The Veiled Diplomat

by Thomas K. Carpenter

  "Then what's the problem? Does the Portal Stone not work?" asked Skylar, who was sitting on a rusty generator, swinging her black boots.

  "I ran into Eddie on the way over. We're not the first group to think of this," said Vin.

  Zayn raised his eyebrows in shock. "Eddie's group doesn't have the chops to survive the Eternal City."

  "Eddie's doesn't, but Charla's team thought they did," said Vin with heavy emphasis on the word thought. "Chen and Elena didn't make it back. Charla's pretty messed up from what Eddie said."

  "What do you mean by didn't make it back?" asked Portia, eyes wide with concern.

  Vin squeezed his lips flat. "Dead."

  The news hit him squarely in the chest. Chen was a practical joker with a permanent smile in his eyes, and Elena always seemed too sweet to be an assassin—until it was time to spar and then she'd broken more bones than Vin.

  He choked back a sob. The others had watery eyes as they stared at their shoes. The news didn't feel real, yet too real all at once.

  Zayn saw the tension in their shoulders. "We don't have to do this. We can delay until...until we know more."

  "We're as prepared as we're gonna be," said Keelan, forehead hunched. "I'd rather go now."

  The others nodded quickly with a grim resolve.

  "Are you sure? If we're not focused we're not going to do ourselves any good," said Zayn.

  "This is our only shot for the next couple of weeks," said Vin.

  Zayn took the time to check with each of them. They each responded with a tight-lipped nod. "Alright. We'll do this."

  He'd been preparing a little speech to remind them to be on their toes the whole trip, but that was unnecessary now. They only had to go over final preparations before they could leave.

  Vin unzipped the black duffle bag, revealing a hunk of obsidian in the shape of a giant bullet, except it was covered in gold lines like a circuit board. He hauled it over to the obsidian arch on the wall and started connecting the two together using black wires.

  "Portia, why don't you run over the dangers we might encounter again for everyone," said Zayn.

  Before the news about Charla's team, this kind of repetition might have gotten a collective eye roll, but everyone sat up and listened as if it were their first time hearing it.

  "The main danger, as we know intimately, are the maetrie. Though we're unlikely to encounter them in the location we're traveling to, if we do, our best move is to avoid." Portia held up two fingers. "Second, are the dolgants, the worker class in the Eternal City. Brutally strong, quick to anger—tread lightly when we encounter them, which we will, since these are our likeliest information sources. Third, we have the faeila, about which there's not much known, except that they're typically small and made of concrete or steel or glass. The last one we need to worry about, and if we encounter one, we're likely going to die, is a smoke-eater. They're a mist creature, living fog. They roam the streets picking off dolgants and other creatures foolish enough to walk alone or in small groups. They won't trouble the maetrie, but everyone else is fair game."

  "Sounds wonderful," said Skylar. "I hope none of those ever escape to our world."

  "Don’t worry," said Portia. "They’re native to the Eternal City and can’t live outside of it, which I guess means that someone tried to export them. And those are the main things we might encounter. Zayn said to keep it to a short list. I found two dozen other names with little description, except for the wounds left on the bodies found after they attacked, assuming there were bodies left."

  "Okay, Skylar, you're up. What about our cover story?" asked Zayn.

  "We're a delegation from the Ice Hold, inquiring about hiring workers to expand the luxury resort," she said.

  "Good enough," said Zayn. "We probably won't even need to use it, but in case we do it will be helpful. Keelan, what about security?"

  Keelan handed everyone a bronze bracelet covered in jade runes. When Zayn slipped his on, the bracelet vibrated against his skin for a few seconds before settling against his flesh.

  "I layered a couple of enchantments on it. The first should temper the beguiling nature of any maetrie we encounter, the second is a general Look-Away combined with a shadow face that only we can see through. And the final is a ward against scrying, in case anyone detects us."

