Storm

by Lauren L. Garcia

  The Cipher sucked in a breath; Beacon’s face was set with a mender’s grim determination. Rook’s eyes went round and she shot Stonewall a look that was part terror, part disbelief. Stonewall tried to make his expression calm and reassuring, despite the thrum of anxiety in his heart. “Go on,” he said to Kali.

  He also tried to send her some measure of his love, but she’d shut herself away again, wholly lost in her concentration. Nothing happened at first, but then Kali’s brow furrowed as more sweat gleamed upon her skin. Flint went rigid, clenching her jaw as she had done the last time Beacon had stitched her up. Sadira gave a soft gasp, and then ducked her head and pressed her hand to Mi’s wound again – harder. Milo cried wordlessly, arching up from the table and struggling in the men’s grips. His cries turned into whimpers and his breath hitched and hiccupped.

  The wound started to knit again, as before, but with each moment, the knitting went faster. Kali’s breath came in shallow pants and Stonewall could not pull his eyes from her, not even to watch Milo or Flint. The others would look after the twins; right now his attention was for the woman he loved, whom he had almost lost. Her face turned gray and ashen and her hands, covered in Milo’s blood, trembled harder. As Stonewall had seen before, Kali’s life drained away as she tried to save another.

  Now Stonewall risked a glance at Flint, only to see that she too looked as if she stood at the void’s edge. She bore it silently, gaze latched on her brother.

  At last Milo went quiet, his head lolling to one side as his breathing evened out and his body relaxed. The wound had scabbed over, leaving only an angry, crimson mark. Flint and Sadira both exhaled, while Kali dropped Flint’s hand and leaned her weight against the table, her arms shaking.

  Before Stonewall could go to her, Eris was at her side, touching her shoulder. “Kali?”

  “I’m fine.” Kali managed a weak smile first at her friend, and then at Stonewall. His heart lifted at the sight even though he could not convince his face to return the expression. Blinking hard, Kali looked at Flint. “Are you…?”

  Flint was gaping between her hand and Milo’s wound. “I’m…I’m fine. And he’s…” She choked back a sob as Milo let out a long, peaceful sigh. “Ea’s balls. You fixed him. You saved him!”

  But at what cost? Stonewall thought.

  While the mages got cleaned up, Beacon dug around Milo’s belt and prepared a dose of hematite. “But…how?” the mender asked Sadira, notes of wonder in his voice.

  “Magic,” Flint said, rolling her eyes, but her expression softened as she touched Milo’s cheek.

  Beacon carefully gave the younger man the hematite mixture. “Yes, but how?”

  Kali clutched the rag she’d used to clean her hands. “I think my magic is…changing, or growing. I never used to be able to do magic on hematite, until…” She flushed and met Stonewall’s gaze. “On our journey here. Do you remember when we escaped the Canderi?”

  “Which time?” he asked wryly.

  She smiled. “The first time. I think that escape…awoke something in my magic. Something new.”

  “What makes you think that?” Drake asked.

  Kali shook her head, her tangled hair swaying. “Something I learned recently, when the Fata…” She trailed off and looked at the table, waves of sorrow and bitterness sweeping from her.

  Stonewall left his place by Milo and went to her, stepping around Eris so that he could stand at Kali’s other side. He put an arm around her shoulders and tried not to grimace at how insubstantial she felt. “A story for another time. We must move out as soon as we can.”

  Eris had followed his progress with narrowed eyes, but at his words, she nodded once. “Yes, the rest of us mages,” she emphasized the word, “should be on our way. Anyone who wishes to stop us can jump off the waterfall.”

  “Charming, as ever,” Aderey muttered. The Sufani and Assembly folk had wisely kept out of the way during the healing, but now the group had reconvened. Stonewall recognized one of the women as his squad’s “captive” before Heartfire, but had not the time nor inclination to speak to her. Besides, she probably wanted nothing to do with him, either.

  Eris shot the Sufani man a warning look, but Leal—Stonewall recognized her with a start—returned the look in kind. “Will you come with us, then?” she said to Stonewall. “You and your squad?”

  “If you’ll have us,” he replied.

