“Invite it?” She remembered Jane’s glowing red eyes, the feeling of the Beast pressing at the gates of her soul, and shivered. “And that will help?”
“It will entangle it too deeply for it to pull back,” the Ghost said, then hesitated. “It should, at least. All of this is only theory, for obvious reasons.”
“That’s not particularly reassuring.”
“It’s the only chance we have,” the Ghost said. “We have to take it.”
“What happens to the Beast’s bodies? Do their minds return?” Winter frowned. “When I tried to catch the Beast with Infernivore in one of its other bodies, the body just... died.”
“As I said, we only have theories, and I can’t even speculate what might happen afterward. But...” The Ghost shook his head. “It does not seem likely that the taken will recover.”
If that’s true, that means Jane is truly gone. And Janus... Winter decided she wasn’t ready to think about that. We don’t know anything for certain.
“And...” She paused again, not sure she wanted to say it aloud. “What about me? If I invite the Beast into my body and destroy it?”
“Again, we don’t know. It may be that Infernivore will devour the Beast entirely.”
“But you don’t think so.”
The Ghost fixed her with his empty gaze. “They may destroy each other, and you in the process.”
So this could be a suicide mission, even if everything works. Winter set her jaw. She’d set out after the poisonous Penitent with twenty-?five soldiers and no guarantee of return, and that had been just to save Janus. If it helps everyone in the Second—?and maybe the world—?then it has to be worthwhile, doesn’t it?
“I understand the burden we’re placing on you,” the Ghost said. “What we’re asking. But you know—”
“I know. There’s no other choice.” I’m getting a little tired of hearing that. “Let’s find the Eldest. I need to look at a map.”
*
They reconvened in the high chamber after Winter had a chance to wash off the sweat of the day and wolf down a hasty meal. From the kitchen, she’d watched the Mountain people come and go, along with the handful of soldiers from the Girls’ Own who’d survived the journey here. They’d long ago swapped their uniforms for Mountain homespun, and aside from their darker hair and halting Murnskai it was hard to tell the two groups apart.
A surprisingly good map was waiting when she rejoined the Ghost and the Eldest. Though they were self-?reliant, the Mountain people weren’t ignorant of the outside world—?the Eldest had implied they had spies as far away as Mohkba, the Murnskai capital. So the map was a modern one, military precise on crisp waxed paper. It showed Murnsk west of the Votindri Mountains, a rough rectangle bounded by the mountains and the coast on its long sides, the river Bataria in the north, and the river Ytolin and the Vordanai border in the south. Two more large rivers, the Syzria and the Kovria, snaked across the center of the rectangle; Winter had crossed both with the Grand Army. Elysium and the Mountain were on the far eastern side of the map, nestled against the mountains.
“We cannot know where the Beast’s core is precisely,” the Ghost said. “But its limited range makes it possible to guess.” He drew a circle with one gloved finger in the center of the map. “We know it has bodies near us in the north, watching for you, and we know Janus is at Yatterny in the south”—?he tapped the city, at the mouth of the Ytolin—“so it follows the creature itself must be somewhere in between.”
“I don’t think I can just head directly for the core,” Winter said. “I’d never make it.”
“Agreed,” the Eldest said. “Even aside from the Beast, the journey will be extremely difficult. The false winter unleashed by the Black Priests has wreaked havoc.”
“And the tribes from north of the Bataria who came to fight the Vordanai are scattered across the whole region, preying on the peasants and one another.” The Ghost looked up at Winter. “You’re the strategist among us. I will defer to your judgment.”
“I think I need to get back to Vordan,” Winter said. “If I’m going to get to the core of the Beast”—?saying that was easier than saying Jane—“then I’m going to need help. Marcus and Raesinia will understand what’s at stake here. If the Beast is going to use Janus to raise an army, it’ll be a hell of a lot easier if we have one, too.”
“Taking too long is a risk,” the Ghost said. “The Beast’s power grows the longer we wait.”
“A necessary risk, I think,” the Eldest said. “I agree with Winter. But I do not think you can return to Vordan the way you came.”
Winter glared at the map. Janus’ army had followed the most direct route north, along the Pilgrim’s Road to Elysium. Trying to go back that way would lead through the center of the region devastated by the fighting and the weather, as well as being the most obvious possibility for the Beast to guard against. And even if I make it, Janus and his army will be on the Vordanai border, between me and home.
She nodded. “That leaves two options. East”—?she pointed off the edge of the map, beyond the mountains—“or northwest. East means taking the road to Mohkba and then south from there across the Sallonaik.”
“It would take months,” the Ghost said. “All the way to Mohkba, south to the lake, and then down the valley of the Velt. And Mohkba is hardly safer than going directly south.”
“That is where the Church fled,” the Eldest said. “And now that Janus has claimed the emperor’s throne, there may be fighting.”
Winter had been thinking along the same lines. “That leaves northwest. Down the valley of this river”—?she squinted to make out the tiny text—“the Gereia, until it joins the Bataria. Then down the Bataria to Dimiotsk on the coast, and hopefully to Vordan by ship.”
“The chaos may have spread in that direction as well,” the Ghost said. “And there’s no guarantee there will be a ship at Dimiotsk going in the right direction.”
“If not, I’ll try to convince one.” Winter shrugged. “I don’t like it much, but I think it’s my best chance of getting there alive.” She looked up at the Ghost. “Would you be able to make it over the border and head directly to Vordan?”
The steel mask tilted quizzically. “Probably. I can travel as sand on the wind. Not fast, but nearly invisible.”
“I want you to go south and find Raesinia and Marcus, then. They need to be warned what they’re up against. You helped them once before, so they should be willing to listen.”
“I should accompany you. You’re our best chance—”
“I’m not going to have a chance if Vordan falls before I get there,” Winter said. She gritted her teeth. “You called me the strategist here. One thing I know is that you always need a fallback plan. If I... don’t make it, then the Thousand Names are the only chance left. Someone else will need to read Infernivore and try to stop the Beast.”
“That would take time. And lives. Most who try to read a powerful naath will die in the attempt.”