by Greg Keyes
He only had one way out, and the four figures ahead were blocking it, so he went straight at them with all the speed he had, which was clearly more than they were expecting. He avoided their spears and bowled right through them, diving for the Drop.
He thought he was free when something hit him in the side, hard. He spun down to his right, but after a few yards something yanked him back and sent waves of agony through his ribs.
He looked back into a cloud of blood. His blood, pouring from where a harpoon was stuck in him. One of the men was lashing the other end of the line around a spike of coral.
With a harsh cry, Glim hurled himself back at them, but they were more ready for him this time, three of them setting their spears and the harpooner reloading his weapon, which looked a lot like a crossbow.
He jagged at the last moment, but one of the spearmen managed to shift his point so it hit him in the forehead. He screamed as the tip found his skull and deflected, slicing all the way to his ear. The pain was terrific, but it only seemed to make him stronger as he jerked his way down the shaft and buried his claws in the man’s throat. One of the others gripped him from behind, and then they all had him. He rolled and pitched furiously, smashing them into coral. Two let go, but the other managed to hold on by grabbing the harpoon, and this time his senses were shattered by the pain, and for a moment he wasn’t sure what was happening.
The next thing that came to him clearly was Oluth, trying to say something. Blood was coming from his mouth. A quick look showed his attackers all dead or too badly wounded to do anything.
“What?” he asked Oluth.
“I’m sorry,” the boy said. “We did it, the glimmers. We thought it was what you wanted.”
“What?” Glim demanded. “What did you do?”
“They were supposed to know, so they would do something about the vapors. We were proud, proud to be a part of—” He coughed, and a great gout of red poured from his mouth.
“We broke a tree-root feed,” he said. “We left our sign there, the sign of the vapors.”
“Sign of the vapors?”
“Right,” Oluth said weakly. “You wouldn’t have seen it. It’s on the door to the chamber. Four wriggling lines, in a spray.” He closed his eyes. Glim saw the wound now. The knife was still in it.
“Let’s get you fixed up,” he said.
“No,” Oluth said. “More coming. I’ll wait here for them.”
“I can’t let you, not alone.”
“Please,” Oluth said. “Please, for me? If you forgive me, please go.”
Glim cut the line to the harpoon and was trying to pull it free when several figures emerged from the cave entrance. Oluth launched himself forward.
“Go!” he screamed. Glim saw he had the harpoon gun.
More guards came out, seven now.
So he did as Oluth asked and swam deep.
When Glim had put some distance between himself and his pursuers, he found a crevice in the side of the sump, wedged the other end of the harpoon into it, and finally managed to yank the barbed head free. He almost passed out, and for several long breaths he couldn’t swim, but then he started stroking again, trailing more blood than ever.
He couldn’t get Oluth’s last words out of his head. Where had he gone wrong? Hadn’t he explained well enough? And what were they doing breaking a tree-root feed? That hadn’t even been one of the targets he had approved.
But it did give him an idea. He took a twisting course, past where a cluster of middens emptied into the sump, hoping the turbulence would disperse his blood trail, then swam toward the capillaries that drew water up to the Fringe Gyre. It took him a few minutes, but he found the one with the lines crudely etched into the stone above—the sign of the vapors. They had smashed the filter, so the capillary was pulling up debris that in time would choke the feed. Hoping it wasn’t blocked already, he went up it.
It was nearly too tight for him; he had to writhe up the thing for the first hundred feet or so, but finally it met a larger tube and he let himself drift for a moment before continuing on.
He’d never been in these passages before for the simple reason that none of the filters were ever broken. Older skraws who had made repairs said they formed a webwork that brought water to the roots of the Fringe Gyre. He hadn’t wanted to take his usual path up, because it would have been far too easy to track him. Now, as he passed dozens of branching tubes, many far too small to admit him, he wondered if he hadn’t merely managed to trap himself. If they found him here, his speed and maneuverability wouldn’t count for much.
