She needed to get back to the Palace first with Yamar. They could set the defenses there. Then it would be a race to Devero Tower to beat the smoke across the city and save Cora, Melanie, and Marlo. And make sure Jyurik’s threat against Jenna didn’t land. There was too much to do and too little time.
She stumbled along the path of the guiding lights, dragging Yamar behind her.
Chapter 30. The Black Waterfalls
It felt like hours before Kay and Yamar finally found an exit from the tunnels. It was a nondescript door which opened into a basement. Based on the faint sun shining through the dirty windows at street level, it was late afternoon, nearing twilight. She’d lost almost the entire day to their recovery from the encounter with the Gyudi’s court and the escape through the tunnels. The late hour meant her enemies’ plan was already in motion.
As she helped Yamar up the basement stairs, she glanced at his ashen face. He was barely able to keep his feet, leaning heavily on her, his eyes unfocused when they weren’t shut. He was Enos’s deathsworn, which meant if the Gyudi succeeded in setting the Palace aflame when Enos was trapped inside, Yamar would die as well, one way or another. She quietly cursed his nobility, but thinking further on that topic brought back the uncomfortable revelation he’d unveiled in Jyurik’s presence. A concern for another day. Today already had enough.
The stairs topped out in an empty shop and Kay dragged Yamar towards the door. She noted absently that her broken arm was no longer bothering her beyond the sling’s interference to her mobility. There was no pain. As they stepped outside, the Fire Eye’s presence hit her like a hammer.
The oval of blazing light felt impossibly close, as though it sat just above the roofs of the nearby buildings. It radiated a visceral warmth, something she’d never felt before. It was as though it projected a light straight into Kay. Power surged through her. She felt unstoppable. Had this been growing the whole time the Fire Eye was above them? She’d spent the past few days fighting off attacks, drugs, exhaustion, a series of brutal injuries. Those all seemed a distant dream right now with the Fire Eye above.
Lost in this new and wonderful sensation, it took Kay a moment to pick up on the panic in the streets. They were in a nondescript neighborhood, not one Kay recognized immediately. The air smelled of smoke. People ran through the streets, seeking shelter. Others gaped at black clouds on the horizon. Kay did a full turn, seeing plumes of black smoke blowing on the wind in all directions.
“We need to get to higher ground,” she said, shifting Yamar’s bulk further onto her shoulder. He felt lighter than he had in the tunnel. His eyes were down, no interest in his surroundings. It was taking everything he had to keep one foot in front of the other. She set her course. Celest was a city of crests and falls, and they headed uphill. It only took a few minutes until they were high enough to see out over the neighborhood roofs and get a view of the city.
Kay had wondered about the calm assurance with which Jyurik had said they could smother the city with smoke, so much it would cover even the lower levels of the Palace. Despite his confidence, it was a truly monumental challenge, and she’d nursed hopes that his plan would produce little more than a few smoky fires to be carried away on the winds. With a single glance around her adopted city, her home, those hopes were dashed.
Black smoke was pouring out of the tops of at least seven tall buildings that she could see. Thick waves of the darkness fell heavily from the spires, flooding out of every window near the top, draping the length of the towers in dark clothing. They were black waterfalls with pluming clouds at the base, spreading across the city. Each structure must have an enormous fire at the top, bolstered by whatever chemical agents Jyurik had dreamed up to make the smoke so dark and heavy. It was the kind of operation that only could have been pulled off with an endless budget to fund it and an army to carry it out. The threat was real. The fool was poised to take the city.
The smoke sank to the streets, and Kay could follow its spread. The lower neighborhoods would fall into darkness first. She could see the Lagoons was completely filled, a lake of black where it once had been. An arm of the smoke was already collecting and stretching out towards neighboring Goen Square. Farther to the west, the Shallows and Tyrol Basin were already blanketed.
