It worked. The Grandfather stumbled backward, hands clawing for purchase, but there was nothing to grab. His harpoon spun away and he fell backward into the cart, leaping back to his feet and running down the street, oranges rolling after him.
Tamerlan followed, climbing up to the tiled rooftops, shoving his sword in the scabbard and then half-running, half climbing up one peak, only to half-run, half-slide down the other side.
One more roof and they’d be at the canal, but Maid Chaos showed no signs of stopping.
Destroyed. Destitute. Torn from the land of Legends! He will pay for what he did to me!
She pushed all her fury into Tamerlan’s legs, flying over the rooftops as she watched her prey running on the ground. She didn’t notice or care when she hit the angle wrong and twisted his ankle. Didn’t pause as she left scraped skin and flecks of blood over the roof tile.
The Grandfather was fiddling with something. Was that a scrap of the bandages that had been around her avatar? What was he doing with those?
A trophy! He took a trophy?
Fury bled through her mind and then she was speeding up again. How could she be running faster?
Marielle felt like she was holding her breath – an unwilling passenger on the world’s most terrifying ride. Why did Tamerlan allow this? Why did he invite it? It was horrifying. It stole her humanity away – her agency.
They flew through the air as Maid Chaos leapt from the final roof, her legs treading air as she tried to keep her balance as she fell.
Below them, the Grandfather had just scrambled into a gondola. He argued with the gondolier, making demands.
They were going to miss the gondola by inches. Marielle could see it. Maid Chaos twisted slightly in the air and out of the corner of Tamerlan’s eye, Marielle saw the gondolier make eye contact with them. Jhinn! He stuck his oar in the water and heaved, sending the bow just under the falling Tamerlan.
“Ooof!” The sound was torn from Tamerlan’s lungs as he hit the hull of the boat, landing in a crouch.
But Marielle’s attention was on something else. The Grandfather swirled, spiraling around so fast it was like he was a child’s top spinning. Yellow and purple sparks flicked all around him, popping and crackling and then he was gone.
But she’d seen it happen.
And she was relatively certain that she could do it, too.
Maybe.
Under the right circumstances.
The ground heaved under them, rocking the gondola. Out of the corner of Tamerlan’s eye, she saw the Grandfather getting up out of a crouch in the street up above the canal. He was grinning as he looked down at the gondola.
Tamerlan, she started to say, but just like that – like the closing of a door in her face – something slammed between them and she was out of his mind and body.
The last thing she heard was a loud curse from Maid Chaos.
28: Come back!
Tamerlan
MARIELLE? MARIELLE! Come back!
She’d disappeared as quickly as Maid Chaos had, leaving him shaking in the boat with his hands on his ringing ears.
Bring us back! Bring us back!
Open the Bridge!
Dragon. Dragon. Dragon.
The roar of their voices was overwhelming, making thought difficult. He gritted his teeth against the pain of it and braced himself as the gondola jolted. A huge wave rippled across the canal, carrying everything on its swell. Smoke rose in the distance as battles continued around the city.
“Smoke again! Smoke again!” It took him a moment to realize it was Jhinn screaming at him and not one of the Legends. He was pointing at the Grandfather from where he looked down on the canal laughing. “I saw Marielle and the golden-haired lady. You can smoke again and get them back!”
“She didn’t use the Eye. I begged her to, but she didn’t use it.”
Jhinn didn’t listen. He fumbled in the back of the boat, moving so quickly that when he pulled out the tiny wooden box with the paper rolls in it, some of them spilled across the gondola floor. Urgently, he scooped one up, lighting the end in his gondola lantern. He jammed it in Tamerlan’s mouth.
She’d been there. Marielle. Jhinn had seen it, too! Tamerlan sucked in smoke like drinking water after a run, hoping to hear her voice. Hoping for the strength to catch the Legend again.
Yes! He could almost feel Lila’s fist pounding the air as she snatched his body, winked at Jhinn and then leapt off the gondola to scale the smooth stone wall up to the street. She was as effortless in her motions as a spider crawling up a web. Stick with me, pretty man and I will have you begging me to stay. You still have more of that mixture, right? Keep it around and we’ll rule the world you and me!
Lila? Why Lila and not Maid Chaos again?
She scaled the wall and flung herself over the railing. She was running almost before she leapt from it, skidding to a halt at the sight of the Grandfather battling Etienne, Liandari, and Anglarok all at once.
I didn’t think you’d be sorry to feel her leave.
He hadn’t been.
She’s gone. Gone forever. When the Grandfather killed her, it destroyed her for all eternity. She only had as long as her spirit could hold on to you.
Swords and harpoon met the Grandfather’s blade in a quick dance, but he was already spinning, purple and yellow sparks flying in every direction. He disappeared with a pop.
Tamerlan spun around looking for him along the rooftops and down the street, but he was nowhere to be seen. Wasn’t Lila upset that he’d killed Maid Chaos? Wasn’t she troubled by that?
Not particularly. I never liked her. I prefer to drink wine, not blood.
Then why complain that he’d killed her?
The chaining of magical creatures – particularly ones as big as dragons – is a complicated process requiring renewed magic.
