Rachel Aaron: The Spirit Eater

The voice began to laugh, but Nico cut it off.

“You said she died without a fight,” she whispered fiercely. “But you said nothing about her giving in. She didn’t, did she? She died with her soul intact.”

I ate her soul and gave her seed to Sted, the Master said.

“No,” Nico said, eyes wide as the revelations tumbled through her mind, snapping into place one by one. “That would make her less powerful. You would never accept a weaker servant when you could have a stronger one. She beat you, didn’t she? Nivel died human. That’s why you had to give Sted her seed.” She stopped midstep, causing Eli to stumble.

“Nico?” Eli said, looking back. “What’s wrong? What are you muttering about?”

“She was the master of herself,” Nico said, her voice trembling with wonder. “You couldn’t take her.”

Eli gave her a nervous look. “Take who where?”

Don’t get cocky, the Master snarled. I’ve been very, very patient with you, Nico, but this is your last chance. An image invaded her mind, a long-fingered hand outstretched in the dark. Take it. Take it now and I promise you’ll never feel pain again.

Nico stared at the outstretched palm and, slowly and deliberately, spoke one word.

“No.”

The image vanished.

That is the last mistake you’ll ever make.

“Nico?” Eli put Josef’s shoulders down and hurried to her side. “What in the world are you—”

Before he could get the last word out, a figure stepped out of the shadows behind him and clubbed Eli across the back of his head. It happened so quickly Nico didn’t even have time to drop Josef’s legs before Eli was knocked sprawling onto the leaf-covered ground.

“Eli!” Nico rushed to his side, but before she’d taken two steps, the figure from the shadows grabbed her arms and wrenched them behind her. She screamed in pain and twisted her neck back to see a tall man with pale skin holding her down, his eyes glowing with that horrible light.

“Excellent work, Sezri.”

Nico turned to see Izo, his lordly silks torn and filthy, step out of the trees. The Bandit King didn’t even look at her. He walked over to where Eli was groaning on the ground and jerked the thief to his feet.

“Do you mind?” Eli said. “I’m getting pretty tired of being dragged around like a prize at the fair.”

“Too bad,” Izo said, sliding a long knife against Eli’s throat. “That’s what you are. What you made yourself when you decided to court your bounty rather than mitigate it like any sensible criminal. But you shouldn’t complain. It’s precisely because you’re the prize everyone wants that you’re still alive. Though how long you’ll stay that way is entirely up to you. The posters do say ‘Dead or Alive.’ ”

Eli leaned nonchalantly against the knife’s edge. “I’m worth more alive.”

“That may be, but the extra gold is offset by the trouble you cause. Corpses are far less of a liability.” Izo lowered his knife. “Don’t forget that.”

Eli’s smile faltered just a hair. “Consider it remembered. So, what now? Are you going to chop me into bits and mail me to the Council?”

“Not yet,” Izo said. “First, I regroup my army, administer some needed discipline, and then I’m going to hold the Council to its bargain.”

“Oh, yes,” Eli said. “Me for a throne. It’s a bad deal, you know. I’m worth more than—”

The knife returned to his throat, cutting Eli off midsentence.

“That’s better,” Izo said. He gave the thief a push, and they began walking northward, into the woods, away from Nico and Sezri.

“You know, Monpress,” Izo said, “I can see now why my bounty is higher than yours. You’re nothing but a fraud, a little thief with a pathological need for attention. You don’t know what it means to have real ambition.”

Eli gave him a nasty look, but kept his mouth shut. Izo just smiled and looked back over his shoulder. “Sezri,” he said, “now that we’ve found the thief, we’ve no need for the girl. Kill her, and the swordsman. I don’t want any more liabilities.”

Nico’s eyes went wide, and Eli started to protest, but Sezri didn’t move. He just stood there, holding Nico’s arms in a lock against her back, staring into the distance like he was listening to something.

“Sezri!” Izo shouted, shutting Eli up with another jerk of his knife.

The demonseed ignored him. He tilted his head down to stare at Nico, his free hand moving up to grip her jaw.

“Did you think you could run?” he whispered. “The Master always knows where his children are.” The hand on her jaw tightened. “You don’t deserve this,” Sezri hissed. “He gave you everything and you threw it in his face. But I serve the Master in life and death with all my soul. I will show you what it means to be a child of the Mountain.”

“Sezri!” Izo roared, but the name was lost in Nico’s scream. With incredible strength, the demonseed forced her jaw open and pressed his mouth to hers. Nico’s eyes went wide as the connection exploded open, and Sezri began to pour into her. She writhed against him, beating him with her fists while her mind recoiled from the wrongness of the man’s flowing into her. This couldn’t be happening. Demonseeds couldn’t eat other seeds.

No. The Master’s voice was hard as iron. But you’re not eating him. He’s feeding you every spirit I told him to eat into you. The Master chuckled. Such a good, obedient child.

A look of bliss spread over Sezri’s face as the Master praised him, and the flow of devoured spirits sped up. Nico choked and gasped, trying to pull away, but her transformed arm shot up of its own accord, ripping into Sezri’s chest to gorge on the spirits inside him. The flow of spirits doubled, and blackness washed over her mind. Nico felt her control slipping as the tide of power poured into her. She fought to hold on, to close her mind, but it was too late. The blackness was everywhere, eating her thoughts, her fear, her control until there was nothing left to hold on to.

I told you, the Master said, I always win.

And then even his voice vanished as Nico fell into the dark.

A piercing scream ripped through the air above Izo’s destroyed city, followed by a pulse of fear that sent Miranda to her knees. She gasped for breath, clutching her rings as her spirits began to panic. Gin was on the ground beside her, whimpering, and even Mellinor was shaking. One by one, she got control again, calming her spirits with an iron will. When they were as steady as she could hope to make them, Miranda looked around. She was clearly not the only one who’d been caught off-guard. The League men had stopped in their tracks, and even Slorn was on his feet, staring into the distance. Alric stood beside him, his calm, severe face distorted in a look very close to sheer terror.

“No,” Alric said. “Not now.”

Realizing she would probably regret it, Miranda turned to look as well. There, past the northern edge of the bandit city, something horrible and black was rising above the trees. As she saw it, Miranda felt her spirits start to panic again. She wanted to join them. The thing was like nothing she’d ever seen, awake or asleep. As she watched, two more enormous black things rose beside the first, unfolding in hideous slow motion. After a terrible moment, she realized they were wings. Enormous wings, taller than the trees, reaching up with their hideous clawed talons toward the sky.

The thing jerked, and the scream sounded again, bringing with it a blast of fear even stronger than the first that turned her bones to jelly. When Miranda could move again, she looked frantically for Alric. Whatever that thing was, it was surely a demon. That meant the League could make it stop. But Alric wasn’t there anymore. The spot where he’d been standing seconds before was now empty, save for the telltale glimmer of a cut in the air as it vanished.