They reached Jasper, on the plains of Acra, the next midday. The group stayed away from the village, but from where they were on the plains, Rian could see something was different.
“The Sancta Knights that were keeping watch are gone,” Ransey said.
“It looks like the villagers are guarding the village themselves now,” Rian said.
Quidvis frowned, but he said nothing.
Late that night, they neared Isley. The gate was open despite it being night, the sounds of battle coming from within the city. Knights of Isley were fighting the Sancta Knights. An Isley Knight pushed a Sancta Knight from the top of the wall. The Sancta Knight hit the ground with a thud and didn’t get back up.
“Acra appears to have joined the uprising against the Sancta,” Quidvis said.
“We should help them,” Eiva said, a hand on the hilt of her sword.
Quidvis shook his head. “We do not have time. They’re handling things just fine on their own.” He continued across the plains. Rian, Halbert, Eiva, and Ransey followed.
They didn’t stop until Isley was out of sight behind them, the sounds of the battle having faded away. Rian felt strange, more than before. Was he about to have a sudden desire to drink the blood of the living?
Ransey was eating a piece of meat. Eiva had restocked the bag before they left Veron. Quidvis watched Ransey, who seemed to avoid looking at Quidvis. The next night, they reached Fern. The people of the village were fighting the Sancta Knights, but the knights had them outnumbered. Eiva and Ransey drew their swords.
“We cannot stop,” Quidvis said.
“They need our help,” Eiva said, running toward the village.
Quidvis frowned, but he drew his sword and followed.
Rian and Halbert stayed back, but Sancta Knights ran toward them. Rian felt more wrong by the moment, and suddenly very thirsty. Something wet was running down his face from his eyes. He brushed away the slightly cold, dark, thick red liquid. A Sancta Knight struck at him.
Rian moved to the side, the blade barely missing him. He felt two of his teeth getting longer, becoming fangs. He grabbed the knight with strength he hadn’t had before. Ransey pulled Rian away from the knight before anything could happen. The knight turned and ran, leaving behind the sword he had dropped.
Rian pulled against Ransey, but couldn’t get free of him. Ransey was still stronger than him. Halbert was saying something, but Rian couldn’t hear the words. The thirst was all there was. Quidvis was there suddenly, standing in front of him. Quidvis’s presence brushed across Rian, then swept through him. Everything went black.
The moon was bright through the leafless trees of the forest when he opened his eyes. It was still night. Rian sat up slowly, feeling a different kind of strange than before. At least the thirst was gone for the moment, but he could feel Quidvis’s power inside of him, a tight vise holding back his magic.
“What happened?” Rian asked.
Halbert, Eiva, Ransey, and Quidvis were there, sitting on the forest floor.
“You tried to drink the blood of a Sancta Knight,” Quidvis said. “What I did should stop that from happening again.”
“What did you do?” Ransey asked.
Quidvis looked at him without expression. “I helped him.” He looked at Halbert.
“I would rather you didn’t,” Halbert said.
Quidvis frowned. “You would rather be cursed?”
“Yes,” Halbert said.
Quidvis’s hard expression softened, but Rian could see it took a lot of effort. “You will be better off this way. I promise.”
Rian felt Quidvis’s presence brush past on its way to Halbert. Halbert cried out as the parts of him that had rotted away returned. When it was done, he was breathing hard. He stopped breathing again, leaning back against the tree behind him and closing his eyes, grimacing.
What was Quidvis planning? Rian tried to push the fear away, so Quidvis wouldn’t see it. They had to find a way to undo what Quidvis had done, but Rian knew it had gotten only harder. The All-Keeper wasn’t going to let them escape him this time.
“What happened to the village?” Rian asked.
“We helped them fight off the Sancta,” Eiva said, smiling a little. “I think Acra will help the other countries against the Sancta.”
Rian slept little that night. He didn’t dare close his eyes with Quidvis awake. They reached Brush the next midday and kept going. The call of a raven cut through the quiet of the plain. A huge raven swooped down, landing in front of them and becoming a woman. One moment there was a raven there, the next it was a woman Rian had seen before.
