Viktor forced himself to calm down and think about it. If he could imagine himself as Kilai, where would he hide something important? He was busy and needed to find it quickly and the personal shorthand meant that any thief would struggle to understand the information anyway, meaning that it did not need to be locked away. Besides, what thief could resist a locked drawer? The locked bottom drawer snagged on his curiosity. It took all his resistance not to hunker down and pick the lock but he knew he didn’t have much time. If I were her I would make it look like any unimportant document, he mused and picked up the thick stack of papers weighed down with a half-filled bottle of ink. But which one?
It wasn’t as if something as simple as shipping schedules could be considered that important, anyway. One of the ships must have held a large bounty, something Red had probably wormed out of a drunken sailor or two. But all that would be irrelevant if Viktor couldn’t even pick out the right one.
There was the sound of a door opening and then creaking on the staircase. Viktor flinched and folded the bundle, stuffing it down his shirt and flinging himself under the desk, heart rate quickening. He’d been too slow. Now everything was going to come crashing down on him. The job, the money. The potential chance of escape.
There was still a chance he could come away unscathed, he thought as he squinted through a crack between boards of wood, watching the thin strip of light disappear behind the legs of an unknown figure, but it would be immediately obvious what had been stolen and thus the element of surprise was gone. If Red exposed him now he might not even have a place to go back to, an outcast in the only place he’d ever really known. An enemy of a gang nestled deep into the heart of the city. Panic crept in on him, no matter how much he bucked against it.
The figure entered the room and stopped, Viktor feeling his breath catch, but then they thudded towards the window and cracked it open, the noise of people outside laughing and bartering filling up the space of the quiet room. At least this way the soldier would not be able to hear the way his heart was assaulting his chest, muscles tense as he tried to press back into the corner. If she turned around he would be caught.
Mercifully, she walked back towards the door and he breathed a sigh of relief. She hadn’t spotted him and if he waited her out, he’d be able to sneak out past her notice. It had been a close call but he’d been lucky, or at least smart enough to keep an ear out for sounds.
Then suddenly she walked back to the desk, blotting out the light so he could see nothing but the cloth of her trousers as he clenched his teeth to prevent himself from making any noise. There was the softest rustling of paper and he gulped. Locker seal him. If she knew what was supposed to be on the desk he was––
“What are you doing?”
Viktor’s heart skidded to a stop and then restarted. It was the soldier from before – the one that wore navy embellishments rather than the standard red – with the dour face that made her look permanently bored. “Why are you under there?”
Her calm demeanour only frightened him more. “I’m, uh…”
“I think you should get out of there.” Polite but no less a threat.
Viktor scrambled out on his hands and knees then used the chair to pull himself to his feet. He felt his stomach drop as some of the papers fell from his shirt and he stared up at her with wide, horrified eyes. “I was just – uh – doing something for––”
“You were stealing.”
“I wasn’t!”
But the evidence was pretty damning and his mind had gone blank as he scrambled around trying to think of something that would get him out of the conversation. It didn’t help that her eyes were bearing down on him, cold and hard as two chips of rock. “I think you should come with me.”
Viktor read her willingness to act on her face and sighed, slumping. She was taller, more physically imposing, and she blocked the door. He couldn’t run and he certainly couldn’t fight. With a heavy heart he was lead away by the arm, berating himself for being so stupid.
*
Viktor found himself tossed into a cell and the bars slammed shut, lock clicking as Yshi marched away without a backwards glance. Hands around the bars, he yelled after her but all he heard was the sound of footsteps on stone and then the resounding thud of the door closing on his only chance of escape. Smacking his forehead against one of the iron bars, he sucked in a deep breath of the mouldy air, cursing under his breath. He’d only wanted to prove that he was capable of handling a little responsibility and he couldn’t even manage that. Locker knew what he was in for now.
“Cheer up,” said a familiar voice, “you could be worse.”
Viktor spun around and saw Rook peering at him through the bars of the adjacent cell. She offered up her wrists to him, banded together and chained to the wall, before leaning back against the wall. He’d forgotten she’d been locked away for… whatever it was that she was. With subtle steps he shuffled to the back of his own cell, keeping a distance despite the barrier between them. As pointless at it might have been, he still felt wary in her presence. The image of her pale eyes locked on him as the blade swung for his head echoed through his mind. It was hard to shake off a memory like that.
“I get it,” she said, smiling around a bitter laugh. “But you might not want to dismiss your only friend in this place so easily.”
“Friend?”
“Ally, then.”
Viktor shrugged. “What does it matter?”
“How else do you suppose we get out of here?”
“You think you can get out of that? Yeah, all right. I’ll believe it when I see it.”
Her chains clanked as she brushed her curls from her face and it set him on edge. Perhaps that was the intention. “What do you think will happen? Do you think you’ll get out of here in a few days? Let off with a slap on the wrist?”
Viktor didn’t particularly want to think about what would happen but he didn’t say so. That would be to reveal his own weakness. He would pretend he didn’t care and maybe if he pretended hard enough, he’d start to believe his own lie.
