Air Keep

by J. Scott Savage

  “You’re saying we have no hope?” a woman asked.

  “Coward!” a man shouted.

  The crowd of wizards went wild, standing and shouting until the room was in complete chaos.

  “What does she mean?” Marcus yelled, cupping his hands to his mouth so Kyja could hear.

  “I have no idea,” Kyja yelled back. She knew the golem army was strong. But it made no sense for the captain herself to give up before the enemy was even within striking distance.

  A deafening explosion rocked the room, and red and white sparks lit the ceiling and walls. Master Therapass held his staff sideways above his head. His eyes burned. “The next man who says one word must deal with me!”

  Instantly, the room went silent.

  “Now then.” The wizard turned to Breslek and the captain of the guard. “How can you two be so sure these creatures will defeat our best wizards and warriors?”

  “I will fight with the last drop of blood in my veins to see that it doesn’t happen,” Eden said, her face grim. “But it is not defeat that will be our undoing.”

  Master Therapass lowered his staff slowly. “I’m afraid I don’t understand. If you don’t fear defeat at the hands of the golems, what do you fear?”

  The captain licked her chapped lips, hand tight on her sword as though wishing she could be out fighting something instead of standing in the center of this room. “We are down to our last twenty barrels of water for the entire city. By the time the golems arrive, it will be completely gone. The golems won’t need to break through our defenses. We’ll die of thirst before that.”

  For a third time, the room erupted. As Master Therapass and High Lord Broomhead tried to restore order, Kyja tugged on Marcus’s sleeve. “Let’s find somewhere to talk,” Kyja said. With everyone arguing, it was easy to slip out of the room and into the hallway unnoticed.

  Together they walked down the stairs until they reached the tower entrance. Riph Raph glided along behind them, blinking sleepily.

  “Just a minute,” Marcus wheezed, leaning against a wall and trying to catch his breath. “Is it true? Can the city be out of water?”

  Kyja thought back to what she’d overheard in the kitchen. To her, it felt like several days since Bella complained about the single barrel of water she’d received. But to the rest of the city, it had been less than twenty-four hours. Outside, the morning sun was still hidden behind the mountains—the sky just beginning to turn pink.

  “I think it might run out,” she admitted. “There hasn’t been any rain in months, and the wells have all dried up. Even the Two Prongs River is nothing but brown mud, no matter how deep you dig.”

  “It doesn’t make any sense,” Marcus said. “Icehold is waist-deep in snow. The Noble River is flooding. How can the weather be so screwed up?”

  Kyja sighed and started down the path that wound around the hill from the tower. Once, the grass had been green and lush, filled with stone statues of the city’s greatest wizards and warriors. Now the area was totally different. The statues were gone—the stone figures were out fighting the golems. And the grass was dead and brown.

  “You don’t really think Cascade has something to do with this, do you?” Marcus asked, limping beside her.

  Riph Raph circled above their heads. “Floods, blizzards, and droughts don’t just occur all at the same time.”

  Kyja ran her hand along a cold, empty pedestal. She wasn’t sure what she thought. “If Cascade doesn’t have anything to do with the weather, why is he letting it happen? It can’t be a coincidence that all of the weather problems have to do with one form of water or another.”

  They walked silently down the path until they reached a small grove of trees—the leaves were shriveled and brittle. Riph Raph flapped onto a branch, tucked his head under one wing, and instantly fell asleep. Kyja felt like sleeping herself, but she didn’t think there was going to be much time for that over the next few days.

  “Maybe Cascade isn’t fixing the weather, because he can’t,” Marcus said. “Maybe someone or something is stopping him.”

  The thought was chilling. What was powerful enough to keep a water elemental from controlling water? But the only alternative was just as scary. If Cascade had turned against them, like the Aerisians had suggested he had, they’d never be able to open a drift between their worlds.

  Somewhere nearby, a branch cracked. Kyja peered into the shadows but couldn’t see anyone.

  “Probably just an animal,” Marcus said, but they moved a little deeper into the trees anyway, to stay out of sight.

  Marcus leaned against a trunk and lowered himself to the ground, wincing in pain.

  “Is it bad?” Kyja asked.

