"I've always found it funny that we bleed, just like regular men," Denth said. "We might be stronger, but we die just the same."

"Not the same," Vasher said, raising Vivenna's blade. "Other men die with far more honor than we, Denth."

Denth smiled. Vivenna could see excitement in his eyes. He always claimed that there was no way Vasher could have beat his friend, Arsteel, in a duel, she thought. He wants to fight Vasher. He wants to prove to himself that Vasher isn't as good as he is.

Blades whipped into motion. And after just a quick exchange, Vivenna could see that there was no contest. Denth was the better. Perhaps it was Vasher's wounds. Perhaps it was the growing anger she saw in Vasher's eyes as he fought, marring his ability to be calm and collected during the fight. Maybe he really just wasn't as good as Denth. However, as Vivenna watched, she realized that Vasher was going to lose.

I didn't do all of this so you could just die! she thought, rising to try to help.

A hand fell on her shoulder, pushing her back down. "I don't think so," Tonk Fah said, looming over her. "Nice trick with the rope, by the way. Very clever. I know a few tricks with ropes myself. Did you know, for instance, that a rope can be used burn a person's flesh?" He smiled. Then, he leaned down. "Mercenary humor, you see."

His cloak slid slightly off his shoulder, falling against her cheek.

It couldn't be, she thought. I escaped from him. I tried to Awaken his cloak, but used a bad Command. Could he have been dumb enough to keep wearing it?

She smiled, glancing over her shoulder. Vasher had backed against the far wall, to the window, and he was sweating profusely, b.l.o.o.d.y drops falling to the ground. Denth forced him back again, and Vasher stepped up on the table by the far wall, seeking high ground.

She looked back at Tonk Fah, his cloak still touching her cheek. "Your Breath to mine," she said.

She felt a sudden, welcoming burst of Breath.

"Huh?" Tonk Fah said.

"Nothing," she said. "Just... Attack and grab Denth!" Command made, visualization made, the cloak began to quiver. Tonk Fah's shirt drained of color, and his eyes widened with surprise. The cloak suddenly whipped into the air, yanking Tonk Fah to the side causing him to stumble away from her.

That's why I'm the princess, and you're just a mercenary, she thought with satisfaction, rolling over.

Tonk Fah cried out. Denth spun at the sound, crying out as the very large, very uncoordinated Pahn Kahl man rammed into him, cloak whipping about.

Denth slammed backward, catching Vasher by surprise as they rammed together. Tonk Fah grunted. Denth cursed.

And Vasher was shoved backward out the window.

Vivenna blinked in surprise. That wasn't what she'd been intending. Denth cut away the cloak, pushing Tonk Fah back, cursing to himself.

All was silent in the room for a moment.

"Go grab our squad of Lifeless!" Denth said. "Now!"

"You think he'll live?" Tonk Fah asked.

"He just fell out a three story window, plummeting toward certain doom," Denth said. "Of course he'll live! Send the squad for the front doors to slow him!" Denth glanced at Vivenna. "You, Princess, are far too much trouble for what you're worth."

"So people are fond of telling me," she said with a sigh, raising her bloodied hand to her shoulder again, too exhausted to be terrified like she probably should be.

Vasher fell toward the hard stone blocks below. He watched the window retreat above him. Almost, he thought with frustration. I just about had him!

Wind whistled. He screamed in frustration, pulling free the rope at his waist, Vivenna's Breath a lively strength within him.

"Grab things," he Commanded, whipping it out, drawing color from his blood-stained shorts. They bled to grey, and the rope wrapped around an outcropping of stone on the side of the palace. It pulled taught, and he ran sideways along the ebony blocks, slowing his fall.

"Your Breath to mine," he yelled as his momentum slowed. The rope dropped free and he landed on the first block. "Become as my leg and give it strength!" he Commanded, drawing color from the blood on his chest. The rope twisted down, wrapping around his leg and foot as he leaped off. He landed on the next block, one foot down, the coiled rope-and its strange, inhuman muscles-bearing the brunt of the shock.

Four hops and he hit the ground. A group of soldiers stood amidst some bodies at the front gates, looking confused. Vasher barreled toward them, translucent, colorless blood dropping from his skin as he drew his Breath back from his rope.

He scooped a sword off of a fallen soldier. The men in front of the gates turned and readied their weapons. He didn't have the time, or the patience, for pleasantries. He struck, cutting men down with quick efficiency. He wasn't as good as Denth, but he was very well practiced.

Unfortunately, there were a lot of men. Maybe too many to fight. Vasher cursed, spinning between them, dropping another one. He bent down, slapping his hand against the waist of a fallen soldier, touching both shirt and pants.

"Fight for me, as if you were me," he Commanded, draining the man's shoes completely grey. Vasher spun, blocking a sword strike. Another came from the side, and another. He couldn't block them all.

