Isavel remembered Tevoria’s unpleasant glare from the last time they had met, but she also knew the spirit could literally move people instantly, at least over short distances. “We need a few seconds’ cover, don’t we? Tell us.”
Guards rounded the corner ahead and Hail fired at them, striking one down. They reached around the corners with guns, shooting blindly down the hall and missing badly, but Isavel brought up her shields nonetheless while Erran, Sam, and Tanos crouched behind her. Shouting down the halls reached them between gunfire shots.
Erran darted into one of the side rooms. “Come on, grab on!”
The rest of them followed, Isavel last. Just as a voice called out from the halls. “Saint Isavel!”
She froze. She recognized Mother Jera’s voice, and could almost feel the old woman’s seething glare through the walls.
“I was hoping you’d return to us, but if you’ve only come to further defile -”
Not worth listening to. She darted into the room. “Erran, go!”
The world melted into a lattice again, and Tevoria was kneeling alongside, her silver hair braided into a loose crown around her pointed ears. She spared a disdainful emerald glare for Isavel even as she spoke to the walker. “Erran, can we -”
Erran took the spirit’s hands. “Tevoria, please - get us out of this building now .”
Sam turned and fired blindly out of the walk into the real world, towards where the door should be. “Hurry up! We can’t see them in here!”
Tevoria’s eyes flashed, and she nodded. “Of course, my love. If all of you would grab hold of me -”
They all did, quickly and desperately, and in an instant the world suddenly bent around them. Isavel felt like she was being spun around and turned inside out, but after a moment they were down in the streets of Glass Peaks, as they existed in Tevoria’s resplendently gaudy homeland. Even at night, there was an enchanting purplish gleam to some of the architecture that felt too saccharine for Isavel’s taste.
Erran gasped. “We can rest easy for a second - we’re outside the temple.”
Tevoria looked strange - after staring at her for a moment, Isavel realized the spirit looked tired. “Tevoria, can you get us further?”
“That spell has its limits.” Tevoria turned away from her in clear dislike. “As do I. Erran, please, come with me. They can escape on their own.”
As the spirit was looking at the walker, Isavel saw Tanos, in an inexplicable fit of curiosity, slowly reach out to prod the spirit’s pointy ears. She reached out and snatched his wrist, shaking her head slowly. Was he just short on sense, or did he think the thousand worlds were a place where things didn’t matter?
The ghost walker looked tempted to abandon them, but after a moment’s hesitation he glanced at Isavel and shook his head. “No. Tevoria - she’s after the gods’ own power. You know what that means. I… we should help.”
Isavel expected Tevoria to glare again or admonish him, but instead the spirit simply looked sad, and after a moment she quietly met Isavel’s eyes. “I’ve met heroes, Erran. They are death to those around them. But gods are rotten too, so if she succeeds that may be worth something.” She sighed. “Be safe. I will be watching.”
They embraced and Erran let the spirit world vanish, putting them all back in Glass Peaks as it truly was, in a side street within sight of the temple. Isavel thought a bit on the spirit’s sudden shift, and somehow, in hearing the strange figure voice so simply the thoughts Isavel had felt growing in her heart for some time, she felt… heard.
Sam raised an eyebrow at Erran. “I haven’t seen one of them in a long time.”
Erran blushed, but Isavel returned her attention to their surroundings, looking for the wraith. “We might have lost the wraith, but we should move. I -”
A shot from the temple glanced the wall above them. She darted around a corner, and the others followed, along with another missed shot. Hail grimaced. “This is why you let hunters do the shooting.”
Erran’s eyes widened. “They must have seen Tevoria’s spell - it’s not exactly stealthy.”
Tanos was still looking. “Where’s the wraith? What’s it doing?”
Sam grabbed his forearm and pulled him forward. “They’re their own damned beasts - we need to get out of here.”
She was right. Isavel had done as she had promised - she had silenced the gods, here, in this one place. And she had gotten nothing out of it.
But the gods only had so many voices on Earth. Sooner or later, they would take her seriously or they would be silenced.
