Halfway (Wizards and Faeries)

by Stephanie Void

  Gratefully, I cupped my hands around the three mushrooms, careful not to bruise the delicate-looking stems… and looked up.

  Beyond the rock was a whole patch of them, glowing like little beads of the moon. I stumbled towards it—and tripped, collapsing in a heap on top of the mushrooms. But to my half-conscious surprise, they held up under my weight, strong as metal. And they were warm… so warm, almost hot.

  I stood up, peeling my wet clothing off, exposing my body to the comforting warmth. As I knelt before the mushroom patch, I felt my muscles relax enough to stop shivering. My teeth were no longer chattering. I stretched out my hands over the mushrooms.

  Soon, I felt my breathing even out. I stretched out, lying facedown on the green carpet, and breathed in.

  Vines grew everywhere, and I danced among them with Temet.

  Beautiful music issued from instruments I had never heard played, only dreamed. Something with strings, bowed strings.

  The vines turned into an ocean, with Temet and I sailing home on curling green waves on a ship formed from a leaf.

  The leaf slit down the middle, separating us. I reached for Temet as the music around us started to take on an unearthly tone. The vines bore him away, beginning to engulf him.

  Temet was getting farther away.

  “Temet!” I yelled.

  He reached out to me, face blank. “Find me.”

  Chapter 12

  Cemagna

  I awoke to find myself where I had fallen asleep—sprawled naked in the cave atop a bed of glowing mushrooms.

  I sat up, running a hand over my face. Reaching for my clothes, to my delight, I discovered that the heat from the mushrooms had reduced the icily wet cloth to dry warmth. Giddy with the relieved joy of someone who had just escaped several kinds of death, I dressed.

  With one sweeping glance around the cave, I took in what little I could see from the light of the mushrooms.

  To my back was a wall extending up into blackness. No escape there. Ahead of me was the gray sand of the underground pool. I shivered, staring at its deceptively beautiful, luminous water.

  How was I going to get out of here? And was everyone in the world so crazy? Attacking me, trying to kill me, stealing my brother… even Nessy during her last moments raging into the storm. I hoped Temet was still as I’d remembered him.

  Shaking bleak thoughts away, I struggled to my feet and dressed. How was I going to get out of here?

  There had to be a way out. The Enforcers used this place so regularly that they had a noose down here, so they must have had several escapes. Testing each step to make sure there was solid ground beneath me, I crept towards the unseen sides of the cave. After a few steps, I felt cold roughness under my fingertips and felt along the cave wall. I hoped there was a passageway somewhere in this darkness…

  My fingers brushed blindly over a protruding stone, and I heard a click. I froze.

  The cave wall was rearranging itself. A massive stalactite shifted into view, steps meticulously carved into it. An easy climb for me.

  What was this? Did the Enforcers have some massive network of catacombs down here?

  I didn’t trust the steps to lead me to safety, but I had little choice so I climbed until my fingers, reaching above me, struck wood. Feeling around, I could discern a trapdoor, which I pushed until it opened. The next moment I was standing in an empty room.

  The few pieces of furniture were covered with cloth, and dust covered the place with the exception of the floorboards leading to the door. An abandoned room, then, but one that was frequently used to get to the cave.

  Shaking my head, I looked around. The windows were boarded up, but from a few hints of sky peeking through, it was past evening.

  Walking to the door, I cautiously pushed it open, only to find another empty room and more boarded-up windows. Exploring further, I found I was inside a house, and when I exited through the front door, I saw I was at the edge of a broad cobblestone square.

  At the far end of the square stood an immense stone building. I recognized it instantly from Nessy’s books as a cathedral, one of the places where people went to talk to the Above.

  I smiled. The books had always mentioned those as places of peace. I would be safe there.

  As my gaze swept around the rest of the square, I saw that in the center of the square was a fountain, water trickling up from it to fall into a pool below.

  All around me were shops and houses, multi-storied and crowded close together, sometimes even touching.

  Slowly, I crept forward. As I crossed the stone courtyard towards the cathedral, I realized I was thirsty. As I passed the fountain, I bent over and splashed my hands in the water.