  Zayn clapped his hands together once for emphasis. "And lastly, but this bears repeating, do not eat or drink in the Eternal City unless you bring it with you, or accept any object. If you do, you'll never be allowed to leave."

  When Vin announced that the portal was ready, everyone put on their individual enchantments. Then they drew lines in front of the portal using a mixture of gargoyle dust, gold filings, and salt. As soon as Vin triggered the portal, a hum filled the air that made Zayn's teeth ache.

  Hand in hand, they stepped towards the archway. Zayn's skin tingled as the portal tugged on him, and the world around him went hazy as if a thin mist had entered the room. Slowly the dingy generator room in the guts of the fifth ward disappeared, replaced by a city street.

  A perpetual gloom hung over this new city. Immediately, Zayn pulled his arms to his chest as if he were cold, even though he'd enchanted away the elements. Mage-lights on cast-iron poles gave the place a distant feeling as if they were entering a dream.

  The sky was the color of dull iron. A quasi-dusk existed as neither day nor night. Oily puddles glistened along the street. A gritty, industrial taste invaded his mouth, making Zayn want to spit.

  Nearby, apartment buildings as high as eight stories crowded the street, while further in the distance skyscrapers dominated the horizon. Feeling exposed, Zayn started moving. They clustered along the side of the street even though there were no other travelers present.

  "Wait," whispered Portia. "We have to mark the area so we can get back."

  When Zayn turned around, he caught a glimpse of the rusty generator room, as if through a window, but it faded in and out depending on how he moved his head. Portia placed an anchoring enchantment on the nearest cast-iron pole, muttering something in Spanish before they moved again.

  They walked for a few blocks, and the whole time Zayn felt like they were being watched. His shoulder blades itched and he resisted the urge to check behind him constantly.

  "Where are we going?" whispered Skylar from beneath her shadowed hood.

  "We'll know it when we find it," said Zayn.

  A few minutes later, they were crossing an intersection when they heard what sounded like knives being scraped together, followed by a guttural scream. No one made a move towards the noise, and for once, Zayn felt no desire to investigate. For all he knew the sounds were a ruse to draw foolhardy folk into a trap.

  The next hour seemed to take forever as his senses were on high alert the whole time. The streets all looked the same, though the skyscrapers in the distance changed over time.

  "Are we getting anywhere?" asked Vin with a hint of frustration.

  "Just keep your senses alert," said Zayn. "We'll find something eventually."

  "They say this place is endless, and I'm beginning to understand why," said Keelan.

  They walked for another hour, and the feeling of familiarity grew with each passing block. They'd been walking forward for over two hours, but it felt like they were stuck in a loop.

  "I swear we've passed that puddle ten times," said Skylar.

  "Wait," said Portia, grimacing when she realized she'd spoken too loudly.

  Her fingers gestured in complex movements along with a breath of faez exhaled. When she was finished, her shoulders slumped with defeat.

  "What?" asked Zayn.

  Portia raised her arm, indicating the way forward. "The anchor I placed is right ahead. We have seen that puddle ten times, because we've walked past it before."

  Everyone looked around them at the buildings. Zayn squinted into the distance, studying the skyscrapers.

  "I know those buildings are different. The one with the green glow at the top when we
first got here is gone, and now there's one with little things flying around it," said Zayn.

  "Everything I read said this place was impossible to map through normal means," said Portia. "Now I understand. This place is worse than Mexico City."

  "How do we get anywhere? If we're just going to walk around in circles, we might as well go back," said Keelan, clearly frustrated.

  "There's got to be a trick to it," said Skylar. "Otherwise, how would anyone get anywhere? How would you find anything?"

  Their conference was interrupted by a chittering sound coming from an alleyway. Zayn froze, sending his senses in all directions.

  Portia pointed to the front of the alleyway. A creature the size of a matchbox, looking like a hunk of broken concrete with tiny wire legs and chips of gemstones for eyes, came ambling out, followed by a few dozen others. They watched as the first one stopped, its silver wire antennae rotating around in a scanning motion.

