Page 56 of The Study of Fire
“I’m getting there.” Leif rubbed a hand over his face. “When we exited the cave, we were ambushed by the vermin.”
Valek held his breath and squashed the urge to yell at Leif to hurry up and tell them about Yelena. He reasoned that she had to be okay. Otherwise, Leif would be grieving. The siblings were growing close when he’d last seen them together.
“We didn’t sense them. They hid behind a null shield and hit us with arrows dipped in Curare.”
“Hold on,” Councilor Shaba Greenblade said. “What is a null shield?”
“Another magic skill that the Sandseeds Story Weavers, and now the Daviian Warpers, have learned. It’s an invisible shield that blocks magic. The warpers hid behind this shield so when Yelena used her magic to sense if anyone was lurking in the jungle, it couldn’t pierce the null shield and detect them. Fun, eh?” Leif’s tone was far from jovial. “Thank fate Yelena brought along Theobroma and was able to counter the paralyzing effects of the Curare for herself and Moon Man. Together, they rescued us. But while we were under their control, the warpers talked about performing an ancient ritual on us called the Kirakawa.”
“Another ancient ritual?” Shaba turned to Harun. “These Daviian Warpers are originally from your clan. How many rituals have you been hiding?”
“We have not hidden anything. The knowledge about how to perform them was destroyed long ago.”
“Yet everyone seems to know about them. The information must still be available,” Shaba said in exasperation. “Tell us, Leif, what horrors does this one entail?”
Leif glanced at Roze, who nodded.
“I don’t have any details on how it works or why. But the premise is the warper traps a person’s soul in their blood. Then the warper cuts into the person’s body and removes their still beating heart. The blood inside the heart is tattooed into the Warper’s skin, increasing their magical power.”
Irys paled, then looked at Bain. “Blood magic.”
“Whatever you call it, it’s powerful. The warpers we’ve encountered are strong and apparently can keep increasing their power with each victim,” Leif said. “In fact, one man has achieved the power to stand in a fire without burning. We call him the Fire Warper. His command of the flames is unbelievable. We barely escaped.”
“Fire warpers and this Kirakawa ritual are hard to believe,” Councilor Ruy Cloudmist said. “Are you sure the vermin weren’t telling you lies to scare you?”
Valek had the same thought. Disinformation and psychological warfare were an effective strategy.
Leif stared at the man as he spoke in an icy tone, “I witnessed this ritual firsthand. My cousin Stono and my father were captured by a second group of warpers that had been hiding in the jungle. They were staked to the ground, and the warpers were about to pull Stono’s heart from his chest. My father was going to be next. Yelena ran into the clearing to stop them when a man appeared in the flames of the fire and stepped over the stone ring.”
“Yelena has no fire magic,” Roze said. “How did she escape?”
“With help. Moon Man, Tauno, and I provided a distraction. We freed my father and Stono. Yelena healed him while Moon Man and Tauno chased the warpers. The Fire Warper disappeared back into the flames.”
“How’s Stono doing?” Bavol asked.
“He’s traumatized, but he’s alive.”
“Did the others capture the warpers?”
“No, but they did track them to Booruby. Cahil and Ferde found out we were there and captured Marrok. Then they tried to grab us, but we defeated them and brought them here.”
“Where are Yelena and Moon Man?” Irys asked.
Finally! Valek almost fell off the rafter as he leaned forward.
“They headed to the Avibian Plains with Tauno to check on the Sandseed Clan. If all is well, she should be back in a couple days.”
Valek leaned his head back against the wall. He was emotionally exhausted. Yelena had headed into an ambush. Yet, she had her Soulfinder powers. Would her magic warn her in time? Every fiber of his being hoped so.
Irys glanced at Harun. The Councilor clutched the arms of his chair in a death grip.
“Leif, you’re dismissed. Go get some sleep,” Roze said.
Valek wondered why she didn’t inform him of the massacre. Was it kindness, or did she worry he’d mount up his horse, Rusalka, and head into the plains? Rusalka was a Sandseed horse, and they had a unique gait that allowed them to travel twice as fast when in the Avibian Plains. Leif would beat the Sitian soldiers to the massacre site.
“I call Marrok Ixia to appear before the council,” Roze said.
Marrok entered. He, too, appeared tired. His rumpled clothes were similar to Leif’s. His hair had turned white since Valek saw him last. Probably a result of being beaten to within an inch of his life.
