Zane Halloway: Omnibus Edition

by P. T. Hylton

  Then something had changed. Out of nowhere, they had suddenly surrendered. And the human armies weren’t sure what to make of it. The Abditus Society, which had experienced massive growth in the previous decade, claimed responsibility for the change. The king, the current King Edward’s grandfather, claimed it was the bravery and moral superiority of his troops that broke the elves’ spirits.

  Whatever the cause, a sudden and dramatic shift seemed to happen in the psyche of the elves. Not only did they surrender unconditionally, but they allowed themselves to be herded into the ghettos and forced to live in overcrowded communities where they were kept behind locked gates. They were different personality-wise as well. Once a proud people who seemed to look down on humans as a lesser species, they were now subservient, as Lily observed in the way they carried themselves.

  She almost wished she could meet one of the old elves. The dangerous ones. She couldn’t help but feel a bit sorry for them, even though she knew they had started the war with the humans. If they had won the war, it would probably be Lily and her family locked up in a ghetto somewhere.

  Lily turned to Zane and saw he was staring into the streets ahead of them, deep in thought.

  “What’s going on with you?” Lily asked. “You’re awfully quiet.”

  Zane nodded slowly. “Yes. I’ve been thinking about what the guard said. About how we’re his second crossing of the day already.”

  Lily thought about that for a moment. “You think the men from last night might have crossed over, too?”

  Zane shrugged. “It’s possible. Maybe one of those two men you saw was able to use the shimmer. To us, Harrison Oliver was the obvious weak link in the Blue Wall’s security. If these other people did any investigation, they may have come to the same conclusion. You said the two men were doing something with the shimmer when you walked in on them.”

  “So what do we do?” Lily asked.

  Zane turned and looked at her. “We need to finish our business quickly and get home. With any luck, we’ll be gone before they even know we’re here.”

  CHAPTER FOUR

  Zane watched the road warily as he guided the cart through the crowded streets. He’d been here only once before, toward the beginning of his ferox career when he’d been dumb and desperate to make a name for himself. He’d taken any assignment thrown his way, the more dangerous and foolhardy, the better. The job in the elvish ghetto—retrieving a family heirloom supposedly taken by elves—had turned out to be a paranoid delusion of his client, and had resulted in Zane taking a pretty good beating from a group of elves who didn’t like his unfounded accusations. Zane had lost a fair amount of his reputation as an up-and-comer as a result. Thankfully, the Henry Longstrain job had happened only a few months later and cemented his standing as the rising star in the Ferox Society.

  The streets were much more crowded than they’d been the last time he’d been here. It made sense; the elves were a long-lived people, and their ghetto wasn’t getting any bigger while their population was.

  Seeing this place, Zane couldn’t help but grow a bit angry. It was the Opelean fear of elves, of the stories of elves, that resulted in them being locked up here. But instead of going away, the problem was quite literally growing. King Edward would have to do something about it. He’d have to find some way to come to a lasting peace with the elves. Perhaps give them their own land with enough room to grow. Keeping them locked up behind a wall for fifty years was beyond foolhardy.

  Their passage through the crowded streets was slow. Most of the elves walking around them seemed to be making faster progress.

  Suddenly the crowd froze, and everyone turned to the north. Zane turned in his seat and followed their gaze. What he saw caught him by surprise.

  There was an elf mounted on a tall black warhorse. He sat ramrod straight in the saddle, and, unlike all the other elves in the streets, he held his head high. There was something inarguably noble about him, even at this distance. It was like looking at one of the old elves, the proud warrior elves from the stories, come to life.

  “Who is that?” Lily asked.

  Zane just shook his head. He noticed the elf wore a broadsword on his belt. Zane had never before seen an armed elf. It went against everything he knew about their nature.

  The elf’s eyes scanned the crowded streets and settled on…Zane. The elf leaned over and whispered to an especially tall elf walking next to his horse. The tall elf nodded briskly, then sprinted through the crowd. The people stepped out of his way as he went, giving him a wide berth.

