A Hollow Mountain (The Brightest Shadow Book 2), page 73
"Very well." Jeraeli closed her eyes and stepped forward to embrace Celivia, who remained still. "Please wait a little longer, Celi, until we find what we need. Then I'll have the leverage I need to convince the Zeitai and all the others."
"I understand why you would choose that, and I hope it works. But I'm going to talk to him the next time he visits the mine."
Jeraeli pulled back, her hands on Celivia's shoulders, Catai claws very sharp. There was something even sharper in her eyes, then Jeraeli closed them as if deeply sad. "You're making a mistake, Celi, and I worry for you. But it's your mistake, if you choose to make it."
She turned away, and Celivia knew she was dismissed. Though she could have said more, the argument was over. She left the building without a farewell and stormed back to her barracks. Her mind rotated through scenarios and arguments, but whenever she won a point against the imaginary Jeraeli, it only emphasized her failure in reality.
Celivia intended to vent all of her rage into training, and she was so focused that she almost missed her own band calling for her. She did her best to wipe her expression clean of the encounter and turned, but it was no mere greeting. Fijn stood beside Ghasfik, not as worn as he should have been given his travels.
"Did you learn anything?" she asked as she approached.
"Complete bust, Kaen." Though Fijn shrugged, his eyes said the exact opposite. "I'll give you a report if you insist on it."
"I do insist. We're not doing anything else waiting here." Celivia followed him as they moved away from the barracks.
She had expected simply to step far enough away that Fijn could tell her what he had learned in secret, but he kept walking. They rounded the side of the barracks and continued, far enough that Celivia kept a hand on her whip. Though she trusted Fijn enough to give him the assignment, something was clearly wrong.
When a man stepped out from behind a tree, she gripped the handle, but she stopped when she saw who it was.
"Good day." Daekhan pulled the skewer from between his lips and regarded her seriously. "Sorry to meet like this."
"Why are you here, Daekhan?" She then turned her attention to Fijn, but he raised his hands defensively.
"I don't know, Kaen, he just found me."
"Your investigations in Castle Wahles attracted attention. Some of it negative, some of it apathetic, but also mine." Daekhan began spinning the skewer over his fingers as if he was relaxed, but she saw how he placed his feet. Not as if he intended to fight, but his legs screamed tension. "You're right, another group of women is being brought to the mine. But they're not being taken by voidwalking - Kreue doesn't want it recorded in the official logs and he doesn't have enough personal Voidwalkers."
Though she let go of her whip, Celivia was more suspicious than before. "They're being taken over land? How?"
"There's a human by the name of Yetano who acts as a merchant, but his real profits come from smuggling across Portant. Anything that needs to be taken illegally, he'll move it without asking questions. What's relevant to you is that the next group of women will be stopping at a specific location prior to being transported to the mine. A location I can give you, one with a limited guard."
"Why are you telling us this?"
Daekhan regarded her quietly for a time, skewer still spinning, then abruptly he tossed it up and caught it between his teeth. "Mansthein have lived in Wahleen for a long time. We follow the Zeitai... but there are some who remember before Kreue came, when we worked together with the humans. Some may not care, but even the traditionalists started paying attention when Kreue began to enslave the weakest men and women. For our benefit, of course, but his benevolence is worthless. Everyone is weak to a Zeitai."
Celivia found herself smiling more than she had intended, and she thought she saw a bit of a reaction in Daekhan's cautious gaze. "You know what I intend to do with this information. And I don't think you intend to risk your position over this."
"My job is to distribute resources and this is where I think they should be distributed. Assuming that you're willing to listen." Hand on his skewer, Daekhan regarded her coolly until she asked the only question that could come next.
"Where?"
Chapter 54
-
"This would seem to be a jest of fate, yet the very wisdom that haunts me also forbids me any comforting lies. I was simply born before the Era of Legend, before... [illegible section] ...as one cursed to wax poetic about fruit without ever taking a single bite. A malformed twig of destiny."
- excerpt from First of the Sages
-
Tani was practicing using threads of sein to swing her throwing knives when she felt it. Her ears heard the door slam and her sein senses recognized Melal, but she felt something deeper than that. He wasn't returning to eat and sleep. In a sense, he wasn't returning at all, only the Hero within him.
"It is time!" If anyone else hadn't noticed, Melal's shout left no doubt. Tani hastened inside to urge him to quiet down before some mansthein sympathizer heard them. As the others gathered, she learned from Melal that some mansthein soldiers had been withdrawn to deal with a conflict in Wahleen and more had been drawn away by a group of his raiders. He wanted to gather them together and march on the mine.
She took a deep breath and hoped that their preparation had been enough. When Slaten entered, she glanced at him and he only nodded. They gathered in the middle of the smithy, with Mantyos watching them curiously and Olondris lurking in the corner behind him.
"Now we need only initiate a battle, then we can sweep in and claim the seal." Melal slammed a fist down on the table and looked around the group. "My Bloodskins are divided, but we can force Portant to enter as well. There is an outpost of errants south of the mine, so if we lead them to believe they are under attack from the Deathspawn, the mine will be completely open to us."
