“Not a chance,” Torsten said. “You can wait your turn like everyone else.”
He quickly vanished again.
“Well, that’s that!” Tum Tum threw up his hands in frustration and began turning away.
“Wait a second,” Sora said to Tum Tum. This time, she called for Torsten. Seconds later, he reappeared.
“What now?” Torsten growled.
“Sir Unger, it’s me, Sora. Maybe you don’t remember me, but we have grave news and believe we can assist in…” She took a moment to gather her thoughts. “Please, hear us out, Torsten. We think we can stop Her.”
“Sora…” Torsten said, barely loud enough to be heard, but Whitney saw her name on his lips. Then, louder, Torsten said, “Fine. Let them in.”
Whitney smiled, turned to the others, and said, “And that’s how it’s done. I told you we were close.”
“Aye, close like piss and shog,” Tum Tum said.
Whitney bowed to each guard in the line, taking a bit longer on the scar-faced one. They mostly ignored him and reformed their blockade for all the angry folk waiting on the fields.
“The Master of Warfare is Glintish?” Lucindur asked.
Whitney wrapped his arm around her shoulder. “Oh, Lucy, you have a lot to learn.”
“And you have a lot to learn about women,” Lucindur said, before shaking him off.
Lucindur looked back at Sora, and Whitney realized she’d fallen behind them. She didn’t seem upset, just deep in thought. Her very posture was strained.
He couldn’t blame her. Here they were, Yarrington, where this whole awful adventure had begun, and where, now, it would come to its end. And if they failed, the entire world would too.
No pressure. No pressure at all.
XXXIV
The Knight
Whitney Fierstown. He was the last person Torsten wanted to see in a time of crisis. Sure, they’d come to terms with each other in their previous meeting, when Torsten lay bruised, bloody, and blind from the fight with Redstar atop Mount Lister. But trouble seemed to cling to the thief like a shadow.
Worse yet, he was back with Sora, the very blood mage who’d caused all of Winde Port to burn down with her vile, uncontrollable powers. At the time, he thought she’d been sent there by Iam to turn the tide of battle when all hope seemed lost. Just as she had when Torsten battled Redstar for the first time in the Webbed Woods.
Now, he saw it differently. Sora was a precursor for dark magic returning to Pantego as Nesilia regained her foothold. From Redstar to the return of mystics like he’d witnessed in Latiapur to the creatures of Elsewhere itself.
Torsten pushed through the square toward Uhlvark, whose bulbous head rose high above the crowd. Shieldsmen wearing leather and iron helped Torsten make his way. Anything but glaruium. Under the Royal Blacksmith Hovom Nitebrittle’s guidance, soldiers had already gathered every bit of glaruium-reinforced armor and weapons and tossed them into the Torrential Sea.
The metal, like so many things in the realm, had gone from blessed by Iam to cursed by Nesilia. Touching the cloth wrapped about his eyes, Torsten almost prayed he wouldn’t be next.
The mob in Yarrington’s markets grew daily. There wasn’t enough room in the city for everyone, especially with the Shesaitju being accommodated in the castle grounds. Better that than them out in the open with all the townsfolk who’d lost their homes and families to them in Muskigo’s rebellion.
Another nagging thought beat on Torsten’s brain. Was he as naïve as Pi had been when he allowed the savage Drav Cra into the castle gates? Were these people any different? Enemies somehow turned ally in the face of an attack. The irony wasn’t lost on him that these were precisely the enemies Pi had entreated Redstar over.
He shook the thought away. Had to. This was the only chance against an enemy they had no natural hope of beating. Besides, at least they weren’t slicing themselves open in the courtyard and watching as their blood filled the cracks on hallowed ground.
But still, Torsten thought to himself. In the castle?
The inns—filled. Cathedral halls—filled. Every home in Yarrington was to house as many as it could, by royal edict—whatever that meant without a King. Even the mansions of Old Yarrington were forced to help. Some of the nobles resisted, citing precisely that—there was no King—but Torsten had no problem bashing their doors down.
He didn’t need to keep everyone happy. Just alive.
