Please note that this book was written several years ago and is largely unedited.
Sareti slipped a small dagger into her hair as was custom and stepped into the grand hallway. Her eyes widened momentarily but she quickly smoothed her face. I am used to this, she told herself, nothing is out of the ordinary. Eyes that were used to lavish carpets and tapestries followed her as she flowed down the black carpet. They think they are being discreet! She thought and suppressed a smile.
The wide hallway opened out, carpet becoming polished dark wood and the tapestries becoming ornate stands holding vials of spirit fire. She grimaced both at the number of people watching her and the source of the light. They flaunt their wealth in front of eyes that could be those of a thief.
She stopped to exchange greetings with those who would be rude to ignore but her attention remained on a man in purple robes, long hair tied in a dark bun like hers, with a short dagger through it.
She stepped from between the last two groups of expensively dressed couples and stopped before him. He turned his rough face towards her and froze, his company forgotten about. He glanced from side to side before stepping closer to her. Did he just do that so I would have to look up at him?
He put his hand on his forehead and dipped his head. Sareti mirrored his action. She suddenly wished for the sense of spirit fire coursing up through her but pushed it away, it was far too dangerous here.
“Sareti Ven,” he said, any sense of shock now suppressed, “I was not… expecting you.” His lips barely moved as he spoke, the sound barely loud enough for her to hear. She smiled at the unease in his tone.
“I just thought to thank you for your hospitality,” she said. “Of course, how did you get past the guards?” His eyes widened, “I didn’t mean that, you must understand that I am informed of every guest…”
“Of course,” Sareti said sweetly. She looked around the room as if judging his guests and continued, “You have quite a range of guests here, but I don’t see the king.”
“He was… busy,” Badsin said, stumbling over his words, “Busy with the duties of the king, I am sure.”
She almost grinned, in East Seshi she would never have managed such a manoeuvre without them seeing through it, now for the barb. “Tell me, I see many vials of spirit fire, but surely you have one of the biggest in the whole of Seshi,” she gestured to a long vial of swirling red fire hanging from the roof with gold chains.
“One of the biggest,” Badsin said, seeming to forget his misstep, “But definitely not the biggest, I am always searching…” He cut off, gaze swinging back to her, eyes narrowing.
“They are beautiful,” Sareti said quickly gazing up in wonder, only half faked, “the way they swirl around like they are alive.”
“Yes, but I must go, I have other guests I promised I would speak to,” he bowed his head to her and stepped back, quickly disappearing through the crowd.
Sareti could hardly contain her grin as she wove her way back through the huge room and into the corridor. She slowed in the hallway and swept down it as if she were in no hurry at all when her legs wanted to run and then slipped back through the door she had come through. Welcoming darkness enveloped her.
She leaned back against the closed door letting out a sigh and a grin spread across her face. It had never been so easy to trick nobles into mentioning the mysterious lost vial. The stories of a vial big enough that the user could reshape the landscape of Seshi would spill their words as they drooled over the thought of it.
The sound of a distant footstep rouser her from her slump and she let the spirit fire course through her, her dark skin glowing bright. She dashed off down the hallway, kicking off her shoes feeling the soft carpet through her feet.
This corridor was slimmer and shorter, leading to a set of spiral stairs that twisted out of view. A thin layer of dust coated the worn handrail and the stone steps. She shook her head in wonder, if Badsin had enough money to have carpets laid in unused hallways then he surely could feed the streets and streets of hungry people further down the city. Even in the East, leaders were not greedy with their money, things like that could be burned or stolen.
She froze. One set of footprints marred the dust, on every second step. Whoever had come here had been in a hurry. She proceeded with more caution, dimming her glowing fist so that she could just see. Then she reached the top, dust ending in a wooden door.
She pushed it open and stepped out into a well lit hallway, the glow vanishing from her skin. She froze. Across the black carpet lay two prone forms in polished scaled armour. Someone is here for the same reason I am, she thought, it was true that many of the more powerful nobles in West seshi were discreetly searching for this giant vial, it was possible that one of them had decided to make an open move.
Otherwise the hallway was empty, ending to her right and left with a window, the dark night just visible in the distance.
The first five doors opened onto empty rooms, full of furniture but empty of anything else, some with beds that might have been for guests.
She glanced to either side and bent down, pressing her hand to the keyhole. A glow began to show from the metal beneath and the smell of charring wood filled her head. Then there was a crack and the door swung inwards.
She drew breath. The room was lit. She sighed with relief when she realised that it was empty of people. She stepped inside glancing around. A tall bookcase lined one wall, the others panelled with stained wood matching a wide desk piled with papers haphazardly scattered across it.
The door thudded shut behind her as she stepped across the room in three short steps. She quickly began sifting through the papers. Nothing. She rounded the desk and emptied the contents of a drawer onto the floor. Nothing again. She grumbled in frustration.
“Looking for these?” Sareti almost jumped in shock. The voice came from a man no taller than she with dark skin and short black hair. He wore wide black trousers and a loose black shirt that was cut off just below the shoulder.
She jumped onto the desk sending papers flying, baring a long dagger.
The man raised an eyebrow and leaned against the wooden panels.
“What is on them?” Sareti said in a level tone.
“Something that you should not be looking at, information that is very dangerous, should this get into the wrong…”
“Shut up.” She jumped down from the desk and launched herself forwards, knife slashing where he had been. The floorboard under her cracked and she tripped sending her crashing against the wall.
“You will rouse the whole castle!” He said now sitting on the desk, tucking the papers into his shirt.
Sareti pulled herself to her feet looking around for her dagger. No matter, she had other weapons. Let him think she was unarmed. She stepped closer, feeling the floorboards as she went.
“Just let me see them once and we can both leave without the guards finding us.”
“I don’t think so,” the man said. She was sure he was grinning behind those mischievous eyes although his face was serene. “You see, the more people that know about what we are searching for, the more people are likely to die.”
Sareti stopped in her tracks, only two paces from the man. Close enough to… “What do you mean?”
He sighed before speaking, “If a noble or the king finds this ‘giant’ vial of spirit earth then the East will be wiped from the map, and if you or a leader finds it, this castle will be among rubble."
Sareti found her mouth hanging open but snapped it shut realising she had let her Eastern accent slip through. “How do you know all this?” She said, “And why do you care. This place is full of rich selfish people.”
“The east isn’t?”
She pursed her lips. Of course if she did find it then she would use it but not to destroy West Seshi, just the rich parts of it, she even felt sorry for some of its inhabitants, ignorant as they were.
“You might want to get out of here,” he said standing, “Being caught is bad enough but if they find out what you can do then I think you will find something worse than a cell waiting for you.”
He darted out of the room before she could speak, the door banging against the wall in his wake. She stood there staring at it for several moments before she heard the heavy footsteps from the hallway. She grimaced and glanced back at the papers. He would not have left anything useful behind.
She stepped out into the hallway. Spotting the running guards instantly, armour clinking. Despite herself she chuckled, the guards were carrying their boots as they ran. They dropped them as soon as they saw her and lowered short spears.
Sareti made for the end of the hallway where she hoped there would be another staircase. There wasn’t. She burst the last door open with just her momentum, the glow in her arm gone. An empty room, a table, two chairs and a hearth next to a small window. She made for the window but when a knife nicked her ear and clattered onto the floor she dived for the fireplace. My spirit fire is low, she thought. Blasting the window open would require more.
She kept her face turned away, she couldn’t let any of them recognise her. They fanned out into the room, long and unpractical spears pointed towards her. They approached her warily. In normal circumstances, more than two guards would not be needed, but someone in Badsin's quarters could easily be a trained assassin. She was more dangerous or at least she liked to think so.
She pushed her hand into the fire, letting the glow run up her arm and into the rest of her body until she was lighting the room just as much as the fire was. She looked up, if only they would just run. They had stopped, eyes wide. Then as one, they moved, long spears covering the distance quickly.
Sareti slammed her palm against the stone floor. She felt the explosion lift her off the ground but when she landed, the guards were lying prone against a very blackened wall. Along with the broken pieces that had been a table and chair. Several forms groaned, others didn’t move.
The door was gone, blasted back into the hallway, as was the window, letting in a cool breeze. She pushed her hand into the fire again which was only a few glowing embers now and made for the window. She slid through it with ease, dropping down the other side. Sareti pushed the glow down to her feet as she fell, hands scraping against the cold wall.
The dark ground came up to meet her and then a shock travelled up her body and she landed in a heap on carefully tended grass, echoes of her landing still bouncing off the castle walls.
She jumped up and ran away from the castle walls. She very nearly ran into a group of guards hastily making for the castle, drawn by the sound of the explosions.
She slowed as she approached a watchtower and a thick metal gate. The only break in the outer courtyard. The walls were difficult to climb, she had tried that already, no there was an easier way.
She produced a large key that was tucked behind the knife in her hair and slid it into the lock, then after levering it open and locking it behind her, stepped out into East Seshi.
West Seshi was quiet compared to East, over the other side of the estuary. Well at least in the wealthy part, with houses in neat lines, streets empty save for glowing street lights, glass spheres encasing swirling spirit fire. It almost felt sad to have it trapped like that, unused and slowly fading until they were replaced.
Of course, if they were not being used as street lights they would be used in killing eastern mercenaries. She supposed that she preferred them lighting streets. The fact that she didn’t know how they were made still irritated her them, she had no idea. She had tried herself, pulling in a spirit and putting it inside a glass container but it had just resulted in an exploding glass.
Sareti met nobody on the street for a long while before people began to appear out of the shadows, long flowing robes of black and grey. She suddenly felt exposed in her tattered dress, so she clung to the edges of the buildings as she walked.
As soon as she caught sight of a few people she leapt up and grabbed the closest second story windowsill, effortlessly pulling herself up and up until she was clambering up rough roof tiles.
She stopped on the ridge of the roof for a few moments to pull off her dress exposing a tight black shirt and short trousers with folds of black cloth sewn over it diagonally so that nobody would be able to tell what they saw was actually a human.
She slipped along the roof and jumping the short gap to the next one. She was in no rush so slowed as soon as the distant shouts of guards were blown away by the warm breeze.
Something moved in front of her and she let herself fall forwards, catching herself with her hands and pressing herself against the roof. Nothing moved for several moments until a shape, clearly defined as human with dark leatherbark strips, wound around them covering every bit of skin. Her breath caught.
An Otess! Anger surged up in her but was swallowed by the gaping hole of fear. She had only sene one twice since arriving in West Seshi although she knew that there had likely been more she had missed. But here was one crouching on the ridge of the roof barely twenty paces from her. It seemed to be staring across the street at a building there.
She turned her head slowly and followed its gaze. The house opposite was boarded up, windows covered although cracks of light seeped from one almost level with them. She frowned, Otess did not kill poor people, not usually, surely nobody who owned a house like that was worth hiring an Otess to kill them. Unless they wanted it done with no chance of it failing.
The Otess moved, striding down the roof in two paces and disappearing over the edge without a sound. She didn’t even hear it land but caught sight of it again briefly as it slipped through the door to the house.
She sighed with relief and pushed herself to her feet and began to move again. She always assumed that they were after her but then nobody should have anything against ‘Sareti Ven’ to send an Otess against her, unless some of the nobles had realised it was her, breaking into their offices and stealing everything they had on the giant vial.
She began to move along the roof and stopped glancing at the building again. If an Otess were going inside an abandoned house there must be something important there, someone.
Nothing to do with me, she thought, but what if it has something to do with the vial…
Before she knew it she was pulling herself up the opposite windowsill and straightening against the wooden boards that covered the opening. Sure enough there was a finger width of a gap at one side. Voices came to her ears as she pressed her eye up again the slit. She blinked at the dim light in the room.
The light came from a vial the size of her fist in the centre of a round table. Around it sat a dozen men and woman dressed in dark clothes, faces shadowed by cloak cowls.
“The Otess are being less discreet,” A woman’s voice said, “Why they killed a whole family that I was friendly with just two days ago.”
“A year ago that would have been unheard of,” a deeper voice said, “but now it is common.”
Sareti frowned. Otess killing a whole family? It was unheard of, they were employed to do a job, usually one or two deaths and that was that, but a family?
A murmur of agreement rounded the table and a different woman spoke, “Surely it is not a coincidence that the ‘family’ were instrumental in the king securing his role, he is in deeper water now, without them to back him he will have a more difficult time…”
Sareti wondered which family it had been. She had not heard of anything like that but then again the nobles were quite good at keeping news from lesser nobles and regular people. Once again she wished she had taken the role of a more powerful noble.
“I still don’t know if I agree with you though,” the deeper voice said, “the Otess would not meddle in the politics, they are just assassins, blasted things.”
Sareti’s eyes widened. Otess meddling in politics? That was just impossible.
“It is that or somebody is employing them very frequently to undermine the king and a handful of other powerful nobles here, I also hear that something similar is happening in the East, although they are all probably in league with the Otess, Eastern fools.”
Sareti bit her lip to stop from hissing.
“We are the only ones,” another man said, “we need to spread this information through the city, if what you think is true then we have a bigger danger than even the East trying to invade again, the Otess could provide a huge threat and we would not even realise until they controlled us.”
A low laugh rounded the room but the hooded people nodded. Something thudded from inside the room and the sound cut off. She felt a chill inside her as the door burst open revealing a shape wrapped in leatherbark strips.
The people screamed and drew long daggers from their belts and some from behind their cowls. But most of their slashes just glanced off the tough bark as the Otess moved among them like a viper. Cracks sounded and screams cut off as the Otess grabbed peoples necks and quickly twisted them.
Sareti pulled her knife free of her hair but stopped herself from bursting through the boards, the blades that punched into the hide and drew blood didn’t slow the Otess. She let out a small gasp of fear as she watched, frozen in her half crouch.
Within moments there was silence again and the Otess pulled a dagger from its side, the blood stopping almost immediately. She frowned. Surely that would have hampered it. Then its gaze swung towards her, locking on her. It darted for the door.
Sareti let out a yelp and jumped, landing with a crash on the street below, pavers cracking under her bare feet. A woman staggered back from where she had landed, a tall woman. “Run!” Sareti said but the woman just shook her head meeting her panicked gaze with a cool one. Sareti dashed off into the night, zig zagging through the city until her breath was so ragged she thought she might cough up her lungs. She then quietly slipped through a dark set of gates and up to a house, hidden in the darkness.
Sareti gave up trying to sleep and pushed the blanket off, careful not to knock the papers piled next to it onto the stone floor. Even though there was no torches this deep in the cellar a purple light pulsed in the room coming from a collection of wrangling vials on one wall, illuminating a narrow hall of a room.
Her desk was clear, papers that had been stacked on it previously now in piles, their contents imbedded in her memory. It only seemed to serve her frustration at losing what she knew would have been a new lead to a man that had made her feel like a fool.
She stood up and pulled on a pair of deep red trousers so wide that she thought she might fit several of her stacks of papers in them and a black coat that lay across the simple chair, cuffs so heavy with worked silver that she thought they were meant to keep her hands at her sides.
Although there was no draft here, with the only entrance shut tight, she shivered and opened the door to the main cellar, a think oak construction that looked on one side to be just another shelf.
The smell of old wine hit her. The woman who had previously owned the house must have stopped drinking the stuff for the remaining barrels were undrinkable and covered in dust.
She pushed the door shut behind her and light burst from her feet, illuminating only the stone steps under them. Through another thick door and into the main house.
Sareti shoved down the spirit fire and stalked through the expensively furnished hallways in the dim moonlight. Nothing moved so far as she could tell but who was to know where an Otess could hide unseen.
Don’t think about it! She thought gritting her teeth, they didn’t even know who she was, there was no reason for them to hunt for her anyway. Of course if she were the only person remaining who had been at that meeting, or had witnessed it at least that made her a target.
She shook her head, if only she could get a definitive answer to where this vial was hidden. Every lead she had found, stolen, had led her to dead ends. If only I knew what that man knew, she thought, that was if he knew more than her. Unlikely, she had spent months on the case, too many months.
“If you are hiding,” she called out, “Then I am waiting.” She gave a laugh that sounded too forced and found her way to the kitchen, a strange room full of cupboards and surfaces that were supposed to be used to prepare food on.
The remains of her first and last attempt to make some food still rested on an ornate plate. Instead she pulled a slice of thick bread and cheese from a stone box, the lid so heavy she had to heave it half way off to slip her hand in.
She returned to the room that most resembled her rooms in the East with comfy chairs and a low table, all except the huge windows giving her an admittedly beautiful view of the city below. Very stupid, she thought, windows like that were absolutely defenceless. She sat there for a long while before she realised that a glow had spread across the eastern sky.
She pulled on a waist length cloak that was also deep red and stepped into soft slippers. The footwear was almost as stupid as the windows and on every step through the dark garden she thought they might fall off but apparently it was not acceptable to wander through the city barefoot, this meant at least she could kick them off if need be.
She soon exited the small grove of mansions and dark gardens to enter the city for proper. Here the buildings stood next to each other, the curved roofs extending over the street to provide shade and rain cover, and also, she thought grimly , shadows for Otess hide in. A few dark figures between them moved into the street but she drew a long dagger from her curly hair letting it spill down her back. Without breaking stride she replaced it, the figures gone. She smiled, back home it was never so easy. The smile slipped when she remembered the Otess. They would not shrink back from a dagger, not even from a dozen, or two dozen, a whole room of people and not one of them managed…
She started as a somebody darted out from another alleyway, further down the street. Her hand went to her dagger but she stopped, hand on head when she realised that the figure was a young boy, maybe half her age.
She dropped her hand and waited as he ran up to her.
“I am sorry my lady,” he said, averting his eyes, “I did not mean to disturb you from your walk but I was to deliver a note.”
“Who from?” She started but the boy was already disappearing into the alleyway. She sighed and stepped under a pulsing red lamp. Spirit fire. It was strange how they treated those like her with contempt as animals yet they used their abilities everywhere.
She unfolded the rough parchment and read it. I apologise for the inconvenience I caused you, it read, it is much too important. CASTLE MERHN. Tonight.
Sareti read it several times more and then crumpled it in her fist, before dropping the ashes to the street, “As if I would fall for that,” she said out loud. There was no doubt who had sent the note, but he surely was trying to trick her into a false lead, she had broken into Castle Merhn before, and had found it empty of anything of importance. Unless there was something I missed. “I am not an idiot,” she said loud enough that it echoed off the walls, glowing now with the sunrise.
She set off again no longer caring if her walk befitted a noble or not, anybody who commented would regret it.
The view of the harbour brimming with tall masted ships of all shapes and sizes improved as the street began to slope more steeply. This time in the morning the West felt like it was holding its breath. Few people moved this early and she saw no sign of a patrol of city guards, not yet. There hadn’t been any large scale fighting for at least the last few months.
Eventually she reached the correct street that branched off her own and followed the narrower one in between two large inns. It opened up into a large training ground where noises of guard drills were being shouted out and the thudding feet seemed drummed through her head. The building at the end of the drill yard was long and wide roofed like most this side of the estuary although it only covered two stories. She strode right up to the main entrance and pushed her way inside, the scaled guards to either side not even bothering to ask whom she was. If they really knew who I am then they would have a fit.
As soon as she stepped inside two younger woman fell in beside her without a word and flanked her as she walked down the hallway, bare of even the most basic furnishings save for a huge desk at the far end and many heavy doors shut tight.
A middle aged man sat behind the desk and looked up as they approached. He grimaced and didn’t try to hide it but held out his hand anyway. She slipped a metal plaque into it which he glanced at before almost throwing it back to her.
“Take her up.” He hesitated, “Any reason why you visit Venar so often?”
Sareti just turned and strode to the closest door without checking the guards were there, in what she hoped was a good enough impression of a noblewoman.
A few moments later she was standing in front of another door. The guard put a hand on her arm to stop her opening it and opened it herself stepping in and out before letting her past. She entered an office that was a stark contrast to the hallway outside. Bare stone walls and cold floors had been replaced with dark stained wood, a tall bookcase and another large desk. Where the rest of the building had been barely furnished the room was full of clutter, stacks of papers, old chairs and even a few lamps although there was no need with large windows letting in the morning sunlight.
“Venar,” she said bowing her head.
“Sareti Ven,” he said stiffly and waved his arm at the guards by her side. A moment later the heavy door clicked shut. “What brings you here today,” he said. He sank back into his chair and began fidgeting with a pure black quill, not seeming to notice that he was bending it.
Sareti pulled a chair from the side of the room that might hold her weight and sat down opposite him, resting her hands on the table. “You know why I am here,” she said forcing him to look her in the eyes.”
He sighed and placed the quill in its holder, folding his hands as if to stop them from moving. “Of course, you want another lead. Sareti, these leads are difficult to find, if anyone traces them back to me, well I might meet the same fate as if…” he gestured to her, “as if I can wrangle fire.”
“Don’t talk about that,” she snapped and he flinched, his chair creaking. She gritted her teeth, if anyone overheard her asking about the weapon they might find someone following them, if someone heard that she could wrangle fire then she would have half an army and a dozen water wranglers holding her death warrant. “Do you have anything new?” She said forcing her voice level.
“New?” He laughed, sounding forced, “Nothing new, what happened with the last lead I helped you find?”
“Do you know if anyone else is looking for the weapon?”
“Of course there is,” he said frowning, “Almost every powerful noble has people searching for the thing, in the estuary and around the city.”
“Not like that,” Sareti said, “Do you know if anyone is also doing what I am doing, breaking in to steal the information.”
“I… I don’t know, Sareti I have helped you a lot and you haven’t even told me what the thing you are searching for really is other than it is important.”
She pursed her lips pushing down the guilt. He didn’t know it but if she found it what she did with it would help people here too, well some of them at least. “I am the one risking my skin out there, just last night I was almost caught by the guards, and you know what will happen if I am caught.” He paled. Of course he was sure that if she was caught someone would trace her nightly activities back to him.
“I don’t know anything about somebody like you,” he said sighing again, “I have had reports come through of such happening but unless they are with you they must be very good at what they do.”
“That’s just it,” she said, “I reached the room I wanted to find last night and instead found that it had been ransacked already, and he was still there. He taunted me with them before he left. I was too busy trying to escape the guards to follow him.”
“I think this is more about your pride than the lost papers,” Venar said a slight smile that reminder her of him before he had come to the west. But of course he could not have been what she had thought he was if he had decided to come here.
“Yes and no,” she said biting back a retort, she needed Venar’s help, or it made things easier for her, “But what if I find that everywhere I go now, he has already been, what if the information I have already found was left by him.”
“That is unlikely,” Venar said, “But not impossible, you need to accept that you will have to break into the King’s palace at some point. Even though I know nothing of his research into the weapon, if there is anywhere that holds information about it this side of the estuary, it is that place.”
It was Sareti’s time to sigh. Not yet, she thought, I am sure there is something I am missing before I try that. In truth she didn’t want to break into his palace, it was almost certain she would not escape.
“There is something else,” Venar said and she looked up, “If you want to outsmart this man, follow him, find a way to steal his information. The easiest way to find what you want to know is to find where he keeps his information…”
“Perfect,” Sareti breathed standing up, the chair almost tumbling backwards on its wobbly legs, “Thank you.”
Venar almost smiled but instead shook his head, “Sareti, don’t get yourself caught, he is likely working for another noble and is probably very dangerous.”
“I won’t give them your name if I have to cut my tongue off,” she assured him but he shook his head.
“Look after yourself.” He pulled another pile of papers across his desk and began to study it as if she were only another of his chairs. Sareti shook her head in wonder before stepping out of the room to be flanked with guards again. It was surely the first time he had worried about her and not his own skin.
A while later she was pushing open a set of heavy gates and walking through her slightly overgrown garden up to a wide house of swooping rooflines and polished columns. Being secretive meant not employing servants and since she only ate in the main house there was little cleaning to do anyway. So long as nobody comes for a look, she thought with a grimace. Even so she walked with a spring in her step.
It isn’t about my pride, this man really will have a wealth of information stored somewhere, she thought, or at least the noble he worked for would. She couldn’t imagine a noble sneaking about another nobles castle.
She hung her short cloak on a peg, realising her hand was white with ash. I don’t need your help, she thought, or your traps. Now for her to set her own trap. She tramped down the stairs to the stone basement, kicking off her slippers as she went relishing the freedom of her skin against the cold stone. She sometimes wished for a day when she could wear what she liked without seeming out of place. It was also a practical reason as well, wrangling fire needed your skin to work and it only made it difficult with heavy clothes on.
She pushed open the door to the basement and entered the long rough room. She wasn’t sure if it had been to store valuables, even vials as it did now but it was useful, even if she could not use the vials already being a wrangler.
The blue light from the spirit water vials and the red light from the spirit fire vials seemed to merge and almost swirl through the room. The single vial at the end, the only one that was ceramic and did not glow, was the most valuable but equally useless to her. If she could use it, she could have a larger office, for it was an earth vial, just like the weapon she searched for was. That was almost all she knew of it and its uses.
The only earth vials she had ever seen were like this, still with dirt stains from where they had been dug up on one of the estuary islands. Of course that was because there was no earth wranglers, at least there had not since the city had split and therefor no new vials. The one she held now, as long as her forearm and as thick as her fist had belonged to her father, had been found by him. He had joked about using it to help unearth an ancient building he had been studying but that was a wasteful use for it, they were more valuable than most houses. She set it down carefully and and the memories rested with it.
Sitting at her desk, she pulled out her smallest stack of papers. Those on top were her own copies, put together of all the locations of the earth vials that various nobles had found. She set them to one side and sifted through the rest of the stack, the individual reports. She picked out two and then another at random and stood. If she were to lure in her bait then she must make it worth it for him.
He could have been in the house before, she thought, he would know that she was not really what she said she was. True her name was the same but she was on the wrong side of the estuary.
Sareti sat with the papers and a mug of hot wine from a small cask that was propped on top of one of the surfaces. She finished it and dropped the papers to the table and stood up, fetching her cloak and slippers which still lay on the steps and left the house. I hope you are watching, she thought wryly as she ducked into the unkept hedge at the bottom of her garden grunting at the thorns catching her curly hair and loosing a black strand to fall across her face.
She didn’t have to wait long for she saw movement as a cloaked figure rounded the corner of her house and pushed open the door, frowning at it for a second. Of course she thought, I have never left it open before. He was gone for a while but eventually reappeared and disappeared around the house. Got you! She grinned and untangled her hair before almost running around the side of the garden just in time to see him step out into the street.
She followed him into the city. She frowned as he ducked into one of the poorer streets where a layer of filth covered the pavers and people watched behind half opened doors. Surely he worked for a noble and there was surely no nobles in this part of the city.
Although the man occasioned a few look, many stared at her with angry eyes and doors were shut at the sight of her. She gritted her teeth, if they gave her away…
The man almost rounded the city from narrow streets to the docks and them back up through the gardens of the mansions before… Sareti stepped out into an open area in front of a huge building, a castle. She groaned as the man was let though the gates by the guards. A trap indeed, this was Mehrn Castle, the one from the note.
I have to follow his note after all, she thought grimly turning around, no wonder she had found nothing here. If this man had any sense he would not follow the lazy habits of those he stole from.
Tayella hurried along the dark street. She was late, and she was never late. She pulled her cloak around her, the tight clothing underneath did little to keep out the cold. She resisted the spirit water surging beneath the surface of her skin, there was a time and a place for that, and it was not in an open street where anyone could see.
Finally she reached the building at the end of the street, only one street away from the estuaries edge. Thankfully the moon was not out so the crossing should be easier.
She pushed open a door after knocking twice and made sure to make her arrival obvious. The last time she had forgotten, she had found herself bruised and tied up until they had realised who she was. It had been sore way to find out that her security was tight.
The hallway was pitch black but memory carried her along it, right and then through another door. The room was huge but mostly empty. In the middle were three simple chairs where a middle aged woman sat, richly dressed, pale skin and hair showing from beneath a wide cowl. She couldn’t remember this woman coming from the west but she certainly wasn’t eastern.
The other person in the room was a man, around twenty who wore tight clothing like her and a mottled cloak over his shoulders. His dark face and brown hair mostly hidden by a deep cowl. His glowing hand illuminated the room, a deep red that pulsed just under the dark skin.
“Tay! Finally, It has been a while, are you sure you don’t have the cold daggers?” She chuckled pulling on a different cloak, like his which would blend in better.
“Cold daggers? I haven’t heard that one in a while, reminds me of the time when you wouldn’t…”
He cut her off with a wave of his hand, sending shadows swinging around the room.
“Finally,” the woman on the chair echoed, standing up, a band of cloth covered her eyes but it didn’t seem to affect her like it did with almost everyone. A westerner then. The attitude was most definitely a western noble. She ground her teeth but didn’t react. She would not be baited by a noble.
Instead she said, “It isn’t often we have the likes of you with us.”
The woman raised her eyebrows and stepped closer. She seemed to loom slightly even though Tayella was a good half-head taller than her. “I didn’t think your sort minded unless you got your moneys worth.
She opened her mouth but Hase cut her off, pulling the woman away from her.
“Hase…” Tay started but he had already put his face level with the woman.
“Shut up,” he hissed, “You will not speak like that, or at all, it is not just your life at risk here.” The woman pursed her lips so she could give him credit for that.
She let Hase take the lead. It was safer that way, more difficult for people to work out who owned her illegal business venture. Both the west and all of the eastern factions knew about the crossings of the estuary, the west couldn’t do much about it although they tried their hardest to disrupt it and the east would never openly accept it but every faction leader and their associates liked the service when they needed it for themselves.
Hase slipped a brace around the woman’s hands stopping her from reaching for any weapons that she might be hiding and led the way out of the room through the same door. Again they walked in darkness until a door opened out onto a narrow canal street.
The boat was slim and long, with Hase at the front and the woman behind.
Quietly they all slipped into the low seats and Tay slid her hands into the water. The familiar sensation of spirit water flowed up her arms and over her skin. Then they began to move without the need of a pole or oars, just her hand in the water.
She didn’t really know how she did it but it did work because they slid past island after island and past some of the last sentry towers without hitch. But that was the easy bit. Unfortunately the mist wasn’t low tonight so if the moon appeared then they would be seen quite a bit away.
They picked up speed and soon the wind flapped her clothing. She pulled her hand out of the water as soon as the glow from the Betrayer’s walk became multiple lights and they continued moving. Their passenger sat silently in the centre of the boat gripping the side.
They passed out of the city and into the islands that protected the city from the biggest waves and hid the sight of the western wall. A dark structure loomed out of the islands far to the right but she kept her eyes from it. The Otess stronghold always made her shiver however many times she saw it.
“Hase,” she said, “Now!”
Hase, barely visible in front of her suddenly glowed and there was a hiss as he leaned over the side and steam rose around them. She made them go faster, now completely unable to see and relying on her memory. Then the mist faded.
The wall loomed out of the darkness, a tall formidable boundary between the water and West seshi. She wondered what would happen if she could not get back. It was a silly thought, she would not last long. Maybe Sareti would tell her about it when she returned. Most likely horrible stories about their cruel ways. Completely different from the East. Sometimes the stories she heard from people about the west made her question if the west was actually full of people and not just Otess.
The wall got bigger and bigger until it was all they could see looking forward. The boat slowed, without Tay to propel it along and came to a stop less than a pace away from the wall. Waves now rocked the boat where before it had not, a slight benefit. Thankfully their cargo knew enough to keep silent.
It was huge, and almost unclimbable, almost, for she was about to do it. Hase passed the end of a long rope to her and grasped her arm in for a long moment. She grasped his back with a smile. As she unclasped her cloak letting it fall.
She looked up one last time but everything was still and so she let her cloak fall from her shoulders and pushed herself out of the boat and into the water. To begin with the water was cold but then she felt the familiar rushing sensation of the power. She could almost feel the current that would take her out into the ocean.
She let herself lie on her back and gathered her thoughts. Concentrating hard she willed the coating of water than she could feel like a garment over her skin join with the water beneath her and she began to rise out of the water. Up and up she went, the sound of water swirling beneath her a gentle gurgle. She only got to around five paces up before she lost the sensation of power. And she wobbled looping the end of the rope around her arm.
She swayed towards the wall and latched onto it, searching with her hands for the familiar stone. There it was. She grabbed onto it and slipped her feet into the cracks. She let out a quiet sigh when she let the water holding her up go.
Up Tayella climbed, slowly and methodical. The tips of her fingers glowed slightly lighting the narrow gaps but she almost didn’t need that. Had it always been this long? She put her hand on the last stone and peeked over. She could barely see the outlines of the guards standing stock still.
These were night guards, who stood straight in their painted black armour until a low drum beat was heard then they would move along one position, around ten paces. The problem was that the beat was completely irregular and unpredictable. Although it must be repeated to cover the whole wall. Maybe if she could find out what the pattern was she would have a much easier time.
They were formidable, facing out into the estuary but their real defence was how quiet they were and how well they could hear because their hoods covered their eyes obviously to try and make them listen. Every few however had no hood.
She was impressed every time, this was the reason why the East had never gained ground on the West. Figuring out their pattern could result in the East completely taking the wall. It might even be more effective than Sareti’s mythical weapon. She shook her head and set about attaching a small pulley to the wall and then wrapping the rope around it.
The rope after a few seconds went taught but thankfully didn’t creak like some did. She had learned to avoid those ropes the hard way. He pointed to the guards who suddenly moved and then to her and down. She shook her head. If she was getting people to do this she had to at least make sure it was still working as it used to do. She pulled herself over the edge and slipped through the gap between guards in her soft boots. She unwrapped another rope around her waist as the drum beat sounded again and let it drop over this side of the wall. She then tied it around the stone at this side and slipped back across. She waited patiently and a few minutes later Hase peeked over the top.
Hase shook his head but tied the end of the rope around his waist and let himself back down. His weight was enough that it would pull the woman up and sure enough another few moments passed and she was pulling the woman over the edge and set her down. She then removed the winch and threw it as far away from the wall as she could, the rope disappearing after it.
Now this was the dangerous part. She lifted the woman onto her back, bracing herself with water when the guards moved again, she crossed the parapet. She removed the woman’s blindfold although that would do little good and passed her the slack of the rope. The woman disappeared. She waited until the rope was slack and was about to let it fall when a distant thud sounded and then another and another. She strained her eyes, crouching down. There was just enough light to see dark shapes clearly human moving between the guards. Otess! The thought curdled her blood and she bit back a yelp. Then something emerged from the wall where she had been about to cross to, another dark shape.
It began to move towards her. How can it see me? She thought then she noticed the glow in her hands around the end of the rope. She could feel the sensible part of her screaming nooooo but before she knew it she was sliding down the smooth rope. Her feet touched the ground.
Not so difficult. What now? Of course that was the easy bit. She looked around. Long and low warehouses loomed in front of her in the darkness but further up the slight slope lights began to show. The end of the rope tugged and she looked up. A dark shape was sliding down it. She pulled out a long dagger from her hair and let the blond hair spill out. A cloak lay on the ground and a blindfold. She picked up the dark cloak and swung it around her shoulders and ran.
Her heart pounded in her chest as she darted down a street and crouched in a dark doorway. All was silent. Then something moved further down the street, passing her in the opposite side of the street’s shadows.
Shouts erupted from the wall and a bell sounded in the distance. Is this my chance? She glanced up the bare street. Far in the distance a reddish glow lit the street but here was just darkness. I can see it another time, she thought and reluctantly turned.
Tayella padded down the street and crouched at the corner, the rope a bare fifteen paces, swaying in the moonlight. Above dark shapes clashed so wildly she couldn’t tell what was happening.
Tayella darted across the street and pressed her back against the cold wall and waited for the sound of a guard noticing. Stop stalling! She thought and turned to the rope but it had moved.
“Missing something?” A voice hissed from the shadows. Somebody stood there, the rope held away with hand. She struck out without realising, a short dagger clutched in her fist.
She cried out as the figures arm cut down, the dagger clattering to the ground. Tayella yanked her arm back with a grunt of pain. She drew a second just as the figure caught itself in the moonlight. Sareti yelped and jumped back the knife falling from her hands.
The figure bore a skin of dark strips and followed her every lurch backwards with a smooth movement. Tayella turned and… something caught her foot and she slammed into the pavers.
“Help!” She cried trying to turn but an iron hold lifted her from the ground and slammed her back down. Screaming she tore herself from its weakening grasp and lurched away from it.
She froze. A second figure slammed the Otess into the wall with a glowing forearm.
Tayella grabbed the rope and without a backwards glance and swung herself onto the parapet. She scrambled across it, tripping over armoured corpses and threw herself from the wall.
Thankfully, instinct made spirit water coat her body. When she hit the water she plunged down with barely any resistance and suddenly the coolness hit her. In this deep part of the estuary it didn’t really get warm unlike the shallows around the islands.
She surfaced, spluttering and shivering although not from the cold. She looked around but nothing seemed to move. Then she caught a glimpse of a boat, slowly making its way towards her, a lone oar pushing it along. She waited until Hase picked her up, panting.
He didn’t speak but helped her up and wrapped her in a cloak. She stuck her hand in the water and they went gliding away from the wall. They didn’t speak even though she was dying to, for speaking here was incredibly dangerous. In the past she had almost been caught by a patrol boat full or mercenaries and another time found herself in the middle of a raid. This was different.
They passed back through the islands without fault. She wasn’t sure they even needed the misty steam to cover them, with things calming down between the two sides over the winter there was less of a need to watch, but soon they would be heightening watches.
A few minutes later she passed the first houses and then they were back in the narrow street again and climbing out of the boat. Hase didn’t speak until they were back inside the empty room again and he was taking off his cloak. He turned to face her.
“Tay, tell me what happened up there, There were boats further along the wall, and even very close, I managed to keep hidden but what were they?” He thankfully didn’t look angry, just worried.
“The Otess,” she breathed trying to stop shaking, “The Otess were crossing the wall, maybe ten, but maybe less. I had to escape them, and so I went down the rope.”
“The Otess,” he spat, “Inhuman monsters, did they try to kill you?”
“Yes,” she said slumping in one of the chairs, not bothering to take off her wet clothing, it was supposed to dry quickly anyway, “but a water wrangler helped, at least as far as I can tell and I got away.”
“A westerner helped you?” Hase shook his head, “You must be imagining things, but I am glad you are safe.”
Of course you are, she thought, if I had died, then who would pay you. Hase stepped closer to her and crouched down on his heels as if he had read her thoughts. “Tayella, I do care…” he stopped and patted her on the shoulder then froze.
“A blindfold?” He shook his head and turned away.
Tay tried to open her mouth but the words didn’t form.
“You stepped onto the West, didn’t you?”
“I did,” Tay sighed heavily, “But I had no choice.”
He nodded and stood up letting himself out of the door without a backwards glance. Is he angry after all? She thought then shook her head, sometimes he was as alien as the westerners. Still he was by far the best wrangler to work with. She had not even seen another wrangler in more than a few months.
I always end up working with Hase, don’t I, she thought with a frown. Of course it just makes the most sense, he was the newest, even if he had been there a few months.
Hase sometimes sat outside to wait, or at least he used to but the street was empty, the lights illuminating only shiny water and dull cobbles. She felt a twinge of disappointment course through her but she ignored it. Quietly she trudged home. There was a boat there for her but for some reason she felt the need to experience the pressing darkness.
A while later she pushed through another door, this one twice the height and bowed her head to the dozen guards. She didn’t bother to put dry boots on and just discarded the wet ones on the floor.
Half a dozen flights of steps and a long corridor later and she was sitting on the windowsill of Torin’s office. Shifting the glowing vial to a chair, careful not to drop it. How can he just leave these things lying about?
“Didn’t go well did it?” He said not looking up from the papers on his desk.
“Not exactly.”
“Let’s hear it then.” He looked up and met her eyes. Staring into them made her tired. It was worrying that he was always up at this time in the night, it was probably not far from morning. She would suggest that she help but… No she already did enough and besides she was terrible at the things he had to do.
“It went okay to begin with but I was held up on the other side of the wall with an Otess.”
“An Otess?” Torin coughed and looked up at her again, “you mean to say that you were in a fight with an Otess on the other side of the wall?”
“But why would the Otess be swarming over the wall like that, I though they were just assassins, I have only ever seen one before, in the distance for a moment.”
His eyes widened slightly as if he had just thought of something.
“What is it?” Tay asked, stopping pacing for a second to meet his eyes.
“The Otess… Its just that they have been more active recently, the tensions here are rising, no leaders have died yet but if they do, I fear that the East will turn on itself.”
“That won’t happen,” Tayella said frowning, “Not while they are still fighting the West.”
“That’s just it,” Torin said, “Kai said that they have been drawing in their mercenaries as if they are expecting it.”
“Otess and Politics don’t mix, they are killers. If you are suggesting the Otess…”
Torin waved his hand, “Maybe, maybe not, it is just something that I have noticed. She could now see dark circles under his eyes. She wondered how much he had been sleeping recently, not a lot by the sight of him, slim cut coat crinkled.
“What if they are after Sareti, she might be in danger. If anyone has figured out that she is infiltrating…”
Torin suddenly slammed the papers on the table with a growl. “Sareti. It always comes back to her. I am going to bed, we can talk about this tomorrow.”
“Torin…” It was too late, he had already left the room. Mentioning his sister always affected him badly but Kai hadn’t been back from work in at least a week, that must be what he is worrying about. If I don’t mention her, everyone here will forget about her, she thought with a sigh but then was that such a bad thing?
Something caught her eye on the desk. Everything was the same handwriting. It shouldn’t have been strange but as she looked closer she realised that everything that had previously been on papers in Sareti’s hand was now in his own. She stood up straight, it was none of her business. Why do I even try and defend Sareti, I don’t like her.
She turned towards the door but curiosity turned her back to the desk and the next minute she was busy sifting through the papers. Sure enough he had gone to the trouble of rewriting everything although she couldn’t tell if he had changed anything. She moved to the shelves and it was the same there. What are you doing Torin? She thought, erasing her influence will not change who she is.
Then she found a paper that hadn’t been changed, tucked into the bookshelf along with a file of more papers. Sure enough it was Sareti’s handwriting. She looked closer and gasped. Where had he gotten these? The sheet was a map, roughly drawn and detailed clues of the whereabouts of various earth vials that had been found in the estuary islands and what had been done with them. Why would Torin be looking at these sheets? He had said many times that the weapon was a myth, why had he suddenly changed his mind?
Underneath her drapes of black cloth Sareti tucked in thin daggers for throwing. She was not the most proficient with accuracy but she was walking into a trap and carrying a spear would just be silly. Same with those long bladed knives that some of the nobles wore, the blades awkward to use.
Another more ornate knife held her hair up. She turned away from the reflective pane of glass and stepped out of the washroom as she wrapped a thin rope around her waist. She glanced around but nothing had moved. If she had not watched the man steal into the mansion and leave again she would never have guessed that he had been there.
The papers on the table still lay there where she had left them. As she crossed the wooden floor. Whoever he worked for, he was good at leaving no trace, just a shame he was bad at loosing someone following him. Unless he meant to lead me there, she thought, he had left a note telling her to go there.
Slipping out the door and around the house where deep shadows hid even her hands from her, she pushed her way through a hole in the fence and into the wide street.
Here it was lit by the occasional suspended vial, encased in thick glass and a web of metal that ensured it was not stolen although the light was muted now for a warm mist had rolled in off the ocean.
The street was empty, and only hedges lined the pavers with an occasional gate. She followed the street along the hill until the buildings no longer had gardens and were built tall rather than wide. Here the mist shrank back and people moved about. She ducked into the shadow of the last hedge just in time for a band of soldiers marching past. It seemed that with nothing happening in the estuary they were being used in the city.
She almost laughed at their armour for it looked silly. Instead of metal scales wooden ones were used, she supposed so that it would float and not sink in the estuary but on land it still looked stupid. They passed without even glancing her way, spears held upright as if their presence was weapon enough. She climbed the side of one of the buildings, easily slipping her fingers into the cracks and pulling herself up onto the curved roof fifteen paces or so above the ground.
The roofs were slippery with water as she quietly crossed one and then another, sometimes leaping down a small drop or scrambling up as the heights of the buildings changed, gradually though they got taller. She did not even have to think about where she was going for she had come this way before when she had first searched the castle. I hope I find something useful, she thought crouching on the edge of the last building in the row.
Down below in the space between her building and the castle wall was full of people and was flooded with light from many torches held by guards in different colours, not city guards but nobles’ guards. A party, she thought, of course it was not uncommon. It was a good thing actually, likely the upper levels of the towering building behind the wall would be mostly deserted, with every servant busy seeing to the guests.
The castle itself stood out from the others. Instead of curving rooftops and wide eaves it was all hard lines and tiny slit windows. A remnant of a time before even the ancient city had been there, all the castles supposedly were.
She took a deep breath and stepped off the edge. She plummeted towards the pavers, folds of black cloth flapping. She pushed her spirit fire to her bare feet and they glowed brighter than any torch. The guards and nobles below her didn’t even have a chance to look up before she hit the ground.
For a moment she felt the stone beneath her bare feet crack and shatter and then she shot into the air, spinning around and around. Desperately trying to rich herself she slammed into the wall, grabbing on with her fingers.
Down below people were screaming and running away from the place where she had hit, a five pace wide circle of shattered pavers. She grimaced and pulled herself up, hoping that nobody had seen where she had landed and pulled herself over the edge of the wall.
Guards shouted but she had already jumped off the other side, landing on more pavers before sprinting towards the castle. The castle was likely the most defendable fortress in Seshi excluding the Otess stronghold of course, that was something else. With no windows on the outside big enough to even fit a hand through and the only entrance heavily guarded and checked she began to climb the wall.
For a long time she climbed, her hands and feet numbing until she could barely feel them. She didn’t look down for it would only make her dizzy. Then she felt the edge of the roof. She swung out and pulled herself up lying back with a sigh of relief.
Something cracked above her and she pushed herself to her hands and knees. A shape disappeared over the edge of the roof. Her heart beat faster, the figure had been slim. An Otess? She thought but shook her head, surely not.
She crawled up the straight roof to the ridge and peeked over. There was nothing. I must have been seeing things, she thought, a bird perhaps. The thought didn’t do anything to calm her heartbeat. Down below was a central courtyard where the grass and decorative trees stood proudly in the torch light. The Mehrn Castle held the richest nobleman aside from the king, Falsin Mehrn. His wife, Erisa Mehrn, she had never seen but was apparently adept at politics, enough that most nobles believed she was the reason the Mehrns were so rich.
So far there were no guests down there, not that it would be possible to see them in the darkness anyway.
Sareti tied a rope around a chimney column and then around her waist before sliding down the roof and let herself slip over the edge. She hung there for several moments heart beating furiously.
The windows on this side were indeed much bigger and many of them shone with light. Aware that she could be seen from any of them once she descended, she let herself down slowly until she was level with the first window which was dark. Of the six stories of the castle she doubted that even half of the levels were used.
She swung in and grabbed ahold of the window ledge which was easily wide enough to stand on. She peered inside but it was obviously disused for as she let her fist glow brightly it only showed dusty furniture.
She let her wait rest on the rope once again and pushed herself back off the wall as hard as she could, swinging out and then back. When her feet connected with the window the frame clattered inwards and she let the rope slip through her hands. She landed in a heap onto of a pile of broken glass and wood.
They were inside and Sareti pulled the window shut. She shivered with relief, she hoped she could find an easier way out, she didn’t fancy doing that again. She tied the rope around what was left of the window and let the remaining spirit fire in her accumulate in her fist. She raised her hand, lighting the room with a pulsing glow.
The room was full of furniture, some stacked others in heaps of crumbled chair legs and old leatherbark. She wondered if Venar had found all of his chairs here. A thick layer of dust lay over everything, undisturbed.
She opened the creaking door which lead into an equally abandoned corridor that ran away into the darkness. It too was so dusty that she could see her bare footprints as if they were in mud.
Sareti pulled out a crude map from her pocket, and checked her notes on where the stairs were. With only two sets on the upper floors they were found at the corners, where the hallways carried on down the other side of the building.
The stairs were cut stone like everything else and curved down from one corner of the hallway into another. The corridor here was stacked with furniture that she thought more recent, a few sets of footprints broke the dust yet not much else. Something resembling a rat disappeared into the darkness as soon as she approached the next flight of steps. If it was a trap she was walking into it was a well hidden one.
Sareti could feel her heart beating faster and she dimmed the light in her hand slightly. Two levels down was carpeted and lit with candles in glass casings. On reaching the one below she stopped. The hallway held servants in livery, some carrying folded sheets and others dusting the walls. She waited, crouching on the stairs as they ever so slowly turned the corner and disappeared from view. Why is there no guards? She thought, surely Falsin was not so complacent that he would not place guards beyond the lowest floors.
Footsteps, light and much higher in stairs came to her ears and she froze. If it was part of the trap then why had they not just hidden guards in the rooms. She shivered and avoided looking at the doors she passed, looking for one with carved birds on it.
She found it quickly from memory and tried the handle. It turned but the door didn’t budge. She sighed and pushed the last bit of spirit fire into the lock. A crack echoed through the hallway and it swung open. I will have to find a fire to replenish my spirit fire soon! The room was dark so she grabbed a case and candle.
She stepped through, and gasped. A man lay on a bed of bloodied papers, which had since dried, knife knife hilt protruding from his chest. Blank eyes stared upwards from a middle-aged face, skin pale where it was not covered in bloody handprints. She pushed the door shut behind her quickly and stepped closer, had someone fallen for a trap that was hers? She suddenly realised that she had not looked around but there was nobody there. Nothing other than a thin layer of dust. He had been dead a while, she thought.
On closer inspection she reeled back, the smell eating at her throat. The man was Falsin Mehrn. Shivering she straightened and began shuffling through papers. After discarding those she searched for a hidden compartment yet so far as she could tell there was none. If there was anything to find she was sure that she was looking in the wrong place.
I have to try and find him, she thought with a grimace, if she could follow him through the castle she might get an inkling of where he stored his information.
She stopped searching and looked at the door, she could hear the sounds of distant voices. Not enough time! With no desire to let it become as close as the previous time and almost completely empty of spirit fire she looked into the hall. Guards pounded towards her on the way she had come, this time they had not removed their boots on the carpet.
A trap, she thought, surely they had not found the broken window. Maybe they had seen her climbing the wall. She ran down the hallway. Up ahead she could also hear the sounds of guards coming down the stairs. She tried to stop but tripped on the carpet and found herself falling down the stone steps.
Her limbs screamed in pain as she fell and she used the last of the spirit fire to harden her skin just until she collapsed in a heap at the bottom. Groaning she she jumped to her feet face to face with a startled guards, short spears already levelled.
Sareti reached for spirit fire but found nothing. Instead she ran down the stairs. So far as she could guess they were on the second story now. There was surely to be lots of people here but they were closing down on her and quickly.
A dreading sensation ate at her stomach as she ran down the hallway, lungs clawing for air. The stone walls were panelled wood and vial lamps occasionally replaced candles. A group of guards turned the corner ahead cutting off her only exit.
All time for secrecy was over and she dashed into the last room pursued by two sets of guards. She slammed the door shut behind her shaking. A fire burned in the hearth a large one despite the heat of the room. She stumbled towards it. She had not noticed it but her clothes were smoking and her skin was burning, pain blinding her vision.
She stumbled and hit the ground without even feeling it. She tried to pull herself to her feet but the door slammed open and guards piled in, surrounding her with razor sharp spear points. As one they thrust them forwards.
“I can tell you things about the giant vial,” she coughed shrinking away from the spear points.
“STOP!” A woman’s voice cut through her and the spears retracted. A blurry face stood over her. Then there was a hiss and the burning stopped. Sareti collapsed in a steamy heap sighing with relief.
She lay there for a few moments relishing the lack of pain.
“Out!” The woman said and the door shut a moment later. Sareti gritted her teeth and pushed herself to her knees and looked up.
A well dressed woman stood over her watching her with a thoughtful expression. Sareti pushed herself to her feet but still didn’t come close to the woman’s height.
“Nice to meet you,” she said, raising an eyebrow. “I thought that you would never get as far as you did, I have other things to do.”
“You!” Sareti said almost laughing hysterically, “You are who the man works for.”
“If you mean Han, I wouldn’t say he works for me,” she said sitting down on the edge of the comfy seat behind her. For the first time Sareti took in the room. Gilded furniture lined the room and wide windows larger than she had ever seen stood in one wall showing a view of tended garden, lit by torches.
“Then who are you?” Sareti said. Her hand was already under a fold of cloth, forefinger and thump pressed around the tip of the blade.
“I called myself Erisa Mehrn,” she said her mouth twisting in distaste, “Most that think they know me call me that, but since Falsin is dead I might as well change it.”
“You know!” Sareti said eyes widening, “he is lying there in his office.”
She stared right back at her as if waiting.
Sareti backed away a step and found herself against a wooden table. “You killed him?” She whispered. Of course in the East things like that were not uncommon but here!
“I did,” she said arranging the hem of the silky dress.
Erisa was everything she could have expected from a noble woman in the west, she held herself like one but a noblewoman would never kill someone like that, much less her own husband. This woman was someone else, maybe like her. A dangerous woman. She drew the blade in a smooth motion and it streaked towards the woman’s shoulder where it glanced off and landed on the floor with a thud. Blue light shone through the woman’s thin shirt where the knife had struck and there was no blood where the material was sliced.
“You’re a water wrangler!” Sareti hissed, “You are not a noblewoman.” Of course, the steam. She looked down at her tattered garments for the first time and her eyes widened. What was left of them stuck to her skin, showing red flesh beneath burned and still bleeding slightly.
“You should know better,” the woman said standing up all sense of nobility gone. She gave Sareti a cold stare, “You could burn yourself to ashes if you are not careful with your fire wrangling. Now tell me what you know about this vial.”
This woman was definitely not a noble, or even from the west, they called fire wrangling something to do with fire demons.
Sareti gritted her teeth as the pain began to return, “This Han,” she said, “Is he here, he told me to come here.”
She looked surprised for a moment turning back to her. She now held a long dagger. “Where did you meet Han, and why did he tell you to come here?”
Sareti frowned, “Because he stole from me, but…”
“Han does not work for me,” she said cutting her off as if her question was irrelevant, “What he seeks is too dangerous for anyone else to get their hands ahold of.” She looked Sareti up and down, “I don’t know who you are or what you want but I cannot let you get away with the information you have.” She looked sad as she deftly swung the long bladed knife.
Sareti tried to jump to the side but stumbled over torn strips of her garments. She crouched, breath ragged. “You can’t kill me,” she said pushing herself to her refusing to let this woman kill her while she cowered.
“Can’t I?” Erisa was now only two paces away, knife upraised.
Sareti leaned against the table. “I can help your friend, he can’t have half of the information I have on the vial.”
“It is a lie,” the woman said cocking her head, “We searched your stolen house and found nothing, you don’t even appear to live there.”
Sareti croaked a laugh, “You didn’t look very hard, you might want to tell this Han that you killed the only person with more information on the vials than he.”
“That’s unlikely,” Erisa said, “he has been searching for a long time.”
Sareti pulled the longer dagger from her hair. The woman was now close enough to strike and she could do nothing about it. Sareti burst out laughing although it sounded more like choking. If the woman had wanted to kill her she would have already. Then something clicked into place, the woman on the street, who had watched her run from the Otess.
“You know I have something that you don’t have,” Sareti said, “I overheard something…” The look of shock on her face was so clear that for their first time in the conversation she knew she had hit a point.
“I will tell you what I heard,” she said, “if I live to leave this stupid place.”
“The castle?”
“No the city, let me return to the east, when I am finished here and I will tell you then.” She wondered if she had pushed it too far but the woman’s knife point dropped and she placed it on the table.
“Han, you can come out,” she said, “You were right, she is not easy to force information out.”
A cupboard at the side of the room opened and a dark skinned man stumbled out grinning at her and brushing dust from his dark clothes.
Erisa turned back to her, “I have a party to host, I will let Han take it from here.” With that she stepped out of the door.
“She didn’t kill him did she,” Sareti said collapsing into a chair but still grasping the dagger.
“No.”
Sareti hissed as Han pressed a damp cloth against one of her burns. “If you had gone any further…” he said, “I don’t know if there would be anything left.
“Shut up,” she said through gritted teeth, “It is your fault that I am here anyway.”
“You fell for my trap,” he said a hint of humour slipping into his voice. He sat back on his heels and shook his head, “There is little more I can do for your burns, are you sure that your back isn’t bad.”
“Its fine,” Sareti said letting her muscles relax and instantly regretting it as pain coursed through her again. “Did you find those papers interesting?” She said through gasps for air, “The ones on the table.”
He narrowed his eyes but a smile played across his dark lips. “Of course, I underestimated you.” He pulled a chair opposite her, “And you knew it.”
Sareti allowed herself a small smile. She looked around the room again. More wealth adorned the room than she had seen displayed before yet to her eyes she found nothing of interest. “You are also looking for the vial?” She said, “Is it so important to you that you think you will easily dissuade me from it.”
Han barked a laugh, “I cannot let you find it, I would hate to think what would happen to this place and the people here if you got your hands on it.”
“Really?” Sareti said wrapping her hair up and securing it with a throwing knife. It didn’t work very well for strands still hung down her face. “I didn’t take you for the noble type, not like your friend.”
He tensed for a moment before shrugging and putting his leg over his knee, “I don’t think we are here to talk about that, what must we do for the information you apparently hold, if you are not useful I could just… kill you.”
He threatens like a westerner, she thought, as if he could even do it. Yet he was still dangerous, treating Erisa Merhn like an equal. She, at least, was a powerful noble. “Why do you want this information,” she said, can’t have him finding it and wrecking havoc on my home.
“I could send gold,” he said, “Silks, a ship even, name your price.”
Sareti laughed but didn’t feel the humour, “You are not good at haggling, you would not last a day where I am from,” she said.
“Of course not,” he replied, “But I don’t need to be,” he suddenly was playing with a knife. “Name your price.”
“You see,” Sareti said, “You have nothing that I am interested in, and I have something that you must value quite substantially. Besides if I find it, think of how rich I could be just welding it.” She thought that it sounded what a power-hungry noble would say but he didn’t even look up.
“Of course,” he said, mouth twitching again, “You could not use it, as a fire wrangler. I could hand you over to the city guard, I don’t think that they would treat you as nicely as I have.”
It was sareti’s time to purse her lips. “You will not,” she said, “You are not that sort of person. I don’t think there are all that many that would do that to someone."
“You would be surprised, but you’re right, I would not.”
“There is no stash of information here is there,” she said, “It was just a big trap.”
“There is not,” he said standing up a hint of disappointment flitting across his face, “You may go.”
Sareti sat up in shock and groaned her burns aching furiously. “Go! You will just let me go?”
“Of course,” he said, “As you made clear, I am not that sort of person.”
Sareti stood slowly. She sidestepped towards the fire but he didn’t make a move to stop her, not even when she thrust her hand in. Relief once again coursed through her and the burns faded to a distant throb. Heat couldn’t affect her so much. The fire barely gave off any heat now. She managed to walk properly towards the door. She turned back, “I don’t believe that you would let me go like this,” she said, “I will probably find a dozen guards ready to skewer me on the other side of this door.”
He shook his head, “If it makes you feel any safe, know that you may have a very difficult time passing as a noble now, and I would suggest you find somewhere else to live.”
Sareti bit back an angry retort, it was lucky she was leaving the place alive, let alone unharmed if she didn’t count the burns covering her. “Why do you seek the vial?”
Han watched her thoughtfully for a moment then pulled a rock the size of her fist from a pocket, he held it out towards her. “Because I made it,” he said almost looking regretful, “I made it.”
Sareti frowned, of course it was impossible… She reached out for the rock and jumped back as his hand glowed green for a moment and the rock shattered and crumbled until sand poured between Han’s fingers.
Sareti backed to the door wide eyed, finding the handle. She lurched it open and jumped through the opening. Sure enough guards stood here but none of them moved as she ran through them and alone the hallway towards the stairs.
Earth wrangler! Of course he must have used a trick, there has been nobody able to wrangle earth for more than a hundred years. Not that she knew of at least. She skidded to a stop at the foot of the stairs and looked up. No sounds reached her ears so she began climbing as fast as she could, pain shooting up her side and through her legs. She ignored it. Her mind raced, Otess meddling in politics and Earth wranglers, things were changing too quickly for her to keep up with. Her frown deepened, of course this vial was at least old enough that it preceded the splitting of the city which made it impossible for this Han to have made it.
She reached the top of the stairs and realised she was on the top floor. She had surprisingly not met a single other guard. So far Han had kept to his word. Of course finding the remaining information here would be far more difficult and she would have to retrieve her information from the mansion somehow without anyone knowing, it was surely to have been watched. Maybe it always had been.
She found the room that she had come in through and sighed with relief at the loops of spare rope on the floor in thin coils. Made of thin strands of leatherbark, it was the strongest she had found. She wondered if anything would be possible without the valuable tree that was about the only thing that was farmed on the island. Everything else came from surrounding islands with little more than grass and trees on them, too windswept to build much on.
Sareti wrapped the rope around her waist and tested her weight on it. So far it seemed that it still held on the chimney stack. She peered out of the window to the brightly lit garden below. People moved around in groups in many different colours. She wondered if they would even see her this high up.
She stepped onto the sill and leaned back trusting the rope. Falling from this high would not end well, even full enough with spirit fire that she couldn’t help glowing slightly through her ripped and burned clothing, she wouldn’t survive more than three or four floors.
She pushed off with her legs and swung out. Hand over hand she pulled herself up the short distance until she was wriggling onto the tiles. She collected the slack rope and walked up the roof until she was balanced on the edge. The night was dark, the clouds filtering the moonlight, the roof around her barely visible.
Something cracked above her. She looked up and froze.
The barest of a silhouette perched on top of the chimney tower two paces above her. She dropped the rope, dagger in hand immediately. Her heart racing she backed away balancing along the ridge. She glanced over the edge. Far below tiny specks of light marked the closest street, if she jumped now the rope would be cut before she could land. The voice of her father sounded muffled in her memories, You cannot outrun an Otess. She had replied, of course not, but he had just nodded and watched her sadly.
Fight then, she thought, I will not die as he did. The Otess jumped and the shape landed on the ridge effortlessly. Sareti dived towards it, in the hope of surprising it and hissed as a fresh jolt of pain tore up her side as something hard slammed into her.
She was tumbling down the roof tiles, before stopping almost half way down, with her knife wedged between two rough tiles. Panting she drew herself up and threw the knife. If clattered onto the roof, deflecting off the hard wrapping. It waited as she stood, ignoring the cuts on her feet.
She let her fist glow as she jumped back onto the ridge and the Otess was gone… A blow took her in the stomach. She crumpled, gasping for breath. Where had it come from!?
She turned and kicked out catching something almost as rough as the tiles. An explosion slammed her against the ridge with her ears ringing.
As she struggled to her feet she felt a small sense of satisfaction at the sight of the Otess pullings itself to its feet, wrappings around its chest ripped. The feeling was short lived, it moved quicker and not slower to her surprise covering the distance in barely a moment.
She palmed two knives and drove her first knife forwards, then letting her knife hand fall down at the last second. The Otess lurched to the side, its block missing her arm by a hands-width. Sareti drove her other knife through the bark as the Otess stumbled down the roof. As she did so it grabbed her arm and twisted sending her sprawling with her feet hanging over open air.
The Otess staggered towards her, suddenly the moonlight lighting it up clearly. Blood seeped from the wound in its stomach but it made no sound as it approached. Sareti once again scrabbled at the roof tiles but only managed to push herself to her feet when the Otess grabbed her head and slammed it against the clay, feeling it break beneath her.
She cried out in pain and fumbled for another knife, her last one. She drove it upwards. Suddenly the Otess reared back and slammed against the roof. Another shape leaped over her.
A spear stabbed down at the Otess which quivered on the roof tiles. Even as it did so it yanked the spear from the hands of the newcomer and slammed it back, sending the figure sprawling dangerously close to the roof. Get away! Her mind screamed at her and she grabbed the rope, and looked over the edge. She might just have enough time to get low enough… She glanced back at. The Otess which was back on its feet. Sareti growled in frustration and whipped it out, the rope twisting around its feet.
