by J. F. Penn
Then he turned back to the remains of the library. “That will be the end of you.”
He raised his hands once more.
The door burst open and the two Feral Borderlander guards stumbled in, bleeding from multiple wounds as they fought the Mapwalkers who chased them. Sir Douglas spun around, backing away into the flaming library. His little team was outnumbered but they had achieved their purpose. This place was finished.
The Illuminated Cartographer sensed the truth of it and as his vision blurred with smoke and ash, he saw Sir Douglas leave his guards to their death and dart out the back of the library toward a door that led to the Gallery of Geographical Maps where he could slip back into the Borderlands. No doubt he would return with an invading force through the holes in the border.
The future rose before the Illuminated Cartographer’s eyes, a vision of plague devastation and a land laid waste before the Shadow claimed it in an orgy of destruction.
There was only one way to stop it, but he didn’t have the strength left. After so many generations, he had failed Earthside. He closed his eyes, tears of ink rolling down his cheeks, as the darkness overtook him.
Bridget let the Mapwalker team subdue the Borderlander soldiers before she entered the library. John Farren limped in alongside her, his bleak expression matching her own. He reached for her hand and they stood for a minute, taking in the ruined desolation, words failing them both.
Sir Douglas had almost destroyed the library and then escaped in the smoke and chaos, but perhaps there was still a glimmer of hope.
“He has to be in here somewhere.” Bridget put her sleeve over her mouth and pulled out her torch as John did the same. They began sweeping the wreckage for the Illuminated Cartographer.
He couldn’t be dead yet or they would be overrun with invading Borderlanders, but he must be deeply wounded. The monitoring systems were in meltdown in the War Room, alarms blaring from gates all over the world as the border weakened. Few understood that the blood magic of this one man maintained the borders, a secret handed down to only a few over the hundreds of years of the Ministry’s existence.
Even fewer understood that this was still the same man who had dwelled within the library for hundreds of years, his own longevity bound up in the long life of the maps around him, a mutual preservation of creator and created. Some annals said that the origin of the Shadow was a family feud that left twin brothers on either side of the border. Whatever the truth, no one had ever thought the Illuminated Cartographer could be laid low this way.
But the world had changed.
In her lifetime, Bridget had seen the Borderlanders go from being a ragtag bunch of mercenaries with occasional incursions into their world, to detailed invasion plans to retake what they saw as their lands on Earthside. Their magic grew stronger with their aggressive breeding programs while those on this side of the border only weakened as bloodlines were lost. Now it seemed like the Shadow Cartographers had the upper hand.
Tears welled as Bridget surveyed the destruction in front of her, piles of ash where once precious manuscripts lay, smoldering remains of vellum masterpieces, maps of places that had been lost over the years, places they could never find again now.
In the corner, she noticed a bigger pile, the outer layers burned but inside there might be a hollow of protection.
“Over here!” she called out.
John rushed over and together they pulled off the outer layers of maps until the body of the old man lay curled in what remained of his cocoon. His face was covered with ash, his skin no longer pulsing with the dark ink that sustained the magic of the Ministry.
Bridget’s heart pounded with fear as she looked down at him. It was over, it had to be. She imagined the borders crumbling and Borderlanders streaming through as they knelt here in the remains of a once great place.
Then his eyes flickered and opened.
Bridget looked down and saw a world of star maps within them, a kaleidoscope of deep blue sky filled with possible futures.
He lifted one hand, the map fragments around him curling with his movement, wrapping themselves around Bridget’s wrist. She felt his pulse — faint, but still there.
“You are the only hope now,” he whispered. “I am finished but you’re young and vibrant. You must be the new Illuminated Cartographer.”
Bridget’s eyes widened at his words. Fresh blood poured into the veins of the maps would strengthen the border and renew the power of the Ministry, but she had never considered that she might be the source. She looked around the burnt library, the broken shelves, the devastation of the place. If she took his mantle, she would have to stay here until her own lifespan ended. She would never walk in the sun again, never have the freedom to roam.
John reached out a hand to cup her cheek. “You don’t have to do this, Bridget. Think of all you would have to give up. There must be another way.”
In his eyes, Bridget saw a future filled with love, a second chance for them both. But if the borders failed, there would be little future for any of them.
“You … must … choose,” the Illuminated Cartographer said as his eyes flickered closed once more. As Bridget felt his pulse fade, she knew she was out of time.
Mila led the others down the hill, her pace quickening until they reached the edge of the terrified crowds. As the rats spread out from the main tent, people tried to flee but the Warlord’s soldiers blocked the perimeter, keeping the masses within the camp. Sounds of screams and shouts filled the air as parents gathered children into their arms, climbing where they could to get away from the rats but the relentless horde infiltrated even the furthest corners.
A river of rodents flowed up the hill toward them. There was no time to go around.
Mila heard the metal slide of Finn drawing his sword, the whoosh of Perry’s flame. She reached out to the sense of water around her, pulling it from barrels and troughs nearby, curling it into spinning whips of shining droplets. They strode through the horde of creatures, cutting and burning, whipping them away.
But those around them were not so lucky.
