City of the Dead

by Vasily Mahanenko

  The hat looked something like a chamber pot without any handles that you strapped onto your head. Tailyn did his best to call it a helmet but couldn’t bring himself to—there was no deceiving the eyes. But as he put it on, there was a click, and the headgear and outfit melded into one. He shook his head to see how well it moved, finding that it didn’t hinder him at all despite the connection. And when he said the words hermetic seal, glass popped up in front of him to look something like a thick force field. The air tasted metallic, but he could breathe it, and that was the most important thing. The hour and a half it lasted suited the boy just fine, too. That was plenty of time for the lixes to all drown.

  The new suit barely did anything for his parameters, though it was enough to keep him safe from stray rocks and let him spend mana on his cards. His attributes and skills stayed right where they were, however. Of course, there was one positive—finally, his personal shield was a bit higher. It was enough to keep him safe if he accidentally stepped in front of an icicle.

  Status table

  General character information

  Tailyn Vlashich

  Alchemist

  Level

  1

  Age

  10

  Yearly tax (crystals)

  1 (beginning at age 16)

  Coins

  384

  Gold

  3727

  Main parameters

  Shield level

  440 (1000)

  Mana level

  260 (2300)

  Physical attack

  54

  Magic attack

  186

  Attributes

  Enhancement

  10

  Mysticism

  5

  Intellect

  4

  Armor

  3

  Wisdom

  4

  Perception

  2

  Regeneration

  3

  Skills

  Alchemy

  Points invested:

  18

  Herbalism

  Points invested:

  13

  Linguist

  Points invested:

  1

  “Ready!” Valia was done getting dressed, and she couldn’t help giggling when she looked over at Tailyn. Regardless of the situation, he was a sight. Did she look like a cook at a cheap tavern, too? Embarrassing… But Tailyn didn’t react to her in the slightest, continuing to putter around with his outfit. Valia gave him an annoyed kick to grab his attention.

  “I said, I’m ready!” she said when she saw that a surprised Tailyn had finally pulled himself away from what he was doing. On the other hand, she also noticed that while his mouth was moving, it wasn’t making sound.

  “What, you couldn’t hear me?” Valia disconnected her hermetic seal, and the boy nodded. Sounds once again made their way into the helmet. “Okay, then…”

  Valia Levor would like you to join We Hate Dort.

  Tailyn accepted with a smile.

  Valia Levor would like you to join the group’s audio channel. Requirement: helmet (met).

  “How is it now?” the girl asked, her voice right in the boy’s ears. “Can you hear me?”

  “Yes!” he replied in surprise. “Really well.”

  “I said, I’m ready to launch it. I think—”

  Just then, the Nemean lion landed an especially powerful blow, the wall shattered in one spot, and the blade-tipped tail appeared in the hole.

  “Do it!” Tailyn yelled, no longer caring if he sounded scared.

  Valia ran over to the terminal and froze for a few moments.

  “Done! The shield will drop in one minute.”

  “We don’t have a minute!” Tailyn’s gaze was fixed on the wall. Almost as if it could sense something was wrong, or perhaps having found a weakness in the construction, the lion was going much faster. The plaster was gone; the stone was starting the follow it. Golden sparks whirled past the hole the blade had made.

  “We have to get out of here!”

  “You want to head down and face the lixes?” the girl asked, her chest tightening. She wasn’t ready for that.

  “No, the roof! There’s a hole at the top of the shaft, and we can climb out it. Tie this around you! If one of us falls, the other will catch them.”

  Tailyn tossed the girl one end of the rope and started tying the other around his own waist. Valia wasn’t about to argue.

  “I’m going first!” Tailyn peeked out into the shaft. Everything was quiet—the shamans weren’t taking any shots. And while the hole was right there, it was still going to be a challenge grabbing the edge without falling to his death. Slipping a leg over, Tailyn just about screamed in horror when a rock fell off. His leg scrabbled at the edge, very nearly following the rock down.

  “Lixes!” Valia yelled in terror, and the shaft was filled with annoyed howling. Tailyn could have translated for the girl what the monsters were saying, only there wasn’t a single word he was comfortable telling her. Tossing his leg back over the side, stretching, and finally rolling up and over the ledge, he found himself on the roof. But there was no time to look out over the city from that vantage point—he had to get Valia up.

  “I’m ready. Go for it!” Tailyn grabbed the rope with both hands before suddenly ducking. An icicle had just whizzed through the hole as the lix shamans opened fire.

  “I won’t make it!” Valia shrieked, hysteria creeping into her voice.

  “Don’t worry, I’ll cover you,” Tailyn called back as he waited for the next icicle to fly past before peering back down into the shaft. The shaman was peeking out of the second floor, and he was going to nail the girl the second she appeared.

  Ka-Li.

