Rainhorn (The Weirkey Chronicles Book 2)

by Sarah Lin

  "I hired out a room, but implied there would be five of us. Don't worry, the locals here won't be as cooperative with Landguards, so we just need to keep a low profile." Nauda jerked her head to the side, indicating that their awkward little line needed to shift. "This way and we can accomplish both goals in one stroke."

  She was leading them toward one of the floating rivers, or more specifically a small station where people stepped into boats that carried them into the current. Theo was momentarily troubled by the fact that the boats appeared to be made of leaves, but the waxy substance seemed to be durable enough to survive their journeys sliding overhead.

  Again, money exchanged hands before they were allowed to step into the next leaf boat. Theo honestly wasn't sure if that was a necessary requirement to maintain the channels of floating water or simple profit, but he was sure that the boats would have been free in another city. Nauda didn't comment and Fiyu didn't seem to think anything of it, so they soon coursed down the watery channel and deeper into Nlukoko.

  Quite soon, the water curved upward and he understood why Nauda had taken them on this path as the city spread out beneath them. Now that they weren't pressed on all sides, Fiyu sat eagerly by the edge, peering out over the city, though she soon frowned.

  "Even the water is too bright."

  Now that she mentioned it, he realized that the lake itself did seem to glow, possibly with more than just the reflection of the sunset and the lights of the city. In any case, Nauda didn't comment on it, just gestured for them to look forward as they rounded a bend.

  "Do you see the sphere to the east there? That's the library where I saw the reference to these 'artifacts of Elghiera'."

  Theo frowned at the glistening sphere, thinking back to the ring he'd possessed in his past life. "What about any information on the Landguards? I heard that they didn't have a base here, but that was a village rumor."

  "They don't operate here... Nlukoko has a special agreement. There's a chance that you might be able to learn something in the archives, but it's a long shot." Nauda shrugged. 'That's the best I can do for you."

  "It's more than I expected. Thank you."

  Meanwhile, as they flowed over the sphere, Fiyu peered down at it. "Is that a bubble? Aren't they concerned that the books will get wet?"

  "This does seem like a bad place for a library, huh?" Nauda leaned over the side to admire it as well. "I understand that the bubble is Fithan technology, but I don't know why it's here. Apparently it keeps everything extremely dry, so this is an archive for the entire region."

  Fiyu nodded somberly, while Theo was forced to look at the library with a different set of eyes. Yes, it was one of his current objectives, but it was also a beautiful structure. It floated like an azure marble amid the city, linked to the rest by sapphire chains. Though the outside was translucent, he could see through enough to glimpse shelves of books within. If he had any direct experience in Fithe, he might have known some way to sneak inside, but for now, he'd have to play by the rules.

  "What is that?" Fiyu breathed suddenly. Theo turned at the same time Nauda did, but his attention was only momentarily captured by the flowery palace.

  Because that was what it was, in the end: just another pleasure palace in a slightly different form. A giant purple lotus flower floated separate from the city, not linked by any bridges. The flower itself flowed with cantae, which was all that allowed it to exist at such an enormous size, but it was essentially just decoration. Within its petals, several purple buildings unfolded in direct parallel to the flower. Pretty in a sense, he supposed, but it was just another display of wealth.

  "The mansion of the Lord of Nlukoko." Nauda's eyes narrowed as she stared out toward it, and Theo sat up straighter.

  "Lord? A 'lord' on Tatian?"

  "He isn't native to Tatian, but he's ruled the city for... a few decades, at least. As far as I understand it, he has some sort of agreement with the Landguard to assist in the defense of Tatian, but in return he gets independence. Technically he's not supposed to exploit his position, but... you've seen what he's done to the city, slowly corrupting it."

  "Where exactly is he from?" Theo asked. "If he's a local strongman, he must make appearances."

  Nauda shrugged, gaze still distant. "I've seen him, but I'm not sure."

  "That rules out Arbai or Aathal, then. There may be a lot of humanoids in the Nine, and some worlds have more diversity than you'd expect, but you can usually tell them apart. Any notable traits?"

