Dawnspell

by Sarah K. L. Wilson

  And over it all was a tone of guilt and urgency. Guilt, because he was the one who freed Jingen and started all this. Urgency, because he must be the one to end it.

  He’d meet Jhinn tonight. Together, they’d try to call the Legends and find the amulet. He swallowed down the thought that it might be worse to call them than not – after all, they were the ones who had landed him here. But what other option did he have? The dragon was the size of a city. Nothing short of magic would stop it now.

  He just needed to get away from Etienne’s watchful eyes. He’d have to wait until the other man was sleeping.

  The door swung open and Marielle’s eyes grew wide at the sight of them. Her dark hair was rumpled, little strands of it loose around her face, and smears of dust were on her forehead and around her eyes. The bottom half of her face was clean – protected by the scarf that hung loosely around her neck. Her breeches and white shirt were torn and dirty.

  Tamerlan paused, captivated by the sparkles in her purple eyes. No matter how frazzled or ruined she looked on the outside, those eyes were always bright and intelligent. He’d know them anywhere. He wasn’t sorry that he’d saved them. He was sorry for everything else, but not for that.

  “The Harbingers?” Etienne asked, pushing past him into the room.

  “Liandari is resting in her room,” Marielle said, pointing to one of the closed doors as she shut the main door behind them. “And Anglarok is tending to her. Her head was injured in the attack. Allegra says she will recover, but she hasn’t woken up yet. The nameless ... the others ... died in the dragon attack.”

  Etienne nodded briskly, patting her on the shoulder. “Tamerlan and I will take their rooms for tonight. We have work to be about tomorrow.”

  He was all business, striding off to the door Marielle had pointed to. Marielle’s eyes trailed after him as if she were hoping for more, but there wouldn’t be more. Tamerlan and Etienne had failed to find the amulet.

  “This is yours,” Marielle said, after a long moment, reaching into her boot and pulling out a folded piece of paper.

  Tamerlan took it, but he didn’t want to look at it. He didn’t want to take his eyes off her tragic beauty for even a moment. He’d seen too much ugliness today. Why couldn’t he just enjoy something beautiful for a moment?

  Even rumpled and disheveled there was just something about Marielle that enchanted him. Maybe it was the curve of that top lip of hers that seemed to be begging for a kiss. Maybe it was the way that she always seemed to be standing on her tiptoes, leaning forward, like a hunting hound sniffing the air for the quarry. Maybe it was the looks she gave him – sharper than a knife. She was edges and curves, alertness and softness, focus and forbiddenness all folded into one.

  Even now, as he looked at her, he saw her as someone else, a great queen rising up out of the sea. A Legend walking – a winged helmet on her head, and angel wings on her back, and a bright sword in her hand. The foam of the sea would pour off her head and drip down her long hair and her eyes would sparkle as the sun rose behind her. She would say something strong about justice and truth and raise her sword and all men would gather under her golden banner.

  “Tamerlan?” she asked, an edge to her voice.

  “Mmm?” And he would stand at her side, her protector and guard, happy to lay down his life in her service.

  “What are you staring at?”

  He blinked, the vision melting away.

  “Nothing. Sorry.” He could already feel his cheeks heating. Now was not the time for daydreams. He looked down at the paper she had handed him. It was the recipe from the ancient book – the one that had started it all. He was a little breathless when he spoke. “Where did you find this?”

  “In your rooms in Jingen. When I was investigating you. I thought that perhaps you would like it back.”

  He swallowed, looking up to give her a gentle smile. “It was kind of you to keep it for me. Will you hold on to it a bit longer?”

  “Why?” she asked, moving to the wide balcony on the other end of the room.

  Tamerlan followed her, looking out across the city as the last glimmer of gold slipped down over the horizon. Choking smoke hung over the city, but in the distance, the first fire lantern went up, a tiny firefly spark in the distance. The first sin burned up. The first hope of redemption sent up to the heavens.

  After a moment, Marielle slipped back into the rooms, but Tamerlan was riveted to the balcony, his eyes searching hungrily for the next lantern and the next and the next. If only life was so simple. If only everything could really be forgiven just because you wrote it down and burned it up.

