Dusk Gate (Soul Bound Book 1)

by Benjamin Medrano

  “I’m going off the word of one of the holy maidens of the Phoenix Queen, one whom I know is legitimate,” Xandra replied, her eyes narrowing as she crossed her arms in front of her, mentally imagining how she could break the man down into tallow for his candles. Then she thought better of it, as the mental image was quite revolting. “As for being hired, you never paid me a copper up front. If you’d paid me anything, I might be more concerned, but you haven’t. I found out what was going on, told you, and now I’m going to assist someone else who has requested my services. She’s at least a half-wit, and a good deal more pleasant company as well.”

  That shut them all up for a few moments, and Xandra saw several faces color or pale, and in one case both. Only one of the members of the council didn’t. Head Councilwoman Seafoam pinched the bridge of her nose, the dark-skinned human obviously irritated. The woman was the head of Evren’s merchant guild, and tended to have a good head on her shoulders. Though when Xandra compared her to even half of the city’s upper class, that wasn’t difficult. The others got over their outrage relatively quickly, and angry murmurs began to grow once more from the half of the council that Xandra didn’t like.

  “If you would stop your bickering, please?” Seafoam asked at last, glancing around the room in annoyance. “We already knew that something magical had disabled the teleportation link into Loth, the only question was what had happened. While what Xandra has told us is extremely unusual, it isn’t outside the realm of possibility, and if she’s correct, then she brought us the information we asked for. I move that we send scouts to the Old Ash farmstead to examine the remains of these plant creatures and to confirm her story. We can release the payment once we have confirmation.”

  “That seems reasonable,” Councilwoman Lekis said, giving Xandra a glare. “I still believe she should wait in the city for that confirmation.”

  “As I said, keep pushing and I’ll burn the building down,” Xandra said, raising a hand and willing power into it, causing her hand to glow. “Shall I demonstrate my sincerity?”

  “There’s no need for that,” Seafoam said quickly, giving Lekis a harsh look. “Assuming your report is accurate, and I have little doubt that it is, how do you wish to receive your payment? If you are going to be absent, it does cause some difficulties.”

  “Deliver it to the alchemist Mora. I have no doubts she’ll ensure that the payment is taken care of,” Xandra told her, allowing the mana to flow back into her mana core. She hadn’t wasted so much as a drop, to her private satisfaction.

  “Very well, we’ll do so,” Seafoam said, worry in her eyes, which Xandra approved of.

  Any invasion that could paralyze a nation as large as Loth practically overnight would be able to overrun Evren without trouble. The city simply didn’t have the walls or defenses that larger, better-organized cities possessed. On the other hand, the lack of organization was one of the things that had drawn Xandra to the city to begin with. She didn’t like being chained down by too many obligations.

  “In that case, I’ll take my leave so you can discuss what you want to do,” Xandra said, turning to leave without waiting for a nod of approval. If they were going to delay on paying her, they weren’t worth even a modicum of respect.

  “Arrogant bitch,” someone whispered behind her, just loud enough that Xandra caught it, though she doubted the woman who’d spoken realized that. She also wasn’t sure which of the councilors had said it, but Xandra didn’t let it get to her. Especially when someone else hissed at the woman angrily.

  Instead she stepped out of the council chamber, closed the door behind her and gave a nod to their secretary, an efficient woman named Teresa. The woman was one of the few people working for the council that Xandra truly respected, and she spoke to the woman politely.

  “I believe they will be arguing for some time. Good luck with your work,” Xandra told Teresa, and the brunette smiled back at her.

  “It certainly sounded like you gave them a fair amount to disagree on,” Teresa said, shrugging as she continued, “Still, it isn’t anything out of the ordinary for me. They argue a lot. Have a good day, Xandra!”

  “I’ll try,” Xandra replied, nodding again as she pushed the front doors open and stepped outside, taking a breath of fresh air. It wasn’t great, since several horses had made their contributions to the street recently, but it was better than the stuffy air inside.

  Glancing upward, Xandra quickly looked down again. She liked being able to see the sky, but after centuries either indoors or under a sky filled with smoke that created an unnaturally lower ‘ceiling’, she just wasn’t comfortable looking upward for long. It made her dizzy.