She’d missed any window to prevent the first phase of attack. The Dynasty may send troops to attempt to douse the smoking buildings, but what luck could they have? Anyone who tried to stop it, to cut off the source of the falling black, would be blinded on approach. The nobles would seek the safety of the Palace, or hunker in their own homes and ready themselves for a spreading fire that would never come. The civilians would flee the smoking buildings, but there was nowhere to go, no hiding places which wouldn’t be found by the darkness. Kay’s only option now was to protect as many of Jyurik’s targets as she could before they were all blinded. And, again looking at Yamar’s ashen face, she’d best start at the Palace.
They were reasonably high up in the city, and Kay saw a clear path towards the home of the Melor Dynasty, standing proud and rigid above the chaos. For a time. After waiting on a group of panicked Gol running past them in the opposite direction, Kay leaned into Yamar and began the long walk. She did her best to ignore the black waterfalls on all sides as they rained down the heavy darkness Jyurik had summoned to welcome his Night of Centuries.
Chapter 31. Exchange of Burdens
By the time Kay and Yamar neared the Palace, smoke had filled all of the low neighborhoods. The view from the approach to the Palace showed the crests of the city’s hills floating like islands surrounded by black waters. Hook Point would fall soon, then Merchant Run. In the distance, Kay could see crowds racing before the advancing smoke, desperately seeking escape.
She and Yamar were no longer the only ones making their way to the Palace. She was part of a stream of Gol headed towards its brightly lit entryway. No one offered to help Kay with her burden. They had their own problems to consider.
The scene at the Palace entrance was one of chaos. Crowds had pooled at the stairs where the Dynasty Guard had set up a blockade. The guards struggled to review credentials and siphon people in before a riot broke out. The light from the entryway spilled out onto the stairs, projected a sense of warmth and safety. Maybe only Kay knew it wouldn’t last.
Home Guard patrolled the edges, more of them staring worriedly out over the city than doing anything to effectively curtail the panic of the crowd. There was a large portion of the crowd doing the same, just looking out from the Palace grounds as smoke swallowed Celest. Maybe they didn’t think it could possibly climb this high. Maybe they’d already tried to get into the Palace and were turned away.
Kay saw some of the Wrang, the highest order of Dynasty soldier, in their formal red uniforms. They were clustered near the top of the stairs which wrapped around the front of the Palace. They would recognize Yamar and listen to what she had to say. Kay led him in that direction and began the slow and difficult climb. She’d been bolstered by the Fire Eye, but the journey had taken its toll and she was near collapse. She could only imagine how Yamar felt. She looked up and saw, with a mix of emotions, that the Wrang cluster was gathered around Enos Melor.
He saw her coming and they exchanged a long look, Enos’s face shrouded in Dynasty discipline, hiding his feelings. He wasn’t quite as good at it as his elders, however, and Kay detected anger and jealousy, things she was used to getting from the tiny titan. But there was also compassion and confusion. She had no idea what her face betrayed to him. Given all that had transpired over the past few nights, and what was at stake tonight as the smoke filled the city, Kay would have to handle him carefully. Then Enos’s gaze slid over to Yamar, and his stoic mask fell, revealing fear below. “Yamar!” he called out, pointing towards Kay.
The Wrang leapt into action. Soldiers pulled Yamar off of her and carried him to Enos where he was gently laid out at the top of the steps. His eyes were closed, though Kay saw his hands twitching. Enos kneeled over hi
m, pulling at his black garment and touching his face. Yamar didn’t respond to Enos shouting his name several times. Finally, Enos composed himself and stood to face Kay.
“What has happened?” Enos asked, his voice cool.
“He’s been drugged and took a nasty blow to the head.” She glanced down, hoping her voice hid her worry. “He challenged the Gyudi Dynasty to trial by combat. And saved my life. There’s a chance he saved us all, but that might depend on you, Enos.”
The child looked young and scared. “What’s going on?” he asked with wide eyes. He glanced down at Yamar, then out over the city.
“This is the Gyudi attack,” Kay replied. “The streets will fill with smoke, eventually the lower levels of the Palace as well. We need to move quickly before they do.” She looked at the entrance to the Palace. Jyurik had given her several hints as to his target. “Our first course of action is the library.”
