The Master Executioner (The Executioner's Song Book 5), page 37
But Esmeralda didn’t seem concerned. She stepped forward, he white dress gleaming, as if catching the moonlight, as she headed toward the other hegen. She spoke softly for a few moments, then turned back to Finn.
“I need to go in,” he said. “You can stay out here and—”
“I will go with you,” Esmeralda said. “And the others will do what they can out here.”
“What is that?”
“Do you feel it?” Esmeralda looked around, sweeping her gaze around the courtyard, before turning to the church. “Can you feel the power they have drawn?”
“I could feel the barrier they placed around the church itself.”
She stepped away from him, whispering something to one of the others, before rejoining him. “They will do what they can.” She took his arm and guided him toward the open door. Something in her hand glowed, and it looked to be a simple coin, but it cast off enough light that pushed back the darkness.
“Will they know that we’ve come?”
“Possibly,” Esmeralda said.
They hadn’t gone very far inside of the church when Finn noticed the sound of voices. He looked around, and with the faint glowing light coming off of Esmeralda, he made out a line of people, all kneeling, and all facing into the darkness. Her voice rose up out of the darkness, chanting softly.
He started forward when Esmeralda placed a hand on his arm. “Wait.”
“For what?”
“Just trust me.”
He regarded her for a moment. “I do.”
She smiled tightly.
He listened to the chanting but didn’t recognize the words. They seemed to be in another language and were muted, barely carrying to him as if the strange darkness around him made it difficult for him to hear anything more. All of it concealed not only the voice of the priest but also the faces of those gathered.
Finn leaned close to her. “Lena told me she has attended one of their services before. Apparently they sacrifice a pig at the end of the ceremony.”
“Do you remember when I told you about the way that power can be contained?”
Finn nodded. “You said there is power in life and death.”
“There is. That power can be harnessed, and that can be used by those who understand it. It is different than the power the Alainsith possess, though perhaps no weaker, as much as the Alainsith would argue otherwise. Using an animal for something similar would change the nature of that magic.”
“How so?”
“The power that the hegen know is tied to our lives and our experiences. It is the power of life along with the power of death. We use what we are given, and only freely given, not stolen from those who would choose otherwise.”
“You told me this before.”
“I know, but I want to reinforce the concern I have.”
“What concern is that?”
“Stealing from an animal is different than stealing from a human. There is more suffering and pain in human death. But an animal sacrifice would not draw the same attention. Perhaps that is why they have done it here.”
Or perhaps they had continued the practice of animal sacrifice here because they could get away with it. And they could continue to perform that ceremony over and over, concentrating power until they were ready for whatever it was that they were here for.
It left him wondering if people had actually killed themselves—or if the church somehow made the deaths look like suicides.
“What would they store it in…”
He looked around himself and thought he understood. “The church. That’s what they would store it in.”
She nodded. “It becomes a reservoir of power. For those who know how to tap into it, it would give them almost limitless magic. A dangerous thing to have within the city.”
“And so close to the king’s palace.”
“Indeed,” she said. “Now I need you to wait.”
He frowned at her. “What am I waiting for?”
“An opportunity.”
They stood in place, and the chanting persisted, all coming from the priests in the darkness. Finn had to believe that the priest would recognize the light glowing in Esmeralda’s hand, but she didn’t seem concerned about that. Perhaps she wasn’t. Instead, she held her hand on his arm, watching him almost as much as she looked elsewhere.
The shadows started to flicker.
Finn had no other way to describe it, only that they were flickering, the darkness fading, the light in Esmeralda’s hand stretching further than it had before.
“Tell me I’m not the only one seeing this,” Finn said.
“I should hope not,” she said.
“Is that you?”
“No. That is the others.”
“The priests of Fell?” If they were causing the shadows to flicker, Finn had to worry they were doing so in order to use magic on him and Esmeralda, which meant they were aware of their presence.
“Not the priests of Fell,” she said.
“The hegen?”
She nodded. “We will have a small window to work.”
The darkness flickered again, and this time Finn started to prepare. He squeezed the Fell knife, wondering how much magic remained in it. He stuffed it back into his pocket and reached for Justice.
Esmeralda watched him. “I doubt that will be effective in this place. There has been much power stored in that blade over the years. Were you to use it here, I fear it might shatter.”
The darkness flickered again.
This time, her glowing stretched away from her, creating a circle that flowed outward, illuminating enough of the gathered that Finn could make out faces. He didn’t know many of them, but he recognized enough people from the upper-class sections of the city to worry him.
“We must move,” Esmeralda said.
She took his arm, pulling him through the church, and Finn didn’t object. He went with her, guided through the church.
He kept his gaze on the people gathered here and realized that none of them looked toward him. It was almost as if they didn’t see him, Esmeralda, or the light.
“How is it that they can’t see us?”
“Witchcraft,” she whispered.
“It keeps them from seeing?”
