Nicci narrowed her eyes. “We are here. Now. But we need to know more about the Lifedrinker.”
Worry lines seamed Nathan’s face. “I am not convinced how much assistance I can offer, Sorceress—at least until we get to Kol Adair.”
Thistle sat cross-legged in the dust next to Nicci as she cleaned the fresh lizards for dinner. “Kol Adair? That’s far away.” The girl used her little bloody knife to skin another of the lizards, inserted a stick through the body cavity, and handed it to Bannon, so he could roast it over the low cook fire in the pit. Somewhat queasy, the young man lowered the carcass over the coals, and soon the flesh began to bubble and sizzle.
Bannon wiped a hand across his mouth while turning the stick over the cook fire so the lizard didn’t burn. “How fast is the Scar growing?”
“In twenty years, the entire valley died away, and the devastation continues to spread,” Luna said. “We are one of the last villages on the outskirts.”
“The Scar grows faster as the Lifedrinker becomes more powerful … and his appetite is insatiable,” Marcus added. “I remember when the heart of the valley started dying, just before Luna and I were married. But we’ll stay here. We’ve lasted this long.”
The night was silent, but the breezes carried an ashy breath with bitter chemical taint. At the scattered mud-brick houses or larger quarried-stone structures around the town, quiet villagers ate their own meals outside, keeping apart from one another. Verdun Springs had fallen into a sullen hush, as if caused by the mention of the Lifedrinker’s name.
Luna looked sad. “Verdun Springs used to have a population of a thousand, and now fewer than a dozen families remain.”
“We are the strongest twenty,” Marcus insisted. It was clear they had had this argument before.
Bannon said, “There are forests and farmlands on the other side of the mountains, plenty of places for you to settle and be happy.”
“It would only delay our fate,” said Marcus, with a stubborn frown. “The Scar is spreading, and sooner or later the Lifedrinker will swallow the world.”
Nicci hardened her voice. “Unless someone stops him.”
Thistle retained a thread of optimism. “I want to stay until the land grows fertile and beautiful again—the way it was before my parents died. I remember it … just a little.”
“You were too young,” said Marcus.
The spunky girl finished cleaning the smallest lizard, which she cooked for herself. She licked the blood off her fingers and left a smear of red on the side of her mouth. Nicci reached forward to wipe off the stain. “Your face is covered with dust.”
“We don’t have much opportunity to wash,” Marcus explained.
Giggling, Thistle licked her fingers and smeared saliva over some of the dust, which did little to clean her face.
The travelers had supplemented the meal by offering dried fruits and leftover smoked fish from their pack. The smoked redfin from Renda Bay was quite a novelty to the young girl, who frowned at the taste and announced that she preferred her fresh lizards.
Nicci got back to business. “Who is the Lifedrinker? And how can he be defeated? Does he have weaknesses?” Maybe this was indeed the reason why they had been driven here. She remembered the witch woman’s words: And the Sorceress must save the world.
Marcus ground his heel in the dust. “We don’t know the full story. We’re just simple villagers affected by that ever-growing stain. But we know he was a wizard from Cliffwall, and something went terribly wrong.” He nibbled on the last shreds of meat on the roast lizard, picking specks of flesh from the bones, and then he crunched the bones, appreciating every morsel. “That’s where you’ll find the means to destroy him—if it can even be done.”
“And what is Cliffwall?” Nathan asked.
“A great archive of magical lore. We thought it was a place of legend for centuries,” Luna said.
Thistle piped up. “It’s real—I’ve seen it!”
“You haven’t wandered that far, child,” chided Marcus.
“I have! It was four days’ walk up into the plateau, but I made it.”
“It was hidden since the time of the ancient wizard wars,” Luna said, “but it reappeared fifty years ago.”
The wizard raised his eyebrows and looked over at Nicci. “A great archive? It sounds like a place we should investigate, regardless. We may find something to help my … condition, even before we reach Kol Adair.” He stroked his chin. “As well as the background on the Lifedrinker, of course.”
Thistle’s honey-brown eyes sparkled. “I can take you there. I’ve seen it with my own eyes!”
“Now, girl…” Marcus gave her a scolding look.
“It is said that someone broke Cliffwall’s camouflage spell decades ago,” Luna said. “The location is still secret, but the hidden people who guarded the place invited a few outside scholars from the towns in the valley. That hasn’t happened in a long time, not since the Scar started to spread and consume all the towns and farms.”
The lonely breeze picked up, carrying more dust in the wind. Nicci heard the cry of a hunting night bird and something stirring in the empty houses. Unexpectedly, she saw shadows moving in the dark alleys between the abandoned stone structures. She sat up straighter, suddenly alert, trying to penetrate the darkness with her gaze.
She also sensed magic in the air—not the usual pervasive vibration that she could always touch. Since arriving in Verdun Springs, she had felt an odd and unsettling note that seeped out of the Scar, but now it suddenly swelled, like the flush of heat just after an oven door was opened. Tense, she rose to her feet and tossed the cooking stick and the last scraps of her roast lizard aside. She stepped away from the fire pit and out into the wide, dry street.
Before Marcus or Luna could ask her what was wrong, the night filled with screams.
CHAPTER 38
Things moved in the night beyond the quiet rustling dust. The terrified cries came from one of the few inhabited houses on the outskirts of the village, where an old man and his wife had been brooding outside by their small fire.
Nicci was already running, her black dress just a deeper shadow in the darkness. Another scream. She bounded toward the old couple’s cook fire, saw many silhouettes as the gray-haired man and woman struggled against figures that closed around them.
The attackers looked gaunt and skeletal, lit by the orange flickers of the small fire. Without thinking, Bannon sprinted along beside her, drawing Sturdy from its scabbard. Ahead, Nicci saw that the attackers were the desiccated remnants of humans, their skin sucked dry of all moisture and baked brown like dried meat.
Running hard, Thistle caught up with Bannon and Nicci. “Dust people! They’ve never come into town before.”
Three shriveled reanimated corpses closed around the old couple, who fought back with helpless terror. They had no weapons, but Nicci did. The sorceress swept out a hand and released her magic. A hammer blow of wind knocked one of the dust people into the air as if he were no more than chaff. When he struck the brick side of the house, his body broke apart, crumbling like twigs and straw.
The old woman battered at her attacker, raking the dried flesh with her nails, but the mummified figure wrapped its arms around her. Immediately, the dry ground beneath their feet changed, becoming no more substantial than foamy water. The desiccated thing pulled the old woman down, dragging her into the pit of dust until they vanished underground.
Seeing his wife disappear, the old man fought even more frantically. A strong blow from his hand knocked the mummified creature’s skull loose, but even headless, the thing grappled with him. The ground turned to soup beneath the old man’s feet, and he sank in up to his knees. He gave a despairing wail, reaching out for something to hold on to.
Nicci struck out with her magic again, the blow of concentrated air so sharp and forceful that it shattered the old man’s undead attacker.
But four more hideous dust people boiled up out of the ground, emerging from the
soft dirt like striking vipers, and together they grabbed the old man and dragged him under. His screams were drowned in sand and dust.
Nicci and Bannon arrived too late. The ground had smoothed over, the attackers gone and leaving only ripples of dry dust.
Bannon crouched with his sword upraised, alert for a continued attack as he turned from side to side in search of other enemies. Nicci grabbed his shirt and pulled him back from where the ground had become dry quicksand.