Sacrifice (30 page)

Skybright slithered along the smooth wall, trailing her fingertips against it. “This outer wall extends at least two hand widths below ground.”

“You can know that?” Kai Sen asked, amazed.

“Because I can sense life,” she replied, looking him square in the eyes. “And no living creatures dwell until three hand widths beneath the entire expanse of this wall.”

“There’s another way,” Stone said.

She and Kai Sen turned to him. Kai Sen was still guarded with the other man, but he was more open to listening, his posture not completely closed.
He and Stone had bled together after all
, she thought,
to make the divining stone work
.

“What is dirt but earth?” Stone grabbed a loose handful from the ground and let it trickle through his fingers. “We can make a tunnel by shifting the earth itself.”

“Manipulating the ground beneath and using magic on what we can’t even see?” Kai Sen let out a soft laugh that ebbed with the night’s breeze. “Now the possibilities seem endless.”

“This is only earth magic,” Stone replied. “With your powers in all five elements? The possibilities
are
endless.”

Kai Sen

Kai Sen wished that Skybright would change back to a girl. It almost seemed like she had chosen this form on purpose because she could sense his unease when she manifested her demonic shape. He couldn’t control it. No matter how smooth he made his face, her proximity in her serpent form, with the glimpse of those sharp fangs tucked beneath her upper lip and her forked tongue darting out, made him either want to run or unsheathe his saber. He would never admit this to her though, because it was an ugly truth. The angry, raised scar that slashed from the corner of her eye down her left cheek was a painful reminder that he had almost killed Skybright—had tried to decapitate her like all the other demons he had been fighting night after night. Demons that he and his brother monks were still fighting.

But he still trusted Skybright. She hadn’t chosen to be half-demon just as he hadn’t chosen to be clairvoyant. He wished they could spend some time alone, to talk without Stone skulking nearby like some jealous rival. Although she and Stone kept their distance now, there was no mistaking the ease and closeness they had with each other before he had intruded. Kai Sen hated that somehow
he
had been made to feel like the interloper in this strange scenario.

He trusted Stone as much as he would trust a starving vulture. But he was willing to work alongside him to close the breach and save Zhen Ni. He realized with reluctance that he needed Stone’s magic and knowledge to finish the task as much as Stone needed him. Even with their combined powers and Skybright’s abilities in serpent form, the odds were against them.

Skybright was slithering a short distance away. Her hair was wound up in two buns as she always wore them, but it meant her upper body was unclothed, her chest bare … her shoulders and her arms. There was too much smooth skin exposed for him not to stare, remembering that his mouth and hands had touched her there. Her red serpent scales rose above her midriff, stopping short of her full breasts. Skybright caught him staring, and he looked away, embarrassed. The sight of her was both erotic and terrifying. He felt lightheaded for a long moment, black circles flitting across his vision.

“Ready?” Stone asked, cutting through the thick fog of exhaustion that had descended upon him.

“What?”

“We still have some time before dawn,” Stone said. “Follow my lead.”

Kai Sen nodded. “I’m not sure how much I can help.” He hated to admit how weak he felt. But there was no point in lying. When he had been working the talisman with Stone, they could feel each other’s magical powers as they wove the earth element they were pulling together. Stone would be able to sense exactly how much he was contributing.

“Give what you can,” Stone said.

Stone began gathering earth magic, tugging so hard that the air tightened around them. As much as he disliked Stone, the man knew how to use the earth element. He manipulated it in ways Kai Sen had never imagined, had never read about in the books from Abbot Wu’s library that he had secretly studied. Kai Sen didn’t believe Stone was actually stronger than him in his magic ability anymore. Kai Sen could work all five elements of magic from nature, and the other man was limited to earth. Yet what Stone could do with that one element was impressive. Kai Sen supposed Stone had a few thousand years to practice. Still, he felt a grudging respect for him, especially as Stone was not shy in sharing his knowledge.

Kai Sen began drawing the earth element to himself as well and wove it into Stone’s strands. The man had pulled the invisible threads into a sharp pointed tip, like the tapered end of a calligraphy brush and sent it beneath the earth along the wall. Kai Sen’s own strands were thin, weaker, as that was all he could manage, but he could feel Stone’s magic, could sense exactly how he was using it.

While Stone forced the element beneath the ground like some kind of worm, he simultaneously thrust the strands outward, hollowing a tunnel. The earth shifted for him, as if answering to his bidding, moving below the thick outer wall. Stone tried to go under the wall’s foundation and into the estate, but their magic bounced back hard, making Kai Sen’s teeth clack in shock.

They had struck the ward.

Kai Sen cursed, and Stone shook his arms, looking angry, his face ghostly pale, tinged blue by Kai Sen’s globe of hellfire. The kickback from the ward would have hit him much harder than it had Kai Sen, as Stone was wielding the majority of the magic. Skybright hadn’t moved from where she was a short distance away, her gleaming eyes missing nothing. Her hands were clenched in fists at her side. The moon was hidden behind clouds, so she lurked mostly in shadow, but even the hint of that monstrous serpentine body made Kai Sen’s skin crawl with fear.

Taking a deep breath, Stone continued, undeterred. Plowing even lower into the ground along the outer wall’s edge. The earth churned, vibrating, a distant groan beneath them. Inspiration struck, and Kai Sen began twisting his strands hard, so the sharp point rotated as it burrowed, forcing a wider path. Stone, immediately recognizing what Kai Sen was doing, began imitating him, twisting his strands as well to increase their momentum. Plunging more than the height of two men beneath ground, they wove their magic together, in perfect sync, and then veered, furrowing straight into the estate.

The ward did not extend that low.