  For the first time, Tailyn used his cards without holding them up to his mouth. Judging by the headgear description, it completely integrated with his magic items, which was why it was so expensive. And that was perfect—a fireball appeared in front of the boy and rushed downward. The lix shaman knew how strong the young mage was, and he was counting on his personal protection and a staff that worked something like a lightning rod. Ka-Do-Gir had told him everything about the human’s cards, mentioning that his main weapon was the electric charge. The boy was certainly going to be surprised when his attack did nothing—the staff gave the mage immunity to electricity.

  But the human didn’t play by the book the shaman was expecting. Instead, he sent a simple fireball at him. The lix didn’t bother even to step to the side as he aimed, realizing that the green had been right yet again. The combat status didn’t let the human charge his cards, and he was out. All he had left were fireballs. And that was a shame—the shaman had been looking forward to some competition.

  279 damage received.

  You can’t use your cards for 2 seconds.

  The lix’s surprise was so great that he just stood there and got hit with a second fireball before pulling back. Ka-Do-Gir hadn’t said anything about that. Where had the human come up with that kind of card?

  “Go!” Tailyn roared, forgetting that Valia could hear him perfectly. The wall in the control room shook to warn of its impending collapse. And when the Nemean lion growled, happy to finally be through, Valia made up her mind. She kicked off and leaped, only she wasn’t strong enough to cross the couple meters. Slamming into the wall, she hurtled downward.

  “I’ve got you!” Tailyn dug in his hands and feet to stop her fall. Tying the rope around himself had been a great idea—Valia only dropped a meter or two. It was a risk Tailyn took hanging over the hole, where any icicle could have cost him his life, but he couldn’t think of anything better to do than hold tight and mutter his phrase over and over again: Ka-Li. The fireballs flew away from him to smack into where the lix shaman had just been.

  Valia wrapped her arms around the boy’s body and pulled herself out of the hole, collapsing heavily on the roof. She was shaking. If she could have caught her breath, she would have cursed a
nd yelled, in fact. Tailyn jumped away from the hole when the Nemean lion’s fangs appeared below. The beast roared in frustration when it found that its victims had gone missing, but it didn’t try to climb up after them. It was clear enough that the roof wasn’t strong enough to keep it from dropping to its death yet again. Instead, after looking around to find somewhere to jump to, it forgot about the humans and dashed off when it heard its master’s call.

  Because just then, the barrier holding back the mountain stream disappeared. Enormous reservoirs of water sensed freedom and rushed into the open space, crashing down on the city from an enormous height.

  “Is it going to wash us away?” Tailyn asked belatedly as he gripped the edge of the roof. The water struck with fearsome force, wiping clean away the towers closest to where the barrier had been as if they were made of straw. The palace was next. When the flood hit, the spire that had cast the supply circuit collapsed, though Tailyn and Valia got lucky, saved by the fourth palace story. It took the brunt of the blow, held back the water, and diverted it to either side. It rushed through the city and off into the tunnels, sweeping away boulders, lixes, and all the black minions.

  Just a few moments after the water hit, its level began to quickly recede. The element had spent its energy. A howl broke out, and Tailyn was able to make out that a lix was informing the rest that he’d survived. He was followed by a second off to the side. Then, a third. A tenth. The creatures, who should have died, had survived and were calling back and forth with apparently no intention whatsoever of drowning. And when they were answered from the palace itself, the boy twitched. His plan was a failure. The Nimble River hadn’t been able to—

  Wait, the Nimble? So, the water was rushing back into the river?

  “Valia, I know how we can survive!” Tailyn called over happily as he jumped to the edge of the roof. The water was down below, but it had already receded too low. “Hurry! The current can carry us away!”

  “Are you sure?” The girl had also understood that their initial plan hadn’t worked, and she would have gone for anything in that moment.

  “Yes, we have to jump!”

  “Where?” Valia asked in shock as she peered over the edge. “Down there?”

  “Hurry! If the water leaves, we’re goners. We have to jump!”

  “I… Tailyn, I can’t… I’m afraid!” Valia whispered. The seething river instilled panic, and she couldn’t force herself past it.

  “You have to!” Tailyn held out his hand. “Together?”

  Something seemed strange to the girl, and that drove away the fear. Together? She’d heard the word often, just in a different context and with different intonation. Looking over at Tailyn, she wondered if he knew what he was offering. It was doubtful. That was the kind of thing men only think about at the last minute—it was girls who practiced the words at home in front of the mirror, imagining the day they’d say them before the face of the god. The funny part was that the conditions were exactly right. They were tied together. It was just the two of them. Tailyn had said the first part… Yes. She was all in. Her parents were going to kill her, but Valia wanted what she was about to do.

  “For life,” she said, finishing the phrase and placing her hand in Tailyn’s. The latter dove forward and didn’t notice the small band appear on his wrist. It didn’t give attributes, and it didn’t give skills, but it endowed its owner with something far more important. And with her eyes fixed on it, Valia plunged into the water. The racing current grabbed them and pulled them out of the city, banging them painfully against obstacles as they went. But where there once had just been a name, there was now an additional notation.

