Liseli didn’t know how long she stood there staring into Alisiya’s eyes. She listened to the steady drip drip dripping of Alisiya’s life, her magic, her River of blood. It ran onto the floor and into the trough that surrounded the altar — the altar built specially for draining a person’s blood. It was that realization that made Liseli tear her gaze away from Alisiya and take a step back, looking at the trough. The altar top swam with blood; it seemed impossible that the severed arteries could pump that much, that that much could come from one body. The trough ran downward into what seemed like a drain, disappearing into the floor to who knew where.
Standing in the flow of blood, just before it ran into the drain, was the Child. It surveyed Liseli as stoically as it had that first day in the otherworld, silent eyes in a pale brown face. Its loincloth seemed absurdly white and bright in the half lit room, its head shockingly bald to Liseli after having grown accustomed to associating Alisiya with her cascade of night black hair.
“We the River Children never die,” it said. “We never die, and never lived, not really. Not really.”
And then it was gone.
* * *
Hours might have passed. Liseli didn’t know. The blood flow abated, going from a steady gushing to a weak dribble. Alisiya did not stir again, and her skin turned from a white to a gray, almost as if she were shriveling up into a dusty mummy. Liseli turned, slowly, away from the sight, and saw Leeton behind her.
He was sleeping. He had laid down next to a giant dog in the shadows and the two of them slept on, oblivious to everything. She was surprised. She hadn’t noticed them before. She wondered what would have happened if they had woken up while she was gouging Alisiya. She looked around, wondering why none of the dogs had awoken, why none of them had sensed that their beloved mistress was dying once and for all. Was the carnage and blood all around them enough to dull their senses to Alisiya’s distress? Or had she not called them?
Liseli shook her head. More important was the question, why was she standing there? She should be sleeping. Resting. Tomorrow — or was it today? — would be a big day. They had all those Adayzjians outside to contend with, and she was not going to just sit around inside the temple eating up the stores and hoping Leeton’s hold on the doors maintained.
Russ was still asleep against the wall. Liseli dropped herself beside him and drew herself close, knotting up his shirt in her hands. He stirred slightly, putting his arms around her, and asked in his sleep, “Still raining?”
Liseli kissed the underside of his chin and answered softly, “It is.”
Chapter 34 ~ City of Death
Russ woke feeling sore and unrested, as if he’d slept on concrete all night. Not surprising, considering he’d slept on a stone floor, which is much like concrete. He rolled over and rubbed his eyes. Liseli lay next to him, grimacing in her sleep, her arms folded over her chest and her hands tucked under her chin. She seemed tense and defensive even in sleep, as if she were curled up against something assailing her in her dreams. Still, he didn’t want to disturb her, since their waking reality couldn’t be much better than a nightmare.
He sat up and looked around. Lumpy forms of dogs lay scattered around the chamber, so still they almost looked dead. Leeton stood over the bier, just as he had when Russ had last seen him before drifting off to sleep, and Russ frowned, wondering if the Alisiyan king ever slept. He stood up, stiffly, and stretched. Hearing him, Leeton turned.
Even in the dim, unnatural light, Russ saw the harrowed expression on the older man’s face, and knew something was wrong. A second later he caught sight of Alisiya’s body on the bier behind her father, and his stomach did a little flip flop when he saw the garish black smile carved across her throat. Blood stains covered her arms and a knife jutted from her chest like a sick and twisted cherry on a particularly unappetizing sundae.
“What . . . ?” was all Russ managed to get out, flabbergasted by the mutilation.
“I slept,” Leeton said, his voice shaking, “I slept . . . and now my daughter. . . . and my dogs. There is someone inside,” he declared, trying to compose himself, “one of them must have survived; we will find them, and kill them.”
“Leeton,” Russ said carefully, overcoming his shock and becoming wary of the unstable look in the King’s eyes. “I thought your dogs could sniff out everyone inside. How could there be—”
“I don’t know, but look! Look at this!” Leeton gestured to the sleeping canines. “I can’t find any wounds on them, but they will not rise and they are not breathing. And my . . . Alisiya . . . she was supposed to wake. She—”
“Wake?” Russ echoed incredulously.
