by Scott Duff
Luckily the Day Sword didn’t. He lunged at me, low to the ground. Day lunged me, too, straight at him. The man’s arms from the elbows down to his fingertips glowed with a ruby red light as he tried to grab me around the waist. But I was already moving over him, using his shoulders as a springboard to vault into a somersault, rolling through the air to land on my feet behind him. He screamed. I turned quickly to resume my ready stance, but was shocked to see the man was being slowly consumed by the ruby energy from his arms into his chest. The entire circle quieted to the man’s screams as the energy ate at him, leaving a blackened and shriveled corpse. He stopped screaming when it got to his lungs. Small favor, that. The energy burned itself out when it got to his head, leaving the bottom half of his body untouched. I emptied my stomach then. The fact that there wasn’t anything in it didn’t matter. I retched over and over and over again. It was horrifying. I’d just killed a man and I didn’t even know how I did it. Killed another man.
After a moment, I felt Peter kneeling beside me, his hand on my back, murmuring that it’d be okay. I could feel Kieran and Ethan circling around us, both blazing and fierce with power, protecting us. It was quite a light show. Peter helped me up once I felt able and stayed with me. I was still wobbly. The shield circle was still intact, though, and inside now was a tall elf dressed in MacNamara’s colors calmly facing one of the dead man’s friends, who was decidedly not calm.
The man was red-faced from yelling at the elf, claiming that I had broken the peace bond and used deadly magic on his compatriot. That was his word, compatriot. The elf glanced over at me and gestured idly for me to come over. I wobbled to him with Peter close behind, taking a wide berth around the half-crispy corpse. I felt Kieran’s attention shift to us, but he stayed in his circling pattern with Ethan.
“Do you know the man?” the elf asked me, pointing lazily in the direction of the corpse.
“Not personally, sir,” I answered him as politely as I could. “But we had a run-in in town near the human gate where he was harassing a woman before MacNamara let us in. He was unhappy with the resolution of that incident and wanted another go at me apparently.”
“This is true,” the elf said to the man. It wasn’t a question, but the man nodded anyway. “Then what exactly is your grievance?”
“He broke the bond! My best man is dead, for Christ’s sake!” the man shouted at the elf.
“That is your mistake,” said the elf, icily. “Your man broke the peace-bond of MacNamara, not McClure, and a mere hour before the competition. You and yours have been disqualified and will be removed.” The elf made a small brushing gesture with his hand, a very small gesture, and power of pale blue flowed down the concourse overcoming anything else in the area and nine men in close proximity seized in place like they were being electrocuted. Within five seconds they slumped to the ground, then disappeared like they were never there, including the corpse. The tall elf turned to face me.
“Master McClure, I am obliged to offer you safe passage to the Arena for you and your party, should you care for it now,” he said, bowing his head slightly. I glanced back at Kieran, who nodded once quickly.
“That would be most kind,” I said with relief as Kieran and Ethan moved in closer to us and the tension in the area ebbed out as we left. We let the elf lead us and paths just opened up in front of him.
Chapter 15
The elf took a leisurely pace through the crowds, but it was deceptive. He was doing something similar to what Kieran and Ethan did in the car and moving the ground we were walking on at the same time. Or something. I wasn’t paying close attention but we made it to the Arena amazingly fast and were winding our way through corridors packed with people of different races. And I don’t mean black, white, or Hispanic races. I mean human, elf, dwarf, and some I didn’t know or want to know.
Peter was still right beside me and hadn’t gone farther than a foot away since he’d helped me up. He kept our pace close to the elf and Kieran and Ethan kept close behind us, slightly to my left, forming a tight diamond around me. I bumped Peter’s hip and muttered a “Thank You” to him just as we hit the first archway into the base and started climbing steps. Two very long runs of steps, the second turning back on the first. It was an arduous trip, but the elf didn’t have any tricks on this one. I was eyeing the third set of stairs evilly when the white elf turned left instead and pushed open a wooden door in the corner of the landing. The noise on the other side was deafening compared to the silence in the stairwell. That made me wonder where the light was coming from in the stairwell along with the now-obviously excellent soundproofing.