  “Not too bad.” But the way his hand kept returning to his leg made Kyja suspect the pain was worse than he let on.

  Kyja took out the Exsalusentia, hoping some part of it might look different now that they were back in Terra ne Staric. But from what she could see, it appeared exactly the same. “We’ve only got three days to figure this out before the golems arrive. Do you have any ideas?”

  “It would have been nice if all we had to do was take it outside Air Keep and it just popped open,” Marcus said. “Can I see it?”

  Kyja handed him the box. He turned it over slowly, mumbling under his breath as he poked, twisted, and tapped. Nothing he did made any difference. “Can you try magic?” she asked.

  “Just did.” Marcus sighed. “Didn’t do a thing. It was like trying to do magic in Air Keep.”

  Overhead, a branch creaked; Kyja and Marcus looked quickly around. But it was only Riph Raph shifting in his sleep.

  Marcus handed the Exsalusentia back. “We could spend all three days trying to figure out how to open this thing, and we still wouldn’t be any closer than we are now.”

  Kyja had been thinking the exact same thing. “I want to search around in the library for any mention of the box. But if we don’t find some way to get Terra ne Staric some water, everyone here is going to die.”

  “Everywhere we go people are about to die,” Marcus said. “And we can’t do a thing about it. It’s like that game with the colored rocks.”

  “Trill Stones?”

  “Right. It’s like we’re playing Trill Stones with the Dark Circle. Only they’re eight moves ahead before we even start playing. No matter what move we make, they already—”

  Something moved in the dry leaves. Kyja began to turn—her hand reaching for the sword no longer at her side. Strong coils wrapped around her legs and arms, pinning them in place. As her hands touched cold scales, she yelled, “Run!”

  Marcus began to cast a spell, but a huge black head appeared directly in front of him.

  “Not s-s-s-o quickly,” the snake hissed, black tongue flicking between its dripping fangs. “Try any magic, any magic at all, and I will crush every bone in your friend’s body.”

  Marcus’s eyes darted toward Kyja; she thought she heard him mutter something like, “Is this how it happens?” The snake’s coils tightened around Kyja’s chest, and she gasped for air.

  “Okay.” Marcus raised his hands slowly. “I won’t cast anything. Just let her go.”

  “S-s-smart boy.” The snake blinked its yellow eyes. It glanced up at Riph Raph, who’d woken up and was creeping silently through the treetops. “That goes-s-s-s for you as-s-s well, li-z-z-ard. One flame ball from you, and you’ll be prying the girl from the tree bark.”

  Riph Raph hissed but stopped where he was.

  How had this happened? How had a Thrathkin S’Bae made it past the city’s guards? From inside the snake’s coils, the only thing Kyja could think of was that thirst and the shaking ground had made the guards less attentive than usual.

  “What do you want?” Marcus asked.

  “Jus-s-s-t you.” The snake darted its head closer to Marcus, its mouth opening wide. Venom dripped from its twin curved fangs. “I bring you back to the master, and she goes free.”

  “Don’t believe it,” Kyja tr
ied to tell Marcus, but she couldn’t get enough air to speak.

  Marcus stiffened. One hand started to come down. Kyja was sure he was about to try a spell, but then he glanced at her and stopped. What was he waiting for? Didn’t he understand that the Dark Circle wouldn’t rest until it had killed both of them?

  “Don’t move now,” the snake said, weaving its head to and fro. “I’ll use jus-s-s-t enough venom to s-s-s-end you into a nice, comfy s-s-s-leep.”

  “Kill it!” Kyja tried to scream. But all that came out was a muffled, “Kkkkk—”

  The Thrathkin S’Bae opened its jaws impossibly wide. A drop of venom slipped from its left fang and sizzled on the ground. Marcus clenched his jaws and closed his eyes. The snake lowered its head. Kyja couldn’t stand to watch, but she didn’t dare look away.

  Just as the fangs reached Marcus’s neck, a tall figure with long, dark hair stepped out from behind the tree Marcus was leaning against. Seeing the movement, the snake tried to attack, but the figure was too quick. A glimmering blade blurred through the air. Like a nail, it plunged into the snake’s head and pinned it to the ground.

