by Pemry Janes
He sat back and cast the dagger aside. Both took a deep breath, and he didn’t stop her when she felt at her throat. She wasn’t going to die. That left Silver Fang and Misthell. Relief forgotten, Eurik scrambled to his feet.
“I sealed it. You should be fine for now. But go see a shaman,” he said as he let go of earth and switched to wind. “I’m after her!” He went out the window after Silver Fang.
***
Leraine spared Little Slip one last look. A wound like that, no shaman nearby. Maybe Rock could do something. It was her only chance. For a moment, just a moment, she thought of calling him away from Little Slip’s side. To not try and go after her sister right away. To let her die. Her and her knowledge.
Leraine looked out the window. That thought was something her mother would approve of. Not the thought of an honorable warrior.
She had heard her sister land on something hollow and she quickly found the source. An overhanging roof of a stable a mere step below the window and slanting down. It ran on to the right of her and she could see a figure running along the roof, something metal flashing.
Misthell should have seen her, but did not call out. Had said nothing when he’d almost killed Rock either. Very unlike Misthell.
A little worried how her sister had managed to get the living sword to shut up for once, Leraine jumped onto the roof and chased after Resting Python. Every step thundered through the night, but only three were needed to get her sister to look back.
Resting Python redoubled her pace. The stable had an L-shape, with a short, enclosed section built at a right angle to the Great Hall itself. Her sister ran up and over that roof, disappearing into the darkness.
Reaching the peak of the roof herself, she stopped and looked around. A mess of buildings had grown up around the Great Hall, and only a couple were a little taller than the stables Leraine stood on. Here and there a mage light shone from an open window or rested in an iron basket.
Movement from the corner of her eye—a figure darting from behind one building to another. The blade in their hand reflected the light of a nearby mage light. Leraine took off after, trusting Rock to catch up.
Leraine jumped from one roof to another, ran along its length and jumped down. She rolled with the impact and sprung to her feet. The figure jumped over a couple of barrels as Rock landed next to her. “Where?”
“Follow me!” He’d been quick. Did that mean saving Little Slip had been easy, or impossible? But that could wait, they had a thieving, murdering sister to catch. Leraine ran after Resting Python, Rock at her heels.
Over the barrels, the flash of someone holding a sword rounding the corner, another glimpse of the figure diving into a tavern. Though something was off. Leraine ran over as a scream erupted from the building and the sound of wood furniture crashing and splintering heralded the return of Resting Python.
Leraine came to a stumbling halt as she got her first good look at the person she’d been chasing and Leraine found herself staring at Rock.
What? How?
The second Rock gave her a nasty grin and quickly sidestepped away from the cloth curtain as others stormed out. All had weapons in hand, ranging from daggers to swords, and the first one out pointed her blade right at her friend. “Murderer!”
What?
***
Eurik struggled to keep up. With the last of the wind chiri already slipping away, his thoughts felt like they’d slowed to a crawl. He met Leraine’s gaze as she looked from one to the other. But she didn’t ask him if he was the real one.
Breathing in, he listened to the earth. He didn’t know exactly how he’d feel through the chiri from the point of view of another, but the other ‘him’ felt wrong still. She didn’t move with Rise of the Mountain or Dance of the Whirlwind; it wasn’t any of the Ways.
I’m dumb. This is an illusion. But there is a person in there. I can feel them. But why is Misthell helping her?
A group of women charged through the door with weapons drawn. One of them brandished their weapon in his direction and shouted something about murder before leading them in a charge.
“He’s not the one you’re looking for,” Silver Fang said. “Look. Behind you. Listen to me!”
They didn’t look like they were about to, so Eurik took a step forward and stomped on the ground. Pillars of dirt and pebbles shot up, impeding their charge. “You should li—” They barely lost a step as some scrambled over the barrier while the ones in the back ran around it.
Eurik drew some of the sand to his wrists, but didn’t have enough time to set it into place before he had to deflect the first swipe. The sand exploded away and the steel whacked him on the wrist. But it had lost enough energy that it couldn’t cut into his toughened body anymore.
Beside him, Silver Fang went on the attack with a series of quick jabs. Someone else cursed.
His opponent hesitated at the lack of blood, but Eurik couldn’t afford to do the same. He felt the rest coming closer.
Step forward. She brought her blade up but couldn’t ward off the clod of earth that smashed into her chest and knocked her away.
Sweep the ground. The ground rippled away to trip the closest attackers. Others jumped over it and they kept coming.
Push and rise.
***
Leraine cursed. At her sister, at the living blade, at her fellow tribeswomen who couldn’t spend a moment to think things through. It didn’t help that these women were from Uthamac, they didn’t want to listen to someone from her own sept. And they rarely wanted to think.
Shouldn’t think like that.
She jabbed with her broom handle, aiming for the warrior’s face. Her advantage was reach, her enemy’s was that she had a proper weapon. “Look at him! He’s unarmed!” Leraine chanced a retreat, to give the other an opportunity to look.
Instead, she darted forward and grabbed the end of the stick to wrench it to the side. Snarling, Leraine went with the motion. She slammed the other end into the idiot’s sword arm to thwart the stab with one hand, the other she slammed into her enemy’s face with an open palm. Her hand came back bloody as the Uthamac warrior stumbled away.