  "I think it's a faeila," said Portia as she studied the critter. "I guess they're kinda like insects here."

  Before she could say another word, the critter surged towards Portia, who quickly stomped it, crumbling it into pieces. Then she watched in horror as the tiny chunks of concrete reassembled themselves and started moving after her again.

  "Hey guys," said Vin in alarm, "there's more coming from the other alleyways."

  "Owww," said Skylar, kicking one away that had snuck up from behind. "Little bastard bit me."

  Zayn spun in a circle to see more faeila surrounding them. Then it was like the alleyways on either side of the street opened the floodgates, because thousands of the critters came pouring out. Before Zayn could bring even one spell to his lips, they were surrounded.

  Chapter Thirteen

  The Eternal City, December 2015

  A rocky situation

  A tortured scream cut through dusk-laden streets, somewhere nearby. It wasn't one of Zayn's teammates, but he suspected that whoever had made the sound had wandered into the swarm of faeila.

  "Blast your way out," yelled Zayn as he threw force bolts into midst of the creatures, scattering them like rocks, but almost as soon as they tumbled to a stop, they slid together, reforming into new critters.

  More screams, this time from his teammates, filled the air. Zayn wasn't sure who yelled, "Run," but he was moving before the retreat was sounded.

  A half-dozen of the tiny concrete creatures attached themselves to him as he leapt forward, snipping at his flesh with hard mouths. Each bite was like getting his skin pinched between two rocks.

  Zayn hastily knocked the critters off as he ran. They broke free of the swarm but it followed them as they sprinted forward, running flat out for a good thirty seconds.

  They were two blocks away when Zayn saw a dark gray carpet moving across the street ahead of them, and as they slowed, the carpet shifted towards them like a murmuring of starlings.

  "We've looped back around," said Skylar.

  "What can we do? We can't run forever," said Vin.

  "Focus fire, force bolts only. Maybe if we turn them to dust they can't reform," said Zayn.

  The five of them lined up, and on Zayn's count, unleashed bolt after bolt of pure force energy. The first few rounds scattered the incoming critters, sending up a cloud of broken concrete, but then as more faeila joined the initial vanguard, there were too many for their blasts to cover, and the creatures flanked them.

  "Back the other way," said Zayn.

  They ran for a minute before encountering the swarm again.

  "Any ideas?" asked Zayn as the carpet of concrete critters skittered towards them.

  "Moments like this make me wish I was in Arcanium or Coterie. They know the biggest, flashiest spells," said Skylar.

  "Up!" said Keelan, who was already scaling the nearest building, grabbing the crenellations and windowsills as he ascended.

  Zayn followed his cousin up the building. He looked down to see the critters catching them as they neared the top. They ran up as fast as they ran across the street. By the time Zayn and his teammates reached the roof of the five-story building, a flood of faeila brimmed over the sides, falling over each other like rocky foam.

  No one had to say anything about their next escape. With a short running jump, Zayn leapt the gap between the two buildings, stranding the faeila on the other side.

  Vin peered over the side. "They're climbing this one, too."

  That was all the warning they needed, and they leapt a dozen buildings in rapid order.

  "This is exhausting us faster," said Zayn. "Let's get back to the street."

  Back on the ground, the gray carpet headed towards them like an ocean with a murderous streak.

  "I think we have to bail through the portal," said Zayn, watching the glistening street boil with faeila. "We can't keep running and we can't fight them. I'm sorry, guys, this trip is a bust. Take us back, Portia."

  The chittering grew louder. Zayn put his hand on Portia's shoulder. She stared into an alleyway that they'd passed a dozen times before. He glanced down where she was looking, only to see a stone wall at the end of a dim alley.

  "I can get us out," said Portia.

  "Uhm, guys, we need to hurry if we're going to get out of here," said Skylar, concerned.

  "How...never mind, no time, if you can do it, do it," said Zayn.

  "Over here, this way," said Portia breathlessly.

