“Slow down,” Maya said. “Has your brother been gone long?”
“Since yesterday,” Streza said miserably. “Some of the logging teams stayed out overnight but I told Grandmother I saw him since they left.”
“Do you have any idea where he might be?”
“I think he was playing at the old storehouse,” the girl said eagerly. “We’re not supposed to go up there, but he and I used to play at ghouls and heroes. I saw him on the hill, but I thought he was going to visit Bannie.”
“You haven’t gone to look?”
“Just… just a little bit.” Streza crossed her arms. “There’s a lot of holes in the floor down into the old basement. I thought he might have fallen down, but I didn’t have a light, and…” She swallowed.
“Okay,” Maya said. “Can you wait here for a few minutes? I’m going to go inside and talk to someone.”
Fortuitously, Tanax and Beq had just finished their latest interview. An old man with a wild puff of gray hair stomped out, looking irritated, and Maya slipped in before the next villager could arrive. The heat in the closed-off kitchen was stifling. Tanax was leaning back in his chair, apparently perfectly comfortable, but Beq looked miserable hunched over her paper. She perked up as Maya entered.
“Any luck?” Maya said.
Beq started to answer, then looked to Tanax. The other agathios gave a regal smile.
“The pattern is still forming,” he said, “but I have enough to know something strange is going on. We’ll get to the bottom of it.” He leaned forward. “Nicomidi always said that patience and perseverance are the keys to successful work.”
“I’m sure,” Maya muttered.
“Have you found anything unusual?”
“Not so far,” Maya said. “There’s a girl asking for help, and I wanted to see what I could do for her.”
“Help?”
Maya explained what Streza had told her. As she spoke, Tanax’s frown deepened.
“If the boy’s grandmother isn’t concerned,” he said, “I don’t see why we should be. Surely she would know best.”
“Probably,” Maya admitted. “But it’s a good excuse to poke around. And it might help build a little goodwill with the villagers.”
“It’s not their goodwill I need, just their obedience.” Tanax sighed and waved a hand. “If you really want to spend your time pulling lost cats out of trees, I suppose you might as well.”
Better than standing around here like a stump. “Thank you,” Maya said. “I’ll let you know if I find anything interesting.”
“Very well.” He waved dismissively. “Send in the next villager.”
Beq caught Maya’s eye, shook out her writing hand, and made a pained face while Tanax wasn’t looking. Maya winced and mouthed, “Good luck,” as she slipped out. In the hall, she told a stout older woman to go inside, then hurried back to the front door. Streza was waiting, kicking nervously at a stone.
“All right,” Maya told the girl. “Take me to the old storehouse, and we’ll look for your brother.”
The old storehouse turned out to be on the other side of the village, atop the rise. Streza relieved her nervousness by providing a running commentary as they walked, pointing out each house.
“This is where Anna Ironbelly and her wife live, and that’s Grend Purevoice’s place. He once won a county singing contest. And his son is in the Legion now.” Streza puffed herself up a little at this. When she looked back at Maya, though, her face fell. “Litnin must seem tiny to you.”
“You’d be surprised,” Maya said. She and Jaedia had spent a lot of time in small villages, although usually not quite this small or so far off the beaten path.
“I thought centarchs lived in Skyreach with the Senate and all.”
“Some of us live in the Forge, which isn’t far from there. But not all of us. I grew up traveling from place to place with my mentor.”
“That sounds amazing,” Streza said. “When I grow up, I want to go somewhere.”
“Where?”
“Dunno. Anywhere more interesting.” She sighed. “Nothing ever happens here.”
Let’s hope not. Maya pointed to a long, low building visible on the top of the ridge. “Is that the storehouse?”
“Yeah.” Streza’s steps slowed. “Grandmother and the others always tell us never to go up there.”
“Why not?”
“The old storehouse caught fire,” the girl said, “and part of the floor fell in. They built the new storehouse down in the valley, and we don’t use this one anymore. I think they’re worried it might collapse.”
