10: His Holy Bones Read Online Free PDF Page B

saw Ravishan’s eyes open. “I’m going to flood the valley chasm. It’ll be a huge freshwater lake. If you wake up, you’ll be able to see it happen. That would be worth it, wouldn’t it?”
    Silence filled the infirmary.
    John dropped his head back down to the side of the cot. He closed his eyes, listening to Ravishan’s slow breathing.
    “Please come back to me,” John whispered.
    Outside the infirmary door, he heard boots striking stones with a distinct military rhythm. The soft rustle of leather coats sounded almost like birds’ wings. They were kahlirash’im gathering for their morning prayers. John listened as they begged the Rifter to grant them his fearless strength. Wah’roa’s voice rose above the others.
    “They’re calling to you.” Ravishan’s voice was so soft John almost missed it. He looked up instantly. Ravishan stared at him through the shadows of his half-closed eyes.
    “Parfir’s divine wrath,” Ravishan whispered. “I saw you rise from the valley and bring ruin upon your enemies. I saw you come and I bow before you…” Ravishan trailed off. His eyes drooped closed.
    “Don’t go back to sleep.” John caught hold of Ravishan but didn’t dare shake him. “Stay awake!”
    Ravishan gave no response. He lay in John’s arms as if he’d never woken up. John bolted to the cot where the infirmary priest slept. He woke the old man and dragged him to Ravishan’s side.
    “He woke up,” John said. “He spoke to me.”  
    The old priest leaned over Ravishan. He pulled back one of Ravishan’s eyelids and then nodded.
    “Is he going to be all right? Will he wake up again?” John demanded.
    “If we act quickly we might be able to help him, my lord. But I will need to call upon the demoness.”
    “Ji?”
    “Yes. She is well versed in breaking Payshmura curses. Her skill is far beyond mine alone.”
    “I’ll get her right away.” John rushed out of the infirmary and raced past the kahlirash’im. He found Ji on the fifth terrace, sleeping. She and Tanash both followed him back up towards the temple. John outdistanced them again and again and then had to wait for them to reach him.
    When they arrived at the infirmary, the priest had stripped the bedding back from Ravishan and sponged his body down with a pungent red salve. Where he brushed the red salve over Ravishan’s wounded back it steamed away, revealing dark, misshapen letters. They seemed to quiver just beneath Ravishan’s skin. John thought he recognized the Payshmura words for slow death and rotting.
    “Good. Ravishan’s fought the last commands of the curse up to the surface,” Ji said. “They’ll try to reinfest him.” She stepped up beside the priest and began muttering low Eastern incantations over Ravishan’s back. As Ji growled and muttered, the letters of the curse oozed up through Ravishan’s skin. In the open air, they writhed in masses like tiny black worms. The red salve glistened around them and a choking, putrid scent wafted up.
    “Quickly, Tanash,” Ji said. “Place one of your lamb bones down in the midst of the curse. Don’t let any of it touch your skin.”
    Tanash dug a small white bone from the pocket of her wool skirt and dropped it down into the wriggling black mass of the curse. Ji’s voice rose, sounding more bestial than John had ever heard. The curse slowly crawled back from Ravishan’s body, retreating to the bone. The old priest grabbed the bone with a pair of tongs. Black tendrils curled up from the bone and touched the edges of the metal tongs as if tasting them. The priest rushed to the small wood stove and hurled the bone and the tongs into the fire. He slammed the grate closed and locked it.
    Ji nodded approvingly and then sat back on the floor.
    “Well done,” Ji said. She glanced to John. “What did you do to wake him?”
    “Nothing. I was just sitting with him. He heard the prayers of the kahlirash’im and woke up for a few seconds.”
    “The prayers to the Rifter,”