by John Hook
Several hours later, we were standing with our feet soaking in the water. It wasn’t large sandy beaches, but was more like a string of coves. The waves here were still pretty powerful. Zara had been overly optimistic there. Even if we could build a boat, getting it launched was going to be a major effort. However, there weren’t a lot of jagged rocks in these coves, so the tide was all we had to fight.
We did have some advantages over living humans who had lashed together logs and made an ocean trek. For one, we didn’t require food or water. However, we had no advantage for rough seas and, given what kind of dangerous wildlife lived in the mountains, I was wondering what might be in the seas.
Our biggest problem remained unsolved and, now that we had a place to launch a raft, it seemed insurmountable. How would we find an island in what could be a vast ocean? We couldn’t just wander out and hope to get lucky. I felt myself getting angry at Rox or the Black Angel or Rox Angel—whatever. She knew where this island was, I believed, but she wouldn’t leave the sword.
Blaise put his hand on my shoulder. I almost knocked it away, but his expression brought me back to my senses. I had been lost momentarily in my anger.
“The same way you open doors,” Blaise said softly.
“What?” It was such a random comment I couldn’t make any sense out of it.
“You were thinking about how you could find an island out there.”
“Are you a mind reader now?”
“Only the same way most mind readers are. Mind reading is just paying attention. You were staring out to sea and getting angry.” Blaise spread his hands.
“Okay, but what do you mean?”
“The ocean is a living system. I’m betting you can connect with its energy and harmonics and ferret out islands.”
“But which one? If it’s an ocean of any size, there could be hundreds.”
“Can’t solve everything. Look for big, habitable ones. It’s a place to start.”
“Quentin!”
Izzy’s voice was so distant I had to look around to find him. He and Anika had wandered off to the top of a ridge of hills at the far end of the beaches. He was waving his arms either enthusiastically or frantically. I couldn’t tell which.
Kyo responded as she often did to any kind of alarm and ran all the way to Izzy to assess the situation. Since it seemed more a calling us over than an immediate danger, I settled for walking fast. Saripha and Blaise joined me. Zara floated over and would get there before we did.
When we got there, Izzy pointed down the other side of the hill. I walked to the edge. The drop down was pretty sheer from here, but it looked like there might be a less treacherous way down a couple of hills over. Below us was a small village nestled beneath the cliffs at the edge of a bay. Nothing was over two stories tall. The town was maybe the size of Rockvale. It was hard to see a lot of detail, but we could see both people and green demons, the atavistic Rygen. Strangely enough, although we couldn’t see much, judging by the animation with which people moved, they weren’t gray automatons like the “mass” in Rockvale had been.
“People and green demons. Judging by the size, we could be seeing a border town.”
“Maybe we can get escorts.” Izzy winked. Anika playfully punched him. “Oww. We could get one for you, too.”
“Don’t need one. I already have a boy toy.”
“So we found a new village. Not sure how that helps us?”
“Quentin,” Saripha said with forced patience. Her hand guided my head to look at where the village fronted on the bay. The village had constructed a set of wooden docks that ran out into the water with a number of boats tied up. None of them were large. They looked like fishing boats, with a trawler and what looked like a small whaling boat with a harpoon mounted on its bow. I wondered what the harpoon was for.
“Ah! Boats.”
“You’re quick,” Izzy teased.
“I have a lot on my mind.”
“I suppose you do.”
“And I’m not a physicist.”
“This isn’t rocket science.”
“To you, maybe. Okay, you found boats!”
“And people who probably use them.”
“Yes, Izzy, that, too.”
“You know what that means?”
“Do I have to answer that question or are you just going to tell me?”
“I’ll tell you.”
“See, now I know you’re not a magical being.”
“We might find someone with a boat who knows where there is an island with purple or blue people living on it.”
“Maybe just people. Maybe they change color on the island.”
Izzy rolled his eyes.
We both laughed. It felt good. Our banter always did.
“It looks like you’ll have to go over there before you can climb down.” I pointed to the far hills I had observed.
“Zara and I will float down and check it out while we wait for you.”
“You want them to see you floating down?” Kyo asked. “What if they don’t like Shades?”
I looked at Zara to make sure she was listening. “We’ll be careful. No one ever looks up.”
Saripha came over to us both, putting a hand on each of our shoulders. “Please be careful. If I lose another shot at saving Kanarchan, I’m going to have a hard time holding it together.”
I gave Saripha a full-energy smile. “You know how diplomatic I am.”
“Yes. That’s why I’m worried.”
12.
Zara and I managed to land in the shadow of the cliffs without anyone seeing us. We immediately hunkered down and were very still, watching for movement around us. We were in a scraggly garden behind a low building that had no windows facing us. It could have been a park, given what parks look like in Hell, but it was even more unkempt than that. Mostly coarse grasses grew in the very sandy soil with an occasional twisted, woody shrub with thorns. I rose up slowly as the building blocked any view of us unless someone were to walk back here. That's when I noticed Zara's glamour now included a leather eye patch.