“Things are changing around here, Vik-cho. There’s a wind blowing in from the west and it’s going to take us all with it.”
“What in the Locker does that even mean?”
Rook laughed, loud enough to echo across the surrounding stone. “It means that power is changing hands. I don’t think the Empire’s forces are content to wait around any longer. When they make their move it’ll be the end of me for sure. But the consequences of letting the rift rupture will blow back on everyone.”
“How do you know that for sure?” How can you have such strength in your convictions? That was what baffled him the most; he felt like all he ever did was doubt himself.
“I can’t know for sure but I do know it’s important to be prepared for the worst.”
“And here I had taken you for an optimist.”
“Did you really?” she said, expression brightening. “That’s nice of you.”
“Uh, right.”
“You know,” she mused as she tapped a rhythm on the ground with her feet, “I think we’re probably more similar than you realise.”
“I doubt it.”
“Why so?” A flash of her pale eyes had him pressing into the wall as far from her as possible. The way she tilted her head gave her a cold, predatory look, and he suppressed a shiver. “Where we’re from doesn’t really matter, you know. It’s where we’re going.”
“To the firing squad.”
She laughed, nodding. “I was speaking figuratively, but you aren’t wrong.”
Viktor massaged at throbbing temples, weariness sinking into him. “Can you stop being so cryptic? I’m tired.”
“I can. I meant that I can tell you want more from your life. More than your current circumstances have predetermined for you.”
“And you want that, do you?”
“Yes. More than anything. Where I’m from… it does not turn you into a good person.” She moved her wrists an
d her chains chimed again. “And yet despite how I have strived for more, here I am.”
Viktor nodded before he could think about it. “Here we are.”
“I’m beginning to think our paths have already been set for us, Viktor. Maybe this is all we can ever be.”
“You don’t really believe that.”
Something in his voice made her sit up, eyes roaming his face. “Don’t I?”
“What’s the point, if not? Why even bother living if you can’t try for more? Do you know what I’ve survived, just because I’ve held the dream of something better inside?” His hands danced around his face as his voice rose, tremulous but carrying. “I’ve been starving, freezing, beat up and left to die. I’ve been so broken I didn’t think there was any way I could heal. The only thing that has kept me alive is hope. No matter how many bastards have tried to rip it straight from my hands, or tried to crush it from me, it’s the one thing I’ll never let them steal from me. It’s what makes you and me different from them.”
Rook blinked at him. Then she smiled. “You know, for a minute there I swear I saw a king in you.”
Viktor stared at her. “What are talking about?”
“I think you’ve just inspired me.”
“To do what?”
“I don’t know yet. But I’m working on it.”
*
You are pleased with the results?
Seeker surveyed the trees, stripped bare of leaves and trunks bowed away from him, roots upended and sprawling from the earth beneath in a tangle. He looked down at his palm, sweeping a finger over the calluses born of handling weapons for so long. It was difficult to believe, except for the fact that he had witnessed it happen himself. That he had felt the power surge within him and answered its call with wind powerful enough to shake even the oldest and sturdiest of trees from their mantle.
“How is it possible?”
It was difficult to think clearly over the heady rush of more, more, more. But he was tired, a bone-deep weariness settling beneath his skin, and he forced himself to think through the capabilities of this power. It would be easy to dismiss how he had attained it but he was not so blind as to ignore the adage that actions preceded consequences, the likes of which he knew he couldn’t predict. Stories always cautioned making deals with demons. A king for a day, a slave for eternity. Well, it would not be so different from reality, all things considering.
You worry, she said, flicking her three tails.
“Is that really so surprising?”
Most do not, I find. She padded through the grass with the easy grace of a real fox until she suddenly froze, tail swishing contemplatively. Her masked face rose towards the sky but Seeker could not see anything unusual.
“What is it?” The creeping feeling loomed over him as well; static crackling in the air. “What does this mean?”
It is not time yet. You are tired and I cannot stay for long. I will leave for now.
“Wait!” he yelled but she was already gone. Her presence still tickled the back of his mind but he couldn’t communicate with her when she left like this. There’s still so much I don’t understand…
Seeker trekked back into town, having walked far out from the city so that his experiments would not be noticed by prying eyes. It was the early hours of the morning, the sun just beginning to rise over the valley, and he’d barely managed but a few hours of sleep. Either his dreams were being haunted, or like it had been this morning, he now he felt the call of power and couldn’t get his body to relax for the way it rushed through him like adrenaline in an intense battle, limbs begging him to run free.
It had also been hard to sleep next to an empty bunk, sheets crisp and fresh; a hollow space where life was supposed to be. If he were being entirely honest with himself, he’d admit that part of him was just too cowardly to spend any length of time at the barracks. He’d never really fitted in, but then again Relkan had fit even less, and he felt like they had bonded over that. It hardly mattered anymore.
By the time he reached the centre of town the sun had risen into a hazy sky and the people were waking up, one woman leaning out of her window to pin shirts to a washing line. She glared down at him when she noticed him walk beneath. It wasn’t a pleasant feeling, to be hated. Even less so for something he didn’t do. It was with the prickling feeling of prying eyes that he eventually made it back to the base, eyes bleary and tired.