The other figure darted forwards and it fell off the edge, the rope went taught and then slack. Picking up the spear the figure approached. Sareti backed away warily.
There was something familiar about the way it walked.
“Its me,” a low voice said.
“Han!” “Lets get away from the edge,” he said grabbing her arm and helping her all the way up the roof and to the ridge again.
“Did you follow me?” She said collapsing with her back against the chimney stack. He pulled his cloak down. His face was clearly visible glowing slightly green. She had no energy to be confused. When she looked down her hands didn’t glow at all. The bone deep weariness had pushed it out.
“I did,” he said, “lucky for you that I did.”
“You knew this would happen?”
“No, I just wanted to make sure that you would not try anything else.”
Sareti squeezed her eyes shut pushing down the gratitude that seemed to be coursing through her. This was the last thing she needed, owing her life to someone. He does fight well, she thought, and I don’t think he would hurt me. He surely is in danger from what he did, killing the Otess like that. Killing an Otess?
“Oh no,” she said, “What have we done?”
“What I want to know is why it was following you, Otess don’t go to great lengths to kill random people.”
“I saw something,” she sighed, “Quite by accident.”
He didn’t laugh as he expected her to, instead he just nodded thoughtfully. “Will you tell me what?”
“The Otess,” she started, “are not what people think they are.” She had thought much on what she had seen and had come to realise that she believed the people. “Their greatest weapon is assassinations. With killing they can pit people against each other. The people I saw talked of it at length.”
“That sounds hard to believe,” he said but leaned closer, “Why should I believe you?”
“Because they were killed by an Otess,” when the meeting happened, “The bodies may still be there, I could be the only one…”
“Not the only one,” Han said standing up and helping her up, “Erisa will want to talk I think, if you will?”
Sareti sighed, maybe this was how she could repay his help. Still the way the had fought… “Han?”
“Yes?”
“I would work with you, to find this vial, if it means that my city is not destroyed. And,” she continued after a little hesitation, “I need someone to watch my back when I break into the king’s palace.”
He studied her for a long time before nodding. “It could work.”
“I love your optimism.”
“You learn to hone it as a craft over your first century of life.”
Sareti raised an eyebrow but chose not to comment.
Tayella could hear Torin and Kai arguing in the room across the hall as she sat in her customary place on the edge of the window sill. Outside she could see that the street was quiet although numerous long and narrow boats were slowly being poled up and down it, bearing cargoes covered in canvas.
While the East’s trade was a lot less than that of the West, and more difficult with all the factions, it still happened on a huge scale.
The clouds had disappeared overnight and the sun was shining brightly through the windows and across the elaborately furnished room. In the daylight the memories of the Otess seemed silly, but even then she felt at the bruises around her neck and shivered.
She spun a small knife in her hand before she realised it. How many times have I put my hair up today? She thought, wrapping her hair up and securing it with the knife. In one of Sareti’s letters she had mentioned that it was worn by the nobles in the west as well which made her want to pull it out but she couldn’t bring herself to stop doing it.
Tayella stood up with a sigh, unable to listen any longer and went over to the side of the room where she had found the papers. They were not where she had left them but had been hastily stuffed between a pair of books on the shelf down.
She laid them out on the floor out of the line of sight from the door and sat on her heels. Sareti had told her what she was looking for when she had gone, or rather had told Torin while she had been in the room, the woman had never liked her for some reason.
The papers were mostly just descriptions of different places where ceramic vials had been found. Another larger sheet that had been folded several times was a rough map of the estuary. Sareti had drawn on the locations which were spread all through the estuary islands, of which there were hundreds although nothing was marked on the Otess island of course. If there were such a weapon that place would ensure that it was never found. She wondered why they searched for it when it might never be found or might never exist, it was hard to believe that there had been a huge vial created just to hide it. And surely it wasn’t worth abandoning a faction over.
I have to agree with Torin here, she thought, but for a different reason. Sareti leaving had definitely taken a toll on the faction and on Torin for that matter. To put it lightly it was falling apart and the two largest on either side were looming over like political mountains waiting for a slip. To end the war, it was worth it but was it worth destroying the whole of the west? No I don’t think so, all those people… She packed the papers away, “This is nothing to do with me, I have to just focus on what I can do,” she said out loud. But she could not push it from her mind. It looked like Torin had seen the same thing in it as Sareti had although she was sure he would never admit to that.
The door banged open and she hastily stood up and pretended to be inspecting a book. Torin stormed in and looked around for her. His face softened when he saw her but there was still a blaze of anger in those eyes and she was sure if he could fire wrangle like his sister the floor would be charred under his feet by now.
“It is not like you to be looking at books. What have you been doing?” His eyes dropped to where she had not quite managed to fully put the papers away. A look of fear passed over him but he quickly pretended to be surprised. “You found Sareti’s papers.” It wasn’t a question.
“Ah yes,” Tay surpressed a grimace “I hope you aren’t thinking of doing anything stupid…” she let the ‘like Sareti part’ for him to guess, he was angry enough already without her stoking the fire.
“Oh, of course not, I was just curious why she would leave at the expense of me and the faction. Would you leave what your parents left you?”
“They didn’t leave me anything,” Tayella said coldly, “And I have never heard you use the word curious before, what is going on? So don’t act I know why Sareti did what she did.”
Torin inhaled slowly as he turned around and sat down at his desk. She could see the bitterness in his eyes every time, but she hated to think what might happen when she returned if she didn’t constantly remind him. Sareti was, in her opinion a fool but then again maybe she just didn’t understand the reasons for what she did.
When she had left, Tay had expected Torin to take up the role as faction leader with enthusiasm that he had always talked of but he had hated it instantly and she could see why. Instead of actually being given leadership he had to look after her responsibilities while she had fun.
Tay returned to her seat on the windowsill, letting the sun warm her face, she too took a deep breath. It was unlike Torin to mention her parents, it shouldn’t sting like it did. “What were you arguing about? Kai has barely been here for a day and you are already arguing.”
Torin didn’t look up, just continued staring at the polished wooden desk covered in papers. “You know, she did this. If I didn’t have to spend my entire life running a faction I would have time to meet him more than once a month, yet now I can’t even go to another faction area without worrying for my life.”
“You can’t blame your relationship problems on Sareti,” Tay said, “You just need to think what is more important to you and work around it.”
“You know, Tay, you are always full of good advice, I should officially make you my head advisor.”
Tay stood up with shock, “Oh no, that is not a good idea I am terrible at giving advice and besides I already have a lot to do.”
Torin nodded, “Most important to me,” he mumbled to himself. Suddenly he stood up and with one arm brushed everything off the desk and onto the floor. He looked up to meet her shocked expression.
“Torin what are you doing?”
“You are right, what is most important to me? I think you can guess what that is. I have had enough of this, the advisors can find another faction leader.”
Tay was so shocked it took a couple of seconds before she could find words. “Torin you know how it works here, if you give power away you will never get it back.” She leaned over the desk and held onto his arm for fear that he might just disappear.
“Tay, you know what I am thinking, you always do, you can see what this does to me. It has taken away everything I used to enjoy. When I was young I wished to have what Sareti had but I realise that it was never for me.”
He looked around and then went and grabbed Sareti’s papers before disappearing out of the door. It was the first time he had mentioned her name since she had left. She shook her head, this was bad. What will happen if he leaves? Nothing good, no she could not let him, however he felt, people relied on him, she relied on him.
Who could she tell? Nobody. Even the advisors, she was sure half of them worked for someone else. She could just leave. She had enough to worry about. But then where would her business move to. Torin had let her have a permanent operations base in his faction, and she could not go back to what it had been before.
Sareti, she thought, it always comes back to her. She spoke aloud, “I think it is time she returns.”
She wondered if she could get a note to Sareti before it was too late, it sometimes took weeks for notes to reach the other side of the estuary, let alone find Sareti.
It was too late to stop Torin, she wished she could bring herself to tell Torin that he was wrong, that he should not give it up to regain his old life. How could she get a note to Sareti?
I told myself I would not get involved in politics, she thought, yet here I am. She sighed and rested her head on her hands, she needed help, somebody that she could talk to, help her find Torin. She had to try and convince him to rethink his decision.
A few hours later Tayella appeared at the bottom of a set of steps leading up to a first floor front door. The street faced onto a busy trade canal, split down the middle and crossed by many arching bridges of worn wood. Even now with the sun not far from setting it was packed with wide barges.
She banged on the door with her fist and waited, stepping down a few steps. Thankfully the days were getting longer and warmer. And despite forgetting her cloak in her haste to leave, the loose shirt and wide hat was more than enough, if a little ridiculous.
The door opened to show Hase in long flowing robe with a sash around his waist. For once his neck was bare showing an inking of a writhing snake. She had never seen it before but he usually wore high necked shirts. She wondered if it was a reminder of the continent he had come from.
“What do you want?” He demanded palming a knife. starting to shut the door again. He stopped and bent down to look at her face under the wide hat she was wearing. “Tayella? What are you doing here? Wait, come inside.” He looked around quickly and beckoned her inside.
The door opened into a small room with coat hangers. She got rid of her silly hat on one of the pegs and followed him into a small living room. Stacks of books were carefully placed either side of the windows, most of them with various weapons sitting on top.
A fireplace crackled softly to one side and cushions were arranged on the floor, a book lying open.
“I… I didn’t know you had this many books?” She said looking around. A bed stood in one corner and a weapons rack in the other. Those were the only two tidy bits of furniture.
“Yeah, it is probably not what you expected is it?”
“No,” Tay admitted, “I thought that…”
“You thought that I was not the sort to spend a lot of time reading.” He crouched down and closed the book with a knife as a bookmark.
“There is few places that you can buy books here?” She said, “You have almost as many as Torin, or at least that Sareti has, where…”
“Ships,” Hase said a sad look flitting across his face, “they are reluctant to part with them but most ships from the continent carry them. But that is not why you are here, I didn’t even know that you knew where I lived?”
“I didn’t,” Tay admitted, “But I didn’t know who else to come to.”
“And you came to me?” Hase sounded surprised, “I thought that you…”
“Torin has given up,” she blurted out, then carried on a little more slowly, “I saw it coming but chose to ignore it, Sareti said she would only be four to five months at most and its coming up to six. I thought she would be back by now but she is not, so this faction has no leader and you know as well as I do what happens to factions that lose their leader.” She breathed a sigh of relief as the last words left her tongue. It felt as if she had been holding her breath since setting out to find him.
Hase stared at her frowning, “they get crushed, but why has he left?”
Hase pushed a cushion towards her and then sat down on another. She sat, crossing her legs. She found her knife in her hands again, spinning it in her palm but Hase didn’t so much as glance at it.
“It has crushed him,” she said, “On the inside, but…” she grimaced, “But he has to hold on, too many people rely on him, I do as well.”
“I’m sorry,” Hase said reaching over and taking her hand, “But I don’t know how I can help, when someone choses to leave,” he took a deep breath, “when I chose to leave, I never looked back.”
Tayella bit her lip. “I know, but Sareti…”
Hase lay back and let out a deep breath, “So you are asking me to go with you and get Sareti? It sounds like a terrible plan.” He smiled, “But I am in.”
“Just like that?” She said not letting go of his hand, “You would do that for me?”
“Yes, I owe you something at least, and it is the right thing to do.”
“There is something else,” she said, “Sareti is not on one of the islands, she is in the West.”
Hase froze in standing up and then sat down again. “I will come,” he said after a long silence. “But it is the most dangerous place we could go, why even you would be thrown in prison for being who you are without the tattoos of a water guard, I…” he trailed off. “If Sareti has lasted this long, then I can too.”
Tayella relaxed and lay back on the cushions. “I like your house, it is very comfortable,” she said opening the closest book. The writing was in a script that she could not distinguish. She wondered if it was because it was old or a different language. Or maybe both.
“I like your disguise,” Hase said standing up with a laugh, “Would you like some food or…?”
Tayella nodded, it had been hours since she had eaten and finding out where Hase lived had taken her almost all of the afternoon.
“Hase,” she said when he returned with wide plate of cold food, “That inking, tell me about it. I don’t know much about you.” It was true, she knew hardly anything about his previous life, she had never cared to ask. She cursed herself for being so untactful, there must be a reason he had left, why he never talked of it.
He stared at her for a few moments and ran his finger along it almost subconsciously before speaking, “When children grow up, in the jungle…” At her lack of comprehension he elaborated, “In deep forest, we chose an inking of something dangerous, to remind ourselves of the danger of the forest.” He grinned for a second although it turned into a sad frown, “I thought that it was more to show others how dangerous I could be.”
“Were you dangerous?” She asked, “Could you fight well then?”
“No, I was not dangerous, at least not until I could wrangle, I should have thought of the tattoos of the throats of my parents and thought danger but…” he trailed off and snapped his mouth closed. “I will get changed.”
She didn’t press him and she focused on her food.
A while later Tayella found herself sneaking along the side of a building at the west side of the city where a lot of the mercenary barracks could be found. Not those of her own faction, but of the Amamati, the largest and most influential faction of the west, or so Torin had said. Despite each mercenary actually working on their own in a way, they usually kept together because of their job, not socialising much past their close knit group.
The building they were looking for was just across the water from them, accessible by a narrow arched bridge made of weathered timbers.
“This is a bad idea,” Hase whispered from her left.
“I know,” she admitted but it was better than the alternative. Of course she couldn’t just run away. There were people that relied on them, how many people would lose jobs and lives over the death of a faction. She hated even to think of it.
Going over the bridge was not a good idea, with the sentry at its far side and along the edge of the canal. They were more of an alarm for the other mercenaries rather than actual defences or Tay and Hase would be able to cross easily.
“Lets go.” Hase slowly shuffled across the narrow street and slipped over the edge of the canal until he disappeared from view, Tay followed a few moments later after checking that they hadn’t been spotted. She found him waiting under the bridge, clinging on with only his hands.
“Maybe i’ll actually be able to use spirit fire tonight,” he said pulling his gloves on tighter, covering a small ring of light that had been shining from his cuffs.
“Not likely, with so many mercenaries around I don’t doubt that there will be more than a few fire wranglers hiding among their ranks.”
“I thought that those like us always became higher paid body guards or trained killers? I haven’t heard of any becoming normal mercenaries.”
“Still I wouldn’t risk it, I know that there is at least a few and if there is a few then there could be more, I won’t wrangle either.”
“As you say so,” Hase said. For someone who usually led crossings over the estuary he listened surprisingly well.
“My arms are getting tired, let’s go,” she replied. She could almost see his grin at being the first to mention it. Maybe she had spoke too soon.
She swung out over the water, grasping ahold of the rough timbers under the bridge. She longed to use the water beneath her to help but refrained with a lot of effort. She swung slowly up and then down the other side, with Hase close behind. By the other side her arms were straining.
Tayella grabbed ahold of the rock ledge and came out from underneath the bridge, pulling herself up until she could see over the edge. In-between two sentries she was able to quietly make her way onto the narrow street and cross it so her back was against the wall. The sentries were too busy watching the top of the bridge and the opposite street to see them.
Hase appeared at her side a few moments later. She grabbed his arm in fear when one of guards looked their way but instead just waved to the other sentry.
“Which way now?” He said prying her hand of his arm.
They skirted the outside of a long building and then took a side alley between two double story buildings. Once they were the other side of the building there were no guards. At least no guards that were looking for intruders so they walked right by without a comment. Their clothing was plain and practical, nobody would look twice.
On this side of the building there was a large open space with another canal running through it from the next street and the space was filled with low stone benches and fire pits. Around them sat groups of a dozen or less talking in low voices. It almost seemed normal other than the volume of weapons that were in the area, from small spears to narrow swords and belts of daggers.
“You’re staring too much,” she hissed at Hase as they walked through the middle of them, “Mercenaries keep to themselves.”
“I wouldn’t like to cause any trouble here, I don’t think that the guards were needed on the canal edge, I have a feeling these people don’t need any other protection.”
“I agree but let's just find Torin, this place unsettles me.” She had an idea where he would be, she suspected that him and Kai still met in the same place which she had gone with him to meet Kai several years ago.
Once they were out of the main open area and had passed yet another building with little ornamentation other than a few windows and an open doorway the buildings ended and the estuary started. The closest islands were visible enough that she could see the individual leaves on the trees. She found Torin in his usual meeting place.
“I just cannot do it, I don’t care what you think it will do to…” Torin’s outline turned and froze as they approached.
“Tay? What are you doing here, and who is this?”
“This is Hase,” she said in a flat tone, it wasn’t going to be easy convincing him, “Hase this is my… Friend, Torin.” Hase flinched at her hesitation.
The figure behind Torin stood up and stepped up to her, embracing her briefly and ducking his head to Hase. “Tayella, it is nice to see you, it has been quite a while.” His voice was tight as if her were surprising anger. From the way he glanced at Torin she doubted that it was directed at her.
“Kai, you too.” She looked up at him, marvelling at his height not for the first time, and she thought herself tall.
“Tay, what are you doing here? I was going to come and speak to you next.” Torin’s voice was cold.
“Oh, you were? Well you can explain now, why you are doing what you are doing.”
Torin sat back down. Only Kai sat as well. It was hard to tell what any of them were thinking with it being so dark. Hase nudged her in the arm. She changed her tone consciously, she needed him to help her not get angry at her.
“Torin, I need you to come back…” He stood up and opened his mouth. She put a hand on his shoulder. “Wait, I need you to stay just so long as it takes us to get your sister back.”
“You are going to go into the West again, even after last time?”
“Sareti is in the West?” Kai said with surprise, “Torin, you never said that.”
Torin shot a look at Hase that she was sure was not a smile and opened his mouth.
“I see that you have found someone…” He cut off. “Two days, you have two days. But don’t expect anything else.”
He stood and stalked off into the darkness, the lap of water from the end of the canal covering his footsteps.
“Tayella, it is not a good idea,” Kai said also standing, “I think that in the place his head is right now, you would be better leaving the faction leaderless, I fear that he will make it worse than it already is.”
“I don’t have a choice,” Tay replied quietly, “And I have to trust him, he seemed to understand, right?”
“I suppose so.” Kai looked about to say something else but he nodded to her and left too.
She realised she standing, gripping Hase’s shoulder tightly and let go.
“What now?” Hase said rubbing his shoulder, “The west?”
Tayella nodded.
Han sat opposite Sareti on a chair that reminded her of Venar’s office. It had once been elegant but the feet were muddy from the dirt floor and it creaked every time he breathed.
A fire blazed in a corner, smoke rising out through a hole in the roof. It hissed as drops of rain landed on the timbers.
“Are you going to tell me how you survived that?” Sareti said after a long silence, “I saw the Otess stab you.”
“No,” Han said, cracking a smile, “When explained it is only less impressive.”
“It wasn’t that impressive," she said dropping the cloth in her hands to the floor, “there is more holes in this fabric than the roof.” She wiped a drip running down her face irritably.
“I will do without,” Han said seeming unworried, “I will stick with what I know. It has always worked before.”
“You do realise that we are breaking into the king’s palace, not some castle that the nobles inside can’t even guard it properly. Even with those plans,” she gestured to a makeshift table spread with a rough map of the palace, “Even with those it will not be easy.”
“It was you that tripped in that room,” he said, “besides I remember when the palace was build by a rich merchant a long time ago, I…” Sareti bundled up the cloth ignoring him. He still assumed that she believed he was over a hundred and thirty years old. She thought that she had seen people that looked that age before but he was surely no older than her with smooth skin and a grace of movement that spoke more of a mountain lion than a retired horse, not that she had seen one. “Han, until you can prove to me you are that old then you can stop trying to convince me.”
She kept her back to the fire, eyes on her as she threw the cloth onto the flames, no point leaving clues for Otess to find. She shook her trying to shake the feeling of eyes watching her. Surely now that Erisa knew about it, the Otess wouldn’t worry about killing her now.
“Sareti,” Han said, “If we are going to get into the castle, you must trust me. I don’t know how you got this far in the east without trusting at least someone.” He paused and leaned forwards, “Tell me, what allies do you have in the East?”
“What do you know about leading?” Sareti snapped back, “and that is exactly why I don’t trust anyone, I got far enough.”
“You are a leader aren’t you,” he said ignoring her tone although the irritating smile had slipped from his lips.
Sareti cursed under her breath but nodded. He might not be as old as he says he is but he gets under my skin as if he had a century of practice.
“Say you are as old as you say you are,” she said forcing her voice to be level, “Were there other… people like you.”
“No.” He said face tightening, “I have never met one. I don’t think there could be one.”
“Then the vials are older than that?”
He nodded reluctantly, “I don’t know how they are made. The factory is well guarded, guarded beyond anything you have ever seen before.”
“There is a factory?”
“Of course, I assumed you knew, most nobles know so far as I am aware.”
“Could you take me there?” Sareti said. Surely there was something to be learned there that could help them get into the castle. “I wouldn’t mind seeing it.”
“Of course,” he said, irritating smile back.
A time later she sat on a rock overlooking the city to her left and high cliffs to her right. The misty rain had crept through her clothes and she had given up trying to dry her face. Han stood beside her frozen as he had been for a long time.
“Not much of a factory,” she said returning her gaze to what lay directly below them. Just where the harbour wall ended barely fifty paces from a cliff’s edge stood a round building or what was left of it. Rubble filled the centre where the roof had been and some of the wreckage still smoked as water wranglers, bare chested men and woman covered in inkings sifted through it.
“I…” Han said, “I think I will tell Erisa about this.”
“How did it happen?” Sareti said. Despite Han’s shock, she felt nothing. If the building had exploded as she assumed it had, vials were brittle and incredibly dangerous, then it had served a severe blow to the western army.”
“Somebody attacked it,” Han said, “I think it was deliberately destroyed, and surely they would have found somebody alive, no, I think the Otess did it.”
Sareti felt a chill that did not come from her soaked shirt and coat, “There is something bigger happening isn’t there?”
“Yes,” Han said, “But we have a castle to break into tonight, I think we had better let her handle this.”
Sareti shrugged but couldn’t help feeling uneasy as they scrambled down the rocky outcrop at the edge of the main city. Whatever the Otess were doing here could happen more easily in the East, there powerful people, leaders fought each other on a weekly basis. She wondered what would happen if they were properly provoked.
Sareti squeezed through the small hole at the base of the outer palace wall as quietly as she could. For a moment the rock above her seemed to press down and she felt her muscles tensing but then she was crouching on the other side. “You could have got rid of the sand as well,” she said with a small laugh. It sounded hollow.
“Just be glad that we were not noticed.”
Sareti couldn’t help watching him as they ran at a low crouch towards the well lit archway, flanked by a dozen guards on each side. The palace itself spread around the door. In many aspects it was a strange building for for the bottom three stories it looked like a nobles castle with tiny windows set into a smooth wall and only one entrance yet above that large windows shone with light under a swooping roof.
They were nearly at the palace wall now just as a pair of guards marched quietly across the grass away from the others. She admitted that Han wasn’t noisy at all, in fact she had a hard time hearing where he was in front of her until she bumped into him.
She waited patiently in the darkness until there was two thuds and she followed the sound. A green glow lit the limp men just enough that she could see the scaled armour and helmet.
Slipping the armour off the guards they donned it over their black clothing, the scaled skirt hanging down low enough that she was sure the other guards wouldn’t notice that they were not wearing the thick trousers underneath.
Approaching the other guards again. She allowed her feet to thud against the grass as if she were heavier and also to let the guards know they were coming. They reached the other guards, who stood watching the grounds silently when two others left and took their path. Sareti and Han joined the group.
Then Han darted for the door and it swung open. Sareti barrelled in after him before the guards around her had a chance to raise their spears. She slammed the door shut behind her finding herself in the middle of another cluster of guards. She pushed through it but most of them tripped as slabs cracked under their feet. She kicked her boots off and knocked the remaining guards from their feet before running.
Alarm bells rang as Sareti ran along a corridor with Han close behind. The guards’ uniforms are too bulky for this, she thought, the plates clanking together, but they had on multiple occasions confused the guards.
“This is not working,” hissed Han. Spears were thrown from behind but clattered short, it was not easy throwing them in such tight confines.
“Fine.” Sareti said, trying not to sound like she was gasping for breath. It should have been Han lagging behind with healing from that stab wound but he moved as he usually did, he hadn’t even let her see the wound. She pulled off her gloves and slammed her hands down on the carpet. Her own feet were ripped out from under her and they with a crash a second later they both landed on the floor which was shredded exposing wooding flooring underneath.
The wooden panelled walls on either side had not survived at all and the room on either side were open. Smoke filled the hallway as the carpet caught alight. She tried to stamp it out but Han dragged her away. “That was… more powerful than I have ever seen.”
“I helped weaken the walls,” Han smirked at her, “Don’t take all the credit.”
The next room through was an empty office. Han didn’t bother looking around, instead leapt over the few bits of furniture there and landed at the window. He busted them open with the heel of his hand and the whole case fell outwards letting in a gust of warm wind. According to his hastily drawn map the upper portion of the palace was inaccessible from the inside, or by any means. Han had explained that what was above was a mystery to him.
He disappeared out of the window in a few moments and Sareti followed. It was not a huge drop down because they had only managed to get three floors up before they had run out of stairs.
The stones were cold but large and the gaps between them hadn’t been refilled in years, thankfully. Someone lacking wrangling would have to be crazy to try and climb up here without some kind of structure. Han was already half way up towards the next window which was diagonally up, visible as a dark patch on the rough wall. It didn’t help that the overhanging roof stopped the moonlight from catching the wall.
Sareti checked her knives about her body and slipped out of the window. So far it had been difficult but she thought that she was surely missing something.
She caught up with him slowly until they reached the window at the same time. Sareti’s arms burned with holding her weight but Han appeared to be leisurely waiting. She wondered if it was anything to do with wrangling earth for spirit and fire wranglers had wildly different abilities why not earth wranglers too. Elegantly curved bars as thick as her arm prevented them from even the slimmest person from slipping through.
“Can you get us through this? I don't think I can” He asked patiently moving to the side of the window. She still was not sure what he had done before being a fire guard but it certainly had not been anything normal. Can’t get through? She thought surely he could shatter some rocks as she had seen him do before.
“Let me try.” She shuffled along, keeping a firm grip on the sill with one hand and grabbing onto the bars with the other. She tested her reserves of Spirit fire. Surprisingly she hadn’t used much despite their very risky entrance into the palace grounds.
Sareti wrapped her fingers around the bars in the centre and poured the spirit fire onto them. Instead of an explosion, the bars began to glow until a circle two hands wide surrounded her fists. She could feel the metal growing hot but it didn’t hurt.
She drew her hand back after a few minutes leaving the bars glowing hot. When she pulled them they bent slightly. It took time because they were interlocked and woven together but after a few sessions of heating them up a gap wide enough for them to slip through was formed. She was first through and let Han join her in the narrow space behind the bars. “You have had a lot of practice breaking into places?” He said inspecting the dark shape that was the window.
“Enough,” she grunted, “I had to learn.”
“You did all this just to find the vial?” Han asked pulling out a funny shaped tool and wedging it into the edge of the window, “You know Erisa and I could do with some help…”
“No!” Sareti said trying to position herself so that her legs were not jammed beneath her. “I will find this and then return to…” She cut off, “You know I can tell that you are not used to this, someone could hear us talking.
Han chuckled and levered the bar inwards. Suddenly the hinges popped off and it tipped inwards. He grabbed it before it could fall and let it down slowly, jumping in after it.
Sareti followed glad to be out of the small space. She drew two knives and scanned the pitch black room before letting her arms glow brightly enough that she could see the dust swirl around Han as he shuffled through papers.
“Next,” She whispered to Han but he was already darting for the door. There was unlikely to be anything here.
The door was unlocked so they opened it carefully revealing a dimly lit hallway of polished dark blue stone. It was lit by blue vials set into the wall making the stone flanking them seem to shift almost like water.
Dark patches between looked like hallways leading off yet there was no movement or sound. Sareti stepped out into the hallway as carefully as if it were going to collapse under her feet. Nothing of the sort happened.
Han stepped past her and admired the wall for a moment before taking a step down the hallway to the right. Sareti felt a shift of feet, “Han!”
Guards in gold armour, each individual round piece of metal gleaming suddenly lined the hallway appearing from what she had taken as hallways. Han stood frozen and Sareti backed towards the door. With helmets shaped like birds, beaks curving down and joining to the armour at the neck. Each one carried a belt of small knives and a narrow sword at their waist. She raised her eyebrows. These guards were the real thing.
Han moved first darting towards the first pair and the silence was shattered. He darted at the nearest one just five paces away who jumped forward. But Han wasn’t after the guard. He smashed his fist into the glowing vial in the wall was blown backwards into the opposite wall. Sareti watched wide eyed as he moved forwards, spear stabbing this way and that, mostly glancing off armour, blood dribbling down his chin. Knives clattered against the wall and struck Han but they didn’t seem to affect him.
Sareti stepped out into the hallway and almost immediately some of the knives began towards her but she let the glow spread out all over her body and the knives glanced off as soon as they touched her skin.
She began to run and the attacks on her became more personal and the guards changed to long daggers instead. She parried a few strikes with her own dagger, letting spirit fire flow into the metal hilt and blade until it glowed red hot. The guards screamed when her knife found a gap in their armour. After a dagger plunged into her left arm she stopped wincing at the smell of burning flesh.
She dropped the dagger in her left hand and shouldered the guard trying to stab her. Her clothing ripped and shredded itself as he flew back and slid along the floor. Sareti flipped and landed on her feet. “Jump!” She said and Han jumped just as an explosion knocked half the guards from their feet clattering to the floor. Something blasted her sideways and she groaned as her head hit the wall.
Dozens of cuts bled from her arm some studded with glass. Darting through a gap in the fighting she suddenly found herself alone.
Han held back half a dozen guards. She glanced back at him and groaned. I can leave him, she thought but her legs carried her back towards the fighting, still clutching a dagger in her right hand.
“Just go!” He said almost with reluctance. She stopped and turned running down the hallway. She kicked open a few doors but just as the first they were unused or empty. Two had beds in but they too were mostly bare.
The last door stood open and she approached it warily.
The room was brightly lit warm despite the bare stone walls and open windows lining the wall. She wondered what would have happened if they had come out at one of those. Bookcases with brightly coloured book spines took up a large portion of the wall that was not open windows. Yet the man at a desk of white marble was what froze her in place.
He sat with her back to her white cloak pooling on the floor behind him. She darted for him letting her dagger grow even hotter until she was sure that the metal might bend. The man spun and grabbed her arm at the last moment and she found herself slammed against the floor, breath knocked out of her.
She gasped and jumped to her feet. He now faced her and she noticed something strange, lines covered his pale face, faint but seemed to remind her of something. She slammed her foot onto the polished floor tiles and the heavy desk scraped along the floor but who she knew was the king just jumped and suddenly she was on her back again.
“Surprise!” He said, his cool expression not changing as he stepped over her. There was no weapons that she could see on his white clothing.
“Die,” she hissed kicking her foot out and slamming against his chest. With surprise she shot backwards and slammed against the far wall, the spirit fire in her gone. Surely I could never have used that much! She thought. As she dragged herself to her feet she noticed for the first time that below wide trousers of white barefoot poked through. She narrowed her eyes. Spirit wrangler! She thought her mouth gaping open, and a fire wrangler of all.
“I don’t think you came to kill me,” he said calmly, looking down at her.
She shook her head, forcing herself to stand straight without the bookcase to hold onto, “It was a chance I couldn’t miss.”
“There was no chance,” he said, “you take me as a fool.”
“You are!” Sareti almost shouted, “You are a fire wrangler and yet you kill your own people if they show any sign of it.”
“I am not a fire wrangler,” he said his face suddenly contorted, “That is what the East calls it, filthy cowards, no you don’t know what I am at all.”
He must have noticed his slip because he stepped forwards, face once again calm. “You have been waiting for me?” She said. She had seen a few emotions flit through his face and surprise and been absent.
“I knew you would come, surely you know that you were indiscreet in your stealing.”
“I made it here,” Sareti said stepping forwards too although her feet seemed to stick to the floor, she wondered if it were from blood.
“And you won’t make it much further,” Kaman said with a cold laugh, “Even if there was a chance you left here alive, you wouldn’t reach the vial anyway.”
“Whatever anyone can protect it with, I will find a way,” she said tightening her hand on the dagger.
“It is not I that protect it,” he said with another cold laugh. “I could not even reach it, maybe even with an army.” He self consciously touched his face, tracing a line and then Sareti’s mouth dropped open again.
“You are an Otess!” She said, “An OTESS!”
He grunted and shook his head, “I was.”
“It is in the Otess stronghold?” Sareti said, heart sinking lower, “The Otess stronghold.”
He looked at her in shock. “Of course if the whole city knew then it would make no difference but I have an agreement.” She had a feeling that the words were not for her as his pale skin began to glow on his forearms and exposed neck. She shrank back glancing at the windows. As high up as they were there was little chance she could make it without fire wrangling.
Suddenly the door burst open and two bodies fell through it. They wore shining armour that was now well bloodied. Han stood in the doorway looking proud of himself.
“A fairer fight now?” He said stepping inside and sizing up the king who just shook his head in shock. Sareti gasped realising he had at least three knives protruding from his torso but he moved as if they were nothing.
Kaman looked at Han in shock and then he jumped through the window disappearing leaving the room empty.
“What was that?” Han said turning to her. The latter half of his sentence was cut off as she heard a creak from behind her. She turned just in time to see several of the bookcases swing outwards and guards pouring out. The same kind as in the hallway. For a second she wondered if there were any wranglers among them but then they might have figured out that the king himself was what the west demonised.
“Lets get out of here!” Han said grabbing her arm and running towards the window as more guards entered through the door.
“But we can’t go anywhere!” Han just grabbed her arm and dragged her towards the window and then out of it. “Make sure you’re on the bottom,” Sareti hissed in his ear as they tried to right themselves, suddenly realising what he was doing.
“Trying!”
They hit the ground and there was a huge explosion of light and soil and they went flying back into the air, Sareti losing hold of Han. Thankfully she didn’t land too hard and she was up in a few seconds. She shivered, how she hated it when someone else was in control of her life like that, even someone like Han.
She dashed towards him, who now only glowed faintly and pulled him to his feet. He groaned brushing the dirt off his clothes. By the looks of it they were still in the Palace grounds with the wall around it only twenty paces away. They began running towards it even as guards began entering the grounds, long spears lowered.
Han dived to the ground where the hole was and pushed his way through the hole as spears thudded into the ground from above. Sareti felt herself dragged through roughly as Han grabbed her from the other side. Then they were running across open grass, shouts raising behind them.
The palace was positioned at the top of the hill at the edge of the city where a tall forest began and suddenly they were among tall pines. Here shafts of moonlight barely lit the treacherous roots.
“Did you find anything out?” Han panted, leaping over a fallen branch.
“Nothing,” she said, almost tripping over a root hidden by the darkness, “He tried to kill me and then ran when you were there, why was that.”
Han grunted in frustration and Sareti felt guilt rising. She pushed it down. The Otess’s Stronghold! Of course in a way it made sense, those islands were some of the only unexplored ones and for good reason.
her feet pounded through the forest, on a more solid patch of ground , no longer caring what noise she was making. It was damp and mild yet she felt a chill, the chill of no spirit fire warming her insides.
Then suddenly she was tripping in the dark again. “I don’t think a fight against the king was a good idea,” she called to Han as he ran. “He doesn’t seem to be taking it very well at all.” Sounds of pursuit were closing in fast, faster than should be possible in this sort of environment.
“And you say we can’t get out of here yet? I thought you had a contact that could get us across the water to the East.”
“What are they chanting?” She shouted to Han as they leapt over a small stream that cut its way around the tree roots.
“Something evil, about you of course. I don’t know why you thought wrangling fire in front of the king was ever a good idea, we now know what will happen to you when they catch us.”
“There is no getting away from them,” Han shouted back to her, “The ground is getting boggier, soon we will be in the marshlands, sooner or later they will catch us.” As he said that she felt a glow coming from behind them and she glanced back. Their pursuers were crossing the stream in a tide but above them rose glowing blue figures with elaborate face tattoos, held up by streams of water.
She tried to run faster as they shot towards them but her boots were beginning to sink further and further into the mud, her steps becoming more and more clumsy. The guards didn’t even have torches, instead going by the filtered moon light and the glow of the half naked water wranglers.
“HAN!” She called but the sound in front of her had been drowned out by the clamour behind. She stumbled on blindly trying to gauge his position.
“Sareti!” A faint voice called. She opened her mouth and tripped. She desperately grabbed at the wet moss and pushed herself to her knees when something heavy crushed her to the ground.
Tay crouched in the narrow boat, hand in the water again, willing her muscles to relax. Hase was finding it more difficult to conceal his agitation as he fidgeted with his dagger.
But it was not that they were crossing the estuary in early morning sunshine, they were going to the West. She fingered the clothing she had on. The only thing in her apartment that resembled western clothing from Sareti’s notes. Hase wore simple loose trousers of fine thread and a tight fitting coat that didn’t quite fitting.
“Hase,” she began but refrained from reassuring him, there was nothing to reassure him of. “We get on there and find Sareti and bring her back.”
“What if she doesn’t come, or we can’t find her, not even to speak about getting over those walls in broad daylight?”
“We have to try our best,” Tay muttered to herself, she spoked with a louder voice, just enough to carry to his ears, “I thought on how we get in, most people who try to cross without our help do so by intercepting a trading ship and boarding, hiding inside. We aren’t going over the wall, we are going through the harbour.”
“They will surely watch whom comes off of the boat,” Hase said frowning, “Surely they do.”
Tayella nodded but didn’t elaborate. She was sure that if they got that far then they could find a way in, it was difficult planning ahead when you knew little about the place you were going to.
“That.” Hase turned his head and his mouth dropped. He turned his head and looked at her.
“It is not just any ship, it is one with Water wranglers on board, it has no sail!”
“We have no choice, there is no way we will get anywhere close to the wall without being seen and we have to get in somehow.”
“It is your plan,” Hase said and shifted his weight so that he could sheath his dagger. She gritted her teeth. She didn’t want to drag him into it, but it was too late now, she was not going to go back now. “I am glad that you agree,” she said rolling her eyes.
“Its just,” he began, “It is just dangerous being in a place that looks at you like you are some kind of monster, worse than an Otess.”
Tayella sighed, “So long as we keep hidden, we will not have to face that problem. Sareti has managed it for months.”
“Of course,” Hase said, “but Sareti is…” he didn’t say rash but she knew what he meant.
They were now in the middle of the estuary, hopefully only a distant speck to either side and so she turned the boat outwards. Towards the ship that was slowly approaching the harbour, the waves not even rocking it slightly. She had no idea how she could get her way onto the ship, let alone get into the city but they had to try.
She leaned over the side and shoved her arm deeper into the cool water and let herself feel the power of its slow movement. They shot forwards sending Hase tumbling off of his seat and onto the floor.
“Careful.”
“Right, do your thing now.”
“Hase rolled his eyes and shoved his faintly glowing hand into the water at the front of the narrow boat. A few seconds later steam enveloped them. She let a layer of water cover her skin and the steam stopped stinging. No longer able to see where they were going she kept them in the same direction, that would hopefully meet the ship in its path.
“Are you sure about this?” Hase called over the sound of steaming water.
“No, just make sure you maintain it, it will cover our way onto the ship.”
“When did you think to tell me about your crazy plan.”
“There is no plan, I just came up with it.”
He didn’t get a reply to that, instead gave a nervous chuckle. She felt her own stomach clench with fear. What they were doing was getting more and more dangerous, maybe she should have just let the faction go. Torin wasn’t interested in it anymore, and she hoped that he wouldn’t make it worse than it already was. She thought that if Sareti didn’t return there was nothing else she could do, the problem was too big for her to solve. “We are close,” Hase called. We will hit in ten.
She braced herself, and pulled her hand from the water. For a second the steam stopped and all she seen was the timbers of the small boat splinter and she was thrown forward simultaneously as it shattered. She grabbed ahold of Hase as she travelled forward and they slammed against the side of the boat, enveloped in steam. Water swirled around them and they moved slowly upwards until she grabbed ahold of the railing and they both pulled themselves over.
“It worked,” he said, still grinning as the mist cleared. They were on an empty part of a lower deck, with another above them. What looked like small rooms led off the wide walkway. All of them empty.
“Sort of,” she said as the ship creaked and tipped to the side even more and water began pouring in. Hase groaned, “You must have…” She opened one of the doors and stepped inside. She had to grab ahold of the doorframe to stop herself from slipping back and she could hear Hase curse loudly behind her.
She found two sets of uniforms hanging on pegs inside the cabin, knee length trousers and plain white shirts with black lines down the sleeves. She threw one to Hase and began changing, clinging onto the doorframe.
“Why this?” He said, “The bloody ship is sinking!”
“Just do it,” she growled slipping off her tangled dress, with her back against the tiled wall and pulling on the shirt and trousers. She let the door swing out and she slid down the deck and grabbed ahold of the railing. It creaked under both of tier weight. The boat now was tilting heavily to one side. She moved as quickly as she could along the lower deck until it opened out.
Half naked water wranglers with strange patterns inked onto their face were desperately trying to hold the ship from tilting although they were failing miserably with columns of swirling water pushing the side of the ship. Even as she watched one of the columns smashed through the side of the boat and the wrangler collapsed, water seeping from them. She froze with shock. Hase pushed her on and she had no chance to see if he had risen. Other crew in uniforms like themselves were hauling a cover off a smaller boat that was hanging over the side.
Hase beckoned to her and they joined the team in freeing it and it dropped into the water below. The ship had no cargo that she could see, everything must be down below but for it to be a ship without a sail it had to be important.
Suddenly the ship keeled to the side, deck boards splintering and people were jumping free. Already six small boats were in the water and people were rowing away from the collapsing boat. Hase grabbed her arm as they slipped down the deck and landed on the railing. It proceeded to shatter under their weight and they splashed into the water.
Behind them the boat creaked and groaned, towering over them. Then she was moving away from it grasping Hase by the arm.
A few seconds later they were bobbing around among others who were shouting and screaming, trying to get into the single remaining boat that was already full. Luckily the water wasn’t very cold and she could see in the distance more smaller boats coming out to meet them.
She turned with ease and watched as the boat slowly disappeared from view, plank by plank. Then as it dissapeared beneath she felt herself being dragged towards it and resisted barely able to hide the glow. Glows sprung up around them and people stopped being pulled towards where the boat had been.
They kept their heads down slightly so as not to attract attention from the others and miraculously nobody noticed when they were picked up by another smaller boat.
Warm drinks were handed out with dry clothes and not long after they were entering the Western harbour full of ships of all shapes and sizes bustling with life. Hase had lost the tension in his muscles and was slumped against her panting.
“My spirit fire,” he hissed, “Its all gone, sucked away by that water in moments.”
“Probably for the best,” she said putting an arm around him as they bumped against a wooden walkway sticking out into the enclosed bay. This could be tricky, she thought, both her and Hase had eastern tattoos on their wrists, although covered now, they might check for them.
“What do we do if they check our wrists?” Hase whispered in her ear.
“I don’t know, we might have to make a break for it.”
“Thats a stupid idea.”
She turned to him, stepping back slightly and looking him in the eyes, “Do you have a better idea?”
“In fact I do.
She raised her eyebrows as he pointed to the boats docked near them, particularly a huge vessel also with no mast that looked like it was under construction.
“We can hide there until the place quietens down a bit and we can find a way through whatever checks they have, if there is any.”
She nodded reluctantly and as they hung back slightly they darted off to the side, clambering onto a small boat that was tied to the large one with canvas across the centre.
“Easy,” Hase said grinning as he slipped under the tarp. Tay crawled under it too. Underneath there was just some tools and lengths of wood. One of the seats was obviously being repaired or built, she could not tell.
“That was a lucky coincidence,” Tay said begrudgingly sitting down on the half finished bench.
“I have had experience,” he said leaning forwards, “I got here by hiding on many different ships.”
“It doesn’t seem so hard,” Tay said listening intently, it appeared nobody had noticed.
“When I came from the continent where people like us are always on the run, a bit like here.” He grimaced, smile sliding away. “I learned a few things about hiding on boats although each port that I hid on a ship to get to was worse than the rest. It took me seven tries to get on a ship going anywhere further afield and there were eight of us.”
“What happened to the other seven?” Tay said, I really should have asked about his past.
Any sign of humour disappeared from his eyes, “They didn’t make it, I barely did and even so, it was difficult. We were at sea for months. I originally intended to reach the place where the ship was headed, further east but I was almost caught so many times that I had no wish to travel further.”
“I am sorry for opening the wound,” Tay said reaching out and holding his arm, “I never knew, what would they have done if you had been found?” She felt the boat move slightly and then an inked face looked underneath the canvas. She felt her heart drop.
A western water wrangler, the last person she wanted to see. She almost groaned and braced herself letting the spirit water surge up just beneath the surface, maybe they could talk themselves out, surely if she wrangled here it would be much more hard to get into the city. She noticed that the bald man was wearing a full set of clothes. How strange.
“Sorry for what?” He said in a light voice. He glanced between them and grinned.
“We…” Tay trailed off when the man started laughing. He thinks we were… she reddened as Hase crouched, hand on his dagger. The man gestured for them to move and they followed, Tayella tapping Hase’s hand. He dropped it from his knife.
“Yes, yes, we don’t want that,” the wrangler said eyeing the dagger and beckoning again. She kept her eyes on the wrangler as they came out from under the cover. He gestured to a ladder. She glanced around and noticed that two more water wranglers, or water guards stood on the wooden walkway. She stared up the ladder with a sigh.
As she climbed she realised it was one of the largest ships in the harbour and had no sails although it was taller and sat higher out of the water than almost all of the other ships. She wondered what it was for, the western army no doubt.
I could have picked a smaller ship, she thought, not the biggest and newest one. She stepped onto the main deck which had no railing although the side was knee high. A dozen or so more guards waited, standing in a wide circle around a woman who stood facing her.
Tay glanced around quickly noting all of the features of the ship. A higher deck was positioned to her right and the main deck was full of construction tools and timber. Overhead towered a structure that must be for moving materials although it was motionless for now. She pushed the remaining spirit water deep down so as not to glow even a little bit.
“Look what I found,” chuckled the wrangler, now standing at the woman’s side. He looked rather shabby even with his well cut clothes next to her colourful dress. Tay noted that she wore a sword at her belt.
“Avalt…” The woman said stepping closer then stopping, eyes widening momentarily. The guards began to step forward but she waved them away.
Tay frowned there was something in that voice that tugged at her memory.
“Why are you here?” The woman said stepping close enough that Tayella could make out her pale features and braided hair. She cursed. The woman was none other than the one that they had helped cross the estuary the night before.
She looked Tay right in the eyes and then her eyes swept to Hase. He defiantly held her gaze although widened slightly as if realising the same as her. Of course with the dress and braided hair she looked like a faction leader rather than a haughty noble, or maybe a queen, if there was such in the west.
“Come,” she said finally as Tayella didn’t open her mouth. Here she thought she was going to get away and the woman knew who they were. Maybe I can make a deal with her, Tay thought as she followed the woman towards the back, stern of the ship. As they neared, Tayella could see that underneath the higher deck were windows. And doors, just like the ship she had sunk. She almost laughed, she had sunk a western ship. Any other time it would have been a victory but it no longer felt like it.
The woman led them through one, long almost white braids swinging behind her and the wrangler that had found them shut it behind them. Chairs were set around the wooden room with a simple but large table was in the centre.
The wrangler turned to face them, “What are you doing here?” Hase clenched his fists but Tayella laid a hand on his arm. “We are here to find a friend."
“Friend you say?” Said the man but the woman waved him away and sat down at the table, gesturing for them to do the same.
If Tayella had not recognised the woman’s face she would not have believed it was the same woman, the same arrogant westerner.
“You act different,” Tayella said without realising she was speaking aloud.
The woman smiled slightly, “Of course, there is more to a disguise than just clothing, I assume you thought me an arrogant westerner.”
The man, now standing against the wall snorted. He spoke to the woman as if they were not there anymore, “Did Han put you up to that?”
She ignored him and watched them carefully, face impassive once again. “I am Erisa Ven although you can call me Erisa, I don’t think western formalities really apply to you.”
Tayella forced herself to keep that stare. The blue eyes were like staring into the depths of an ocean, a stormy ocean. She was afraid that if she looked away…
“We helped you,” Hase said, “Can we go now.” Tayella suppressed a groan and used the opportunity to tear her gaze away from the woman’s.
“Did I not pay you?” The woman said coldly, then her expression softened, “I think that I might help you with your… friend.”
“You can?” Tayella said. What could this woman do about Sareti. She felt a chill within her, if this woman knew about Sareti then.
“I did meet a woman recently,” Erisa said, “she was a fire wrangler, of which I saw for myself since she broke into my castle to steel some papers. She was quite interesting to talk to once she took off her veil.”
“Sareti isn’t a thief,” Hase said, “she would not…” Tayella kicked his foot to silence him.
“Not a regular thief,” Erisa agreed, “A more dangerous sort, she has caused quite a stir here.”
So this woman wasn’t just a rich westerner, she lived in a castle, maybe the word, ‘Queen’ fitted her better than she had originally thought. And she has met Sareti.
Tay and Hase exchanged a look. It could only be Sareti, she was always slipping about in her special sneaking garments, but stealing?
“She did cause a stir,” Avalt said gruffly, “she got herself caught.”
Tayella sucked in a breath but before she could speak Erisa did.
“Two people were hunted and captured a few nights ago after somebody set fire to the king’s palace and apparently killed at least a dozen elite palace guards, although I find that a little bit of a stretch. Which means they managed to get to the King’s quarters.”
“Is she dead?” Hase said leaning over the table, all thoughts of caution gone from him.
Erisa shook her head, “Not that I can tell, I think the King means to make it public. She is held in the palace grounds, there is almost no way to get in and out without being caught.”
“Why are you helping us?” Tay said, “And why should we believe you?” You could just be feeding us information to get ourselves trapped.
“Because we can help,” the wrangler said pulling a chair over and taking a seat beside the Erisa. Tay frowned.
“And more importantly,” Erisa said, “You can help us.” Suddenly Tay realised why the wrangler wasn’t in regular uniform. The glances and the way he didn’t use the western formalities either. They were too familiar, friends perhaps? This man did not work for the woman, or if he did he was not far below her.
“Help you with what?” Hase asked. This was all very confusing, why would a very rich westerner help them when fire wranglers were treated and thought of as monsters and un-inked water wranglers not much better. There was no point hoping that the woman did not know that they were wranglers, she must have worked out that they had to be wranglers in their line of work.
“Let us lay it out.” Erisa said, “Your friend is being held in the wrangler prison in the palace grounds. While you might manage to get in the grounds without a lot of planning you may never get near the prison. We can help you get so far but in return we wish that you bring us Sareti.”
“Why do you want her?” Hase asked.
“Because she holds information that is very important to us, or to Han at least. When he decides to find his way back here again that is.”
“Okay,” Tay said pursing her lips. “But again why are you not dragging us by our wrists to the prison too? We might be dangerous to you.”
“We are dragging you to prison,” Erisa said, a satisfied smile. “You wanted a way in, that is the best way, maybe the only way unless you are another Sareti. You will travel in a cage, as if you were going, and Avalt will travel with you on the outside, when you near you will break out from a cage that has not been properly shut. From then on you are on your own.”
“What?!” Hase exclaimed, “How do you expect us to go along with that?”
“Because you have no choice,” Erisa said standing looking smug. “I will leave you with Avalt to discuss what happens, he will be accompanying you to make sure that you actually bring Sareti to me.”
She turned and elegantly swept out of the door letting it close with a soft thud behind her.
“What is the reason that you are not properly taking us to the prison? A real answer would help. We can’t do this if we can’t trust you,” Hase said leaning back, looking calm although his knuckles were white under the table.
“We are all wranglers, and I can say this because as easterners even if you repeat any of this, to most here you are both the worst form of criminals, but you might be surprised that not everyone is like that. We have saved fire and water wranglers from Sareti’s soon-to-be future as much as we can without being noticed. Not everyone here believes that they are what the King says that they are.”
“You’re too good at lying,” Hase said gaze following the man as he took Erisa’s seat, “Much too good.”
The man didn’t comment.
I hope he is not, Tayella thought as the man pulled a map out and laid it on the top.
The party of guards and Wranglers half dragged Sareti between them as they moved through the forest until her whole body ached although that was partly because of her failed attempts to escape.
Just as she thought her body was going to give up she was set down on a hand pulled cart and tied down. Above glowing water wranglers. Looked down on her with cold eyes that made her shiver.
She began to shiver from the constant dousing of water and by the time she saw the first warm light she was shaking. As they neared what she guessed was the edge of the city she heard cheering and shouting getting louder at each lurch. She closed her eyes and prayed that Han had made it. The guards had left people behind to search but none of the water wranglers.
The cheering turned to jeers and at one point she felt something hit her in the stomach that felt like a rock. Lights above her showed that she was now being brought through the city. A few seconds later there was a few screams and the noise stopped. Then they passed through the same gates as she had only a day before. She felt the last shred of hope drown when the gates clanged shut behind her. Vaguely she could hear the water wrangler arguing with another guard but whatever the result she could not tell.
Through an archway she went, and then into a building. She was set down and a cloth covered her face as her bonds were taken off. She tried to strike at whoever had done it but found nothing. A heavy door swung shut and she could hear the bolts locking it, eight of them. She expected to sit up to see the king but the room was empty. She was unsure if she could even call it a room for two of the walls were predominantly made up of metal bars thicker than her arms. The wind wasn’t cold but it was damp and she shivered even more.
She could see out to the estuary from here, and almost thought she could see lights on the other side. She wondered what Torin was doing, if he was holding together the faction. I should be finding a way to escape, she thought but couldn’t bring herself to move.
Sareti sat in the only corner away from the bars and hunched up shivering. After a while the shivering stopped but she didn’t know if it was a good thing or not. When the sun began to rise over the estuary she could see the distant East, the islands but most of all she felt a little warmth return.
It wasn’t long after that that the king showed up with his guards. The guards stationed themselves among those already watching her through the bars and waited as the king walked through the door. And shut it behind him. She heard the bolts shut.
“Not scared are you after what happened last time?” She said trying to stop her teeth from chattering as she spoke. “Running off like that."
“Your friend won’t be rescuing you this time,” he said, stepping into full view. They can’t have Han too! She thought. He wore almost the same garb as he had the day before all white.
“What do you want?” She eventually asked as the king turned to stare out to the sea that was visible for the first time in days. Mists out here at this time of year were frequently cloaking the island.
“I would kill you publicly, like a demon deservers,” he said as if he were speaking of making a speech, “The people grow restless but then again so do I.” He turned cold eyes on her, “You are to be bait.”
“For what?” she said.
He grinned suddenly an odd look, “For an Otess.”
“You are an Otess!”
The grin vanished and he grabbed her by the neck but let go face calm again, “I am not an Otess, I may once have thought that I was but I am something more.”
Sareti shivered but no longer from the cold. It was perfect in a horrible way, sitting here, trapped, she would never be able to fight back. She felt the fear set in, and the inevitable feeling of her death drawing near.
“Wait,” Sareti called desperately as he moved to leave, “I can…”. The door slammed shut and Sareti fell back sliding to the floor. Tears pooled in her eyes and she lay back. “I should have told Han,” she said her voice breaking, “The information should not die with me.”
~
Tay crouched in the narrow boat, hand in the water again, willing her muscles to relax. Hase was finding it more difficult to conceal his agitation as he fidgeted with his dagger.
But it was not that they were crossing the estuary in early morning sunshine, they were going to the West. She fingered the clothing she had on. The only thing in her apartment that resembled western clothing from Sareti’s notes. Hase wore simple loose trousers of fine thread and a tight fitting coat that didn’t quite fitting.
“Hase,” she began but refrained from reassuring him, there was nothing to reassure him of. “We get on there and find Sareti and bring her back.”
“What if she doesn’t come, or we can’t find her, not even to speak about getting over those walls in broad daylight?”
“We have to try our best,” Tay muttered to herself, she spoked with a louder voice, just enough to carry to his ears, “I thought on how we get in, most people who try to cross without our help do so by intercepting a trading ship and boarding, hiding inside. We aren’t going over the wall, we are going through the harbour.”
“They will surely watch whom comes off of the boat,” Hase said frowning, “Surely they do.”
Tayella nodded but didn’t elaborate. She was sure that if they got that far then they could find a way in, it was difficult planning ahead when you knew little about the place you were going to.
“That.” Hase turned his head and his mouth dropped. He turned his head and looked at her.
“It is not just any ship, it is one with Water wranglers on board, it has no sail!”
“We have no choice, there is no way we will get anywhere close to the wall without being seen and we have to get in somehow.”
“It is your plan,” Hase said and shifted his weight so that he could sheath his dagger. She gritted her teeth. She didn’t want to drag him into it, but it was too late now, she was not going to go back now. “I am glad that you agree,” she said rolling her eyes.
“Its just,” he began, “It is just dangerous being in a place that looks at you like you are some kind of monster, worse than an Otess.”
Tayella sighed, “So long as we keep hidden, we will not have to face that problem. Sareti has managed it for months.”
“Of course,” Hase said, “but Sareti is…” he didn’t say rash but she knew what he meant.
They were now in the middle of the estuary, hopefully only a distant speck to either side and so she turned the boat outwards. Towards the ship that was slowly approaching the harbour, the waves not even rocking it slightly. She had no idea how she could get her way onto the ship, let alone get into the city but they had to try.
She leaned over the side and shoved her arm deeper into the cool water and let herself feel the power of its slow movement. They shot forwards sending Hase tumbling off of his seat and onto the floor.
“Careful.”
“Right, do your thing now.”
“Hase rolled his eyes and shoved his faintly glowing hand into the water at the front of the narrow boat. A few seconds later steam enveloped them. She let a layer of water cover her skin and the steam stopped stinging. No longer able to see where they were going she kept them in the same direction, that would hopefully meet the ship in its path.
“Are you sure about this?” Hase called over the sound of steaming water.
“No, just make sure you maintain it, it will cover our way onto the ship.”
“When did you think to tell me about your crazy plan.”
“There is no plan, I just came up with it.”
He didn’t get a reply to that, instead gave a nervous chuckle. She felt her own stomach clench with fear. What they were doing was getting more and more dangerous, maybe she should have just let the faction go. Torin wasn’t interested in it anymore, and she hoped that he wouldn’t make it worse than it already was. She thought that if Sareti didn’t return there was nothing else she could do, the problem was too big for her to solve. “We are close,” Hase called. We will hit in ten.
She braced herself, and pulled her hand from the water. For a second the steam stopped and all she seen was the timbers of the small boat splinter and she was thrown forward simultaneously as it shattered. She grabbed ahold of Hase as she travelled forward and they slammed against the side of the boat, enveloped in steam. Water swirled around them and they moved slowly upwards until she grabbed ahold of the railing and they both pulled themselves over.
“It worked,” he said, still grinning as the mist cleared. They were on an empty part of a lower deck, with another above them. What looked like small rooms led off the wide walkway. All of them empty.
“Sort of,” she said as the ship creaked and tipped to the side even more and water began pouring in. Hase groaned, “You must have…” She opened one of the doors and stepped inside. She had to grab ahold of the doorframe to stop herself from slipping back and she could hear Hase curse loudly behind her.
She found two sets of uniforms hanging on pegs inside the cabin, knee length trousers and plain white shirts with black lines down the sleeves. She threw one to Hase and began changing, clinging onto the doorframe.
“Why this?” He said, “The bloody ship is sinking!”
“Just do it,” she growled slipping off her tangled dress, with her back against the tiled wall and pulling on the shirt and trousers. She let the door swing out and she slid down the deck and grabbed ahold of the railing. It creaked under both of tier weight. The boat now was tilting heavily to one side. She moved as quickly as she could along the lower deck until it opened out.
Half naked water wranglers with strange patterns inked onto their face were desperately trying to hold the ship from tilting although they were failing miserably with columns of swirling water pushing the side of the ship. Even as she watched one of the columns smashed through the side of the boat and the wrangler collapsed, water seeping from them. She froze with shock. Hase pushed her on and she had no chance to see if he had risen. Other crew in uniforms like themselves were hauling a cover off a smaller boat that was hanging over the side.
Hase beckoned to her and they joined the team in freeing it and it dropped into the water below. The ship had no cargo that she could see, everything must be down below but for it to be a ship without a sail it had to be important.
Suddenly the ship keeled to the side, deck boards splintering and people were jumping free. Already six small boats were in the water and people were rowing away from the collapsing boat. Hase grabbed her arm as they slipped down the deck and landed on the railing. It proceeded to shatter under their weight and they splashed into the water.
Behind them the boat creaked and groaned, towering over them. Then she was moving away from it grasping Hase by the arm.
A few seconds later they were bobbing around among others who were shouting and screaming, trying to get into the single remaining boat that was already full. Luckily the water wasn’t very cold and she could see in the distance more smaller boats coming out to meet them.
She turned with ease and watched as the boat slowly disappeared from view, plank by plank. Then as it dissapeared beneath she felt herself being dragged towards it and resisted barely able to hide the glow. Glows sprung up around them and people stopped being pulled towards where the boat had been.
They kept their heads down slightly so as not to attract attention from the others and miraculously nobody noticed when they were picked up by another smaller boat.
Warm drinks were handed out with dry clothes and not long after they were entering the Western harbour full of ships of all shapes and sizes bustling with life. Hase had lost the tension in his muscles and was slumped against her panting.
“My spirit fire,” he hissed, “Its all gone, sucked away by that water in moments.”
“Probably for the best,” she said putting an arm around him as they bumped against a wooden walkway sticking out into the enclosed bay. This could be tricky, she thought, both her and Hase had eastern tattoos on their wrists, although covered now, they might check for them.
“What do we do if they check our wrists?” Hase whispered in her ear.
“I don’t know, we might have to make a break for it.”
“Thats a stupid idea.”
She turned to him, stepping back slightly and looking him in the eyes, “Do you have a better idea?”
“In fact I do.
She raised her eyebrows as he pointed to the boats docked near them, particularly a huge vessel also with no mast that looked like it was under construction.
“We can hide there until the place quietens down a bit and we can find a way through whatever checks they have, if there is any.”
She nodded reluctantly and as they hung back slightly they darted off to the side, clambering onto a small boat that was tied to the large one with canvas across the centre.
“Easy,” Hase said grinning as he slipped under the tarp. Tay crawled under it too. Underneath there was just some tools and lengths of wood. One of the seats was obviously being repaired or built, she could not tell.
“That was a lucky coincidence,” Tay said begrudgingly sitting down on the half finished bench.
“I have had experience,” he said leaning forwards, “I got here by hiding on many different ships.”
“It doesn’t seem so hard,” Tay said listening intently, it appeared nobody had noticed.
“When I came from the continent where people like us are always on the run, a bit like here.” He grimaced, smile sliding away. “I learned a few things about hiding on boats although each port that I hid on a ship to get to was worse than the rest. It took me seven tries to get on a ship going anywhere further afield and there were eight of us.”
“What happened to the other seven?” Tay said, I really should have asked about his past.
Any sign of humour disappeared from his eyes, “They didn’t make it, I barely did and even so, it was difficult. We were at sea for months. I originally intended to reach the place where the ship was headed, further east but I was almost caught so many times that I had no wish to travel further.”
“I am sorry for opening the wound,” Tay said reaching out and holding his arm, “I never knew, what would they have done if you had been found?” She felt the boat move slightly and then an inked face looked underneath the canvas. She felt her heart drop.
A western water wrangler, the last person she wanted to see. She almost groaned and braced herself letting the spirit water surge up just beneath the surface, maybe they could talk themselves out, surely if she wrangled here it would be much more hard to get into the city. She noticed that the bald man was wearing a full set of clothes. How strange.
“Sorry for what?” He said in a light voice. He glanced between them and grinned.
“We…” Tay trailed off when the man started laughing. He thinks we were… she reddened as Hase crouched, hand on his dagger. The man gestured for them to move and they followed, Tayella tapping Hase’s hand. He dropped it from his knife.
