Chapter Sixteen

“Have you?”

Leshin ran the knife over the blessed wood and carved a thin groove across the edge. The surface felt so warm, so eager to take shape that she found it easy to lose herself in the art of it all. Somehow, she knew that the form of her mask had a deep and personal meaning. It demanded attention. She gave it as much as she could.

Mikele had joined her in the kitchen today, so she supposed the ninetieth day had passed. This time, she’d put in an effort to engage with her new companion, but the once-prideful priestess had little to offer beyond small talk. Leshin had a hard time understanding that the disinterested, numb shut-in she’d worked with today had been the first to propose assassinating the deity they all served. After their shift had ended, the girl had collapsed into her bed, but she’d woken up about halfway through the night and gone off to take a bath. That was four hours ago. Truth be told, Leshin hadn’t expected to have so much time to work by herself, but she couldn’t complain. This kind of work soothed the soul.

Still, she was starting to get a bit worried about Mikele. Leshin had planned on staying up until her next shift, but at this rate Mikele wouldn’t get much time to sleep either. For as little as she knew the other priestesses, they were still her companions. She couldn’t help but worry.

As she shucked another strip of wood off the mask’s surface, she heard the door crack open behind her as Shina and Ilaki returned from their shift. She paused. Took a breath. Then, she continued carving, hoping nobody would think twice about her picking up whittling.

“… but she just keeps on asking me for advice,” Ilaki said, cracking her neck and knuckles as she walked over to her bed and tossed her outer tunic into the laundry hamper in the corner, “like I am meant to know how Nikime thinks. The girl doesn’t talk much; how am I supposed to figure it out for her?”

Shina laid back on her bed, right across from Leshin’s. She sank into the plush mattress and let out a long breath. “Kilini has… thin skin occasionally. Not that I am much better, but I do think she just needs reassurance. This is their first fight, and… well…”

Ilaki groaned. “I am so tired, my God.” She glanced at Leshin. “Hey, where’s Mikele? Is the bathroom open?”

As Leshin swirled her carving knife through one of the mask’s carved grooves, she idly shrugged. “Been in the bath for ages.”

“That girl and her baths,” Ilaki muttered. She flipped over and kicked her legs up behind her, leaning her head on her hands. “Whittling?”

“Yep.”

“That is… That is no ordinary wood,” Ilaki stated.

Leshin let out a long sigh. Somehow, Leshin supposed, Ilaki could just tell. It did have a vague glow to it. Why didn’t I just find a closet and do this in peace? She clicked her tongue. “No, it isn’t.”

“What are you doing?”

“Carving a mask.”

That made Ilaki pause. She turned to Shina, then back. “Why?”

After a strained inhale, Leshin shrugged. “Truth be told, I actually don’t know.”

“Did… God put you up to this?” Shina asked, goosebumps rising on her supple, dark skin.

Leshin closed her eyes. For some reason, the action of running the knife over the wood carried some weight of finality, and her breath hitched. “Smirk did.”

“Smirk?” Ilaki asked. “The man in the basement?”

“I thought he couldn’t speak…” Shina muttered.

“It’s complicated. I don’t know, he has a—a plan.”

The room went silent.

Leshin went on. “The visitor from yesterday left this enchanted wood behind. It grows when you speak to it, and from what Smirk has said—or, well, he can only say yes or no, but I managed to pry some information out of him—this is meant to protect me from the dead things around the dining room table. Apparently, if I can bring one back to him, he should be able to break free.”

The pair gaped at Leshin. “You will be punished,” Ilaki said.

“If I fail, yes.”

“Is this… it?” Shina asked. “Should—should we get the rest of the girls together?”

For a moment, Leshin considered her options. Her sisters could fight well enough, now. At least as well as some of the guards in The City, if not better. Ilaki could certainly hold her own, even besting Leshin once or twice in friendly spars. But who knows how long it had been since the last time she held a training session? And would any of that skill matter against a beast with limitless power?

Probably not.

“I am told that once I don this mask,” she said, measuring her words carefully, “that our enemy should not be able to end me with its Will alone. Smirk says he very nearly slew her once before; once he has regained his power, he will fight on our behalf. That is all I know.”

Again, the room went silent. Leshin finally carved the last of her grooves, then held the mask aloft and gazed across the intricate surface she had spent the last four hours of her life whittling into shape. It would caress her face in the shape of a rounded diamond, and the crest that rose from above the forehead would lend her the sleek fury of a bird of prey, its talons sharpened against one final foe. She doubted that such craftsmanship could ever have been achieved without the mask’s blessed enchantment. Especially considering that she’d never tried whittling anything before tonight. She held the mask to her breast. It seemed to breathe.

She looked up. Mikele stood in the doorway to the bathroom, a towel wrapped around her chest and another around her hair. Mikele’s gills flared, and she swallowed hard.

“L-Leshin…” Mikele muttered. “Will we need masks of our own?”

“No,” Leshin said with much more force than she intended. “No, I am told this is not a light decision to make.”

“What decision?” Ilaki asked. “What is that thing going to do to you?”

Leshin looked off and closed her eyes. “I don’t know. But I know I will not be able to undo it.”

The others gaped at her. She clenched her teeth. “Look,” she continued, “were I able to conceive a better means of killing the beast, I would take it. But we have suffered in this hell for so long that I am willing to make any sacrifice I can. But if I fail, my failure will be my own.”

“But… we will all suffer for it,” Shina said. “Will we not? If God angers at one of us, it angers at all of us.”

“Leshin, you have trained us as warriors,” Mikele said, letting her hair out of the towel atop her head. “We may not be capable of killing the beast ourselves, but… please let us help. I need—I need to say that I fought back. Even if I do not deliver any blows to the beast, I must—I must be better than the wretch it has made me.”

“You cannot continue to ignore us,” Ilaki said. “For years and years, the beast has fixated upon you, yet you have never once come to us for help.”

“We are a sisterhood,” Shina said, her voice carrying an uncharacteristic edge. “We fight together.”

Leshin groaned. Really should have just carved this in a closet. “What do you propose, then?”

Ilaki didn’t even pause. “We collect the others. You can head to the dining room, while the rest of us will carry jugs of water down to the dungeon. While you retrieve… whatever it is you need, we will work together and Sling through the cell’s hinges. By the time you reach us, we should have sawn through the door, and maybe even his chains. Once Smirk has regained his supposed power, we will step into formation and support him from the sidelines.”

Leshin cocked an eyebrow. Okay, not a terrible plan, but…  “What if the Al’Ruon notices you?”

“It never notices us unless we make mistakes,” Mikele said with an almost jealous huff. “You are the one it is most likely to disrupt…”

They had a point. In fact, Leshin was almost certain that the Al’Ruon would appear the moment she stepped into the dining room alone. After all, what reason would she have for going there outside of a meal, if not to kill herself?

“And if I do not return?”

“Then we face our punishment,” Ilaki said, as though it were the simplest thing in the world.

“You are willing to face the full wrath of a god just to buy a few extra moments?” Leshin asked.

The three priestesses glanced at each other. “I speak for all of us,” Ilaki said, “even Kilini and Nikime. None of us dread pain more than we wish death upon that monster.”

For the first time in a while, Leshin smiled.

Hold your breath.