City of Whispers, page 15
part #1 of The Famine Cycle Series
"He'll be alright, Linos," he murmured. "He's a tough kid. Way tougher than I was at his age."
"He's probably still tougher than you." I managed a smile.
Xaron flashed me a tempered grin. "True. It's never been my strong suit."
We lapsed into silence, listening anxiously for any sound of movement. The last thing we wanted was for an errant patrol to find us.
When footsteps approached, we both tensed. It seemed too quickly for Talan to return. Yet as the firelight revealed his lilting smile from the gloom, I breathed a sigh of relief.
He hefted the rope in hand. "There will be a disappointed captain at the docks, but we have our rope. Careful, though. It's slick with moss."
"I will. You sure you two can get up there?"
Xaron chuckled as he turned to face the wall. "I suppose you'll just have to see, won't you?"
Talan inclined his head, then gestured to the stands rising above. "Perhaps you can show me how it's done then?"
"I will," Xaron declared.
Crouching low and placing his hands on the ground, he suddenly heaved himself up and into the air. The speed with which he ascended was astonishing. My jaw drifted open as I craned my head back to watch him jump not only to the lip of the stands but just over it, then disappear out of sight to land with a light thump.
"He's powerful," Talan admitted, "but he lacks refinement. And wisdom."
"Two things you have plenty of," I said sarcastically.
He smiled lopsidedly. "I'll throw down the rope once I have it secured." Without another word, he turned and, with less effort and more finesse, followed Xaron up.
I waited anxiously, peering at the dim ledge above. Soft scuffles echoed down. Just when I wondered if I should call up to them, something moved above, and the rope fell down with a hiss to swing before me.
Wasting no time, I grabbed it and began to climb. As Talan had warned, the rope was slick with moss, but it had just enough grip to hold on. I braced my feet against the wall and hauled myself up, hand over hand. My arms, unaccustomed to such work, began to burn halfway up, but I soon reached the top of the wall, where Xaron and Talan helped me over.
As I knelt and shook out my arms, Talan hauled up the rope and coiled it. "Can't leave it around," he whispered, then held it out. "Take it. Just in case."
I accepted it, wondering uneasily what scenario he was planning for. Around the bend of the stairs, I could see the glow of the sentries' fire at the entrance. From the laughter that echoed up to us, they hadn't detected anything. But all it would take was one mishap to bring them running.
"No point in waiting around," Xaron muttered, glancing down the stairs. "Which way?"
Talan pushed past him to the dark corridor beyond. "Only one way to go, unless you wish to say hello to our hosts."
I followed, shrugging. Xaron scowled, but came behind.
Talan led the way down the corridor, which skirted the edge of the amphitheater. Eventually, we would reach the large backstage building. Though we stepped lightly, the wooden walkways of the Claw defied silence. That I carried a heavy rope made walking quietly no easier. I winced with every creaking footstep, expecting at any moment for guards to come pouring out on either side of us. But none came. I dared to hope we were in the clear.
The corridor finally ended, and a door emerged from the gloom. Halting before it, Talan considered it for a moment.
"Between the two of you, surely we can open a lock," I teased quietly.
"Allow me," Xaron said snidely, stepping forward.
But before Xaron could get close, Talan placed two fingers inside the lock. A moment later, a small puff of air blew out of the hole, then a click sounded. Nudging it with his shoulder, the door swung open. Talan looked at Xaron with a raised eyebrow.
I shook my head and began to pass through, but Talan held out an arm and entered first. It shamed me, but I was glad he led the way.
Inside the room was even darker than outside. I peered around us, wondering who might be lying in wait in the shadowed corners. With a creak, Xaron shut the door behind us, leaving us in pitch darkness. Then a light flared into life next to me, white and pure. Talan held up a hand, and between his fingers, an orb like a star shone and unveiled the room around us. I blinked at the sudden light, eyes adjusting, then studied the room. The room was sparsely decorated. A single table with two rickety chairs were tucked into a corner next to a cabinet. A covered pyr lamp was mounted near the door. Stepping around the room, I saw small signs of habitual use scattered about the place. Two cups with the dregs of liquid at the bottom. A cloak draped over the back of a chair. The floor free of dust.
