Empires of Moth (The Moth Saga, Book 2) by Daniel Arenson Page B

full of the plague."
    Linee looked ready to burst into
tears again. "And you want us to go there?"
    He glared at her. "The
plague is safer right now than these streets. Come on."
    They hurried along the
alleyways, a queen and soldier of sunlight, taking with them the two
wounded Elorians. All the while, the screams rose across the city.
Whenever they passed the mouth of an alley, they witnessed the
slaughter. Shattered glass, smashed doors, and corpses littered the
streets. A discarded shoe lay in a corner. A basket lay fallen, its
mushrooms scattered. Everywhere Torin looked, the monks led mobs of
soldiers, smashing, killing, destroying.
    Torin's eyes stung. Worry for
Koyee and his friends burned within him. He forced himself to move
on. Right now people depended on him. Right now he had to save as
many as he could. He kept moving on through the shadows, holding the
wounded child's hand, as behind him Linee helped the bleeding elder
hobble forward.
    It seemed ages before they
reached an alley's end, peered around a bronze brazier shaped as a
toothy spirit, and saw the Hospice of Pahmey loom across a square.
    Koyee
is in there, he thought, throat burning. Stay
safe. Stay put. I'm coming.
    "That is where we go,"
Torin said to his companions.
    Linee stood at his side, her
gown and hands splashed with blood. Her shivering had finally ended,
and though red still rimmed her eyes, they were now dry. The wounded
old Elorian leaned against her, his teeth knocked out; Linee held him
wrapped in her arms.
    "But . . . that means
crossing this square." She winced. "It's lit with
lanterns."
    Torin stared, eyes narrowed,
listening. The din of screams, cheers, and smashing glass still rose
across the city, but no sound seemed to rise from the square ahead.
When Torin peered around the brazier, he saw only a single cat scurry
along the cobblestones. Across the shadows, the hospice rose like a
tombstone for a god, its columns dark, its doors and windows closed.
At his side, the wounded child whimpered and clung to Torin's leg.
    "The Sunlit Curse,"
the boy whispered. "It dwells here."
    Torin nodded. "The soldiers
fear to walk near this place. We'll be safe inside." He took a
step into the square. "Follow. We—"
    Shouts rose.
    Hooves thudded and light blazed.
    Torin whipped his head to the
left. From a boulevard, a dozen monks emerged, riding horses and
brandishing lanterns. Ferius rode at their lead, the lamplight
painting his face a demonic red. Ropes ran from the horses, dragging
the mangled corpses of Elorians like mules tugging plows. As the
procession rode forth, the corpses trailed along the square behind
them, smearing the cobblestones with blood.
    "Behold the justice of the
sun!" Ferius cried; his horse dragged the corpse of a woman, her
face crushed into a red pulp. "Behold the punishment of Eloria."
    Torin cursed and leaped back
into the alley, pulling the child with him; the boy wept and clung to
him. Linee and the elder held each other, eyes closed. They waited in
the shadows until the ghastly procession rode by and vanished down
another street.
    Like feral cats scuttling from
hideout to hideout, they hurried into the square. Torin held the
wounded child close; Linee held her hobbling charge. As they moved,
Torin kept staring from side to side, breath held. Three roads led
into this square, and in each one, he glimpsed the slaughter;
hundreds of troops were now moving down the streets, tugging Elorians
from their homes and slitting their throats. With every step, Torin
expected more monks or soldiers to burst into the square and attack,
plague or no plague. The hospice couldn't have been more than a
hundred yards away, but that distance seemed endless now.
    As they stepped over the trail
of blood Ferius and his monks had left, the grisly ghost of their
slaughter, Torin grimaced and Linee whimpered. Behind them, the
chants of soldiers rose louder. They quickened their pace. A few more
steps and they reached the hospice steps.
    Most