The door led to a corridor that led out into the Arena seating. Power thrummed heavily through the center of the Arena in thick bands running through the ground straight up to the sky, spiraling out in interesting patterns. That power alone explained most of the excitement of the crowds in and around the Arena, why the fights at the crossroads were happening. They were acting as valves on a pressure cooker, releasing steam when it got too hot. Still didn’t like being in the middle of one. I’d killed a man in one.
The elf turned again just before the exit out to the Arena, opening another wooden door leading to a stairwell. Letting Peter in front of me, I glared at the stairs and started estimating the distance we’d traveled in this stone maze to take my mind off the climb. A pretty rough estimate with this set put us at about seventy to eighty feet up. So depending on how you defined it, somewhere between five and seven stories. This is an impressive structure. We use steel beams and rebar-reinforced concrete for buildings like this. Solid stone tempered from deep within the earth formed these floors. It helped to ground errant energies, too, recycling it into the fountain at its center. The stairs led to a long hall that the elf trudged us along for quite a while. The elf opened the first door on the left he came to, stepping past and glancing down the hall. We could hear voices of people talking in polite conversation, a change from the street revelries. The elf turned and smiled graciously, sweeping his arm invitingly through the door he just opened.
Kieran led the way into the foyer of a nice apartment. We spread through the room, still staying somewhat close. There were four doors in the room visible from the entrance. Peter veered off to the left and peered through the first on the left, glancing back to us before moving on to the other door. Ethan disappeared through the door on the right as the elf followed Kieran into the room. Kieran took the center of the room and faced the elf.
“You may have use of this apartment for as long as you like, Master McClure,” said the elf in his pleasant tenor. “Someone will be along shortly to see to any food and clothing needs you and your apprentices may have. Your private box is available through those doors and the Great Room is just down the hall. Opening ceremonies are in twelve minutes. Is there any other way I may assist you?”
“None at all, Warden,” said Kieran. “Your assistance has been much appreciated.” Kieran bowed his head some and shifted minutely in his shoulders—high praise, indeed, for the elf. The warden bowed his head in return and left the room, closing the door behind him.
Shrank shot out of the room Peter was in, with Peter a second behind.
“I thought he’d never leave,” squealed the pixie, flitting around the room randomly.
“I wondered what happened to you,” I muttered, watching him with amusement.
“I’m the only one he can hide with,” said Peter as he walked past us to the brightly lit doorways on the far end of the room. Ethan was matching him on the other side. The wall between the doorways had three large pictures hung on them. At first glance, they were abstract oil paintings, but looking more closely you could see they were small slices of the energy flow from the center of the arena from different perspectives. They drew me in hypnotically as Peter and Ethan disappeared through the next set of doorways and held me until Ethan came back, grinning but alone.
“Peter seems to be having issues,” he said, calmly, then turned back.
&
nbsp; Kieran and I hurried after him. Stepping out the first door, a wave of noise hit us like a wall. It led out to a small balcony, barely large enough for the four of us, with a gate. Peter was leaning against the stone railing looking out. I couldn’t quite read his reaction. He looked… awed? Sorta shocked, I guess. I went to stand beside him and looked out, too.
And my jaw dropped, too. Oh, my, freakin’, God, this is weird. This place was impossibly close to everything. It looked like I could reach out over the railing and touch the other side of the Arena. Literally, it was just right there. And the ground. The feeling wasn’t vertigo, exactly, because you didn’t feel like you could fall. The ground was right there. The field was square and about the same size as two or three football fields. In the center was a wooden, tiered structure that topped out at midway of the Arena, about even with us. It looked like it was used for multiple purposes and at the moment was a simple dais.
And the people, there were so many people packed in there. I couldn’t guess at the number of people we could see. With the way the place made everything seem so close, everybody seemed to close in on you. It was very claustrophobic.