  Chapter 32

  Graehl’s Return

  Well, that was exciting.” The tall man checked to make sure the snake was dead before pulling the silver blade from its head, and the Thrathkin S’Bae reverted to human form. Its body shuddered one last time then lay still on the ground.

  Marcus frowned. “Screech.”

  “The very same,” the man said. He wiped his sword on a handful of dead leaves.

  Kyja, finally able to get enough breath to talk, hurried over and took his hand in both of hers. “Thank you, Graehl. That was amazing.”

  Marcus grabbed his staff and pushed himself to his feet. He studied the tall man with obvious suspicion. “What are you doing out here?”

  “Snake hunting, it would seem.” Graehl grinned and slid his sword into its scabbard. “But you don’t seem particularly grateful.” He looked around. “There could be more of them out here. Let’s find someplace a little more secure.”

  They left the grove of trees and entered a part of the city filled with closed shops and darkened stables.

  “Took long enough,” Marcus snarled as Graehl led them down a row of buildings.

  Kyja couldn’t believe the way he was acting. “What’s wrong with you? He just saved our lives.”

  “A second later, and he wouldn’t have,” Marcus said. Graehl stopped in front of a small feed shop. He fiddled with the lock, and a moment later, the door swung open. They walked behind the counter into a small storage room filled with crates and boxes. Riph Raph found a comfy-looking bale of hay and curled up on it.

  Marcus sat on a crate of dried corn, and slammed his fist on the splintery wood. “If you were back there all the time, what were you waiting for?”

  “To be perfectly honest, I was sort of hoping you were going to do something yourself. A little magic to distract the dark wizard would have made attacking much easier.”

  Marcus balled his fist and stared at his feet.

  Kyja shook her head. Marcus didn’t trust Graehl, and in some ways she could understand that. As a cave trulloch, he had frozen Kyja in a block of ice, allowed Marcus to be tortured in ways she couldn’t even imagine, and nearly gotten them both killed by the Unmakers. Although he’d explained about the curse placed on him by the Keepers, Marcus wasn’t ready to forgive him so easily. Kyja, on the other hand, believed him when he said he was sorry and wanted to help.

  “Aren’t you even going to say thank you?” she asked.

  Marcus pressed his lips together before muttering, “Thanks.”

  Graehl gave a small bow. “That wasn’t as bad as say, poking your eye out with a red hot cinder, was it?”

  “It was close.”

  “Get used to it,” Riph Raph said from his hay pile. “He never thanks me either.”

  “Maybe I would if you ever did anything to be thanked for,” Marcus said.

  Kyja wanted to knock both of their heads together, but she turned to Graehl instead. “How did you happen to be there?” she asked. “I thought you were still up in the tower, arguing with everyone else.”

  “I was spying on you,” Graehl said in a perfectly ordinary tone.

  “I knew it,” Marcus barked. “You’re still working for the Dark Circle. You probably led that Thrathkin S’Bae straight to us.” He held out his hand as though preparing a counter spell for an attack.

  Graehl pulled out a knife, but instead of attacking, he took a long stick of silvery wood from his pocket and began carving it. “If I am working for the Dark Circle, I can’t imagine they’d be too happy with me leading one of their wizards to you and then stabbing him in the head.”

  “Don’t be silly,” Kyja said. “We know you aren’t working for them. Were you really spying on us?”

  The tall man turned the stick left and right before carving something into the tip. “As a matter of fact, I was. Have been ever since you got here. After all, I promised to help you with your search. I wanted to make sure you didn’t go anywhere without me. From the looks of you two, though, I think you did. What I can’t figure out is how.”

  “We don’t need your help,” Marcus said.

  “Marcus,” Kyja cried, embarrassed by his outburst. “Stop being such a . . . what’s that word you use? Oh, yeah. Stop being such a jerk.”

  Marcus looked down. “We’re doing fine on our own,”

  “That’s not quite what you were saying a moment ago.” Graehl laughed. “Didn’t I overhear you say something about being in a game of Trill Stones, eight moves behind the Dark Circle?”