“People do come up here, though?”
“Sometimes. My brother and I used to come play. And he said he once saw Venli and Firn up here kissing and, you know, messing around.” Her cheeks reddened.
Not busy, then, but not abandoned either. If the storehouse was the local make-out spot, it was unlikely that anything really dangerous had taken up residence without being noticed. Maybe the boy fell and knocked himself out?
“What’s your brother’s name?” Maya said as they climbed the ridge.
“Reese.” Streza pressed closer to Maya’s side. “Do you think he’s okay?”
“I’m sure he is,” Maya said.
In a few minutes, they were standing in front of the old storehouse. It was a stone-walled building, so the fire had left most of it standing, but the shingled roof had partially collapsed. The big front doors stood open, one hanging from a single hinge, and Maya could see the inside was a maze of burnt debris, carpeted with moss and a few enterprising saplings. One of the roof beams had crashed through the floorboards, creating a large hole into a dark understory.
“I can see why your parents don’t want you up here,” Maya said.
“I’m sorry,” Streza said. “I swear we’ll never come up here again. I’ll watch my brother every minute.”
“It’s all right,” Maya said. “Stay here at the door. I’m going to take a look.”
Streza nodded nervously. Maya touched her haken and conjured a small flame above one hand for light, and the girl gasped in surprise. Maya couldn’t help but smile at that. Then, feeling a little foolish, she threaded deiat into her panoply belt, the familiar blue haze of protection washing over her. Better safe than sorry.
The floorboards groaned underfoot. The inside of the storehouse was mostly open, with the collapsed remains of a loft in one corner. It was silent enough that Maya felt odd raising her voice. She coughed, awkwardly, and called out.
“Reese? Are you there?”
No answer, not that she’d expected one. She went to the edge of the hole in the floorboards and held the flame over it. The light illuminated a packed-earth surface about three meters down, littered with splinters of burnt, blackened wood.
“Streza, I’m going down to look around,” Maya called. “Just stay where you are.”
“Be careful,” Streza said.
Maya grinned to herself and stepped off the edge. She absorbed the fall with a crouch, the panoply field killing some of the energy and sending a chilly wave over her skin. She fed more power to her flame, and the light grew brighter, illuminating a rough-walled underground space. In one corner, stairs led to a trapdoor in the ceiling. Bags and barrels were stacked in rough piles, charred by fire and softened by moss and decay. The air still smelled scorched.
As she turned, a breath of air played across her face. Maya saw a darker half circle in one wall, the entrance to some sort of tunnel. Odd.
“Streza?” Maya said.
The girl’s head poked over the side of the hole, her expression worried. “Are you all right?”
“I told you to wait at the door,” Maya said.
“Sorry.”
Maya shook her head. “Do you know where this tunnel goes?”
“What tunnel?”
“There’s some kind of entrance down here.”
“I’ve never heard of a tunnel under the storehouse,” Streza said. “Maybe it was a sec
ret?”
“Maybe.” Maya played her light on the entryway, showing a few feet of well-packed earth. “I’m going to take a look. Stay there, would you?”
“Okay.”
The cooler air coming out of the tunnel mouth had an odd scent to it. Maya sniffed as she got closer, trying to place it. There was fresh earth, and ashes, and…
Old meat. For a moment she was back in another underground cavern, grappling with a tentacled horror. Plaguespawn!
Eyes opened in the darkness, five mismatched orbs glowing in the reflected light of her flame. Maya took a step backward, and the monster lunged.
She had enough warning to throw herself to one side. The thing that barreled past was bigger than she was, the size of a pony, with a wolf’s snout that had been split down the center and widened with a complex armature of gleaming bone and pulsing red muscle. Six limbs, each of which looked as though it had originally been at least two animal legs, extended up over the creature’s back before coming down, giving it the look of a fleshy, skinless cockroach. Several tails twitched at the back end of it, one sporting an additional eye.
