by Anne Bishop
Then Lee was beside her, then a little in front of her, pushing her back a step. His right hand remained in a tight fist, as if he were holding something.
The Apothecary studied Lee. “I bring news, nothing more. If you are Lee, the Shaman told me to report to you.”
“Then why ask for Zhahar?” Lee said, making it clear with posture and voice that he wasn’t accepting anything on faith—and if a person wanted to stay safe, the answers had better be to his liking.
She hadn’t thought Lee could be dangerous—until now.
“Her sister Zeela has dealt with me,” the Apothecary said. “I thought if I was acknowledged by someone here, you would be more inclined to listen.”
Lee nodded. “All right. We’re listening.”
“He asked for me,” Zhahar muttered.
“In order to report to me,” Lee replied.
=Don’t argue with him,= Zeela whispered. =Right now he is more our mothers’ equal than ours.=
Since she understood what that meant, Zhahar clenched her teeth and kept quiet.
“The Shaman disappeared,” the Apothecary said. “When I came across him, he was heat sick. I offered him a ride back to the Asylum, and he accepted, but there was something on the other side of a bridge that he wanted to see. I fetched my horse and wagon and stood in the shade of a palm tree, unseen by watchful eyes.” He gave Lee a strange smile. “A gift given to us by the world for being shadowmen. So the Shaman crossed the bridge and picked up something. When he straightened, I saw five men. I couldn’t see them clearly, but after what I saw moments later, I knew they were the reason the shadow streets were turning dark, even for people like me. They were the reason I decided to pack my wagon and leave.”
“Those men took Danyal?” Zhahar asked. “They took a Shaman?”
“No. Whatever was said…The Shaman turned and ran. Halfway across the bridge, lightning shot out of the fingers of two of the men. As it struck him, the Shaman disappeared.” The Apothecary studied Lee. “You understand this? The Shaman said we should all listen to you.”
Kobrah stood tense and trembling beside her. Nik and Denys were behind her, muttering to each other. But she knew all three of them were eyeing Lee, especially after he slipped his fist in his trouser pocket and then withdrew an open hand.
What had he been holding?
“You know what this is,” the Apothecary said, watching Lee. “You have seen these kinds of shadows.”
“I’ve seen more than shadows,” Lee replied. “And, yes, I know what this is.”
Those dark glasses hid too much, and Zhahar wished she could see his eyes.
=Be careful,= Zeela warned. =He’s changed.=
*No,* Zhahar replied slowly. *We’re just seeing who he really is.*
“How could lightning come from a man’s fingers?” Nik asked.
“Two men were killed on a shadow street by such lightning,” the Apothecary replied. “I assure you it exists.”
“Wizards’ lightning,” Lee said. “It exists, Nik, and it’s deadly. You said Danyal picked up something on the other side of the bridge. Did you see what it was?”
It took Zhahar a moment to realize the last part was directed at the Apothecary, who shook his head.
“His hand was closed over it when he was running across the bridge. But I did see something bright dangling from his fist.”
“Like a gold chain?”
“Perhaps.”
Lee drew in a breath and huffed it out. He looked toward her but turned enough to include Nik and Denys. “If the Shaman is gone, who’s in charge of the Asylum?”
“Meddik Benham would have the most authority after the Keeper,” Nik replied.
Now Lee turned his head toward the Apothecary. “You have any room to spare in that wagon?”
“It’s designed to be both shop and home for a traveling Apothecary, but if someone sat on the driving seat with me, there would be room for two or three more to hide inside.”
“Will you help us?”
The Apothecary gave Lee a strange smile. “A voice of the world told me to listen to you, so I will give you whatever help I can.”
“Lee?” Zhahar placed a hand on his arm. “What are you thinking?”
“Danyal’s gone. I know how he disappeared but not where he’s gone—or if he’ll ever find his way back. Whatever he did to hide this place from the wizards and the Dark Guide probably will fade without him. I need to be gone before that happens, and you need to go with me. You and Kobrah. Nik? Denys? The men who claimed to be my uncles are actually wizards who have that deadly lightning. If they show up, you tell them one of the Handlers thought she was in love with an inmate, helped him escape, and ran off with him. Zhahar, where is your homeland’s connection to Vision?”
