by Kyle West
PRACTICING FORMS WITH AELA WAS only a temporary reprieve, but at least for a couple of hours, my mind could get lost in forms rather than worrying about Isaru.
Aela scored an easy hit on my side, breaking into a smile. I should have seen that coming, but at the moment, I was too distracted.
“Something on your mind?” she asked.
“You have no idea,” I said.
So I told her about Isaru missing, and what I had told the Elders. She pursed her lips thoughtfully.
“Tell me the truth,” Aela said. “You know more than you told them.”
I nodded. “It’s true that I do. But I really can’t say. I…promised not to tell.”
“That’s fair,” Aela said. “Gods know I’ve kept some secrets for boys. Take it from me, though; they’re not worth it in the end.”
“It’s nothing like that,” I said. “It’s more as if it’s so unbelievable that…well, never mind. Let’s get back to practice.”
I could tell Aela wanted to know more, but thankfully, she didn’t pry. If it had been Isa, I would have been overwhelmed with questions. She hadn’t said anything directly to me, but I had caught her stealing long glances at him from time to time — if anything, she’d be more upset by his disappearance than me. It wasn’t hard to see why. Isaru was the Prince of Haven, the most powerful Elekai kingdom. He was Gifted, intelligent, handsome, and more than a bit mysterious…and everyone seemed to think Isaru and I were closer than we actually were. We were close, but not in that way. He was more like a brother, though I couldn’t have told you why.
I finally let my worries melt away in physical action, and for once, I was able to give Aela the practice she needed. I stayed in Tree while she tried out some new sequences in varying forms; I was good enough by now to serve as an adequate training partner, although I could do little more than provide a solid defense. After seeing me win, Aela wanted to continue training; not as a teacher, but as a peer approaching her level of skill.
Again, after exchanging several sequences, Aela dropped her practice blade to catch her breath.
“You’ve gotten really good,” she said. “I’ve created a monster.”
“Thanks,” I said.
“Tell me,” Aela said. “How do you feel when you’re fighting?”
The question put me off guard for some reason. Maybe it reminded me too much of the source of my skills.
“I guess I feel…nothing. It’s like there’s a void permeating my entire being. Silence. There is nothing except the blade and my movement, and the movement of my opponent. A deep awareness and understanding of all physicality, of all motion. Everything else burns and fades away, leaving only emptiness.”
“Silence,” Aela said, nodding. “It’s what every Champion aspires to. Perfect Silence, the epitome of the Discipline of Stillness. From the way you describe it, it’s as if it’s already a part of you. Still, I struggle with breaks in my concentration, even after being here for two years. Champions struggle with it as well. Yet for you, it comes so easily.”
I didn’t detect any envy in Aela’s voice; she was merely stating a fact. That was another secret I had to keep from her. How to tell someone that you have a perfect connection to the Xenofold simply because of who you are? I didn’t merely have the blood of the gods flowing through me; my blood was of the gods. Anna may have been a mere mortal, but there was something supernatural about her as well, as there was with everyone with a drop of Elekai blood.
“Another round?” I asked.
Aela shook her head. “It’s time we went inside. Dinner will be starting soon.”
With dinner would undoubtedly come the announcement of Isaru’s disappearance. And perhaps by now, they had discovered Elder Isandru’s disappearance. Whether they would think he went after Isaru, or whether they would think they left together, I couldn’t say. It all depended on whether they found Isaru’s notes in the Elder’s office.
Whatever the case, I also knew I would have to get ready for more questions.
* * *
Isaru’s disappearance wasn’t mentioned, but it was clear word had gotten around. No one seemed to pay me any special mind, surprisingly, and it was only when I was finished with dishes and walking toward my dorm that I started to believe I had gotten off free. I was heading past the library when a dreaded voice hailed me from behind.
“Hey. You.”
I turned to see Seeker Haris, obscured in the shadow of the hallway. He must have just left the library, and it was late enough that its lamps had been turned out. Several initiates and apprentices walked past him, done with their duties for the night. Still, his eyes remained on me, and I couldn’t help but feel a chill.
“Yes, Seeker Haris?”
“Tell me what you know of Isaru,” he said.
I blinked, and was thankful for the darkness not betraying my features. “I’ve told the Elders everything I know already.”
“Don’t lie to me, girl.”
He then held up something in his hand, and at first I didn’t know what it was. After a moment, I realized it was a book. A rather thick book.
“I didn’t know you were so interested in Judge Kais’s rather…charming…work on the formation of Elekai law,” Haris said, his voice amused. “You’ve certainly taken copious notes on the subject.”
My face reddened, and despite the darkness, it felt as if Haris could see it.
“I’m going to need you to come with me,” he said, turning back for the library.
I stood only for a moment before walking in. He took a seat at one of the long, empty tables, lighting a lamp so that there would be light. He waited with steepled fingers and a face that seemed almost pleasant.
I sat, and watched as he retrieved the three pages of notes that Fiona, Isaru, and I had all written back and forth. We hadn’t written anything directly incriminating, so there was no telling what Haris would think of the situation.
