Of Kings and Killers

by Will Wight

  Andel, Petal, and Foster were in charge of driving them all to the guarded checkpoint where they could have a moment with the Guards without being overseen by anyone else.

  In the meantime, Calder occupied himself by trying to find the least cramped position in the box, pulling nails from the boards around him and twisting them into shapes with his fingertips, and taking his medication.

  Petal had left him with a collection of pills, powders, elixirs, and injections along with a labyrinthine set of instructions in their use. He had to jab a syringe of luminous blue liquid into his thigh twice a day to stop his muscles from seizing up, take a pill before he went to sleep to prevent blindness, and drink a potion to keep his skeleton in place.

  Whenever he grew frustrated—or nauseous—he watched how he could squeeze a nail of good iron until it sunk into the cracks of his fingers like putty.

  For the price he’d paid, he had at least walked away with a satisfying prize.

  Petal or Foster popped their heads in every once in a while to speak to him, but for most of the day, he could hear only their muffled voices over the chaotic noise of the Capital.

  He began to suspect they’d found a checkpoint when their wagon stayed stopped for longer than ever before. The others were talking to someone. He couldn’t make out specific words, but Andel’s voice remained calm and soothing.

  Finally, Foster pulled the lid off the box, and Calder squinted up.

  He had hoped they would give him time to adjust his appearance before revealing him like this—he was supposed to appear dignified and in control, not folded into a container like dried squid. But the orange-eyed woman who stared down on him went white as a cloud when she saw his face.

  He cleared his throat from his position within the create. “I apologize, Captain. I was not aware I’d be entertaining guests.”

  The Guard captain’s throat bobbed as she swallowed. “We’ll need a Reader to verify his identity. Until then, keep him inside the box.”

  “You can address me, Captain. I’m right here.”

  She visibly struggled to meet his gaze for a moment before she said, “…sorry, sir.”

  She fled after that, but it was enough. Checking his identity was a matter of protocol, but she clearly believed he was who he appeared to be. That was more than half the battle; if the Imperial Guard tried to arrest him, then he would have to fight his way out.

  Of course, if the Guards had resorted to force, they would have been in for a surprise.

  The Reader showed up in a handful of minutes, pulling the lid off Calder’s box. The man was weathered and gray-haired, wearing the uniform of the Imperial Guard, but he had no visible Kameira enhancements.

  On sight of Calder, he glanced around briefly, then dipped his head. “Steward. Thank the Emperor that you’re still alive.”

  “I don’t think he had anything to do with it. Is it safe for me to leave this box?”

  “We have spare Guard uniforms, but…sir Steward, pardon me for questioning you, but we serve Regent Jorin now. You’re not planning on causing trouble, are you?”

  Calder couldn’t see Andel, but he heard the quartermaster’s voice clearly. “Trouble is in the other direction.”

  “We’re evacuating just like everyone else.” Calder had no reason to trust Jorin, but he had no reason to spend any time with the man either. “If they think I’m still dead, so much the better.”

  For now.

  The Reader looked visibly relieved, but he glanced at something over the back of the wagon.

  “I’m glad to hear it, sir Steward, but just for me…stay out of trouble, will you?”

  Calder had no intention of fulfilling that promise.

  The second he was back aboard his ship, Calder Read the Intent flowing through the familiar wood. The Testament relaxed in his presence, remembered him, welcomed him home. Ropes tightened, the sails spread like wings, and the boards shivered beneath his feet.

  He took a moment to savor the memories within the ship before he allowed his Reading to reach beneath the waves.

  To the Lyathatan, the amount of time Calder had been gone was nothing more than a blink. He might not have even noticed Calder’s absence. Calder fully expected to Read the Elder’s impatience through the chains binding it to the hull, perhaps even its frustration with Calder.

  Instead, he felt fear.

  If he had tried to Read the creature directly, the fear might have overwhelmed his mind and brought him to his knees, but since he was sensing the Intent indirectly through the chains and the mark of Kelarac, he only shivered and clenched his teeth.

  As always, the Lyathatan’s Intent was layered in a complex web not meant for human interpretation, but Calder could recognize the overwhelming shock of terror. The Elder felt like a mouse quivering and hoping not to be noticed as an owl passed overhead.

  Calder tried to use his own Intent to send a question, but such communication was imprecise at best. He received only the impression of a looming shadow.

  In Calder’s experience, that could mean almost anything, but whatever terrified the Lyathatan should worry them all. He sent his orders to the creature through his mark, hoping it would obey, and to his relief it did so. With shocking speed.

  The Testament lurched beneath them all, breaking Calder out of his Reader’s trance to clutch at the wheel for support. Petal tumbled to the deck, and Andel gripped the rigging in one hand and his hat in the other.

  Their hull cut an arrow in the water headed straight in the direction Calder had indicated.

  “What’s lit a fire under you, Captain?” Foster asked.

  “Not me.” Calder was frowning at the point beneath them where the Lyathatan lurked, and the rest of the crew followed his gaze.

  “I choose to take this as a bad omen,” Andel said.

  Petal scrambled to her feet and away from the spot she had been sitting as though she expected the Lyathatan to reach up through the deck.

