by Adam Heine
“Then she will help us in this. Will you talk to her?”
Luthiya swallowed, but she knew her answer before he’d finished asking the question. “Of course.”
***
Luthiya plodded to the chantry—except for the Glass Hall, and two or three other passages outside the force walls; those she sprinted across. The fire wights had shown no indication of malice toward the Shue, not since the attack on the force wall, but they still made her uneasy.
Ama was watching the urlimnion. The floating oddity seemed brighter than before, though that might have been a trick of the light. Ama crouched next to it, her face just centimeters away. What was she looking for? The relic did nothing. Even the ball they’d used for Tungdan was more useful than it was.
Luthiya’s footsteps echoed in the chamber. Ama tapped one of the urlimnion’s metal arms, sending it spinning. She stood. Without taking her eyes off the oddity, she said, “The aenairon didn’t work either, eh?”
“It worked, but Khapah couldn’t understand the images it made any more than with the other devices.”
Ama sighed. “I doubt anything will give him the translation he wants.”
As Luthiya came closer, she noticed something behind one of the benches. It was some kind of body, but wrinkled and deflated, like a tomato left out in the sun.
She inhaled sharply. “What is that?”
Ama looked up then hurried over. “Oh, nothing.” She placed her hand on it and it disappeared in a puff of dust. “Just another animal. I’m sorry you had to see it, Thiya.”
It took a force of will for Luthiya to slow her breathing. An animal. Just an animal.
“Let me find something else for Khapah to try.”
“No.” Luthiya forced the words out. “Actually, Khapah wants you involved.”
“Me?” She seemed genuinely amused by that.
“Well…yes.” Luthiya was surprised at Ama’s reaction. She didn’t want the nano to help—failure with the wights meant they might have to leave—but Luthiya assumed Ama would. “Aren’t you drawn to help?”
“I’m drawn to where there is a need. And yes, fulfilling that need might benefit my work, but the work requires my attention more.”
Luthiya was relieved. If Ama wouldn’t help, maybe the Shue could finally put Ossiphagan and Shuenha behind them.
Ama cocked her head to one side. “You seem almost happy about that.”
“I’m sorry.” Luthiya studied her feet. “It’s just that Khapah wants the wights’ help to go back to Shuenha, to fight the Tabaht.”
The nano threw back her head in laughter. Luthiya caught a glimpse of her pentagonal tattoo again. It seemed lighter now, almost as bright as the urlimnion. “Of course he does. I should’ve seen it,” she said when she’d calmed down. She walked over to Luthiya, put a hand on her cheek. “You’re the one who wants a new home, aren’t you?”
Luthiya nodded.
“The only one?”
She shrugged.
“Well,” she said, “you need not worry. This is the fire wights’ home. I don’t think they can leave, even if they wanted to. Besides, they seem quite harmless.”
Luthiya curled her lip; she wasn’t sure about harmless, but Ama’s words were encouraging. If Khapah couldn’t get the wights to do what he wanted, he’d have to give up on his plan to return by year’s end. “But I don’t know if—”
One of Ama’s artifacts—a glass sphere with a smaller black sphere suspended inside it—began to glow. Ama rushed over to pick it up. “Someone’s entered the pass.”
“What?” Luthiya ran over, trying to see what Ama saw inside the sphere. “Who? Which pass?” Any visitors were probably a bad thing, but especially if they were from the east—only the Tabaht lived there now.
Maybe these had entered the Charred Pass. Strangers. They might even be able to help the Shue.
Ama dashed Luthiya’s hopes against the wall. “The eastern pass,” she said. “From Shuenha.”
Chapter 5
Ama said she had to prepare. She sent Luthiya on ahead. Luthiya wasted no time. If the Shue were in trouble, she would be there with them to face it.
Her heart pounded as she ran through the tunnels. Nothing good could come from Shuenha. There were no more Shue there, and the Tabaht’s other enemies— the only friends the Shue could possibly have—lived far from Ossiphagan. It was unlikely anyone would have fled in their direction, even if Ossiphagan weren’t an early glimpse of the afterlife.
