Page 19

Chapter

Sixteen

Liv

“ K azhi.” I whirled around to find the Guard standing behind us.

How did everyone find me so easily? I was supposedly the most powerful person alive, yet I was a walking victim.

What had she heard? Did she now know I wasn’t the powerful Ikhor like they believed?

Kazhi’s frame—shorter than mine by a couple of inches—paired with her stillness, made the hairs on my neck stand. Maev, who stood several inches taller than I, was also no match for the Guard’s dominating presence. I don’t think even the power of the Ikhor could stop Kazhi.

“The others search the city for you.” Her black reptilian eyes didn’t blink.

It was hard to focus on her. The stripes and lines across her face were dizzying.

The metal in her nose and ears shone with the little light coming through the cracks in the crates—dark clothing and black tattooed arms and legs hid her well in the shadows, blending her into the roots behind her.

Her thick, matted strands of hair fell down her back and shifted slightly as she turned her head.

“Do the other Guards know about you, Aethar ?” I surprised myself with my tone. I was angry with Kazhi for many reasons. “Or what about the fact that you’re a Day-leg?”

The corners of her mouth tightened, confirming the truth. It was a small victory to have some of the mystery surrounding Kazhi answered.

Maev rested her hand on my arm, trying to calm me. I couldn’t feel calm in front of the female Guard—I had no idea whose side she was on.

“I am surprised you know so much,” Kazhi replied.

“More than those closest to me. My brothers hunt you, following the Aspis’s trail.

I gave you the best shot when I sent you with this one.

And now here you are, back in our reach.

I believed the Ikhor would burn the place down before it would skulk in alleyways. ”

I balled my fists. She believed I was no longer myself. Kazhi had never been warm to me before, but I thought she might be trying to help.

“Why did you send me away? Why bother? It sounds like you don’t care if this place burns.” I didn’t let it show how much it hurt that I had lost more ties to the Guardian world.

“Because the snowflake here told me she was taking you back to lead their armies and stop the Council. You’re supposed to be our biggest weapon.” Kazhi pinned an icy glare on Maev.

Maev stood straight, holding her breath and not meeting my eye.

“Armies?”

Ollo’s message had insinuated protecting their people from the Guardians. There was no mention they had armies of their own.

“You haven’t even told the Ikhor what you’re doing? Who are you? I thought the Elders were sending someone competent.”

Maev sunk in on herself and didn’t answer, scared, and rightfully so.

Kazhi directed her attention toward me. “I believe you have the power to stop the Council and what they are doing in the dark. But you’re going to waste this opportunity.

” Kazhi sized Maev up, clearly unimpressed with our lack of a commanding presence.

“I don’t know what the Aethar have planned for the magic, but you know as well as I that every life is at risk, not from the Ikhor, but from the Council.

Take the Ikhor, get out, and find a way to use the magic to stop them. That’s your goal.”

“You don’t tell me what?—“

There was a knife at Maev’s throat, and the colour drained from her face. Neither of us had seen Kazhi move.

“I will tell you what to do, girl, because I have risked much more than you to get here. The magic is our best shot at stopping the golds in the Guardian City. Get her out of these lands and regroup. You’re only saving grace is you’ve not started the final battle with the beast.” Kazhi’s irritation landed on me.

“The Aspis grows daily, as I assume, so do your powers. Find a way to bring the Council down when you’re strong enough. Do that before you take on the Aspis.”

“Whose side are you on?” Damn Kazhi and her secrets.

Her smile was all sharp teeth. “Olivia would have withered at how you speak to me, Ikhor. I am on no one’s side, as no one has been on mine for ages.

My goal has been vengeance, and I will get it this time.

The Council must fall.” Her knife left Maev’s throat as she backed away.

“The Guards will rip this city apart looking for you. I will not stop them. I will not risk my advantage here. They are still my family, but I’m playing the long game with you. ”

“What of my brother’s airship? The one the Guards found surrounded by Southlanders,” Maev asked.

“Taken back to the Guardian City. It’s a fast ship. The Councilman’s daughter put in a request for it to be used by the Guards.”

“And the beast? Is it …” I was afraid to ask if she had seen signs of him .

“The beast is as told—a godly creation. It does not eat or sleep. It grows. Stay away until you take down the Council.”

“And what of the man it once was?” Maev asked, her eyes meeting mine briefly before returning to Kazhi.

“The stories are true. There is nothing human left. In its gaze is only rage. It barely recognizes that the Guards are helping it. It nearly broke Nuo in half when he and Bastane were fighting. The altercation irritated the Aspis. Do you sense the beast, Ikhor? Because I have a suspicion it knows how to track you.”

“I can feel it,” I confirmed. I was being pulled far past the city to the east. The Aspis must be in the skies.

“That’s unfortunate for you. The beast seems to be impervious to anything thrown at it. You may have a hard time defending yourself.”

“Has it been attacked?” I gasped.

“Constantly. The Aethar haven’t stopped coming for it—for us. Though they only use stolen airships and racers, they have a surprising amount of weapons at their disposal. Someone is helping them,” Kazhi said, appraising Maev.

“It’s not the Northerners. That I’m sure of.”

“I’ve considered the Council but can’t see their gain. They would keep weapons and racers for themselves. Something else you should consider on your travels. Keep an eye out for another threat.”

I swallowed my growing panic. “I’m assuming the Guards and Falizha’s crew have been able to protect the Aspis.”

Kazhi’s lip curled. “Her crew was left behind on the burning field. None have been heard from since. There is no one guarding the Aspis save for its Guards. If you think to test our might, Ikhor, I will ensure you fall before the beast does.”

“You’d kill your chance at taking the Council down?” I met Kazhi’s glare, giving her a Maev look .

“I would rather find another way to bring the Council down than have the beast destroyed and the earth burnt by your fury.”

“But you’re an Aethar. The Aethar worship me, the Ikhor.”

Kazhi didn’t blink. “I am as much an Aethar as I am a Guardian. And I am neither. It’s been nearly one thousand years since you’ve last risen.

The stories of your past may not hold the truth.

I’m judging you from your actions. Tell me, what will you do to the earth before the beast is dead?

You’ve already flooded half the Median.”

I didn’t answer.

“So I was right.” Kazhi’s head tilted. “You are the source of the rain, not the gods. Interesting.”

“Leave her be.” Maev stepped in to defend me. “She’s done the best she could on our journey this far. And stop calling us Aethar. You know what you are. You are Rydavian, betraying your people by helping those who invade our lands.”

Maev surprised me with her boldness. Even I couldn’t speak to the Guards that way.

“You don’t know anything.” Kazhi tensed. “History and legends are all lies. I am a child of this earth, nothing more. I suggest you ignore those borders your leaders love to create.”

I had thought the mystery surrounding Kazhi was diminishing, but it only seemed to deepen.

“How do you expect us to escape with all these Guardians watching the streets? They know we are here,” Maev argued.

“I know exactly what you should do.”

Shivers ran over my arms when Kazhi’s mouth tilted up at the corners. What kind of idea made the terrifying woman smile?