Bloodline (Cradle Book 9) Read online

  She kept telling herself that instead of chewing the Goldsign from her hand in frustration.

  Jai Long sat with Jai Chen in the corner of a tiny cloudship. It was hard to call it a proper cloudship at all, actually; it was more of a raft on the back of a Thousand-Mile Cloud.

  They were part of a small fleet of these…cloud-rafts, some of which had been brought by the Akura Golds, though most had been confiscated from the Fallen Leaf School. They were designed to work in this low-aura environment, and as such were painfully slow. Jai Long often considered leaping down to the ground and running.

  But down there, he would run into trouble. Up here, at least he had an escort.

  They were returning to the Heaven’s Glory School—and the eastern exit from Sacred Valley—with a team of forty Akura Golds, a few dozen old or wounded exiles from the Wei clan…and Eithan Arelius.

  Who would not leave them alone.

  He drifted at their side on a dark blue one-person cloud that he had surely brought himself, and no matter how Jai Long steered his own raft, he couldn’t escape.

  Jai Long had managed to dodge or bluntly ignore all the Underlord’s questions up until now, but Jai Chen wasn’t helping. She chatted with him easily, she and her dragon spirit.

  “You’ve cared for your bonded spirit well,” Eithan observed. “Have you named it?”

  “We call him Fingerling,” Jai Chen said, looking a little sheepish. “He started off the size of a finger, and he loves eating small fish. It started as a nickname, but then it just…stuck.”

  The pink, serpentine dragon trilled proudly at the sound of his name. It undulated through the wind on Jai Chen’s shoulder and gave Eithan a haughty look.

  “I quite understand. In the original language of my homeland, ‘Eithan’ also means ‘tiny fish.’”

  She leaned forward. “Really?”

  “No. It means ‘embodiment of impossible perfection.’”

  Jai Long didn’t believe that either.

  “Speaking of my homeland, I seem to recall that you were able to use a version of my bloodline power. Can you still see things through strands of madra around you?”

  Jai Long shifted, trying to get his sister’s attention to signal her not to answer the question. Eithan was pushing them, questing for their weaknesses. The less she told these strangers, the better.

  “Only if I concentrate,” Jai Chen said happily, and Jai Long cursed his own failure. He had raised her to be too trusting.

  She gestured to her dragon. “He’s better at it. If he really tries, he can see things over a mile away.”

  “Then he is very talented,” Eithan said, and the sincerity in his voice convinced Jai Long that he must be lying. Of course, Jai Long thought the same about every word from Eithan’s mouth.

  The Underlord inclined his head to the pink dragon, and Fingerling preened under the attention.

  “And how about you, Jai Long?” Eithan asked. “I hear you’ve been having quite the adventures here in Sacred Valley.”

  Jai Long had known this was coming, and he had an ironclad defense ready.

  “Not by choice. I have nothing left to do with the sacred arts. I’m done.”

  If he made a vague statement, the Arelius Patriarch would interpret it however he wanted. Jai Long would leave no doubt: he wanted nothing to do with the world of sacred artists anymore.

  Eithan nodded along as though he understood. “A wise decision. Who needs to sprint from advancement to advancement? Stay as an Underlord, I say.”

  Jai Long had to keep himself from snorting in disdain. Eithan had made it to Underlord young enough that he would almost certainly reach Overlord one day, especially considering how strong he was and how many resources he had access to. There was no way he would be content as an Underlord.

  Eithan snapped his fingers. “You’re not an Underlord yet, are you? But you made it so close. Surely you’d want to stay somewhere with stronger aura for a while, just to see if you could take that last step.”

  “I would not dare to take the leap to Underlord so lightly, Patriarch Arelius.” He hoped his tone would shut Eithan up, but if it didn’t, he could stonewall the conversation all day.

  In fact, he had been tempted to go stay outside Sacred Valley for a few months, to test himself and see if he could reach Underlord.

  But that temptation was nothing weighed against safety. And Sacred Valley, while not exactly welcoming, was at least filled with weaklings.