  “We must hurry,” Rook said. “Talon’s locked away but Argent is coming. We must be gone before he arrives.”

  Was it Stonewall’s imagination, or was there a trace of guilt in her voice? She stood hunched as if trying to make herself smaller.

  “How do you know Argent’s coming?” he asked.

  Before Rook could answer, Drake grabbed Stonewall’s arm. His green eyes—their mother’s eyes—were wide. “If the High Commander finds us, everyone here is as good as dead.”

  Stonewall jerked out of Drake’s grasp, though the stricken look that crossed his brother’s face made him wince. No, he told himself. He’s not my brother anymore. My brother is dead.

  “There are too many of us for the boats,” Leal said to Eris.

  Kali frowned. “What boats?”

  Eris ignored her. “Well, then I suppose the hemies will have to swim.”

  “Did you not see the sodding blizzard out there?” Flint growled. “How in Tor’s name is Milo supposed to make it through that?”

  Beacon nodded. “We won’t last an hour without the right gear.”

  Rook pointed to the sack she’d brought. “I found some cold weather gear, and your armor,” she said to Stonewall. “But it’s not enough for everyone.”

  Cai held up his hands. “Are you hemies deaf as well as stupid? You’re not coming with us.”

  “We saved your sorry asses,” Flint replied. “Without me and Milo’s help, you’d all be outside those gates, looking in. You owe us.”

  “We owe you nothing,” Cai shot back.

  Eris nodded. “Besides, without magic, your brother would be dead.”

  “That’s not fair and you know it,” Kali said. “Why did you come back, if not to free the rest of us?”

  “Most of my people are already gone,” Eris said. “And I’m starting to think I should leave you here with the hemies you love so sodding much.”

  Anger flushed through Kali, suffusing Stonewall with its heat. He had to work to shut away the feeling. “Fine,” Kali replied. “Run away again. Leave us to be collared and caged while you traipse about the countryside.”

  “You’re deluded,” Eris said. “Utterly hoodwinked. Do you think they,” she gestured at Stonewall, “care about your freedom, your life? They only want what they can get out of you.”

  Stonewall bristled. He’d been silent so far, but he’d be damned if he let Eris slander him any longer. “If you care so much about mages, why’d you leave the others here? You know what it feels like to wear the collar, yet you ran off and sealed your friends’ fates.”

  The look she gave him could have burned a wart off a mule. “Keep your mouth shut, Sentinel, if you know what’s good for you.”

  “If you threaten Stonewall, you threaten me,” Kali said.

  Eris glared at her. “Idiot.”

  “Selfish,” Kali shot back. “You always do this! You always run away when life gets too difficult. You abandoned me at Starwatch, and you left me here.”

  “I had no choice but to leave Starwatch. The hemies hated me–”

  “Strange how your problems are always someone else’s fault,” Kali broke in, shaking her head. “Fine. I don’t care any longer. Just go.”

  Eris lobbed another acerbic remark, to which Flint replied this time, and the room erupted in shouts. Stonewall and Drake tried to call for an end to the argument, but their words fell on deaf ears. He shot Rook a helpless look, but she’d slipped to the windows, peering outside.

  “Enough!” Serla Natanaree’s voice boomed over the quarreling factions, stunning them all into silenc
e. Everyone stared at the Circle priestess, who held herself straight as a scepter and every bit as regal. “Petty quarrels prove fruitless while the storm looms.”

  “What in the void are you jabbering about?” Cai asked.

  “It’s an old axiom,” Stonewall replied. “From the Promise of the One. And she’s right. We can argue later. For now, we have to leave.”

  “You mentioned boats?” Serla Natanaree said to Leal.

  “Aye, but I doubt there’ll be enough room for everyone,” Leal replied.

  “How did you even get into the city?” Drake asked. “And where’d you get those clothes?”

  Leal glowered and skimmed her hands over the fine livery she wore, while the other mages who’d come with Eris shifted in place.

  “That’s a story for later,” Eris replied.

  “It’s snowing harder,” Rook said. “Wherever we go, we’ll need to get there quickly, else we’ll be trapped here.”