"Exactly how," Olondris asked, "will you lead them to believe that?"
"Are you challenging me?" Melal leapt to his feet, eyes blazing. Though Olondris refused to back down, Tani felt a flicker of fear in herself at what might happen if the two of them fought. The light seemed to cling to Melal more with every heartbeat, leaving his unpredictability unbounded by reason.
Just as Melal took a step toward her, the door slammed open. Natala entered with a finger raised in the air.
"Brave Hero! I have just now discovered a plan that will allow you to reach the mine!"
Tani sighed, and she saw Slaten switch to the flat gaze equivalent of rolling his eyes. But Melal turned, at first frowning as if he didn't even recognize her, then smiling. "Slaten's woman comes through for us after all! What is this plan of yours?"
"The foolish Deathspawn cannot support themselves, so they rely on human servants to feed them. One of those servants has bravely agreed to risk his own life to smuggle you into the mine." Though Natala lacked the unnatural resonance of the Hero's voice, she mimicked his cadence and even stood with a similar posture. If it had been Mohuno, Tani would have been worried, but Natala was... Natala.
Though the plan would involve them hiding in wagons of supplies, as presented it appealed to Melal. He soon agreed, though he said very little about what he intended to do with the raiders camping outside the town. She wasn't sure if the others noticed, but it worried her. Sometimes the Hero's lack of concern for strategy fell into place in the light of the Legend, but that might be little comfort.
She didn't find any way to voice her concern before Melal decided that the new plan was acceptable. Natala convinced him that it would be best to leave at dawn, so they had the rest of the day to prepare. The evening was a frenzy of planning and organization, then the morning a dawn of farewells.
Slaten spoke quietly with Natala in the training yard, but Tani didn't feel the need to say more than farewell. Most of the others would come along with her, leaving only Olondris and Mantyos. She found them watching the others, their arms around each other's waists. The affection might have warmed her heart, if she hadn't seen a hint of tension before she approached.
"Tani!" Mantyos reached out to touch her shoulder, but she lunged in to hug him.
"I'm glad I met both of you, truly." Tani gripped hard and Mantyos gently patted her on the head. With someone else, it might have been demeaning, but not with him at that moment. "I hope that nothing we do ever brings any trouble for you."
"Don't talk that way." Olondris regarded her with a slightly more affectionate version of her stare. "Come back alive."
"I will return if possible, but I don't know what direction our journey will take us next." Tani clasped her hands together over one of her new throwing knives and bowed deeply. "Thank you for everything you have given me."
Though Tani wanted to embrace Olondris as well, it wouldn't have felt right. The older woman did smile at her, so that was enough for Tani. As she went to join the others by the entrance, she noted that Olondris gave Slaten an almost-hug with one arm briefly around his shoulders. She only smiled, wondering if those who stared grimly at everything shared a special bond.
Their farewell was marred by Melal loudly arguing that Olondris should join them because they needed her strength. She simply continued refusing, never raising her voice, and eventually he stomped away to give commands to his raiders. It was the wrong way to end the relationship, so Tani resolved that whatever happened, she would one day return to the couple.
As they left Torgaadi, Tani felt a bit of the Hero's hope begin to infect her. She was prepared, and she knew that Slaten's training had taken him close to a breakthrough. Laeri tapped the new metal end of her staff against the ground, humming a song to herself. Veron slouched behind them, one hand on her sword. When she left the town, she dropped her rank signifier and ground it under a heel.
Tani had expected to travel along with a large group of raiders, but there were none in sight. Melal simply stared at their group, nodded, and then began walking to the northeast. So it seemed for now, it would be only the five of them. The five who had stood together at the top of Mount Tmil, though she struggled to believe that the fact could truly mean anything.
According to Slaten, Natala's plan required them to travel for some distance before meeting with the merchant's contacts, in order to further keep suspicion away from Olondris and Mantyos. She agreed with that rationale, but it meant a long walk in silence. The first time Laeri tried to speak, Melal shot her a burning white glare, and there wasn't a second.
Walking together toward their destination was dramatic for a short time, but soon only Melal strode forward, the realities of the long walk clinging to the rest of them. Tani focused inward and simply continued to prepare. She needed her sein not only to be powerful, but to be truly herself. It was likely that she would face both violent threats to her body and beautiful threats to her soul.
Eventually, however, they reached the trading post that was their destination. There were only a few merchants there at the moment, but one of them was a man leading three large wagons lashed to behemoths. When Melal gave him the sign, he straightened and spoke in a low voice.
"All of you can ride as we head east to the switching point. Place near the edge of the Regent's Forest called Smuggler's Rest. There, the wagons will be loaded with feed and you'll need to hide beneath them."
"And you can take us to the Deathspawn mine?" Melal asked.
"All the way to the bottom. You won't regret hiring Yetano." The wagoneer gestured for them to follow. No matter which direction they traveled, the sun lanced into Tani's eyes.
~ ~ ~
As her group ran, Celivia carefully reached into her pack and removed another piece of the foul-tasting meat. It wasn't difficult, given that they ran only at a pace Fijn and Big Ragh could manage, and even the flavor didn't bother her. Since she had become active again, or perhaps because they were finally taking action, she had been ravenously hungry. The constant eating had led her to put on weight, but she knew that she could burn it off when she returned to physical training.