“Yes, wake. I was waiting for her to heal, to come back. I did not intend to sleep at all, and I don’t remember even sitting down, but then I woke up this morning on the floor,” Leeton explained agitatedly.
“Something or someone caused me to sleep, and that same someone did this. We will find them and kill them,” he repeated. “Find them and kill them.”
Now he’s lost it. Really lost it, Russ thought. No one could have survived that fall from the roof, and Alisiya had seemed pretty well dead. But it confirmed his earlier suspicions that Leeton was gradually losing grip on reality in the face of his daughter’s death.
However, the dead dogs and the mutilated corpse was enough to convince Russ that Leeton was right about there being something else inside the temple with them. He turned around to wake up Liseli, and was startled to see her standing quietly in the corner, observing them.
“We’ve got a problem,” he said grimly. “Something survived in here and it killed the dogs. I dunno why it didn’t just kill all of us, but . . . .” He stopped, feeling a little creeped out by the way Liseli stared dispassionately at the scene on the bier. “Um, I’m thinking it might be Ricalli.” He glanced back at Leeton. “Maybe since he’s not human the dogs couldn’t smell him or sense him. I thought he’d left when your dogs first attacked, but . . . .”
Leeton and Liseli seemed suddenly oblivious to Russ’s theorizing; instead of paying attention to him they were intent on exchanging long, unblinking stares. “And sooooo,” Russ said slowly, “we’re all fucked. Yeah, pretty much no chance in hell. I’m sure he’s about to kill us . . . and grind up our bones . . . to make popsicles — are you listening to me?”
“You,” said Leeton, ignoring him and pointing a shaking finger at Liseli. “You have her blood on your hands.”
Liseli glanced down at her hands, and so did Russ. There was dried blood on them, but Russ wasn’t sure what made Leeton think it belonged to Alisiya. “Liseli?” he said carefully, sensing the situation was about to get very tense; “what’s that from?”
“It’s hers,” Liseli said indifferently. “He’s right. I did that.” She nodded toward the bier. “I had to. She was coming to life again.”
Leeton made a strangled sound in his throat and leapt toward Liseli.
“Whoa!” Russ dove between them and knocked Leeton aside. “Wait a minute — stop!” he protested as Leeton caught his balance and tried it again. “Just hold it—”
Leeton threw a punch and caught Russ squarely on the mouth. He grabbed Liseli by the shoulders and shook her. “How dare you!”
Russ recovered and quickly grabbed him from behind, wrapping his arm around the King’s neck and pulling him away. Leeton let go of Liseli and tried to peel Russ off of him, but Russ pushed him to the ground roughly and yelled at Liseli to get far away. Leeton scrambled to his feet, but Russ punched him in the gut when he tried to rush after Liseli.
“Don’t touch her,” he said darkly, throwing another punch for good measure as Leeton sank to his knees.
“Hold off,” Leeton panted, and put up a hand.
The King was not solidly built — he was tall and gave an illusion of imposing power with his demeanor, but Russ now realized that he actually had the size advantage. But he was still wary; Leeton was older and a far superior Key. Russ had no idea what exactly he could do, th
ough so far he didn’t seem to be particularly skilled in hand-to-hand. There was a good reason, apparently, that he had bred an army of vicious dogs to do his fighting.
“Damn it,” Russ muttered, wiping blood from his mouth. The one punch Leeton had landed had split his lip. “I don’t know what’s going on, but you’re not laying a fucking finger on Liseli. Got that?”
“My daughter has been butchered,” Leeton said darkly. “I was not enemies with Liseli, but I will not let my daughter’s death go unanswered.”
Liseli, meanwhile, had not run far away as Russ had instructed, but had instead gone over to the bier and pulled the knife out of Alisiya’s chest. She held it at the ready now, and stepped toward the two men. “Oh shut up,” she said with disgust. “Your daughter was a psychotic murderer. A monster. I did what I had to do, to stop her from hurting anyone ever again. She had to be stopped. You know that just as well as I do.”
