The Heir of Night by Helen Lowe

replied. “The one who raised the alarm was a mindspeaker of very great power, far stronger than anyone in our temples. She woke the keep alarms to life, but her power drew the Raptor of Darkness like blood to a kill. Even she was no match for its malignancy. She would have fallen, if she had not had aid.”
    Korriya closed her eyes momentarily, then opened them again, looking intently at the Earl. “At one moment, all I could perceive was a roiling darkness with the mindspeaker trapped in its heart, but I was powerless to help. The next moment the world was ablaze with golden fire. My whole mind was flooded with it; it called to me. Nay, it
commanded
my aid against the Raptor. Everyone barricaded into the temple of Mhaelanar was caught up in it, mind and spirit, from the greatest amongst us to the weakest. I sensed other powers there as well, powers that I did not recognize—but all that mattered was that together, bound into that golden conflagration, we were strong enough to cast out the Raptor of Darkness.”
    The Earl was on his feet. “The Golden Fire!” he exclaimed, sheer wonder in his voice. “Can it be possible?” He checked, frowning at Korriya. “Do you know what you are saying? Are you sure of this?”
    “I am sure,” Korriya answered steadily. “As sure as anyone can be when we have not encountered its like in five hundred years. The Golden Fire woke in this keep last night, my Kinsman and my Earl. It fought with us against the Swarm.”
    The Earl shook his head as though unable to credit what he heard. “This is news indeed,” he said at last. “News to set the entire Derai Alliance alight! But if it is true, where is the Golden Fire now? Why is the keep not infused with its light, as it used to be? And why does it not speak directly to me, who am Earl and therefore first of our Blood, rather than to you?” There was sudden, sharp suspicion in his voice.
    Korriya shook her head. “It did not speak to me as such. I saw it and heard its voice, I was caught up in it, but there was no direct speech as reported in the histories. I do not know why, for we understand so little about the Golden Fire now, after so long. I only know that it was real and it was here, if only for a very short time.”
    “When the need was greatest,” Asantir observed thoughtfully. “That is not entirely unprecedented, I believe.”
    “But only when it aided Derai outside the keep itself,” the Earl replied. “Within the keeps, the Fire was always a constant and visible presence.”
    Korriya nodded. “I have read those same records but even so, the more I think about it, the more I believe that last night’s need
was
the key. First there was our own great need in the Temple, as we fell before the Raptor’s onslaught. I also assume that the Raptor’s presence itself would be anathema to the Golden Fire. Finally, there was the Raptor’s attack on the unknown mindspeaker, which is when the Fire counterattacked.” She paused, watching the Earl carefully, but he said nothing.
    “I heard that mindcall, Tasarion,” the priestess continued quietly, “and it spoke three specific names: the Earl of Night, Nhairin, and Asantir, which implies that the speaker was either of this keep or knew those who dwell here.” She leaned toward the Earl. “As you know, the bond between the Golden Fire and the Derai was always strongest with those of the Blood. Now the Fire appears to have roused itself to protect the same unknown mindspeaker who called the keep to arms—and there is only one other in the House of Night, besides ourselves, who is of the Blood.”
    The Earl had gone white. “Malian,” he whispered, and then his face contorted and he struck the table hard with his clenched fist. The blow was loud in the silent room, but the Earl did not seem to hear it, or feel any pain in his hand. “No!” he said, his voice so full of rage and revulsion that Korriya flinched. The Earl caught himself, exerting control with an