“Yes, yes, we don’t want that,” the wrangler said eyeing the dagger and beckoning again. She kept her eyes on the wrangler as they came out from under the cover. He gestured to a ladder. She glanced around and noticed that two more water wranglers, or water guards stood on the wooden walkway. She stared up the ladder with a sigh.
As she climbed she realised it was one of the largest ships in the harbour and had no sails although it was taller and sat higher out of the water than almost all of the other ships. She wondered what it was for, the western army no doubt.
I could have picked a smaller ship, she thought, not the biggest and newest one. She stepped onto the main deck which had no railing although the side was knee high. A dozen or so more guards waited, standing in a wide circle around a woman who stood facing her.
Tay glanced around quickly noting all of the features of the ship. A higher deck was positioned to her right and the main deck was full of construction tools and timber. Overhead towered a structure that must be for moving materials although it was motionless for now. She pushed the remaining spirit water deep down so as not to glow even a little bit.
“Look what I found,” chuckled the wrangler, now standing at the woman’s side. He looked rather shabby even with his well cut clothes next to her colourful dress. Tay noted that she wore a sword at her belt.
“Avalt…” The woman said stepping closer then stopping, eyes widening momentarily. The guards began to step forward but she waved them away.
Tay frowned there was something in that voice that tugged at her memory.
“Why are you here?” The woman said stepping close enough that Tayella could make out her pale features and braided hair. She cursed. The woman was none other than the one that they had helped cross the estuary the night before.
She looked Tay right in the eyes and then her eyes swept to Hase. He defiantly held her gaze although widened slightly as if realising the same as her. Of course with the dress and braided hair she looked like a faction leader rather than a haughty noble, or maybe a queen, if there was such in the west.
“Come,” she said finally as Tayella didn’t open her mouth. Here she thought she was going to get away and the woman knew who they were. Maybe I can make a deal with her, Tay thought as she followed the woman towards the back, stern of the ship. As they neared, Tayella could see that underneath the higher deck were windows. And doors, just like the ship she had sunk. She almost laughed, she had sunk a western ship. Any other time it would have been a victory but it no longer felt like it.
The woman led them through one, long almost white braids swinging behind her and the wrangler that had found them shut it behind them. Chairs were set around the wooden room with a simple but large table was in the centre.
The wrangler turned to face them, “What are you doing here?” Hase clenched his fists but Tayella laid a hand on his arm. “We are here to find a friend."
“Friend you say?” Said the man but the woman waved him away and sat down at the table, gesturing for them to do the same.
If Tayella had not recognised the woman’s face she would not have believed it was the same woman, the same arrogant westerner.
“You act different,” Tayella said without realising she was speaking aloud.
The woman smiled slightly, “Of course, there is more to a disguise than just clothing, I assume you thought me an arrogant westerner.”
The man, now standing against the wall snorted. He spoke to the woman as if they were not there anymore, “Did Han put you up to that?”
She ignored him and watched them carefully, face impassive once again. “I am Erisa Ven although you can call me Erisa, I don’t think western formalities really apply to you.”
Tayella forced herself to keep that stare. The blue eyes were like staring into the depths of an ocean, a stormy ocean. She was afraid that if she looked away…
“We helped you,” Hase said, “Can we go now.” Tayella suppressed a groan and used the opportunity to tear her gaze away from the woman’s.
“Did I not pay you?” The woman said coldly, then her expression softened, “I think that I might help you with your… friend.”
“You can?” Tayella said. What could this woman do about Sareti. She felt a chill within her, if this woman knew about Sareti then.
“I did meet a woman recently,” Erisa said, “she was a fire wrangler, of which I saw for myself since she broke into my castle to steel some papers. She was quite interesting to talk to once she took off her veil.”
“Sareti isn’t a thief,” Hase said, “she would not…” Tayella kicked his foot to silence him.
“Not a regular thief,” Erisa agreed, “A more dangerous sort, she has caused quite a stir here.”
So this woman wasn’t just a rich westerner, she lived in a castle, maybe the word, ‘Queen’ fitted her better than she had originally thought. And she has met Sareti.
Tay and Hase exchanged a look. It could only be Sareti, she was always slipping about in her special sneaking garments, but stealing?
“She did cause a stir,” Avalt said gruffly, “she got herself caught.”
Tayella sucked in a breath but before she could speak Erisa did.
“Two people were hunted and captured a few nights ago after somebody set fire to the king’s palace and apparently killed at least a dozen elite palace guards, although I find that a little bit of a stretch. Which means they managed to get to the King’s quarters.”
“Is she dead?” Hase said leaning over the table, all thoughts of caution gone from him.
Erisa shook her head, “Not that I can tell, I think the King means to make it public. She is held in the palace grounds, there is almost no way to get in and out without being caught.”
“Why are you helping us?” Tay said, “And why should we believe you?” You could just be feeding us information to get ourselves trapped.
“Because we can help,” the wrangler said pulling a chair over and taking a seat beside the Erisa. Tay frowned.
“And more importantly,” Erisa said, “You can help us.” Suddenly Tay realised why the wrangler wasn’t in regular uniform. The glances and the way he didn’t use the western formalities either. They were too familiar, friends perhaps? This man did not work for the woman, or if he did he was not far below her.
“Help you with what?” Hase asked. This was all very confusing, why would a very rich westerner help them when fire wranglers were treated and thought of as monsters and un-inked water wranglers not much better. There was no point hoping that the woman did not know that they were wranglers, she must have worked out that they had to be wranglers in their line of work.
“Let us lay it out.” Erisa said, “Your friend is being held in the wrangler prison in the palace grounds. While you might manage to get in the grounds without a lot of planning you may never get near the prison. We can help you get so far but in return we wish that you bring us Sareti.”
“Why do you want her?” Hase asked.
“Because she holds information that is very important to us, or to Han at least. When he decides to find his way back here again that is.”
“Okay,” Tay said pursing her lips. “But again why are you not dragging us by our wrists to the prison too? We might be dangerous to you.”
“We are dragging you to prison,” Erisa said, a satisfied smile. “You wanted a way in, that is the best way, maybe the only way unless you are another Sareti. You will travel in a cage, as if you were going, and Avalt will travel with you on the outside, when you near you will break out from a cage that has not been properly shut. From then on you are on your own.”
“What?!” Hase exclaimed, “How do you expect us to go along with that?”
“Because you have no choice,” Erisa said standing looking smug. “I will leave you with Avalt to discuss what happens, he will be accompanying you to make sure that you actually bring Sareti to me.”
She turned and elegantly swept out of the door letting it close with a soft thud behind her.
“What is the reason that you are not properly taking us to the prison? A real answer would help. We can’t do this if we can’t trust you,” Hase said leaning back, looking calm although his knuckles were white under the table.
“We are all wranglers, and I can say this because as easterners even if you repeat any of this, to most here you are both the worst form of criminals, but you might be surprised that not everyone is like that. We have saved fire and water wranglers from Sareti’s soon-to-be future as much as we can without being noticed. Not everyone here believes that they are what the King says that they are.”
“You’re too good at lying,” Hase said gaze following the man as he took Erisa’s seat, “Much too good.”
The man didn’t comment.
I hope he is not, Tayella thought as the man pulled a map out and laid it on the top.
Sareti shivered in her cell as the darkness crept in. The night was clear again and her clothes had mostly dried in the day but her skin was so numb that she couldn’t feel it. She once again lay in the only corner, watching the dark palace grounds around her. Every time a guard moved she felt her insides tense. But she knew she wouldn’t hear the Otess coming until it was too late.
The guards outside even seemed to be on edge. She assumed they knew about the Otess because every now and again they would exchange quick glances and almost all of them had turned to face outwards instead of watching her. At least she knew that she wasn’t the worst thing to the westerners, the Otess were more feared.
She now understood the feeling. Her parents had spent the last year of their life on edge, constantly fearing for their life. Now she knew what it felt like. She considered trying to provoke the guards into killing her before the Otess came but she couldn’t bring herself to do it. They likely wouldn’t even take their eyes off the darkness, she knew that she wouldn’t in their position, not with an Otess out there.
“They won’t hurt you if you don’t get in their way,” she called out. A couple gave nervous glances at each other but otherwise ignored her.
What I want to know, she thought closing her eyes, is why the king knows that the Otess would come for her and why he wanted to trap one.
Something moved out in the darkness, where the moon shone on the grass and she shuddered. The guards raised their weapons but for moments nothing happened. Then there was a low crack and one of the guards collapsed forwards, thudding to the ground. By the time they fell there was nobody there. The guards didn’t shift at all apart from subtly filling the gap, leaving the corpse lying there. Sareti stared with wide eyes, pressing her back as far into the corner as she could.
“Do we call for backup?” One of them hissed to another, voice trembling slightly.
“You heard our orders, we don’t leave our positions.”
The other guard nodded but even Sareti could see his hands gripping his spear tighter and tighter.
A while later after the guards had relaxed a bit and the dark had fully descended, a few clouds occasionally blocking out the moon, another guard dropped dead in front of the bars to her cage. Again there was no sign of the attacker and no sign of any blood or knife.
She could hear her own breathing now, ragged although she wasn’t sure if… Another crack. She suddenly hoped that the king was as good as he was confident, she would rather face him than an Otess. Maybe he could… Another crack sounded and the guards began to stab at the darkness blindly some of them visibly shaking.
~
“Tay, why are we doing this?” In the dim light that filtered through the cloth that had been thrown over the cage she could see his fist tightened around the hilt of a long dagger.
I don’t know! She wanted to say but just reached out and took hold of his hand. He seemed to relax slightly but she could feel the tension in him.
The cloth was moved and they plunged into darkness. That seemed to calm Hase a little and he stilled. She forced herself to calm her own breathing. She was glad she didn’t have a problem of small spaces, for although it wasn’t unreasonably small, where they were going it might well have been.
It was quiet outside apart from the soft thuds of a boots on a paved street along with the occasional low voice. Then they began to move. Despite what she had seen of the streets, the cage rattled and shook and the cart under them creaked with the weight. She wondered if they were getting pulled by horses. Another time seeing horses would be quite a sight but even that didn’t quench the burning fear deep inside her.
“Tay?” Hase whispered. She felt his hand brush her shoulder and then find her hand. He gripped it tightly. She felt scars through his rough palm and wondered where he had gotten them from, surely he had not acquired that many from just working with her.
“Hase…” she began forcing her voice level, “I barely know you but I wish that I had made more effort before. But maybe that is better, with what we are going into.”
“Tay,” Hase said, voice surprisingly just as level as hers, “I lost every one of my friends and then lost my new friends. I never regretted it. Their faces haunt my sleep but it would be unjust to wish I had never met them.”
Tayella bit her lip. “I want to get to know you better, if we get the chance.”
“We will,” he assured although his voice wavered. She wondered how many times he had made that assurance and felt a chill go through her.
They sat in silence for a time that she couldn’t quantify but she felt more at ease than she had since she had first sighted the ship they were to board. The lull in the waves before a storm. Her first time in the west and she was already in a cage voluntarily heading towards an execution or whatever they did to unwanted wranglers here.
Sounds of voices got louder and the cover was torn off making the cart creak even more. Jeering people waved fists at them from the sides of a well lit street. She gritted her teeth and ignored them studying the buildings around them. Three or four stories high, they were similar to the East although the windows were larger and the stonework more ornate.
The cart was pulled by horses as she had thought, four black beast with harnesses and studded belts that bare chested guards sat atop. The cart trundled past the people painfully slowly and rocks occasionally clattered through the bars of the cage.
She stared at the people as she passed, forcing herself to ignore those at the front. It was too easy to assume they were all like that but when she looked harder, she could spot more than a few who just watched them quietly, from the entrances to narrower streets, the expressions sometimes pitiful.
To her surprise a lot of those with bare chests, men and woman, concealed anger in their inked faces. She didn’t see any of them jeer. A few met her gaze and looked away. She sat back and met gaze with Han. Still she didn’t dare talk, the crowd felt like they were poised on the edge of flooding the street and swarming over the cage like wild dogs.
She at least could see where they were going. Built on a low hill, West Seshi sloped slightly upwards giving her a good view down to the harbour and the moonlit water. But above the houses just got bigger, the gaps between wider.
Slowly the crowds thinned and soon there were only an occasional figure watching from a tall gate or doorways in houses, with large gardens. Moving figures within the gardens showed that they were at least more wary of their property than those in the main street. Though gaps she caught sight of what could only be castles, towering above the buildings around them.
Then they were crossing an open expanse of shadowed grass that ran up to a large wall. A very large wall. She wondered how Sareti had got even past it. Focus Tay, she told herself as the cart slowed and guards that she hadn’t noticed walking either side fanned out. The huge gates in the wall swung open just enough to let the cart through.
Just as they started moving again, something moved at the edge of her vision, scaling the wall! No, she thought, I will not let my mind play tricks on me now. The dread was swelling up inside her like the spirit water did, from now on there was no going back, every hour, every day they spent here increased the chance of being caught. She glanced at the lock subconsciously, hanging there slightly open. She breathed a small sigh of relief. Not a much better thought.
They passed beneath the wall there was the palace. It was a little underwhelming at first sight until she realised how large it with the windows only dark spots crossing its length and with its rectangular symmetrical silhouette it grew more and more imposing.
The grounds in between the wall and the palace were mostly open with only a few groups of plain buildings on it, including what she assumed was the guard’s barracks and stables with guards surrounding and then behind that, to the left of the palace was a much smaller building, with colluded walls that glinted in the moonlight, metal columns! She didn’t like to wonder how much something like that might cost. Metal wasn’t exactly cheap. A single row of guards completely surrounded it. Yet there was something off, dark lumps lay prone in the grass. But from the notice they were given by the guards around them they may as well have been bundles of cloth.
There was no sound as they approached the building, in fact the guards didn’t even shift their gaze, instead they stood motionless, staring outwards. She shivered even thought the nights were starting to warm. The cart stopped and she could hear the sounds of low voices.
“What are you doing?! We were told to accept no more prisoners tonight.” The man’s voice was tight and his voice wavered slightly. What is wrong with him? She thought, he isn’t the one going into the prison.
“Why not? The prison has never been full, in fact has it not been empty for the past few days.”
“One prisoner only, Kings orders, from him directly. I am just doing my duty.” The word ‘duty’ sounded as if he was reconsidering his choice of job.
The voices lowered and she could no longer hear what they were saying save for a few distant murmurs. Hase grabbed her arm.
“What?” She said but he clamped his hand over her mouth and pointed. She froze and her eyes widened. To the right of them, something dark moved along the ground. It took her a few moments to realise that it was in fact a human. And then she saw what it was wrapped in and she gripped Han’s arm. If she had not known better she would have thought that it were naked with the clear shape of an Otess. Even so she soon lost sight of it.
She pushed herself up to crouch instead of sit and strained her eyes. Something moved near what must have been the front of their procession. Then there were two thuds, then Silence. Most of the guard that had been around them as they travelled through the city had not passed through the gates, she now wished they were there.
The guards around the building didn’t move. Surely they must have seen something. She opened her mouth to call but Han hissed in her ear.
“No, no, don’t, we don’t want to draw any attention to ourselves. The guards talking at the front are likely dead and without a sound, what is to say that we don’t get killed quicker?”
“But why now? Why here? And I liked that Water wrangler, he was the first nice Westerner that I met.”
“I don’t know, they could be after someone in the prison, or the king himself.”
“You heard the guard earlier, only one prisoner…”
“Sareti!” Han whispered meeting her gaze. Even in the darkness she could see the tension in his crouch.
“Han, I am sorry that I brought you, we should have stayed behind, you can go, if you can escape.”
“No, Tay if you are staying, then I will. Even if it means that we have to fight a…”
“Yes,” she said, “We must.” She pulled him into an awkward embrace. For a moment the fear loosened inside her and something else replaced it. He brushed his hand across her cheek and then pulled away turning towards the lock.
The smile slipped as the door to the cage swung open silently and Hase landed quietly on the grass. A moment later soft grass squished under her feet. She couldn’t remember the last time she had seen so much grass… The Otess! Her mind almost growled and she gritted her teeth.
She followed Hase around the edge of the wagons and sure enough at the front of the horses which were surprisingly still, were two dark shapes that resembled bodies. She shuddered and looked away. From there they had a clearer view of the actual prison. Had they just given the Otess a way of getting in unseen? The thought was almost as bad as the thought of leaving Sareti to face it on her own.
The building was low with a flat roof and with bars surrounding it as the outer wall. Around this was a layer of guards. And dead bodies, of which there were at least a dozen.
“Why don’t they move?” Hase breathed as they crouched beside the bodies. “They should have done something about the cart, surely the west don’t train their guards to be so stupid.”
“What if they are watching for something specific?” Tayella said, “Like an…” She dared not mention the name.
“I don’t know, they said something about the king’s orders, as if they were expecting this, I mean they wouldn’t have this many guards around the prison, look at those bars.”
“The guards are facing out the way,” she said, “As if they expect the attack from the outside and not from inside.”
Hase was silent for a few moments before speaking again, “How could someone expect an Otess? What has Sareti done that he might expect that?”
“Lets get Sareti first, how do we get in?”
“Through that door there,” Hase pointed to a shadowed part on the side closest to the palace where a couple more shapes on the grounds lay prone.
“If there is an Otess in there, how can we get past them. Do you think it is possible to break someone out from the outside?”
“We have to try, I don’t think going in after the Otess is ever a good idea, you see what it did to all those guards, and they didn’t even see it coming.”
Thankfully the guards were now spread out quite thin and all of them were facing outwards, so they were able to slip through relatively easily, crouching behind the cart and horses. Too easily, if the King had been expecting the Otess then wouldn’t they increase the protection?
They slipped around the side of the building but the cells inside were pitch black. They couldn’t afford to expose their location either by calling into them so they moved around, listening for breathing. They were nearing the end of the first side when a scream broke out right beside them. Tay felt Hase tackle her to the ground beside the wall and they lay there, hearts beating listening for any sound of the guards but none of them even turned around.
Carefully she poked her head above the edge of the sill that held the bars and peered in. Still she could not see anything but she could definitely hear the ragged breathing of someone. Was it Sareti? It had to be.
“Its her I think,” She whispered in Hase’s ear, “but are we too late?”
“I can try and break the stone that the bars are in but… It might take a while.”
“Hurry then,” Tayella said stringing her eyes to see inside.”
“Right.” Hase pulled off gloves revealing glowing hands. He pressed them against the stone at the bottom. As it seeped through cracks it cast a low glow into the cell. There in the corner sat the hunched form of a woman. She could not tell if it was Sareti or not for they were hunched up against the wall and their hair was messy and face dirty with what could be mud or blood. As the cell lit up a little she could see the woman’s eyes. They did not blink, instead were wide open, and terrified.
“Tay, I don’t think she knows that it is you.”
“Oh right.” She moved herself so her face could be seen in the glow and whispered as loudly as she dared.
“Sareti, it is me, Tayella.”
For a long moment, Sareti didn’t move but then a little fear left her eyes.
“Tayella? Why are you here?”
“To rescue you.”
“You need to run, now!”
Tay had no heart to tell her in her current state that they were there because her faction was on the brink of collapse. “No, time to explain, we will get you out of here, tell me what is going on.”
She visibly trembled and it seemed to take a few moments for her to speak, when she did, Tay could feel the terror in her voice as it cut off every few moments with a gasp of air.
“An Otess. Is coming to kill me. The King planned it, he wants to capture one, I am the bait. You need to take what I tell you back to the east and share it with whoever will listen, it is too important to be lost, more important than me.
Tay glanced at Hase who’s hands were now glowing much fainter and only a quarter of the large cut stone glowed. He pushed it but it didn’t move, still he continued.
“Tayella! The weapon is hidden in the Otess stronghold, the king knows. Either way the East is in danger, tell anyone who will listen that, maybe somebody will listen…” She trailed off and then spoke again, “A woman also, if you do not get far, there is a woman…” her voice broke and she began to cough.
“I can tell somebody,” she said, maybe even Erisa? Although what will she say when we bring her news that Avalt is dead… “But first…” Something creaked inside the room and it had not come from Sareti’s side.
“Go!” Sareti said struggling to a crouch, “Both of you go!”
Tay could feel tears flowing freely now, she had never liked Sareti much but she couldn’t watch anyone die in front of her”“Sareti we will get you out of here.”
“No, you need to go. If the Otess…”
The door banged open and a slim figure entered the room, wrapped in strips of black leather bark. She dropped down beside Hase, heart pounding. Sareti’s breathing inside the room was so ragged that she still hear it. Then she heard Sareti scream a word, “Erisa!” Tayella felt a chill. What did… It doesn’t matter now!
“You need to go,” Hase whispered, whatever she means, it is important.
“I can’t leave you or Sareti here,” she chocked back a sob and wiped her eyes.
Hase leaned closer and put his lips against hers in a quick kiss and pushed her away.
“I promise I will see you again.”
Numbly, Tay dragged herself out of view of the building and pulled herself to her feet to ran. She passed the guards but they didn’t move. It tore her heart to leave so she numbed her mind and let the tears fall as she fought her way out of the gate, not even noticing the slashes of fire through her flesh as she broke away and moved into the darkness. She muttered a single name under her breath as she ran.
Hase crouched by the bars and listened intently. The glow in the stone had faded so much so that the cell was just darkness to him. He felt a small sense of relief that he was on the outside and not the inside. I am crazy, he thought, Trying to break into a cell with an Otess on the inside.
For a few moments he held his breath, sure that Sareti had been killed for he could no longer hear her ragged breathing. Then came a raspy voice that could only belong to the Otess.
“I see that you have tried to escape,” he said, “Kaman was always clumsy.” The last bit sounded more of a murmur than directed at Sareti.
“Why do you want me?” Sareti’s voice was faint and she gasped before each word. Hase gritted his teeth. Twice before had he heard the same sounds, both from dying men that he had left behind. I will not leave her behind this time.
He felt a pang of fear for Tay, alone in the unfamiliar city but pushed her out of his mind. He almost laughed at his promise that he would see her again, while watching an Otess, in the middle of west Seshi, in none other than the King’s palace. Oh and don’t forget that you are trying to break into his prison.
“Sometimes people dig too deep into ground that doesn’t belong to them.”
Sareti hissed weakly as if gritting her teeth with pain, “Nobody paid you to do this, the Otess are hypocrites, surviving on lies that they expect everyone to believe, well I am not the only one that knows how far you are.”
“I wouldn’t say fake?” The Otess sounded… surprised although Hase was unsure if the surprise was for her statement or her venomous tone.
“It doesn’t matter,” the Otess chuckled, a sound that was like rocks grating off each other, “You were so secretive that you forgot to…”
Hase ducked down. What was he to do? I stayed just to convince Tayella to go without me, I need to go too. Could he face Tayella if he came back empty handed. The answer was easy. It might even be easier not to return at all.
He squeezed his eyes shut but in the darkness all he saw were the sight of friends lying on the deck of ships, or face down in the sea, arrows, knives, spears, water, drowning their life away. How long could he run from the danger. Not long enough.
Hase opened his eyes and found his hands glow faintly, illuminating the stone work underneath the bars. From the outside the mortar had crumbled slightly. It was as if the spirit fire had made his decision for him, he could only try. He pressed his palms against the cold rocks and let the remaining spirit fire slowly through the cracks. There was no sound to confirm that it worked but suddenly the rock was loose and he was able to shuffle it out quietly.
He quickened, unsure how long the Otess would continue to torment Sareti before he killed her. The though sickened him, threatening to drag up yet more memories. Those stay away! Not now. He began scrambling at the widening hole around the bottom of two of the thick bars. Now that the big stones were out, it was widening quickly. He then pulled out the stones under both of them, leaving the ends exposed.
He stopped and took a ragged breath, I should run, this was his last chance to save his life. Only if he never faced it, it would forever follow him. He felt a deep hatred kindle for the Otess. He had seen it in many people, Sareti’s own parents had died to them. He wondered if she had felt like this.
Gritting his teeth he grabbed ahold of the bottom of the bars and pulled. They didn’t move to begin with but as he shoved them around a bit, they slipped down in his hands, thudding to the rock below, the tipped, having slipped from stone sockets above before thudding to the ground on the inside of the cell. Cracked echoed around and he could hear shouts from the guards. With no other choice but to stumble in after them, pulling off his cloak and letting his exposed hands glow with the last of the spirit fire, the fine thread of the cloak began burning and he dropped it, the flickering flames illuminating the room.
The Otess stood there, head turned to him watching as he approached it. Sareti in the corner of his eye, pulled herself to her feet and closed in on the Otess too despite shaking from either fear or the cold, he couldn’t tell, she almost reached it before an arm whipped back and she was knocked off her feet. The Otess then leapt forwards slamming his fist into Hase before he even had a chance to move and he was sent tumbling backwards. He grunted loudly but as if he had been forgotten about the Otess moved towards Sareti who now stumbled backwards.
Hase climbed to his feet and darted for the Otess, grappling it around the neck but he was flung off easily. He slammed back onto the hard floor and groaned as pain flared along his side like a hot knife. Idiot, Idiot, Idiot! His mind chanted but he ignored it.
Sareti was once again backed into the corner and the Otess moved in. For a moment the Otess seemed to glow slightly green but then it was gone. Hase glanced around. If he went in again, the Otess would just do the same thing, what could he do?
He dragged himself to his feet and lumbered over to the gap in the bars. Sareti’s strangled cry stopped him. He turned.
“If you kill her, I will get away,” He shouted into the cell, “And I know about where the weapon is.”
The Otess spun around, Sareti dropping from his hands into a heap. She still moved thankfully but with difficulty. She opened and closer her mouth, clawing at her throat wildly.
“You will never outrun the Otess.”
Hase swallowed hard, it was right but someone might be able to. He opened his mouth. “THE OTESS ARE HIDING A GIANT VIAL OF SPIRIT EARTH IN THEIR STRONGHOLD. GUARDS? DO YOU HEAR THAT?” If something of that made it to somebody rich here then it would spread.
The Otess sprang towards him but Hase was already running across the grounds of the Cell. His feet pounded on the soft grass and he sprinted towards approaching line of guards. Thankfully they had started moving, long spears lowered. He almost reached them when a hand grabbed the back of his collar and pulled him backwards, slamming him into the ground which thankfully, this time was soft. It wasn’t much comfort as an arm yanked his head back and another bent his arm. He screamed in pain.
“GUARDS!” A voice called out of nowhere.
The Otess loosened its grip and something knocked it off. More and more surrounded them, also pinning Hase to the ground. But the pain was less and he panted with relief. It didn’t last long, the Otess might as well have killed him. He lay there for a while, listening to the sounds of guards shouting and then it quieted down.
“He is a guard!” A soft voice said, “We best get him out of here, take him to the infirmary in the barracks.” The voice sounded distant and Hase felt his eyes closing as hands lifted him into the air. At least they didn’t instantly kill me, he thought drowsily. Slowly he drifted out of consciousness and into dreams plagued by figures wrapped in strips of leatherbark.
~
Sareti crouched at the last cell and let her burning bit of cloth show a little light into it. It was empty. She was shaking so much that she could barely hold it so she dropped it and stamped it out. Han was nowhere to be found. She wanted to believe that Han was alive and had been the one to break her out of the cell but his voice was off and, no it wasn’t.
Shakily she stood and began running. Injured guards were being lifted off the grass on stretchers and more were being wrapped in cloth. She grabbed one end of a stretcher and trudged slowly after them. It didn’t take long to leave the grounds and the guards didn’t bother to check who she was, they moved numbly much like her. She passed her side of the stretcher to another guard before she slipped off into the darkness.
The streets were all familiar but every one felt darker and empty, even as a slight grey tinted the horizon, it didn’t lift her mood. At least the shaking had stopped yet now it was replaced with numbness, holding the fear back.
Eventually she found herself at the pier and picked a small boat that was lying in the shallows. At this time of the night nobody asked what she was doing. She lifted herself into it and began paddling slowly out of the harbour. For some reason nobody stopped her, maybe it was because they didn’t care who left but a while later she was in the estuary. She had so many questions. Tayella had been there, but the person that had saved her from the Otess was not her, it was a man. He must have been the fire wrangler that had made the stone glow red to begin with. So she had been rescued by a strange fire wrangler and Tayella, whom she had never got along with.
Her thoughts returned to Han. She would go back for him, wherever he was, if he was even still alive. Maybe killing half of the King’s elite guards was quite an unforgivable move. She felt cowardly for leaving him. Her thoughts moved to the Otess. The king had caught it, she was sure of that for it had got so far and then the guards had descended on it. She should have known that some of them were wranglers disguised as normal guard. And then what had happened to Tayella’s partner. She shook her head, there was little chance that he had survived, let alone survive the guards after they realised he didn’t bear the western branding. She owed him her life
She paddled weakly until her arms were numb but didn’t stop. Because if she did then she thought she would never start again.
Sareti dragged herself from the boat in a side alley where she knew Tay had always hidden one. It was early morning and the mist that hung low over the water was burning away as the sun climbed the sky. The only sound was the lapping of the water on the canal edge.
She stepped inside an opening, the heavy door left ajar and stumbled blindly down the hallway. An opening to her right opened out into a mostly empty storeroom, a few chairs and clothes lit by light from a single candle lantern. How long since I last visited this place? She thought, How long since I have been home. Six months at least.
And what had she achieved? Nothing save for finding that what she sought was hidden in an impenetrable fortress protected by un-killable assassins. Not unkillable, her mind seemed to say but she pushed it down, she hadn’t found a body and she probably had a dozen Otess searching for her at the minute. She shuddered at the thought and collapsed into a chair until the shaking subsided.
She instead changed into trousers and a top that were slightly too big for her, taken from the opposite chair. And threw on the discarded cloak, at least now she could traverse the streets without drawing attention.
“They aren’t your clothes.” A familiar voice said from the darkness of the edge of the room. Of course, she should have known, somebody would have to have lit the candle. Tayella stepped forwards into the light stood there watching her. Her tear streaked face was as hard and cold as Sareti had ever seen it, it almost looked unnatural with her palely smooth features. She had not bothered to change from what looked like a western uniform, bloody and ripped.
“Who’s are they?” Sareti said finding nothing to say.
“Hase’s.”
She continued dressing, pulling the cloak around her shoulders and marvelling at the warmth that began to seep back into her. Sareti finally made herself meet Tayella’s gaze.
“Do you have anything to say?” Her voice alone made Sareti shrink back. What are you doing? Her mind seemed to say, stand up to her!
“Thank you for your help in rescuing me, I owe you my life.”
“You owe Hase,” Tayella spat, tears starting to roll down her face again, “Not me.”
“Hase?” Suddenly the man’s voice clicked. Of course, Hase had been with Tayella. Her heart sank, “Tayella, I didn’t know it was hase, he drew the Otess out and if the Otess didn’t get him, the guards would have.”
Sareti stepped forwards as if to comfort her but Tayella stepped back.
“Tayella, I am sorry.” She could feel the tears rolling down her face again.
Tayella bit her lip, face softening a little and sat. “He chose to come,” she eventually said, “But it was me who let him.”
“Why did you come?” Sareti said and winced when Tayella’s gaze hardened again. She forced herself to continue anyway, I will not let myself be blamed. “I know you wouldn’t have done that just because you were worried about me, I don’t think you would have cared.”
It was Tayella’s turn to hesitate, “Its bad Sareti. Torin is gone and so is your faction.”
“Dead?”
“Sareti, how long did you expect him to lead your faction while you played your games on the other side of the water, I don’t know where he is and neither does Kai.”
“Spirit help us, what are we going to do about it, we have to get it back, if we can only…”
“I don’t care,” Tay interrupted, “It doesn’t change anything, the fact is that you didn’t return in time. Leading the faction has been slowly killing your brother and two days ago, he left, giving us a day to find you and bring you back. So it is your fault more than his.”
Sareti held back her surge of shame, for she was sure it would overwhelm her. “I’m sorry Tay.”
“If you ever see your brother again, apologies to him.”
She suddenly wished she had never gone. Here she was, with Hase dead, Han likely about to meet a similar future, Torin gone and a faction on the brink of collapse. If Tay was right then she was about to be a fugitive in the east much like in the west, nobody liked an old faction leader hanging about after they were overthrown, they posed too much of a threat.
“For once,” Tayella said kicking back her chair so hard that it fell over backwards spilling clothes on the floor, “For once you only have yourself to worry about, maybe you will do a good job of that.”She turned and walked from the light.
“Tayella!” Sareti said after her standing up on shaky legs, “I want to help.”
Tay stepped back into the light. “Help me with what?”
Sareti let took a shaky breath, and spoke. “There is something worse than all of this.” Tayella opened her mouth narrowing her eyes but she continued before she could burst, “The Otess have more influence in the west than they thought, than most there know.”
“I told the woman called Erisa, but what does that have to do with us.”
“The East is a lot less held together than the West,” Sareti said ignoring the flash of anger in the other woman’s eyes, “Maybe not by fair means but the factions in the west may fall apart as quickly as you can name them.”
“That you call this the West and not home is telling.” She hesitated, “What can we do?”
“I don’t know,” Sareti said, she had not thought of anything other than telling Tayella.
Tay grabbed her collar and pressed her face up close, making Sareti look up at the taller woman.
“Come up with something or I am leaving you here, you can do nothing for me now.”
Sareti made herself look Tayella in the eyes and spoke, “I have papers on the other factions and on the recent events, I assume that he kept them up to date, if we could…”
Tay let go of her collar and let Sareti slump down, “We can start with that, it might not be easy though get some rest first, you probably need it.
“We can’t waste time,” Sareti said, “Every moment we wait is another that allows others to find the house.”
Tay begrudgingly grabbed her hand and pulled her to her feet. She planted a plain knife in her hand and pointed towards the exit.
Sareti followed Tay as she marched from the room with as straight a back as she could. They stopped by a bucked of water to wash the dirt from their faces and Tayella chased from the western outfit, pulling a cloak hood over her head a she stepped into the misty daylight.
Since she had stepped inside the building the mist had mostly burned away yet the street was still wet. A boat sat in the water, tied to two iron hoops, but Tayella ignored it and briskly walked down the edge of the street instead.
She hurried to keep up. She noticed that Tayella walked differently now, she had always ambled, as if slightly lost. Now she strode with purpose, no, anger.
They moved in silence, tracing the largely empty streets, nearing the centre of her faction. She pushed all thoughts out of her mind as she heard many voices. If she could do one more thing then she could at least help Tayella. Even if she herself had given up. I haven’t given up!
They rounded the last street corner and stopped. In front of them was the buildings that had served as her home and office before she had left and more recently Torin’s. Now the wide street around it was swamped with roughly armoured men and woman hefting spears and long bladed knives. Mercenaries.
As she watched the nondescript door was blasted off by fire wrangler, identified with a hood that covered its face completely. It was a stark difference from the west where water wranglers were bare to the waist. For a moment she wondered how they guessed which building it had been in and then she saw the burst open doors all the way down the street. A few people were running away along the water’s edge but the mercenaries didn’t even give them a glance.
“We have a little time,” Tayella whispered, without looking at her, “They obviously haven’t found your office yet, is there another way in?”
“We can take the back entrance.” She showed Tayella to a narrow side street with a heavy door not unlike the one to Tayella’s warehouse.
“Quickly!” Urged Tay as she kicked open the door. Vines that often crept up from the canals and onto the stonework had mostly covered it for it was barely used. It was dark inside and she had no spirit fire so she just followed Tay in silence. She knew the way well anyway. Suddenly there was a bang and daylight shone down what now showed as a damp stone tunnel. She ran after Tay who, on the other side was already half way up the grand staircase.
As she climbed, she looked back and just caught sight of the fire mercenaries burst through the inner door and exclaim.
“WE HAVE IT!” They called excitedly. She stopped and looked back. There is bound to still be people in here…
“Sareti, we can’t go back for them, if they get the lists of our mercenaries and close workers then more people will die, come on!” Sareti turned and continued climbing even as she heard a scream that was cut off with a gurgle that seemed to echo around her head. Why had she not thought of that? There was an answer but she was not willing to voice it or even think it.
She was now on the landing and a moment later in her office, what had been her office. Not much had changed, save for the desk now close to the window and some cushions stacked on the windowsill. The fire place was cold and a chill had settled over the room. Papers scattered on the floor as if someone had left quickly. She wondered what he had taken with him. If she could search through everything then she might have an idea of what he would do next.
“They are already gone,” Tayella called from the other side of the room, bringing her back to stare at the desk.
“What are?”
“Your papers on the weapon.”
Sareti froze, there doesn’t appear a need to find out what he is trying to do next although it is a strange way he is going.
She began collecting up papers. She could hear footsteps coming up the stairs, there really wasn’t enough time for this.
“Tayella, we need to destroy anything that’s left.” Why do I need to ask her?
“Do it,” Tayella said. Her skin had begun to glow blue and water rapidly covered her beneath her clothes.
She pulled papers from drawers and placed it in a stack. Throwing the stack in the fireplace she set it alight with the candle.
“Good.” Tayella said, glancing around. As she spoke the door slammed open and mercenaries poured into the room, weapons out. Their weapons were mismatched and looked like they could have been replaced, their armour cracked and in desperate need of repair.
A woman in brilliantly clean blue loose trousers and jacket with golden embroidery pushed through the cloud, her hands glowing as Tay’s now were, hood completely covering her face.
“The window!” Tay called running and leaping through the window. To anyone else it might not have broken because it was sturdily made but Tay glowed and when she hit the window she didn’t even cry out as she smashed it to splinters and disappeared.
Sareti began to run, but a blast of air hit her legs and she was sent sprawling on the floor. As she tried to rise to her feet she was slammed down again. When she tried to move hands pinned her down. She tried to push spirit fire from her hands but the hands didn’t move. She began to shake, thoughts of the cell in the King’s palace coming back to her.
She was roughly rolled over and she was face to face with the water wrangler. Or face to hood.
“The old Leader is back!” The woman exclaimed excitedly, in a lower tone, “A bonus will surely come my way for this!”
Sareti forced herself to stop shaking, the woman was a fire wrangler like her not an Otess there. She desperately tried to recall what she should to do but the image of the Otess standing over her kept overpowering her other thoughts.
“Someone!” The wrangler called turning her head slightly.
She fought the urge to tense and relaxed her whole body. In that instant she felt the iron grip on her hands weaken. She yanked her right hand from the water wrangler’s grasp, opening her eyes at the same time.
The wrangler’s face was a mix of shock and horror as she tried to grab Sareti’s hand again. Sareti’s knife tore a scream from the woman and she toppled sideways. Don’t assume a wrangler doesn’t have other tricks, she thought resisting the urge to retch. She had only meant to wound but…
Turning away and stepping back towards the window she launched herself from the window. She had looked out of the window many times and knew that the canal took up more than half of the space.
She hit the water and the cold soaked into her. A moment later she surfaced and a hand reached down and grabbed her. It was Tayella who was leaning out of a rocking boat.
After she had tumbled into it and lay on the bottom in a pool of canal water they shot off at an unnatural speed, the rocking subsiding as Tayella began to glow. She wondered if the woman had the intention of killing her, at least whoever had sent her would have. She told herself that she was too important to die like that, not with what she knew. When have I ever had to explain myself, she thought equally as horrified.
“What happened up there?” Tayella asked in a level voice as the boat slowed and Sareti struggled to sit up.”
“That I need to practice without spirit fire.”
Tayella’s lips twitched but she fixed Sareti with a stare that made her look down.
“I did my best to slow down the pursuit.”
“Ah.” Tayella raised her eyebrows but didn’t comment further.
The boat slowed to a stop outside a nondescript building. She looked around but didn’t recognise the narrower street at all, in fact it looked like the entire street was made up of warehouses. She thought it would likely put them in the southern parts of the city although they could not be used at the moment for there were no guards. Tayella held open a small door and let her in to a lit building. Small lanterns lit the long hallway which had doors leading off it every twenty paces or so.
Tayella didn’t bother to try the door handle but instead slammed her shoulder up against it, something cracked and the door swung open. Inside, the storeroom was relatively small and lit by holes in the ceiling, shining through small cracks. The other light came from Tayella’s glowing fist showing sheet covered furniture.
“A safe room! Is it yours?” Sareti said, admiring the quality of everything in the room, including a rack of dusty weapons hung on the wall.
“Not mine. I just took care to find other’s, has come in useful before.”
“Smart.”
“I thought so too.” Tayella pulled two comfy chairs out from underneath another sheet and placed them opposite each other. “Sit.”
Sareti was too tired to complain and collapsed into the chair, letting her eyes close. She opened them immediately at the sound of Tayella moving something heavy between them. She was dragging a polished table and once it was there she spread out a few papers that she produced from her wet clothes.
“What is this?” Sareti leaned over the table to get a better look. It appeared to be a list of names, nothing more.
“Our faction is gone, 0r at least it will be, I think that we may find it difficult to move around in the open. Those that I employed will be at risk from the enemy if they are found to have an attachment to either of us.”
“They are not the enemy…” This was exactly the thinking that would be their downfall.
Tayella leaned forwards, “They are now, we are on the run.”
Sareti laughed darkly, here she was hiding even more in the East than she had in the west. If the west is not just as bad as this, I would go back, she thought. At least I would be able to find Han. She bit her lip, she had left him at the mercy of the King. He can take care of himself, besides he probably got free and was just glad that I was out of the way, she thought, at least now that Erisa had her information.
“I have a duty to those that worked with me, and I intend to find them and give them a way to still work for us, if we want to get the faction back, then having a group of spirit wranglers will really be useful to us.”
“Getting them back is a good idea,” Sareti said, “but the faction is gone.”
“At least you have enough sense to believe that without me convincing you,” Tayella muttered and cleared away the maps.
Sareti leaned forwards, once again pushing back the tiredness. “The most important thing we can do is find out if the Otess are doing, here, what they are doing in the west.”
“Get some rest,” Tayella sighed and leaned back in her chair closing her eyes. Sareti knelt down by the fireplace and began making a fire. Whatever they did next she would be easier about it if she had some spirit fire to dry herself off.
Hase slipped into a plain robe that dropped from his shoulders to his knees. That in itself was not uncomfortable but next went on the heavy armour of round plates of metal. Although each of the plates were thin, all together he thought they might weigh half again his weight. Why do I go along with this, he thought, soon someone will discover that I am in fact not a westerner training to be a guard. At least the other soldiers had not bothered that his accent was slightly different, still with the sound of those from the continent.
The armour was better than what the soldiers who fought in the estuary who had to walk around half naked with wooden armour. Sometimes practicality wasn’t worth the humility.
“I can’t believe a new recruit like you was even allowed in the palace grounds, I mean how long have you been a guard for? Not even a year, you struggle to get the armour on still. I asked the commander about it and she just told me to get busy.”
Hase grimaced and forced his breathing to slow. The speaker was of course his new acquaintance, Sanoa. Short and solidly built from working on her parents farm on one of the smaller islands off Seshi and almost as pale as Tayella. Tayella. The thought jarred his mind and it took a few moments to realise that the woman was just in her under robe.
Apparently in the west nudity was not a thing that was thought about for here they were standing in a long barracks hallway, changing without any sort of privacy. Still, he kept his eyes on the wall, giving Sanoa the privacy he thought she should have. The first time this had happened he had backed away until he had realised that it was in fact normal.
“Hase! Why do you always act so embarrassed, look at me for spirit’s sake it’s only an under robe, surely you have seen such before.”
Hase felt his face go hot but forced himself to turn and meet her eyes. He kept his gaze high, focusing on those dark eyes and pale skin. “I am not used to it,” he finally said.
She continued with a grin that made him wonder if she did this deliberately to throw him off guard, “On the training ground, I have seen nobody match you, at least not with a spear but in here you act so vulnerable.” Hase forced an awkward laugh and helped Sanoa don her single piece armour which went over the head and was strapped at the waist.
She bundled up her straight brown hair and secured it with a slim knife stuck through it, not letting him slip his arms free until she was done. She then grabbed her weapons belt and looped it over her shoulder.
“Let’s go, if you are ready,” Hase said, noticing that they were attracting a little attention if only a few hidden grins. If he didn’t have to worry about being discovered he surely would have an easier time of it.
If only he could get away from the training barracks and he could escape. I could go any time, he thought, it wouldn’t be hard, they have no reason to suspect me nor am I finding much out about
Sanoa nodded brushing his bare arm with a hand. He followed her out into the sunshine not bothering to hide his sigh. I wonder what it is like on these other islands.
The now familiar sight of the grassy area between the king’s palace and the forest greeted him. Every time the sight of the palace made him shiver. In a way he was thankful that the Otess had badly torn his uniform, otherwise they might have discovered that a uniform like that that belonged on a boat and not in the palace grounds. It all seemed too easy, he should be in a cell, or dead, instead here he was training to be a guard.
“Hase!”
He jumped and realised he had been partially blocking the door to the barracks. He stepped out of the way and followed Sanoa to the edge of the forest. Here a path just wide enough for two snaked into the forest and disappeared. Though the trees he could hear distant sounds of voices.
The path itself was well thought out, and curved unnaturally so that someone who didn’t know it was there would end up slowing down in the soft ground and the city guards could move quickly.
He checked his armour was secure and then began running. The start of each day since he had woken up in the infirmary had gone like this. It was here that he was glad for Sanoa and although she asked too many questions about him, it was a long way through the forest and as he had found out the first time, being alone with his thoughts was difficult if he wasn’t tripping off the path.
“So what is bothering you today?” Sanoa said, nudging his arm as they thudded in and out of the tall pines, her playful mood had become more serious and now she acted like any other recruit, “Is it still your father? Has his illness got worse?”
“No, he is slightly better,” Hase said grimacing. The memory of his father was not a good one but sometimes excuses were hard to come by. It wasn’t a complete lie, his father had been ill, ill of the mind, but that was over five years ago.
“Sanoa, tell me of your family, I forgot where you said they come from again?”
Her face lit up, whether because she had an opportunity to talk or because he was actually instigating a conversation for once. I must try more. It was also nice to see someone smile, it reminded him of his childhood friends, the innocent smile. When he saw those faces in his mind they didn’t wear smiles but disgusted frowns as he was let out of a cage to flee into the forest. He had been given a head start but that was normal and then they had come hunting for him, with bows and spears. A long time since I saw a proper bow.
“You, know most people think that Seshi Island is the only island in this part of the ocean, at least that is big enough to take notice of, but my family is from the next closest island, called Anishi. Have you heard of that?”
“Not before you first mentioned it.” He knew that there were other islands but they were almost never mentioned in the years he had lived in the east, possibly it was because the west controlled them. “What are people from Anishi like?” Hase said glancing at her.
“They work a farm there,” she said after a moments silence and a few glances at him as if she were trying to work out what his question really meant. “There is more grassland there than on the whole of Seshi but it is so windy and stormy that the houses are protected by walls and hills.
“I see."
They continued running through the forest but Hase’s mind wandered away from the conversation and to thinking about how to get out. Not from the training yards but from the West entirely. He could be of use to the others here if he stayed, an insider in the western side of seshi could mean a huge advantage to the others. If only he could get word to them, if they still lived.
Don’t think like that, they have to still be alive. Surely by now Sareti and Tayella were back with Sareti’s faction and they would be safe. They must think him dead and just as well for it was much more dangerous here now.
Not concentrating on where he was going, he accidentally strayed from the hard ground and tripped on a concealed root, sending him sprawling onto the soft but thankfully dry ground. Sanoa pulled him to his feet. Again her face was close enough that he could hear here breathing. He stepped back rubbing his knee. You won’t be going anywhere if you injure yourself from not looking where you are going!
“Hase! Pay attention, you will never make it to being a full guard if you keep letting your mind wander. It looks bad on me as well if you aren’t doing good.”
“Sanoa,” Hase said as he started running again, this time keeping his eyes firmly on the faint signs of the path, “There can be more to your life than being in the city guard. Have you ever visited the East?”
It must have been the wrong thing to say for Sanoa gave him a horrified look, “Of course not, that’s a stupid question, there is nothing there but rampant mercenaries and Otess to try and kill you.”
Hase laughed coldly, “There is rampant nobles here, and Otess too.”
“Have you been?” She considered him with narrowed eyes.
He shook his head quickly, “Just heard stories from those that have, sounds interesting, not so different from here.” Very different, they are definitely not so insular. Or were they?
They were quiet for a while as they ran. She wasn’t much younger than him, maybe twenty but had the innocence of a child. How could she think like that if she had really seen much? He had been her, ten years ago, without realising why. It wasn’t until his wrangling had been discovered that he had been cast out like a monster. What would she do if she knew?
“Come on!”
“Coming.” He caught up. How like home the west really was, at least they only hated fire wranglers and not all wranglers. He stopped himself, his home was the east now. Where he had come from could hardly be called a home. I have to get out of here.
For the rest of the run he was silent, letting the steady thuds of their feet calm him before they reappeared onto the wide stretch of open grass. It was the first day that he had felt too warm as the sun beat down on them. He splashed water on his face quickly and hurried over to the growing groups of trainee guards. He found his assigned group of ten, all with dark red cloth covering their wrists and stood in line with Sanoa at his side.
Gradually he heard the harsh voices of the commanders working their way down the groups. Commanders were only a couple of rungs below the King in terms of the army yet since there had been little fighting out with the city walls they had been assigned to training.
“Group BLUE to the forests, YELLOW to the harbour…” Han stopped listening. He was glad he wasn’t in the forests today because of the heat. The groups jogged off in different directions and then a stocky woman not unlike Sanoa with soft features but much darker skin stepped up to the reds and gave them all individually a hard stare before opening her mouth.
“REDS you are assigned to the city, you have an important task today, do not let us down. The king has requested that each of you experience this once because it will likely happen when you are proper guards.”
Han bowed his head with the others but stayed silent.
“I wonder what it is,” Sanoa said quietly when the woman had moved on, “Hopefully something exciting, three days of weapons training is tough on the body.”
Whatever it was it couldn’t be good. Otherwise the commander wouldn’t have been so stern looking. But maybe it would be useful to him. I need to be gone, he realised, it is too dangerous to continue like this. Sometimes the elite guards would do checks on the recruits to ensure they were not able to wrangler either fire or water. If they discovered you were a water wrangler then it would instantly put you above normal guards and soldiers to the water guard but being a fire wrangler he would become a monster to everyone else, the worst type of criminal. Sanoa would not even think it a shame if I were killed for being that.
The group started moving following a group of guards into the city. They were not trainers, they were proper guards. They didn’t speak at all. That spelled trouble.
They soon entered the streets, the gardens shrinking the further they marched down the hill until they disappeared altogether and they were filtering through hand carts and merchants selling goods. In daylight the city seemed normal but when he looked close he could see the wary glances that they were given and the way that people shrank back from them. By night he knew it would become almost a different place.
Of course the city can’t really know what happened only a few days prior, something that would likely change Seshi as a whole forever.
Instead of continuing towards the harbour as they usually did, the guards at the front took a narrower street of the main one and then an even smaller one. Soon the sunlight and heat disappeared and they were marching through dirty streets that looked like they never saw the light of day. For once he was glad of his heavy boots, clumsy or not.
The east had its fair share of dirty streets where the houses were small and falling down, some not even made of stone and instead of wood and dirt, but here it was worse. The smell was so bad that he had to resist covering his nose and mouth. Shapes lay in allies under ragged cloths that looked all to like a person.
Small faces watched them from half closed doors, from behind piles of rotting wood. The houses were tall and thin, some leaning out onto the street, those that had not collapsed already. More than once they had to climb over the remains of a taller building where new shelters had sprung up.
Then Hase was drawn by shouts. As they rounded the curve in the street, he saw fire and could feel its heat. It seemed to try and draw him closer but he resisted, he couldn’t slip here, not with more than a dozen guards.
In the ruins of what would have been tall house blazed a fire. Desperately people flung rotting wooden buckets of water at it but it barely did anything. Among the rubble were charred bodies, too many of them. He felt his heart sink, that fire is no ordinary fire. Hase’s attention was dragged from the fire to a woman on her knees.
“He isn’t one of them! I had him under control, he was doing no harm.” Her voice echoed in the narrow street. As he came closer he could see the tears streaming down her face. Then he saw whom she was speaking to and Hase froze, as the rest kept moving forward without him before stopping closer. Four water guards stood in front of the woman, bare chested and looking past her, grim faces. Water wranglers, that confirmed his suspicions. Get out of here, he thought but there was no way to get away without being noticed and then they might suspect. They looked relieved at the arrival of the normal guard and a couple of woman dragged the crying woman away, out of sight. The leading guard turned to face them all, marked by a band of red around his collar.
“You must watch this, why nobody should ever harbour a monster in their home. They have no place among us except to kill and destroy.”
One of the water guard glanced at the guard who had spoken with contempt but instead of speaking turned back, bare chest and arms now glowing enough to make his dark skin look slightly blue.
Hase watched in horror as the water wranglers jumped over the rouble and entered the raging flames. Steam rose from them and they disappeared. Then the flames began to die down and within minutes the fire was gone, just steaming charred pieces of timber lying around, some still smouldering.
The guards around him stepped back, seemingly horrified. Hase made himself lean closer. There lay a boy. Hands chained in thick manacles to a large block of stone. His skin was dirty and his clothes merely charred rags yet there were no signs of burns on his skin at all.
Cheering rose around him, coming from some of the onlookers and the guards, a few dirty faces stared wide eyed from the shadow of doorways. The water wranglers’ faces however were impassive as ever and shook off the praise from the other guards with glares.
Instead they broke the manacles and lifted the boy onto a stretcher. His eyes were open but he didn’t resist as they tied his arms and legs down. Despite glowing strength they were gentle but Hase seethed with fury but gritted his teeth. I should do something, he thought but nothing came to his mind.
The two guards who held the mother were almost struggling to hold her but he found no sympathy for her, only for the boy. Manacling a child to the floor because of who they are. For there he saw himself, maybe a little older when his father had discovered what he could do. How long had he been locked up in that cage before they had sent him into the forest. I guess I should be grateful I was given the twenty minutes head start. It shouldn’t have made a difference, every wrangler in Ichu, his city had died like that. Except me. He should have felt pride at that but watching the boy get taken away just curdled his blood.
He tried to move his gaze but it was locked onto the boy’s grimy face until it disappeared around the corner.
He realised that Sanoa had been shaking his shoulder as the group of guards were starting to move. “Hase!”
“Oh right sorry.”
“You need to cleanse yourself, I saw that, the demon staring at you like that, it is not good.”
He rounded on her but pushed down his anger and sighed instead but inside he still seethed. How much does it take for someone like her to feel empathy for a boy dragged away to be…
Hase turned away and strode after the other guards. He thought that he might have been able to bring Sanoa around but maybe she was too far gone. Whatever they teaches here or wherever she came from it was almost identical to Ichu.
He wondered how often did this sort of thing happen. He had known that it was very dangerous to be a fire wrangler in the west but he had not thought about children before.
He asked as much when he returned to the barracks later in the day after weapons practice. It was infuriating that sword fighting was so different to knife fighting, it was like being a beginner all over again. A good spear was much more easily, or a bow, yet they were almost never found here, something about there not being the right type of wood.
“Once every two weeks or so,” said the grim faced commander, “But more often they are older and get away from us repeatedly. Children are easier, but we catch a fire wrangler twice a month.
“I see, thank you.” He wandered after the others on their way to the building where food was served, a low and open sided building that was draughty and cold in the winter months, or so Sanoa had said. Twice a month was a lot. How can I let this happen?
No. I have to get out of here, I can convince Erisa to help me leave, I will meet the same future if I stay. He wondered if Erisa would not just cage him, she might be angry that Avalt had died in the palace grounds.
It was a quiet evening meal, having not spoken to Sanoa since. He ignored her completely at the tables, even the mysterious smiles he gave her until she sat beside him.
“Hase, I know that today must have been difficult, please talk about it.”
“I can’t.” He said truthfully glancing at her. She must have taken it as sorrow for she slipped her arm around his shoulders. He glanced around the others sitting talking quietly among themselves. They would all grow up to be city guards or water guards. What puzzled him most was the sorrow in the water wrangler’s eyes as they lifted the boy onto the stretcher, did being a water wrangler make them see. Could I find help among them? Avalt surely knew about me and he didn’t seem to care.
It was a very dark night and even as Hase lay on his bunk. There was no moonlight filtering through the open shutters, a perfect escape. There was also no wind, just the sound of quiet breathing from the many others in the room. As he turned his head he could see a slight glow from a small fire outside the open doorway, that gave the room a faint light and which would be warming the two guards on watch.
Sanoa. I could make her believe me. She would probably try and kill him if she knew, no, it was time to go. On a more windy night it would be easier to sneak out but he was glad for the silence, it let him collect his thoughts. He pulled a slip of paper from his trouser pocket and slipped it under a pillow. Maybe Sanoa would understand and if Erisa didn’t help he could return before anyone noticed him gone. I won’t return, he thought, not after today.
When he was sure that everyone had to be asleep he sat up and grabbed ahold of an old wooden beam, letting his arms take his weight. It reminded him of the thick forests at home where he had climbed as a child through tress ten times higher than anything that grew on this island.
He swung himself out off of the top of the bunk and let his feet dangle in midair. He quietly moved along it until he reached the door, which thankfully was close. The difficult part now was getting past the guards without them seeing him. His plan was about as reckless as they had used to be, the ones that had got him in trouble.
He stood in the doorway for a long moment watching the flames dance and crackle. It filled him with a sense of longing. He had not held more than a tiny flame of spirit fire for days and it felt cold inside without it, damp even. He could hear the whispers of the two either side of the door. Hase took a deep breath and jumped forwards, landing right in the fire.
He soaked up the fire in one and they were plunged into darkness. The fire had been bigger than he had expected and his bare arms were still glowing even as he tried to hide it. He cursed but there was nothing for it. He darted off into the darkness. A relatively low wall ran around the barracks, with a platform on the inside. He jumped and his bare feet slammed back into the soil.
He felt the familiar feeling of being thrown, the shock travelling up his legs and the air was rushing through his hair. He landed with a roll, ignoring the urge to do it again and instead sprinted out into the open grass. At least he wasn’t glowing now. He bolted for the forest as the alarm bells rose behind him. Erisa better help me, I cannot return now.
The thick pines were invisible except for the glow that now came from his fists. Like this they looked more like shadowy pillars of an ancient temple rather than something that was alive. Nothing moved in the forest, there was nothing to hear save for his footsteps, light as they were, on the forest floor. It was a roundabout way to get to the city but the least traceable and probably the easiest. I wish I had noticed the direction of the paths better.
I hate this place, He thought as he ran. The feeling of dread had followed him around the whole day since that boy. How could everybody here be like that. How could they just watch. True, they had done the same at home, even he had. He tried to shut off the slew of images in his head but it was too late. Memories of people tied to stakes over fires. They didn’t burn to begin with, just glowed more and more until you couldn’t look at them. When the glow had subsided they had burned just like anyone else. He had not done anything, but then he had been just a child then too. It had seemed right, fitting even for something deemed so evil, until he, himself had found the evil in him.
Horns sounded in the distance, a few. It, unsurprisingly wasn’t uncommon that a trainee would abandon the camp and try to flee, but they were usually caught within an hour, a spear in their back. Only, he knew they would have a harder time with him.
Hase moved through the city as silently as his boots could carry him. Boots like these, were sturdy but far from silent even in the grime of the narrower streets. Here nobody would look twice but they would in more wealthy parts of the city and besides he didn’t want to know what the mud was made of.
The darkness pressed in on him as the buildings did to either side, he could feel them watching him, the people. An occasional thud of footfalls and a glimpse of movement was the only signs however.
There had been parts of Ichu, where he had grown up but he had avoided those places his family would have turned their noses up at the grime and foul smell.
As he followed the narrow street the smell got worse Something was off about the darkness up ahead, walls don’t gleam like that, nothing gleams here. He stopped suddenly, crouching down. Weapons do!
“Over there!” Called a deep voice and Hase almost groaned, just after losing the guards searching for him he had found more trouble, The voice came again accompanied by the faint squelch of boots in the mud, “He stopped over there.”
In the silence it was a shock to hear somebody so close. I have become careless. Foolish to think that the rich are the only dangers in a city like this. Torches flared to life less than ten paces down the street, illuminating a dozen or more dark and pale faces. Spears were held wavering, despite gleaming slightly the blades were dirty and rust was beginning to show. Rapidly the lights moved closer and he could see it reflecting off wet mud in front of them.
He thought about turning and running the other direction, it would have been the easiest way to escape but these kind made up for their lack of skill with their numbers and if there were a dozen in front there would be a dozen behind, so he remained crouched as they approached, making himself as small of a target as possible. What do I do?
Hase had never trained as a warrior aside from his own practice with the spear remembered from childhood and Tayella’s training with knives, and the spirit fire of course.
Spirit fire makes me lazy, he thought, I should be better than this, Tayella or Sareti even would know what to do. If there was a way out without violence it would be welcome. He almost laughed out loud for it was a stupid thought.
If I can break into a prison built for wranglers, then I can get out of here. Grimacing he straightened and as he did so let his skin glow slightly, enough that a stray knife should be deflected should he not see it coming. Those approaching stopped and a couple dropped their spears running before Hase even opened his mouth, if only every one of them had done that.
“Its one of the fire monsters!” Shrieked a woman’s voice from behind Hase. Then the panic began. He did not turn when he heard shouts from behind. So he had been right. No doors or windows to either side looked passable, them all boarded up or filled with armed men and woman.
“Attack!” Somebody said but only a few moved forwards hesitantly. The man at the front of those he was facing stepped forwards.
“You,” he began more calmly than Hase expected, “You dare to plague our street. I thought that we were done of your kind for a few days at least.”
Hase frowned and then almost gasped. He recognised the man from the day, he had been watching from the shadows when the boy had been taken.
“I do not plague your street,” Hase replied, “I am merely passing through it, let me past and you will not hear from me again.”
“Ha,” Snorted the man. The calmness faded fast from his face revealing a horrible snarl that twisted his cheeks, “Your kind took my son from me, stealing his soul from his body.”
Hase froze in the process of smiling reassuringly. The words returned something that had been buried deep in his mind. His mother speaking to him, the words hitting him like blows as his own tears sizzling to steam as his hand was pressed into a roaring fire place. You’re a monster! A disgrace, a nothing, I never had a son.
The man faltered at the look that must have crossed Hase’s face but Instead of stopping, he raised his spear and yelled into the night.
“KILL IT!”
I tried, he thought letting the spirit fire fill him lighting the street brighter than daylight.
The crowd roared, there must have been more than Hase had expected. His eyes narrowed. The man’s face kept changing back and forth between the twisted one and that of his fathers. Hase dropped his cloak, and stamped his foot, boot ripping free. He roared back at the crowd and landing back down with an explosion that whipped mud from around his feet and the remains of his other boot, so much so that the torches were snuffed out but the street still glowed, glowed from him.
Still they came though, the same snarl on their mud covered faces yet Hase ignored them and began running, every step sending him higher into the air until his paces felt five paces bigger than they should have been, the last one he put his feet together and landed in front of the man who had challenged him.
The man jumped as if expecting a rippling explosion but none came, Hase bent his knees. Then he punched the man in the chest, fist glowing so bright he had to close his eyes. Even hase was flung backwards at the shockwave although managed to stay on his feet, his now bare feet sliding through the grime. The man’s eyes went wide as the sound of his ribs breaking cracked even as he slammed into the wall behind him. The building above him creaked and groaned. He didn’t rise from his slump.
Hase looked down at his still glowing fist wide eyed before letting it fade to near normal. His breath came raggedly and when he looked around the crowd was gone. I am no better than they say! The thought was enough to make him stagger forwards towards the end of the street. I wish to help and instead kill. He retrieved his cloak, sparing a long glance for the broken corpse at the side of the street. Deserved. The thought felt hollow however, it never had before. I should have been able to avoid that.
He pulled his now muddy cloak around him as he strode out of the mud and onto the next cobbled street. Hase kept under the eaves of the buildings as to avoid the light that spilled from the occasional vial of light topping a tall post. Bare feet and covered in dried mud, he must look like a monster indeed. He pressed that thought out of his mind along with the image of the broken body. I could help, not hurt, if only people would understand, he was prepared to kill me.