“That’s a passel o’people,” I said softly.
After a second, Peter turned to me and asked, “Did you just say ‘passel’?”
I nodded slowly, still looking out over the crowd, watching how different groups were interacting. Peter broke out laughing and threw an arm around me, pulling me away from the rail and back into the apartment. I looked at him smiling, sharing in the joke, with Kieran and Ethan following.
“Please tell me there’s a shower,” I said, throwing myself into the first chair I came to. “I feel dirty all over.”
“Yep,” answered Peter, falling onto the couch opposite me. “That bedroom has every modern convenience, including a sunken tub with jets and everything. There’s a kitchenette with a fridge too.” He waved vaguely back behind him to the rooms he’d investigated.
Sobering instantly, I had to ask, “Kieran, what happened out there? To that man?” I really didn’t want to talk about this.
He sat down beside Peter, leaning forward and resting his elbows on his knees. “You didn’t do that?”
“How safe is it to talk in here?” I asked.
“Very, for the moment,” answered Ethan.
“No,” I answered Kieran. “Night started vibrating and it sent odd energy oscillations out through me. Day was moving me through the defensive forms you showed us yesterday. When I touched him, he screamed and that was it… I don’t know what happened.”
“What I saw, and more importantly,” he said, “what the warden saw, was that he lost control of his own power and it tore through him like fire through paper. Whatever energy Night may have issued was masked completely by the ambient energy field. This is good. Cheer up, Seth. I know it’s hard, but that man’s death was his fault, not yours. You only defended yourself and quite admirably.” He gave me a grim smile, but he knew I’d need time.
“Someone’s coming,” said Ethan, moving to the door, seconds before a timid knock.
“Go take a shower and we’ll arrange for clothes and food and watch some of the pageantry,” Kieran said, standing. “See if we can’t get settled some.”
I hauled myself out of the chair and headed into the right hand room. The whole place was a luxury hotel suite and the bedroom was no different. The room wasn’t regular in shape and had six walls. The two beds were larger than king-sized and looked deliciously soft with elegant comforters and pillows placed on top. Above each bed stretching fully across was another oil painting showing a slice of the energy flows in the Arena, matching the colors in the bedding. Each bed used a different color scheme. It was actually nicer than any hotel my parents and I had ever stayed. The bathroom did indeed have a sunken tub and I longed to fill it and sink into a pool of warm water to forget the last week. Soak for a week. Instead, I went for the shower stall. I stripped outside the glass door, dropping my dirty, dusty clothing in a pile on the floor. Turning the water on, I was pleasantly surprised when two showerheads shot jets of water to the middle of the stall. I stepped into the combined flow and starting scrubbing away at what felt like years of grime. This was luxury.
After seeing the golden glow of Shrank through the fogged glass door twice, I figured it was time get out. The towel off the rack was almost as lush as the shower. My pile on the floor had disappeared and a stack of clean clothes sat on the vanity with my shoes, cleaned, on the floor below. The clothes fit perfectly, consisting of a green tunic and black pants. The shirt was the color of Kieran’s eyes, I realized, and there was an emblem in reddish-brown that matched his hair color monogrammed over the left breast. It was elegant tracery, but once again, I didn’t recognize the symbol. Somebody needed to give me a dictionary or something really soon.
As I left the bathroom, Shrank had to loop back sharply to avoid hitting me in the chest. He chittered a bit in what I assumed was a chuckle as I grinned at him.
“Sorry ‘bout that, Shrank,” I said, pulling up quickly, adjusting around him. “Have I missed much?” Looking around the empty room, I asked, “Where is everybody?”
“Not much, Master Seth,” Shrank answered, cheerfully, bouncing in the air in front of me, obviously eager to get back. “Lord Kieran is on the balcony watching the Opening Ceremonies. Thus far, there have been announcements of a new dragon Duchy in the Wastelands and the collapse of two others and the introductions for the human consortiums have started. Master Peter and Lord Kieran are watching these most carefully, though, as they include many of the people you seek. And there is food there as well.” He buzzed off to the balcony, leaving a perfect sine wave of rosy light in his wake.
