Kharick.
The panic fell away at her concern for Kharick. She could save him. She could get them out of the mansion grounds in the confusion. He might be able to get out through the sewers. She could stay and fight these people who came to burn and destroy. But were they worth dying for? These people who had enslaved children? Madger shook her head, no, she’d leave them to die.
The sounds from the mansion were fading, Madger guessed the people and the slaves were fleeing. Then she heard her name, dimly, just above the cacophony of the chaos outside her little garden sanctuary. “Kharick!” she answered.
She snapped the chains that bound her with a spell and dashed along the little path toward Kharick’s voice. She might have gotten lost in the darkness, but she had his voice to follow and had natural direction sense, having grown up finding her way in the caves of her home. He was at the gate to the gardens, trying to find a way to wrench the lock open or work the hinges free from the stone.
“Move!”
Kharick backed away, and Madger used the same spell on the lock as she had on her chains. The iron screeched in protest and came apart.
The other gladiators were trying to reach the top of the wall or break the exterior gate open. The few who stood on their fellow gladiator’s shoulders and tried to pull themselves to the top of the wall fell back with shredded hands and arms.
“Glass!” one howled. “They embedded it with broken glass!”
“Let me open it,” Madger urged as more barrels burst in the street and on the surrounding buildings. When the men ignored her, she began pulling them back and cast her spell to open the gate. She turned back to Kharick as the other gladiators rushed out. “Where do we go?”
“Follow me, the tunnels.”
Madger wrenched the steel collar from her neck, not bothering with magic. It was thin enough and she was strong enough now to pull the metal wide to free herself. It felt good to have the weight from her neck lifted, and she let the symbol of her slavery fall to the ground.
While Madger had removed her collar, Kharick rushed back to the weapon racks and then beckoned her over. “Break the chain, lass.”
Madger performed the spell again, and Kharick was able to pull the chain free that locked the weapons in the rack and chest next to it. He grabbed his ax and hammer from the chest, and Madger snatched up her dual headed ax.
She turned back to the mansion where the rest of their belongings were, the cloak Gerran’s money had paid for, the books she had salvaged from his house. Her father’s flute. She’d taken two steps before a barrel crashed into the flat roof and sprayed oil and fire. A desperate cry wrenched from her throat.
“No, lass!” Harbinger caught her arm and pulled her way from the developing inferno. “Nothing in there worth dying for.”
Madger choked back a sob and wiped at the tears that stung her eyes.
They ducked as a barrel broke open in the courtyard of the mansion next to Talas’s. A fresh blaze flared to life, beating back the darkness of the night. The scent of burning tar and oil began to permeate the air as thick smoke roiled over the walls. Some of the mansions nearby were catching fire, the silk curtains and carefully crafted furnishings gushed heat and light through the windows.
“We have to go.”
“Wait,” Madger said and knelt down to free Kharick from his collar. She used magic to weave a quick spell to force the steel open, not wanting to accidentally choke him with her fingers under the band.
Kharick pulled the collar off when he felt it loosen. “Thanks, lass,” his tone hinted that he didn’t understand why she took the time to remove the collars now.
“In case someone wants to try and stop escaping slaves,” Madger explained. She gave the mansion a last desperate look. Everything from her clan was lost now.
“I’m sorry, Dadda.”
Kharick led the way out the gate and into the crowded street. Madger forced herself to focus on his bald head, tracking him through the throng of people. He cut across the flow of the mob that was heading down the street to the docks, desperately trying to escape. The different castes of people mingled into a single mob, not caring if an iron-collared slave pushed past a fat, rich merchant. The fire and sounds were dragging up thoughts of her slaughtered clan and the raid on Pero. She couldn’t let those memories take over her mind and drown her in the chaos of what was happening now, she wouldn’t slow Kharick down.