He now knew his way around the main parts of West Seshi well, which wasn’t difficult for everything connected to the main street that curved up the hill, eventually making its way to the Palace at the top.
Despite the risk of someone seeing him he kept out of the unpaved parts, it wasn’t worth running into another group of people. Hase just ducked into a doorway as guards ran down the street past him and waited patiently until they were gone. Close, hurry up!
He continued on, the streets now giving way to long windowless buildings. It should have been harder to move unseen but there was a high tension in the damp air, the sickly smell of fear around every corner. Sareti is right, if its not the Otess then there is something seriously wrong.
He met only one other group of guards before he reached the street that ran along the top of the beach with wide barges pulled up on the sand.
He finally stepped out onto the open sided street where a warm breeze ruffled his hair, now on its way to becoming shoulder length, he couldn’t remember when he had found someone to cut it last.
He stepped onto the sand, for despite being used to going barefooted it felt nice after the mud and grime. He avoided the barges and the beginning of the floating walkway for guards and torches stood watching, instead he chose an open part where a few jagged rocks jutted out of the sand and crouched behind it to pull his cloak and shirt off and stash it in the rocks. Pushing down his remaining spirit fire he stepped into the water.
He shivered as the water passed his chest and lapped at his neck. He ducked his head under and rubbed the mud from him before coming up for a breath and then as quietly as he could he began to swim.
The ship that he was aiming for was still one of the largest in the harbour and was easy to pick out with the many lights surrounding it with the temporary winches and structures set up on board making it look almost twice the size. The ship looks finished! Why does it still have that above it.
I hope that she is actually there, he thought, if not he would have to try steal a boat. The cold was now quickly seeping into him but he still refrained from letting the spirit fire out or it would be gone in a few seconds sucked away.
Slowly the large ship got closer and came into full view as he rounder the hulls of other large and small ships, some of a strange shape that came from the north where it was colder and where most meat came from.
He reached the boat. It was still attached to the floating walkway but there was no way up and the boat that he had made it onto the previous time was also gone, instead just high sides stretched up. He slid his hands along it but the hull was almost smooth and would be impossible to climb. The structure then, he thought but something splashed quietly into the water beside him and he turned quickly.
There hung a thin rope with a loop floating in the water the rest disappearing into the darkness above him. He stared at it for a few moments and then up again, there was nobody to be seen.
What do I have to lose? Not much. He manoeuvred himself in the water and put one bare foot on the rope, grabbing onto it and then yanking it. He was quickly lifted out of the water and almost lost his grip as he moved up. It must be attached to the overhead structure!
The deck was eerily empty almost the same since he had seen it last yet there were covered mounds and planks of wood where the deck was not quite finished. He let go of the rope and it was gone, raised above him out of sight. He looked around. Not much had changed apart from the large winch that was high above him and an overturned rowing boat was tied to the deck to his right, painted black and with a pair of oars by its side.
I wonder what is below the deck, the boat is surely big enough to hold a good deal of cargo. It was even longer than the one that had crossed the stormy ocean on which he had come on, sleeker also. A blue glow came from one of the windows to his left and so he moved towards it, half expecting a guard to jump out of nowhere and tackle him to the ground but none came.
The door was unlocked and he pulled it open, readying his spirit fire. The room was furnished as a bedroom and a woman sat on the bed. It took him a few moments to realise that the woman in a simple night gown was the same Erisa from before with her well fitted dresses.
She looked up coldly as he entered, a brief flash of something crossing her eyes and he stopped in the doorway. She spoke quieter this time and her voice had lost the warmth of their last greeting. Was this really a good idea?
“Erisa ven,” Hase said bowing his head but not letting himself step back.
“You have returned.” He tensed, even if she held no weapon it was possible that she could wrangle. His suspicions were confirmed when she brushed her long blond hair back with a slightly blue hand.
A slight smile formed on her lips as she spoked again. “You are dripping on my carpet, please dry yourself.” The last words cracked her voice and she laughed, face softening. Hase let out a breath that he had not realised he had been holding. “And please, do not ven me, unless it is necessary.”
Hase glanced at the carpet under his thankfully clean feet. He let a glow envelop him and steam rose off him until he was almost dry.
“Better, now sit down.”
Hase looked around for a chair but there was only one and it was draped with what looked like Erisa’s clothes, a mixture of embroidered dresses and wide trousers. Instead he sat down on the soft rug, leaning back against a closed chest and sighing with relief. He was glad she had not seen him as a threat, now that he knew she could wrangle he might not have got away so well.
His thoughts were broken with a soft thud in front of him. He looked up startled. Erisa now sat in front of him, legs folded beneath her, light blue cloth pooling around her in ripples.
“You seem very at home here, seeing as we don’t know each other very well,” she supplied raising an eyebrow, “I mean I knew that fire wranglers often forget that wearing clothes is polite but…
“I would apologise,” Hase cut in, now wide awake, “but I had trouble on the way here and had no time.”
She waved her hand absently, smile slipping slightly, “Staying awake while we talk will be enough,” she leaned forwards slightly nodding as if to prompt him to talk.
“I am here,” Hase began, “to ask for help getting back to the west. I found myself among trainee guards when I woke up.”
“A wonder you did wake,” she said, “Few have survived an Otess attack…” For an instant her face was dark thunderclouds and then the smile had returned if a little more fragile than before.
“I am sorry about Avalt.”
She just nodded to that, “Your friend did come back to me days ago,” Erisa said, face solemn, “She glared at me with more hate than I have ever seen someone give, but still I lent her a boat to return in. Expensive, those, since people don’t seem to know the meaning of ‘borrowing.’
“So she is alive.” Hase said exhaling again. He felt like a small weight had been lifted off his shoulders.
“Yes very much alive, I feared that she would never forgive me despite me having nothing to do with what the Otess did. It is nice to know that you are actually still alive. She was not so sure that you would make it.”
“She probably thinks I am dead, but I need your help to return…”
“Hase, I don’t know how you figured that I would help you, you’re right, I will but I can’t get you home, won’t even.”
Hase frowned. “You helped Tay, why can’t you help me, I know that we didn’t bring Sareti to speak with you, but if you saw Tayella, she must have brought the message from Sareti.”
Erisa looked out of the window past Hase’s head thoughtfully before speaking. “I appreciate what you did all the same. Still I cannot help you go home.”
“Fine,” Hase said standing up.
She shook her head also standing up. She stepped closer and Hase flinched as she reached up and brushed his still damp hair from his face.
“Are you going to stop me from leaving?”
Hase turned to leave but she placed a hand on his bare shoulder. He spun around, a red glow filling the room when the feeling of fire being sucked from him came. Suddenly he slammed into the floor, fall cushioned with the soft carpet. He braced himself for another hit but when he rolled over and looked up Erisa stood there obviously trying to suppress a laugh.
“You cannot beat me, not here, and besides you had better pick yourself up. There is someone else you have to meet.”
Hase scrambled to his feet, red in the face as a dark skinned man stepped into the room. He pulled down the cowl of his mottled grey cloak, much like the one that Hase had left on the beach revealing short black hair and equally dark skin. His gaze swung over to Hase and he cracked a smile. He winked at Hase who shifted uneasily, preparing himself. There was something very unpredictable about him that he could not place. He watched Erisa’s cool expression at his entrance.
“It seems a little quick to find another partner so quick.” Erisa scowled at him but otherwise didn’t comment. Hase opened his mouth to introduce himself but the man cut in first.
“He is a fire wrangler too,” his grin now spread to his eyes, “Your taste seems to have changed profoundly, its taken, how long? A century?” Hase tensed. But a ‘century?’ He stepped back almost tripping over the chest.
“Hanan!” Erisa stood up and removed her clothes from the single chair in the room, “Stop messing with his mind. Hase, this is Hanan but he insists that we call him Han, if you ignore his barbs then you may come to like him.”
“I’m sorry,” Hase said, “But I don’t intend to stay.” He began to move towards the door.
“Hase!” Hanan’s deep voice called from the chair as Hase stepped up to the still half open door. He glanced over his shoulder. Hanan’s grin was gone, replaced with a more sincere look that was almost identical to the one that Erisa wore. “Do you know Sareti?”
Hase froze, hand on the door. It won’t hurt to stay a few moments more.
He sighed and turned meeting their stares. Erisa was sitting on the edge of the bed and she gestured for him to sit beside her. Once he was sunk into the soft mattress Hanan spoke again, leaning forwards and meeting his gaze.
“So you do know her. Did she make it out? Is she alive? This Tayella didn’t seem to think that either of you would.” He let his cloak fall back onto the chair behind him, exposing bare forearms that were covered in tattoos of intricate patterns. At first Hase thought that it was his inkings that he was looking at, nothing like he had seen before, but then a green glow began to radiate from his skin, making the shapes and lines stand out. When the glow suddenly subsided Hase realised that he was gaping and snapped his mouth closed.
“Han!” Erisa said, “You’re getting careless.”
“Ah sorry,” he said grimacing.
“What is that?” Hase said. Red was normal, at least in the east, Blue was about as common as swords, even here but green? An earth vial?
“That is spirit earth,” Erisa said solemnly from his right, “There is already water spirits and fire spirits, which is what you know but there is also more, that which you don’t know. It is only natural that there is more.”
“A vial?”
“No,” both Han and Erisa said as one, Erisa continuing, “Han is an earth wrangler, so far as we know the only one.”
“But that is impossible,” Hase said, “Everyone knows that there hasn’t been an earth wrangler since long before the city split…” he trailed off eyes widening.
“You are right,” Han said, “But also wrong, I am from that time.”
Erisa spoke after, “You see, Han and I are both a lot older than we look…”
“Centuries,” Han agreed. Erisa continued.
“We are what gives people the ability to wrangler spirits. To put it simply, without us there would be no wranglers, well there are a few others like us…”
“You’re a host!” Hase said eyes widening, “Like the immortal ones that are told about by bards, it’s true that wrangling comes from you?” Like the ones that they worship on the continent?” Hase said disbelievingly.
“We can die,” Erisa said, “and if we do, everyone that has gained wrangling powers from being around us, and those that gained their powers from them and so on will cease to have power. The cycle will begin anew. You might call me the Queen of the water wranglers, and Hanan the King of the earth wranglers, despite there being no earth wranglers.”
“Right,” Han said suddenly looking a lot less happy with the direction of the conversation.
Erisa grimaced and changed the subject.
“The weapon,” Hase breathed, “The one that Sareti was searching for. I am guessing that you also were the person that was helping her with her quest?”
Hanan nodded, “That weapon, it is less of a weapon and more of a store…”
Erisa cut in, “The vial is why there is no other earth wranglers, somehow the spirit of the earth is trapped inside of it, and nobody around him has gained powers.”
“You want me to help you?” Hase said now stepping towards the door again.
“Yes,” Erisa said once again locking her gaze on him,
“No,” Hase said resting his hand on the doorhandles, “I believe you but I want nothing to do with your weapon I just want to return to those that I care about.”
“Let me show you something first,” Erisa said when Han moved to stop him.”
Hase sighed but by the looks that they both gave him he had no choice unless he wanted to find himself facing two wranglers, one earth. Who knew what he could do.
Outside there was now people on deck. They were not the guards he had seen from before but water wranglers, all bared to the waist. They were carrying what looked like a child. A hood was pulled off and Hase gasped. The boy was the very same form earlier in the day. He knew he should move forwards. I have to help. I should have known Erisa was no better! He stood frozen to the spot however.
A woman stepped forwards from the shadows, and picked they boy up, climbing into the boat which was lowered out of sight. Within seconds the deck was empty again, the wranglers disappearing over the side.
“One of my side projects,” came Erisa’s soft voice from behind him. “Sometimes it is impossible to save them, even with the help of some of the water guard.”
“You… you save them?” The question hung in the air.
“I do, well I do what I can with those that I manage to rescue.”
For a second Hase just stood there.
“And they help you?”
“Hase, not everyone here is like you Easterners say, and trust me I have been there, one of many things that the Otess have pushed; the gap between east and west.”
“I see,” he said faintly, “You don’t understand how much this means to me, I wanted to do something about it myself but…”
“Will you stay, you could help.”
Hase nodded after a long moments hesitation. I need to return, he thought but then the look on the boy’s face as he had been stretchered away by the water guard held him where he stood. Eventually he turned to speak, “You wouldn’t have let me go would you?”
Erisa shook her head sadly, “You knew too much already, and if people knew that I had helped a fire wrangler, I would find myself in a much more difficult place. If my holding you, I could save other wranglers I would have.”
Hase stared at her wondering if he could trust her. He felt that he already did, though he shouldn’t, she was clearly more dangerous than he had first thought. That boy. How many others? I could help her.
Tayella crouched in the dark watching the sleeping form of Sareti. She tossed and turned, every now and then her arms grabbing at something she couldn’t see, tight black curls whipping this way and that.
Get used to it! She thought but it took considerable effort to drag her eyes away from the woman without feeling guilt, Sareti so torn with fear that she couldn’t properly sleep wasn’t half of what she had given up for her to be there, and all for what? For the faction to fall anyway. Curse you Torin, she thought rolling over on her pallet, If you had only stayed a while longer.
She gritted her teeth when she thought of those that now depended on her, if it was instead Sareti who led their small group then maybe she would be able to find him if only to knock some sense into him. I really thought that she would wrestle with me for control, a few harsh words and here I am telling her what to do!
She wasn’t sure how much sleep she had achieved when a gentle hand shook her awake. Middle aged Ferna stood over her, a soft expression wiped away so fast that she thought she might have imagined that.
True, the sharp expression was more at home on her pale hard angled face yet when she thought Tayella wasn’t looking she acted the mother of the group.
Tayella gave her a tight smile and sat up, forcing down a yawn. It was still light outside judging by the gaps in the warehouse roof. She looked around. A young man, barely more than a boy sat on an upturned crate, facing an older man, the only chair held Ferna examining what looked like Sareti’s ‘sneaking’ garment. Tayella was glad that Sareti was still asleep, and not tossing at least, she despised the motherly woman prying into her things more than was reasonable. The first safe house was surely been the nicest, this is barely more than an empty warehouse!
It felt strange with so many spirit wranglers in one room. She guessed that this almost never happened here. Maybe in the west among water wranglers but here were five wranglers, fire and water in one building. She watched as she pulled on a short dark grey cloak over her tight clothing. The fire wrangler, Esu, the older of the two had bare feet and wore a loose garment pair of trousers and no shirt, showing a torso that spoke of heavy work, she thought that he could have worked as a sack or timber hauler but she knew little more than that.
The younger boy, Luia wore well fitted trousers and a black coat over a grey shirt. It showed a spilt in the room, Fire wranglers, Sareti and Esu both barely covering themselves, like the water guard in the west, she thought sniffing and the water wranglers, well they at least didn’t have such opinions about clothing.
She had seen Sareti after a fight when she had been wearing thick winter clothes, returning with her clothes in shreds, hanging off her slender frame. Tayella realised she was staring at the sleeping woman at the moment, dressed only in a thin night shift. She blushed, glad of the dim light inside.
Suddenly there was a bang and she turned just to see the fire wrangler tumble over backwards upsetting the crate, Luia glowing enough that it was difficult to look at him grinned at her just in time as he was thrown from his own crate with a blast of air.
Ferna stepped forwards as if to stop them but Tay lay a hand on her shoulder. “We leave here today anyway, it is good to let them practice. I doubt they have ever been in a room with so many other wranglers. She shrugged and sat down on the chair again, hastily replacing Sareti’s garment where she had found it.
Gradually the fire wrangler gave ground on Luia with a slight smile then suddenly grabbed both of the boy’s arms each. The glow brightened in Luia for a moment and then it left him and he sighed dropping his arms. They laughed just as Ferna said, “Enough,” stepping forwards. “There is nothing to be gained of you killing each other.”
“I wouldn’t let myself go that far,” Luia said and side stepped ferna to pick up the crate, “Not until he is a match for me.”
Tay resisted the laugh, although young, he was not wrong, he was almost as skilled as her in wrangling and one his duels with Esu more than half of the time. She wondered if it was his limitless energy.
Tay nodded thoughtfully. “You must stop training only by duelling, you will need to work together, I know you have probably never fought together, and I don’t mean like you used to, we need to work together.”
The others nodded too fast and Tay wasn’t convinced. For now the money she had left kept them there but she would have to come up with another form of payment when that ran out, which unfortunately would be very soon.
She turned to where Sareti now sat up. Thankfully the distant look on her eyes was absent, the last few days it had made Tayella have to repeat almost everything she had said. I should tell her I don’t blame her for leaving Hase behind. She shook her head, when the woman apologised for leaving them in this mess she would.
“All of you against me,” she said, grinning for the first time in days. “I need woken up.”
“Sareti are you sure about this? Was Esu’s noise not loud enough?” Ferna said, casting a worried look at Luia. Luia however had other plans and hurled a crate at Sareti who slammed her foot on the ground. A shockwave erupted around her and sped across the floor, throwing all of the others off of their feet, including Tayella. The crate she had been sitting on smashed against the wall. She shivered, glad that all of them had spirit fire or water in them or they might have met the same fate as the crate.
Tay watched patiently as Sareti easily evaded blows from the others, including Ferna who seemed more to be trying to detain her as to fight her. It was a good way to get them to fight together, but all four of them were detained quickly. Tayella straightened as the others lay groaning by the wall. Sareti raised her hand in victory, falling to her knees, the glow in her fading to a fraction of what it had been.
“Was that what it felt like when you fought the King,” Luia said, appearing unfazed by his meeting with the wall, “Did he groan like Esu does.
Sareti winced but nodded, “He ran away, escaped from my grasp but he must know that one day I will com back for him.”
Tayella cut in before the lie could go too far. She realised the necessity, at least for Sareti’s sake, there was some things she hadn’t mentioned and even with Tayella’s vigorous shaking she had not found it.
“Lesson over, pack up and we are out of here before sundown.” She bent down and began to pull the blankets from the broken pallet, “If somebody doesn’t come and investigate soon then something is wrong with this city.”
They packed up their things and Sareti and Esu dressed, if only barely more. Within a short period of time, what little they had was tucked into slim packs on their backs.
They moved from the warehouse with quick checks down the narrow streets that were common between warehouses. Tayella led the way to the roof by easily finding holds in the rough stone work and hoisting herself over the edge of the slanting roof. As she did so the last rays of sunlight seemed to slip away and she could barely see the others following her up the roof. Almost all of the warehouses around were empty for they were on the edge of the faction boundary between the CH35 and the CH36 and many people didn’t think it safe to keep anything where a fight could break out at any time.
Signs of such fights could be seen if you looked for them with a couple of long warehouse buildings with only charred remains of their roof, some of the walls collapsing slowly outwards into the narrow canals. Scorch marks marred the walls of buildings that were still standing.
Tayella followed behind the others as they ran along the roof, occasionally jumping to the next one without any difficulty, narrow streets made up the bulk of this part of the city, many without a canal through them. Finding those she had employed hadn’t been so difficult, she had known the area in which they had lived but for three of them, she had been too late and had found bodies, but with no blood or at least no signs of blade fighting. The Otess had been thorough. She gritted her teeth in anger, these people died because of me, she thought, I got them mixed up in this.
Sareti slowed to run beside her. “Tayella, what do we do once we have found the last of your associates, what then. We can’t keep running forever…”
Tay shook her head. “Sareti, we are not going to stop the Otess, we could barely fight one of them if it comes to that, we need to lie low and figure out a way to minimise the damage they cause.”
Sareti sniffed and Tayella glanced at her in surprise, almost slipping when she landed on the next roof a bare pace between the two buildings. The first time she has objected to something I have said, I wonder if that’s a good or bad thing.
Tay opened her mouth to argue further but stopped herself, she didn’t have to argue, Sareti had in a way given up and sense of leadership. “We must wait, and besides being hidden will give us a chance to plan our way to fight back, if the west is suffering like you say it is and it has a unified army at its back and it cannot fight openly against them.
Sareti stayed silent for a moment before muttering, “Not as united as you might think, against us maybe but almost none of them know that they are pitted against one another.”
Tayella pursed her lips and resisted the urge to argue over the point, in truth she had nothing to say that was useful. I have to be right, she thought, or else I will never live it down.
They ran in silence for a while before shouting and screaming came to their ears. Lights flared up in the distance and she could smell smoke. They caught up with the others who were looking over at the next street, wider this time, where a larger trade route crossed into the warehouse district.
The night was lit by warehouses on fire, two that looked to be more modern and made from wood had collapsed and mercenaries were pouring through the gap, jumping over the narrow canals. From the other direction came the sound of warning horns and bells. Surprisingly she could see that what she had thought initially were just mercenaries were regular people, wielding knives and staves.
“What is happening?” Sareti asked.
It was Ferna who replied, “They are chanting, ‘revenge,’ so I would guess that the CH35 have assassinated someone important, that would be my guess anyway.”
“A good guess,” Sareti said crouching on the ridge, and in a lower voice, “Its just the beginning.”
The others shifted uneasily and looked to Tayella.
“What about your associate?” Sareti said, looking at Tay.
Tay shook her head and pointed to one of the houses that was already burning. “The Otess always seem to be one step ahead, it was a far chance that we would get here in time anyway, like the last time it would likely be a trap.” Ferna sniffed and put an arm around Luia who shook her off with a little less confidence than he usually showed. Too late, she told her self. The three that she had worked with that were not with them had been found dead even three days after her return. How had the Otess known?
“Tayella,” Ferna said, “you never told us what came after this, what is next for us? We cannot just carry on as we have.”
“Everyone here has been through hardships caused your wrangling, whether you were cast out because of it, sought after greedily because of it or used because of it.” Her voice broke slightly as she thought of Hase, wishing she had known more about him.
“I wouldn’t make you experience any more, but here we have a chance to do some good, we can’t let the Otess snatch a city just waiting for them…”
“And how could we do that?” Luia said.
“Listen,” Sareti hissed perched against a chimney stack. Tayella eyed her, of all of them she had thought Sareti might be the hardest to convince.
“Whatever we do will likely be destroyed by the Otess, they are more actively pushing themselves into the politics. I don’t know what their aim is, but the factions are already pitted against each other like a shelf of vials ready to fall.”
“And the West?” Said Luia.
“The west will descend on us if they think that the East is crumbling. So either way, the only thing that we can do is to stop the east from falling to the Otess. I, Sareti suspects that the Otess plan to do something similar to the west.”
Sareti stood, “I am sure.”
“We must find out what they are doing, killing people most likely to drive the tensions higher. It will be dangerous, and you may go now that we are the only ones left, I am sure that you would be able to survive a while on your own.”
The night fell quiet, the sounds of fighting now further in the distance. “The Otess are the Seshi plague,” she said quietly from where she stood, “They will not go away so long as a single one of them remains, fighting in secret will not do that.”
“For now,” Tayella said reigning in her anger, “We must find out what they are doing.”
“I’m in,” Luia said voice wavering slightly, glaring at Ferna in the darkness when she tried to pat his shoulder. Ferna opened her mouth but glanced at the others but finally nodded.
“Count me in too,” Esu said in his deep voice, “Ill not stop if I have but a stick in my hands to fight with.” Definitely a timber hauler.
Sareti gave her a slight nod and she sighed, unsure if it was in relief or disappointment. I can’t have her giving us away, it will get us all killed.
“As I said we need to practice as a group if we are to take out the Otess. But hopefully all together we can prove a match for them, I don’t know when so many wranglers have worked together before.”
“To kill them?” Esu said voice devoid of emotion.
“We must,” Tayella said, “However we manage it.”
“She is right,” Sareti said, “They will not stop until they die, and others will come even when they do. But wranglers fighting together will give them something to think about, as we did before the city split. A friend told me of that.”
Tayella wondered who the friend had been, there was little known of the time before the splitting, even though it had split little over a hundred years ago it had begun years before.
They just had to figure out where the next hit would be. Despite herself she could feel the excitement growing rapidly.
“We start tonight,” she said words growing surer, “it might indeed be our first and last attempt to stop an Otess attack but if Hase, could take one on his own, even die trying, we have a chance.” She dropped her eyes to the ridge of the roof and blinked away silent tears.
I guess you get what you want, Sareti, she thought. But in the open? Once everyone knew about them they would either want them gone or want them at their head. “If we can stop those fighting to stop,” she said, “then it is a start.”
The others agreed in low tones, Tay let herself a small smile as she jumped from the roof and landed in the water below. The exhilaration of being caught by the water was like none other. She burst from it a moment later, glowing in the dark that it lit up half of the street. She shot out of the water and onto the narrow street. The other water wranglers followed, and Sareti and Luia landed beside her, avoiding the water for their own reasons. She braced herself at the small explosions. She glanced back once before running in the direction that the fighting had gone.
Sareti lit the street around her as she ran. Lucky for her, she had found the burning remains of a warehouse roof to fill herself with fire spirit until she felt more alive than she had in days. It kept her going even when she knew that she should be starting to tire from the running.
The signs of the battle were moving further north and it looked like those from the faction that she had seen were pushing back into the the next one. This was now CH34 territory although not very deep within it, the warehouses were all empty.
The part of the city was unfamiliar to her, the boundaries of factions were never in the same place and being away for even a few months showed how quickly they could change. The path of the mercenaries and regular people who had taken up arms were clear, rubble and fires everywhere, before she had left it might have been deep within either territory, there was no telling the extent of the changes.
It was unclear if there were many wranglers involved, for the Amamati must have been pushed back quite quickly without much fighting. Tayella slowed ahead of her, climbing to the top of a pile of rubble. Sareti joined her a bound later.
“Always a quiet entrance,” Tay said a hint of a smile on her lips. She looked around and badly hid a grimace. Did she just think that I was Esu? The exhilaration faded slightly and she stepped down, she could see well enough on the street level anyway. Sounds of battle were much clearer here, she thought she could pick out many shouts.
Ahead the street were larger, big enough that there was a split down the centre of the canal for traffic in both directions, a defendable place, she thought but didn’t speak up. Tayella had a lot to learn as a leader and she wouldn’t help the woman if she wouldn’t take her help. Smoke, glowing red was billowing from what could only be a house on the other side, several charred structures that could have been bridges already half collapsed into the canal.
As she approached slowly, she could see that on one side stood lines of mercenaries with big wooden shields, rimmed with steel. They stood in an even line. They deflected the stray knives and throwing spears that were thrown in their direction. The story on their own side was different, people threw themselves over the gap, landing on the narrow divider in the middle trying to get to the mercenaries on the other side but as she watched she could see that it was useless for every second time there was splashes and somebody was dragged out of the water. For now they aren’t fighting back, why is that?
The mercenaries on this side were laying down a temporary bridge of thick wooden planks but it was already charred and blackened even as they were trying to cross it. They moved with a frenzied anger and some had forgotten helmets. Somebody had been assassinated alright and it had not just been a powerful ally of the leader, no this was bigger.
“It is worse than I thought,” Tayella said.
“Bad?” Esu said from behind Sareti, “If the Amamati were any less disciplined then they would be fighting back and I doubt it would go well for the CH34.” Sareti nodded to herself, maybe she could give advice through Esu, he made an effort to ignore what ever went between her and Tayella.
“This sides wranglers are not fighting,” Ferna said stepping up beside Sareti and pointing to hooded figures watching in the alleyway, at least they have sense.”
“The Amamati leader must still live.” Tayella said seeming to ignore the others, “We still have a chance.”
“To do what?” Sareti said turning to face her. Tayella waved a hand as if to dismiss her but Sareti carried on anyway, “Those are Amamati on the other side. Do we really want to help save their leader, if we can even get close to Arlin Mariz, the most powerful woman in the whole of East Seshi.”
Tayella’s mouth opened but she closed it and nodded before speaking, “I fear that if we do not help her then the Otess are one step closer to being the most powerful people here. And I would rather kneel at her feet than the Otess’.”
“Do you even know where the Armamati leader is?” Sareti said, still frowning at the commotion ahead.
“Of course not,” she said, turning to glance at Sareti, “I was hoping that you could help me with that.
Sareti shook her head, “I might know where to look, let me go, at least then you will have help in stopping this from escalating.”
Tayella considered her for a long moment before nodding, “At least take someone with you,” she said, “Luia, you go with her, there is likely nothing to worry about, they probably will wait a while before assassinating another.”
A murmur of agreement came from the other wranglers all except Luia and Ferna, Ferna with an eyebrow raised as if she was regretting agreeing to this and Luia with an excited look that he kept trying to hide.
That would be gone soon enough she knew, she began shaking at the thought of it but managed to reign in her thoughts as they began to spiral out of control. I hope that Tayella is right, she thought, she would have to send Luia back if it got messy.
Tayella had a hard look on her face and she nodded to them as if to explain what they were about to do or maybe encouragement and then took off. Sareti stared blankly before running after her, she had no idea what idiocy Tayella was about to do, she knew she couldn’t speak on being a leader now, at least not to Tayella yet it might help her if she explained things a little more clearly before they started. It might save on of their lives in the worst case.
They neared the shouting mass and suddenly there were people all around them. Sareti let her whole body glow, and people’s shouts cut off as they shrank back as if she were an Otess. They are no better than westerners, she thought grimly following Tayella.
Around them the fighting paused, people half way to the makeshift bridges which were now making some headway across the canals. They paused to stare as Tay moved past, the pale skin that was showing, although it was not a lot, her hands and face glowing blue. As she ran a silvery glisten coated her skin.
Sareti grinned as Luia had a moment before. I might convince her yet, she told herself. Some of the mercenaries on the opposite street raised their spears slightly but none of the moved more than that, instead the wide street bristled like one of those spikefish that could be found at the more expensive street vendors.
Tayella reached the first bridge meeting the mercenaries. Glowing as she was they stepped back warily as she passed, hands tightening on weapons. She crossed the bridge casting off her cloak. Then kept going. She stepped out over the water and was caught with a swirly column of water raising her up.
The light from the torches became insignificant to her glowing skin. Those on the far bank shifted uneasily but didn’t lower their weapons. Wranglers were not uncommon but those that moved in the open had always died quickly.
Died by Otess hands, she thought eyes widening. Of course! Tayella started speaking but Sareti lost what was said as something whistled past her head. She ducked and rolled between two mercenaries with spears. No you don’t! She swung her foot around, back still on the ground and tripped the first who went tumbling to the hard paving stones. A spear snagged the man in the chest from a woman in ragged clothing, with no time to thank the woman she tried to rise but a boot snagged her loose clothing and a spear was thrust downwards. Bashing it away with the blade of her dagger the point hit the ground just as the mercenary fell to her knees, blood seeping from her mouth.
Sareti jumped to her feet biting back the urge to vomit and looked up.
“Sareti, what do we do?” Luia stood beside her, dagger still held out. He glanced at it and shrugged wiping it clean on the dead mercenaries coat. He froze, “That’s strange,” he said fingering the coloured cloth as if it were in a shop, “These colours, are not from any faction that I have seen before.”
Sareti frowned but pulled him to his feet, “Luia, we are attracting attention, let’s get out of here. There are plenty of people who want me dead now, they must have come because of that.” At least it wasn’t an Otess. The thought didn’t comfort her in the slightest.
She grabbed ahold of a startled Luia and stamped her bare feet on the ground. They shot into the air, Luia gasping for breath, his face pale and leaving behind an even more startled group of mercenaries. “A little warning would be better,” he groaned, doubling over when they crashed onto a sloped roof. Tiles cracked underneath her feet and she almost slipped off it.
“An enemy won’t give you a warning, just to make it fair, get used to it.”
Luia grimaced, She reminded herself that he was five years younger than her. He was more than capable of handling himself. “You should teach me about sneaking around,” he said brightly grabbing onto the ridge of the roof and pulling himself up to stand on it.
“Tayella wouldn’t approve,” Sareti said.
“Tayella isn’t my boss anymore,” he said, “and besides, it will help me stay alive."
Sareti grimaced and stepped up onto the ridge with him. The night was dark enough that they should be hidden. An Otess will find you anyway.
“Just copy what I do,” she said, “And when I tell you to go, you go back to Tayella.”
“What are we doing then?” He said.
“Looking for a messenger,” Sure enough she could see a slight figure run down the wide street, flickering torch in hand. “There,” she said reaching to grab ahold of Luia again. He stepped back.
“I can jump well enough without you.”
Sareti began running along the roof tiles on bare feet, Luia’s boots thudding softly behind her. The rough edges dug into her skin in a familiar fashion, when was the last time she had run East Seshi roofs?
She leaped from the edge of the roof to the next one, without the need for any spirit fire help and he landed quietly behind her. I probably don’t have much to teach you, she thought as they crossed the faction in silence, spirits, Tayella probably put him up to asking me!
There were a few occasions where she had to lift Luia over a large gap in the streets but he didn’t complain. Still with the extra weight she almost went through a few roofs by accident, feet crunching through tiles.
“You aren’t too bad at this,” she said, “a little practice and you could be infiltrating a western castle.”
“Is it true that you fought the King?”
Sareti shivered at the thought. The way that he had removed her spirit fire somehow. Since then she had tried repeatedly to do it. She was glad that the west had no fire wranglers, hopefully she wouldn’t have to fight many of them.
“I didn’t win,” she said, “I did escape but I got caught, if not for Tayella and… Hase, I would not be here.” And the secret of the Otess would have died with me. She should have told Han when she had had the chance.
“That is still impressive,” Luia said crouching beside her.
“Shhhh.” She pointed to the street below. The girl stopped for a few seconds before carrying on. Luia began to straighten and follow but Sareti grabbed his arm. A few second later another figure appeared from the shadow of the building, looking both ways before. Running down the street.
“They relay their messengers!”
“Of course, I did too, some of the time.” She grimaced at the reminder of her faction and focused on the street below.
Their new quarry led them to crouch on a roof watching a nondescript warehouse, a large one at that. No windows broke the smooth stone wall and all of the buildings around it looked empty. Possibly to house mercenaries or watchers or both. No use against Otess. The man disappeared into the shadow below. Two more shapes moved in after him, almost invisible against the dark stone wall. She drew in a quick breath. Otess! Two!
“He is gone,” Luia said.
“We have our building though,” she whispered back, peering around the chimney stack that hid them from view, her heart beat faster than it had while running. “Those buildings over there have people watching from the buildings,” she said, “We don’t want to bring them down on us before we even get in.”
“But how do we get in without being seen?” Luia asked. “The walls look thick.” Sareti nodded. He was right finding a way in would be hard and it would not be enough to try and protect the building on the outside, for all they knew the…
“One more thing,” she said calming her nerves, “I think there are Otess in there, Tayella was right. You should leave now, there isn’t much we can do, it might take me a long time to get close enough.
“No!” He grabbed ahold of her arm tightly, “I am staying, I can get you there quicker.” His voice held a serious note now.
“How?”
“The canals, under water.”
Sareti pursed her lips, “Fine, if it means we stop a full scale faction battle.”
“If we can get to the canal unseen, I can get us almost to the door.”
“Let’s go.”
The grip on her arm relaxed and Sareti swung down over the side of the roof. They were still a street away from the large warehouse so she only glanced at the surrounding buildings. Hopefully there weren’t any watchers here.
Her feet found a stone ledge which she thought was a windowsill and swung down. Something launched itself off the roof above her and her breath caught. She followed the shape of Luia downwards before he was engulfed by the black water in the narrow canal below without so much as a splash. I guess that is a useful skill. She landed on the paving stones a few moments later beside a crouching Luia. She stared at him for a long moment. He wore a garment akin to hers with loose folds of black fabric that broke up his shape.
“Ferna made it, I asked her.”
“Good,” she replied, I must make sure I hide my things better.
“Lets go,” she said, “From now on, don’t talk at all, be as quiet as you can and only follow my path once I have passed it. If I get taken by guards or something, return to the others. You cannot do this on your own. Neither can I,” she added.
“Right,” he replied in a flat voice. She frowned at him but just let out a breath.
Sareti kept in the shadows as she moved, pulling the spirit fire inside of herself, pushing it down as far as it would go.
After crossing a narrow street, one without even a small canal through it she was in the shadow of a building that surely had guards watching from. Still in the almost complete darkness, moving slowly she should not be seen. She reached the end of the building without fault and a slight scuff of a soft boot behind her notified her of Luia’s following.
Across a wide canal stood the large warehouse. But that open area was moonlit and it didn’t look like there were any clouds in the sky. No bridge even crossed the wide gap. Water, She thought, I always end up in the water.
The wide canal was connected to their smaller canal. She got down on her stomach and moved slowly into the moonlight just enough to slip into the water. As soon as she was half submerged the spirit fire within her tried to get free, too sure up but she kept it down with an iron grip, there was no use loosing it all like that.
She ducked her whole body underwater letting go of the edge of the street holding onto Luia’s arm. The urge to go up for air was even stronger than the spirit fire and panic began to build inside her. She calmed herself and let the water wash over her trying not to think about how clean the water might be. Then she surfaced and she was lifted onto cold stone. The panic subsided with a shudder but she kept the spirit fire down even now, if someone saw them here…
The were still in the moonlight so she moved across into the shadow of the warehouse. To her right was a small doorway. She stood up and moments later they were standing facing each other by the door. She grinned at him in the darkness but it was impossible to see what he felt.
She pressed her hand up to the lock but the door swung open silently without her needing to break it. A slight glow came from inside from a blue vial held behind sturdy bars. The glow was illuminated off the bodies that littered the floor. Not all of the weapons had fully been drawn and daggers were half out of sheaths, as well as the occasional sword. The Otess were already here.
She let her feet glow slightly as she walked illuminating enough only to see where she was stepping, although she tried to avoid the sights of bruised necks she couldn’t quell the queasiness in her. Though the Otess’s only weapon was their own limbs the results always seemed worse, it was unfair that they could fight better without a blade.
She picked her way through the men and woman’s bodies as quickly as she could and up the steps ahead.
The stairs led straight up past a guard room. A quick glance inside showed the same thing. Just up from that was a man lying face down with regular clothes on, clutching a piece of paper. On it were what she thought was code words. Luia came up behind her looking sick to the bones. At least this fazes him, it will get worse.
Hallways led off in three directions all of them dark, for a warehouse it was odd, she was definitely standing what must be the Amamati leader’s hideout. Slight sounds of voices came from two but to the right there was nothing. She followed that one, Otess didn’t leave people to tell stories, apart from me.
Doorways lined the hallway opening into large rooms that were filled with weapons and food. Most were empty. Every now and again they came across a dead body. It was one thing to fight an Otess that had ambushed her, it was another following two by choice.
They climbed a few more steps and the distant sounds of fighting, screams and shouts as well as the thuds of feet on a hard surface. Maybe we aren’t too late!
The hallway widened and the noises became much louder then through an archway she could see a huge room. A large warehouse room had been converted into something that could have fit in the King’s palace in the west. Lit with both red and blue vials inset into the wall, the floor polished marble was smeared with blood and bodies. The sounds of the fighting from the middle of the room echoed through the vaulted ceiling.
A dark shape, clearly defined as one of the otess with the wrappings of their kind. Moved in a blur through the knot of fighting. Another shape moved to the left.
Wranglers fought in the room as well, faces veiled still as bangs and flashes added to the din.
Sareti put her head to Luia’s ear before speaking, standing just under the arch, “We need to find the leader first. But stay with me.” He nodded assent and she moved into the room on silent feet. She drew a long dagger from underneath a fold in the cloth.
The guards had to be very good to have noticed an Otess, it wasn’t often that an Otess was seen by others before they made their kill, much less challenged. But as she watched guard after guard dropped as the figure slid in and out of limbs and steel. Her mouth went dry and she kept moving, ignoring her quickening heartbeat.
Guttural cries threatened to knock Sareti from her feet but she pushed closer, refusing to see the bodies as she stepped over them. By now they were a mere twenty paces off. She grabbed ahold of Luia without thought and slammed her foot against the tiled floor, they shot over the fighting guards to land facing a second line of guards only a dozen strong.
A woman stood from an ornate chair watching them full lips pressed tightly together. With very dark skin and dark, almost black hair that was tied up loosely, supporting a circlet of gold she could only be Arlin Marez. A simple dulled plate of metal covered the front of a richly patterned coat and wide trousers.
Two guards rushed forwards but a curt word halted them, “Stop!” She calmly looked them up and down her eyes passing over Luia at Sareti’s side quickly to linger on her glowing skin. “Sareti.” The voice was still curt but not cold.
“Arlin,” a little confused, how does she know who I am?
“Why have you come here, I don’t believe that you came with the Otess.”
“I have not come to die,” Sareti said. “I have come to help.”
“Right.” She waved to her guards and they parted letting them through, “Why?”
Time was running out from the absence of screams behind her for a few moments. Sareti gritted her teeth. “Arlin, we need you out of here, it’s difficult to explain here but I don’t want war with the Amamati and CH34.”
“They deserve it,” she said, “attacking us with no reason.” Then she sighed, “We can talk if you want, if we survive, but we don’t have much time.”
“Even if I do get out,” she said stepping forwards, “I will be pursued, you cannot protect me from the Otess forever, not if I need to lead.”
“I will handle that when we get out of here, I guess there is no hidden way out?” Sareti said, feeling surer of herself every minute despite the count down of screams that marked every lost moment.
“Blocked,” she said simply a grimace appearing and disappearing quicker than Sareti could blink.
She ran over to the wall and pressed her hand against it. A little more than half of her spirit fire remained, maybe not enough but she had to try. If only I had Hase here. She saw another Otess emerge into the room from the corner of her eye. Escape where they don’t expect.
Luia stepped up beside her and pressed his hands against the wall beside hers. She let the spirit fire burst up and out through her hands. It flowed through the wall where the stones met one another, like a glowing latticework. Steam and the smell of charred mortar rose as small cracks appeared in the wall.
She glanced back at Arlin. She stood holding a huge glass vial that pulsed with a bright light. It was the larges she had ever seen. How had she obtained that? As she watched, the woman slammed it down on the floor. For a moment she braced herself but the explosion didn’t come, instead the glow ran up the woman’s bare arm and behind her dress and soon she was glowing as the vial had.
“Quick,” Sareti called, “Help us!" The latticework was expanding but very slowly now, the problem was that the wall was very thick. Arlin slammed her hands into the wall and shot backwards. Sareti groaned. She was unpracticed. It was expected, vials were the most expensive object one could own and were never used for practice. In fact they were probably never used other than by the army.
Arlin jumped to her feet and ran at the wall. This time she shouldered it, where the latticework of light and steam came from and Sareti heard a great groan as the wall shuddered and dust billowed from the cracks. Again and again Arlin hit the wall, gradually her strength depleting until with one last crack the wall heaved outwards. A gaping hole into the night. Above beams groaned and wood cracked. Without a moments hesitation she nodded to Luia and towards Arlin.
“Get her out of here,” She said, “Quickly!”
Luia jumped to his feet and grabbed Arlin and then they were gone. Sareti turned to the rest of the room. All of the guards were dead, save for three veiled wranglers, all the ones of them remaining, fighting with water-covered fists. The two Otess grabbed one even as she ran towards them tearing off the hood, the woman’s neck bending in a sickening crunch. So strong!
She bit down the urge to flee and the panic inside her. Images flashed before her face as she reached them, images that she could not keep down. She stopped just before she reached them.
We only managed to fight back when the Otess were surprised or angered, first Han and then Hase and the King.
“The Otess are not real,” she said, a faceless glance from one of them was enough. She continued, stringing off things she could think of. Maybe emotion was the key, provoke emotion in them and they would crack. The Otess now must have noticed that Arlin had escaped but the guards had joined the fighting and they were trying to stop the merciless shapes from following. They were dropped one by one.
“The Otess are tyrants. The Otess are liars.” It wasn’t working, they ignored her.
“I KILLED AN OTESS.” The sound once again echoed off the walls. The Otess froze, one had begun to move towards her but stopped. The other stared for a moment before a dagger slammed through its chest and its whole body cracked as a blue glowing punch took it in the side.
She met the other half way to the gap in the wall and slammed the knife into its back as it stumbled. They both hit the ground among the dust and bits of stone. The Otess moved once and then lay still. Sareti began shaking and rolled away from the corpse as images coursed through her head of dark forms in a barred cell. Slowly it subsided and she pushed herself to a sitting position
Two sets of eyes watched her from holes in wranglers’ hoods. An Otess lay by their feet, two spears and a knife in its chest, its body just as distorted as others.
“You did it,” one of them said, voice deep. They pulled off a bloodied blue and white hood and Sareti was surprised to see a middle aged man with only minor bruises on his face. His hair was black, flecked with grey framing a pale face along with a grey beard, also cut short.
“You did!” The other one was a woman. Her face was worried though. Sareti started. The woman was almost the image of Arlin’s herself. It could only be a sister, “but where is she?”
“Safe,” Sareti said panting, “I hope. You may come with me to see her.”
The man shrugged but the woman nodded. She could not be very much older than Sareti but she bore the same wisdom in them as her sister.
Sareti straightened. Her own clothes were not even bloodied at all, although in black it would be hard to see it anyway. Still she felt exhausted, the reserve of spirit fire almost gone. She glanced at the bodies and grimaced.
“We must take those with us,” she said nodding to the bodies. “It is important.” Two Otess, dead with bodies to show for it. If it were anything like the west the bodies would disappear quicker than the guards outside would swarm the place.
She had to force herself to tie themselves onto the makeshift litter as the others bent over bodies on the floor.
The others didn’t speak at all as they solemnly stepped over their fellow guards and wranglers, carrying a litter of two bodies, covered in leatherbark wrappings. She looked regretfully back at the bodies, if she had been there earlier maybe she could have averted that.
Tayella picked through the rubble of a warehouse beside the wide canal. Bits of crates and pottery crunched under her soft boots, making it almost impossible to move quietly.
The fire wranglers that had caused most of the damage were long gone along with most people with any sense. Morning light was now streaming through huge gaps in walls highlighting the extent of the damage.
Despite the canal being a main thoroughfare of goods and wares to the docks to the south of the city, it too was silent. Being the boundary of two factions, it made a good place to transport goods unhindered by checks and tariffs. Now the only sign of life were Ferna and Esu, both sitting dejectedly on the central divider in the canal, eyes wearily watching the canal.
She had created quite a stir in the crowd in the dark, and had even got them to leave in peace yet she didn’t feel satisfied, it was too much like what Sareti had suggested her do. Moving in the open like that, stupid idea, will only get me killed. She grimaced at the thought. Sareti must have succeeded for there had been no more fighting yet she had sent Luia with the woman. Hoping that she would teach him to be able to take care of himself, he will end up dead because of her. No! Because of me.
Tayella kicked an almost whole pottery jar smashing it with her sodden boot. I am the leader now, it is on me.
“Tay!” It was Esu. He beckoned to her, now standing up and looking over the other side of the canal, weariness gone. Tayella ran back over the rubble of a wall and stepped up to the edge of the canal.
There, trudging out of the retreating shadows was Sareti followed by a small procession. Behind Sareti stumbled the shorter fifteen year old Luia with a man and woman she didn’t recognise but had white veils that hung at their necks covered in blood. Spirit wranglers. A woman pushed into view and caught up with Sareti.
“Who is on the stretchers?” Ferna said, her fatigue seeming to fade as well when she saw Luia. The stretchers were the makeshift kind and had been draped in bloody cloaks without much care.
As the procession began to cross the makeshift bridge the woman with Sareti stopped just shy of five paces to study her cooly. Tayella stepped closer and forced herself to nod her head. This must be Arlin Mariz. Wearing colourfully patterned trousers that contrasted her tight but matching coat she looked the part.
Her face held little emotion as she bowed her head and spoke, “I hear that you are the leader of this group of mercenaries.” A smile played across her dark face that made Tayella’s hand tighten beneath her short cloak. She shot a glance at Sareti who just shrugged and helped the others set down the stretchers. No doubt deceased guards. So there had been another fight. The satisfaction of being right was worrying.
“Yes,” she said, “I am the leader, Tayella, and I assume that you are Arlin Mariz, leader of the Amamati faction.”
“Of course,” Arlin said her face relaxing slightly although Tayella wasn’t sure what was relaxing at the scene behind her, “I must thank you, if not for your foresight I would be dead and the Amamati would likely be destroying the CH24 right now, they can be a little excitable.”
Tayella opened her mouth but thought better and moved aside, “I have set up a safe house in the closest warehouse that’s still whole, Ferna will take you there.”
She nodded appreciatively and swept past.
“You might want to see this,” Sareti said, “Gesturing to the stretchers now being lifted again, it might cause some problems.”
“Who?”
“What more like,” Sareti said lifting the corner of the bloody cloak to expose a foot wrapped in straps of leather bark. Tayella hissed and stumbled backwards before stopping herself. Dead Otess? Two?
“What happened?”
Sareti chuckled but it sounded more of a croak, “Two Otess. Killed a lot of guards and wranglers, those three are the only survivors.”
Only three survivors? That was worse than she had thought. She wondered how many people had died to save the woman and gritted her teeth, many more would die if she had not been saved.
Sareti straightened with visible effort and met her eyes. She appeared to be shivering although the light breeze stirring the ashes was warm. “We can talk in this safe house, it is a dangerous thing for us to talk about it out here.”
A few moments later they were standing in the centre of an open warehouse empty save for a few dusty crates turned on edge and a makeshift hearth.
“We have failed,” Sareti said almost doubling over coughing. “What do you mean?” Tayella said helping her into a sitting position again on a crate. The woman needed sleep but her information might help. Suddenly she turned away from the shaking woman. She had seen what Sareti had been like in the cell facing what she had thought was a brutal death and she had sent her into another fight with them.
“We saved Arlin but everyone else in the building was dead,” Sareti continued when her coughing fit subsided, “I think we mistook the Otess. They don’t even need to kill the leaders if they can sow fear into the mix. We seen two Otess, yet there were others; the bodies on the streets.”
“It is a victory,” Tayella said firming her face and turning back, “I have never heard of a body of an Otess, nor of one being killed.”
“It is a death wish to keep them,” Sareti said, “We have the Otess now specifically searching for all of us.”
“Then we need to find a way to dispose of them.” In a way that might help their cause.
“Do we not count for anything?” Arlin stepped forwards from the deeper parts of the warehouse, “You did save us, and we can help.”
“Help?” Tayella frowned, “You will have enough trying to keep your faction out of the canals.”
“I have already arranged for that to be done, but by what Sareti tells me, I might be safer here, and I could help as well.”
Tayella bit her tongue to stop from rejecting the woman’s offer. Surely she wouldn’t be stupid enough to let her pride hurt their cause.
“I would be glad of your help,” she said instead. Arlin nodded as if she had expected it all along. She was neither tall, nor as cold as Erisa had been but she felt if she was ordered by this woman, her legs would itch to do as she said.
Her companions standing just in the shadows, a greying man and a woman that closely resembled her with dark complexion and a sharp face, relaxed and retreated.
“Don’t think that you retain much sway here, we did not rescue you to take my place.” I am beginning to speak like Sareti used to, she thought. “I don’t want anything to do with your politics.”
“I wouldn’t dare,” Arlin said eyes widening in mock fear, “But you have just sunk yourself deep into my politics, killing two Otess, If I may give you some advice…”
Tayella nodded, folding her hands in front of her to stop her clenching them.
“Nobody gets anywhere by letting their political advantages get covered in silt, no, you must play your move.”
“And what move is that?” Sareti said, sitting straighter on her crate.
“The Otess corpses of course,” Arlin said, face barely concealing excitement, “Everyone thinks they are mysterious assassins that plague their peace for the rich and powerful.”
“I see,” Tayella said also failing to hide her sudden anticipation. I am beginning to wonder if she came to me because she just wanted to see how this would play out rather than for protection. Maybe she would be able to use them. She turned to Sareti, “How did you kill two?”
“Emotion,” Sareti said, “It broke their concentration when I made them angry. I also had the help of the others.” She gestured to the man and woman now helping the others hide the bodies, “They are both wranglers too.” That woman has to be Arlin’s sister, I wonder if she lost any other family. For what the woman had been through she didn’t seem to be affected much.
“I suppose that makes sense, but from the look of you, it still wasn’t easy?” It wasn’t really a question, of course it wasn’t.
Sareti shook her head before standing up, “I’m finding somewhere to sleep even if I have to on the street.” Tayella watched her go thoughtfully, as much as she resisted the feeling, she couldn’t really hate Sareti. She formed the picture of Hase in her mind unconsciously and grimaced, maybe I can.
“Was it really just emotion?” Tay asked Arlin when Sareti was gone.
“I don’t know.” For the first time there was a crack in the impassive face, “I wasn’t there. As soon as we broke through the wall and could escape, Luia, I believe dragged me out of there and we met up again not long after I had assure my advisors that were still alive that I had survived. I don’t know why Sareti stayed, she could have followed but I think she knew that they wouldn’t give up. Has she experience with them?”
“Yes, more experience than most, I would say.”
“What are you to do now?” Arlin said.
“About the corpses?”
“No, if the Otess are after other faction leaders too then it will be impossible to even help a few of them.”
“I don’t think we can get the factions together to believe or fight with us, but the normal people will. To focus on a single goal might work.”
“To destroy their stronghold?” Arlin said arching an eyebrow.
Tay barked a short laugh, “You sound like Sareti. The Otess have power only through lies and murder, we can get people to fight back.”
“An ambitious goal,” Arlin said, “I think it could work, especially how it seems that you have quelled the fighting here, but there is a problem.”
“And what is that?”
“You will transfer the focus of the Otess onto you instead of the leaders, possibly me as well, are you ready for that?”
Tay grimaced, “I plan to do it tonight. ”
“Good.” Arlin hid a grin.
Tayella nodded with satisfaction and moved towards the doorway. As she neared it Arlin spoke again.
“Tayella, don’t discount Sareti’s ideas too quickly, she deserves to be considered.”
Tayella pulled the door shut behind her, satisfaction gone.
~
Sareti sat propped up against a crate and rubbed her eyes. The only windows in the large building were barely wide enough to fit her hand through yet there was only darkness on the other side.
Light came from a red vial light hung from the roof, courtesy of Arlin. That woman has too much money, she thought but couldn’t work up enough energy to really care, at least it would not be blown out like a candle.
Her and the others sat around a dusty carpet which provided some comfort from the hard packed floor.
The others were talking but she had not been listening very closely, her eyes threatening to close even after the drink that Ferna had made her. Sleep should have left her feeling better. She did in a way, yet at even the frequent mention of the Otess she felt nothing. Fear was better than this, she thought forcing herself to sit straighter and listen to what was being said.
“Where do we show the Otess?” Arlin said. She had recovered from her near death ordeal without fault and now argued with Tayella as much as she herself did. That in itself should feel better, but just… nothing.
“If you put them in my faction then the Otess will make an example of us, we need somewhere neutral.”
Tayella agreed flatly. At the start of their talk she had been quick to disagree with Arlin but she had lost her eagerness to even argue.
“The Otess already know where they were killed just one which Otess were sent to your safe house. If we put them anywhere else it will just involve more factions. We want people to feel hope, not fear.” That was Rosan, Arlin’s sister whom surprisingly disagreed with Arlin as much as she did with Tayella.
“What about somewhere that is not of any faction.” Luia stepped in the door with a pack of food. She felt her stomach rumble but ignored it. Food could come later, right now she didn’t need a distraction.”
“Great idea.” It was Arlin’s turn to be sarcastic.
“Where do you suggest?” Tayella said shooting Arlin a sharp look. If anything the woman only looked amused. She is tough, she would have to be. “Almost anywhere is associated with at least one faction.”
“A boat.” Ferna said nodding in appreciation to Luia, “They cannot link a boat with anybody.”
“What and drag them around the city for all to see?” Arlin said.
Sareti sighed and everyone looked at her, the room falling silent. Tay opened her mouth but snapped it shut. “The harbour,” she said, “A boat floating in the harbour with dead Otess on them.” If we wait any longer they will find us here and they will be parading around the city with us tied to boats.
The others for the first time in the last half hour remained silent for a long moment before nodding. Sareti looked over at the stretcher in the corner and shivered despite the warmth in the room.
“Fine,” Tayella said when everyone looked to her, “It is dark already so we leave in twenty minutes. I’ll take Sareti, she knows the canals the best.”
Sareti started but nodded when they glanced at her. Tayella had never asked for her help before. Everyone stood save for her and Luia stood who was running his finger along the hilt of an ornate dagger. “Found it on the street,” he said, not looking up, “I was surprised that the fight brought in rich people as well.”
“The rich and powerful are not immune to anger and the need for revenge, in fact they seem to need it more.”
“Then they shouldn’t involve us in it, we die to save them, because they made a mistake double crossing another faction, or because they chose to.”
“Would you rather we had a king whom controlled every faction so that you could not move to a different faction if you wanted to, if you were forced to work for them.”
“I guess not, it's just not fair that we have to set watches incase an assassin was sent after us.”
“I met someone,” Sareti said snatching a hunk of bread from Luia, “He told me of when the city was whole, where there was some kind of ruler but where there was little fighting. We need to sh0w everyone that we can have that again.”
“Do you really believe the Otess are not just assassins?”
Sareti pursed her lips, “Even if they are not, we cannot have peace with them still here.”
“Is Tayella wrong then?” Luia’s gaze was now firmly fixed on her’s, showing more maturity than should have been in those eyes.
“She is, what is happening in the west will happen here, the west isn’t our enemy, thinking that they are only helps the Otess.”
“I see.” He nodded thoughtfully and sheathed the dagger, “You should teach me how to fight like you,” he said shooting a quick glance in Ferna’s direction.
Sareti opened her mouth to object and closed it, she nodded. Satisfied, he stood up and disappeared out of the door. What have I agreed to, she thought but couldn’t help the slight warmth that had replaced the nothing.
Sareti stepped outside. The moon was once again shining enough to cast broken shadows between scorched walls and piles of rubble. She sat down at the canal edge, where there was a clear view all the way to the estuary in one direction and far into the darkness in the other.
“That was a good idea,” Tayella said from behind her, “The harbour I mean.”
“I… am sorry that I so often shoot down your ideas, they are good, sometimes.” Tayella sat down beside her, face pale in the moonlight and blonde hair clasped with a thin dagger on her head.
Sareti stared at the glossy water eyes wide for a few moments before she found words, “I understand,” she eventually said, “I once did the same.”
“Thanks.” She sounded weary, yet there was a tightness to her voice that was always there when she spoke to her.
“Tayella,” Sareti said, “We will find revenge, I did not kill Hase, but neither did you, you cannot let yourself pass blame on, even in your mind. Trust me I suffered for years when my parents died and I blamed other factions until I realised that it was the Otess that had actually done it.”
Tayella was silent for a long moment and when she spoke her voice was cold again, “We will make the west pay.”
Sareti shook her head gritting her teeth, “No, we will make the Otess pay, the west didn’t kill him.”
Tayella stood, “We need to go, the longer we wait the more chance there is an Otess will find us.”
“Tayella, we must destroy the Otess, as long as they exist people will die for their power grabs.” She stood but Tayella was already walking towards a boat tied onto the canal side twenty paces ahead. I have to make her see soon.
The water wrangler stood at the back of the boat which did not rock as it should, instead a thin column of water swirled around her arm connecting her to the now disturbed canal water. A black covering concealed two distinct lumps in the middle so Sareti stepped in at the front and crouched down.
Sareti watched Tayella as they began to move before turning to face the forwards as they picked up speed. Trying to recall her memory of the network of canals she put her hand out to the right and then left and so on, weaving their way through narrow and wide streets.
Her memory must have served her correctly for they barely passed a person and when they did it was an occasional guard standing in front of a warehouse door, watching them silently through a dull helmet. Nor, more importantly did she catch any sight of an Otess.
The canal gradually got wider and wider until they could have fit ten of their boats through at the same time before it suddenly opened out into a large moonlit bay, the warehouses falling away, the canal cutting through a sandy beach and into open water.
A break water almost completely cut off the bay from the open ocean but the water still vibrated the hull even if it couldn’t rock it. Most boats that she could see pulled up on the beach were much wider or had two hulls joined to make a larger boat.
Tayella dropped down into the boat. Suddenly Sareti was thrown back into the boat as they shot forwards.
At last they slowed and she finally pulled herself up to see where they were. They were still at least twenty paces away from the end of the main floating walkway where boats small and large rocked, some that were taller than a building.
The dark shapes of guards stood every ten paces on the walkway, watching them now that they were slowly moving past. Tayella at least wasn’t stupid enough to have them go so fast past unwanted eyes. Then they were far enough away that in the dark that the guards were all hidden from sight.
“Wait here.” Tayella’s voice was barely audible above the lap of the water against the side of the boat. Sareti nodded but Tay was already dropping her unusually long cloak to the boat, leaving only the tight garment that in the darkness was not far from the clear shape of an Otess.
Tayella slipped into the water and was gone without a splash. As soon as she left the boat began to rock wildly. Sareti grabbed the sides before she was thrown off of it. She didn’t know why it was necessary to find another boat to use, sure, narrow boats were not usually found in the bay but... A boat moved at the end of the wooden walkway picking up speed and leaving the walkway behind. None of the guards even moved.
A few moments later the boat drew up beside her own and she felt her boat getting pulled in beside it. It was a lot larger, wider and didn’t seem to need the need to use any stabilisers but most of all it had a wide flat deck. At each corner there were pole and oar holders where they could manoeuvre it through the canals but they dragged uselessly in the water now.
As soon as her boat pressed up against them, Tayella jumped down with ease and pulled back the cloth. They quietly lifted both of the bodies up and onto the deck, placing them in the centre of the boat side by side. Even the sight of them made her muscles seize and she was barely able to place the torches and their stands around them. She still winced however when Tay stabbed the spear into the chest of one and a knife into the other. It was necessary, the more effect they had the better, or at least Arlin had said so. For a leader Arlin isn’t that bad. She was almost glad that she had no such ties like that, especially in a time like this.
“Ready for the torches,” Tayella said quietly, when everything was there. Sareti took a deep breath and cupped her hands around each of the torches. Light sprung to life around them as each of them were lit. She then let herself down into the other boat with Tay. They had made it this far, the rest should be easy.
Shouts of guards carried from the walkway and the sound of running boots broke the quite night. Demanding who they were but they were too far away to fully make out and they were already moving. Tayella moved their own boat behind the other one as they pushed it towards the shore fast, the wood creaking alarmingly. Sareti held on tightly as her stomach lurched. Alarm bells began to ring along the walkway and torches were being lit on the beach.
“Not fast enough,” Tayella murmured, “Sareti, we need more attention.”
Sareti shrugged and leaned over the side of the boat and slapped the water. There was a mix of a hiss and an explosion that almost sent their boat spinning but a sound as loud as a clap of thunder boomed. Surely that is enough to wake enough people. They were nearing the beach proper, where the walkway met it and where many of the canals culminated. Mercenaries stood along the side, the only people that looked calm. Others jostled through the crowd shouting although Sareti could not make out what.
“No going back now,” Tayella whispered.
“There is never going back.”
They were now close enough to see the people standing under the torchlight clearly. The boat slowed and stopped and Sareti almost tumbled forwards. The larger boat kept going, heading straight for the people, not slowing. There was cries of anger and of fear as they shrank back.
“We need to go,” Tayella said looking around, “The guards will be after us.” Even as she said that. Several watercraft sped from the walkway without oars carrying only a dim blue glow. It seemed that there were some wranglers here after all.
“We must leave the boat,” Tayella said as they sped towards a canal opening. Nothing stopped their way but they could easily get cut off. Sareti was a little saddened that she could not watch the reaction of the crowd as they shot down a narrow street. She knew it was too fast for it cut off sharply in front of them.
“Tay!” Sareti said, voice high. “We need to get off of here.”
“Now!” Tay leaped from the boat, a column of water rising to meet her and landed on the side of the canal smoothly. Sareti jumped and sprawled a few paces down from her wincing as rough cobbles dug into her side. Jumping from a boat that was moving that fast was not as easy as it seemed.
Tayella pulled Sareti deeper into the shadows as another boat shot past them, but slightly slower. A crash sounded up ahead. Splintering wood. Sareti waved to Tay to follow, she could remember these streets as well. She stopped dead at the first turn. A man stood there, torch in his hand clearly illuminating both of them.
“You!” Hissed the man and Sareti’s body went cold.
“Torin?” He stepped closer, hand on a long dagger at his belt.