No time to catch her breath; more were coming. This is useless. This fight serves only her. We have to get out of it.
The next warrior gave a heedless charge with a swing she could see from a bowshot away. Leraine sidestepped and struck her on the back as she came past. Rock raised more pillars out of the ground but they were catching on, already evading.
But that can still work.
Leraine leapt to Rock’s side. “Pillar.” She stomped one end of her broom handle on the ground and hoped he’d catch on.
A single blink. “Right.” He moved his arms in and up, the ground moved. In moments they towered over the buildings, the wind tugging at her ruined clothes. One of them actually struck the base of the pillar. The clang and the cursing afterward put a smile on her lips.
She took the time to catch her breath before calling down. “You ready to listen?”
“You bring that murderer down here or you’ll both die!”
Leraine grit her teeth. Remember, not the enemy. Just from Uthamac. Keep it simple. “Idiot, did you forget about the face stealer!”
Things went quiet down on the ground. “It’s here?”
“Yes! And it got away thanks to you!” She could feel Rock’s look. Leraine took a deep breath and shrugged. “Best to keep things simple. We don’t have time to explain,” she told him.
“I don’t even understand what’s going on,” he said. “Your sister locked you up? And Misthell is helping her now too.”
Leraine laid a hand on his shoulder. “He may not have a choice. You’ve been treating him as a person, but Misthell is a sword in the end. And weapons were made to be used. But that can wait, lower us down. We’re already drawing more of a crowd than I want.”
“And your sister?”
Leraine looked out over the quarte
r. “She was the raven. Helping the face stealer. She calls it a mirror demon. Which is still here. We need to find them.”
“I see.” The pillar sank down again. Nobody attacked them again, thankfully. But she did spend some time fending off questions. A waste of time, but she couldn’t have them accompany them when they went after her sister.
It was selfish, but she wanted to be the one to confront Resting Python. If others knew to look for her, that might not happen.
Finally, they got away as the others spread out to look for the face stealer in small groups. “Can you use your powers to find her?”
He stood still for a moment and closed his eyes, then shook his head. “No. Too many people are running around and I don’t know her that well. You, maybe I could. But not your sister . . . you said it was a mirror demon?”
“Yes,” Leraine said slowly. “You’ve heard of them?”
“It’s not in Volfangen’s Compendium. But the name is interesting. We’ve been wondering how it got in. You said it killed Tense Coil in a room that contained a magic mirror. What if it entered Chappenuioc through that mirror?”
Leraine frowned. “If it could do that, why not leave the same way? It had a clear run last night, but it didn’t even try. No, it tried. That was the sound that day. But the mirror is dedicated to the Great Spirits. It couldn’t get past that.”
It didn’t explain how it could enter the sanctum if that were the case, but she wasn’t a shaman. It explained some things. “But how does that help us?”
“When I met your sister, she was with a group carrying a flat object containing silver. And silver is used to make the best mirrors.”
“And you heard where it’s going?”
Rock shook his head. “No, but I don’t need to. That much silver, I can track. As long as it hasn’t been brought into the Inza structure,” he added in a quiet voice.
“Then you better hurry.”
He wasted no more words and closed his eyes. Leraine considered the broom handle. If she was going to confront her sister, she’d need a real weapon. Looking around, she took stock of where she was. An armory was nearby.
Chapter 31
Trust to Steel
His missing fingers itched; missing extremities always did for the first couple of days. Slyvair barely noticed, though. His scalp felt tight as the tension hung heavy in the air. Some of the humans looked at everybody with a wary eye. Others had a hunger. Young fools.
Next to him, Perun was quiet. He noticed the mood as well. But he’d still insisted they went after that boy, Eurik.
“He’s probably not there,” Slyvair said. He eyed the armed party standing around the entrance of one of the camps. Judging by the markings, it belonged to their Boar tribe. Some had armor, others had shields. Clearly, some had had to scrounge around for the gear. Others looked like they’d been expecting trouble when they’d packed. Slyvair wished he’d had the foresight. “They’re not letting anybody but Mochedan into their camps.”
“But we have to find out where they are. If I don’t watch his back, somebody will steal him!”
And of course his worry was for the living sword, not the boy who carried it. Not that Perun was indifferent. Just blithely sure he’d be fine. Slyvair didn’t share that confidence. Not with how Eurik threw himself into danger.
“We’ll ask. But you’ll let me do the talking.”
Perun got that stubborn look again, but it crumbled when it met his own. Only when he got a sullen nod did Slyvair relax. Not much. Not when he himself had nothing but a knife if things went wrong.
They reached the Snakes’ camp and he hailed them. Fortune was with him, a few spoke Irelian. “Greetings.” She eyed his metal arm, then Perun. “What you want?”
“We’re here for Misthell,” Perun said. That got a raised eyebrow. “He’d be with Eurik.”
“He’s speaking of a living sword.” And these people went for shield names. Sensible enough, you had to ward off the evil eye. Though expecting it to strike at any moment was taking caution too far.
