A Torch Against the Night (An Ember in the Ashes #2) - Sabaa Tahir Page 0,75
am a Mask. I ride hard, and Trera, desert born and bred, eats up the miles.
After a fortnight, we reach the eastern branch of the River Taius, glimmering like the groove of a silver scim beneath the full moon. The night is quiet and bright, without a breath of wind, and I lead Trera up the riverbank until I find a place to cross.
He slows as he splashes through the shallows, and when his hooves hit the northern bank, he tosses his head wildly, his eyes rolling back.
“Whoa—whoa, boy.” I drop into the water and pull his bridle forward to get him up the bank. He whinnies and jerks his head. “Did you get bitten? Let’s see.”
I pull a blanket from one of the saddlebags and rub his legs gently, waiting for him to flinch when the blanket hits the bite. But he just lets me rub him down before turning south.
“This way.” I try to urge him north, but he’s having none of it. Strange. Up until now, he and I have gotten along fine. He’s far more intelligent than any of Grandfather’s horses, and he has more stamina too. “Don’t worry, boy. Nothing to fear.”
“Are you certain of that, Elias Veturius?”
“Ten bleeding hells!” I don’t believe it’s the Soul Catcher until I see her sitting on a rock a few yards away.
“I’m not dead,” I say quickly, like a child denying a wrongdoing.
“Obviously.” The Soul Catcher stands and shakes back her dark hair, her black eyes fixed on me. Part of me wants to poke her to see how real she is. “You are, however, in my territory now.” The Soul Catcher nods east, to a thick, dark line on the horizon. The Forest of Dusk.
“That’s the Waiting Place?” I never linked the oppressive trees of the Soul Catcher’s lair to anything in my world.
“Didn’t you ever wonder where it was?”
“I mostly spent my time figuring out how to get out of it.” I try again to pull Trera from the river. He doesn’t budge. “What do you want, Soul Catcher?”
She pats Trera between his ears, and he relaxes. She takes his reins from me and leads him north as easily as if she’s the one who’s been with him for the past two weeks. I give the beast a dark look. Traitor.
“Who says I want anything, Elias?” the Soul Catcher says. “I’m simply welcoming you to my lands.”
“Right.” What a load of dung. “You won’t need to worry about me lingering. I have someplace to be.”
“Ah.” I hear the smile in her voice. “That might be a problem. You see, when you stray so close to my realm, you disturb the spirits, Elias. For that you must pay a price.”
Welcoming me indeed. “What price?”
“I’ll show you. If you work quickly enough, I’ll help you pass through these lands faster than you would have on horseback.”
I mount Trera reluctantly and offer her a hand, though the idea of her otherworldly body so close to mine makes my blood turn to ice. But she ignores me and breaks into a run, her feet fleet as she matches Trera’s canter with ease. A wind blows in from the west, and she catches it like a kite, her body floating upon it as if she is made of fluff. Too soon for it to be natural, the trees of the Forest of Dusk rise like a wall before us.
Fiver missions never brought me this close to the Forest. Centurions warned us to keep a good distance from its borders. Since anyone who didn’t listen tended to disappear, it was one of the few rules no Fiver was stupid enough to break.
“Leave the horse,” the Soul Catcher says. “I’ll make sure he’s cared for.”
The moment I step into the Forest, the whispers begin. And now that my senses are not dulled by unconsciousness, I can make out the words more clearly. The red of the leaves is more vivid, the sweet scent of sap sharper.
“Elias.” The Soul Catcher’s voice dulls the soughing of the ghosts, and she nods to a space in the trees where a spirit paces. Tristas.
“Why is he still here?”
“He won’t listen to me,” the Soul Catcher says. “Perhaps he will listen to you.”
“I’m the reason he’s dead.”
“Exactly. Hatred anchors him here. I don’t mind ghosts who wish to stay, Elias—but not when they upset the other spirits. You need to talk to him. You need to help him move on.”