Halfway (Wizards and Faeries)

by Stephanie Void

  “Try a roast pepper, miss?”

  I shook my head at the old woman and her plate of peppers, fighting to keep my feet moving. I could feel the mud and damp hay—and I didn’t know what else—caked to the soles of my bare feet. I was grateful that my dress, an old one from when I was younger, barely reached past my knees. Its hem would have been ruined after touching this filthy ground.

  The writing on the shop windows and signs seemed to scream at me with its constant barrage of words.

  A man yelled something to me about winning money. I walked a little faster.

  Turning a corner, I was relieved to find myself in a dim side street.

  My stomach, which had been feeling increasingly worse as I’d walked through the crowded street, finally admitted defeat. Leaning over, I threw up.

  I stood still for awhile, my back against the cool stone of a building, out of sight, my eyes closed. The sudden quiet of the deserted street made me feel as though I’d leapt under the surface of a pool of water.

  After a time, I wasn’t sure how long, I tipped my head back and spoke in a whisper. “Is… is this how humans are?” I opened my eyes and stared at the clear cleanness of the twilight sky above me. “It makes me glad I grew up alone.”

  When I at last emerged from the safety of the side street from the opposite side, I realized I had wandered into a different of the city. It was quieter, with houses instead of shops, and I could see the masts of ships in the distance above the rooftops. Delighted, I went towards them, but the task was more difficult than it seemed. I walked down countless streets and retraced my footsteps multiple times before I found the harbor, and even then it was only with the aid of three different people I asked on the street for directions.

  It was after dark when I saw the ships, but the sight of them washed all my weariness away. Dozens of ships bobbed in the dark water. Several were painted with the moon-eye insignia. I chose one of those, then ducked into the shadows behind a building and stripped down to my underwear, stuffing my dress in my satchel. I slung my satchel on my back, tied it there securely, and slipped into the water like a pale fish.

  Getting on board was an easy matter. I was a good swimmer, a good climber, and could be silent when I needed to be. I had read much on the anatomy of ships. Within a matter of minutes I had climbed to the deck and slipped below into the hull without being seen.

  The hold was crammed with the cargo: food of all types. I found a place between several crates of potatoes and stacks of cheese wheels. Then I spread out my still-soggy dress, tried to press more water out of it, and waited.

  I had no concept of how long I was in the hull of the ship. I ate, I slept, and I amused myself in the darkness by counting potatoes or knocking away the little white roots they formed on their skins. I was happy, so happy, to be at last going in search of Temet. I lay in the dark, trying to plan something suitably witty to say to him when at last we were reunited.

  But what if he was nothing like I remembered or didn’t even remember me? I decided it was best not to think about that.

  I heard the noises of rats in the hull sometimes, little stowaways like me, and I sang quietly to them, the way Nessy used to sing to me at night.

  At last I heard scraping one day and awoke to beams of light issuing in as the hull was opened. Men came and began to unload the cargo, and I squeezed into one of the potato crates in hopes that no one would see me.

  It didn’t work. As soon as the men unloading reached my crate, I heard a shout and raised voices.

  “There’s something in here!”

  “Well, haul it up and let us take a look!”

  I felt the crate being hauled to the deck. I spilled out onto the planks along with potatoes as someone emptied the crate onto the deck.

  The day was too bright! I squinted.

  “A stowaway!” yelled someone.

  “A girl, too!” shouted someone else.

  “Should we turn her over to the duke?”

  My vision cleared. I was lying on the deck amid a pile of potatoes. Several strangely-dressed, swarthy men stood over me.

  “What’s your name, miss? And what were you doing in the potatoes?” asked one of them.

  I stood up. “I’m—I’m Cemagna,” I stammered. “I stowed away—I’m sorry—but it was the only way to get to the Wizardly Order.”

  “I’m Mayhew Kopley. We aren’t going to the Wizardly Order, I’m afraid.”

  “But your ship! It has the moon-eye on it! You must be going there!”

  Kopley shook his head. “No, sorry, miss, but it doesn’t.”

