by Kyle Tolle
“Something you were not willing to do: working to save this city.”
The governor looked to the chancellor. “The last time we saw her, did I imagine it, or did I forbid her from speaking to anyone else of her outlandish claims?”
The chancellor replied, “You did forbid her, Governor.”
Brust broke away from the chancellor and said, “She did nothing wrong.” He strode to Dalence and stood at her side, much larger than either the governor or chancellor.
Dalence looked beyond the governor and, amid the crowd, caught glimpses of uniforms and weapons. So the governor’s guards were present. She spoke next. “May I ask you what you are doing here?”
The governor slowly pivoted her head to take in the scene surrounding her. “This morning, my sources brought word of a small group that spoke of a wolf in the sky and gathered people to build weaponry. This sounded similar to what I had dismissed yesterday. But who, after being told to keep silent, would be so foolish as to press the issue? Particularly right here in the city. I had to come see it for myself. And here you are, defying me.
“The city is distracted by your fairytale blathering, which is bad for commerce as well as irritating. I promised you punishment for disobedience. And you disobeyed. There are consequences, and they are here.” The governor gave Dalence a wicked smile then looked over her shoulder. “Guards, apprehend her.”
The crowd split apart and the guards marched forward.
Dalence grasped Brust’s arm and felt his body become taut. “Brust,” she said as she pulled him down so she could whisper to him. “We don’t stand a chance right now. We can’t both end up in jail. Gather some people and come for me later. Once you’ve gotten me out, we will continue building the killworks.”
One guard grabbed Dalence’s arms and pulled her away from Brust. Another locked manacles on her wrists and spun her around. The first presented Dalence to the governor and said, “As ordered, Governor.”
“Take her away.” The governor then addressed the rest of the crowd. “Disband, or I will have no choice but to arrest others of you for disorderly conduct.” She turned and followed the guard procession to the jailhouse.
The chancellor, the veins in her neck standing out, looked to Brust and said, “I suggest you listen,” before hurrying after the governor. The procession was lost around a bend in the road and a heavy silence fell over Brust and the remaining crowd.
After a time, Brust spoke up. “These weapons are still our first priority, but we will need their designer to complete them. Anyone have experience with that kind of delicate retrieval?”
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
THEY FINISHED EATING a small meal of bread, cheese, and a few strips of jerky. Hantle sat back in his chair and nodded at Goseth. “I appreciate you sharing your provisions with me.”
Goseth smiled. “If you ever decide to become a lighthouse keeper, you’ll know it’s not for the food.”
Hantle nodded again and grinned before changing the subject. “You mentioned earlier that you take in the sky each night. Might I join you tonight?”
“Yes, of course. I have a few chores before I can do so. You are welcome to head up now or wait until later.” Goseth cleared their two plates from the table and put them away.
“Thank you,” Hantle said.
The keeper opened the door to the howling dusk and disappeared into darkness. Earlier, Hantle had watched Goseth ascend the stairs to light the torch. He was curious as to its design and took this opportunity to investigate. He lit a lantern and climbed the stairway that spiraled up the column of the tower, making sure to hug close to the outer wall as there was no railing to steady oneself or prevent a fall. The stairs deposited him in a room under the torch. The walls had many windows for observation of the ocean and coastline.
He climbed a ladder through a hole in the ceiling and came into the torch room. An incredible brightness filled the space and Hantle stood in awe of the lenses. A metal lattice suspended an array of precisely ground crystals. The crystal-work reached twice his height. Light poured from three sides of the apparatus, while the back was an odd fusion of three bowl-like mirrors. He guessed they collected and reflected light through each of the lenses. The fire inside sounded like a long, continuous exhalation. He respected the detail and care put into making a device such as this. Yes, they needed this lighthouse and he knew it was capable of performing the task they had in mind.
