Chapter Eleven
They reached the outskirts of Loruv toward the end of the fourth day. It had gone quickly, though in Gavin’s mind, not nearly quickly enough. With the jostling from riding atop the stone tiger, his entire backside was bruised and battered. He’d found that pushing a bit of energy through himself and borrowing from his core reserves allowed him to let out enough power he could protect himself and didn’t have to suffer nearly as much. But doing so also required him to hold on to those core reserves for longer than he was comfortable.
He knew he should do it. It was something Anna wanted him to get better at.
The others didn’t seem to struggle much, which surprised him.
Theren seemed almost amused by the entire journey. Every so often, Gavin found him patting the wolfhound. Imogen remained quiet, though Theren did his best to try to get her to talk. For the most part, she ignored him, though she had accepted the treats he offered her. Gaspar grunted from time to time, but he made no other noise. He’d been irritable but had not said much.
As they neared the edge of the city, they slowed the stone creatures. Gavin climbed down and waited on the others.
“What do you want us to do with them now?” Theren asked.
“They probably shouldn’t come into the city,” Gavin said. He glanced to Imogen, waiting for confirmation. He had no idea how these stone creatures would be received in Loruv. If they could have them, the enchantments would potentially offer a level of protection.
Gaspar shook his head. “We should leave them. They’ll attract the wrong kind of attention.”
Theren grinned. “And what’s the right kind of attention? What sort of notice do you want us to have?”
“We leave them,” Gaspar said again.
Gavin nodded. “I don’t know how much time we have remaining with them, anyway.”
“What do you mean, time remaining?” Theren asked.
Gavin shrugged. “These stone creatures are available only for a limited time. They’re just enchantments. When the power within them is spent, they fail.”
He hadn’t tested just how long these types of enchantments would last, but he knew there was a finite period of time. Mekel hadn’t been able to provide him with any insight, and Gavin had the feeling that he simply didn’t know either.
“Interesting,” Theren said. “I must tell you that having spent some time around the wolfhound again has been good for my soul. It’s similar to when I look out at a mountainside, seeing the sun shining down on me. It’s almost as if I can see some greater purpose.”
Gaspar grunted. “The wolfhound isn’t real.”
“But the magic within it is.”
Gavin patted the stone tiger. He thought he understood where Theren was coming from. He felt similar when it came to the stone creatures, which felt real enough to him, even though he knew they weren’t.
He held his hand out and looked at the tiger, wishing there was some way for him to shrink it down. He didn’t have any other protections like this. They were unique, and he appreciated that Zella had allowed him to take some.
“We can have them wait for us out here,” he said, looking to the others. “I’m not sure about Imogen’s, anyway,” Gavin said, nodding to hers.
Her strange lizard enchantment might be enough of an oddity that it would draw attention. Surprisingly, the lizard had been the fastest of them all, moving with a strange, scurrying gait as it darted along the ground. Was it based on a real creature, like the tiger, the wolfhound, and the wolf were? He suspected it was, but it was unlike any lizard he’d seen before.
He patted the tiger on the head. “Watch over the others.”
The tiger turned to him, and as he had with his wolf, he had a very distinct sense that the tiger understood him and even acknowledged him. The stone creatures had changed over time. Gavin supposed that he shouldn’t be terribly surprised, especially given what Zella had told him about how some of the enchanters had made improvements, but it was still strange to see. The first stone wolf he’d ridden had been powerful, and he had come to feel a sense of affection toward it, even though it was only made of stone. Maybe it had more to do with Mekel’s exposure to the enchantments. Either way, Gavin didn’t fully know.
They started off into the city, and Gavin looked back. The stone creatures lingered near the hillside and then walked away, gradually sliding back into the shadows.
He shook his head, then glanced at Gaspar. “I don’t care what you tell me. There’s something about them that seems almost alive.”
“That’s because they are skillfully made. Any skillfully made enchantment would make you feel that way.”
Gavin wondered if that were true or not. Although the speed and strength enchantments Olivia had given him were quite well-made, they were pieces of jewelry for him to wear. These were detailed animals that almost seemed alive. She’d even given him one that would let him communicate silently, though Gavin hadn’t had a chance to use it.
He felt similarly about the strange enchantments Alana made. Gavin still kept the paper dragon in his pocket, knowing it could offer protection. He’d seen it work one time, and it had been incredibly effective in defending them.
They headed into Loruv, which was different from Yoran. Whereas Yoran was composed of buildings made of moss-covered stone or nicely painted wood, these ramshackle buildings of cracked stone were jammed together, leaving debris piled seemingly at random. They were small structures, little more than a single room each. Gavin couldn’t imagine the people here or what they experienced.
This was where Imogen had come from?
Gavin continued moving. The buildings spilled on top of one another. Some were neater, as if the people who lived in them wanted some semblance of pride in their dwellings, but for the most part, they were crumbling and fading, little more than slums.
Imogen jerked her head from side to side as they made their way through.
“What do you expect to find here?” Gavin asked.
“Anything,” Imogen whispered.
