N’tombe looked questioningly at Will, and he nodded in reply – yes, this is the place.
Once, not so long ago, he had sat in this very courtyard. The houses here belonged to the wealthy and the connected, and the plaza in the middle was one of the oldest in the city, decorated with carved tiles and the statue of the silver tree. The place was different now. Nearby lay a wooden window screen, still intact, and many of the houses showed signs of damage. The place appeared empty of soldiers but there was something here – a watchful vigilance spread like a net across the courtyard.
Will signaled to the others: Stay still!
Warily, he crept forward, TeSin and N’tombe waited beside a ruined tower, hoods pulled over their heads, their dark shapes blending with the shadows. Will set each step carefully, placing his feet to avoid unnecessary noise. It was like stalking a wild animal. Once, he felt a sudden pressure, and froze into place. Finally, the pressure passed and he moved again.
He made it forward five steps, easing through the night, when he heard the footsteps. He rolled into the lee of a broken building as, into the open courtyard crept a slight figure. Its dark hair hung forward over its face, and it was heavily muffled against the cold in a cloak and thick leggings. Something about the set of its shoulders suggested it was female. But no, this wasn’t Dana. He would recognize her even if all the world was plunged in darkness; if his eyes were put out.
The sense of watching alertness grew stronger. A cloud drifted across the moon.
The figure knelt by the edge of the fountain and the harsh rasp of metal on stone echoed through the courtyard. Will hesitated. How did this person know to come here? Was Dana in trouble, so that she could not come herself? Had she been captured, and tortured, and the secret wrung from her?
He swallowed. Please no! Not that!
But if Dana had given the secret of the stone knife to the Emperor, there would be soldiers all over this place, and magicians and Kamaye and who knew what else. Not this furtive girl, chopping desperately at the stone block. So she had been sent then – by Dana? Or perhaps someone else had found the secret and had decided to make a bid for power.
The steady rasping halted. The figure sighed as a rain of stones thudded free from the rock base of the fountain. Will leapt to his feet, senses alert, as the mysterious figure leaned forward, grunted, and dug hard at the base of the statue.
The sense of watchers grew stronger, and the breeze blowing from the palace smelt faintly of eggs. The girl tugged at something in the stone.
The knife! Should he take it from her? Or should he follow her, see where she led?
Will! N’tombe called. Hurry!
Thick clouds poured across the sky; the stars vanished. All light in the courtyard disappeared. The smell grew stronger. The girl at the fountain’s edge gasped, and clutched the package to her heart.
They come, N’tombe said.
In the center of the courtyard the darkness grew. The stone cobbles were obscured from sight; the shapes of the ruined buildings seemed to disappear. Quickly, the darkness took shape and form; it became a man, tall, cloaked and faceless. The girl sobbed as the man-shape reached out a hand toward her. “Give it to me.”
You must help her. N’tombe whispered in his head.
But it’s a Kamaye! I can’t fight a Kamaye.
TeSin’s whisper: This not Kamaye. Not yet. Go!
Will sprinted to the fountain. Keeping to the shadows, he cartwheeled over a piece of fallen masonry, landed on his feet, and kept running. The darkness reached for him, but it was too slow. He was already gone. He reached the sobbing girl and pulled her away. The darkness swept for him. He drew his blade, pointed it at its heart.
Keep back! He hurled the thought at it.
The creature paused. Will thought he heard laughter. Then it spun toward him like a wind, a funnel of air, and his sword was ripped from his fingers. The blade hovered, turning in midair as the darkness became solid, man-shaped. It laughed mockingly. The blade tipped and pointed at him like a spear.
The girl gasped. Will felt her fumbling with the thing she carried.
The spinning weapon flew toward him. Will parried with his other blade and with a clatter it fell. The darkness swayed; he pressed the attack, stabbing upwards. Dimly, he thought he heard the figure laugh. Leaping high, he kicked the creature in the chest and it faltered.
So, Will thought. It has the vulnerabilities of a man.