It skittered past her, horribly fast, and slid to a halt on the packed earth. Maya straightened and drew her haken, the blade igniting into a line of orange-white fire.
“Maya?” Streza’s voice came down from above. “What’s happening—”
The plaguespawn, hearing her, took a step forward, and it must have come into the girl’s field of view, because her voice rose into a high, shrill scream. That only captured the thing’s attention further, and it gathered its legs under it, preparing to leap.
Plague that. Maya extended a hand, and a bolt of solid flame flashed across the room, crashing into the side of the monster. It rocked and staggered sideways, fire running briefly over its body before guttering out. It turned again, split jaw working as it glared at Maya with mismatched eyes. She stepped forward deliberately. That’s right. Look at me, ugly.
“Streza!” Maya shouted as the plaguespawn started to circle. “I want you to run back to Kaiura’s house right now.”
“But—” The girl’s voice was a whimper.
“Now. Tell my friends what we found. Go!”
She couldn’t say whether the girl answered, because the monster charged again, legs blurring as it threw itself into a sprint. Maya waited until the last moment, holding its attention, then sprang to one side like a ringfighter. She dragged her haken along its flank, the blazing sword slashing a long, ugly burn into the slick, wet muscle there.
The plaguespawn made a warbling, gurgling sound, then screeched as Maya brought more fire boiling up underneath it. It hopped sideways, and this time she charged first, coming at it head-on and bringing her blade down on its bifurcated head. Flesh and bone parted easily in the path of deiat. Both halves snapped at her, one set of jaws closing on her arm, the panoply field straining to keep them apart. Maya, fighting the chill, spun and twisted her blade through the plaguespawn’s neck, sending one half of its head bouncing to the earth.
The stump gouted black blood, but the thing was still moving, the remaining half head twisting and biting in a frenzy. Maya gave ground, fading to one side, and waited for it to commit to a lunge. When it did, she sidestepped and slashed at its throat. Another half a skull came free, and the now entirely headless creature wobbled and collapsed.
That… Maya was breathing hard, and her heart pounded triple-time. She touched the Thing with her free hand. That was unexpected.
“Streza?” she called. There was no answer.
Good. The girl was, hopefully, halfway across the village by now. I hope she can get through to Tanax. Maya looked down at the dead plaguespawn, swallowing hard. At least none of the parts look human. You couldn’t always tell, but…
It can’t be coincidence. Plaguespawn couldn’t restrain themselves. They were constructs of meat and dhak, and all they understood was the hunger for more flesh. If something this size had found its way in here on its own, the villagers would have seen it before now.
That meant the thing wasn’t a wild plaguespawn, following its own instincts. It had been guarding the tunnel.
Only a dhakim could have set it a task like that. Whatever’s going on in this town, I think I’ve found it.
The logical thing to do would be to retreat, up the stairs at least, and wait for help. But if Streza’s brother was alive, he needed help now, before the dhakim knew she’d found them.
She took a deep breath and let the fire fade, plunging the basement into semidarkness. Ahead of her, the tunnel entrance loomed like a black maw. She touched the Thing again.
Tanax, you ass, you’d better listen to Streza. Maya stepped forward, fingers white-knuckled on the hilt of her haken.
The tunnel was long and twisting, so low Maya had to stoop to continue. A light would give her away, so she groped her way along in the dark, one hand on her haken. Dirt crumbled around her outstretched fingers, cascading down into her hair. Long, outstretched roots of plants growing above blocked her path like a stubborn curtain, and she had to push through them.
She was starting to wonder how far it could possibly go when a faint light filtered around a curve up ahead. It wasn’t much, but she could make out dim shadows. Maya crouched, moving more slowly, and stopped when she could see out into a larger space.
It was a cave, roughly circular, with a wider tunnel at one end that ended abruptly in a wood-and-canvas barricade. Crates were piled three-deep in the center, with a lantern on top of the pile providing a flickering light. Around the edges of the room, Maya could see long, rectangular boxes with iron-banded sides and metal grates at the front. Cages?
