Dresharn glanced up as the carriage slowed and turned a tight corner then looked back to Neph. “We have two more turns before we reach the Merro house. Please humor me and tell me a good story about some devastating crop failure that demands immediate attention in Merro. Make it as boring as you possibly can. Some sort of fungus or something. The more mundane, the better. I can make a few quick arrangements once you have laid it all out for me and you can return with the shipments to Merro while your true purpose here remains obscure.”
“Well we are having a wretched problem with pests and the wheat fields are suffering. I believe Wisp said it was some kind of beetle,”
Neph lied. It was difficult to keep the smile from his face. He now understood fully why Jala had placed Jail and Dresharn in control of Sanctuary. Between the two of them he had no doubt that the people of Merro were well protected in Sanctuary.
Chapter 17
The Darklands
Seth paused on the hillside and stared down at the milling souls in the valley below him. There were thousands mingling on the narrow road leading to judgment before the Lord of Death, and all of them were the recent dead. Between the Blights and the wars raging in the sunlit world above, the Darklands were well over their typical number of dead. Finding the soul he was looking for was going to be about as easy as locating a needle in a haystack. There was no help for it, though. He had already investigated the area where Zoelyn had first been found and the village had been one of the first that was destroyed by the Blights. So that meant he had to locate the dead in order to learn where she had been found, and how.
He hadn’t been able to approach Dominic directly. There was too much of a chance that his son would recognize him, even after all this time. He had wanted to approach the boy, but Rose had warned him against it. In her words, Dominic blamed him for everything that had happened that night, and given how young Dominic was at the time Seth couldn’t blame him. The child had believed his father was invincible. Seth had failed him.
Maybe it would have been better if he had seen me die, Seth mused as he studied the souls below. Then he would have known that I tried, at least, and maybe he wouldn’t hate me so much now. That hadn’t been a possibility, of course. Hemlock would have killed Dominic if Seth hadn’t sent him away, but surely the boy had heard rumors of the corpses at the Avanti gates. He had to have known that both of his parents died that night. Donrey Avanti had made it a point to display his body in a crow cage until his bones were bleached white from the sun.
With a sigh, he shook his head and banished the thoughts of his son from his mind. He had managed to learn enough information from Dominic’s neighbors to lead him here. As it turned out, Zoelyn hadn’t actually been found by Dominic, but had been brought there by one of the local hunters. Everyone had thought she was the survivor of a plague at the time, and had been loath to go near her. Seth smiled at the thought. It was likely the only reason his son as well as the rest of the village were still breathing. Had they been stupid enough to get too close to Zoelyn or touch her, they would have died.
His eyes narrowed as he scanned the countless souls below him. It was of course too much to ask for the hunter to still be alive. That would have been too simple. Shaking his head, he drew on his magic. He hadn’t wanted to use his power to do this, but without it he would be searching for days, and that wasn’t possible. He only had Zoelyn with him in the Darklands for another week, and he should be spending every moment he had training her. If she left the Darklands with mastery of her powers, then maybe it would draw her creator out. That would save him the trouble of trying to rebuild the puzzle piece by piece, but he wouldn’t rely on just that. He wanted both options available. This was too important to rest entirely on hopes.
Lifting both of his hands above him, as he finished the spell and watched in silence as a flock of spectral crows took form in the shadows above him. “Find Dustin Winters the hunter from Denway village in Glis,” he commanded and the birds dispersed in all directions. Settling back on his heels he watched them wing toward the river of souls and glanced toward the city. It was possible that Finn would take notice of the magic he just used, but with so many souls demanding his attention he likely wouldn’t. Finn was still struggling with his role as a Divine, and for the most part he remained oblivious to the subtle actions of his minions.
Seth didn’t have to wait long before he was rewarded with a location from his spell. It typically didn’t take long for his crows to find what he needed. It was the same spell he had used to locate Jala and her Bendazzi when Jexon had betrayed her, and the speed of his return had gone a long way to seal him in Finn’s favor.
With a faint smile, Seth started down the hill in the direction the bird had indicated. Within minutes, he could see the blurred form of Dustin beneath the circling flock of his crows. The dead man was watching the birds with a look of terror on his face, but then he was from G lis, and the stories told in that region were very vivid on the Crow King. The poor bastard was probably expecting to be devoured in the next few moments, but thanks to Finn he wouldn’t be. It might have been an option for him if Death hadn’t forbidden the destruction of souls without her permission, and sadly every rule that she had placed upon Seth still stood. Finn hadn’t even bothered to review the terms of Seth’s service when he gained power.
“Dustin Winters?” Seth asked as he stopped beside the spirit and dismissed his crows.