Mask of the Gods

Abbot and Shinobu face the undead blade dance, who is stronger than they can imagine.

Abbot arranges for Shinobu to be treated by Sawyer medics, while Shinobu watched Sister Death rage in the void. Abbot realizes he is starting to have feelings for Shinobu, and how any relationship with a foreigner could end his political career, but before he can make a plan, a new threat rises, endangering them all.

Shinobu and Abbot bring Chuy and Hikaru up to speed and make a plan for that night. They witness a spectral procession as the dead rise. After they try to figure out what is happening, Shinobu tries to exorcise the dead at the Lychgate.

Shinobu discusses the dawn of the days of the dead with Chuy and Hikaru. Then under the shadow of the imperial cruiser, Shinobo meets Curate Cook. Then he and Abbot go to the Kindly House to find out what the Endless Brothers know.

Shinobu heals himself and starts investigating the village and encounters an adept patroling the village that night. Abbot confronts Curate Cook in his quarters. Shinobu awakes to the sound of a baby crying. He finds a skeletal infant in the corner of the room.

Shinobu overexerts himself healing a little girl, and collapses near death. While he recuperates, Hikaru witnesses Quaestor Rootham from the Sawyer Empire arrive in Saans. He wonders why the empire came, and why the locals decorated the streets with images of the dead. After arriving back at their cottage, Curate Abbot visit and questions Hikaru. He asks him to wake up Shinobu. The curate says a death breach is coming, and he hopes the thornkin might know something about it.

When I first had the idea in 2017 for Crucify My Love, the first book in the Mask of the Gods series, I made this track to capture the feeling I had for the setting. I loved it then, and I still do. It embodies my inspirations. I thought I would give you a copy of the full track so if you love it as much as I do you can listen to it whenever you want.

Ripped from his mother’s womb in the violent storm that razed his hometown, Sister Death returned Shinobu’s life, infusing her power into his bones. Now, he is drawn to the sick and dying with the power to heal them at great cost to himself. Vicious thorns erupt from his bones through his flesh as he takes their suffering onto himself. After his childhood with the Breathless Sister, he lives detached from those around him. Even though he travels the world with his brothers, he cannot imagine sharing his life with another. The days of the dead approach. An alluring imperial agent stirs deep feelings within him, as the dead arise from the grave to torment and kill the living. Shinobu swears he will do everything in his power to save them, but how can he save the innocent when the dead stalk the village without remorse or weakness? What will he have to sacrifice to save them from the days of the dead? His beloved, his heart, or his life?