The Fires of Vengeance (The Burning, #2)

by Evan Winter

The Lesser stared at her sister like no one else existed in all the world, and Esi saw it then. It was faint, but she could see it running horizontally between them, moving as if it were alive, spiraling like the pillars of fire the guardians spit. It was a dark and grotesque energy and it leashed them to each other. Her quiet voice saw it too and, in its dolor, came closer to overpowering her than it had since she was a girl. Run, it told her, run, run, run.

She hated that the Nobles around the circle, who had begun to hang their heads, and the Lessers, who were raising theirs, couldn’t see what it was that Tsiora’s champion truly sought. Like Isihogo’s demons, he wanted to destroy the way of the world, and like them and everything else evil, he had to be stopped.

Esi had missed her mark. She came close to collapsing. The Goddess wanted too much from her, but Bas needed her too, and it was him who she could not fail. In shaking hands, she drew the dagger from Bas’s flesh, lifting it high into the air before slamming it down on the place where she laid her head at night to hear his heart beat. Her aim was true and Bas’s body spasmed before going still. Esi had broken his heart, and she watched as the life left the eyes of the man she loved.

At the last, Princess Esi, blood pooling in her eyes and blinding her, reached out to him before collapsing into his arms. She was light as a leaf, and Tau held her as she died. Her last words were about a little girl and the name they would give her the moment she was born.

“But, what if—” She kissed him, and he wrapped her up in his arms, lifting her from the ground and kissing her back, his whole being alive with the feel of her. “We’re right here,” she said. “So are we,” said Auset. Tau and Tsiora moved apart. “Don’t be shy now,” Auset said. “Not after all that.”

them hidden from eyes in Uhmlaba. To confirm her suspicion, Tsiora split her mind, forcing a piece of her consciousness to remain in the mists while the other part looked out at Uhmlaba with her real eyes. It was disorienting, and negotiating the time difference between the two realms always felt like it threatened her hold on sanity. “I see you, shaman,” she said in the mists, raising her hand, drawing power from the Goddess, and blasting them with expulsion.

Cek—Soulless.