“Chanoch, look at me,” he said desperately. “You’re still here. You’re alive. Don’t give in, Chanoch.” He yanked the bars, rattling them. The sound echoed in the dark, but Chanoch’s attention remained on the nothingness in the corner.
Panting, Ashok reached through the bars again, trying to grasp Chanoch’s arm. He felt the warrior’s cold skin and recoiled. “No!” he cried.
But his pleas meant nothing. Chanoch couldn’t hear them. The light had gone out of his eyes. He was dead.
Ashok sank to his knees before the cage, shivering in a sudden chill. The only sound was his own harsh breathing.
He’d never seen it happen before. Members of his enclave had succumbed to the shadow often, especially in recent years, when the darkness of the caves clung to them like wraiths. But they’d always been alone. Ashok had never seen the quiet death, but that’s exactly what it was. Chanoch had faded away without fanfare or pain. Peaceful, yet horrifying.
Ashok got to his feet and stumbled from the room. He tried to say something to the guards, but he couldn’t stop and found himself running through the caves. He pelted through the dark until he broke free and smelled the forge smoke. Gasping, Ashok breathed in the hot scent, but his heart wouldn’t stop racing. He couldn’t stop. If he stopped, he would think, and the shadows would be waiting.
He crossed the trade district and climbed the steps of Tower Pyton. He came out on the lower Span. The wind roared, tossing his cloak and hair. The canyon wall hovered darkly over his left shoulder.
Ashok walked across the bridge with his eyes on the ground below. Other shadar-kai walked in front and back of him. Below, the outdoor markets bustled with activity. The moving lights and color mesmerized him.
Ashok stopped in the middle of the bridge and stood at its edge. He swayed from side to side. His heart felt as if it would explode in his chest. His breath came ragged, and his eyes watered in the wind.
Behind him, a voice said, “Are you all right?”
Ashok looked up and was surprised to see a human staring at him. He didn’t recognize the man, but he was looking at Ashok in concern.
“I thought … only shadar-kai walked here,” he said to the man.
The man shook his head. “I walk the Span every day,” he said.
“Aren’t you afraid?” asked Ashok.
“Of course,” the man replied. “That’s why I do it—gives me a little bit of a thrill. Are you crossing?” the man asked.
Slowly, Ashok nodded. His trance broken, he found the spell of panic and terror had passed. Feeling weak, he turned and walked toward Hevalor with the human trailing behind him.
He went down the stairs and headed for Tower Athanon. Within, he asked one of the guards where Ilvani’s quarters were.
He climbed the stairs nearly to the top of the tower and knocked on the second door to his left. There was no response.
Ashok raised his hand to knock again, but he stopped with his knuckles brushing the wood. He sat down in front of Ilvani’s door and stretched his legs out in front of him. His boots were scuffed and stained with mud and old blood. He leaned against the door and waited.
Outside, the Pendron bell sounded. Ashok closed his eyes and immediately an image of Chanoch’s chained body came into his mind. He opened his eyes and stared straight ahead until his breathing quieted.
After a while, his back started to ache, and his legs cramped from sitting. Ashok stood and walked back and forth around the tower. He considered going outside to one of the archways but dismissed it. The hypnotic effect of the height was not what he needed. What he needed was calm. What he wanted was to jump off the tower and let the wind rush past him. He didn’t care where he landed.
Behind him, he heard a door open. Ashok turned and saw Ilvani looking at him. She stepped back into her room and left the door standing wide. On the strength of that invitation, Ashok followed her inside.
Her room was torn apart. Trunks containing clothing, books, and parchment writings were upended and scattered all over the floor. Her bed was covered with twisted blankets, their edges torn and flecked with blood. A ladder leaning against the far wall led up to a small sitting ledge.
Ilvani perched on the ledge, her legs swinging free above the ladder. Behind her, a crescent-shaped window looked out over the city.
Ashok picked a careful path across the room and stopped in front of the ladder. He climbed up slowly, waiting for her to tell him no, but she only watched him. When he reached the top, she scooted as far back against the wall as she could.
