by Eric Asher
After all he’d seen. After all he’d done. He hadn’t been sure he’d ever see his parents again. Wasn’t entirely sure they’d survived the horrors inflicted on Ancora by the Butcher. But now they were both here, alive, and his dad looked better than he had in months.
“Are you staying?” his dad asked as they broke away.
Jacob hesitated. “Not for long. We have to get back to Ancora and help with the reconstruction.”
“I’m proud of you.”
Jacob didn’t know how to respond to that. It felt good to hear the words, but he’d done things no one should be proud of.
“Who’s your friend?”
Jacob glanced back. “Oh, right, rude of me. Mom, Dad, this is Drakkar. He’s saved us more than once. And saved Samuel even more. Drakkar, this is Mags, and Leo.”
“Don’t let the Spider Knight hear that,” Drakkar said with a smile. He bowed to both of Jacob’s parents. “It is an honor to meet you both.”
Jacob caught a bit of Alice’s conversation when she said, “They told us you’d be down by the caves, wherever that is.”
“Oh, that would have been a good place to find me,” her mom said. “They have quite a wonderful Pilly stock here. I’ve been helping them in the stables where I can.”
Alice noticed Jacob looking at her and then glanced at Drakkar. She briefly introduced them before turning to Jacob’s parents. “How did you all end up here together?”
“After you two vanished,” Alice’s mom said, “we kept each other company at Bat’s home. Until … until things got worse. We fled to Cave with help from Baddawick and the tunnels beneath Bat’s house.”
Alice nodded and turned to Jacob’s dad. “You seem to be doing a lot better here.”
“All thanks to the Cave Guardians. They treated me with a vile concoction of moss and lichen, but I must admit it helped far more than the medicine in Ancora.”
Jacob had a hard time reconciling the memory of his frail father with the recovering man in front of him. Where other citizens of Ancora had lost weight due to some level of starvation, his father looked healthier than he had in recent memory.
There was almost guilt, knowing Jacob and his companions had not dealt with that kind of struggle. They’d had their own issues, no doubt, but food had not been one of them.
“Now tell me,” Jacob’s dad said. “What do you hope to do to help the reconstruction of Ancora? That kind of devastation isn’t the sort of thing one person can fix.”
Jacob bristled at his father’s words. That wasn’t how he’d been raised; that wasn’t the ethic his father had instilled in him. “Charles was the greatest tinker in Ancora. The least I can do is help where he would have. And I’ll help as much as I can.”
His father sat down on the cot and took a deep breath. “There was a time when I would’ve been with you. Out there with the masons who will help rebuild the walls. I might be better, Jacob, but I’m afraid those years are long past me now.”
There was some understanding Jacob gleaned from those words. His father might have improved, but the illness had taken its toll.
“Rest while you can,” Jacob said. “Dauschen and Ancora are both compromised. Cave might be the safest place you could be for now.”
Jacob’s father gave him an awkward smile. “Safe from what? The Butcher is dead. You saw to that.”
Jacob wasn’t sure how much he should say. If they’d learned one thing, there were ears everywhere. And in a city once known for its spies and pirates, Jacob felt caution was a wise course of action.
Alice saved him from having to answer the question. “I’m going back with Jacob. At least for a while. You can’t imagine the things we’ve seen. I don’t want you to have to imagine the things we’ve seen. Like he said, rest here while you can. It seems like a good home.”
“It is the best kind of home.” Drakkar lowered his voice. “Should you have need, send a letter addressed to Samuel in Ancora. We have come to an agreement with Baddawick. He will pass on any message received in Samuel’s name.”
Alice’s mom frowned at that. “What better is that than sending a letter directly to you?”
The smirk on Alice’s face gave her mom pause.
Barely above a whisper, Alice said, “It won’t be the letter itself that gets to us, only what it says. Trust me on this.”
“Very well. You’ve managed to keep yourself alive this long. I guess I’ve done okay raising you.”
Alice grinned at her mom.
