“Whoa…” I managed. “You knew you’d need them to fall back on or what?”
“Not at all. I just wanted to see what I could create from the primordial liquids of Neraka. Their ability to hold my fire is a fortunate coincidence.”
I repeated his account to the others and found myself wondering, “Ramin, did you know you had this Ekar thing as an option? You must’ve, right?” I asked him.
“I did. And I’m sorry I didn’t tell you. It was better if everyone thought I was dying, but I’m here now,” he said. “I sought refuge inside the bird after the Hermessi attacked me. They don’t know about the Ekar birds’ ability. They can sense me, but, since they think I’m close to the end, they won’t bother looking for me… someone else will.”
“What do you mean?” I replied.
“I’m weak, Harper. I’m still alive, but I have no way of returning to my full form. Ledar will soon come to replace me, and he will have to find me and kill me in order to inherit all my knowledge and become the next Fire Hermessi of Neraka.”
Upon hearing this from me, Caspian frowned. “So, how do we save you?” he asked Ramin.
“I’m not sure you can,” the Fire Hermessi said to me. “I came to say a proper goodbye.”
I shot to my feet, anger coursing through me. “Hell no! You’re not dying on my watch!”
“It may be inevitable, I’m afraid. I am powerless against an attack, especially one coming from the Hermessi and my son. They will eagerly support him in delivering the final blow to secure his inheritance.”
“No, it’s not right!” I snapped. “Ramin, you didn’t come here to say goodbye! You could’ve left me thinking you were dead, had you had no intention of saving yourself. No, you came here with a subconscious desire to be helped, and I will do anything I can to save you. There’s no way I’m letting Neraka fall into the hands of ritual loyalists!”
Catching on to the subject of our telepathic conversation, Zane cleared his throat, demanding our attention. “Surely, there is something we can do? I mean, isn’t there a way to help Ramin out of his Ekar form and back into his badass Fire Hermessi form?”
I glanced at Ramin. Even in his bird disguise, he couldn’t exactly hide from me. I could tell, from the way he blinked softly at me, that he was searching for a way back. He wasn’t ready to call it quits yet, and neither was I.
“There is no good way to save me,” he finally said to me.
That came with a hidden meaning, and he’d chosen those words carefully, as if to make sure he wasn’t the one who suggested it, directly. He was making me say it, and given how badly I wanted him to survive this, I played along. “Is there a bad way?” I murmured, bracing myself for whatever the answer would be.
Behind him, I could see the city of Infernis unraveling with dark towers and black stone houses. Beyond, the lava lakes glowed orange beneath the domed ceiling, with support pillars scattered across, uniting it with the ground level. Spiraling staircases worked their way up into the escape hatches. I remembered using those once, back when we were still dangerous intruders in the sorrowful kingdom of Shaytan. It seemed like such a long time ago. I actually missed the simplicity of that conflict. All we’d had to deal with, back then, had been soul-eating Exiled Maras and daemons. In hindsight, despite the dangers and the near-death experiences, it had all been manageable.
This was bigger than all of us, and I was amazed by the nature of our conversations today. Now, we were discussing ways to save a Hermessi, a natural element—an entity we knew little to nothing about to begin with. But Ramin had helped save us, more than once. I owed him the same.
“There is,” he said, after a minute of heavy silence.
“Well, what is it, then?” I asked, my hand gripping Caspian’s. He’d understood how much Ramin meant to me, and he was with me on this, all the way to the very end, whatever that might be.
“I would need a few allies to assist me.” Ramin sighed. “I’m pretty much defenseless. Right now, even your sword could kill me. Therefore, I wouldn’t be able to do it on my own.”
“We have to help him,” I said.
“Count us in,” Fiona replied.
“And I can easily bring my army in, if necessary,” Zane added.
“What do we have to do?” I asked Ramin.
“I cannot take on a Hermessi child on my own, but you can,” he said.
“You mean Ledar?”
“Yes. I need his Hermessi energy. I doubt you’d be able to subdue a full Hermessi, but you can capture Ledar and hold him down,” Ramin explained. “There’s an ancient spell I can use, one our kind made exactly for something like this, for a weakened Hermessi. Normally, I’d be able to replenish my form from a willing brother or sister. In this case, however, none are available for this endeavor, so I must use that same spell to draw power from my son. I admit, I’m not comfortable with the thought.”
“He betrayed you, Ramin. Pardon me if I don’t feel sorry for him,” I grumbled. “Will it kill him?”
The Ekar bird shook its head. “No. It will remove the Hermessi thread inside him. He’ll become a regular daemon, so to speak. I will be without an heir.”
“Well, your heir is coming over to kill you.” I scoffed. “So we’re going to help you pin him down, so you can take his power,” I added, and brought the others up to speed on what he’d just told me.
“I am down with that,” Fiona replied. “We’ll help capture the dweeb, and we’ll assist with the spell, too, if needed.”
“Agreed. Good plan,” I said. “Ledar made his bed, and now he has to sleep in it.”
“I made him so he’d take my place someday,” Ramin muttered. “This feels wrong.”
“I’m pretty sure you made him without thinking the ritual would be revived again,” I retorted. “And I’m even more certain that you didn’t have a son expecting him to turn against you with such ease. I’m sorry, Ramin, but you are better off surviving as Neraka’s Hermessi. Your world needs you, and so do we. Provided we survive this, you’re more than free to go out and find another Nerakian to bear a child.”
“One he should be close to, though.” Zane chuckled. “The absent father number clearly didn’t do Ledar much good.”
The Ekar lowered its feathery head. “The daemon king is right. I should’ve been there for Ledar. I should’ve let him know me, ever since he was a child. Maybe he wouldn’t have bought in to Brendel’s insanity as quickly or as easily…”
“You can’t change the past,” I said. “But you can make sure there is a future for you to try again.”
Silence settled over the room for a while. The warm currents from the city were scarce and weak now, barely moving the red organza curtains that adorned most of the residential chambers in the palace. The chill was ever present, seeping into everyone’s bones and preparing us for the impending death of the planet’s Fire Hermessi. Not going to happen. Not on my watch.
“You have a dangerous challenge ahead,” Ramin replied. “You would have to capture and subdue Ledar as soon as he arrives. We must draw him away from the other Hermessi, for they will certainly be expecting him, and we must put Devil’s Weed on him so they won’t come looking for him.”
Upon hearing these details from me, Zane got up, hands on his narrow hips—a stark contrast to his broad and muscular shoulders. I’d yet to get used to the height different between him and Fiona. My cousin was so slim and petite compared to the bulky daemon king, yet perhaps fiercer and even more dangerous.