Ilvani wore a dress of crimson velvet. Its collar came up almost to her chin and pressed flush against her skin, emphasizing her unhealthy slenderness. She spread her skirt over her knees to make a lap and brought her green bag from a corner near the window.
Ashok settled himself opposite her and looked out the window. The view was breathtaking. He could see the training yard, the towers, and the rest of the city spread below them like a dark storm.
“You have the entire city here,” Ashok said. “You can almost touch it.” He looked at Ilvani, but she was absorbed in arranging the bag. “Did you paint the picture of Ikemmu that hangs in Uwan’s chamber?”
“Yes,” she said. Her voice sounded like she’d been sleeping. “He took it before I had them all in.”
“Who took it? Uwan?” Ashok said.
She nodded. “He’s always taking things before they’re ready,” she said. Her thin fingers worked the string on the bag. She tossed the cord aside and without warning turned the bag upside down, dumping its contents all over the ledge between them.
Her glass orb, the one with the red silk, rolled across the ledge along with others like it, clear and bottle green and flat black. Ashok put out a hand so they wouldn’t roll away. There were other things too—all containers, Ashok noticed. Miniature chests with tiny locks and gold catches; plain wooden boxes, their warped lids tied with string; layers of cloth wrapped tightly and knotted.
“What is all this?” Ashok asked.
Ilvani counted each of the containers out loud. “One impressive feast,” she said, pointing to a coin-sized silver box. “Two shiny baubles in my ears; three swords blocking the way.” She touched a fragile bit of parchment folded to look like a box. “Four interlocking braids; five shadow hounds.” And on and on—twenty boxes of nonsense that she counted as if her life depended upon finding them all.
“What does it mean?” Ashok said when she’d finished.
“They’re all trapped in here,” she said. “Every wind, every soul. I keep them here. Whether they like it or not.”
Ashok picked up one of the strange boxes. The wooden lid came loose. He looked inside.
“Empty,” he said. He picked up a clear glass sphere. “They’re all empty.”
“Of course,” Ilvani said. She held up the wooden box. “Uwan,” she said.
“Uwan gave that to you?”
“It is Uwan,” Ilvani said. She stuck a finger beneath the lid. “The first time he showed me this room. Said it was all mine.” Her clean hair was pale red in color, but she’d made no attempt to even out the chopped strands.
Ashok held up the clear glass sphere. “Are they your memories, Ilvani?” he asked.
“Every wind, every soul,” she said, and laughed. “A lot to take in—I have to put them somewhere. Out of sight, so they don’t crowd everything.” She pressed the heel of her hand against her temple. “Not enough room.”
“No, I suppose not,” Ashok said. “Which one is your brother, Ilvani?”
“What?” she said, looking at him as if noticing his presence for the first time. “Natan? He’s not here,” she said.
“Which box did you put him in?” Ashok said.
She smiled. On her face it was a painful expression. “He doesn’t fit,” she said. “I could never fit him into any box.”
“He misses you,” Ashok said. “He hasn’t seen you since … Well, it’s been a long time.”
“Exactly,” Ilv
ani said in a brusque tone. “One day too many. He wouldn’t recognize me.”
“I think you’re wrong,” Ashok said. “I don’t think it matters how much time has passed. Natan will know you when he sees you.”
“How do you say that?” Ilvani asked. “You’re just putting words together because they look pretty. You don’t really want to see them.”
“You’re right.” Ashok sighed. “I don’t want to talk at all.”
“That’s why I let you in,” Ilvani said, sounding as if he’d betrayed her. She picked at the frayed hem of her dress. “I felt a spirit leave while I slept. Then I heard you crying.”
Ashok’s body tensed. “How did you know about that?” he said.
“You can take anything out of the wind,” she said, “and put it in a box.”
“I don’t know what that means,” Ashok said. “I don’t want to talk about this.”
“Too late,” she said. “You came in here and everything spilled off your face and cluttered the room.”
Ashok groped for a distraction, anything among the boxes to tempt her. His gaze strayed to the view out the window. “I didn’t know there were any windows shaped like this in the tower,” he said. He hadn’t known there were any windows at all, none that had glass.
