, they came—and they came strong. With power, power, power for the taking.

But there was cold slithering beneath them. Icy rage that Merik recognized in an instant.

“We must hurry,” Merik said. Nubrevnan words useless to the Northman, but all he could manage. In a burst of strength and momentum, Merik flew them to the next door, this one tucked at the end of the cavern.

This door did not glow, and when he stepped inside, no magic battered against him. He saw only shadows. Next door, next door—they had to reach the next door before the Fury came. Before the Fury could lead the Raider King here. And this doorway was near, connected to the current ledge by stairs.

But the mountain shook. So hard, it flung Merik to the ground. So hard, it flung the Northman off the ledge.

Merik threw out his winds, catching the Northman and ripping him back to solid ground—solid ground that still quaked. Rubble fell. Dust plumed. And as Merik and the Northman stood there, grippingeach other and waiting for the tremor to slow, cold twined into Merik’s lungs. It plucked at his breath.

Power, power, power.

Then came the darkness, undulating and frozen. It rippled around Merik and the Northman, and both men wrenched toward the doorway they’d just abandoned. Dust clouded its dark gullet now.

A figure formed.

“Why do I hold a razor in one hand?” he asked. “So men remember I am sharp as any edge. And why do I hold broken glass in the other? So men remember that I am always watching.”

The Fury stepped from the shadows. Cold billowed off him in vast, violent waves. He was his namesake; he was fury through and through.

His blackened eyes met Merik’s. “Where are they, Merik?” he asked. “What have you done with my blade and my glass?”

The Fury attacked.

FIFTY-THREE

A rush of scalding air hit the boat as Vaness sailed Safi and the Hell-Bards onto Lake Scarza—and as she sailed them into a battle only the Hell-Bards could see.

The heat swept Safi’s hair from her face, stung her cheeks with invisible embers she couldn’t spot, and set her lungs to choking. All while the boat dipped and shuddered, guided by Vaness’s magic, which was guided by Caden sitting at the helm.

They aimed for shore.

Not fast enough, though. Not before the explosion ripped loose through the Floating Palace. A sudden visceral surge thatbatteredinto Safi. She heard nothing else, she felt nothing else. The firestorm ripped against her, lived inside her, and breathed with her dry lungs.

Then the glamour fell. Just a flash like before, but enough for Safi to see the full extent of the battlefield.

A ship splintered in half burned just ahead, great plumes of smoke given to the sky. Blood stained the water. Sailors clung to debris. Charred corpses floated by.

Habim had always said war was senseless, yet he had caused so, so much senseless horror here.Thiswas what Uncle Eron’s scheme had done, and it was not peace in the Witchlands.

Vaness’s bandage was soaked through now, turning the red crepe to almost black while more blood oozed from her nose.

Then the glamour winked back into place, and false peace shrouded Safi’s vision once more.

“Right!” Caden roared. The boat veered right. “Sharper!”

“Oh gods,sharper!” screeched Lev.

And Vaness’s hands wrenched sharper. So hard, they almost flipped. But Zander clung to Vaness, and Lev clung to Zander—all while Caden and Safi simply clung to the boat. Ash flew into Safi’s mouth. Her eyes burned with unseen smoke.

Then the boat heaved back the other way, and so the other way they all flew. Back, forth, back, forth. On and on, side to side while Caden shouted directions and Vaness obeyed.

Three more times, the glamour fell, and three more times, Safi saw wreckage and death and blood smearing from the Empress’s nose. Then they left the glamour behind entirely. Between one breath and the next, Safi could see again. The Empress could see again—and abruptly, she sat taller.