Jacob’s parents exchanged a glance, and his father shrugged. They didn’t pry any further into Drakkar’s suggestion. Jacob was thankful for that, as he didn’t want to explain to them how the various radios of Archibald’s spy network operated. And while it was true they wouldn’t have access to a transmitter at all times, someone from their party would likely be near one. It wouldn’t take too long for a message to reach them.
“Will any of you be returning to Ancora?” Drakkar asked.
Jacob’s mom squeezed her hands together and held them close to her chest. “Not now. I can’t look at our home like that. I can’t see what’s left of the Lowlands again.”
The conversation trailed off on that note, until Drakkar broke the silence. “Have you already eaten?”
Everyone shook their heads.
Drakkar smiled. “If you don’t mind a small walk, I would be happy to introduce you to the best fishmonger in Cave.”
* * *
Drakkar led them deeper into Cave than Jacob had ever been. He’d always thought the main cavern with The Rock Inn and the Temple of the Cave Guardians contained most of the city. They slowed at times, waiting for his father to rest on his cane. But it gave Jacob more time to take in just how large Cave really was.
The first passage Drakkar took them through looked identical to the main entrance to the city. It bent to the left, and then the right, and then they were standing inside a new cavern at least half the size of the first.
“How big is the city?” Alice asked.
“Perhaps a bit smaller than the Highlands of Ancora,” Drakkar said. “The prime cave, which welcomes all to the city, is the largest. But there are three more chambers like this, and farther out a network of hovels, home to only a few families.”
“It’s quite wonderful, isn’t it?” Alice’s mom said. “We aren’t far from the stables here. They have quite a large glowworm farm. But it’s really the Pill-Bugs you should see.”
Jacob noted the architecture was different in the second chamber. More stone, and crude brick, and less of the fine woodwork he saw in what Drakkar called the prime cave. It was a long walk at their leisurely pace, and Jacob hoped they’d be able to sit down soon for his father’s sake.
As if reading his thoughts, Drakkar said, “One more hall and we’ll be there.”
The last corridor was the longest Jacob had seen in Cave. It curved gently before sloping down. The lower they got, the better the lighting was, but he did not see torches in the walls, only a handful of glow worms grazing on lichen. But no glowworm could emit a light so intense.
It wasn’t until they stepped out of the corridor that Jacob understood. The world opened in front of them. A tall arcing cavern encompassed the entire area, but the front of it was broken, fallen away into the endless sea known as the Silver Gulf.
Storefronts and small dwellings rose all around stone docks. A cluster of wooden ships bobbed on the waters, rolling up and down with the waves. The broken cavern provided shade and cover against the blinding sun glistening on brilliant clear waters.
Dozens of fisherfolk lined the piers, casting lines and hauling up traps near the shore. It was a surreal sight, and one Jacob could have stayed and watched for hours.
“Come,” Drakkar said. “Lakkan’s restaurant is not far.”
He led them closer to the far south wall of the cavern. It was a strange thing, seeing the Silver Gulf so clearly. Jacob knew it was the same waters not so far from Ancora, but the way the mountain city had
been built among the peaks and hidden behind the city walls, the sea was a rare sight indeed.
Drakkar turned back to the group, a wide smile across his face as he gestured to a humble structure built of dark wood. Inside was a single chef, a row of barstools, and a single bar top.
“We aren’t open for business yet,” the chef said.
“Not even for a very old friend?”
The chef didn’t pause his rapid knife work, only glanced up and cast a small smile toward Drakkar. “Perhaps I can make an exception.”
“Lakkan, it is good to see you.” Drakkar turned to the others, holding a canvas flap out of the way and ushering them inside. “Take a stool. I hope you’re ready to have fish ruined for life.”
The chef didn’t acknowledge Drakkar’s compliments. Instead, he paused and met the Cave Guardian’s gaze. “Is your warmongering done so soon?”
“No more than your fish mongering.”
Lakkan blinked at that retort. “I never thought of you as one for humor.”
Drakkar flashed a brilliant smile. “Perhaps my companions have been somewhat of a bad influence.”
