Argoth, 10000 ft above the Aryth Ocean, Year of the Jade Bull, 2114 CE
Cadi groaned and cracked her eyes open. She blinked muzzily, trying to figure out where she was. The room was dim and through the curtains of a small window moonlight glowed. She sat up with a sharp cry as she recalled the battle with the minotaur, the riots, the Argosian ships ready to fire, the city's buildings crumbling, crashing down around her and her companions. Just as quickly fell back against the pillow, nausea roiling in her stomach. The noise attracted attention and an Argosian wearing the grey robes of a Technomancer walked in. He murmured something and soft light erupted from an Artifice lamp.
“Well then, so you're finally awake, you are,” he said in a cheerful manner. “'Bout time, it is. My name is Sovarius. Let's see how you're doing.” He offered a hand and Cadi took it, wincing at the weakness that shook her hands and she frowned at the awkward heaviness of her left hand. Cadi lay quietly as the Technomancer assessed her condition.
“Good, good.” He let go of her hand. “Now, lift your left arm for me.” Cadi mutely obeyed, frowning again at the puzzling heaviness.
“Good. Touch your fingers to your thumb, one by one, please.” Once more Cadi obeyed. Her fingers felt stiff and odd and moved clumsily, but the Technomancer seemed pleased. Sovarius flipped the edge of the blanket back, baring her right leg.
“Very good. Now move your leg for me.”
Cadi did so and became more alarmed by the fact that her leg seemed to have the same heaviness as her arm.
“Good. Curl your toes in, then splay them out.”
“What happened? Where am I?” Cadi asked as she followed these latest instructions. She winced at the raspy sluggishness of her voice and wondered just how long she'd been out.
“You were in an accident. You'd lost your arm and leg when you came to us. Master Mercurius himself brought you here, to Trinity. You've been out for a few days,” Sovarius replied. Cadi took a moment to digest this information.
“I am on Argoth?” she asked quietly. The only 'Trinity' she could think of was the top Technomancer laboratory on Argoth. After a moment, the full import of his statement settled in. “Wait… who brought me here?”
Sovarius chuckled. “You are indeed on Argoth, Lady Cadi. Our Patron brought you here to be tended as a favor to Lord Loki.” More mirth shook the Technomancer, lighting up his pale brown eyes. “Your Patron is quite protective of you, milady. He's been here often, the past few days.
“It's rather amazing, actually. Thanks to you, Jericho has a Patron. First time for everything, I s'ppose.”
Cadi blinked. “Jericho has a Patron?” she asked, thoroughly confused.
“Kas, your guardian claimed your city. Quite impressive actually, so I've heard. A giant fire serpent challenged our ships.”
“The serpent was… Loki?” Cadi remembered the wall of fire that had sprung up along the Rim Wall, the roars of the massive flame-crafted drake that had set the city to shivering and its buildings to crumbling. But if… if he had claimed her city and kept the Argosians from destroying it, then the damage was worth it. A few dead versus the thousands that called Jericho home.
“Kas,” Sovarius said again. “He made an agreement with our Patron. A treaty if you will.”
Cadi lifted her hand, staring at it. Prosthetics. No wonder the limbs felt odd and heavy. Sadness washed over her briefly, passing almost as quickly as it had come. She was alive and mostly whole. There was that to be thankful for.
“Thank you, Master Sovarius, for taking care of me,” she said softly. It was rare, Cadi knew, for outsiders to be allowed into Trinity.
“It has been our pleasure, Lady,” the Technomancer said with a slight smile. “And speaking of, there is one here most anxious to see you. He will be delighted you are finally awake. Do you feel up to some company?”
Cadi nodded, wondering who it could be. Not Loki, certainly. The Great One would not need to 'wait' for anything. As she thought of him, she felt Wildfire's warm amusement in her mind and a curious satisfaction.
“Very well. I'll send him in.” Sovarius departed, the door hissing softly shut behind him. Cadi dozed fitfully, waking once more at a soft knock on her door. The door opened and Viktor was there. The Dashmari started to come through, relief etched on his face, but pulled up short before he was more than a few steps in. Despair flashed across his features and his ears flicked back in a gesture of confusion. Emotions chased themselves across his face and he spun to leave without as much as a single word.
