FIFTY-THREE
The shadow stalker attacked with claws and fangs, ripping through Ashyn's cloak as if it was the thinnest silk. She yanked apart the fastening and dodged clear of her cloak, leaving the creature still ripping into it, snarling like a rabid beast.
The distraction lasted barely long enough for Ashyn to unsheath her dagger. Then the shadow stalker lunged at her. She stabbed it--in the throat, in the chest, in the head, wildly stabbing, all her frustration over Ronan fueling her rage. She heard a snarl and Tova vaul
ted over her to grab the thing by the neck. Both went down. The shadow stalker clawed and screeched, but Tova flipped it onto its stomach and pinned it there, letting it claw and bite the ground instead.
I have to banish it.
But that wasn't her power.
It didn't matter. She recalled Moria's words.
They are tormented spirits. Not innately angry or vengeful but forced to be so by sorcery. Many spirits, bound together in false anger.
Meaning the trick was to calm them. Which Moria had done, despite the fact that calming was Ashyn's power.
Beyond Edwyn's lies, he'd spoken truth, too. Their powers were not merely spiritual--the empire simply utilized them for that. Which meant that while Ashyn might be stronger at soothing, perhaps she could banish as well.
She set about calming the spirits. Setting them free. Wishing them peace. She wove a little banishing power in there, as well, perhaps being firmer in her requests, not so much begging them to leave as telling them, in the most respectful manner. Combining the powers of the Seeker and the Keeper, soothing while sending the spirits on their way.
It was like untangling a knot of spirits. She would hear one whisper its thanks or apologies and slip away. Then another. And another. Some needed less soothing and more banishing. But with each that left, the shadow stalker's struggles weakened until finally it lay still.
Ashyn stared at the creature as Tova nudged it, making sure it was dead.
There was a shadow stalker in the imperial court.
How could that happen? While they took the form of smoke as spirits, they seemed limited in how far they could travel in that shape. Otherwise, they could have slipped into the emperor's chambers and killed him in his sleep and ended the war before it began.
When they'd struck in the forest, they'd attacked men there. At Fairview, Alvar had captured the town, making it easy to unleash the creatures on the site. In human form, they could travel, as anyone could, but this warrior wore the uniform of an imperial guard. He'd been possessed here, in the palace grounds.
And while you are considering how such a thing could happen, Ashyn, perhaps you ought to consider the unlikelihood that Alvar unleashed only one shadow stalker?
Ashyn ran, leaving her cloak behind and Tova to catch up, which he did in a few short bounds.
Ronan was only a few paces from where she'd left him, tackling another shadow stalker. Or, not so much tackling it as trying to avoid getting sliced open by its claws and fangs. And perhaps it was not truly until that moment, seeing him struggling without his blade--punching and kicking and wrestling--that she realized the full horror of what Alvar had done, unleashing those creatures onto a world where the common folk had no such defense.
Like her father.
As she ran--trying not to think of the court and palace filled with defenseless women and servants and, yes, children--she began her entreaties to the spirits in the thing attacking Ronan. Then she leaped on its back and plunged her dagger into its neck. It howled, but did not release Ronan, gripped in its clawed hands.
"Begone!" she snarled. "Begone spirits or the wrath of the goddess herself will consume you and snuff you out and your descendants will be cursed for all time!"
It was, perhaps, overkill. Blasphemy even, to presume to know the goddess's will, but Ashyn reasoned the goddess certainly wouldn't be happy seeing her subjects murdered by vengeful spirits.
The shadow stalker hesitated in its frenzied attack, and when she struck again, it released Ronan. She stabbed the thing in the back now, knowing it would not kill the creature, but it certainly seemed to slow it down, perhaps even weaken it. When she yanked the blade out, she shoved the creature hard enough to make it stumble. Ronan leaped, as if starting from his shock. He went to push the shadow stalker down, but Tova beat him to it, knocking the creature to the ground on its stomach.
Ashyn slapped her bloodied dagger into Ronan's hand. "Use that if it breaks free. I must dispel it without distractions."
He took the dagger. "I was trying to get to you. When I saw the creature--"
"Yes, yes. Now, please, watch it while I--"
"You came back for me. Despite what I did."
She gave him a hard look. "No, I would let you perish at the hands of a shadow stalker because I am angry with you."
She expected him to look chagrined. To her surprise, he laughed softly under his breath. "I truly do not deserve you, Ash."