“Good.” Lakkan harrumphed. “In that case, they are most welcome.”
Jacob studied the interior. While most was raw wood, the kitchen and stove itself looked like something the finest Highlander would envy. Lakkan twisted a knob and flames burst to life.
“How did you do that?” Jacob asked. “I don’t see a fuel source.”
Lakkan narrowed his eyes. “You brought a tinker.”
Jacob blinked at that, but Drakkar laughed.
“The rest of you aren’t tinkers, are you?” Lakkan sighed. “They can be exhausting.”
Alice elbowed Jacob, who felt his cheeks turning red.
The chef opened a compartment in the floor, hauling up a strange metal box. The door swung open, and inside were dozens of small containers. “We use the colder water to keep things fresh.” He popped the lid off two containers and dumped the contents into a frying pan. The entire room filled with an earthy, sweet scent, and Jacob found his embarrassment fading.
“As to your other question, tinker,” Lakkan said. “There are veins of gas that run through the walls. We simply plug them, and harvest the power within. A natural gift, much the same as what gave birth to the Burning Forest, we suspect.”
“That’s amazing,” Jacob said. “How long do your gaskets last? At least I assume that’s how you’re blocking the gas.”
At that, Lakkan offered a small smile. “We replace them every few months. There is a corrosive element here in the caves. And it is better to be safe than dead.”
“Have you had explosions?” Alice asked.
“Don’t you pester the chef, too,” Alice’s mother said.
Lakkan gestured out toward the Silver Gulf. “We did not always have such a striking view of the sea. If you walk out to the edge of the piers, you will find some jagged remnants of Cave’s old wall below the waters.”
Alice raised her eyebrows.
Lakkan harrumphed. “Yes, so now we change the gaskets.”
He added the contents of another container to the pan, the room filling with steam and an intense hissing.
“What is that smell?” Alice’s mom asked. “Is that a batch of Sea Claws?”
Lakkan grunted in confirmation. “We have excellent fish in the shallows, but the crevices formed when the wall collapsed are an ideal habitat for the Sea Claws.” He didn’t turn around as he dropped a handful of green ribbons into the pan, tossing it about before finally removing it from the heat.
Drakkar grabbed a stack of shallow rimmed plates from the end of the counter, laying one at each table setting. Lakkan poured a bit of his concoction across each plate, making sure everyone had a piece of the shelled claw, and several small fish.
“It is always chef’s choice here,” Drakkar said. “But I have yet to see a bad choice.”
“Do we need a spoon?” Jacob asked, almost whispering to Drakkar.
Lakkan laughed at that. “Not here. Use your hands and drink from your plate. Tinkers.”
Jacob’s dad smiled at him and took a sip from his own plate. “How did it get tender so fast?”
“The closest thing to a Sea Claw on land is likely a Pill-Bug. Similar in flavor, perhaps, but an entirely different flesh. I assure you, you would not enjoy an overcooked Sea Claw. It would be more like chewing on a gasket.”
“This is so good,” Alice said, leaning forward over the bar.
Jacob’s mom smiled before her expression fell a little. “Can we afford this?”
“Afford?” Lakkan asked. “You have returned my friend to me. And a friend of a friend does not pay in this place.”
“Ever?” Alice asked.
Lakkan let out a low laugh. “Today.”
Jacob nibbled at the Sea Claw. There was a hint of that rubber texture he was used to from Pill-Bugs. But there was more, almost a sweetness to it. And the sauce Lakkan had added made for a wonderful experience, bringing brine and char together into a single bite.
“I’ve never had anything like it,” Jacob said. “Thank you. I think George needs to learn how to make this for The Fish Head.”
Lakkan hesitated at that. “You know the proprietors of The Fish Head in Bollwerk?”
Drakkar leaned back on his stool and smiled. “Part of Lakkan’s family is from Midstream.”
“Oh!” Alice set her plate down. “Do you know Gladys and George? They’re friends of ours. Gladys is going to be the best princess.”
Lakkan didn’t respond for a moment, and Drakkar laughed.