  “Or not make it at all.” Beacon scrubbed his beard in thought. “But the snow might slow Argent down.”

  The Circle priestess considered. “There might be another way…” Her eyes rested on Milo, but her gaze seemed distant. “The temple of the One rests upon a hill. Do you know what lies beneath it?”

  Surprisingly, it was Aderey who replied. “I have heard…rumors,” the Sufani man said slowly, his sharp green eyes studying the priestess. “Tunnels beneath the temple, buried deep within the earth, that lead…” He spread his hands. “Only the One knows where.”

  Serla Natanaree nodded. “After Milo and Flint came to me, I did some exploring. I believe I have found an alternate way out of the city.”

  The room went still. Kali tensed against Stonewall’s side, her doubts filtering into his own thoughts. Not that he was without doubt, himself, but between the two of them, he knew he was more inclined to believe the Cipher’s words.

  “You believe?” Kali said. “Or you know?”

  The Circle priestess’ voice was stern. “Belief is not for the faint of heart, Mage.”

  “Maybe, but in this particular situation, I’d rather have knowledge.” Kali sighed and ran a hand through her tangled hair, and then glanced at Eris. “What do you think?”

  Eris seemed to consider the priestess’ words before she shook her head. “I must meet our people at the docks. They’re waiting for us as we speak.”

  “I’m with you,” Cai said. Some of the other mages nodded in agreement, but the ones who’d been in the garrison’s detention area looked uncertain.

  Drake cleared his throat and glanced at Leal. “You should go with the Cipher,” he said. “Take your family and anyone else who wants to come, and take the One’s way out of the city. Sounds like it’ll be the easier path. The rest of us,” his mouth curved in a mischievous grin that Stonewall recognized, “can make our own road on the river.”

  “This is madness,” Beacon said. “You do realize there’s a blizzard outside, right? We’ll be dead before we get anywhere.”

  Serla Natanaree withdrew a pouch from within her cloak. She tossed it to the mender, who caught it neatly, examined the contents, and gave her an astonished look. “More hematite?”

  Flint narrowed her eyes. “I thought you said you couldn’t find any more.”

  “I was wrong,” the Cipher replied.

  I don’t like this, Kali said through the bond she and Stonewall shared. It was a testament to the severity of the situation that neither of them found the experience odd. I don’t trust her.

  So it’s the river for us? he replied in kind.

  We don’t have many choices. The river, it is. She looked at Sadira. “What do you think?”

  “I can help keep the worst of the cold at bay, but I believe that the One has brought us all together for a reason. One thing is certain: our paths lead away from this place.” Sadira hesitated, then added, “I do not wish to be underground, although I would like to see the One god’s home in this city.”

  Eris scoffed. “Well, we came up with a perfectly reasonable–” Leal coughed into her glove and Eris rolled her eyes, but conceded. “Well, it’s a plan. Without the Circle’s aid.”

  Sirvat cradled a small bundle to her chest. “Eris, I can’t get on some rickety boat on a river! Not in this weather.” She looked at the Circle priestess. “Will you swear by the One that you mean us no harm? That you’ll not see us thrown into a bastion again?”

  All eyes fell upon Serla Natanaree, who kept her chin high. “I swear by the One and all the gods: while I breathe, you will not be imprisoned.”

  “I think it’s a grand idea,” Leal said, nodding to her father and mother. “Take Dia and the rest of our family and get out of this place.”

  “You’re not coming with us?” Ytel asked, incredulous.

  “We’ll meet again, but I swore an oath.”

  “You and your oaths,” Ytel hissed. “You’re as foolish as your father.”

  The groups split apart to make last-minute arrangements. Stonewall gathered near Milo with his squad-mates, Kali, and Sadira, who now felt as if they belonged with the sentinels.

  “Here,” Rook said as she offered Stonewall the sack. Within was not only his gear, but woolen tunics and leggings for all the sentinels to wear beneath their armor. While the others shed their gear and pulled on the warmer clothes, Stonewall began to suit up. His armor felt heavier than he remembered, but the weight was a comfort. As he fastened his greaves, he thanked Rook, who was looking nervously toward the door.