“I recognize Initiate Isaru’s writing, and I surmised the S is you. Who F is, I can’t say, but apparently he or she means to go south soon. That would mean it’s a Seeker; no initiate or apprentice would be given such license.” Haris chuckled. “You can imagine how I’d be most curious.”
I wanted to talk back to him, but I knew that would do me no favors.
“Normally, I wouldn’t be interested in such matters, but some of Isaru’s wording was noteworthy. He made several references to his studies in the library, studies which are apparently of worth to you and whoever this F is. Something about F is tripping my memory…no matter. If you don’t tell me who they are, I will discover soon enough. Now, it wasn’t hard to figure out the object of Isaru’s studies. Much of it is what would be typical for an initiate to study, plus a few odd subjects thrown in. But there were several books about dragons, the history of the Three Tribes, Colonia, and the city of Hyperborea. Those are usually not objects of interest for an initiate, and certainly not to the degree Isaru was studying them. Having one person interested in these subjects is one thing, but having three interested…now, that interests me.”
“Why?” I asked.
His eyes suddenly lit. “Ah! F is Fiona. It has to be. Her uncle is the king of Sylva, which is to the south. And it makes sense, as you and Isaru are likely to be apprenticed to Isandru. And Isandru, too, has gone missing…”
I watched, trying to hide my horror, as Haris was connecting the pieces of the puzzle. Though he was connecting them, would he get the right picture? I was thankful that I had taken away the notes. If he had found them, it would have all but sealed the deal.
“Where is Isaru? What does Isandru have to do with it? What’s more…what do you and Fiona have to do with it?”
“Why don’t you ask her?”
Haris looked at me blankly. “Because I’m asking you, Initiate. I can make things rather…unpleasant for you. A lot of dust has been collecting in some of the more wayward library corners…”
“It’s going to take more than dust for me to say an
ything,” I said. “It doesn’t concern you, Seeker Haris.”
“Doesn’t concern me?” Haris leaned forward. “You pass notes in my library, it does concern me, Initiate. Especially when, quite possibly, the Prince’s life is at stake and his father is due here in just a few days!”
“It still doesn’t concern you,” I said. “We will no longer pass notes in your library, if you wish. This is assuming he even comes back.”
Haris arched an eyebrow. “So it’s possible that he won’t?”
“Anything is possible, Seeker. Isaru doesn’t get on well with his father, which you should know. For all I know he’s halfway to Atlantea by now.”
“Bah,” Haris said, waving a hand. “You think you’re fooling me?”
“I’m not fooling anyone,” I said. “I’ve already told the Elders everything I know, which isn’t much.”
Haris looked at me darkly — almost dangerously. I wasn’t easily bullied, though. Living four years in the Subura, it was going to take a lot more than talk for me to admit anything.
“Do you like it here in the Sanctum, Shanti?”
I didn’t respond. I was already starting to see what Haris was getting at.
“It must be hard, to be from Colonia. Nowhere left to go. It’s only by the mercy of others that you have a place here. Is that not true?”
It was true that if it weren’t for the Sanctum, I wouldn’t have anywhere else to be.
“I’m sure the Elders will be as interested — if not more so — in what I’ve found. Who can guess their actions when they found out you’ve been caught in a lie?”
“I haven’t lied,” I said.
“Ah, but you have withheld the truth. That, in a way, is more insidious. Initiates have been expelled from the Sanctum for far less.”
“You can’t get me expelled,” I said. I wasn’t sure of that, and the idea of it made me a bit nervous.
“Perhaps you’re right,” Haris said. “But is it worth the risk?”
I folded my arms. There was no way Haris could get me expelled. He couldn’t. Elder Isandru wouldn’t allow it.
Then again, Elder Isandru wasn’t here, and there was no telling when he’d be back.
“Stay silent if you wish,” Haris said, after a moment. “Just know that the Elder Council will be let known about this find.”
I said nothing in response. I could say nothing in response. Isandru had forbidden Fiona and I from saying anything, no matter how pointed their questions.
If Haris was going to figure this out, then he’d have to figure it out on his own.
“Still quiet, then? I won’t force you to talk.”
“All I can say,” I said, carefully, “is that when Isandru returns, you will have your answer.”
“I see.” He stood up, and with that motion, I did too. “To bed with you, then. And my library is no longer to be used as your personal mailbox.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
THE CITY WAS QUIET, EVEN considering the late hour. Anna was restless, and no matter how long she lay in bed, sleep refused to come.
She opened her eyes and gazed out the window. Though it was now five years after the Ragnarok War, the dust kicked up by the meteor had yet to settle. Sometimes, Anna wondered if she would ever see the stars again, or the sun for that matter. The past seemed like something out of a dream, something that couldn’t exist in the reality she found herself.
She sighed and turned over, having half a mind to get up and make some coffee. Things finally seemed to be settling down in Colonia. The walls were complete, and there hadn’t been any threats from Onyx Black or the northern governors in months. It was as if they’d finally decided to leave Colonia alone. Anna couldn’t bring herself to trust that peace. Samuel, over the long months, had managed to talk down the Separatists, to the point where there was an unsteady truce in the Senate.