  “Don’t worry, he’s still doing what I tell him to.” Calder raised and arm and flexed. “Maybe he’s scared of me now.”

  Foster snorted. Leathery flapping filled the air, and a moment later, a weight landed on Calder’s upraised arm.

  Tentacles tickled his cheek and dark eyes stared into Calder’s soul. “SCARED,” Shuffles bellowed, and Calder remembered the drawbacks that came with his enhanced hearing.

  Andel clutched his White Sun medallion. “Well, if I wasn’t worried before, I am now.”

  Shuffles liked to show up when he believed the crew was in lethal danger, but that didn’t mean it was always correct. And sometimes it came up when it was bored. Or hungry.

  “I’m sure they’re afraid of Jorin,” Calder said. “He has free access to the Optasia now; if he manages to use it, he could obliterate all the Elderspawn around the Capital.”

  He wondered if the Regent would make contact with Ozriel, and if Ozriel would give the same warning he had given Calder.

  “You sure, are you?” Foster asked. He was wearing his shooting glasses and squinting up into the sky.

  The clouds had darkened as though a storm were on its way. The temperature had already lowered several degrees.

  Just like the shadow that had passed over the stained-glass room in his communication with Ozriel.

  Calder forced himself not to shiver. If Urg’naut really had been stirred up, their actions should remain the same. “I still have a plan, everyone,” he assured them.

  Shuffles laughed.

  For the brief time that Calder had been connected to the Optasia, he had taken in more information than he could digest. Part of that was the nature of the Optasia itself: it was the central hub of a network spread all over the world.

  Statues of the Emperor, designed and invested by the man himself to amplify Reading, were spaced out hundreds or thousands of miles apart as part of the Optasia system. The Capital had the highest concentration, with three such statues located in a rough triangle outside the city’s borders. />
  One of those three had been destroyed in a battle between Elderspawn and the Imperial Guard shortly after the Emperor’s death. Calder had Read as much during his private research on the Optasia, but his brief time in the throne had shown him that the statue still partially functioned.

  He could use that fallen image of the Emperor to amplify his own Reading, and from there his options were unlimited.

  Certainly, there was still the risk of sensing a Great Elder directly, but it was only a small fraction as dangerous because the broken statue would be limited to the area around the city. At least he wouldn’t be focusing his sight everywhere around the world at once.

  Perhaps he could use the device to reach beyond the world and contact Ozriel again. He could tell the Regents how to kill the Elders, assuming they didn’t already know. Failing that, he could use it to find and punish Shera. With his powers magnified, Calder was certain he could stand against even Jorin.

  And if all that proved to be too much, at the very least he would learn more than he ever could on his own. That was the primary purpose of Reading, in the end.

  They found the small island off the coast of the Capital in a little over an hour, pulled at top speed by the Lyathatan. It was fortified with tall walls of dark stone, a huge chain drawn over the mouth of its harbor.

  Once upon a time, this fort would be manned by Watchmen and Imperial Guards, but the Guild War had left its mark even here.

  One wall had collapsed from within, chunks of stone sprayed outward as though something inside had exploded. The chain blocked The Testament from entering, but the harbor was empty.

  “Did they leave…and then seal off the harbor?” Calder wondered aloud.

  “Times as they are, there’s no telling what madness went on here,” Foster said. “Best we get on with it.”

  Calder had informed the crew about his plan, inasmuch as he’d told them he planned to use an artifact left behind by the Emperor to try and get even with Shera. He suspected they hadn’t protested only because this meant him leaving the Capital.

  He nudged the Lyathatan closer with his Intent. A blue-scaled, six-fingered hand reached out from the water, dragging a chain of its own behind a manacled wrist.

  It wrapped around the chain across the harbor and began to pull.

  Calder had no doubt that there was significant Intent inside this fortress’ harbor-chain, but it was nothing compared to what bound the Lyathatan to the ship. The Elder tore the links of iron to one side, pulling an entire chunk of the wall away.

  The structure started to crumble. Rocks splattered into the water, and the entire tower tilted as though it would crash onto their ship at any second.

  Calder eyed the tower, which looked like it would finish leaning and fall on them at the slightest breeze. On his shoulder, Shuffles mimicked the sound of stone crunching.

  One tense stretch of sailing later, they made their way into the harbor without anything else collapsing. Under normal circumstances, it would have been an ordeal to reach the Optasia statue, but some gates were torn open while others were missing completely.

  As they disembarked and passed through the first broken gate, it looked like they should have a straight shot to the statue. At least, so they hoped.

  Deeper and deeper they marched into the fortified complex. They saw no bodies, though they didn’t miss the occasional splash of blood.

  With every passing minute, the sky grew darker. Cold wind tore at their clothes, and Calder shivered as he pulled his jacket closer. If this wind was brought by the Elders, he could only help by reaching the statue. If it was just a storm, then it wasn’t worth his concern.

  But he did keep himself from Reading anything he didn’t have to. Just in case.

  Finally, at the heart of all the walls and layered protection, they found what was left of a room. It had once been ornate, judging by the remaining decorations and shredded curtains they found scattered around. Now it was just a pile of rubble.

