Ghost in the Winds (Ghost Exile #9) - Jonathan Moeller Page 0,132

her fall, but she still rolled and came to a hard stop against the bottom steps of the dais, not far from the massive Mirror of Worlds.

She heard the Padishah moaning upon his cart, and after a moment managed to push herself up.

Overhead a hundred of the winged creatures circled, descending towards the Court of Justice. Behind them came Callatas, wrapped in shadow, his death in her hands as he began another spell.

Chapter 26: Your Only Salvation

Kylon coughed out another mouthful of blood, trying to stand.

It was a wasted effort. Trying to move his maimed right leg earned him a wave of agony, and he slumped against the stone wall. Perhaps it was just as well. If he stood up, the rib digging into his lungs would stab all the way through, or his stomach might tear the rest of the way open, and he would die when his innards fell upon the floor.

That still might be quicker than what the Huntress would do to him.

He heard her overhead, giggling to herself as she descended, and he sensed the seething hunger of her nagataaru. There was no way he could conceal himself from her, no way he could lay an ambush for her. Even if he could conceal himself, she need only follow the trail of blood he left on the floor.

Her laughter drifted to his ears.

Kylon wondered if he should have been afraid. He was too tired for that. His thoughts skittered and danced, crumbling on themselves, and he realized he was becoming light-headed from blood loss.

Caina, he wished he could have seen Caina one last time, that he could have kissed her once more.

The Emissary had prophesied this, hadn’t she? She had said he would trade his life for Caina’s. Except that had been wrong. The Huntress would kill him, and then kill Caina, and there was no one who could stop her.

Damned oracles. They never could get anything right. The Surge had given him the ability to sense nagataaru, but that had done him no good. It hadn’t let him save Thalastre, and it wouldn’t let him save Caina.

“Kylon,” crooned the Huntress, still giggling. “Come out and find me.”

But the Surge had given him an accurate prophecy. She had said that the silver fire was his only salvation, and that had been true. It had saved his life in the Craven’s Tower when Caina had given him the Elixir Restorata. It had been true again a few months later when Kylon had used another vial of the same Elixir to save Caina’s life at Rumarah. That explosion had almost killed Cassander Nilas, had almost killed the Huntress.

The Emissary had repeated that prophecy to Kylon, come to think of it.

But why? The Elixir could heal him, but it would leave him unconscious and helpless before Kalgri. It would explode in a blaze of silver fire, destroying anything around him, but then he would pass out.

Could he use the silver fire as a weapon against the Huntress?

“The silver fire is your only salvation,” the Emissary seemed to murmur in his thoughts. “The silver fire is your only salvation.”

It hadn’t worked at Rumarah. The Huntress had seen the danger and fled before the explosion of the Corsair’s Rest killed her. She would sense the power and withdraw until the danger had passed, and then return to kill him.

Kylon blinked. He wasn’t sure if tears of pain or drops of blood filled his eyes.

He was a sorcerer. He was used to channeling elemental power in his spells. The Elixir was another form of arcane power, and its healing energy would howl through him in a vast surge of force. Could he control that power, direct it as he would a spell? Could he hold it back until the critical moment?

“The silver fire is your only salvation,” whispered the Surge in his memory.

Kylon didn’t know.

But he did know that he had nothing left to lose.

With trembling fingers he opened the pouch at his belt and drew out one of the crystalline vials of silver Elixir, breaking the seal with his thumb. At once the liquid within began to churn and boil, reacting to his presence. Before his strength failed, Kylon lifted the vial to his lips and threw back his head, swallowing the Elixir.

It burned all the way down.

The Huntress’s laughter grew louder.

A burning spread from Kylon’s heart, threading its way into his veins and muscles. He sensed the Elixir within him, the substance gathering healing power that it would unleash in