Death's Mistress

CHAPTER 37

When night fell, Nicci and her companions sat around a fire pit outside of Marcus and Luna’s home, which was built from mud bricks. The house was spacious and cool, with a large central room, wooden beams across the open, airy ceiling, and small high windows below a clay tile roof. The large home reflected a more prosperous time.

Sitting outside in the warm dusk as they prepared for the evening meal, Nathan and Bannon told the adults the story of their journeys, and Nicci explained about Lord Rahl’s new golden age, though it was clear that neither Marcus nor Luna took hope.

“We can barely find enough water to survive,” said Marcus, “and our food is rapidly dwindling. As I told you, the other towns that once filled this valley twenty years ago are silent and dead.” He pressed his hands together, hunched his shoulders, and looked at Nicci. “I am glad to hear of the overthrow of tyrants, but can your Lord Rahl come to our aid? The Scar keeps growing.”

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.