by Amber Morant
She took her first step onto the cold stone wall. Her body turning parallel with the ground below. The gut-wrenching feeling filled her again, wishing that the shadows had created more underground passages to avoid such heights.
Click.
One of the bricks came loose, wobbling next to Anjuu's head, threatening to expose her existence to the guards. She prayed that the universe would find favor in her today and keep the brick steady. Even if she attempted to reach out, there was no telling if another brick would come loose as well. Or if the ones holding her dagger would stay together. Her praise for architects from earlier was gone in an instant as she heard another brick come loose. She cursed them for the poor design of outside walls. She was used to far sturdier features within the castle and outside of the city. If she had inspected the wall better, she would have expected this to happen. She had to remember this the next time she decided scaling was easier than bidding time.
She pulled herself up quicker, hearing the two loose bricks start to slide out of the wall. She kicked another in, questioning if the building would even stay up if she stood atop it. She looked around for another nearby building but all of them looked just as dilapidated as the current one. Anjuu grumbled to herself about wealthy infrastructure being shit and would have a word with whomever oversaw it.
The drow listened in for the guard to walk past above her. His boots clanged against the stone and then stopped as he peered out into the landscape. Anjuu pulled one of the loose stones out, avoiding too much sound and tossed it off to the side. The stones turning on her had slowed her process and now she needed to create a new opening herself.
"Who's there?" The guard shouted as he bounded over to the opposite side of the tower to find the source of the sound.
She took the opportunity and pulled herself up the rest of the way onto the building. Straw was scattered and placed in small piles, perfect for a guard to sneak in a nap during the night hours. Less comfy than the usually issued cots, but any shadow and soldier was taught anything could be a bed if sleep was yearned enough.
Her shadow extended forward, interconnecting with the guard’s shadow. She noted his lowborn stature with how thin his body stood inside of the uniform, a sign of troubling times when even guards were starving because of the rebels. She turned toward the wall, ignoring the guard for now.
She heard an arrow fly past her ear and looked down to see it shattered on the ground at the end of the wall. Anjuu cursed, realizing she miscounted as one guard had been hidden out of sight. He was grabbing another arrow already, his gaze never wavering from Anjuu's location.
Their eyes stayed locked together as he notched the new arrow, ready to send it flying. The tip was engulfed with a blue light and she realized their weapons were imbued with scholar magic. If he had a simple bow made for him in guard duty, it was certain another would possess a pistol as well.
He readied himself to release but lost his aim as the ground beneath them began to shake. She lost her footing and her head hit the ground. Her vision blurred from the impact on the stone but as it came back, she was greeted by the sound of wings beating the air and another roar. A dragon flew high above them with a rider atop. She recognized it immediately as Azrael's dragon and blessed his sudden appearance.
As the guard continued to focus on the dragon guardian, Anjuu leapt to another building. This one was a bit sturdier and she bounced from there to the wall. With one last look at the guards, she waved farewell and fell backward into the dust-filled city below. It would be the last time in a long time she would jump from those heights again.
Two
The sun was high above Tosh's head, beating down and sapping the last bit of energy he had until his movements were that of a crawl. There were other scholars, some much stronger than he was, that had no sign of distress from the heat. It was his first day out on the field after graduating from the college, and he was now seeing why so many tried to prevent him from continuing in his studies. It wasn't the heat or the workloads that made him question his decision, but the overseers who glared down at them, judging his every movement.
The overseers in the college were always hiding inside the offices filling out paperwork or disciplining the scholars. In the quarry, their dark blue skin shined under the sun, showing the darkness that truly resided in each of them. The drow had taken control of Narishma only a few decades ago, yet their grip on the country prevented any form of rebellion. Even the college of scholars, which had been a pristine place to study and learn about magic and history was now controlled by these people, by order of the queen. No longer were the scholars free to study anything they desired, but rather they were forced into labor camps or left inside the college to aid in the advancement of the drow species.
A shotgun blast startled Tosh out of his musings. "Quit standing around. Keep digging!"
That was what they always yelled. Dig. Tosh had studied the history of Devata and chose that as his primary study once he graduated, and they placed him in the quarries. According to the overseers, there was something here that had to do with Devata. For the other scholars who had been here for years, it was just a lie at this point to make them work for free for precious metals. There had never been any signs of ancient civilizations here, no plants that were older than civilization. It was just rock after rock. Legalized slavery.
Tosh grabbed a pickaxe and stepped over to Salir, one of his classmates from the college. "Are you thinking the same thing I am?" He swung the pickaxe down.
Salir grunted but didn't speak. If the overseers heard them talking, they would feel the sting of an electrified baton. Grunting was one of the best responses to minimize the full scope of language while trying to communicate with one another.
"I heard talk from one of the overseers there was a new cave that opened on the south side of the quarry. There’s supposed to be an expedition tomorrow at dawn."