Stone grinned in triumph and nodded at Kai Sen, and he almost smiled back. In the next instant, their magical threads met no resistance at all, and Stone let the strands unravel into the darkness below. “We’re in!” Stone said in a low voice, edged with excitement. “The tunnel we’ve made goes below the manor into some type of vault or cellar.” He drew a sleeve across his forehead, and Kai Sen didn’t miss the trembling in his fingers.

Kai Sen wasn’t feeling steady on his feet himself. He went to the opening as Skybright slithered to them, and they both leaned over it.

“There is a small stirring of air from below,” she said. “But it smells rank.”

Kai Sen could not smell anything.

“Demons,” Stone said.

“Corpses,” Skybright added, then turned to them. “I’ll go in first,” she said in that coarse voice.

“No,” Kai Sen said. “It’s too dangerous. I can go first.”

She gave him a leveled look that made him want to fall to his knees and eat his words, beg for mercy. Instead, he somehow managed to stare back defiantly, even if his legs felt weak.

“It is easier for me to navigate the tunnel,” she replied. “My senses will warn me if there’s danger ahead.”

“She’s right,” Stone said. “And her venom can slay anything.”

Considering how drained he was feeling, he’d as likely tumble head first down the hole and break his neck. “I’ll be right behind you then.” Kai Sen gave Stone a challenging glare.

“Fair enough,” the other man said, steady as ever.

It was almost admirable, but Kai Sen still wanted to punch him in the face.

Skybright slithered into the hole he and Stone had made; it took a while for the last of her long serpentine body to disappear into the tunnel. Kai Sen followed immediately after, on his elbows and knees, the globe of hellfire lighting the way. Narrow and low, the dark tunnel was cool, smelling of damp earth. He glimpsed the red scales of Skybright’s tail ahead, and he scooted inelegantly downward, his head scraping the top of the tight passage.

His chest seized with anxiety; he hated small spaces, had always had an irrational fear of being smothered and suffocating to death. “It is not for much longer,” Skybright’s rough voice, lowered to a whisper, drifted up to him.
How did she know?
And yet, her reassurance helped, and he let out a long breath, concentrating on crawling ahead. He could hear Stone doing the same behind him.

But as if the God of Luck was mocking him, Kai Sen felt a deep rumbling over his head, as a portion of the tunnel collapsed on top of him, burying his head and upper body in musty dirt. He tried to scream, but earth filled his mouth. No.

No!

“Kai!” He heard Skybright’s muffled, panicked shout.

He felt the packed dirt loosen around him, shifting, being manipulated by magical strands. Stone was working the earth element to free him. He tried to help, to pull on his own magic and weave it to Stone’s, but his mind had gone empty from terror. He was exhausted, unable to draw a breath. Dirt filled his nose, his mouth, his vision. He would die like this, buried, too feeble to summon his magic.

Then his head was free, and he spat out, gasping, tears squeezing from his eyes. Skybright, unable to turn around in the tight space, was using her serpentine tail to sweep earth away, even as Stone continued to use his magic, forcing the dirt back from Kai Sen.

His heart pounded hard against his ribcage, fear thrumming through his whole body. He tried to summon a burst of air to sweep the dirt from his hair and clothes, but he couldn’t focus enough to grasp onto the wood magic.

“Keep crawling, Kai,” Skybright said. “We’re almost there.”

He forced himself to edge forward on his elbows, dust falling into his eyes. But he could breathe again, however musty the air. Still, he didn’t have enough wherewithal to thank them for saving him. He wanted to get out of that tunnel.

After what felt like a lifetime, Skybright stopped. “We’ve reached the opening,” she said. “It’s a steep drop, but the wall beneath is filled with footholds and ledges.” She slipped out and seemed to disappear into thin air. Kai Sen’s heart almost stopped as he scrambled toward the opening. But her face popped back into view; she was somehow dangling against the wall. “It is not a long climb,” she said in a whisper. “I can help you down.”

He drew a deep breath of air, stale, but still welcome after being trapped beneath a mound of earth. Skybright’s face was tilted upward, watching him, awaiting his answer. She had changed since they had last seen each other at the breach. The girl he had known had been loyal, practical, and brave. But she had felt doubt, often seemed to struggle with conflicted feelings he didn’t fully grasp until he learned that she was half-demonic. She had truly grown into her own since they’d been apart, was assured and confident now, comfortable in her demon shape. Her thick hair had come loose during the long crawl and floated in wisps across her bare shoulders, unfurling like snakes over her breasts. There was a feral element and an etherealness that distanced her from him. He desperately wanted to reach her, the girl he had known, and bridge that gap. But he didn’t know how.

“Are you all right?” she asked.

“I’ll climb,” he said, his voice hoarse. He felt steadier but at the heart of it was too prideful to ask for more help. And even harder to admit, Kai Sen couldn’t reconcile the thought of touching her serpentine body. He wasn’t ready for that yet.

She nodded, eyes unblinking, and shifted aside for him. “Be careful,” she said.

Kai Sen flipped onto his back and wriggled out so he didn’t plunge forward headfirst. He managed and found a wide ledge in the wall for his feet as he searched with one hand for another hold. They were in some sort of dark, unlit corridor, his ghostly blue hellfire providing the only light. It appeared to be empty. He took his time climbing down, making sure each foot and hand hold was secure before he took the next step. Dirt fell from his clothes and body, clattering against the rocks like grains of rice. He was halfway to the ground when he heard Stone say above him, “Could you help me down?”

Kai Sen’s head snapped up, and he saw Stone wrap his arms around Skybright’s coil. She had shifted so he could climb onto her like a steed. She clung to the rockwork with her hands, but the wall offered enough ledges providing easy traction for her serpentine length. She lowered her tail and Stone let go, jumping the rest of the way. “Thank you, Skybright,” he said.

Kai Sen almost snorted out loud.

That shameless bastard.