  "Theo..." Fiyu turned from the side to tug on his sleeve, barely perceptibly. "I do not think that Nauda wants to talk about where he is from."

  Hesitating, Theo realized that it wasn't really relevant and he should have let it go. Before he could apologize or change the subject, Nauda cast him a smotheringly warm look. "I'm infinitely grateful to receive your wisdom, oh great experienced one, but we may need to dirty our minds with some more mundane concerns."

  Seeing that she was fine, Theo just rolled his eyes. "Okay, fair enough. Is this Lord of Nlukoko relevant to our work?"

  "He's the reason that we have a bit of freedom from the Landguards here, but otherwise, no. If he does make an appearance, or his guards get in our path, we need to avoid antagonizing him. I'm not sure how powerful he is, but he's stronger than a Ruler. There's... simply nothing we can do right now."

  Fiyu tilted her head to the side. "But you wish that you could do something, am I right?"

  Nauda didn't say anything, but her fingers tightening on the edge of their boat were answer enough. Theo kept silent, since he had been throwing out unnecessary information, even though he had a likely theory. He decided to keep it to himself for the time being, and Nauda soon returned to pointing out sights around the city.

  As their vessel arced high over the buildings, Nauda pointed out several major markets that included sublime materials, as well as notable guard posts or more dangerous neighborhoods. It was not exactly a friendly tour, but an extremely useful one, so he wouldn't complain. Apparently the one thing she had failed to find was a place that would sell vehicles they could use to travel further north.

  Just as they reached the edge of the lights glowing above the lake, their stream of water bent downward again. Theo gazed out beyond the lake, frowning at the darkness of the landscape beyond. Though he couldn't see to the other side of the city to compare, to the east and west the small hearthfires and other evidence of villages seemed to fade out toward the north.

  "Once we're done in Nlukoko, we travel out there." Nauda stared out into the dark landscape, fixed on something he couldn't see. "It's too far away to link to Nlukoko, but there's a stable gate to a true hub city in Fithe, one that connects to several different worlds. I think that it includes a gate to Ichil, Fiyu."

  "Oh!" Fiyu sat up straighter and peered out. "How long must we wait before making the trip?"

  "We need a vehicle to help us make the trip, and I'm afraid those are usually expensive. There's work and competitions in the city, so perhaps we can earn enough to purchase one and arrive there."

  "Why do we need the vehicle? The villages have always been so generous..."

  Nauda gave her a strange look and Theo realized the misunderstanding: Fiyu looked out into the dark hills and didn't notice the lack of village fires, at least not consciously. "The farms stop in that direction," he explained, "though I can't tell why from here. That's actually pretty rare on Tatian... Nauda, is it a region too dangerous for non-soulcrafters?"

  "No, the land just... grows emptier and less hospitable the further out you go." Though Nauda answered the question readily, he again got the sense that she wasn't telling the whole truth. "But it is potentially more dangerous than the farmsteads, and we'd need to take all our food with us, so we can't simply hike out there."

  If true, that was the first part of Tatian that Theo had ever seen that wasn't overflowing with natural bounty. He knew of a few dangerous areas, such as vast forests that contained powerful sublime resources, but
those were usually more bountiful than the average village. Though he wanted to stare out further, their path had finally arced back down into the city.

  From the place where they left the leaf boat and the stream of water, it was somewhat of a walk to the inn, but Theo figured that Nauda had chosen that route to show them the city, instead of for pure efficiency. If they spent any time here, he'd need to figure out the network of dizzying water arcs, but hopefully it wouldn't be long. Cities ruled by lords from other worlds generally weren't safe places, even on Tatian.

  Eventually they reached the inn, a small clay building at the edge of a broader pier. The people he saw there looked warmer than the rest of the city, more like Tatian villages, and he hoped that Nauda had chosen them for other reasons. They seemed circumspect as well as warm, letting them reach their room with no more than polite embraces.