  Scooping up a handful of water, I pressed it to my lips and drank. So wonderful… wonderfully good…

  I reached down for another handful… and stared at my reflection.

  I looked like Nessy.

  Stunned, I put a hand to my cheek. Yes, I had seen myself in looking-glasses in the house, but I hadn’t bothered to look very often, and certainly not from this angle, looking downward at the pool. The same angle ten-year-old Cemagna would have looked up at Nessy.

  Slowly, I traced the lines of my face. My nose, lips, chin… they were all hers, but softer somehow.

  I raised my face to the night stars, so dim compared to the impressive star field at home.

  Had the Enforcers tried to kill me because they had thought I was Nessy? And what had she done that had merited this? Was she a dangerous criminal?

  Nonsense, I told myself, raising a hand to splash away the reflection.

  A fat drop of rain smacked into the reflection before my hand could. Another raindrop followed.

  Me. Temet. Nessy. Our mother. A criminal?

  Reaching down, I scooped up another handful of water—and recoiled with a shout. The water was burning hot. Yelling again and shaking my scorched hand, I started to stand up.

  The water was shining, steam issuing from its surface. I paused, staring at it, while something clicked in my mind. I had seen this before. This same fountain, at night. The same cobblestone square. The water glistening dully, like it did now.

  With a scream, I bounded backwards. The attack in my dreams! This was it!

  But I wasn’t fast enough. Four colorless forms burst forth from the surface of the water and shot towards me like liquid darts. I turned to run, only to see another one struggling to emerge behind me from a rain puddle forming on the stones.

  The rain was now a full storm, and a peal of thunder drowned out my cry.

  With another yell, I leaped back—into another of the creatures behind me. I collided into his soft body and toppled backwards as he pulled me into the fountain with him.

  As water filled my mouth, I gasped. With a burst of desperate strength, I forced my face up and out of the water, away from his grasp. Gratefully, I sucked in a breath of air… and then he pulled me down again with him. The dark water closed over my head.

  All around I heard howls, and the water was like being gripped by a fist of ice. What had happened to the heat?

  I opened my eyes.

  The water wasn’t as dark as it had looked from above. I could see inky, formless shapes writhing, forming and re-forming in a bottomless pit.

  In terror, I threw my attacker off me, bursting to the surface and leaping out of the fountain.

  The nearest attacker lunged towards me…

  I screamed.

  The attacker’s body exploded… into raindrops.

  My breath froze in my throat in surprise. Had that happened… because of me? My Magic! I was using it! Again!

  Something shoved me hard in the back, and I felt sinewy arms wrapping themselves around me. Cold arms. Like water.

  Bending double, I reached for one of the thing’s legs and pulled… the thing fell to the ground like a waterfall.

  I stood back up, my hair and the rain falling into my mouth, stifling my breath. I shook my head.

  Three of
them were left, glimmering dully like tarnished silver.

  They lunged at me all at once.

  I spread my hands and they all collapsed as rain.

  Shaking, I stumbled away from the fountain. What had just happened? I was so tired…

  Blinking through the rain, I could vaguely make out the dark silhouette of a building. The cathedral…

  Lightning split the sky, highlighting figures on the roof—open-mouthed, fanged, angry beasts. Startled, I staggered back, ready to fight again, feeling blue flames form on my fingertips. But the beast did not move. Looking closer, I saw with a flood of relief that the figures were made of stone. The many ledges on the side of the cathedral were covered with them—bat-winged monsters clinging in various ways to the cathedral.

  Gargoyles, I knew. They couldn’t hurt me.

  I stumbled away, determined to keep moving. Nothing was safe except the darkness that hid me. A flash of lightning illuminated everything again and I saw there were houses all around me. I kept walking, faster, shivering in the rain.

  Did I imagine those shadows to be Enforcers?

  My walk turned into a run. I didn’t know where I was going anymore…. I just wanted to get somewhere safe, fast. I ran, my heart pounding, legs aching, breath heaving.

  Lightning crashed through the sky again, and in its brief light I could see several of the watery figures shimmering ahead of me, coming for me.