"People pass through often," Talan observed quietly. Nodding toward the passageway beyond, he began to move on.
Following him, I found the archway led to a narrow corridor, with room for no more than one person to comfortably fit at a time. At the end of it, Talan's light illuminated a door. No light shone from underneath, indicating it was unoccupied, unless we'd stumbled upon sleeping quarters.
Talan glanced back with a raised eyebrow, and I nodded. Putting his hand to the keyhole, it only took another moment before this door, too, unlocked at his touch. He pushed it open, and Xaron and I followed him in.
This room was better furnished than the first. Setting down the coil of rope to ease my aching shoulder, I looked around. Opposite us, a door promised to continue our journey. Two windows faced out over Oedija, glittering city lights shining in. Before them, a small platform elevated a wicker wood chair. And hanging off one of the gnarled ends rising off the back of the chair was the leering mask of a dragon.
An uncomfortable feeling stirred in my gut. I glanced at Talan. "Do you know what that is?"
He shrugged. "The mask of the Visage of the Wyvern, perhaps. They say he always wears a white peplos and a mask with the aspect of a dragon. Explains his name, doesn't it?"
Though my anxiety had increased, I continued to look around. In the center of the room, a large map was spread across a table. Approaching it, I saw it was a careful rendering of the Four Realms. Several marks defaced it in dark ink. A crossed out circle marked Oedija. Avvad had one circle over its capital, Erimis, though this circle remained open. The Qao Fu jaitin had no circles, but one lay out in the wasteland to the far northeast, encircling what seemed to be a poor sketching of a tree. The Bali plateaus had many open circles, nearly as many as there were ishakas. Littered across the map were figurines, crudely carved, but plain in their depictions. Soldiers. Horsemen. War machines. Even, I guessed, the Tefra and their enslaved pyr, Silks.
"Xaron, Talan," I called softly. "Come look at this."
They approached and stood around the table, studying it for several long moments.
Xaron pointed at the circles. "It has all of the Four Realms marked. I'd guess they were plans for starting new cults, except for the circle deep in the Wumofu."
Talan shook his head. "The figurines tell the tale. Cultists do not concern themselves with armies and nations."
I lifted my gaze to look around once more. The unease that had haunted me since entering the Claw crystallized. The map. The wicker wood chair. The fortified position looking out over Oedija.
"This is a war room," I said quietly.
Talan suddenly raised his hand, then went stiff, listening. Xaron stilled as well, brow drawn together. Finally, I heard it myself: footsteps echoing along the hall, making the floor vibrate.
My chest felt so tight I could barely breathe. "The next door," I whispered. "You have to unlock it."
Talan was already moving toward it, using his unlocking trick again. As soon as the click came, he pushed on the door, but it resisted him.
"Barred from the other side," he muttered.
"I could blow it off," Xaron suggested, his voice high with anxiety.
Talan shook his head. "They'll know we're here anyway, and it could trap us further. We make our stand here."
I didn't know what to make of the words. Make our stand. For a moment, I stood in indecision next to the barred door. What was I supposed to do to make our stand?
Talan noticed and took my arm. "Find cover. I'll make sure they notice me first. You just make sure to stay out of the way."
His chivalry finally roused my spirit. "I'll fight as much as I can," I promised him. Not waiting for an answer, I scanned the room for a hiding spot. Only two were readily apparent: crouched behind the map table and behind the wicker wood chair.
Xaron shifted in indecision next to me, eyes darting between the open and closed doors.
"Duck behind the chair," I advised him, giving him a push in that direction.
He looked glad to be told what to do, and moved quickly behind it.
I went to my own position behind the map table and drew my knife. Crouching there, it suddenly felt much less covered than it had first seemed. I could only hope it would be enough. Talan moved to the corner just beyond the door and pressed against the wall, then extinguished his light.
Left in darkness, I stared at the only entrance to the room and waited. Waited, grinding my palm into my blade's grip. Waited, listening to the footsteps grow ever closer. Waited, knowing how helpless I was in a fight, knowing there were far too many Seeker guards in the compound. Fear, cold and craven, rose in me. I would have fled if I'd had a choice.