Not that he had that much of either left anyway. He didn’t know how much blood he had lost; his wounds stanched themselves pretty quickly, but he was still bleeding.
Hoping he wouldn’t pass out before he found a way up, he swam on, through passages that became increasingly more dizzying and labyrinthine.
THREE
Attrebus fell, but before he could start a scream he crunched into something cold and wet. Gasping, he came to his hands and knees, swiping at the clotting stuff on his face, wondering what horrible Oblivion realm Malacath had banished them to. But then he understood that he’d landed in snow, and the air coming into his lungs was clean and filled with evergreen scent. When he looked up, the sky was blue and traced with high, thin clouds.
“He did it,” he said.
“So it would appear,” Sul replied. “This is not Oblivion, at least.”
“It’s cold.”
“If this is Solstheim, that makes sense.”
Like him, Sul was still naked; his dark skin stood in sharp contrast to the snow and spruce trees surrounding them. Near him lay a bundle, and the older man stepped over to it, discovering their clothing, weapons, and armor.
Everything was still torn, filthy, and blood-caked, but Attrebus felt warmer and more secure back in his gear.
“Which way now?” he asked. They were on a low ridge. Jagged peaks stood off in one direction. “I thought he would drop us right in front of—wherever we’re going.”
“That’s not always possible, even for a daedra prince,” Sul replied. “He probably put us as near as was convenient.” He looked around, and then jerked his chin toward the peaks. “I’ve no interest in climbing mountains just for sport. Downhill is likely more hospitable, and we’re more apt to find someone to ask directions of.”
“I won’t argue with that,” Attrebus said.
The land rolled up and down, but took them generally lower, until they came to a little valley with a small but enthusiastic river laughing over polished stones. They began following that downstream. It was about midday, and the sun was warmer, the ice turning to mush under their feet.
As the sky paled to slate and the outlines of the moon Secundus began to brighten, the snow began to crackle under their feet, and the inadequacy of their clothing became clear. They searched the valley wall for a rock shelter, but failing to find one, they stopped, gathered wood, and built a fire to huddle around.
“I thought we would find people sooner,” Attrebus said, watching the flames dance and trying to avoid the resinous smoke.
“Why?” Sul asked.
“Well, because so many Dark Elves came here after the red year—” He broke off, realizing he was in uncomfortable territory, but Sul clapped his hands together and rubbed them over the fire.
“I had many unpleasant surprises after returning from exile in Oblivion,” he said. “I knew that Vivec City was destroyed. Vuhon told me he had seen as much, when he was torturing me. But it wasn’t until I went there that I understood how badly my homeland had been ravaged, or how they had suffered from the Argonian invasion. Still, I had an idea. But that Skyrim had offered Solstheim as a haven for my people, after ages of enmity between our races—for that I was unprepared.”
“ ‘Untithed to any thane or hold,’ ” Attrebus quoted, “ ‘and self-governed, with free worship, with no compensation to Skyrim or the Empire except as writ in the armistice of old wheresoever
those might still apply, and henceforth let no man or mer say that the Sons and Daughters of Kyne are without mercy or honor.’ ”
Sul raised an eyebrow.
“I learned it from my tutors,” Attrebus explained. “I memorized it. I’ve always been moved by it.”
Sul poked at the fire, his brow furrowing, then tossed his head to indicate their surroundings. “It’s not the most fruitful land,” he said. “And in my day almost unpopulated, and then by scraggly tribesmen with no clear allegiance toward Skyrim or the Empire. Morrowind had always laid theoretical claim to the place. If Skyrim hadn’t given it freely, odds are the refugees would have settled here anyway, forcing the Nords to either fight or lose face. This way they came out looking like saviors.”
“Stendarr,” Attrebus swore. “Can’t you ever imagine that people actually act from kindness? From mercy?”
