Fallen Warrior (Fallen Trilogy book 3)

by Williams, Tess

  I didn't mean to smile, for I didn't want to suppose I could guess what this meant, but I smiled anyways—for I was almost sure he meant to say that he liked my eyes, since they were turquoise.

  I wished I could tell whether he smiled in return, but he only glanced back at the fire, then turned my hand in his and kept us on walking through the tunnel. I swallowed, looking down at his grip, hearing my words repeated on the river of ice, but didn't think more on it, because I'd seen something when he'd looked at the fire; now it concerned me more greatly.

  "What is it? You looked sad just then," I told him.

  His gaze flicked my direction. Now his eyes were maroon, as we'd just passed the next set of torches. He looked back ahead, and spoke incredulously. "Can you tell my expressions so easily?"

  "I'm getting better," I informed him. "It's amazing what just eyes can tell you."

  He made a short sound like a laugh. And then he spoke. "I was thinking of someone I knew, that collected colored flames like these. Not real like this, though. He put them inside of glass, and so they showed whatever hue he chose for them."

  I pictured the idea, coming up most closely with the paper lanterns in Byako, but they didn't actually tint the light. "It really worked to make them different colors?" I said. "Just because of their case?"

  He shrugged. It was such an empty motion, that I frowned. "It sounds beautiful. Why should it be sad then?"

  Cole didn't speak for another moment. When he did, he was looking down at our hands. "Because I wish I'd never met him. Some people make others better; he made them just the opposite. I knew a woman. She was from Taelp, like the rivers we passed. But he... well, he killed her. And it was my fault she died. I didn't protect her when I should have."

  "Killed her," I repeated. "Do you mean, figuratively, or?..."

  Cole started shaking his head. He was looking back straight now. We passed a diverging hall, not the first. Every so often, a Genbuan would wave to us from one of them, but they didn't stop to greet us. I still couldn't see the end of the way ahead; there was something about the walls, that seemed to absorb sound, and there was no breeze to rustle the torches.

  "He must have been truly evil, then," I said, "No wonder you wish you'd never met him. When you say..." I swallowed. "The woman from Taelp, is that the one that... the one which... the one that, would be the same as Cyric?" I asked. The sound of his name from my lips, automatically made me shiver. But I'd meant what I'd said to Cole, that it had helped to speak of him the night before. And I couldn't think, that there would be a better reason to say it, then when it would be in use of helping someone else through their feelings. Especially since, I didn't know if I would be able to speak of Cyric to anyone but Cole.

  His head had turned at Cyric's name. I blinked patiently, showing that I was still attentive for his answer. His grip on my hand tightened. "No. This was someone else."

  "But it was your duty to protect her?" I asked.

  He thought this over, then spoke with a sigh. "It would be better to say that it was my duty to make sure the man that killed her shouldn't have. But I never did. He's still hurting people."

  "You mean you didn't stop him after you found at that he?..." My voice trailed off as Cole looked over, his eyes turning from red to blue.

  He looked sad again. He shook his head.

  "But... if he was evil," I followed, "Why not, then. You couldn't?"

  "No, I could have," he said, suddenly vehement. "I should have. It would have been easy for me."

  I waited, watching him, hoping he knew I meant to ask with my eyes, why he didn't, if he could have. When he didn't go on, I said, "Do you mean killing him? Was that the only way to stop him?"

  "Yes," Cole replied, without pause.

  I waited once again for him to explain. When he didn't, I pulled at his hand, and stopped him, making him face me, shaking my head. His eyes were golden now. "Why didn't you then?" I asked. I wasn't sure why I wanted to know so badly, maybe because it seemed he was keeping it such a mystery.

  He blinked, staring down at me. His grip on my hand tightened, a sudden jerk at first, then loosening to something merely firm. He brought it up between us, switching his gaze to it. "Because I don't—"

  Before he could get these last words out, a sharp wind rushed past us, shaking the torches and scattering light. I turned to see a brilliant white opening that couldn't have been there just a moment ago. It was an end to the tunnel; snow shimmered just past it, sparkling as it fell, and blanketing the ground. The opening was certainly the cause for the breeze, since the snow w as rushing in from it. Another armored Genbuan stuck his head into the opening, waving to us.