Great, change the subject. His eyes were still studying every rooftop and alley he could see, looking for the Grandfather.
I’m not changing the subject. Renewed magic is part of the answer.
Etienne had told him about that. The mandala that the people walked through the city streets helped hold the dragon in place. So did the Lady Sacrifice’s blood every year.
Fail on either count, and the dragon wakes.
“What just happened?” Anglarok asked, spinning like Tamerlan was. His scarf was wrapped so thick around his mouth that his words were muffled. “Have we lost him again?”
He avoided Tamerlan’s eyes and Tamerlan wanted to blush at that. The man thought he was insane.
You are insane, or maybe you’re the sanest of us all. Who knows? Lean into it. Your insanity is more powerful than their dull sanity.
The ground rumbled beneath their feet again.
“What is that?” Liandari asked, her face pale.
Etienne exchanged a look of understanding with Tamerlan. They’d both felt this before.
But Choan had sacrificed their Maid Chaos. Choan had people walking out the mandala on her streets. In fact, they were running the mandala right now, chasing and being chased all over the city as they fought the invaders.
There’s a third thing that also must not fail – the initial binding.
Initial binding?
Every generation has to deal with dragons. The question is not whether they will rise, but what your generation will do when they come for you. Will your generation stand the test? Will anyone rise who can bind the dragon?
The initial binding? Was she suggesting that Maid Chaos had bound the dragon Choan? That somehow the destruction of her avatar nullified that binding?
Why else do you think Choan is rising?
He shivered under her control as the ground under them shivered again.
“Tamerlan! TAM!” Jhinn’s voice was faint, but Tamerlan dashed to the railing and looked down at the boy. He pointed in the distance to where boats choked the canal, white boats filled with the Retribution.
They were bearing down the canal, lighting every boat they saw on fire.
Horror filled Tamerlan. Those weren’t just trading boats and gondolas. Some were family boats. And most were operated by Waverunners who would die in the water or by the flames. He clenched his jaw. He didn’t care what Lila wanted, they had to save Jhinn.
And avoid the dragon’s wrath.
She could just keep her opinions to herself.
Did I say anything?
She launched him over the rail and took up a stance in the bow as she drew her sword.
She wasn’t going to fight him on this?
Just you and me against an army? Sounds like fun. Maybe when we’re done, we can find the Grandfather.
And just like that, he saw the old man, running along the rooftops heading in the opposite direction of the raging boats of the Retribution.
“That way!” he called to Jhinn. “We’ll avoid the invaders and try to keep the Grandfather in our sights!”
Why didn’t the Grandfather just leave the city?
There is something here that he wants, and I am determined that he should not get it.
Jhinn began to spin the boat around at the same moment that it jostled, shoving deeper into the water and rocking violently. Tamerlan spun to see Liandari, Anglarok, and Etienne recovering from their leap into the boat.
“Glad to see that you’ve joined us,” Lila said with his voice. She sounded almost glib. “You’re just in time. We have invaders chasing us, bent on our destruction, the dragon beneath the city is rising, and the Grandfather is outdistancing us. Oh, and if he gets to his goal before we do, he’ll unleash destruction on these five cities unlike anything you’ve ever seen.”
“We’ve seen dragons rise before,” Etienne said quietly.
“But have you seen the Legends ride them?” Lila asked. “No? Then let’s make sure that you never do.”
29: Unthinkable
Marielle
SHE’D SEEN IT! SHE’D seen exactly how to pop in and out of time! And now she just needed to try it. But to try it, she’d need a body and hers was stuck in a clock.
If she’d had a body, she would have had to swallow down the acid rising in her throat. Because claiming a body could only mean one thing. There was only one person offering his body to spirits right now. And that was Tamerlan.
The fool!
The utter, incomprehensible fool. She wanted to throttle him. No cause was great enough to risk losing everything like that. He was risking his sanity, his humanity, his agency – everything!
Her thoughts stuttered to a stop. Really, Marielle? No cause? What about justice? Hadn’t she sworn an oath that she would do anything necessary to preserve justice? Would she have risked her sanity for it? The sanity of others? The lives of others?
Where did you draw the line? When the choice wasn’t between good and bad but between bad and worse. When the risks were uncertain and the outcomes opaque – where did you lay out a line and guard it like the wall of a palace?
She wished she knew.
But there was a clear answer somewhere. She just had to find it. And she had to try to find a way to do this without taking over his body. Because she would never be able to forgive herself if she violated someone else that way.
She searched, diving through time like a dolphin, searching, searching, searching for another way. A way that would keep them both from doing the unthinkable.
30: Bell Tower
Tamerlan
WHATEVER THAT DEVICE was that Jhinn had made to propel the gondola was worth ten times its weight in gold. Etienne worked the pedals, sweat beading on his forehead as a watchful Jhinn used his oar to steer the boat between the other escaping craft.
Lila had Tamerlan perched at the very front of the boat, holding the ferro and leaning over the dark brackish water as she kept his eyes on the Legend. She ignored the whispers between Anglarok and Liandari.
But Tamerlan was listening.
“We gave oath,” Anglarok reminded her.
