The Inquisitives [2] Night of Long Shadows

by Crilley, Paul

  “What?” Wren looked up. “What do you mean?”

  Col tore his attention away, stared at Wren. “The clouds. They moved higher into the air.”

  “That’s imposs—”

  It came again. His stomach lurched.

  “There!” said Col. “They did it again.”

  “Khyber’s breath,” whispered Wren. “Come on.” He ran to Cutter’s side and slapped at his face. “Cutter. Wake up! Where’s the dragonshard? Who has it?” He slapped Cutter harder, drawing a groan from him. “Cutter!” he shouted.

  Col grabbed his hand. “What are you doing?”

  “Don’t you see? What Diadus was talking about? He said that Tiel’s attack on the council was a cover, that the dragonshard would do something worse. Something the warforged had been planning for years.”

  Col looked around, realization dawning.

  “It’s bringing down Skyway, Col.”

  “It can’t. That’s …”

  “Insane. We need to find it. We need to find the shard. Otherwise, Skyway will fall on Menthis and Central.”

  Wren grabbed Cutter under the arms. “Help me get him aboard.”

  Col grabbed Cutter’s feet and they manhandled his limp body into the skycoach. Wren and Col climbed aboard, Col grabbing hold of the controls. The low rumbling had become constant, the shuddering running through the skycoach and vibrating their limbs. Col lifted the vehicle off the ground, rising straight up into the air. As soon as they left the ground, the vibrations stopped.

  Wren turned his attention to Cutter, to find the human staring up at him with bleary eyes.

  “Cutter, where is the dragonshard?”

  “Wren?”

  “Yes, it’s Wren. Well done. Now, where is the shard? It’s important.”

  Cutter struggled to sit up. Wren helped him up and pointed at the people running in panic. “Do you see that? We need to find the dragonshard, Cutter. What did Tiel do with it?”

  Cutter shook his head, then stared down at his arms, gingerly touching the pink skin. He turned to look back at the rooftop.

  “He’s dead,” said Wren. “You got your revenge.”

  Cutter was silent for a while. “I still miss her,” he said softly.

  Wren resisted the urge to shake Cutter by the neck. “Of course you do,” he said. “Did you honestly think killing Tiel would make that go away?”

  Cutter turned to look at him, the pain clear in his eyes. “I hoped so.”

  Col looked over his shoulder. “Slap him again, will you? If he doesn’t tell us where the shard is, we’re going to be sitting inside Menthis soon.”

  “What’s he talking about?” Cutter asked, barely interested. “Isn’t he that watchman? The one who chased us?”

  “It’s a long story. But what he’s saying is true. Look around. The whole of Skyway is dropping out of the sky.” Wren waved a hand about.

  Cutter looked around. “Doesn’t look like it.”

  “It’s going slowly, you idiot!” snapped Col. “Just tell us where the bloody shard is.”

  “I don’t know!” Cutter snarled. “Tiel—”

  “What? What is it?” asked Wren.

  “Bren. Tiel’s bodyguard. He said he had to go to Tain Manor. Said he had to do something for Tiel.”

  “Col?”

  “I heard,” said Col, turning the skycoach around.

  Bren was in the garden retrieving his jacket when the first shudders ran through the ground. He steadied himself and looked around, thinking he should probably get away, that it had something to do with the dragonshard. Did the shudder signify Saidan’s death?

  The ground pitched beneath his feet, sending him to his knees.

  He looked around. The guests from the Tain supper were filing out of the house into the front garden, looking around in curiosity. Bren stood up and saw that Saidan was among them.

  A third, more violent rumble pulsed through the ground. Bren managed to steady himself before he was thrown off his feet. Some of the dinner guests were not so lucky. They fell to the ground, cursing and swearing. The statues lining the pathway toppled over and smashed to pieces.

  Then the whole island lurched beneath him. The guests cried out in fear. The island shook again, and the thought came to Bren that Skyway was falling out of the sky.

  And the timing could be no coincidence.

