Death's Beating Heart by Hayes Rob J

Author:Hayes, Rob J.
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Rob j. Hayes
Published: 2022-12-26T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty-One

The next day we found Tris lounging on the corpse throne again. We’d only been gone a day and yet he draped himself over it like he’d been born in the damned thing. Despite that, he looked harried. He also happily leapt out of the chair. Apparently he had been receiving reports of troubling activity all day and was at his wit’s end as everyone was looking at him to help.

The cloud cover was killing the crops. Half the Forest of Ten was either burning or just plain gone, sunk into the earth. There were monsters prowling the countryside and at least one patrol of soldiers sent to deal with them had been found dead. Dead, he informed us, was putting it mildly considering how they had been found. I was just happy they stayed dead. Clouds of deadly vapours had started forming and sweeping across Isha. He had no idea what that was about at all, but he’d received reports of hazy mists blanketing the land, enveloping entire villages, and leaving nothing but corpses behind. And the ghosts of Picarr were missing. That last one was delivered as something of an afterthought, but it piqued my attention.

I set out the next day, but before I went I visited the Source vault. The guards there let me in without question. All our Sources, though I suppose I should say all Sirileth’s Sources, were clearly divided into type and labelled as such. We had many of some, and few of others. It was a fortune worth, either way. I noticed there were not many Biomancy Sources left. It had been a decade since the vault and its contents had been mine, but I remembered we had over a dozen Biomancy Sources. Now there were only two. Had they been lost, stolen, traded? I didn’t know.

I took one of our three Necromancy Sources, a small thing no larger than a pebble with two sharp ridges.

On the way out, I asked the guards who had access to the vault. The answers were predictable for the most part: me, Sirileth, Tris, a couple of Sourcerers Sirileth had in her employ, and three of Tris’ most trusted comrades. And Josef. I had a feeling I knew where the Biomancy Sources had gone and would need to talk to Josef again and soon.

I made my way down to the gateway Sirileth had created. A useless, if somewhat atheistically pleasing construction. It was functional only when at least one other gateway existed. In the meantime, I could access any rift I knew of with a Portamancy Source. And luckily, I knew of one in Old Picarr, though I will admit I was not looking forward to going back there.

What is it you fear you will find? He’s dead.

Ssserakis did not understand. I don’t think it could. It was a horror, built differently to us terrans. The Iron Legion was dead, yes. My memories of him weren’t. Trauma is a disease you can never be rid of. No matter how many times you treat the symptoms, it will always come back.

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