Kharick crossed the main thoroughfare to a narrow, covered entrance of a dark stairwell. A few sputtering oil lamps lined the stairs, and Madger had to duck to follow Kharick down the stone steps. The tunnel was only seven feet tall, just short enough that Madger had to lean over to keep her head from scraping the mortared ceiling.
Madger crafted an orb of light; she could just make out people running ahead of them, but the tunnels had many junctions and turns. Kharick turned down several different shafts, occasionally pausing to reach up and feel a carving in the wall. The further into the tunnel network they went, the less noise and people were around them. The stench of loose bowels and putrid, stale urine grew heavier, as the liquid rose to Madger’s ankles and she covered her nose and mouth with her sleeve.
Kharick followed the slow flow of sewage and tried to figure out which symbol was the same that was carved into the junctions of tunnels. All the other people had followed the path to the docks to escape. He hadn’t wanted to be caught in the crowd of that many people. If the Red Skulls had any strategy at all, they would corral the people there.
The stones were covered in slime and pitted from neglect. Kharick paused longer at junctions, wiping away the grime to try and find the carving to give him a direction. He thought the one with an arch and a wavy line under it was the one he should be following, but it was faint. This deep, the carvings were in disrepair and it was difficult to see or feel them. In the silence of not moving through the sewage, they heard someone coming toward them. It wasn’t from behind Madger but in front of Kharick.
Kharick turned to Madger and gave a whispered order for her to put out the light. They were instantly left in darkness, and their eyes strained to see. A whispered voice, or possibly voices, echoed to them amidst the sound of someone walking through the putrid liquid. Madger couldn’t be sure how many people were coming toward them, the sounds echoed off the tunnel walls, amplifying and distorting the noises. A flicker of light from a flame came into view and she held her breath.
Gradually the voice became more distinct, and it was clear a woman was talking. “I told them to wait. Stupid to light everything on fire. How is anything of value going to survive?” She coughed and gagged a moment. “Ugh this smell.”
Kharick squinted his eyes in preparation for the light to come around the corner, and settled into a fighting stance, his weapons ready. But the person stopped just beyond the corner where her tunnel joined theirs, the flickering yellow light danced along the walls. For an agonizing moment, the only sound was the burning torch.
“I hear you,” the woman said in a singsong voice, then continued normally. “Trying not to breathe. You aren’t still enough to keep your clothes from rustling.” She paused as though listening further. “Do you have weapons?”
“We just be leaving,” Kharick said.
“A dwarven accent,” the woman murmured. “And who is the big brute with you?”
Madger frowned at the description, but didn’t answer. If there was anyone else with the woman, she couldn’t tell.
“I offended you!” she laughed. It was a full-throated chuckle that echoed loudly. “Don’t bother holding your breath now, I heard your little huff already.”
“There be no time for games,” Kharick said. He took a step toward the corner. “Let us pass, and we leave ya to your looting.” He shifted his grip on his weapons.
The woman didn’t answer, but she moved closer to the corner as well. If it hadn’t been for her torch light, Madger wasn’t sure she would have been able to detect the movement. Whoever she was, she was ad
ept at moving silently when she wanted to. Slowly she eased around the corner, leading with her torch, a dagger in her other hand.
The woman was a lightly tanned human, with a smooth oval face. Her blue eyes reflected the light as she took in who she had come across, her white eyebrows rose slightly in surprise. Her pure white hair was pulled back into a braid at the base of her neck, but she didn’t look old like most humans when their hair turned to gray and white.
“A giant? Hadn’t expected that.” She quirked a grin and glanced between the two a moment. “No wonder I thought you a brute.”
“Will ya let us pass?” Kharick asked.
“Little reason not to.” She shrugged and lowered her weapon. “I don’t see any loot on you two.”
Kharick moved past the woman cautiously when she stepped aside, and Madger followed him. Madger looked over the woman’s garb for a moment, curious about her, and how she had white hair. She wore a long coat with dozens of different sized pockets; the tail of it was damp from the sewage. A bandolier of throwing knives crossed her breasts, over a thin green shirt that could be tied at the top but she had left open. A leather belt hugged her hips over dark pants, with two plain sheaths for daggers, one she still held casually in her hand.