  Bren looked back at the house. He had done this. Or rather, he had been tricked into doing this. Anger surged through him. He didn’t like being manipulated. Using the dragonshard to kill Saidan Boromar was fine. But if Skyway kept falling, it would land on the districts below, crushing thousands of people. He wasn’t going to have that on his conscience.

  The dinner guests were panicking, running for their chariots or skycoaches. Bren fought against the push of bodies, shoving those too slow to get out of his way. He ran around the back of the house and through the kitchen, to the stairs leading to the basement. He picked up the lantern he’d left at the bottom of the steps and hurried back to the room with the strange machine.

  The ground was rumbling constantly. Dust fell from the ceiling, creating a thin haze in the air that was hard to see through. Bren made his way into the room and reached inside the machine for the dragonshard. He couldn’t reach. It had sunk too far inside for him to get hold.

  He sighed. He’d have to resort to the direct method, then. He lifted his adamantine arm, intending to smash the machine into as many pieces as he could.

  Something caught hold of his wrist.

  He spun around and stared into two glowing white eyes. They darted toward him and a splitting pain exploded in his head.

  Then nothing.

  Col’s skycoach sped across the Tain Manor grounds. Below, people were running around in confusion, fighting to get into their coaches. A Lysander barge rose straight into his path, forcing Col to veer sharply to the side to avoid a collision. Cutter nearly fell overboard. Wren reached out to grab him and pulled him into the center of the seat, but he shook Wren’s hand off, staring at something below.

  “Down there,” he shouted, pointing to something on the ground.

  “What?” Wren leaned over to see what he pointed at.

  “There. That’s Bren—the one with the metal arm. He’s running into the house. See?”

  Wren did. “Col!” he shouted. “Bring us down.”

  Col pointed the skycoach toward the ground and they dropped from the sky. A group of milling elves and humans screamed and scattered out of the way. Wren leaped over the side before Col had even brought them to a stop. He landed lightly and sprinted to the door he had seen Bren enter. The tremors were getting worse. It felt like an earthquake was ripping through the island.

  The door led into some kitchens, then into a narrow hallway. Wren ran down the hall and around the corner, but the rooms were deserted. He stopped, wondering where to go next.

  He heard a faint click behind him. He turned and saw a narrow door, and realized the noise had been the door closing. He pulled it open and saw a faint light bobbing in the distance. A moment later, it disappeared.

  Wren forced himself to slow down. He didn’t have any wands left, and Bren looked like a powerful man. That adamantine arm would pack a punch, he was sure.

  His vision allowed him to navigate the stairs easily in the dark. He followed the corridor, checking down each branching passage. As he moved deeper into the house, he became aware of a low humming sound, like a swarm of bees on a summer day. It came from up ahead. Wren moved as quietly as he could, following one of the small corridors and stopping outside an open door.

  He took a deep breath, then peered into the room.

  The first thing he saw was Bren lying sprawled on the floor.

  The second was the eldritch machine sitting next to him, humming quietly as if it were alive. It was made of brass and gold, with intricate patterns raised on the surface that confused the eyes.

  Wren darted into the room and headed straight for the machine.
/>   As stupid moves go, it was definitely one of his stupidest.

  The warforged slid out of the shadows, stepped over Bren’s body, and positioned itself directly in front of the machine. Wren froze in his tracks, suddenly wondering why he had run ahead and not waited for Col.

  He heard the quiet schick of metal on metal and stepped back as two long blades extended from the back of the warforged’s hands. The warforged lifted its arms so the blades formed a V that framed its face.

  “Why are you doing this?” Wren asked.

  The floor shook violently. Wren staggered to the side, then caught himself against the wall and pushed himself upright. Even the warforged was knocked momentarily off balance.

  “Why am I doing it? Are you asking me why I am doing this to Skyway, or why I am doing this to all the softskins?”

  “Aren’t both answers the same?”

