by N. M. Howell
“Oh, I think I know exactly what they were up to and why the crowd is so big here. Look.”
Andie pointed through some bystanders and Saeryn’s gaze followed her finger. There was a massive hole in the center of the intersection. Nearby was a sign for tourists:
YOU ARE NOW STANDING ABOVE THE LOCATION OF
THE SINGULARE AND UNFATHOMABLE COLLECTION OF
THE GODHEARTS
OF THE CITY OF NEW CARTHAGE.
WELCOME.
“Well, that was dumb,” Andie said. “Who puts a giant sign above the exact location of the world’s largest collection of the rarest gems known to man?”
“The battalion, the Dead, and the Church could fund their war for a century with only a handful of what’s down there.”
“Yeah, and I’m betting they took more than a handful. We’re never going to catch a break.”
“Well, at least we can locate and secure the portal. The exact center of the city, correct?”
“You want to know what else is at the exact center of the city? This giant crime scene where the battalion stole the one thing this entire city is obsessed with. This place will be crawling with patrols and investigators for months.”
Andie ran her hands through her hair, frustrated to be so close to the portal. It hurt. And it made her exceedingly angry.
“Be calm, princess. We’ll get what we came for. I refuse to leave this city without it. First, we’ll find somewhere to avoid suspicion until nightfall. Then we’ll come back and I’m sure that two powerful, intelligent dragonborn of royal blood can find a way to get what we want.”
Some hours later, night finally fell over New Carthage. The hole left by the battalion’s heist was still uncovered and the godhearts below were exposed to the moonlight. The light of the crescent moon reflected off the jagged, unrefined surfaces of the godhearts in a dazzling, speckled pattern that danced across all the nearby buildings. By the time Andie and Saeryn returned, the city authorities had already pushed the lines four blocks back to keep away tourists and preserve the crime scene. Growing somewhat desperate, Andie tried out her feminine wiles on one of the patrol officers. Unfortunately, of the many gifts she had, flirting wasn’t one of them. Saeryn couldn’t help but laugh.
“It was a noble effort, princess. I’m sure if you were here in your true appearance we would have a different outcome.”
Andie felt mortified, her cheeks tinging with a soft shade of rose. “I appreciate you trying to make me feel better. I might have another idea, though. Something my father taught me.”
She took a breath and cast her spell. Everything around them slowed down.
Saeryn seemed shocked. She looked around herself at the passerby who appeared to barely be moving, his front foot suspended in mid-air as he stepped forward.
“This is incredible. Is this a variant of Eitilt?”
“I don’t think so. It doesn’t stop time, it just makes you move faster. A lot faster. Follow me.”
Andie ran toward the massive hole and over the edge, Saeryn at her heels. They moved so fast they could run along the cavern walls, though the path was rough and slippery. They only just managed to make it to the ground when they hit a sort of wall and were knocked back. It took them a moment to catch their breath. The moment they were on their feet, they were surrounded by officers. Andie looked over at Saeryn. They’d been caught in a trap, which was one reason Andie never used the speed spell. It was great for some instances, except when defenses had already been put in place. It was too easy to protect against.
“Hands up, thief,” an officer yelled, leveling his gun on them.
Several other guns came up as well, and the cavern filled with the sound of clicks as nearly thirty hammers were cocked.
“Actual firearms,” Andie said. “A little outdated, don’t you think?”
“Still kills just fine. We knew you’d come back. Nobody who gets their hands on one of these ever loses the taste for it and you got your hands on a lot of these. Where’s your stash? Is this all of your gang?”
“There’s been a misunderstanding,” Saeryn tried to explain. “I realize we are here under suspicious circumstances—”
“You mean you were caught trying to sneak in using magic?”
“Yes, but we are no thieves. We came here in search of something else. Something of far greater value to us than godhearts. What we seek has the power to save or destroy, and we have no need of your precious stones.”
“What is it you’re looking for? Huh? Who are your people? You better start giving me some answers or the city council’s going to have you in front of a high judge in the morning.”
Saeryn seemed at a loss. The look on her face matched Andie’s thinking. They’d been caught. The officer turned to Andie.
“How about you?” he asked. “Do you speak?”
“Yeah, I speak.”
“Then start talking. Who are you and what do you want here?”
“Unfortunately for you, your city is indecisive. Which means I don’t know which side you’re on. Which means I can’t tell you anything because it could become a diplomatic nightmare if you know who we really are and what we’re after. That’s all just a long way of saying that this is really going to hurt.”
Chapter Twelve
Andie struck first, hitting the two nearest officers with a bolt of lightning that didn’t kill them, but threw them backward into the small mountain of godhearts. Saeryn went next, removing her scarf in an awesome flash of speed and magic, the fabric suddenly a solid yet flexible steel. She whipped it back and forth like a double-edged sword, taking out officers all around. On the other side, Andie got in close for hand to hand combat, taking the officers down without seriously injuring them. They were stronger than she was, but she was faster by far and had been trained by several of the greatest fighters in Noelle. In no time at all, she and Saeryn had the authorities put down. But they knew they don’t have much time.
“Which way?” Saeryn asked.