She brought up her shields as gunfire streaked through the streets, and they ran. They rounded a corner, catching a breath, but bystanders not far away were starting to shout. This couldn’t last. “We can’t go for the gates.” Isavel thought of the city’s layout. “We’re near the south-east - Erran, can you get us across the inlet, or through the wall?”
Their walker nodded and they darted south. Yelling echoed up the streets, more gunfire already in pursuit. Isavel flashed her wings long enough that strangers would see them, and the shouting grew more confused as two grey-clad men rounded a corner with guns, pointing it at them. “Stop, ghosts!”
Hail raised a palm to blast the attacker out of the way, but something dark snapped out of the sky and, in a split second, turned one of the men to a mess of gore and bone. Everybody staggered all at once, and the other man blinked and scrambled off with a shriek.
“What the -”
“Wraith!”
Isavel looked up. It was barely visible in the dark, but it was there, teeming and seething under the overhang of a tower, and as she looked it started making a strange wailing noise. Isavel shouted up at it, as though it could hear. “What are you doing? ”
It didn’t respond, but it tore into the concrete and pulled out a hunk the size of a boar, punting it straight at the temple with an absurdly intricate code sigil that flashed blue-white in the night. The concrete smashed into glass and rock, spraying material from the temple across the ground below.
“Uh, Isavel.” Sam was gripping her shoulder. “Let’s just -”
“Right, keep running!”
Down a street, past a tower floor, gunshots ringing overhead and nipping at their heels. Hail fired blindly behind them, Isavel kept her eyes on the streets ahead. She heard the whirr of a hauler somewhere in the distance.
There were guards up ahead, and they were firing at them. What? How had word gotten ahead of them? Did coders have arcane sigils for communicating at a distance? She flashed her wings white. Who the hell else had wings? Who did they think they were shooting at?
“Go right!”
They ran right. Erran was looking around frantically, his eyes aglow as he searched the thousand worlds around them. Was he thinking of walking again? The wraith was wailing overhead, and something else crashed in the distance.
Suddenly someone was shooting at them from the south, just where they were trying to go. Sam ducked and shouted. “They’re everywhere! How did they get everywhere?”
Hail retaliated with blue snaps. “How else can we get out?”
“We need to walk!” Erran looked at them as they crouched behind a corner, suddenly growing excited. “There’s one world with - there’s a gateway! We can get out of here!”
Sam’s eyes widened. “A fargate? Isavel, I know the world he’s talking about - we could get to Hive in an instant. Or any other fargate in the world. But it’s been - Erran, do you remember -”
She harried them around the corner. Hive sounded like a good alternative. “Whatever gets us out of here! Go!”
There were guns to the south, the north-west, and the east - and there were probably more still they didn’t know about. Then the world dissolved into something that still looked remarkably like Glass Peaks - except it didn’t have the dirt, the weeds, the wooden buildings. It was clean and glassy and new, and the streets were awash with artificial lights and filled with human-shaped spirits in tight silken clothes,
more than she had ever seen in one place outside a battlefield. These spirits turned and stared at them all, shocked at the sudden intrusion.
Erran ran up to one of them, and the rest of the party stuck close. The spirits started screaming and running as gunfire flickered in and out of the walk.
He spoke the words with a strange lilt. “Spirit!” The man was looking at Erran with fear, glancing at Isavel and the rest of them, but Erran pressed on. “Where’s the fargate? I know there’s one somewhere -”
The spirit raised his hand and pointed, responding with that same twist of the tongue. “Don’t hurt me! That way! Two blocks down, six blocks left!”
Isavel fired out of the walk towards where she had heard gunfire coming from, but at this point their pursuers could be anywhere. “Erran?”
“I know what he means - follow me!”
They ran through the streets as shots occasionally burst through from reality and broke the otherwise alien city’s night. Isavel had no idea what was going on beyond the walk, but in this world spirits were running to get out of their way, hauler-like vehicles were zipping down the middle of the roads, and drone-like machines buzzed through the sky. Loud music gushed from colourfully-lit places built into the sides of the street, reminding her of the music in the Mayor’s tower in Hive.
