“No, I’m trying to help you. How about we both stand up?”
“As you command.” Echo hopped upright and stared wide-eyed toward the horizon. When she spoke again, her voice held the singsong notes of a trained speech. “My name is Petra’s Echo. You are our Tsarina, born Elea of Braddock Farm. You raised my body from the dead, and now my soul is led by Petra, the Most Holy Messenger of the Gods.”
“The list of Petra’s titles grows by the day.” With slow movements, I forced myself to rise once more. “You’d best share what you came to tell me.” I glanced up at the sky. No red slash of light; the Martyr’s Comet had yet to arrive. There was still time to convince this girl.
Echo kept speaking in her singsong tone. “Petra is the Mouthpiece of the Gods, and she has a request for you. Our people believe you are our Tsarina.”
“I’m aware.” When I refused to take over ruling the Necromancers, Petra simply told everyone I was leading them from afar. It was most annoying.
“The Mouthpiece of the Gods has trusted me with a great secret.” Echo lowered her voice to a whisper. “You are not truly our Tsarina. You haven’t completed the sacred rites.”
I sighed. “I’m aware of that as well.”
“Don’t you want to be Tsarina? You’ll be hailed as the strongest Necromancer alive.”
“That’s precisely why I don’t want the title. Right now, being confirmed as the strongest Necromancer isn’t exactly a good thing.” I shook my head. “Not that you’d know that. The messengers never receive all the necessary information.”
“That doesn’t make any sense. The Divine Petra has told me everything I need to know. Her message to you is this: complete the rituals and take over your true mantle as our Tsarina. Cease your pointless refusals.”
Here we go again. Every missive from Petra was the same, as was my response, which always came in the form of a question. “And has Petra told you why I refuse?”
“Not specifically.”
Because she never does. I’m sure Petra wouldn’t find so many willing messengers if they knew the truth. No one wants to tell someone powerful that they must die soon. “Did Petra give you totem rings, by any chance?”
“Two of them. It is an honor.” Echo lifted her dainty hands. She wore two silver thumb bands carved in skull patterns—the classic sign of Petra’s totem ring creations. The reason for the bands was simple. Necromancer spells required exceedingly long incantations. Grand Mistresses could load magick onto rings and activate them with a single word.
“She always sends one messenger and two totem rings.” I shook my head. “Those bands aren’t a gift; they’re a means of controlling you. Petra has loaded that first ring with a memory wipe spell. It will activate once we’re done talking, usually when you speak the formal Necromancer farewell, valedictions. The second band is loaded with a transport spell to bring you back to Petra’s side. That one will launch when you say the word transport.”
“You’re wrong about the totem rings, you know.” Echo lifted her right hand. “This isn’t a transport spell.”
I narrowed my eyes. “What is it then?”
“A secret.”
“I see.” This girl was proving tough to reach. It was time to call in my best weapon. “You never answered my question. Do you wish to know the truth about why I refuse to become Tsarina?”
Echo hugged her elbows for a moment. Then, she nodded.
“Good.” I gestured to the rickety arch behind me. “This is a gateway. Have you seen any before?”
“Yes, there’s one hidden in our Cloister. It leads to another world—the Eternal Lands of the Sire and Lady.”
“Quite right. The Sire of Souls and the Lady of Creation fashioned all the magickal arches in our world. Most of them lead to the Eternal Lands, but some connect elsewhere instead. In fact, legend tells of a place called the Meadow of Many Gateways where the arches link to nothing but other worlds.” I gestured to the night sky. “Every two thousand years, the Martyr’s Comet appears and weakens these gateways. Since our world has been magickally tied to so many others, we can’t risk those arches falling apart. The very foundations of this world would collapse.”
Echo popped her hand over her mouth. “Is that true?”
“Unfortunately.” As if to highlight the point, a low rumble shook the earth. These quakes were becoming more and more common. “Up until this point, Petra and I believe the same things. But what I’m about to tell you next? That is where we differ. Petra also believes that the Martyr’s Comet carries with it a prophecy. Have you heard of it?”
Echo frowned. “A prophecy related to the Martyr’s Comet? Never.”
“I hadn’t heard of it either until a few months ago. This prophecy states that when the Martyr’s Comet arrives, the greatest mage must sacrifice their life and power into one of these very gateways. The arch will then soak in their magick, distribute it to the other gateways, and maintain our world. The most powerful Necromancer alive is supposed to rule our kind. As a result every two thousand years, our Tsar or Tsarina always sacrifices themselves to the gateways.”
Echo blinked. “I don’t understand. You need to die?”
“The Martyr’s Comet will appear any minute now. It will then cross by the horizon and vanish in three day’s time. At the end of the third day, Petra plans to kill me and toss my body onto one of these gateways. But I won’t let it happen.”
This last part was a bit of a lie. I’d cast vision spells, pored over ancient texts, consulted Seers, and hired legions of mortal researchers. All of them confirmed that some unlucky Necromancer always died to fulfill the prophecy of the Martyr’s Comet. According to every vision spell and Seer, the next sacrifice would never be Viktor, a homicidal mage who was my preferred choice for the job. No, all the scholars and visionaries agreed: the sacrifice was likely to be me.
I could see the logic, sadly enough. Viktor was also locked off in exile. Even if he could be set free, I’d need the Sword and perfect timing in order to have him be the sacrifice. It was far better for all of us if I had a back-up plan.
Echo’s pretty features fell slack with chock. “Everything will fall apart without the gateways having magick. You said so yourself. Don’t you want to save our world?”
“I do, but there’s always more than one way to accomplish any task. In my case, I am mated to Rowan, a Creation Caster. We’ve shared our Necromancer and Caster energies to create a new kind of hybrid magick. It’s incredibly powerful. In fact, I think it could fix these gateways. But Rowan and I need access to the gateways in order to test out our spells.” We also needed to spy on the gods for more information before the testing could begin, but I didn’t volunteer that fact.
“Oh, that won’t happen. The Sire and Lady have warded every gateway. You can’t even approach them safely, let alone cast a spell.”
“I’ve noticed.” I scanned the dark sky again. “Once the comet appears, that will change. I’ll be able to cast a spell or two.”