The spirit watched the empty shadows above him for another long moment before his gaze slowly turned to Seth. If souls could pale, Seth was sure Dustin would have. The expression on the spirit’s face was one of horror. He nodded nervously and his form flickered as he glided back from Seth.
“I’m not going to hurt you, Dustin. I just have a few questions. Answer me truthfully and you will continue on your way to judgment. You weren’t an evil man in life so I highly doubt there will be penance for you. In all probability, you will be on your journey through the life stream within a week. Lie to me, however, and I will prove every story your people tell about the Crow King is far kinder than I truly am. Do you understand?” Seth kept his voice low and menacing as he spoke. His eyes narrowed as the spirit flickered once more and drifted farther back.
“Ask your questions, Crow King. I want no trouble and I will answer what I can truthfully.” Dustin’s voice was faint and quavering, but then, he hadn’t been a powerful man in life. It stood to reason that his spirit would be weak. He likely wasn’t even worth the effort of devouring.
Seth regarded him with a smirk and nodded in approval. “Good, then I will ask my questions and you will answer them and then forget you ever saw me, understood?”
“Yes,” The spirit flickered once more, but didn’t drift any farther away. Apparently Dustin realized that even if he did run, he most certainly couldn’t hide.
“I want information about a girl you found. She was young when you found her, perhaps fifteen. Everyone thought she had the plague and you took her to a healer by the name of Dominic. Do you remember her?” Seth asked politely.
Dustin nodded hesitantly. “I remember. I found her while hunting in Gaelyn and I could barely understand anything she said. She was as pale as Death herself and staggering when I found her and wasn’t wearing a stitch of clothing. I gave her my old leather coat to wrap up in, but as bad as she looked I didn’t get close to her. Wasn’t really sure what she was sick with, and I wasn’t sure if she would even live to reach Dominic, but she did.”
“Good. You seem to remember it well. I want you to tell me everything you can remember. Even words she may have mumbled. If you can’t remember exactly what words she said, then mimic the sounds that you do remember. Spare no details. This is very important to me.” Seth laced his words with encouragement and summoned the faintest trace of his magic into a spell. Magic washed over the spirit and the expression on Dustin’s face grew more relaxed as the charm magic settled into his mind.
“I’ve always had a good mind for details, and that was such a strange day that it stuck in my head. I figured she was a local girl, so I asked her name right off. She was mumbling pretty good, and the closest I could determine was Zoelyn. Strange name for that area, but I’ve heard stranger. She couldn’t tell me where she was from and after hearing her name I figured Dominic’s was the best place for her. Everyone in the region knows Dominic, so if she was local he would figure out where she belonged,” Dustin began in a more relaxed voice.
“Excellent. Do you think you could remember exactly what she mumbled? I’m not certain that Zoelyn was truly her name,” Seth smiled and nodded for him to continue. With luck the man would remember enough that he wouldn’t have to worry about finding her creator. If the information he got here was good enough he would find the man himself. It was possible that he wouldn’t even need to continue training the Undrae. He frowned at the thought and shook his head. No, he would finish her training. She was well on the way to mastering her talents now and it wouldn’t take much more. He could delay his plans long enough to finish helping Zoey where he could.
*
Wind slammed against his side as the dragon flew passed him once more. His long grey cloak tangled around his legs and Hemlock took a cautious step back. His eyes lingered on Kaverax as he turned in the air for another sweep by the palace. Nerath had been big. Wilameir was huge when she shifted. But Kaverax made them both look like hatchlings. The idea that the creature before him once ruled the skies in his world amazed him. He had, of course, lived while Kaverax still ruled, but never once had he seen the dragon in his scaled form. The few occasions he had met the creature while it was living had been inside the Justicars hall in Sanctuary and Kaverax had seemed no more threatening than any other man in the building.
“What are you doing up here?” Yasny’s voice demanded behind him and Hemlock slowly turned on his perch to smile at her. His feet shifted on the loose tiles of the tower roof and he paused, but his smile never faltered.
“Looking for a nice private place to talk to you, Yasny,” Hemlock replied easily. She was crouched above him close to the window and the expression on her face suggested that if he didn’t slip and fall she was going to push him. “I have a proposal for you, Yasny; just hear me out,” Hemlock pressed in his most charming voice. He didn’t have Seth’s natural talent with charm magic, but he did know how to tempt the Elder Blood easily enough.
“Why would I want anything you have?” Yasny hissed, but her expression had softened and he could see the glint of curiosity in her eyes.
“Because Finn will never give you what I’m offering and we both know it,” Hemlock replied with a smile.
Yasny’s eyes narrowed as she watched him, but as he had suspected, the hint was too much for her. She wanted to know exactly what he was talking about and it was obvious. She stood after a long moment and waved a slender hand for him to move closer. “Too much noise up here and I don’t like having to yell. Come inside the tower, Hemlock,” she said as she ducked back through the tower window.