by Kody Boye
“I’m practically an owl,” the man replied.
“What’s an owl?” Carmen frowned.
“You mean you’ve never been out of the mountain?”
Carmen shook her head.
Timon smiled. “An owl,” he said, “is a giant bird that hunts during the night. They usually have big yellow eyes and rise at sunset and then sleep at sunrise.”
“So you’re comparing yourself to a bird,” Carmen replied.
“Generally speaking. I don’t like to sleep at night. I prefer sleeping during the day.”
“Why?”
“Warmer, I guess? ‘Cause the sun’s hitting the mountain? You know you can see it in Dorenoborugh? The sun, I mean.”
“How?”
“There’s a massive cavern that opens up above the city—looks straight out into the skies of Minonivna. It’s a pretty overwhelming sight, to be sure, especially if you’ve never seen the sun.”
“Never in my life,” Carmen said. “Or, at least if I did, I don’t remember.”
“Just don’t look directly at it and you’ll be fine,” Timon said. “It’s pretty dazzling, for sure, but it’s not something you want to go blind over.”
“Yeah,” Carmen thought. “No kidding.”
Though she’d yet to hear back regarding her escort to Dorenborough—let alone with whom and when—Carmen was content with her place in the world at the moment.
This life was simple—here in Ehknac, up on the wall.
She could handle being normal for a little while longer.
- - -
The knock that came at the door that night stirred him from sleep.
Unsure who could be awake at this hour, much less who would be knocking on her front door, Carmen rose in her nightclothes and began to make her way out into the living quarters, grabbing her mace along the way and making sure that she was adequately awake before approaching the door. The muffled steps provided by her slippers would likely cover her tracks, but she didn’t want to give anyone the indication that she’d been asleep unless she truly needed to.
She waited—hoping, to the dear Gods above, that it was just some drunk thinking on his way home from the bar.
The knock came again.
“Hello?” Carmen asked.
“Is this the Delarosa residence?” a woman’s voice replied.
“May I ask who this is?”
“Charity Chambers, ma’am. From the parliament.”
Is this it? Carmen thought as she slid the lock out of place.
She opened the door to come face-to-face with a woman dressed in fine red clothing. Though she was well-kept, her tired appearance indicated that she had spent a long day at work, wherever that may have been. “Good evening,” the woman said, withdrawing from her side a satchel and then from within it a scroll. “I’m sorry to disturb you at such an hour, but I felt it necessary that you receive this information before you are summoned.”
“Summoned?” Carmen frowned. “You mean—”
“Yes, Miss Delarosa. You’ll be leaving for Dorenborough tomorrow morning.”
“By the Gods,” Carmen said, accepting the scroll and unrolling it quickly and without much thought. She didn’t bother to hide her enthusiasm as she scrolled through the letter—which detailed, in simple terms, the aspect of their route, which would begin in Ehknac and pass through Ironmend and Xandau, then of the details surrounding her party, which would include several merchants, a family, and five armed guards, one of whom was Timon. It stated, shortly thereafter, that the following notice was a mandatory summons and that she was required to attend, otherwise she risked jail time.
Nodding, Carmen leaned forward, took Charity Chambers’ hand in her own, and shook it. “Thank you,” Carmen said. “I would’ve never known otherwise.”
“You have been temporarily relieved of your duties during this time, Miss Delarosa. Please be aware that you will have to return to Ehknac or request a transfer to another city if you are not accepted into the Watch.”
“What of my supplies?” Carmen frowned.
“Anything that you cannot provide yourself will be provided to you by a member of the merchant’s guild. You will be directed to acquisition any necessary equipment at the distribution hub once you reach the northern gate tomorrow morning.”
“I understand. Thank you.”
“Goodnight then, and safe travels.”
When Carmen closed the door, she could’ve squealed.
This was it! This was finally it!
Tomorrow, she would rise, dress, eat, then make her way to the northern gate to prepare for her journey to Ironmend—and, hopefully, the next stage of her life.
To say she couldn’t wait was an understatement.
Chapter 3
The sleepless night was spent tossing and turning, filled with excitement and worry and dread. She feared what would happen come time she rose, what would occur the second she left the gate, then the feelings that would emerge thereafter. Ehknac was her home—had been since she’d been a child—and the idea of leaving, while thrilling, was also incredibly terrifying.
You can’t be scared, she thought as she climbed from bed and began to make her way through the motions. You just can’t be.
Nothing would go wrong. She would be with people—armed and trained—and would be accompanied from here to Ironmend to Xandau and then to Dorenoborough without question.
To anyone’s recollection, she was the diamond within the rough: the one true stone amongst the litter from which previous imitations had been drawn.
“But what if I’m not?” she questioned.
She sighed, shook her head, and continued on with her morning.
She ate her breakfast, brushed her teeth, cleaned her body, combed her hair, dressed into her traveling attire of pants and jerkin and thick boots and bracers and then clipped her mace onto her side. She hauled, within one arm, her pack of essentials, while in the other she dangled her luxuries, upon which the glowworm rested in a jar far smaller than the one he’d originally been kept in.