“You,” he almost spat again, “You bring them down on us, I never expected it to be my own sister that...” He trailed off, and it was Torin who’s eyes widened. He looked over Sareti’s shoulder.
“Torin!” Tayella said but Torin turned and disappeared into the shadows. Sareti made as if to run after him but Tayella grabbed him. “Not now, we don’t know who he might be working for. Did you see those colours, they are definitely the colours of a faction, that unusual one, it must be new.”
Sareti nodded slowly, her heart thundering in her chest and took ahold of Tayella by the waist. With a stamp of her bare feet they landed on a warehouse roof, explosion echoing around them, tiles sliding down the side. They jumped rooftop to rooftop. It took longer this way, especially with Tayella to carry and she felt her reserves running low quickly but there was no more sound of pursuit.
Hase sat on the upper deck, legs dangling off the side through the railing. His hair was plastered to his head and drips ran down his face but he let himself enjoy the feeling. He had managed to sleep through the whole day, finally able to sleep without the thought of being awoken to guards ready to take him for execution.
He watched as an empty boat was winched up over the side and set down where it had been laid the night before. Soon after, the people who worked, exclusively bare chested men and woman with the occasional sash across their chest in blue, disappeared into the night and all was still again.
“They are the only ones I can trust with matters like this,” Erisa said from his side. “They alone understand that fire wranglers are not what they are said to be, as dangerous as they are if they try to hide it.” That was true in a way, when he had first discovered his own abilities he had accidentally set a large patch of the ground on fire but that hadn’t been the worst part. For the days and weeks after dread had weighed him down as if he were carrying a pack laden with rocks.
The tall woman was wearing a deep blue dress under a black coat although it was barely distinguishable with the lack of moonlight.
“What would happen if one of them were to expose your operations?” Hase said. He tore his eyes away from the Erisa’s face, and glanced back towards the misty lights that showed the city. Several of the lights were much brighter than others. Vial lights, he thought.
“Not anything good,” she replied, “The wranglers are a tight bunch and this lot is tighter still, but there is nothing that could link me to it other than their word for it and I could have them assigned to patrol work if I wanted.”
That of course was the way, however much a water guard did, they were too important to be put in a cell for any length of time, other punishments were often used although Erisa had refused to specify.
“You said that there is a host for every spirit, does that mean that…” He trailed off as she cut in.
“I have a suspicion that the Fire Spirit’s host is somewhere high in the monarchy here, a dangerous place to be such. Possibly many of them are fire wranglers if they are close enough to the host, I suspect that is the reason for the constant shift of power.”
“The king has more power than he has any right to be, treating wranglers like that. Han says that there was a time when Wranglers were treated with respect, not with the fear or contempt that they are now.”
“You were around at the split in the city?” He tried to hide the awe in his voice. Han cannot really be that old! But then again it is impossible for him to be an earth wrangler as well.
“Not quite,” she said laughing. The brightness of it startled him, how long since he had heard one of those. From Sanoa, he thought, it was ignorance that had allowed her to, but Erisa is by no means ignorant.
“I was born soon after the city split,” Erisa continued, “I remember the old city sinking into the estuary, now there is very little left of it. The last water spirit host died during that time, from what Han could tell me, memories fade over such a long time, there were many water spirit hosts, most of whom died before they knew what they were.”
“I still can’t believe that I am talking to the host of the Water spirit,” Hase said, and old enough to be my mother’s mother and yet looks twenty five at most.
She turned to face him, meeting his gaze with her deep blue eyes that were clear even in the darkness. “Hase…” She trailed off, her stern look fading to a slight smile. “What was Ichu like?”
Hase started, “How do you know?”
She raised her eyebrows, “Although many have not been far from Seshi, I have. A very different place in many ways.”
Hase narrowed his eyes, “We had no water wranglers, they were not heard of, was that because…”
“I don’t know,” she said, “There is possibly many hosts spread out, or perhaps it spreads quicker, but you’re right there were none like me.” She slipped away with almost no sound and he resisted the urge to follow, she was probably busy with something that didn’t concern him. Instead he stood up for the boards were starting to cut into his legs.
He leaned over the stern, he was sure that was what it was called, and looked down to the water beneath. It was just a glassy surface of black with little more than a ripple on it.
“Not thinking of escaping are you?” Came a low voice from behind him. Hase started so much that he almost fell over the edge. He swung around to see Hanan standing there, barely visible in his dark coat and trousers.
“Don’t be so tense,” He said, “Relax a bit, the boat is watched by loyal guards and you should not find anybody here that will harm you.”
“An Otess?” Hase asked.
“Come now, we must talk about the weapon. And the movement that Sareti has started. What movement?
Han stepped down the wide staircase that led to a lower deck. Hase made sure not to lean against the railing this time, for last time he had ended up in a heap at the bottom, they should have something to tell you that not all of the railings were finished.
A few moments later they both stepped into the room that Hase now knew as Erisa’s office. The first time he had seen the office, it had been almost empty, now it was full of narrow chests secured with straps to the floor although he was certain that the boat would likely not even rock in the largest of swells. Would have been useful when I crossed the ocean, he thought.
Erisa herself sat at the large desk-table which had been cleared of papers since his last visit and now a large map sat in the centre.
She looked up. In the light he could see that her hair was not up in a neat bundle as it usually was, instead pale strands of it hung across her face. “You know, for however much I hated living in the city, having a large room to put these blasted papers was useful, several rooms if I had needed it.”
Hase pulled out a high backed chair at the opposite side and sat down. “Why did you not like living there?”
“Not enough water, and too easy for the King to find me,” she said sitting up in her chair and leaning over the map, “Here water is all around me and should I need to defend myself I will be at an advantage.”
“The castle was a silly place,” Han sniffed, “Too many walls and not enough escape routes.”
“What would the king do to you anyway, if he knew?” He leaned forwards. The map depicted, roughly as it was drawn hurriedly in thick strokes of charcoal. Whoever had made the map had been in a hurry and it was no wonder for the map showed the Otess islands, almost dead in the centre of the estuary. A treacherous place to even go near, many had never returned save for empty boats floating out into the estuary. Still the map showed most of the surrounding smaller islands but almost nothing of the large one. How much did it take to make this? He thought.
“They don’t treat water wranglers who are unwilling to abide by their laws about wrangling,” Erisa said, “you could be tortured until you have no choice but to do as they say and join their water guard. It isn’t just bad for fire wranglers, but they won’t kill a water wrangler they can use.”
“He gets the point,” Hanan said placing a pile round stones on the table and taking a chair. They were not of any precious type but, the types that were dug out of canals that got silted up. Some were blueish black and others light greys and whites.
“Here we have where the river widens out,” Erisa said, as if speaking to herself, “The Otess stronghold lies right in the centre of where the old city would have been.” She glanced to Han who nodded absently. “To get in we would have to bypass that huge outer wall.”
“There is a stronghold inside,” Han said and Erisa nodded but he continued anyway, most likely for Hase’s sake. “When the city sank the highest point held the policing guild and around the hill a miniature city was build, we suspect that the policing guild eventually became the Otess when the city began fighting among itself, then they build their wall and nothing has been seen of the inside since.”
“The wall is huge,” Hase said, “how many Otess could it hold?”
“We can only guess,” Erisa said patiently laying both hands flat on the table, “But getting past that first wall will probably the…”
“Wait,” Hase said eyes widening, “We are going inside the Otess stronghold? Inside?”
“Of course,” Erisa said, “That is the only way, unless you have a better idea of how to convince the Otess to just give us the earth vial.”
“I don’t have a better idea,” Hase said slowly, “But I thought…”
“That we would just leave the vial there?” Han said snorting, “The Otess are dangerous enough as it is, if they have found it already, then the whole of Seshi is in danger.”
Hase sat back, after hearing Sareti tell him and Tay of the vial in the stronghold he had assumed the quest to find it over, there was no chance anyone in their right mind would try and bring the Otess down on them deliberately let alone find their way into where they came from!
“Its not just that,” Erisa said shooting a glance at Han, “We need to hit the Otess hard, where it hurts and since they are almost impossible to find…”
Hase laughed almost hysterically. Not only try and get inside the stronghold but to try and destroy the Otess as a whole. “This is the only way to stop them, isn’t it?” Hase said shaking his head.
“Yes, have you not seen the fires in the city, even here it is falling apart.” The brighter lights, he thought, not vials, fires! She continued, “I have been planning and gaining influence here, and now I have a large portion of the water guard on my side, ready. Others will follow when the city falls apart.”
“Why am I here?” Hase said eventually, “Surely there isn’t much I can do?”
“There is always something a fire wrangler can do,” Han said.
Erisa leaned closer face all sharp angles, “I need you to convince your friends to help, they seem to have been making quite a stir in the east.”
“Doing what? They don’t even know I am alive! I can’t tell them what to do…”
“You said you would help,” Han cut in, “And I think that only you can do it.”
“You have met Sareti,” Hase said quickly, “You could tell her, I barely know her.”
“That is the problem,” Erisa said, “Tayella is the one that leads their not-so-little rebellion agains the Otess and maybe the factions. I contacted Sareti and apparently Tayella doesn’t trust her, Tayella is intent on focusing on holding a crumbling building together.”
“I guess I could help,” Hase said forehead creasing, “I could try.”
“We need better than ‘try,’ Erisa said firmly, many from the west will fight, but we cannot take the Otess alone. We need whatever Tayella has created to fight alongside us.”
“It will be spectacular,” Han said, “West and East fighting on the same side.”
It will be impossible, Hase thought.
“There is something else,” Erisa said grimacing, “If we are to work with the East and with fire wranglers, we cannot have the west thinking as it is.”
Hase slumped even further in his chair, go and show the west that I am not a monster. A few days ago I was almost killed by a small group of muggers.
“I need you to help Han get some things as well. Sareti said in her message that there is a secret room in the basement of her mansion. While I would do it myself, if I get captured or killed it could be catastrophic for everybody that resists the rule of the Otess. If I die then everyone with water wrangling abilities would lose their own abilities.”
“It took long enough to find you,” Han said grimacing, “And long enough before there were enough water wranglers to fight the Otess.”
“So I am expendable then?” Hase met Erisa’s gaze, when she opened her mouth he added, “It makes sense.”
“I want you demonstrating your power to people. With things falling apart it is a time where some start to question what is really the truth.”
“Relax,” Erisa said absently moving stone markers around on the map, most of them on what was marked as the estuary.
Hase opened his mouth again, but closed it again.
Han stood up, “Come on, Hase, we should leave her to figure this part out on her own, she was always better than me at this.” He let out a sigh as soon as the door was shut behind him. They crossed the almost empty deck and climbed down a rope ladder than hung over the bow allowing them onto the walkway, creaking under their combined weight. The guards let them by without a word and they climbed the beach.
Suddenly as if it had been hidden behind a curtain of mist sounds of fighting came from the city. Fires raged in several of the beachside warehouses with the Water guard desperately trying to stop it from consuming the whole street.
As with such an event usually people would crowd around to gasp and watch yet there were none. Those that he could see were ducking in and out of the shadows of buildings glancing behind them.
“Its much worse than even yesterday,” Han said in a low voice, we should get in and get out, we don’t want to get caught up in the fighting.
They moved toward the closest street, a wider one and stopped. Further up came the clash of steel and screams. A dozen guards, lit by overhead vial lights were being slowly pushed back towards them as a tide of people fought them.
The next street was almost the same but torchlight had replaced a vial light that had been smashed leaving a gaping hole in the roof beside it where rain water ran in. At least it's not burning, he thought grimly.
The third street was empty so far as they could tell so they moved up it, keeping well into the shadows. Signs of fighting however were evident when they passed dark shapes sprawled on the ground in pools of a dark liquid.
“Otess!” Han said, grabbing him and pulling him into a doorway. Hase followed his arm and sure enough something moved on the roof before disappearing. The longer he looked the more that moved.
“Are you sure we cannot wait with this,” Hase said clenching his fists with a fistful of his black cloak, I…”
“Just be quick,” Han said abruptly, “Come on!”
Moving out into the street again they proceeded up through the city, avoiding the fighting as much as they could, even when they had to retrace their steps.
Hase at one point suggested the roof but Han just shook his head mouthing, ‘Otess’ before continuing past a cluster of bodies. Sometime the fighting seemed to be going in favour of the guards and people with makeshift pole-arms and long daggers were cut down right and left.
“This isn’t right,” Hase eventually said when they had not seen a cluster of fighting for several moments. “A whole street burns and nobody is there to put it out, true it is a poor street but…”
“In times like these,” Han said without turning, “Those already suffering suffer more. There is nothing we can do, what we are trying to achieve is more important.”
“I still can’t watch,” Hase grunted sourly, “In the East mercenaries wouldn’t cut down regular people.”
“You haven’t been to the east for weeks,” Han said, “Don’t be so sure.”
“You have seen it?”
Han moved up the now garden sided street without a sound save for the swishing of his cloak. Hase changed the subject with a sigh, “What even is it? The vial I mean, it must be more than regular vials.”
“It is more,” Hanan said, “the best I can tell is that the earth spirit itself is trapped inside. Of course whatever happens when its found it will hopefully be released, but Erisa is sure that breaking it could destroy the whole Otess stronghold although I doubt it.” He turned towards a house that stood back from the street, windows dark and garden unkept. Whoever owned it had not been here for a while. It was a surprise that nobody had broken in.
“We are going in there?” Hase said softly.
“Yes, Erisa wanted some more information and vials as well. I’m sure Sareti left some in here. I think she stole them when she got bored, instead of biding her time and keeping herself hidden.”
“You knew her well?”
“A bit, I helped her get the palace.”
“You knew she was captured?” Hase spluttered, “And we had to come across the estuary to rescue her, how could you leave her behind?”
Han just grunted. Hase shook his head in disbelief, would the man leave him behind if he was caught here? They walked up the path that led to the front door and Hanan pushed it open. Surprisingly it was not locked.
Inside the large hallway opened to either side, to the left was a room with a large table in it, an area behind that was similar to his memories in his childhood where they made food that were rare in the east save for food vendor buildings. To his right was partially a library and partially a living room. Stairs led upwards and downwards. Hanan took them down without so much as a glance around.
Better to be careful, he thought peering around the corners and up the stairs before following the other man. As soon as the darkness prevented him from seeing a green light illuminated the stairway from Han’s curled fist.
The stairway opened out into a large cellar cut into the stone. Wide shelves lined the sides of the room stacked with the occasional dusty barrel, the remains of others, rotted were merely piles in the corners.
“Now where is it.” Hase jumped at the whisper from Hanan whom he hadn’t notice, move to his right. He was inspecting another shelf and tried to move it. Nothing happened and Hanan cursed. “Shut the door, this might make a loud noise.”
Hase pushed the thick wooden door shut, blocking sight of the stairs. Something cracked and the wall behind the shelf shattered, bits of stone crashing down. A shower of dust settled in his hair and he warily looked up.
A gaping hole had appeared, revealing what looked like a second cellar behind the shelf a purple glow came from inside. Hanan pulled the remains of the shelf out of the way and disappeared inside. He could have just looked for the fake shelf, Hase thought before jumping in after him.
There was no need for more light in the crude long room, a purplish light came from several vials on a single shelf that ran along one rough wall, the cellar here no more than a roughly hewn tunnel. How much money had just been abandoned here. Not money but the vials were worth a mansion as they were. A desk and chair were the only other furniture and a rolled blanket had been tucked underneath. It was piled with papers, some of them scattered on the floor. He tore his eyes away from the wealth in vials and watched as Hanan stacked the papers and stuffed them into a pocket in his cloak. He nodded and made as if to go.
“What about the vials?” Hase said, “Surely we are not leaving them?” Hanan had picked up one that was not glowing, made of clay and not glass but had ignored the rest. An earth vial, he thought. He hadn’t noticed it, those are worth at least two mansions alone!
“What can we do with them?” Hanan said looking over his shoulder from the opening, “It would be difficult to get them all out without eventually attracting unwanted attention, they are funny shaped and glow.”
“Still,” Hase muttered. Useless to him as well yet right there was many times more wealth than he might ever own, not that wealth mattered anymore. He picked up two, a red one and then a blue one on a second thought, small and only as wide as his fist. He pulled off his cloak and wrapped them in it. If it was needed, he could always break one as a distraction and get away.
Hanan didn’t mention it as they climbed the stairs. Han stopped in front of him and he peered around. A woman in scaled armour dropping down to her knees. Swung a sword that was deflected with Han’s knife. The man gave a surprised yell as the floor tiles beneath him cracked and he tripped.
Hase almost dropped the vials when he lunged with his own knife. But the sword knocked it from his hands. The guard was now on her feet again. Hase reached for his second dagger but before he could move, the roof above the guard glowed green and then shattered white marble chunks arch stones crashed down almost completely burying the woman. The stones that fell around them shattered into dust before it hit.
“Lets GO!” Hanan was already out of the door disappearing into the night. Hase sprinted after him, dodging other stone. The building creaked above him and more cracks shot through the walls and ceiling.
Hanan didn’t take the gate but instead ran for the wall. It shattered before him and earth moved beneath his feet, crumbling and pouring over the crack. By the time Hase ran through it it was smooth, patches of grass and earth. He heaved a sigh of relief when they slowed a few streets down, sounds of guards gone.
“They must have been watching the building,” Hanan said doubling over, still panting as they began walking down the street, “They probably had more in the building searching and maybe in the garden, lucky we got out when we did.” Several dozen guards were marching up the street towards them and they were now among the buildings.
“Lucky…” Hase’s echo faded as boots came thudding behind them as well. He glanced back to see another group of guards almost run down the hill perusing what looked like a few straggling guards and regular people. Even as he stood there watching one fell and was trampled quickly.
“The roof,” Han said, grabbing ahold of the first windowsill and launched himself up. Under his hands rocks shattered providing large hand holds. Hase followed him up trying to keep the dust from his eyes. Otess on the roofs, he told himself, lots of Otess!
By the time he pulled himself over the edge and onto the tiles his heart was drumming in his chest and only partly from the exertion. There was a crash of steel below and he glanced back over.
What met his eyes stunned him. Guards clashed with guards, those shoving spears forwards, smashing into those further downstream who appeared confused. Spears took unarmored chests like meat skewers.
“We need to get out of here,” Han said grabbing his arm in an attempt to haul him further up the roof, “Quickly!”
“Those are trainee guards!” Hase said, “They don’t even have armour on and the other guards are killing them.” It wasn’t even an exaggeration. The trainee guards now fought back but without the scaled armour they fell quickly to the onslaught of spears.
“Get out of here,” Han barked, “I told you what it was like.”
“But why?”
“Nobles, rich, powerful people, now come on!”
Hase felt himself tense then he recognised several of the trampled bodies, none that he had known by name but… Sanoa! He searched the bodies and then the fighting…
“I know her!” He said as Han firmly began pulling him along the roof.
“Leave her,” Han said, “She wouldn’t do the same for you.”
“That’s what makes us on the right side,” Han said pushing the bundle of vials into Han’s free hand and leaped from the roof, lurching as Han’s grip was torn away.
Hase landed in the street with a bang that echoed around the street. For a moment the fighting ceased and then looking around in the near darkness the clamour rose again.
“Sanoa!” he said running towards the fighting. He jumped and landed right in the middle of the full guards almost squishing one. Another bank larger than the last blasted the guards’ feet from under them. And they scattered but quickly they were on their feet again.
Hase pushed through, throwing punches with one hand and stabbing with the other. He could feel blood trickle down his fist as he caught the scaled armour again and again. Then he was among unarmored men and woman, some barely eighteen.
“Come on!” He shouted bashing away one’s feeble attempt to spear him, “Is this how you fight when you train?”
They just stared at him and then began trying to kill him as well the other guards, shouting, “Fire demon!”
Hase groaned as the spears stabbed at him faster than he could deflect, one catching him just above the hip…
“Wait!” A familiar voice said, and a figure was suddenly in front of him. Sanoa stood there and he felt as if he didn’t know her. The mischievous innocence was gone from her face and eyes, instead hard emotion.
“Hase.” She said flatly, “I didn’t expect to see you again short of an execution event.”
“A better place to meet,” Hase said cracking a slight smile, “Wouldn’t you say?”
“Why are you here?” She said stonily, “I don’t want to kill you but I would rather put you out of your misery."
Hase resisted the urge to laugh and stepped closer. She flinched but stayed where she stood. Around the others were begging to fight again, leaving him to her. When he stood half a pace from her he met her gaze. “Do I look the same?”
“Yes.”
“Because I am no different, I know you, and just because where I come from you would be an enemy doesn’t mean I hate you.”
“What do you mean?”
“Do you trust what you have been taught about my kind or do you trust someone you got to know.”
“I knew you for days,” she said, “Not weeks.” She pressed the tip of her spear against his chest. It was his turn to flinch but he suppressed the urge to hit it away.
“You will die, if I don’t help, what difference…”
“Fine!” She said moving the spear, “just kill those guards.”
Hase almost jumped back at her tone. There was less warmth in it that was in Erisa’s when she was angry.
“HE FIGHTS WITH US!” Sanoa said as Han moved back towards the fighting. Within moments he was fighting alongside, or as near to, they gave him welcome space.
Despite his efforts every stab was accompanied by a step back and he could feel his spirit fire waning. Then Sanoa was fighting beside him.
“We are losing,” Sanoa said coldly, “Why are you still here, you could leave.”
“I could…” The rest of his words were cut off when a huge explosion rocked the street and he was blasted back into those behind.
Pushing a limp scaled guard off him he stood. Where there had been a line of guards were only a blackened patch and dead guards, some however running away. Only a few of the trainees didn’t rise.
“What was that?” Sanoa said rising beside him.
Han, the vials, he thought as a dark figure, cloak streaming above landed in the middle of the street with a crash and cloud of dust. A smaller bundle than he had given the man was clutched under an arm and a dagger in the other.
“He is with me,” Hase said quickly as Sanoa lowered her spear. She gave him an unreadable look then lowered the weapon. “I am glad to see you again,” she said, “I am glad that I can stop pretending to hate myself for not seeing through you. You must tell me…”
“Another time,” Hase said quickly as Han grabbed his arm and pulled him through the trainee guards.
Tayella stared at the wreckage of her parent’s home. In some ways she was glad that there was near to nothing remaining save for ashes. She didn’t dare pick through those for fear of finding something worse. Bones don’t burn, she thought. The smell of acrid smoke burned her nose as she turned away. I should feel something, she thought, my mother and father, dead. Instead there was just emptiness.
Something crunched beneath her feet but she didn’t look down instead moved towards the canal and felt something fill the emptiness as her skin began to glow. Something ran away but she didn’t try to find it. She was tired of hiding. At least I don’t have to hide from them, she thought.
The canal was narrow and instead of being build from stone like the older parts of the city, wooden posts and boards held the dirt streets out, although now the water was murky with ash. Around her stood the remains of the poorest part of the city, the furthest to the east, into the marshes.
Although the canals had been dug haphazardly, to drain the place, it hadn’t done much for the muddy streets, only now the mud was cracked with the heat that had passed through. She walked along the edge of the wooden posts that had somehow weathered the heat of the fire and ignored the ashy heaps that spoke of people too slow to escape the flames.
“What am I doing?” She said but nobody answered. Of course who would? I don’t have the right to ask people to fight an enemy that had almost fully wrestled control of the city, through killing and fear. “Just keep fighting back, that is enough.”
It’s not enough, a part of her mind replied, excuses can kill many people.
“I am doing the right thing. We can still save the city!”
What city, what is still worth saving? Tayella kicked a post in frustration and winced as it cracked, dirt spilling into the already murky canal water. With a start she saw a boy sitting on the next post staring into the water. A body floated past but his eyes didn’t follow it. She wondered if he had seen her. She moved on before stopping.
I am only here because someone was generous, she thought. She turned but the boy had not looked up. His clothes were ragged and his wide brimmed hat was surely stolen from a merchant. I never stole, she thought, even when it seemed easy.
“Hey!” She said retracing her steps until she was opposite him, a bare two paces away. He looked up with flat grey eyes, soot stained face plain.
“What do you want?” He said. Tayella let her hand glow and knelt down so she was eye level with him.
“I can help.”
“Can you?” It didn’t even sound like a question. Tayella suppressed her frustration at the lack of emotion.
“Where is your parents?” She said reaching across the water. He finally stirred and met his gaze but drew back from her hand.
“You are one of those,” he said, “My parents are dead.” He shrugged as if it were just a fact and nothing else.
“Yes,” Tayella said realising her hands were glowing slightly. Sometimes it was difficult to hide it close to water. “I can help you.”
“Did you do this?” He said tilting his head.
“No,” she said, “But I can stop it happening again. I am trying to save the city, you could help me.”
“There is nothing left to save.”
“Anyone you care about?”
“No.”
Tayella sighed and stepped over the water, a column of it meeting every step. She wobbled but managed to keep herself upright before she crouched beside him.
“I thought there was nothing left here either,” Tayella said voice a bare whisper, “I returned, and found that everything that I had worked for for years was useless. Then I realised that there doesn’t have to be a reason that you do something good, that you fight back, because when you do make a difference the reason that you have done it for will find you.”
The boy stared at her with almost unseeing eyes. “What will you do about the Otess?”
“We…” she trailed off looking around. It wasn’t the Otess that had set the fire, but they had build it. “We will destroy them,” she said gritting her teeth. I am quoting Sareti now, just to convince a boy that there is a chance.
“Okay,” he said. He stood and wiped a soot stained hand across his face, “Where are we going.”
“To somewhere that is safer than here,” she said a slight warmth cracking her inner emptiness. “I know someone who will help us both find the reason.”
She picked the boy up without much effort and a little spirit wrangling carried him back through the city. After walking for a time the first stone buildings appeared, great scorched walls towering through the wreckage but it was a while again before the fire had finally stopped, on a large canal and crumbling wall that had once marked the edge of the east.
Despite not being hit by the fire the buildings were empty and dark. Broken furniture and the remains of fires on the edge of the canals still smoked. “Where is everyone?” The boy asked.
“It isn’t safe to be alone anymore,” Tayella said, “Everyone has tried to protect themselves by joining together to fight back because if they don’t they die.”
The boy nodded as if it were what he had expected.
She eventually found her boat tucked into a dark ally where the broken remains of a collapsed house hid it. The boats were uncommon nowadays, too easy to attack. Some of those people are fighting us, she thought. If we could all fight the real enemy instead of blaming the wranglers, we would have a better chance of holding this out.
Setting the boy down on the rough seat she pushed her hand into the water and they moved fast through the widening canals. Here there were more people, every one with a weapon of some kind whether rusty or blunt. Clusters watched her with cold eyes and others cheered as she passed.
She shivered at every eye that watched her until they crossed into the western part of the city. Here there were several collapsed buildings but guards crouched on every wall, every roof watching. Within the perimeter people worked and laughed. She smiled. There is something left to save!
Then she pulled the boat up a side alley and sank it as she stepped out of it. Can’t be too careful, even in this part of the city. Luia met her as she entered the warehouse grinning at her and then raising an eyebrow at the boy holding her arm.
She found whom she sought sharpening a long dagger with a distasteful look on her face. Double Tayella’s age, the motherly Ferna hated the weapons but it didn’t stop her from carrying a belt of them.
She looked up and then jumped as she saw the boy, dropping the sharpening stone to the floor. “Tayella who is this?”
“Are you like her?” The boy said shrinking back slightly.
Ferna nodded slowly but didn’t drop her gaze from Tayella’s. “What is this? Who is he?”
“I don’t know,” Tayella said. “I… He looked like he needed something to cheer him up, will you help?”
Ferna froze and a look of pain passed behind those blue eyes but she eventually nodded. She bent down, glancing up at Tayella with an unreadable look although as soon as she was eye level with the boy her face was warm.
“We need to get you something to wear first,” she said, “And something to eat.” The boy glanced at Tayella and she nodded.
Tayella stood staring at the side of the room where Ferna had taken the boy and was now wrapping him in a blanket and offering him food.
“I think she had a child once.”
Tayella jumped and spun coming face to face with Arlin. She thought herself tall and this woman could meet her gaze without looking up, she even made it seem as if you had to kneel in front of her.
“What?”
“Ferna,” Arlin said, “I have seen the look in her eyes before. She has lost a child I think. What you have done… I think you would make a good faction leader.”
Tayella coughed and shook her head already walking towards the door. “I am not a leader, I am only here until someone else takes control and does a better job.”
“Wait!”
Tayella found her feet stopped on their own and turned her to face the woman again. She walked closer until she was once again a pace away. “If you wait until someone else takes control, does your job for you, then it will never happen. Tayella everyone here depends on you. Not me, not Sareti. You created this, if you…”
“I won’t make people attack the Otess Arlin, their stronghold is impossible to get into, everyone that goes near them will die.”
“Tayella.” Arlin’s voice seemed even firmer than before. “You don’t need to make them, they already want to, you just have to give them that option.”
“I will not.”
Arlin sighed but stopped her turning once again with a glare. “You agreed to come to my speech today, I am leaving now.”
Spirit, I forgot. “I will do it another time, I am covered in ash…” It was true, black loose trousers were covered in it up to the knees and her boots were almost white from it.
“Tayella!” The woman almost shouted at her. As everyone in the room fell silent she lowered her voice, “People will know that you visited the graves of the poorer parts of the city, if we can fight back, you need to convince them.”
Tayella sighed and squeezed her eyes shut but nodded. She had never cared how she looked before.
“Good.”
The woman patted her shoulder and guided her out the room. As she glanced back she found Sareti and grinned back before she realised what she was doing. Sareti had warned her that Arlin was persuasive. She is the reason I am here, she thought, if only… If only nothing, it wasn’t Sareti’s fault. The Otess, the Otess were to blame.
They walked in silence for a time Arlin striding along side her in her wide trousers that swept up dust with their heavily embroidered hems. Despite her skill at manipulating, she found that she couldn’t dislike the woman, she was kind and practical, not something she had seen in the other faction leaders. Not that there were nearly any of those anymore. The faction boundaries were now just more streets, burned or empty.
“If the Amamati will follow us,” Arlin said as if she had read her mind, “Then other factions will as well.”
“What’s left of them. I thought you were the leader, if you tell them.”
“I don’t know what I am,” Arlin said giving her an unreadable glance, “I can’t offer them protection anymore, I can try and convince them to listen to me but that is why you are here, if the people follow then others will too.”
“You know this?”
“I do.”
Tayella snorted but not from disagreement. The number of times the woman had been right was unnerving.
“The bodies worked,” Arlin continued, “This will as well.”
“The bodies brought the Otess down on every faction instead of one.”
“They did that anyway, they killed so much because they were losing power, losing fear. Everyone is so worn out now that they have no energy to run because an Otess moves among them. They fight back if they do move.”
“And die.”
“They fight, that is what matters.”
“Arlin,” Tayella said after another long period of silence, “You should be the leader of this ‘faction,’ you know way more than I do.”
“I could not, not until we have the backing of the people, they look at me and see a leader, a woman who was once the most powerful and now one that hides among wranglers to keep the Otess away from her. We are here anyway.”
Tayella looked up in surprise. They had reached a once rich part of the city where the houses had been tall and set back from the wide canal. Now remains of fires scorched the smooth paving stones and several of the buildings were barely more than rubble. It didn’t just hit the poor, she admitted.
What amazed her most was that the street was filled to the brim with people, every last one with a weapon close at hand although there was quite a silence. A group broke away and surrounded them quickly leading Tayella and Arlin into one of the houses.
Furniture made of wood was mostly gone yet signs of former luxury remained with the carved stone steps and torn wall hangings. Bed sheets were bundled in the corner as if someone had been thrown out for them. They climbed the wide staircase, Tayella hurrying after Arlin who didn’t want to delay any longer. A balcony protruded from the second story and still more guards watched from inside the room.
“Stay here,” Arlin said giving her a side glance, “I will invite you out when the crowd seems to need it.”
Tayella nodded and broke through the wall of guards to pull up a comfy chair, one that hadn’t been stripped for firewood. She waited as the other woman stepped out onto the balcony and the guards blocked her from view. She could only catch snippets of the speech yet from the roar outside whatever Arlin was doing it was working.
I am not meant for this, not like she is but like she said, it is what I have to do. After a long time one of the guards beckoned to her and she stood. She tried to brush ash from her black coat but it only seemed to rub it in anyway.
She stepped past the guards and onto the balcony.
“I have brought Tayella Meyer here to speak a few words. She is responsible for saving my life and creating the movement to destroy the Otess once and for all!”
The crowd roared in return, brandishing weapons at her but Tayella stared daggers at Arlin. We didn’t agree to that, don’t think that I am going to change my mind. Tayella stepped forwards plastering a smile over her frown and waved. The crowd cheered uncertainly. She took a deep breath and found that her heart was beating like a wave in her chest.
When the crowd had quietened she stepped past where Arlin stood and put her hands on the balcony. It surely didn’t look very much like Arlin but then she was not Arlin. “The Otess have plagued our streets and our canals for as long as anyone can remember. They have interfered with our politics, and pitted us against each other.” The crowd roared slightly louder. She continued.
“The problem however can be fixed within ourselves. When you believe that someone has done you wrong then don’t retaliate without cause. Our real problem is what gives the Otess their power. If we refuse to believe that others would do that to us then they can hurt us with fear.” The crowd fell deathly silent.
She climbed unsteadily to the edge of the balcony, standing on the narrow railing. “I and a wrangler,” She brandished her fist and it glowed so bright that many shrank back slightly, “Don’t hate people like me because we are different, we fight with you, if you will have us!”
The crowd cheered and shouted. She stepped back down and sighed with relief. Arlin stepped forwards and began to speak but the words were drowned out by sudden screams. Tayella spun around. She scanned the crowd and sure enough there were two figures moving through the crowd like vipers, leaving a row of death behind them.
Arlin shouted down to the crowd.
“What did she say? Will you not fight back?” There was a sudden stillness that lasted for a bare second before the crowd surged back in on the Otess. The figures moved faster but were quickly gone beneath the seething crowd. Tayella leaped over the balcony and braced herself as she landed on the paving stones beneath.
Pushing herself through the crowd she finally found the Otess. A body peppered with blade wounds still spasmed before stilling. She looked around and found a dozen other bodies, men and woman lying with necks and bodies at awkward angles. She gritted her teeth and turned away slipping out of the crowd. Arlin was speaking but she couldn’t hear what. She finally found herself in an empty street and sighed with relief.
Crowds, she thought leaning agains the wall. Leave that stuff to Arlin. Even as she began moving away again, back towards their safe house, she heard a roar from behind her. If not for Arlin their speeches could have turned into lies to those people.
She wearily trudged back across the narrow makeshift bridge that had been erected after the first night of fighting. “I thought that we could keep the factions together,” she said to herself.
“It would never have worked.” Sareti’s voice made her snap her head up. The woman stood in a pair of trousers raggedly cut short and a loose top.
“What?”
“Factions were always a problem,” Sareti said, “they would have fought each other and the otess would have found a city easy to conquer with fear. Now at least it is much more difficult for them.”
“But not impossible.”
“No, that is why…”
“Sareti,” Tayella almost shouted, “Not now, argue with me some other time.”
“There is no time. The Otess we have seen are probably a bare fraction of their strength. That fortress is huge, there must be hundreds of them living there.”
Tayella pushed past Sareti who thankfully didn’t follow and found her way to her pallet.
Hase sprang back to his feet, just in time to meet another blow from Han with his forearm and tried to get his own blow in but Han just danced back, smile taunting him. Hase sighed and straightened, carefully watching incase Han attacked again.
“I don’t know why you think that you should be able to beat me in a fight, I have had over a century to practice and you have barely had a few years.”
“If I used spirit fire,” Hase said sitting down on the rough deck boards.
“If you used fire here…” he chuckled, “well since Erisa is gone, I fear we would have burned her new project to charcoal and it would be sitting at the bottom of the bay. What if you’re fighting in water or you run out of spirit fire. Or you know that if you use anymore you could burn yourself up.
Wiping his forehead, he stood and moved over to the one of the doors that led under the upper deck and stepped into his cabin.
He grimaced. It was too much like his time stowing away on ships crossing the ocean, the damp and constant chill of seawater leaking in through the gaps in the timbers. This room was completely dry. He shut the door, sending him into pitch darkness. He reached up to the shelf was on the wall and pulled back the cloth. Once again light filled the room, this time blue. For a moment he stared into the swirling colours before looking away.
“Hase!” A voice called from outside, Erisa. He hastily pulled on a fresh shirt and loose trousers, a belt of daggers and kicking his boots under the bed. Useless things. He stepped outside. A sodden Erisa stood on the deck, a puddle of water at her feet. Hase heaved a sigh of relief, the look on her face wasn’t urgent. Why am I relieved? I don’t care how long she is gone for. The clouds which had been covering the sky most of the day had begun to dissipate and sunshine glinted off the bay.
“You’re back.” Hase said. Erisa turned from Han whom she was speaking to and gave a brief smile. She pulled off a dark ankle length cloak and dropped it on the deck in a sodden heap.
“I am, and I have news of the East. Good and bad.”
“Tayella?” Hase asked quickly.
She grimaced and shook her head. “Not specifically, I can only guess.”
“What happened to the boat?” Han said shaking his head, “You haven’t lost another one have you? That’s the third this month!”
She laughed, “Listen, this is important.”
Han nodded and leaned against the side. Hase remained standing. What was it now? He thought he knew by the grim look she had on now.
The city was worse than I had ever seen it. Fires burned freely in at least five factions in the city, although I can’t be sure if there is factions anymore, there seems to be large groups.” She paused and looked Hase in the eye, “Sareti’s faction is gone and there is little left of it. But that was old news, by at least a week, there is however news of a group of wranglers whom have been seen fighting or stopping fights, depending on who tells the story. They have killed quite a few Otess and left the bodies lying in plain sight.”
“In the open?” Hase said incredulously. “Tayella and Sareti would never do that? The are wranglers and it would be asking for death.”
“I thought that too,” Erisa said, “But they are fighting back.”
“I don’t know but we need to find out if we are to use this to our advantage, I want you and Han both in the East by tomorrow and find what you know. I dared not stay too long to find out, the Otess know my face, I have evaded them time and time again. I would like you to find whoever killed them and bring them to me. If Sareti or Tayella leads this group then we need to get them to work with us.”
“Sareti doesn’t think Tayella will attack the Otess,” Han said.
“Work it out.” She turned back to Hase. “However you can bring Tayella to speak with me, if I show her what is happening here then she will listen.”
Hase felt sick inside. This was not the reunion he thought he would have with Tayella. She has probably forgotten about me, thinks that I am dead.
Hase turned away to hide his frown. I am going back to the East. It should have felt better.
“Hase, prepare yourself if you are going. We leave tonight.”
Hase nodded and moved off to his cabin, and this time the memories just passed in and out of his mind and were gone. He slung his grey cloak around his shoulders.
When Han finally returned from his cabin he was wearing the sort of garment he had seen Sareti wear before, tight with loose folds crossing it. In the lessening light Hase might have missed him if he had not strode towards him.
“Sareti gave me some ideas,” he said.
“You have spent time in the East?”
“A while ago I did.”
What if Tayella is dead? What if I could have helped if I had returned. “What do we do if they refuse?”
“We need them to work with us, take whoever leads them. They need to see this.”
Hase frowned. “But…”
“Just do as we say, are you with us or not? I could send Han and another wrangler,” Erisa said.
Hase opened her mouth but closed his mouth again. What have I gotten myself into. Tayella surely won’t take well to this. I could just warn her.
The other two upturned another smaller boat that had been deposited on the deck, hull upwards and climbed in. There was nothing in the boat, not even a bench and the wood was rough and not finished.
“You really have been going through these, what actually happened to the last one?” Han asked.
Erisa smiled tightly but there seemed something else on her mind and she instead attached ropes to the front and back of the boat, Hase still had not learned the proper terms. Unseen workers began lifting the boat and Hase had to stay absolutely still so it wouldn’t turn over. A few moments later however, they were being lowered into the water and they settled down without a sound. Han and Erisa unfastened the ropes and the boat began to move.
Having been on the boat with Tayella entering the city he had learned to brace himself and sure enough the boat sped up until he had to duck down to catch his breath. When he looked up again they were out of the harbour and speeding across open waves. The waves should have pitched the boat and some were large enough that would have thrown their boat twenty paces but a path of water, smooth as glass appeared just in front of them.
“There is a boat up ahead,” Han said, surprise in his voice, “They can surely see us, it's not even half dark yet!”
“I intend to meet the boat,” Erisa said, eyes locked onto the dark shape that was gradually getting bigger and bigger. “Just let me do the talking.” As they moved closer, slower now, Hase could see that it was a trading vessel. Ships that big were common here, even with multiple masts like that but it was the colours. Around the large white sails were black and red chequers and the wood had been painted black almost everywhere. Panic surged up in him, “You are not going to leave me on that?” He said before he could stop himself.
Han gave him a considering look, “It’s our way in. It is difficult to get in anywhere else with all the fighting.”
Han let out a breath but could not get the feeling of dread from his stomach. There was no reason to worry, that colour of ship and sails were also, but they came from the continent, came from where he had grown up. “They hate wranglers,” he said suddenly, and if we are approaching without sails or oars…”
“I have an agreement,” was all Erisa said. The doubtful look on Hanan’s face did not help, “They trade with Seshi often and that means dealing with wranglers, they will turn a blind eye if the price is high enough.” When had the continent ever been lax with their views on wranglers, or demons as they called it.
His thoughts were cut off as Erisa brought their own boat alongside the huge vessel, easily keeping speed with it. The small boat rose out of the water swaying slightly until it was level with the deck. Han stepped off when a woman nodded to them, a slight frown on her thin lips. She dressed in tight trousers and otherwise wrapped in deep red silk folds. Her hair was braided with colourful beads. Hase let out a breath, she was nobody that he recognised. Why he thought she should be he didn’t know.
As soon as he stepped across, there was a splash and Erisa was gone, tiny boat moving through the waves smoothly.
“I am not happy with this agreement.” Hase spun and the woman gave him a cold stare. She shifted her pale hands over the glittering hilt of a dagger that just poked out from a fold of cloth. She continued, “I do not make dealings with,” she paused waving her hand in the air, “Your kind, but it appears that we may need help getting into the harbour at the moment. We have come too far to turn back lest we run out of provisions.”
Han nodded his head. It was not southern custom but of course, he couldn’t know the real ones.
“We are grateful to you and your crew,” Han said smoothly, we will be gone as soon as you are admitted into the bay.”
The woman raised an eyebrow and stepped back until she was out of weapon range. “I will let my crew see to you, please be aware of their dislike of you, it is acceptable. There will be no bloodshed on my decks, so make sure you are far away by the time we check on you.” She turned away smoothly and swiftly strode towards the stern.
Hase watched as two of the crew approached. They had bare feet like he and walked with an easy sway that matched the boat’s. They had similar wrapping to the woman but of coarser black material that looked well worn. Still they carried themselves like her. They gestured towards the centre of the boat where a cloth screen had been set up, hands never straying far from their own daggers however much the captain had warned against bloodshed. It was a rule, or it was when I left, but does it extend to Seshi? One of them pulled back the flap and they both stepped inside.
The man gave them a look that would have been better suited for a rotting corpse. The cloth flapped shut leaving them in almost full darkness.
“They could kill us here,” Han whispered from beside his head, “They could pull the screen away and stab us with spears all at once.”
“No,” Hase replied frowning, it was not like Han to worry like that. “They will not kill us like that, not unless we are still here when they dock but they are more likely to throw us overboard and throw spears at us until we drown. They will not have violence on deck.”
“Great!” Han said flatly. “I assume that these are people from your homeland?”
“Not quite, but close enough.”
The ship continued as if nothing had happened, ropes creaked and the sounds of many voices. After what seemed a long time Han spoke up, “We are near.”
“How do you know?”
“The boat has slowed and they have taken down the sails.”
Hase started, he had been so engrossed with his own thoughts that he hadn’t noticed the distinct lack of movement.
“Besides,” Han carried on, “We need to be gone before they look in here. I don’t think they will care that there was a deal if we are still here when they dock, as you said.”
Han pushed back the cloth and a little lantern light spilled in. He disappeared and Hase followed him quickly. I am not getting left behind here of all places. On deck there were fewer crew, and all of the sails were down. The merchant woman stood at the opposite side where she shouted across to a guard tower on one side of the entrance to the bay. Ahead Hase could see many lights reflecting off smooth water. “They must be allowed in without us,” Han whispered in his ear, just as well for I doubt we could have done much about that?”
“I thought you said…”
“I know what I said, what Erisa agreed, she must have known we wouldn’t be needed.” Then Han was gone from his side, just a dark shape leaping from the side of the boat and catching onto the rock of the other guard tower easily, just above the waterline. Hase stared in disbelief before getting up on the railing. A trick of an earth wrangler no doubt, that would surely break his arms if he got any grip. Hase braced himself and let himself slip off the railing and plunge down. He narrowly missed long oars that protruded from the side. Idiot, He thought, hitting one of them surely would not be comfortable.
The water was not as cold as expected and for once he was glad that the sensation of spirit fire surging up was not there, instead he surfaced, ducking as something splashed to the right of him. It was not fair how Han was allowed to keep his. He spluttered when another oar caught him on the shoulder and pushed him under. He swam towards the guard tower and pulled himself up and out of the water. Coughing what he had swallowed out. So much for trying to keep his cloak dry. He didn’t discard it however, he needed to try and conceal himself and while it was nothing like Han’s strange clothing it might help to hide his shape.
“Hurry up,” Han hissed from above as Hase pulled himself up and out of the water, cloak trying to drag him down. He resolved that he would get a cloak that was less heavy when wet for all the time he now spent getting soaked. He followed Han around the guard tower until they were on the inside of the harbour wall. Han moved as if he had climbed every last minute of his life.
He stayed silent the rest of the long climb trying not to slip on the damp rock. A fall would surely hurt even from this height and he didn’t want to find himself submerged again. By the time Han dropped off and landed on wet sand he was sure that he could not even hold a dagger without his arm shaking in the effort. Surely there had to have been an easier way.
Hase crouched on the beach as a woman with a long spear strode along the street above and then turned went back the way she had come. Despite being a completely different city, the bay was similar to the West save for the canals that jutted through the sand creating many smaller beaches and bridges to traverse.
Other than that, the beach was almost empty of boats although the charred skeletons still poked from the sand. If there are any boats left they must be on the floating walkway.
The beach was almost fully cloaked in darkness save for a glow of light through the mist from what must be torches or possibly a boat burning. Han now moved towards it, already crossing the first bridge. Hase followed as quickly as he could over several bridges before they got a clear view.
A wide shallow barge had dug itself into the beach and people clustered around it. Two prone forms became visible on the deck as they crept closer. The boat was otherwise empty. Torches that had been placed in the sand illuminated a pair of bodies, hardly visible from the weapons that stuck from them. Knives and spears had stuck in flesh and around it on the wood. For so many wounds there was little blood as if they had come after death.
“The Otess!” Hase said as he stepped up beside Han, “I never thought that… I thought that there were only two weapons in it,”
“There was, but I think that everyone wanted to get their weapon in the Otess. This would never have happened before, they are getting bolder. The Otess will be here in force sooner than Erisa thought, we need to move fast. “We need this new faction on our side and attacking the Otess Stronghold before the Otess are able to send a retaliation.”
“They might already have,” Hase said gesturing to the burnt out warehouses that made one out of two on the street.
“That is not Otess work, at least I doubt it unless they have somehow got a faction on their side.”
Hase laughed at the idea.
“We will split up here,” Han said looking around, “It is a big place to search.” He nodded to Hase and disappeared into the darkness.
If it were Sareti and Tayella or even just one of them how could he hope to bring them to Erisa. He shook his head. Some of the people on the beach had noticed him standing in the torch light and were pointing.
He ran down the nearest street leaping over something that might have resembled a body. The street was so narrow that if he met somebody walking the other way one would have to fall into the wide canal to allow the other to pass but with only high walls and no doors.
This part of the city was dark and unlit and it felt cold. The wide canal made it a warehouse street that allowed movement of lots of goods on bigger boats but in the dark there was no sound of quietly chatting guards, no torches held by wall brackets, just the lap of the water on the stone.
The street curved to the left. Just before the wreckage of what must have been a boat had hit the street. Cracks were obvious to even him in the wall of the warehouse above it. He wondered what had happened.
He yearned for spirit fire, he could have moved so much quicker but there was not even any sign of a lantern or torch until he had been walking for what seemed like hours and even then, all were broken.
Hase felt a chill, once this street had been a reputable street of expensive houses. He looked around. What he had taken for more warehouses were in fact houses although heavy doors stood open, creaking in the breeze and the insides were darker than the water to his right. A few houses later and the street was covered in rubble. What had been a house was now just broken walls. Part of the side of the canal had collapsed into the water and bits of wood and rubbish had collected on the other side.
“What happened here?” He said to himself picking his way across it. He knew though. It was the work of a water wrangler, a very angry one. They would never attack somewhere openly like this, would they? There was no sign of scorch marks so it had to be that. He began to run, leaving the street behind. Streets that he had known lay empty, whispering of violence. Other houses had walls but only charred remains of interiors, some still choked him with smoke as he passed but he didn’t see anyone.
He knew he was lost after a while when there were more of the latter. There was people here but they crowded in large houses, fires of broken wood on the street outside. Hase tried avoid the fires despite how much he wanted to soak up the warmth. Eventually he felt so utterly lost that he approached one. They apparently hadn’t heard him approaching for none turned and then suddenly a woman flung a flaming log at him. With a yelp he grabbed it before it hit his face. The log went out immediately and before he could help himself his hand glowed momentarily before disappearing.
The whole group around the fire stared at him, eyes wide, children, men and woman alike. Eventually one spoke.
“You will not hurt us? You would have already. Please sit by our fire, it will be an honour.”
Hase opened his mouth to object but the tiny bit of spirit fire inside him had not quenched his thirst for it and he reluctantly stepped into the light. Keeping his hand near his dagger.
They made room from him, still watching him, wide eyed. The woman who had thrown the log looked at him apologetically. “You must understand. I didn’t know who you were, I won’t…”
Hase just stared before shaking his head when fear crept into her eyes, “Don’t be afraid…” Run, his mind seemed to be telling with him as he sat, don’t trust them!
A man spoke, his dark hair unkept but his clothes had the look of finery, if well worn and now torn. “It is a great honour for one of the Fire wranglers to sit by our fire.”
The word ‘fire wrangler’ seemed to fit oddly on his tongue as if he had never spoken it before. The others bowed their heads and before Hase could object bread was pressed into his hands as well as a cup of something hot.
“What has happened to this place?” He said, “When has anybody ever been honoured to be in a wranglers presence?”
“Since a few days,” the man continued proudly, “Coming into the open to save us.”
“From what?”
“From the faction leaders that treat us so poorly. And to stop the Otess from killing us, I myself stuck a knife in one of their bodies.” He spoke as if it were a deed of great heroism. He even held out a dagger wrapped in a bloody piece of cloth. Hase remembered the bodies peppered with blades and shuddered.
“Right,” He said. Pull yourself together, you have something to do. “I have been elsewhere for a little time, could you tell me where these fights happen?”
The man nodded, “If you go to the main streets of the city, in the Amamati faction. There is a huge warehouse with a hole in the wall. I have not been but that is where the Otess were apparently killed. Other places too. I heard that a dozen Otess were killed in the north part of the city and another half dozen in the east.”
A dozen? Unlikely but then again he had never seen a single one dead before.
“Is the whole city like this?” He said.
The others nodded, the woman speaking this time. “You see some wranglers do not accept the change. Some of them fight the other wranglers but we have faith that our protectors will win. We will not go back now.”
Hase leaned forwards. Whatever happened the Otess needed to be destroyed, when they had a chance. I just hope Tayella agrees. “You need to spread the word. The wranglers will begin the move towards the Otess stronghold in a few days, be ready.”
The others looked taken aback and for a second he thought he had gone too far then they cheered raising daggers in the air.
“Can I use some of your fire, as a last request? And thank you for your words.”
“It is yours,” the man said gesturing to the crackling pile of timbers.
Hase nodded and stuck his hand into the flames soaking up as much as he could. When he was finished the fire was less than half as vigorous as it had been but it was already starting to recover. He let his skin glow and stood up.
He left the group in the darkness. He heard more people cheer but after twenty paces he pushed down the spirit fire and jumped, with a bang shooting up into the air. The city spread out before him, or so he assumed. Only parts were visible in the night. Fires, big fires burned to the north and he headed that way.
Hase felt a deep sense of relief with the spirit fire burning below the surface. Even the threat of it pushing its way up was welcome in the damp.
He cast off his wet cloak as he jumped between buildings, crossing yet another street burning with fires. For a few moments at a time he felt as if he were above everything, the city, its many fires and lights spread out before him and then he was shattering roof tiles again. He moved towards one of the bigger fires in the general direction that the man had pointed him in. The Amamati? Sareti would never work in Amamati territory. After moving for a while the city began to change, the streets becoming wider and every few canals had dividers in the middle.
Then he came to the street next to the fire. Fire engulfed several houses, lighting up the street below as if it were broad daylight. Sounds of fighting drifted up, the thuds of spears on spears and even the occasional rasp of a sword but most of all were the screams.
When he peered over the edge he could see people of all backgrounds crossing the canals with boards and clashing weapons. One side bore colourful clothing and the others had red and blue bands of cloth tied around their foreheads. There was a deep groan and one of the buildings that was burning shuddered before half sliding, half crumbling into the canal. The wave of water engulfed a great deal of the people and when it subsided fewer stood up.
The next building along was burning less furiously but would soon engulf. He had to do something.
Surely they knew that fighting like this, they punished by the faction leaders for openly fighting each other. Those fighting were not even mercenaries but common people. Tay and Sareti are not here, time to move on. He turned away but he couldn’t bring himself to leave.
Before he knew what he was doing he was falling, air flapping his loose garments. He hit the ground three stories down with a bang, the pavers underneath him cracking. Some of those fighting glanced his direction but quickly resumed their task. Those on his side of the canal were getting shoved back, step by step, death by death.
He began to run as more and more people fell. The men and woman in colourful clothes that he could not place were surging over the canal, through the water and over the makeshift bridges. How to get their attention. It was difficult to think that way when his mind screamed hide. He ran through the battle, ducking between fighters. When he stood in the middle he made his skin glow as much as he could and slammed his hand onto the floor, jumping as the shockwave passed under him. It blasted outwards, sending person after person flying through the air.
There was a sudden silence as the fighters got to their feet. But weapons were no longer pointing upwards. “WHY DO YOU FIGHT?” He said when nothing else came to mind.
“When your mother is murdered in the night, when our faction leader is murdered. They are to blame.” The woman who spoke stepped forwards on the opposite side to him and pointed to those in colourful clothing. Further down the street the fighting continued.
“And we are to fault for that?” One shouted back. “We have nothing to do with our faction leaders plans. The shouting increased and weapons were being raised again until Hase once again slammed his palm on the ground. They fell silent again but weapons were not lowered.
“The Otess are pitting you against each other by killing people you care about. The Otess control all of you by killing people, the Otess rule here unless you see past it. In three days we march to their stronghold, I HOPE TO SEE YOU THERE!”
There was a stunned silence where Hase could feel his heart beating wildly. Did it work? He felt stupid, when had he ever been good at saying speeches? Never of course. The people lowered their weapons and glanced at each other and then as if there had been nothing to fight about they surged back into the shadows of the side streets, dragging wounded with them. Within minutes the street was empty save for the burning building which was now completed engulfed. Something thudded beside him.
“Congratulations, you did it better than I ever could.” He started and there beside him dripping wet stood Ferna. He opened his mouth but by the time he tried to speak she was rising above the river with a pilar of water below her. Ferna? He had worked with her! He chose the closest side street but it wasn’t really necessary for the fire was soon gone engulfing the street in darkness. A blue glowing figure thudded to the ground where he had been and looked around. Slowly the glow faded and all that was left was the sound of her footsteps.
“Hase! Hase!” Her words were low as if she didn’t want to attract too much attention. She began to run. Hase crept after her, glad of his bare feet. He pushed the remaining spirit fire down, leaving only the footsteps of the woman in front to guide by. Slowly as his night vision returned he could see where she was going and hung back slightly. What if Tayella doesn’t come?
For half an hour they zig zagged through streets and canals before she disappeared inside a warehouse. There was nothing abnormal about it other than the distinct lack of guards. They must be in the surrounding buildings, he thought, searching. For a second he thought he caught a glimpse of a movement and nodded to himself.
He crossed the canal carefully, taking the bridge so as not to move to quickly and pressed himself up to the wall. He moved along until his hands found a rough door. He pressed his ear up against it and faint voices came through.
“I swear it was him,” Ferna was saying, “He stopped a whole street from fighting. And told them that he was going to attack the Otess Stronghold.
“Ferna,” came a voice that he couldn’t quite place, “don’t get Tayella’s hopes up.”
Hase felt a leap of excitement and put his hand on the large door handle. Something sharp and cold pressed up against his neck. He froze breathing heavily. Pain spike at his neck, digging into his skin slightly.
“What are you doing here, if you try to move or to wrangle me, I will kill you.” The voice was a woman’s, cold and hard. And commanding also, he realised, much like Erisa’s. He swallowed and instantly regretted it when the knife dug in deeper.
“I know Tayella,” he said through gritted teeth, “And Ferna.”
The pressure lessened slightly. The woman grabbed him by his shoulder and opened the door pushing him inside, knife now pressing against the back of his neck. Surely if he moved quick enough… The knife jabbed through his shirt to prick his back. He resisted the urge to jump away.
What he thought was a hallway was dark also and only when the door shut behind did the other open and light flooded the hallway revealing plain stone walls. He was roughly shoved forwards through the doorway into torchlight.
The room was huge, the torches barely pushing back the shadows of people moving around. In front of a makeshift fireplace, sat a circle of men and woman, on broken crates. Voices stopped and all eyes turned to his but his eyes were just for the woman directly across from him was Tayella.
Wide eyes, stared at him through smudges of dirt and cuts. He made as if to move but was reminded of the knife with another prick.
“Arlin,” the familiar voice said and Hase turned to see Sareti.“Arlin let him go, we know him.”
“Are you sure?”
Tayella stood up and nodded stepping forwards until she stood before him. She was different, her clothes scuffed and not perfect. Dirt smudged her hands as she reached up and touched his face, brushed her hand over it as if she was unsure if he was real or not.
“I thought you were dead,” she whispered. Hase nodded, aware that everyone in the room was staring at them. And then Tayella had her arms around him, head pressed up against his own. The knife blade dropped from his back and he relaxed. “I thought,” she said in his ear, “I believed, how are you alive?”
Hase pulled back slightly enough to meet her eyes. “Let him sit down,” The woman who had pressed the knife against him said, watching him expressionlessly, “I am sure you can catch up later.” He felt as if he had seen her before but he was sure if he had then he would remember her, in her wide colourful coat and trousers.
Tay stepped back with a start. She returned to her seat and gestured for him to sit as well but never took her eyes from him. He looked around and some familiar faces stared back at him. Some he had known from working with Tay but many that he had not. Arlin, the woman who had captured him stalked over to an empty crate and sat down. Arlin Mariz! The Amamati leader. He gave Tay a questioning glance. “How…” He trailed off as Sareti cut him off.
“Please sit down, I think that everyone here would like to hear how you escaped an Otess attack, survived the guards and got back here unharmed. And how it took you so long.”
Hase sat down and sighed. “After you were gone,” he gestured to Tay, “I broke a few of the bars into the cell and got the attention of the Otess. For some reason when I invoked a reaction, it abandoned Sareti and chased me. But before it could kill me either it was killed or it was taken away by the guards.”
“I endured some time in a guard training camp, somehow I managed to be mistaken for a guard trainee…” he shivered at the memory of the boy, “And eventually escaped. I met up with Erisa. And they helped me return.”
“Han?” Sareti said, “Han was there?”
Hase nodded but frowned when Tayella shot Sareti an unreadable glance.
“It took two weeks?” Arlin’s voice made him sit up, “And what is this about marching on the Otess?”
Hase swallowed and looked around. It would have been better to discuss it with Tayella in private but the half dozen woman and two men staring at him did not look as if they would leave if he asked. “I…” he began, “Erisa helped me return to speak with you. She would like to speak with whoever leads, Tayella?” Everyone nodded but Tayella whom was looking slightly uncomfortable.
“Speak about what?” A man said whom he didn’t recognise.
“About forming an alliance and destroying the Otess forever.” He had expected an agreement of a kind but Sareti and Arlin were the only ones that nodded although Sareti winced when Tayella glanced at her. The silence stretched on and Hase shifted uneasily. Please come voluntarily.
“Erisa thinks that does she?” Tayella’s voice was as cold as the estuary water in the winter. “Why should I trust her, I did once before and it almost ended up with us being killed. I thought you had been…” Her voice broke.
“I trust her,” Hase said, “And she knows Sareti.”
Sareti grimaced but nodded, “I do, if I could choose a western noble to trust, it would be her.”
“A noble!” Ferna said, “You want us to trust the word of a western noble?”
Hase opened his mouth but closed it again at the dark look on Tayella’s face.
“We have talked of this,” Tayella said shooting everyone an equally hard look but avoiding him. “There is too much at stake, we need to hold what we have. We cannot…”
“We will have the aid of western soldiers and wranglers,” Hase said, “They are normal people, just like us, the west is not what it was like when you left, it is falling apart and people are starting…”
“Don’t cut me off!” The sharpness of Tayella’s tone almost made him lean back. She continued in a calmer voice, “Meetings over, we will not be attacking the Otess stronghold.”
“The Others stood quickly and began filing out remarking on things that they had to do, including Sareti as she mouthed, it won’t work, on her way past.
Within moments he was alone with Tayella. Her face softened and she sighed looking down at her hands. Eventually she spoke. “Lets not speak here.”
A while later Hase was sitting on the edge of a canal, legs crossed well away from the lapping water with Tayella dangling her legs over the side. His clothes itched from drying on him and he could still remember the feeling of being pushed under by the oars. “Ferna said… what you said, I am sure you just did what you could to get back, but it isn’t…”
“I believe her! She is right, if we don’t stop the Otess before they have control of both the east and west then we will find ourselves hunted and removed one by one.”
“I know that! But it isn’t the right way, many people would die, we would not win…”
“The Otess already rule,” Tay grumbled but it was half hearted, “I can’t ask them to put their lives at risk, we can…”
“You cannot fight them on your own, Tay, nor with twenty wranglers, because so long as they have the city in fear they are ruling. The same is happening in the west.”
Tayella put her head in her hands and sighed, “Hase… I am just glad that you are alive.”
Hase’s hands slipped from behind him and he nearly fell over backwards. Is she just doing this to disarm me?
“When you were gone, dead, I realised that you were more than just someone to work with. I never got to know you, I never asked about your past before then. Why did you tell me to go, I should have been the one to stay,” her voice broke and Hase bit his lip.
“You did, do know me,” Hase said, “My past isn’t who I am, it might be what made me but you do know me. You had a strong purpose, you would do something for the good however hard it was.”
“Everyone has a purpose,” she said, “You might not have found it yet though.”
I have, he thought, in helping Erisa.
“I missed you.” Her voice was soft and he felt her hand, cold against his face. He opened his mouth to reply but her lips pressed onto his and her hand slid through his hair, pulling him even closer. Her lips hissed and he felt the spirit fire flare within him. When she pulled back slightly her face was glowing.
“Steam,” she said laughing, the sound hitting him like the shock of cold water, “I never thought.”
He grinned, unable to stop himself and pulled her closer. She tentatively brushed her lips over his, hands running down his back beneath his shirt.
“I missed you…” His words were cut off as she kissed him again and again.
A while later Hase returned to the warehouse, with Tayella sweeping along beside him. He tried to hold onto the feeling of relief, of warmth that had coursed through him but it was slipping away and he was sure it was not because his spirit fire had somehow depleted.