  “No. I’m doing this to Skyway because I’ve decided I want to die. And this guarantees me an eternity at the side of the Shadow. As to the softskins—” it shrugged—”I don’t like you. I think you are weak, petty, hypocritical, lazy. You are a waste of space. What god cares for such a race?”

  Wren shrugged. “Maybe none of them.”

  This gave the warforged pause. “And this does not bother you?”

  “No. Why should it?”

  “Because without gods you are … nothing. A sack of skin filled with blood.”

  “And why would the grace of a god change that?”

  “It gives you something to look forward to. Something to strive for.”

  Wren frowned. “So, what you’re saying is you spend your whole life striving for something that will only begin once you die? Is that what you think life is? A practice run? A …” Wren searched for words. “A test to see what rewards you will get in the afterlife? That’s not living. That’s spending your life waiting for something better to come along. Do you think Diadus intended that for you when he created you?”

  The warforged took a threatening step forward. “Do not speak of him. He was one of the few of you who was actually worth something.”

  “Why? Because he created you? Because he created that machine you will use to kill thousands of innocent people? Innocent children? Where do they fall into your argument? Are they just as useless? Their whole lives ahead of them? Some of them might have become artists, inventors, saints. If not for you, one of them could become a great healer and save hundreds of lives.”

  “And some will become murderers. Some will become rapists.”

  Wren felt the anger building in him. “So you are to be the one to judge them? Do you think yourself a god, to take that upon yourself?”

  “I do it in the name of the Shadow.”

  “No!” Wren shouted. “If you plan on doing this, take responsibility for your actions. Do not shrug your shoulders and say your god demanded it. You are doing it. You!”

  “It is for my god,” he repeated.

  Wren stared at him, suddenly feeling tired. Sometimes you just had to realize there were arguments you couldn’t win, that no matter how you put it, how much you argued, there was no way to get through to a person.

  Wren stood there, feeling the rumbling through the soles of his feet, and realized that the warforged was probably thinking the exact same thing. Who was he to say who was right?

  Wren caught a hint of movement behind the warforged. It looked like Bren was waking up. Perfect. Was he outnumbered two to one now? Maybe not. The warforged must have knocked him out in the first place.

  Unless one of the earth tremors knocked him from his feet.

  It didn’t matter. Wren wasn’t going to stand by while this idiot slaughtered thousands of innocent people.

  The ground pitched beneath his boots. He staggered again, managing to stay on his feet. The warforged fell to one knee, then quickly tried to right itself.

  Bren grabbed the warforged around the neck from behind, gripping it with his adamantine arm. The warforged tried to turn on the human, ready to stab him over the shoulder, but Wren stepped forward, activating an infusion beneath his breath.

  He laid a hand on the warforged’s chest and pushed, immediately feeling heat sinking into its metal body. The warforged lifted its head and screamed as its chest started to glow orange, the heat spreading throughout his body. It traveled into Bren’s arm. Wren saw the human gritting his teeth against the pain, but he didn’t let go.

  The wood at the warforged’s elbow and knee joints burst into flame, and still Wren kept on. He channeled all the power he could into the construct, keeping back only a tiny amount of energy.

  That remaining energy he pushed into his free hand. When he felt the heat fading from his palm, he lifted it off and touched the other hand against the warforged’s face.

  Pure cold surged into the metal body with an explosion of steam. Wren felt the faceplate crack at the sudden change in temperature, then it exploded beneath his palm, shattering into a thousand tiny pieces. Wren staggered back with a cry of pain, his hand bleeding from the tiny metal shards that tore into his palm. Bren shielded his face and turned away.

  After all the pieces had fallen, Wren turned back. The warforged was on its knees, headless, its arms hanging lifelessly. Bren lifted a booted foot and kicked the carcass hard in the back. The body toppled over, and when it smashed against the stone flooring, it shattered into fist-sized chunks of frozen metal.

  Wren turned his attention to the eldritch machine. He put both hands on it and used the last of his energy to see into the depths of its workings. He saw what he was looking for. He closed his eyes and broke the pathways from the dragonshard to the rest of the machine.

