by J. F. Penn
“We’ll stop there briefly before we journey on,” Finn said.
They reached it as the moon rose high above the ruined temple, casting a silver light upon the statuesque figures of long-dead gods.
Finn knelt by the altar, his dark head bent in respect, his lips moving in silent prayer. His fingers caressed the pommel of his sword, held in front of him like a rosary.
Sienna watched him from the side of the ruined temple. She had never had a faith like his, perhaps she never had cause to. Faith helped in the darkest of times and even when her father had gone missing years ago, she had relied on books and learning, rather than God to answer her questions. Of course, the holy books on Earthside had no light to cast on the split world. There was no place for Borderlanders in their singular history.
She wondered how the priests and shamans here explained the split. Perhaps she could study their holy books and find out. Perhaps that way she might understand more of Finn’s world, the way he thought.
Sometimes it was as if there was no barrier between them, not even a whisper of difference in who they were. In those moments, Sienna believed that somehow they could have a possible future. She dreamed of fixing the border, solving the problem of the Warlord’s bloodlust and the power-hungry Shadow Cartographers, bringing peace to both sides. Surely that was possible?
A ray of light from the moon caught the silver handle of Finn’s sword, the intricate patterns reminding her of his allegiances, of how little she really knew him.
She sighed softly and turned to see Jari leaning against the wall, twin swords never far from her hands. A warrior woman, more than Finn’s equal here. Jari met Sienna’s eyes, her cool gaze an appraisal that found her wanting.
6
It was still dark when Sienna awakened. Her thick cloak was scant protection against the cold stone but for a moment, she lay motionless, listening to Mila’s gentle breath and the deeper sounds of Perry’s snoring in the corner of the cave. Jari lay silent a little further away. They had found the cave by starlight after hours of walking and sunk quickly into sleep the night before, muscles aching from the long trek.
The sound of cloth shifting on stony ground came from the entrance. Sienna could just make out Finn’s faint silhouette. She slowly unwrapped herself, careful not to wake the others and tiptoed out to join him.
It was cold and foggy, the clouds still dense above them but in the distance, the coral fingers of dawn crept over the horizon, the promise of a new day. Sienna sat down on the outer ledge next to Finn, aware that they had not been alone in too long. There was so much to say, so much she wanted to ask him.
“Morning,” he whispered.
Sienna grinned. “Morning.” That was as good a start as any.
Finn pointed out into the blackness of the valley below, at the faint shimmer of a river and the outlines of buildings. “That’s the library.” His voice was reverential as if he spoke of a temple or another place of worship. “I haven’t been here in a long time. Part of me thought perhaps I had dreamed it even existed.”
“What’s it like?”
Finn reached for her hand in the dark and she took it, holding onto his strength. “It is everything I think the best of Earthside must be. Knowledge, truth …” He turned to look in her eyes. “Beauty.”
Sienna could hardly breathe as tension mounted between them. He dipped his head to kiss her—
“Not interrupting anything, am I?” Jari stepped across them, her words mocking as she sat down on the edge, legs swinging out into the canyon below. She had her pack by her side, her two swords strapped and ready to go. She seemed effortlessly poised.
Finn pulled away and dropped Sienna’s hand. The imprint of his palm remained and she wrapped her arms around herself, trying to hold onto the moment.
“Not at all.” Finn was brusque once more and just like that, the barrier was back between them.
Jari pulled some leftover bread from her pack, tearing off tiny pieces as she gazed out. “It’s a hell of a view.”
A ray of sun broke through the clouds and lit upon a towering spire of white marble that rose up from a classical courtyard beneath surrounded by a small town of houses and market squares.
Sienna had imagined the ruins of Alexandria laid out before them, evidence of neglect and the burnt-out remains of what had been destroyed by Christians in the fourth century. But of course, life didn’t stop when a place ended up here in the Borderlands. Time passed and life would always find a way.
She looked sideways at Finn, his face staunch. In the same way, the sun rose and set every day they were not together, life taking them in different directions.