The fire burned low in the open hearth spilling light onto the empty circle of broken crates. Tayella disappeared for a few moments and returned carrying a big blanket. She laid it out on the ground in front of the fire and pulled the blanket. For a long time they whispered small snatches of stories of the past weeks but even with her arms around him he felt colder than he had jumping into the harbour water. I can’t lie to her, how long do I have until Han gets here? he thought but the words wouldn’t come when he opened his mouth.
When Hase cracked his eyes open and the blanket was cold. The room was once again partially lit by a few torches set in brackets in the walls and Sareti sat a few paces away watching him. Sunlight also sprung through cracks in the roof.
“Do you usually watch people sleep?” Hase said folding up the blanket hurriedly.
“I never knew that you and Tayella were…” she trailed off and a her lips twitched. “You might be able to help.”
“We are, I mean, there was nothing,” he searched for an explanation and changed the subject quickly, “Where did she go?”
Sareti’s expression turned to thoughtful, “She believed you dead and I think deep down she blamed me for leaving you behind, I think it might take sometime for her to get used to you being around again.”
“You didn’t answer my question.”
Sareti narrowed her eyes but her smile quirked even more, “You are right Hase, Tayella does need to move against the Otess in force, we could raise an army, bigger than any amount of mercenaries that any one faction ever had, but she won’t listen to me or Arlin.”
“I can’t force her,” Hase said running his hands through his hair, “I have just…”
“Hase, she is a leader, of something more than even a faction.”
“She has changed,” Hase murmured to himself, when she almost shouted at me for interrupting her.
“Did Tayella take command over you?” He asked and winced at the sound of his own words. He hoped that she didn’t take offence.
“No, I would like to say that I let her but… If she had not then none of this would have happened.”
“And you don’t resent that you are not in charge?”
“Leading isn’t the challenge,” Sareti said, pulling the dagger from her hair and spinning it around her hand, “It is dealing with the consequences well that makes a good leader.”
“You left the faction,” Hase said then bit back his words, “Sorry…”
“I did,” she spread her hands and replaced her knife in her hair, “and I dealt with the consequences. I have to deal with others in due course, but right now if we don’t act then…” She trailed off and stared at him wide-eyed.
“What?”
“You didn’t come alone did you, of course, I knew that it was him, he moves like a horse on the roofs.”
“I…” Hase’s words were cut off as Tayella stepped back into the room. She was wearing tight dark clothing under a warm cloak. “Horse what?” She pulled some food from her pocket, a fresh loaf of bread and a leather bark pouch.
“Nothing important,” Sareti said waving her hand, but shooting Hase a worried frown, “Where were you? I hope you haven’t taken to stealing, we have less important wranglers to do that.”
Tayella smiled and began slicing the loaf on a flat rock with her dagger. “I have to practice sometime, and besides I didn’t steal it, I merely showed up at a bakery, glowing and the only man still working there tried to press a dozen loafs into my hands. By the time he had stopped bowing to me I had to go for quite a crowd had gathered.”
Sareti raised an eyebrow at the knife, “I hope you cleaned that.”
“Everyone is like that now?” Hase asked looking at the slice of bread in his hand, trying to push down the nausea, “I met a few but how can so many people change so quickly?” I saw it in the west.
“Not all, not even half I think. Those who don’t, avoid our attention altogether. They still seem to believe that we are either going to hurt them or if they ignore us, we will leave.” Tay handed him a slice of bread and threw the pouch at him. Inside were strips of what looked like dried meat.
“There are some, like us,” Sareti said carefully, “that would hurt them, while our number is growing. We pick up more wranglers and others are unhappy that they are pressured into being thought of as we now are and are trying to stop us.”
“True,” Tay said, “But we will never have everyone on our side. In three days, two and a bit now.”
“Hase,” Sareti began also staring at her food as if it had gone mouldy, “I think I should show you the… the defences, maybe you will have something to show us that you learned in the west.”
“Good idea,” Tayella said standing, “I have things to do anyway…”
The door banged open and Arlin stumbled in, both hands grasping a long dagger, her ornate trousers dusty and scuffed. “Tayella! There is…”
A shadow moved behind her and Hanan stepped inside.
Han’s gaze swept over Tay and rested on Hase, “I see that you have found who we are looking for…” He turned back to Tayella, staring at him with confusion.
“Han…” Sareti began but he cut her off.
“Tayella, I assume Hase told you why he came, I am Han, and Erisa sent me to request you aid in defeating the Otess.”
“I will not,” Tayella said nostrils flaring as she began to glow, “I will not join a hopeless cause.”
Han’s jaw tensed, “Your cause is hopeless, you must see,” he turned to Hase, “I thought you would be able to convince her more than this. Tayella, I must show you, whether you come…”
“I will not!”
Han sighed and his hands glowed.
“Hase!” Tayella whispered glancing at him, then snapped her mouth closed. She stood up and faced Han, “They will not let you get away, it is four against one.”
Hase stood rooted to the spot feeling sick and shook his head slowly. Her eyes widened when Sareti shook her head and then Arlin did too after a grimace and a long look at Han. Her gaze swung to rest on him.
“Hase, you have to…”
He looked down and gritted his teeth. Tayella, you have to see, I…
When he looked up Tayella was watching him with wide eyes as Han tied her hands behind her back and pulled the hood of her cloak to disguise her face.
“We will not move until you give the word,” Sareti said suddenly, “And I am sorry.”
Arlin nodded and glanced down too, something that he was sure he would never see on her dark face.
Tayella nodded but her eyes from beneath the hood didn’t move from watching him. I should have said.
Sareti watched as the door closed behind Tayella, Han and Hase moved into the hallway.
“She will return,” Sareti said, “And if she does not then you will not have our support in your attack for we therefor cannot trust you.”
The door closed and Sareti sat down, the wood creaking underneath her.
“I see that we are back in control,” Arlin said sitting opposite her. She slumped slightly, “Tayella needs to see.”
“I will follow her whatever decision she makes,” Sareti said coldly, “and we will not move until she sends word.”
“Of course.”
“I have one matter to deal with before I can speak with those siding with us, you must do it without me.”
Sareti stood up and moved for the door.
“Sareti, do you think we should have agreed with Tayella?”
“I don’t know,” she said truthfully, “I assume we will find out soon.”
A few moments later she nodded absently to the guard outside the door and gave the buildings around a quick look. Otess are everywhere you cannot escape them. She shuddered and hurried out into the street. Although wranglers were supported even more, each day at the moment, she needed to blend in.
She pulled her dark cloak around herself, feeling strange with sturdy boots on she made her way to one of the main streets. There were four of these, criss crossing each other throughout the city and were the largest and busiest canals as well as streets. The canals were almost empty save for the occasional boat but the streets to each side were jammed with moving people of all walks of life.
Despite the activities of the wranglers and the Otess and the occasional collapsed building, people still moved around, if a bit quicker than usual. People still need to eat, she reminded herself. Everyone that she could see, however had a dagger sticking from a belt, as if to ward off anyone who might try to harm them. There are many of those alright. She watched the people as she walked, trying to catch a glimpse of colours like those she had seen on Torin.
She had been walking for some time when she finally caught a glimpse of the colour from underneath the hem of a cloak.
She began to follow the woman, being careful not to be obvious about it. If anyone caught her doing so, they might brand her as an Otess, those that had never seen one before and in moments half the crowd would be wanting to kill her. She almost laughed, to some we are just as bad. Ever since the bodies on the ship, people had become bolder, and some groups of mercenaries actively hunted wranglers, in the hopes that the Otess would fall before them if they did so.
She weaved in and out of the crowd with ease, her eyes fixed on the woman’s long brown hair. The colours had to be from a new faction, one that had not existed before she had left and even Arlin had little information on them.
After a while the crowd thinned and she saw a wide barge swiftly make its way down the canal. Several guards stood to either side fending off people that sought food. How has it come to this? She thought, the Otess must pay.
She carefully stepped onto the boat only five paces from where a guard pushed back a man that lunged forwards with a dagger. The man sprawled backwards and was quickly hidden from view by people that barely paid any notice. She sank down so that her back was against the high sides as the guards continued shouting at the people on the streets. She stayed like that, still watching the woman as the crowd gradually thinned and the barge slowed, carefully manoeuvring around the remains of a building that had collapsed into the canal. The woman disappeared off a side street. Sareti cursed before she could stop herself and climbed off the boat.
“Hey you!” Something heavy whisked past her head as she rolled and sprang to her feet on the street, dashing off after the woman before the guards could follow.
She almost ran into a pale man with hair so grey that it was almost white. “Excuse me,” she panted, “I am new here, I am looking for…”
“The new leader? Yes, that way.” The man stared at her for a moment before hobbling off, worn cloak dragging along the rough street. She stared after him shaking her head. A new leader? I should have taken care of this before now!
She ran in the direction he had pointed. Before long the buildings grew bigger and grander until they halted entirely. A large open space that was rarely seen in the east was half full of rubble. Walls of a round building were barely standing, most incomplete or leaning to one side, one even filling a canal with rubble. On top of a thick wall still standing, stood her brother. People crowded the streets around and even sat in narrow boats holding weapons high as Torin spoke.
He wore the dress that was fit for, well the king. His undercoat and trousers were deep blue and his waist length cloak was purple. He held an ornate spear in one hand and gestured the with the other. She frowned. There was something about his left hand. He wore a glove of a sort but there…
“…controlled by a greedy merchant since the death of the last leader, you have probably never saw him and yet he told you what you could or could not do.” His voice held more bitterness than she had ever seen in it. Three woman and a man who stood around him casually in dark clothes looked like bodyguards. She could tell that the man at least was a fire wrangler for she was holding so much that Sareti was surprised she was not glowing like a house fire. Torin continued and gestured down below.
“This man…” Four people, also wearing black hauled a body of a large man in rich clothing up to the top of a pile of rubble and left him there before retreating. “…Has let other factions take more and more of our land and resources, our harbour rights and our warehouses when we once controlled two of the main canals.” There was a lot of angry voices around her. What is he doing, she thought. “We will take back what is ours when other factions crumble below us. The Amamati were destroyed easily by my guards when their leader died.” The crowd raised their weapons and began to cheer. No, no, no. She didn’t dare try and get too close to him, she was sure that the crowd would pepper her with spears before she could lay a hand on him. He doesn’t know what he is doing. That was a lie, he did.
“A group of wranglers have forsaken their duties of protecting this city and have instead passed the blame to the Otess. The problem lies within them, and those that support them. We will stop them!”
Torin raised his spear to the midday sun and hit the base on the wall. The crowd cheered and began to move, spears raised high. More poured from buildings. In a matter of few minutes the crowd had dispersed and Torin climbed down from the wall. Before he had reached the bottom she was standing between his guards. They were not very good. Not good enough.
“Move and he dies,” she said with her knife now a hand from his neck. The guards froze. Anger sprung up in Torin’s eyes and he pushed her knife away and grasping her wrist. He gasped and yanked it away as it glowed red.
“You would not kill me, sister,” he said grasping his hand to his gloved hand. She gaped. It was no glove, but instead wrapped in leatherbark strips. Otess, she thought, it cannot be!
“Torin,” she said lowering her knife now that the guards had relaxed. “You don’t know what you have started, people are already starving. We don’t need more fighting throughout the city because of your pride!”
Torin waved the guards to retreat. When they were alone he let go. “Sister, you cannot take this away from me because you did not give it to me.” He almost spat as he spoke. She stepped back slightly at the anger on his face. “It is you who has caused most of this, isn’t it, I heard about your little group of wranglers.”
“Torin, if you are working for the Otess then…”
He laughed and turned away. “Sareti, I know what you are doing with those wranglers, you will never be a match for the Otess, because as soon as you all die, the movement will fall apart and people will join us. I am not the only leader doing this. Not everyone thinks that you are a saviour.”
“You are working with them.” She felt her firm. Her brother was an idiot but this? “You will regret it, I will not kill you but if you do not stop this then someone will.”
He looked over his shoulder and his eyes gleamed with anger. “Sister, watch your own back, I will have enough power to destroy what remains of your wranglers soon enough. And then there is the west.
He laughed and disappeared over a mound of rubble. She pressed her hand against her dagger but refrained from unsheathing it. The damage was already done. “I did this,” she whispered to herself. If I had not left, none of this would have happened.
As she ran back through the city she had to run around clashes of people and weapons every second street. Some yelled for wranglers to help as those with colourful splashes of colour ran along the sides of canals. Those who fought back, those who realised what were happening slowed them but didn’t stop them and they were cut down by the frenzied crowd. She finally blasted up into the air above one a fight that had just broken out, landing on a rooftop. She was now back on the main canal, maybe we can stop them here.
“YOU MUST STOP THEM!” Her shout was desperate but the people below were gathering their things, including their weapons and running. These people didn’t want to have to fight. I’m sorry Torin, but you have forsaken any relation to me, in fact I am not sorry. She landed in the midst of the people with glowing skin.
“FIGHT BACK!” She screamed at them, “THEY ARE FIGHTING FOR THE OTESS.” The people slowed and stopped, suddenly looking at her, confusion painting most of their faces. At that moment mercenaries burst into the street, knocking down men and woman without care, pushing back with stabs of spears and daggers.
“Please,” she said, “The fight has already started, if we do not stop them, the Otess will rule half the city by nightfall.”
Slowly the people dropped their belongings and faced the oncoming rush of mercenaries. She glanced to the side. If they could stop them at the bridges.
“THE BRIDGES,” she said, “STOP THEM AT THE BRIDGES!”
She was surprised when people returned to pouring over the bridges again at her command until a few remained in the middle of the bridge. Many of them had scarred faces but a few were younger, brandishing spears. A single young man stood in the middle of the street, alone with Sareti. He turned towards the rushing tide and began to glow. The water in the canal began to turn until a column of water lifted the man off the ground. He shot forwards smashing through the ranks of the mercenaries. When they fell into the water, the water churned and frothed and they did not surface. She looked up the street, there were more people to warn.
“Hold here,” she said to those on the bridge, “and send word.” She bounced back onto the roof of the building before moving up the street. She stopped a few times warming those of what was coming. She moved in a square around the faction edge but as soon as she thought they could hold for a while she moved north back towards the safe house.
When she slammed into a pile of rubble, sending up a cloud of dust, several men and woman emerged around her. She waved at them before they could take her hostage and strode towards the warehouse. She usually checked that nobody was watching but strode through the door before the guard could stop her.
Arlin stood surrounded by twenty men and woman that she had never seen before, most glowing. Twenty! Their numbers were growing quickly.
“Arlin,” she said pushing through the group. Arlin, who had been speaking turned angrily but then smiled at her. The smile turned into a grimace.
“What is it?”
“The Otess have factions on their side,” she said not bothering to take the bitterness out of her voice, “And my brother is the leader of one of them.”
“I wasn’t sure that there were many factions still functioning,” her voice was calm but it was several moments before she said anything, “They should not get far, not unless they are many factions.”
“They have a lot of mercenaries. From what I can see, the mercenaries are now factionless, or most of them are. We need to stop them. I managed to slow them by encouraging people to fight, but trained mercenaries will cut through people. We cannot let the city fall to the mercenaries and the Otess before we have even faced them.”
Arlin for once looked afraid, she gestured to the others, “Ferna will take care of you, I am afraid you may not get the rest you deserve, the fight is coming sooner than we thought.” Sareti was glad that Arlin was taking a role in leading them, she was not sure she knew what to do. The others moved out of the door, following ferna, whom Sareti had not seen standing behind it. When they were alone Arlin sat down.
“It looks like we cannot even wait for Tayella,” Arlin said after a silence, “If we do then there might be nothing left, even if we destroy the Otess stronghold, The city will be controlled once again by power hungry men and woman, like it was before.”
“We will wait for word,” Sareti said.”
“I sent a group to follow them and make sure that nothing happens to Tayella or Hase.”
“We need to slow the Otess mercenaries down.” She took a deep breath, “They need removed, for anyone who knowingly works with the Otess, they do not have a part in this city.”
“You mean all?”
Sareti nodded. A voice in the back of her mind cried out but she pushed it away. This was not time for a weak response, especially to anything that remotely supported the Otess. “Just, only if they know what they are doing.”
Arlin nodded and stepped out of the room. Sareti could hear her voice muffled as she gave out orders and there were blasts, sounds of people leaving. She put her head in her hands. Not for the first time she realised what might happen if they failed. A mercenary controlled city, warring against each other when there was nobody else left to fight. At this point the west was barely a threat, she would have been welcome if it were the west against the east, at least then the outcome would not be as bad as the Otess ruling half of Seshi.
Erisa strode through West Seshi, a permanent frown on her face. Smoke rose between the buildings, swirling through the streets and enveloping the city like a deathly fog. People coughed as they ran through the streets waving spears, others fleeing from the fighting. She avoided wrangling at all, instead resorted to slipping in between fights and skirmishes. Guards fought against guards in confusing fights that she could not tell which side they were on, they possibly could have been on the same side.
Heat from a nearby building that was a raging inferno seeped past her protected skin, the layer of water hissing. Mortar cracked and exploded as the building groaned. A while later she thought she heard the sound of it crashing to the ground but none of it stopped her. She had a goal, that is what is important right now. For weeks she had been trying to work out which of the powerful people in the city was the fire spirit host and had been horrified when she realised that they had to be in the palace. No matter, there is nothing but to do as best I can. If she was to help save the city…
Somebody turned the corner ahead and waved a spear at her. He did not try and skewer her with it, lucky for him that he had not. Usually she avoided fighting outright as much as she could, instead would get other people to do it, but today she could not be stopped. A memory surfaced of her ‘husband’ a rich ven that had owned a castle. She laughed, never before had she needed money, but as the Otess problem had begun to surface, she had needed it and then the ven had tried to keep her contained when he realised how powerful she was. He had not lasted long. She grimaced. Sometimes violence was unavoidable. What have I become? She thought but the answer was always there. I have become what I needed to be.
She glanced up and there stood the gates to the King’s palace. She was sure the host was here, whether it was him or not, it was possible that it was even a guard but unlikely. Hosts never stayed idle, not when they had eternity to live. Does he even know? She thought. I should have taken Han with me, the host is probably as old as him, he might recognise him.
The guards tried to stop her, slamming shut the gates which had just let in a patrol of guards, dirty and bloodstained, many limping. She sighed and grabbed ahold of the gates and shoved them forwards. Water strengthened her limbs and they creaked before giving in, hinges popping from the wall. She jumped forwards under the second gate that was in the process of being lowered.
Spears came at her from above and in front but those from above were easily deflected and the guards facing her suddenly found themselves slipping on mud as a thin wave of water expanded from her feet. She sighed again and began to run. However much she liked the dramatic entrance, there was little time for it.
She smashed through the guards at the entrance, driving several back and through the heavy wooden doors that were being closed and into the hallway. She did not look back as she darted down the main hallway and then up stairs. Guards at corners and in hallways crashed towards her and were subsequently thrown against walls, spears clattering down. I do what I need to, she thought leaving a trail of destruction behind her.
The guards could hardly point their weapons at her before they were overpowered, what chance did they have against even a single Otess. A small smile played on her lips but she ran faster. She reached the top of the stairs.
The king’s chambers were said to be hidden, inaccessible but he had to get in them somehow. She moved through the hallways, richly decorated and carpeted. She eventually found what she was looking for after a short time. A room, empty although the doors were ornate and large and a fire burned in a hearth. Stone walls were covered in tapestries all but one. The stone wall looked the same as any other but when she ran at it, a hairline crack appeared for an instant in a rectangle.
She slammed herself into it again and again until the crack remained and then kept going. She brandished a metal bar from her cloak pocket and wedged it in the crack. Something broke on the other side and the stone door swung out slowly. “Too easy,” she said but before she could get a good look inside guards poured in through the door, elite guards.
She back away as if in fear until most had left the door and then slammed into them. It did not work as well as it had with regular guards, these ducked and dodged but she was through the door and pulled it closed behind her and slipped the metal bar through where a bolt had been. She then turned, ducking to avoid knives that flew down the wide staircase.
Erisa barely paid the remaining elite guards any attention, except to subdue them. She resisted the urge to run to the end of the hallway and walked, checking all of the rooms. The King likely had guards waiting if he called for them. She stepped into the room.
“Ah, General…” The King turned from his desk and froze. Wearing a richly embroidered black jacket with silver worked cuffs, he fit in the dark room well, wide open windows and clear view of the burning city. She stepped into the room, looking around.
“Kaman,” she said, circling the room but keeping him in her line of vision. There were definitely false walls in this room, some of the stonework was older than the rest. She eventually put her back to the walls and stood in front of his desk. He made as to stand up, hand on the sword at his hip but she waved her hand for him to sit.
“You?” Recognition dawned in his eyes for the first time. “Erisa, I never suspected that it was you. I’ll give you one chance to apologise or you will not leave here alive.”
Erisa chuckled as he stood up, skin now glowing so red that the whole room took a red tinge. “Kaman, I know what you are, and I am not here to kill you.”
He faltered. He was not the king she had seen previously. He looked so very tired. The faint lines on his face were nothing new but his face was paler than she had seen it last.
“Are you ill?” She asked.
“What I am?” He said kicking the chair backwards. “If you know what I am, then why did you come, there is no hope that you can kill me face to face.” He kept glancing at the window as if he expected something to appear there. She realised there was fear on his face but not from her, no from something out there.”
“Kaman,” Erisa said, pulling a chair out and sitting straight backed. She crossed her arms and resisted the urge of spirit water, it would not do to fight off another group of guards and it would not be long before the others broke through. “Kaman, I am like you, host of a spirit. Of Water.”
He barked a laugh but it sounded forced, “You expect me to believe that, I am the only one. Anybody could be a wrangler and claim that.”
“But how many people know about it,” she said calmly, “And how many wranglers that you know can remove their spirit fire or water without them doing anything.”
He stared at her for a long time. Boots thudding down the hallway made her heart beat faster but she resisted the urge to move. He finally picked up the chair and set it at the desk just as elite guards poured in.
“Kaman, I know you are a fire…”
“OUT!” He said without looking over his shoulder, “Now!” The guards disappeared without hesitation and again the room was quiet. “What do you want?”
“Your help,” she said almost through gritted teeth. She could not push this man into doing anything except for sending people out to kill her. She had to try at least to do it the slow way. “We need your help in destroying the Otess.”
He almost jumped at the mention of them but regained his composure quickly, “Why would I help you destroy the Otess, and how would I even destroy them anyway. Everyone knows that trying to root them out is like searching for a lost dagger in the estuary, and besides my army is not strong enough to hold the walls as well as attack.”
“What if you had an ally.” Erisa leaned forwards. This was the key part.
“An ally,” he grimaced as if the taste of the word was bad, “First you want me to attack the Otess, and now you think that I will work with some other group, and besides who would…” His eyes widened and was already shaking his head. “I will never do anything for the East even if it will help me, those…”
Erisa cut him off, “Your city is falling apart, the Otess kill left and right while you deny it, if you do not attack them at the same time then they will likely take the East, and they are half way to taking the west even now. Either way you will have a worse enemy than the East.”
“The Otess haven’t ruined my city, the fire demons have, people that steal my power, they…”
“You will die from an Otess, ignoring things like this,” she said almost growling. She slipped the dagger that held her hair up and held it to his chest. “And I cannot afford to have you die, I cannot have every fire wrangler lose their ability mid fight, either you agree, or I take you with me. Better that they lose it now.”
“So they do steal my power,” he hissed, chair sliding back. She cursed and stood up straight bracing herself for a blast but he just went to the window, “I always knew it.”
“You do not own it,” she said, stabbing the knife into the polished wood of the desk. It stuck and quivered, ornate hilt glinting in the light from the many vials around the room. “It is not something you can own, and if I kill you, it will just go to someone else. I think I would have a better chance with the person it choses.”
He turned. “You act as if this is now more important, that you come with me. My guards and army will not move without me giving the word.”
“Do not be so sure,” she said striding to the door, “Remember, you have no power in the city anymore, it is I or the Otess. Which side you chose no longer matters.” She wished she had enough spirit water in her to survive the jump from the window, it would be much quicker. “I warned you. If you will not come then I will send people. The only thing I care about is that you stay alive until the Otess are long dealt with.”
“What to take me?” He said with a laugh, “Two people have broken in, both in the last month but neither has left with anything but themselves, and I caught one.”
Erisa just laughed coldly and strode out. The guards in the hallway raised knives but she ignored them and walked straight through them, down the steps and into the castle proper, stepping over broken blocks of masonry.
“So long as you live through this, I do not care.” The words echoed down the hallway but there was nobody to hear.
Tayella lifted her head to watch Hase for the fifth time since leaving the harbour. He sat at the front of the boat facing out to sea although his eyes were shut. She sighed and dropped her hand over the side to let the water trail through her fingers.
“Don’t try to escape,” a tired voice said from behind her. She glanced over her shoulder. The man called Han sat with his back to her, heaving oars. She had refused to help with that and even Hase had seemed reserved enough that he had not heard Han’s request.
“I wasn’t intending to,” she said. That was a lie, there was no reason that she should trust Erisa. Sareti seems to agree with Han, and Arlin. No! They had disregarded her opinion. No she would see this woman first. If there was a chance, although she didn’t like to admit it, if there was a chance that the West attacked the Otess at the same time then it might be possible. Not easy by any means but possible at least.
“Good. Don’t be rude to Erisa, just a piece of advice.”
“Ill take it in mind,” Tayella said dryly turning back to watch Hase. I should talk to him. She didn’t however. He should have told her. If he trusted her at all, he should have told her.
Tay turned and realised that they were approaching a large boat. Moving slowly towards them. Within a short time the little boat was in the larger boats shadow. She raised an eyebrow when the rocking suddenly stopped and a wince swung over the side and ropes were lowered. Torin and Hase fastened them to the front and back. Hase is like me, she thought gritting her teeth, but why doesn’t he trust me? Her father had once told her that she must fight for the people she cared about, in whatever way she could. A year later she had found herself on the street and told to never return. Hase isn’t like that! Or was he?
“This way,” Han said glancing at her, “We must talk with Erisa at once.” He led them through equipment strapped down, past men and woman working shirtless. Some looked up and she gasped when she saw the tattoos. Water wranglers. Of course, the boat wasn’t rocking. She shook herself and entered the office.
The woman, Erisa sat at the same desk that had been there before although now the room held shelves of papers and rolled maps. A deep blue cloak hung on a simple wooden chair. Behind her
The woman looked up at her and nodded for her to sit. She gritted her teeth but pulled back a stout chair and sat.
“The King would not cooperate,” she began, obviously speaking to Han, “I will have to send people to try and protect him for at least a third of the generals still living have agreed to our plans.”
“Why would you protect him, he is obviously against your cause.”
Erisa turned to her. “Fire wranglers receive their powers from a spirit host. The fire spirit host is none other than the king himself.”
Tayella nodded, refusing to seem confused. If it is trust then it is yet another thing that Hase never told me.
Erisa leaned over the table, seeing to sense her reaction and touched her arm. Her spirit water was gone.
“Hey!” Tayella said jumping to her feet. As much as she tried the spirit fire was gone completely, not even a trace remaining. By comparison the other woman was glowing brightly.
She dropped her hand to her dagger when Hase reached out to lay a hand on her shoulder. He jerked it back, eyes widening for an instant before resuming his calm.
“Put that away,” Han said, “She was just showing you.”
“Can I have it back then?”
“I think it best to talk without the danger of it.”
“Lets talk.” Tay set her knife down on the table in front of her and laid her hands down on either side, resuming her chair.
Erisa sighed and stretched out a map. Does she feel emotions?Tayella thought, her face had not changed in the slightest since her entrance.
The map showed the southern half of the island of Seshi, the North just being mountainous and inhabitable. It showed every large canal in the east and every street in the west with adequate detail. She narrowed her eyes, the island in the middle of the two however was drawn with precision. The maps she had seen just showed that area as a place to avoid. How did she get this?
“That is a detailed map,” Tayella said, forgetting herself for a second, “Where did you get it.”
“I made it,” Erisa said glancing at Hanan. “It has taken me decades to get everything right because things change but it is as accurate as you could find.”
“Decades, so you are like a hundred years old?”
“Not important now, we need to talk about the Otess.”
Tayella pursed her lips but didn’t comment.
Han spoke first, “People were taking sides on every street, fires burn all over the city, it is too late to fight them all at their stronghold.”
“I have no care for the west,” Tayella said leaning forwards, whatever you say it will not change my mind, I will not lead my people to die at the wall of the Otess stronghold.”
Hase stepped forwards and stopped, “Tayella, let me…”
Tayella waved a hand at him and he cut off abruptly, “It is true that the Otess are a problem, but right now my city is falling apart, it is not as simple as just fighting the Otess, we even have reason to suspect that a faction has sided with the Otess!”
“You have misjudged the Otess,” Erisa snapped, “They kill for terror now as much as political advantage, if we do not move soon then people will become too scared to fight.”
“We will fight so long as we live!”
“Exactly,” Han said stepping up to the table and leaning on it, “Until you die, which will probably be soon. Guards won’t stop Otess once they know where you are.”
Tayella blinked at his harsh tone. She let herself look at Hase. He nodded not quite looking her in the eye. Finally she turned back to Erisa but before she could speak Erisa spoke.
“Let me show you the real problem, while Otess have caused much of this, there is too much division between the east and the west. If not for the Otess right now, with the weather warmer, there would bound to be fighting in the estuary.”
“Why should I trust you, you are obviously from the west, and you take me to your boat to convince that we should join your war.”
“Because I do,” Hase said surprisingly shakily.
“That isn’t much to go by right now,” Tayella said, “I wouldn’t…” She bit her lip. It wasn’t Hase’s fault he was stuck here, for all she knew he had been forced into helping this woman. Still doesn’t explain why he didn’t tell me.
“I will be leaving now,” Tayella said, “And I hope that you will not stop me from going, as if you do you might find yourselves with a city of enemies.”
Erisa rolled up the maps with a slight twitch of her lips and stood, “Of course I won’t stop you, I wish you well with your venture and I hope you are right.”
“You are going to attack the stronghold anyway?” She said.
“If they are not… No, it doesn’t matter to you, but yes I will.”
Erisa turned and strode from the cabin. Han turned to her and Hase looked like he was desperately trying to assume the calm that Erisa had achieved. “The boat will leave in half an hour, when it returns.” With that he dragged Hase away and Tayella was left alone with the maps.
She squeezed her eyes shut and calmed her breathing. It was obvious whom Hase had sided with. She might be right though? No, she would not risk the lives of those that followed her in a fruitless attack. She glanced back at the table and grabbed a close up sketch of the outer wall of the Otess stronghold and stuffed it into the cloak pocket.
Tayella stalked from the room and into the surprising warmth of late afternoon. Another time she would have enjoyed the view, the sun casting a beautiful orange light across the water. She glanced around at the deserted deck. None of the covered shapes resembled the boat she had come in and the wince rope hung still. Making me wait, she thought, I’m surprised she even considered letting me return. Sareti would surely be more easily swayed.
She stopped at the base of wide carved steps that took her up onto the upper deck, to the stern. That isn’t fair, Sareti… Spirits, I can’t hate Sareti anymore, Hase is alive… Hase. She pushed him from her mind and climbed the steps.
The upper deck was almost as empty as the first with a railing running around. So strange, these boats without sails or oars. Maybe at another time she could have one of these.
She leaned over the railing and watched the waves wash over the still patch of water around the ship. Where they should have rocked they were deathly still. The wind however had no such reservations and threatened to pull her hair from her bun.
I should check if the boat has returned, she thought rubbing her face. The sun had sunk until it was close to disappearing.
Suddenly there was a soft step behind her and Hase was beside her. She almost jumped. He leaned against the railing but didn’t speak for a while. The boat can wait, I might not see him for a long time. Maybe ever. The thought made her breath catch in her throat.
“Did you really build all that resistance in the West?” He said finally. She noticed the way he said west instead of home or ‘the city.’
“With Sareti, and others.”
“It is amazing,” he slumped slightly, “I wish I was there to see it.”
Tayella felt her heart leap with the praise. What am I doing? I don’t need his praise! “It isn’t so impressive, the city is falling apart, fighting is everywhere even between people in the same faction.”
“So is the west, falling apart, people dying, we aren’t so different, Seshi should be one city not two divided peoples.”
“Did you really train with them?” Tayella said pushing down the emotion in her voice. He’s changed, he doesn’t even… She didn’t know how but he had.
“I trained as a guard for a time, I thought that I could convince them to change and I think I eventually did. Tayella, I convinced a group of young guards that fire wrangling isn’t something done by monsters or demons!”
“So that part of your story is true?” She bit her lip, she had been trying to keep the bitterness out of her voice.
He turned to face her, his face was expressionless. Scars that she had not seen before were visible in the evening light and his eyes held weariness that she hadn’t noticed. “Tayella, I did what I thought was right, I still think I did.”
“But why help Erisa? You could have done things in the East, you could have helped us. We have made progress!”
“I saw two of the… progress,” Hase grimaced, “Erisa is not a bad person, a boy that I saw get taken away because he was like me, dragged from his home, little more than rubble. His hand had been chained Tay, imagine chaining a child to the floor because they had abilities like me.” His voice broke and he turned his back on the the setting sun and watched her. “I saw Erisa save them, and take them to the East.”
“But…”
“Is it wrong of me to disagree with you?” He cut in, voice firmer than it had been before, “I really like you Tay but I believe what Erisa stands for is right, please give her a chance, for my sake.”
They stood there for a while until the sun was just a glow over the water and darkness had begun to creep in. Tayella spoke, “Hase, why did you lie to me?”
He sighed and turned to look at her, face now shadowed. “What would you have done if you had known? You would have trusted me, when they told me why I was there? I knew you would disagree but I had to try.”
“Then why come?”
“Because…” He slid a hand over hers on the railing, “I wanted to see you.”
It is not the time to hold things against people, she thought,
“What am I doing?” She stepped closer to him, “We are fighting an enemy that kills for power and uses it to control people, I can’t leave you now.” She stepped up to him, his face now completely unreadable in the dark and closed her hands around him, his body was rigid but relaxed slowly and he pulled her close. Tayella closed her eyes and pressed her face against his neck. This time his skin didn’t hiss against hers but was warm to the touch despite him only wearing the cloak and trousers.
“How do you wear so many layers?” He said quietly, running his hand through her hair, “I always thought that you must feel so… limited, trapped.
She chuckled, brushing her lips against his, “I don’t know why you think it is so strange, most people wear twice as much as you do on the hottest day of the year.”
“Uh huh,” he pulled away slightly and cupped her face in his hands, “It is getting late, and I have my own cabin.” She shivered but she felt hot.
“Maybe you are right about too many clothes.” She slid her hands along his back, tracing faint scars and muscle as he lifted her and carried her back down the steps. The boat! Her mind seemed to say but she ignored it and kissed Hase.
“I can’t see!” He protested laughing. A door closed behind them shutting off the light and she felt a soft mattress beneath her as he set her down on the bed.
She kissed him harder, his bare skin hot against hers.
She woke the next morning, still entangled in Hase’s limbs. She sighed and and sat up. A dim light slipped under the door marking it as early morning. The boat!
“You know this is the first time I have slept the whole night for a long time,” she said, “Its a shame I…” she trailed off as he didn’t respond, just shifted slightly in his sleep. She grimaced and pulled the blanket over him again and sat up. I can’t leave now. She had too, they needed her. Or did they, Arlin and Sareti were more than equipped to lead. For once she didn’t need to lead, at least until she returned. She shivered and pulled on her clothes. Her own cloak was ripped and covered in dust so she took another one from a hook and slipped it over her shoulders. For all his talk of clothes, this one was like a thick gown on her, dragging along the deck as she stepped outside. Not that I have ever thought of wearing a gown!
Tayella started when she saw where they were. Docked right in the centre of what she recognised as the western harbour. I guess I don’t have a chance to return just yet.
Bare chested wranglers ran up and down ladders that were over the side, carrying bundles of weapons off the boat. So that was what was on the deck. When she could not find Erisa she caught the arm of one.
“What can I do?” The woman narrowed her eyes but didn’t comment on her strange cloak.
“Can you direct me towards Erisa?” She said, “And I am no Ven, I am… a wrangler like you.” The woman started, almost dropping her things in shock. She stared at Tay for a few moments until Tayella made her hand glow. The woman smiled hesitantly.
“Sorry, I didn’t believe you, I have never seen… No matter, she is on the beach, directing people from the guard house, but I don’t think she would want disturbed as…”
Tayella was already half way down a ladder thanking the woman before the she had finished, her words whisked away by the breeze. The wooden walkway was a mass of activity and bundles were being unloaded off multiple ships, many that had the look of the north with their big hulls and strange figureheads shaped like giant fish. Whatever was going on, it wasn’t normal.
She had to push her way past people hurrying along with large bundles almost as big as them before she found herself nearing the beach. She stopped in surprise at the sounds of fighting. Those around her jostled her and cursed so she moved on, keeping her eye on the streets that led away from the harbour. She had quite a good view of the city and of the columns of smoke rising from many different parts. Erisa wasn’t lying, she thought, but that’s none of my concern.
She had been on the beach before, briefly, but that had been in the darkness. After searching the length of it she found a building, jutting out of the sand. Surrounded with guards and briskly moving people. She ran across the sand and up the steps. Guards barred the entrance, bare chested and weaponless. How many water wranglers are here!
“Let her in!”
They slowly moved back to their positions still watching her. She stepped inside. It was a small room, made smaller by the sheer number of people inside. Erisa finished whatever she had been saying and the circular room emptied and soon only a handful remained.
Erisa wore a deep blue gown that was fit for a noblewoman. She is one. It shouldn’t have looked strange but it was.
“Ah, Tayella, it seems that you have missed your boat. How unfortunate.”
“I need to go!” Tayella said, “Surely the boat is still available, I can take even the smallest…”
“Look around,” Erisa said, gesturing back to the door, “Does it look like we have any spare.”
Tayella glanced back out of the door and started. From here she had a better view. It had appeared that there had been many boats but when she looked around she could see countless empty moorings and the beach was not covered in driftwood but the charred remains of what had to have been boats. She turned back to Erisa, “There wasn’t even a boat last night was there?”
“There was a boat, but I already had another use for it. I want expecting you to need it, it seems you found yourself too busy to notice.”
Tayella gritted her teeth to stop a rude retort and sat down in an empty chair which creaked with her weight. “What is happening?” She said looking down at the maps laid out on the tables, it looks as if you are staging a battle.” I can’t get home! Spirit how can I even get a message to Sareti.
“We are staging a battle, securing as much of the city as we can.”
“Fighting the Otess?” Surely the Otess would not fight openly like normal mercenaries.
“No, the king has ordered his guards to stop us moving through the city, barricading the streets leading here…” she paused as an explosion could be heard from outside, “And we cannot have that.”
“You are taking the whole city?” Tayella asked raising her eyebrows, “That will take too long will it not?”
“Not the whole city,” she said, “not even half, we just need to overwhelm the command and it will fall. There are countless people there willing to fight, soldiers and others alike but they are stuck in small groups being killed off.”
“Soldiers are fighting other soldiers!”
Erisa just nodded, turning to a woman that was waiting patiently for her.
“Erisa ven,” the woman said bowing her head, “Another Otess is stopping the soldiers from making progress on the main street, maybe another as well.”
“Thank you, tell them to hold and I will send more soldiers.”
“That didn’t help…” the woman trailed off and bowed her head before darting out the doorway.
Tayella stared after her and pursed her lips. “I will help if you lend me the smallest boat to return with, I will kill this Otess.”
“Really?” Erisa said, “I wouldn’t risk leaving…”
“Where is the main street?”
Erisa just glanced out the doorway for a long moment before nodding reluctantly, “Just don’t get yourself killed out there, Sareti seemed adamant that she would not move until you gave your word, I will get you someone to show you. Guards!”
A woman in scaled armour stepped through the door, long dagger out before she replaced it, “What is it?”
“Take Tayella to the main street.”
“But your protection…”
“Just do it."
“Thanks,” Tayella said following the guard out.
“What are we doing?” She said looking her up and down when they were surrounded by the rest of the guards. She sneered, “Why is an Easterner more important than, what…” He doubled over groaning and Tay rubbed her fist absently looking around the group. She realised that a month ago she would have said the same thing. They stared at her glowing fist and back to her before averting their eyes.
“There is no time for your games,” Tayella barked, “We are going to kill an Otess, so I can return to the East, since that is what you want.
The others didn’t move for a moment then began to walk. A man stepped into pace beside Tayella. “I am Ilinan, General of the Water Wranglers.”
“You were,” a voice came from behind them and Ilinan shot a glare over his shoulder. When he turned back to Tay his expression was pleasant.
“I have only met a single water wrangler from the East and none recently, and none that have been summoned personally by Erisa. Are you friends?” His tone was pleasant but she wondered if he thought she was taking his place.
“No we are not friends, I am just here because I need a way back, Erisa is making me wait for a boat.” That was not strictly true, she could have left the night before. What about Hase? She thought, what would he say if she left.
“So it is true, what they say, that a wrangler killed two Otess and left them on a boat for the East to find.”
Tayella grimaced at the thought of the bodies they had moved through the city. She shook her head. “Many more, and not to boast, but we have lost many in fighting them.”
“You have powerful friends, sorry what is your name?”
“Tayella.”
He nodded but gestured to the street in front of him Bodies were being moved by younger men and woman wrapped in white cloths and blankets, up the street people fought and screamed and died. Otess, she thought feeling her throat tighten in fear.
She grabbed onto a window sill and pulled herself up so she could see what was happening. The guards moved around her awkwardly as if they were unsure how to help her. People dressed in a wide mix of clothes, some armoured fought heavily armoured guards. The armoured men and woman were fewer but they were stepping back only incrementally and at great cost by the screams from ahead. She glanced down into the mass of bodies and blood and caught sight of a figure, darkly wrapped in leatherbark and weaving in and out of the crowd.
Erisa’s force were buckling, people shying away from the rushing force
“There.” She said to the guards and water wrangler beside her. She jumped down and looked around at the expectant faces.
“Are you sure about this?” Ilinan said.
“If you have better things to do…”
“I need to see this.”
She dove into the crowd, water flowing out of her and up her arms and over her skin, the glow in her intensifying. Break the concentration, she thought, palming a dagger in her left hand and balling her right fist. Make them fear me.
Suddenly she was in a rift, the wake of the Otess. The Otess turned and moved towards her. She shied back letting a small yelp that was only partly forced. It surged forwards and the crowed parted even more. She jumped forwards slamming her fist into its neck. It slipped as if in panic when her glowing fist connected.
Normally it would have only nocked the thing over but she followed it through with a harsh stab to the left side of the neck and landed on top of it. Then suddenly she was thrown off and her head smacked against the ground. She groaned and tried to rise but the Otess reared up leaning over her.
Blood dribbled from the dagger in its neck, dark skin showing beneath. It was tinged slightly with green. That must be what happens when it doesn’t see daylight.
She pushed herself up but the Otess reached for her neck and froze. A spearpoint protruded from the chest of the Otess and it collapsed forwards, Tayella only just wriggling out of its way.
“Good job,” a woman said reaching out. Tayella grabbed ahold of it and pulled herself upright. The woman pulled off a helmet revealing a pale face and brown hair.
“Thanks,” Tayella said letting the woman help her back down the street. The cheers that followed her made her blush but she kept her head down.
“What is your name?” The woman said as Tayella pushed off the other woman, confident that she could walk. She rubbed her head and suppressed a groan.
“Tayella.”
The other woman stumbled and then laughed. “It seems that you easterners are tough.”
Tayella glanced at the other woman. What did she mean? She had not said ‘easterners,’ with contempt like the other woman had but…
“Hase told me about you,” Sanoa said, “I trained with him.”
It was Tayella’s turn to stumble. “What did he say?” Was all she could find.
“Everything good,” the woman said trying and failing to hide a grin, “Now I know why he was not…” she trailed off and blushed. “He is a good man, I don’t think Erisa could have done half of this without him. Maybe that is an exaggeration.”
Tayella narrowed her eyes but just nodded. Hase… No that is stupid, he wouldn’t forget me so easily. She caught sight off people moving past them, legs bound with cloth and leaning on spears but moving with a deliberation, a motivation.
Sareti and Arlin don’t need me, she thought. That’s not the point though.
A few moments later she found herself in Erisa’s round guard room again. The woman, whom she had forgotten to ask the name of bowed her head to Erisa and shot Tayella a hesitant grin before disappearing out the door, “I am glad you are here to help, that was amazing!”
“I am glad you have made up your mind,” Erisa said with a wry smile, “I will send Han to tell Sareti to ready themselves if you will allow me.”
Tayella slumped down in a chair. Han cannot hold onto just two nights, she thought, not if I abandon him!
“Fine,” she said closing her eyes and letting her head loll back. But this is on you, Erisa, if it fails, its on you!
Tayella stepped wearily from the command building clutching a thin strip of paper. What have I got myself into, taking orders from a westerner.
“Tayella!”
She jumped at the sight of Hase in front of her. “Oh hey, I was just going to look for you.”
“So you are not leaving?” When she nodded sullenly, he cracked a grin and fell into step beside her moving through the crowd and pulling the cowl of her cloak up.
“I suppose,” she said linking her hand with his. Even that seemed to make her heart race. Get ahold of yourself, she thought blushing.
Trying to avoid attention now was difficult, the word of her arrival had spread quickly, more so of her quick dispatch of the Otess and since Erisa had had her speak to the crowd she knew she wouldn’t get far before someone recognised her. Glowing wranglers lit the street from the rooftops with their fists as darkness began to fall.
“Where are we going?” Hase said from her side. He wore a commanders uniform minus the boots, saying that it helped the guards and soldiers see him as a commander of their own. Lacking the boots in her opinion just made him look silly.
“Erisa just told me to meet her by the wall,” was her only explanation although she had an idea of what it would be about. He just tightened his grip on her hand.
They finally pushed their way out of the crowd and down the street. After weaving in and out of wide and narrow streets, some so narrow that the buildings looked as if they were moving slowly closer every step. Erisa’s forces had pushed back far into the city since she had first woken and now many of the streets had not seen fighting in hours although the sound from further up the city still could be heard. Suddenly after a row of large warehouses they were facing a dark wall. She stumbled when she saw where she had first entered the city from, what had seemed so long ago. Erisa saved my life back then, she thought, I should trust her.
Erisa stepped forwards out of the darkness as if in answer.
“You are here,” she said briskly, “now, let us waste no time, I fear that we must move soon, from what Han said, come with me.” Her voice held no doubt that they would follow what she was going to do but Tayella now understood it as how a leader should sound, or so she assumed. Did I sound like that once?
Erisa led them both up a flight of stairs past a set of guards that didn’t look twice at them and then they emerged onto the top of the wall. Hase must know this part, he had been here so many times. She heard an intake of breath from him as Erisa’s boot made a thud on the stone but the unmoving shapes of the guards didn’t raise their huge spears.
From the light of Erisa’s fist she could see that some of their faces were covered, with not even space for them to see. It was said that they trained their ears to be so sensitive that they could hear an intruder before anybody would be able to see them.
“Guards.” Erisa said in a loud voice that shattered the silence. None acknowledged her other than shifting slightly on their feet. At least Tay knew they were humans then. Erisa continued unfazed, “I respect your duty on the wall, to protect the city from intruders, mainly from the East but I fear that now there is no point, the Otess are out in daylight in the city, many of the nobles are dead, the king is hiding and we prepare to march to their stronghold in the morning, will you join us and help us take the walls. For you are all experts at fighting on the walls.”
One of the guards stepped forwards and pulled off her helmet and face cover. Her hair was tied tightly up in a bun, skewered with a small ornamental knife. She bowed her head to Erisa, “We know what you are, and we have great respect, but the wall is what we have defended since we trained to do so, we know no other.”
“This wall will be useless, no offence, if we fail at the stronghold, there will be no attacks from the East, there will be no East, just Otess ruling everything in fear. If you have families here, you must want a future for them.” The line of guards stirred but none moved any more than that.
“We are sworn to protect the city until our last breath…”
“This is protecting the city, staying here is the opposite of that, we need guards on those walls to stop them raining spears down on us. The attack will be from within, it is already from within.”
“I saw the Otess break past you before,” Tayella said suddenly, “And they could do so again.”
The guard didn’t move but gradually in a long line the guards began to remove their helmets and setting them on the edge of the walls. They knelt before them, only someone every twenty guards standing.
“The time has come,” she started and voices along the walls spoke, “For us to lay down our helmets and leave, UNTIL WE RETURN.” The last bit was shouted to all and the guards stood. Erisa looked stunned and Tay realised her mouth was hanging open. She shut it with a snap.
“I trust that you will be ready,” Erisa said, quickly regaining composure, “we have two boats ready for you when you are.” She began descending the stairs again and disappeared from sight.
“Why did you want us there?” Tayella asked Erisa when they were returning towards the harbour, “That was amazing but…”
“Because you both will be leading the boats, among others of course, but I trust that you two can give out the orders once we are on the way.”
Hase squeezed her hand and whispered in her ear, “Thank you for staying.”
She stretched up and kissed his cheek.
Hase watched as Tayella pushed her way through the crowd ducking her head as people cheered her on. Eventually she gave up and straightened to more applause. He watched until she disappeared up one of the streets and the sounds died down.
“Don’t worry about her,” Erisa said running a hand through her hair, “She will be fine, and I have something more important for you do do.”
“She…” I shouldn’t, she is better at this than me.
“We are pushing up through the city now, thanks to the Otess retreating somewhat but we can’t keep going like this. The guards need to be stopped.”
“Fine,” Hase said running a hand over the spear shaft, the dark wood polished from long use, “What do I need to do.”
“Remove whoever is giving orders, I cannot leave the people in the hands of the Otess and the guards, and we need every fighting hand we have.”
“You mean kill?”
“Do whatever you have to.” She pulled a stool out from under a desk and began pouring over a map of the estuary. Hase sighed and stepped back out into the sun. Just remove them, how has it ever been that simple?
A hand rested on his shoulder and he jumped. “You will do what she says this time, won’t you?” Hase looked up to see a grinning Han.
“Of course,” Hase said coldly.
“I just don’t think that making whoever commands fall for you will be the best way, just a thought mind…”
“Hanan!” Erisa’s voice suddenly had a sharpness in it.
Hase grinned when Han jumped and he patted the other man’s shoulder, “Just make sure you jump like that every time she gives you an order.”
Hase glanced back to Erisa. Her expression of harsh command was back and she waved him away. Han gave him a grin on the way past. How he could smile like that now, Hase wanted to know. He wondered what Han had seen in his years.
“I have learned exactly that,” Han said sourly as Hase moved past him into the throng of people and found himself quickly swallowed. Thankfully he had not acquired as much as Tayella’s fame so he was able to move through without much notice and found himself in a less busy street quickly. Just because she killed an Otess in front of a crowd. And was saved by Sanoa. How many times would he have to thank Sanoa. He winced at remembering how he had left her behind thinking she was just like any other westerner.
He let his coat hang open exposing his chest to the sun, it was far too warm for the coat but people looked at him strangely if he walked around missing half of his clothing, or by his standards, the right amount of clothing. I wonder how they wrangler further north, where it is much colder. Must use fire to keep them warm.
A mixture of guards and normal people held spears in various fashions watching over the upturned handcarts. They didn’t even take much notice of him until he had began climbing over it.
“What are you doing!” He jumped down the other side and peered back through the spokes of a wheel, keeping a close eye on the sharp points of the spears.
“Going for a look, but you should keep an eye on every direction, Otess could be behind you just as quick as they appear in front. Before they reply he was already ambling up an empty street. This one was just as it had been a day earlier when he had scouted it, empty of people and clear of signs of battle.
Hase found the shop he was looking for, bold sign showing ‘Kaman’s Hem.’ He wrinkled his nose at the king’s name on above the boarded up window and stepped up to the heavy door.
He pushed on it but of course it didn’t budge. Sighing, he pressed his left hand up against the lock and let spirit fire flow into it through his now glowing hand. He could feel it heating up under his hand and the lock cracked the door creaking before swinging inwards. He stepped inside into the dimly lit room.
A short mad cowered two paces inside, a short spear in his hand. With dark skin and a wisp of grey hair, he waved the spear at Hase, as if to ward him off. Despite his slight stature his clothes were rich and colourful enough to warrant a noble, or even a leader. Not that Sareti had ever worn something so constricting.
“I have done nothing wrong,” he squeaked shying away as Hase brightened the room with his fist and looked around.
“I am not here to hurt you,” he said grimacing at the thick uniforms laid over a far table, how anyone would chose to wear something like that. He pushed the door closed behind him and calmly pulled the spear form the man’s grasp and set it behind him with his own.
“You are a fire demon.” For a brief second his voice was full of contempt and then it broke again, “Please, I have…”
Hase grabbed the man by the shoulder and pulled him to his feet. “Not a demon,” he said as calmly as he could, “The only demons in this city are the Otess and if you don’t help me, the Otess might overrun this place.”
“Why do you need me?” The man said pulling himself from his grip and put his hands out, “I can’t fight, I am too…"
Hase turned to the table of uniforms, “No fighting, I need a guard’s uniform, the higher the rank the better, I have little time to waste.”
The man began to shake his head, “I cannot…” He trailed off and then began carefully shuffling through clothes on the table and finally after a few long moments pulled a pile out. A dark half length cloak deep red on the inside and a pair of black trousers and a loose black shirt. He then pulled out a coat that clinked before pushing them towards Hase hastily, “Woman’s, but a commander’s uniform, why do you need them?”
Hase grimaced as he pulled on the shirt, the men and woman so far as he remembered had been wearing mostly the same things. It was a little tight but it would have to do. He left the coat unbuttoned and dropped the scaled armour to the floor. Too much, I will only go so far. He glanced down, bare feet would not do.
“Boots?”
“I… do not sell boots, please I have done nothing wrong, I promise…”
“Your own,” Hase barked impatiently. The man hurriedly pulled off black boots and handed them over with a shaky hand. They were polished to they shone and made stiff leather that was surely no good for fighting in. He pulled them on anyway and forced a smile. “Perfect.” If anything the man shrank back further.
He picked up his spear and handed the other back to the man. He glanced over his shoulder after opening the door, “Barricade this, and hold the spear with two hands, maybe put that armour on.” He stepped back into the street again sighing with relief at the light breeze. He walked briskly through the streets and found that the shoes somehow fit surprisingly well, even without the laces.
A patrol of guards passed him by and nodded their heads. He nodded back and waited until the drum of their boots had gone before he moved towards the main barracks.
Hase had only been to this specific building a few times before, practicing being on duty or something like that. It was very different now, streams of messengers and soldiers running in and out of the building. He took a deep breath and marched his way to the main door.
Once he was inside the building he climbed the first set of stairs ignoring everyone that took notice of him. He could not remember where the commanders were ranked but they were obviously cleared for meeting with the generals themselves for as the number of soldiers cleared no one stopped him climbing the second flight of stairs or even entering the generals office, if it could be called that, bare to the walls the only furniture of note was the huge table like desk.
The general sat behind it, bent over a map. Too easy, Hase thought and jammed a dagger into the gap between door and frame.
“What do you…” The general started before drawing his sword in a fluid motion and standing up. Despite being at least three times Hase’s age he moved with grace, “Who are you, you are not a commander.”
Hase stepped closer drawing his dagger. “I am here to take over from you, or rather, remove you.”
“You overstep yourself…” The man’s voice was cut off as Hase jumped onto the desk and slammed the butt of his spear into mans chest and simultaneously blocking a swipe with the sword, the slightly curved blade digging deep into the wood. The man doubled over and Hase kicked forwards, sending him flying into his chair to land in a heap. He knocked the sword from the generals hand with his boot and pressed the tip of his spear to the man’s throat. He gritted his teeth, I can’t kill him, but what can I do?
A knock sounded at the door and he grimaced. He looked back at the man before bashing him on the side of the head with the flat side of the spear head. He jumped back over the desk, scattering papers and yanked open the door, knife clattering to the floor.
A messenger stood in the hallway, sweat running down her forehead, hair tied back tightly in a bun.
“What is it?” Hase said as calmly as he could make his voice.
“Commander, it is for the general, I…”
“Tell me.” He pushed down the spirit fire and pulled the door slightly closed so she would not see the interior of the room.
“The main street is falling, commander, we cannot hold it much longer.”
Hase nodded slowly, trying to hide his grin before speaking, “Tell them to fall back, to abandon the main street. We cannot hold such a wide street with so few guards.”
“But, we…”
“DO IT!”
She shied away and darted from the door. He shook his head and moved to the next office, carefully closing the door behind him. They were easy, he thought, but if I have get into the palace it has to be harder.
The next room was almost starkly different from the previous. Elaborate bookcases lined the wall behind the dark wooden desk, with only gaps in books to let sunlight through small windows.
And chairs. At least a dozen of them stood in the room, some with the look that they had been pulled from the estuary, rot and all. But no General. He began to step back when he caught sight of a broken chair. The occupant had obviously…
Moving further into the room he found a body of a man behind the desk. Bruises covered his face almost rendering it unrecognisable and his neck was twisted at a strange angle.
Hase felt his stomach fall as he twisted just in time to see an Otess shut the door, whole body wrapped in strips of bark. In the light they looked less frightening but still he felt his mouth go dry.
“You have got in the way one too many times.” The voice sent shivers up his spine as the Otess prowled forwards. Then it did something that almost threw him off balance. It unwrapped its hands leaving the trails of leatherbark whipping through the air as the pale fingers lunged for his throat.
Hase jumped back and tripped over the remains of the chair which thankfully only crumbled beneath him. He scrambled away finding his feet again. He tried desperately to shake his boots off but gave up when the Otess leaped over the desk.
Hase darted back once again and then the board underneath his foot gave way as the whole floor shook. He crashed to the ground and yelled as the Otess landed onto of him.
“Get off me!” He grunted and slammed his fist into the Otess’s shoulder. A blast knocked his arm into the floor and he yelled again. The Otess’s hands were closing around his throat.
With one hand trying to pry the Otess’s bony fingers from his throat he groped around for something. His fingers found a chair leg and he yanked it, slamming it into the Otess’s head.
The grip loosened but tightened again. Silver flecks sparkled and blotches began to cover his vision. Then the grip fell away as something sharp pricked his nose, something wet running down his cheek.
Gasping for breath and rubbing his throat he finally focused on the spear blade just touching his face. He shoved the Otess and with it, the spear away to collapse against a more sturdy chair.
The door burst open and a woman stepped through with a spear. She froze at the sight of the Otess and began to back away but the Otess moved too quickly.
“No!” Hase shouted darting after the Otess. He slashed with the sword but being unpracticed, it felt heavy and clumsy in his hands a moment later it was knocked from his grasp and he slammed into the floor. Something hit his back and he groaned he pulled himself to his feet. The Otess was gleefully crouching on the desk watching through hidden eyes as he set the prone form of the woman down on the floor. He gasped and froze. Sanoa lay head at an awkward angle, eyes bloodshot and staring into nothing. He turned narrowing his eyes.
Sanoa stood leaning against a short spear. Behind her he could see several more faces. Hase began to laugh and doubled over coughing. I don’t know how many times I can deal with this, he thought, my neck is going to give up at some point.
“You’re welcome,” Sanoa said raising an eyebrow at the remains of the Otess, “Where is the General.”
“Already dead, thank you Sanoa.”
“Its commander Sanoa now,” she said grinning. She strode over the room, carefully rounding the cracked floor and pulled him to his feet.
“Commander, huh?” He said, “That is great!”
She pulled him close in a quick embrace, “You need to take care of yourself, those Otess are sort of dangerous.”
“I wasn’t intending on fighting one,” Hase grumbled once again rubbing his neck, “Need some kind of neck armour.”
Sanoa laughed before speaking more seriously, “Hase you did it?”
“Did what? I managed to stop one general and get in a fight with an Otess.”
“You instructed them to fall back! They are now confined to pockets, and we control most of the city almost to the palace.”
Of course! The messenger. “What now Commander?”
She raised her chin and looked down on him as if judging him, “I will instruct you to take the king captive.”
Hase stared at her for several long moments before coming to the conclusion that she wasn’t joking. “Really?”
She guided him out of the room past two dozen or so guards in mismatched armour and carrying everything from spears to long daggers and even swords. “Erisa doesn’t think it is safe to leave him behind when we attack the stronghold.”
“And she wanted you to find me?”
“Not exactly,” Sanoa said with a grin, “But I figured that you would want to come along too, for old times sake.”
Hase snorted but began to run as they left the front of the building which was now almost empty save for covered lumps that looked too like bodies. His right ankle ached every step but he was not willing to admit it. Why had the Otess unravelled its hands?
more soldiers and guards, some stumbling, some carrying wounded and others in groups with grim faces. Many wore armoured jackets of metal disks but some wore just the clothes of a training guard. Men and woman that looked like those that had been fighting for Erisa moved through the street too. As they moved up through the city the people got fewer, with only messengers passing them. A couple took one look at them and ran the other way.
The rows of houses had changed to a gardens and there was signs of fighting everywhere. A few mansions burned with nobody to tend them. Maybe nobody cares, he thought surely the nobles would not return the favour of saving a building. But still they kept on going. He partially remember the journey with the cage and the horses. It felt fitting in an odd way that he should return here after killing an Otess. The gates to the palace grounds were unguarded. Or they had been but now all that remained were bodies everywhere.
“I guess the King never did side with the Otess,” Hase said avoiding looking at the bruised necks and limbs of the guards. Neck armour is definitely a must.
“This is not a good sign,” Sanoa said as the rest of them caught up with them, “Maybe we are not too late.”
“In a way,” Han said moving past the guards and through the open archway, “I hope that we are, there must have been a dozen Otess here.”
“I hope they killed him instead of taking him hostage,” Sanoa said, “I mean, fire wrangling Otess…”
“He is alive,” Hase said, “At least according to what Erisa has told me, I would lose my wrangling abilities if he was dead.”
A gaping hole marked where the door had been and cracks ran up the wall. This time the bodies were mostly covered. Sanoa jumped through the opening first over the pile of rubble and disappeared inside. He jumped in afterwards and they climbed stairs and weaved through corridors, finding the same on every hallway and every stairwell.
They reached a guarded room where three bodies, in black and red uniforms.
“The Elite guards,” Sanoa hissed and disappeared through what remained of what he assumed was an archway. The polished stone hallway was empty save for bodies. Scorch marked marred the walls and cracked glass was everywhere. “They are destroying the vials,” Sanoa said carefully inspecting a shard of glass,” Erisa said that nearly every vial in the city has been destroyed, that was why there are so many fires.”
Hase pushed past her, stepping over the bodies and breaking out in a run for the last doorway which stood open. Too late, he thought, the Otess were surely gone by now.
The room was empty save for a desk. Scorch marks and piles of charred wood showed where bookcases might have been. The desk was the only thing that was not burnt save for lettering scored across the top.
“Too late,” Sanoa said from behind him.
Sareti stood on a flat roof overlooking the crowd below. She was only a single storey above the ground, too close, enough to see the bruises and cuts that most bore. They shouldn’t have to fight, she thought turning away. Tayella could have cheered them up with a speech. If she is still alive. No that was stupid, Erisa wouldn’t kill Tayella, she had to wait for her response.
In front of her stood a dozen wranglers each glowing slightly to show the people down below who they were. It encouraged them, some of them anyway.
“The harbour,” Arlin said, probably for the fourth time judging by the tiredness in her tone. Her voice naturally carrying all the emotion that Sareti had always struggled to put in hers, “The majority of the boats are kept at the harbour and we need them for when we attack the Otess.”
“Not when,” Sareti said looking around at them, “If. If Tayella does not give the word then we are not going anywhere.” Why am I doing this? She thought, Tayella wouldn’t do it for me. And Arlin is just dying to throw herself at the Otess. “But the harbour, we need boats either way.”
“The Otess have been burning the ones they could find,” Ferna said stepping into the glowing light. A young boy stood beside her, whom she thought had not left her side since he had arrived. Tayella isn’t so bad, she told herself.
Arlin swept forwards to the edge of the roof and raised an ornamental spear into the air. The crowd below cheered. “We will return with what boats we can find,” she said, voice seeming to carry to the end of the wide street, “So you must protect yourselves for a short time.” The crowd was truly the biggest she had ever seen, with people stretching up the long canal on both sides until they were swallowed by darkness.
