Water (The Six Elements Book 3)

by Rosie Scott

  Our army would contend with commuters from Quellden, and any assassins who would try to come through the tunnels to retaliate against our takeover of Hazarmaveth. We were leaving Hazarmaveth quicker after taking it than we had with Thanati, both because the support network here was better and because we had to cut down on the time we could give them to find out of our arrival and attack. It would take our army almost two full moons to travel to the capital underground city. While individual assassins could travel much faster than an entire army, it was impossible for the news of our arrival to Quellden to hurt us while we remained in Hazarmaveth for such a short time.

  We would leave for Quellden on the 80th of New Moon, and hope for an arrival half a year from then. Our travel would take us deeper underground, far enough that we would be beneath the Servis Ocean which spanned between Eteri and Chairel. When we did finally arrive at the capital city, we would be under Chairel. I would be just beneath Sirius's nose, and he wouldn't even notice. Taking Quellden was not only imperative to Calder's quest for domination of the underground, but years from now, having allies with multiple entry points to Chairel would be immensely helpful when it came time to launch my own assault.

  “We were burning the bodies last night,” Calder said to my right, bringing me back to the present from my thoughts. He took a long drag off his cigarette. “You have thousands to teach magic to, Kai, but our travel to Quellden will be long. Allow yourself time to grieve and relax.”

  Ricco's body came to mind, and I pulled the ale closer to me, before taking a swig. Spices grated sharply down my throat. “I grieve in my own way,” I replied. “I've never had any time to relax and do it. I've always grieved while on the move. It's how I've had to live.”

  Calder watched me take another drink of ale, and he slowly nodded. “I understand,” he said, softly. Throughout our travels together, I'd told him more of Bjorn and the reasons for my massacre on Sera. I'd told him of Theron, and turning against my brother. He knew it all.

  “Besides, death of friends makes me angry. I am deadliest when those I love are threatened.” My mind swarmed with thoughts of my rampage after Ricco's death. “Hundreds paid for Ricco.”

  “And you two weren't even very close,” Calder mused.

  “We were as close as he allowed anyone to be,” I replied, remembering Ricco's move of affection back in Thanati. “Which was impressive, considering he avoided women.”

  “I don't think it was anything personal,” Calder replied.

  “No,” I said quickly, agreeing. “I never meant to say anything of the sort. If I'd grown up in the underground, I'd stay as far away from women as I could. It is amazing that any of these men ever begin to trust again.”

  “But Ricco trusted you,” Calder murmured.

  Pains for my failure to protect him grasped onto my heart like a poison. “...yes.”

  Calder lifted up one hip from the bar stool, allowing him to dig a hand down into a trouser pocket. I watched him curiously, until he pulled out a chained necklace. Attached to it was a small, well-secured bottle of solid black. He held the jewelry out to me. Frowning, I took it.

  “What is this?” I asked, checking twice to ensure Calder still wore Koby's key. The necklaces were similar.

  “Some of Ricco's ashes,” Calder replied, before turning to the bar and pulling his mug closer to him. “I never thought he would fight with us, particularly after we'd been to Thanati. Ricco told me back in Silvi that he never wanted to come underground again. He'd only been free for a few weeks, and he loved the open air. I suppose that makes sense, given he was in that torture chamber for the better part of a few years.” Calder shook his mug, watching the ale swirl from the movement within it. “You will be going to Eteri after Quellden. I hear the highlands are beautiful. Would you set him free there?”

  My eyes heated as they stuck to the small bottle. “Of course.”

  “Thank you, love.” Calder finally lifted his mug to drink. I turned to Cerin, who helped me put on the necklace of ashes.

  With my thoughts still on Ricco, I asked, “Why don't the beastmen revert back to their normal bodies after death?”

  Calder was still drinking, so it was Vallen who replied beside him. “Transforming takes energy that dead bodies do not have.”

  “Judai reverted after death,” I mused.

  “Maybe,” Cerin said to my left. “The body was still alive for a few moments after my scythe was left in her spine. Her nerves were jumping.” The necromancer shrugged. “Besides, it only took a second for her to change, remember? It might have been a split-second thing.”