“She was my daughter. My only daughter. I risked my life to help you, and you killed my child while she was helpless.” Leeton’s eyes were taking on that strange, unsettling shifting of color that he and Alisiya had shared, darkening as if at any moment he might shoot laser beams out at them.
“And now you’re helpless, too,” Liseli pointed out, ignoring his accusation and seeming unfazed by the inhuman eye action. “Your dogs are dead, and even Russ can beat you up. Maybe you should stop thinking about revenge and start thinking about self-preservation.”
“Liseli—” Russ pretended for the moment that he hadn’t noticed the “even” before his name, “—what did you do to the dogs?” He said it calmly, but Liseli’s behavior was starting to worry him.
“Nothing,” she said, glancing around at the inert animals with a puzzled frown. “I didn’t do anything to the dogs.”
They were all three silent for a moment. Russ half expected Leeton to accuse her of lying and go off on a rant about his beloved pets, but instead the King just raised himself to his feet with a wary eye on Russ. Russ returned the gaze with an equally untrusting glare.
“The dogs were dead first,” the King said. “If they were alive they would have sensed Alisiya’s distress. They would have ripped her to shreds.” He cast a dark glance Liseli’s way.
“Don’t look at her like that,” Russ growled.
“Do not presume to tell me what to do,” said Leeton. “You may have gotten a few punches in before but if you press me I will—”
“What? Sic your doggies on me? If you hadn’t noticed, they’re dead and that gives us all something to worry about. You have a problem with Liseli, save it for later, I will gladly kick your ass then,” Russ said heatedly, taking a menacing step towards the King.
“You presume the ability.” Leeton didn’t back down, raising himself to his full height and daring Russ to strike first.
“You’re fucking right I do,” Russ retorted. “And you know what? There’s a dead priest lying around here somewhere that proves I can hold my own, without any puppy dogs doing my dirty work, so yeah, you just try something and I’ll—”
Leeton interrupted Russ’s tirade with his fist, catching him unawares on the chin. Russ cursed and parried with his own punch, aimed at Leeton’s head. But this time he missed and staggered past the King, who caught him in the stomach and then kicked his feet out from under him.
“I haven’t lived this long by being outmatched by a boy,” he said disdainfully.
Russ scrambled to his feet and barreled into Leeton, taking the King down to the floor. They fell on top of the stiffening dog corpses but hardly noticed, each intent on taking the other one out. Russ had the advantage, with Leeton caught underneath him, and he wasted no time in battering the older man’s face with punches.
“Stop it!” Liseli interjected, standing above them. “This is ridiculous! I don’t need you fighting for my honor or whatever it is you think you’re doing, Russ.”
“He’s threatening to kill you!” Russ protested, leaning out of the way as Leeton tried to reach up and seize him in a stranglehold.
“And I have the knife!” Liseli waved it at him. “He gets near me, I’ll do the same to him as I did his precious princess. In the meantime, something in this godawful place killed all the dogs without leaving a mark. Should we be thinking about that instead?”
“I’ve been trying to,” insisted Russ. “The vengeful father here is making it kind of hard.”
Liseli bent down and held the edge of the blade against Leeton’s throat.
“I’m a bad person,” she said quietly, as Russ stared at her. “I used to be a nice, normal girl but then your daughter gave me no choice but to kill her, so I guess that makes me ruthless now? Well, they do say it’s easier the second time. I don’t have anything against you personally and I don’t want to have to kill you, but right now I’m getting sick enough of watching you and Russ fight like a bad WWE reenactment that I may just do it.”
“That’s my girl,” Russ said to Leeton, smiling grimly.
“I like her,” said a voice from behind them, and Liseli jumped in surprise, nicking the underside of Leeton’s chin.
Russ twisted around to see Ricalli watching them from the shadows.
He stepped forward, arms crossed over his chest. “Yesterday we were discussing a mutually beneficial arrangement,” he said with a slight nod to Russ. “I’d like to continue. Once I have killed the man responsible for the death of my people.”
