“They didn’t in the beginning.”
I remembered what Nyktos had told me. “Their ability to begin to feel emotion changed that?”
He nodded. “Nothing is more powerful, more life and realm-altering than the ability to feel. To experience emotion. Love. Hate. Desire. To care for oneself. To care for another.”
Nyktos wasn’t waiting for us at the crossroads as we left the Vale like I’d expected him to be. The creepy riders were, though, and they bowed once more as we passed. I figured Nyktos had gotten caught up with something, either at the Pillars themselves or in Lethe. Nektas didn’t appear concerned, so I didn’t think anything too serious had occurred.
I didn’t look at the souls waiting to cross through the Pillars, even though the embers throbbed, and my muscles were already tense and achy from fighting the sirens’ call. But the Primal mist finally abated, and I could see crimson in the distance, glittering under the bright starlight. I nibbled on a piece of cheese that Nektas had handed over as my thoughts bounced from one thing to another and I ignored the faint ache building in my temples. I wouldn’t once I returned to the palace. It may not be the Culling, but I wouldn’t risk it if so.
“Sera?”
Finishing off the piece of cheese, I glanced over at Nektas. “Yeah?”
“You okay?” he asked, looking at me and then returning his gaze to the road ahead.
It took me a moment to realize what he was asking, and when I did, a flush swept through me. My hands tightened on Gala’s reins. It felt like my tongue thickened, becoming heavy and useless as my heart began to pound.
You okay?
Such a simple question. One easily answered by many, I imagined. One I could’ve answered that morning without hesitation or much thought. You okay? Now, the question was loaded with meaning because not only the Pools of Divanash knew a secret not known to others. Nektas did, too.
“I…I think so,” I said finally, beating back the prickly, uncomfortable wave. “I will be,” I added with a shrug. “I always am.”
“Not everyone can always be okay,” he said quietly. “And if you happen to find that you’re not, you can talk to me. We’ll make sure you’re okay. Agreed?”
Throat and eyes stinging, my head whipped toward him. His gaze was still fixed on the road, and I didn’t know if he did that on purpose or not. Maybe he knew that it was easier this way. “Agreed,” I whispered.
“Good,” he replied, and for a time, that was all that was said. A silence fell between us as a knot lodged itself deep in my chest, where that crack had formed.
I was moved by his offer, a little shaken and caught off guard. It was an unexpected…kindness, and it made me want to dive face-first into the road at the same time I wanted to hug the draken.
“Halt,” Nektas ordered sharply.
Jerked from my thoughts, I drew Gala to a stop. Concern blossomed. “What is it?”
He tipped his head back, sniffing the air. “We’re about to have company.” His chin dipped as his gaze swept over the land, barren except for the large boulders and scattered, dead trees that must’ve grown from the lakes that had once flowed here. “And it will not be of a friendly nature.”
“Great.” I reached along Gala’s side and unstrapped one of the short swords Nyktos had placed there. “I knew this trip felt too uneventful.” I followed his gaze, not seeing anything at first. Then movement by one of the frail, hollow trees close to the road snagged my attention. I squinted as my grip firmed around the hilt of the sword.
“Do not strike first,” Nektas warned quietly. Thin, long fingers folded around the edge of the trunk, the color a muddy grayish-brown. The fingers curled, digging into the bark. Claws. I stiffened. A thin arm became visible, the skin appearing hard and craggy, like…bark. “They may allow us to pass without incident. Ride slowly. Stay alert.”
I watched that hand on the tree as I nudged Gala forward. “What are they?”
Nektas brought his horse closer to mine. “They’re nymphs, and they’re ancient. They were normally kind, benevolent creatures that lived in the forests and lakes throughout Iliseeum, tending to the land that fed them. Friends of the dragons and then the Primals and gods,” he said, and I zeroed in on the normally part of that statement and the past tense of the rest. “But they are now yet another repercussion of Kolis’s actions. When he stole Eythos’s embers, it corrupted them. Turned them into creatures of nightmares that now feed off pain and torture.”
“Oh,” I whispered. “They sound lovely.”
“They used to be one of the loveliest creatures you’d ever see in Iliseeum,” he returned.
I didn’t let myself feel the twinge of sadness that accompanied the knowledge that Kolis had tainted them. It would do me no favors if I did and they decided that they wouldn’t let us pass. “Were they here when we traveled to the Pillars?”
“They are always here.”
I thought about how both Nyktos and he had been eyeing the land. “Are they what drew Ehthawn away?”
“Probably.” Nektas’s hand rested on the sword strapped to his horse. “They don’t usually attack a Primal or their Consort. Anything and everything else is fair game. Neither draken fire nor eather does anything to them. The only way to stop them is to remove their heads.”
“Great,” I murmured as we passed the tree the one lurked behind. I caught sight of another behind a boulder. “How many do you think are here?”
“There could be hundreds,” he said, and my heart seized. “But I have seen only about a dozen near the road.”
“Must be that good draken eyesight because I’ve only seen two.”
“It is. I also know what to look for.”
We traveled several minutes in tense silence. I saw one more. This time, a little bit more of the nymph. A spindly leg. A foot latched into the bark.
The Rise came more into view, and I was just starting to be a little hopeful that they’d let us pass when Nektas muttered, “Shit.”
Then I saw it.
A nymph crouched in the center of the road, shoulders hunched and so small it had blended into the road itself.
It rose slowly, and I, honest to gods, really wanted to see one of these things before they changed because this creature truly was a thing of nightmares. Skin like bark, twisted and knobbed. Talons for fingers and toes. Facial features cracked and distorted. Skull hairless with a crown of jagged, exposed bone.
“I want to hear you scream,” the nymph hissed in a guttural, wet voice. “I want to see you bleed like a stream.” It lurched into motion, racing toward us.
Nektas withdrew a blade from the sleeve of his cloak. He threw the dagger, striking the creature between the eyes. Thrown back, the nymph howled, thrashing as it grabbed for the blade embedded in its head.
The air filled with hisses from both sides of the road. I cursed, swinging myself down as Nektas did the same. They were a blur, seeming to bleed out from the uneven basin, the trees, and the rocks.
“I’ll get this side,” Nektas advised, striding forward, swinging the shadowstone blade across the throat of the nymph on the road, removing its head. The creature shattered into glittering silver dust. “You got the other?”
I braced myself. “I was considering letting them do whatever, but I suppose so.”
He smirked from within the shadows of his hood as he turned to the right side of the road.