  “Gah, how I envy that,” Calder said dryly over his mug.

  “Ha! Ya wimp,” Jayce exclaimed from the other side of her brother.

  “Not all of us are insane,” Calder retorted.

  “Maybe not, but you all are missing out,” the Vhiri replied.

  I leaned forward over the bar past Calder, my eyes catching on the siblings. “Were you two always shapeshifters?”

  Vallen shook his head. “Nope, not at all. Born and raised in Eteri.”

  Jayce chuckled beside him. “That's a lie. I was born and raised in Eteri. Vallen did the raising.” She nodded toward him. “Still does, when I think of it.”

  Vallen raised his eyebrows in exasperated agreement, and took a long drink of alcohol.

  “What caused you both to move to the wildlands?” I questioned.

  “Well,” Jayce looked up into the air as if thinking far back. “Our parents died while we were young in the Narangar Conflict. We—”

  “Wait,” I pleaded softly, thinking back to my readings of history. “The Narangar Conflict from 129 to 132 Mortal Era?”

  Vallen nodded beside his sister, looking impressed by my knowledge of it. “Yes. One of many, of course. Vhiri hate the dwarves, the dwarves hate us. We find reasons to fight.”

  “I'm interested in hearing your side of the conflict, though,” I said. “The texts I read about it were all by human scholars of Chairel, so they only gave me one side of it.”

  “What did they say about it?” Vallen replied, curiously.

  “It was said that dwarves from Narangar traveled to Eteri. Some kind of trade agreement, if I remember correctly, to try to smooth over their relationship. Eteri and Chairel were tired of fighting, and Chairel was focused on warring with Valerius the Undying in the north.”

  Vallen nodded. “Yeah. The dwarves were commissioned to work on Eteri's cities in the mountains. In exchange, they received a percentage of all gems and precious stones from the mines of Mistral, because the gems there are unique.”

  That rang a bell. “Ah,” I said. “Yeah, I remember that. From what the texts said, Eteri allowed the dwarves to finish their end of the agreement—so I suppose they finished construction—and immediately attacked the dwarven ships on their route back to Narangar, attempting to steal back the gems they'd received. The conflict ended only after Makani was bombarded by dwarven cannons, and the Vhiri admitted defeat.”

  Jayce laughed from down the bar. “This is why I don't read. It's all bullshit.”

  Vallen took a thoughtful sip of ale. “Well, our side of the story is quite different, friend,” he finally said, pushing the newly empty mug toward the edge of the counter. “The ends of the agreement were correct. Eteri upheld its bargain. Then, our queen received word that the dwarves were trying to get the giants of the mines to turn on the Vhiri in rebellion. Eteri is a smaller country than most, and the dwarves desire its land. They thought they could spark a rebellion and get the giants to commit genocide.”

  “But it didn't work, evidently,” I mused.

  “No. The giants are a loyal race. Not a magic bone in their bodies, so they rely on the Vhiri. Eteri relies on them for brute force. Mining, construction...” Vallen trailed off, then shrugged. “The dwarves could not offer them the same benefits. As far as I know, biases against the giants are strong in the east. Many believe the giants to have more body than brains, which simply
isn't true. They knew that once the dwarves used them to take over Eteri, they would be exterminated. The dwarves and giants share a love for molding the earth into architecture, so once Eteri belonged to the dwarves, there would be no use to keep the giants.”

  “The giants informed the Vhiri of this plan?” I questioned.

  “Yes. So the queen had the dwarves working in Mistral slaughtered, save for a few who managed to escape on their ship across the country in Scirocco. The ship was pursued and sunk just off the coast of Narangar, where it sparked the conflict.” Vallen paused, taking a new mug of ale once Nyx had refilled it. “You were right about one thing. Makani was nearly destroyed with the dwarven bombardment. My poor home city sits too close to the ground and the ocean and was ripe for attack. Scirocco sits up on an inlet of the Servis which does not allow many ships passage due to the cramped space. Mistral is unable to be reached from the ocean, and even if it could be, it is closer to Hammerton than Narangar. So Makani it was. The dwarves destroyed much of our history in that attack. Statues to our gods, universities of magic—”

  “Eteri has magical universities?” I questioned. This was news to me. I'd known the Vhiri were an extremely magical race, but the Seran University had taught us that it was the only institution available.