A man cowered against a tent pole as they passed. Mila saw a rat sink its teeth into his flesh and watched in horror as the man’s skin quickly turned mottled shades of blue and black. This was no longer any kind of plague seen before in the history of humanity. This was a Shadow plague now, hybrid death magic, fast and unstoppable. It would decimate Earthside and there was only a faint hope to hold it back now.
The border that had held for so many generations weakened as the seconds passed, she could feel it in the way her magic called to her darker self. Mila understood that if they were trapped here, she would lose herself in this midnight realm. She thought of Zippy, his happy spaniel face snuffling in the reeds at the edge of the canal. She conjured home to her mind, birdsong in the trees above the waters, the cheep of ducklings in spring, the smell of woodsmoke from the canal boats. All threatened by this invasion.
Mila started to run, suddenly aware of the sands of time rushing through the hourglass ever faster. Perry and Finn ran with her, the three of them racing toward the grand tent at the center of the causeway.
Two soldiers stood outside, distracted by the craziness around them and Finn despatched one with a few cuts of his blade and knocked the other out with the pommel of his sword.
They raced into the tent.
“Sienna!” Mila shouted, looking around in desperation for her friend.
There was a shape on the floor wrapped in spun silver like a giant cocoon. The surface was opaque, like clouds scudding across a stormy sky. Mila frowned and then realization rose within her, certainty of what — of who — lay within.
“What have they done to you?” Mila fell to her knees next to the cocoon, reaching out a hand to press through the surface.
Perry snatched her hand away. “Don’t touch it. It’s shadow-weave and it’ll stick to your skin, too. You’ll end up in there with her.” Mila looked up in surprise at his knowledge. Per
ry shrugged. “It’s one of my father’s favorite tricks. He used to punish me with it back when I was young.” His eyes darkened with the memory.
Finn walked around Sienna’s encased form, frowning as he tried to find an opening, anything to lever his way inside. “How do we get her out?”
Perry smiled. “The shadow-weave needs form to cluster around. I think we might have a volunteer.”
He darted outside and dragged in the body of the soldier that Finn had knocked unconscious, moving it close to Sienna’s cocoon. He pushed the soldier’s leg with his own, careful not to touch the shadow-weave as the man’s limb sank inside the grey. Spindles of weave reached out, moving up the limb as it crawled over the soldier’s body, receding a little from Sienna, leaving one of her arms outside its orbit.
Finn grasped her wrist and slowly pulled her body further away as the shadow-weave settled over the soldier until Sienna was finally free.
Her eyes were closed, her breathing shallow and Mila could see dark curls of shadow beneath her pale skin. She had used her magic too much recently. Could her blood be polluted beyond hope of return?
“Sienna,” Finn whispered, as he knelt by her side and stroked her titian hair away from her forehead. “Wake up now. It’s okay. We’re here.” He kissed her lips softly with the gentlest touch.
Sienna’s eyes flickered open and for a moment, Mila could see the blue was tinged with silver, edged with dark storm clouds and flashing with lightning. Then Sienna blinked and the clouds cleared as she wrapped her arms around Finn.
He hugged her close, rocking her back and forth. “You’re safe now.”
Sienna leaned back, her face stricken with fear. “No, none of us are safe. I’ve seen what they can do, what power they have now. There’s only one way to stop this.”
24
Sienna looked up at Finn, tears welling in her eyes. “We have to close the borders. For good this time. We have to shut the gates and stop the worlds bleeding into each other. It’s the only way.”
Finn reeled back and stood up, pacing the tent. “But then the plague will be trapped here. What if it spreads amongst my people?”
Visions of the creatures she had seen within the shadow-weave filled Sienna’s mind, taunting her with the promise of more pain. But now she could see that pain reflected on Finn’s face. She had crossed the border thinking that somehow they could find a way to be together, to save his world, and now her only plan was to shut the door and leave him behind in the path of destruction.
“They can stop the plague as surely as they’re spreading it. But they won’t if it reaches Earthside, and I have to protect my home.”
Finn spun round, his eyes blazing with anger, fists clenched. “Your home? What about mine? You leave us all to die from a plague resurrected to destroy your people.” He shook his head. “But what else would you do? Jari was right, you’ll always be Earthsiders and like the rest of your unwanted and forgotten, you will keep pushing us out, denying our right to live.”
Sienna wept at his words, tears streaming down her face. “No, Finn. I want to help. I—”
“We don’t want it. Your help just makes everything worse.” Finn stalked out of the tent into the maelstrom beyond.
“Wait! Please!” Sienna tried to get to her feet but her legs were weak and her body ached from deep inside.
Mila helped her up and as they stood together looking at the empty doorway, Sienna remembered Mila’s face as they left Ekon behind at the rim of the pool in Ganvié. This was what her father tried to save her from when he hid her Mapwalker heritage. Love across borders could split a soul apart.
She wanted to run after Finn, fall into his arms, kiss him and stay in that moment forever. Yet every moment they stood here meant Earthside was one step closer to a plague that would shatter her home.
Sienna took a deep breath. “We have to go. Right now.”