Three figures worked near the central pile, prying open a set of crates to examine the contents. One of them, slim and blue-haired in a heavy waterproof coat, stood a few paces back, keeping an eye on the others.
So these are the smugglers. Maya wasn’t exactly sure where she was, but they couldn’t be too far from Litnin. Listening closely, she could hear the sound of running water. We must be near the river.
The important thing was to figure out if Reese was here. If he wasn’t—or if he was dead, a possibility she had to force herself to consider—then the thing to do was retreat the way she’d come and return with backup. But if he is here…
Jaedia’s chiding echoed in the back of her mind. Maya pursed her lips. What am I supposed to do? Let people die?
“Plague it,” one of the figures said. “It’s not here. I still say that bastard shorted us.”
“I counted the lots myself,” the blue-haired figure said. It was a woman’s voice. “It’s here. You shitheads just put it in the wrong crate.”
“We haven’t got time for this,” another man said. “Just put it in the next load.”
“No guarantee we’ll have a buyer,” the woman said. “Find the fucking thing.”
Another voice cut across the cavern, a young girl’s, and Maya’s blood went cold. “I’m hungry.”
There was a chorus of whispers, like someone was trying to quiet the girl, but the woman in the coat had already heard. She stalked away from the crates.
“Did I not already tell you to shut the fuck up?” she said. “Next word I hear out of any of you, I’m going to turn you inside out.”
“She’s not kidding,” one of the men said. “I’ve seen her do it. Boy was walking around with all his guts hanging off his outside. So, fucking behave.”
Oh, dhak.
The child’s voice had come from the edge of the cavern. The cages. Peering closer, Maya could see that some of them had their doors hanging open, while others were closed and padlocked. Behind the grills, she could see movement. Have they really got them in cages?
Whether Reese was there or not, going back was out of the question. She had no idea how long it would be before they discovered the dead plaguespawn, but Maya wasn’t going to risk it. And if I can’t go back, then the only way out is forward. She stepped out of the tunnel entrance and straighten
ed up.
“All of you,” she said, her voice shakier than she would have liked. “Stop and drop your weapons.”
The three figures froze. After a moment, the closest, a thin man with a ragged fringe of orange-red hair, snatched up a lantern and stalked toward Maya.
“What the fuck?” the woman said from behind him. “How did she get in here?”
“Plagued if I know. It’s some girl.” The thin man raised his lantern in one hand, a small crossbow pointing at Maya. “You picked the wrong place to wander around—”
Maya could see his eyes go wide as he recognized the haken in her hand. She was already pushing off into a sprint as he squeezed the trigger. His aim was bad, and the bolt flew wide. She’d covered half the distance between them as he scrabbled to draw a sword, letting the lantern and crossbow fall.
“She’s a centarch!” he screamed, as her haken ignited with a flaming hiss.
Then she was in front of him and he had his blade out, swinging clumsily for her throat. Maya parried, automatically, the brief contact with deiat carving a glowing notch out of the ordinary steel. Fast as thought, she went into her riposte, a simple upward slash across his body.
If she’d been fighting Jaedia, this would have rewarded her with the blue flare of a panoply field and perhaps a word of praise when the fight was done. Instead, her haken carved a long, charred path across the smuggler, from his hip to his shoulder, flaming blade shearing through clothes, flesh, and bone and leaving smoldering ash in its wake. The man managed a choking cry as he fell, sprawled motionless in the dirt.
Maya had killed plaguespawn. She’d even killed ordinary animals, deer or rabbits for food, once a loadbird that had broken a leg and needed to be put out of its misery. But, until that moment, she’d never turned her power on a human, never snuffed out a life with deiat.
It was horrifyingly easy.
“Plaguing fuck!” The other smuggler’s swearing refocused her attention. He was a larger man, stripped to a tunic and trousers for hard labor. Another heavy coat lay nearby, and he scrabbled with it, searching for something. Maya leveled her glowing haken.
Ashes of the Sun Page 14