“People might, or at least might imagine that’s what moves them,” Sul said. “Nations don’t.”
“I don’t believe that,” Attrebus said. “Nations are ruled by people. When did the Nords ever back down from a fight with Dunmer? Your people were weakened, Sul—battered, without home or resources.”
“They were desperate,” Sul replied. “Desperate and dangerous. You’ve too many romantic notions in your head.”
“Maybe,” Attrebus said. “And maybe nine times out of ten, you’re right—nations act from cold self-interest. But sometimes, at their very best, they act for a greater good, just as some men and women do.”
Sul waved that off. “I’m not going to argue any further,” he said. “Believe what you want. But to return to your question, my guess is that most Dunmer settled in the South and along the coasts, and I think we’re in the interior.”
“You’ve been here before?”
“No, but as I said, it was always a disputed territory, and therefore its essentials were a part of my education in the ministry.”
Despite Sul’s pronouncement, Attrebus wanted to press the debate, but at that moment he heard a soft noise from his haversack, both artificial and birdlike.
“Annaïg,” he whispered. “She’s alive. I tried to contact her earlier but—”
“Go on,” Sul said. “But don’t stray far from the fire.”
Attrebus nodded and stepped a bit away from the flames, into the muffling spruces, for a bit of privacy. Then he hesitated at the cold, wondering why he needed discretion, why Sul assumed he did …
He pulled out Coo, the mechanical bird, an exquisitely crafted object, detailed down to the feather. He opened the small latch on its belly.
And there she was, Annaïg, with her curly black hair and mouth curving up in a wide, happy grin.
“Attrebus,” she said. “I—I thought you were dead. It’s been so long.”
“Has it?” he asked. “I’m afraid I’ve lost all sense of time.”
“What happened?” she asked. “Where are you?”
“Things didn’t go exactly as planned,” he said. “Sul and I reached Umbriel, but Vuhon was too much for us. We barely escaped into Oblivion with our lives, and there—we were quite busy. I tried to contact you a few times but I never managed it.” He felt sick as he said it, and realized he was holding his gut scar. He forced a smile. “But now we have returned to Tamriel.”
“Vuhon? Who is Vuhon?”
“You haven’t heard of him? He’s the lord of Umbriel. He created it.”
Her brow furrowed.
“When they speak of the lord of Umbriel, they call him Umbriel,” she said. “I’ve never heard of anyone named Vuhon.”
“That’s odd,” Attrebus said, but he remembered Vuhon suggesting that he didn’t go by that name anymore, that he was only answering to it out of convenience for Sul. Then he caught the tense of her verb. “You speak as if you’re still there,” he said. “I thought you had managed to escape.”
“My plans didn’t fare so well either,” she replied. “It seems Umbriel has some hold over us. We flew out a few hundred yards and our bodies began to—ah—evaporate.”
“Evaporate? Like the larvae you told me about? I remember you said the inhabitants of Umbriel all believed they couldn’t leave.”
“And it seems they can’t. And now Glim and I can’t.”
“I’m sorry,” he said. “All this time I thought you were safe. I tried to contact you once from Oblivion, when we had a moment’s respite, but there wasn’t an answer. There must be some way.”
“There is, I’m sure,” she said, but her eyes shifted away and her tone was unconvincing.
“What’s wrong?”
“I just haven’t made much progress, that’s all,” she said.
“We learned a few things from Vuhon that might help you,” he told her.
“Really?” she asked. “Such as?”
“Umbriel used to be a city in Oblivion, in the realm of Clavicus Vile. Vuhon—the lord of Umbriel—was trying to escape that realm with his companion, Umbra, but Vile essentially hardened the walls of his domain so no one could leave it. Vuhon found a way to sort of turn space around the city, though, and then break that free, like twisting a sausage casing and then tearing it.”
Annaïg blinked. “So Umbriel is in a bubble—a bubble of the wall Clavicus Vile made it impossible to pass through?”