“Your eye.”
“What about it?” Zara looked puzzled. Then she grinned. “Oh, the patch. I figured I needed to look tougher for a seafaring crowd.”
“I think they are probably fishermen, not pirates.”
“Have you ever met any fishermen?” She preened for a moment. “Besides, I think it's a good look for me.”
I shook my head. I started looking along the cliff line to see if there were any doors. I wasn't expecting any.
“What are you looking for?”
“Just following a hunch. We need to see what's in that building.”
“What are you looking for?” Zara repeated.
“Just wait.”
I held my fingers to my lips.
There was no way into the building from the back, nor any way to tell if it was occupied. It was constructed of wood and adobe-like clay, similar to most buildings in Rockvale. I put my ear to the wall, which felt cool and rough. I couldn't hear anything. The building had walls that had been constructed on either side, leaving narrow paths to walk along the building. I went to my right and made my way toward the street. With such a narrow view it was hard to make out anything meaningful on the street, but it also meant that if anyone was on the street they might not notice us.
On the side of the building was a door. It was a typical door for these simple buildings that characterized the more rural human habitats of Hell, as opposed to the older cities like Ohnipoor. It was slats of wood bound tightly together with a simple wood latching handle that, even if it were capable of being locked, would have been simple to defeat. I was about to put my ear to the door to see if I could hear anyone inside when Zara pushed past me and thrust open the door.
I closed the door and pushed her against the wall. My intent was to simply contain her for a moment so I could speak into her ear, but it was a big mistake. She moved like an uncoiling cat and reversed me around her powerful body. S
he had me pressed against the wall, with one arm pressing across my throat and the other hand radiating energy into my chest. It was like dozens of hot needles penetrating my body. I fought back any vocal reactions to the pain as Zara moved her hand down my body, painting agony across my chest, my abs, and finally her hand came to rest around my scrotum. The energy was withdrawn and she didn't grip strongly enough to cause pain, but firmly enough that the threat was clear.
“Don't.” Zara paused, drew in a breath, and spit out the next word. “Ever touch me without permission.” She slid her hand back up, letting it linger teasingly at my belt. “And when I let you touch me…” Zara smiled, but it was not a friendly smile. “…don't think that means you have permission always.”
“Zara.” I was treading carefully the way you do with someone you realize is even crazier than you thought. “You did ask if you could work with us.”
“That doesn't mean you get to mistreat me and it doesn't mean you get to give me orders. I'm a Shade! You're just a dead human.”
“You're itinerant. Which means you don't work for a Manitor and can think for yourself. When you get bat shit like this, you're just being what they made you. I just need you to follow my lead so we don't get discovered before we want to be discovered.”
“Okay.” That was all she said, releasing me from the wall.
“So why did we come in here?” Zara looked around like nothing had just happened.
“Several reasons. One, it was here. Another, it reminded me of something.”
“There's nothing in here.”
Zara was right. The building had one large room with opaque windows in front. They looked painted over or in some other way blocked. They let just enough light in that you could keep from running into things, except there weren't many things to run into. There was a table against the wall with nothing on it and that was it. I crawled along the floor with my tattoos illuminated, but I couldn't find anything. I got up and began slowly working my way along the wall. I could see Zara was impatient, but I kept my focus and didn't rush. About halfway around the perimeter, at the very back, I found what I was looking for.
“Aha!”
Zara came over next to me. “Aha?”
“I thought 'eureka' wasn't quite right for the occasion.”
“What is it you found?” Zara snapped.
“See the circle on the wall with the three holes?”
“Sure. Looks a bit like a bowling ball.”
“Stand back and watch.”
Zara moved back and to the side where I indicated. I put my three fingers in the hole and turned them. There was a scraping sound and a section of the floor dropped and slid away, revealing steps down to a dark tunnel.
Zara came over and peered down.
“Where does it lead?”
“I don't know, but the last time I ran into one of these it led to a pain farm.”
I wondered if there had been one of these tunnel complexes under Rockvale and we just didn't know about it and never found it after we took over from the demons. There seemed to be clearly at least two layers to civilization in Hell. There were the ancient cities like Ohnipoor, Chadikar and possibly the old walled portion of Antanaria. Then there were the newer, less exotic architectures where former humans lived, such as Rockvale, Zaccora and Haven. Both types may have a system of tunnels connecting them. In the ancient cities, they were behind vault-like doors. In the newer cities they were opened up by the bowling ball mechanism. Were they the same tunnel system? Were the tunnel systems connected?
Zara started to go down the steps.
“We don't need to go down there now. I don't think there’s anything down there that helps with our current concerns.”
“Getting a boat.”
I nodded and crossed back to the bowling ball mechanism. Zara stepped back out. I turned the holes back and the slab of the floor noisily slid back into place and all was still again. We stood quietly, listening again.
I walked up to the front windows and pulled my sheathed short sword from my waist. Zara looked interested as I held it. When I pulled out the blade, her eyes lit up.
