If this was Choan, then out there somewhere were his friends in Jhinn’s gondola. If he could get out of here – somehow – he could get to them.
Call on us! We will take you!
No. Better to do this himself. He hurried from the balcony, out into the passageway beyond.
He’d expected regular palace behavior – servants at work, Landholds strolling from place to place – or something. He hadn’t expected chaos.
This was worse than Yan.
Screams and shrieks filled the air as people rushed through the passageways with baskets, or random items clutched to chests or trailing behind them on the ground. No one here was injured or caked in mud or oranges, but the undercurrent of fear and turmoil was as thick here as it had been in Yan or Xin – worse. And no wonder with the dragon bucking and heaving beneath them and the palace gave way with every roll – plaster falling in chunks from the ceiling, whole rooms buckling as their ceilings collapsed. Far from the calm in the Great Hall, these passageways were ruled by panic.
Women clutching small children to their breasts ran with wild eyes while men held anything close to a weapon that they could find – as if you could fight a dragon the size of a city – or even this disciplined army of invaders with curtain rods and ornamental spears. But what else could they do with their world falling apart? He knew what it was like to grasp at straws on a narrow hoe of saving a loved one.
No longer afraid of guards, Tamerlan plunged toward the outer walls of the palace. If he could find a way out to the canals – well, that would be a start. The Grandfather was getting heavy and his knees felt weak under him.
By the time he’d made his way to the outer walls, his arms and back were aching. Sweat poured down his forehead. No one had commented on his captive. No one had stopped him. No one had seemed to even care – though compared to the fallen rubble and broken pottery in the halls, compared to the bodies he’d seen collapsed or heaped in corners in the halls – people injured in the shaking or hurt in the stampedes of their fellow man – the unconscious man he carried was hardly unique.
He pushed through a narrow door to the outer palace wall. He was going to have to climb a flight of steps to reach the top of the wall and be able to look out. Could he manage that? His legs were like jelly under him – like the stems of wilted flowers. He wasn’t going to make it.
He let his mind listen to the Legends. Maybe they would have a word of encouragement.
Smoke and we will help!
Would you get out of here?
It almost sounded like they were fighting. Their voices were strained and snappy.
Stop holding yourself back! Just call us over the Bridge!
Were they in pain?
He mounted the steps, struggling under the weight of the Grandfather. When he reached the top, the cacophony in his mind was so intense that he couldn’t make out individual voices anymore. Everything was pain, pain, pain. His head was going to explode.
It felt too hard to look out across the city. It didn’t help that the city seemed to roll and twitch as the dragon under it slowly woke. Pain made vision difficult. He blinked hard at the flowers of darkness that burst across his vision. Through the pain, he tried to find the canals, tried to trace them through fleeing people, battling groups, erupting fires.
If chaos had a name, it was Choan. If chaos had a homeland, it was the Dragonblood Plains.
Did he hear his name? It was hard to hear anything at all with his mind so full of screams, grunts, and shrieks.
In the distance, he saw the Fleet ships still creeping up the canals lighting everything they found on fire or sinking them beneath the murky water.
He stumbled forward, leaning against the lip of the wall, looking down into the moat.
He was seeing things. He was pretty sure of it. Stars of light burst between the flowers of darkness and between that and the confusion in his mind he didn’t know what his own thoughts were. He wanted to see Jhinn in the moat below. Wanted it more than anything. So, of course, that was what he was seeing.
Up on the lip! Push the Grandfather over!
That didn’t make sense, but it was the only clear thought he’d had in so long.
He pushed his burden over.
And then panic hit.
What had he done?
The man would drown, and it would be too late to rescue Marielle from the clock! This was madness!
He heard the splash of the Grandfather’s body hitting the moat. At least he’d hit water and not stone.
He struggled up onto the top of the lip of the palace wall, shaking as the wall rolled and heaved under him, and then stumbled forward into an awkward fall.
Would he be able to find the Grandfather with his vision faltering and his hearing gone? Would he be able to keep him from drowning?