Andie quickly pulled out the journal and opened it to the marked page. Once again, there wasn’t much to go on, just like back in the True Isles. Andie was forced to think of everything she could remember about House Thalia. Unfortunately, she remembered even less about this house than she did the last. She turned to Saeryn.
“Tell me everything you know about House Thalia.”
“Searching for the portal?”
It was not Saeryn who had spoken, but another female voice behind them. Andie turned and saw a police officer aiming a gun at them. The woman must have just arrived. Saeryn moved to pull her scarf off again, but Andie was quicker. She shot magic into her legs and launched herself at the woman. They both slammed into the ground. Saeryn rushed forward to help, but suddenly stopped. Andie got to her feet and looked over, but Saeryn didn’t seem to see her. Andie gestured to her, but did not get a response. Saeryn was pacing and seems to be shouting, but Andie couldn’t hear her. Then Andie looked over to the woman, who had her hand up, casting a spell.
“You first, then her,” the woman said, practically snarling
“That’s impossible,” Andie said. “The police in New Carthage don’t have magic. Who are you?”
“An imposter like you. The difference is I’m leaving here alive.” Faster than Andie thought anyone could cast, the woman sent out a spell that sucked up all the oxygen around them. Andie fell to her knees, feeling her lungs collapse against themselves. But she had enough strength to raise the earth around the woman and trap her arms. Barely. Andie motioned with her weak hands as she suffocated, and the woman was pulled over and down, the earth around her arms remerging with the ground and trapping the woman up to her chest. Andie broke the spell and breathed a painful, ragged breath, but the woman cracked the ground and got up again. They traded spells, Andie hitting her with a ball of purple fire and being hit with a flurry of cuts from invisible knives in return.
The woman conjured a pair of long daggers made of the very wind and rushed in. A
ndie used every bit of her considerable training to avoid her; the woman was superb with the daggers, as if it was a dance or a work of art. Andie managed to land a few hits, but took just as many. The woman finally managed to cut Andie on her arm and the force of the wind dagger slicing her arm spun Andie on her feet. Furious, Andie reached up to her face and pulled the craiceann off, revealing her true face and body. She drew the sword from her hip and took a stance, prepared to end this.
“Andie?”
There was a slight delay while Andie realized that the woman had called her name.
“Who are you?” she asked. “How do you know my name?”
“I didn’t think I’d ever see you again.”
Andie stared into the face of the woman, noting her eyes, mouth, hair, build, but had absolutely no idea who was standing in front of her. The woman twisted her arm through the air and removed the spell blocking Saeryn. As soon as she could hear and see them again, Saeryn spelled her scarf and moved to attack the woman.
“Wait!” Andie called.
She moved to Saeryn and pulled her craiceann off as well, revealing the Queen of the dragonborn in all her glory. The woman’s eyes went wide as she saw the face. She knelt and lowered her head.
“Forgive me, your grace,” she said. “I would never have attacked if I’d known who you were. I’m sorry to tell you that you’re too late. The portal is gone. I came looking for it, too, but it was already gone when I arrived. I came to claim it for you, I promise.”
“Rise, stranger,” Saeryn said. “I am not opposed to forgiving you if you will say how you know us and who you are.”
“It’s me,” the woman said, with an expression not far from pleading.
The woman stood and her hand moved to her face. She pulled off a thin mask and the face she was wearing slid away. Another craiceann. And the face revealed was one that neither Andie nor Saeryn could believe. Andie can only manage one word.
“No.”
Blackness.
“Fhealltóir Fola.”
Beladorion stood over one of the dragonborn warriors, only just finishing beating the man until he almost died. Now the leader of the Dead waited for the dragon blood to kick in.
“I’ve always loved beating you blood traitors. As long as I don’t kill you, the dragon blood heals you and we can begin again. But enough for today. I’ll say one thing for you, you’re not easy to break.”
Beladorion left the man in a pool of his own blood and moved toward the front of camp. Along his way, he passed the rows and rows of dragonborn in cages. The dragonborn were a dignified people; they neither screamed nor pleaded. They were all confident their Queen and princess would find them and exact terrible vengeance. Beladorion locked his eyes on Ashur, who was doing some interrogating of his own. Although he was almost a hundred meters away, Beladorion could see and hear Ashur as if they were standing next to each other. He could smell the sweat of the dragonborn Ashur was beating. His senses and the senses of his people were unimaginable. Beladorion rushed forward and in seconds stood between Ashur and his victim.
“Commander,” he said. “I’d like to go over our plan once more. I assure you, you’ll be able to return to your plaything momentarily.”
Beladorion headed to the front of the army. Most of the battalion soldiers and almost all of the Beautiful Dead were there, except those Beladorion dispatched with a special purpose. There may not have been a single army throughout all of time who could have stood against this force. Ashur followed Beladorion until they reached a small clearing.
“Is this supposed to be private?” Ashur asked. “No disrespect, but you and your people can hear across valleys. I don’t really see what a few meters is going to do.”
“I didn’t bring you hear for privacy. I don’t keep secrets from people. The only leaders who keep secrets from their own kind are greedy, cruel little cowards who wish they were gods. I brought you here to show you this.”