Russ hesitated. Liseli stood, removing the knife from Leeton’s neck, and said, “No.”
“What?” Ricalli raised an eyebrow at her. “Were you not just threatening to do the same?”
“Threatening, yes, actually doing it, no. Who are you?”
“He’s Ricalli,” said Russ. “He’s dangerous.”
Liseli looked the god of shadows over appraisingly, then asked, “What were you ‘discussing’ with Russ?”
Leeton had gone very still, but Russ did not trust him enough to let him up. The King turned his murderously angry gaze from Liseli to Ricalli, and Russ was sure he didn’t plan on just letting them do whatever they wanted with him.
Ricalli gave Liseli an answer; “He is a Key, I have a desire to travel. We were discussing him becoming my escort through the Gates.” He spread his hands in a non-threatening gesture. “And why is this mutually beneficial?” he supplied the question, and answered it with an amused smile; “I have powers to ensure his safety in possibly hostile worlds, which is something I think you have both discovered is necessary.”
Liseli looked at Russ, questions written all over her face, but she didn’t say anything. He just shrugged.
“Now, it seems we have a common enemy,” Ricalli nodded towards Leeton. “I did not appreciate his mongrels massacring my offspring, nor have I appreciated being locked in the temple with them lurking and slobbering around. Now, I could have taken care of him in his sleep as I did his dogs, but such a painless and peaceful death seemed somehow wrong . . . .”
“No,” Liseli repeated, and crossed her arms, offering no explanation.
Ricalli just raised one eyebrow again. “I do think I liked you better when you were holding the knife to his throat. I find your sudden nobility rather annoying.”
“Touch a hair on her head and I’m not taking you anywhere,” Russ said, ready to leap to Liseli’s defense.
“Relax, please.” Ricalli shook his head. “I wasn’t threatening her.”
“Because we both know how well you treat women,” Russ scoffed.
Ricalli dipped his head in acknowledgment of the point. “It’s in both of our best interests at the moment to cooperate with each other, right now. I am not stupid enough to think that hurting her is the best way to ensure your compliance.”
“Yeah, whatever, just stay away from her.” Russ eased up on Leeton, standing up and pulling the King up with him. Leeton, aware that his life was in the balance, was careful not to make any sudden moves.
“Look,” Russ said, “I have nothing against Leeton, as l
ong as he stops trying to hurt Liseli. I’m not for just letting you kill him.”
“I am not in the habit of obeying humans,” Ricalli said, clearly annoyed.
“Hey, ‘cooperation’ was your choice of words,” Russ told him. “You want me to Key you around, you can’t act like a psycho. I don’t make deals with psychos. I mean, well, I do, but part of the deal is to not act psychotic. Got it?”
“You are a bizarre creature,” was all Ricalli said, with a quizzical look, and Russ took that as compliance.
Leeton, who had remained cautiously silent for a while, spoke up. There was an odd shift in his voice that made Russ suspicious, but he said very calmly; “What exactly are you planning on doing now?”
Russ wasn’t sure who he was addressing, but he answered, “Well, if everyone here is agreeing to not try killing anyone else, at the moment, I think we should leave. I mean—” he turned to Ricalli, “—we’re hunkered down here because your people outside are gonna want to kill us. But you can stop them. So . . . .”
“Yes, I will order them to stand down.” Ricalli waved a hand dismissively, with a sideways glance at Leeton so brief that Russ might have missed it if he wasn’t watching so closely.
“Everyone here gets out alive,” Russ said pointedly.
“Yes,” Ricalli replied innocently. “I understand.”
All four of them stood still for a few moments, looking warily from person to person, until Russ said, “Um, one of us has to do something.”
Suddenly there was a booming noise from out in the front hall, and everyone except for Leeton jumped. He said with eerie composure, “I’ve opened the doors.”
They looked out into the hall and saw the bodies that Russ and Liseli had barricaded against the front doors scattered to each side of the hall, some pinned between the doors and the walls. Ricalli clenched his jaw, but Russ didn’t know if it was from any sort of emotion over his peoples’ deaths, or just that the defeat hurt his pride.
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