Eiva tensed. Korva stared at Eiva with vibrant yellow eyes, all iris and pupil with no whites. Her long black hair went down to her waist. Her fingers were like talons, with black feathers covering her hands, stopping at her wrists. There were a few feathers on her arms as well. Her long dress appeared to be made of black feathers. Her bare feet looked human.
Korva stared at Eiva with a deep rage in her eyes. Korva let out the call of a raven again. Ravens swooped at Rian and the others, but the birds pulled away before they could get close, flying back across the plains. Eiva’s eyes were the same yellow as Korva’s. She stared back at Korva without blinking. Korva frowned further.
“We have you outnumbered, Korva,” Halbert said.
Korva glanced at the rest of them, then looked back at Eiva.
“I’m not a threat to you,” Eiva said.
Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.
“You refuse to join me, therefore you are a threat,” Korva said. She glanced at the rest of them again. Rian thought he saw a bit of doubt behind the rage.
Eiva smiled. “I have allies.”
“We won’t let you harm her,” Rian said.
Korva scowled at all of them.
“You said I didn’t need friends,” Eiva said. “You were wrong. You were wrong that I am yours to control. I will never be like you.” Unlike Korva, Eiva appeared entirely calm.
Korva screeched, the sound loud and sharp, then she became a raven again and flew away.
“Do you think she’ll come back?” Rian asked.
Eiva sighed. “I hope not.” Her eyes had gone back to normal.
“We’ll be ready for her if she does,” Ransey said.
“Thank you,” Eiva said.
Quidvis was frowning. “The Raven Witch is a formidable enemy to have.”
“There’s no other way for it to be,” Eiva said. “She would never be an ally to anyone, or a friend.”
The group continued across the plains, reaching Derwen late at night. Camella had yet to return from Caerulis, but Gar and Promise were reassured by what Rian and the others had seen in Acra. Late that night, Rian left his room at the castle. He didn’t see Quidvis in the halls. Rian came across Halbert on the stairs, neither of them saying anything on the way outside. It was surprisingly cold out there, for how warm it had been other nights. The two of them went to the graveyard.
“The energy of burial ground is even more blocked than before,” Halbert said.
“Whatever Quidvis did is stronger than last time,” Rian said. What could they do about it? “I can barely feel my magic. I can’t even sense the dead.”
Halbert sighed. “We’ll have to figure something out, but if we do, Quidvis may just do this again.”
“Or kill us,” Rian said
“Or that,” Halbert said. “We should go back to the castle. We can’t let Quidvis know we’re trying to undo this.”
The next morning, Rian, Halbert, Ransey, and Quidvis met up in the library. The king and queen had said they could use the library. They pulled chairs to the middle of the room how they had in Veron.
Eiva rushed into the library, out of breath and smiling. “Camella came back.” She joined them in the circle of chairs.
“What did Caerulis say?” Rian asked.
“Caerulis will turn against the Sancta,” Eiva said. “They will fight alongside us. Camella and her betrothed convinced Caerulis that the Sancta has had control of the country for long enough and has kept secrets from them for long enough. The Knights of Chayer have already made a move, but the Sancta Knights have barricaded the doors of the Sancta. Also, Acra sent word that they will help fight the Sancta.”
Quidvis’s expression remained blank. “The only gods left are Vitir and Mortua.” He tensed suddenly, then his expression darkened. He looked angry to the extent the word anger didn’t do it justice. This was rage. A deep, unrelenting wrath. “Ilidu has escaped his Sanctum.”
For the rest of the day, Rian and the others helped the Knights of Derwen prepare. They left for the Grove of Sacrifice at sunrise the next morning. Chayer had sent word by bird the night before. Hopefully knights from Caerulis would meet them at the Grove of Sacrifice.
“Will Ilidu even be there?” Eiva asked as they started across the plains, toward the forest between Caerulis and Virida.
