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.Not yet.But that's what's in place—and they weren't set by Landis." She paused."This warding is tainted with blood magic.""Arontala," Carina breathed."Could he be here—within the citadel?"Taru shook her head."Unlikely.The citadel is warded against magical intrusion—we can't just 'pop' in and out, even if such a thing were easily possible." She closed her eyes, stretching out one hand toward the encounter room doors."There is no avatar.And only two mages are alive inside.""Theron's the traitor?" Carina asked.Taru began to stride down the corridor."Unlikely.Although she had the skill to set the spell that killed Elam, she didn't have an opportunity.She was with me, and went directly to train with Tris—remember? And she was with Tris again just now, when Landis was attacked.Landis couldn't have been stabbed long before we arrived, or she would have been dead." Taru slammed open the doors to a small library, lighting the torches around the room with a word.She strode over to a large crystal basin filled with water that sat on a bronze pedestal.Carina caught up to Taru, breathless, as the Sister raised her hands over the scrying basin and held them, palms toward the water.Gradually, a mist appeared within the basin.As the mist cleared, an image emerged, as if from a distance, shrouded in fog.Carina gasped."It's Alaine.""It is Alaine's body—but not Alaine's power," Taru said."We've made a grave mistake.""What do you mean?" Carina asked, unable to take her eyes off the image unfolding within the scrying basin."Alaine was hand-picked by Landis, and her loyalty was absolute," Taru said quietly."But a few months ago, Landis sent Alaine to one of the other citadels within Margolan, before we understood the extent of Jared's treachery.While Alaine was at that citadel, Jared's troops attacked.She was the only survivor." Taru sighed."We were relieved that she came back to us—now I see it was a trap.Arontala must have broken her and embedded his own triggers, hoping that she might encounter Tris.Maybe he has spies in each of our citadels, on the chance that you'd seek sanctuary.""What's that around Alaine's throat?" Carina asked as the image wavered in the scrying bowl."That must be the portal for Arontala's power," Taru said."It's not something easily made."Carina cried out as fire streamed from the red gem, blasting against Tris's shielding."We've got to help him!"Taru shook her head."No one can enter or leave until one of the mages within the room is dead.The warding cannot be broken.Tris is on his own."Within the encounter room, Tris bit down hard on the rope vine, clenching his teeth as he struggled to hold his shielding against the blast of mage fire that burst from the red-robed figure's talisman.The hood fell back, revealing not Arontala's face, but Alaine's, her features twisted in an agonized grimace, her eyes desperate.Tris knew the power of the red fire, and the searching presence that accompanied it.That fire had nearly killed Kiara in the scrying at Westmarch, and it had sought and found him when he had attempted a scrying with the caravan.The fire battered his shielding, draining his strength as he struggled to hold his protections in place.Tris felt the presence find him.The glow in the talisman at Alaine's throat pulsed a deep carnelian."See your future," a voice rasped from Alaine's throat, contorting her features.Images flooded into Tris's mind, searingly clear.Within Shekerishet's corridors Tris saw Vahanian lying dead in a pool of blood, pierced through the chest by a crossbow bolt.The image flickered, and Tris saw a courtyard of gibbets, and hanging lifeless, Carroway and Carina, their faces blackened, their bodies twisting.Another image replaced that, of a forest of pikes set into the ground.Fixed on the stakes, impaled alive, Tris saw Soterius, Gabriel, and Mikhail, saw the dawn break and saw the agony of the vayash morn as the daylight burned them, saw Soterius writhe in pain that did not end with the light of day.Once more the sending pulsed and the image shifted.This time Tris saw Kiara, battered and drugged, given to Jared for his pleasure."This is Margolan's future," the voice hissed, seeming to come from both around him and inside his own head, deafeningly loud, impossible to shut out [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
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.Not yet.But that's what's in place—and they weren't set by Landis." She paused."This warding is tainted with blood magic.""Arontala," Carina breathed."Could he be here—within the citadel?"Taru shook her head."Unlikely.The citadel is warded against magical intrusion—we can't just 'pop' in and out, even if such a thing were easily possible." She closed her eyes, stretching out one hand toward the encounter room doors."There is no avatar.And only two mages are alive inside.""Theron's the traitor?" Carina asked.Taru began to stride down the corridor."Unlikely.Although she had the skill to set the spell that killed Elam, she didn't have an opportunity.She was with me, and went directly to train with Tris—remember? And she was with Tris again just now, when Landis was attacked.Landis couldn't have been stabbed long before we arrived, or she would have been dead." Taru slammed open the doors to a small library, lighting the torches around the room with a word.She strode over to a large crystal basin filled with water that sat on a bronze pedestal.Carina caught up to Taru, breathless, as the Sister raised her hands over the scrying basin and held them, palms toward the water.Gradually, a mist appeared within the basin.As the mist cleared, an image emerged, as if from a distance, shrouded in fog.Carina gasped."It's Alaine.""It is Alaine's body—but not Alaine's power," Taru said."We've made a grave mistake.""What do you mean?" Carina asked, unable to take her eyes off the image unfolding within the scrying basin."Alaine was hand-picked by Landis, and her loyalty was absolute," Taru said quietly."But a few months ago, Landis sent Alaine to one of the other citadels within Margolan, before we understood the extent of Jared's treachery.While Alaine was at that citadel, Jared's troops attacked.She was the only survivor." Taru sighed."We were relieved that she came back to us—now I see it was a trap.Arontala must have broken her and embedded his own triggers, hoping that she might encounter Tris.Maybe he has spies in each of our citadels, on the chance that you'd seek sanctuary.""What's that around Alaine's throat?" Carina asked as the image wavered in the scrying bowl."That must be the portal for Arontala's power," Taru said."It's not something easily made."Carina cried out as fire streamed from the red gem, blasting against Tris's shielding."We've got to help him!"Taru shook her head."No one can enter or leave until one of the mages within the room is dead.The warding cannot be broken.Tris is on his own."Within the encounter room, Tris bit down hard on the rope vine, clenching his teeth as he struggled to hold his shielding against the blast of mage fire that burst from the red-robed figure's talisman.The hood fell back, revealing not Arontala's face, but Alaine's, her features twisted in an agonized grimace, her eyes desperate.Tris knew the power of the red fire, and the searching presence that accompanied it.That fire had nearly killed Kiara in the scrying at Westmarch, and it had sought and found him when he had attempted a scrying with the caravan.The fire battered his shielding, draining his strength as he struggled to hold his protections in place.Tris felt the presence find him.The glow in the talisman at Alaine's throat pulsed a deep carnelian."See your future," a voice rasped from Alaine's throat, contorting her features.Images flooded into Tris's mind, searingly clear.Within Shekerishet's corridors Tris saw Vahanian lying dead in a pool of blood, pierced through the chest by a crossbow bolt.The image flickered, and Tris saw a courtyard of gibbets, and hanging lifeless, Carroway and Carina, their faces blackened, their bodies twisting.Another image replaced that, of a forest of pikes set into the ground.Fixed on the stakes, impaled alive, Tris saw Soterius, Gabriel, and Mikhail, saw the dawn break and saw the agony of the vayash morn as the daylight burned them, saw Soterius writhe in pain that did not end with the light of day.Once more the sending pulsed and the image shifted.This time Tris saw Kiara, battered and drugged, given to Jared for his pleasure."This is Margolan's future," the voice hissed, seeming to come from both around him and inside his own head, deafeningly loud, impossible to shut out [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]