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‘Really?’ Sheraptus asked, levelling fingers of his own ‘You kno this will end’
‘I do,’ the boy grunted
‘You want to go ahead with it?’
‘I do’
‘For your … Venariulanced over his shoulder, towards his cabin, and smiled ‘Ah, I see The tall one?’
‘If you touched her …’
‘I did,’ he said, turning his smile upon the boy ‘There’s more to her than you could know, little moth There’s more I will learn from her And I will do it slowly’
It was a screary, wild The electricity that launched fro out in a wild, twisting tongue It was only the sheer inaccuracy of his aim that allowed the sparks to fly past a purple hand ainst a shoulder
The longface hissed and recoiled It had done no da face’s ebon robe He supposed it was the indignity of the blow, an electric slap in the face, that caused Sheraptus’ visage to screw up in fury, his eyes to becory miniature suns
‘Pity,’ he hissed as he raised a hand and levelled it at the boy, ‘that she didn’t see that’
It occurred to Dreadaeleon that such a blow shouldn’t feel quite as satisfying as it did Even if it had done any discernible da the rise of the netherlings
Slowly, shaking blood fro curses between their teeth, those reered to their feet with murder in their eyes His companions remained lost to unconsciousness and the sea respectively Sheraptus’ fingers began to crackle with blue sparks just as his eyes went alight with red
He was going to die, Dreadaeleon realised And all he had done was sully a robe a little
Still, he thought with a s he had been in a coo, this didn’t feel like such a bad note to end on
His only concern hy it was taking so long
Sheraptus’ face twitched, neck jerked, as though a gnat were buzzing in his ear every e the lethal electricity and reduce Dreadaeleon to a sered in the boy’s head, too annoying to allow hiht It chilled hi with each breath
Even before he felt the shadow sail over the deck, he recognised the presence of another wizard
That hardly kept his jaw fro slack as his eyes rose to the sky, followed by a dozen hites and two narrowed orange slits The presence of the newco the seas to churn and the ht on him
Beneath a broad-brih in the sky A coat fanned out into leathery wings behind a tall and slender body, flapping to keep hie on the deck At his hip hung a dense toil of authority
A sigil of the Venarium
‘Oh, hell,’ Dreadaeleon whispered, ‘a Librarian’
‘It’s quite rude to co yourself with that particular presence, sir,’ Sheraptus snarled to thein nised The power roiling from the Librarian was faint, but constant, worn like the easy mantle of authority that settled about his features It was a power that came from no crown or stone, but from years of practice and merciless discipline
‘Bralston,’ the man spoke by way of callous introduction ‘Librarian under the authority of Lector Annis of the Cier’Djaal Venariuone, lethal force authorised and pre-absolved’ His eyes ran over the scene with cool surveillance ‘I have co a violator of the laws of Venarie A heretic’
His gaze shifted fro on the purple creature with electricity dancing effortlessly on his fingers and the fire burning on his brow and in his eyes Sheraptus recoiled, offended
‘What makes you so sure it’s ular chance for absolution,’ Bralston said, descending to the deck ‘Surrender your body for research and your crimes will be considered absolved’
‘No one,’ a nearby netherling snarled, stalking to impose herself between Sheraptus and the Librarian, ‘speaks to the Master like--’
‘Offered and declined Noted’
With one smooth movement, Bralston doffed his hat and uttered a word before tossing it gently at the longface The steel ring within instantly sprouted several glistening thorns that gnashed together with harsh, grating noise It caught the netherling in the face, her screams muffled behind the leather as its brian to noisily chew
‘Carnivorous hat,’ Sheraptus noted as the fearment ‘Impressive’
‘Librarian!’ Dreadaeleon called out, finding his nerve and voice at once ‘Wait!’
‘All involved parties will be questioned pending execution,’ Bralston replied, his eyes burning with cri with flanised two of those words,’ Sheraptus said, aze and hand alike ‘Oh, my friend, I have so much to learn from you’
Thirty-Two
MERCY IS FOR THE DENSE
The din outside the cabin was enough to shake the ship There had been the clash of metal and the roar of battle, a briefwail that caused the panes of glass to crack in their portholes and the doors to threaten to buckle under the pressure Now, the snarling, roaring, grunting, clanging, hissing ruckus of fighting had resumed in earnest
Each noise clamoured to be heard over the others, and each told Kataria nothing in their haste to tell her everything
The din inside her head was stillThe fear, the doubt and the frustration that twisted inside her skull like so h without the voice of instinct, of the Howling, of the shict she knew to be speaking to her through it, echoing in her brain
Survive, it told her Shicts survive Shicts preserve Shicts cure You are a shict You have a duty to your people She found it hard to ignore the voice Ignore the human Her duty is to live and die Your survival is worth more
Especially when she couldn’t find the will to agree with it
The will of the unseen shict canore as it was to stop breathing Yet for every time it bade her to look within herself, she found her eyes all the ure in the corner
Asper was still alive, though her shallow breathing and still body did not do much to support it The priestess did not move, did not speak, did not sohad left her body and left her nothing more than a pile of li on soft, silent breaths