  The room had enough beds, so while the women departed to a communal bathroom, Theo sat down on one of them and finally eased off his pack. Soft bed, warm room, reasonably stable platform... this would do, at least for now. Theo lay back and put his arms behind his head.

  After months, his time of traveling alone was finally over. Hopefully, that would mean it was time for more progress, but before he could consider his plans, he drifted to sleep.

  Chapter 4

  Just sleeping in a real bed did wonders for him, so Theo pulled himself awake refreshed. It wasn't simply the better environment, however, but the evening spent with his friends again. Nauda sprawled on one of the other beds, tangled in blankets as if she was too cold, while Fiyu had only sheets wrapped around her, mostly bundled around her head. He noted that though she'd taken off her boots and bracers, he saw no sign of her mask, which she might still be wearing under all the sheets.

  Leaving them to sleep in, Theo pulled on his shoes, grabbed his Deuxan cloak, and headed from their room. All the inn's rooms were cramped, but the central chamber was surprisingly expansive. Not many had woken up, but they were eating at a communal table. An older man served some sort of porridge for anyone who asked, apparently part of the price.

  "I'm glad she found you," the man said as he spooned up a bowl for Theo, "but you're still missing some, aren't you?"

  "Yes, we hope they arrive soon." Theo worried about matching the cover story Nauda had told, but decided she would have given him more details if they mattered. "We'll be going out to look for the two we're missing. I hope that nothing happened to them on the way."

  "Don't you worry, young man, I'm sure they're just delayed! There aren't so many demons to the south, not like last year, and there are Landguards around these days. You'll all be together soon enough."

  Theo feigned relief and took the porridge, which he quickly decided was tolerable. He didn't want to endure the communal table, so he pulled a chair into one of the corners. It wasn't long before Fiyu and Nauda joined him, fully awake and equipped, soon sitting beside him with bowls of their own.

  "This is the same porridge as the villages." Fiyu poked her spoon in it experimentally, as if she might uncover a better dish underneath. "I had hoped the city would be different."

  "If we have time and money," Nauda said with a fond smile, "I'll treat you both to something better. You might expect them to have fish here, but you've never tasted fish like the ones at the bottom of the Nlukoko Lake. Uh... you do eat fish, Fiyu?"

  "I eat fish."

  "Well, you should see some of them here. There's this bizarrely flat one they call a platefish, and there's a restaurant where they serve everything else on it, then you eat the platefish at the end, soaked with the juices of everything else. I don't know if they'd suit your taste, but if you want to try..."

  Fiyu smiled and bobbed her head. "I will eat this platefish."

  "Then we have something to look forward to, but business first." Nauda took a bite as she thought for a moment, her eyes shifting to Theo seriously. Once she finished chewing, she seemed to have finished thinking as well. "I believe the Landguards have moved on, but there's no reason to delay. Theo, you head straight for the library and get your research done. I can investigate our options for transportation."

  "Sounds reasonable." Theo reached into his cloak, feeling the money he'd stolen throughout his journey, and decided to slide it across the table toward her. "Take this. If we can't afford transportation, we should consider buying any sublime materials unique to this area. I trust you to choose well enough."

  "This will help, thank you. Fiyu..."

  When their attention turned toward her, she shook her head. "There are too many people in this city. Can I stay here?"

  "Maybe not." Nauda glanced toward him, and Theo gave a slight nod, so she sighed. "We might not come back here, and there's always a chance something will go wrong. You can come with me and we'll regroup depending on circumstances..."

  After deciding on a few meeting places, the plan was set and they headed in separate directions. Theo still had a few coins and some more money in his shoes, just in case he needed transportation or the library proved expensive. Overall, however, he thought it was better invested in sublime materials.

  If Nauda thought that a vehicle was necessary to reach their next destination, he'd accept her judgment, but he wasn't interested in acquiring a bunch of possessions. Once he reached the Authority tier, he'd be able to move on his own faster than most vehicles. As a soulcrafter, the only things he'd really need to own outside of his soul were armaments.

