by May Peterson
Chapter Eleven
Dawn was making its way over the ice.
I didn’t know how much time we had. But after a fuck like that, we lay there for a while, the ambiguous darkness dissolving our concerns. We were both too spent to move immediately anyway. Maybe that was the point. Maybe neither of us really believed there was a way out.
Part of me wondered if I’d already found it.
Hei and I lay on the bed in the hostel, and soon he slept. He must have needed it desperately. I covered him with my wings, sheltered the precious nudity of his body.
We had to prepare. In probably less than an hour, sunrise would declare dominion over Serenity. And escape would become both easier and harder. Umber might be hesitant to give chase under daylight, but I couldn’t fly for long in it either, especially not carrying Hei.
But this time with him was precious; I would not have given it up.
I rose, careful not to wake him, and dressed. It wasn’t difficult to slip trousers on him so he could ready himself quickly, though it drew a few grumbles. Gingerly, I laid Lightray next to the bed and went to the window to watch and listen.
There was no way we had truly eluded Umber’s servants this long. But maybe there was a reason he’d made this gambit to start with. A reason that made him vulnerable.
I scanned the shadows through the glass until they melded together, became a patchwork of shades of black, the hazy unconsciousness of Serenity. It had maybe been a quarter of an hour. And there, it happened. Emerging from the formless gray was a form. A face, wings.
A specter.
Just as before, the shiver that crawled down my back hinted at whose it was. And that it was an invitation.
No time to consider it. I unlocked the window and vaulted through, feathers scattering as I landed. There were no weapons I could wield that would matter here—so I simply exposed my naked palms.
The specter dissipated. Behind the place it had perched, a new shadow detached, entering my field of vision. Wings dragging at her feet, the silhouette of a spear in one hand.
Tamueji.
Horror rose in me like a song. Not her. Not her, right after Kadzuhikhan. I couldn’t take this while risking Hei too, every feature of my existence gaining emotional significance only to wither and be stripped away.
Before I could speak, she spat on the ground. “I wonder if there is any way we can make this easier.”
I remained still, thoughts whirring, spitting out conclusions. So this was how he’d do it. He had duped me through her from the beginning, not through Hei or through Kadzuhikhan. Maybe she, too, had barely had a choice. I scanned spherically, listening for motion from within the hostel. Hei should be in no more danger than I was at the moment. Too bad that really wasn’t a consolation.
“Easier for who?” I shrugged. “I guess you’re going to tell me that you really don’t want to do this.”
She paused, eyes flicking to one side. “You’ve picked up what this game is really about, so you already know I don’t. I hate Umber probably more than even you can guess. But he is winning. What you may not know is that he only wants Hei. Not to kill him, or drain his memories.” Tamueji drew a breath. “I’m aware this entire situation is shit. You have no reason to believe me, especially not anymore. I know I lied to you. But all the same, I promise you, Ari. There’s a way out, if you just let Hei come with me.”
It shouldn’t surprise me that she had a role in the game. I tried to react calmly. The hostel was two stories, and the windows were all dark. The flock may have compelled the other patrons out to corner us. It was snug in a low street, perpendicular to a rock slope that sprawled the road in front of me in shade. The right wound further up the mountain, toward Bare-Sky Road, and the left deeper into the borough.
I lowered my hands slowly. “I don’t care what Umber wants with him or why. Not even a little. I do care about you. About whether anything you said to me was true. About what happened to you to bring you here. I don’t think you can have lied about everything.”
She leaned on the spear. “I only told lies of omission. That I didn’t know Hei was after Kaiwan. That I didn’t know why Umber is after Hei.”
Good. She thought I would try to convince her; maybe she was deciding to talk me down. “Did you know about me?”
Her face did not move. Not one muscle. “Yes.”
I took a step nearer, hands dangling at my sides. The deepest parts of me wanted to scream. “Are you going to fill me in on the rest?”
Her pause was brief, almost nonexistent—but it was there. “If you comply, I will.”
I sighed theatrically, swiped a hand through my hair as I took another step. “You have made this easier for me after all.”