  “Hey, Miss Xandra! Care to come try a meat pie? We just got in some fresh mutton this morning!” a young man called out hopefully, distracting Xandra from her thoughts, and she looked at the sandy-haired boy. He’d lost one of his front teeth, she noted in surprise, and she’d have sworn he’d grown a few inches since the last time she’d seen him. Humans could be so disconcerting sometimes… but then again, she also hadn’t been around children much for the better part of a millennium.

  “Why not?” Xandra said, shrugging as she approached him, reaching into her belt pouch. “How much are they?”

  “Five copper each!” the young man said, beaming as he gestured into the shop, where Xandra could see a tray of small meat pies on a pan, their tops steaming gently. Each was almost big enough to be a meal on its own, and she considered, then nodded.

  “I’ll take three, in that case,” Xandra told him, pulling out a few coins and a small enchanted sack. “If you’d wrap them in this, I’d appreciate it.”

  “Of course, Miss Xandra!” he said, quickly taking the coins and sack, then raced into the shop, exclaiming, “Three pies, Ma!”

  Xandra couldn’t help a bit of a smile, but quickly suppressed it once she noticed other people in the area. She couldn’t have them thinking she’d gone soft or they might do something stupid.

  Inside the shop she saw the boy helping his mother pack the food into the sack, taking care to wrap it so it wouldn’t leave too many crumbs, to Xandra’s approval. The sack was designed to preserve food, as she often brought pre-made food with her, considering what a poor cook she was. At the same time, she wondered if Jasmine and Naomi would like the food. Naomi may not have been one of Xandra’s favorite people, but she didn’t hate the young priestess. That would require too much effort.

  More to the point, she was somewhat dreading the trip to visit Nef, even if it was necessary, and the sight through the scrying spell was concerning. She doubted that Evren was in immediate danger, though. Only a handful of the creatures had come over the border, and the persistent dusk Jasmine had described indicated that the invasion was likely intended to be localized. Perhaps direct sunlight was harmful to the plants, but Xandra wasn’t certain. She’d never seen anything quite like the plant-creatures before, and she was entirely willing to admit when she was out of her depth.

  “Here you are, Miss Xandra!” the boy said, interrupting her musing again, and Xandra nodded, taking the sack as she replied gravely.

  “Thank you. I will attempt to enjoy them,” Xandra said, slipping the sack into her bag. She was so happy that she’d taken the bag, as the amount it could hold without increasing in weight was immense.

  “You’re welcome!” the boy said cheerfully, waving at her. Sometimes Xandra wondered if she should try to learn the names of people like him, but every time she thought better of it. They’d just die or be used against her. She preferred it when she didn’t have those attachments. Learning the names of people she didn’t care about was so much less bothersome.

  “Speaking of which… I wonder where Jasmine and Naomi are at this point?” Xandra murmured to herself, considering the angle of the sun and how long she’d been inside. It wouldn’t make much sense for them to still be at Mora’s shop, but she didn’t know where else they would go. So after a few seconds she sighed to herself and headed toward
the shop. Hopefully Mora hadn’t had too much of an open mouth.

  It was relatively peaceful moving through the city, at least it was for Xandra. She saw a single brawl in the streets, and she thought she heard something unpleasant going on in a back alley, but no one got in her way. Instead she focused on moving down the street, trying to figure out why she was helping Jasmine as she moved.

  There really wasn’t any benefit to her doing it, and if anything it seemed likely to get Xandra embroiled in something far more dangerous than she’d encountered since escaping the Domain of Ashen Hopes. It wasn’t a desire for excitement, that much she knew. If she wanted excitement, she could simply travel north to one of the regions where there was more conflict, like the Riven Kingdoms. Xandra was sure she could carve out her own domain there if she really wanted to, though she didn’t feel it’d be worth it. No, that wasn’t why she was helping.

  “I don’t know,” Xandra said quietly, shaking her head as irritation rushed through her. “I should know, but I don’t. Damn it.”

  She was approaching Mora’s shop, though, so Xandra forced herself to focus on the here and now, not things that were ephemeral and unknowable. She dealt with what she had, after all. Doing anything else would be an exercise in frustration.