“Something like that,” she said.
She dragged him around, and in the distance Finn saw the altar. It was strange and horrifying. A circle of stone, each one with a symbol etched upon it. Finn recognized each symbol as witchcraft but probably would not have if he’d had no experience with it. Inside of the circle of stone was a priest wearing a black robe covering his head and a massive hog bound and lying on its side. The hog kicked, thrashing, but they had it tied up so that it couldn’t escape. Every so often, it opened its mouth to whine, though it was so silent Finn couldn’t hear it.
The priest carried one of the strange, triangular blades. He held onto it, continuing his chant, the words tumbling from him, but making no sense to Finn.
“How did Lena remember this, if these others don’t?” he asked Esmeralda.
“Probably because of the hegen,” she said softly. “We offer our protection to all who come to us.”
“Which means—”
“Which means you are also protected, Finn.”
A row of figures stepped forward from the back of the church. All of them were dressed in the same dark robe, all of them moving slowly, carefully, and coming toward Finn and Esmeralda.
Esmeralda held her hand up. A burst of light exploded from her. The priests behind the altar suddenly surged toward them. The priest in the center of the stones looked up, and his hood slipped just enough for Finn to see his face.
“Ashal?” he whispered.
“You recognize him?”
“He’s one of the jurors from this section.”
Ashal gritted his teeth for a moment then plunged the knife into the pig. He held it there before holding it up and pointing it at Finn.
Esmeralda jumped in front of him, and the light burst from her again, exploding toward Ashal.
It faded the closer it got to him before disappearing altogether. Ashal climbed out of the ring of stones and strode toward the back of the church. The other priests came toward them. They marched quickly, and darkness swirled around them.
“Go after that one,” Esmeralda said. “He leads them.”
“What about you?”
The darkness flickered again and all of a sudden faded altogether. A burst of light filled the inside of the church.
A slight smile came to Esmeralda’s face. “I will be fine for now.”
Finn raced forward. He skirted around the outside of the stone altar, glancing briefly over to the dying pig, seeing the blood filling the entirety of it. It pooled, collecting inside, and the pig twitched before falling still.
Finn raced off into what had been the darkness of the back of the church, but it was no longer nearly as dark as it had been before. When he reached the back, he found a door, and he tried to open it, but it was locked or blocked with magic.
Finn slammed his shoulder into it, but it didn’t budge.
He stepped back, thinking that he might have to use Justice on it, before changing his mind and pulling out the Fell knife and making a massive mark across the surface of the door.
The knife trembled as he did, leaving his hand vibrating, but then there came a strange crack. He slammed his shoulder into the door, and it popped open.
Then he was inside.
It was a long hallway, with other doors leading off of it.
Finn tried each one, and most of them opened easily. By the time he reached the end of the hall and found another door marked with symbols, he knew this was where he needed to go.
He used the Fell blade one more time, hoping the power within it would be enough that he could carve through it. The door blackened, though not nearly as much as it had the last time. Finn lowered his shoulder and slammed into the door. It held firm. He tried again, barreling into the door. This time, it came open with a loud crack.
Ashal stood inside what appeared to be a strange office. It was a circular room, and shelves were arranged around it, but rather than any books on the shelves, there were sculptures and artifacts and other knives. A table in the center of the room held a stack of leather books. Ashal stood in front of it, one of the knives in hand, and plunged it down into the stack of books, which suddenly crumbled into dust.
Ashal turned to him, holding the knife out.
“How long has the church dealt in witchcraft?” Finn asked, slipping the knife back into his pocket. He pulled Justice out and held it in hand. If he needed something to protect himself against witchcraft, it would be the sword.
“The church has always dealt in witchcraft. Most have overlooked it. None want to see it. Even you won’t be able to stop it.”
“I know you’re responsible for what’s been going on in the city.”
What he didn’t yet know were why the victims had been targeted.
Bolgar’s death could have been to hide the church’s financial dealings, but the others?
“You’re an executioner who has now interfered in a sacred religious ceremony.” He started toward Finn, holding up the knife. “Unfortunately, you will have realized your mistake, and your guilt will have overcome you.”
“Like Desiree?”
He frowned. “I’m afraid I don’t know what you mean.”
“What about Todd Brevins? Or perhaps Loran Michaels. Or Bolgar.”
Ashal chuckled. “You have lived up to your nickname. The Hunter.”
“Why have you done this? Why now?”
Shadow started to swirl out of the knife. Whatever witchcraft he intended would happen soon, and Finn would have to react.
“You won’t be around to see what is to come. We have acquired the wealth we need, and the power, to finally accelerate our plan.”
Witchcraft. Power.
“You intend to overthrow the king.”
He smiled tightly. “That is a start.”
If not just the king, then…
“The Alainsith,” Finn said, breathing out.
They would require power to do so.