“Is the oath more important or the Retribution? It’s started, Anglarok. There is glory to be won, a greater name, a new set of beaches on my skin!”
He snorted. “A woman is only worth what weight her word can bear. Stay the course.”
Lila leapt so quickly that Tamerlan – distracted by their words – didn’t have time to mentally brace himself. He heard the shouts of his companions from behind him, but she was already leaping from one boat to the next, ignoring their cries as she chased the Grandfather.
A squawking chicken flew up in front of him and she batted it to the side, leaping right over the head of an old Waverunner woman as she cursed at Tamerlan. Lila narrowly avoided a swinging oar as one gondolier took a swipe at him and then they were at the canal wall, Lila scaling it with lightning speed. She could find a handhold or foothold in rock so slick that Tamerlan would have thought it impossible to climb.
They emerged on the street, running through a clump of Choan guard.
“You there! Join the guard or consider yourself an enemy!”
By the time the guard got to ‘enemy’, he was already past, streaking up the wall of a nearby building – a trade consortium topped by a massive bell tower. He’d seen a tower like that before in Jingen.
The Trade House. It’s a common feature. In there they set the price of goods for the city daily – wheat, flax, oranges, iron – if you can name it, they are selling and trading it in there. They ring the bell to announce changes in the exchange.
The Grandfather seemed set on reaching the bell. His wiry frame was already scaling the white stone tower, red scarf rippling in the morning breeze. Lila followed at an almost alarming speed, as if she’d been climbing bell towers her whole life.
I have been.
As if she had no fear scaling the slick wall.
I don’t.
As if she really thought they could catch the Grandfather up there.
He works his head into the noose! Where can he flee to from the top of a tower? Will he sprout wings and flap away? Fool! He chose my stomping grounds – the world above, the world of thieves and rogues.
And this time she would use the Eye, right? She’d make sure he was bound so they could get himt o the clock.
Haven’t you realized yet that we aren’t going to use your precious Eye?
We?
The Legends.
But Abelmeyer used it on the dragon!
You’re our one link to this world. What good are you to us blind?
But she had promised!
I lie to you. Often. Don’t let it sour your mood.
The city below them looked like the tide rushing over a beach. The ground still shook with rolling tremors, but from the sea, a wave of white washed over the city – the sails and banners of the Retribution were all white gilded with golden edges.
Chaos is when I thrive. People don’t notice a trifle gone in the middle of a war.
How had she become a Legend? He couldn’t imagine her doing anything selfless or noble. She’d already admitted to being a liar.
She snorted. And you thought Maid Chaos could be noble? Clearly, you didn’t understand the depths of her cruelty. Or the Grandfather – do you think him selfless? We all do things for our own reasons. Sometimes, a selfish person might do something that seems selfless to achieve their selfish end. A madwoman might do something seemingly noble for reasons so insane they can’t be delved. Don’t think you can judge by actions. You only ever see a small piece.
Who would have thought that a thief would lecture him on morality?
Do you want to catch the Legend or don’t you?
His arms burned from the effort of climbing. Lila glanced down briefly and his head swam at how much higher they were than the gondola they’d left below. Jhinn was staring up at them, hand shielding his eyes. Hopefully, he got over that and kept fleeing. That fleet wasn’t going to stop just because Tamerlan had.
This tower was so high that he was surprised he hadn’t noticed it before they started climbing.
You were pr
eoccupied.
And they were almost at the top. How was the Grandfather going to ride a dragon from up here? It made no sense.
He’s off course. I drove him up here.
The Grandfather flung himself over the lip of the small wall surrounding the bell and Tamerlan was just a few spans beneath the lip. They’d gained a lot of ground.
I am the greatest climber who ever lived. The greatest schemer. The most triumphant of all. See why you should give yourself to me? Let me guide you down a fresh path – a path to prosperity.
He wasn’t even sure if survival was an option for him. Never mind prosperity. And both those things came far below redemption. He just wanted to get right again, somehow.
Sure. We can do that, too.
They flipped over the edge of the wall into the bell tower like a fish over the side of a boat, landing in an artful crouch. Tamerlan’s knife was in his hand before he’d stuck the landing.
“And who is possessing you today?” the Grandfather asked from where he leaned against the massive brass bell. His reflection was warped and twisted in the bell – just like the Legend being reflected. “Maid Chaos is gone. I’d like to know whose avatar to target next.”
“You’ll never find it,” Lila laughed in Tamerlan’s voice. “It’s not revered like yours is. There aren’t religions built on me.”
“Ram the Hunter?” the Grandfather asked, and Lila laughed again.
“Hardly.”
“I was Time for a while – still have some of those tricks up my sleeves.” He shot his cuffs dramatically and sparks leapt out from them. “I can find out where anyone’s avatar was put. All I have to do is to go and look.”
Lila laughed again. “Well, that assumes you’re free to look. And for once, I want what the kid wants. I want you back in that clock.”
The Grandfather’s smile looked more like a death rictus.
“Then catch me – if you can.”
He shoved the bell, hard. It barely moved, though a small gong sound – as if the clapper had barely brushed the massive bell – filled the air.
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