This was all his fault. What a fool thing to do! Dragon’s blood in a cup, but he was a fool!
He hit the water hard, belly first, smacking his face and arms against the surface of the water. Everything stung as he fell below the thick, algae clumped water of the moat. His mouth was full of it, his nose, his ears. He couldn’t see anything.
Something tugged at him as he tried to swim further down to find the Grandfather.
He was losing his mind.
He’d failed.
He’d failed and he was going insane.
And he was just so furious. He’d been so close and then one stupid thought and he’d lost everything he’d worked for. Fool! Fool! Fool!
If he died down here, he’d deserve it.
He was stuck on whatever was tugging at him. Stuck!
Something yanked him backward and warm air hit his face. He sucked in a breath before he hit something hard again.
“Stop fighting me, boy! Stop!”
He was so insane that now he was imagining Jhinn, wet and slimy with algae. Anglarok by his side frowning angrily with the sodden Grandfather in his arms.
Something was jammed between his lips.
“Here, do yourself a favor.”
He pulled in a breath and the world began to spin.
36: Fight for Footing
Tamerlan
“Mer’s spit in a cup! Depths take us all!” Liandari’s cursing sounded both awed and horrified at once. “For the love of the brine, preserve us! For the love of the wind in sails, forfend!”
He blinked and his sight was clear again.
I’m here – for now.
Marielle! She stood him up so he could see. The whole gondola had moved with them – Jhinn, Liandari, Anglarok, Etienne and the Grandfather. They floated on the top of the water together. He hadn’t been seeing things. Jhinn had been there just under the wall on the moat.
He’s remarkably receptive to listening to requests from spirits. All I had to do was ask.
She’d brought him there to help. Marielle, that was genius!
But that wasn’t all, was it? The world still tilted and rocked wildly under their gondola, but the buildings around them were not the white army-filled streets of Choan. The streets around them were empty – except for burnt-out husks of buildings. What had happened to Choan?
I learned the Grandfather’s trick. This isn’t Choan. I’ve brought you to me – to H’yi.
Tamerlan cleared his throat.
Hurry!
And then she was gone from his mind, pushed out by another spirit.
I’ll take it from here, Deathless Pirate said, grabbing Tamerlan’s body and shoving Jhinn aside to seize the oar and begin to steer the gondola in the wrong direction.
No! This was wrong! Wrong!
His companions were staring at him open-mouthed – all but Jhinn whose eyes had narrowed speculatively and Etienne who was frowning in judgment. They knew what was going on.
He’s mine! Tamerlan stumbled as Lila took him over so forcefully that it was a wonder his mind was still in his own body. He leaned over the edge of the gondola and vomited, his belly upset from the sudden switch.
“He’s finally
gone mad,” Liandari said, worry in her eyes. “We need to put him down like a dog.”
“No!” That was Jhinn. “Give him a moment.”
There was a shove again and then Lila was gone.
I can’t hold them off for long! They want to have you. Hurry!
Marielle! She was fighting for him.
There had to be some way that he could fight, too. There had to be some way to stop being an innocent victim and start getting back some control.
I trust that you’ll find a way, Tamerlan. Keep fighting!
Tamerlan dropped the oar like it was hot, holding his hands up.
“I just need to get the Grandfather into the clock,” he said as the water beneath the gondola tipped, sending them speeding down the canal. The entire canal rose up and leaned toward the center of the city like a flowing river, spilling up over the shelf and into the streets which were usually high above the water. In the boat, everyone grabbed for something for support while Jhinn fought the current, grabbing the oar again, steering the gondola along the surge of water.
Liandari gripped the gunwales of the gondola with a fierce look in her eyes. “This dark magic ends now, Etienne. I don’t know where you’ve brought us or why you did it so dramatically, but this ends now. The world is ending! Do you not see it heave and roll beneath us?”
“I didn’t bring us here. And don’t you know that beneath the city lies a dragon?” Etienne said, face pale. “It’s waking.”