  “Patriarch Arelius?” Eithan repeated. “We’re old friends at this point, Jai Long. By all means, relax.”

  “If you insist.” It would be wiser to keep his mouth shut, but Jai Long saw the opportunity to strike back. “You must be proud to have trained another Underlord so young. Perhaps he’ll even reach Overlord soon. Isn’t the dream of every master to be surpassed by their student?”

  Jai Long had known enough Underlords. They all said they wanted their disciples to surpass them, but every time someone showed greater talent than theirs, they erupted out of wounded pride.

  That should be enough of a jab that he would get to enjoy some discomfort on Eithan’s face, but not enough that he’d display open anger in front of all these Akura Golds.

  Instead, Eithan’s eyebrows shot up.

  “Underlord? Haven’t you heard? Lindon’s a Sage.”

  This time, Jai Long did snort in disbelief. He didn’t say anything, but his contempt should be clear. Joking around was one thing, but Eithan would have to make his lies more believable if he wanted to deceive Jai Long.

  But Jai Long didn’t like the look of the smile that slowly widened on Eithan’s face. “Waaaaait a moment. Have you not scanned Yerin?”

  He hadn’t, but only because he’d been trying to stay away from Yerin as much as possible. Even if Lindon didn’t hold a grudge—which Jai Long still doubted—the Sword Sage’s apprentice certainly would.

  “I did,” Jai Chen put in. “I don’t mean to be rude, but is there something wrong with her? Her spirit was…strange.”

  “How so?” Eithan asked, in the tone of a man who already knew the exact answer to his question.

  “It felt like her spirit was all tangled up with her body. Like her madra channels had melted into her, if that makes sense.” Jai Chen lowered her voice. “Was she injured? Is that why she’s so weak now?”

  “That is not why,” Eithan said. “Young lady, you have done well to keep your eyes open. Your brother is…woefully uninformed.”

  Eithan was clearly implying something, but if he expected Jai Long to display any curiosity whatsoever, then he was hoping in vain. This would all end with the Underlord trying to get something out of them, he was sure, and Jai Long wasn’t about to fall for it.

  Eithan waved a hand, and a Truegold in Akura colors quickly sped up to catch up with him. “Yes, Eithan?”

  “Ikari, if you don’t mind, would you address me by title? Just once.”

  “Of course, Archlord. In fact, I would be happy to continue—”

  “You can go back to before, thank you, Ikari.”

  The Truegold woman gave a bow and fell back among her fellows, but Jai Long was staring at Eithan.

  Archlord.

  There was no way it was true.

  Jai Long hadn’t thoroughly scanned Eithan, that being a good way to start a fight, but he had been close enough to the man to get a good sense of his power. He was still an Underlord, Jai Long was sure.

  Even accounting for the curse of Sacred Valley, which left them all little better than Jades, he was certain that Eithan hadn’t grown any stronger than before.

  He was…almost certain.

  Eithan spread his arms wide. “By all means, Jai Long, I invite you to scan me and confirm for yourself.”

  With the feeling that he was falling for some kind of trap, Jai Long extended his spiritual perception.

  He wasn’t sure what he was looking for, exactly. He had never had the chance to personally sense an Overlord, much less an Archl
ord. If he could feel the full force of Eithan’s spirit, he could be certain, but everyone was suppressed here.

  Certainly, Eithan’s body had been thoroughly reforged in soulfire. It felt like a perfect conduit for energy, even more so than the Underlords Jai Long had sensed before. But did that mean he had advanced, or just that he was above average in this one aspect?

  Jai Long couldn’t tell if the man was truly an Archlord or simply a peak Underlord, and was about to say so.

  “Ah, excuse me, I forgot a veil.”

  Then a dim part of Eithan’s spirit became clear, and Jai Long felt the pool of soulfire at the center of his spirit. A dense flame of reflective chrome, like quicksilver imitating fire.

  Archlord soulfire. It had to be.

  Jai Long had never seen it before, but it was unmistakable. This was at least two grades higher than the soulfire he held in his own spirit.