“Ferna,” Sareti said, “Watch out for an Otess attack, of mercenaries.” That bit made her stomach clench but she continued, “They have retreated somewhere as if waiting for the right moment, just be careful.”
“Of course,” Ferna said studying her. Sareti shifted slightly, even Arlin did so under that gaze, the sort of one that a mother would give a child when they were telling them something obvious.
“That is that,” Arlin said, now silhouetted by a red glow from a few of the wranglers.
“Time to go,” Sareti said and reached for her cloak before remembered that she did not have one, instead wearing her customary stealth garb. Having had the help of many tailors she had had one made for every wrangler. She could tell the fire wranglers from the water wranglers apart for those like her were always barefoot. Arlin wore one as well, as Sareti had requested and even made it seem as elegant as a gown although she wore soft boots on her feet.
Arlin stepped up to Sareti until she was barely a hands width away from her. Her stomach fluttered slightly.
“You always insist on coming,” Sareti said with a forced grin, slipping her hand around the Arlin’s waist, “What if I get tired of carrying you all the time?”
Arlin laughed softly and smiled in the dim light. She wrapped her arms around Sareti’s neck as they suddenly shot through the air. It was a lot more difficult to move carrying someone, much like how it was more difficult to jump across a canal carrying a heavy bundle. Especially when she struggled to concentrate on the roofs moving beneath her.
Many explosions sounded from behind them as the fire wranglers moved out of their hiding spot and towards the harbour.
“Are you sure you would not like to travel with the water wranglers?” She said when they stopped for her to get her breath back, the ridge of the roof lit by her glowing feet or what was left of it.
“I did consider it,” Arlin said, “But it sounds cold and much less fun.” Sareti snorted and tightened her grip. It wouldn’t do to drop the woman into a canal.
They eventually landed only a street from the docks. Arlin’s breath felt hot against her neck, her hands gripping folds of her cloth. Somebody landed on the roof and Arlin separated herself from Sareti. Thank the spirit, she thought, her stomach settling.
“Sareti, Arlin, they are burning the boats.” It was Ocina, stepping through the darkness on light feet. Short and with straight dark hair down past her shoulders, she looked a lot like Arlin.
“Stay here,” Sareti said and left Arlin with the Others whom were now landing on the same roof. She felt her stomach twist when she landed again, sending roof tiles clattering and splashing in the canals below. Sure enough flames leapt above the harbour, reflecting off the water. The whole floating walkway was a mass of flames and smoke billowed into the darkness.
Boats burned on the beach as well around prone shapes half in the water. Otess! We are too late.
A while later the entirety of their group stood on the beach, a patch clear of bodies. Most of the boats were charred remains, some only salvageable enough to carry a couple of people. She turned away and stepped back up onto the street. She turned to face those watching, all with grave faces.
“We will have to rely on others to gather boats from around the city, but I don’t think we will be able to attack the Otess now, not in any force. I’ll see you back at the warehouse.” She grabbed Arlin and they shot into the air.
They didn’t talk on the way back and even when they were sitting around a bonfire that had been set up to allow fire wranglers to replenish their spirit fire, the conversations were quiet and few.
Gradually people came in, wearily stepping into the light, some glowing, some not. News came in that only a handful had been found, not even enough to carry a hundred let alone thousands.
“Its not the first time today that I wish Tay was still here,” Sareti said to no one in particular, “She might know what to do.”
“I don’t know,” a voice said from behind her. “She wouldn’t be able to help with this.”
Sareti spun to face Hanan standing at the edge of the light. She felt her face darken with anger and she stepped up to him. “Where is she then? Have you taken her back?”
“No but she is alive, and she agreed…”
“Go!” Sareti turned her back on him aware that everyone was watching, “You have only made things harder for us.”
He put a hand on her shoulder but she shook it off. Drawing her knife and turning back to him. “If there is nothing that you can help with then go! We don’t need you and Erisa telling us what to do.”
“I can help,” Han said levelly, “With your problem about the boats.”
Sareti stopped. “How?”
“I can show you, if you will let me. Come with me.”
Sareti looked around. She truly had to take every chance there was for a solution, if Tayella wanted them to attack the Otess they needed to be ready. I don’t know if I still trust him though. “I will take Arlin, Ferna and Luia with me, the rest of you… wait until I return. If I don’t in a few hours then Rosan will take charge.” For once Arlin didn’t give her a flat stare for giving her orders but stood up without a word.
With that she left the firelight, not feeling the enthusiasm she had put into her voice. Han led them along the canals in silence. They seemed almost useless now that there were so few boats to use but she put that out of her mind as she walked. They were heading towards the edge of the city where the streets began to widen and the buildings were built on islands rather than the water running between them. There is probably foundations of an ancient building under them. Her father had been fascinated with that, digging up the past. If he were still alive then he could have asked Han all about it, him being alive then.
“Where are we going?” She eventually said catching up with Han. She tried to find the anger again but it had faded away. “Do you have a stash of boats somewhere, surely it won’t be enough.”
“To the furthest point before we reach the islands,” he said sighing, “Sareti, Tayella is fine, she is helping them fight the Otess in the west, she sent me to tell you to march tomorrow.”
Sareti couldn’t help but laugh, “March! The water is much too deep for that.”
Do I trust him to tell the truth?
“There is something else,” Han said, “The Otess have the King, the fire wrangling host.”
“What does that mean.”
“The power to remove every single fire Wrangler’s abilities when it would hit us the hardest.”
Sareti gritted her teeth. Fighting without wrangling? When was the last time she had done that. “Any other really good news?”
Han sighed, “The ‘weapon,’ is in there somewhere, and whatever happens if we can get to it, we could use it to destroy a lot of the Otess. It is not as dangerous as many people think but more than others. Oh and we have barely any vials to use, most have been destroyed.”
“Not good,” Arlin said from beside Sareti, “I hope that whatever you are going to show us is a thousand paces better than that.”
The street ended in front of them, giving way to islands covered in vegetation that broke the waves coming up the estuary. They were standing at the water’s edge where the street protruded like a dock. She remembered Tayella telling her about the many times she had traversed all the islands.
“Surely this is the longest way possible!” Arlin said, “Getting a boat through the islands takes time and many of the gaps are not deep enough.”
“Exactly!” Han said, “There is a sunken city in the estuary,” Han said, “I believe that there used to be a street here that…” He gestured out into the estuary. “I remember this building. It was one of the first of the new city that was built.”
“That’s impossible,” Erisa said glancing at Sareti.
“Arlin, Han was there, he is like over a hundred years old.”
“I…” she trailed off and then closed her mouth.
Han let himself off the edge of the street until he was waist deep in the water. He began to glow green and Arlin gasped, lighting up the surrounding area and illuminating below the water. Gradually the glow intensified until he was lighting up the water. Something began to move down there and the water swirled around him.
“What are you doing?” Luia said, but Han ignored him.
He began to rise out of the water, hands out as if to stabilise himself. A line of the disturbance swelled the water all the way to the islands. His knees emerged from the water and then it broke the surface, water spilling to either side of… “A road!” Arlin said, “How did you get an earth vial?”
“He is an Earth wrangler,” Sareti said eyes locked on the glowing water as it churned around Han, “From before the splitting of the city, he is the host of the earth spirit.” She glanced over to where Arlin was staring wide eyed at the emerging stone shaking her head in disbelief or wonder.
The ‘road’ was made of broken paving stones and was pushing its way out of the water through the gap in the islands. Around it the water swelled and walls poked out of the water. The street she was standing on shook as if it were about to collapse and cracks ran through it. Han stepped forwards and each step he took more of the street emerged from the water cracked wildly but still enough to walk on.
Sareti jumped down and steadied herself on the uneven pavers. The road kept going and soon they were walking through the middle of the islands which were even higher now. She could see that what she had taken for rock were just crumbled walls.
“The ancient city,” she breathed. Her father had studied what he could of the remaining bits, poking above the water, that which was the islands now but here she was standing on a street. She felt tears run down her cheeks. Han could have shown him the old city.
“Han! Are you okay?”
“Yes,” He said yawning, “Just a lot of spirit earth, I cannot do it all tonight, let me rest.”
Sareti realised with a start that the large island holding the Otess stronghold was now faintly visible. “Will you really be able to make the rest of the way by tomorrow night?”
He nodded sinking down and laying back on the stones. She turned to him, “Luia and Ferna will stay to guard, I will send more to help soon, I have much to prepare.”
“Of course!” Luia said sounding excited. He glowed blue and water swirled away from the edge of the road. His face was a mix of awe and anticipation. He looked back towards the Otess island. “It will happen tomorrow, won’t it?”
Sareti glanced at Arlin who nodded. “Yes, it will.” And spirit help us all. She began to move back towards the street and soon they were back on the unbroken street. She avoided moving loudly incase she had led any Otess to their new causeway thought the estuary.
“Do you think we are ready?” Arlin said when they were alone, Han disappearing off into the darkness.
“As ready as we can be,” Sareti said, “We have one chance at this. The Otess must know that we are coming, our only hope is that we can get through the walls before it gets dark. If not then…” She laughed and pulled Arlin close before she knew what she was doing. “We can do it together, even if Tayella is not returning.”
“Are we flying tonight,” she said gripping Sareti, running her hand through her hair, “Or just…”
Sareti cut her off, pressing her lips against Arlin’s.
Hase stood at the prow of one of the largest ships in the Western harbour, rivalling Erisa’s own. Of course he could not move the ship and so he was standing among five water wranglers all of whom had donned armour. The rest of the sail-less ship was packed with wall guards, metal scaled black shirts.
The water wranglers also had armour on but very different. It had been quite a time since he had seen armour meant for fighting in water, made of a special type of wood it would help them float instead of drag them under.
“What are we waiting for?” A tall woman said fingering a belt of daggers attached to the front of the main wooden plate. Hase shook his head, I wish I knew what was holding them up. I wish I was with Tayella. The almost identical sister ship which was captained by Tayella was also ready to leave. With both water wranglers and wall guards on it. Back on the beach the other ships were still being loaded but of course they would be arriving after Hase and Tayella’s ships had cleared a path, hopefully into the outer wall.
If it goes to plan he thought glumly. There was no question, they had to get through the outer wall for it was so huge that they could sit around the wall for months and nothing would happen. He fingered a piece of parchment in his pocked but refrained from drawing it. The sketch of what must have been the old way into the stronghold walled up.
Then as if his thought had triggered it a burst of water shot up from behind the other ship, shooting thirty paces into the air. Three more did so and then they were ready to go.
“Finally,” he said turning to the others, “cast her off.” He felt strange giving orders on a boat which he was not used to nor which he knew how to sail or would even be able to. Of course he was not sure if it could be called sailing if the ship itself had no sails. Tayella’s ship surged forwards sending waves rippling through the harbour but the waves dissipated by the time they reached their own. In a few short moments they were sailing out of the bay and into the estuary. Almost immediately after they were clear of the stone towers the ship keeled and turned towards the distant shape of the Otess stronghold. He stumbled and grabbed ahold of the railing shooting a look at the wranglers at the back, in their positions just above the waterline.
Hase turned to the wall guard calmly sitting on the deck, holding onto long ropes that had been fixed to the floor. Now the ropes made sense. They had discarded the long spears for slightly shorter ones and of course the blindfolds. They had quite strongly refused to use more suitable armour and Hase didn’t blame them. Wearing a different type of armour entirely was like suddenly switching your weapon to a sword, better to trust what you knew.
Although the boat was crowded he felt quite alone, the guards were silent as ever, faces not only partly hidden by their helmets and most of the wranglers were busy at the stern of the ship. He held onto the railing as they moved, watching for anything that might intercept them but between the ship and the cluster of islands there was nothing save for the other ship to their right slightly. Just as Erisa had said, the fight would begin when they entered the islands.
“You are afraid.” A deep voice said from behind them.
Hase turned to see one of the wall guards standing beside him. His face was so unemotional that he would have done well as an Otess or what he assumed Otess faces expressed. He shuddered at the thought. “Yes,” he said finally turning back towards the group of islands, “Of course I am.”
“Good,” the man said, “When you don’t feel fear you’re in the most danger. You make mistakes.”
“I will make mistakes anyway.”
The man shrugged, “How will you get us into the walls?”
“We will see, apparently there is some kind structure there but we might need ropes and ladders.”
“And you will protect the top of the ladder? Fire… Wrangler.”
Hase nodded in reply, “I will be.”
The guard thanked him and stepped back down, joining the guards again. Hase felt his stomach begin to clench as they were now nearing the islands and with them the looming walls. Trees draped over the narrow gaps between the islands or ruins as Han was convinced they were. I hope Sareti listened to him, he thought, we will fail if they don’t come. When he looked over the side he could indeed see ruined walls and remains of what could have been a street only a few paces down.
Tayella’s boat surged through the first gap, tilting so much to the side that he gasped at the narrow escape they had from some of the masonry. The islands were swamped with waves.
“SLOW!” He turned back to the water wranglers, “Don’t ground this before we are even close!”
They reluctantly slowed down and Tayella’s boat pulled ahead, but thankfully seemed to be slowing down as well. “What about Otess hanging on the overhanging trees?” One of the wranglers said joining Hase.
“Then we will have to deal with them, I will not have us fail because we are too confident. Follow a slightly different path from Tayella but stay close. To try and make sure one of us makes it through.” Tayella had better make it too, he thought.
“Of course captain.” The woman seemed to be watching the water and stayed where she was. When they were almost on a broken wall her hand brushed the water and the boat narrowly slipped past it.
Hase kept his gaze up, watching the trees. They were now almost engulfed in them and they were much larger than he had seen on other islands. Fronds brushed the boat as it slipped through them. Eventually they could see the other ship again moving slowly through the islands. Then as suddenly there was a crunch from the other ship and it stopped suddenly then there was an earsplitting crack and something smashed through the side of the boat, spikes of rock.
Hase’s eyes widened and he waved for them to slow even more.
“What was that?” The wrangler beside him said eyes locked on the other ship. Hase jumped into action and grabbed the wrangler’s shoulder, “look where we are going! If…” The wrangler snapped her gaze back into the water and the boat pitched but avoided the building they were about to smash into.
“It was an Earth Wrangler,” Hase said to the other wrangler, “It appears that there are more than one after all, I can’t believe that Hanan would betray us.” Another Earth wrangler. If there is two there has to be more! The other boat was now out of sight.
“We need to help them,” Hase said frantically searching for the quickest way through the islands. “They will be picked off like that, quickly!”
“Hase!” The wrangler grabbed his arm but kept her gaze firmly on the water in front, “We can’t, please, remember what Erisa said, if we don’t get through then nobody will. Tayella has killed Otess before, I saw it myself.”
Tayella! He pushed that thought out of his mind, I need to stay focused, they can take care of themselves! “Stay here, I am going to see if I can find an ambush.” There has to be one.
“But if you go then…”
“If we end up like that then it is all over.”
“Promise me you won’t go near the other ship,” the wrangler said, “Promise.”
“Fine,” he said and pushed down the glow within him and leapt from the deck grabbing onto the nearest branch and pulling himself onto it. He swung along until his feet were perched onto of a moss covered wall. He ran along it quietly, ducking to avoid branches and fronds. He ran faster, the sounds of the boat left behind. The island was a longer one.
A narrow gap ahead opened out into wider water and past that he could see the walls of the stronghold. So close! But of course… A glow of something green illuminated leaves in front of him and he slowed, crawling along. He finally pulled himself up to look over a thick trunk and there crouched an Otess. Although this one was different. Their hands and feet were bare, showing dark skin. And the skin was glowing. Glowing green. Exposed hands, he thought with horror, and glowing like an earth wrangler!
For a few moments Hase stared, eyes wide. An Otess that wrangles! More than one! It had not appeared to have noticed him so he glanced back. The ship was moving slowly towards the gap. Under the water there was also a green glow, almost unnoticeable. He jumped over the trunk and grappled the Otess.
He felt a shock go through him but he held on as they fell, the Otess writhing like a fish. They struck the water with a splash although it was not deep and filled with rotten leaves. He felt his arm strike a rock under the surface and he groaned but held on. He let go with one hand to grab a knife but the Otess pulled from his grip and then suddenly he was underwater. He held down the spirit fire instinctively to save it from disappearing. Something struck him in on his chest and he frantically rolled over, flailing in the murky water. His head surfaced and he gasped, just in time to put his arm around the neck of the Otess. He tried to incite anger in the beast but he was once again pushed under, but this time the Otess had an arm around his neck.
Hase let a burst of spirit fire course through him and into the Otess. Without it protecting his skin as well he felt his hands burn but held on and a moment later he surfaced, freeing himself of the Otess’s grip.
“You are fake!” He growled, “Not a real Otess, FAKE. You hear me? There are no wrangling Otess!”
A muffled laugh came from behind the enveloped face, “Fake? If only you knew.”
Humour is just as good as anger, he thought and jumped forwards slamming his fist into the Otess’s head. It tried to move out the way but Hase had anticipated that and kicked in mid-air. Its head snapped backwards with a crack and it collapsed into the water. He pushed it under further pushing it down and down. It should not be alive but Hanan had said that he had come back from being stabbed before.
The body writhed but gradually slowed only a moment after did he let his grip go. He drew his knife and drove it down multiple times. The body no longer moved. He let go and proceeded to vomit before climbing to his feet.
He pulled himself up onto the wall and launched himself off the end of it, landing on the ship as it pulled out of the gap. He apologised to the guards he had landed on covering them with rotten leaves and water and stepped back up beside the wrangler at the bow. She stared at him.
“Focus!” He barked a little harshly and she returned her focus to the water. They were now in full view of the large walls with no entrance that he could see.
“You are bleeding and bruised all over!” The woman said without looking at him, “What happened?”
“A little trouble with an Otess wrangling Earth, Han is not the only one, and if there is two then there will be more, we need to take more care. I will take it from here, you must warn the others.”
“Otess might be able to heal themselves then,” The wrangler said shaking her head, that makes sense, “It doesn’t change anything though. You need me here.” Hase sighed. It was true, Erisa and the Others would have to work it out themselves he had bigger problems.
The wall was smooth, with slippery high walls that emerged from a rocky beach piled with driftwood. A tall narrow structure made of wood that also looked old clung to the wall leading to a smaller entrance near the top. To the side of that was what had been sketched, a walled up archway. The wall must be very thick, I hope it will be easier to open from within.
“You know that this is the remaining part of the old city, it was once on top of a hill, but now it is the only remaining part.” The boat was slowing n0w as they approached the shallower water barely a pace deep. “You would know that if you listened to lessons.”
“I never had lessons.” He replied. Well he had but a long way from here, further than the woman had surely ever gone.
“Most of them are propaganda,” the woman replied shaking her head, “but sometimes there is elements of truth.”
Hase turned to the others on the boat as the hull grated against the rocks beneath and they slid to a stop, the boat keeling slightly, “READY YOURSELVES!” The stairs looked still able to hold them and would…
“We can get up those stairs!” The woman said no longer attached to the water, the ship slowly moving forwards pace by pace, “It would be so much quicker.”
He turned back to the guards, “It does look possible, but there is something off about it. Stand if you will take the stairs and sit if you want ropes.”
“What about both?” One said from below, “Ropes to help if the stairs…” he didn’t finish and left the rest unsaid.
“Fine,” Hase said, “You know what to do, five to a rope, I can only carry so much up. But wait until I secure the ropes.”
He looked up, but nothing moved on top of the wall.
“Do you know what is up there?” The wrangler said quietly from his side, “What if…”
“No,” Hase snapped, “But I have no choice, I will take the ropes up the stairs, it is too high to jump that height.”
The wrangler pursed her lips as they pulled ever closer to the wall and the boat ground to a halt only paces away from the base of the stairs, a wooden walkway still sticking out from the wall. It keeled slightly, but Hase took ahold of five ends of rope and looped them around his waist. “Take me in.”
He let a thick cord of water wrap around his waist and he was then moved slowly towards the walkway. He had the feeling that it was trying to crush him but then it slipped back into the water leaving him standing at the base of the stairs, soaked from the chest down. He calmed his breathing and made sure the ropes were trailing behind him.
He began to ascend. If he fell, he had to trust that the water wranglers would help cushion his fall, falling from even half way up onto water would surely kill him.
The wood was old and cracked and in places the frame that jutted from the wall had separated and sockets were left in the wall where the structure had left the side of the wall. He pushed on, ignoring the way that it swayed. They surely knew he was coming but so far he had seen no sign that they were going to try and stop him entering. A sickening dread began to build in his stomach. The Otess are smart, he reminded himself, there will be something I have missed.
Then down below there was a crunch. The ship almost split in half, rock smashing through the wood. Around the boat the ground began to tremble and the water churned. He redoubled his pace, panting heavily. At first the ropes had not been heavy but as they trailed behind him he had to push harder to make the same time. When he looked down again the water was boiling and moving. Guards splashed towards the stairs and some had begun climbing it. His eyes widened but he kept going. I have to get to the top!
He was nearing the top, or so he thought as far as he could tell but didn’t slow. The structure was swaying greatly now, with all the weight on it. Where the structure should have been held to the wall, wooden timbers slid from sockets in the wall. Then he reached the hole in the shape of a small archway. The stone was slippy but he was glad to be off the tower of rotting wood. It swayed even more. He glanced at it again. The wood looked as if it had been cut through here as if it were meant to fall…
“WATCH OUT DOWN THERE!” He shouted. He looked around suddenly aware of the tunnel into the wall it was dark and dank and impossible to see what was further along. Somewhere to secure the ropes… he thought.
“Stupid idea.” A low woman’s voice said. Something moved deeper in the tunnel. He froze. Tie the ropes! He saw metal hoops driven into the floor. He lifted one and threaded the ropes through it tying it off as best he could. He then grabbed his spear off his back as an Otess emerged from the darkness and stopped. “It is useless, they will die anyway, when I kill you and cut the ropes.”
Screams could be heard from behind him. He looked out and gasped as the staircase was now several paces away from the wall, teetering before something cracked and it crashed downwards. The ropes snapped tight. He hoped from the weight of guards and not from the whole structure. When he turned back the Otess was closer, moving like a prowling beast. He steeled himself and held his spear tightly.
He jumped and a blast shot outwards. The Otess jumped as well, dodging it easily.
“You will not kill me that easily!” It said. Han smiled and dropped his weapon. The Otess straightened, “Neither will that if you don’t hold it.”
“Maybe not,” Hase said and jumped again. The spear shattered and sprayed outwards, part of the shaft driving into the Otess’s leg. “But it might wound you.”
The Otess didn’t cry out but almost collapsed, as if suddenly less confident it stepped backwards looking around.
“BACKUP!” It said, and the sound echoed down the tunnel. Hase scrambled forwards. At least now the fight would be fair. The otess grabbed him as he tried to drive a knife into the other leg and they tumbled to the slimy floor together, both of them landing hard. Hase lost grip of his knife and had to resort to trying to grapple with the Otess. Then he was turned over and it crouched over him, knee crushing his neck. He struggled but felt the strength draining from him. He tried to wrangler fire but his hands were pinned down and… the Otess was gleefully laughing but was suddenly cut off with a gurgle and was thrown backwards with force. Hase struggled up. Looking down at him was the wrangler from the boat. A deep cut crossed her face from forehead to chin but she grinned at him.
“You owe me one!” He got up slowly, feeling his neck tenderly.
“Yeah.” He croaked out. “How many?”
“Half are gone,” She said grin fading, “Maybe they have survived, two of the water wranglers would probably have but they have an Earth wrangler to deal with down there. Is it enough?”
He looked around. Twenty guards stood there, and two more wranglers. He sighted but nodded towards the tunnel which appeared to slope down. “It has to be. We will probably meet more Otess but we cannot stop, that archway at the base of the wall needs opened.”
They nodded grimly and he began to move, still nursing his neck. Need some neck armour. He grabbed his knife and set off down the tunnel at a run, the others thudding behind him, several with a slight limp.
~
Sareti carefully stepped under a low hanging branch with odd shaped leaves that trailed in the murky water around them. Whatever Han had done to the street to raise it up, it was now impossible to see anything as she splashed through the shallow water.
“I don’t know how much longer I can go,” Han said two paces in front, “I can’t even raise the street much higher than half a pace.” Sareti looked up at the looming walls. They were close now, close enough that not long ago they had heard the sound of something falling, a structure of some kind. Hopefully that means they have broken through already, she thought.
“Waist height,” she said eventually glancing back over her shoulder, “Don’t bother making it any higher than waist height.”
“That’s possible,” Han grumbled and began moving forwards a little faster. Deep within her spirit fire swelled and surged, trying to get out but she held it there lest it disappear in the water.
“There is something on that island over there,” Arlin said appearing beside her and pointing though the trees, a building of some kind. She squinted.
“A ship.” Han said, “Its a ship.”
“I’ll check it out,” Sareti said and pulled herself out of the water before Arlin could stop her.
“Wait!” Arlin said, “We…”
“Keep moving!” She called over Arlin’s words as she swung herself along the branch until her feet touched down on a mossy wall.
“I am coming too,” Han said landing beside her, “The gaps between the islands are shallow enough here that they can continue for a while at least without me.”
“Like old times,” Sareti said grinning as she ran along the edge of the wall and leapt to the next.
Han followed close enough behind that she had barely left one wall before he landed on it. Once her hair fluttered as he landed behind her.
“What happened to that?” Sareti gasped as they emerged from the thickly laden bows. It was a ship, the remains at least.”
Rock had split the ship in two, jagged pieces sticking up through the middle skewering it like a fish. Bits of wood and… bodies floated in the shallow water. Others on the tops of the spikes, their dark garb dripping with something darker than muddy water.
“This, this shouldn’t be possible,” he said landing in the shallow water beside the steeply sloping deck. Where it had split she could see parts of the hull higher than the upper deck.
“What?”
“That is Earth wrangling,” He said, “And if you have any trust in me, then you know I wouldn’t do that to Tayella’s boat.”
“Tayella!” Sareti splashed towards the deck as quickly as she could. She can’t be dead, she thought, can’t leave me in charge like this! Well me and Arlin.
“That the Otess have an Earth wrangler and if they have one…”
Sareti stopped, one foot up on the rough railing looking up. Otess earth wranglers!
Faint thuds echoed from somewhere on the ship and Hanan ran up the sloping deck, dodging splintered boards. “There must still be people alive!”
Sareti cursed and leaped into the air, wind threatening to tear her hair from her bun. She landed on the deck with a crack, almost falling from the angle. The noises were more clear now, sounds of fighting. The whole ship shuddered and she could have sworn that the rock spikes were getting higher. She reached the top, balancing over the gap that had formed and looked down on the other side.
A bloody fight was going on down below, men and woman in black… Wall guards!? And a glowing figure were fighting. Bodies littered this deck but there was little blood. One had even been skewered through the chest.
She recognised a woman in tight clothing, torn and bloody. Tayella fought side by side with a bare chested man covered in inkings of intricate patterns. The Otess that they fought was glowing green. Green! Sareti found herself shaking and grabbed ahold of a timber at an odd angle and held onto it to stop her falling into the gap. Move! She thought but her body refused.
Han slid down the deck, gathering speed with the slick blood. He stopped a pace short of the Otess, who’s hands and feet were unwrapped, loose strips of leatherbark trailing behind. It turned to Han and then stumbled, the sloping deck collapsing underneath it. Those around didn’t miss a step and proceeded to spear it at least one too many times. Sareti sighed with relief and carefully stepped across the gap
“Tayella!” Sareti said, slipping and sliding towards her, “Are you alright?” Tayella looked up in surprise then laughed. She tried to rise but Sareti pushed her down again and hugged her as she sat down beside her.
“What happened?”
“That is what I would like to know too,” Han said now facing them, “An Otess wrangling earth, with their hands and feet uncovered.”
“Two,” Tayella said as she wiped blood from her chin but proceeded to spear it even more, “We were following our course through the islands and then suddenly the ship stopped. I thought that we had come the wrong way but then the rock split our ship in half and…” She trailed off looking around as if for the first time.
“What about Hase? Did he make it? I heard a huge crashing sound and screaming from the sound of the wall, they…”
“We don’t know,” Sareti said feeling a chill. If Tayella’s ship had been so easily stopped then… She pushed the thought from her mind.
“Did you come alone?”
“No,” Han said, “We need to get back.”
Tayella looked relieved. She gestured to the guards, “They…”
“Hanan can handle it,” Sareti said and began climbing the deck, avoiding looking at the bodies around her. She had to push down the urge to vomit several times. Han managed a stone walkway only shallow enough that they could keep their top halves dry.
“Tayella.” Sareti said eventually, “We left without you returning, I hoped that it was the right thing… We all agreed.”
“Agreed that I had been wrong,” Tayella said not looking at her.
“Em yes.”
“Good, I am glad you are here, but maybe you should tell me if you have contact with someone that could help us.”
Sareti dropped her gaze to the splashing water.
When they caught up with the Others Arlin embraced Tayella with a quick smile and Sareti with a surprisingly bigger one. I was only away for a short time.
“What’s next?” Sareti said quickly when she found Tayella watching them thoughtfully.
“The wall,” Tay said, smile turning to a frown, I can only hope that Hase has managed to survive the wrangling Otess.”
The tunnel got slipperier as it tilted downhill and at one point Hase found himself slipping twenty paces before he could get his footing back. Something moved just in front of him in the light of his red skin and a dark shape emerged from the shadows.
“Otess!” He said lowering his spear. The others at his side did the same. The Otess faltered, realising that they were not going to stop. It moved to the side and tackled one of the guards, sending them to the ground with a sickening crack that was not just from the fall but it had barely enough time to look up before it was skewered on another spear.
Hase didn’t stop but a guard caught up with him. “I believed that we would be fighting on the top of the wall,” they said with laboured breaths, tunnels are not quite the same.”
“Tunnels it is,” Hase said, “We don’t have a choice, you can stay behind but we are not waiting for you.” The guard cursed but did not slow. Hase sighed with relief, he needed them. The relief was short lived when he saw light up ahead. Here the tunnel evened out until it was flat. There was something odd about the light. It was coming through bars.
“Gate!” He called, his voice echoing around the tunnel. He slid to a stop just before it. Several Otess stood watching them from the other side of the gate where the tunnel widened out into a room. Hase even thought he could see something that resembled daylight.
“Trapped now,” hissed one of the Otess laughing. Hase heard a scream from behind him but didn’t glance back. We must have missed an Otess. He shook the bars but they were strong. He sighed and pushed the rest of his spirit fire into his forearms. He let it flow into the metal and it began to glow red hot. He glanced back. He could not see where the fighting was. “You two! Help me open this gate or we are going to die like this.”
“Bloody hate tunnels!” One of the guards said but jumped forwards and wedged their spear through the bars they began to bend and one of the hinges popped, the gate bending inwards.
“Are you sure you wanted to come this way?” The other Otess said, this time it was a woman’s voice, colder than ice. “We…” She was cut off as the second guard pushed his spear and the gate bent and then the second hinge popped and the metal clattered to the floor.
Hase jumped through followed by the Others and his heart sank. The room was indeed lit by daylight filtering through narrow windows high on one wall the rest by a set of torches around the room. The room held eight Otess guarding a set of wider stairs leading down. His heart sank. The Guards piled out behind him forming a circle immediately. Han found himself in the middle of it with the other Wranglers. Another Otess followed them in and suddenly they were all fighting. Rushing the Guards.
One of the guards jumped into the middle and faced Hase, his face was more grim than usual. “The door, we will get you to the door. Just get that gate open at the bottom.”
Hase protested but trailed off as the guards narrowed the circle, punching it towards the door. The Otess barely holding them back from it but they were not aiming for it. They began to fall and the first Otess broke the line. Hase took a desperate look at the others punching Otess, water coating their fists. He grabbed the shoulder of the nearest one and ran at the gap at the door. She seemed to catch on for she overtook him and smashed into the Otess directly in front of them sending it sprawling down the stairs. Hase and the wrangler tumbled down after them. When they stopped and rose they found the Otess struggling to its knees. Hase finished it off then looked up the steps. A guard ran down them.
“Go!” They will not be able to hold them for much longer. Hase met the woman’s gaze and she nodded gravely and ran down the corridor. Hase ran after her, hand passing through the torches as he did plunging what was behind them into darkness again. Soon his skin began to glow and the familiar warmth of spirit fire flowed through him. The guard caught up with them. Her dark skin was bloodied and one of her eyes was swollen but her expression was worst of all.
“I could have helped!” Hase said.
“No you couldn’t,” she replied running past him, “And if we don’t get that entrance open for the others, it will all be for nothing.”
Hase doubled his pace and ran after the others. He could not hear any sign of them behind but that did not give him any assurance. Then they emerged into daylight and he almost ran into the back of the wrangler.
Spread before them was the inside of the Otess stronghold, or at least part of it. This side of the wall, a small city rose up the slopes of a hill around them, buildings all ancient, a lot of them completely collapsed into rubble, trees growing among them, and some flat areas covered in what he assumed were plants to eat. More trees grew out of roofs but other buildings showed signs of life. Afternoon sunlight glinted off some of the buildings of polished stone but further up the hill was a second wall, this one square. There was movement on it, shapes that resembled Otess prowling alone. So this wall was just something to slow us down, he thought. They could have much more easily defended the outer one.
“I guess you will get your wall fighting after all,” Hase said to the guard. He grunted glancing back to where they had come from. Hase turned away. The city before them was deserted thankfully. He ran his gaze along the wall, there a crumbling building leaned against the wall. A guard house!
“There!” He said, “We need to go, now.” The other two needed little encouragement and were close behind him as he descended into the city. It was harder to see the guard house here where the buildings obscured his view but it seemed that if he ran downhill then he would eventually reach it. He caught sight of movement several times but didn’t slow. Not so deserted. Still there should have been more guards!
“I didn’t think that they would have houses,” the wrangler said panting from his side, “I didn’t think that they would be… Civilised.”
“No…” Hase replied, “Neither did I.” In truth he had never considered it, he had always assumed they lived in barracks like mercenaries did, he glanced towards the walls higher on the hill. Even if he managed to get the gates open they would have to fight past those walls as well.
He slowed as the street widened out into what looked like it had once been a wide street with a fountain in the centre. Now the street was cracked and trees grew through the polished marble, gnarled things that had strange leaves on it. He studied the guard house. He had initially thought it intact but now he could see that most of it had collapsed and the rest was hanging from the wall as the set of stairs had. He looked at the other two around him. From a ship of forty guards and five wranglers three remained. It would have to do.
“What are we waiting for,” the guard said impatiently looking at the dark entrances to the building.”
“That stone roof could come down on our heads,” the wrangler said, “and after the stairs, it would not be hard to imagine the Otess doing something like that when hundreds of people are going through.”
“We have to try,” Hase said, “Maybe Hanan can stabilise it a bit, there is no other way in.” He glanced around and locked eyes on a pile of broken wood that looked as if it had been left for years. He heaved it into his arms and gestured with his head to the building.
Inside it was dark and dusty, the building could not have been used often since the entranced had been walled up. Here and there he could see signs of jagged rocks jutting up from the floor. They have rigged the building to fall! He did not voice his thoughts however and kept moving. They would not waste something like this just for the three of them, would they? Maybe they thought that there would be more.
“There it is!” The guard said with relief after they had been searching for a time. Some of the larger rooms had collapsed so much that it was difficult to tell which had been the main way through but he looked up. They were staring at the wall. An archway imbedded inside showed where it had been but even the newer stones looked decades old.
“They said the Otess walled it up when the city fell,” the guard said. “How it has not sunk beneath the water yet, I don’t know. But how are we going to break through?”
Hase arranged the wood on the floor and then knelt beside it he let the tiny bit or spirit fire from the torches to light it. With his help the fire built quickly until the others had to stand back from the raging flames. He sighed contentedly as he drank it up through his bare hands then he placed his hands against the wall and let it flow from him again. Seeping into the cracks between the stones.
“What can I do?” The wrangler said watching curiously.
“When this spreads,” he said, “Try and break your way through it, I think once there is a small hole, the rest will come out easier.”
As they worked Hase got slightly tireder, and his limps felt heavier and heavier. He eventually stuck his foot in the fire and let the spirit fire flow through him because he could into hold enough he felt shocks through the wall whenever the wrangler punched it and a hole several paces wide was forming although the wall had to be very thick. He could feel the fire burning him now, under his clothes, he could no longer hold enough to protect his skin from it but still he continued, pushing past the pain. I have to do this!
“Tayella,” he said between gasps of pain, “I am sorry.” The others appeared not to have noticed.
Bit by bit they moved. Then the wall vibrated even when the wrangler was not punching it. The pain crept up his neck and over his face, the smell catching in his throat.
“They are helping!” She exclaimed, “I can feel it. There is people on the Other side.” She redoubled her efforts even though Hase could tell that she was tiring. The guard helped her remove stones, wedging the spear into the gaps that Hase created. The first crack ran up the wall and every thud another one did. He sagged to his knees but managed to keep on going, spirit fire flowing through him ever so slowly now. A pinprick of daylight could be seen through the hole but Hase felt his eyes droop. Still he went on, for the woman had not slowed. The guard kept glancing at him worriedly but he waved her away. Then there was an earsplitting crack and part of the wall above them crashed to the floor. The pain now enveloped him almost entirely and his vision darkened.
“Tell Hase that the building might fall if…” He gasped as the guard lifted him and began dragging him away from the wall. “I will!” The guard said, voice cracking. “Hase! What have you done?You are burning!” More cracks sounded but they came from all around. The guard let go of him and joined the other woman. She seemed more intent now to get out than to let the others in. Dust rained from the ceiling. Hase tried to crawl towards the others but his limbs gave away and he had not made it two paces when the building collapsed, the sounds of falling pillars and rocks all around, dust clogging his lungs. He began to run his fingers across the slabs barely unable to see if the words were eligible then he could no longer move his muscles.
The Otess didn’t need to rig the building, he thought as the building crashed down, we did it for them. Darkness fully cut off his vision.
~
Tayella watched from a distance as the thick wall that had been built to fill a wide archway began to buckle, the glowing lines through it spitting out dust and bits of rock that rained on the shallow water. You’ve done it Hase! She thought with satisfaction. The water and fire wranglers had already retreated, those that had come in most recent ships as well, with Erisa.
They were now all in the open shallow water watching as the entrance opened. The hole at the bottom widened and a woman jumped out landing in the water. She struggled to her feet. She ran towards them, eyes wide. She wore loose trousers and a sash across her chest, partly covering intricate Tattoos.
“Han! Han, where is Han?” She glanced around frantically.
Han moved from where he stood and rushed over to her, catching her before she collapsed in the water.
“What is it?” He said urgently, glancing from her to the wall and back again, “Are there Otess on the other side? Are the others on the other side?”
The woman coughed violently, “Hase told me to say that the building on the other side… too unstable, must support it. He…” She went limp in Han’s arms.
“Where are they?” Tayella said turning back to the crumbling wall "Where is Han?” She moved forwards but strong hands yanked her back.
“Take her!” Han barked at a mercenaries behind, “Take her to the medic ship.”
Suddenly the glowing lines winked out. For a few moments nothing happened then dust billowed from the small hole and with it came the wall. She felt herself pulled back as huge stones rolled into the water, some crushing small boats that hadn’t been pulled far enough back. She sank weakly back into the arms of someone, she didn’t know who.
The dust eventually cleared and Tay could see. Rubble had poured through the entrance and into the water, the building the woman had said was on the other side was gone. A few cracked pillars stood and huge slabs of rock lay cracked everywhere.
She yanked herself from the grip of whoever had held her and jumped forward to begin climbing the rubble.
“HASE!” She screamed but no answer came, only the groaning of the pile of rubble, shifting slightly under her feet.
“Tayella!” Han shouted from behind her, “Wait until I clear a path.”
She ignored him when she caught sight of a glow. She shoved rocks aside, instinctively strengthening her arms with water. Han joined her silently and rocks shattered at his touch. They uncovered what was glowing. Embers of a fire.
“He was here!” She said but something in her heart went cold. “He was here,” she repeated.
“Tayella…” Han said, resting a hand on her shoulder but she brushed it off, tears streaking down her face.
“Tayella, you need to see this.” She let herself be pulled away and Sareti turned her head to writing in charcoal on the floor. It read, ‘Tayella. I’m sorry for…’ The writing was red, and still damp. She fell to her knees on the small patch of floor as the others cleared rocks around them.
“We cannot find anything, but there is so much rubble,” Han said from behind her after a long while, “I’m sorry.”
Sareti appeared in front of her and pulled her close but Tayella couldn’t feel anything.
Erisa watched as Tayella held onto Sareti. It was a silent workforce that moved the rocks around them. The thirty remaining wall guards had removed the body of their friend and now helped with the rocks. Hanan did so too but had not replied when she had spoken to them. The rest of them just waited as a path was cleared through the rubble. She turned to Arlin.
“You know what you must do, I must rely on you now to lead your army, Tayella is in no fit shape to lead.”
“Of course,” Arlin said, face looking gaunt. Erisa nodded to herself and joined Han. The woman was genuine. A leader of the Amamati or so Tayella had told her. In a way she had been more powerful than herself, maybe still was. That doesn’t matter, she told herself, once the Otess are destroyed then your job is over. She shook her head glancing back at the two woman and the writing on the ground. She felt a shiver go through her.
She turned away as Han crumbled the rest of the rocks in front of them to dust. There was no cheer, no sound at all.
Before them stood an ancient city. It looked similar to the parts that had remained when she was a child, slowly sinking into the estuary, here it was in ruin, though some of the buildings bore life. She pushed down the sick feeling in her stomach that told her this was a futile fight as she looked up at the second set of walls, lined with Otess and gestured behind her for the others to follow her inside.
“Search the streets, we don’t want any surprises from the sides or behind.”
The streets were broken by greenery but the main street leading straight up had been blocked in places. Instead of taking side streets she had Han carve a way through, she would not let them get trapped down small streets, hopefully if they needed to retreat this would help too. But there was no sign of the Otess close by and so they climbed the hill towards the walls higher up.
“I assume that we have a plan once we reach the top.” Arlin kept pace beside her, she did not seem to be taking her new duties lightly. Erisa just hoped the woman would see this through, she hoped they all would but the city would need people like her, not corrupted by the power she had held, not even now.
“I have to admit, I am not an expert on these things, I have never seen a battle on this scale, nor have I taken a fortress like this before, I would have said not long ago that it was impossible.”
“Then how do you expect us to be able to manage it.”
“Because,” Erisa continued after a moment’s thought, “If we do not then what you knew as Seshi will be gone, at least what you like about it. I can already see the changes, I can only hope that here we defeat the Otess, and cut them off at the base so the rest fall.”
“That is a little morbid,” Arlin said with a cold laugh but glanced back at Sareti and pursed her lips. “I wonder if everyone here would run if they knew that you were so doubtful.”
“Run where, there is nowhere for them to run.”
Arlin shrugged her shoulders, “Still are you going to enlighten us to what the plan is or should I make one myself.”
Erisa raised her eyebrows but continued, “The fortress is square and with four entrances, from what we can see they have not been walled up like the last one was. I am not sure why they were not defending the last one better, it feels as if they wanted us to be inside the walls.”
“What about the building?” Arlin said, “The woman who survived said that it was rigged to collapse as we were walking through it but taking down the entrance did it before.”
“I don’t know,” Erisa said pushing down the flutter of fear in her stomach, “I have a bad feeling about it but there is not much we can do, I am only hopeful that we were able to bypass that relatively easily.”
“Hase died for that, along with many others, I would not say that it was easy.” Arlin’s expression was dark. Erisa wondered how long the woman would listen to what she said before she thought that she knew better.
Erisa laid a hand on the woman’s shoulder and spoke softly, “We would have lost countless others if we had to scale those walls to get past them, their sacrifice has saved many lives in attempts to get past them.”
“More like postponed the deaths,” Arlin said, looking up at the walls which were closer now.
“We can either spread ourselves out and attack all of the gates or we can attack one with all of our force. This one is the largest and the most obvious to attack, we can also fall back to the outer wall if necessary and hold in that entrance.”
“Push all of our force at one,” Arlin agreed, “That is probably our best option, but I am assuming that you have already made up your mind.” Erisa nodded which prompted a snort from Arlin.
“But we need to take the walls as well, they will be able to fight us from above if we cannot stop them. We need wranglers on all fronts, to initially take the walls, once we have a hold on them the others will follow and spread. Once we are inside it is likely to get nastier, remember we don’t know how many are in there nor…”
“Those Otess do not cover their faces,” Arlin said over her, “And they wear black robes instead of the usual wrappings, why is that?”
Erisa looked up. Sure enough the Otess on the wall predominately were unwrapped and some even held what could only be spears. “I don’t know how they work, how they train or anything more than you do. They have been a mystery since before the splitting of the city, and even long before that or so Hanan told me.”
“Do you think we will ever be fully rid of them?” Arlin asked after she lowered her gaze, they were nearing now, the bars of the large gate easily visible. Others had seen the Otess with spears and were shifting uneasily.
“I can’t be sure,” Erisa said, “Now, help Han organise our army, make sure they know what they are assigned to. I want scouts around the city while we fight to make sure they are not sneaking up behind us and I want the rest of the walls watched. I don’t know what they will try but this will not be an easy fight. Once we get inside the walls…” She trailed off, we don’t know until we are there.
Arlin said something in reply but Erisa had already strode away from her and searched the crowd. Finally she caught sight of Sareti and breathed a sigh of relief. To her surprise Tayella was with her although her eyes were distant and red.
Erisa grasped Tayella’s hand and murmured a few words of sorrow but the woman just nodded absently, expression unchanging. Sareti looked shaken as well, her eyes were red from crying but every step seemed slightly less hesitant and a determined look crossed her face. Erisa remembered her ordeal with an Otess and looked up at the keep above them. There was facing your fears but this must be like facing them a hundred fold. She pursed her lips. She needed these two woman whatever had happened to Hase. I can’t think about him now. Still the news that he had not been found among the ruble prompted a dangerous bit of hope within her. I did like him, I could even have called him a friend under better circumstances. He had become a second person to really trust in only a week or so.
“Erisa, is there something that we can help you with? You look lost.”
Sareti’s voice pulled her back into the real world, “Yes, I have something that you can do, but I don’t think,” she gestured to Tay, “That you are in any fit shape to go…”
“I am,” Tayella snapped, her eyes sharpening.
Sareti looked at her and then back at Erisa, “Whatever I do, she will help with.”
Erisa sighed but shook her head, she only hoped that it would not cost anyone their lives. “I need you to go with Han, I must stay with Arlin and break into the city, but I need you to find that weapon and destroy it before it can be used against us, Han doesn’t think that it is a weapon but then again he thought that he was the only earth wrangler as well.”
“You want me to break into the city on our own and…” Sareti trailed off as a few wranglers stepped up to them, skin glowing. A young man that looked barely sixteen had an excited grin on his face and a woman who looked double his age. Sareti named them as Ferna and Luia. “What do you want?” She said frowning, “Arlin…”
“Arlin does not know much about commanding wranglers, Tayella, Sareti, we need you. She even said so herself. When you were gone we struggled to hold together, we lost several wranglers because they would not listen to her.”
Tayella looked between the woman and the young man who was nodding to everything the woman said. Then Tay looked to Sareti and Erisa. “I think I must stay, I will not abandon them like…” She choked off and embraced Sareti for a third time. “I will stay. I will only slow you down in there, I was never as good at sneaking around as you were Sareti.” She smiled weakly and let Ferna lead her away. Sareti looked after her as if she were the lost one now.
“Sareti, they will take care of her, and she is right, she is more use here than in there, she managed to unite the wranglers in the east and I think that she must return. It was wrong of me to take her away, as necessary as it was.”
“Necessary,” Sareti hissed, “Of course it was.” Her stare turned cold and Erisa had to surprise a shiver, “Keep her safe, if it is the last thing you do. Oh and…” she paused meeting Erisa’s gaze, “Tell Arlin… If I don’t make it out, tell her I like her a lot.” She stalked off towards where Han was giving orders. Erisa found herself smiling and leaned back against a building.
Han has to be right about being able to disperse the power inside the vial, she hoped that he managed to get that far. If they had found it.
The army was spreading out now, with Arlin now standing in the middle with Tayella intercepting the column. A wide open space fifty paces wide encircled the inner fortress and she watched quietly from the side as the army formed. She glanced back the way they had come. Fifty guards stood at the entrance to the city around the rubble, protecting their retreat and she saw many scouts disappear into the buildings and streets. So far everything was running smoothly. She almost chuckled at the thought, in her limited experience, things always went wrong.
Sareti crouched beside Han and attempted to calm her breathing. They moved in and out of the buildings as much as they could, always checking that the way was clear before moving out of one. If everyone else failed, it would still be a blow to the Otess, or so Erisa and Han said it would.
“How are we going to get in?” She said impatiently. She knew that on missions like this, patience was essential but not knowing information or the plan could be fatal. Hase. How many had died already because of the Otess. She tried to shut off all of her thoughts but it was difficult.
“I used to know this place,” Han said sadly, “I knew it very well.”
“What do you mean?”
“This used to be the palace, where… I lived.”
“You ruled?” Sareti felt slightly shocked but she knew she should have expected it, if she had been thinking properly, of course it would be on the highest part of the old city.
“Yes,” he replied tightly, “Where I used to live…”
“Were you a good ruler? There isn’t much left talking of the time before the split, and less about you.”
Han sighed, “It would be wrong to say that I had no part in it, I created the vial for one thing but the Otess stirred up old troubles, as as they are now.”
“We cannot change our past.”
“No, we can’t but I prefer to consider it a part of my life so disconnected from me that I barely know how I thought then, what I did. Now focus, we need to get inside. Assuming we survive, I will tell you all you want to know.”
“So how…”
“There are… tunnels under the walls, some that flow directly into the stronghold, I believe that most are filled in, they were the last time I was here, perhaps all of them now. I thought that I could make a new one but seeing as there is earth wranglers here already, we will have to try and find our way through the old ones.”
Sareti shivered thinking of dark damp tunnels. “Then what are we waiting for?” Why ask me of all people for this, she thought, chose Tayella or something, they like water.
Han shook his head with a brief smile and glanced out into the street before darting into a buildings that looked on the brink of collapse. When she entered she realised that it had and it was just the walls that were standing. She followed Han over rotten wood that crumbled to dust when she stepped on it. A small door was set into the rough wall. It fell apart under Han’s touch and showed a set of stairs leading down, narrow and roughly built.
“It is this easy?” She whispered, “We just step down into them.”
“Definitely not,” he chuckled, “We have a long way to go and as I said some tunnels already collapsed when I was last here. I don’t imagine that the Otess use them, when they can make more, I think it is dangerous enough boring through the ground that is sinking into the estuary.
“Hurry up then,” she said, “Erisa wants this done, so we better get it done.” Erisa needs us to do this.
“Of course.” He disappeared into the darkness. A moment later the tunnel was lit by a green glow followed by a red one from her. She tried to avoid snagging her black stealth garment on the rough walls but it was difficult as the walls pressed in getting narrower as they went. The steps went deep for she was moving down for quite a time. The smell was the first warning then she slipped on something wet and landed with a splash. She hurriedly pushed down the spirit fire before it could be swept away. Even so she lost almost half of it. Stupid, she thought, be more careful.
The green glow intensified and she looked around. The tunnel was not as small as the passage downwards thankfully but cold water soaked the hem of her garment quickly.
The tunnel was also uneven and rough although smooth underfoot, so much so that she thought it could have been cut by the water. She wrinkled her nose at the smell but didn’t comment, the water must be old, sitting still. That is definitely it. She splashed towards Han.
“This way,” he said. His glowing face was sad, “Once this was completely dry, well above the water line, I fear that it will not be long before this remaining part of the city will be completely gone, but maybe that would be best.”
Sareti opened her mouth to remind him of their task again but he had begun moving. So long as the Otess are destroyed I don’t care what happens to this place. The water got deeper in places but on average stayed the same height. Every now and then tunnel branched off, most much smaller and some nearly full with water. She wondered how many of the tunnels that Han had made himself, she did not imagine that it was the sort of work a king would do at all but then what should she know about such things.
“Just like old times,” Han said after they had been walking for a while. Sareti realised that she had no idea if they were walking towards the fortress or away from it, it was impossible to tell. “You know I never had a chance to thank you for helping me find this vial.”
Sareti chuckled, the sound echoing around them, “I didn’t intend to help you at all, but I realised that if anyone else could handle the knowledge properly then it would be you.” She remembers the room with the Otess. “I think you have an apology to make as well, you never rescued me when I saved you from the King.”
“I did help rescue you,” Han said with a chuckle, “in a roundabout way, I helped Tayella see that you would be useful, convinced her that she wanted to speak to you.”
“Of course you did,” Sareti said but felt humour seeping into her voice. “In all honesty I don’t know how you put up with her all the time, she seems to talk to everybody like she was a queen. Makes me wonder if she was actually the ruler of Seshi not you. You jump at her every command.”
“Very funny,” Hanan said dryly, “But you would be wise to do the same, she has definitely dealt with power better than I have.”
“Definitely,” Sareti agreed, “Maybe we have more in common than I originally thought, now that you have decided to not hold back who you are.”
Hanan laughed, echoing eerily, “Yes. When this is all over, I would like to get to know you better, maybe we can help Erisa and the others not make all the mistakes that we did.”
“Yes, when this is all over.” She let the unspoken comment hang in the air. If we make it out. “What’s the problem?” Han had stopped.
“The way ahead is blocked.”
Sareti peered ahead and sure enough the roof ahead had collapsed in and rock blocked the way. Some of the slabs were thicker than any wall she had ever seen. Just what we need, great! “What do we do? Is there another way?”
“Yes,” Han said grimly, “But I don’t think you are going to like it at all.”
“That’s encouraging.”
Han bent down to a tunnel that was barely high enough to crawl through, the water more than half of the way up it.
“You can’t really expect…”
“Yes, I do, now hurry up, every moment we delay is a moment for more of our soldiers to die fighting above.”
“Okay fine,” Sareti said taking the shake out of her voice, what am I doing here? The tunnel they were in was large enough that it did not feel too tight but the one she was looking at was many times worse, worse even than facing an Otess down here, at least then they could wound it with blades. The fear at the pit of her stomach would not go away and so she bent down and crawled after Han grumbling to herself.
The water soaked her thoroughly in the first moment and she could only barely manage to keep her head above the water as she crawled. The smell was worse here, closer to the water and did not look as clear as she would have liked in the green glow, more like canal water. Don’t think about it! Then it came to a point where the water was now above her mouth and only her nose poked above the water.
The light only shone through the water as the tunnel went down slightly. She froze. I am not going underwater in a tunnel! The light was fading and her heartbeat quickened. Neither am I going to wait in the darkness, she took a deep breath and plunged her head under and pulled herself forwards with her hands on the sides of the tight space, squeezing her eyes shut, she had no desire to open her eyes in water this murky.
The walls pressed in around her, suffocating and her lungs began to burn. She pushed her head up but there was no air. She began to move quicker, flailing under the water. Bubbles of air escaped her mouth as she tried to keep moving. Just when she thought that her lungs were going to crumple in on themselves hands grabbed her by the shoulders and pulled her up, head bursting from the water. She took a gasp of air and then another spitting out the vile taste of the water. She opened her eyes.
Hanan was peering at her in the gloom, dark skin glowing green. “Sareti! I thought you had got stuck!”
Sareti laughed shakily, “I was fine, I just…” She looked around the water was now only halfway up the tunnel and seemed to be getting less. She breathed a sigh of relief. “Just don’t leave me under for that long again.”
“Right.” Han raised an eyebrow, “I will keep it in mind.”
“This had better be worth it,” She said shakily, “I am not going back that way, I would rather fight my way through a hundred Otess all intent on killing me.”
“Well we may still have to do that, we need to move quicker, every moment we stall is a moment for the Otess to kill another man or woman. It will be easier to find this weapon if the Otess are busy fighting but that advantage will not last for long.”
“You mean you don’t think that we will win against the Otess?” Sareti said stopping in her tracks, I knew that it would be a difficult fight but…”
Han cut her off, “Just focus on what we are doing, finding the weapon.”
Sareti felt cold, Han had always seemed certain that they had a good chance with fighting the Otess, Erisa had too, she now wondered how much of it was a show. Why would they go into a fight…
“Han, are you just here because you have an opportunity to find the rest of the Earth Spirit, you don’t seem the type to enter a battle that you cannot win.”
Han didn’t stop splashing up the tunnel ahead of her, which had grown to allow a stooped walk, the water now just over her ankle. The steps seemed harder, “I am here,” he said, “Because I chose to, if you want to stay behind then go back the way you have come.” There was a harshness to his voice that had not been there before.
They walked in silence for a time, with just the echoing sounds of their steps on the now only damp floor, worn smooth as if there was sometimes water flowing down it. It had widened out as well and they had passed a few smaller tunnels branching off but Han kept moving forwards, upwards. Then suddenly the tunnel ended, a slab of rock blocking the path. The floor of the tunnel was cracked as if the rock had moved out of the ground. It looked eerily like the rock formations that had split Tayella’s ship in half.
“Is there another way?” She asked stepped up beside Han, “Another tunnel?”
“There is,” he replied quietly, “But I imagine that we will reach the same thing, a tunnel walled off, this is the work of the Otess, after seeing the ship, we have to go through this way.”
“But if you wrangle the Otess will know,” Sareti said frowning, it might bring them all down on top of us.”
“We don’t quite know if the Otess outside the walls were the only ones, and we don’t have a choice, we may or may not have pursuit after this point.” He glanced at her, “I can feel it, the vial, maybe that will put off them knowing that I am wrangling here.” He didn’t sound sure but she nodded.
“Do it,” she said, “we will face whatever comes.”
He chuckled but the glow in his hands intensified, “That is an easy thing to say when you don’t know what lies ahead.” He closed his eyes, the glow brightening until Sareti had to shade her eyes with her hands then with a loud crack the rock slab in front of them shattered as if it were made of shale. Han jumped back out of the way as bits of rock showered him from the ceiling. Some of the stone still held a glow. Torchlight was spilling through the gap from its bracket on the wall but there was no sign of an Otess.
Han glanced at her and she knew what he was thinking, if a torch was lit then it meant that it had to be lit and it would only be lit if people came here. She stepped through after him and reached to extinguish the torch but he put a hand on her arm.
“If they have a way of seeing when a torch goes out, we will immediately notify them.”
“We just made a loud noise if we are…” the sound of soft footsteps creeping towards them made Sareti jump. Han grabbed her and pulled her back onto the other side of the pile of rocks. The footsteps came closer and stopped. Han signalled to her with a hand and jumped up, glowing. There was a clatter and Han fell back, hands clasped around a spear in his shoulder. Sareti rose just to see a figure disappear down the hallway and around a corner. She jumped after him without thought and sprinted. The floor straightened out and light could be seen at the end. She dived, slamming her hands down on the floor. She shockwave pushed outwards, the noise echoing around the hallway almost as loud as breaking the rocks had been. The figure ahead stumbled and fell.
Sareti was already on her feet. She reached the woman as she was rising to her feet and tackled her to her feet. Her hands still glowing she grabbed the Otess’s neck and pinned her down. She screamed. Sareti realised as she hit the woman’s head with her elbow that her face was uncovered. She jumped back as if stung.
The woman looked younger than she, hair cut almost as short as it could be. Then she saw where her hands had been. Burned flesh blackened the area. She backed away horrified, images of Hase coming back to her.
Han stepped up beside her clutching the spear. His black top was torn but the skin was no longer torn. He glanced down at the woman on the floor and grimaced but stepped over her and entered the room beyond. Almost immediately he crouched and swung the spear around.
Stone crashed down from the ceiling and several of the torches on the circular walls were knocked from their holders. An Otess with their face covered but hands and feet free glowed as well but as she watched as soon as Han touched the skin of the Otess the glow went out and it fell, Han’s spear pierced the leatherbark wrappings with difficulty but he left it there brushing his hands as if he had touched something filthy. A useful trick, she thought.
The room was otherwise empty, save for torches and tunnels leading off from all around. There was none that distinctly looked like they would lead upwards but Han chose one to his right immediately. She followed into the tunnel, this one with a relatively flat floor and high roof. It was not cold down here, in fact if felt warmer than above but the chill had hit her when she had killed that woman, that girl.
“Han,” she whispered when they reached a door, “I killed a woman that was younger than me, by years… I don’t…” She pulled him in a hug and let tears run down her cheeks silently.
“It is necessary,” he said quietly, “I don’t like killing nor fighting, I would avoid it if I could but it is not possible in the world we live in, not if we want to prevent the very same thing.”
Sareti nodded but couldn’t bring herself to agree completely, the look of the burns on the woman’s neck were still imprinted on her mind. She was an Otess! She told herself. It didn’t rid her stomach of the feeling.
Han pushed the door open revealing steps leading up. He stared at them for a bit before taking them two at a time. The steps she realised were not cut from the stone, but built. The walls were the same, big blocks. They must be in the foundation of some kind of building.
“Where are we?”
“The keep,” he said, “Just follow me closely and keep quiet, I know this place, although it has been a long long time.”
A century was more than a long time, a very long time. Sareti shivered and moved as silently as she could, passing torch after torch. Eventually they came to another door, more elaborate than the first and studded with iron. She thought that even with her wrangling it might take a bit to get through it but Han just pulled it open.
Two Otess without their faces covered stood looking slightly surprised but it didn’t last long. With a shout they jumped forwards, both at the same time and tumbling backwards down the stairs, stopping just before Sareti.
She jumped into action, lunging with her knife while trying to avoid injuring Han at the same time. The first Otess took several cuts across the face and Sareti dropped her knife and grabbed him by the shoulders, launching him down the stairs further. He didn’t stop and the clatter echoed up. When she turned Han was still wrestling with the second Otess who was red with the effort. Han’s face was red and the Otess hit him with blow after blow but he held on, hands pressing on his neck. Sareti leaned in and plunged her dagger into his chest the blade cutting through the leatherbark with difficulty.
Han grunted and let go. The Otess went limp. He turned and helped her step over him, “That one was mine, I had him.”
Sareti shrugged and pushed him forwards gently. They stepped out into a largely empty room. The walls were of cut stone, fitted together with only thin gaps between. Window slits let a good amount of light in and a wooden staircase took up one corner.
“Where are we?” She asked.
“In a storeroom,” he said fixing his eyes on the door at the top of the staircase, “usually, or should I say a century ago this room would be lined with stacks of barrels and shelves, high all the way up the wall with only space to allow guards to hold those windows with long spears, “much has changed although I am guessing that they have not had need to hold the keep.”
“They might need those guards today,” Sareti said grimly but Han shook his head making his way for the stairs, “No, I don’t think it will come to the keep, we must defeat them long before they have to retreat like that, I know how defensible this place is, if we can find this weapon and do what we have to do, we must then try and stop them retreating here, by the lack of guards we have seen so far I would say that they have almost every Otess to fight out there, on the walls, or in the buildings.”
Sareti glanced out the windows. She could not see much, just the roofs of houses and an empty street below. The portion of the wall that she could also see was not very active. They were on the wrong side of the keep to see what was going on with Erisa and Tayella.
Tayella crouched with her back against the wall clutching a rope. Around her people fell, bodies crunching onto the hard street.
She wiped tears from her face and gripped the rope with her teeth to begin climbing.
The wall was quite unlike the outer one with its smooth and slimy sides sides, this one was worn and ancient but equally as daunting. Hundreds of years of rain had worn ideal handholds into the grey rock, without these it would have been impossible to climb for it sloped outwards towards the top and thin gaps in the wall allowed the Otess to jab a spear through whenever someone got close enough. Four times she had fallen, the second time with a spear almost burying itself in her ribs. Otess with weapons, I am glad we never had to face these in the city. It was a stupid thought, if they failed here then the cities would soon find out.
Every time a body fell past her, Hase’s face flashed across her mind. He can’t be dead, not until I find the body, I don’t believe it. She growled in frustration as her hand slipped and looked up. She was nearing the portion with the slits. If I don’t survive then who is there to look for Hase?