  Stepping up to the door, Xandra glanced at Mora’s sign, a slightly worn board that had the images of a vial of liquid and a mortar and pestle, noting that she’d likely be having it painted again soon. That seemed to be a yearly thing, Xandra had noticed, which struck her as a little odd. She knew that Mora could make paints that would last longer, yet every year she used the same paints that would begin to fade and flake in less than a year. Xandra couldn’t help wondering why.

  A bell tinkled as the door opened, and behind the counter Mark stood up straighter, his voice cheerful as he began speaking. “Welcome to Mora’s—oh, Miss Xandra, it’s you! Can I get you anything?”

  The young man’s eyes were glimmering with both lust and fear, emotions that Xandra was all too familiar with. She really wasn’t surprised at either emotion, though the boy really shouldn’t be infatuated with her. She’d have to treat him appropriately to scare him off if he ever tried to act on it, she decided. In the meantime, she glanced around the room, noting it was unoccupied except for Mark.

  “I’m looking for Mora and my guests. I don’t know if you met Jasmine and Naomi,” Xandra said shortly, tapping her left foot impatiently. “Do you know where they are?”

  “Oh, yes! They left about, um, a quarter-hour ago? Mom said she was going to take them to the Black Goat to get settled in for the night,” Mark said enthusiastically, and Xandra resisted the urge to sigh as her hopes to leave that evening vanished. They could’ve made it almost a quarter of the way to Nef’s cottage, but it seemed that wasn’t going to happen.

  The door opened and a couple of human women stepped inside, then stopped, stiffening slightly as they saw Xandra. She glanced back at the blonde and brunette idly, both of whom had the mannerisms of townsfolk, without the darker skin tone of those who spent lots of time outdoors. That idly amused her, as did the worry on their faces when they saw her. Still, she didn’t want to cost Mora business, so she nodded to Mark.

  “Thank you. I will go find them,” Xandra told Mark, giving him a polite nod, then turned to leave. There was a notable sigh of relief from the brunette, and the other hissed something at her, causing the brunette to blush.

  She ignored them, instead going outside again and considering, then shrugged, turning to head toward the Black Goat. While it wasn’t necessarily the best inn in Evren, it was better than many of the other options, which explained why Mora had chosen it. Obviously Mora liked the priestesses, since she was taking the time to settle them in. That or Mora was fishing for information while an alchemy batch simmered. Now that Xandra thought about it, that made far more sense than the other option.

  It took a little while to reach the Black Goat, since it was a few blocks from Mora’s shop. Xandra came around the corner just in time to see a man get thrown bodily out of the Black Goat, and Xandra’s eyebrows rose as the tall, mostly-bald human bouncer let out a blistering stream of curses, including a few she hadn’t heard before. She filed them away as he finished. “So if yer going to try to give attention where it isn’t welcome, ya’d damn well better settle your tab first, ya lazy excuse for a mule! Come back when yer sober and have the coin to settle yer bill!”

  “I got all the coin I need! It’s in my room, you heavy-handed brute!” the man in the dirt retorted, dragging himself to his feet, though he staggered a little even then. “Lemme back in!”

  “Not until yer sober, so git,” the bouncer said, crossing his arms in front of his barrel-like chest, his eyes narrowing slightly. For a moment Xandra thought the other man, a human with dark hair and shadows under his eyes, was going to attack. Fortunately for him, he thought better of it, and began to slink off.

  “Hello, Ethan. That was an impressive burst of profanity. I’m going to have to use it one of these times,” Xandra told him, a hint of a smile tugging at the edges of her lips.

  “Oh, uh, Xandra, it’s you,” Ethan said, the burly man suddenly turning awkward, and he reached up to rub his head. “Really, it isn’t the sort of language a lady should use.”

  “I’m not a lady,” Xandra pointed out, climbing the steps to the door at a measured pace, amused as he looked even more awkward. Possibly a little desperate as well.

  “Well, no, but… but ya’ve already got a sharp enough tongue. The missus would take a strip off my hide if ya start using my language!” Ethan said, a hint of desperation in his voice, and that caused Xandra to laugh, something which drew the attention of everyone in the area.

