Ashes Unwritten: Oblivion's Heir [Volume 1 Complete!]

A chill ran through Kess. A broken dam, Malane had said. What if embracing her Fulminancy was the wrong choice? What if Mariel had lied? What if her natural tendency to lock it away had been an unconscious survival mechanism? She shook her head to clear her thoughts. Malane was getting bored, and her time was running out.

"I don't care about that," Kess said, folding her arms. "Is there any danger to him if we do this?" She jerked her head at Rowan, who gave her a look that said they would talk about this later. She ignored him.

Malane watched the two of them for several moments, as if trying to decide something. Kess fought not to squirm. She wasn't the girl who'd come down here years before, terrified of her own power and terrified of the lower city. She was as much a citizen of Downhill as this woman, and as Fulminant as any of the Seats far above them. Finally, Malane sighed, her eyes tired. "No," she said. "The lad will be fine, if that's what you're worried about." Kess let out a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding. They could do this and still keep Rowan safe.

"But," Malane purred, "I cannot say what might happen to you." She squinted at Kess. "Never in my life have I seen a woman overflowing with as much Fulminancy as you. Clouds, the storm itself speaks to you all the way down here. Mariel herself would envy what you have." She twisted her mouth. "Or perhaps not. Mariel was always ruthlessly practical with her Fulminancy, to the point of packaging it up for the rest of us to use. She would have found such overwhelming amounts a heavy burden." Malane shook her head. "I don't know what business you have with it, or what it might have to do with that storm brewing over the city, but if you know what's good for you, you'll stop using it. That energy weaves into your very soul, and coming back from it won't be as easy as you might think. Fulminancers who lose control become a shadow of their former selves—monsters, some might say." She met Kess's eyes. "Play with fire, girl, and you'll get burned."

Something about her statement tickled at the back of Kess's mind, not quite forming into a full thought. She eyed Malane, noting the missing smirk and the hint of fear that had crept into her eyes. It doesn't matter what Malane thinks, Kess told herself. I tried living without Fulminancy for years—what did it get me? That hesitation had cost Kess on more than one occasion—first with her family, then with Draven, and nearly with Rowan at the Archives. She couldn't do things halfway anymore. This was her way of fighting now—she would be a tool of destruction if it brought her back to Oliver, and if she could protect Rowan with it.

"We are in your debt for the warning," Rowan said beside her, bowing politely to Malane. Kess tried not to roll her eyes. Of course Rowan's such a gentleman that he'd bow to a witch, she thought. Malane didn't smile, but she waved them off, her spindly fingers already counting through the coin purse again. Kess hoped that this time, it would be enough to keep her occupied until they left this part of Downhill.

They climbed again, passing tents and beggars' holes until they returned to the more hospitable sections of the underground. Beside her, Rowan was scowling, likely looking for a way to broach the subject again with her. A few near misses with pickpockets seemed to convince him to keep his thoughts to himself for a time, at least. It didn't last long.

"Kess," Rowan said as they dodged a bawdy group of drunken men a few minutes later, well back into the amber lights of the higher levels. "We can find another way," he said, voice so quiet Kess had to strain to hear it over the noise from the taverns. She expertly wove past another pickpocket, though the boy wouldn't have found anything on her, anyway.

"There is no other way, Rowan. We'll do it before the gala, get you in front of your father, and—"

"And what, Kess, leave you dead?" Kess avoided his glare, uncomfortable.

"She said she didn't know, Rowan."

"I'm not particularly satisfied with unknowns these days," Rowan said, stepping over a suspicious puddle. "I'd rather face him with nothing than risk you."

"We already established that your father won't go for that, unless you and I have argued with a different man at every ball we've been to."

"He might be willing to—"

"Do you have a better idea?" Kess demanded, stopping momentarily in a quieter square. Rowan looked down at her, unable to hide the discomfort on his face. Several seconds passed, the silence broken by damp steps of passerby and the cackling of a group of boys nearby.

"No," he finally said. Kess began walking again.

"This is my risk to assume anyway," she said. "I wouldn't take it on if I wasn't comfortable with it." That was a bit of a lie. Malane's words had unsettled her, and she found it hard to completely ignore them as they echoed in her head, a dull drumbeat not unlike the rain in the streets above. But this remained the fastest route to Oliver and the Council. Nothing worth doing was ever easy.

Rowan said nothing, his posture surly as they made their way back towards the rain, storm, and chaos of the upper streets. Kess longed to make amends, but the worst part was he was right. What they were doing was dangerous and unprecedented, but Kess couldn't see another way forward.

By the time they arrived back in the streets proper, another downpour had begun, whipping rain and debris into their faces as they used the remaining wooden awnings for cover. Most of them had been blown down by now, but a few remained, and they darted between these, Kess trying to deflect any debris that flung itself at Rowan too quickly for him to dodge. The storm was dangerous for normal men, but not impossible to traverse—especially with Fulminancy. They'd already been experimenting with different types of armor for the men who insisted on guarding the manor.

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The manor crested a hill in the distance, its warm glow comforting in the gloom. Kess's shoulders relaxed, and she let out a breath. Even with powers, traveling on foot in the storm wasn't something she ever wanted to do again, if she could help it.

It was then that she saw them.

Men, inhumanly tall, standing several heads over even Rowan. White robes that flashed against the periodic lightning. Four of them stood calmly in the middle of the street, the storm whipping their robes around them. Kess squinted in the rain, but something about the faces partially hidden beneath the hoods seemed…off to her.