“It’s the eye,” Ilvani said. She leaned forward, surprising him by putting a skeletal finger against his cheek. She traced a crescent around his eye. “The eye of Ikemmu,” she said.
Ashok remembered the eye at the top of Tower Athanon, the one that seemed to absorb the entire city with its gaze. “You mean it’s an illusion?” he said. “The eye is really a window?” He thought about it and laughed without meaning to.
“What’s funny?” Ilvani said. “I didn’t know there were such words.”
“It’s just … I thought it was Uwan who watched everything from up here,” Ashok said. “He’s the Watching Blade, he could see the whole city. But it’s you who was looking all along.”
There was at least one artist in Ikemmu, Ashok thought.
“I see the city, and I see them,” Ilvani said. “The ones with wings. I see them in the sky when it’s dark.”
“The winged folk—the pictures carved on the tower,” Ashok said. “Are they angels?”
“No,” Ilvani said. “The feathers burst from their backs and they pull themselves up and up. Their arms are free for other things, but they can’t escape the fire.”
“What happened to them?” asked Ashok.
“They all fell out of the sky,” Ilvani said. She cupped her hands then spread her fingers and let something imaginary fall between the cracks.
“I see,” Ashok said. “Thank you for telling me.”
They didn’t speak for a long time, and Ashok thought she was restless for him to leave. He moved to the ladder and climbed down while she stared out the window. He thought he would be out the door before she noticed him again, but her voice carried after him.
“You’ll see the Veil soon,” she said.
He lingered in the doorway, but her face was hard to see with the light from the window behind it. “Will I?” he said.
“There are more doorways than towers,” she said. “Maybe some escaped. Maybe not all burned. But the Veil … I’ll come with you, when you go.” She turned away from him and lay down on her side facing the window.
Ashok left her to watch the city.
CHAPTER
TWENTY-FOUR
THAT NIGHT ASHOK SLEPT IN THE BURNED-OUT BUILDING WHERE he’d first drawn his maps of the city. He hadn’t intended to, but as he’d stood outside the door of the room he’d shared with Chanoch, he realized he didn’t want to go in and see it vacant.
He slept little and woke often from strange dreams he couldn’t quite remember. Finally, he got up and walked the torn pathways around the trade district, avoiding people wherever possible.
Ashok knew he should be preparing to leave the city. Chanoch was gone, and he’d fulfilled his promise to Natan. There was no longer anything keeping him in Ikemmu. Yet he couldn’t make himself leave. He craved solitude, but he couldn’t stomach the thought of walking the Shadowfell plain alone.
Truly, father would laugh to see how pathetic I’ve become, Ashok thought. Weak and indecisive.
After three days of little rest and listless wandering around the city, Ashok returned to the training yard and saw Cree and Skagi talking to Jamet. When they saw him, they immediately excused themselves and came quickly over.
“Where have you been?” Skagi demanded. “Uwan’s had us looking everywhere for you. He almost gave up on the mission.”
“What mission?” Ashok said.
“The four of us—Vedoran’s meeting us later today—are to escort Tatigan through the Underdark,” Skagi explained.
“Tatigan?” Ashok said. He hadn’t seen the merchant since they’d spoken in Darnae’s shop.
“That’s not all,” Cree said. “You’re going to lead us.”
“Me?” Ashok said. “What about Vedoran?”
Skagi shook his head. “Uwan says it’s going to be you this time,” he said. “Fitting punishment, I say, for what that Blite bastard did to Chanoch. What do you think, eh?”
Ashok didn’t know what to say. He’d come to see Skagi and Cree ostensibly to say goodbye, yet in the next breath he found himself asking, “When do we leave?”
“Last bell,” Cree said. “Vedoran said if we found you he’d get Tatigan and meet us and Ilvani at the Veil.”
“Ilvani?” Ashok said, shocked. “What does she have to do with this?”
Cree glanced at his brother. They both looked uneasy. “We were as surprised as you,” Cree said. “But Uwan thinks—see, Ilvani used to go on raids, and scouting missions of course. But ever since we got back …”
“Uwan thinks she needs to get back to her old duties, that it’ll do her good,” Skagi said.