Much easier. The next motion happened almost without my conscious will. I dove into a crouch, barreling full force for her torso.
I expected she might parry, or leap over me and take to the air. Evade, exhaust me before resurging. It probably would have been a good tactic. I didn’t expect her to simply hold her ground. I slammed into her like a rock against a wall—and she was the wall. Her feet shook, pushing her back one step, two, but she didn’t fall. Before I could hit the ground, twist to strike at her face, an arm shot around me with sudden strength, choking me, shoving me on my back. Pain radiated through my wings as they slapped onto the cold street stones.
Fuck, I’d forgotten how strong Tamueji was. The greatest of the crow-souls, possibly even physically stronger than Umber, despite her relative youth. I bucked against her grasp, tried to shake free, but she simply kneed me in the gut. I gasped, stopped thrashing. Stars specked my vision.
“You have a fucking strange definition of easy.” Her breath streamed cold as desolation. “But you see? I don’t need to draw blood, no dismemberment needs to happen. I hate to use this phrase, but it’ll be better to just stop struggling.”
As if in testament to her upper hand, the mass of darkness at her back began to squirm. In it, four gleaming eyes winked into existence.
Two more crow-souls. That was all? Where were the rest? Not that three against two were odds I liked. Especially considering it’d taken both Hei and me to dispatch Kadzuhikhan—and Tamueji was clearly much more prepared. Though I had rarely seen her fight, I suspected she was also a significantly more skilled opponent.
I poured more effort into escape, this time attacking her arms, trying to force her to loosen her hold. She reared back for a moment, but pushed down with the spear between her hands, using it like a bar to lock down my arms. It ground into my chest, restricting my breath. This was going to be harder than I thought.
Tamueji’s eyes remained tuned to mine long enough to sting before glancing aside at one of her minions. “Well, you saw. Go in and fetch his lordship’s darling boy. And be gentle about it. I promised to catch him this time without leaving a mark.”
This time. Clearly Kadzuhikhan had made no such promises, if his purpose had ever been as straightforward. Surely the noise would have awoken Hei? One of the two crow-souls took shape out of the dimness, a slimly muscled blond youth with pale complexion and a chain in one hand. His eyes shimmered hollowly, running once over me before stepping to the window. Without a word, he jumped in.
My heart labored enough that it was like a battering ram against my ribs, against her spear. Fuck, fuck. Please let Hei be awake. I had to distract Tamueji, pull her focus. An idea swarmed into view. “Do you also know that I helped kill Kadzuhikhan?” I angled my tone to cut, to mock and scald. Let her fill in the blanks. “We beheaded him and doused his body in water hallowed by a bear-soul. Pretty sure it’s damn near impossible now for him to regenerate from that, considering Hei took his head.”
Tamueji looked as though she was considering gagging me with a fist. “I’m not exactly weeping bitter tears. Good riddance, I say. But don’t give me this cutthroat pretense, Ari. You barely have the heart
to wake up in the evening. You’re no rough mercenary. Were you hoping a lost love would—”
A sound rustled from the room before she could finish. The youth’s voice piped through the window. “He’s...not in here.”
My breath caught. What?
Tamueji ground her jaw. “Do I need to explain to you how to search for a hiding target? Please tell me you know to check under the damn beds.”
The rejoinder wafted back on a cloud of annoyance. “Boss, I’m telling you, there’s no one in—”
A chorus of scraping metal cut him short, as if he’d suddenly been sucked into iron gears. Cries burst from the room, tinged with the call of a bird. Silence thumped down over us, lying still for a moment.
Then from it sprang a strangled noise, the snick of a blade, and a shape hurled through the glass. Shards of ruined window sprayed outward, catching the approaching dawn like tears. The youth was lying on the ground, face down, his own chain bloodied and wound around his neck.
Around it was spun a chord of white.
Hei sprang out of the darkness, crashing on the crow-soul’s back. The chain and cloth restrained his wings, but the youth was still thrashing weakly against it. Holy shit. Being bound by Hei’s blessed bands had to feel like drowning in molten silver.
