by Kyle West
“Thank you,” I said, looking at Gia. “I don’t know what I can do in return...”
“Only give thanks and remember your time with us,” Borek said. “And visit again as soon as you get the chance.”
“I will.”
I attached the quiver opposite of the sword latched on my belt.
There was a long quiet moment until at last, Isaru nodded. “Thank you, all. Your gifts and your kindness will not go to waste. That you would treat strangers as such is beyond my abilities to give thanks for.”
Borek translated, and Patei said something else — a question, judging by the uplift at the end.
“He asks, will you return?”
Isaru nodded. “I will return as soon as I can. I have much still to learn. And much to repay.”
Borek translated, but Patei shook his head.
“Do not repay, he says.”
“Very well,” Isaru said, bowing respectfully in the manner of the Elekai of Haven, short and with his right hand on his chest. He took one last moment to take in the village, before addressing Jorla.
“Fly.”
And she flew. I held tightly to Isaru’s torso as the ground dropped away frighteningly fast. Before long, the huts were small below us, the river running crystalline through the red-stained forest. It wasn’t long before I lost sight of all the people.
I touched my bow, as if to make sure it was still there.
“What kindness,” I said.
Isaru didn’t respond, but he seemed to agree. Either that, or he was thinking.
“It won’t be long,” he said. “We’ll be there soon.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
IT WAS ONLY AS THE sun was half-hidden behind the distant horizon that the first of Colonia’s buildings materialized in the distance. The city spread wide, its red and sandstone towers and domes glowing in the last of the evening light, its high wall surrounding it on all sides.
From high above, I could see the red-stoned docks slipping into the wide brown river. Shallow ships and skiffs sat docked for the evening, and several large canals carried water inland, where they spread like latticework to water fields lining both sides of the water as far as the eye could see both north and south.
We were still far from the city and in no danger of being seen, especially given the darkness of the eastern sky. We had passed high over several dusty villages on our way, but the Northern Barrens were known for their lack of people — and that was mostly the reason Jorla had taken us this way. If anyone had seen us, we were high enough that they would have assumed we were of the Dragonriders. Now that we were nearing the city, the true test, the true danger, was beginning.
Our first task was to locate the dragonling, and it was here that we were dependent on Jorla, who would be able to sense her once she was close enough.
Do you feel anything? I asked.
Not yet.
The sun sank, and its final blaze of light colored the western sky in dusty hues of orange. From the sky, the sunset was even more beautiful, and I could only watch, transfixed, as the glorious light transformed into subdued hues of pink and violet, before all that was left was a miasma of what once had been.
With the night came the cold, and this high up, the wind was sharp and fierce. Isaru and I leaned into Jorla’s back, both for warmth and safety.
The city was lost to the night, but only for a moment. The shadow of the wall and the forms of the buildings within formed out of the night, much larger than they had been before. Several pale lights shone from windows, hardly discernible in the darkness. Now, my entire vision was filled with the city. We were still far enough that Jorla would not be seen, but the danger would only increase with every flap of her wings.
I feel something, Jorla said. Though it is not the dragonling. I believe it is the spirits of other dragons, and it is clouding my senses. If I fly any closer, I might as well be blind.
You can set us down outside, Isaru said. We’ll find the dragonling.
She angled across the river, putting us on a course to intercept the Red Cathedral. Even now I could see the sharp spire of its bell tower rising in the night, and the sight of it pierced my soul with dread. Beneath that place of worship, I had endured days of loneliness as I awaited my sentence.
She isn’t here, either, Jorla said. She was mere days ago, when I took Isaru here...
I could feel her desperation grow. Even her wings beat more quickly, causing us to accelerate.
Could she be at the fairgrounds? I asked.
The fairgrounds were disbanded when Isaru tried to rescue her. I passed over a few days ago, when Isaru and I got separated...
She can’t be far, I said. Could she be in the city, perhaps? We can ask around...surely someone would know.
I wasn’t expecting this. I can’t help but feel something is wrong.
Let us down, Isaru said. Get to a safe distance. We will search the city for any rumor of her.
And if you find her?
We’ll Call for you, I said. Will you be able to hear us?
I don’t know, Jorla said. It is...doubtful. But if you can get somewhere I can see...somewhere high, or at least open, I will be able to see you.
“We can’t risk getting inside the city wearing these clothes,” I said. The Hunters might know us for Elekai if they are familiar with what they wear.” I looked at Isaru’s silver hair. “And your hair doesn’t help, either. They will know it’s a mark of Elekai heritage. We will need new cloaks, but I don’t have any money.”
“What do you propose we do?”
I didn’t like it, but I thought about the only person who might be able to help us without ratting us out.
“Naomi lives in the Northern Subura,” I said. “If she won’t help us, no one will.”
“It might be better to steal something for our use rather than placing her at risk.”
“I think stealing is far riskier,” I said. “Besides, I lived for years next to Naomi. She and my mother were best friends. We prepared dinner together, gleaned in the fields together...”
“Perhaps you’re right,” Isaru said. “But...would they help you, even knowing what you are?”