“We’re going on an adventure,” she said to the inquisitive little creature. “Are you excited?”
It reared back and pressed itself to the glass.
Smiling, Carmen pressed her lips to the vial before turning and making her way toward the door.
Outside, she turned, key in hand, and prepared to lock away a part of her past she felt she would leave behind for a long time.
“Well,” she said. “Here goes nothing.”
She inserted the key, turned the lock, and waited for the click to sound before withdrawing it.
The act alone was almost enough to bring her to tears.
Though knowing her emotions were not unfounded, she found herself chastising herself for them regardless.
With that, she turned and began to make her way toward the northern side of the city—toward where, once upon a time, she had gone to slay a drake, and now would leave it behind to see a king.
The northern gate was swamped by the time she arrived. Filled with people both plainclothes and military and flanked by merchants, dignitaries and the men, women and children that would accompany them to Ironmend and beyond, the scene was chaotic and almost impossible to comprehend. While merchants bickered at one side dignitaries argued with the other, coerced into motion by the severity of the situation and what all it entailed. At one point, Carmen thought they would break out into a brawl, but that was soon remedied when a familiar voice stepped forward and came between the two well-dressed men.
“Now gentlemen,” the blonde-haired Dwarf named Timon said, keeping a hand on each of their chests in order to keep them from batting at each other. “There’s no point in arguing about when we’re going to leave. If you weren’t so busy arguing, you would’ve seen that she’s arrived.”
“Oh,” one of the dignitaries said, huffing as he drew his cloak about his body and turned to face her. “Hello, Miss Carmen Delarosa.”
“Hello,” Carmen
managed. She shrugged the bags over her shoulders and grimaced as their weight weighed down on her sore shoulders. “Is there anywhere I can put these?”
“I’ll take them,” a teenaged boy with barely any hair on his face said.
“Thank you,” Carmen said, then watched as he secured them to the caravan that would be drawn by the Hornblarin boars before turning to face the dignitary. “I imagine we’ll be leaving here shortly.”
“Just as soon as you arrived,” the man said. “I or my… associate… won’t be personally accompanying you, but we do need you to sign some forms stating that you are leaving the city of Ehknac and will be journeying to Dorenborough within the projected one-month period.”
“Yes sir,” Carmen said, accepting the scroll and piece of lengthened charcoal the man offered. She scribbled her name and signature and returned the document for his approval. “What happens if we run into trouble?” she asked. “Will someone come looking for us?”
“I highly doubt you and five well-armed individuals will have trouble in the mines,” the other dignitary replied. “Especially with you in their midst.”
“You flatter me, sir.”
The dignitary rolled the piece of parchment up, stuck it in his bag, then turned to the gate guards overhead, who were currently waiting to raise the metal grating that separated them from the outside world. “Guards!” he called. “Open the gates!”
A simple switch of a lever was enough to lift the gate from the ground.
The family whom they were meant to accompany and protect on their way to Ironmend looked into the darkness.
“The drake is gone?” the littlest girl asked, drawing close to her mother. “Right?”
“Yes honey,” the woman said, turning to look back at Carmen. “It is.”
The little girl peered at Carmen from between her mother’s legs, her big eyes questioning and her small lips trembling.
Carmen stepped forward, bent down beside the mother and her daughter, and said, “I made sure to kill the drake so it would never hurt anyone again. Ok?”
“Ok,” the little girl said.
“Say thank you now,” the mother replied.
“Thank you, Lady Carmen.”
Carmen smiled, stood, and turned to face Timon.
“Are we ready to go?” the man asked.
“Just about,” Carmen said, turning toward the Merchant’s Guild. “There’s one last thing I have to do before we leave.”
- - -
As she’d done in days prior, she made her way through the labyrinthine construct of halls and followed the stone arrows hewn into the walls to make her way toward the distribution hub that contained the man who’d helped supply her with all she needed for her trip in exchange for the proof he so desperately offered. Her purse in hand, one fang within her delicate grasp, she turned down a hallway and made her way into the massive distribution outlet and knocked on the door to summon the man’s attention.
“Sir?” Carmen said, knocking again when she felt she hadn’t been heard.
The gentleman appeared from the opposite room which held the inventoried supplies. His eyes immediately widened and a smile lit his face as he saw Carmen. “I was wondering when I’d see you,” he said.
“I’m sorry it took me so long to get here,” Carmen said, taking a step forward and bridging the distance between the two of them.
“Have your supplies not already been delivered?”
“They have, sir. I just wanted to speak to you before I left. About the arrangement we had?”
The man paused. “Oh, yes,” he said, his face once more lit in glee. “Please, come in.”
Carmen followed the man into the inventory room and placed the coin purse on the counter as the merchant turned and rounded it. She then withdrew, from its humble beginnings, the cracked tooth she had managed to remove from the drake’s mouth after killing it.
She passed it to the merchant with a sense of relief.
Now all that was said is done, she thought, shivering as she brushed her hand along her pantleg.
“This is incredible,” the merchant said, lifting the tooth to a nearby crystal and admiring its yellowed surface in the light. “Think of the fortune that could come of this. A drake’s tooth? From an actual living, breathing drake?”