We'd left the door open, so I saw their light first, creeping down the hall. Then figures emerged from the darkness. The man who came first didn't look like a guard. Balding and thin, he wore spectacles over the violet tatu around his eyes. But it was the light projecting from his fingertips that amazed me most of all. Fear squeezed me harder, breath came shallower. A warden.
The man stepped into the room, his brow drawn as he gazed around him. Two more figures loomed in the hallway beyond, light projecting from their own hands. Two more wardens.
Talan struck before the lead warden could glance his way. Quick as a snake, he lashed out, a knife flashing in his hands as he stabbed into the man's gut. The Seeker warden cried out and stumbled back, his light extinguishing as his hands fell to his stomach. From the light in the hallway beyond, I could see blood, black wetness in the gloom, staining his clothes.
The two Seekers in the hallway shouted and rushed forward, hands outstretched. From the lights in their hands, I saw one to be a Qao Fu female of middling years and the other a stout Oedijan youth. Spotting Talan, they both leveled their hands at him, and fire and force leaped toward him.
Talan dove, but was sent tumbling across the room. The two Seekers stalked after him, hemming him in with a barrage of magic. Talan dodged or blocked most of the blows, but a kinetic wave found its way through his defenses, slamming him back against a wall.
I couldn't crouch in fear forever. Forcing myself up, I crept around behind the two seeker wardens. The hilt of my knife felt so slick with sweat that I thought it would slip from my fingers. Gripping it tighter, I rose and charged.
The young man glanced back, his eyes widening, and fear struck through me. Yet I continued, raising the knife and screaming.
Something knocked hard into me from the side, sending me crashing into the wall. My head knocked against the wood, and stars sparked into my vision. As I staggered back to my feet, my body felt drunken and clumsy. I turned toward the direction of the attack, focusing my unsteady gaze. The balding man leaned against the wall, one bloody hand raised toward me. As I stared, another kinetic wave came barreling down on me.
I threw myself to the ground. As the wave passed, it beat me against the floor, knocking the wind out of me, but avoiding the worst of it. Gasping for air, I pushed myself up and threw myself behind the map table, hoping it would give some protection while I recovered.
A glance Talan's way showed that Xaron had joined the fray. Blinding light flashed from his fingertips as he contended with the middle-aged woman from behind the wicker wood chair. Talan engaged the young man. As I watched, he sent the Seeker flying backward with a powerful kinetic attack, a snarl on his lips.
"Watch the one in the corner!" I called to Talan, then threw myself toward the young man. He had hit the wall badly and was slow in rising. Not letting myself doubt or think, I stabbed at him.
My poorly aimed blow caught the Seeker in the shoulder and, biting in, glanced off bone. The young man howled with pain and anger, then punched his fist into my gut.
It hit with the force of a kicking horse. I crumpled, all breath and fight gone as pain spread through me. I crawled away, knife lost, barely able to see for the darkness creeping up in my vision.
The young man stood over me, hand outstretched, when his head suddenly kicked back. As he slumped over, I saw dark liquid leaking from his eye. Or where his eye had been — all that was left now was a jagged, bloody hole.
"Take cover!" Talan roared as he leaped over the map table, scattering figures as he passed.
I fell to the ground at once, too weak from the Seeker's blow to go anywhere else. From beneath the table, I glimpsed Talan landing on the other side, then the Qao Fu woman's feet lifting as he hit her with a kinetic attack, slamming her into the opposite wall. Xaron's feet danced across the floor as he, too, channeled at the woman.
Something tickled my nose and throat, making my eyes water, and the back of my neck felt uncomfortably warm. I turned and noticed smoke billowing up from flames licking across the wood floor and walls. Pushing aside weakness, I rose, coughing as smoke filled my lungs with each shallow breath.
"Fire!" I gasped, though I wasn't sure anyone heard me.
"Back away from it!" Talan commanded.
