that his magic would be strengthened by its power.”
The monk’s mouth dropped open and he passed a hand over his face, as if in disbelief. “He and the demon share his living flesh?”
Saxen nodded.
Kelir’s eyes narrowed. “The viswan resided at this monastery?”
Shaking his head, Saxen said, “I was traded again to Radreh.”
“What did the monks want with you?” Preter asked.
He gave a thin smile. “There was a promise of freeing me . . . after they got from me all the blood they needed.”
“To strengthen their own magics,” Preter said with a look of disgust.
“Were they doing the same with the dragon?” Seri asked.
“That I cannot say,” the monk said. “I don’t see how they would take anything from that dragon without it allowing them to.”
Though she would be happy to speak of the dragon all day, Lizzan had been listening with an increasing dread weighing her heart. For it was not enough that Goranik was a demon. An even greater danger he posed now. “After leaving here, Goranik must have returned north, for we know he did not go south. Which suggests that after the slaughter at the King’s Walk, he went to the viswan. Perhaps seeking the wraith spell there? But the viswan must not have known it, for they came to this monastery instead . . . and then returned to Koth with the spell in hand. For he had seen that there were ice wraiths on the island.”
“And realized that Koth would have no protection against stone wraiths,” Aerax finished grimly.
Face bloodbare, Lady Junica looked to Saxen. “Does your father still serve the Destroyer?”
“Always he will. Whatever he does now is most likely in anticipation of the Destroyer’s return.”
Then whatever was planned, they could not allow. Lizzan looked to Preter. “How do we kill a demon?”
“It is not known for certain.”
“But demons have been killed.” To Ardyl, she said, “I did not fully hear the tale of your Scourge. How did your people stop it?”
Ardyl grimaced faintly. “By uniting our tribes.”
“But what method? What weapon?”
“It is unknown,” Kelir said, looking abashed. “The songs only say that the Scourge was defeated by uniting the tribes.”
But that was not the only story told of demons. Lizzan knew of one recently slain, the tale not yet warped by legend and time. “It is said that in Blackmoor, that demon was trapped in Stranik’s tunnel until the Destroyer reanimated it as a tusker—and that Queen Mala used its own ivory tusk to stab through its eye.”
“My mother used a blade,” Tyzen said. “When the Destroyer reanimated her mother, she struck the demon-queen down with her sword.”
Hope rose. “Was the sword of a special material or design?”
Tyzen shook his head and hope deflated. There was nothing similar between any of the stories.
“What of using the island as a trap?” Kelir said.
“Does a demon drown?” Lady Junica challenged him.
The warrior shrugged. “Perhaps one who inhabits living flesh would.”
“Then would stone wraiths drown?” Degg asked. “That trap would destroy our island for nothing.”
“Not for nothing,” Aerax said. “No matter whether it would kill Goranik or not, the island must sink. But it is worth the attempt to take a demon with it.”
Lady Junica frowned at him. “Why ‘must’ it sink?”
Aerax gestured to Tyzen. “He said that, ten years past, his mother heard a story that made Varrin into a monster. Who she heard was Icaro, telling to me the story of how Koth truly came to be.”
Heart in her throat, Lizzan listened as Aerax told them what he’d learned beneath the crystal palace. She watched as disbelief and rejection chased across the councilor’s expressions.
When he’d finished, Lady Junica shook her head. “You say that Varrin did not become a god?”
Bluntly Aerax said, “I say that all your family is imprisoned there.”
She flinched back. Visibly shaken, she looked to Degg with an imploring gaze, as if asking him to tell her it could not be true. “Do you believe this?”
Gravely the other councilor said, “How can I not? The truth is in the King’s Walk.”
“The battle there?” Lizzan asked.
“That there is a King’s Walk.” Degg’s jaw was set. “And that as every Kothan ruler nears death, they pass the throne to their heir and leave the island. Always before it seemed to me a ruler’s wisdom to give over the crown before they begin to decline with age. But in truth, they were escaping the same torment that every other Kothan would know.”
“So it must sink.” With tears in her eyes, Lady Junica looked