  He withdrew his perception as though the silver flame had burned him and fell to one knee. He was breathing unnaturally quickly, but he couldn’t keep it under control.

  This was what Eithan had been after. He’d been toying with them all along, just to see their reactions.

  The difference between Underlord and Archlord was like the distance between the lowest valley and the highest stars. There was no Archlord in all the Blackflame Empire.

  Even in Sacred Valley, where Eithan would be closer to mortal than anywhere else, Jai Long couldn’t antagonize him any further. Who knew what an Archlord could do?

  “Archlord, I apologize for any disrespect. I was ignorant and unaware.”

  “Aren’t we all?” Eithan didn’t seem to have reacted much to Jai Long’s panic, though even Jai Chen had curled up and was holding Fingerling protectively in her hands.

  He gave her a reassuring smile. “I have nothing but fondness for the both of you, don’t worry. However, if it’s not too much to ask, I would love to know one thing: after you leave the valley, where are you headed?”

  This time, Jai Chen was the one to answer.

  “We’re not sure, Archlord.”

  “As a mighty Archlord, I command you to call me Eithan. Titles change too often.”

  “I still have contacts in the Desolate Wilds,” Jai Long said, as much to take his attention away from Jai Chen as to demonstrate compliance. “They will shelter us for a time, but after that…wherever the heavens lead us.”

  He felt it was wise to give Eithan a vague answer, but it was also the truth. Their immediate plans were simply to get away from the Dreadgod.

  “If by whatever twist of fate you find yourselves without a roof over your heads, I’m certain we can find space for you. We’re quite in favor at the moment.”

  “Lindon already invited us,” Jai Chen said. “But we can’t commit to anyone with our futures so uncertain.” She dipped her head, but Eithan looked surprised.

  “Lindon invited you? Good for him! But I hate that I didn’t know that already. I’m used to eavesdropping on him all the time, you see.”

  Jai Long felt an unexpected pang of sympathy for Lindon.

  “Well, if either or both of you change your mind, I’m certain you can find a way to contact us. We’d be happy to have you.”

  The conversation ended there, which left Jai Long wondering…

  Why?

  Why had Lindon and Eithan both independently decided to recruit them? If Eithan was an Archlord, Lindon a Sage—which Jai Long still didn’t believe—and Yerin a…whatever...then someone who hadn’t even reached Underlord would be far beneath them.

  They wouldn’t be impressed by his advancement, so what was it? Jai Chen’s bonded spirit and unique madra? Was this some kind of elaborate revenge, like taking a trophy?

  By the time the fleet of clouds landed in the Heaven’s Glory School, Jai Long still hadn’t decided.

  While the Akura clan unloaded refugees and Eithan established his leadership of Heaven’s Glory, Jai Long and Jai Chen left.

  They marched straight east, out of Sacred Valley the same way they came in. At first, he was certain that the dirty looks from Heaven’s Glory would result in drawn weapons, but the presence of the Akura servants meant they didn’t have to deal with anything more than glares.

  Finally, more easily than he had ever imagined possible, they stood in the passage leading out of Sacred Valley.

  As the ring of light glared down on him from overhead, he stared at the forest beneath and the mountains ahead. Beyond them lay the Desolate Wilds, and even further, the Blackflame Empire.

  Their past.

  Jai Chen hitched a pack on her back, Fingerling trilled excitement, and she gave him a wide smile. “It’s been a while since we’ve made a camp!”

  He waited too long, lost in thought. When he realized she was waiting on a response, he grunted agreement.

  They had spent the better part of two years here. Now, it was like that time had never happened.

  In the end, there had been no point to anything they’d done. The long journey to get here, the home they’d built. The people they’d traded with.

  Fighting side-by-side with Orthos and Wei Shi Kelsa. Learning to work with them. Rescuing Kelsa’s mother. All the lives they’d taken from Heaven’s Glory.

  It all felt like such a waste.

  They could have just stayed in hiding, then left when the Dreadgod grew close. Kelsa would have found another way to rescue her mother, with Orthos’ help. She hadn’t really needed his power in the first place.

  Jai Chen leaned in, watching his face.