Beladorion bent forward and grabbed the end of an enormous sheet and pulled. Ashur looked as if he’d seen a ghost. He experienced fear for the first time in a long while. He took several steps back.
“What is that?”
“You know very well what it is,” Beladorion said, completely calm.
“How did you get it?”
“The same way I get anything. Patience and power.”
“It shouldn’t be here. That should be in Leabharlann.”
“No, commander. This isn’t the one you knew before. This is the portal of House Erato, buried for centuries under the abandoned city of Raven Deep. The one you knew is still in your library in the mountain Brie.”
“There’s more than one?”
“There are eight. One in your university, this one, and six more, each hidden by one of the founding families. I had some of my Dead excavate the portal of House Thalia in New Carthage some months ago. It’s now with the army marching on Arvall. They’ll set it up somewhere before they reach Gordric’s Pain.”
“And they’ll be able to walk right into the University,” Ashur said, beginning to understand. “The University and the city won’t know what hit them. I’m starting to believe you’re as cunning as you keep saying you are.”
“Indeed. I doubt if anyone knows these portals still exist. I don’t even think the descendants have a clue. When the times is right you and I will lead our army here to Arvall as well. So now I’ve proven again how useful I can be. And what do you offer?”
“I have agents in the University and the city. It’s amazing how easy it is to buy some people’s loyalty. All it took was the promise of a few godhearts. Speaking of New Carthage, my men should be done stealing their precious stones by now.”
“I see you’re no stranger to intricate webs.”
“Not at all. I also have politicians and diplomats in my pockets. Hundreds of them. We’ve worked hard to turn as many as we can in eastern and central Noelle. After you convinced the Chancellor to kill those eight hundred ambassadors and heads of state at the Winter Festival, there was a chaotic scramble to fill those seats. We got our people into most of them. Their loyalty, if you can call it that, is contingent on our winning this war. If we lose, they won’t back us and they won’t risk moving against the dragonborn on their own. But if we win we’ll have their support, their resources, and their influence. If that’s not enough for you, I’ve been in touch with the descendants of the founding family since I first started my training under the Chancellor. Their hatred for the dragonborn has never wavered. If we win Arvall, they can help us win and control everything. They’ve also already begun a plan to destroy the Church. And I mean literally destroy that massive eyesore. And who can forget the icons? Millions of people all over western Noelle have gone to the University in Arvall and all have been given an icon. I know the magic that can command those icons to kill their hosts. It will take the entire battalion and all the power we can muster, but imagine: millions dead in an instant if they challenge us.”
Ashur relaxed against the trunk of a tree and grinned at Beladorion, completely satisfied with his work.
“So there it is,” he said. “You offer me a dragon-free Arvall and I offer you all of Noelle. Is that enough for you?”
“Yes, commander. That will do just fine.”
Chapter Thirteen
“We weren’t prepared for this,” said Raesh, pacing the floor of lecture room 594.
“We could never have been prepared for this,” Sarinda said.
Lymir sat beside her, thinking, as he had been since the warrior showed up. He hadn’t said much in the two days since, but seemed lost in his own shock and confusion.
“When Saeryn and Andie told me about the Beautiful Dead, they said nothing about what they were capable of,” Raesh continued. “And now they’re not even here to help. They’re off on some secret mission. We don’t even know if they’re okay.”
“But we do know that the dragonborn need help,” Sarinda said. “We have to send somebody, anybody. I’ll
go. I’ll lead a team across the—”
“Sarinda, even if I wanted to, I couldn’t send you. The trip takes roughly a day and a half by dragon. Since none of us can even ride dragons and there’s no transport in the city that can get us there fast enough, it makes no sense to go. We can’t send more dragonborn because we need them here for the war and whatever these Dead have, it’s strong enough to stop the dragon blood healing. It’s been two days and Sven still hasn’t completely healed from his wounds. I don’t want to say this, but I have to: any dragonborn captured by the Dead are on their own until Andie and Saeryn get back and we win this war.”
“And then I’ll be on the fastest transport I can find to cut some Dead legs off.”
“I’ll be right behind you.”
“Okay,” she said, shifting in her seat. “If the Dead are capturing them instead of killing them, then they obviously have plans for them. They should be safe for now, at least until this mysterious spell is broken. I just radioed the ship before I came here and apparently Andie arranged for it to go out to the True Isles and bring something back.”
“Bring what back?”
“You’re not going to believe it, but... a portal. I guess history is wrong again. There was one buried in the jungle that Andie found. I’m guessing there are probably more and that’s where Andie and Saeryn are. I want them here as badly as you do, but if they’re out finding portals I have to say that’s way more important than sitting on their thumbs all day and night.”
“Yeah, and if Marcus can operate those portals as well as he said he can then we can get people in here that much faster. We need to get as many inside these walls as we can, as quickly as we can. They’ll be safe here.”
“We’ll have him meet the captain at the harbor and get people organized. But we also need to focus on getting people into the bunkers throughout the city. I think we’re all safest here, but something just doesn’t sit right with me about gathering everybody into one place. If by some chance the enemy did get into the University, the people of Arvall would be sitting ducks.”