I sat on the nearest couch to put my shoes on first. Stuffed down into one was a pair of black, silk ankle-length socks, another nice surprise. I hated wearing shoes without socks. On the balcony, I found Kieran and Peter watching a parade of people flowing through the top of the tiered dais as a thin golden-robed elf announced them in a rolling, thunderous voice. They were sitting in tall chairs like barstools that weren’t there the first time we were out there. Ethan was lazing on the rail next to the gate, completely at ease. Everybody was freshly showered and wearing the same clothes I was. I must have been in the shower for quite some time. They also had empty plates in front of them.
“Master Seth?” Shrank squeaked from the corner, pulling my attention to a small table with plates of sandwiches, fruits, vegetables, and cheeses. My stomach growled at me, telling me where it wanted to go regardless of how queasy the rest of me found the idea. I felt a slight push of energy from both Peter and Kieran, so I headed for the table.
“Feeling better?” asked Peter when I pulled a chair up beside him and bit into a sub sandwich that was more meat than bread. Okay, I was never leaving this apartment. This was a damn good sandwich. I nodded briskly up and down while I chewed and tasted a hint of Nirvana.
“What are we watching?” I managed to get out between bites. I’d only picked up a small piece of this and now I wanted to whole thing: it was over two feet long. Was this the danger of Faery food? Over indulgence? I believed it.
“Introductions to minor dignitaries, mostly,” said Peter. “Powerful in their own right, but here they’re lower on the play list.”
“The people we are interested in are coming soon,” said Kieran. “Then the Fae and possibly some of the other beings of power who are watching.”
I eyed the sandwich on the table while I forced myself to finish the food I’d put on my plate first. I didn’t want to be a glutton in front of our host. And speaking of our host…
“Why are we here exactly? I mean, who do we have to thank for this apartment and everything?” I asked. MacNamara had left us at the front gate, after all. Someone had to be responsible for this.
“You, actually,” said Kieran, turning to me with a lop-sided grin, his green eyes shining brightly with the green in the tunic he wore. “You were assaulted unde
r MacNamara’s peace bond and committed absolutely no offensive moves. You handled yourself perfectly with the warden. As a result, you were given Hospitality from MacNamara as the offended party. And we scooted in under the noses of everybody on our list. To put it bluntly, MacNamara is probably laughing his ass off right now, just like he did in the warehouse.”
“Doesn’t that mean he’s playing at something, though?” I asked suspiciously.
“Always,” said Kieran, as a small clamor from the right corner of the Arena went up. A small, Thai man on the dais was waving at the crowd in that direction. Another contingent of Chinese, robed in what looked to me like Buddhist red and gold, rapidly displaced him. They bowed as a group in our direction and the crowd to the right shouted loudly, cheering for what I assumed was their favorite team. They appeared to be mostly Asian in that area of the Arena. In fact, the entire Arena was quite geographically segregated. If I made assumptions about the non human races based on their dress, it made some amount of sense. The area we were in was the most blended, though it was hard to see above and below us. The angles were very steep.
“Is this something I should thank someone for?” I asked. “I don’t know the etiquette for anything here.”
“Yeah,” said Peter, slowly, chuckling. “Emily Post doesn’t cover elven royalty, does she?”
“No, luckily for you, I’ve dumped that one on me by naming you as apprentices,” Kieran said, turning back to the parade in the Arena. “But it is a courtesy to MacNamara, not an obligation, to be paid at his leisure. There are only three African groups?”
“No, there are more, according to Dad,” said Peter. “But they’ve been dwindling over the years. Too many raving lunatics with big guns and no consciences. These guys don’t look particularly strong.”
“Don’t let looks fool you. Yaku is an evil and devious man,” Kieran said, obviously referring to one of the three on the stage now.