“Viktor, wait,” she called out to him in a puzzled tone. “Please don't leave.” The Dashmari froze, his body tense, but he didn't turn back around.
“It's good to see you are well, Cadi. I'm sorry… I can't… I can't stay. That would be a bad idea,” he said. His voice was soft and he spoke as if he were having trouble with the words.
“Viktor, please turn around. What's wrong? Are you okay?” Cadi asked, struggling to sit up. Viktor hesitated for a moment, before turning around.
“Please… let me go. This can't end well..,” he said in the same soft voice. He looked truly desperate now, as if he wanted nothing more than to flee, though she'd never seen the wolf afraid of anything. Cadi's eyes widened slightly as she caught the other look in his eyes, a deep and complete hunger and yearning. Pieces fell into place as realization struck the muddled Magister. All the times that Viktor had arranged to be assigned elsewhere, at least once a month. His careful and complete avoidance of her for several days at a time. Rolf's words came back to her, of a lesson on Dashmari culture when she'd asked him why he never seemed interested in the many young women who flocked around him.
“I am not interested. A Dashmari can tell their true potential mates by scent alone. To us, each person smells unique. For instance, to me, you smell of kapri. A potential mate will carry another scent, equally unique. We are… driven to choose and when we do, the others lose that extra scent. We take our mates until death takes one and then things start over again. We don't need to choose, so long as we avoid those possible mates when the scent is strongest.” He'd gotten quite flustered by this point and ended the conversation with a “No one here has that for me.” Cadi had been amused at his sheepishness, but had never brought the subject up with either Dashmari again.
“How long?” she asked softly, though she had a feeling she already knew. Viktor jerked as if she'd slapped him and then his whole frame sagged as if he were suddenly exhausted.
“From the moment we met…” he whispered. “You smell of kapri and… you smell of boysenberry.”
“But why have you never said anything?”
“The Dashmari way is not your way. You cannot sense these things. I've managed okay until now. Cadi, please… let me go. I promise… you'll never see me again.”
“You're just going to leave? Just like that?” Cadi's mind was already reeling from her first realization, but this news cleared her mind.
“I must. I've… stayed too long here now as it is…” he said in a defeated tone, yet he remained still, apparently awaiting her dismissal. This Cadi was reluctant to give. She valued Viktor as a friend and she didn't want to lose that. She tried to regard him in this new light. The Dashmari was several years older than she, but the difference wasn't alarming. He was a handsome man in a rugged sort of way, despite (or perhaps because of) the scars that whitened his ears and laced his craggy face.
“Would you have spoken sooner if I had been Dashmari?”
“If you had been Dashmari I would not have needed to say anything,” Viktor replied.
“Have you not said anything because I am not Dashmari?” Cadi asked. Recalling his protectiveness towards her, Cadi was pretty sure of the answer.
“That has nothing to do with it. I didn't want to make you uncomfortable. Please… let me go,” he said in a stricken tone.
“Viktor, come here, please,” Cadi said, in a voice already growing drowsy from the effort. He shook his head, took a step back, then another
and Cadi knew if he made it to the door, if he made it out, she'd really never see him again. She repeated the request and he stopped, ears twitching with uncertainty. She repeated it a third time, holding out her hand. It was enough to propel him forward and the wolf crossed the room in two great strides. Bending over the bed, he caught Cadi's face between his hands and kissed her deeply but gently. When he drew away, she could see tension was gone from him. Uncertainty still lit his eyes and the yearning was still there, though muted somewhat now and she realized that her unspoken acceptance had quelled the larger part of his need, that the touch, the contact, had done this.
“Are you sure of this?” he asked softly.
“I am sure that my life would be much poorer without you in it, Viktor. Of that I am very certain, so yes, I am sure,” Cadi replied. She watched the rest of the uncertainty drain from his face with some relief.