Madger conjured her light orb again, hoping to get one last good look before following Kharick down the tunnel. The woman looked up at the orb sharply, then back at Madger’s face, her blue eyes narrowed.
“A mage besides,” she muttered. She flipped the dagger in her hand and slid it back into its sheath without a sound. “Lillith help me,” she whispered. “Maybe Sul hadn’t meant that scaly bastard.”
Madger wasn’t sure if the woman was insane, she’d never heard anyone talk to herself so much before.
“Lass,” Kharick hissed, trying to get Madger to hurry and follow him.
The woman shook her head with a laugh. “Seers can never give simple instruction.” She took another moment to study the two. “But I think I will be going with you.”
“No,” Madger said. She wouldn’t have another person with them. Not again.
The woman smirked at the two. “Do you know the way out? I don’t think so. If you follow the sewage, you’ll have to swim out through this shit. The tide is in and the tunnel is flooded. I can’t really say how long of a swim that is, but I know dwarves and giants aren’t usually gifted swimmers. I do know a cleaner, dryer way out of here.”
Madger looked back to Kharick, and he asked, “Why help us?”
“I need to follow a giant of a mage.”
“No,” Madger insisted.
“Lass, she’s our way out of here. I do no know these tunnels.” Kharick looked back to the woman. “How do you know them?”
“Slaves started coming out of these tunnels as soon as word got out the Red Skulls wanted more of a tribute. All I had to do was convince one to draw me a map.” She tapped her head and said, “Memorized it.”
“There be no choice, lass,” Kharick said, and Madger didn’t offer further argument. “What’s your name then?”
“Just call me Seal.”
The tunnel eventually tied into a natural cave and the sound of the ocean lapping at the shore rumbled along the stone. Once they stepped out of the cave, Madger straightened her back and stretched. The city seemed distant behind them, hidden behind the steep ridge, and the orange glow of fires brightened the night sky. There was no break in the sharp rise of stone behind them. The dunes of sand had blown up against the canyon walls outside the city giving the Red Skulls easy access to the top of the walls. The tide and wind from the ocean kept the cave entrance free of any sand buildup.
Smoke billowed up, masking the stars and carrying the stench of burning tar and wood. Even with the smoke making the back of her throat ache, Madger took in several deep breaths of air, free of the stench in the tunnels.
They had introduced themselves to Seal as they had walked through the last of the cave. But no one had wanted to use more breath to talk while in the sewers.
“Why they attack Neosho?” Kharick asked. He faced Seal, still holding his weapons, only partially raised.
Seal didn’t seem concerned with his weapons. Instead, she stared out at the ships in the distance. Some were on fire, drifting like floating lanterns on the water, others were catching a good wind to escape from the heat of the fire consuming the city.
“A new leader took over the Red Skulls, this mercenary army.” She gestured vaguely behind her. “He thought it would be a good example to destroy Neosho, so the other city-states offer more money.” She frowned as she said, “Idiot. It might just make the other city-states join forces to wipe out the Red Skulls.”
Madger didn’t care why the city was under attack, she was already looking for a direction to take now that they were out of the city tunnels. She wanted to get away from people, the slavers, the raiders, anyone who might try and hurt her and Kharick. The ocean splashed along the beach to the west, the city blocked their path to the south, and empty hard earth and sands stretched to the east. The long northern stretch of sandy beach that led away from the harbor was their only choice.
“I traveled with them for five years or so, this new leader isn’t worth the salt on his dick. I’d prefer not being with them if they do get hunted down by the other cities.”
“And the other person you spoke of, Sul?” Kharick asked.
Seal gave a little smile that hinted at a fond memory. “My grandson. He told me I should follow ‘a giant of a mage’.” She shook her head and turned away from the ships to look up at Madger. “I hadn’t thought he meant an actual giant. I didn’t think I would come across another mage who was more than two feet taller than me.”