She stared at him, shocked. “Lee…”
“We don’t have time for secrets.” There was a hardness in Lee’s voice she’d never heard before. “There might be a way to save this city from the wizards and Dark Guide. There might be a way to save your people. Both of those things depend on me getting to your homeland before the wizards catch me.”
“But…you have those stones, that magic. You can get away without the wagon.”
“Yeah, I can go anytime. I could make one-shot bridges that would get Nik, Denys, Kobrah, Benham, even the Apothecary here away from the Asylum. There’s no telling where they would end up, but most likely it would be away from this part of the city—maybe even away from this part of the world.” Lee pressed his lips together for a moment. “But I don’t know what crossing a bridge would do to you and your sisters, Zhahar. I don’t know if you could survive crossing over. I do know that if you want to save your people, we have to run now, because I’m not leaving without you, and every minute we delay is a minute the wizards have to get closer to stopping us.”
Zhahar stared at him. Zeela’s major strength was the body. Sholeh drank in knowledge. Her strength was the heart, and her heart had been drawn to this man from the first time she saw him.
“We’ll go with you,” she said.
A fleeting smile. A lessening of tension in his shoulders, telling her how relieved he was by her answer. Then his hand closed around her wrist for a moment, warm contact before he let her go.
“I’m sorry,” Lee said. “We’re going to have to travel light.”
She nodded, then wasn’t sure he truly saw the movement. “I know. Come on, Kobrah.”
::You didn’t tell him that as soon as we return home, the last link holding Tryadnea to Vision will break,:: Sholeh said as they ran to their room. ::We’ll be adrift again.::
*We can’t stay,* Zhahar said as she hauled out the big traveling bag and began stuffing it with clothes and whatever else came to her hand.
=Don’t forget the Three Faces and the Third Eye,= Zeela said.
Zhahar pulled open the top drawer of the dresser and wrapped the two wooden objects in underclothes before putting them in the bag.
::We could stay,:: Sholeh insisted. ::We’ve made some friends here. I like Lee, but he doesn’t understand why we have to stay.::
=Zhahar is the reason the wizards lost control of Lee,= Zeela snapped. =They’ll want to hurt her for that, and that lightning they wield most likely would kill all of us. And then Tryadnea will be adrift, and whatever connection Lee thinks he can help us make will be lost.=
Sholeh began to cry and withdrew from them.
*She’s scared,* Zhahar said as she continued to pack. *We all are.*
=It’s not just the wizards we should fear.=
*You mean that Dark Guide?*
=No. You know who I mean. But he stayed for you, Zhahar. He can see well enough now to get around without help. He could have disappeared like Vito and the others. But he stayed. For you. No matter what happens in the days ahead, that’s something all of us have to remember.=
“We could use more food, more water,” the Apothecary said. “If we want to stay ahead of the wizards and their master, we’ll need to tra
vel through part of the night. The longer we can delay stopping for provisions, the harder we’ll be to track.”
“I’ll get the food and water,” Denys said.
“I’d best find Meddik Benham and tell him what’s happened,” Nik said.
“But keep it quiet,” Lee told them. “The fewer people who know about this, the safer we’ll all be. And tell Meddik Benham I’ll need to talk with him too.”
They both nodded and hurried off.
“Do you need help to reach your room?” the Apothecary asked.
“No, I can see well enough. The drops that are healing my eyes. Those are from you?”
“Yes. The things that did you harm also came from my shop.”
Lee almost reconsidered traveling with this man. Almost. What helped him decide was the feeling that the Dark and Light in the man were almost equally balanced, and maybe like the Shamans, the shadowmen would benefit from a larger view of the world—and the people who touched Ephemera.
And maybe, in that moment before he decided, he recognized a truth about himself and his own connection to the Dark currents.
“You said you can remain unseen,” he said.