A distant light caught on Lightray, raised and red-stained in Hei’s grip. He stood gloriously bare from the waist up, cloth unspooled in one hand. A harsh blue aurora bloomed from the holy stone, still fastened to his side. Its glow changed his face into something menacing, sharp and endless as the arctic snow.
If I hadn’t come earlier, I might have just then.
Steam rose from the blade, and the sight of damp clarified; so he’d found water. Renewed his armaments. Good boy.
“You can tell Umber to fuck his purpose.” Hei’s voice fell like a lance. “I don’t care if he wants me to come by for tea. His head belongs to me.”
Tamueji actually laughed. “I hate to detract from the drama, truly, but you may have to get in line for that.”
I’d hoped she might regroup, marshal her other warrior to her side. But she retained her pressure on me, and the other crow-soul—a tall woman with a bun wielding dual swords—pounced on Hei. The flurry of responsive action was partially out of view, but the clash of blades immediately cut the dark. The first boy would heal if given enough time, and we’d be outnumbered again. If only—
I breathed. Hei had said we’d both learned his fighting style. I’d never found myself using it during all my brawls in Serenity, and I had no idea what it was even called. But if I didn’t remember, my muscles might if I tried to imitate Hei’s motions.
No more pushing away. Tamueji’s attention appeared just split enough between me and her lackey to give me an out. I bit the collar of her robe with all gusto I could and yanked her down against me. Her eyes widened in a second of shock, and the pressure of the spear haft eased fractionally. I was positioned under it just right so it would roll slightly—and I could grab the shaft in one hand. Before she could bludgeon me with another knee, I rolled, pushing with all the strength of my wings. With the spear shaft as a lever, it was enough to force us apart.
I sprawled up, turning to keep the shaft between us, and Tamueji skidded to the side, one wing just avoiding the business end of the spear. She responded with the grace of wind, surging forward—but I’d gotten too much distance. Gathering air under my wings, I billowed up onto the rocks. If she had the strength of a mountain, maybe I could get the mountain to come to me.
The battlefield shifted like a curtain being stretched wide, suddenly encompassing the whole street. Tamueji darted briefly between her quarry, still rebuffing his opponent, and me.
Hei was using unslacked cloth to wind the crow-soul’s off-hand sword, deflecting the other with Lightray. She’d outlast him; her blows shredded his defenses—but also caused the bands to waft over her wrists. She flinched one too many times, and Hei shoved a mound of the cloth against her arm. Convulsing as if hit with lightning, she dropped both swords.
I took the chance. I aimed and threw the spear. It whistled as it flew from my hand, the descending dawn licking it like fire. Such a wound could never slay a moon-soul. But if it struck the attacker in the core, forced her back to recover—
Tamueji swung into motion. Again, I’d predicted wrong, thinking she might plunge for me as I became disarmed. Instead, her left wing thrust outward in full spread, rising as she leapt up to cover the spear’s path. It ruptured the wing, blood steaming off its point as it skidded to the ground. She whipped the wing around her, sparks crackling where the spearhead dragged.
The realization washed over me, warming and chilling me in turns. She definitely hadn’t lied completely about her real priorities. She was more concerned about sparing her underlings than pushing full-force into victory. She couldn’t be totally loyal to Umber. The next seconds unraveled into Tamueji picking the spear from her wing, waving its bloody length in the air. Menace flamed from her eyes. The crow-soul behind her hadn’t recovered quickly enough, and Tamueji hadn’t been able to come to her aid. A noose of blessed cloth had settled over her head, and Hei had pulled her down into a grab. She flailed aimlessly, wings thrashing.
There wasn’t time. Tamueji was the wrong target, and she was already whirling away. The spear skimmed close to Hei’s head, and he fell back, surrendering his grip on his attacker. She knew better than to go for me now.
I sprung into the air, taking momentum from the downwind. A scatter of wingbeats, and gravity would give me the rest—before she could turn, I barreled into Tamueji. The force rattled my whole body, reducing the morning to a clap of impact. We careened off the ground, slamming into the side of the building.