  The elf, Zane realized, was running directly toward them.

  Lily already had her sword half-drawn. Zane put a hand on her shoulder.

  “Wait,” he said. “Don’t do anything unless he does something first.”

  For a moment, he thought she was going to argue. She’d been quick to call him out lately when he gave her an order, quick to remind him she wasn’t his apprentice anymore. But this time she just nodded.

  The tall elf stopped ten feet from them and bowed deeply. And quickly. When he raised himself up, he raised his head high, and Zane saw some of the same pride he’d noticed in the mounted elf. But this elf was much younger, probably still a teenager, though it was difficult to tell with their kind.

  “Noble merchants,” the tall elf said, “my General Ewrkind bids you greeting.”

  Zane raised an eyebrow. An elvish general? He wondered what being a general meant in this place. And what King Edward would make of an elf declaring himself one.

  The tall elf continued. “As we have not seen you here before, Ewrkind offers his warmest welcome. He asks that you dine in his home this evening. He wishes to welcome you properly, and to discuss matters of business that might prove mutually beneficial.”

  The elf looked directly at Zane as he spoke, ignoring Lily. Whether this was because Zane was a man, because he was older, or because he was driving the cart, Zane did not know

  “Thank you for the generous greeting and your hospitality,” Zane said. “We would, of course, love nothing more than to sup with Ewrkind. When and where?”

  “Dinner will be served promptly at seven. Do not be late.” The hint of a smile played across his lips. “As to the location…I’m sure anyone you come into contact with between then and now would be happy to point you to Ewrkind’s home.”

  So that was the game. They wanted Zane to ask the elves in the street about Ewrkind. They wanted Zane to hear about his reputation from strangers. Which, of course, meant that Ewrkind had a reputation. That much was already clear from the way the elves reacted to his appearance. But what had he done to earn it? He’d known Zane was a first-time merchant in the ghetto, which meant that Ewrkind likely had some kind of deal worked out with the guards at the gate. Did they pass him word when a new merchant came through? What did he give them in return?

  Zane bowed deeply to the tall elf. “Seven o’clock sharp. We will be there.”

  The tall elf nodded, turned on his heel, and sprinted back toward Ewrkind. The crowd parted ahead of him and closed behind him as he went.

  When he was out of earshot, Lily said, “So much for a quick trip in and out.”

  Zane couldn’t disagree. “I have a bad feeling we’ve just gotten ourselves mixed up in local politics.”

  He clucked his tongue and urged the horse forward without further comment.

  Twenty minutes later, and after stopping random elves twice for directions, Zane turned onto a narrow side street with far less foot traffic. Five minutes after that, he pulled the horse to a stop. “This is it,” he said.

  Zane looked up the house next to them. In many ways, it was just like most of the other homes they’d passed: tall, narrow, and seemingly about to topple over. The peeling paint and dirty windows made it slightly below average, if anything.

  Zane told Lily to wait in the cart and went to knock on the door. A broad elvish woman answered. It took a little convincing and more than a few coins, but a few minutes later, she
was herding three young elves out the door.

  When she was out of sight, Zane walked back to the cart. “I’ve bought us twenty minutes. Let’s make good use of it.”

  They went through the front door and surveyed the home. It was clean, but that was all that could be said for it.

  “He’s upstairs,” Zane said. “The woman elf said he’d talk to us.”

  They went up the steps and made their way to a small bedroom at the end of a long hallway with purple walls.

  A man stood in the doorway. He gave Zane an appraising look. “Well, I expect you’d better come in.”

  Zane estimated Dursten’s age at mid-seventies, far beyond the average male lifespan. He was a tall man, and thin, as if his years spent in beyond the Blue Wall had caused him to take on elvish traits. His hair was white, but he still had all of it, and he wore it loose, letting it hang over his shoulders rather than pulling back in a ponytail as was the style of most men. There was a sparkle in his eye, but he wore a scowl, as if he’d seen everything there was to see and none of it impressed him much.