  There came a click as the shard was extruded slowly from the hole like an animal laying an unholy egg. Wren pulled it out the rest of the way.

  The rumbling beneath his feet stopped.

  Wren breathed a sigh of relief and stood. Bren stared at him.

  “Is that it?” he asked.

  “I think so.”

  “What did it do?”

  “I think it was eating away Skyway’s link to Syrania. So the island was doing what it would naturally do—sink with gravity. Now that it’s stopped, the link will reestablish itself. We should be fine.”

  Wren saw Bren’s look of relief.

  “You didn’t know?”

  He shook his head. “Tiel told me it was for something else.”

  “Ah, Tiel. I think you’d better find yourself a new boss. He’s … no longer with us.”

  Bren stared at him for a moment, then shook his head in wonderment. “Cutter?”

  Wren nodded. “Cutter.”

  To his surprise, Bren grinned. “Good for him,” he said, then headed to the door.

  “Hold,” said Wren.

  Bren paused and looked over his shoulder “What?”

  Wren hesitated, then sighed and shook his head. He didn’t have the energy. “Nothing.”

  Bren nodded, then disappeared through the door. Wren could hear Col calling for him somewhere in the house above. He took one last look around, then bent over and picked up the defunct eldritch machine.

  Dawn

  Cutter opened his eyes and stared at the ceiling. The familiar ball of lead was still there, still sitting in his stomach like a cancerous growth devouring him from the inside.

  Wren had been right. The pain didn’t go away with Tiel’s death. It just meant Cutter didn’t have anywhere to channel it, that he had to face it.

  It was one of the hardest things he had ever done.

  He’d been willing to die in pursuit of his revenge. He hadn’t cared if he lived or died, just as long as he avenged Rowen’s death. But now that it was over, now that he had killed Tiel, something had changed. He found that he actually wanted to live. He wanted to remember Rowen, to make sure no one ever forgot her. But to do that, he needed to get over her death, to move on with his life.

  And he couldn’t do that where he was.

  He looked around the r
oom. His belongings would fit into his leather rucksack. He could go now—today—if he wanted to.

  So why didn’t he?

  He looked out the window at the steady rain. Nothing was holding him here, nothing except the ghost of Rowen.

  She would want him to go, to make something else of his life.

  He sat up and rubbed his face. The leather satchel was hanging over the bedpost. He grabbed it and stuffed his clothes inside, then opened the chest and took out what little money he had left. He left the books; they weren’t his.

  All he had of Rowen’s belongings was a simple silver necklace. It was her favorite. She said once that she intended to give it to her first daughter. That wouldn’t happen now, but Cutter thought that if he ever had children, ever had a daughter, he would give it to her. Rowen would have liked that.

  He paused with one hand on the door handle, taking one last look around the soulless room.

  Goodbye, Rowen.

  He pulled open the door and walked out, closing it quietly behind him. He didn’t know where he was going, but he felt lighter, the heaviness in his stomach less pervasive.

  He would simply see where the road took him.

  Wren knocked on the door and waited impatiently. He glanced around, shivering in the unseasonably chill air. The rain fell in a fine mist that coated everything, seeping into the very bones. The past few days had been exhausting. The Watch Commander had wanted to arrest him and Cutter for the deaths of his men. It had taken the intervention of Col to get them off the hook, and he only managed it when he put together a file on the dead men and their association with Jana.

  Unfortunately, Col had also been responsible for having the entire story swept under the carpet. Admittedly, he was acting on orders from higher up, but he’d told Wren and Cutter that they didn’t want the true tale getting out. They were afraid that letting the general population learn that a mad warforged had nearly killed tens of thousands of people would lead to riots, with all the other warforged being blamed for the actions of one.

  Wren hated to admit it, but they were probably right. That didn’t stop it from chafing, though. He should have been invited to sup with the king after what he had done. They. What they had done. He couldn’t take all the credit himself. Just most of it.