He slipped forward, watching Imogen as he made his way alongside her. She didn’t look in his direction, but her hand drifted to the hilt of her sword. Gavin held on to the El’aras dagger, and he glanced over to see Theren sweeping his gaze around him. There was a frown on his face.
“What is it?” Gavin asked.
“This land is so different.”
“It suffered not long ago,” Gaspar said. “They dealt with the threat of a magical war more recently than other places.”
Gavin had seen cities like that before, though it had been a while. When he’d worked with Tristan, he had traveled through much of the eastern part of the continent, visiting cities he had never returned to since. There were memories in those places, but not all of them were good. Very few, actually. In most of those jobs, he’d been required to take a life, all because of what Tristan asked of him.
But he had seen the dangers of magic in many places. He recognized how that influenced a land, and he understood just how hard it could be on the people.
“I didn’t realize that,” Gavin said.
“What did you think was taking place with the kind of power she’s been dealing with?” Gaspar said. “They dealt with the magical war, much like Yoran. They suffered theirs years ago. She came for the hyadan, but while she was here, she did something else—something I don’t think she intended to, but that changed her. She trained them to handle sorcery, the same way she was trained to handle it. She thought she was doing good, wanting to help them avoid the dangers of dark sorcery.”
“Did they?”
Gaspar shrugged. “Who can say? She doesn’t like to talk about it. I have only pieced together little parts over the years, not enough to know much about that side of things. And I’m only telling you now because you’re here to help her.”
Gavin had been through many places where they had endured different magical rulers. It was not entirely uncommon. Where the cities suffered, the Sorcerer’s Societ
y tended to take greater hold, much more so than they did in other places.
There were some cities where they were welcomed. In those places, the Society tried to give off the appearance of a benevolent force, though Gavin knew it was anything but. There were some sorcerers who were nothing like those who wanted to rule, like the Triad or the Fates, but his experience had told him that those were rare.
The Society itself was dangerous, and something Gavin had made a point of trying to stay away from, not wanting its attention. All it would do would be to lead to difficulty for him, something he had enough of without involving the Society.
“Sorcery,” Theren said, glancing from Gavin to Gaspar. “How is it that you can handle such things?”
Gaspar chuckled. “Unfortunately, we don’t get to choose. We’ve struggled with sorcery, and some places find it more difficult than others. In Yoran, the people eventually rebelled.”
“It wasn’t just the people,” Gavin said.
Gaspar grunted. “Right. The enchanters and others who had magic also rebelled, and so did those who understood there were different ways they could know their connection to power. They understood that if they did not, they would never be able to use their power openly.”
“That they weren’t able to use magic openly was the entire problem,” Gavin said. “And—”
Gaspar shot him a look of annoyance. “You don’t know what it was like there. You might understand what it’s like in other places, but not there. You can’t.”
Gavin frowned. “Maybe not.”
Imogen shook her head. “The slums are new. When I was here, there were nicer buildings. Maybe not as nice as in some places, but still better than what’s here now. The people here resisted the Society, but not openly.” She looked around, and her gaze lingered on each of the small huts that were crammed together. “It was more like that northern city we visited. Nelar. This is different.”
Gaspar touched her arm, and Imogen looked over to him. There was more between them, which likely had to do with whatever Gaspar had done to help her. Gavin needed to hear the story of what had happened between them. He knew so little about Imogen, and now that he was here, he felt a growing certainty that the lack of knowledge was dangerous.
Imogen had started to open herself to him, but it was slow. They had become a team, after all, and it was time that he knew more about his teammate.
“We should keep moving,” he said. “We need to figure out if there is any sign of the hyadan here.”
And he wanted to do it with daylight still left.
The city was quiet. Imogen remained silent as they worked through the slums. The small huts were crushed against each other, one after another. Some were made out of wood, others made out of pieces of stone cobbled together, but all of them were falling apart, as if whoever had placed them here had known they would be temporary. He saw movement in the shadows near each of the huts, faces that appeared briefly before retreating, as though afraid to stay too long. The faces were haggard, dirty, and fearful.
Fear was a strange motivator that tended to make people react erratically, and Gavin had seen how it could drive people to act in ways they wouldn’t otherwise. Some ran in the face of fear, and others fought. He didn’t worry about those who ran, though enough people could pose a danger. What concerned him were those who thought to fight. They were the unpredictable element he had to stay alert for.
He nodded to Gaspar when they passed one section that was more derelict than the others. The buildings looked as if they were collapsing, and pairs of eyes peered out at them.
“I see them, boy,” Gaspar said.
“We should keep moving,” Imogen urged. “The entrance to the temple is not much further.”
Gavin frowned. “The temple?”
“I suspect that is where we’re going. It wouldn’t have been where the Muvarth gathered before, at least not most of the time, but considering what I see here now, I can’t help but feel as if that is where they have chosen to stay. It is an ancient temple of the Muvarth, the original inhabitants of the city—those I worked with. They had talent,” she said, adding the last softly as if it mattered.