  Marielle slipped in beside him, her footfalls soft. She carried paper balloons and candles.

  “Do you want to celebrate Dawnspell with me?” she asked, a look of wariness in her face.

  “Yes,” he said. Perhaps, she would slay him with her gleaming sword one day. Perhaps her justice would be his redemption – her hand the executioner’s. He’d embrace that if it ever came. But for now, he would write on paper and send it to the sky with the last shreds of hope he possessed.

  He didn’t know what she wrote on her paper lantern. He didn’t sneak a peek at it as she lit the candle and sent it up. Whatever guilt Marielle carried could not be very heavy. She’d done nothing in her life but live for good. She’d even been willing to give her own life for Jingen. She was innocent.

  He put his charcoal to the paper and in big letters, covering the balloon, he wrote one word. One word that summarized his guilt and shame. One word for which he would never be forgiven. No matter how many prayers he sent up, no matter how many tears he shed. And with a sigh, he lit his candle and watched the orange glow outline the word he’d written as the fire lantern sailed into the sky to join the thousands of others just like it.

  JINGEN.

  His shame.

  His sin.

  “I swore an oath to justice with Queen Mer’s People,” Marielle said as if confessing some great hope. “They gave me a tattoo.”

  Tamerlan felt a ghost of a smile playing around his lips. He remembered seeing that tattoo peeking through her collar when she slept – so sweet, so caring – at the foot of his bed.

  “I’m going to find King Abelmeyer’s Eye,” he said in return. And it felt like a vow more than a confession. Because anything he said to Marielle in that moment would have felt like a solemn vow. She was the avatar of goodness.

  “I think they know what justice is,” she said. “They came here for it. It’s why their ships are waiting. They’re waiting for news of where to strike. Where to bring their retribution. And I want to be on the side of justice.”

  He nodded in the orange glow of the tiny lanterns floating above them. More sailed into the sky as the people of Xin pled with the heavens for absolution.

  “I just want to stop that dragon. I just want to make the world safe again,” he said, feeling like he was still standing on sacred ground, so close to his shining muse.

  “Do you think a person can find redemption in this life?” Marielle asked him.

  It was so much like the question he’d asked her yesterday. And as she looked up at him with desperate eyes, he wondered why she was asking him that. She’d already told him that she didn’t think he could be forgiven. Was it possible that she thought she needed to be?

  “You have no need of redemption, Marielle. Nothing that happened on Summernight was your fault. That was all mine. All of the guilt rests with me,” he said gently, smiling down at her worried expression. Boldly, he reached forward and brushed the loose hairs from her face. She flinched back. But he didn’t let his smile waver. “And if you did, I am certain you would be given it.”

  Her smile was sad – almost reluctant.

  “I’ll hold onto your paper,” she said, reaching for it. Was that all she could give? Perhaps. Perhaps she couldn’t ever forgive him, but she could do this one thing – a small favor. A small gesture.

  “Thank you,” he said, as he held it
out to her because he was grateful that she hadn’t mentioned all the things she couldn’t give.

  His heart lurched a little as she strode away, closing her door behind her. She deserved redemption – wherever she got it. She didn’t even need it. Only the foul needed their sins atoned for. Only the bloodstained. Only people like Tamerlan.

  With a sigh, he went into one of the empty rooms, quickly cleaned up and reordered his things. He’d wait a few minutes before he snuck out. A quick rest and then he’d go out hunting his own redemption.

  23: Hunting Redemption

  Tamerlan

  TAMERLAN’S ARMS SHOOK as he opened the package Jhinn handed him. They’d slipped through the locks and out to the river and into the Bay of Tears without a glance backward.

  “Are you sure you want to do this?” he asked again.

  “Just do it, boy, and stop whining about how dangerous it is,” Jhinn demanded. “I have your sword, don’t I?”

  He did have Tamerlan’s sword. He was holding it in both hands as he waited for Tamerlan to smoke the herbs and transform into a Legend.