The instant he landed, he crouched. His enemy flung darkness at him. He stepped back, feinted left, lunged to the right, and stabbed his blade up into his enemy’s armpit. The being faltered and the darkness seemed to lose its focus, drifting like smoke. Then the smoke sucked together as though blown by a strong wind, hardening until there stood the figure again; black, and hard as night.
Will felt the thing’s apprehension. Before it had been toying with him but now he had its attention. He hoped that was a good thing. He kicked sideways; sliced his blade. Another kick; a strike to the neck. It was like fighting a cloud.
Keep it busy. Then the girl might get away.
He stepped on the hilt of his other blade, lifted it with his foot, grabbed it, and now he had two swords, one in each hand, and he crossed them, cutting the air in front of him. He thought he heard the girl running and felt pleased that at least she’d escaped.
His opponent paused, as if uncertain, and he stabbed upwards at its neck, rammed the sword into its throat – or where its throat would be. It sighed, a noise of anger and irritation, and lifted both hands high, as though to crush him where he stood.
And the girl rushed forward. Hai! Will caught a glimpse of a knife, large and gleaming, before she thrust it up and into the darkness.
His opponent gasped; the world seemed to still. A sudden strong wind blew, smelling of smoke and snow. The figure bent over like a wounded man, and he felt its keening. The wind gusted; the creature shuddered. Then, like a piece of unraveling silk, his enemy broke apart. Thin strands of darkness drifted into the night.
The moon came free of the clouds, filling the courtyard with silver light.
“Well done,” whispered N’Tombe.
The girl, panting, turned to look at Will. Her eyes were wide, and her face was a mix of fear and excitement. She held a heavy, strange knife.
“Thank you.” He put out his hand for the knife.
She put it behind her, a look of mistrust on her face.
He smiled. “It’s all right. I just want to see it.”
Hesitantly, she placed it in his hands. Will’s fingers curled about the grip. In the moonlight the thing seemed half-fantasy, barely real. It was a dagger, but unlike any he’d ever seen. It felt far heavier than metal, and was as long as his forearm, but so finely made that the blade was translucent; when he held it up he could see the moon through its tip. This was an elegant weapon, heavy and deadly. And magical. Even he, with his new-found magic sense, could tell this.
We must go, N’tombe said.
Reluctantly, he handed the blade to the girl. She nodded in acceptance and he bowed. She was much shorter than he, and her fine black hair blew into her eyes.
“Come,” he said, not expecting her to understand him. “There are others.”
“Where are you from?” she whispered.
“You understand me?”
The girl glanced at the palace walls. “I must go.”
“I’m Will,” he said. “Your name?”
“Will!” N’tombe called. “Come!”
“Mai-Long,” she whispered. “My name is Mai-Long.”
N’tombe waved urgently. He could feel it too; the ripple in the air, the sense of danger.
“This knife?” Will pulled on her arm. “Mai-Long, where are you taking it?”
She hesitated. “My master. She needs it.”
“You master is a woman?”
N’tombe was almost dancing in anxiety. “We must go!”
Again the hesitation. “Not a woman. A girl. Younger.”
> “This girl,” he asked quickly. “Does she have red hair?”
She nodded.
“N’Tombe,” he called to the angry enchantress. “Wait!” Grabbing Mai-Long’s wrist, he dragged her across to TeSin and N’Tombe, still hiding in the shadows. Far to the east, the sky glowed golden. Dawn was nearly here.
“She knows Dana!” he announced.
Chapter Sixteen
The Cave
Every breath was an effort, and my whole body ached. The air was so cold it burned, and I couldn’t stop shivering.
As darkness fell, torches were lit in the city below. The Stronghold seemed peaceful, but it probably wasn’t; down there folk were living and fighting. I wished I was down among them. I wished I was living a normal life. Would I even know what normal was? I hunkered into a corner of the cave and wrapped my arms about myself for warmth. Finally I fell into an uneasy sleep.