Finn stretched and stood up. “We should descend the gorge before the sun is high and it gets too hot to walk. I’ll wake the others.”
He stepped around Sienna, avoiding her eyes and went back into the cave. Mila’s groan of annoyance and Perry’s low rumble of a voice echoed from within, followed by the sound of laughter.
“He’s not for you.” Jari’s voice was low, as gentle as the sharpest blade that cuts deep to the bone before you even notice. “Finn is a Borderlander, this is his home, we are his people. Remember that.”
Before Sienna could reply, Mila came out of the cave entrance, yawning and stretching. “Oh wow, this place is incredible. How did we possibly let this go from Earthside?”
Jari stood up and brushed off her clothes. “You drove it away. You denied its existence. You burned it down and killed its people. You don’t deserve it.”
She spun on her heel and set off down the steep path, sure-footed on the rocky ground. She didn’t look back.
Mila raised an eyebrow. “Okay, then. Someone’s grumpy this morning.” She looked down at Sienna with a cheeky grin. “You two been fighting over something?”
Sienna blushed as she stood up and flicked the dirt from her clothes.
Perry hefted his pack up onto his shoulders. “Jari’s right, though. The grand destruction of the Library of Alexandria is a romantic myth. It declined over several hundred years, the scholars expelled before some of it was burned during the time of Caesar and later under the Christian Pope. But after Alexandria lost its preeminence in the classical world, the library disappeared from history.”
Finn laughed. “It disappeared from your history, but it began a new chapter right here. Let’s go see the Librarian.” He set off down the track, Mila following, then Sienna and Perry bringing up the rear.
The path was clear, well-worn by travelers, and the group strung out, giving each other space as they descended into the valley. Sienna looked up as the cry of a falcon rang out, the bird of prey hanging in the updraft as the sun warmed the land. The Library of Alexandria stretched out below, its central buildings like a classical temple winding down to a river with stepped terraces. Around it, the town awakened in the morning light, and Sienna could just make out tiny figures walking through the streets. She wondered about their lives here. How much did they even know of Earthside?
Distracted, she stumbled a little, her feet slipping on loose rocks, her heart pounding as she clutched the stony cliff behind her. Life was fragile on both sides of the border and no magic would save her if she fell off the edge, dashed on the rocks below. She laughed to herself. That would be a really stupid way to die. She stopped looking at the view and placed her feet more carefully as she descended.
The sun was high by the time they regrouped at the bottom of the escarpment by the banks of a sparkling river. Jari lay on a rock, eyes closed, relaxing in the sun. At least she looked relaxed, but Sienna had no doubt that the warrior woman could leap to her feet, swords at the ready, if she sensed a threat.
Finn crouched on the bank and drew in the dirt with a stick, sketching a long rectangle marked with a central box. “The Librarian works in the central hall here.” He marked an X in the box. “But we can’t just waltz in there, especially with you two.” He looked at Perry and Mila. “Fire magic and water magic are forbidden, for obvious re
asons with all those books. But more than that, the security is run by a branch of the Shadow Cartographers — the Scryers.”
Mila sighed. “They can sense what magic we have.”
Finn nodded. “They recruit from here, and when I say recruit—”
“You actually mean force into slavery or worse,” Perry cut in. “I’ve heard of these Scryers. My father said …” He shuddered as his words trailed off. He shook his head to clear the memory. “We can just stay out here and wait for you.”
Jari sat up. “Don’t be a baby. We can get past a few Scryers.”
Sienna crouched down next to Finn. “And besides, we have to go together.” She pointed at the X in the center. “If the Librarian knows a way to get to the pieces of the map, it’s likely that we’ll travel from there straight away. I’ll need you all with me because I can’t come back for you.”
Finn nodded. “Exactly.” He drew lines around three sides of the main library hall. “The Scryers have outposts here, here, and here and the rumor is that they have some kind of net under the river protecting the water entrance. We can get past them.” He looked up at Jari with a dark smile. “We just need a diversion.”