Skycity of Port Jericho, 10000 ft above the Aryth Ocean, Year of the Jade Bull, 2114 CE
Four weeks had passed since Loki had claimed Port Jericho as his own and three since Cadi had returned home. The city had been cleaned up and repaired. Little evidence remained of the riots beforehand. Little evidence save for the massive serpent that now ringed the city. The Jerachi citizens looked upon the serpent with a source of pride. No longer were they an unclaimed city. They had a Patron now and they knew it. A Patron who did not mind that they were a city of misfits, but rather seemed glad of this fact. Already this was making a difference in how they regarded themselves and how they interacted with the Argosian soldiers still present in the city.
Cadi sighed. And now, everyone knew that she was tied to this new Patron and she found herself in the unenviable position of leader of Jericho, given that the previous Lord Governor had perished in the disaster that had struck the city and Lord Loki himself seemed happy to encourage this notion. The Magister missed her former job. It had been simple compared to this. Process a scene. Catch a criminal. Easy enough. Though now, there seemed to be far less crime within the city. Far less saddening work for the Magisters.
With Lord Loki's guidance… Cadi found she could no longer think of him as merely a companion and friend, though he remained such and the bond between them remained unbroken… things had slowly improved through the whole city. The way Jericho functioned was redefined. In the years to come, though Cadi could not know that now, Port Jericho, once derogatorily called 'Sin City', would earn the name 'Serpent City' and be one of the safest places to live despite the criminal element.
More weeks passed and the Argosians eventually left, but not without securing a formal treaty with Port Jericho, leader to leader, part of which involved a negotiation for trade of the invaluable new mage-metal. By unspoken consent, Cadi had earned the title and position of Lady of Jericho and though the job chafed at her at times, things were improving.
Cadi owed keeping her sanity to Viktor's presence in her life. The Dashmari, now free from the having to hide his feelings, had become an even stronger source of strength. The two of them, along with Rolf, had moved to the Governor's Palace. Cadi had moved there only reluctantly, but the citizens had been insistent.
The Governor's palace had been located in the exact middle of Jericho, nestled within the depths of the largest forested area in the skycity, a hub surrounded by the four Wards. Where before it had just been her, here Cadi found herself surrounded by a plethora of servants, always wanting to 'do' things for her. There were times when she missed her small house in East Ward and the blessed solitude of being a simple Magister.
Much of Thorndagger Manor itself, as the Governor's palace was called, had been destroyed during the disaster and it had been with the assistance of the Technomancers and Artificers that it had been rebuilt as swiftly as it had. The building itself was fairly large and consisted of an inner keep with four tall towers. There was a courtyard encircled by an outer keep with four shorter towers. Lord Loki had claimed one of the innermost towers. That tower was jet black, changed from grey stone to shimmery obsidian by the deity that had made it his own. That particular tower had no access, save when Loki wished it. The entire complex had a broad yard ringed by the forest itself. Guardian statues now flanked the two paths to Thorndagger, one of each pair facing outward and one inward. Each statue, Loki told her later, was a trickster deity. Cadi recognized one as Loki himself, covered with the raven cloak. Ekkituu, a creature that looked half cat and half dog, guarded the path with the raven man. At the opposite path, another canine, whom Loki had called 'Coyote', shared guard duty with a second feather cloaked man sporting an eagle head, whom Cadi recognized as a representation of Mercurius Greyeyes, the Technomancer Patron.
A small staff of servants lived here along with a tiny contingent of Crows that served as personal guards for Jericho's leader. Thorndagger had also been home to the Governor's adviser, but he had perished during the riots, as had the Governor. Cadi had named Viktor as adviser in his place.
“Torbit for your thoughts?'
Cadi looked up from the paperwork scattered over her desk and smiled as Viktor walked over. He bent to give her a kiss before turning his attention to the paperwork.
“Ah. Export reports. Always fun on a beautiful afternoon.”
Cadi glanced out the window, where the sun shone brightly and made a face. She gestured to the pile of papers.
“Well, be my guest. If it sounds so fun, you stay here and go through them. I'll go enjoy the sunshine,” Cadi muttered. Viktor chuckled and held out a pin. Cadi recognized the dragon and spiral insignia of Drakkengaard and felt a brief sorrow as her thoughts turned to Draccus and the sacrifice he had made.