  “Of course. How else would my people know magic?” Vallen replied.

  “I figured they taught it underhandedly,” I admitted. “Sera claimed it held the only magical university of the world.”

  Vallen chuckled into his mug. “It sure would like to. Chairel has spent most of its history trying to repress magic use in the other countries. With Nahara, they mostly succeeded. With Eteri and Glacia? Not a chance. Chairel's army is the largest of them all, but it is made of mostly humans. The Vhiri and Icilic live magic. Neither will relent. But the recurring wars that Chairel wages drops a hint that they won't give up. Either stop the magic use, or agree to be absorbed under Chairel's rule. That is what your home country deals in, Kai. Absolutes.”

  “It is a ludicrous way to rule,” I muttered.

  “It's worked for them so far,” Vallen replied.

  “I'll change that.”

  “Let's hope,” the bear-kin said, with an amused chuckle.

  “Jayce,” Calder spoke up for the first time in awhile. “Finish telling Kai about your naughty streak.”

  “Naughty streak?” Nyx perked up from behind the counter. “Do tell.”

  Jayce laughed from down the bar. “Before we got side-tracked about the war...where were we?”

  “Your parents were in the Narangar Conflict,” I reminded her.

  “Ah! Yes. So, they died when big brother and I were quite little. We grew up in Makani, as Vallen said. It's a port city on the eastern side of Eteri. Vallen was of age when they were killed, so he raised me there. We had to flee the city when I was just seventeen.”

  “Tell them why,” Vallen encouraged.

  “Well, at the time, I ran with this gang, see. We would steal from the ships in the harbor, deal in the drug trade which moved up Eteri from the wildlands. All that fun stuff.” Jayce took a quick drink of ale. “I kept an ax on me at all times, since this was before I could shapeshift. Never really had a chance to wield it until one of the gang leaders took a liking to me. He kept asking me out on dates, over and over again. It got absolutely annoying.”

  “You didn't like him back?” Nyx questioned.

  “Yeah, he wasn't my type.” Jayce shrugged carelessly. “So, one day he just grabs my ass, like that'll get me to change my mind. So I grabbed his arm, and chopped it off with my ax. Thought about slapping his ass with his own arm, but he was screaming so loud I had a headache.” She chuckled at the memory.

  Vallen exhaled heavily. “Jayce came knocking at the door of our apartment at the time, still holding the damn thing, dripping blood everywhere. First thing she says is, 'see? I told you I'm strong enough for the ax!'”

  Nyx crossed her arms as she stared at the other woman. “Gods. You are insane.”

  Jayce laughed as if it were a compliment. “Yes, well, dear brother and I had to flee Makani. Eteri's justice system is pretty stringent. Vigilante justice isn't something that does too well there. Not to mention, most of the gang wanted retribution. So Vallen and I headed south to Scirocco and lived there for awhile.”

  “How'd we get kicked out of that one, sister?” Vallen asked in monotone, making a few of us chuckle.

  “Well, I couldn't be expected to have a beautiful weapon, be able to use it, and not use it,” Jayce defended herself, before she shrugged over at us. “I have a fondness for bloodshed. Went looking for trouble, and trouble found me. Left a few people dead in Scirocco before Vallen dragged me to the wildlands so I wouldn't be imprisoned.”

  “For murder,” Vallen added, holding a finger up in the air as if to point out the most important part.

  “They were fair fights,” his sister retorted. “They all had chances to kill me, and they didn't. I had chances to kill them, and I did. Oo!” Jayce stretched an arm out on the bar, pulling up a sleeve. “I did get some wicked scars, though. Look at this one.” A bronzed finger ran down the length of her arm from shoulder to past her elbow, where it looked like she'd been cut so badly the skin and muscle both had split. “Don't know how I survived it. I could see the bone. It was chipped from the blade and everything. Still is.”