Jari jumped down from her rock. “I’m sure I’ll think of something by the time we get there.”
The group walked along the bank of the river past humble dwellings that soon gave way to grander mansions and then became the bustling hub of the city. The river widened, forded by pedestrian bridges and ferry boats that carried people and animals alike. Street vendors called from market stalls as they passed, hawkers tried to sell them library trinkets. Sienna slowed down to look at some tiny books bound with real leather before Mila pulled her away.
“You can’t take anything back, remember. It creates a link back to you, a way for the Shadow Cartographers to find you on Earthside.”
Sienna thought of Mila’s canal boat, the objects she had on her shelf. “But you—”
Mila rolled her eyes. “I didn’t know any better and besides, mine were taken through ages ago.” She pointed at the others moving further into the crowd. They funneled toward one of the main gates into the library complex where people moved through a turnstile flanked by guards. “Come on, we have to catch them up.”
When they reached Finn and Perry, Jari was nowhere to be seen.
“Where’s she gone?” Mila asked, her tone as suspicious as ever of the Borderlander warrior.
“She’ll be ready when we need her.” Finn pulled them into the shadows of a temple wall within sight of the turnstile. People queued to get through, chatting and relaxed, the gate clicking as each passed. Guards stood on either side looking out into the crowd, paying no obvious attention to what was clearly an everyday occurrence.
Finn leaned down, his voice low. “We need to get through that gate. Each one of us has to pass through the turnstile separately. They keep it moving pretty fast. Watch how the regular folk behave. You can spot the tourists.”
Sienna followed his gaze toward a small group of travelers in the long robes of a religious order, eyes wide as they gazed up at the library ahead. One of them hung back, a young man in his twenties. He had a scar down the side of his neck as if something had been carved from his skin. Sienna frowned as she noticed his white knuckles, his clenched fists. He looked as if he was going to run, but then he stopped himself, took a deep breath and stepped toward the gate, waiting his turn at the end of his group.
As the turnstile clicked and the young man stood between the gatehouses, a harsh sound like the caw of a crow burst out. The guards either side moved in a flash, thrusting their spears out, barricading the young man between them.
An audible gasp spread through the crowd and people surged forward to see what was happening.
Sienna moved with them. As she ducked under one man’s arm, she caught a glimpse of an impossibly long bony arm with fingers like spider’s legs darting out of the gatehouse, wrapping around the young man before dragging him inside.
He screamed, a sound of terror that was cut off almost as soon as it began.
As silence fell again, the guards stepped back, opening their spears once more. One of them nodded at the next person in the queue, a local woman by the looks of the basket of bread on her hip. She stepped forward with confidence, approached the turnstile and moved through. The rhythmic clicking began again as others followed.
Sienna turned back to see that Perry’s face had gone white.
“There’s a Scryer in that gatehouse,” he whispered, eyes wide with fear. “My father told me stories of them when I was young. They take people down into their den, they suck the magic from you, they leave you a broken husk.”
Sienna put her hand on his arm. “It’s okay, we’ll be fine. Jari’s going to make a distraction, right?” She looked at Finn.
He nodded. “Absolutely. And we should go now while that Scryer is busy.”
Perry backed away. “No, no, not me. You guys go. I’m staying right here.”
Mila took Perry’s arm. “You can’t go back now. If you don’t come with us, you’d better learn to love it here. So, man up and get moving. Look like a genuine tourist and they might not even notice how sweaty you are.”
Perry clenched his fists, nodded sharply and together, the group stepped into the crowd. Finn waved the others ahead of him as they approached the gate.
“Whatever happens, don’t stop, don’t turn around. Stay in a line and just keep moving. Wait for us by the statue of the Muses near the main steps.”
Mila walked forward, shoulders back, flirtatious smile on her face as she sashayed up to the guards, Sienna behind her, then Perry.