A sword flashed in the air, blocking a weapon that would have hit Vasher. The dead man's shirt and trousers, having pulled themselves free, stood holding a blade. They struck, as if controlled by an invisible person inside, blocking and attacking with skill. Vasher put his back to the Awakened construct. When he had a chance, he made another one, draining away his remaining Breath.

They fought in a trio, Vasher and his two sets of Awakened clothing. The guards cursed, much more wary now. Vasher eyed them, planning an attack. At that moment, a troop of some fifty Lifeless barreled around the corner, charging toward him.

Colors! Vasher thought. He growled in rage, striking and taking down another soldier.

Colors, colors, colors!

You shouldn't swear, a voice said in his head. Shashara told me that was evil.

Vasher spun toward the sound. A little line of smoke was trailing out from beneath the closed front doors of the palace.

Aren't you going to thank me? Nightblood said. I came to save you.

One of his sets of clothing fell, the leg cut free by a clever strike from a soldier. Vasher reached back, drawing the Breath back from the second set of clothing, then stepped with an unclothed toe on the fallen set, drawing the Breath from it as well. The soldiers backed away, wary, apparently wanting to let the Lifeless take him.

And in that moment of peace, Vasher charged for the gates to the palace. He threw his shoulder against the door, slamming it open, skidding into the entryway.

A large group of men lay dead on the ground. Nightblood sprouted from one man's chest, as usual, hilt pointing toward the sky. Vasher hesitated only briefly. He could hear Lifeless charging up behind him.

He ran forward and grabbed Nightblood's hilt and pulled the sword free, leaving the sheath behind in the body.

The blade sprayed a wave of black liquid as he swing it. The liquid dissolved into smoke before touching walls or floor, like water in an oven. Smoke twisted, some rising from the blade, some falling in a stream to the floor, dripping like black blood.

Destroy! Nightblood's voice boomed in his head. The evil must be destroyed! A pain shot up Vasher's arm, and he felt his Breath being leached away, sucked into the blade, fueling its hunger. Drawing the weapon had a terrible cost. At that moment, he didn't really care. He spun toward the charging Lifeless and-enraged-attacked.

Each creature he struck with the blade immediately flashed and became smoke. A single scratch and the bodies dissolved like paper being consumed by an invisible fire, leaving behind only large stain of blackness in the air. Vasher spun among them, striking with wrath, killing Lifeless after Lifeless. Black smoke churned around him, and his arm twisted with pain as vein-like tendrils climbed up the hilt around his forearm-like black blood vessels that latched onto his skin, feeding off his Breath.

In a matter of minutes, the Breath Vivenna had given him had been reduced by a half. Yet in those moments, he destroyed all fifty Lifeless. The soldiers outside pulled to a halt, watching the display. Vasher stood amidst a churning ma.s.s of deep ebony smoke. It slowly rose to the air, the only remnants of the fifty creatures he had destroyed.

The soldiers ran away.

Vasher screamed, charging toward the side of the room. He slammed Nightblood through a wall. The stone dissolved just as easily as flesh had, puffing away before him. He burst through the dissolving black smoke, entering the next room. He didn't bother with a stairwell. He simply jumped onto a table and rammed Nightblood into the ceiling.

A circle ten feet wide vanished. Dark, mist-like smoke fell around him like streaks of paint. He Awakened his rope again then tossed it up, using it to pull himself up onto the next floor. A moment later, did it again, climbing onto the third floor.

He spun, slashing through walls, bellowing as he ran back toward Denth. The pain in his arm was incredible, and his Breath was draining away at an alarming rate. Once it was gone, Nightblood would kill him.

Everything was growing fuzzy. He slashed through a final wall, finding the room where he had been tortured.

It was empty.

He cried out, arm shaking. Destroy... evil... Nightblood said in his mind, all lightness gone from the tone, all familiarity. It boomed like a command. An awful, inhuman thing. The longer Vasher held the sword, the faster it drained his Breath.

Gasping, he threw the sword aside and fell to his knees. It skidded, tearing a rip in the ground that puffed away into smoke, but hit a wall with a pling and fell still. Smoke rose from the blade.

Vasher knelt, arm twitching. The black veins on his skin slowly evaporated. He was left with just barely enough Breath to reach the First Heightening. Another few seconds, and Nightblood would have sucked the rest away. He shook his head, trying to clear his vision.

Something fell to the carpet in front of him. A dueling blade. Vasher looked up.

"Stand up," Denth said, eyes hard. "We're going to finish what we started."

Chapter Fifty-Seven.

Bluefingers led Siri-held by several Lifeless-up to the fourth floor of the palace. The top floor. They entered a room decorated with lavish colors, even for Hallandren. Lifeless guards there let them pa.s.s, bowing their heads to Bluefingers.