A bead of sweat ran into his face as he descended the ladder. The room beneath the torch was much better suited to sitting. The temperature was considerably cooler and two chairs could be moved freely about. One of these Hantle took to the western windows and sat upon. He turned down the flame on his lantern to dim the room. A dark purple outlined the Knuckles in the distance, and he wondered what the astronomers had recorded last night in their journals.
Goseth twice made an appearance, but was either on his way to the torch room or to the tower’s base. Alone, Hantle watched night fall completely, the meteor shower begin, and, much later, the moon rise. He walked the perimeter of the observation space and anxiously awaited the creature. Shortly, as if provoked by Hantle’s pacing, the persistence of a thread on the horizon caught his eye and he called down the staircase for Goseth to join him. By the time the keeper walked into the watch room, Hantle could see the wolf’s shape in the sky. He pointed through the glass pane at the figure. “The beast has returned.”
Goseth’s jaw dropped and he pulled a chair forward so he could sit right against the window. The wolf wasted no time in chasing after meteors. It had grown even more and now filled a larger amount of the sky than the previous night. Its fur had gone darker still, taking on a heathered texture when it caught the moon’s light. Goseth watched, completely silent, as the creature took every meteor it chased, each followed by a concussion. Soon its stomach glowed brighter than the moon.
The canine disappeared beyond the Knuckles for a time and Goseth turned to Hantle with horror in his eyes. “Was it so large last night?”
“No. It devours all it can and grows with each bite. I’ve seen it a new and terrifying size each evening.” Apprehension gripped him and he wondered if the wolf would crash to the ground before them. A moment later, he swallowed and stilled his mind. The fear drew further off as he thought instead of the weapons under construction in Suu-manth. And the purpose that brought him to this lighthouse. He turned once more to watch the sky.
The wolf reappeared, his form lashing through the sky. He came to a stop and his chest heaved with a burp. Flaring particles escaped through his teeth. He licked his lips. Meteors rocketed past the creature and the flashes glinted in his eyes. Hantle was certain his size had grown from even just a few minutes ago.
With a new ferocity, the wolf darted out of view beyond the horizon. Seconds later, the wolf-streak reappeared on the opposite side of the world and plunged toward the moon, whose size his now rivaled. He snarled and swiped his claws across its surface. Dust spread and shimmered around the canine. These gouges covered more than half of the visible surface and Hantle could only guess at their depth. Hantle cast a glance at Goseth and saw him transfixed.
The creature whipped his tail against the moon, ejecting boulders and other components of its regolith in an arc away from the point of impact, glinting as they tumbled off. The force of the collision sent the satellite careening out of its orbit. The wolf twisted around, jolted forward, and its teeth flashed as they sank into the crust. A powder of debris on the far side of the orb kept its motion and floated on, after the main body jerked to a stop. The wolf’s jaws clenched tight on the moon itself. A webwork of fractures crawled over the landscape. With a yank of the beast’s head, the moon splintered around his teeth. A solid piece of crust peeled away like an onion layer, only to disintegrate when the wolf chomped down.
Another heartbeat, another bite (this one wider yet), and the moon ruptured into several large hunks and uncountable smaller bits. The wolf tossed his head from side to side a
nd the fragments scattered. The portion in his mouth, he greedily gulped down. Moondust covered his face and his stomach gave up its glow.
Lumps of the moon twisted and spun and tumbled, turning the sky into a kaleidoscope of light. Its molten interior shone in places as the exposed core deformed in sluggish bulges. The canine chased after the largest pieces of bedrock first. These crumbled in his bite and the sky roiled with glimmers. Flashes peppered Hantle’s view as moon rocks became burning meteors.
The wolf steadily chipped away at the mantle and Hantle lost track of how long they watched it feed. As the creature delved further, the rock became darker until he reached a point at which it started to glow—faintly at first, a barely perceptible red. The beast clawed at the core and slush splashed out to reveal a white-hot center, which he dwarfed. His muzzle snapped, slicing the glob in twain. His skull took on an inner radiance that trailed down his throat as he swallowed. A sound, like that of a titanic eruption, shook Hantle to the bone.