One of the overseers yelled out another order off in the distance, followed by the screaming from one of the scholars. Judging by the sound, death was soon to follow for that elf. When Tosh had first arrived, that would have scared him, knowing someone was being murdered feet away from him, but now it was part of life. It only took a few hours for someone to get used to the harsh realities they were in or they would die. He took advantage of the overseer's focus being on the other scholar to continue talking.
"We need to join that expedition crew down there. With the caves being unexplored we can just get lost on purpose and get out of here."
His classmate's ears pricked up. "Are you seriously talking of desertion? Do you realize what will happened if we get caught?"
Tosh didn't need to answer that. He could hear it going on now as the last breaths escaped the elf. "I know, but it may be our only chance. If you're not going to come, then I'll do it myself, Salir."
"No, I'll come, just stop talking. They're coming over here."
The two grew silent, attempting to focus their attention on the rocks they were striking. One of the overseers stepped up next to them. The two scholars could see the drow hovering behind them, waiting for them to mess up somewhere. Once one man was dead, overseers liked to find another to target to continue that adrenaline. Tosh prayed that the overseers would lose interest in them quickly. He needed a break from the work, but so long as eyes were on him, there was no such things as breaks. He would get one when they killed him or it was the end of the day, as the first conflict with an overseer had once told him.
It only took a few minutes before another scream erupted and brought the attention of their personal overseer away from them. Someone had made a mistake, and they were the ones now unlucky to find the end of a baton and possibly a bullet to finish them off. He would most likely be the last of the day to be executed. There was only ever two per day that suffered, or the queen would intervene and kill the overseers for destroying her labor force. At least, that’s what one of the senior scholars had said.
The rest of the day continued in sile
nce as the sun slowly set behind the mountains and the call of dragons filled the air. During the day, it was safe for anyone to travel if they were in large enough groups, but at night, the dragons came out to hunt. Tosh had seen the skull of one once, teeth larger than his arm and capable of destroying flesh in an instant if the unfortunate victims hadn’t already been burnt from their internal fires. Now he wondered if it would be worth it to just chance dragons killing him versus what awaited him for the rest of his life.
A horn blew in the distance, signaling it was time to call it an end of the day before the hunts began. scholars crawled out of large holes, newly created caves, and different corners of the quarry to line up in front of a stone tower that led back to the living quarters. The entrance had been erected when the quarry was first excavated and stood as a reminder that whoever walked beneath it was owned by it. At the top of the stone entry was a replica of the queen's dragon, when she had conquered Narishma. Once it was an honor to see a dragon guardian, now he cursed their very existence.
Everyone was covered in scars and newly made scratches from the work and punishments from the day. Amongst the crowd was a mixture of elderly and younger scholars who all had opted to study Devata, not knowing the truth of what had awaited them, like himself. The overseers had promoted the idea of becoming a scholar and recruited at a far higher rate than the guild had ever before performed. It was one of the first things the queen had ordered to make her look good amongst the populace. If only they had known.
The march was silent to the nearby city. If someone even let out a whimper, they were left for dead amongst the dragons. There was no sympathy even amongst the scholars for someone that endangered them. The target was to reach the safety of the city, reach the beds, and pray that no one would be killed by a rogue beast that night. The overseers were given a large heavily protected building that was impenetrable by most dragons and was filled with every comfort they could ask for. scholars, however, were given dilapidated homes with multiple holes throughout the walls and ceilings with no talk of repairs.
Tosh's wasn't any better. With being a newly graduated scholar, he had last choice in a home here, which was an overcrowded space with straw piled into different corners of the rooms for people to sleep in. If you were first in line to reach the building, you got first choice on a bed that night and could steal a little extra straw from another bed to make yours more comfortable, leaving whomever was last the remaining straw, if not the hard-cold floor.
Tosh welcomed his home for the last time in silence. He would be glad once he was far from here. Before he could leave the line to step over to his house, however, the overseers called for a halt. scholars who had been too focused on going to sleep bumped into those in front of them. There was a murmur of confusion as there had never been a halt to the line before and this was one of the few times they were free to do whatever they pleased without punishment.
Tosh leaned over to see a blacksmith holding a branding iron that was still glowing red in his hands. The overseers next to him were smiling in delight.
One of the older guards in the city, still in his armor for the day, stepped forward. "Rules from the queen. Now that we have discovered a new path underground, we are ordered to mark all of you as scholars belonging to the Study of Devata. If any of you think you can use the cave to escape, you will be mistaken. Any of you spotted outside the quarry and not accompanied by an overseer will be killed on the spot by any citizen of Narishma." The guard scanned the crowd, waiting for someone to try and rebuke the order. "Does anyone have any questions?" A few scholars shuffled in discomfort at the thought of the branding iron touching them but they stayed silent. It was either be branded or be killed.