All the Lifeless in the city are controlled by Bluefingers and his scribes, she thought. But even before that, the scribes had amazing power over the bureaucracy and workings of the kingdom. Did the Hallandrens realize that they were dooming themselves by regulating the Pahn Kahl people to such lowly-yet important-positions?

"My people will not fall for this," Siri found herself saying as she was pulled to the front of the room. "They won't fight Hallandren. They'll retreat through the pa.s.ses. Take refuge in the highland valleys or one of the outer kingdoms."

The front of the room held a black block of stone, shaped like an altar. Siri frowned. From behind, a group of Lifeless entered the room, carrying the corpses of several priests. She saw Tridees's body among them.

What? Siri thought.

Bluefingers turned toward her. "We'll make certain they're angry," he said. "Trust me. When this is through, Princess, Idris will fight until either it or Hallandren is destroyed."

They tossed someone into the cell next to Lightsong. He looked up with tired eyes, uncaring. It was another Returned. Which of the G.o.ds had they taken captive now?

The G.o.d King, he thought. Interesting.

He looked down again. What did it matter? He'd failed Blushweaver. He'd failed everyone. The Lifeless armies were probably already marching on Idris. Hallandren and Idris would fight and the Pahn Kahl would have their revenge. It had been three hundred years coming.

Vasher stood up with difficulty. He held the sword in a weak hand, looking at Denth, still shaken by his use of Nightblood. The empty black hallway was now open around them. Vasher had destroyed several of the walls.

Corpses littered the floor, the result of the conflicts which had occurred when Denth's men had taken over the palace.

"I'll let you die easily," Denth said, raising his blade. "Just tell me the truth. You never beat Arsteel in a duel, did you?"

Vasher raised his own blade. The cuts, the pain in his arm, the tiredness of being awake so long... it was all wearing on him. Adrenaline could only get him so far, and even his body could only take so much.

"Have it your way," Denth said, attacking.

Vasher backed away, forced to the defensive. Denth had always been better at swordplay. Vasher had been better at research, but what had that earned him? Discoveries that had caused the Manywar.

He fought. He fought well, he knew, considering how tired he was. But it did little good. Denth drove his blade through Vasher's left shoulder-Denth's favorite place for a first strike. It allowed his opponent to keep fighting, wounded. Drew out the fight for Denth's enjoyment.

"You never beat Arsteel," Denth whispered.

"You're going to kill me on an altar," Siri said, standing in the room, held by Lifeless. Around her, other Lifeless placed bodies on the floor. Priests. "It doesn't make sense, Bluefingers. You don't worship their religion. Why do this?"

Bluefingers stood to the side, holding a knife. She could see the shame in his eyes. "Bluefingers," she said, forcing her voice to remain even, her hair to stay black. "Bluefingers, you don't have to do this."

Bluefingers finally looked at her. "After all I've already done, do you think one more death will mean anything to me?"

"After all you've done," she said, "do you really think one more death will matter for your cause?"

He glanced at the altar. "Yes," he said. "You know how the Idrians whisper of the things that go on in the Court of G.o.ds. Your people hate and distrust the Hallandren priests; they speak of murders done on dark altars in the backs of the palaces. Well, we are going to let a group of those Idrian mercenaries see this, once you are dead. We'll show them that we were too late to save you, that the priests had already killed you on one of their twisted altars. We'll show them the dead priests we killed trying to save you.

"The Idrians will riot in the city. They're strained to snapping anyway-we have you to thank for that. The city will be in chaos, and there will be a slaughter like hasn't been seen since the Manywar. Those that live will return to Idris to tell the tale. They'll let everyone know that the Hallandrens only wanted a princess of the royal blood so that they could sacrifice her to their G.o.d King. It is exaggerated and foolish to think that the Hallandrens would really do such a thing, but the Idrians will believe it. You know they will."

And she did. She'd heard similar stories told in Idris from her childhood. Hallandren was distant to her people: frightening, bizarre. Siri struggled, feeling even more worried.

Bluefingers glanced back at her. "I truly am sorry."

I am nothing, Lightsong thought. Why couldn't I save her? Why couldn't I protect her?

He was crying again. Oddly, someone else was too. The man in the cell next to him. The G.o.d King. Susebron moaned with frustration, pounding against the bars of his cage. He didn't speak, though, or denounce his captors.

I wonder why that is, Lightsong thought.

Men approached the G.o.d King's cell. Pahn Kahl men, with weapons. Their expressions were grim.

Lightsong found it hard to care.

You are a G.o.d. Llarimar's voice still challenged him. The high priest lay in his own cell, to Lightsong's left, eyes closed against the terrors around them.

You are a G.o.d. To me at least.

Lightsong shook his head. No. I'm nothing! No G.o.d. Not even a good man.