I burst back into consciousness all at once, gasping for a ragged breath through a raw, abused throat. All I could see was the icy ceiling of the cavern, the ragged scar of the great crevice that bisected it rising into unseen darkness. Nissikul’s face appeared before me, abruptly, her mad black eyes were wide and rimmed with red. “Vol? Brother? Palamun above, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to-”

I retched, hard, and flecks of blood speckled Nissi’s face. That wasn’t good. I tried to put on a brave face. “It’s alright, Nissi. I should have remembered not to touch that black stuff. Palamun’s teeth, that hurt.”

Nissi touched my face with trembling fingers, and then held them up before her bottomless abyssal eyes. They were stained with my blood, dark and red. I tried to say something, but Nissikul put a hand over my mouth and frowned, lifting her reddened fingertips to her nose and inhaling deeply. “Deepseeker magicks.” All the fear drained out of her face, replaced with cold suspicion. “You’re healing. What did that old goat do to you?”

I laughed hoarsely. “More than your master did, Nissi. He healed me, replaced my heart, and told me to go find the god that you and yours just tried so hard to kill.” She was right about the Deepseeker’s magicks. I was healing. My heartbeat was once again strong and steady in my chest, and the horrible cold that had shot through my veins was being slowly forced back. I could feel my arms and legs again. They hurt like I had just experienced my ranger initiation again, but I could feel them, and that was progress.

Nissikul hissed at my words, recoiling from me as if I had gone feral and lunged for her throat. “Palamun above, the Elder was right. You have been corrupted by the false god!” Tears welled up in her empty eyes. “She killed you, and there’s something else in you, wearing your body.” She raised her hands, and this time, they didn’t shake. A wicked, razor-edged dagger of that same terrible ice grew in her grip, the impossibly sharp point aimed down at my heart.

“Nissi,” I said quickly, desperation plain in my voice. “The Dark Ones have corrupted the Elders. Only the Deepseeker escaped. You’re confused. You have been lied to. I’m your brother- the Deepseeker saved my life!”

My sister snarled, baring her delicate, curving fangs, and raised the dagger above her head. A sinister light began to glow from somewhere deep within the shard of dark ice as she summoned more of her horrible power into the weapon. “The Deepseeker was taken long ago. My master has been aware of his corruption for some time. The old madman probably called down your god, the Dirt-Eater, to help him free the Dark Ones from beneath the ice.” She spat in my face and the saliva burned cold against my skin. “Don’t you lie to me, demon. My brother is dead, and the Deepseeker sent him to his death.”

“Your master sent me to Joanna!” I screamed in her face, my fear and desperation melting away before a powerful rage that had begun welling up from deep in my stomach. “You took me to him, remember? And he told me to investigate her, that he didn’t believe Vassa’s claim that she was a false god. And she did no harm to any of us, but for the Stormcaller that he sent to kill her while I was imprisoned!” I surged forward, the strength coming back into my arms, and I seized Nissikul by the wrists, holding her dagger up and away from me. Her false arm was cold to the touch, but this time, the cold did not bite into me. The magickal heart in my chest surged and pushed it back. I would not be killed by a Stormcaller again, not even my own sister. “In fact, all the death that has come since Joanna fell to Ravanur has been the fault of Lot and the other masters! Your sister Stormcaller, who was sent to kill Joanna and failed, all the brave warriors who died when you brought down the tower, and me-” I let go of one of Nissi’s wrists and unstrapped one side of my breastplate, pulling back the armor and the furs beneath, displaying the ugly mess of scars where Lot’s spear had exploded from my chest. “Your master called me home to report to him, listened to what I told him, and then he stabbed me in the back and left me to die. The Deepseeker is the only reason I’m alive. Tell me which one of those people sounds more like one of the Dark Ones?”

Nissikul twisted out of my grip and scrambled back and away from me. I stood, quickly, preparing to fend off another attack. The magick in my chest was strong, but I didn’t know if I could stop her from killing me again- Stormcallers were fiendishly strong. I quickly took stock of the situation. Thukkar laid sprawled a spearcast from me, propped up on my pack. At least Nissikul had the presence to show that much humanity to the wounded soldier. Pain twisted his face, but his eyes were steady and intense as he watched us. We were all gathered on one side of the crevice, and the black ice bridge that had nearly killed me was gone. Nissikul crouched just out of my reach, clad loosely in my cape, the dagger held before her in a reverse-grip. I reached out to her. “Nissi, please. I don’t want to hurt you. But our people are in terrible danger, and Joanna is the only one who can save them.”

Nissikul shook her head, tears streaming down her face to freeze into icicles that dangled from her chin. “Of course you would say that, of course you would believe that.” She snarled and tossed her dagger at the cavern wall half a spear-length from me. It shattered into powder, blasting away a chunk of ice the size of my head in a muffled detonation and a flash of white light. “But my master told me that he had killed you when you attacked him, that he had stabbed you in the heart.” She pointed to my chest. “And that’s an exit wound.” She shook her head again. “I know my brother is far too skilled a warrior to be stabbed in the back in open battle. Only betrayal could have done that to you.” She shook, her fingers curled to brandish her claws. “And Palamun above, those warriors.” She looked over at Thukkar, lying half-paralyzed on the ice, and something inside her broke. She threw back her head and roared, and it was so loud I had to cover my ears to protect myself from the raw fury and pain blasting out in all directions. A great groan emanated from the walls of the glacial cavern around me, and shards of ice shook free from the unseen ceiling and fell, shattering as they struck the floor around us. I waited until she was finished and then stepped forward and enclosed her in an embrace. She was my sister, and she was alive. The rest of it didn’t matter for the moment. Spent, she rested her head against my chest and sobbed.