They continued to wind their way through the streets, heading past ever smaller homes. Gavin could hear harsh whispers behind and around them, but every time he turned, he didn’t see anything.
The air stunk of the mass of people and filth and other things he couldn’t quite place.
Gaspar shook his head, looking toward Imogen before turning away and saying nothing. Gavin glanced over to Theren and found him smiling widely, the same way he had been ever since they had come to Loruv. In reality, Theren had not stopped smiling ever since he’d left with them on their journey.
“It makes me not mind the trees so much,” Theren said. “You see something like this and you start to realize that the lot you have isn’t quite so bad.” He laughed again. “Being stuck in the trees the way I am isn’t nearly so bad as what these people have.” He sneered a little as he said the word people.
Gavin looked over. “You don’t care much for them.”
“It’s not them,” Theren said.
“What is it, then?”
Theren’s smile flickered for a moment before solidifying again. “It’s just this place. All of it doesn’t feel quite natural, does it? Can you imagine being like this?”
“I’ve lived in places that were similar,” Gavin said.
“Really? And what did you feel about them?”
Gavin only shrugged. He had not enjoyed them. There had been a time after he had first left Tristan when he had lived in a simple hut in Bongan, a small city to the east, though not quite as poor as this part of Loruv seemed. He hadn’t possessed many belongings, but he had a skill that made him dangerous to others around him.
He had left Bongan the moment he could. As soon as he’d earned enough money, he had wanted to move on. If there was one thing Tristan had ensured Gavin had, it was employability. And he had used that skill set to make certain that he did not have to live in any place like this. There were too many other places where it was so much easier to survive and to thrive.
That was what it was about, after all. It wasn’t just about survival. That was easy, at least generally speaking. Thriving was much more difficult, especially in places where magic continued to make it harder to do.
He started to slow along one of the intersections, his gaze lingering down the street. Gavin could make out nothing other than the continued twisting and turning slums, though he was surprised there was a street here at all.
The farther they went, the more he questioned what else they might find here. Imogen had believed they needed to come to the city to understand the hyadan, and Gavin wondered if that was true. If all they had here were the slums, there might not be anything to find.
“Come on,” he said, motioning for Theren to keep up.
Theren nodded, and he picked up his pace.
They neared another street intersection, and Imogen paused. “I keep expecting to see something that might be familiar,” she said.
“How long has it been since you’ve been here?” Gavin asked.
He wasn’t entirely sure she was even going to answer, given her and Gaspar’s reluctance to share much with him about her past.
Instead, she turned and looked into the distance. It was darkened, and Gavin felt tempted to use the enchantment for his eyesight so he could see more easily. It seemed as if there were rows upon rows of slums, all connected by a narrow path.
“It’s been years,” she said finally.
“How many?”
“Enough that this hadn’t been here.” Imogen shook her head. “There were some buildings near the outskirts of the city, but nothing quite like this.”
She had taken another few steps when shadows separated from the nearby buildings. Gavin immediately reached for his El’aras sword. The five shadows were all small, lithe figures, even smaller than Imogen. They had dark hair with athle
tic builds, and they had slender blades unsheathed as they approached.
Imogen drew herself up. Her gaze drifted to an opening behind her. That had to be the entrance to the temple, which surprisingly looked to slope downward rather than up.
Something shifted within Imogen. Gavin couldn’t quite place what it was, but she seemed on edge in a way he hadn’t seen from her before.
But he thought he understood. She had come back to her people, but he had a feeling that she didn’t want to be back. She had left them after she had secured the keystone. What would they have done? How would they have reacted?
“I am Imogen Inaratha, First of the Blade,” she said.
“Oh,” Gaspar muttered.
“What is it?” Gavin asked.
“She announced herself.”
“You didn’t think she would?”
“I didn’t know what she was going to do,” Gaspar said. “There’s a difference between coming to the city and announcing herself once here.”
The figures collapsed in on her.
Balls.
Gavin darted forward, but Gaspar grabbed his wrist.
“No,” Gaspar said.
“What do you mean no? She needs—”
As Gavin watched, he realized he wasn’t entirely sure what Imogen needed. She moved quickly, whipping her sword in a series of patterns, all of them blocking anyone from getting too close to her. She was a blur of movements. There was something strangely fluid—and difficult to follow—in the way Imogen moved.
“Just let this be,” Gaspar said.
Gavin stood off to the side and watched. “It’s a test,” he whispered.
That didn’t necessarily mean it would be any less deadly. Gavin’s experience with tests like this had often ended with someone seriously maimed.
“She announced herself. Now she must prove it.”
“Prove that she is the First of the Blade?”
“Prove she remains worthy, I suspect,” Gaspar said.
Not only did the attackers move quickly toward Imogen, but in a concerted fashion. Two of them darted forward while the others snuck up behind, sweeping behind her and attacking in unison. The combined technique was skillfully done. This would be a fight Gavin would enjoy, but he had a feeling that this wasn’t just a sparring session.
The Paper Dragon (The Chain Breaker Book 5) Page 14