  The severed head of the Emperor lay in the middle.

  A ball of stone bigger than everyone in the crew put together, this was the largest piece of the Emperor’s sculpture that remained intact. Stone eyes gazed expressionlessly into the sky as though surveying the dark crack beyond their world.

  Calder took a deep breath and gave Shuffles a pat. The Bellowing Horror was giving off a low vibration, like an ongoing purr. Or maybe a growl.

  “Watch for intruders,” Calder instructed. “If I’m interrupted, it could be deadly for all of us. And if I don’t seem like myself…”

  He trailed off as he realized all three of his remaining crew members were giving him hard looks.

  “I just put you back together,” Petal whispered. Her brows were drawn together in anger.

  “Something’s not right here, Captain,” Foster urged. “Not just with this place. There’s a shadow on the wind.”

  Andel surveyed the sky, looking concerned. “I thought this was a decent plan, as such things go. But now…Foster’s right. You have to admit, now that we’re here, something feels wrong.”

  Calder rapped his knuckles against the Emperor’s white armor, which he had worn ashore. The breastplate had been hastily repaired as best as he and Foster could, so it surely wasn’t as strong as it had been, but it still offered world-class protection. Foster carried the helmet as part of a bundle he had slung over his shoulder.

  “I’m as safe as I can be,” he said. “I’ll take it easy.”

  With that, he stepped up and rested his hand on the statue.

  “‘A foolish king ignores his councilors,’” Andel quoted, “‘but a wise man speaks with the voice of his advisors.’”

  Calder stopped with his fingers touching stone. “What did I tell you about turning Sadesthenes against me?”

  “I’ll quote anyone you’ll listen to.”

  “Would it not have been better to bring up any objections while we were still aboard the ship?”

  Andel raised one eyebrow. “Since that time, I have become increasingly concerned about the sun growing dark at midday.”

  “It’s just a storm,” Calder said. Even he knew it didn’t sound convincing, and all three of the others looked at him doubtfully.

  “Just give it a wait, boy.” Foster grabbed him by the shoulder and began steering him away from the statue.

  It wasn’t fair. They had followed him all the way here, and now they were going to take him away?

  This was his tool to get back what he’d had. And more.

  With this piece of the Optasia, he could stand as an equal to the Regents. He had a real chance at opposing the Elders. He could even get revenge against the woman who had essentially killed him.

  He stopped in place and Foster stumbled. The gunner tried to pull him along, but with Calder’s newfound strength, Foster may as well have tried to haul away the Emperor’s statue.

  “This is my decision,” Calder said firmly. “If an Elder is on its way, then the hourglass is running out. This may be our one chance to try this, and we have no reason to believe that we should wait. This is clearly the best course.”

  Both Petal and Foster looked troubled, but Andel returned to his expressionless mask. He pulled his hat off and swept a deep bow.

  “As you wish, Your Imperial Highness.”

  Calder’s breath stopped.

  He was acting like the Emperor.

  The man who believed he knew better than everyone and ignored the opinions of those beneath him. Which, in his eyes, meant everyone.

  These three only had his best interests at heart.

  What did he know that they didn’t?

  Frustration tore at him, pushing him to turn around and Read the statue anyway, so he had to fight that impulse.

  He had to, if he was going to listen to his friends.

  He plopped down on a boulder of rubble, glaring at his crew. “How long do we wait?”

  Petal brightened like a quicklamp. Foster grumbled about Calder hurting his s
houlder, and Andel settled his hat back on his head. “I don’t think the Empire will crumble if we give it an hour.”

  “Fine.” If this was a storm that passed in an hour, they were all going to feel very silly.

  Calder shaded his hand, peeking up a little closer to the sun. They had no real reason to think that the darkening sky was Elder interference. There was nothing supernatural about clouds drifting in front of the sun, and he hadn’t sensed any strange Intent. He had closed himself off to such things, but even so. Maybe this was all mundane.

  He glanced off to the west, where the Capital would be, and saw a bank of dark…

  …at first glance, he thought they were clouds.

  It was like ink spreading through water, a shifting mass of absolute darkness. He climbed onto a nearby boulder, trying to get a better vantage point. Most of the black shape was still concealed by a wall, but he could make out more.

  The entire horizon was covered in black.

  Andel’s shaky voice came from beside him. “Urg’naut…”

  The Creeping Shadow was free.

  Chapter Twenty

  present day

  The White Sun hanging from Andel’s neck flickered to life. “At least we didn’t have to wait long, Captain.”

  Foster rubbed his hands together and stared uneasily into the inky darkness that stained the sky. “We’ve got our answer. We have to run. As far and as fast as we can.”

  Urg’naut had been released. The darkness at the end of all things. If Calder wanted to have any chance at striking a Great Elder, he should use this node of the Optasia.

  But now he’d missed his chance to do so safely. If he used the device now, he’d be staring straight into the Creeping Shadow.

  “Hurry, Captain!” Andel urged him. “We can’t afford to waste a second.”

  He ushered Calder over to stand by the Emperor’s nose, but freezing dread piled up with every step. Calder pulled back several inches, and Andel stared at him in open confusion.