“Another mage?” Madger couldn’t hide the hopefulness in her voice, wondering if Seal could lead her to that person for more training. Her curiosity piqued about this woman with her odd white hair. “A grandson? How old are you?”
Seal laughed. “Older than these sands.” But she sobered quickly. “A story for another time perhaps. We should leave before anyone else from the Red Skulls thinks to look for the sewers. They’ll eventually breach the city and take what they haven’t burned.”
“Hmm.” Madger let her magic slip from her control, curious if Seal was some sort of mage, but the aura around the woman didn’t show a great source of power. It looked like an old lamplight that refused to go out. Maybe Seal was just insane. She recaptured her magic and glanced back at the glow of the fires again, as a worried knot twisted her gut. Was she cursed since becoming exiled, that any place she called home would eventually be destroyed? Even a place where she was a slave?
“We be needing food and water,” Kharick said. “I do no know much of the southern continent.”
“Horrid place,” Seal scoffed. “But once we put some distance between Neosho and us, I’ll get us all some supplies.” She looked to Madger. “What direction am I following you?”
Madger debated telling her to go away, but the promise of supplies in the arid landscape wasn’t something they could pass up. She also seemed to know a mage and Madger knew she had only just begun to learn how to handle her magic. “Away from here.”
“North then. East is just desert. Hells, this whole continent is desert,” Seal muttered
They followed her direction and walked north along the beach away from Neosho. Only a few sprigs of salt grass dotted the sandy landscape that stretched out all around them. As daylight wiped away the shadows of night, they could see other people in the distance who had escaped. Their dark shapes were little more than specks on the faraway dunes. The three didn’t call out or try and meet with the fleeing people, deciding it was safer to keep to themselves.
As the hot midday sun bore down on them, they took a break to bathe in the surf, enjoying the water as it cooled their baked skin. None of them shed their clothing; rather they washed the grime from their boots and pants, and let the saltwater clean the stench of the sewers off their jerkins. They were able to prop
up one of Seal’s blankets she’d kept in the satchel she’d meant to put her loot in, to shade them during the worse of the midday heat.
“I’ll find us some water and rations,” Seal said as she left the shelter. She looked across the barren landscape; she didn’t want to have to walk. “But first, I need to show you both something.”
Madger and Kharick looked up at her in curiosity from where they rested in the shade.
“And you will have to wait for me, even after showing you this, if you want to cross this desert alive.”
“What could you show us that would make us leave without you?” Madger asked.
Seal sighed and rolled her shoulders. This was insanity, showing the two this so soon after meeting them. It was insane following ‘a giant of a mage’, and she’d been wrong about the first one. Her damp green shirt bulged out from her back a moment, then a pair of tan feathered wings slipped from the fabric.
Madger sat up in shock, along with Kharick, but in her rush, she slammed her head into the fabric of the shelter, dropping it on the pair of them. Kharick cursed beside her and crawled out from under it and stared at Seal, who was more bemused by the fiasco than worried about his wide-eyed stare, even his eyebrows had risen enough to give a full view of his brown eyes. Madger jerked the blanket off and blinked as she got a second look at Seal’s angelic wings.
“What are you?” Kharick hissed.
“Kadmon,” Seal said. “A shape-changer. A primordial human. A race not native to your plane.” She saw the two relax a little, but they were still looking for more information. “This is my natural form. It takes a lot of effort to hold my shape as a human. That’s why I don’t bother with my hair.”
“And you’re old?” Madger asked.
Seal nodded. “Ageless, but not immortal.” She flared out her wings slowly. “I’d been hiding in that mercenary army a long time. But now that I found you, Madger, my giant mage, I think I will be with you for a long time. I figure it’s better if you know my true nature.” She looked across the desert that surrounded their coastal camp. “Besides, it will make getting the supplies easier.”
The Titan's Tome (The Mortal Balance Book 1) Page 14