The overseers brought the elves back into an orderly line and had them stand next to the blacksmith, near his smithy as he placed the iron onto their skin. Tosh could hear the screaming of agony as each man and woman was branded for their doom. He could see a deep red mark bubbling on their skin. From a distance, he couldn't see what the brand was but as they grew closer, he could see each one had the symbol of a leaf on their cheek. He gulped, his plan to escape had become much more difficult than he had imagined it to be. If he had a brand on his face that was so blatant, then there would be no telling how he could be safe and free.
The queen had chosen this for them. The elves, once the only race in Narishma, was conquered by the new queen and the drow decades ago. Despite this, the queen never aged, and the elves were slowly taken down from positions of power and many were enslaved in their own homes. He cursed the drows very existence as with every step his own freedom was being stripped from him.
Tosh was next. From a distance, the blacksmith just seemed to have glowered over each scholar, but upon seeing him so close and smelling the burning flesh from previous elves before him, he could tell the blacksmith was taking pleasure in every brand he made. Tosh braced himself, there was no escaping this, just as there was no escaping the reality, he had trapped himself within.
"Death to the drow!" he shouted before the searing pain of the brand marked his body for death and all went dark.
Three
Despite how quiet Anjuu had been, the castle felt empty to Kalio. She didn't feel that her life was in danger, but it still forced her to now carry one of her own blades closer to her body. Unlike the other nobles who held jewel encrusted blades used primarily for display, the queen's was a live blade that had seen a multitude of battles in her younger years.
Once her shadow had left the castle, Kalio ceased to hold court, and refused any of her servants to enter either. Without Anjuu, there was no guarantee someone would try to assassinate her while she was unaware. The only ones allowed to enter and exit were the members of her court, along with their own personal shadows. It did not comfort her in the slightest, yet she had to concede to this if she wished to continue her reach on the outskirts of the country.
Kalio walked through the halls, listening to the echo of her footsteps, waiting for another pair to join her own. It was the first time this week since Anjuu had left that Kalio had called her council to meeting. None had argued with the order, yet Kalio saw in their faces a look of confusion on why the sudden order. Often, she only opted when there was an act of violence on a large scale, yet Narishma had been quiet. Kalio knew their concern but put their minds at ease that there were no new conspiracies, at least it was what she told them but not what she told herself.
The door to the council's chambers was larger than most of the other doors, with a large willow tree etched into the wood. The royalty from before Kalio's reign had opted to etch Devata into almost everything in the castle. She scowled at the reminder that her own life was tethered to the symbol that had killed many of her own people. The disapproval was only for a fleeting moment as she flung open the doors and stepped forward into the room.
In the center was a small wooden table with three people standing next to their seats. Each one looked over to Kalio, watching her every step, ready to retaliate if she chose to reveal her blades within the room. They may have been her people, but they knew at any moment the queen could go on a rampage. Pride filled her heart knowing that they didn't put their own guard down even around her. There was never room to place full trust in anyone but yourself.
Kalio stood at her seat at the head of the table and looked at each of them. Azrael, the one from the pyramids who had only recently joined her council as payment of good faith, Mestre, her oldest companion but also the most dangerous, and finally Persius, who hailed from the southern snow plains and was not fully human despite his guise. Each one held their reasons to betray her, yet she stood now before them to discuss the most critical moments of her country's wellbeing.
"Sit." They all obeyed and silently sat down, never moving their eyes from their queen.
Mestre was the first to speak. "Did Anjuu die then? You are a bit more guarded than usual." There was no sign of empathy in her voice, but pure curiosity.
"No, I've s
ent her off elsewhere. This meeting is not to discuss her, it is to discuss us."
"Us?" Azrael asked, fidgeting in his chair slightly.
The queen nodded. "Recently we had seen the attacks by the rebels. You've seen it with your own eyes thee destruction they have done. Azrael has done well to mitigate their attacks too close to the capital, but they are still destroying crops from nearby farms and enslaving our people to sell to other countries." Kalio slammed her hand onto the table to add effect and attention to herself. "I won't allow it!"
The three jumped slightly with Kalio's action. Even Mestre, who had been hardened from her practiced torture, slid farther back in her chair and her hair began to turn into a ghost white at the roots. She had seen how Kalio could be and even she had no power against her old companion.
Kalio took a deep breath, pausing to let the council calm themselves. "I understand, Mestre, that you have heard that the ren zhe were part of this rebellion?"
Mestre nodded, her hair going back to its dark black. "Yes, My Queen. I was able to infiltrate one of their caravans after our last meeting. They didn't say much, but I did find explosives. They tried to claim it was in celebration of the new year, but for that small of a group it seemed improbable."
Kalio nodded. "Anything else?"
Mestre looked around, hoping someone else would add onto her findings even though no one else had been with her on her missions. "That was all I could find. You called us in while I was looking around. I had only been there for three days before you called us back."
Kalio glared at Mestre but knew she told the truth. It would be difficult to find much in such a short time. Even still they had one potential lead. "Fine, then I will send you back out to look into the ren zhe more." Kalio held out her hand to Mestre. "Come."