“Where have you been sneaking off to?”
Seeker flinched and tried not to look too suspicious as he spun to find Lyss watching him with narrowed eyes. “I went for a walk to clear my head.”
“Is that why your eyes are so red?”
“You do know my friend just died, don’t you? Are you really so callous?”
Lyss looked taken aback but quickly adjusted her expression. “We’ve to go to a village today to investigate a recent report of deaths.”
“The creature?” He tried not to think of it wearing Relkan’s face.
“Yes.”
Seeker nodded, contemplating. It would be a chance for revenge if he could find that creature and end it for good. Could he? He reached inside himself and felt the gratifying wealth of power, like drawing water from a well. Yes, it should be what he needed to hurt those creatures. And he wanted to, he realised, although he did not know how to feel about this fact. Never before had he thirsted for violence but the desire stirred in his veins now.
Yshi headed their squad as they made their way to the village in question, Seeker walking quietly at the rear as his feelings brewed. Everywhere they went, they stood out in their coats, rich fabrics like a flag in the wind; a symbol that to these people they did not belong. He was glad to leave the vestiges of the city and hear the crunch of leaves beneath his boots as they marched, closing his eyes against the cool wind blowing in from the sea.
Despite his exhaustion, there was something refreshing about their ascent back into nature, the potent aroma of wet foliage revitalising him. Some of the others complained about the walk, but as the sun dappled his face with beads of light, Seeker found a sense of serenity wash over him. Not a state of magnanimity but of acceptance for what he must do.
“I think we’re here,” murmured Yshi, eyes on her map.
“This feels like a ghost town,” said Ren, looking around not a village, but a graveyard of homes.
Seeker did not comment. He had seen ghost towns before but never so literally. Spirits swirled through the air, heavy like a shroud. There were more than he had ever seen in one place before and the air hummed with their combined presence, plucking on the threads of spiritual energy he could feel within and all around. It raised the hairs on his arms as he trudged the muddy path through the village.
The homes were all the old traditional kind, cylindrical, even the windows circular like portholes on a ship, with red tiled roofs, horned at the top. In the central square there sat a well and attached to the underside of the top was a spirit chime, jangling softly despite the barest lick of air. Seeker paused, suddenly realising just how deathly still the air was, not even the slightest scent of the ocean. Instead the air was heady with the damp, earthy scent of rain and something else lingering beneath; one he was now beginning to associate with the formless shapes glinting around him.
One came as far as to touch the tip of his nose, tickling his skin. He felt a shudder run through him as it sprang backwards. It was strange because the creature lacked a face and yet he could still sense an emotional response from it, an echo of alarm rippling through him. It’s movements were sharper and jerkier than the rhythmic swell he had come to associate with their forms.
“Why is that thing making noise?” said Ren. “It’s creeping me out.”
Lyss crouched down to examine it, lips pressed together. She licked her finger and held it up to the air, frown deepening. “That is odd.”
“Can’t you see?” he blurted.
Both of them turned to look at him. “See what?”
Open your eyes,
she had said. Seeker truly did feel like for the first time in his life his eyes were actually open and he could see clearly. They can’t see the spirits? Was that part of the exchange? That he could see things that weren’t perceivable to most? If that was the case, it was probably better he didn’t tell the truth, although it was highly unlikely they would believe him anyway.
“Nothing. I thought I saw something but I’m just tired.” When he spoke, the voice was the calm tone of a stranger’s.
“Maybe you should try actually sleeping,” said Lyss, straightening up and smoothing down her coat.
“Maybe you should try minding your own business.”
Ren looked between them with agitation as they stared each other down, each waiting for the other to be the first to start a fight. It was part of the game. Goading the other into striking first was savoured just as much being the one to end it, and Seeker was capable of being patient. But then he saw relief flash across Ren’s face and heard the heavy footsteps crunching behind him, immediately relaxing his stance.
“What is going on here?” Yshi asked, eyes flicking between them.
“Nothing,” they both said quickly and she narrowed her eyes.
There was long pause, and then, “It seems we are too late. The villagers claim the creature has long gone but not before taking the lives of twelve people.”
“What do we do now?” said Ren.
“Where did they die?” asked Seeker.
“This way,” said Yshi, walking past the circle of houses. Beyond the village sprawled the first stretches of farms, these looking to be apple orchards, long lines of trees stretching out towards the mountains. Where there should have been green foliage dripping with ripened fruit, there was only wizened bark and the long bony fingers of dead trees that clawed at the hazy skyline in a desperate plea for help. The earth was dry, dusty like ash, despite the evidence of rain on the sodden ground and wet stone behind them. It was like this part of the village existed in its own sphere, one where nothing could grow.
And the feeling. It set Seeker on edge; that dark, tainted strain beneath the light and wispy tingle of normal spiritual energy, clogging his nostrils with the smell of death. He tried not to gag as he gazed upon it, no longer surprised, but merely frustrated with his own powerless once more.
The Broken Door Page 17