“In stillness and in shadow,” the Apothecary replied. “Not while in motion. I can’t hide the wagon while we travel.”
“But you could hide it now?”
“For what purpose?”
“To avoid someone tampering with a wheel or the harness.”
“You think the lightning men have allies in the Asylum?”
“I know they have one.”
“Then I’ll stay here.”
“I won’t be long.”
Lee strode toward the residence, squinting despite the dark glasses. He should pick up a hat somewhere. The brim would give his eyes extra protection.
“Lee!” Teeko called. “What’s going on?”
Lee just raised a hand and kept going. When he reached his room, he stripped the pillowcase off the pillow and stuffed his spare set of clothes into it. The eyedrops went into the middle of the clothes, protected on all sides. He wasn’t sure how much of his eyesight would be restored, but he didn’t want to lose whatever chance he had of regaining as much as possible.
Something to ask the Apothecary once they were on the road.
He slipped four of the smooth stones into his pocket and put the rest in the pillowcase. Finally, he picked up his long cane and left the room, meeting up with Nik on his way to the wagon.
“Denys has the food and water,” Nik said. “Meddik Benham is waiting for you by the wagon.”
“Kobrah and Zhahar?”
“They brought their bags to the wagon. Zhahar dashed back into the building to use the toilet.” Nik shrugged. “She didn’t say that, but…”
After hiding the truth about herself and her sisters, living in such close quarters with other people wasn’t going to be easy for Zhahar. He understood her wanting to empty herself as much as possible before getting into the wagon.
“You have your eyedrops?” Nik asked as they reached the wagon.
Lee lifted the pillowcase. “Tucked in here. The bottle should be all right as long as nothing is dropped on the case.”
“Give it to me. I’ll stow it while you talk to Meddik Benham.”
He handed the pillowcase to Nik.
“You have any idea where Danyal might be?” Benham asked.
He shook his head. “It sounds like Ephemera turned a pocket watch into a bridge that connects to another place. If he survived the lightning, Danyal will end up in a landscape that resonates with his heart—or a place that would provide the potential for him to find what he wanted the most at that moment. But where that might be isn’t something anyone else can know.”
“You think these wizards are going to come here?”
“I’m sure they’ll come, so this is what you need to do: contact the city guards. Tell them some threats have been made against the Asylum and you need their help guarding the inmates from harm. Will they respond to that?”
“They will,” Benham confirmed.
“Send a message to the Shamans. Whoever is in charge. Tell them Danyal is missing and that a witness saw him being attacked before he disappeared. Tell them an inmate escaped with the help of a Handler, and that you have informed Pugnos and Styks of my disappearance. Be sure to name them. Send the same message to whoever oversees all the Asylums in the city. Get those messages out as fast as you can. When the wizards come—and they will—tell my ‘uncles’ everything, including the part about mentioning them in the letters.”
“You think that will stop them from hurting anyone?” Nik asked, sounding doubtful.
“In my part of the world, the wizards hid in plain sight for generations, using their ability to influence people’s minds to help them eliminate the Landscapers who would have been their strongest adversaries. They aren’t going to want too many people in Vision to know what they are. Not yet. So if Meddik Benham jumps in as soon as they arrive and tells them about Danyal’s disappearance and my escape, I think they’ll play their role of concerned relatives and leave the rest of you alone.” Lee hesitated. “I can make people disappear by using a stone filled with my particular kind of magic. The stone becomes what we call a resonating bridge. I can give a stone to each of you to use as a way to escape if the wizards do attack.”
All three men shook their heads, which didn’t surprise him.
“We’re not leaving the people who need us,” Benham said quietly.
“I didn’t think you would,” Lee replied.
“So you are a colleague of Danyal’s? We’ve all wondered.”
“I come from a distant land, so I don’t have the same abilities as the Shamans, but there is a lot of common ground between Danyal’s training and mine.”
“Thought so.”
Lee frowned as he looked back at the building. What was keeping Zhahar? If one of them needed to pee, did all of them need to pee separately? But if they shared the innards, wouldn’t one be able to do it for all of them? He’d had that impression when Zhahar had told him to stop Sholeh from eating spicy food while she and Zeela were recuperating.