  “They still need help with the evacuation,” she pointed out.

  Jai Long shook himself out of his own thoughts. “They can handle it. We need to put distance between us and the Titan.”

  He still wasn’t sure if the Desolate Wilds would be far enough away to escape a Dreadgod, and the sooner they left, the safer they’d be.

  “We’d make it a lot further on a cloudship,” she pointed out.

  Jai Long looked over all the large, passenger cloudships perched everywhere in view. They had been sent here for the mass exodus from Sacred Valley.

  But they’d been sent by the Akura clan, which Jai Long only knew as a dark, distant force. He couldn’t trust them.

  “I don’t want to take chances on strangers with a Dreadgod coming,” he said.

  “What chance? It’s better to wait for the ships to leave than to walk. And in the meantime, we can help other people get out.”

  “That’s true…” he murmured.

  While he was still thinking, his sister led him back inside.

  10

  The walls of the Wei clan had seemed taller when Lindon was younger.

  In his mind’s eye, he saw the gates into the main clan territory as an ancient edifice that scraped the sky. He remembered when they had changed out the doors for freshly carved and decorated ones, in honor of the last Seven-Year Festival. But now, as an Underlord, he saw the plain wood used to make them. The peeling paint. And the walls were only about thirty feet tall.

  He could leap over them with a flat-footed jump.

  At least Elder Whisper’s tower was as tall as he remembered it. It stood out like a spear from behind the wall. He wondered what the snowfox would say about Lindon’s advancement.

  He took another breath, more nervous than he should have been. He couldn’t put a name to his mix of feelings.

  Yerin took his left hand in hers. “Try your hardest not to burn the whole place down.”

  The Iron guard took a tight grip on his spear. “What?”

  “Wouldn’t judge if you had to kill one or two.”

  Foxfire gathered on the end of the Iron’s weapon. He levered it at Yerin, but addressed Lindon. “Give me your name, Unsouled.”

  Lindon had not missed that title. But he couldn’t blame the Iron for being on edge; there were forty Akura clan Golds behind them, after all, each hovering a foot or two off the ground on the back of a Thousand-Mile Cloud or other floating construct.

&n
bsp; A Truegold man with gray in his hair stepped forward before Lindon could say anything. “The Akura clan presents the Sage of Twin Stars and the reigning champion of the Uncrowned King tournament. Present the leader of your clan or we will find them ourselves.”

  Lindon dipped his head. “Apologies, older brother. We intended no threats. My name is Wei Shi Lindon, and I am here to see the First Elder about the recent earthquakes.”

  The ground was steadily buzzing now, a low-pitched thrum beneath Lindon’s feet that never went away. The veins of earth aura pulsed as though they ran with lightning.

  The Iron looked up at the people spread out before him and set his jaw. He had no spiritual sense to speak of, but he had the confidence of a man with an entire clan at his back.

  “You forget yourself, Unsouled.” The Foxfire at the tip of his weapon disappeared, but the guard reversed his spear. “Whoever your masters are now, you should speak to me with respect.”

  He brandished the butt of his spear, cocking it back in a silent threat.

  Lindon held up a hand before the Truegold to his left annihilated this Iron. “You see all these people behind me, don’t you?”

  “Word has already been sent to the Jades. They will decide what to do with our guests.” The guard’s chin tilted up. “In the meantime, I was told to expect outsiders at our gates. And to show them the strength and dignity of the Wei clan.”

  Lindon understood now. This guard thought they were inhabitants of Sacred Valley, but not one of the clans. He assumed they belonged to the collection of exiles and wild families that provided for themselves in the wilderness.

  Even without his spiritual perception, he should have seen better than that. They were far too well-equipped, and the Golds all wore a uniform.

  But the Iron had made up his mind, and he stood proudly.

  “Hit me,” Lindon said.

  The guard frowned. “What did you say?”

  “You suggested you were going to hit me with your spear. Do it. I want to show you something.”

  The Iron’s frown took on an edge of disgust, and he drew himself up straighter. “I’m not giving you the excuse.”