According to Daekhan, their human contact ran most of his smuggling operations through an obscure location. Not found deep within a cave or atop a mountain, but simply in a sandy region to the south of Regent's Forest. Barely useful to farmers, but a convenient place to move illicit goods to Throne Wahles or toward the east or west. Or, in their case, to smuggle mansthein women to the breeding pits.
Though she was grateful for Daekhan's support, she wished that he could have offered something more concrete than information. After considering all her options carefully, Celivia had decided to take only two members of her band along with her. She mostly trusted Ghasfik, but needed her second to manage the others. Huthur had also been a strong choice, but she felt that she didn't know him well enough even though they were on good terms.
This would have been the perfect moment to have Ghalia and Reina with her, far more than during the fighting in the mountains. But she had burned all her favors attempting to gain a promotion and this was what she had left.
Far too soon, they needed to stop for the others to take a break. They sat beneath a flowering tree and she distributed some of the meat that was still good. Big Ragh tore into it messily while Fijn just sat back against the tree and caught his breath.
Simply sitting there, knowing that those women would soon be transported like prisoners while she waited, left Celivia burning inside. Worst of all would be if she could do nothing. Though the caravan could not have a large guard in order to remain a secret, the human merchant no doubt had security and several mansthein warriors would travel along with the women. She wouldn't throw their lives away on a battle they couldn't win.
The best solution would be to wait for the wagons to leave Smuggler's Rest, then capture them in an empty region of Portant. She hesitated to kill the human smugglers, since they bore no part of the guilt, but she needed the strike to be perfect. Done properly, the women would simply vanish into thin air, and if it took long enough for their disappearance to be discovered, no one would even suspect her absence.
All of that was presuming that they could successfully help the women once they were free. The battle itself might be simple, but the challenges after it would be the true test.
Truthfully, the void at the end of her plan should have stopped her from even beginning, if she hadn't felt so driven to act in some way. The women might not be able to cross the border into Wahleen, but Celivia thought that they might be able to dodge the errants until they reached the river. There, if they could pass as Wahleenese mansthein, they could find normal enough lives.
"Okay, I'm ready!" Big Ragh struck his chest with his fist. "I can't run like you, but I recover fast!"
"Then we need to go." Celivia rose rapidly... and was shocked as her head spun in a way that it hadn't for years. She staggered, barely catching herself before collapsing.
"Maybe you were pushing yourself harder than I thought!" Though Big Ragh tried to laugh it off, Fijn immediately moved closer.
"Are you alright, Kaen?"
Celivia waved him off and straightened. She felt strangely hot and dizzy, but she could easily outrun both of them. "It's nothing. We need to hurry if we're to intercept the wagons in time."
"I don't think that it's nothing." Fijn regarded her grimly. "I won't tell you your limits, but I insist you take time to check. Maybe the rotten meat is affecting you after all."
As much as she wanted to hurry, Celivia accepted that he spoke sense. She gathered herself together and drifted into her own sein, focusing on how it pulsed through her body. Her mind hovered within her own flame, which burned stronger than ever.
His concern was understandable, and Celivia did wonder if some truly ferocious illness could have overcome her body's defenses. But the strange fact was that she felt truly excellent, her body in peak condition. After living so long with humanizing poison in her body, Celivia was confident that she was herself. If anything, it was the opposite, as if she was more mansthein than before.
"I only need to focus." Celivia rose again and this time her head didn't spin. In fact, she felt even more balanced than before. "Thank you for your concern, but we need to press on."
"If you're certain." Fijn regarded her strangely but wouldn't disagree. Meanwhile, Big Ragh stood nearby with his arms crossed as if only amused by the delay.
"Hey, Kaen. Nothing bad has happened to most of these women yet, right? Do you think any of them would be grateful to their mighty rescuer?"
As they started to run, Celivia cast a disparaging glance his way. "Is that the reason you're doing this?"
"No, of course not! But I'm only saying, if it did happen, that would be fine, right?"
These were the allies she was taking into battle. As much as she wanted to correct Big Ragh, she could admit that he was risking his life and military career. She would accept the allies she had.
Not that she had a choice.
~ ~ ~
Riding in wagons was frustratingly slow compared to running, but at last Tani could see their destination ahead of them. The name "Smuggler's Rest" was far from comforting, so she tried to focus on the fact that they had partially finished their journey. Unfortunately, it seemed that they weren't alone.
The very idea of smuggling had always struck Tani as somewhat strange. Individual Rhen traded in specific goods, of course, and some tribes frowned upon certain items. But the idea that a society would declare some substances so forbidden that they needed dedicated smugglers to provide what people obviously wanted... regardless of her logic, it seemed to be a thriving business, and it was their only way into the mine without causing another massacre.
"Put those on." Their guide turned from his behemoth to gesture to a small box at the base of the wagon. "Those are cloaks for workers, but the only purpose is so that all of us blend together. No one will ask you any questions, and you are to speak to no one. If all goes well, I will have the wagons prepared soon and you will not even spend the night."