  "Foreigners?" he said. "Ah. You must be the princess then. You've been spoken of. You'd be amazed how few granted animals we get to visit. Well, come along then—before all the torches blow out." He waved us onward, bearing a welcoming smile. I couldn't help but think that Gael hadn't been exaggerating, when he'd told me these Genbuans were friendly.

  I turned back to Cole. He wasn't looking at me any longer. I wanted to stop him, and force him to finish what he'd been saying. Couldn't he? How long could it take to mention just a few more words? But something about his demeanor told me he didn't plan to, or want to.

  It wasn't my duty for now anyways; I was meant to be thinking of Genbu. I turned back to the welcoming native, pushing onwards. Cole stayed just at my side.

  CYRIC:

  I wanted to ask her to describe Genbu for me as she had described the city of Echren. I knew for certain that what she said would have been better than what I saw; but she was rather absorbed in reaching the rulers to meet; as I had been when we'd gone to Echren. Or at least, as I'd pretended to be. If she was pretending, she was better at it.

  So, left to my own devices...

  We came in at the lowest part of Genbu. It was still a mountain, and still outside, but that was about all that resembled the blizzard-land we'd flown through with Luffie. That had been so dark, that I'd hardly been able to see. Here snow was only drifting down. The sky was a deep swirling grey, but somehow it didn't stop the light from shining. And beyond the grey, beyond the clouds, in glimpses, you could see a brilliant cobalt blue; like some sort of jewel.

  The land below was spread with snow and trees. Instead of rising upwards, it cratered like a bowl, and built up into its sides were the buildings. They were grey stone and just the same as the outpost we'd passed through—only they were taller or wider, all different sizes, almost all of them fit into a mountain wall. There was nothing where the land was flat, only trees to hide it.

  The paths there were to walk, were carved that way by footsteps, and they weren't cleared by any means of snow.

  "See that tall building there, with that wide spiral at the top; that's where you'll find our leaders," our first greeter told Ellia. "But be careful as you walk. There's spots you'll drop a dozen feet down into. Step lightly."

  "If they're paths, why not clear them?" Ellia had replied. While I stared at her, wondering if she ever meant to change into a dress. In fact, I'd mentally picked out quite a few I would have had access to in Akadia; what I would have already had her change into should I have been leading this trek to Genbu.

  Wow. When I thought about that; how if the palace hadn't exploded, or if we hadn't danced, how Lox would have sent me with her on to Byako, and then here... it made it feel as if everything were inevitable. Ellia and I. We weren't meant to be apart; even being on opposite sides of the largest war in a dozen generations, maybe forever, hadn't changed that.

  "Clear them?" the man had scoffed, laughing full—then grinning at her. "Foreigners indeed. You'll see by tonight why we wouldn't clear them. Where is it that you think you've arrived at?"

  This had made Ellia frown. But then she'd scrunched her nose, and ventured, "Say, do you know how your flames change to so many colors?"

  "Hmm?" he replied. Then his expression went strict. "Oh. That's to do with the solution set to the torches. Differen
t mixes of oil create different shades. They're all simple enough to come by here."

  Ellia frowned again, while I smiled. "It's not magic then?" she wondered.

  He scoffed. "What's magic but a thing without explanation. Here in Genbu, our knowledge allows for greatness. Our collection of histories is as wide as our expanse of ability. Didn't you see the tales written on the wall?"

  "The wall?" she asked, blinking.

  He gestured back the way we'd come, into the space of mountain where the tunnel had disappeared. "Yes. Of the tunnel. So, there our tales are written."

  Ellia's expression turned to panic, she stepped back towards the mountain. "I didn't see any..."

  "Ah. As I witnessed. You were otherwise distracted. The tunnel is known to cause such things."

  Ellia looked between me and the Genbuan. I shrugged. I hadn't noticed any markings.

  "I have to go back then," Ellia said. "I'll just look quickly."

  The Genbuan waved an arm in dismissal. "No need, visitor from afar. If you plan to stay, you shall see again. If you plan to meet our rulers, you shall see again. It all comes and goes repeated. As with the ocean and its waves."