“Dragon?” Anglarok said. His eyes were wide with fear, but he clenched his jaw powerfully, unwilling to give in to it. “Here, too?”
Tamerlan ignored them, reaching into the bottom of the boat to lift the Grandfather to his shoulders again. He could see the clock ahead and whether it was a dragon propelling them toward it or not, he knew what he needed to do. He felt with one hand for his knife – still there. He’d be ready.
“What do you think makes the city shake and roll?” Etienne asked. “The dragon is lifting from where he slept beneath H’yi. And no wonder. No one has been walking the mandala. The ancient pact our ancestors made with the Legends to keep the dragons down is gone now. He is rising into the air!”
It was never a pact, Marielle said in my mind. It was forced on them. They were trapped into it. They didn’t choose this selflessly. Or at least, not all of them.
Who could force a Legend to do anything?
Who do you think? The unnamed one. The one who hates dragons with all his heart!
Was she saying that Ram the Hunter had trapped them as avatars to bind the dragons?
I love that you’re quick. You keep up.
But he didn’t have time to enjoy the compliment. They were nearly at the clock’s base. Jhinn steered them roughly toward where the steps – mostly underwater now – led up to it from the canal.
“I’ll try to stay here, but with these waves, I can’t promise anything,” he panted. He was holding the rail beside the steps, trying to keep the gondola against them as it bucked in the haphazard waves.
Tamerlan nodded and jumped up. He didn’t look back as he ran up the stairs with the Grandfather in his arms. His leg muscles screamed with effort.
The ground bucked under him, forcing him to one knee. He bit his tongue in the jolt and tasted blood, but he struggled up again, forcing himself upward, each step an effort in determination.
Behind him, he heard Etienne demanding that he wait. “You don’t have to do this alone!”
Marielle’s presence vanished from his mind at the same moment that he was taken over again.
Deathless Pirate heaved the Grandfather off Tamerlan’s shoulder, letting him fall heavily to the ground.
No! Not now! This timing was terrible!
“No one deserves to be caged!” Deathless Pirate drew Tamerlan’s sword, spun and lunged toward Etienne, but a sharp pain stopped him in his tracks.
He roared in agony as pain flooded Tamerlan’s mind. Deathless Pirate spun again to see Liandari pulling her sword back out of his thigh where blood poured down, soaking his leg. She’d come out of nowhere!
He leapt forward, but he was pulled back immediately, a thick forearm wrapping around his neck.
“I told you he was insane,” Liandari said coolly, wiping her blade on the edge of Tamerlan’s cloak as if he were a curtain or a rag. “I don’t know why you associate yourself with him.”
And just like that, Deathless Pirate was pulled away, flung out of Tamerlan’s mind like an enemy tossed away by a great warrior. He reeled from it, sinking into Etienne who had him by the neck.
“Easy Tamerlan, easy!” Etienne hissed between clenched teeth. “Fight this back or I’ll slit your throat myself!”
Was he seeing things, or had he actually seen Deathless Pirate pulled away and thrown back over the Bridge? Was he seeing him now as he fought Lila Cherrylocks, scrambling in unarmed combat with her like two drunks fighting in an alley? Or was he just going mad?
You see true. Chaos rules once more. And the dragons rise. Ram the Hunter’s voice echoed through his mind.
“Get the old man,” Liandari commanded as she bent to take the Grandfather’s shoulders in her hands. Anglarok stooped for his feet.
“When you put the old man in the clock, you must be careful,” Ram said with Tamerlan’s voice. “And you must be quick.”
“Shut him up,” Liandari growled. “I don’t take orders from the insane.”
“Come on,” Etienne said, pushing Tamerlan in front of him as they climbed the steps just behind the Harbingers. He was more gentle than Tamerlan had expected. “We started this thing together. Let’s finish it.”
Tamerlan felt ill. He could feel the other Legends tugging and pulling him even as Ram stayed in control of his body. He had to keep them at bay. He had to take control of himself. With all his might he pushed, sending everyone back over the Bridge. He was gasping for breath with the effort as they climbed step after step.