Was this what Glass Peaks had looked like before the Fall?
They turned left, and here the so-called blocks were a great deal shorter than they were along the larger road. “Can’t we run in the real world?”
Erran pointed. “We’re almost there.”
“What is a fargate?”
“Doors to other places. Imagine what Tevoria did - only between specific places, but way further.” He was looking around at the buildings near him. “Spirits use them for travel, but walkers can use them to escape. Or - well, personally I’ve never -”
A gunshot grazed his calf and sent him falling to the ground, and in a second they were in Glass Peaks again, standing in the earthy streets of the city. Erran was alive, but injured and wincing.
Sam and Tanos were immediately trying to help him up, but they were struggling, so Isavel stepped back and hauled the walker up, carrying him in her arms. “Can you walk?”
He knew what she meant, and the bubble returned, though smaller and shimmering along its edges unsteadily. Sam pointed. “I see it - Isavel, follow me.”
Sam led them down the street to a large, dome-shaped building. A long line of spirits was waiting to get in, but they scattered and ran as the gunfire approached. The door was shut, but Sam took to the controls and had it open in moments whose brevity spoke to experience. Isavel was starting to be glad she had these ghosts in tow.
Then they were inside a long, featureless hallway, with dozens of doors and strange sigils along the walls. More spirits scattered and hid, more gunfire followed them in, and Erran groaned as Isavel readjusted her hold on him. Sam beckoned them forward. “Any one should be fine.”
They darted inside the nearest of the smaller rooms; it was the size of a small house, just barely small enough to fit inside the entire walk. Gunfire struck the walls outside, but they were safe. For now. She let Erran to his feet and, visibly struggling, he went for the controls.
“What is this? Why -”
“The door is the gate - if I can just -” He was furiously stabbing his fingers at the controls. “Sam, I can’t find Hive!”
Isavel stared at the walker. “What do you mean, you can’t find it?”
“It’s not -” He was striking with increasing frustration at the controls. “I’ve never actually used a fargate, I don’t recognize any of these places -”
Sam scowled and made for him. “Didn’t anybody train you? I - look, this looks like - no, wait, shit -”
Hail’s eyes widened. “Can we go anywhere? What if we went straight to the gods?”
Erran blanched, and shook his head. “I don’t know. I don’t know! Yes I - somebody showed me some of these symbols but - fuck, I can’t remember -”
The wraith suddenly burst through the door into the walk, hovering across the ceiling room and cooing softly, making everybody but Tanos jump in fright. Isavel was as concerned as any of them, but she tried to redirect Hail and Tanos’ attention to the door. At least the wraith might be friendly.
Then there was shouting and the door disintegrated, crumbling like chalk. The figure on the other side darted away as Isavel and Hail both shot, Erran and Sam still fumbling at the controls. Tanos had pressed himself up against the wall by Sam, clutching his gun and looking very much like he didn’t want to use it.
“Wait! Don’t shoot!”
A startling shout - someone had stepped into the walk with them, just outside the door. Isavel recognized the voice. “Wait - wait a minute. Who’s there!”
“Don’t shoot!”
Hail looked at her. “It’s a trap.”
“Sam, Erran -”
“I don’t know, none of this makes sense!”
She shook her head. There had to be someone here who would recognize her. “Show yourself!”
Erran frantically tapped at the controls, though Isavel couldn’t tell what good that would do. They were in the middle of an empty room, with nowhere to go.
Suddenly two people stepped into the walk, and into the room. Ren and Zoa, the coder siblings, both holding guns but not pointing them directly at them. Hail raised both palms defensively, but she held her fire.
“Ren? Zoa? What are you -?”
Ren frowned. “So you know our names?”
Isavel cocked her head. “Of course. What do you -”
“But you’re not Isavel!”
She stared at them. “What are you talking about?”
Ren glanced at his sister. “She might actually be Isavel.”
“Elder Magan said she’d been possessed.”
