Who Walks in Flame by David Alastair Hayden Read Free Book Online Page A

stone.
    Jaska Bavadi lifted a hand and the group paused. His men wiped the grit from their eyes. Jaska blinked hard once and looked around. The sun was dipping behind the mountain while storm clouds loomed in the east, growing ever stronger. It was going to be a rough night. A grim smile flashed across his face.
    His second, a towering man named Kasap, stepped up beside him. “Will we make it in time, master?”
    “We will get there before the Grandmaster begins the final stage of his ritual. It is the best we can do.”
    “Do you really think she could stop the ritual?”
    The witch had proven capable of avoiding them for a decade, despite their best efforts. And no one else had ever successfully evaded Jaska. With his jaw clenched, he hissed, “Yes, I do.”
    Grandmaster Salahn believed Zyrella unable to interfere, but for months, the preparations needed to bind the demonic White Tigress had consumed his attention. A dream had convinced Jaska otherwise. A disturbing dream of striped fur and olive skin, of whispered messages in a language he couldn’t speak. But in the dream he had understood one thing quite clearly: Zyrella had arrived at the abandoned shrine on Mount Barqeshal, determined to stop Grandmaster Salahn. Jaska had immediately abandoned a mission in progress and set out with the five warriors accompanying him. 
    “Come, Kasap, we’re close enough now to scry the enemy’s position.”
    He led the five warriors accompanying him behind a large outcrop where they could work in hiding. Jaska said to them, "Link your qavra with mine and concentrate on the temple."
    "What should we look for, master?" Kasap asked.
    "Nothing. Simply hold the connection. I will observe the enemy alone. The witch is sure to have scrying wards set up and one individual backed by greater power is more likely to break through unnoticed."
    Jaska dropped into a meditative state and opened his inner sight. Shadow tendrils snaked from the others' qavra to Jaska's larger stone. Jaska's eyes clouded as he projected his spirit into the murky Shadowland that draped reality like a burial shroud. In that between-realm, he raced ahead to the shrine. 
    Inside he discovered Zyrella kneeling at an altar and peering into a cloud of smoke. Her olive skin and raven hair shone in the sunlight streaming through cracks in the ruined temple’s roof. He had never seen her before, but he recognized her aura through a talent given to him by Salahn. 
    A sudden attraction toward her sent chills down his spine. Jaska shook his head, trying to regain his focus. He would not fall prey to her enchantments. Unexpectedly, she peeled away his scrying cloak and their eyes met. It felt as if their souls touched and he could do nothing but stare at her, helplessly.
    Abruptly the connection severed. Jaska retreated to his body, deeply disturbed by her presence. Body and mind, he burned with a passion that left him feeling spent, as if they had already made love. 
    Finished with the ritual, his men walked around and stretched. Jaska started to join them, hoping to dispel the lingering effects of the witch's sorcery. But as the scene raced through his mind, he cursed to himself. Zyrella had distracted him from an important detail, one he now pictured as an afterimage: the statue of the White Tigress standing complete. Years ago he had visited this shrine and had seen the statue toppled and broken into pieces. Now it was whole again.
    "Master, what's wrong?" Kasap asked.
    Looking at Kasap and the others, all recently students of his, a brief worry flashed through his mind. These young men were not experienced enough for anything like this. But this was all he had to work with. There was no other choice.
    "Great forces are working against us, and the witch is far more powerful than I thought. Come, we must hurry."

    ~~~

    Zyrella knelt on a cushion before the altar and arranged the elements she needed: incense and fresh leaves in the burner, more holy water, and henna