Still, complaints and rumors spread through the mob like wildfire. From people saying the dwarves were attacking to others claiming that Mahraveh and the Shesaitju had usurped the throne. Torsten tried to be truthful, that the Buried Goddess had returned and marched on them with an army of demons and rebel Shesaitju, but the more people arrived from outside the city, the more lies came with them. He’d even heard rumors that some ancient goblin king had returned from the dead to turn Pantego into his own kind.
Again, it didn’t matter. As long as they knew that war was coming. It was just taking forever to get them all into the city. Every man of age had to be sorted out and ushered to the armory, then fitted in preparation to defend the city. And not every man wanted to fight.
They didn’t have a choice.
It would have all been easier with Pi around, but this was where they were.
“Toooorsten,” Uhlvark’s unmistakable drawl hung on the air as Torsten bulled through yet another crowd of conscripts saying they’d never fight alongside a gray man.
The giant jogged at Torsten, a string of drool on the right side of his toothy grin. His boisterous footsteps cracked stone and scattered the mob.
Before he was crushed in the giant’s embrace, Torsten stuck out his hand. Uhlvark slid to a stop, regarded the gesture curiously, then gently squeezed Torsten’s palm with two thick digits.
“It’s good to see you again, Uhlvark,” Torsten said. He shook, and immediately regretted it as the giant shook back and nearly ripped Torsten’s arm out of the socket.
“I ran into an old friend,” Dellbar said. He stopped in front of Torsten and traced his eyes.
Torsten did the same. “I hope you found what we were looking for.”
“I hope so, too. If nothing else, I brought a pack of angry priests.” He laughed solemnly, nodding toward the group of white-robed men following the path the giant had cleared for them. Sisters and monks helped guide them along, while others pulled carts filled with tomes.
“Good.”
“We’ll see,” Dellbar said. “What of Lord Jolly?”
“He’s fine. He relayed your message and is busy taking stock of our naval forces.” Torsten took a deep breath. “But the King—“
“I heard,” Dellbar interrupted. “I only hope his betrothed-to-be is still with us.”
Torsten nodded once. “She’s helping Lord Jolly. And she knows that the ceremony was worthless without consummation.”
“She is wiser than her years dictate.”
“That, she is.”
Dellbar took a deep breath. “And so, here we children of Iam stand, kingless. I must say, even poets couldn’t have written a more fitting end.”
“Your Holiness, don’t speak like that. At least, don’t let anyone hear it. We have to believe that Pi’s death won’t be in vain.”
“Spoken like a true man of faith,” Dellbar said, wearing a withering grin.
“The city will hold,” Torsten added.
“It has to,” Dellbar agreed.
A brief period of silence passed between them until Torsten said, “You look exhausted. The Cathedral has been prepared with bedding for all of you. Get some rest. We have a battle to prepare for.”
“Rest.” Dellbar chuckled and laid his hand upon Torsten’s shoulder. “Wouldn’t that be nice?”
Torsten snorted in agreement, and then Dellbar whistled Uhlvark along. The giant followed like a stray dog while the rest of the priests and men and women of Iam joined them. Torsten’s attention was caught by a familiar face amidst the white-clothed.
Bartholomew Darkings’ daughter offered him a coy smile.
“Torsty Cakes!” Whitney exclaimed, catching Torsten off guard. The thief threw his arms around him from the side.
Torsten clenched his fists and prepared to push Whitney away. He held back. Instead, he returned a light embrace, and when they parted, Whitney was left beaming ear to ear. Any other time Torsten would have desired to slap the look right off the thief’s face, but not now. He couldn’t remember his last time seeing a smile like that.
What did he expect? Whitney was an enigma, an eternal optimist who also found a way to complain about everything. The man could grin like a child on Dawning morning when the entire world was at risk of ending.
“Whitney Fierstown, it’s been a long time,” Torsten said.
“Even longer for me,” Whitney replied, making no sense as usual. “Are you a priest now?”
“What? Oh, this.” He tugged on his blindfold. “It allows me to see.”
“It does, doesn’t it?” a Glintish woman said, emerging from behind the thief.