That part I didn’t know. Every Colonian was born to hate the Elekai with every ounce of their soul. What would happen when that conflicted with Naomi’s real world experience of me? I had to trust that I would receive help from them. Despite my Elekai heritage, this place still felt like home in a strange, twisted way. Even if its people were misguided, Colonians were still generally good, and I didn’t want to steal from them if it could be helped.
“Naomi will help us,” I said. “She’s the mother of my best friend, Shara. Shara is stationed somewhere in the legions for now, but Naomi should be home.”
Before Isaru could respond, I directed my thoughts at Jorla. Head north, along the river, setting us down about a mile away from the end of the city.
Very well, Jorla said. If you think that is best.
Jorla seemed doubtful, but what part about this wasn’t doubtful? Our entire plan was held by a series of slender reeds that, all working together, would barely get us out of this alive.
Do it, I said. It begins now.
With that confirmation, Jorla banked right, heading upriver.
JORLA SET US DOWN IN a thicket of stunted trees and scrub, and Isaru and I slid off into the rocky dirt. The Silverwood bow around my left arm felt out of place, but it wasn’t particularly heavy, and the weight of the quiver of arrows on my side was also unfamiliar. I probably wouldn’t be using the bow for anything — after all, I had only practiced archery a few times in the Sanctum, and I wasn’t like the most skilled Champions, who could shoot an arrow every second. I drew my cloak — the very same cloak that would mark me as a Sanctum initiate — tightly around myself to keep out the nighttime chill. Isaru readjusted his cloak to better keep his weapons hidden.
When you find the dragonling, I will find you, Jorla said. Call me such as you have never Called befo
re.
“We’ll do that, Jorla,” I said.
Jorla spread her wings, giving herself a running start before taking to the air. She circled several times on the ascent before her black scales were lost to the night.
“Perhaps we can get close to the Bastion without being seen,” Isaru mused. “I can’t even see her now.”
“Are we going to try for the aqueduct, like we talked about?”
“We’ll have to see,” Isaru said. “The dragonling comes first. That was Jorla’s condition. By the time we finish that, well, who knows what comes next?”
“Draw up your hood.”
Isaru drew the hood of his cloak up without comment, and I did the same. Unlike Isaru, I was a wanted criminal here, so there was more danger in someone recognizing my face. Not everyone would know silver hair was a mark of the Elekai, but there was no point in taking unnecessary risks. Often, people who naturally had very light hair fell under suspicion of the Hunters, even if they didn’t have a drop of Elekai blood. In the past especially, things hadn’t turned out well for such unlucky people.
We walked quietly across the desert in the direction of the Northern Subura. The land was dark, only lit by the multitude of stars and waning moon. It was just enough to see by.
It wasn’t long before the first squat, adobe buildings appeared, and with it, my unease began to grow. I tried to remember my training...to seek Silence. I found it without a problem and quieted my mind for whatever was to come.
Isaru and I entered an alley between two apartments, coming out on the main dirt street running along the river. The street was empty, thankfully. Decent people in the Subura tried to be inside by the time it got dark.
“This way,” I said.
We made our way down the row of apartments. Everything was as I had remembered it, but there was a ghostly quality to walking the street at night. It was far quieter than usual, and I couldn’t help but feel that something had changed drastically. It was best to find Naomi’s house and get inside.
And then, I saw it. What used to be my home, an apartment on the bottom level facing the street, had its windows shattered and open to the elements. The door had been knocked off its hinges. The interior was dark, abandoned, and graffiti, unreadable in the night, marred its outside. A line of words had been painted above the door frame: Such is the fate of heretics.
Isaru and I paused a moment to watch, and I didn’t need to tell him that this was my home. His eyes seemed grieved, but more than that, angry.
“Don’t judge them all to be this way,” I said. “This is the doing of the Hunters.”
It wasn’t my former home that I was grieving over, but the fate of my parents. Things could be replaced. People couldn’t.
“You defend them, even now? After this?”
“Isaru...please don’t...”
He merely looked inside. After a moment, he shook his head.
“There’s nothing.”
It was then that a door was opened. I spun, frozen in my tracks, even as a woman stood there, her eyes angry. Naomi. She said nothing, but it was clear she didn’t recognize me and that she thought I was up to no good.
“Back away,” she said. “There’s nothing left of that house because you thieves have taken everything away.”
Naomi...” I said, coming closer. “It’s me.”
Her eyes widened, and she seemed afraid, more than anything else. “Who are you, that you know my name? My husband will be home soon, and...”
She hadn’t recognized my voice. “It’s Shanti.”
Her hand went to her heart, and it looked as if she had been kicked in the gut. I lowered my hood, so that she could clearly see my face. She gasped, and started forward.
“My dear...” When she took me in her arms, we both started crying.
“We better get inside,” Isaru said, glancing around.
Naomi looked at Isaru, seeming to notice him for the first time. “Isaru. Of course. Please, come in. Sit. There is food and drink and...” Naomi sighed, her eyes troubled. “Shanti...your parents...”