“But she remembered our names!”
Was that what they were telling people? “I’m not a damned ghost!”
Zoa snapped back. “Then why were your wings dark?”
“It’s just a colour! ”
“Why are you working with a walker?” She turned, and saw Erran. “Wait a minute, he met us! He told her our names! She’s not -”
Hail shouted at both of them. “Ren - Zoa - step out of this room or gods help me I will shoot you both!”
“Tanos!” Sam sounded panicked, turning away from the machinery. “They don’t know you, they won’t believe you’re not a ghost. If you have to run -”
“Isavel.” Ren’s eyes were racing. “If that’s really you, do you remember what Mother Jera told you the night before the battle at Campus?”
There was light and shouting outside, and Isavel struggled to think back to that moment, even though it was only days ago. Her memory was not cooperating. “That’s really fucking specific, Ren! I don’t -”
“I - wait, I remember these symbols! I think!” Erran turned giddy, touching something on the command console, and suddenly the room was humming. “I’m getting us out of here!”
“What’s he doing?” Zoa took a step forward, pointing her gun at Sam. “ What is he doing?! ”
Tanos suddenly tackled Zoa to the ground, Ren spun around to aim his gun at Erran, the wraith howled, Hail fired a warning shot, and suddenly the world was wiped out in a giant pulse of white light.
Isavel’s insides were briefly turned inside out.
Was she dead again?
There was no sound, no colour, only white.
The white faded. Everything was the same as before.
Except it wasn’t.
Isavel was lying on the ground and sprung up. Easily. Too easily. So easily she lost her footing and flew into the air, grazing the wraith’s dark tendrils by the ceiling in a panicked moment before landing back on the ground with a force more like a slap than a slam. She felt around inside her body to suppress the dragon’s gift, but it was not lifting her. Something was terribly wrong.
Sam shouted, stumbling fac
e-first into a wall as she attempted to walk. “What the fuck just happened?”
Erran was frozen, scrambling up and staring at the command console. There was something wrong with the way his hair moved. “I - I can’t -” He started touching it, then hitting it, then screaming. “There’s nothing there! There’s nothing there! ”
It was quiet outside, Isavel realized. Quiet and bright.
Zoa and Ren scrambled back, pointed their guns between everyone else even as they staggered to keep upright, and slammed awkwardly into a wall. “Stop walking, ghost!”
He turned to stare at them. “ I’m not walking! ”
“Bullshit! You -”
The wraith suddenly took an interest in the coder siblings, lashing towards them. Isavel breathed dragonfire at it, scorching its tendrils, and it howled and wailed. “Watch it! That wraith -”
Hail was screaming. “Isavel! Isavel there’s someone -”
Zoa shot at Erran and barely missed his shoulder. “ Stop walking you ghost piece of shit! ”
Incomprehensible shouting filled the room. Isavel spun around to see some new spirit, a gut-wrenchingly wrong kind of human. There were three of them, tall and lanky with marble-white skin over vaguely bluish undertones. They wore blue-laced bronze armor and carried metal spears with jagged tips, and alongside their pointed weapons they were shouting in a language Isavel had never heard.
She bounded awkwardly towards Erran, feeling drunk on her feet but shielding him nonetheless. “Stop this! Ren, Zoa, we were friends!”
“Isavel died at Campus!”
“I wasn’t possessed!” She was screaming at the top of her lungs. “Did you see me get possessed?!”
“No, but Mother Jera -”
“Is a liar! She was angry I -!”
Hail shouted from behind her. “Duck!”
Tanos and Sam scrabbled awkwardly past her in the chaos as the spirits advanced, and Isavel spread her wings. Metal spears clattered against them as Isavel rose to meet this enemy, jumping and sailing through the air even without the dragon’s gift. She slammed into one of them, yanking another aside with her hands, and kicked the third one away from her. They tried to pile on, but they were as weak as they were tall, and she threw one clean across the room, slamming him into the other side of the dome.
Fourth Under Sol (Digitesque Book 5) Page 3