BooksBarbecue
Back Witchshadow Save as PDF
Chapters (70)
  1. Title Page
  2. Copyright Notice
  3. Dedication
  4. Map
  5. Epigraph
  6. BEGINNINGS
  7. PART I
  8. ONE
  9. TWO
  10. THREE
  11. FOUR
  12. FIVE
  13. SIX
  14. SEVEN
  15. EIGHT
  16. NINE
  17. TEN
  18. ELEVEN
  19. TWELVE
  20. THIRTEEN
  21. FOURTEEN
  22. FIFTEEN
  23. SIXTEEN
  24. SEVENTEEN
  25. EIGHTEEN
  26. NINETEEN
  27. TWENTY
  28. TWENTY-ONE
  29. TWENTY-TWO
  30. TWENTY-THREE
  31. TWENTY-FOUR
  32. TWENTY-FIVE
  33. TWENTY-SIX
  34. TWENTY-SEVEN
  35. TWENTY-EIGHT
  36. TWENTY-NINE
  37. THIRTY
  38. THIRTY-ONE
  39. THIRTY-TWO
  40. THIRTY-THREE
  41. THIRTY-FOUR
  42. THIRTY-FIVE
  43. THIRTY-SIX
  44. PART II
  45. THIRTY-SEVEN
  46. THIRTY-EIGHT
  47. THIRTY-NINE
  48. FORTY
  49. FORTY-ONE
  50. FORTY-TWO
  51. FORTY-THREE
  52. FORTY-FOUR
  53. FORTY-FIVE
  54. FORTY-SIX
  55. FORTY-SEVEN
  56. FORTY-EIGHT
  57. FORTY-NINE
  58. FIFTY
  59. FIFTY-ONE
  60. FIFTY-TWO
  61. FIFTY-THREE
  62. FIFTY-FOUR
  63. FIFTY-FIVE
  64. FIFTY-SIX
  65. FIFTY-SEVEN
  66. TRICKSTER
  67. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
  68. Also by Susan Dennard
  69. ABOUT THE AUTHOR
  70. Newsletter Sign-up

Vivia didn’t answer. Her mask had fallen and there could be no reclaiming it. Not now, not with Vaness so near and a guilt the size of the Jadansi growing inside her. She would do anything to protect the people of Nubrevna. Even give herself up to a Doge.

But Vaness was right, no matter how sour it tasted: she could help more people alive and free than she could imprisoned by an empire.

“Cam,” she said on a sigh, her gaze drifting past Vaness’s head, toward an invisible battle waged against a village unprepared. “And Sotar and Ginna and all those people.”

“We will come back for them.”

“You can’t know that.”

“I can because I know you.” Vaness placed her second hand on Vivia’s jaw. Her brown eyes glowed in the sun. “I will not fail Marstok, and you will not fail Nubrevna. Trust me, my Queen. Trust me. We are Well Chosen because we choose to be.”

Vivia swallowed. The waves still sang to her, but with a different cadence now. A hot, confused one, scalded by an empress’s gentle touch. She had nurtured a hatred for Vaness her whole life, and all her instincts screamed at her to travel north. Yet despite that, she found that she did trust the Empress of Marstok. She did trust Vaness, her friend.

“Hye,” she breathed after several dragging moments. “We will not fail.” Then she pulled away from Vaness and they set off again southeast.

THIRTY-SIX

In her panic-fueled rush back to the tribe, Iseult had forgotten one thing: this was no ordinary tribe. When she broke from the forest to the remainders of camp, Aeduan just behind, heat gusted against her—a dry heat off a fire now raging across the barren earth and stony ruins. Four witches held their arms high as they guided flames toward …

She couldn’t see, not with the fire. Nor could she hear anything beyond shouts and footsteps as people gathered. As witches gathered.

Windwitches, Tidewitches, Firewitches, and an Icewitch. Plantwitches and Herdwitches and Stonewitches too. At least thirty people, their Threads alight with power, were connected by a single goal: stop the monster with silver Threads.

But even bound as they were, they lacked coordination. These were not soldiers trained to fight, and with no leadership to guide them, they fumbled and flailed. Where was Gretchya?

“Where is my mother?” she asked Aeduan, knowing he could sniff her out. But he only shook his head as if he couldn’t hear.

The creature’s screams ripped louder, its Threads so bright they hurt Iseult’s eyes. Briefly seared them shut, hiding the chaos of flames and revealing more Threads. Familiar Threads, muted though they were.

Corlant and his Purists had arrived.