Earth's Requiem(20)

They crashed down almost as soon as they’d left. “You weren’t kidding that this wasn’t very far. We could have walked.”

“No. We couldn’t. Look around you.”



Her eyes widened. Purple sky stretched from horizon to horizon. Dual suns were on their way down. We jumped through a veil. She swallowed hard. “Okay. Where are we?”

“One world over. You wanted to have a conversation about the dark. It is not safe anywhere on Earth. The bad ones have ears everywhere. I showed you a place we could talk. And now we are here.”

She mulled that over, shifting from foot to foot. Part of her training in mage craft had included the existence of parallel worlds that shared a boundary with hers, but she’d never been to one. “Is there food here?”

“No. Here is talk and rest.”

The rolling grasslands beneath her feet looked soft and inviting. She sank down, resting her back against a boulder. It reminded her of her rucksack, so she unclipped it and arranged the small backpack behind her to make her seat more comfortable.

“Do we need to use mind speech?”

“I don’t think so,” Rune replied, his ears pricked forward. “I believe us to be alone.”

Sending her magic outward, she blew out a relieved sigh when it pinged back clean of taint. “All right.” She was so tired, her words slurred. Too much magic. Not enough rest and food. “What do you know of the six dark gods?”

“Beyond their names?”

She nodded.

“I am sorry, human, but little enough. I was hoping you could tell me about them. It is why I brought us here.”

“But your last bond mate—”

“—tried to protect me,” he interrupted. “We spent years together. I was little more than a pup when she found me, long before the dark ones broke through. Our relationship changed afterward. It was then we became bond mates.”

“Oh.” Aislinn looked away. She could see why Marta would have tried to shield her wolf, especially since it appeared she’d raised him. Silence hung between them. She felt Rune next to her, alert, waiting. His energy had a vigilance that rubbed off on her.

“First of the six is Perrikus. He rules power and energy. His mother, Majestron Zalia, is their leader. Other than that, I’m not sure quite what she does. I came upon her once, and she frightened me so badly that I soiled myself. It’s like she takes hold of your mind, and you can’t think anymore.”



Aislinn sucked in a breath. She looked about and then sent magic in a tight circle to make sure they were still alone. The twin suns still clung to the sky low on the horizon, and the day was pleasant, but she felt chilled to her core.

“The other four?” he pressed, leaning close.

“It’s just I’ve never, ah, discussed them before. With anyone.”

“How did you learn of them?”

“Read scrolls from the Old Ones.” She bit her lower lip, remembering. “Metae hung onto them the whole time I was reading and whisked them into her robes the second I finished.” Aislinn’s mouth burned. She knew it was because human tongues weren’t designed to shape the names of evil. She licked her lips, but her saliva made them hurt. I can finish this.



“Adva rules portals and knowledge. D’Chel is the god of illusion. Tokhots is a trickster and master rhymer. Slototh is filth and all that is discarded.”

Her mouth felt swollen. So did her tongue. For a moment, she thought her airway would close. She pulled a water bottle from her rucksack and drank deeply. It helped a little.

“It is better for me to know.” Rune’s voice seemed as if it were coming from a long way away.

Her head spun. It was impossible to focus her gaze, so she closed her eyes. She gulped air like a landed fish. Something warm and wet laved her face over and over. It took a ridiculously long time for her to realize the wolf was licking her. Even longer for her to hear the wordless song he sent into her mind.





Chapter Five


Part of her was surprised to wake up. Before darkness had claimed her, she’d wondered if speaking those six names aloud, within the same few minutes, would be her undoing. The inside of her mouth ached. Exploration with her tongue and fingers found blisters extending outward in large pustules that nearly covered her lips.

Something sharp grazed her arm. She forced her eyes to focus and realized Rune had just bitten her—but gently. “Time for us to leave this place.”

“We just got here,” she protested. It was hard to make her sore mouth form words.

“The border worlds do not tolerate us for long.”

“How do you know that?” In spite of her discomfort, she was curious.