He gave me no time to collect myself. No sooner did his first swing send dirt flying in all directions than he swung again and again. One devastating blow followed by another. I lifted my shield to block a strike, buying myself a chance at a closer swing. His blow drove me to my knees. I ground my teeth as I lashed out with my sword. The edge hit true, shearing through chest muscle and rib cage.

He didn’t notice. Or perhaps he didn’t care.

I screamed as his hammer caught me in the ribs in turn. Bones cracked. As it had in the tournament, I felt a great spreading warmth overcome me.

Fire sprouted from the ground under my fingertips, spread out in a spiral around me on the grass. It looked unreal in this place, a red-and-orange pattern against the Afterlife’s blues and purples. I had no time to question it, but I pulled strength from the heat.

What remained of his face grinned. **I WILL USE YOU AS A FOOTREST. I WILL MAKE MY CHALICE OF VICTORY FROM YOUR SKULL.**

He raised his hammer.

“Why don’t you stick with the practical? Clearly, you need a jaw—”

In the distance, an elephant’s trumpet split the air.

I raised my head.

He paused.

More elephants called to each other, their sound like thunder. In the living world, this would have been no great occasion. Elephants were not so uncommon there. In the Afterlife, however?

Elephants in the Afterlife have only one mistress.

I started to laugh.

“Well, then,” I said. “It seems Death has found us both.”

13: WAITING OUT THE STORM

Jorat Dominion, Quuros Empire. Two days since the House D’Mon royal family massacre

Janel smiled as she stopped talking and reach13ed for her drink.

Kihrin sighed and tried not to look at Brother Qown while he mulled over the messy, ugly complications of Qown’s religion. He couldn’t think of anything more awkward than realizing the priest sitting across the table worshipped … Kihrin.

Or at least, who Kihrin had been in his past life.

He broke his reverie as he realized Janel hadn’t started talking again. Kihrin looked over at her. “Wait, you didn’t finish.”

“Is anyone hungry?” she asked. “I think I might see what they have in the kitchen.”

“No, no, no,” Kihrin protested. “You can’t just leave it there. Did Thaena appear? I mean, what happened?”

“Oh, I thought we might take a break.” Janel’s feral grin couldn’t be described as evil, but only by the thinnest of margins. “Maybe skip ahead.”

She was teasing him.

Brother Qown opened his book up. “Are we really skipping?” He didn’t sound happy at all.

“No, never fear, Brother Qown. Do you have anything you want to add before I finish my part?”

“Just a bit. If I may?”

She waved a hand. “Go right ahead.”