He’d barely finished the thought when he heard a woman screaming his name.
“Let me go! Lee! Lee!”
This time Nik and Denys were ahead of him. The sun was too bright, making his eyes burn and tear—making it hard to see who was struggling.
Then Nik snapped, “Damn it, Teeko. What are you doing?”
“What I have to,” Teeko said, sounding frantic. “You think I want to work in this place forever? I’ve got plans, and there’s a big reward for keeping him here until they come to fetch him. Sent one of the boys off with a message. They’ll be here soon. Hand over Lee, and you can have this freak.”
“He hit Zhahar,” Sholeh screamed as she struggled futilely in Teeko’s grasp. “She’s not answering!”
Guardians and Guides. Teeko had seen Zhahar shift into Sholeh. No wonder the man sounded frantic.
Lee pulled a stone from his pocket, then shoved between Nik and Denys, moving far enough ahead of them that he wouldn’t hit them. Teeko’s plan had been simple: knock out Zhahar to delay their leaving until the wizards arrived and scooped up their troublesome “nephew.” Would have worked if Zhahar hadn’t been a Tryad.
Zhahar was hurt and Sholeh was scared past thinking. And Zeela? Had Sholeh come into view because she was the only one who wasn’t injured?
Zhahar’s pain. Sholeh’s fear.
Anger filled him, swelling the Dark currents that flowed through the Asylum. Then those Dark currents filled him in turn as his power flowed into the stone to create a resonating bridge.
“Let her go, Teeko,” Lee said, his voice rough with the swelling rage.
“As soon as Nik and Denys put you in a jacket, I’ll let the freak go.”
“We’re not a freak,” Sholeh sobbed.
“He’s only holding her by one wrist,” Nik said out of the corner of his mouth.
“We could take him.”
That’s when Teeko yanked Sholeh closer and revealed the short-bladed knife in his other hand. “You come at me, I’ll cut her. I’ll cut her bad!”
“Let her go, Teeko,” Lee said. The stone throbbed in his hand, all power and anger. Ephemera, give him what he deserves.
Problem was, if Teeko was still holding Sholeh when Lee hit him with the stone, she’d be pulled into that landscape with him.
“She’s got a scar on her left arm,” Denys whispered. “What’s going on?”
Was Zeela starting to come into view?
“Is that what they offered you, Teeko? Gold and precious jewels in exchange for someone’s life?” Lee asked.
“I’ll be a rich man!” Teeko yelled.
“If that’s all it takes to buy you, I can match that and more. Here’s a lump of gold as down payment.” As he cocked his arm, he yelled, “Zeela!” and threw the one-shot bridge at Teeko.
He couldn’t see well enough to be sure it was Zeela in view until she punched Teeko. Not a hard blow, but enough to startle him into releasing her.
Zeela twisted away from Teeko and fell on her hands and knees.
Teeko caught the stone—and disappeared.
Silence, except for Nik’s and Denys’s rough breathing.
Lee rushed over to the fallen woman and yelled, “Get Benham over here!”
“Already here,” Benham said. He stopped several paces away, then approached warily.
“Zeela?” Lee asked, resting a hand between her shoulder blades.
“I’m all right,” Zeela said, not sounding all right.
“Need to check those stitches,” Benham said. “Make sure she didn’t pull anything.”
“Zhahar needs to come into view,” Zeela said. “He hit her on the head. Don’t know how bad.”
“We’ll check you first,” Lee said firmly. When Benham did nothing, Lee looked at the man. What did the people here see now when they looked at him? “I have no quarrel with you.”
“What about them?”
“They come from a race called the Tryad. Short version is, three siblings share a body but are still individuals.”
“I could have done more for them if Danyal had been a little more forthcoming about their ‘spiritual practices,’” Benham grumbled as he knelt beside Zeela and pulled up her tunic enough to look at her ribs. “No fresh blood on the dressing. I don’t think she took any damage from that fall.”