  Ellia pressed her lips, as if she was actually taking this to heart. I grimaced. This was my first hince, that we weren't in normal-lands any longer. This was Genbu, like Echren. Like Carceron and Leddy, everything with meaning, everything compared in parables to their elements. The ocean, and water. Fires and riddles. I was glad that in Shaundakul, we knew better than to go on about rocks.

  With a smile replacing her frown, Ellia had turned her attention back to the path, careful where she put her first step. I'd followed up behind her, shrugging our bags tighter onto my back, then whispering just for her, "Endless water, here we come."

  .

  I wasn't happy when she left me to meet with the rulers by herself. For one, their building wasn't even normal. To reach it, apparently, you went through the wall of the mountain—through a tunnel entrance as wide as a great hall, and it was through this that she'd disappeared. Now I stood in the cold, with my boot back against the wall of the mountain, looking up at the closest building which was to be the rulers'. It's nearly highest level, at the widest space was lined with windows that showed turquoise lights, and dark blue, and vivid blue; all shades of blue. The rest of those buildings which I could see showed similar lights within; only some yellow. But my eyes were all for that highest one.

  I heard scraping steps near the chamber, and jerked upright when I saw Ellia exiting from it. She was wearing a frown, and she glanced up at the rulers' building twice before reaching me. Some Genbuan guards were peaking around the corner after her; fully armored and cloaked. They'd been the only reason I hadn't followed her in.

  "What's wrong?" I asked, holding out my hands to steady her. "Did they say no? That was too fast, wasn't it?"

  "Of course it was too fast. They don't mean to see me until tomorrow at the very earliest. They say they're not prepared."

  "Not prepared," I repeated. "Didn't Gael warn them?"

  "He gave them my message, but I suppose they needed even longer than that. We shouldn't have left so quickly."

  "Forget about that," I said, "I know these types. They would have made you wait no matter which day you came. They can't get enough of their own peculiarities."

  Ellia started laughing even before I'd finished; a desperate sort of laugh. "I think you're right," she said. "I would have expected to have one of the leaders tell me in person at least, but they didn't." Her laughing fell to shaking.

  "I haven't said, Cole—because I'm afraid. But if they say no, then the Echrians won't help us. And with Kraehe; we won't have the advantage of the constellation animals; it won't be enough."

  I narrowed. I couldn't stand her shaking, which was real. I pulled her into a hug, speaking past her. "It'll be alright, Ellia. Don't be scared of them."

  She didn't move away, only her hands tightened, turning to fists against my chest. "Why shouldn't I be scared. They could ruin everything."

  "The Genbuans?" I repeated, forcing my tone to a scoff. "The Keepers of the Black Tortoises. Of the Constellations Animals? Aren't these the things you love?"

  Her fists unclenched, but only a little.

  There were Genbuans watching us, but if Ellia didn't care to be seen like this; I certainly didn't. I moved my hand up to her neck, turning my lips closer to her ear. "We're in Genbu. We're surrounded by magic. Didn't you see the sky? And the torches?"

  "He said those were explainable."

  "Explainable? What, like the Yanartian Fires? Like the behemoths getting well on their own. Or the chimera's fire-breath. I know you didn't always think these things weren't signs of something we couldn't explain."

  "But, if they don't—"

  I pulled her back, tipping her head up to me, forcing her eyes to mine. "You're the princess of Shaundakul, Ellia. You're perfect. They're going to love you. They're going to give you everything you ask for."

  Her eyes, stayed perfectly still for a moment, then they widened even further than they were. Color slowly poured into her cheeks, turning them from pale to bright pink. She looked as much like Ellia looking at Cyric then as I'd seen since the balcony outside of the palace, before she'd kissed me. Like little Ellia, blinking up while she waited for me to speak.

  I only stayed staring hard, reinforcing my words, making her accept them.

  She caught her breath, suddenly, blinking her eyes clear, but instead of backing away from me, she only turned around, looking back at the chamber entrance as if she'd only just realized we weren't alone.

  There were guardsmen there, the few that watched the entrance to the tunnel. That was all. There really didn't seem to be a lot of people in Genbu; or if there were, they were all hiding. One of them grinned and the other waved when she turned, like we were all the best of friends, sharing a secret.