That left only the Tabaht themselves. But why? What could they do that they hadn’t done already?
They could finish what they started in Shuenha.
Luthiya ran faster. Through the tunnels. Past the Glass Hall. Up the stairs to the Marrow Chamber where dozens had crowded into the chamber, with more still arriving. The archway was empty. Maybe the wights were hiding from the intruders, as they had hidden from the Shue in all the months since they’d arrived.
The others prepared to either defend themselves or run. Everyone held a crude weapon, or a bag with their possessions, or both.
Luthiya ran toward the sinew bridge in front of the bone tower, but Tsio dropped the shaft of a large halberd in her way. “Nobody leaves, makoeh. Khapah’s orders.”
“Wha…?” She struggled to catch her breath. “Where…is he?”
Tsio pointed up. Of course he’d be at the top of the tower, watching.
“Who is it? Do you know?”
Tsio scowled but didn’t say.
“I’m going up.”
Tsio nodded and Luthiya dashed past him to the rounded doorway leading to the stairs that spiraled around the inside walls of the bone. Glowglobes flared every few steps, illuminating doorways leading to other rooms above the Marrow Chamber—rooms which had once possessed a purpose but which now were just shells.
She hurried past them, pushing hard against the last heavy door and spilling out onto the battlement, for once not even noticing the force wall as she passed through it.
The peak of the bone tower was mostly flat. Jagged edges from where the rib had snapped millennia ago now served as a parapet wall.
Khapah stood at the battlement’s edge, Jio and Zaanh next to him. Each held a spyglass. Khapah and Jio watched the eastern pass while Zaanh scanned the west with somewhat less tension in her arms; Khapah was being as thorough as ever.
“What’s going on?” Luthiya asked, breathless.
“Tabaht.” He handed over his spyglass.
A chill stabbed her heart at the word. She took the spyglass, her hand shaking. She didn’t want to see, but neither could she stay in the dark.
It took her a while to find them. They were still far off, but coming closer. Twenty men, mounted on those scaled, two–legged beasts of theirs—dragoliths, they called them. They carried halberds twice as large as the one Tsio had downstairs. Some of their weapons glowed.
Tabaht. Luthiya’s teeth chattered, her body shuddering. Soon she was shaking so badly she lost sight of them in the spyglass. Khapah took the scope from her. She crouched on the ground, pressed her knees together, and squeezed her eyes shut. Her parents’ screams roared in her ears. The smell of blood, burning flesh. The heat of the flames became more real to her than the rivers of Ossiphagan.
She didn’t know how long it was before she realized Khapah was holding her. “It’ll be all right, makoeh.”
She shook her head violently. Her face and her shirt were soaked. Her jaw was sore, her throat raw. “Can’t go back,” she rasped. “I won’t go back.”
Khapah pulled her into his arms. “Nobody’s going back.”
Another lie. But she let herself believe it as she cried into his shirt. “But they’ve come for us.”
“We don’t know that. It’s just a scouting party. If they meant to kill us, they’d have brought many more.”
Zaanh said, “But when they find us…”
“They won’t. These ruins are vast. We’ll stay hidden. Listen, if they approach our tower, I want
you three to—”
“Khapah, look!” Jio gestured excitedly, still watching the pass through his glass.
Khapah stood. Jio handed his spyglass to Luthiya. Though she didn’t want to see the Tabaht again, she had to see what had gotten Jio so worked up. She nearly dropped the glass when she saw it: about fifty fire wights between them and the Tabaht, all gliding toward the pass.
“Are they going to fight?” Zaanh asked, having left her position to see what was happening.
Khapah didn’t answer. His face was grim as he watched.
The Tabaht saw the creatures; their pale faces were visible even from the tower. Their commander raised a fist, calling for a halt.
The wights floated inexorably toward the soldiers. Something flickered at the edge of the spyglass, a shadow behind the wights, though when Luthiya looking closer there was nothing there.
The Tabaht’s commander shouted at the creatures, but they didn’t stop. One of the soldiers lobbed something into the air. It bounced and landed in the middle of the wights. A sphere of pure lightning exploded from the ground. Thunder from the blast shook even the bone tower.