I woke to a bright cloudless morning. Mai-Long had not returned. I went out of the cave, and stood in a patch of sunlight. Ah, to feel the warmth on my skin! A pigeon’s wings clattered by. The bird swooped up into the clear blue; then, folding its wings, dived down, down and landed on a rock beside me. When it tipped its head, I saw myself reflected in its shining eye.
“Hello,” I said softly.
A whistle, sharp and shrill, cut through the quiet morning. “Hey! Lady!” Mai-Long waved her arm. “Hi!” Something green gleamed in her right hand. “I found it!”
Despite my tiredness, I felt like dancing. “You have it? Really?”
“And something else.” She stepped aside. “I found …”
My heart paused. Was it really? “Will!” I called, and waved and jumped up and down, and shrieked like a madwoman. It was him, it really was! He stood at the base of the mountain, just below Mai-Long, and there with him was N’tombe and beside her stood TeSin! The man that, half a world away, I had healed.
Tears streamed down my face, blurred my vision. I wiped them aside and looked again, and yes, it was true, Will was still there, and now he was climbing toward me, still smiling, smiling all the time. I felt like my heart would break from joy. Never in my life have I felt such happiness as I did at that moment.
One should be wary of too much happiness.
Abruptly, his face seemed to change; the smile fell away, his eyes widened. N’tombe shouted but I couldn’t understand her, and TeSin called, but I couldn’t hear him above the noise of the wind, and the sudden, piercing cold.
“Dana!” Will shrieked.
A roar, a clap of thunder. A sudden smell of rot, of death, of darkness beyond belief. I turned, and saw …
It was a void: a wall of darkness. I put my palm out to push away the night. But even as I moved, my arm seemed to freeze. I was stuck like a statue, like a woman made of ice.
In a sudden rush the darkness was upon me, washing over me, filling my nose, my mouth, until I could no longer breathe. I fought hopelessly, like a drowning man fights the sea. Distantly, I heard Will sobbing in despair. Then, as the night overwhelmed me, I thought I heard dry laughter.
And then there was nothing at all.
Chapter Seventeen
A Wooden Scaffold
N’tombe grabbed one arm, TeSin the other, and together they dragged Will back. He wrestled free and tried to stagger up the hill to where Dana had been. But they pulled him away.
He punched out wildly, not caring where his fist connected. “Let me go!”
Dana had been there, she was just there, and if only he could get free he could climb the hill and be with her, and they would be together and everything would be all right.
Above, the light drained away as the sun, obscured by cloud, seemed to vanish. Faint screams came from the city.
“Let me go, damn you!”
“She is not there,” TeSin said sadly. “The Kamaye have her.”
“No!” Will shook his head. “No.”
Panting, Mai-Long darted from behind a boulder. “They took her,” she said between breaths, “I saw them.”
Dana had looked so beautiful with her short hair blowing in the breeze and the sun on her face. And then in a moment she had disappeared, and he could not follow her. Will broke down, sobbing like a child on N’Tombe’s shoulder. Gently, she patted his back.
* * *
Eventually, they returned to the hostelry. The owner’s wife, accepting Mai-Long without complaint, poured them each a bowl of gritty porridge.
“I know where she is,” Mai-Long said.
TeSin nodded. “The scaffold.”
Will pushed his bowl away.
TeSin nodded. “Gods are angry. Earthquake means bad luck. Kamaye, Emperor; they make sacrifice early.”
“When?” Will asked.
“Tomorrow,” Mai-Long said.
N’tombe sucked in her breath and Will felt dizzy. “Tomorrow? When did you know this?”
“I hear yesterday,” TeSin said, his face bleak. “I hope we find bright one first. Many people say she escape. I thought – we have time. Now, I not know.” He glanced at Mai-Long. “Where they hold her?”
Mai-Long shook her head. “I do not know. But tomorrow, she will be at the scaffold.”
“What time?” Will barked.
Mai-Long swallowed. “Dawn.”
“First sun on grass,” TeSin said softly.
Blood on the grasslands. Will shook his head. No, not that. I will think only of finding her and keeping her safe.
“So. We must be there,” N’tombe said.