  With a sick feeling, I ran to the railing and looked down at the hull—the bare hull. I must have chosen the wrong ship in the dark!

  “Do… do you know how I can get there?” I asked in a small voice.

  “Why? They come to you and take you away if they want you. No one goes to them,” said Kopley. He shook his head. “They have their own fleet of ships, true enough, but none of their men ever talk to other sailors. They’re really shady, they are. Downright mysterious. I’m not even sure where this Order is located.” He pursed his lips. “Tell you what, though. Their people are everywhere. You go to into the city, look around a bit. Look for the people with the long black scarves. They all wear a silver pin with that moon-eye on it when they’re out and about among us mere mortals.” He laughed. “You can tell who they are from a distance, usually, especially the Enforcers. They give everyone within twenty feet of them the shivers.”

  “Why?”

  “The Enforcers are charged with finding rogue wizards who ran away from the Order. It’s what they do, and they scare everyone around doing it because they’re so powerful.”

  I put one hand to my head. This was all wrong. How could I have made such a mistake?

  “Where am I?” I asked Kopley, looking around. The ship was docked with others, and I could see buildings and people moving about on shore. A lot of them—more people than I had ever seen in my life. And the buildings—so tall! Much taller and finer than the ones in the port city.

  “You’re in Vel City. Ruled by the Duke Von Chi.”

  “Thank you… thank you,” I said uncertainly.

  “My pleasure, miss. Would you –”

  “Kopley!” someone amidships yelled, and Kopley darted away in response.

  I walked down the gangplank and onto the dock. Land. Different from my home.

  I walked along the pier to the street, where a maze of people hurried about the business of the day, hundreds of shoes and wheels clacking on cobblestones. I could handle the city’s sensory assault better than last time, so I straightened up and marched into the throng, determined to inquire among every shopkeeper I could find for the whereabouts of the Wizardly Order.

  Three figures emerging from one of the shops caught my attention. They were in black, their faces and shoulders covered by black veils. On their foreheads were insignias: silver moon-eyes. The Order.

  I stopped in my tracks, unsure. These could be the men I was looking for—men who would lead me to my brother. On the other hand, the black veils unnerved me…

  One of their number swiveled its head toward me and stopped dead, its hidden gaze locked on me. For only a moment.

  The figure shouted to its fellows and the three of them lunged for me.

  Black-gloved hands wrapped around my arms, tightening. What were they doing?

  Another reached into a black fold of cloth and produced a green vial, reaching forward, bringing it closer to my face.

  What were they trying to do to me?

  I thrashed, freeing one of my fists, which I aimed at a throat invisible beneath black fabric. The creature staggered back. Another grabbed me from the side, pinning my arms to my sides as the third grabbed at me from the other side. I bucked into the first with one hip while kicking the second hard. Twisting, I flipped the first onto his back and planted a foot in his chest, looking up for the others. One was standing back, pouring the liquid from the small
bottle onto a cloth. I saw and knew that, no matter what, I must not let that cloth near me.

  A small circle of horrified onlookers had formed around us, none of them offering help to either side.

  I kicked the one under me for good measure, so he would stay down, as another of the black-garbed attackers aimed a punch at my face. I blocked it, just barely, and planted a fist under his chin. His head jerked back and I turned, for only a moment, to look for the other one.

  The last thing I saw was the one with the rag and the little bottle triumphantly passing the rag under my nose. Sweet fumes reached my nostrils and I felt me knees weakening. He shoved the rag in my face again and I felt myself falling.

  Chapter 11

  Cemagna

  I was lost. In the airless world, lost forever. Temet would never find me here. Neither would Kopley… or anyone else. Ever.

  It was so dark, so very unlike my home on the cliff. My home, the one I might never see again…

  I shook my head, trying to shake those thoughts away. I mustn’t think of home. If I did, I knew I would start to cry again. Then I realized I was awake, tie up, and there was a rough cloth sack thrown over my head.

  “How long have I been here?” I asked the cloth of the sack in front of my face. “Why?”