  Zayn was confused when she headed into the blind alleyway. He glanced behind to see the carpet of faeila trapping them into the alleyway.

  "Uhm, Portia..."

  But when he turned his head back, the way opened up and they stumbled onto a new street. The buildings had dull red doors, which was a shocking display of color compared to the pallet of grays and blacks from the previous street. They ran for a couple of blocks before they were able to slow, confident they'd lost the concrete faeila.

  "What did you do?" asked Zayn, confused.

  Portia looked all around them. "I think the reason no one can find anything is because it doesn't work like our world. I think it works on intention, rather than a compass-based direction. We didn't know where we wanted to go before, so we stayed in a loop. But once I wanted to get away, I saw the new street through the alleyway where it hadn't been there before."

  "That's brilliant, Portia. How did you even think of that?" asked Vin.

  A slight blush rose to her cheeks as she lifted one shoulder. "After spending a summer hiking, I guess I found that I had a knack for finding places."

  "I think you're the team scout now," said Zayn, patting her on the back.

  A smile beamed to her lips which she kept squeezed together in an uncharacteristic display of modesty. The pride sparkling in her eyes gave Zayn an idea. He realized that the team didn't have defined roles, and that everyone sort of helter-skelter contributed when they could, but if they were going to succeed they needed to specialize more.

  "Can you think about a source of information next?" asked Zayn.

  She didn't answer because she held a secret smile on her lips as if she'd already been doing that, or maybe something else entirely.

  Portia led them two streets up. They reached a building that looked like a cathedral with a stained glass window, except the colored glass seemed to shift and move as if it were alive.

  "How beautiful," exclaimed Skylar, who took a step towards the building, and when Portia grabbed her arm, shook her off.

  "Watch," said Portia, who seemed to know something the others didn't.

  Zayn focused his attention on the colorful moving stained glass window. It seemed like the window was breathing, like a carpet of leaves with air exhaling through them.

  Then as if some signal had been given, the colors exploded from the window, a mad fluttering rising above the street. As the colors expanded, revealing individual creatures, the picture of what he'd been seeing became clearer.

  "More faeila?" asked Vin, receiving a hushed "Yes" from Portia.

  These faeila were un
like the concrete critters from before, more delicate, translucent. They appeared to be made of thin flexible material, like butterflies made from stained glass windows with gemstone eyes. They rose like a dark rainbow, catching light from the sky even though there wasn't a ray of sun anywhere.

  They rose higher, expanding into a flock, until their height and the dinginess of the sky faded their colors into nothingness, and they could no longer be seen.

  "That was worth nearly getting eaten for," said Vin.

  "I'll agree with you when we get out of here alive," said Skylar.

  Zayn caught up to Portia as they strode away from what they'd thought had been a cathedral. "You knew about that, didn't you?"

  "Know? No," said Portia. "A traveler from the Halls came here before and wrote about them. I didn't think we would find any, until I realized that anywhere in the Eternal City was available if you wanted to go there."

  Zayn was about to ask a question when Keelan said, "Carriage incoming."

  The sound of rattling wheels on cobblestone echoed from behind them. Two powerful black horses with steam hissing from their nostrils thundered onto the street from a crossing point.

  "There's nowhere to hide here," said Keelan frantically.

  "Go to the Veil," said Zayn, catching a look from his cousin, but when he tried himself, he found the way blocked.

  "We can't get there from here," said Portia. "And there's no time to escape through the alley."

  "Wait," said Skylar, stepping forward, but looking at the shadows pooled at their feet. "Let me..."

  Skylar didn't finish her sentence. She whispered a spell, blew faez between her hands as she rubbed them together, and leaned down, inexplicably grabbing the edge of the shadow and yanking it up as if it were a blanket made of night.

  "What the...?" muttered Vin.

  "Everyone crouch behind me," said Skylar, who held the shadow before them as a shield.

  Zayn crowded behind her with the others leaning on his shoulders. He could see through the shadow. It made the world look like it was in the middle of an eclipse.