“What?” Enos asked. The soldiers attending Yamar had clustered protectively around him again. Several were giving Kay hard looks, not liking her sudden appearance with an injured Captain and her ordering a member of the Dynasty around. Enos glanced at them, his expression hardening as he picked up on their cues. Kay noted one of them was the soldier who’d been waiting at her office several days ago. The one who’d threatened Kay with imprisonment if she didn’t jump fast enough at the Dynasty’s orders. Owen Loric, with his smooth, oiled head and tightly trimmed beard.
Kay said more softly, “Enos, you need to have your guards sweep the library. I’m expecting at least one person there who doesn’t belong, lingering among the shelves. They’ll have matches and fuel on them. It’s their intention to burn the Palace to the ground once the smoke has debilitated any resistance.”
“Why is this the first we’re hearing of this?” He was doubtful, glancing to Yamar. Seeing no help there, he turned to Owen, who was glaring suspiciously at Kay.
Kay drew Enos’s attention back to her. “But where have you been looking? The Palace has ignored the Gyudi threat. You just handed it off to the Wrang and continued hosting your parties.” She felt a flash of anger, remembering her unwelcome dinner invitation, but quelled it. “Well, the Wrang found something. Yamar found something. And if he were able,” she glanced at his long form laid out on the steps, “he’d tell you to listen to me.”
Enos still was uncertain, again looking to Owen. In the midst of her frustration, Kay had a surge of sympathy for Yamar. This was what he’d been working against these past years. Any time Enos faltered, he looked to the toughest among those around him. Those without fear and doubt, not to mention compassion or understanding. He thought that was the way to be strong.
Kay looked down at Yamar, thinking about how he’d said he’d hoped for more from her. He’d hoped she would help him with his burden and teach Enos a better way to see the world. And she hadn’t. It hadn’t been her job and Enos wasn’t on one of her lists. In her mind, he hadn’t needed saving. Maybe she was wrong. “Enos, Yamar believes in you. So much that he pledged his life to you. And I believe in you too. I need you. If you can’t find it in yourself to help us all solve this problem, Celest is going to be very different tomorrow morning. A lot of people will die. We’ll wake up in the midst of a civil war, if we wake at all. I need you to dig deep and find the strength to listen to me and really hear me.” She’d set Yamar down on the stairs, but was now picking up another burden.
Enos took a deep breath, collecting himself. He glanced at Yamar, then over the city again, finally looking back at Kay. “I am listening.”
“Then let’s go to the library. Now. Bring the soldiers.” She began moving without waiting for his response. After a slight pause, she heard him fall in behind her, entourage in tow. “And leave someone to watch over Yamar,” she threw back over her shoulder as they entered the bright Palace.
Chapter 32. The Darkness Is Coming
Kay led the group of Wrang soldiers to the second floor hallway. The last time she’d been here, her guard escort had been in place to ensure she attended the committee meeting on the missing children. She glanced down the hall, imagining everyone still in that chamber, deliberating and positioning themselves for scraps of Dynasty praise as the city filled with smoke. She shook the thought and focused on the library, its entrance at the opposite end of the hall.
Just before they entered, Kay turned, collecting Enos and the Wrang in a sort of huddle. “Here’s the deal. One of more of the Gyudi agents are probably hiding in here, with the plan of setting a fire that can’t be stopped once the smoke reaches the lower levels of the Palace. We need to find every one of them and any incendiary devices they’ve planted. They’ll probably be in disguise, and they’ll be ready for a fight. I don’t know what they’ll do when they see the Wrang coming, but it won’t be to roll over. Are we ready?” Kay asked.
The soldiers turned deferentially to Enos. “You think there are agents of the Gyudi here?” he asked. “If they are disguised, how do we find them?”
“They made that part easy. It’s very likely all of them will be missing their left eyes.” Kay turned and walked into the library. “Put guards on the doors. No one leaves.”
The Palace library was enormous, its ceilings nearly as high as most buildings. The tall shelves, thick with all variety of texts, came together around a single nexus. Kay headed straight down the main aisle for the center. The Wrang were fanning out behind her, dividing up among the many aisles.