  Sighing, I pulled my feet up under my chin and tried to wiggle out of the ropes.

  Around me, I heard a hissing sound, and the air suddenly became too thick to breathe. I gasped against its suddenly sweet taste, trying to inhale. Then everything became foggy.

  Dimly, much later, I was aware of the feel of hands. Was I being transported somewhere? How much time had passed? Why were my thoughts all fuzzy all of a sudden?

  Then the rough cloth sack over me vanished. I sucked air in gratefully, feeling the effects of whatever drug I had breathed beginning to lessen. Attempting to move, I discovered that I was now curled on a cold floor and the ropes were gone.

  Around me was total darkness except for points of pale light that hovered in the air… fifteen of them, I counted. Blinking, my eyes adjusted, and I saw the pale points of light were lanterns, each being held at chest-height by fifteen figures standing in a circle around me. I shivered. They were all clothed like the three who had attacked me, the angry moon-eyes on their foreheads glinting in the lantern light, forming a row of angry silver stares.

  “We are here,” a dark, liquid voice proclaimed, “to pass judgment on the abomination which sits before us.”

  Abomination? I felt my mouth dropping open, but I couldn’t form words.

  “We all know the crimes you are guilty of. That has already been decided. What we are to determine is what punishment will be inflicted as a result thereof.”

  I tasted fear on my lips at those words. By now, my head was now fully clear of whatever drug they had used to bring me here. Or at least clear enough to panic.

  “Wh-who are y-you?” I mustn’t panic, I told myself. My voice sounded tiny compared to whatever I was talking to.

  “We are the Enforcers, and we pronounce judgment upon you! You have been deemed an unrepentant rogue, too dangerous to live!”

  Another voice, slightly less dark and liquid, broke in. “Are you sure she is guilty? It has been years—she could be another, or she could be dead. Look at her… she’s not—”

  “Don’t presume too much!” said the first voice. “She had power enough to deceive you. It is she, the one whose fate was decided years ago.”

  I pushed myself into a sitting position on the floor and noticed it was made of smoothed rock shot through with veins of quartz. Was I underground? In the light cast by the lanterns, I saw that just beyond the circle, the smoothness ended and the floor was jagged and uneven. The sound of water trickled from an unseen source. A cave, then. Craning my neck I saw, past the motionless figures and the jagged rock, the sheen of water. I’m underground, in a cave near an underground river, I concluded.

  I felt hot and sick. They want to punish me! I have done nothing!

  “It is therefore the decree of this Court that the Nameless Girl is an enemy of the Enforcers and the Ten Ring, as she stands convicted by her own actions. She is now hereby sentenced to be hung by the neck until dead.”

  Death! He was sentencing me to death!

  “I—I didn’t do anything! I’ve never even been here before!” I cried, pushing my panic away. “This is a mistake!”

  “Silence! There is no mistake. We know who you are, and we know you lie! You have done much harm and have made yourself a danger to free life and an enemy of the Enforcers!”

  The Enforcers? I wasn’t a rogue wizard who had left the Order. How was I their enemy?

  Two of the fifteen figures broke away from the circle to step forward, grab me by the arms, and haul me to my feet.

  The Enforcers moved in unison to hang their lanterns in a single row at one side of the cave. The two holding my arms brought me forward towards the water. As I got closer, I could see by the lantern light that it was a fast-flowing river. The almost luminous green water rushed through the cave, drowning out the sound of my heavy breath. Anxiety gripped me as I stared down at it, then looked up.

  A single rope hung down from a beam that was somehow wedged in the cave ceiling, the eerie green light from the water playing upon the noose tied into the rope. Using a hooked pole, one of the Enforcers caught hold of the noose and pulled it towards the shore. Taking it into his hands, he handed it to one of his fellows standing next to me.

  The Enforcer standing next to me took the noose and lifted it over my head to put it around my neck.

  “No!” I screamed, trying to focus enough to use Magic. Calm. Focus. Magic.

  The rope burst into fibers in his hand, the fragments raining down into my hair.