  Come on! Do it! That was Byron Bronzebow. And behind him was the never-ending chant that sounded behind Tamerlan’s every thought, Dragon. Dragon. Dragon.

  If obsession had an avatar, it would be Ram the Hunter.

  If only he could choose which Legend came through and took him over. It would be easier to do this if he knew.

  There are ways to push the balance more to one of us or the other, Lila said in his mind.

  Now she told him! How did he do that?

  Ha! I’m not letting that slip yet. Not until I’m sure that it’s me you’d be choosing.

  Well, that was no help. Tamerlan swung the door open on the lantern at the front of the gondola and carefully lit the end of the little paper tube holding his herbs.

  “I can’t believe you kept so many safe,” he said to Jhinn right before he sucked in his first puff of smoke.

  “Are you kidding me? If you died, I could have sold them for a fortune,” Jhinn said.

  Tamerlan shivered. Imagine selling them! Imagine setting these loose on the street where anyone could use them however they wanted! The thought made his toes curl and his stomach lurch. He pulled in another puff.

  “Maybe hold onto that roll-up this time, yeah?” Jhinn said. “I bet you could keep the spirit around longer if you puffed on it again half-way through.”

  It wasn’t a bad idea. Although the Legends tended to have a mind of their own about what they were going to do.

  Dark waves lapped against the gondola and the bright moon picked out the silver edges of the waves as Tamerlan waited for the smoke to have its effect. The breezes were warm, but the smoke still lacing their edges set his teeth on edge.

  Hunting treasure, are we? A wheedling voice asked.

  He should be used to this by now, but as the Legend took over his body, Tamerlan shook inside. Legends send he didn’t murder Jhinn! Legends send he didn’t destroy anything!

  I don’t slaughter my sailors. Then I’d have to do the rowing.

  He’d actually gotten Deathless Pirate! He’d wanted him, and here he was!

  Sometimes that can help. Sometimes it doesn’t matter. But no one calls on the sea without me listening.

  Did that mean he’d always get Deathless Pirate if he smoked on the sea?

  Don’t think you can control us, boy. We aren’t birds perching on your shoulders. Now, what are we doing out here and what treasure do we seek?

  Was Lila right? Could Deathless Pirate really know where King Abelmeyer’s Eye had been hidden?

  Abelmeyer’s Eye, is it? Cackling filled his mind. It’s always some trinket that men want. Some object that glitters in the sun. Trust me when I tell you, they don’t last. That is, unless you hide them. I can take you to where the Eye is. Oh yes, I can. I stole it just like Lila says. And I hid it in my cave of treasures. And now that you mention it, I might like to see if the other things hidden there are still ... secure.

  Really? For once he wasn’t going to have to ride in the mind of a Legend who wanted something drastically different from him! For once, he could actually work with the one who came.

  I don’t take orders from anyone. I do the ordering. But yes, today we are of an accord. Our interests align. Let’s go find this treasure.

  “Boy,” Tamerlan heard his own voice saying, but it was Deathless pirate controlling it. “We appear to be in the Bay of Tears. Is it so?”

  “Sure,” Jhinn said, lowering the sword.

  “And do you know of a small flat island about a half of a league from the shore just out from Dragon Spit Point?”

  “Bare Island?” Jhinn asked. “Sure.”

  “Let’s row there now, then, aye boy? And we’ll see what we will see.”

  Jhinn shrugged.

  “You do the rowing,” Tamerlan said, “and I’ll do the steering.”

  Jhinn paused, clearly reluctant to leave his beloved boat in Tamerlan’s inexperienced hands, but after a moment he shrugged again and moved to the oars.

  It was maybe an hour of hard rowing – all from Jhinn – before they reached the small island. He’d better puff more on the roll-up or Deathless Pirate could disappear before they got further than the island.

  Is that the way of things? Then keep these coming.

  They puffed on the last bit of roll-up before tossing the ash into the sea.

  “You’ve been followed,” Deathless Pirate said in Tamerlan’s voice. “First rule of pirating – don’t let them see where you’re going.”