Eurik hadn’t followed the custom at all, but he had adjusted to their expectations. Something Perun hadn’t learned yet. “It’s being carried by a boy called Rock. He’s supposed to have come here looking for Silver Fang.”
A fierce one, and as reckless as her friend. Mate, maybe. Human practices were strange, most of the time. Even after living among them for so long, he still found himself baffled from time to time.
The names, at least helped. Recognition rippled through the group, followed by worry. “Yes,” one said. “He came, went in looking.”
“He did?”
“Yes. With one of us.”
Perun charged into the conversation. “Can we?”
“No. He . . . proved he was who he was. I—we—do not know you.”
“Ya don’t know who Captain Slyvair is?” Perun pointed back at him. “He’s the leader of the Gored Axes! He’d have won your competition if it weren’t for Eurik and Silver Fang needin’ his help!”
“That’s enough out of you.” He dragged the boy back. “They need to be careful. You should be careful too. That thing can look like anybody.” Slyvair turned to the warriors. “Apologies. If you see either one, let them know we came by.”
Someone left the camp, passing them by and barely earning a look from the women guarding the entrance. She clearly was Mochedan herself and wore a light cloak to ward off the evening’s chill.
“We will.”
“Thank you. Come, we best get you to bed.” Then Slyvair frowned as Perun gave no protest, barely seemed to hear him as he steered the boy away. “Don’t worry about them. They’ll be safe inside that camp.”
“Not sure. I think that lady had Misthell under her cloak.”
“What? Are you sure?”
His nod was slow at first, then picked up speed. “Yeah. I met his eye. But he didn’t say so much as hello to me. Maybe he’s on a secret mission?”
Slyvair surveyed the crowd, it wasn’t hard to spot the woman. Not many wore a cloak and she didn’t have her hood up. “Perhaps.” But as he studied the woman, he could feel the memory of a flame lick his stump. His right hand went for it, but he lacked the fingers to squeeze it proper.
“Can you find your way back without me?”
“I’m coming with ya. Misthell’s my friend.” And the boy laid a hand on his dagger too.
Breath rumbled deep in his throat. But there was no time to argue, and he wasn’t that comfortable with having Perun wander about alone. Not tonight. “Fine. But you do as I say, and you stay back. And don’t you dare touch that dagger unless I tell you to. Clear? I say, is that clear?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Right then. Follow me.”
***
Leraine stepped out of the armory, adjusting the gambeson again. Moths had nibbled on the left sleeve, the smell of mold and stale sweat tickled her nose, but it was better than nothing. The same sentiment went for her spear, its shaft ending halfway in a splintered point and its narrow head pitted by rust. Six throwing spikes, but no poison for them. At least the buckler was in decent shape, and so was the cloak she’d thrown on to hide how she was kitted out for a battle.
And one of these days I’ll go into battle prepared and in possession of my own high-quality gear.
Rock ran up to her. “I found them. They’re not going too fast, but they’re a ways away.” He pointed in an easterly direction and didn’t wait for her response. He began to run.
Hurrying to catch up to him, they jogged through the quarter. “Then it’s not hiding within our quarter. The Outsiders Quarter then.”
“No. They’ve already passed it.”
Some made to stop them, but once they caught sight of Leraine they hesitated. But Rock’s news was a problem. Were they heading to another tribe’s quarter? Even attempting to follow them in could ignite a war. But how would Resting Python get in then? Unless she’d decided to lea
ve Chappenuioc on her own rather than seeing to it that the mirror demon got away.
They finally reached the exit, only to have the warriors guarding it shout questions to Rock about where Little Slip was. Worse, some moved to block their passage. “She’s fine!” Leraine sprinted to get in front of Rock. “Get out of the way! We don’t have time for your questions.”
They wavered, but they weren’t deciding. “Rock, move them.”
For a moment, he said nothing and she worried he might not want to. “Sorry!” He didn’t stop, just leaped and came down with a stomp before resuming his jog. Slabs of packed earth turned up, shoving the warriors out of the way to form a narrow but clear passage out of the quarter.
They plunged into the broad street running between Chappenuioc proper and the quarters. There wasn’t much traffic, and most had stopped to stare at them bursting out of Snake’s Quarter. A couple of the warriors they’d just dashed past ran after them. To her relief, they were called back. A selfish relief.
Leraine ran faster, but she couldn’t go full out. She needed to have enough breath and strength at the end of it to fight. And Rock struggled to keep up as it was. He could go a lot faster with his wind power, but if he was using his stone power to track the mirror than that wasn’t an option. Unless he’d figured out how to use both and didn’t tell her?
“Oh no,” Rock suddenly said, looking at Chappenuioc. “They turned west. Going into Chappenuioc. I’m about to lose them.”
“Then we’ll cut through here and aim for their last known position.”
“All right, but can you stop for a moment? And give me one of those spikes?”
“Why?” But she did slow down to a halt right in front of one of the portals of Chappenuioc and handed over one of the asked-for spikes.
“I don’t want to go in unprepared.” He snapped the spike in two like a twig, then the iron pieces screeched as they were squashed into small beads. Which he proceeded to pop into his mouth one by one, swallowing them.