The Witch's Eye (38 page)

He sat for a
long time, weeping, collapsing in on himself.  He wanted to stop, but he couldn’t.  Grief coursed through his body.  He almost wished it would just tear him apart.

“I’m sorry,” Ankharra said when he emerged from the tent a few minutes later.  He knew he looked like hell, and didn’t care.

“So what now?” he asked.  “From what you
’ve told me, Danica and Ronan are about to lead the Ebon Cities straight to the Witch’s Eye without even realizing it.”  Thick grey clouds floated low over the sea.  The Rimefang’s waters had turned tumultuous around the small island, and the air tasted like cold salt.  “What about the Black Circle?” he asked.  “Wara mentioned they were the ones who attacked that other island…what do they have to do with this?”

“
Our intelligence indicates they were there to steal some arcane components from the Grey Watch.”

“What kind of components?” he asked.

“Navigational equipment.  I’m not sure how that would help them, but it’s never easy to know what those bastards are up to.  My guess is the Circle will make a play for the Eye themselves and see if they can’t harness its destructive energies so they can kill a few thousand people.”

“Son of a bitch,” Cross said.  “Why can
’t we track Danica?”

“Because the Ebon Cities
can
.  The vampire collective consciousness keeps her masked from our divinations.”  Ankharra led him past the Higgins boat.  “But that doesn’t mean we’re completely out of options.”

There were
around thirty soldiers, not counting the Doj and Lith from the Grey Watch.  All of them were busy packing equipment into containers and breaking down the camp.  The Higgins was the only boat in sight, but it wasn’t big enough to haul both the troops and the gear, so Cross could only assume the bulk of the force had arrived by airship.

“What options?” he asked.

Ankharra watched the camp, as if waiting for something. 

“
You’re not going to like it,” she said.

Cross followed
her gaze back to the tents that hadn’t been broken down yet.  Soldiers folded rods and rolled up canvas, disassembled tables and shoved everything into metal cargo containers.  Cross heard a blast of turbine engines from a transport airship overhead.  The bladed vessel had armor plating, gun turrets and a wide deck surrounded by hex wires.  Two Bloodhawks, smaller gunships with folding wings and heavy turbines, accompanied the larger vessel.

Ankharra
watched the last tent.  When Flint and Shiv came out she looked at Cross.  He gave her a hard stare.

“What is she?” he asked.  “Wara called her the
Kindred.”

“
Kindred are a new breed of mage,” she said.  “We’ve only become aware of them in the last couple of months.”

T
he airship noisily touched down, and the soldiers started loading the containers.  One of the Bloodhawks hovered low and kicked up sand, while the other circled high into the air to patrol the area. 

Shiv saw Cross
.  She and her father both waived at him before a young soldier showed them to the larger airship.

“Are they l
ike Fades?” Cross asked Ankharra.

“No
, actually, they’re more like Seers.  They can see spirits, both dead and arcane. But there’s something else: they can actually
touch
spirits, even though they have none of their own.  They can manipulate them.  And what’s
really
crazy is they can connect arcane spirits to creatures who normally couldn’t use them.”

“
That must be how Shiv gave Witch magic…” he said, half in thought.

“Who?”
Ankharra said.

Cross saw
the Lith woman in the distance and pointed.

“Kristei,” Ankharra corrected.  “Yes.  We used to think only humans
had arcane spirits, but it looks like we were wrong.  We’re just the only ones who can
use
them.”

“Unless you have
a Kindred,” Cross said.  “So Witch…Kristei…already had a spirit, but because she’s Lith she couldn’t channel it, at least not by herself.”

“
Correct,” Ankharra answered.  “But a Kindred makes it possible.”

“
Jesus…”  Cross’s chest went cold with fear.  “Do the Suckheads know about the Kindred?”

“
Yes,” Ankharra said.  “Luckily, so far as the White Council can tell only a few Kindred exist.”

Cross nodded,
and then hesitated.

“A couple?  You said they
’d started to pop up a few months ago.”

“Yes,” Ankharra said in a firm tone.  “And as soon as their capabilities were discovered, the Ebon Cities
started hunting them down.  Every unscrupulous bounty hunter north of the Ebonsand was looking for them.  Since the Kindred didn’t necessarily understand their own abilities…accidents happened.”

Cross knelt down by the shore
and picked up a skipping stone made slick with sea water. 

“What
kind of ‘accidents’?”

“Innate arcane abilities
were inadvertently triggered,” Ankharra said.  “If a Kindred comes close to a non-human with a latent spirit, that spirit might become suddenly active in the Kindred’s presence even without their knowing it.  The results haven’t always been pretty.”

Cross could only imagine.  He
’d heard some terrifying stories about young mages who’d never received proper training.  Sometimes loved ones were killed, or the mages themselves were malformed and turned half-mad because they never learned how to block out the incessant whispers of their spirits. 

“I
’m still not sure what this has to do with Shiv,” he said.  “How is activating the latent arcane powers in others going to help us find Danica?”

“It won
’t,” Ankharra said.  “But it can help us find the island with the Witch’s Eye.”

“Ok,” Cross said.  “How?”

Ankharra knelt down and looked at him.

“Your sword,” she said.  “You said it saved you.”

“And them.”

“Exactly. 
It saved all three of you while you were in the presence of one of the shards of the Eye, correct?”