Swinging outwards and allowing her feet to dangle across the street below she waited, arms burning. The spear moved quickly, its long thin blade perfect for quickly skewering her and knocking her off. Water slipped over her skin and the pain in her arms eased. She reached forwards and grabbed it. Pain laced her hand through the surging spirit water as she missed the end of the shaft. Letting go for a moment she grabbed it on the wooden shaft and yanked the spear free with a little effort and turned it, launching it up through the slit before swinging even further out to the edge.
“For Hase!” She said through gritted teeth as she swung herself up. Almost immediately a spear flashed her way but she again grabbed the haft and used it to pull herself over the edge, this time knowing that the blade was longer than usual. She landed in a heap on the parapet of the wall the Otess looming over her. The woman barely had time to look surprised before Tayella snapped her leg and she came crashing down. Woman, she thought, Before there were just Otess, now there are Otess wrangling earth, others without face wraps and now wielding weapons.
She swung the spear in an ark giving her a vital moment to loop the rope around the edge and get to her feet. All of those around her wore no face coverings and bore weapons, and surprisingly didn’t move with the fluency of what she was used to. A welcome fact in a sea of setbacks.
The woman at her feet tried to latch on to her legs and she stabbed down without looking. Her breath caught in her chest at the sightless gaze as she jumped forwards, using the long blade to keep them back from the narrow slits. Two more Otess guards came at her, she stabbed at one, catching them on in the stomach and slammed the half into the other, knocking them both over the other-side of the wall. Tayella slammed her fist into a third and a fourth, the blows blending into the others. Sweat ran down her face and her tight bun and dagger threatened to fall. She briefly acknowledged that she was fighting with people.
She was dimly aware of her spirit water diminishing until a hand grabbed her shoulder and pulled her back from an Otess completely covered.
“Tayella!” A young man said, whom she realised with a start was Luia, “you need to replenish your spirit water.”
“Luia,” she said, “I told Erisa not to let you come on the walls, you are too…”
“I am here,” he growled face hard, “to fight the Otess.”
Tayella glanced around and realised that they now held a large portion of the wall. She took a look over the other side and bit her lip to stop from gasping. Down below and further over where the gate was was still more Otess, and those without face coverings. The rest of the city was just like the one below although the buildings better kept and bigger, more elaborate. In what she assumed was the centre was a palace of some kind, defensible of course but elaborate stone and windows.
“Tayella!”
She turned back and blinked at Luia holding onto her shoulders and shaking, “What?”
“You have been fighting for ages, go rest a bit, there is…”
“I can continue,” Tayella said brushing off his hands, “Another portion of the wall perhaps, or…” Who will find Hase? “Fine, but save me an Otess or two.”
Luia cracked a weak smile which turned to shock when she jumped off the side of the wall, using the last bit of spirit water to strengthen her legs just before she hit the ground. A slab cracked under her foot and she ran into the crowd of soldiers. Some were pulling limp or struggling bodies away from the foot of the wall while others surged forwards, towards rope ladders that had been put up.
Sareti found herself through the crowd towards a large building with wide windows. She was let through, past the guards and up the stairs without comment, she wasn’t sure because she was permitted or because they didn’t like the look on her face.
She found Erisa sitting at a large table worn from use looking out of a window. Maps were spread out on it and several men and woman were pouring over them as well. It was close to what she had seen when they had taken the west back for her. She bit back a sniff, Hase had been there then, he had… she pushed the thought away and held it there, now she needed to be strong. Hase has to still be alive, looking for me. It was possible, she didn’t know how many fought but the crowd in the main street was huge, as could easily be seen out the large gaps in the walls. Windows, they could have been windows once.
“Sareti.” Erisa’s clear voice cut through the low murmurs that filled the room. Erisa stood up, marking her in the group of men and woman writing furiously on sheets of paper and studying maps frantically. She moved forwards and grasped Sareti’s arm and pulled her over to the side of the room.
“You were away a long time,” she said quietly, “I thought that you must have died up there until someone reported back that you had almost singlehandedly destroyed several dozen Otess guards. I wasn’t expecting you to return until every last one of them was lying on the street below.”
“I wasn’t going to, but I needed water,” she said, trying to keep the ice from her voice, without Erisa, Hase would still be alive. She bit her lip again, it must have been bleeding by this time, no, Erisa was not to blame. She sighed, “How is the attack going, I am interested, I see that they are guarding the gates well…”
“It’s going well, against our odds, we are doing better than expected, but then again we didn’t know what to expect…”
“I am well enough for this, Erisa,” Tayella said slumping in a chair, “Tell me more.” She straightened her back when Erisa raised an eyebrow at her posture. I am not that tired.
Erisa studied her before speaking as if wondering if she was trustworthy enough. “We have taken a good portion of the wall but they are holding back our soldiers effectively and we can’t get above the gates nor can we get through them, most of this army is useless unless we get through them, and spreading around the city will only make us weak to Otess attacks from out with the walls.”
“I see, wants next then.”
“What we need to do is take the other side of the gates as well in a different place, and stop them from backing up those that fall so easily, trapped between two sides of our army and they will fall much easier.”
Tayella nodded maybe a little too quickly, “I will be right back, once I have water.” She didn’t wait to see Erisa’s reaction and was pounding down the stairs before the words reached her ears. As soon as she left the building she noticed a distinct difference in the light, a deep glow reflected off the clouds to the west and torches were now being lit where they fought. She shuddered, fighting the Otess in the daylight had to be bad enough… She had even gotten used to it, in the dark it would be like before but worse.
She soon passed through the crowd of soldiers bustling about with their tasks and then she hit the area of wounded and dead, bundles in cloth and others just covered in cloaks to either side of the street. She almost gagged as more were dragged in. She begun to run down the wide gap in the middle past people ferrying water through the city. They must have found a well in one of the islands, or maybe the ships were still ferrying water across.
Eventually she reached the pile of rubble and her heart sank lower. She had searched almost every rock and pile of rubble. They had found the body of a guard, a wall guard but nothing else. He has to be there, she thought, or he is fighting, he must be if we can’t find his body. It was obvious that the building had been large from the sheer size of the rubble pile. She shuddered again at the thought of it falling on top of her.
A double row of guards let her out just as they were letting a group of men and woman with buckets through. “Water, for the soldiers,” one of the men’s voices seemed to grate in his throat. Sareti frowned, something was off about them but she could not think what.
“Miss, but would you please move on…” She hurried past and out of the now open archway still dwelling on the thought. A great deal of bucket holders were knee deep in the water slowly filling up the buckets. She opened her mouth to shout at them for being slow about their jobs but closed it and waded in instead. I can’t lead, Sareti and Arlin can, but I can’t. Of course maybe she needed help but she didn’t want to lead, just to fight. Erisa had understood.
Tayella bent down and put her hands in the water and sighed with relief. Spirit water flowed into her, noticeably less than before and she pushed it down until she could almost hold no more, no point giving herself away to any Otess that might be watching. She splashed her face which felt dirty and grimy. A single droplet rolled down her lip and onto her lips. She tasted salt and grimaced, at the taste.
She froze. Salt water, of course it was, it was connected to the ocean. The water carriers had said they were bringing water to the soldiers, as if it were fresh, to sterilise the wounds? I don’t know if that is even a thing. Maybe just to wash, not to waste…
She glanced to either sides and straightened slowly. How long does it take to fill a bucket? None of the water carriers seemed to take any notice of her, some even seemed to be avoiding looking at her. She suddenly felt as if she were surrounded by Otess she couldn’t see. How far was she from the truth?
Tayella began to walk faster, but not so fast that she might attract attention, she wished suddenly that she would have a bucket, what type of soldier would leave the battle just to wash their face.
“You there!” One of the bucket men called, “Why do you not have a bucket?”
Tayella felt her heartbeat quicken, upon turning she took the chance to scan the boats, beached on the sand, they all seemed to still be there but why did that one sit lower in the water than it should?
“I… I seemed to have left it behind,” It sounded weak but she was too busy scanning the forest around them. How many people could… She didn’t get the chance to finish the thought as the trees around the open space of water shook and figures dropped to the water, splashing towards her. These men and woman did not carry buckets. Most of those that did, dropped theirs and those that must have been real water carriers were soon face down in the water, limp.
But who were these people? Sareti had mentioned that they had problems with factions of the city resisting them and supposedly working for the Otess, but… She glanced back at the gap in the wall. The men who had been speaking to her were suddenly running through the water, faster now that it was only ankle deep. Tayella suddenly let herself glow and the men faltered but didn’t stop. She drew the water up around her and sent a surge towards them. She did it again and again but within seconds she was breathing heavily, the waves dissipating and the men and woman standing, exposing colourful tassels tied around their wrists. Torin, she thought eyes widening.
She looked back again to the entrance to the city. If only she could reach the guards then… she turned and jumped letting a column of water catch her and propel herself towards the gap. She knocked a man down who had been climbing down and kept running, the water crashing down behind her.
“Guards! Prepare yourself, there are Otess guards among the water…”
She found the first body, lying knife in back. And then the second. Footsteps told her someone was approaching and she readied herself, anger coursing through her veins.
“I didn’t expect you to be here, Tay.”
The voice and nickname made her stumble backwards. She knew that voice, she had not heard it in a while but she knew it. Torin stepped out in front of her, lit only by the blue glow she realised that was coming from her hands and face. No!
“I didn’t expect you to get caught up in my sisters plots,” he said in a much too calm voice, splashes behind her showed that the men were getting closer, “Even less ones involving the West, what is this, Easterners fighting with westerners, you…”
“This is not Sareti’s plot,” Tayella growled, “It’s one of mine.” Torin faltered slightly, his mask of calm slipping. She stepped forwards, keeping an eye on the long dagger at his belt. She felt that she had already been stabbed, Torin? “Sareti did mention your name, but I don’t think I actually believed that you would actually fight for the Otess. Lest attack us!”
“I don’t fight for them,” Torin replied, anger creeping into his voice as well, “I fight to protect the East. I, we know, I fight to protect what we had.”
“Torin.” Tayella’s voice was now almost humorous, “We never knew the real East, controlled by the Otess behind strips of bark, don’t tell me that just because you made some bad decisions that you…” They were now only a pace apart and she could see Torin’s fist close on the dagger.
“You never saw through Sareti,” he said, “Never! I wanted to rely on you and you forgot about me for my sister, like my parents eventually did, like everyone did, until I was needed.”
“I never will forget you,” she whispered, tears sliding down her face, aware of the boots thudding on the ground behind her, “This is not what we talked of when we snuck along the rooftops, not what we planned.”
“Tayella,” he said, face now harder than rock, “That was ten years ago, ten. Maybe a year ago I still believed that the world was a nice place where nice people always won. Then Sareti left.”
Tayella stepped up to him until her face was only a hand away from his. “Sareti is not the reason you are so bitter,” she spat, “I never believed that lie, Torin, my parents cast me out to avoid attention and a myriad of other reasons…” She cut off, eyes widening as a blade pinched her neck slightly.
She backed away almost tripping over the body of a guard. Torin stared at the knife now, wide eyed. He began to speak to reach out but she slammed her fist into his stomach and he flew back. She turned and ran.
She dodged past men and woman who swung at her with long spears and knives clattered on the ground, a few must have touched her skin for she felt a surge in the spirit water but she kept going, ignoring them all. Tears began to fall from her eyes as she moved. I never hurt him before, I swore I never would. Wrangling had been one of many sore points for Torin, that and his Sister’s power.
The thin line of water carriers had ceased and where she looked she caught glimpses of dark shapes that had been dragged into the side streets, she caught sight, a few times of shapes moving at the opposite ends of the street. She glanced back. Dark figures were moving what she thought must be rocks but she could not see properly, not with darkness closing in fast. She redoubled her pace, the tail end of the army in front. She darted through them at long last and found her way to the building.
She pounded her way up the stairs. Erisa and several woman looked up startled, some half drawing weapons before sheathing them with a sigh of relief.
“Tayella!” Erisa stood up, “I knew you were not fit for this, please, I can find you something to do running messages or…”
“Erisa,” Sareti said, leaning on the table, panting, “The gates, we are trapped in.”
“What do you mean,” the warm look had vanished from her face replaced with shock, “How can…”
“The entrance,” Sareti said, “the Otess have taken the entrance, disguising themselves as water carriers, the guards are all dead.”
Erisa opened her mouth and stopped. She enhanced a glance with the woman around her, all of their attention was now back on Tayella. “Tell me how many?”
“I can’t say,” Tayella said, “Too many, I could not even hold back a few, they came from all around.”
“We can cut our way through,” Erisa said, “We still have at least half of the food and supplies on them ships, and Water, we still haven’t found a well with drinkable water here, most are destroyed.”
“They sunk the ships, and are probably burning them, stopping our retreat.”
Erisa turned and glanced out of the window. “It makes sense.” Her voice was quiet, almost trembling, “The wall was never to keep us out, it was to keep us in.”
“But why?” Tayella said, “Why would they even try to?”
“Because,” Erisa turned back to her eyes widening, “They don’t mean to let us fail at this and return, they mean to pen us in and destroy us.”
“So that we will never be able to fight back again.” Tayella whispered. “We must take the entrance back, we can…” Capture Torin.
“No!” Erisa said, “The stronghold, we must take the stronghold, whatever happens if we are able to retreat we will not get this far. The only thing to wait for…” Screams intensified from outside and the sound of swinging blades, “…is for the wolves to be let in.”
Tayella ran to the window and looked out. She had never seen a wolf, but if they caused fear anything close to an Otess then they must be terrifying. Dark shapes moved through the soldiers below, and men and woman fell all around them.
“Tayella, the wall, we need to take the wall!”
She turned back and dashed down the stairs. She is right of course, but…
Sareti ran along the stone hallway after Han, the stone cold under her bare feet. All sense of stealth had been abandoned in the first hallway when they had met half a dozen guards. Han had taken to calling them that and it was adequate, they were not nearly as formidable as Otess yet they had still provided quite a delay.
Despite taking several major hits he did not limp and did not even seem to be bleeding anymore. “Han!” She said through gritted teeth, “Slow down slightly, I just…”
“We can’t,” he said without turning back, “Look outside, something bad is happening out there, they are losing ground.”
She did look out the narrow windows that were spaced only a pace apart on the wall, catching glimpses of the battle raging further down the slope over the rooftops. She turned her focus back on the wall ahead, it was difficult enough knowing that they were unable to help but seeing people dying…
Han tripped, the floor shattering beneath him. He was already glowing green when he hit the floor. Sareti jumped past him, throwing herself at the Otess with glowing feet and hands. Not another one! Rock shot from the slabs, catching her in the stomach and pushed her towards the ceiling. She screamed, the sound cutting off as she gasped for breath. Then the rock shattered under her and she crumpled to the floor. When she finally looked up, Han was crouching over the Otess repeatedly stabbing his knife in and out.
“Just making sure,” he said grimly, “I know how much I can handle, but I have never known another wrangler like me…” he trailed off and stood up.
“How close is it?” She asked letting him help her to her feet. She noticed that Han was still bleeding from scrapes on her arms, “And how come are you not healing anymore.”
“I need rock, rock connected to the earth,” he looked around, “these rocks were never enough to even provide a trickle of spirit earth, too small.”
“How close?” She repeated glancing quickly behind her. She sighed with relief when the hallway was clear. Most of the hallways in this forsaken keep were full of Otess guards, she didn’t even have an idea of where she was apart from that they must now be on the south side of it. The glow from outside was gone but the screams were not.
“Close,” he said and turned. The hallway opened out here, revealing a large staircase of stone blocks, how it held itself up was unclear. Otess swarmed up and down the staircase disappearing to levels above and below. She sighed.
“Is there another way?”
“To here? No, we need to go up those stairs as fast as we can.” He gestured to the bodies on the floor. “We need disguises, I don’t think that we will get far like this.”
Even before he had finished moving his arm she was shaking it. “I will not, I would rather fight…”
“I don’t care what you would rather do,” Han said, “This is the only way.”
“So you keep saying,” she grumbled. Han tried to closest door. It opened to her relief into a dusty room filed with broken furniture stacked on top of even more broken furniture. He dragged the body of the Otess inside and closed the door quietly.
Sareti let a trickle of spirit fire through and lit the torches closest to the door, there was no point wasting spirit fire here. She frowned down at the Otess on the floor, “Han, I don’t think we will both fit in that, we…”
“No need,” he said and sliced down his black garment with his knife. It fell away revealing wrappings of leatherbark, akin to an Otess guard, if a little looser. “I prepared for something like this, I am going on no matter what, if you want to stay behind…”
“I am coming,” she growled, “just hurry up about it.” She shivered every time she looked at him, he looked too close to an Otess for her liking. They began unwrapping the Otess of its bark strips, Han moving methodically and Sareti flinching with every touch. It felt wrong, not because it was a corpse but what it was. They didn’t seem to have been applied in any particular way but one side of it was sticky like sap. She tried not to gag as Han unwrapped legs and began to wrap her her feet. The man’s dark skin was revealed inch by inch and she had to turn herself away letting Han wrap it around her. She pulled off the rest of the black garment and stood in the dim light in her undergarments. Every inch of her skin that was covered itched and she felt sick.
“Stop shaking,” he said, not unkindly, “I can’t apply this very well but if you shake it will look so bad that they will see right through you.”
“You have done this before?” She asked. He didn’t reply and she took that as a yes. Why doesn’t that surprise me. The wrappings took a while but before she knew it he was wrapping her chest and then around her neck. He stopped there.
“I would like it if we had enough bark to cover our faces but I don’t think they should recognise us anyway. I did see some of the Otess with longer hair, not shaven.”
“Lets go then,” Sareti said stepping towards the door. Maybe covering the face would help. She looked down and almost gagged at the sight of herself. It’s just bark, she told herself.
Hanan stepped out of the door behind her and she shivered again, how could he not shake looking at me like that? Han stopped and grasped her in a hug, “If all goes wrong up there, I hope it does not, but if it does, can you destroy the vial for me.”
“If I break it,” Sareti said shaking her head, “It will destroy the keep and the soldiers outside, or most of them, I cannot control earth like that.”
“Just do it,” he said, “It is better that the Otess are eradicated, enough of the soldiers will survive to regroup and rebuild, if we fail then we will have no chance. And besides, I am sure that it is not that powerful.”
Sareti sighed but nodded. “Well it isn’t going to come to that, so I won’t worry about it.” She squared her shoulders before stepping quickly after Han when he moved off without a word. How would an Otess walk?
They made their way along the hallway and then onto the landing. The otess around them didn’t give them a second look although Sareti felt naked to their eyes. Haunted eyes, she had never seen so many Otess’ eyes, Otess wore face coverings, why did they not here? She tried to walk normally but her skin itched and it had begun to hurt. Or am I imagining that. She had seen the marks on the Otess’s skin. I hope my skin doesn’t end up like that! How could she explain that. It was better than being captured for sure. Who knew what an Otess would do for information.
Han’s impression of the Otess was uncanny, but she supposed that he had been around for more than a hundred years, before the Otess were what they were now. She tired to mimic him and followed close behind as he took the first few steps up the stairs.
Otess hurried past her on the way down and some overtook them on the way up but there was no sound save for soft footfalls, no talk, nothing. She wondered if they actually talked at all. She looked up and panicked. Han was no longer in front of her. She glanced to the side and found him walking onto the landing they were on. She squeezed through two Otess to get to the landing and almost gasped at the feeling of being so close to them. If one of them decided she was to die now, there was no chance they were going to make it out of the keep. At least I will take a dozen Otess with me!
“You have no authority to enter this hallway,” an Otess with all of their skin covered save for her hands and feet. She moved with a deadly grace, like that of a mountain cat, not that Sareti had ever seen one, but she had heard of them.
“I do,” Han said nodding in respect as she had seen other Otess guards do to those who were fully wrapped. “I…”
The woman did not move but turned and walked into a room, “I will need a paper, signed by the Otessen himself, he did say that he would send people to check up on our prisoner, but I thought he would send something other than…” Her voice trailed off and Han and Sareti hurried after her. Otessen? Was that their leader?
She entered a small room with a simple wooden table in it and a large door at the far side, guarded by a layer of Otess guards, five strong. Sareti winced, if they had to fight their way through then there was little chance of them both getting through alive, let alone one of them.
The Otess turned from the table and held out her hand. Han held out a closed fist and she was about to draw away, her hand now glowing. Then Han grabbed her hand and the glow vanished. She stood there shocked staring at her hand. Then the room erupted. The guards against the wall drew long daggers as Han drove a knife into the chest of the woman, letting her fall forwards onto the desk, scattering papers.
Sareti jumped on the floor and a blast echoed around the room. Anything not secured was flattened against the walls of the small room. When she leapt to her feet again three of the guards were dead, the other two engaged with Han but as she watched Han grabbed the bare neck of one and a moment later he let go and the guard collapsed. The second found himself pinned against the floor, blood pooling around him.
Han stood looking sick but slightly pleased with himself at the same time. Or sick from feeling pleased. “Well,” he said quietly, “we better move, but… the trick the Otess use to be such good fighters, how they are so hard to kill, it’s interesting, and worrying.” His face twisted sadly of all emotions as if he were just coming to a realisation. “No, not yet,” he murmured to himself, “I have to be sure of everything.”
Sareti frowned as she tore a key from a small pocket on the Otess woman’s chest. She slid it into the lock and it turned quietly with a click, “Well, please explain, any help would be welcome.”
“It might now help you,” he said, following her into the dimly lit hallway of stone and shutting the door behind him letting her lock it, “I found traces of spirit earth in nearly every Otess, but none of the guards, and not just those that had their hands and feet exposed. I cannot be sure but I think if we…” he cut off as sounds of shouting came from behind he groaned and ran past her. Sareti increased her pace.
The hallway was long and a single door stood closed at the end. Han didn’t bother to try and open it normally and instead the rock around it crumbled and it fell inwards filling the corridor with a harsh green light that almost blinded her. She stumbled to a stop in the doorway, shading her eyes.
Han stood facing a huge ceramic sphere, somehow the glow passing through the clay. Markings and pictures decorated the outside but she could not tell what any of them meant, it was difficult focusing on them. Han however was now running his hands over it and sighing contentedly, a glow pulsing through him. A crash made her tare her eyes off him and jostle Han’s shoulder, “Hurry up we don’t have enough time!”
“I am trying,” he said worry tinging his voice, “I don’t know how I can release it without destroying the whole stronghold, we are not that desperate yet!”
“I don’t know about that,” a voice croaked from the corner of the room. Sareti spun seeing the man chained to the wall for the first time, “I know the Otess, they won’t leave you much time.”
“What do you know about anything?” Sareti said recognising the man with a start. Without the soiled robes and dirty face she would have quicker. “King Kaman?” She said, “I heard that you went missing, “I never thought you would betray the west.”
“I never betrayed anybody,” he spat the smile sliding from his face, he tried to shift position but collapsed moaning, legs bent in an awkward position. “Does this look like I am working with them?”
“You were an Otess.” Han said from beside her, the vial suddenly forgotten making her jump for a second time, “Tell me how to open it.”
Sareti glanced at him, “The king, an Otess?”
Han pursed his lips, “Hmm, I remember him now, you see for some reason the Otess couldn’t be wranglers, so no he never was properly an Otess.”
The king croaked a laugh again, “I used to be an Otess, and even if I did know how to open it, or use it, I wouldn’t tell you, I needed help and you never came. Twice! A hundred and twenty years ago and two days ago.”
“What are you talking about?” Sareti said.
Han shook his head and turned back to the giant ceramic vial. His hands glowed green and he moved to touch it but just before a spear took him in his side and he was thrown against the wall. An Otess entered the room followed by a dozen guards. Sareti tried to move but a few moments later she found herself pinned to the floor on top of two guards. She groaned as the guards above her, a man and a woman, both their heads shaved bald watching her with blank expressions.
“I killed many more of you,” she said through gritted teeth, “I will kill you too.”
Her goading did not seem to be working, for their faces remained impassive. The first Otess stepped forward and unlocked the King from his chains, lifting him into the air with ease. She almost gasped at the strength.
“Take her spirit fire away,” the man said with a cold voice, emotionless.
“I will n…” his voice cut off as the Otess grabbed him around the throat and cut off the sound. Sareti glanced to where Han lay, two more Otess holding him. The wound on his chest was only bleeding slightly but the spear had not been removed.
“Fine,” the Otess said looking at Sareti, not that she could see his eyes, “I can kill you instead, it will do the same thing and I think the battle outside will go better for us if you fire wranglers are no more.”
The king’s eyes bulged and the Otess let him drop to the floor, “I will do anything, do not kill me, I will…” he looked at Sareti, “I will make her talk.”
The Otess laughed, and Sareti felt a chill she had not ever heard an Otess laugh and it was a horrible thing. She thought it was the noise someone would make slaughtering innocent people. She shuddered and the Otess on top of her dug their knees into her more.
“Don’t let him!” Han gasped from the middle of the room, “Kaman, I am sorry that I never…” his voices cut off with a gurgle and a gasp. Sareti tried to move her head but one of the Otess grabbed it and turned it to face the Otess.
“The Otessen commands your expression, face him.” The otess above her barely moved her lips as she spoke but turned her face to face the Otessen, ignoring the smell of burning from Sareti’s glowing red face. This is the Otessen! She thought shuddering again, he had to be worse than every Otess if he were to lead them.
“I will enjoy this,” the Otessen said bending down beside the King and dragging him closer to Sareti, his voice sounded as if he did not care but she could not tell, it sounded so flat. “I have never seen this particular experiment done before.”
Sareti felt cold, the king on the floor looked like he was going to feint, his eyes bulged and a sound escaped. The Otessen crouched down and then in one snapped his neck. In that instant Sareti felt cold. Not just any cold but the cold when water had sucked away all of her spirit fire. The Otess raised his head to look at her and a deep laugh came out of him. What had he done to her?
“It worked.”
“Can we be sure?” The woman above her said flatly, “you must be sure.”
“Of course,” the Otessen said and stood, grabbing a burning torch from the wall and touching it to Sareti’s face. She felt the searing pain and screamed. She tried to absorb the spirit fire but nothing happened. The pain subsided slightly but her face felt like it was on fire. “It has worked,” he said standing up, “you may release her.” The guards atop her stood and let her get to her feet.
Sareti stood there staring at the King’s body, thoughts swirling through her head in-between bouts of pain. He had asked the king to remove her spirit fire and he had refused so that meant… She felt a sickness at the bottom of her stomach. She looked up at the Otessen watching her closely.
“He was the Host Sareti!” Han said from behind her, voice choking off.
“As in the host of the fire…” she felt a deeper chill as if water were filling her veins. She backed away from the Otessen as he began to laugh, “No, no, noooo!” If she had lost her wrangling abilities.
“We need some way to warn Erisa,” she said glancing at Han who still lay pinned by the spear and the guards.
He had closed his eyes and spoke through gritted teeth, the sound gravelly and quiet “She will already know.”
Tayella cursed as Ferna collapsed in front of her a spear in her chest. She dropped her own spear and dragged the woman back letting the other soldiers take her place. She bent down to yank the spear from her chest and apply pressure. I can’t do anything, she thought desperately pressing harder but the blood had already soaked the woman’s shirt and was pooling around them.
“Ferna?” Are you still here?
“The fire,” she croaked, “It just left.”
“What do you mean?”
“Spirit fire. It’s gone, gone completely. Tayella look after…” Ferna spluttered and Tayella was sprayed with blood. When she glanced back at the woman’s face her mouth was opening and closing but no sound came.
Tayella felt a chill, an image of the King’s empty chambers flashing through her mind, so it had happened after all, damn Erisa had been right! She looked around the wall and noticed that only the torchlight remained. Ferna went limp in her hands. She squeezed her eyes shut and stood up to glance along the wall. Only blue light glowed strongly on the wall now, other than the occasional torch, no red. She looked down towards the main street. A dark surge broke through Erisa’s lines as she watched. Fighting a battle in several directions was a horrible idea, it was worse now. Torin, she thought, I gave you a chance.
A water wrangler rushed forwards to fill the widening gap when another fire wrangler fell and Tayella jumped off the wall. Whatever had happened, she needed to check Erisa first.
She found the woman speaking quickly to Arlin who’s face showed fear openly in the blue glow coming from both Erisa and Tayella.
“Tayella!” Erisa said, panic seeming to cut through her level tone, “the fire…”
“I know,” she said quickly, “but we have another problem, I think Torin has sent a group of the easterners loyal to the Otess, the betrayers, to join the battle.”
“How many, we cannot stretch ourselves anymore.”
“We must take the walls, the gates are almost impenetrable, solid iron,” Arlin said, “If we can get it open before they reach us we can save as many…”
“I will try and buy you time,” Tayella said, “Me and Torin have some talking to do.” I should have killed him when I had the chance.
“You know him?” Erisa said grabbing her arm, “You will be killed anyway…”
“I knew him,” Tayella growled and pulled away from her grip.
“Be careful out there,” Arlin said as she dashed into the crowd.
She managed to barrel an Otess to the ground and choked it with water through its open mouth and continued. I have never done that, she mused coldly as she ran, with Otess it felt satisfying, at least it did until she thought of them as people and not monsters. Much quicker than she would have wished she passed out into open street. She looked around. The soldiers here were trying desperately to push deeper into the group, fleeing Otess and approaching men and woman alike. She was far from the surge of Torin’s mercenaries but here there hardly was a line, just Otess and desperately fighting people.
Tayella turned her gaze down the street and slowed to a walk as the column came closer, a man walking at the head.
“Tayella,” his familiar voice said, “I wondered when you would look for me.”
She felt the anger build but held it in and spoke calmly, “How can this be right? You mean to kill every…”
“The Otess will provide a strong and stable rule, and not allow any man or woman to play as if they know what they are doing, playing with people’s lives.”
“You are playing with lives,” she said stepping up to him so that they were barely a pace away. Two burly men stepped up behind him, glowing blue. She ignored them.
Torin just laughed, as cold as an Otess, if they did laugh, “Tayella, I thought I knew you, but here we are, you about to kill me. Only this time I am not at your mercy, I will not listen to your lies, fed to you by my sister. I will succeed without one of you pushing me into it.”
“You are a traitor,” Tayella spat. “I used to call you a friend, what happened to that?”
“My sister happened!” Torin’s face became heated and he drew his knife. “Advance!” He called and stepped close to Tayella, knife moving towards her, “I will not kill you, but I cannot let you kill the only remaining people who care about the East. Nor can I let you stop me from removing that master of yours from the mix.” Those around them ran past.
Tayella laughed and Torin faltered. She moved quickly, slamming the knife from his hand and grabbing him around the neck as the last of the soldiers passed her. She dragged him over to the darkness of a side street and crouched in front of him. He struggled but her grip was firm, arm only glowing slightly.
“I am going with you?” Tayella said, any hint of emotion wiped from her voice. “I still care about you, though I shouldn’t, for what you have done I should have killed you, or kill you now.” She tightened her grip and then loosened it as to show what she could do.
“I haven’t done…” he chocked off with a gasp. She let go and stepped back in horror for his skin was glowing green. Torin took a few laboured gasps and pulled himself to his feet, leaning against the old stone wall for support. The expression on his hand changed from fear to a grin and she froze just before a hand slammed into her neck and her feet were swiped from underneath her. She slammed into the hard pavers with a grunt. The last glimpse she saw was Torin disappearing into the street, one hand holding a long dagger and the other wrapped in leatherbark.
In the time she had taken to fall her hands were pinned behind her back and a weight pinned her down. What must have been her knife clattered further down the street. She braced herself, feeling every part of her skin tingle with the rush of spirit water. She slammed her head backwards and felt the impact slightly. The grip loosened and she wrenched her arms from her back and pushed herself over, grappling the body on top of her.
She had no need for the glow to see what she was fighting but a momentarily burst of light showed that she was alone with a single Otess, with all of its skin covered. Had it been a coincidence or a trap… The thought was smashed from her head as a fist connected with her face.
Despite the spirit water in her she felt blood seep across her face and punched back, taking the Otess on the side of the head, its head cracked to the side which would have killed anyone but it locked her arm in a grasp of iron and bent it, head still at an awkward angle.
Tayella screamed as her spirit water began to run out then there was an audible crack. She lunged with her free hand and managed to grab ahold of the otess by the neck, slamming it into the pavers where she had been. She blinked back tears of pain and punched down on its chest multiple times with multiple cracks. After a while she realised that it was a mess of bloody ribbons of bark. She stood up warily, one arm limp at her side. She tried to move and agony almost crippled her. She looked around. If she met another Otess here she would have little chance of escaping it. She pulled off her outer shirt and wrapped it carefully around her arm as best she could and looped it over her neck.
She then managed to stand up and wipe the blood from her face. She turned towards the main street and narrowed her eyes. Torin was out there searching for Erisa and he was an Earth Wrangler. An Earth Wrangler! How? She clenched her teeth and began to run towards the sounds of fighting.
Sareti tried to straighten but without any luck. Her bonds were too short to allow any kind of comfort, even to sit up straight. She instead shook them, the clasps around her wrists and ankles digging into skin. She glanced up, if only she could get that torch… Her face throbbed and one eye had puffed up so she could barely see with it.
Then what? I can no longer use spirit fire. She gritted her teeth and looked up once again, surveying the hallway. She had done that a hundred times but it had done little good, there was nothing in the hallway save for an open door at one end, green light lighting the hallway and making the single torch burning useless and Han slumped forwards in front of her. She wondered in that moment if the Otessen had put it there just to tear at her mind.
“Han!” She said after a time, “Have you thought of anything?” Han didn’t move. The gash on his shoulder had barely healed and was still leaking blood. She didn’t know much about his healing but she realised that if he stayed there any longer without help then he would die. If only she could get him enough Spirit Earth to heal himself. “HANAN!” He stirred and looked up at her.
“What is it?”
“Have you thought of a way we can get out of here? Tayella and Erisa fight outside and without the fire wranglers they cannot be doing well at all, please…”
“Sareti, I am sorry, we walked right into a trap and I could not even get into that vial.”
“The vial is not so important now,” Sareti said, “We just need to get out of here, then think about the vial.”
“Okay.” He slumped down again and she sighed. She had already asked him about trying to leach the spirit earth from the stones they were manacled to but apparently they were not big enough and even when she had made him try he had achieved nothing.
If only they could get something to pass with a vial of some sort and maybe she could break it and use it. She frowned at the thought, she would probably end up getting killed, to the Otessen she had no use anymore, with no wrangling abilities at all.
“Han,” she said, “If we wait here long enough, will I become an earth wrangler just from being near that… thing?”
“No,” he murmured, “Not close enough, and even if you were, ”
Sareti gritted her teeth in frustration. She stopped pulling on her manacles as the pain became too great. It did little for the pain over the rest of her body, still half wrapped in Otess wrappings. They had found it amusing that they had disguised themselves. She stopped moving and her eyes widened. The Otess, they were the answer.
“Han, the Otess, you think they are earth wranglers, but how could that be? None have been near you.”
“The vial, the actual spirit is trapped in it, I did it because I didn’t want to be challenged by anyone around me.” He laughed hysterically, “I was stupid, and I have spent the rest of my life searching to put it right, but it doesn’t help us, we cannot get out of here.”
“That’s not it,” Sareti said excitedly, “I mean that what if you could take the spirit Earth from an Otess that passed us, even if it were just a guard.”
“We…” Han’s voice cut off as the door at the opposite end of the hallway opened admitting multiple Otess, one with their whole body covered in wrappings and the rest Otess guards. It was not unusual, they came to check that the guards inside the room with the vial in it. They approached and passed without looking at them. They only remained in the room for a few moments and then walked back out of the room, the guards first this time. Then the full Otess stumbled as he passed Han and grunted in pain. Sareti looked up just in time to see the Otess shake Han’s hand from his leg. It stopped and looked down at Han before kicking him in the face. Han’s head smacked against the wall with a crack and blood ran down his face. Then the Otess was gone.
“Han!” She cried as soon as the Otess shut the door. “Are you alright!”
He did not move, blood now dripping onto the floor. She felt tears slide down her face then she gasped as the stone holding the chains shattered and he fell forwards. He moved slowly to a kneeling position. He straightened wobbly, getting to his feet, chains trailing behind him.
“Good idea,” he said clutching the wall he reached over and grabbed her wrist and the clasp cracked open then he stumbled, “I don’t have enough in me, I couldn’t take it all or they would have known what I was doing. I will be back in a moment.”
“Han!” She said, “you cannot fight them like you are, you need…” she trailed off, unwilling to let her voice rise above a whisper in case the guards in the room heard. Han stumbled along the corridor none too silently and disappeared into the room. For what seemed a long time nothing happened. Panic began to build up in her throat but she pushed it down forcing herself to take calm breaths. Then the sounds of crashing came from the room and a shout cut off. Then nothing again. Something had happened, but she didn’t know what. A figure darkened the doorway. She drew breath but as it approached she breathed a sigh of relief. Han was bending down and the clasps on his wrists cracked in half and then the ones on his ankles, the glow showing through even the wrappings.
The wound on Han’s shoulder was no longer leaking blood but had not fully healed either. He helped her to her feet and pulled her in a brisk embrace. “Thank you,” she whispered in his ear. She touched his wound and he winced.
“Not quite healed,” he said almost wearily, “I cannot hold enough of the spirit earth to do more than one thing.”
Sareti looked at him worriedly but didn’t voice her concerns, he was their only chance of getting out of this place alive, maybe even the whole of Seshi rested on her hands. “What’s next?”
“The vial.” He said quietly, “We need to get the vial open, that is what I came here to do.”
“But you cannot hold…”
He waved a hand, “we have no choice, we need to destroy the Otess, there is enough just in this keep to seriously endanger the others if they ever get inside the fortress.”
Sareti just nodded and hurried after him, biting back a yelp at the pain in her ankles. She entered the room and stopped. Three Otess lay faces down on the ground, almost where she had seen them last. And an Otess, she thought the one that had held her while the Otessen had killed the King also lay there. She swallowed hard and stepped over one of the bodies.
Han stood with his eyes closed and hands pressed against the vial, frustration crossing his face then it eased and his eyes opened. His arms began to glow.
“What’s happening?” She said excitedly, “Is it working?”
“Yes!” He said, “I needed to draw it through the vial, but it is still very difficult, I must try to break it while I am touching it, but you need to run, when this is released I won’t be able to handle it all.”
“I will not…” Shouts sounded from down the hallway. She glanced down in time to see Otess running towards them. She slammed the door shut and put her back against it, for what good it might do, “I cannot, just do it.”
Han shook his head and the glow intensified then there was a huge bang that echoed around the room and the vial cracked across the middle. His face was a mask of concentration as the cracks spiderwebbed. The concentration became pain and then the ceramic vial shattered.
Light filled the room, and the only thing she could look at was Han, a dark point in the room, and even still his skin glowed so green she almost wondered if he was going to melt.
“HAN!” She said, panic rising in her, “Control it!”
Han opened his eyes and looked at her. His pupils wavered and his body shook, the glow intensifying. “I can’t, I can’t hold it all, I can’t hold much at all, if I loose it, you will die!”
“Just do it,” Sareti said, pressed her back harder against the door as something thudded into it, “It is worth it.”
“Never!” Han said voice wavering, then suddenly there was a rush as the glow faded slowly, and she could see the walls again. Where block met block it glowed brightly. Then Han fell to the ground, the glow fading from him as well. Her eyes widened as the stone under her rumbled as if it were going to collapse. She jumped away from the door admitting an Otess guard. They stumbled into the room, horror on his face as he surveyed the broken shell of the ceramic vial.
Han began to laugh uncontrollably and he got to his feet, “I did it, I destroyed the way you make Otess so powerful, so infallible, there will never again be an Otess that can wrangle Earth.”
The Otess stumbled back from him, shielding their faces. Sareti glanced into the hallway and gasped. What had once been a clear hallway was now full of rubble. Bodies showed from underneath one of them. The Otess guard drew a long dagger and started towards Han.
Sareti didn’t give him a chance and grabbed his waist and toppled him, snatching the dagger from his hand and slamming it into his back. She yanked it back out with a grimace and chucked it to Han.
The glow receded from him and the floor began to glow and then the walls, cracking and splitting the rock. She sighed with relief.
“Can we go now?”
“No,” Han said picking up the blade, not bothering to wipe it and sticking it in one of the straps around him. “We still can do what we came here to do.”
Sareti sighed and pulled a second blade from the Otess guards belt. The blade was long and thin as if it were better for a skewer above a bed of coals rather than anything else and held it with one hand.
“A sword?” Han chuckled although there was no humour left.
“I will need it,” she said with a grunt, “Since I have…”
Han cut her off, “Do not think about that now, wait until you get out. Then you can worry about it as much as you want. Now time to show this Otessen what real Seshi people can do when someone threatens and kills them.”
Sareti took a deep breath and began climbing over the rubble after Han. Even as she did so she noticed that the walls were still glowing slightly green and deep rumbled moved from beneath them, dust raining from the ceiling.
“What did you do?” She said avoiding looking at a wrapped arm showing from underneath a block of masonry.
“I don’t know,” he admitted, reaching the door at the far end, “I put it all into the stone around us, and I can still feel it if I touch the walls but I don’t think this building will hold for very long, we need to be quick."
Sareti snorted despite herself, “That is easy to say, hard to do.”
Han stepped out of the door and rushed forwards but stopped the room was empty. The guards that had come to see what was happening must have come from the guard room. Han stepped forwards and the door in front of him fell to the floor, the stone it had been fixed to shattering.
“Sareti,” Han said through gritted teeth as he stepped over a line of glowing stone, cracking slowly, “You need to go, this is something I have needed to do for a hundred years, don’t get yourself killed over it.”
“I am coming with you,” she said hugging him, “Like old times, and don’t get yourself killed over it either.” Han grimaced but hugged her back.
They stepped out onto the landing and met the gaze of a group of Otess guards that were stepping forwards. The floor under them rumbled and a crack ran through the floor at her feet. The Otess guards jumped and looked at one another. Han was among them quickly. The stairs, still full of Otess jumped to help. She stabbed with her sword after realising it was bad for slashing until a hand pulled her out of the fighting Otess.
“They don’t know which one is which,” Han said, face grim and began to run up the stairs, passing more Otess on the way down. She followed even as the stone stairs shook and cracks spiderwebbed around her. Dust rained from the ceiling and the whole building seemed to be shaking.
“Hurry up,” Han said and grabbed her arm and pulled her on. She needed no encouraging and put what strength she had in her into her step and then they crested the top landing, facing five full Otess.
Han growled and launched himself at them. Sareti gave a shout and jumped in, stabbing this way and that. Despite now knowing how to use the weapon very well she found that if she followed Han and stabbed those he missed, it sank through Otess coverings surprisingly well. And then the Otess were all down. Two moments of rest and another group had just crested the landing.
Han sagged but pushed open the only door and entered the room. Sareti ran past him and engaged another Otess which fell quickly having only been a guard. The room was huge and mostly dark although the centre desk was lit, minuscule beside huge columns of stacked stone. She looked around warily, not being able to see the edges of the room. A man looked up from the desk, hair greying. The Otessen. Although previously they had not seen his face she knew it was him.
“Hanan.” The man said standing up and dropping the papers onto the desk. He did not however move as if to threaten him. Han approached warily, Sareti just being, and looking around. The door slammed open behind them and the other Otess piled in.
“Stop!” The Otessen said.
The Otess behind them froze and didn’t move in further. “There is no need for that just yet!” The man said stepping out from behind his desk, “We are not in any danger, this is just a mildly dangerous Earth Wrangler no different from the rest of you, and a woman, who used to be able to wrangler fire.” The man laughed coldly and Sareti stifled a growl.
“No different from you?” Han said calmly although Sareti could see his knuckles were taught clasping the bloody dagger in them. “I am the host to the Earth spirit, can you not feel your precious keep failing under you.” At that moment the whole room began to shake but it felt muffled. She wondered if the Otessen was doing something to stop it.
“I am the host!” The man said, “my power was in that vial, I know that you have released it, and true, it is an annoyance but I will just have to be around to provide the power to new Otess and there will be more. Otess, take him prisoner, kill the woman, if I am wrong then…”
The Otess rushed in and more advanced into the light all around them. Sareti felt panic rise in her chest and looked around, holding the tip of her thin sword waveringly.
Han had stopped looking so confident and he turned to look at her, his hand now shaking, the knife concealed by his body. “Sareti, this time run, I need you to run.”
“Han! What are you doing, we can kill the Otessen and be out of here.”
“That will not stop them.” Han said sadly, “remember when the King died and you lost your wrangling abilities, if I die then the Otess… Well the Otessen isn’t the host.” The Otess were a bare twenty paces now.
“No! Han you cannot. There is another way, he could be the host, you don’t know, I mean…”
“I can and I will,” he said and pulled her into a quick embrace, “Now go!” He shoved her almost sending her sprawling towards the Otess.
Han turned back to the Otessen, “You want proof that I am the host? Then here it is!” He lifted the knife up to show the Otessen.
The Otessen’s calm face suddenly showed fear and he started forward but Han just shouted, “RUN!” And drove the knife into his chest. Sareti cried out backing away and then turned and ran. The Otess were still advancing but then they faltered and some collapsed others groped at their chests. The rumbles shook the room and timbers crashed down. Still Sareti ran, tears streaming down her face.
I should have never tried to find that vial, father, she thought as she dodged falling rubble, but we did find it and did what you wanted, to free it.
She burst out of the door and half slid, half fell down the stairs as the building shook itself apart around her.
Tayella stumbled through the mass of moving bodies, clambering over each other to get to the walls. Under her the ground shook and threatened to send her sprawling as large cracks split the ground. Whatever is happening I hope Sareti is all right!
“Blasted arm!” She cursed as pain shot through her shoulder as someone jostled her. She slashed at an Otess on the way past but didn’t follow up the stroke.
Then she caught sight of Torin, just for a moment but she was sure. Colourful clothing between two people and then he was gone. I know where he is going, she thought, why am I following him. She stumbled as something caught her arm. An Otess loomed over her and then fell back, five spears thrusting in its chest at the same time. She staggered back, eyes wide and somebody caught her.
“You should be getting somebody to fix up that arm of yours,” A young man said, cloak hood mostly shadowing his face. She thought she saw something familiar there. His companions, two more men, one that might have been a father and two young woman fanned around her.
“There is nowhere,” Tayella said through gritted teeth, “There is nowhere for the injured to go, they are going to kill all of us.” They will if he gets to Tayella.
She pulled herself away from the man, “I need to go, I will be fine.”
He studied her as she pushed past him, “Well I am not here because of one of your speeches but I have nothing better to be doing.”
“I could think of many better things,” Tayella said, “But yes, please, my… an Otess is hunting Erisa.” She winced, he was an Otess now, she couldn’t think of him any other way.
“Erisa,” he said nodding, “Then what are we waiting for?"
“Move!” The young man barked and joined the four around her. He moved expertly with the spear but it was long enough that she couldn’t see how he was able to use it in such tight spaces and they carved their way through the mass of people faster than she had been able to. She was about to protest about not being able to fight when she realised that it was taking all her energy to stay standing up.
“Do you know where the Otess was heading?” He said without looking at her, “So we can…”
“There is a small building in the direction we are going, top floor, he could kill her without even going inside, but I don’t think he will.”
“Do you know this Otess?”
Tayella glanced around them. The ground shook again and some of the buildings the other side of the wall were shaking, groaning as the tremors came more frequently. What is happening? Is Sareti and Han alright? They had to be alright. I can’t lose someone else!
Suddenly she was among a crowd not fighting but still jostling her as she pushed through. She glanced around and realised with a shock that only three remained around them, one with a heavily bleeding forearm. She growled in frustration but stepped up beside the one that had insisted on helping her. He had stopped.
“What is it?”
He turned to her, “I can’t go any further, we are here, unless you can get them to let us through.”
She nodded, this is my fight, and then froze, “Kai! It’s you.” She grabbed him in a hug but quickly tore herself away and stepped back through the first line of guards. She suddenly felt cold, “You know who I have to stop.”
He nodded sadly and planted the butt of the spear on the ground, “I do.” He turned away and disappeared into the crowd without looking back. She turned around and found herself face to face with another spear.
“You cannot come any closer…” The guard was wearing black and golden plated armour. He smiled suddenly, “Tayella, I am glad you are alive, pass as you will.”
He stepped aside to let her past and she patted him on the shoulder, passing through the guards, letting them see her face. She moved as quickly as she could but was sure that if she moved to quickly one of them might stick a spear in her before she had a chance to help Erisa. Then she was at the door.
She looked around. Bodies littered the floor but they were old, and had not been moved. Bodies. She grimaced and climbed the staircase as quietly as she could. She smiled sadly, Hase would have told her she moved like an elephant, whatever they were.
She crested the stairs and stopped. The room was a mess and bits of stone had shot up through the floor pinning broken bodies to the roof. Blood running down the jagged rock all too like the boat she had arrived in, almost forty dead before reaching the outer wall. In the centre stood Torin and in front of him was a spike of rock pinning Erisa to the roof above him.
Erisa’s face was taught with exertion and fear. She glowed furiously, lighting the room as if it were day but her head lolled slightly and blood seeped from where the spike of rock touched her chest. Suddenly Tayella realised why Torin was here to kill her. If she died then she herself and every water wrangler in the city would lose their abilities. The Otess would win!
Torin spun on her and suddenly the ground shook beneath her feet and a spike of rock almost skewered her. She crumpled to the floor landing atop her broken arm and screamed.
Torin for a second looked pained and then a cold smile crept onto his face he turned back to Erisa and his hands began to glow, “I had hopped you would be here to see this,” he said, “To see you lose your abilities. I always knew that you looked down on me because I couldn’t wrangle, no, now you will look up at me as you grovel.”
“I would rather die.” She heaved herself to her knees and spat at his feet. Inside only a meagre amount of spirit water remained, nothing compared to the raging glow from Torin.
“I…” Tayella was already there and the knife flew from her hand wedging itself between his shoulder blades. He grinned over his shoulder. “That won’t kill…” He collapsed trying to reach around his back, until his arms fell to his sides and Torin slumped sideways, the glow vanishing from him. The rock in front of him shattered and Erisa landed on the floor, breath ragged. Where her coat had been ripped she could see blackened flesh.
Tayella ran over to her and helped her to her feet. She turned to look at Torin and stumbled back from him. Blood pooled around his back where her knife had driven in. She let go of Erisa and ran to him, tears pouring down her face. My fight, she thought, I had to Torin, or you would have killed me too.
“You knew him?” Erisa said quietly holding onto her.
“I did,” she whispered, “He was my best friend.”
“I’m sorry,” Erisa said.
Tayella shook her head and stood hardening her face, “I let him live and he tried to kill me and then kill you, I tired to stop him, but I think I knew I never could.” She took a deep breath and squared her shoulders, Its not over yet. “What happened? Why did his glow vanish.”
Erisa’s eyes shone and she ran to the window. A smile broke out over her face then she fell to her knees. “Tay, you need to see this for yourself,” she said weakly.
Tayella joined her and looked out. She gasped. From here she could see how bad it was, bodies everywhere, almost matching the same number of bodies that moved with weapons. Her legs trembled but Erisa grabbed her. Then she noticed it. Otess who were moving like vipers suddenly collapsed and clutched at their chests. Moments later they were struck down. All over the open space Otess were falling quickly. She glanced up on the walls. Not much had changed there but their soldiers seemed to have stopped being pushed back.
Erisa backed away from the window, eyes wide, “Han, oh Han, what have you done?” Her voice was a hoarse whisper and she turned to Tayella.
“What?”
“Your friend lost his glow and then died, as if it had been taken from him, you saw it before, with fire wranglers.”
“The host is dead,” Tayella’s eyes glistened as she sank still lower, “Han is dead.”
Tayella pulled the woman in an awkward embrace but her mind raced. There must have been more wrangling Otess than we ever realised, what if the wrappings are to disguise that. What better wrangling ability for an assassin than earth.
“Sareti,” Tayella said suddenly realising that Sareti had been a fire wrangler and then thinking of what had happened to the other fire wranglers.
“I don’t know, but I don’t think that…”
“We have to try,” Tayella said pulling herself away from Erisa, “But how could the Otess be mostly wranglers?”
“Because,” Erisa said, “Of the vial, it must have trapped the actual earth spirit.”
“Lets go,” Tay said, “We need to take the gates now, you are the best with water, we have a chance, before the Otess regroup, the Otess guards still seem to be fighting, I think it has not affected all of them.
Erisa didn’t move so Tayella grabbed her arm and dragged her down the stairs and out into the street. She moved sluggishly and her eyes seemed distant. Tayella hid her frustration and jostled the nearest guard. He turned angrily and then saw who it was.
“What’s wrong?” He said nodding to both Erisa and Tayella.
“The Otess have been weakened,” Tayella said as loudly as she could, “There are only a few wranglers left and Erisa is one of the more experienced, get us to the walls and we can get the gates open.”
“To open the gates it will have to be done on the inside, a fire wrangler would…”
Tayella cut him off angrily, “The fire wranglers are all gone, do you see the glow from any wranglers up on that wall? No I didn’t think so, just get us to the wall, the remaining bits that we have and we will go over the other side.”
The man began to protest but then nodded his head to her again and gave Erisa a worried look before shouting to the men and woman around them. Then as one they began to move, clearing a path for the two of them to move through the fighting, which was still happening. Tay tried not to look at the bodies littering the street and kept her eyes on Erisa who kept murmuring Han’s name to herself.
They were nearing the wall and the sound of fighting intensified dramatically, she cut those off too.
“Erisa!” She said, “You cannot think of that right now, we need to break open the city gates or everyone here will die.” She looked up and the distance faded from her eyes.
“He has been my friend for ninety years, found me when I was, I don’t know, eighteen and trying to live by myself on one of the islands in the east and he helped me….”
“Not right now,” Tayella said gently, “Right now, you and me are going to open those gates so we can go and see what has happened.”
“Is it safe to send both of you in there?” A guard said passing Tayella the end of a rope ladder, we have many water wranglers left, they cannot…”
“No, we are going,” Tayella said, “Drop us in and then send men to follow, we will fight our way to the gates and open them.” She missed out the part where Erisa would have to do most of that fighting, her without any spirit water left at all. We cannot fail, she thought, if Erisa dies then they all lose their wrangling. She grabbed the guard’s shoulder as he turned away, “Actually get as many as you can, you’re right."
“I am ready,” Erisa said blinking back tears and starting up the ladder, “Tayella, you don’t need to come, I know that you don’t…”
“I am coming!”
Erisa shrugged and clambered onto the top of the wall and out of sight. Tayella looked around in the darkness and then began to climb as fast as she could.
Almost as soon as she crested the wall water guards and wranglers from both cities waited for them and had cleared a space as close to the gate as they could, the Otess guards had obviously not been affected by the death of Han so much. I never knew him, she thought, but he saved us all. Erisa ignored the man handing her a rope and jumped over the edge. The Other wranglers hastily followed.
Tayella cursed and grabbed the rope and swung over the side after her, followed by many more ordinary soldiers. This is it, she thought, the last chance. She slid the rope through her hands as she ran backwards down the wall. She landed a few moments later in the light of Erisa fighting with a ferocity that Tay had never seen.
Other wranglers tried to fight their way around her but they couldn’t keep up. Otess went slamming into the ground, into each other to lie still, unmoving. Tayella flashed a dagger in each hand and fought to follow her and stop her from being surrounded. A quick glance over her shoulder showed more and more guards pouring down the walls like a waterfall and engaging the tide of Otess. Weakened Otess she reminded herself.
Then they could see the gate. Here the Otess were bunched more tightly but Erisa moved through them, pushing them apart and Tayella followed desperately trying to fight but also keep up. She was glad a long line of soldiers behind her were covering her back as Erisa had no care for keeping her back guarded. Tayella just hoped that she would get them to the guard house before she lost the will to carry on.
“Erisa, to your left!”
Erisa turned left and fought towards a wide building to one side of the huge gate. A metal bar had been set across it as well as the chains that held it shut. That needs to be sorted too.
She found herself fighting her way through Erisa’s wake into the guard house. And ran up a brief flight of stairs before they entered an open room. A huge wheel was in the middle, with spokes sticking out where she assumed a group of men or woman could turn it to make the gate shut.
Erisa went straight to a lever beside the spoked wheel and jammed it forwards, knocking the guards that stood around it to the floor to not rise again. She yanked it backwards and the wheel began to turn and then it stopped. Erisa turned to her, “What is it? It should open.”
“There is a bar across the gate!” Tayella said panting. Before she had finished Erisa had left the room, squeezing past the soldiers that were following them in.
“Why are they so easy to kill now?” One of the guards said as he bustled into the room, scanning it before setting the butt of his spear on the ground, “Never before…”
“Enough,” Tayella said harshly, “Just make sure that when this wheel starts turning, it doesn’t stop.”
“As you command!” The soldier jumped to the edge of the spokes and more followed as they poured into the room. She wondered how many soldiers the guard had sent in after them. She ran to a small window showing the gates. A commotion rippled through the crowd of Otess and reached the gate, followed by a thin line of guards. She grimaced as the line was cut down and only a few guards made it to surround her. Erisa jumped up onto the huge gate and grabbed ahold of the bar, glowing so much that Tayella had to avert her eyes. A grating sound came from behind her as the wheel began to turn slightly on its own.
“SLOW IT DOWN!” She barked at the soldiers, we don’t want our people smashed out of the way by it. The soldiers jumped in and the gate’s opening slowed. It was now out of sight now but she could see the tide of soldiers pushing the Otess back, joining those that had been around Erisa. She sighed with relief and ran her hands through hair that had at some point found its way out of her bun, now matted with blood and gore.
Sareti turned to the men and woman in the room. “Well done. I don’t think we are finished here, not yet, you must stay and guard this room, but if I dare to say it, I think we have just turned the tide of the battle.” Just at that moment a tremor shook the ground and several of the buildings outside collapsed, “Unless that is something we have to face,” she added to herself.
I only wish that Hase had been here to see it. She blinked back a few tears and let a smile slip through, they would never have got this far without him. He has to be alive!
She left the building guarded and stepped out into another battle. Otess fought for their life as soldiers flooded in the large gate which stood open to show yet more coming through. The Otess forces had already been pushed back to the streets and on some of them they held, on others they fell back further and further. Sareti was not sure which force was larger, it was impossible to tell but however it worked, so far as she could tell they were winning.
Winning! The thought felt strange in her head but was replaced with a single name. Sareti. Sareti was out there somewhere. Someone! She thought, I need someone. Tayella ran up the street, through her own forces and up what was the continuation of the main street. Even as she watched, soldiers pushed back the Otess at a running pace before they turned and ran. She burst from the line of soldiers who protested but didn’t stop her. She stopped and they stopped behind her.
The top of the hill on which the city had been built on was a mass of rubble cracks in the ground. Almost every building around the topmost part of the hill had collapsed and masonry lay everywhere. Bodies wrapped in leatherbark half buried under rubble littered the ground in front of her but she ignored them. Sareti!
A chill ran through her, the thought of finding Sareti’s body half buried like Hase’s. She moved forwards more slowly scanning the rubble for any sign of a body that was not wrapped. She jumped over huge cracks in the streets below that glowed green at the bottom. What is happening? Still the ground shook but it had subsided considerably for no more buildings seemed about to fall. She glanced around despair settling around and then she saw something. A dark figure crouched almost directly in the centre of the rubble, atop a particularly high pile.
She began to run but then slowed down disappointed. The figure was wrapped in leatherbark but there was something off about it. The bark was peeling away around the shoulders and had completely come off of the figure’s legs. “Sareti?” She said tentatively.
The figure turned her head towards Tayella and nodded. She breathed a sigh of relief and began to climb the pile. It was made up of huge blocks of stone and when she neared the top she could see the extent of the damage. I think Han managed to use his weapon after all, She thought cresting the mound and facing Sareti. I should have got to know him, she thought.
Sareti threw her arms around her and sobbed into her ear. Tayella just held on, willing herself to resist doing so herself. When Sareti pulled away she wiped the tears from her eyes and her face hardened slightly.
“Han,” Tayella said, “He is dead?”
Sareti nodded biting her lip. Tayella noticed at that moment that there was a body behind her, also wrapped in bark strips. A knife was sunken into his chest but it was not Han, a dark skinned man with a bald head and ridged marks running all around his face. “Who is he?”
“The Otessen.” Sareti said, anger suddenly lacing her words, “The leader.”
“Sareti,” Tayella said gritting her teeth and pulling away slightly, “Torin is dead, I killed him, he was trying to kill Erisa and he was working with the Otess…”
Sareti froze but didn’t reply. A dark shape materialised into Arlin who almost lifted Sareti up in her embrace. Tayella turned her head away, tears sliding down her face.
At that moment somebody stepped up behind Tayella and she spun but relaxed when Erisa crested the mound. Her face was as hard as the stone she was standing on, as if it were walled off to emotion. Blood streaked her face and her clothes were so torn that they barely resembled anything except for strips of cloth.
“Han?” She said quietly to Sareti, her skin glowing brightly through her clothes.
Sareti shook her head and Erisa fell to her knees. Tayella looked up to see a crowd of torches surrounding the top of the hill, the sounds of fighting diminishing.
She took a deep breath and stepped up, using the last bit of spirit water to glow, so they could see her. When she spoke it was in a loud voice that carried across the area of rubble. Battered soldiers surrounded them, spears raised high as if in salute to Erisa.
“Tonight,” she said voice breaking, “Tonight we have avenged a century or more of fear and corruption, no longer will we let ourselves fight each other because of a hidden plot, we must work together to ensure that nothing like this happens again.” A cheer rose up but she raised her hand and spoke slightly softer, “Many have lost their lives in this fight for our island, it cannot be in vain, make it count!”
All was silent below and then a cheer rose that echoed around them. Torches and weapons alike were raised in the air. I finally became one of them, she thought bitterly, a forsaken leader, this time I will make someone else do it. She laughed under her breath, how did she know that that was not likely.
Something touched her shoulder and she spun.
“Its me, Sanoa.”
Tayella pulled her into an embrace but Sanoa pushed herself back, “I found something,” she said, voice urgent, “Quickly!”
Relief flowed through him as something cold hit him. Thoughts in his mind began to form once more. He tried to gasp for breath but water sloshed into his mouth and he spluttered. Even that movement sent chills of pain through his muscles.
“Hase!”
That voice! He recognised the voice. He opened his mouth to speak but only another gasp came out. He managed to shift his arm and dropped as agony coursed through him.
“Hase!”
“Am I dead?” He managed to gasp between splashes of water.
Hands pushed him upright and he managed to crack his eyes open. It didn’t help much for it appeared to be dark. A candle gave the only light, propped between two stones.
“Not dead,” the voice said, clearer now, “Just a little…”
He opened his eyes fully just in time for another splash of water to hit his face. His gaze found the face and he laughed but it came out in more of a splutter.
“Tayella!” he said grabbing the pitcher from her hands and gulping down some water.
The woman grinned down at him, “I thought you were dead!”
“Not so easy… to kill.” Hase coughed, “What happened.” Something about an attack. Attacking the Otess!
“We broke into the fortress, we won!” Tayella said pulling a cloth from behind her and wetting it before pressing it against his face. A dull pain throbbed but it appeared distant.
For the first time he realised he was partly covered in a bloody cloak. He gasped as he saw his arm, his hand, his feet. The skin was red and swollen. Tayella moved closer and pulled the cloak back over the burned skin.
She carefully pressed pulled him close in an embrace, her hands cool to the tough. “I thought you were gone.” She said, voice barely audible, I almost couldn’t go on. I should have found you earlier.”
Hase just sighed with contentment at her touch. I am alive! The memories began to flood back and he tried to shut them off.
“What happened?”
“I don’t know Hase,” Tayella said pulling away slightly, “I think you managed to burn yourself wrangling when you had no energy left, but you should be dead.”
Hase laughed but cut off. Something was different, there was something within him. He pushed back the cloak slightly and saw his skin glowing beneath the burns.
Tayella stared at him wide eyed. “You shouldn’t… I mean… we found the body of the host, the King. The fire wranglers lost their abilities.”
Hase’s eyes widened, “That means I am…”
“A spirit host!” Tayella finished.