Despite this truce, the Loyalists and the Separatists were more polarized than ever. Senator Thomas and the former gladiator, Murmillo, had only gained more power and support, and it was everything Samuel could do to keep Colonia a loyal colony of the Empire. Augustus, again and again, was busy seeing to the Empire’s southern borders, and had granted Colonia several concessions in an effort to maintain stability — much to the consternation of his other governors. Colonia might have been safe from the outside, but on the inside, it was festering. Most everyone could see that the ideas of Thomas and Samuel could not coexist forever.
Anna could feel that something was in the air, and that was what had her up tonight. She told herself that things were going well; Colonia’s crops were bountiful, and its granaries full. Samuel and Julio Valencia were planning for the construction of an aqueduct to carry fresh spring water into the city. Colonia’s high walls were the largest and most secure for hundreds of miles.
It was as if the lack of a challenge was causing certain people to invent one. Perhaps people couldn’t exist without adversity. Adversity, after all, gave purpose.
The sound of small feet pattered outside Anna’s door. She looked to see her boy, Alex, rubbing his eyes.
“What’s wrong, Baby? Bad dream?”
“There’s a man in my room.”
Anna felt a chill cross her skin. She sat up in bed, and her hand naturally went toward her katana, which she kept on a stand nearby. “What?”
“I saw him come in through the window. When I looked he jumped back out.”
Anna quickly wrapped her belt around her sleeping clothes, latching her sword to it. She walked forward and pulled Alex behind her.
“Stay behind me,” she said.
Anna was torn between trying to comfort her son and doing what she needed to do. Alex sometimes had dreams, sometimes — dreams so real that he confused them for reality. Her son’s abilities scared her sometimes, and it was worse to know he was afraid, too. Anna couldn’t explain them to him — all she could do was hold him and tell him it was going to be okay. She had to believe that it would.
Anna dashed that thought as she walked down the hall, turning into the open door of Alex’s room. It was empty, save for her child’s bed, dresser, and toys. The window was open, the curtains fluttering in the breeze. The only light came from a single lantern, set on low. Alex slept better with it on.
Anna walked slowly forward, looking out the window. She saw nothing but the scattered rooftops of adobe houses and apartments, lit by amply placed gas-burning streetlights to prevent the near-absolute darkness. Her apartment was on the second floor in the city center, and it was hard to see how any man might have gotten inside without a ladder.
“Are you sure you saw him, baby?”
“Yeah, he was there!”
Anna closed the window, made of clear glass, locking it shut. Such windows were expensive, because there weren’t many glass makers in the city that could make window panes close to the quality of what might have been found in the Old World.
Anna peered out the window, looking for any sign of movement. The city was quiet, however. It almost seemed too quiet.
“Come sleep with me,” she said.
Anna walked carefully down the hallway, finally relaxing her grip on the hilt of the blade.
Then, a shadow entered the hall from her room ahead.
Alex screamed even as Anna unsheathed her blade in a flash. A gun went off, deafening in the confines of the hallway. Even as Anna’s ears rang, she felt her blade connect with the man’s abdomen. He screamed as the cut was made, and he toppled to the floor.
Suddenly, more men were in the hall, shouting. Anna wasted no time, using the darkness to her advantage. There were several more gunshots — she felt one graze the cloth on her shoulder — before she cut into each shadowed figure, one after the other. Her son was crying and screaming, and it was only when the next two men were felled that Anna turned to see him wailing on the floor.
“No!”
She ran forward, gathering Alex in her arms. She checked him over, tears stinging her eyes.
�
�Did they hit you?”
Alex seemed to be in shock, but he didn’t seem to be physically harmed.
Anna heard the sounds of more men shouting, followed by something ramming the front door.
Quietus! Are you near?
She ran to her bedroom, finding the open window and another man trying to force his way in, using a ladder. She ran forward and pushed the ladder back. The man screamed as he toppled backward into the street below.
She looked out the window to see two men battering in the door, which was already nearing its breaking point.
Anna went to the cabinet, unlocked it, and took the AR-15 she hadn’t used in five years, and had hoped to never use again. It was fully locked and loaded, and she had made a habit of making sure it was still in working order every three months.
She went to the window and aimed carefully.
One of the men spied her, calling out a warning. Anna shot him first, even as the other men dropped the ram and ran for their lives. Anna took a few more shots, but ended up only hitting dirt.
Her heart raced as adrenaline pumped through her veins. In the following silence, Anna couldn’t even process what had happened. Three men dead in the hall. One dead outside her front door, and another crushed by the ladder she’d pushed. It was the first time she’d killed in five years, and the feeling wasn’t welcome.
Her son was still crying. She gathered him in her arms, and he buried his face against her.
“Shh. It’s all right.”
Alex went silent, and she listened for more threats.
Anna?
Quietus, we were attacked!
We must go to Samuel’s house.
Why? Is he in danger? Quietus, where are…
And then, she was there, lowering herself on the street, her white eyes blazing. Quietus was usually not in the area; the fact that she was now was only because she had come to speak to Samuel on behalf of the dragons just today. When she landed, Anna grabbed up her son and rushed toward the front door.
When she was out the door, she lifted her son onto Quietus’s back.