“I think that’s right,” he said. “Sul has tried to explain it better, but we’ve been rather busy—”
“But that helps,” she said excitedly. “Attrebus, that helps a lot. If I were there I would kiss—”
But she broke off and blushed.
“You know what I mean,” she said after a moment.
“I think I could suffer through a kiss from you,” he said.
Her brows drew in. “Oh, could you?” she asked.
“Sure—if it wasn’t too long, or wet.”
“I’ll keep that in mind, your highness,” she said. But then her face changed, as if she’d just remembered something awful.
“What’s wrong?” he asked. “Is someone there?”
“No,” she replied. “No, privacy isn’t the problem it used to be.”
“How is that?”
“I’ve—moved up. I’m the chef of a kitchen now.”
“That’s good?”
“I think so. It puts me in a position to learn more about Umbriel. I think I may have found some weaknesses.”
“That’s wonderful, then. Are you safer?”
“I don’t know,” she said. Her good mood seemed to have all but left her. Now she sounded tired. “In a way, certainly. But every step up just means a new kind of danger. In two days I will make a meal for Umbriel himself.”
“Vuhon?”
“I guess so. I don’t know.”
“He’s a Dunmer, Annaïg. From Morrowind.” A thought occurred, but he felt reluctant to voice it. She must have seen it on his face.
“You’re wondering if I can poison him.”
“No,” he said. “It’s too dangerous.”
“I—” She closed her eyes. “I’m confused, Attrebus. To survive, to get to this position—I’ve had to do things. Things I’m not happy about or proud of.”
“I’m sure everything you’ve done was necessary,” he said. “Look, I know you’re not an assassin. I shouldn’t have—”
“If I thought I could succeed, I would do it,” she said. “The fact that he was once an elf, a person of flesh and blood like you and me—that’s interesting. But I don’t think he is that anymore.”
“No,” he said, “you’re probably right. He said that everything on Umbriel was a part of him, and he part of it. And he was so strong …”
Her expression had changed again, become thoughtful.
“If that’s true …” she began.
“Yes?”
“I’m sorry,” she said. “I need to think about this. Tell me everything you remember him saying, everything you know about Umbriel.”
He recounted the meeting with Vuhon and everything he could remember Sul saying
about him, Clavicus Vile, and Umbra, continuing long into the night.
“I should go now,” she sighed. “I have more privacy, but I have a kitchen to run. I’m—it’s good to talk to you.”
“To you, too,” he said. He hesitated, then went on. “There’s so much that’s happened, so much I want to tell you about when we really have time—”
“I never got that description of Rimmen,” she said.
“I know. But gods willing, I’ll get the chance to give it to you. When you’re free, and alone, always try me. I’ll answer when I can.”
“I know you will,” she said.
Her image persisted a moment, and then vanished as she put away the locket.
It was only then that he realized he was freezing.
“Watch it,” Sul warned.
Attrebus looked down and realized he was about to put his foot into a jagged crevice a yard deep.
“Thanks,” he said.
“Just—watch yourself.”
“I didn’t really sleep last night,” Attrebus explained.
“Cold and hard dirt can do that.”
“That wasn’t it. Believe it or not, I’ve slept perfectly peacefully under those conditions before. I just couldn’t stop thinking.”
“I can believe that,” Sul grunted.
Attrebus felt irritation flare but pressed it down.
“Look, until a few weeks ago I thought I was a warrior, a leader—a hero. I slept like a baby because I didn’t have any worries. Every fight I was ever in, I won, every battle went my way. And I was too stupid to figure out the whole thing was a sham.”
“You’re not that stupid,” Sul said, to his surprise. “That’s an easy sort of thing to believe, when you’re young. I thought I was invincible at one point, too, and I didn’t have any of the excuses you do for thinking so.”
“Well, that’s—thanks.”
For a moment he continued in silence, wondering over the rare almost-compliment.