“I would like one of those. Do you have a full-size sword?”
“You'll have to take that up with Kyo. They are strictly limited edition.”
I didn't think Kyo was going to have much enthusiasm for giving Zara one of her blades, but I wasn't going to get into the argument right now. I used the blade of mine to scrape away whatever was covering the window. It wasn't the kindest thing I could do to such a finely honed blade, but it did its job. I had a tiny hole I could peer through without being seen.
The street was unremarkable, paved with Hell's equivalent of flagstones. It was lined with dwellings, all of the low adobe and wood architecture, although perhaps because it was by the sea, the adobe had been whitewashed with something. There weren't a lot of people on the street, but what was odd was there were a few and some Rygen too, as I had observed before. They clearly weren't friends, but they ignored each other. The humans were wary, but neither fearful nor traumatized. The demons made no attempt to swipe at or otherwise bother people they encountered. I stood back up and stepped out of the way, motioning to Zara.
“Be my guest.”
She put her eye to the hole I had made and peered around. The eye patch may have actually helped.
“Humans and demons together.”
“Kind of odd, isn't it?”
“Especially with the green kind. They tend to be the most vicious.”
“Stupid, too.”
“So now what?”
“Let's go out and see how they react to strangers.”
“This might be fun.” Zara let a sly smirk creep over her mouth.
“Let's hope it's not. Can you sit on your impulses while we do this?”
“I'll try my best.”
It didn't leave me feeling good.
We went out the side door and stopped next to the front of the building. The street was clear, so we headed down towards the harbor area. Now that we were actually on the street, we could see a dusting of sand across the paving stones. There was a breeze coming in from the harbor and it actually smelled like the ocean. The next moment, however, pulled me rudely out of my fantasies about the New England coastline as two green demons rounded the corner and stopped dead in their tracks in front of us.
“Look, Zara. The local welcoming committee.”
“We haven't seen you two before,” I heard in my head. Since they said “you two,” I assumed Zara had received it, too.
“That's why you're welcoming us.”
“Oh.” The green demon in the lead scrutinized me.
“You're blue.”
“I'm a blue devil.”
The green demons looked at each other, clearly perplexed.
“We've never heard of blue devils.”
“We're a basketball team. We play for the Duke.”
“I'm beginning to see why most of the powers that be are annoyed with you.” Zara looked like she was getting a bit impatient.
The green demons looked at Zara and leered just a bit.
“If you are planning to stay here, she will have to see the Harbor Master.”
“Well, we aren't planning on staying. We just need a boat.”
“You'll have to see the Harbor Master for that, too.”
“What about if we want to talk to someone who knows the waters well?”
“Oh, that's easy.” The demon beamed. He pointed to a dark building sitting near the docks. “They'll all be at the Kraken.”
“Of course they will.” I rolled my eyes. “You really have a bar called the Kraken?”
“Sure. Why not?”
“Do you know what a Kraken is?”
“I didn't name it.”
“How come the humans here aren't afraid of you?”
“I guess because we have to have the Harbor Master's permission to do anything with them.”
The demon leered at Zara again. “I
hope I get permission for you.”
“Good luck with that.”
I could see from Zara's face that the demon didn't know quite how much trouble he was in, so I eased Zara around the demons and headed for the Kraken. From what little I had picked up, I figured the Harbor Master controlled everything and, in so doing, maintained an odd sort of peace between human and demon. They didn't avoid each other because neither could do anything to the other. The bad things went on, but they weren't random or unexpected. They were handed down by the Harbor Master. The rest of the time you went about your business. I figured the Harbor Master was some kind of privileged human like Gerod. The Harbor Master had just landed at the top of my “needs their ass kicked” list, but that could wait. We had to stay focused on getting a boat.
“I'm not letting those green creeps touch me, even to get what we need.”
“No, Zara, you won't. But I do need you to let them mouth off as long as they don't do anything.”
“Easy for you to say. They aren't making lewd comments about you.”
“Right? Hard to believe, isn't it?”
“I'm being serious.”
“No doubt.”
The outside of the Kraken was pretty nondescript. A simple black box of clay and wood with a thatched roof. A carved wooden ship hung crookedly enough over the door that I wondered if it would fall down and hit us on the head as we passed through the door.
Inside was a different story. Someone with some skills at ship building had done up the interior like the hold of a ship. It was appropriately dark, with scattered tables and a bar along one wall. It reeked with the smell of tobacco and beer. It reminded me of Guido's jazz club and made me wonder if there was some kind of connection.
The bar was filled with men talking, playing cards and carving. Most had what looked like clay pots with a liquid I couldn’t identify. Some were eating fish. It was glamour food and drink, I assumed, but they really seemed good at it as I could smell it. I wasn't a big fan of fish, so I actually found the smell slightly nauseating, but I had to give them an A for effort.
Everyone stopped their conversations. The ones who were eating stopped eating. Card players put down their cards. Everyone turned their eyes towards us. They looked first at me, but then their eyes shifted over to Zara.