She turned to the table and pulled her ritual knife from inside her jacket. She held it against the side of her palm where the last cut had barely healed. The blood around it looked almost black and Sienna could see tendrils of shadow that ran deeper through her veins. She was so close to the edge now and part of her wondered what Sir Douglas would have shown her in the room at the top of the mysterious tower. Could she have saved the Borderlands from within? If she became a Shadow Cartographer, could she reshape this side of the world?
“Are you strong enough for this?” Perry’s voice was gentle and Sienna knew he understood. His body and soul were battered from this trip, and Mila’s, too. It had taken a toll on them all.
“Let’s go home.” Sienna opened the cut and drew the lines of a map on the wooden table with her blood. Bath Abbey bound by the lines of the river, the canal and the streets of the ancient city. She reached out her hand for her friends and closed her eyes, shutting out the cries of the damned as she traveled back home.
As the Illuminated Cartographer’s pulse slowed, Bridget looked around at the library. On the surface, it was burned to ash, hundreds of years of history charred and blistered beyond recognition. Maps they could no longer travel through, precious tomes they could no longer go to for ancient wisdom, the past now turned to embers.
But as she looked closer, Bridget could see that not all was lost. There were layers of maps under the burnt ones, where the chaos of the Illuminated Cartographer’s room had protected what lay beneath. Not all the books were ruined in the fallen shelves and even the globe lay on its side, dented, but not broken.
This was not the end. Not on her watch.
She pulled away from John’s hand and her heart almost broke to see the pain in his eyes. He would understand one day but right now, there was no time for debate or argument.
“I have to do this.”
John backed away. “Then you must do it alone. You’ve chosen a path I can’t follow.” He turned and walked out the door, leaving Bridget in the library alone with the dying Illuminated Cartographer.
She leaned down and whispered in his ear, “I choose this path. For Galileo.”
For a moment, she thought she was too late. His eyes remained closed and his skin cooled under her touch.
But then the map fragments that curled around her wrist tightened and more of them began to wind around her limbs until she was pinned beneath the vellum and paper, the lines on them pulsing as if they searched for something in her, something that they could call home.
A sharp piercing pain in her right wrist and then her left.
Bridget screamed in agony as the ink from the maps merged with her blood and the maps transferred themselves from the Illuminated Cartographer over to her own body. They delved deeper into her veins until her heartbeat began to pulse through them.
The pain was still intense but suddenly Bridget could see into the maps themselves, and sense that she could fly into them in a new way. She could travel out through their portals in her mind even though her physical self would remain here, tethered to the library until her own end came.
It was at once terrifying and breathtaking and she desperately wanted to tell John.
But he was gone and she was here alone. Trapped here in the depths of the Abbey, shackled to the maps. The realization struck her. What had she done? Could she undo it?
Bridget began to pull at the maps surrounding her, tugging at their entwined fibers, desperately trying to rip them out of her skin. She sobbed in frustration, blood and ink dripping down her arms as she tried to escape her fate.
Sienna opened her eyes in the Gallery of Geographical Maps. It was still the same place that they had left from not so long ago, but she felt a deep sense of loss this time. Everything had changed but it wasn’t over yet.
Perry and Mila lay at her feet, slowly sitting up as they revived from the vertigo of traveling through the blood map.
Alarms rang through the Ministry, the sharp sound a warning of attack, or perhaps an indication that it had already begun. The smell of burning hung in the air.
The libra
ry. The Illuminated Cartographer.
All at once, Sienna understood what Sir Douglas had left to do while she lay in the shadow-weave. Were they too late?
“Quick, we have to get to the library.” Sienna dragged Mila and Perry to their feet and together they hurried down the corridors.
The door to the library was wide open, a scene of devastation within. Her father sat outside, his back against the wall, his head in his hands as he wept.
“Dad?”
John looked up, relief washing over his face. “Sienna, you made it back.”
“Are we too late?”
John shook his head. “I don’t know. But I can’t go in there. I know what she must do but I will lose her forever if she chooses that path.”
Sienna frowned at his words. They didn’t make any sense.
But as she walked into the library, the pieces suddenly fell into place.
The sound of sobbing came from the corner and behind a pile of burnt maps, Bridget sat next to the body of what had been the Illuminated Cartographer. The maps now wound themselves into Bridget’s body even as she tried to scratch them out with bloody fingers, her face puffy with weeping.
“Help me,” Bridget begged. “Get them out of my skin. I want to be free. Please.”
Perry rushed forward to help, but Sienna grabbed his arm and held him back. She shook her head, resolve strengthening inside.
“There’s no time, Bridget. You are the Illuminated Cartographer now. Your blood strengthens the borders. If you reject the maps, we are all lost. Earthside is lost.”
Sienna knelt by Bridget’s side and placed her hands over the wounds on her wrists where the maps entered her body. “I’ve seen the plague, and what the Shadow Cartographers can do now. They’ve bred magic like we have never seen before. We can’t win this right now. We need time to regroup, rebuild, and figure this out.” Sienna took a deep breath. “Close the borders now, Bridget. Seal them shut and stop the plague from devastating our world.”