  “As if one more person will make any difference,” Marcus said. “Now it’s three against the Dark Circle, the water elementals, and the land elementals. Four if you count Spaz, the snoring skyte.”

  “Wha? Huh?” Riph Raph, who had fallen back asleep, opened his eyes briefly, blinked, and went back to snoring.

  “What makes you think the elementals are helping the Dark Circle?” Graehl asked.

  Kyja considered mentioning what the Aerisians had told them, before deciding it might be better to keep at least some secrets. Instead, she mentioned the floods, the quakes, and the creatures of land and water. “And then there are Cascade and Lanctrus-Darnoc. No one knows where they’ve gone or what they’re doing. And all the weather problems began right after they left.”

  “That’s not entirely true. I know a certain wizard who knows exactly where they went. But he’s not telling anyone.” Graehl sliced off a narrow sliver of wood, which floated feather-like to the wooden floor. “You know, I actually chanced upon him speaking with the two of them out by the stables just before they left. It’s a shame I couldn’t have arrived a little sooner. I might have been able to overhear something useful.”

  “Great,” Marcus said. “Now you’re spying on Master Therapass too.”

  “Not spying so much as watching,” Graehl said. “A lot can be said for keeping your eyes and ears open. And trust me, there’s a lot you can pick up around here if you pay attention.”

  “Pay attention,” Kyja murmured softly.

  “What?” Marcus asked, still cranky.

  “You said this felt like playing Trill Stones. Only the Dark Circle was eight moves ahead of us.”

  “It does,” Marcus said. “It’s like they’ve set this trap, and no matter which way we turn, we’re going to get caught in it.”

  Kyja suddenly grinned. “A trap. Yes. That’s exactly what it is.”

  Graehl chuckled. “Smart girl.”

  Marcus slammed the tip of his staff on the wooden floor. “Does someone want to tell me what’s going on? Why are you both grinning? The Dark Circle is everywhere, and all we have is a locked bo—” He clamped his jaws shut, obviously not willing to tell Graehl about the Exsalusentia. Although if Graehl had been spying on them, Kyja suspected the man had already overheard them discussing it.

  Graehl arched an eyebrow and looked at Kyj
a. “You’re thinking about Y’sdine’s Feint, aren’t you?”

  “Remember that time when we were trapped in the Westland Woods and Master Therapass played Trill Stones with you?” Kyja asked Marcus. “You thought you had him beat until he used Y’sdine’s Feint on you.”

  Marcus nodded. “Sure. He waited for me to reveal my strategy—get him completely surrounded—and then he used it against me. I lost in, like, two turns.”

  “That’s what we need to do against the Dark Circle,” Kyja said. “We’ve seen their strategy. Now we have to find a way to use it against them.”

  Marcus laughed and Kyja gave him a dirty look. “Sorry,” he said. “It’s not that I don’t agree. It’s just . . . how are two kids—one who can barely walk, and one who can’t do magic, plus a whining skyte and an ex-cave trulloch, going to stop an army of giant clay monsters, a Summoner, and the entire Dark Circle?”

  Kyja pressed her lips together for a moment before fixing him with a determined gaze. “The same way we defeated the Summoner that attacked us at Water Keep, the harbingers, and the Keepers of the Balance.”

  Marcus stopped laughing. “That was hard. But this . . . It’s too much. It seems impossible.”

  “It does,” Kyja said. “But opening a drift was supposed to be impossible too. Finding the elementals was supposed to be impossible. We’re only kids, and I have no idea how anyone could expect us to save our worlds.” She held out her hands. “There are more reasons to quit than I can count. But only one reason to keep going. If we don’t try, who will?”

  Graehl paused in his carving. “What’s this about a Summoner? I think it’s time you two told me what’s going on.”

  Ignoring Graehl completely, Marcus nodded at Kyja. “You’re right. We have to do this. I guess we can start with the Dark Circle’s strategy. That seems pretty clear. They’ve taken away any chance of getting help from the outside by hitting every part of Farworld with terrible weather. More Thrathkin S’Bae are probably looking for us, so we can’t stay anywhere for long. Both Terra ne Staric and Icehold are going to be wiped out in three days. But how do we take advantage of all that?”