Torsten’s next words caught in his throat. She was gorgeous, a true beauty amongst ugly things. Oversized, gold pendant earrings hung from her ears while a colorful dress clung to her like hope in the midst of a storm. And strapped across her back, something Torsten had not seen in many years: a genuine Glintish salfio. She was nothing like the Glintish immigrants Torsten knew from Dockside. And her skin... It was smooth and shiny like melted dark chocolate, flawless.
Even more than Whitney’s embrace, his Glintish companion caught him by surprise. Then, without regard for having just met him, she leaned in and studied Torsten’s blindfold. He fought the urge to back up. An expression twisted her delicate features as if to her, it looked like more than a bloodstained, white cloth.
“I can almost feel the magic radiating from it,” she said, reaching out to touch it. “It has its own melody.”
“Not magic,” Torsten said quickly, his throat tight.
“Right,” the woman said.
“And you are?” Torsten finally found the words to ask.
The woman pulled her hand back. “So sorry, I’m—“
“This is Lucy,” Whitney said. “She’s a friend. And that short fellow is Tum Tum. He’s a dwarf.”
“Me Lord,” the dwarf said, nodding.
“And oh, I’m sure you remember Sora.” Whitney stepped to the side, revealing the blood mage, Sora.
“Sir Unger,” she said, performing a perfect bow. “It’s good to see you again.”
Like Whitney and the Glintish woman, she caught Torsten by surprise. Though, not in the same way. He’d seen her at the gates, knew she was there.
But, something was different about her. She seemed older, more mature. Not in appearance, but in the way she carried herself. Her eyes even. The young blood mage he’d known so shortly seemed to care about every little thing, eyes darting around as if hiding something. She always had her arms tight to her side, obscuring the scars on her hands and forearms. Her stance had been slouched, protective.
Not this Sora. She stood tall and proud, unveiling a figure that could have given Oleander healthy competition. She wore what appeared to be an authentic Panpingese kimono, and her eyes were focused with intense purpose. Her arms… Torsten’s blessed vision sometimes made it difficult to see details, but to him, it seemed like there were no scars on them at all. Just smooth amber-toned skin.
She looked not like a raged blood mage prone to losing control but like a true mystic.
“I’m not so sure it is,” Torsten admitted.
“Oh, don’t be like that, Torsten,” Whitney said. “She’s come a long way since the Webbed Woods! You should see her in action. No cutting herself.” He stuck out his tongue in disgust. “Just pure, mystic power.”
“That is exactly what I mean,” Torsten said, then turned to Sora. “You aren’t the first mystic I’ve seen lately. The last killed far too many of my brothers in Latiapur.”
“Then it’s a good thing Sora’s here.”
She stepped in front of Whitney and stared at Torsten straight on. She seemed taller now, too.
“You wanted to tell me something?” Torsten said. “Get on with it.”
“That mystic must have been Aihara Na,” Sora said. “You may have fought her a long time ago. In secret, she carried the Order after Liam destroyed it. She even trained me… but that was before she fell to Nesilia’s promises.”
Torsten didn’t even try to hide his distaste for the subject.
“There’s more,” Sora said.
Torsten grunted for her to continue.
“Aihara Na isn’t Aihara Na anymore. She’s been possessed by Bliss—the One Who Remained.”
“Bliss is dead,” Torsten said, words truncated.
“So was Nesilia.”
He grunted again but bobbed his head. She made a good point. Everything she’d just told him should have surprised him, from the Mystic Order enduring to another goddess returned, but nothing did, not anymore. And maybe that was what had changed about Sora. Not her so much as him. He no longer saw her powers as the root of evil. Not now that he’d seen evil in its purest form. Sora couldn’t choose the curse she happened to be born with.
“They’re working together now,” Sora went on. “And they’re coming to destroy Yarrington and everything in Iam’s Kingdom. Though, it seems you already know that.”
“She’s made it pretty clear,” Torsten said.
“Well, we can stop her,” Whitney proclaimed. “We came close once already.”