The fire wights kept moving like nothing had happened.
Other weapons were thrown. Soon the wights were obscured behind a ball of fire, a wall of ice, a cloud of indigo smoke. A tense minute passed before it all dissipated. The wights were still unscathed.
The creatures pressed closer. The soldiers panicked. Their leader tried to get them to form a line, but the dragoliths were spooked. Soldiers at the front struck out with their long halberds. The weapons went right through the foremost fire wights.
Those same wights leapt at the soldiers, arms grasping. The dragoliths skittered backward. One soldier fell off his mount. Others at the rear bolted, heading back east out of Ossiphagan.
The dragoliths at the front pressed back against the others. Their riders struggled to keep them from fleeing as well. Two wights rushed at the man who had fallen. He scrambled away, another of his fellows lifting him onto the back of his mount just in time.
The Tabaht leader shouted again. This time, those with glowing weapons attacked. The blade of one man’s halberd struck the head of a wight and melted there. Another soldier’s was inexplicably encased in ice. He dropped the halberd, suddenly too heavy to wield.
The wights at the front pounced on the Tabaht again. Screeching, the dragoliths turned and fled, taking their riders with them. The soldiers didn’t try very hard to stop them.
“Ha!” cried Jio. He couldn’t have seen the details without his spyglass, but he’d obviously seen enough. “They won’t be coming back here again, right, Khapah?”
Khapah didn’t respond. He was still watching the wights. As soon as the last Tabaht turned and ran, the creatures stopped moving. Why had the wights done this? They hadn’t even shown themselves to the Shue for months, but they’d attacked the Tabaht immediately. Were the wights protecting the Shue? Or their water source, perhaps?
Khapah yanked his spyglass down with a frown. “Ama.”
“What?” Luthiya looked again. It took her some time to see what Khapah was talking about, but she found her. Ama stood on a bridge overlooking the eastern pass, almost directly above the fire wights, with no force wall between them and her. “What’s she doing there? Is she—?”
But Khapah had already gone down the stairs into the bone tower.
Luthiya ran after him. She tried to tell herself that Ama was watching the battle, like they were, that she was studying the wights or maybe even preparing to defend the Shue herself—she was a nano, after all. She searched for any reason but the obvious: that Ama had told the wights to attack.
Because if that attack was her doing, there was nothing stopping the Shue from going to war.
Chapter 6
Tsio stepped aside to let Luthiya exit the bone tower. She would’ve knocked him down if he hadn’t. She shut her eyes as her body hissed through the force wall.
Khapah was already on the other side of the first bridge, many yards ahead. Ama was two chasms beyond that and walking toward them.
They couldn’t go back to Shuenha. They just couldn’t. Even if they did defeat the Tabaht, it wouldn’t be the end. The Tabaht hadn’t wiped out the Shue, and the Shue would never completely wipe out the Tabaht. There would always be someone who wanted revenge.
When Luthiya reached Khapah and Ama, they were deep into an argument. The wights had disappeared.
Khapah’s face was twisted into an ugly scowl. “. . . never told us you could control them.”
“Control them?” Ama laughed, but there was no mirth in it. “I came out here to study them. It’s actually quite funny. The wights were only trying to communicate with—”
Khapah made a slashing gesture with his hand. “You’re lying.”
Ama’s expression became stone. “You are a child and a savage. You can’t possibly understand the things I do.”
“I understand that you fear them as much as we do, that you won’t step outside the force walls when there are wights nearby.”
Ama looked down at Luthiya, who cowered. “I suppose she told you that.”
Khapah sidestepped, placing himself between Luthiya and Ama. “Don’t pretend she doesn’t tell you everything I say as well.”
“A double agent, then.” Ama sniffed. Luthiya suddenly wished she hadn’t come. “To say I control them gives me too much credit. I doubt there is anyone who can control them.”
“But you can talk to them, tell them what you want.” Khapah’s face softened. “Thiya said you were drawn to help us. I’ve seen it in your actions. You rescued us, brought us here to safety. And you defended us just now, when the Tabaht would’ve rooted us out.”