  She shrugged and fiddled with her bow. “I’m going to go scout again.”

  “It’s freezing out there,” Flint replied, brows knitting. “And you’ll be out in it soon enough.”

  Rook gave Flint a thin smile. “I’ll be fine.”

  Before anyone could object, she slipped to the door. Wind roared inside as she stepped out, but the door closed and battered it away. Stonewall and Flint exchanged glances before the younger woman shrugged. “She knows what she’s doing.”

  “I suppose she does.”

  As Stonewall buckled on his weapons, he glanced at Kali and Sadira, who were busy adding layers to their own clothes. Kali still looked wretched, but she was smiling at her friend as the two mages spoke in low tones. Though Kali didn’t look at Stonewall, the thread of connection that bound their hearts glowed in his mind’s eye and love resonated between them. She caught his eye and winked, and his heart soared. Whatever else happened, they would make a bid for freedom. And if he perished, it would be by her side. We leave together, or not at all.

  “We’ll have to wake him to get him dressed,” Beacon was saying. Stonewall glanced back at his squad, all suited up, who all now looked at Milo’s sleeping form. “He’s healing well, but he’s not back up to full strength.”

  “Will he…” Flint chewed her lip. “Will he ever be how he was?”

  Beacon exchanged glances with Sadira, who looked grim. “The wound was bad,” the Zhee mage said gently. “Milo will survive, but I am uncertain how he will go forward.”

  “At the very least,” Kali added. “He’ll need help to recover.”

  Flint’s face set in determination and she nodded. “Right.”

  Stonewall’s attention veered from the conversation when his brother said his name. Drake had come to stand close by him; at Stonewall’s look, he jerked his chin away from the others, a question in his eyes. Stonewall frowned and looked away, crossing his arms before his chest to further drive the point home. Drake could take the hint.

  One of the civilians who’d come with Eris—a man with an auburn beard—approached and said Drake’s name once, softly. Drake went rigid and his face blank, similar to how Stonewall must have looked moments ago. “What are you doing here, Ben?”

  “Isn’t it obvious?”

  “I thought you hated mages.”

  Stonewall turned back to his squad; this conversation was probably not meant for his ears. Even so, he could not help but notice his brother’s hopeful, bewildered expressio
n as the two men slipped off to speak in relative privacy.

  “It’s odd, isn’t it?” Flint said suddenly, catching his attention.

  “What is?” Stonewall asked.

  She swept a hand across the room before shoving on her glove. “Their common room looks just like ours. Even the kitchens are in the same place. Are their dormitories set up like our barracks?”

  Stonewall had only been inside the mage dormitories once before now, and hadn’t exactly been studying the layout. He looked around the mages’ common room again, seeing it as if for the first time. Although the décor was different than that inside the garrison—a mix of small potted plants and woven wall hangings—the layout did indeed remind him of the garrison.

  “More or less,” he said.

  In his nightmares, he still saw Kali cuffed and bound like a criminal, but he hadn’t been treated much differently. His tiny quarters didn’t even lock from the inside.

  “I wonder if anything else is the same?” Flint said.

  A chill passed through Stonewall despite his warm gear. “Maybe more than we know.”

  Thirty-Two

  Despite everything, a piece of Drake’s heart soared at the sight of Ben, wan and hopeful, looking at him with those morning-blue eyes. They stood together in the corner of the mage’s common room – a place Drake might have found himself as a prisoner, had his life turned out a little differently.

  Drake waited for the inevitable explanation, but Ben only ran slender fingers across a fine, fur-lined cloak trimmed with fox pelt. When Drake could stand the suspense no longer, he exhaled. “What happened to fleeing south?” He tried not to sound as bitter as he felt.

  Ben shot him a look Drake could only think of as chagrined. “I…changed my mind. Rather,” he nodded to Brice and Rilla, who stood out of earshot but made no secret of watching the two men, “my mind was changed.”

  Drake nodded to the women, resolving to speak with them as soon as he could. But his former lover had his full attention now. “You had to be convinced to come after me.” His own voice sounded flat and monotone, but his heart had sunk back to the earth. “You didn’t…want to.”