It didn’t make complete sense to him, but he didn’t expect to piece all of that together now. Still, he had seen evidence of attempts to involve the Alainsith.
And the last attack had been on Alainsith structures.
“And here we thought the other master executioner was the one to worry about.”
That was why Meyer was targeted? They believed him the reason?
“Why, Master Jagger, I don’t think. I know. Unfortunately, you won’t get to see it. I really should applaud your investigative skill though.”
“You won’t succeed.”
“Do you think we are acting alone?”
“I know that you haven’t been working alone. I was here when Elizabeth tried to draw power the first time.”
“A mistake to reveal her presence then,” he said.
“And then when you decided to attack the Alainsith structures.”
“And despite what Henry Meyer believes, we were successful.”
“Meyer didn’t stop you. I did. The Hunter. And I don’t think you were fully successful. But why now?”
“Because this can no longer be stopped. There are others. Many others. Those that were used were susceptible. And now even the Hunter won’t be enough to stop this.”
Susceptible. Finn suspected what that meant. They had used some to sacrifice themselves. That was where power came from. Desiree, possibly. Maybe even the priest us. Perhaps Bolgar? Maybe they had gotten to him in the cell.
“Great power is coming to the kingdom. And it has already spread beyond what can be stopped.”
A loud crack thundered, and Ashal paused, looking at Finn.
“What did you do?”
“It’s nothing I did. I think your plan is a bit misguided, and perhaps you didn’t account for all the aspects within the city.”
Another crack thundered.
Ashal darted toward Finn, but Finn raised Justice.
“You’re going to be held accountable. All of your priests are going to be held accountable.”
“Do you think the city will tolerate that?”
“All men must answer to the king’s justice.”
“I am not all men. I am a priest of Fell.”
He smiled at Finn and then lunged.
Finn felt the effect of his magic before he reached him. He squeezed Justice and pushed the blade away from him, carving through the magic. There came a crackling of sparks and a flickering of light, the shadows that Ashal attempted to swirl toward Finn failing. He stumbled as his magic failed him, and he thrust forward the knife, attempting to impale Finn.
Finn didn’t move. He couldn’t move. Instead, he merely held out Justice.
The church cracked again, the sound filling Finn’s ears.
When it did, he turned.
It was the slightest of motions, but it was enough that the blade shifted position, and as Ashal ran toward him, the blade carved through not only his spells, but it struck the knife, deflecting it.
Ashal stumbled, holding onto the knife.
Finn barely moved. He had Justice. Hopefully that would be enough. He didn’t know if the blade would stop the power that had been concentrated in this place, trapped here over the years that the Church of Fell had been active, but he had to try.
The blade bounced off of something.
It was like an invisible barrier. Finn had seen magic like that before, only in this case it didn’t seem as if it works with witchcraft, but the power of the blade instead.
It was an Alainsith blade filled with the power of death.
It ricocheted and then plunged into Ashal’s chest.
He sucked in a breath, looking down at it. Blood poured from it.
It seemed as if Ashal attempted to use power, and a swirling darkness radiated from him.
Finn swept Justice across that darkness.
Ashal stumbled back, dropping to the ground, looking up at him.
“You are still too late. The plan was put into motion long before me. It’ll take… much more than the Hunter… to stop it,” he said, each word coming with difficulty. Blood burbling on his lips as he spoke.
A dark smile spread on his face, then he took his last breath.
Finn stared at him. Were we too late?
He hoped not, but if what Ashal had told him was true, then they might have been too late. Witchcraft might have already spread throughout the kingdom. And how would they stop it?
They would start by targeting the Church of Fell.
He could help rid Verendal of that, and then when he was assigned to whatever city he was given, Finn would focus his attention there. He would make sure the king and his Realmsguard knew.
Witchcraft would not spread. He would be certain of it.
The church cracked again. Walls around him started to crumble.
“Finn!”
He turned, heading toward the door.
Esmeralda stood at the end of the hall, motioning for him. “You need to come. The building is collapsing.”
“What happened?”
“You do not want to know.”
Finn glanced back. Ashal was dead. Esmeralda hollered at him again, and he took a deep breath before running. When he reached the main part of the church, he found it empty.
“Where did they go?”
“When the building began to collapse, they departed. I think it’s time we do the same.”
Finn breathed in deeply then hurried out. The courtyard was filled with people. There were the people that he’d seen inside, along with hegen circling the outside of the wall, and finally the priests, all with Archers on either side of them.
Meyer was there, and he looked over to Finn, then to Esmeralda, before nodding.
“Thank you,” Finn said to her.
She stepped up on her toes, leaned toward him, and kissed him on the cheek. “We will still have that conversation.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
Finn joined Meyer. He looked around the courtyard before turning his attention back to Finn. There was a darkness, but it was the natural darkness of night, not the strange shadows that he had come to understand now came from the priests of Fell. Finn let out a long sigh as he did, and held out Justice to Meyer.