The space was far from empty. In addition to a few scholarly types so enraptured in their hunt for knowledge they ignored the evening’s events, many families had located here after racing to the Palace to escape the smoke threatening their homes. Most were gathered around the windows at the far end of the library, looking out as the dark smoke rolled on, fretting as it grew ever closer to the Palace grounds.
Kay stopped as she reached the very center of the room. From here she could see down all the main aisles. Enos was just behind her, a detachment of Wrang eight strong glued to the side of the youngest Dynasty member. Kay turned a full circle, watching the pairs of Wrang systematically working their way through the library. In a hushed voice, she spoke to Enos. “This won’t take long. It’ll start when they see us coming.”
A yell went up from the far end of the library. The group turned that way, but Enos gave another shout. “Look,” he said, pointing back the way they’d come into the library. A plume of black smoke was rising. The fire was just off the entrance. If it spread quickly, it could cut off their retreat.
Kay ran towards the smoke. The Wrang were slower to respond as they waited on Enos’s direction, leaving Kay in the lead as she raced down the aisle, her baton out and ready. As she rounded the corner, she saw the start of a fire. A viscous, black fluid had been dumped on the lower part of a shelf and flames danced across its surface. A Gol youth with hair that fell over his left eye was sitting in the corner near it, matches in hand. Kay stood there for a moment, staring at him, as the fire grew.
“The darkness is coming,” he said.
Kay breathed deeply, feeling the heat of the flames on her face. Left unchecked, this was the fire that would devour the Dynasty. It would leave Celest to find a new way when the smoke cleared tomorrow. She looked behind her as Enos and his guards arrived, Owen Loric at the front, looking at Kay as if he wouldn’t mind tossing her into the flames. The Wrang awaited Enos’s command before moving any closer. Was saving this worth it?
Kay tucked the baton into her belt and pulled out her jar of pearl ash. She locked eyes with Enos as she upended it on the burgeoning fire. The grey dust quelled the rising flames, countering the black fuel which fed it. She dropped the empty jar next to the smoldering bookshelf, then turned back to face the Chosen.
She stepped close to him and leaned down. “Show me your neck.” She mimed pulling down her collar.
The youth was trembling. “The darkness is coming. A change is coming.”
The guards pushed past Kay and roughly seized him,
pulling him to his feet.
“Show me his neck,” Kay said, and after a moment they complied. There was nothing there, no tattoo. “Where’s Marlo?” she asked him.
“The darkness is coming,” was his only reply.
“Not soon enough to help you,” Kay said.
As the guards dragged the youth towards the entrance, Kay turned to Enos, “Have they finished the sweep?”
Enos looked to the closest guard, who answered her. “Almost. We found one at the rear.”
“Can you bring him over?”
“He’s dead. More fight in him than this one.”
“Can you have someone check his neck for a tattoo of a blackbird?”
Again the look to Enos to ensure it was okay. Kay was tiring of the Palace.
“Do so,” Enos said and the guard left. Kay, Enos, and the remaining five guards moved over to the center aisle, not far from the entrance. Kay was annoyed to see Owen was still stuck to Enos. The library had fallen quiet. The smoke from the fire had dissipated quickly, nothing like what was going on outside. Kay shifted to where she could see through one of the high windows. The sun was setting, the sky red, but the angle was wrong for her to see the Fire Eye.
“Why are you checking for a blackbird tattoo?” Enos asked.
“One of the missing on my list has one. He joined the ranks of the Gyudi. I’d still like to bring him home.”
Owen spoke too loudly for the quiet space. “Traitors hang.”
Kay gave him a flat look. “It may not be that simple.”
“Why are you still looking for him if he joined their side?” Enos asked. “They’re trying to kill all of us.”
“He was led astray.” She glanced down at the youngest member of the Dynasty and took a deep breath. “I’ve been thinking about you. There may be a better path forward for us. After the smoke has settled, I would consider a role as your tutor.”
The Fire Eye Chosen_Sequel to The Fire Eye Refugee Page 21