“He will be waiting at the grove to recover more of his power.” Quidvis frowned hard. “Or waiting for me to come find him. We must put an end to him before he can bring destruction to the rest of Ivrua.”
Rian and Halbert walked near the back of the group with Eiva and Ransey. Quidvis walked with the knights. A huge group of Ectu met up with them on the plains, led by Leaf and Blossom. The group reached Scutch at night, stopping to rest on the plains, but not for the full night. By morning, they were in the forest, where they met up with knights from Caerulis.
A giant was waiting for them at the grove. He was at least as tall as Trivius had been, but he wasn’t skeletal. He was made of fire and smoke in the shape of a person. His molten eyes looked down at Quidvis.
Ilidu laughed, the impossibly huge sound shaking the ground. “You have fallen far, brother.”
“Not as far as you will,” Quidvis said.
Many knights looked surprised, and so did the Ectu. They hadn’t known Quidvis had taken the form of an Ectu and come to Ivrua. Two presences filled the air. One of them brought a deeply terrible feeling to Rian. The presence was boring down on him, even with Mortua on the other side of the clearing.
Mortua was slightly transparent, and so bright he could only look at her for a moment. There had been a man with her who looked similar. He was likely Vitir. If Rian could see them, they must be showing themselves to everyone in the clearing.
Ilidu laughed again, shaking the ground even harder. “You and your weak children cannot stop me, Quidvis.”
“You were weakened by your time sealed away,” Quidvis said. “I will destroy you.” He sounded certain of this.
The battle began, a wave of fire sweeping through the knights and the Ectu. All they could do was get out of the way. Mortua and Vitir rushed at Ilidu, only to be obliterated by his flames. Rian stared at where they had been. Was Ilidu more powerful than Quidvis had expected, or were Ilidu and Quidvis just that much more powerful than the other gods?
“Did he just absorb them?” Eiva gripped the hilt of her sword tighter.
“I think so,” Ransey said, his voice quiet. He smiled.
Rian saw Ransey’s soul for a brief moment, only a faint flicker with his magic held back. Ransey’s soul was still dark and twisted. It tried to leave his body, but it couldn’t.
Ransey stumbled, frowning hard. “No…”
“It didn’t work?” Rian asked.
Ransey glared at Quidvis, who was far from them now. “He did something.”
Eiva let out the cry of a raven, becoming one herself and joining the ones flying at Ilidu. Knights and Ectu were already striking at Ilidu, but their blades went straight through his flames and smoke. Rian and Halbert had gotten swords in Derwen, but the two stayed back. Clearly swords would do no good against Ilidu.
Another group of knights entered the grove, with Percival at their front. The Sancta Knights joined the fight. Percival struck at Ilidu, his blade glowing brightly. The blade cut into the flames. Ilidu roared, the ground shaking enough that everyone struggled to stay on their feet. Ilidu blew a torrent of flames at Percival.
Percival couldn’t move out of the way in time. He and the Sancta Knight next to him were burned to ash within a moment. The sword fell to the ground, unharmed by the flames. A Sancta Knight grabbed the sword and ran from the clearing. The sword could hurt Ilidu, but he was much too powerful for any of them to fight him.
Rian had lost sight of Quidvis in the panic. Should he call on the magic of the Speaker of the Dead? Fear stopped him, fear of what that magic would do to him. He had a chance Ruari hadn’t, but the magic could consume him just as it had Ruari.
Something huge loomed behind Ilidu, a giant being of light. Ilidu turned to face the light just as Quidvis, the All-Keeper, shoved a hand into Ilidu’s flaming chest. Ilidu screamed, the sound echoing in Rian’s head. Rian stumbled back, along with most of the knights and Ectu.
The Sancta Knights stared up at Quidvis with wonder. The All-Keeper pulled his hand out of Ilidu. The flames of Ilidu went out, the smoke dispersing into nothing. The being of light stared down at all of them.