  I took a sharp breath for the way she was braced against me, then reluctantly released her waist, slowly moving my hand off while I spoke. "Now, how about we make the most of the time the rulers gave us. I think it's about time we figured out what those Tortoises look like."

  I felt her shift towards me as I moved my hand away and started walking towards the two guards—like her body was literally attached to mine. It made me more than smile as I kept moving to ask the two men where the tortoises could be found.

  I knew that seeing them would go a long way in reassuring her about her mission. Just like I knew that I hadn't lost my ability to take care of her. Even if I was Cole.

  And I felt a little guilty. Because I for one wasn't really upset that the Genbuans hadn't met with her today.

  Chapter Nineteen

  CYRIC:

  "Don't be silly. You were the one that jumped," Ellia said. "You thought those Genbuans had led us astray. And you..." Ellia hugged her arms over her stomach as she giggled. "You were in the middle of telling me how you thought they'd be the size of Vermillion birds."

  I dropped my brow low, as she rocked so far back, laughing, that her chair nearly tipped over. It only didn't because I had my foot locked around one of its legs.

  "More like its head was the size of a Vermillion Bird," I scoffed. "How would you have responded if it had knocked into your back like that? You'd have jumped so high I would have had to catch you."

  "Oh, no, I thought they were beautiful," Ellia argued whimsically. She sunk back straight in her seat, and I leaned back against the table beside us. We were at the inn of Genbu. The only one there to stay in in the whole place. But we had needed it, desperately, very suddenly, when the weather had switched from calm, to howling; a snowstorm fiercer than anything we'd gone through with Luffie. And it was still raging. Apparently it did so every night at a certain time. For us it had hit at dusk. We'd been in valleys outside of the city, where the ground was all covered in deep snow that had made it hard to see—at first—the black tortoises half-buried beneath it.

  Now we were all surrounded by noise
, and people, drinking, and singing; a mix of blue torches, and yellow flames in the fireplaces. Ellia and I had already eaten; now she wouldn't stop reminiscing about the tortoises.

  "We should go see them again tomorrow. The innkeeper said the weather would be better by dawn," she said, pressing her hands together.

  "Dawn?" I echoed, still with my foot holding her chair in place.

  "Oh, couldn't we, Cole? Then we'll get to watch the sky turn again. Wasn't that perfectly magical?"

  By this, she must have been referring to the fast-coming snowstorm. What had been swirls of grey clouds with blue beyond it, had begun all at once to turn in a ring, like a giant wheel of clouds. It vanished all traces of blue, and turned the sky the sort of black that no one would be seeing stars beyond. We'd been so distracted by the tortoises, we'd hardly made it to the inn before freezing to death. It seemed the Genbuans were rather hands-off about their visitors, but that had worked in our favor visiting the tortoises.

  "I can see now why the man said they wouldn't bother clearing the paths," she added.

  "Of course we can go if you like," I replied. "You can finish naming them all. Though I don't see how you told them apart."

  "Oh Cole, you can't be serious!" she exclaimed, sending her chair into another backwards tip. "They were absolutely different colors. Different shapes..."

  "They were all black, Ellia. And as for their shape, they looked exactly the way that turtles look... only larger."

  "A score of times larger. They were almost as big as dragons."

  I chuckled, a little depthlessly, recalling Kraehe digging her talons into the red rock mountain in front of me. "Maybe half as big," I corrected.

  She scoffed. "Cole, you've no idea when I'm the one that's seen them. Images of scale don't show it properly. And the tortoises weren't black either. Didn't you inspect their shells at all?"

  I didn't answer, only narrowed, smiling, getting more out of hearing her talk than remembering the tortoises for myself. "Tell me about them," I replied.

  She shook her head, then held two fingers up between us, rubbing them together. "As Luffie's feathers are, as dragonscales, or the white tiger's fur, or the Vermillion birds, they're iridescent. They're black, but then they're purple, and maroon, and green, and blue, oh, every color. It's there at the surface. Just like a pearl, or unlit oil." Her eyes widened, suddenly, as she dropped her hand. "Do you think all the granted animals are like that? Do you think the behemoths are?"