“Starting with the fingers? Smart.” Vesper extended his arms from where he sat on the floor. “I should warn you though, I’m a bleeder.Reallymessy.”
She gripped the rope and hauled him up by his wrist. With a flick far faster than he could react, she severed it with the knife. Relief struck him as the pressure ebbed and he rubbed his raw wrists.
Then she aimed the blade’s point at the bridge of his nose. Vesper’s eyes focussed on it, crossed, and his breath caught. “If you try anything, and I meananything, I’ll make you regret it. And that’s a promise.”
He nodded, still engrossed by the knife.
“Good boy. Now, come on.” She snatched his tunic and dragged him toward the door.
Vesper ignored her condescending tone as his attention darted back to Nef. “But she—”
“That stuff will keep her knocked out for at least another hour.” She seized the door and swung it open. “I have something to show you.”
He didn’t even get a chance to respond before she shoved him through like some misbehaving child. Once outside the cottage, they descended into a dark tunnel. And she was right, there was no bloodlace. As they walked, her grip lessened, and she eventually released him to stroll alongside each other. This was much better than the knife aimed between his eyes.
As the tunnel expanded to a cavern, easily the vastness of Ellynne’s capital, he could barely breathe let alone believe his own eyes.
Tiny homes and quaint shops wove in a spiderweb of livelihood inside the cavern. People with a variety of complexions and vestige colours moved among the buildings, carrying the buzz of conversation. The town teemed with life, andjoy, something the town above was entirely devoid of. And as he took in the magnitude of this place, he realized there had to be hundreds living here.
But when his attention flicked to the center of the cavern, he truly believed he may be dreaming. Over the heart of the town, colossal roots hung from the ceiling, as if they anchored the civilization below. It was the Tree of Eternal Blood he’d seen above—the one Morana resided in. At the base,Kennawith the blessing of earth healed it. Their vestiges, like Cal’s, pulsed in a blur of bronze, pumping their magic in great bursts as they cut themselves and bled. And their offerings sank into the tree’s root, which drank and shrank the people’s vestiges as the seconds ticked on.
It was grotesque, unsettling, and so fucking beautiful.
These people sacrificed their blood for this strange magic he’d always been shamed for. A pit formed in his throat and he had to swallow around it.
“They’resavingit,” Vesper said, his voice gravelly. “Why?”
“What did you expect? You think we would all sit around and let the world perish?” She snorted at the ridiculousness of it. “All magic is sacred.”
But yes. Hehadthought that. At least from the life, and selfishness that existed above them.
At the far end of the cavern, down the road that wound through the center of the civilization, a vast waterfall cascaded over the side. It led out into an expanse of crashing cerulean ocean, the same shade as the woman’s eye.
As Vesper gazed out at the sight of it all, this place didn’t seem possible.
But here it was. Thriving.
His eyes slid to the woman watching the town with such pride it took him aback. “It’s all so stunning,” Vesper breathed.
“It’s not bad, right? We call it Rensburrow.” As she strolled ahead, she grabbed his sleeve to yank him along. “When the bloodlace invaded Morana, some sought refuge here.”
She led him down the main street, across a wooden bridge that hovered above the knee-height water, and he trailed behind her, mostly due to her hold on his tunic.
Vesper studied the reflections of dappled lantern light in the crystalline water trickling beneath the bridge. “I suspect the bloodlace needs sunlight?”
“The bloodlace may be relentless, but, like everything in this world, it has weaknesses. The first being darkness. The other fire.”
Flame and shadow. As an idea surged, he bit back a smile, rubbed his chest, and pocketed the ludicrous, or brilliant, notion for later.
She snuck a glance back at him. “Luckily we had this place before Delmira turned everyone away and subjected them to that fate. Before they tried to destroy the bloodlace by burning the earth to a crisp.”
A cold shiver worked its way up Vesper’s spine. That land had certainly been barren. Was that why? He assumed it had been the bloodlace eating away at the soil but maybe they had burned it out of desperation. And if Delmira had—that was despicable.
“What do you mean they turned people away?” he asked. That wasn’t how the innkeeper had made it sound. But if that was the case—
“They rounded up those with the burden of shield like sheep. Promised them safety in exchange for their magic. But they didn’t know the cost. How they would have to drain themselves each day to the point of Collapse. All to maintain this ghastly shield that only some have the privilege of enjoying.”
As Vesper glanced around the cavern, his stomach twisted. To have those people on the cusp of burnout each and every day was a pain like no other. And had they let them die? How far would they push if one of them failed? What if the barrier slipped and bloodlace bled through?