Just as she reached the turnstile, an explosion boomed out across the surrounding rooftops. Smoke billowed out of a nearby house and the crowd surged forward to the gate. Several pushed in front of Mila in their haste to escape the crush. The guards lost their calm composure and stepped back to allow them all through.
Mila went with the flow, surging through with a group of locals.
A little girl burst into tears near Sienna and she grabbed the child’s hand, lifting her up into a hug and carrying her through the gate. “It’s alright. We’ll find your mommy, sweetheart.”
Sienna lost sight of Perry in the crowd but she didn’t look back, stepping through the gate quickly. As she crossed into a classical forecourt, a woman’s voice called out in desperation, “Jasmine, where are you?”
The little girl struggled at the sound of her voice. “Mama.”
Sienna spun and handed the little girl over, then turned back to the gate just as Perry stepped between the gatehouses. His face was determined and he looked straight ahead, meeting Sienna’s eyes. A smile of relief crossed his face as the turnstile clicked. He was almost through.
Suddenly, the harsh caw of a crow. The metallic slam of spears.
The guards stepped in front and behind, blocking his path.
“No!” Sienna cried out as the bony hand of the Scryer reached out and dragged Perry away.
7
As the harsh cry of the crow sounded, Perry tried to summon his magic, reaching for the flame inside. But the bony hand reached out like a pincer and snapped tight shut around him. As it crushed his body and dragged him inside the gatehouse, it snuffed out the flicker of light inside, his scream cut off before it erupted from his throat.
The gatehouse was pitch black inside. Perry couldn’t see the Scryer but he could smell its breath, like wet body parts, as rank as a drowned corpse. Its bones creaked as it moved toward him, the sandpaper scrape of its skin on stone. It raked its bony fingers over his body and the violation cut deep into his muscles, into his heart.
He couldn’t move. He couldn’t breathe.
His father’s words came back to him, as they sat by the fire on the Mercator estate so many years ago. If you ever get caught by the Scryers, you’ll wish you’d never been born. Better to die by the fire of your own hand than have them feed on you and suck the marrow from your bones.
They don’t answer to anyone but the Shadow itself.
Perhaps it would let him go. Perhaps his magic wasn’t strong enough for them to take. Perhaps—
A trapdoor below his feet opened and Perry fell through, his body still immobilized by the curious power of the Scryer.
He landed on straw, soft enough to break his fall but still crackly and sharp. The clang of metal and spikes rose up from the ground beneath, forming a cage around him. The trapdoor snapped shut above, leaving him in darkness.
Perry grabbed the bars, suddenly released from his paralysis. “Help! Let me out of here.”
His words echoed back to him. It sounded like he was in a long corridor but he could sense no one else there. It smelled of minerals and water on rock like an abandoned mine and he could hear the faint skitter of a thousand tiny legs. Perry couldn’t help imagining what kind of insects collected the pieces of the dead down here. He stood up sharply, pulling himself away from the floor, his skin crawling at the thought of them feeding on him.
Suddenly, a clank of gears resounded. His cage began to move on rails that took him deeper into darkness before light flickered up ahead. Perry gulped as he considered what he would face, whether the light was a blessing or whether darkness would be better.
The cage entered a long hall lit by flaming torches high up in curved brackets. It clanked to a halt next to another, the bars bumping up against its neighbor.
In the dim light, Perry could see a body lying on the straw, head turned toward him. It was the young man who had been taken just a few minutes before.
“Hey, are you alright?”
The man didn’t move. As Perry looked closer, he noticed dark patches on the man’s skin. They pulsed rhythmically, like a sinister heartbeat and as he watched, one of them moved, crawling slowly, leaving a trail of black blood behind.
This time, there was no stopping Perry’s scream as it erupted from his throat.
Up above, the crowd surged on toward the grand marble facade of the library. Sienna turned to run back to the gate, desperate to get to Perry. A strong hand reached out to hold her back, tight fingers wrapped around her arm.