The Straits of Galahesh: Book Two of The Lays of Anuskaya by Bradley P. Beaulieu Read Free Book Online

to worry that he would lose her.
    The first few times he had done this, he would settle his mind and anchor himself more fully for an extended fight, but he had come to realize that this was foolish, especially for a spirit like the vanahezhan. That was merely playing to the strengths of a spirit of stone and earth, and so he allowed himself, and Mirketta, to soar, to drift upon the winds that surrounded them. It had little effect at first, but soon, and with growing effect, she and the spirit began to part.
    Mirketta’s hold upon her physical form was weak, however, and he soon felt her slipping away from her mortal coil. He tried to pull back, but this allowed the vanahezhan a stronger hold, and now that it had been awoken it fought him fiercely.
    Mirketta! he called to her. Mirketta, hear me!
    She continued to drift. He became desperate, but this made him careless. He calmed himself, focused on the winds once more. He tried for minutes, for hours, hoping to coax the hezhan away. He even felt, near the very end, Mirketta awaken and fight as well. For a time it worked, but she was too weak and she had already expended what little energy she had.
    Then, at last, there was no question as to the outcome.
    Adhiya opened its arms and embraced her. Her presence faded.
    And then all was still.

CHAPTER FOUR
     
    N ikandr was deathly afraid to open his eyes. Yet he already knew what he would see.
    When he did open them, he saw Mirketta lying there. Still.
    Her breath no longer came. Her blood no longer coursed. Her flame no longer burned.
    He held her hand for long moments, tears slipping down his cheeks as he stared at Mirketta’s delicate features. He’d tried this ritual many times. He’d managed to save twelve souls, but he’d failed seven of them. Now eight. Eight deaths, and the same questions always haunted him.
    Who might they have become?
    He’d last seen Mirketta when she was three, but by all accounts she had grown into a fine young dancer. Could she have found herself in the ballet houses of Ivosladna or Volgorod or Evochka? Might she have mothered fine children, as her mother had? What friendships had just been lost? What joys she might have experienced? What pain?
    He was shaken from these thoughts by a tapping at the nearby window. He wiped the tears from his eyes with his sleeve. The sun had set. He could see nothing but darkness. But he knew who was there.
    After retrieving his stone and kissing Mirketta’s forehead, he whispered to her, “Go well, dear child,” and then made his way over to the window.
    From the golden light of the lamp he could see the flapping wings of a rook, and then the outline of a head, and finally the intermittent glint of an eye blinking in the dark. Now that he wore his stone once more he could feel Atiana’s presence. It felt strange to have her here after what had just happened—especially so soon after—but it was good that she was near, even if it was only in the form of a rook.
    He wondered why she’d come, though. And why now? He left Mirketta’s room and took the stairs down. Anatoliy met him at the bottom of the stairs, but he knew already what had happened.
    Nikandr had difficulty finding the words. He’d been so confident when he came—perhaps too confident—and he’d allowed Anatoliy to feel some of it. He could see now this had been a grave mistake.
    “I’m sorry, Anatoliy.”
    Anatoliy had seemed fragile before, and in many ways that was true, but a subtle change had overcome him. Now that the outcome was sure, he was stronger, perhaps in anticipation of finding his wife and breaking the news. Surely in the small hours of the night this would change, but Nikandr hoped for Anatoliy’s sake, and for his wife’s, that his courage would hold for a while longer.
    “There was fight in her, but she was too weak,” Nikandr continued. “When she went, she went quickly, and painlessly.” He didn’t know whether the last was true, but he saw no point in adding