“Yeah
…”

“
The Eye leaves a very distinguishable hex field resonance,” Ankharra said.  “That residue clings to living matter.  There’s little you can do to get rid of it.  It adheres to your body and soul like glue.”  Cross made a face, but Ankharra lifted a reassuring hand.  “It’s not harmful,” she said.  “But we can
use
it.  Because in some ways, this residue behaves like the latent arcane powers in others…”

“Which Shiv can activate,” Cross finished.  He looked out to sea.  “So she
awakens this residual power from the Eye…what will that accomplish?”

“
It’s a bit of a hunch on my part,” Ankharra said, “but I have a feeling that activated power won’t like being stuck out here all alone.”

“You think i
t’ll return to its source…” Cross said. 

“Exactly.  And with any luck, Shiv will be able to see it, and
then we can track it.” 

“
Holy shit.  You’re smart.”

“I know,” Ankharra smiled. 

“But can Shiv do that?” Cross asked.  “She can’t exactly control her abilities…”

“I was hoping you could help
her with that,” she said. 

Cross looked back at the camp.  The soldiers
had nearly finished piling the cargo containers onto the airship, which was anchored and hovered just over the ground.  Shiv stood on the deck, smiling.  In the time he’d know her Cross had never seen her look so happy.  She and her father shared a mango and looked up at the sky.

They think they
’re going home.

“
That means she’ll have to come with us…” he said.

The witch
hesitated.

“I
’m afraid so.”

Cross swallowed. 
His stomach soured.  He nodded, rose, and slowly walked towards the ship.  His boots sank in the sand.  Talon Company soldiers watched him as he passed; he recognized a few of them from Karamanganjii.
 

The
airship’s metal hull sparked with thaumaturgic currents as it drifted back and forth on the length of cable running down to the ground.  The sky grew darker.  A storm was coming, but no natural storm: there had barely been any rain since The Black, but some arcane cycle of pressure kept the seas filled. 

Cross climbed the rope ladder.  It swung unsteadily beneath him, but before he knew it he
stood on deck.  This vessel was much larger than most airships he’d been on.  Coils of rope, hammers, boxes, munitions, tents, and supply boxes were everywhere, still being hauled into storage. 

Shiv came over and hugged him.  Flint was behind her, smiling.  Even though they
’d washed, their faces were still dirty, and their eyes were lined with fatigue.  Flint’s thin beard was covered with grime, and Shiv’s hair was tangled and gnarly. 

“Are we going home?” Flint asked.

Cross tried to smile, but he couldn’t.  He looked at Flint, and down at Shiv. 

“Not yet,” he said.  “Shiv…”

“I know,” she said.  “You need my help.”

“What?” Flint asked.  He stepped up, angry.  “W
hat are you talking about?”

“Flint, listen…”

“No!” Flint said, and he pushed Cross’s hand away.  “No, God damn it, this is my
daughter
!  She’s going to live!  I…
you
…are going to get her home, you understand me?”  His anger was punctuated with fear.  “Eric.”  He took Cross by his shoulders and looked him in the eyes.  “Please.”

Shiv
was watching, her big eyes full of life. 

When Cross looked at her he
saw his sister.  He couldn’t help it.  He so wanted to leave those memories of her in the Rift.  He wanted to move on, to let her go…but he knew that would never happen. 

“I will,” he said to Flint.  “I swear to you I will.”  His chest ached
like a blade had been twisted there.  “But I can’t just yet.”  He looked at Shiv.  “There are things you can do, Shiv, things that few others can.  You’ll help people.  Maybe save a lot of lives.”

“What about your friend?” Shiv asked.  “Will I be able to help you find your friend?”  Shiv
’s eyes seemed to penetrate him.  “You love her.  Don’t you?”

Flint looked uneasy.  He sensed power in his daughter, and likely had
for a long time, even if he’d never been able to admit it. 

“Yes,” Cross said.  “You will.  And…
yes.  I think I do.”

Shiv smiled.  Flint looked at
Cross with a mixture of anger and fear.

“I
’m sorry,” Cross said.  “I really, truly am.  I wish there was some other way.”

Flint sighed.  He looked so weary, so beaten. 
“We were meant to be here with you,” he said with some resignation.  He looked at Shiv.  “She told me, on that first night after you’d been captured, that she’d dreamt about you before.  She’d dreamt we’d go with you.”  He laughed.  “Didn’t think we’d be coming
this
far, but…”

“I
’m glad you did,” Cross said.  “I’m very happy to have met you.  Both of you.”  He leaned in and put one hand on each of their shoulders.  “I’ll do everything I can to keep you both safe.  I promise you that.”

They hugged him.  Cross held them tight.  He never wanted to let go.

TWENTY-TWO

PASSAGE

The boat came to a stop in a coral-addled cove near the center of Rimefang Loch.  A battle raged in the distance as a pair of Southern Claw battle cruisers and some Bloodhawks took on a host of Razorwings and a massive vampire war vessel armed with spine guns and flame cannons. Danica heard bomb blasts, and the echoing rattle of gunfire.  Draconian voices echoed deep into the sky.  If not for the smell of gunpowder and hex energies the thunderous booms in the distance could almost be mistaken for thunder.

“I
’m not taking my boat another knot in these waters,” Rourke said.   He stood at the helm with his arms folded, while his men stood to either side of Danica and Ronan.  The swordsman’s cowl was up, meaning only his steel blue eyes were visible beneath his mess of black hair.  His loose cloak concealed at least two blades, a katana and a kodachi.  He had no firearms, but then he’d never really needed them.

“What the hell are you talking about?” Danica said. 
“We came all this way… are we just turning around?”

“Well, you see
,
there’s
the problem,” Rourke said with a wry grin.  “You two paid for a trip out here.  You didn’t pay for a trip
back
.”