  Valia Levor (human). Mage. Age 10. Level 10. Betrothed to Tailyn Vlashich (awaiting the couple’s confirmation).

  Tailyn had no idea what was on the girl’s mind. Doing his best to keep hold of her hand, all his attention was focused on hitting the walls himself and keeping the girl safe from them. For whatever reason, that just seemed like the right thing to do. It may have been because his shields were better than Valia’s. It could have been because he felt bad for her. Whatever the case was, they were sucked quickly out of the city and into an underground channel. The turbulent mountain stream had dug itself a deep passageway with cliffs on either side, knocking down everything that stood in its way. There were neither sharp rocks nor deadly protrusions for them to worry about. Instead, they found themselves carried out of the city, the whole thing happening in complete darkness—neither of them had lanterns, and the OGM-Is didn’t have that kind of functionality. The problem was that Tailyn didn’t just have the current to worry about; he also had to turn his back into the sharp turns. Finally, what he’d been afraid of happened. They leaned into a curve, the current threw them higher, Tailyn slammed into Valia, and the girl was the first to hit the wall.

  “Tailyn, my costume is leaking!” she panicked. “The oxygen is getting out—I only have a minute left!”

  One turn later, and the two were dumped into relatively calm water. There was a current there, too, of course, but it wasn’t as strong. And since Tailyn didn’t like and wasn’t good at swimming, he headed straight for the bottom. Meanwhile, Valia floundered around above him, and she started getting carried away again. The rope tightened, letting Tailyn hold his companion where she was. He gripped one of the many rocks himself and found that it was part of a pile he was able to climb up. Suddenly, the water was gone, there was air to breathe, and he quickly began pulling the girl over. Valia was panicking completely—there was only enough air left in her outfit for a couple seconds. Tailyn got her close enough and grabbed her just as her hermetic seal switched off. Valia filled her lungs with air.

  She was alive. Holding on to Tailyn, she burst into tears. Just one little scratch left by a rock had proved nearly fatal, and that was scary. It was disheartening to realize how little it took for nature to kill humans. Right in front of her, two timers popped up—her outfit was going to be completely repaired in six hours, while her oxygen supply was going to be replenished an hour after that.

  Ka-Li.

  A fireball soared into the air to light up the enormous cave. Tailyn had enough time to notice a fairly even patch of dry stone a couple steps away, and he led the girl in that direction. Finally, he was going to have a use for the bundles of firewood he’d had with him from the beginning. He lit the pile with another fireball, and the cave’s eternal gloom was driven away by a merrily crackling fire for the first time in its existence.

  “Six hours,” Valia said guiltily as she pointed at the long gash.

  Tailyn nodded and suddenly staggered. The stress of the previous few days had taken their toll on the boy, and he couldn’t remember the last time he’d slept. It was in a previous lifetime, it seemed. Bruises and scrapes covered his body, and his regeneration told him he needed to rest for the next hour.

  “We should sleep,” Tailyn said as he pulled out the other item he’d been saving—his sleeping bag. He hadn’t gotten a single chance to use it since heading underground.

  “Agreed.” Valia wasn’t feeling her greatest, either. Unlike Tailyn, she didn’t have regeneration, which meant her hip was aching from when it had bounced off the rock. The wound looked bad, but the girl kept her chin up in an effort to hide the pain.

  Tailyn was about to climb into his sleeping bag when he stopped. It would have been no good to nod off in comfort and warmth while the girl was on the rocks, the reverse also being true. Pointing at the bag in exhaustion, he was barely able to get the words out.

  “Together? There’s enough room and warmth for both of us. It’s going to be a long way, and we should rest.”

  “Together,” Valia agreed as she began to take off her outfit. It needed to dry. Shame and embarrassment had been left far behind, and she crawled easily into the bag and cuddled up to Tailyn. It was cozy and warm. And for the first time in a while, the girl realized she didn’t need to fear for her life. The lixes definitely weren’t going to find them there. He
r eyes closed, and her head dropped onto Tailyn’s chest. The boy was already asleep.

  For a long time, Tailyn couldn’t figure out what woke him up. The fire had long since gone out, so long ago, in fact, that it wasn’t even smoldering. The cave was bathed in darkness, though it wasn’t absolute. Far up above them, there was a beam of light, and it was the ray of hope that had woken him. Tailyn wanted to jump for joy, but he couldn’t—Valia was asleep with her head on his shoulder. He felt his face flush and couldn’t have been happier that it was almost completely dark.

  “You awake?” the girl asked suddenly.

  “Yeah,” Tailyn replied, blushing still more deeply. The hugs they’d shared in the palace had been one thing; lying cuddled up next to each other, not to mention sans clothing, was something very different.