“You’re telling me you use your magic to gain an advantage in the
pahtia
,” Reisil said, understanding clicking like a key in a lock. “That’s why you’re willing to use it, even though it’s forbidden.”
“That is so. I . . . cheat.”
Reisil snorted. “Hardly.”
Yohuac looked askance, his eyes widening. “How can you say that? No other man can claim magical powers. I have an unfair advantage.”
“Over some, maybe. You said yourself, you aren’t the only man bred to have magic. But even if there weren’t others, what difference does it make? Would you hesitate to use your advantage if it was bigger muscles or greater intelligence or sharper weapons? No, you’re using what the gods gave you—sure, the nahuallis helped, but they can’t do anything the gods don’t really want them to, now can they?” Reisil thought of the wizards and the way they tortured their prisoners. What gods wanted them to do that?
For a fleeting moment she remembered that day in Veneston, the first time she’d seen plague victims. Sodur had lectured her about the old gods. All were vicious, blood-thirsty monsters, full of rage. When the Demonlord had restricted the wizards’s magic, had they turned elsewhere? To a less fastidious god? She shuddered. Of course they had. She thrust away the thought.
“And even if it is cheating, you’d have to do it anyway. Because this isn’t a game anymore to decide who is going to rule for a few decades. This is the survival of your land, of mine. And if it takes cheating, lying, stealing and murder, that’s what you—what we—have to do.”
Yohuac stared at her, poleaxed. His throat worked and his mouth opened, but he made no sounds.
Reisil waved her hand dismissively. “All right. Leave that aside for now. So in a nutshell, only women are permitted to use magic, but no women are allowed to compete in the
pahtia
, so no woman could become
Ilhuicatl
’s son-in-the-flesh. And besides, a woman couldn’t very well impregnate the rest of the female population. They needed a man with magic. You, or someone like you. But why in the Lady’s name risk it all to send you here?”
“If I do not return, then they have given their greatest possession, the fruit of years of planning and sacrifice. The Teotl will know what they have given up and will smile favorably on them.” He paused, his brow creasing. “I have long been the strongest competitor. But it is possible another with magic will succeed in my place Especially if he . . . cheats.” He brightened, startling Reisil. “I hope so, for if I cannot return, or if I am in no shape to compete—it would be well to believe the nahuallis had good options.
“The silver lining,” Reisil drawled. “This is all interesting to know, but it doesn’t answer the question—what can you do?”
Yohuac stared into the fire a long moment and then sighed unhappily. He lifted his hand and held it out over the ground, palm down. After a moment, bits of dirt rose in the air and began to rotate slowly. Their speed increased and more dirt rose. Soon a small tornado whirled beneath Yohuac’s hand. Reisil could feel the pull of the funnel. The fire flamed higher and then guttered as the spinning dirt pulled the air into itself. Reisil felt the pressure on her lungs and began to breathe in short, sharp gasps. Dark spots clouded her vision as pine needles, grit and pebbles stung her face and hands.
“Yohuac, stop!” she cried.
He looked up at her, his eyes shocked and fearful. Blood trickled down his cheeks and forehead where he’d been struck by flying debris. He
couldn’t
stop.
By the Lady, he couldn’t stop!
Reisil rolled up onto her knees, hearing her heart pounding in her ears. Her throat was raw and her nose was choked with dirt. She reached for her magic. It filled her raw channels in a flood of pain. She ignored it, feeling the ground beneath her knees beginning to undulate as the great pine that housed them began to uproot itself.
She loosed her magic. It surrounded Yohuac and the maelstrom, wrapping them in a ball like silk and white diamonds. She could have just siphoned off his renegade magic; it was the first skill Kvepi Debess had taught her. But to do so would devastate Yohuac, if not kill him altogether.
Reisil bore down carefully, pushing his magic back inside him. She felt his panic as he grappled for control. His magic was stronger than she expected.
He is what he was bred to be,
she reminded herself.
The seed of the nahualli magic. Of course he’s powerful. And they didn’t bother training him. Idiots. Being this close to Mysane Kosk doesn’t help either.
Yohuac strained against his power. Reisil felt him hauling it back as she shoved. Debris rained down on the ground as he closed himself off from his magic. Yohuac keeled over on his side, panting. Reisil sucked in a deep breath and then another, feeling her spinning head beginning to steady. She crawled over to Yohuac, wrapping the blanket around his clammy length.
“So you can move the earth. I thought that was just in bed,” she said hoarsely.
He grinned weakly and coughed, then slid his arms around her. “You should see what I can do with wind.”
“Well it’s something to work with anyway. The two of us against the
nokulas
, the wizards and the sorcerers. Should be interesting. Seems we both have a knack for destruction.”
“Don’t forget the nahualli—Nurema. And your friends. They are very resourceful.”
“They’ll have to be. They’re going to stop the Regent’s army.”
Reisil clambered to her feet, banking the fire. “I’ll keep first watch.”
“Don’t forget to wake me. You need to rest as much as I.” Yohuac waited until she sighed and nodded before closing his eyes. Reisil donned her cloak and crawled out from under the tree. She took up a position a short distance away beneath a narrow ledge.
The mist grew thicker, even as the rain pelted harder. Soon it was difficult to see more than a few yards. Nor could she hear anything but the rushing wind and the rattling water.
Her eyes grew heavy and she knuckled them, watching the mist slide in and out of the trees. She stiffened and blinked the rain from her lashes as a shape shivered into being before her.
Its eyes were silver and curved like a bowl and face was heavy-boned with jutting jaws and dagger teeth. Its body was muscular, fluid and sleek—like a lion. Its fingers moved like tentacles and were tipped with thick, tearing claws. Its feet were bony and long, with talons that curved like scythes and bit gouges in the dirt. A long tail twitched slowly back and forth behind it.
Reisil stared up at it in horror, too stunned even to reach for her magic.
Nothing remained of the man he’d been. His expression was alien, his body monstrous. Still she recognized him.
“Sodur,” she whispered past the hard lump lodged in her throat. “By the Lady, it’s you.”