  This Fithan hub city sounded promising, though he wondered how much Nauda really knew about it. When several gates happened to be near one another, a city nearly always grew up between them. Such cities were one of the few places where large numbers of people from different worlds congregated together, and could provide nearly everything he needed to reach his former glory. It would be a much better start to investigating how he had been betrayed, as well.

  But that was some distance away, and such cities were too dangerous for him now, so he would do everything he could to prepare in the meantime. Theo picked up his pace, weaving through the streets of Nlukoko, and went to find the library.

  It took a little time for him to adjust to navigating the connected islands, rafts, and bridges in order to find the sphere he'd seen from overhead, but not much. During his time on Earth, Theo had more than once forced himself to go blind into a new location and find his way across. Earth might not be as exotic as the Nine Worlds, but it had challenges of his own.

  As he walked, he found himself wondering about this platefish that Nauda was eager to show them. He hadn't tried it before, unless it had been one of many unnamed dishes at a Tatian feast. She seemed to think it was impressive, but he wasn't sure if it would compare to everything he'd tasted. Still, it might be good to eat with friends again.

  At last he spotted an azure gleam from the library's outer sphere. Unlike most of the city, firmly positioned on land or platforms, the sphere floated unsupported, swaying with the waves. Now that he was close, he realized just how big it was, so that likely wouldn't be a problem.

  Not many people were entering the library, and when he crossed the bridge to it, he found out why: there was a significant cost just to enter, much less to acquire membership. He could have barely afforded the latter, but decided that entering once would be sufficient. It wasn't as if he intended to spend a long time in Nlukoko.

  Within, the library held a surreal beauty, the sunlight outside filtered to blue ripples that washed over all the shelves. When he glanced down the stairs by the entrance, he saw that it got darker as you went lower. Perhaps Fiyu should have come with him after all, though getting her to leave might have been the bigger problem.

  Unfortunately, the library wasn't organized like a modern one from Earth, so he had no choice but to find one of the librarians. A middle-aged Deuxan woman sat behind one of the counters, scribbling something on a scroll, and forced a smile at him when he approached.

  "May I help you?"

  "Does the library have any info
rmation about Landguards?" he asked. Her expression immediately hardened in a way he never saw among Tatians, the sort of silvery false smile that was so common on Deuxan.

  "We have a great deal, but the Lord of Nlukoko ordered all of it sealed within the Archcrafter section."

  "Archcrafter section?"

  "They didn't explain at the door? Your rank determines how much of the library you can access, and unless you have an extraordinary shielding wall, you're a first tier soulcrafter."

  The librarian felt like an Archcrafter to him, but he barely glanced at her soulhome, more annoyed by the regulation. Locking away knowledge like that went deeply against the spirit of Tatian, but he shouldn't have been surprised. When she started to look at him skeptically, he shrugged as if it didn't matter and moved on. "Do you have any of the myths about Elghiera?"

  "Those old stories? Some myth, some history... most of it dubious." She blinked at him over the edge of her book, then set it down and rose to her feet. "Take a seat in one of the chairs while I gather what we have."

  While the librarian bustled away, Theo found a nook with a chair that appeared very comfortable, but didn't sit down. Instead, he examined the library as well as he could without being seen to do so. The staircase at the entrance curled around the sides of the sphere, but he realized now that it didn't go all the way to the top or bottom. Examining the internal joints made of the same sapphire glass, he realized that the highest and lowest levels were completely separated from the rest of the library.

  From his position he couldn't determine the entrances, which meant they were likely on the opposite side of the sphere. Though with enough time and effort, he might have been able to sneak inside and get the information he wanted, he judged it to be an excessive risk. Besides, it might have been sealed by another soulcrafter, and he didn't have knowledge in undoing wards. Apparently Magnafor had known what he was doing, focusing on them.

  Soon enough, the librarian returned with a number of books, so Theo sat down to read. He didn't expect to have all the answers delivered to him, but anything would be better than the ignorance of his first life. The shreds of information he had taken with him when he survived were his only edge against the overwhelming opponents who might yet be hunting him.