  Zane hoped to live to such an age and still be so healthy and mobile, but it seemed unlikely given his line of work.

  “Thank you for seeing us, Mr. Dursten,” Zane said.

  Dursten didn’t respond. Instead he turned and walked to his bed and sank down onto it.

  “Mr. Dursten,” Zane began, “have you heard about what happened to Irving Farns?”

  Dursten nodded slowly. “It’s a shame. An assassin of all things. I get some communication smuggled in from the outside. I expect that’s how you found me.”

  Now it was Zane’s turn to nod. In fact, they’d found him through Farns’ accountant. Zane had liberated the man’s books, and discovered he was having a monthly payment smuggled into the elvish ghetto, along with instructions from Farns to continue the payment even after his death.

  “He always promised he’d come back,” Dursten said, his eyes suddenly cloudy. “The last few years, I’ve lived in fear of that day. When I heard he’d died, I was devastated of course. But also a little relieved.”

  Zane weighed whether to ask about that last comment, but decided against it.

  Dursten’s eyes suddenly sharpened as he looked at Lily. She was glancing around the room, clearly unimpressed.

  “Hard to believe the great Irving Farns worked in a place like this, isn’t it?” Dursten asked. “He didn’t come here for luxury. In fact, quite the opposite. Many people thought he left the public eye because of the death of his wife. That was part of it. The catalyst, you might say. But he’d been considering such a move for a while. He loved the study of magic, and he felt that the sudden notoriety abditus were enjoying was distracting from that. He wanted to work purely, with no distractions. No frills.”

  “Mission accomplished, I guess,” Lily said.

  If Dursten heard the comment, he didn’t acknowledge it. “This was Irving’s study back then.” He glanced out into the hallway, a fond look on his face. “He never allowed young Beth in the room with him while he was working. Too much potential for things to go wrong. But she liked to be as close to him as possible, especially after her mother passed. Irving was paranoid she would topple down those steep steps, so I was assigned to guard her against the dangers at both ends of the hall. I spent many an hour in that hallway.”

  He was quiet for a long moment.

  “Tell us about Farns’ research,” Zane prompted.

  Dursten chuckled. “I won’t be much help to you there. He didn’t share details of his work, at least not with me. Never mind that I gave up my life to come live in this hellhole for him.” He drifted off for a moment, and Zane thought he was done, but then he continued. “I can tell you that he worked with an intensity he’d never shown before. He was so excited when he completed his experiments. He couldn’t contain himself. And then…suddenly he wasn’t. I don’t know how else to describe it. He was crestfallen. He left shortly thereafter.”

  “And you stayed behind,” Lily said bluntly. “Why?”

  Dursten rubbed his chin. “He said he couldn’t bear to take his new device back across the Blue Wall. It was too dangerous. But he also couldn’t bear to destroy it. So he asked me to stay behind. To keep it safe until he figured out something better.”

  “And he never did?” Zane asked.

  Dursten shook his head. “I kept thinking it would be soon. It had to be. There was never a problem Irving Farns couldn’t solve. And he was counting on me to keep it safe.” Tears filled the old man’s eyes.

  “And you didn’t,” Zane said, the realization hitting him. That’s why Dursten had said he was relieved when he’d heard Farns had died.

  “I did!” Dursten snarled, his face suddenly a mask of fury. “I gave up everything to protect it. I had a family once, you know. A sister. I never even got to tell her what happened to me. For all she knows, I died in a ditch somewhere.” His face softened a little. “But then, a few years ago, things changed here. It got rougher. And someone told someone that I had a Farns device. And he came and took it.” His face hardened again. “What was I supposed to do? Fight him? I’m an old man! I did my best. Irving would have understood that, if I’d worked up the nerve to tell him.”

  Zane put a gentle hand on Dursten’s shoulder. “Who, Mr. Dursten? Who took the device from you?”

  He looked up at Zane. “It was an elf named Ewrkind.”