“I know,” I said. “Isaru’s right. Let’s get inside.”
We entered Naomi’s home, and everything was as I remembered. The long table was clean, and her children were in bed. An oil lamp burned low on the table.
“I’ll fix some tea,” she said.
“We can’t stay long,” I said. “Water is good enough.”
“Gods, I can’t believe you’re here in front of me...”
“Naomi...” I said. “You probably know this by now, but...I’m Elekai. I’m still the same person, and there is nothing evil about me. It’s just who I am. I wanted to get that out of the way first.”
Naomi’s eyes went back and forth between me and Isaru, but it was clear that the facts — that I was Elekai, and that I was the same person she always knew — appeared to conflict.
“In some ways, I’ve changed,” I said. “But I’m still the same person you’ve always known.”
“Yes,” she said. “I can see that you’ve changed. It’s your eyes, your manner...even outside, I saw that you walked as if you owned the earth beneath you. No woman of the Subura walks that way. I thought of you as a girl before. But you have become a woman...that much I can see. Forgive me. Please, sit down. I’ll get that water.”
In addition to what Naomi had said about bringing water, she also brought with her a plate of blueberries with cream, a treat I’m sure she had meant for her children, as well as a plain, cinnamon cake. We thanked her and ate, even as I explained everything that was necessary. I told her a bit about Haven and how the Elders had determined to send me to train with the Seekers, citing my potential for learning the arts of the Elekai. I told her of how I had learned of my parents’ fate, which was why Isaru and I had returned to save them.
Naomi listened quietly, never saying a word, but it was clear that she was very much troubled. From time to time, she would get a look in her eyes, as if not believing I was here.
“You want my advice, Shanti...run. Don’t come back here. You have a new home and a new life...why ruin that when there is nothing here but pain and death? My family and I were only spared because of my husband’s military connections. They would never touch a soldier’s widow. Even so, I have lived every day in fear that the Hunters will come for me. Just as they came for Shara.”
I felt a sick twist in stomach, and a panic rise in my throat. “Shara? What do they want with her?”
“Information. What else? They do not allow her to come home. Indeed, I don’t think she even wants to come home anymore. She has written several letters to me, and...” Naomi was close to tears. “It would seem she’s...changed.” She continued looking at me, her eyes still fearful. “If ever you were to be seen here — even within five miles — it might be the final nail that brings me before a Magistrate.”
“How did it get this bad?”
“You got away,” Naomi said. “No one gets away from the Hunters. They are still in a furor to find you. And if you do not leave, they surely will. There is a bounty on your head for five hundred talents.”
My eyes widened. “Five hundred?”
It was hard to imagine how I could be worth so much to them.
“In times like this, when war has emptied Colonia’s treasury, that is saying something. They want you, Shanti. They are desperate for you to come to them. Only the gods know why, but they do.” She paused. “Stay away. The Peacemakers patrol here far more often than they used to. They say it is for the safety of the neighborhood, but part of me believes something else. They are waiting for you to come back, Shanti. It’s a miracle you haven’t been found yet. And worse, there are rumors that there is going to be a purge — the first in decades. How did you ever pass all the way posts?”
I swallowed. “Err...we kind of flew here.”
Naomi looked as if she might faint. “You flew? On a dragon? I suppose if you got out that way, it makes sense that you would get in that way.” She paused.
“Is it near?”
“It’s not far,” Isaru said. “But it won’t cause you any trouble. And neither shall we. We won’t take any more of your time, nor will we place you or your family at greater risk. But if you can tell us anything concerning Shanti’s parents, it would be of great use. Last I saw you, you said they were in the Red Bastion.”
Naomi nodded. “I only assume they are there still, assuming they aren’t...” She looked at me. “I’m sorry, Shanti. I won’t go that far, and I won’t presume anything. The Peacemakers came two months ago, and no one has seen or heard from your parents since. It’s said the Hunters believe they conspired with the Elekai to save you.” Naomi shuddered. “I followed them through the city until I was turned away at the Inner Gate. I can only assume they were taken into the Bastion...and I haven’t seen them since.” She looked at us both. “You’re not truly going to try and save them, are you? Just the two of you?”
I was quiet, knowing that it would be nearly impossible to explain the entire situation, or the fact that we were also after the Prophecy of Annara — something, no doubt, Naomi saw as a holy text.
“We are, Naomi,” I said. “But we are trained and capable.”
Her eyes went to my bow and Anna’s sword. “You have changed. I only pray that Annara watches over you tonight.”
I couldn’t help but notice the irony that Anna was here right now. Whether she could keep me from getting killed was still up in the air.
“All the same...I urge you not to go,” Naomi said. “Though I will pray for your protection, Annara does not protect against foolishness. Your parents would not want this. They love you more than life itself, Shanti.” She shook her head. “They would want you to be safe.”
For some reason, Naomi saying that reminded me of the thing I needed to know most from my parents: whether or not I was truly their child. I wondered if Naomi and my mother had ever discussed it.
“Naomi...did my mother ever tell you that I wasn’t truly hers? That I was...adopted?”