  Calder pulled out a fresh ferris cigarette. I chuckled softly from the reaction.

  Vallen glanced past Calder to me. “So, Kai, to answer your question, we moved to the wildlands out of necessity. Lived in Silvi for a few years, though we quickly moved to Tenesea. The beastmen were still building it at the time, carving out the heartwood into apartments near the top. I helped construct the place so we were given a pick of the apartments there. Lived there for about two hundred years before you came through.”

  Nyx pointed at Calder, before moving her finger between him and Vallen. “How'd you two meet?”

  Calder chuckled around his cigarette. “Koby and I arrived at Silvi's harbor to pick up a shipment of ferris to take to Llyr. The shipment had never been delivered, so me, Koby, and the crew set off looking for it. Made it all the way to Tenesea without finding the stuff. Was told to talk to Vallen, and he replaced the shipment for free.”

  “It was the least I could do,” Vallen replied. “You guys came all that way looking for it.”

  “He gives the stuff away practically for free, anyway,” Calder mused. “It grows so readily in the wildlands, and all of us druggies go through it like crazy.”

  I smirked at his wording. “All you druggies will be running out of it soon,” I reminded him. Ferris was mostly absent from the underground, save what we'd brought with us. Our trip to Quellden would take us ever farther from its source.

  Calder nodded, having thought of that. “Yes, but the illusion and life magic helps. The more recruits we teach it to, the better they can take care of us shapeshifters.”

  “I'm sure trade will begin between the wildlands and the underground near Thanati as it is,” Vallen pointed out. “You will have ferris flowing through here before long. Much like Kai and Cerin have introduced elemental magic here, we can work to introduce our methods of blood mixing. The underground will emerge stronger than ever.” He tipped his mug toward us, as if to acknowledge our victory.

  I hoped that would be true. If our attempted conquest of Quellden succeeded, our actions would be cemented into the history books as a story for the ages. My actions were helping to shape the world, and that knowledge was intensely rewarding.

  I tipped my mug back toward Vallen, before taking another swig of ale.

  To Quellden.

  Thirty-three

  74th of High Star, 420

  The first two-thirds of the trip to Quellden passed without much trouble. We came across a number of commuters from the capital city, but with Azazel at the front of our army, we needn't have feared them. Our biggest concern with moving a massive army through the tunnels w
as the lack of oxygen. The tunnels were much wider here to allow for more traffic, but they certainly hadn't ever intended for an army eight thousand strong to pass through. Because the route from Hazarmaveth moved deeper and beneath the Servis, ventilation shafts were impossible here.

  A lack of fresh air was getting to our soldiers. Many were fatigued, and moved more slowly the farther into the depths we went. I used my air magic from time to time to try to force an air flow through the tunnel, but with how far we were into it, it was a temporary fix. Nyx promised us that the closer we were to Quellden, the easier the travel would become. The city had access to hundreds of ventilation shafts, she told us, and the natural tunnels of the underground creatures there helped to air it out.

  Soon after Nyx told us this, excess tunnel paths began to pop up on either side of us, proving that the lairs of the creatures were close. I remembered Vallen talking about the creatures of the underground, and I knew that many of them would be insects. Nyx had fought such creatures before, but the only advice she could give ran along the lines of avoid the mouths of everything and don't cause vibrations in the tunnels. With advice like that, we were sure to come across something. With eight thousand soldiers, we were causing all sorts of vibrations, no matter how softly everyone walked.

  My twenty-fifth birthday came and went without much celebration, just a fortnight before our army breached into a wide cavern which rivaled Thanati in its size. Before any of the surface dwellers could get confused that we were in the wrong location or had stumbled upon a very empty capital city, Nyx explained that this was indeed the infamous split of Quellden. The tunnel had simply widened into a huge cavern which was so large in height and scope that I could barely tell it was simply an intersection, because I could not see the other side of it through the darkness.