Ashok shook his head. “He’s wrong.” he said. Again. Wrong about so much.
Cree shrugged. “It’s not for us to decide,” he said. “She’s meeting us, and we’re to escort Tatigan.”
Something Cree had said suddenly registered in Ashok’s brain, and he said, “What’s the Veil?”
You’ll see the Veil soon, Ilvani had said.
Skagi chuckled. “I’ve been waiting to show it to you,” he said. “It’s our way to the other side.” He motioned to Cree and started walking. “Come on. We’ll get some provisions together.” His lip curled into a mischievous smile. “Then you’ll see it with your own eyes.”
It took longer than they expected to gather the necessary gear and provisions, even though Skagi assured Ashok that the journey through the Underdark and back would take only a day.
The brothers guided him north of the trade district to a well-worn, deserted road that led straight to the canyon wall. Ashok remembered the road, but he’d ignored it when he had made his maps of the city, thinking it was a dead end. They passed beneath the Spans, and Ashok heard the waterfall in the distance behind Makthar.
The shadows on the deserted road were deeper, and as Ashok’s vision adjusted to the lower light conditions, he saw a raised stone arch set into the canyon wall ahead of them. Four guards stood at either leg of the arch, and the keystone bore the carved sword of Tempus, its blade pointed down toward the ground. It was exactly like the portal arch outside the city gate. Ilvani stood beneath the sword, her back to them. She was staring at the wall. None of the guards paid her any attention.
“Well met, Grecen,” Cree called out to one of the guards. “Any sign of our merchant friend?”
The guard shook his head. “Not yet,” he replied.
“Vedoran’s missing too,” Ashok said. He went up to Ilvani. “Are you all right?” he asked.
She turned to him and bowed her head in greeting. “I told you I would be here,” she said.
“How did you know?” Ashok asked.
She tapped her temple with a fingernail. “Too many questions. Not enough space for them
all,” she said.
“Fair enough,” Ashok said. “But are you certain you’re up to this?”
Weariness crossed her face. “Uwan,” she said simply.
“Uwan,” Ashok said, understanding. “He’s always taking things before they’re ready.”
“Yes,” she replied.
“Well met, Tatigan,” Skagi called out, and Ashok turned to see the merchant coming toward them.
He had his green spectacles on and a large sack on a strap over his shoulder. “I’ve a lot of coin this time, Skagi,” Tatigan said. “You’ll have to walk extra slowly.”
Skagi snorted. “Prepare to be left behind, old man,” he said.
“And who’s this going to accompany us?” Tatigan asked, peering over his spectacles at Ashok. “Tempus’s emissary, is it?” He winked at Ashok.
“We’re waiting for one more,” Ashok said. “Then we should be ready to leave. Not”—he looked at Skagi—“that I fully understand where we’re going.”
Skagi grinned. “Be patient,” he said.
Cree and Skagi went over to converse with the guards, and Ilvani drifted back to the arch. Ashok stood with Tatigan. Neither spoke for a time.
“I saw Darnae early this morning,” Tatigan said. “She asked after you, said she hadn’t seen you in days. Where have you been keeping yourself?”
“As far away as possible,” Ashok said. “I’m not good company these days.”
“She’s afraid you’re going to leave,” Tatigan said.
Ashok sighed. “She’s perceptive,” he said. “I won’t go anywhere without giving her word.”
“That’s good to know,” replied the merchant.
“There’s Vedoran,” Skagi said grimly, pointing up the road.
Ashok turned to look and saw Vedoran coming quickly toward them. His normally graceful stride was broken. He dragged his boots and nearly stumbled twice before he got to them. Skagi laughed derisively.
“Have you been in Tatigan’s wine, Vedoran?” he said. “No wonder you’re late.”
“I’m fine,” Vedoran said tersely. He walked past Skagi to greet Tatigan. “I apologize for my lateness,” he said. “We can leave anytime you’re ready.” He glanced briefly at Ashok. “Lead on,” he said.
Unbroken Chain Page 24