“If you ever touch that mixture again, I’ll kill you myself.” Etienne’s voice as grim.
“It got us here, didn’t it?” Tamerlan protested. What else could he have done? If there had been any other viable choices – any at all! – he would have taken them, but the only other choice would have been to give up. And Tamerlan wasn’t the type to give up.
The ground rolled under them as they reached the street above, and it took all their concentration to keep their feet. There was no looking back. No time for it. No energy for it. Anglarok and Liandari struggled up the steps, carrying the Grandfather awkwardly between them.
What would they do to escape this city once Marielle was out of the clock? Would she still be able to hop people through time and space?
No time to worry about that. Ram shuddered as he tried to get back into Tamerlan’s head. When he finally broke through, it was so sudden that Tamerlan’s eyes widened with surprise.
“When you open the door to put the Grandfather in and take the girl out, it opens a wide door for the Legends,” Ram said with his voice. “It’s a trap for fools. But it is also a way out for anyone clever enough to jump from the other side. You must all stand clear of the clock – as far back as you can. Don’t give them a way out! Make your minds tough! Concentrate on what you are doing and nothing else. Do you hear me? Nothing else!”
Liandari cursed and Anglarok shot him a worried look. They thought he was insane. But better that than to tell them the truth. After all, they were looking for the man who had opened the Bridge of Legends and if they knew that was him – well, they’d razed a city looking. If they’d do that to the people in their way, what would they do to the person who opened the Bridge?
They hurried up the last steps to the clock. Etienne’s grip was still tight on Tamerlan’s neck. The Grandfather was beginning to stir, babbling slightly as they reached the top of the steps.
He’d worked so hard to get here. He wanted to be here in person – not as an avatar for a Legend. He shoved mentally at Ram with all his might. The Legend fell away
and Tamerlan stumbled in surprise. How had that worked?
Hurry! Ram said as he was flung from Tamerlan’s mind.
Tamerlan had the strangest sensation of being able to see – though he saw nothing – and what he felt like he could see was a group of Legends charging the Bridge as Ram fought to defend it.
If he failed, Tamerlan would fight, too. He wouldn’t be their plaything. Not now.
They reached the bottom of the clock to where the ghostly Marielle winked in and out of existence as the pendulum passed through her.
A tingling sensation washed over Tamerlan as he drew closer. They were finally here. After everything that had happened, they’d made it.
“Don’t get sentimental on me now,” Etienne growled, loosening his grip on Tamerlan. “Just spit some of that blood running down your chin on that door and open it up!”
Tamerlan blinked at his words. Oh yes, it needed his dragonblooded blood to open it.
He spat hard at the clock as they reached the door, his blood spattering across it in a grisly rainbow as Etienne reached for the latch and pulled the door open.
“Let me go now, Etienne,” he asked calmly. “This is what I came here for.”
Liandari and Anglarok grunted as they stood the Grandfather up waiting to put him into the clock.
“I smell – magic. Powerful magic and terrible things,” Anglarok said in a pained voice.
But Tamerlan wasn’t looking at that. He had eyes for only one. There she was.
Marielle.
She was perfect.
Absolutely perfect.
Tamerlan stepped forward, pulling free of Etienne at the sight of Marielle’s delicate figure winking in and out of life. His eyes locked onto her, frozen in place – her lips slightly parted in surprise and one hand partially raised – inside the infinite time of timelessness. He’d drawn her face a thousand times. But he’d forgotten the exact turn of the corner of her mouth. He’d forgotten the dent in her chin that made his chest ache.
She was so beautiful – beautiful as the thousand upon a thousand sunrises seen by time, beautiful as an age of growing things, of calves birthed on mountains, of fish blooming in the wide sea. Her eyes held the sparkle of the ages, the light of life. She was hope. She was what he’d fought for, lost his mind for, given his soul for. She was everything.
Bridge of Legends- The Complete Series Page 59