The Heart Forger by Rin Chupeco

Author:Rin Chupeco
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Sourcebooks
Published: 2018-01-22T05:00:00+00:00

A new sound reached our ears—an explosion. At this, the bone witch abandoned her story to rush toward the window. She stared eagerly out at the carnage below. Large fireballs rose and fell, consuming the Dark asha’s undead by the dozens. Still more fire rained down on Santiang, and I froze in fear, imagining the asha’s efforts to protect the Daanorian citizens coming to naught should the city burst into flames.

Before anyone could stop him, the Deathseeker leaped out the window. The Dark asha’s cry was drowned out by the cawing of the azi, who swooped in and caught him easily. Kalen swung up on its back as it made for the army. The bone witch inhaled noisily, let her breath out slowly. “That idiot,” she muttered.

“I wonder where he learned that trick?” the Heartforger drawled.

“Shut up, Khalad.”

The azi flew into the path of the fireballs heading our way. A current ran through my body, sparks singing through the air as Lord Kalen’s magic took hold. Almost immediately, ice crept up around the incoming flames, freezing and turning them into rocks that shattered midair, their pieces falling uselessly back to earth. Every attempt by the enemy asha was quickly repelled, and the Deathseeker was quick to turn the battleground to his advantage; new hurricanes savaged the area, and what legions of the army had retained their formations despite the undead assault were soon dispersed by the whirling tempest.

But the army’s asha had not been idle; I could see the earth breaking up underneath some of the cadavers, saw many of them falling into the pits. The girl smiled, and I could feel the crackling of energy around her. The zivar pinned to my shirt grew hot to the touch. “Mykkie must have learned that from Altaecia,” I heard her murmur to herself. “But she forgets the one glaring difference between humans and corpses.” She lifted her arms, fingers moving deftly.

More cries and shouts of alarm came as the corpses reconstituted themselves and clawed their way back to the surface. Limbs reattached and heads returned to their bodies as the Dark asha’s magic took hold again, willing ashes and bone back to life. Now I saw the wisdom of bringing these undead from every grave she could find in Daanoris and burying them before the city. Already the army was demoralized and broken, and the daeva still waited beyond, refreshed and eager to participate.

The army retreated, carrying their dead and injured with them. I watched them disappear over the hill, while the corpses stood like rotting mannequins.

The azi returned with the triumphant Deathseeker. The bone witch rushed to him, giving him little time to respond as she took his face and kissed him hard.

“You are to never do that again,” she panted when they finally broke apart. “For a moment, I had forgotten that you were…that you were…”

There was a boyish grin on Lord Kalen’s usually serious face. “Call it payback from last time.”

“Shut up,” the girl said and kissed him again.

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