Illir, she said coldly. You had better have a good reason for making a nuisance of yourself.
The West Wind bowed deeply before her. “All apologies, Shepherdess. I knew of no other way to get your attention.”
Benehime frowned. And why does a wind need my attention?
“With all respect, White Lady,” Illir said, his enormous voice shrunk to a shaking whisper, “my winds are in a demon-driven panic. I would never presume to question your judgment, Lady, but it is hard to quiet them while you keep our protector, the Lord of Storms, blowing on the southern coasts.”
Benehime’s eyes flicked to the tropical sea where the Lord of Storms was still raging, just as she’d left him.
He disobeyed me, she said. I will not interrupt his punishment for something as small as this. Tell your winds the League will handle it.
“The winds see much, Lady,” Illir said, trembling. “It is hard to put them at ease when Alric and the spirits who have come to his aid are so clearly in over their heads.”
The Shepherdess’s hand shot out, grabbing the wind at its center. Illir screamed and began to thrash, but she held the wind tight, pulling him close until his breeze ruffled her white hair.
You are the Great Wind, she said slowly. Find a way to keep your subordinates in line, or I will find another wind who can. Understand?
“Yes, Lady,” Illir panted.
Good. Her grip tightened. Any other complaints?
“Yes, actually,” Illir said.
Benehime’s eyes widened. This had better be important.
“It is the most important question I’ve ever asked,” Illir said. “Several days ago, an old, old friend and one of your strongest spirits, the great bear, Gredit, vanished. I ordered my winds to look everywhere, but they found no trace of him, not even his body. You would be within your rights to kill me for this impertinence, Lady, but if my years of loyal service have ever pleased you, answer my question before you do. What happened to my friend?”
A slow smile spread across the Lady’s white face. She opened her hand, and the wind fell from her fingers, shuddering with relief.
You are very bold, Illir, she said. I like that. You are also loyal, and I like that even more. If you want to know, I will tell you. Gredit was an old spirit, far past his prime, given to fits of hysteria and insubordination. Even so, he was one of my flock, and so I tolerated his behavior. But then, in his delusions, he threatened one of my stars, my own favorite. Benehime grew very grave. This I could not forgive. I am a lenient mistress. I set very few rules. However, there is no place in my sphere for spirits who disobey. Am I making myself clear, West Wind?
“Very, my Lady,” Illir said. “I will go and calm my winds now. I apologize for wasting your time.”
Benehime nodded and went back to her sphere, sending the wind away with a flick of her finger. Don’t let it happen again.
The wind vanished, spinning back down to the world below. She watched for a moment, and then smiled when she saw him fall back down to reassure the lower winds. Illir was a smart spirit. He knew the limits of his place, unlike the bear. Still, she had not known they were friends, and she made a note to keep a closer eye on the wind. Satisfied, she went back to watching Eli crawl across the ruined city. She’d let things go very far this time, but it would be worth it. This time for sure, he would call her. He would fall crying into her arms, pleading for rescue, and then everything would be as she wished. She need only be patient and wait for him to beg.
Benehime smiled at this, running her white fingers gently across her sphere. Behind her, the claws began to press more fiercely on the walls of her world while, down on the ground, the demon grew larger.
CHAPTER
19
Sir!” one of the League men shouted, grabbing Alric by the sleeve. “It’s no good, sir. We can’t hold him down.”
Alric didn’t need to be told. He had his will on the demon as well, and he could feel for himself just how useless it was. The ability to command the spirits to hold down a demon regardless of their own safety was a power the Shepherdess herself granted to the League, but its weakness was that the command was only as strong as the spirits who obeyed it. Here, even with the bedrock spirits helping, it wasn’t enough, not for this demon.
Down in the spike pit that had been the arena, the demon roared and batted at the League men who sliced at it. Whenever it touched their swords, large chunks disappeared from the blades, and the demon grew larger. Already, the monster was close to twelve feet tall and showed no sign of stopping. Alric sighed in frustration, shoving his own sword back into its sheath.
“Stop attacking!” he shouted. “It’s no good. We’re only wasting our swords.”
The League stopped its attack at once, forming a loose circle around the demon, who, now that it was no longer being attacked, turned and began to eat the bedrock spikes.
“Sir!” One of his lieutenants ran over. “We have to do something. If it keeps eating like this, the demon will soon be too large to contain.”
“It’s already too large to contain,” Alric said, watching the stone writhe as the monster bit into it. Rage washed over him. He’d faced hundreds of awakened seeds in his long years with the League, but this one was different. Different and familiar.
“This isn’t a normal takedown,” Alric said. “This is the seed that was in Slorn’s wife. I’d know it anywhere.”
His lieutenant grimaced. “I thought Slorn’s wife was contained.”
“Apparently even the world’s greatest Shaper couldn’t contain a demon indefinitely,” Alric said dryly. “What I want to know is what it’s doing here, and why it’s in Sted’s body.”
“Sted?” His lieutenant recoiled. “Berek Sted?”
“Who else?” Alric said. “Stop panicking and you can feel his soul clear as day, what’s left of it anyway.”
“But Sted was spirit deaf. How—”
“I don’t know,” Alric snapped. “But it’s thanks to his not being a wizard that this situation isn’t any worse than it is. Though his being here with Nivel’s seed nicely explains what happened to our missing swordsmith.” He sincerely hoped Slorn wasn’t dead. Artisans like him were impossible to replace.
“All right,” Alric said. “We’re dealing with a seed that spent ten years germinating inside the body of a powerful wizard, but is now trapped inside a spirit-deaf shell. That is our only advantage. The devouring force is already too strong for awakened blades or spirit commands, and because the seed is lodged in a human, directly commanding the host spirit is out of the question.” As always, he thought with a sigh.
“We need the Lord of Storms,” his lieutenant muttered, his face pale as he watched the demon finish the stone pillar and leap to the next one. “Where in blazes is he?”
Alric wanted to know the same thing. The Lord of Storms had left in a hurry a week ago and hadn’t been heard from since. This happened sometimes, but never for this long, and never without a message. Still, Alric kept his mouth shut. Things were bad enough without panicking his men.
“We can handle this,” he said, clapping his lieutenant on the shoulder. “We are the chosen protectors of the world, blessed by the Shepherdess herself. She would not have given us our gifts if we were not able to handle whatever situation arose.”
“Yes, sir,” the man said, gripping his sword with renewed determination.
Alric smiled and released his grip, hoping he hadn’t just told the biggest lie of his career.
“Spread out,” he ordered. “We’re going to take the creature down in one strike, before it can eat our swords. I will deal the cutting blow to the chest that frees the seed. The rest of you focus on its joints. Try to take off the limbs, just like in drill.”
“Yes, sir!” the men shouted, fanning out in a circle.
Alric positioned himself at point, directly in front of the demon, who was still feeding with little attention to
