Death's Reckoning by Quinn Thomas

Author:Quinn Thomas [Thomas, Quinn]
Language: eng
Format: epub, azw3
Published: 2023-07-17T23:00:00+00:00

Chapter 18

Itan

The flickering light of a candle on the floor illuminated the parchment in front of Itan. My fellow members of the Synod, he wrote, It will no doubt disappoint many of you to hear I have survived my first summer in Jaruna. What’s more, I have found several candidates for our order, the first of which carry this letter.

His grip tightened on the spine of his quill as he contemplated his next words. Traditionally, they would be full of praise for the new crop of priests. He was expected to give some background on how they had come to him, and why he thought they would serve the memory of Mirao well.

But his subconscious refused to supply words to give body to such a lie. Images surfaced in his mind of Ponto – his first, most promising recruit – using necromancy to stave off his spasms; of Heck disappearing with Elysa and returning with a mischievous grin but no story about what he’d done. And worst of all, Padme – sweet Padme – who’d offered to heal his arm of the damage he’d sustained trying to save the baker using souls she’d taken into herself.

Do NOT let any of these three join our order, he added below, underlining not several times. A necromancer from Jaruna has turned them into her puppets. With a growl, he tossed his pen down and ripped the paper to shreds.

“How did it come to this?” he asked himself in a whisper. “How did my life come to this? All I ever wanted to do was help. Where did I go wrong?” A lump grew in his throat as he contemplated the situation he found himself in. Next thing he knew, he was standing.

His naked feet padded down the hallway toward Padme’s room. He entered like a wraith; the girl was already asleep in her bedroll, sheets clasped tightly as if she was afraid they might be ripped away at any moment.

Itan shook her roughly, making her yelp in alarm. “I need your help with something,” he said. “Come on, get up.”

“Right now?” she asked, eyes half open.

“Yes, right now. I know you’ve been to Elysa’s home. I need you to take me there. It’s important.”

The girl frowned, studying him as if trying to guess his motive. “Why do you want to visit Miss Elysa?”

“I need to speak with her about… something.”

“She would be cross with me.”

“She doesn’t need to know you’re the one who led me to her. I’ll tell her I tracked her down another way.” He sighed, relaxing his grip on the girl’s shoulders. “Please, Padme. It may not feel like it to you, but lives hang in the balance.”

“You mean your life,” Padme said.

Itan would have chuckled had the situation been different. Just how much have those eyes seen? “Yes, Padme. I mean my life. And on my life, the fate of every soul in this city.”

She regarded him in silence, chewing at her bottom lip as she considered. Finally, “Okay, I’ll take you to the path.

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