As the tremor passed and the world stilled, he watched the remaining core-half mutate from a solid to a near liquid that distorted and approached a spherical shape. The demon made a final lurch and consumed the nucleus’s scraps. This time, the wolf let up a howl to accompany the death-sound of the moon. Hantle leaned forward against the glass and saw rays of heat surge from its gullet. The creature’s eyes beamed a dazzling white, which brought to Hantle’s mind the lighthouse torch combusting above him. Down in its stomach, the moon particles continued to throw off heat, lending his gut a luminescence.
After the howl quieted, the wolf appeared sated. Nothing larger than crumbs existed to entertain him. Where the moon had been, there dispersed a faint, dusty haze. Little else hinted at its obliteration. As he fled into the depths of the cosmos, the wolf’s path blazed upon the pitch-dark. The mark slowly faded above them and Hantle made eye contact with Goseth.
Goseth pointed to the sky. “You mean to kill that?”
Hantle nodded. “But it will only be possible with your help.”
Goseth exhaled through his nose. “I said, earlier, that I could not help for fear of causing the deaths of sailors.” His eyes wavered from Hantle’s and sank to the floor. “Truthfully, I was more afraid of being tossed from my position here. I have no family left.” He shook his head and glanced back to Hantle for a moment. “Without the lighthouse, I would be living in squalor. Yet, after what I just witnessed”—he nodded and straightened up—“I will risk that to help kill the creature before it takes us all.” Goseth’s brows furrowed with resolve. “Tell me what I can do—” The keeper paused as he fought to swallow through a parched throat. He eventually managed, “And I will do it.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
A TORCH in the hallway guttered from a draft. Dalence sat cross-legged on the dirt floor in the middle of her cell. Two others bordered hers, separated by bars, and faced others across the hall. Dalence was the lone occupant in the jailhouse, the flame her only company. Night crept in through the window behind her and spread through the cells, kept at bay by the flickering torch.
She heard a faint noise. It came from the front of the building, toward the guardroom, and grew louder over the course of a minute. Dalence stood and leaned against the iron bars but could see nothing beyond the hallway. She could, however, hear the guards stand up and open the door. A wave of yelling, whooping, and jeering flowed down the hall and Dalence took a step back. She jumped at a “psst” behind her and spun to face it. Her brother’s face smiled at her through the window bars. She let out a sigh of relief. “Brust!”
He motioned her to the window and stuck in an arm to proffer a length of rope. “Tie your best knot,” he said.
With a tug, Dalence pulled in additional rope, wrapped a loop around a bar, and set to work. Brust revealed another length of rope and affixed it to a different bar. When she finished, she stood on her tiptoes and looked past her brother. Three people stood there beside two yoked oxen.
A shout carried from the guardroom. “Hey!” Dalence looked back. The woman who had locked Dalence in the cell rushed down the hallway. “Don’t you even think about it.” She unclipped a key ring from her waistband and flipped through the keys.
Dalence turned to Brust. “Come on!”
Brust rolled his eyes, finished the knot, and nodded to the people behind him. One of them slapped the oxen on their hindquarters. The animals snorted and stepped forward. Each rope pulled taut and the window frame groaned.
Keys rattled against the cell-door lock and the guard shouted to her peers. “She is making to escape. It’s all a distraction!” The guard shook her head with frustration and pulled up another key to try.
Mortar crumbled and spilled from the joints. A second later, one bar buckled and the other followed. Rocks in the wall shifted. The guard slammed a hand against the cell and shouted at Dalence, “You go out that window, you’re going to end up here a lot longer.” A second guard appeared in the hallway just as the window bars pulled free of the building and clattered to the ground. Several large stones tumbled out into the yard and Dalence scrambled through the resulting hole.
Brust and another person helped extract her and place her on her feet. The oxen kept walking, dragging the barred frame behind them. Dalence peeked back through the hole and saw the guards run toward the front of the building. Brust gripped Dalence in a hug that turned into a shove. “Move!”