Ama considered that. “I’m drawn to their aid, too. The wights.”
Khapah nodded. “No doubt that’s why they listened to you just now. We’re helping them, too, with the water. You must ask them to help us take Shuenha back from the Tabaht.”
Ama threw back her head and laughed.
Luthiya blurted out, “You can’t!”
Both Ama and Khapah looked at her. Ama seemed amused, but Khapah’s face was worried. “We have to, makoeh. There’s nothing else for us.”
“Only because you won’t let it go.” Luthiya squeezed her eyes shut, willing the tears back and failing. “I hate the Tabaht, too. I miss my friends and my…my parents, but going back for vengeance won’t solve anything.”
Khapah cupped her cheek in his hand. “It will, though. You saw what the wights did. They’re invincible. We might not have to fight at all.”
“And then what?” she shouted. Khapah jumped back, a look of shock on his face. She hadn’t meant to yell. She softened her tone. “Then what, Khapah? We’ll never kill them all. They’ll come back, just like you want to go back now. Or someone else will take their place. Or we will take their place and lord it over them. What does any of it solve?”
Khapah opened his mouth to speak. Nothing came out.
“You needn’t worry, child,” Ama said. “I have no intention of asking the wights to fight the Tabaht.”
Khapah turned on her. “But you just—”
“An experiment,” she said. “You think of me like an Aeon Priest. Well, this is what they do.”
“The Aeon Priests help people,” Khapah said.
Ama huffed. “They also know nothing. There is more in this world than just you, child. The Tabaht have other enemies who need help. The fire wights need help. Even the Tabaht themselves need help. Why should I devote this life only to your needs?”
Khapah was taken aback. “Was Thiya wrong? Are you not drawn to aid us?”
The nano produced a deep sigh, obviously tired. “I am drawn to you. And to this place. There is something here that is worth my time.”
Ama looked at Luthiya, but Luthiya could not read what she saw in the nano’s eyes. Curiosity? Hope?
“Something here.” Ama glared at Khapah. “Not in Shuenha. I will aid you, a
s I have since I found you. But I will not help you wipe out another people so you can satisfy your infantile need for justice.” Ama turned on her heels. “That is the last I will speak of it.”
She stalked off. Luthiya sighed with relief. Ama had said it so plainly: the Shue’s desire for revenge wasn’t more important than the needs of other peoples. Even the wights.
Khapah put a gentle hand on Luthiya’s shoulder and squeezed. Maybe Ama had swayed him, too.
They watched in silence as the nano disappeared into a tunnel, heading toward the chantry.
“Makoeh,” Khapah said. “Thank you for speaking. I think I finally understand how you feel.”
Luthiya looked up at him, rubbing the last of her tears out of her eyes. “You do?”
He nodded. “I won’t make you go back. Not now, not ever.”
Finally. Luthiya smiled and leaned against him.
He pulled away. “But I still intend to go.”
“What?” She stepped out of his reach. “But you—”
“You should stay.” Khapah spoke fast then, his words spilling over each other, as though he was afraid he might not be able to say them at all. “You’re smart. You think like Ama. You can learn a lot, and I’ll feel better knowing you’re safe. I’d stay with you if I could, but I have a responsibility to the Shue.” He took a breath, too short for her to interrupt. “I don’t want to ask more of you, but you care about the Shue as much as I do. I need you, makoeh. Say the word, and I’ll ask nothing more, but I need…I want…I have to…”
Luthiya’s heart sank, at her own words as much as his: “What is it, Khapah?”
Khapah met her gaze, his eyes both pleading and apologetic. “Find out what she did, how she got the wights to fight the Tabaht. We need to know.”
Luthiya stared into his deep, brown eyes. He wasn’t intentionally manipulating her. He was doing what he felt was best for his people. He really was a good leader. Anyway, Luthiya didn’t need to be manipulated. She loved her people as much as Khapah did. If this was what they wanted…
“I’ll try.”
Chapter 7
Ama wouldn’t see her. Every time Luthiya went to the chantry, Ama sent her away on some errand. She felt invisible. Khapah had all but turned her away, and now Ama was doing the same.