“I’m sure you did.” Torsten let out a sigh, but as his gaze passed across the strange group of adventurers, he witnessed absolute sincerity in each of their expressions. The Glintish musician’s eyes had an especially honest quality to them. If she were supporting a lie, she was the best actress Torsten had ever seen. Even the dwarf nodded enthusiastically, foregoing the grumpiness typical to their kind.
For once in his filthy life, Whitney wasn’t just boasting. Torsten wondered how many times in these many months since White Bridge he’d begged Iam to present a miracle, begged Him for a sign that He was still with them.
Were they it? Was Whitney Fierstown Torsten’s answer to prayer? Torsten shuddered at the thought.
“We have a lot to catch up on,” Torsten said.
“Oh, Torsten, my old friend.” Whitney patted him on the back. “You have no idea.”
XXXV
The Traitor
Rand strode through the portal of White Bridge, the gates left wide open. He didn’t look behind him at the pillars of smoke, dotting the horizon from all the settlements they’d passed through. He had to keep moving straight ahead. It was the only way.
At least, metaphorically. For, the grand bridge where, just months ago, Rand had lost so much, no longer stood. He didn’t think it possible, but the white stone had been completely destroyed. Chunks of it filled ledges all the way down the ravine, shining in the moonlight. A few large pieces even poked through the gushing water of the river far below.
All Rand could picture as he stared down was Caleef Sidar Rakun, whom he’d been tasked to protect, plummeting. Another failure on his long list, growing ever longer. Not failing his sister—whatever she was—was all he had left.
“Clever girl,” Nesilia said, the hint of Sigrid’s accent just one ripple of her ethereal voice. She stepped up beside Rand. “The Glassmen have always been so attached to their antiquities. I never thought they’d allow one to be so utterly ruined.”
“I’ll destroy her,” the mystic inhabited by the goddess Bliss spat as she soared out over the gap. A chilly breeze that had no business in summer accompanied her.
Rand’s muscles tightened as, first, he heard the giant spiders following her, then saw them. They clambered over the broken stone, between his legs, and up the demolished towers flanking them.
“Now, now, sister, there is no need for dismay,” Nesilia said.
Rand recoiled further from hea
ring the word ‘sister,’ as he had every time since they all began their march west together. Sigrid was his family. Not this witch, to whom darkness clung like a fungus.
At least they were rid of the insufferable leader of the Shesaitju sect, which had thrown its allegiance behind Nesilia. Babrak seemed to be everything Nesilia spoke about wanting to rid this land of—entitled, traitorous, unworthy. But she’d promised he had a role to play when she dispatched him and a fleet of Shesaitju and Panpingese ships to hit Yarrington from the sea… from Autlas’ Inlet… that place where he and Sigrid had grown up, spent so much time together.
“My pets cannot fly,” Bliss said, fuming. She glared at Nesilia. “You said that when you visited the Caleef here, the bridge remained intact.”
“So, we go around,” Rand proposed. “Through the mountains. You told me yourself, the dwarves will stay out of things. They know now this isn’t their war.”
“And yet they harbored the rogue mystic,” Bliss said.
“They were being hunted by that weakling Lorgit when they used the Lightmancer,” Nesilia said. “Meungor’s little vermin are no concern.”
“And where is she now?”
Nesilia moved to the edge without answering. She stopped, the moons painting the side of her face a soft amber. She inhaled deeply.
“I do not know,” she said, a smile touching the corners of her lips.
Bliss whooshed in front of her. “And you smile? They nearly destroyed you last time, and you smile? Who knows what they’re plotting?”
Nesilia closed her eyes, her simper deepening. “Sora fights our connection. Oh, she fights it with every ounce of her being. Her friends don’t know. Perhaps she doesn’t even know. That’s why they used the Lightmancer and nearly got themselves killed. Fear will be her end. If only she would let go, she’d be more powerful even than that creature whose form you now occupy. Ancient One.” Those words were said with mockery wet upon her tongue.
“Then I’ll take her next,” Bliss sneered.
“You won’t touch her,” Nesilia said, terse. “Sora belongs to me, as will all of Yarrington, soon enough.”
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