“No, thanks. I came to tell you I received a message from Dracos. He'd like to see us, the sooner, the better,” Viktor said. Cadi was surprised. They hadn't seen nor heard from Dracos since that terrible night and Cadi hadn't been able to bring herself to travel back to the Wyvern's Roost. She stood, stretching hugely.
“Now seems like a good time. If I sit here much longer, I'm going to slowly lose my mind to the sheer boredom of reading these reports.”
Viktor chuckled again and matched Cadi's pace as she set off through the keep. Cadi took the opportunity to walk, enjoying the fresh air and the chance to stretch her legs. Paperwork kept her inside much of the time. If she'd thought the paperwork a Magister had to deal with was overwhelming at times, it was a short flight on a clear day compared to the amount the Governor's office handled in a day. Viktor had suggested more than once that she hire people to serve as administrators, but she hadn't done so yet.
Cadi could hear the excited whispers they left in their wake. The Jerachi had come to love their Lady, as much as they revered their new Patron. Anytime she went out now, her presence caused a different kind of stir than she had when she'd been a Magister. A leisurely walk brought them to North Ward and Shadowylde Lane. Nitka greeted them when they entered the Wyvern's Roost. The Arkaddian hunter guided them to the same storeroom they'd visited before. A brief exchange in Argosian and the door to Drakkengaard hissed open. Nitka gestured them through.
“What, you don't want our weapons this time?” Cadi asked. Nitka grinned and shook his head.
“For you, Lady, no. We would not be the ones to offer you insult or offense. You are the Lady of Jericho now. No place is closed to you.”
Cadi blew out a huff. The preferential treatment was beginning to get on her nerves. No one wanted to offend Cadi, lest they offend Lord Loki.
“Anywhere, huh? And did the previous Lord Governor have the same privilege?” Cadi asked. She was rewarded with a sheepish look from the hunter. “I thought not. Why am I any different than any other leader Jericho has ever had?”
“Uh… do I really need to answer that, Lady?” Nitka asked. Cadi scowled at him and took the lead through the door, following the corridor to the same common room where they had first met Draccus. Cadi felt the unbidden tears welling up again and she took a slow breath, trying to compose herself. Viktor put a hand on her shoulder, givi
ng a gentle squeeze.
“I know,” he said. “The hunter did a brave thing.”
“I wish there was some way to repay that,” Cadi said, as she walked through the door.
“Matter of fact, there just might be,” came another voice and Cadi turned to find Dracos standing where Draccus had once stood. Cadi couldn't imagine how he must feel, to have lost a brother.
“I'm sorry for your loss, Dracos,” she said. “Whatever we can do, just ask.”
“Very well. Follow me. There's someone as wants to meet you.” They followed the Argosian exited the room through a door in the far corner. They walked down a richly decorated hallway, hung with woven tapestries of dragons and the dragon-kin, from wurms to reavers. Dracos stopped and rapped on a door. A muffled voice called out 'Enter'. Dracos touched a panel and the door hissed open.
The room beyond the door was large, but stuffed with all manner of knick-knacks. Two saurian skeletons guarded the entrance and from the ceiling hung the skeleton of a juvenile dragon, its wings brushing the far walls. Bookcases lined with both books and oddities lined most of the available wallspace. A window looked out onto the yawning abyss beyond the Rim Wall. A desk sat before the window and at that desk sat another Argosian, head bent to his work. He finished what he was doing and looked up. Cadi gasped as she found herself staring into the golden eyes of the man she'd seen die in the Labyrinth chamber.
“Draccus!”
The hunter grinned broadly. “None other.”
“But… but how. We saw Kellin… You died,” Cadi sputtered. Viktor stirred behind her.
“It wasn't you, was it?” he rumbled. “It was a shaendae.”
“It was and it wasn't,” Draccus said. “Shaendae is a Dashmari word. It doesn't quite cover the extent of what I did.”
Obsidian Alcatraz: An Evalyce Novella Page 7