  “Perhaps you should have thought of that before using it. I’m certainly going to remember it,” Xandra replied, smiling broadly at Ethan as she stepped around him. “In the meantime, I was told that Mora brought my most recent employer here, so I need to find her.”

  “Fortunately, you won’t have to look far.” Mora’s voice came from just inside the inn door, and Xandra stepped through, then paused, raising an eyebrow as she looked around.

  A half dozen people were scattered around the inn’s front room, plus Jasmine, Mora, and Naomi, and Xandra had essentially all of their attention. Some of them were staring at Xandra because of her appearance, she knew, and she tugged her hood a bit farther forward just to be safe. Not that it would make much difference in the end, but it made her a little happier. On the other hand, Mora looked a little surprised, while both Jasmine and Naomi were staring at Xandra like she’d grown another head.

  “What?” Xandra asked, her amusement from Ethan’s commentary turning into slight annoyance.

  “You can laugh,” Naomi stated, sounding stunned. “I’ve only seen you smile a couple of times, and usually it’s more like a sneer.”

  “Of course I can laugh and smile. Anyone can, the only thing that it requires is for someone to want to,” Xandra said, her smile fading as she looked back at Naomi. “My question for you is this. What reason did I have to laugh or smile while in Lothdar? The church was spying on me, the man who took off the collar nearly failed, and Vanreth was looking for an excuse to kill me. That doesn’t seem like a situation that would make anyone happy in my opinion.”

  “Oh, um…” Naomi said, her voice trailing off as she hesitated, obviously torn on what to say. Fortunately for her, Jasmine took the chance to interject, while Mora looked at her oddly, then gestured Xandra to the side so they weren’t blocking the door.

  “Was it truly that bad? You didn’t seem especially pleased on escaping the lower planes, either,” Jasmine asked, frowning a little. “Though… I suppose having someone threaten to kill you immediately afterward would put a damper on things.”

  “That’s precisely what I was going to point out,” Xandra said dryly. “I don’t blame Alora, not after what she’d been through, but it certainly wasn’t pleasant. In fact, I’d say that the only two who
were pleasant to me were you and Adrian. Naomi seemed reasonable at first, then she seemed to decide that I was irredeemable. That’s partly my fault, but I refuse to feign politeness.”

  “Which isn’t to say she can’t be respectful. I’ve even seen it before!” Mora said, her voice teasing, and she grinned unrepentantly as Xandra glared at her.

  “Really?” Jasmine asked, her eyebrows rising a little as she looked at Xandra, appearing a bit bemused. “Who could’ve brought that on?”

  “I respect those who deserve it. People who’ve mastered their craft, and who I believe are striving to be the best that they can be,” Xandra told the half-elf, bracing herself, as she knew that Mora would elaborate more than she’d prefer.

  “Xandra met the apprentice of the Lady of Storms when she came into port for resupply,” Mora explained. “After some discussion, she was even invited to go visit her. When Xandra came back, she was subdued and didn’t lash out for a couple of days.”

  Jasmine’s eyebrows rose even more, shock on her face, but Xandra muttered a moment later, wistful resentment in her voice as she thought back, “Then Cain reminded me that people were idiots, by and large. Wanting me to come to a party as his ‘girlfriend’ to impress a bunch of idiotic nobles indeed.”

  “Wait, wait… you met the Lady of Storms?” Naomi interrupted incredulously, her eyes wide. “I thought she was practically a myth!”

  “I did,” Xandra said, resisting the urge to smile back at the young priestess, as for once her comments didn’t strike Xandra as stupid. “She’s older than I am, you know, and she was a legend even then. I’m not surprised a lot of people don’t really think she exists, and her apprentice… a work of art, if you ask me. I’ve never met anyone who made me feel as small and clumsy as she did, and she wasn’t even trying.”

  “What do you mean by ‘a work of art’?” Jasmine asked, frowning slightly. “I know about the Lady of Storms, after all. If she were more active, I think she’d be even more famous than the Heartreaver, Lord Elthan, or any of the other modern heroes… but I don’t know a lot about her. Just that she’s an ancient sorceress who took part in many battles, and she appears to be immortal.”