TeSin nodded.
Will looked at Mai-Long. “You will help us?”
Mai-Long hesitated, then, taking a deep breath, nodded.
Will could recognize commitment when he saw it. “Good. And you have the knife?”
She nodded again.
“Bring it with you. We will need it.” Will picked up his porridge bowl. “Why are you all staring? Eat!”
Grimly, he shoveled the tasteless food into his mouth. He felt like gagging, but swallowed nonetheless, for he needed to keep his strength; if he was to rescue Dana he must be strong. After a pause TeSin and N’tombe copied him. But Mai-Long stared down at her bowl until TeSin barked an order at her. And then she, too, began to eat.
* * *
“The gates will be watched,” Will said.
He and N’tombe loaded their packs onto the horses while TeSin paid the hostelry owner.
“There is a hidden route,” Mai-Long whispered. “It leads out of the city. My father …” Quickly, she described her father and her childhood inside the Imperial Jail. “He told me, sometimes, the prison holds special prisoners. Leaders that incite rebellion against the Emperor. There is a route for such men.”
“Why?” Will asked.
“I asked my father this. He said: ‘My Lord is wise. He has no desire to create martyrs.’”
Will nodded. Made sense. Doubtless the Emperor would prefer such men to disappear mysteriously. “This route – you know how to find it?”
The girl nodded. “I think, yes. It is hidden. No one will notice you.”
“Its entrance?”
“Is in the prison.”
“And the exit?”
“Outside the walls. My father said, near a copse of trees.”
“Can you take us there?” Will asked.
“You do as he asks,” TeSin said calmly, “or I kill you. You understand?”
Mai-Long nodded nervously.
“Is there room for the horses?” Will asked.
“I think. Yes.”
“Good. Then we leave now.”
They rode through the ruined city toward the palace. Rats scuttled into shadows and stick-thin children followed behind, palms cupped for coins. The stench of smoke and decay grew stronger as they rode, and Will pulled the collar of his jerkin over his nose. Some elegant façades remained intact, once-beautiful memories of what had been. Not that Will cared for buildings. The morning was passing, and they were riding in the wrong direction, following a stranger.
He glanced at N’Tombe. This Mai-Long. Who is she? Can we even trust her?
N’tombe raised her eyebrows. You grow stronger, Will Baker.
You’re not answering the question.
How can I? I know as much about her as you do. Ask yourself, Will. Do you trust her?
Did it matter if Mai-Long was trustworthy? She offered the best hope to find Dana. Besides, Dana had trusted her – enough to send the girl out in search of the jade knife.
N’tombe nodded as if in reply, and they said nothing more.
* * *
They continued on through the city, moving from precinct to precinct, until Mai-Long stopped outside a low red and gold building. It had a surprisingly intact roof, wooden doors and gold lettering above the door. A temple.
TeSin regarded the golden letters on the lintel carefully. “Temple of Dragon. We bring horses inside temple?” He sounded shocked.
Mai-Long shook her head. “The entrance is around the side.”
There was a narrow door built into the wall, its edges barely visible. If Mai-Long hadn’t pointed it out, they would have ridden past with barely a glance.
“How do we open it?” Will asked.
Mai-Long ran her hand across the rough wood. She pressed a depression and the door opened. Will led his horse through the door, into the cramped space beyond.
“It’s built into the rear of the houses,” Will said, amazed. From the ramparts, the guards could never see this; they would never guess its existence. A hidden route through the city, in plain sight! “How long has this been here?”
“My father said, when the city was built, this hidden way was built too.”
“A thousand years!” Will shook his head. Imagine, keeping this way secret for such a long time!
“Only the head jailor knows this route,” Mai-Long said.
“And you.” N’tombe said.
She half-smiled.
Dust motes drifted, turning and twisting in the sunrays that glanced through narrow slits in the ancient wall. With no guards or gates to get in their way, they made good time. The only obstacle was broken masonry from the earthquake, but of that there was surprisingly little.
The SoulNecklace Stories Page 64