  CHAPTER FIVE

  They found a stable for their horse and cart in a not-too-crowded section of town and decided to walk the six blocks to Ewrkind’s home. Just as the elf had implied, they had no difficulty getting directions. Indeed, mentioning Ewrkind’s name brought about a strange transformation. The first elf they approached walked with his head low, and he seemed very reluctant to speak with Lily and Zane. But upon hearing their question, a light leapt into his eyes, and he spoke excitedly, giving far too many details.

  When they were two blocks away, they asked another elf to ensure they were headed on the correct path. This elf spit on the ground and scowled. He muttered something Lily didn’t entirely catch about, “Ewrkind getting his hooks in every last connection to the outside.” There was more, but Lily didn’t hear it.

  Zane stopped about a block from their destination and spoke softly to her. “They will want something from us. It may be information. It may be favors. I wouldn’t be surprised if they tried to convince us to smuggle contraband either out or back in on our next visit. Any thoughts on how we play this?”

  Lily felt a twinge of mild annoyance. This was how he’d spoken to her when she’d been his apprentice. Everything was a test, a learning opportunity. Even when it was life or death. “I say if they want information, we give it to them. Within reason, of course. If we get the sense they are trying to enlist us into some sort of smuggling operation, we can play coy. We are just starting out as merchants, and if they can help us get set up, perhaps next time or the time after we would be agreeable to moving a small item or two across the Blue Wall.” At that point, it wouldn’t matter. According to their plan, Lily and Zane would be out of the elvish ghetto within a couple days. Or they would be dead. Either way, it would be difficult for Ewrkind to hold them accountable to any commitments.

  “My thoughts exactly,” Zane said. He looked pleased, the way he always did when she got an answer correct. But he didn’t look surprised. Wonder of wonders, Zane Halloway was starting to respect her opinion. “Just remember the eyes.”

  Lily nodded briskly. She wasn’t likely to forget about their eyes. She’d looked the Oasis elf in the eyes as he spoke, and her head had spun and twisted, as if his words were reshaping her very thoughts. The effect was always there when elves spoke, she’d felt it even getting directions from the elves on the street, but it was manageable as long as you didn’t look them in the eyes.

  “Won’t they think I’m rude if I don’t look them in the eye when talking with them?” Lily had asked when discussing the matter back on the other side the Blue
Wall.

  Zane had smiled, clearly tickled at her sudden concern for social niceties. “Quite the opposite. Not looking them in the eye means you understand them and know what they’re capable of. For a people stripped of so much of their dignity, that kind of fear and respect is important.”

  Lily rubbed her head and looked up at the house in front of them. It looked much like the others on the street: tall, shrubbery growing from the roof, and not entirely structurally sound, from the look of it. What it lacked in beauty, it made up for in sheer size. It was the size of any other three houses put together.

  Zane knocked, and it was only a moment before the door opened. The tall elf who’d passed along Ewrkind’s invitation earlier that day greeted them.

  “Welcome, honored guests!” He paused for a moment. “I must apologize. I didn’t properly introduce myself earlier. I am Gabel. I run the household and other assorted business for Ewrkind.”

  Zane and Lily each bowed slightly, the appropriate amount for a servant. A human servant, anyway. Who knew about the norms for an elvish one?

  “I am Zane Anderson. This is my employee Lily Moore.”

  The odds of anyone behind the Blue Wall having heard of Zane Halloway were slim, but one couldn’t be too careful. Lily posing as Zane’s employee only made sense in the light of her comparative youth.

  Gabel returned their bow, much more deeply than they’d given him. The bow of a servant greeting honored guests. Not everything was different behind the Blue Wall, apparently.

  He ushered them inside, glanced quickly out into the street, and shut the door behind them.

  They stood in darkness. Lily could only just make out the shape of Zane a few feet in front of her. There was no artificial light, and while Lily had seen windows on the outside of the house, she could see no light coming through them now. They must have been covered with thick curtains.