Chapter One
They'd always maintained the Balance. The proof was there, in black and white, in tomes long forgotten and archived and further back, etched onto steel discs and chiseled into stone. The Balance and the Blood went hand in hand. A multitude of worlds whirled in their own cosmos, each different from the last like sparks from a fire. There were constants, though - Nod, for one. That ancient land, that other place, was the lynchpin. All souls came to Nod, in one way or another. Mr. Black and the Blood, they were the caretakers. Theirs was a position to envy.
It's bullshit, Poe thought, and slammed the Codex shut. Thankless work for ungrateful souls. You see them - their arguments, their wars, their petty squabbles. One day it's compassion …show more content…
With a steady hand, he carved sigils into Poe's flesh in painstaking detail. After each, he pulled out a small tube of cream and daubed it on the wound to staunch the bleeding. The carving took a while, and while Joseph looked on unaffected, Naomi looked as though she might be sick. She turned away. Poe thought he would have to deal with her at some point. He hadn't seen it before, but now, the girl reeked of the possibility of betrayal. He put it to the back of his mind. That would come later. He needed her …show more content…
He gave a curt nod, ignoring the beads of perspiration that rolled down Poe's head, and left the room. Joseph's turn came next. He stepped past Poe and cut his palm with a quick slash from a blade in his sleeve. He sprayed the wall behind them and expended his will. The doorway cracked, and then swung open, leading into a dim room with a vast ceiling. Content the portal was open, he too left the room and put a hand on Naomi's shoulder. She looked up and stepped in. The last of the keystones, Poe thought. She put a hand on the black scarf around her neck, and he saw a rainbow effect ripple across the fabric. Something slammed into his mind, dark and wretched.
He saw the gaping maw of the universe, cold and unfeeling. He saw the clockwork behind the stars and the things that slipped between the gears. One, the Lurker, reached for him, and its vast mind slipped into his. Whispered words licked at the edges of his mind like cold fire, and he screamed. He reached for the woman, meaning to end the thing she'd begun, to make her pay for his torment, and instead found himself falling, falling
They'd always maintained the Balance. The proof was there, in black and white, in tomes long forgotten and archived and further back, etched onto steel discs and chiseled into stone. The Balance and the Blood went hand in hand. A multitude of worlds whirled in their own cosmos, each different from the last like sparks from a fire. There were constants, though - Nod, for one. That ancient land, that other place, was the lynchpin. All souls came to Nod, in one way or another. Mr. Black and the Blood, they were the caretakers. Theirs was a position to envy.
It's bullshit, Poe thought, and slammed the Codex shut. Thankless work for ungrateful souls. You see them - their arguments, their wars, their petty squabbles. One day it's compassion …show more content…
With a steady hand, he carved sigils into Poe's flesh in painstaking detail. After each, he pulled out a small tube of cream and daubed it on the wound to staunch the bleeding. The carving took a while, and while Joseph looked on unaffected, Naomi looked as though she might be sick. She turned away. Poe thought he would have to deal with her at some point. He hadn't seen it before, but now, the girl reeked of the possibility of betrayal. He put it to the back of his mind. That would come later. He needed her …show more content…
He gave a curt nod, ignoring the beads of perspiration that rolled down Poe's head, and left the room. Joseph's turn came next. He stepped past Poe and cut his palm with a quick slash from a blade in his sleeve. He sprayed the wall behind them and expended his will. The doorway cracked, and then swung open, leading into a dim room with a vast ceiling. Content the portal was open, he too left the room and put a hand on Naomi's shoulder. She looked up and stepped in. The last of the keystones, Poe thought. She put a hand on the black scarf around her neck, and he saw a rainbow effect ripple across the fabric. Something slammed into his mind, dark and wretched.
He saw the gaping maw of the universe, cold and unfeeling. He saw the clockwork behind the stars and the things that slipped between the gears. One, the Lurker, reached for him, and its vast mind slipped into his. Whispered words licked at the edges of his mind like cold fire, and he screamed. He reached for the woman, meaning to end the thing she'd begun, to make her pay for his torment, and instead found himself falling, falling