  I felt a tingling in my limbs and knew I was responsible for that. I had used Magic!

  “Get another rope,” one of them ordered, and one of his fellows turned to obey.

  “I’m innocent!” I shouted, reaching out. “Listen to me!”

  His gloved hand batted my imploring hand away from his arm, and I cried out in anger. His arm snapped backwards and he tottered back, screaming in pain, and fell to the ground.

  I found myself shaking. I had just used Magic to hurt someone.

  Someone grabbed me roughly from behind, and one of the Enforcers growled in my ear. “Stop whatever you’re doing, witch freak, or I’ll break your back with my own hands.” He gave my spine a sharp jerk upwards, as if to demonstrate.

  In an instant he was in the air, his body shooting to the side, hitting and wrapping around a stalagmite far into the river. I had done it before I could think. He was dead. The river carried his body away within a matter of seconds.

  Turning, I saw I was alone—the rest of the Enforcers had vanished, evidently having left their fellows to my mercy.

  Everyone had fled the “witch freak.” I was alone in the cave. What had I done?

  Reaching into the river, I cupped my hands and splashed my face with the chilling water, gasping at how cold it was. I wiped my face on my sleeve.

  A hand grasped the back of my neck. “You haven’t escaped yet, rogue abomination,” said the dark, liquid voice from behind me. “Cardinal rule of combat: don’t assume an enemy isn’t there just because you don’t see anyone.” And then, with a strength that made my stomach turn, the Enforcer flung me headfirst into the river.

  As the icy water closed over my head, I felt my body spasm at the cold. Fighting it, I kicked my way to the surface, coughing up water, and saw only darkness ahead. I had been carried far downriver by the rushing current. How far?

  And then my hand brushed a rock. Reaching out, I grasped it and pulled myself towards it, fighting the current dragging me away. From its conical feel, I could tell the rock was a stalagmite, and I held tightly to it to avoid being pulled even further downstream.

  There must be a way out. They got in here somehow.

  I began to shiver, clinging to the rock like a wide
-eyed rat. Icy water rushed past me, and I realized, as my fingers numbed, that my grip on the stalagmite was weakening.

  How far downriver had I been pulled? Was there even a way out from where I was?

  Everything was beautiful… even death. So what if I died… it would be beautiful to expire in this water. Beautiful water. Like crystals rushing past me.

  I shook my foggy head to clear it, fighting off the numbness of the cold. How long had I been clinging to the stalagmite? I mustn’t sleep… mustn’t. Hypothermia, the books had said. I had to get out of the freezing water fast.

  Biting my lip so the pain kept me conscious, I tried to move, my clothes weighing me down. I had to move soon, though, or I knew I’d die.

  But where to go? The current was too strong for me to fight against it to go backwards, and forwards would mean I’d be carried downriver for miles. I could see nothing in the darkness.

  No, I thought. I don’t want this to be the end for me. My thoughts sounded distant, as if from another person.

  Slowly, I stretched my legs out from their position curled under my torso. My limbs felt like wood… and I felt solid rock under them.

  Stunned, I let go of the stalagmite and stood up to find myself in chest-deep water. The water was shallow now? I must have been carried far…

  Reaching out, I felt around me. Water. Treading slowly, I made my way to what I thought was the river’s left edge. Maybe there was a rock ledge I could climb.

  The water kept getting shallower as I walked. When it was waist-high, I squeezed the water from my hair and sleeves. My teeth were chattering so loudly I was sure there was an echo.

  The water kept getting shallower, and almost sandy on the bottom. Now it was almost up to my knees. What had I stumbled upon?

  Ahead of me, I saw a glimmer of light. I moved more cautiously, thinking of the Enforcers and their lanterns. As I drew closer, I breathed a sigh of relief. Three mushrooms, glowing with a green that brightly illuminated the sand and rocks nearby, grew on a single jutting rock. I scrambled towards them, dragging my feet across the sand. Light!

  Reaching out, I caught my breath. Heat! The mushrooms gave off heat!