  Tamerlan tried to see what Deathless Pirate was talking about, but the world beyond the light of the lantern hanging from the ferro of the gondola was dim, and even in the light of the full moon, the shadows were long and inky.

  But don’t worry about your mistake, boy. I will be here long enough to teach you better. Now that you’ve taught me your little smoking trick, I think I’ll stick around for a long time. They call us Legends. They look to us with fear and longing, worship our power, flinch from the consequences. We do not flinch. We do not waver. We do not wonder what it would be like to have this kind of power. We learned long ago how to get what we want. And what I want is life. And I want to live it through you. And think about it, boy – can’t I do more with your life than you can? I’ve heard your foolish cries for redemption. No one needs redemption. What you need is to embrace yourself, your goals, your desires. Together, you and I are going to do that.

  And just like that, their goals were no longer aligned.

  Oh, we’ll get the Eye. I’ll give you that much.

  If only he’d laid out other ways to signal Jhinn. Jhinn wouldn’t suspect anything was wrong unless they threatened his life and Deathless Pirate seemed to like him.

  All good Captains need seamen to follow them.

  He should have thought this through better.

  Their boat hit the shore, skimming up on the flat white sand of the island. Clumps of loose grass grew throughout it, white driftwood piled in tangled heaps to one side and, bird dung was everywhere. But there was nothing else here. No trees. No pool of water. No structures. Not even rocks. Just a flat skiff of sand that was probably invisible during high tide.

  Yep.

  “I didn’t bring a shovel,” Jhinn said casually.

  “No need,” Tamerlan heard himself say. “I buried layers of coconut fiber mesh under the sand. It covers this entire island. It holds the water and you can’t dig through it. Shovels are as useless as wishes on Bare Island.”

  “Did you think you could sneak away?” an authoritative voice asked as a second boat skimmed up the sand.

  Jhinn’s jaw tightened, but Tamerlan didn’t even feel Deathless Pirate flinch.

  “More treasure hunters,” he said coyly with Tamerlan’s voice.

  Lord Mythos frowned. He was dressed in fresh black, a wide satchel slung over his shoulder and a hired boatman at the stern. He must have followed Tamerlan the whole way. Had he
used magic to disguise himself? He claimed not to have it anymore, but he had used it to heal Tamerlan.

  “You can join me – for a price,” Tamerlan heard his voice say. Lord Mythos’ frown deepened. He glanced at Jhinn and then back again.

  “I thought your price was redemption?”

  “Redemption doesn’t fill a treasure cave, now does it?”

  “I’m just here for the Eye,” Etienne said. He leapt from the boat, tossing the boatman a leather purse. “I’ll return with these others. Thank you for your work.”

  He shoved against the prow of the boat, launching it back to the sea as Deathless Pirate leapt out of his own boat.

  “Let’s see how good you are at claiming it, hmmm?” Deathless Pirate challenged.

  Don’t kill him. Please don’t kill him! Tamerlan thought desperately.

  It was strange not to have the other Legends in his mind, but now that he was possessed by Deathless Pirate, their voices had disappeared. Even Ram’s constant refrain was gone. If he wasn’t so worried about what Deathless Pirate was up to, he would have found it a relief.

  “We’ll make a game out of it,” Deathless Pirate said. “Whoever finds the Eye first, keeps it.”

  The Lord Mythos was silent, regarding him warily as Tamerlan laughed in a pitch just a little too high and then took off, striding across the island.

  Anyone watching Tamerlan right now would think he was insane. Jhinn and Etienne probably did. He shouldn’t have risked this. He could have found the Eye on his own.

  Oh no, you wouldn’t! A pirate’s lair has traps. And the first trap on this lair is the tide. Lucky for us, it’s low tide right now, or we’d have to wait for the tide to change and on an island this boring I might resort to torturing one of these fine companions just to pass the hours.

  Tamerlan gritted his teeth inside. This was the kind of thing he was worried about. He’d have to let Deathless Pirate take control of the hunt or risk seeing Jhinn hurt just to entertain a ghost.