“Not bad for a tinker’s apprentice and one overly fond of books, eh Lakkan?”
Lakkan ignored Drakkar’s barb. “I only met Gladys once, but George has been good company on more than one night. A taste for sake that one, and a fine taste at that.”
Jacob remembered not feeling so fine after his last encounter with that drink, but he nodded along with Lakkan’s story.
“It has been a long while since I saw them, though. Before the darkest times came. Before the warlords wrapped all the Deadlands in an iron grip. Gladys was newly crowned. An infant. If not for George, I do not know what would have happened to the royal line.”
Jacob was pretty sure he knew. That would have been the end of it. The end of their legacy, and the last gasp of Midstream, itself.
“Archibald is helping defend Midstream,” Jacob said.
Lakkan scoffed. “The Bollwerk king?”
“I don’t think he’s a king, exactly.”
“In all but title. And he is the man who abandoned Midstream to its fate. To what end? The end of all, I suppose.”
“He did offer shelter to George and Gladys and what remained of the guard,” Drakkar said.
Lakkan grimaced. “He should have put Rana down the first instant that warlord took power in the wastes near the Burning Forest.”
“Rana?” Alice asked.
Not entirely thinking things through, Jacob blurted out, “Oh, Alice killed Rana to rescue Gladys.”
Lakkan stared, slack-jawed before composing himself. “I am glad to hear of his demise.”
“You did what!” Alice’s mom barked out.
Jacob froze mid-bite and gave an awkward smile to a now-glaring Alice.
“And I suppose you are the tinker who executed the Butcher,” Lakkan muttered.
“What?” Jacob’s mom hissed.
“Ha!” Alice said, the focus now off of her.
“He may be,” Drakkar said, “but that is something which should remain quiet. We do not know how deeply Fel’s network penetrated Ancora’s allies.”
“I would hardly call Cave an ally of Ancora.”
“You have taken in countless refugees. It is enough for an empire of ill intent to take notice.”
“Well done,” Jacob’s dad said, patting his knee.
“Well done?” Jacob’s mom said, unable to keep the exasperation from her voice. “He … and you just … h
ow could you say that?”
“I didn’t have a choice, Mom. It was us or him. He chased us to Bollwerk and sent Ballern’s warships after us because of what we knew.” It was a slight exaggeration, Jacob knew. No one had specifically sent warships after them, but it sounded like a better excuse.
Jacob’s mom cursed under her breath. “Anything stronger to drink than water, Lakkan?”
The chef grinned. “I can fix you up.”
* * *
They spent another hour with Lakkan as he regaled them with ever-more ridiculous stories of the madness that sometimes happened on the sea. Jacob hoped one day he’d be able to go out on those ships and see how they could stay afloat in the storms like Lakkan described.
When the time came for Lakkan to open to his regulars, the group said their goodbyes and headed back into the heart of Cave. Jacob and Alice agreed to an evening of rest over at The Rock Inn. But in the morning, they’d return to Ancora.
Now they knew their families were safe. It was time to help the city rebuild.
CHAPTER FIVE
Gregory Mordair sat on the jagged stone throne of Fel. He kept enough loyalists close to him that the day to day running of the empire was usually not so taxing. But the takeover of Ancora had not gone as smoothly as he planned. His idiot brother, concealed for decades among the Parliament, failed in a proper coup.
Dauschen’s destruction weighed on Mordair’s mind far more than the failures in Ancora. All he needed in Ancora was chaos, and there was plenty of that to go around. He had not suspected Charles to be such a problem in his old age. A small smile lifted the edges of Mordair’s mouth, though no one could see it behind his metal mask. He doubted Charles had expected him to be such a problem either.
Sometimes the destruction of one’s enemy decades after the fact was just as sweet.
The King of Fel focused on the man in chains before him. There was little that bothered Mordair as much as disloyalty. The disturbing trend among the population to question royalty had the potential to become a problem. There was a time not so long ago that a handful of executions would quell the masses. But much to Mordair’s annoyance, more of the population were willing to risk death.