Dalence and the group hurried past the oxen. Commotion around the front of the jailhouse grew more boisterous. The building was constructed on an island in Mainlake, which bordered the Marketplace. Ahead of her, Dalence saw torches mounted on boats. The five of them reached a boat, scrambled in, and pushed off the sandy shore. Dalence saw several barges tethered nearby, which must have been used to ferry the crowds and oxen. Oars drove into the water and carried them away from the island. The chants and shouts of the crowd faded as they drew away. Dalence looked up and a meteor blazed across the sky.
As the five reached the site of the weaponry, sounds indicated ongoing construction. Dalence looked to Brust. “You were able to break me out and keep work going here?”
“Word of what we’re doing has spread. You’d be surprised at how many people volunteered their help. They feel the governor’s leaving them for dead.”
The crossbow’s frame was a recognizable shape now. Hammers thudded and saws buzzed. Brust said, “We got a start on the trebuchet framing before the group left for the distraction at the jailhouse. They ought to be back before long.”
Dalence nodded. “I expect the governor will be too.”
Groups of laborers filtered back in from the mock protest at the jailhouse. Lanterns burned brightly and momentum picked up on the work. For a time, at least. Progress came to a halt when the wolf was spotted in the sky. The streak gained the shape of the canine as it grew in brightness. It was with her neck craned to the firmament that Dalence heard her name called out. “Dalence Hetross.”
The governor strode into the construction site, backed by two dozen guards. “You escaped the jail just to stand out in the open? Is the view worth the extra time you’ll face?”
Brust stepped to Dalence’s side and made visible a pistol hanging from his waist. “No,” Dalence whispered to him, “don’t do anything stupid.” She spoke to the leader next. “I’m glad you’re here, Governor.”
“Glad for what reason?”
“Because we have the chance to show you the truth of our warning. If you only look skyward, you will see the wolf.”
The chancellor laughed. “Even still she thinks us gullible?”
Something caught Dalence’s attention and her eyes drifted up. The wolf chased and consumed a meteor. It appeared to be no more than a stone’s throw above them. She heard a sharp intake of breath and looked back to the governor whose upturned eyes were wide.
“That is what we work against,” Dalence said. “It’s why we build these weapons.” Commotion spread through the guards behind the governor. “The danger,
though, has grown beyond Suu-manth.” She pointed to the north. “My companion, Hantle, has ridden to Dusath to seek aid.”
The governor regained her composure. “The fact remains,” she said, “that you cannot flaunt the law and remain a free woman.”
“Before, you made a mistake in arresting me for fear-mongering. You see above us that it was nothing of the sort. Yet still you double down on your initial mistaken behavior. Why?”
Both the chancellor and the governor stared to the sky for several seconds. Only after the wolf disappeared beyond the horizon did the governor look back to Dalence. The leader’s face flushed and her voice carried vitriol. “You are not this city’s protector! That role falls to one person: me.” She motioned to her guards and pointed to Dalence before making eye contact with her once more. “Will you come peacefully? Or must you always be difficult?”
Dalence looked to the ground and smiled. The volunteers spread around her stepped forward and held their weapons against their chests. She nodded her gratitude to every one of them. “I don’t believe the denizenry share your views.”
The wolf appeared in the sky again and belched its sparks. The governor looked to the crowd, which outnumbered her force by more than two to one. She spoke to them all. “If lawfulness must be forced upon you, so be it. I will convene the bodies and take your precious weapons and guerrilla leader from you.” Her guards made room as the governor turned and walked through them. They followed her lead and marched toward the Marketplace. Dalence felt the tension abate and let out a slow breath. Above, the wolf dove toward the moon.
It was only after the creature disappeared into the starry depths that attention returned to construction. Dalence was happy to put her hands to use. Her time in the jail had wasted precious time. In two nights, the piles of materials standing about them had to be transformed into the killworks.