“It was dead when I pulled it out,” Carmen offered.
“Regardless, it had been alive just moments before. This is as fresh as you can get. You normally only find these after they’ve decayed and the properties within them have become nullified.”
“Pardon?” Carmen asked.
She’d heard that some doctors preferred to use the bones and aspects of animals to create potions and other medicinal items, but never had she heard of people actively seeking out the corpses of drakes in order to make medicines from them. The monsters were solitary—and tended, upon death, to stray toward remote cliffsides to keep from being scavenged after death by anything not on two wings. But this—this was something Carmen hadn’t expected.
The man lifted his spectacled eyes and smiled. “Lady Carmen,” he said. “This more than pays for everything I offered upon your departure.”
“Thank you,” Carmen sighed, content that she would not have to part with anything further.
“Though there is something else you could do for me, if you would be so willing.”
“Name it,” Carmen said. She wasn’t about to let her coin slip away by being on the man’s bad side.
“I have a number of objects I would like delivered to an associate in Xandau. Given that I cannot leave my post, and that you are to pass through the city anyhow, I thought you might be willing to ferry it for me.”
“I don’t see how that would be a problem,” Carmen said. “So long as they’re items I can carry in my pack.”
The man set a small satchel down in front of her. “More like carry in your purse,” he said. “Would you like to have a look?”
Carmen leaned forward.
The man spilled from the pouch’s simple confines several translucent crystals—which, when hit by the light, glowed and sparkled unlike any gem Carmen had ever seen.
“What are they?” Carmen asked, tempted to reach out and take one for further examination, but knowing that she shouldn’t.
“They’re called diamonds,” the old guildsman said. “Found only in the deepest parts of the mountain.”
“They’re beautiful,” she said.
“They say there exists a sword in this world that was crafted from such an object—treasured, beyond measure, and immortal in that it can never be broken. Watch.” The man lifted a hammer from beneath the counter and settled it over one of the gems.
“No!” Carmen cried.
The hammer slammed down.
Sparks flew.
Carmen shielded her eyes.
When she removed her hands, she expected the gem to be in a billion little pieces. Instead, it simply sparkled, undamaged so far as she could see.
“They’re,” she started.
“Indestructible,” the man replied. “Unless, of course, you strike it with another object made of diamond. That’s why they are so prized—and why, if I give these to you, you must promise to guard them with your life.”
“You trust me enough to ferry these to Xandau?” Carmen asked.
“You have returned with your end of the offer when you could’ve easily slipped away, drake’s tooth and all. I trust you enough to know that you won’t keep these for yourself.”
“I have no idea what I’d do with them,” Carmen admitted.
“You’d likely only be able to sit on them. Their authenticity must be proven by a signed declaration from a recognized geologist, which I have right here.” The man pushed a scroll across to her. “I want you to seek out and give these items to a woman named Cecilia Winterburgh in the Xandau Guild Hall. She will know what to do with these from there.”
“Again,” Carmen said. “You trust me?”
“Lady Carmen,” the
man smiled. “At this point, I trust you with my life.”
A knock came at the door just as the man was gathering the crystals back into their pouch. Carmen raised her eyes to find Timon in the threshold, his halberd held steady as to not knock over or disrupt any of the artifacts within the room. “Are you ready?” he asked.
“Yeah,” Carmen replied, accepting the items when they were offered by the guildsman. “I am.”
- - -
The darkness was what unsettled Carmen the most. Having experienced the dangers that lay within, she was immediately on guard the moment they passed from beneath the torches positioned along the Ehknacian walls, and as such remained vigilant as they pushed forward into the Deep Roads. Though she knew it was highly unlikely that Skitters or any other monstrosity could lay in wait so close to the city, she didn’t want to take any chances. For that reason, she kept her hand near her mace at all times—not wanting, or willing, to lower her guard.
“Mommy,” the little girl said. “I’m scared.”
“Take your sister into the caravan,” she told the teenaged boy who’d taken Carmen’s bags. “Get her settled in for a nap.”
“Yes ma,” the boy said.
As he led his little sister around the caravan, the mother smiled and drew closer to Carmen. “I’ve heard a lot about you,” she said. “What you did… it’s amazing.”
“I did it because it needed to be done,” Carmen replied. “And because I couldn’t rest until it was dead.”
“Either way, you’re a shining example of what women are capable of when they put their minds to it.” The mother extended an arm. “My name’s Sincere, by the way. My husband Armand is the one who’s helming the cart.”
The man raised a hand as Carmen turned to acknowledge him.
“I’m sorry about the children being so complicated,” Sincere then continued after she and Carmen shook hands. “This is my little one’s first time out of the city.”
“How old is she?” Carmen asked.
“Four,” the mother replied.
Four, Carmen thought.
No wonder she’d seemed so familiar. Tonomoto had been her age—would’ve been just a year older had he not—
She swallowed the lump in her throat and forced herself to look into the woman’s eyes, though judging by the way she retreated back to and then up onto the caravan beside her husband, Carmen knew she’d done wrong.