My breath was gone, but Tamueji seemed to regroup instantly. Her powerful legs pushed off the wall, leaving me to slide to the ground. Her wings flung wide, spraying blood beneath her, and she fell on Hei like sleet. He couldn’t possibly immobilize three moon-souls at once. The second one was already beginning to struggle free, and Tamueji began harrowing him with swipes of the spear, shredding pieces of cloth at a distance without direct contact.
She was trying to free the first soldier that Hei had snared in chains. Urgency congealed into an idea inside me. I gathered my breath and shouted—“Hei! The sword! Behead him!”
Hei’s eyes visibly widened across the distance, comprehension filling him. Apparently without the fuel of vengeance, he hadn’t been willing to dismember another living-again. Dropping to his knees, he raised Lightray.
Tamueji became a blur. She did as I’d hoped, changing tack to save her companion. Abandoning all overtures of attrition or strategy, she hurled her weight into Hei. I dashed into the gap, hoping I could intercept the worst of it. But she had already looped arms around Hei, throttling him to the ground.
The blow had knocked him off his first captive, and freed the second, who slid flinchingly out of the torn bonds. She knelt to break her companion free, snapping chains in her hands. But they didn’t matter now. Only Hei did.
Tamueji seemed to be losing her focus as she tried to keep Hei grappled. He spit, kicked, bit, but he was no match for her strength. But she kept breaking into shudders, pulling hands back with each attempt to still him. The water had to still be slick on his body, the cloth and the light of the stone burning her.
I found purchase on the side of the wall and pushed off, trying again for a body-slam. Only this time, I dug my fingers into her clothes, the breadth of her wounded wing, trying to hold on as we tumbled off Hei. Blood slicked my hand, and I turned every nerve toward finding the healing wound, reopening it with a talon.
Tamueji and I rolled, and she couldn’t break away this time. She lashed at me with fists, kicks, screeching with superhuman fury. One wing was pinned under me, and I poured all my strength against it, tearing the skin, ripping off feathers. It wouldn’t disable her, but might slow h
er down. Then another thrust hit my gut, and the pain broke through my concentration. The blow knocked me from her, and I surrendered to it, rolling over the dirt.
The air became a cloud of panting and coughing, no sound of motion against the dusty stones. When my vision cleared, I found Hei braced against the wall of the building. Scratches adorned his skin, and blood leaked down his brow. But he was huddled with his bands pulled around him, and seemed to be alert and ready. Tamueji’s underlings were clinging to each other, watching their mistress as if afraid to act without her instruction. Tamueji had heaved to her feet, her ragged wing glistening and terrible in the endless gray atmosphere.
Bitterness roiled in her iron-bright eyes. All the bitterness she had dutifully strangled down before, pulsing from her like heat.
I barely had a chance to move before she spat an order out. “You two. Go to the crow flock. Tell them the borders of the city are a priority now. They won’t be able to just fly their way out of here.”
Shit. I’d hoped they’d concentrate a force on us, give us something to shake off. But the Watcher of Shadows knew every narrow place we could slip through. Apparently this had already been the easy way.
When the young woman and man hesitated, she angled her head and cried: “Go!” They scattered, vanishing into the shade of the mountain, running from the dawn.
I wanted to rush to Hei, to hold him, see that he was all right. But I dared not take my attention from Tamueji.
Neither Hei nor I spoke. The shift of the light was eclipsing Tamueji’s face as she directed it toward us. For a moment, all that I could see was her swordlike glare.
“Well.” She coughed again briefly. “I suppose there may have to be some marks left after all, then. I did try, Ari.”
Hei stood, shaking slightly. “Why? Why did you give up? You helped me before. You were willing to risk anything to give one of Umber’s belongings a new chance. You even risked your life here.”
This was news to me. But while Hei had heard me speak of Tamueji, he and I had hardly had a chance to convene after I’d discovered the truth. One more explanation filled the gap.