"What is that?" Rowan breathed beside her. Already he was unsheathing his sword. Kess brought her staff out from under her cloak, locking together the two ends with a metallic click and a twist. She'd had it made specifically to hide under her clothing; the reach of such a long weapon might save her in a fight, but the unwieldiness of it might doom her before she had the chance to strike at all.

She shook her head as one of the figures began to take slow, lengthy strides, closing the distance between them, a long scythe in his hand. Kess let her Fulminancy crackle into her staff, her heart thudding erratically. "Whatever they are, I don't think we need to worry about them being on our side," she said, and leapt at them.

She met the leader's scythe with her own staff, throwing her Fulminancy through it.

He didn't flinch.

Kess jumped back, shocked. Even Witchblades flinched at the amount of power she put into that strike, but this man—

She rolled to the side, narrowly dodging an overhead swing from the scythe as it crunched into the cobblestone nearby. Next to her, Rowan grunted as he met another's strike. Kess swung at the leader, her staff leaving an afterimage in the rain behind her. The man jumped her blow and thrust his scythe out, narrowly missing Kess's ribcage as she twisted to the side, slamming the butt of her own weapon into the man's gut. She followed it up with as much power as she could send into it without searing Rowan nearby, and let loose.

The creature flew backward—most of it, anyway. Kess nearly dropped her staff when she saw what was left.

The thing's foot remained planted firmly on the ground, its leg stretching a good thirty feet to where Kess had flung the rest of the body, like a sick sort of rubber.

"Rowan!" she yelled, trying to warn him. His eyes went wide as the creature flung itself back towards its foot, then wider as he looked behind Kess.

"Look out!"

Kess dodged instinctively as she heard the whistle of wood nearby, but it wasn't fast enough. The staff cracked into her arm, though the blade didn't find its mark. She rolled away from the leader and the one who had swung at her, clutching her staff in her good arm, fighting off the pain as it coursed through her.

The leader, at least, looked a little worse for the wear, the dark marks of her Fulminancy decorating his robes. Rowan knocked his opponent to the ground and simply beheaded the thing without hesitation as he turned to face the remainder.

Something inside of Kess twisted. They're not…people, are they?

She ducked a strike, rolling up behind the leader to swing at the three remaining creatures as Rowan joined the fray. Her staff was nearly absorbed by the first creature, but it knocked him into his peers as they tangled themselves in an attempt to come after her.

Kess smiled.

She threw her Fulminancy into her staff, a large, swirling, volatile amount of it, hoping that Rowan was far enough away to avoid any of the backlash.

Nothing happened.

Kess stared, horrified, as the creatures recovered without a scratch. The third swung at her, and she rolled backwards to dodge, flipping herself with a single hand to slide through the rain-slick streets. Rowan came up behind the third as it swung at her and beheaded another.

Kess swore. She moved her staff back into her right hand, then watched as the Fulminancy on it blinked out. Her power was still there—she felt it—so why—

No time to think. Rowan was fighting the remaining two alone. She pushed herself to her feet and ran, ignoring her Fulminancy for now.

Rowan fought well, but he was outnumbered, and the creatures could reach just about any angle with little effort. He darted back, judging his distance properly, but no amount of talent with the sword could have prepared him for opponents whose limbs could stretch to inhuman levels.

The second creature grew its torso, covering the ten feet easily to swing at Rowan.

Kess palmed a knife into her right hand and shot Fulminancy into her feet, using the momentum to slide across the wet stones again, giving her the proper angle.

She let the knife fly.

It landed with a satisfying sound in the creature's head, and it fell, its body retracting to some semblance of normalcy.

A searing pain lanced through her thigh, and she cried out, spinning as she brought her staff overhead to block the final creature's overhead strike. Somehow it had sliced her leg as she slid by. It bore down on her with the blade, the wood splinting and snapping as she held her ground. She willed Fulminancy into her legs, but the added strength was uneven, and her other leg gave out from under her as she stumbled backwards, landing on her back with the scythe still pressing down, inches from her body.

Rowan charged with a roar, coming up behind it. The creature grimaced as it bore down on Kess, and then the head simply fell from its shoulders as Rowan's blade found its mark.

The scythe clanged onto the ground nearby, and Kess sat up, chest heaving, trying to move away from the body.

Rowan was there instantly, his eyes wide and frightened. Kess wasn't sure she'd ever seen him afraid before.

"Kess, are you—"

"Fine," she said through gritted teeth. The cut on her leg was shallow, though it stung. Rowan helped her to her feet, and the two of them checked over each other in the pouring rain. Kess nodded, satisfied that Rowan wasn't bleeding from anywhere, and they hobbled towards the manor, leaving the bodies behind with a shudder.

"I couldn't use my Fulminancy," Kess whispered. "Where they touched." The rain and howling wind nearly devoured her voice. She'd realized after the second blow that wherever the creatures touched, she lost the ability to channel Fulminancy. It was an unsettling thought. The deadness remained in her limbs, where there was a weakness she wasn't used to feeling. It wasn't quite the same feeling as the shadow on top of the building, but it was similar.

"What were they?" Rowan asked. Kess knew he didn't expect an answer, but as they limped their way back home, she wasn't sure she wanted to know at all. All she knew was that they had discovered an opponent she was not well suited to fight—something which countered her every move. Something she couldn't fight with Fulminancy.

She'd finally allowed herself to use all of her Fulminancy, but it seemed her enemies were not quite out of ideas yet.