I staggered toward the door. A glance at the first Seeker in the corner showed he was dead. The Qao Fu woman had similarly gone still, her head craned back at an unnatural angle and her body sprawled upon the floor. And I knew the youngest of the Seeker wardens was not likely to rise.
Now, we just had the flames to worry about.
"What do we do?" I asked, fear making my voice high and sharp.
Talan shook his head. "Run. There is nothing else we can do."
"But Linos might be in here!"
"Wait! Let me try to shred it!" Xaron swayed where he stood, but he held his hands toward the flames. The flames already rose nearly as tall as me, and smoke and heat poured out from them.
"Hurry," Talan said sharply.
Xaron's eyes screwed up in concentration, arms trembling as he held them out. A moment passed. Two. Still, the fire continued to grow and consume.
Talan backed up to the doorway, pulling me with him. "We have to go!" he shouted.
"I can do this," Xaron said through gritted teeth. He hadn't moved, though the flames advanced across the room toward him.
"Xaron!" I pleaded.
Suddenly, the flames spluttered, then began to dissipate. As suddenly as they'd spread, the flames died out. Soon, all that was left behind were glowing embers and smoke hanging thick in the darkness.
"I did it." Xaron coughed, staring dazed into the smoke.
"You did," Talan said. A light blazed to life in his hand again. "Now let's go."
Xaron shook his head, then staggered toward us, stumbling and nearly falling. I moved forward and steadied him, though I felt none to steady myself.
"Are you alright?" I asked him as we followed Talan through the doorway.
His eyes were vacant as he glanced at me. "Airene, I… I killed that woman."
My throat closed shut. All I could do was squeeze his arm and press forward.
We made it out of the corridor, then through the next room. The night air outside brought cool relief and fresh air to my fevered skin. But as shouts from the Seeker guards filled the air, I knew we couldn't stop to catch our breaths.
"Move quietly, but swiftly," Talan commanded over his shoulder as he slowed his pace to a fast walk. "Could be they don't know where to find us yet."
We obeyed, moving along the outside of the amphitheater. The wood creaked with each step, driving anxiety through my gut. The shouts faded in and out below. I didn't dare glance over the railing lest they see me.
The pounding of feet sounded ahead. Around Talan's form, I saw figures racing toward us. The foremost leveled his spear and charged at us, eyes wide with fear, mouth pulled back in a snarl. Talan didn't back down, but raised his hands. Kinesis barreled forward from his fingertips. The Seeker crashed into the others behind, collapsing them in a tumbled heap. Talan swiftly followed the first attack, hands jabbing forward again and again. Concentrated kinesis pounded like arrows into the guards, dealing death everywhere they landed.
Then Talan dropped to the floor. "Duck!" he bellowed.
I obeyed at once, hoping Xaron would do the same. As my knees hit the wooden planks, something hissed overhead with terrible speed. As wood splintered behind us, I grasped what it had been. The guard had brought crossbows.
Talan cursed and rose, channeling with a fury. The Seekers screamed and fell away. A second crossbowman tried to get in a wild shot and missed. Soon, the few guards still standing were fleeing back the way they came. Even then, Talan did not relent, but shot at their backs, felling a few more.
I gagged as the stench of burned flesh filled my nose, but held myself upright. I tried not to look at the dead guards as I stepped over their bodies. I could not help but count them. Seven dead. Seven more Talan had killed. I tried focusing, tried remembering how many guards had been at the entrance. Eight, I was fairly certain.
"One escaped," I told Talan. "He'll call for reinforcements."
"Then we'd better get the hell out of here." He glanced back. "When we reach the edge, I'll carry you over."
I nodded, though I felt far from certain about the prospect. Even for Talan, such a feat seemed a stretch. Yet with time pressing short, the rope back in the war room, and no idea what reinforcements might be coming, I had no choice but to agree.
We left the bodies behind, then the lip of the wall appeared ahead. Skirting to the end to make sure no one lay in wait, Talan turned back to me. "Ready?"
Repressing my fear, I nodded and stepped toward him. Bending, he scooped an arm under my legs and back. Barely giving me time to wrap my arms around his neck, he lifted me off my feet, stepped over the lip of the wall, and leaped.
