A Chime for these Hallowed Bones (Chapter 8, Part 1)
The tolling of the bells kicked through Yadleen’s bones. It was like being brutalized by a vengeful mob. She heard discordant screeching in the Naga’s Tongue.
Suddenly, she was aware of her own body again. The burning in her flesh dwindled rapidly, and with it, the battering anguish. The reprieve should have brought her a sense of tranquility. Instead, exhaustion crushed her.
The golden flames pulled back from her vision. Above her, Yadleen could see a tide of ghostfire sloughing down the ghat, exposing Rajeev and Akal. To her shock, Rajeev had crawled to nearly the top of the ghat – and, in doing so, had provoked the warrior-wights guarding the Well. Even more astonishingly, he was already trying to stand. Much closer, Akal rolled over and flopped limply onto his back, barely holding onto the staff.
Yadleen felt closer to Akal than Rajeev. When the last of the bhūtas’ flames left her, returning control of her muscles to her, it took every ounce of effort to scramble up to Akal’s level. Only then did she dare look down at the pool
A scrum formed at the center of the Well. Bhūtas fought each other in their bid to flee down into the submerged caverns, anticipating another toll of the bells. Oracle was an azure silhouette amidst the writhing inferno. Yadleen felt the heat of that ancient spirit’s glare before she was dragged underwater with her brethren.
The inferno became a vortex. As the last of the ghostfire swept under the water, Yadleen glimpsed a ten-foot diameter shaft plunging into the bedrock at the crater’s epicenter. Then the last of the bhūtas swirled down the Well, and darkness swallowed the crater.
Akal slapped the staff into Yadleen’s hands. “That’s it. I’m done for the night.” He shakily found his feet. “If Babaji finds out about this, it was all your idea.”
Yadleen’s chest tightened, and she stared into the dark heart of the Well. It didn’t matter whether Oracle was right about Unnamed bones being usable. No unbound bhūtas would return to the Well until dawn, at the very earliest, and it would be days before they were settled enough for effective communion. Master Baig would surrender to Rajeev’s demands long before then.
No. This can’t be it. I’ll get Rajeev back to the haveli, then double back to the ossuary. Master Baig can’t throw his life away if I get rid of –
“You gave it your best shot.” Rajeev’s voice was haughty, but there was something softer beneath it.
Yadleen looked up sharply. The alchemist had descended the ghat and now stood just one stair above her. He extended his hand. Despite the furious bile rising in her throat, she accepted it.
His grip was gentle.
One of the memories she’d just endured flashed before her. He’d taken his grandmother’s hand with the same care. Yadleen barely noticed him pulling her to her feet, too distracted by the uneasy stirring in her gut.
The arrogance drained from Rajeev’s voice as he added, “When those bhūtas were in my head, I saw one of your memories. At least, I think it was your memory. I was sitting in a palanquin, talking with a younger version of you.”
“I saw …” Yadleen hesitated. “… something similar.”
“I understand why you want to protect your master. And I’m sorry. I don’t want to put him in this position.” He took a deep breath. “But we do what we have to do, for the sake of family.”
Yadleen pulled her hand out of his grip. Leaning on the staff, she shuffled up the stairs. “If you really understood, you’d know you don’t need to tell me that.”
* * * * *
Climbing back up the hill took far longer than going down. Yadleen was too tired to attempt any subterfuge by the time she said farewell to Akal and Rajeev at the haveli. No doubt Rajeev would just follow her back to the ossuary and stop her if she tried to dispose of his grandmother’s bones. Better to continue onward to her apartment – one with two rooms, both larger than anything she’d shared with her mother – and claim a couple hours sleep.
Nightmares were all she found, and dawn came far too quickly.
The great moans of temple organs, playing the songs for morning prayers, roused Yadleen from her bed. She washed and made herself presentable. After all, Master Baig couldn’t have journeymen looking like they’d spent all night engaged in debauchery. She needed to do her part to preserve his honor.
And it was then, as Yadleen finished combing her hair and inspected her reflection in her mirror, that she understood what needed to be done.
Thank you for reading! Part 2 of Chapter 8 is now available! Also, if you enjoy what you read here, please share this chapter (and the rest of A Chime for These Hallowed Bones) with others!
