Song of Ashes

54: A Time for Action

When Sarka opened her eyes again, she saw the brilliant light of day. A little girl's voice, still thick with tears over the treat she had been begging for, said, "Mama, she fell down."

Shaking, Sarka took her arms away from her face. She looked around, seeing no sign of Kogoren, nor of her army. But there was a ghostly figure crouched on the road.

"Tayo?" she whispered.

"Sarka!"

She looked back toward Atai's temple. In a few quick strides, Ro was at her side. He fell to his knees and seized her shoulders. His face was ashen with fear. "Are you alright?"

Sarka met his gaze without speaking. For some reason, his hands on her shoulders were all she could feel now, strong and sure. She turned her head. Tayo was still there, but he was not looking at her; he was looking down the street, toward where Kogoren had appeared.

"What happened? Did you feel it?" Ro asked.

"Feel it?" Sarka echoed. "I saw her."

"Her?"

"Kogoren." Impatience brought her back to herself, and she twisted free of his grasp. "Who else! Didn't you see her?"

Ro shook his head. "But I felt her. Everything went cold and dark, and I knew you were in danger."

"She's gone now." Sarka's body had begun to tremble as the shock faded and adrenaline mounted. She reached out to brace herself on Ro's shoulder to help herself to her feet.

He stood with her and took her arm. "We need to go inside."

Ro guided Sarka into Atai's temple, and Tayo trailed behind them. Sarka could not read the expression on the Beloved's face. No sooner had they crossed the threshold of the temple than the headless god appeared, first as a vague outline. The details of his form slowly clarified until he stood before them in the flesh, his head tucked under his arm. "Sarka. Ro. Tayo. Are you quite all right?"

Sarka blinked. Her vision was blurring. Tears? Confused, she stammered, "We're fine."

"Sarka, confound it! We aren't fine!" Ro addressed Atai in exasperation. "She just saw Kogoren."

"So I thought. I sensed her presence," said Atai. "I was...alarmed. She may be testing the ties that bind her to her land."

"I thought you said she couldn't come here!" cried Sarka. "You said you and the other gods stood against her and trapped her in her own realm!"

"We laid down a mandate, Sarka, but denizens of the Opal Realm have no true dominion over one another. We can sanction her, we can even fight her, but we cannot truly bind her. She knows that should she cross her borders, she risks the ire of the gods of Galdren. That would be enough to bring most of us to heel. What she sent just now was naught but a shade, a fragment of herself...but it portends ill."

"She must not fear you as much as you thought," said Ro.

"On the contrary, I think she does, which is why it has taken her this long to act. But there are two of you-three of you, counting Konn-and now that you have won the allegiance of so many of her Beloved, she must realize that you are not a force to be ignored." But Atai did not look proud, nor pleased; he looked grim. "Perhaps she senses that you want more than your own freedom. We must consider carefully the way forward from here."

The door opened, and Konn entered the room. He was pale, his brow beaded with sweat. "Tell me I've gone mad."

"Did you see her?" Sarka asked.

"No, but by my bones, I felt her." The priest staggered into the temple and slumped into a chair. He put his head in his hands.

"Konn?" Atai approached his priest and sat down beside him, letting his head fall carelessly into his lap and putting a hand on the old man's shoulder. "Take a deep breath, my son."