He heard the crunch of boots behind him, but he did not take his eyes from the blade until the last of the golden light faded out completely.
“A noble sword,” Slorn said, his voice soft by Alric’s ear. “One of the finest I ever made.”
Alric nodded, but said nothing. Slorn knelt down beside him. “I know it will be no replacement, but I can make you another blade.”
“I don’t need another blade,” Alric said, sliding his ravaged sword back into its sheath.
Slorn left it at that. “You should see to your wounds.”
“What,” Alric said, “and leave the seed to you?”
Slorn stiffened. “That is not what I meant, but it is Nivel’s seed.” He turned his bear head, staring at the long, black shape lying in the demon’s dusty remains. “It is all I have left of our work together, of our lives. If I was ever kind to you, Alric, if our work ever opened a door of thought in your mind, you will let me study it a moment before you lock it away.”
Alric heaved a deep sigh and waved him on. Slorn stood with a murmur of thanks and walked over to kneel by the seed, staring at it with an intensity Alric had never seen.
“You really should do something about that shoulder,” said a voice behind him. “You’re bleeding everywhere.”
He looked back to see Miranda hovering at the edge of the crater.
“Thank you for your concern, Spiritualist,” he said, pushing himself up. “But your worry is wasted. I am very hard to kill. It is my gift.”
Miranda frowned. “Your gift?”
Alric smiled. It was refreshing to meet someone who didn’t know all the secrets for once. “The League requires great sacrifices of its members. To counterbalance this, the Lord of Storms bestows gifts upon us. Some men choose power, others choose invulnerability. I chose eternal life.”
“You mean you can’t be killed?” Miranda said, impressed.
Alric frowned. “There is a wide difference between eternal life and invulnerability to death. I can be killed just like any other man, given enough damage, but over the years I’ve gotten fairly good at staying alive. Don’t worry, it will take more than this to kill me.”
He left her pondering that and walked off to gather what was left of his men. There was much to clean up before the day was done.
“Eternal life,” Miranda said, shaking her head. “No wonder he’s always so smug. I’d be smug too if I knew I was going to survive most anything.”
“Well, I don’t like it,” Mellinor said. “The only defense most spirits have against humans is your short lives. No matter how bad it gets, we can always outlast you. An immortal wizard sounds like a disaster to me. Thank goodness he’s working for the League and not trying to rule some spirit domain somewhere.”
Miranda was slightly insulted by that train of logic, but she held her tongue, turning instead to see how Gin was faring.
“Find anything?”
“I’ve got Eli’s scent,” Gin said, running his nose along the ground. “No trail yet, though.” A little dust cloud rose up as he spoke, and Gin sneezed several times. “This is a horrible place to be looking,” he snorted. “The dirt’s so jumpy it’s flinging itself up my nose. We’ll have to wait until the League calms things down before I can get a good fix.”
Miranda sighed in frustration. “The trail will be stone cold by then.”
“Even I can’t work miracles,” Gin said, lashing his tail.
“Sorry, sorry,” Miranda grumbled. “It’s just that every single time I get close to catching Eli, something horrendous happens, and it’s getting really old.”
“Don’t worry, we’ll catch him,” Gin said. “Sparrow had him last, remember? Much as I can’t stand him, the bird boy is just as sly as the thief. It’ll all work itself out.”
“I hope so,” Miranda said. “Because if I have to go back to Zarin empty-handed one more time, I think I’ll cry.”
Gin whimpered sympathetically and went back to sniffing. Miranda strolled along beside him, searching the destroyed town for a clue, any clue, the thief might have left behind.
CHAPTER
20
Nico and Eli found Josef buried beneath a collapsed house. He was unconscious and bleeding badly, but miraculously unbroken.
“Probably because he was out before he hit,” Eli said, grabbing the swordsman by his arms. “Going limp saves your bones, though I can’t vouch for the rest of him.”
Nico nodded, pushing a beam off the Heart, which was lying in a crater of its own about ten feet away. When she had the path clear, she grabbed Josef’s feet and they hauled him over to his sword.