  Searching for an escape, I spun around and saw a very faint light off to one side, through several alleys. My heart pounded and fear clogged my throat as I ran towards the light, through the alleyways.

  What was I doing here? I was going to get murdered over a foolhardy plan to find a brother I had not known for a decade!

  The faint light had solidified into a lantern hung from a tall, wrought-iron gate.

  Mindlessly, I ran to the gate, groping blindly in the dark. It swung open and I ran into the blackness beyond.

  The branches of bushes tugged at my skirt. I slowed down, my hands out to feel any obstacles.

  A structure, a large one, loomed against the darkened sky. I approached it.

  My hands touched something solid at the same moment the rain stopped pelting me. I must be under an overhang or eaves of some sort, I thought. I felt my way along it. My toe hit a ledge. I felt around some more and knew it was an alcove. Climbing into the tiny shelter, I curled myself into a ball.

  I want to go home.

  Chapter 13

  Cemagna

  “Miss? Miss, are you awake?”

  Blinking, I opened my eyes and looked up. The sun hadn’t risen yet, but I could see a man looming over me. He was tall, perhaps around middle age or older, with whitish hair and round dark glasses over his eyes.

  I looked around. I was curled up in an alcove in a large stone building. More gargoyles—why were there always gargoyles?—peered out around me.

  “I—I’m sorry!” I burst out. “I had nowhere to take shelter from the rain!”

  The man’s eyebrows raised slightly above his dark glasses. “How did you get in here? The gate is locked at night.”

  “I—I don’t know.” I started to get up. “I’ll leave now.” The last thing I needed was more trouble.

  “No, stay,” he said. “Come inside with me, please. You must be cold and hungry.”

  “I—I really am,” I blurted before I could stop myself.

  “I’m Duke Von Chi,” he said.

  I swallowed. The duke? I had fallen asleep in front of his house?

  “I—I’m Cemagna,” I stammered. “I’m sorry. It was dark, and I didn’t know this was your house.”

  “It is all right. I live to serve my people. Come inside.” He took my hand, helped me to my feet, and led me away.

  “I really shouldn’t impose upon you, sir. I’m only in this city to find my brother. I’m not even sure I’m one of your, um, people. I’m not from Vel City. I come from a house on a cliff, somewhere far away.”

  “Oh?” The eyebrows shot up again. “And why are you here, searching for your brother? Is he lost?” He kept walking, leading me past well-manicured gardens visible in the first light of dawn.

  “I don’t know. The last time I saw him was ten years ago, when the moon-eye ship came. I think he may be with the Wizardly Order.”

  “I will help you to find him,” he said. “But first, you must come inside and have something to eat and a proper night’s rest. Stone makes a poor bed.”

  He was right. Already I was trying not to yawn.

  We came to a heavy door, which he opened, ushering me into a wide, marble-floored hall.

  A servant, a plump young woman, appeared at his elbow. “Garolda,” he said to her, “Cemagna here needs a room and a proper meal. See to it.” He turned to me. “I wish to help you find this brother of yours, but I am a busy man. Have a meal and a rest first, and I will come to you later. We will speak again then.” He turned, walking away down a corridor, the click of his boots loud on the marble floor.

  The servant woman, Garolda, turned to me. “Come, I’ll show you to a room and send for some food to be brought up from the kitchens.” She motioned towards a staircase and we started walking.

  “Does the duke live here all by himself here?”

  “Goodness, no!” she laughed as we climbed the marble staircase, portraits of the duke and what I assumed to be other dukes who came before him lining the walls. “He has two children, but neither of them are here right now. And of course, there are all of us servants.” At the top of the stairs, she turned to walk down a hallway one lined with doors. “Duke Von Chi keeps to himself mostly, except when the people need him. He’s a very private man.” She cocked her head. “I find it a bit odd that he’s taken you in. I don’t know him to have ever done that. But then, no one’s ever snuck in before. The gate is usually locked.” She stopped before one of the doors.

  I tried to stifle a yawn.

  Garolda noticed. “You can sleep in this bedroom. I’ll send for food from the kitchens.”

  I could only nod. Insufficient sleep and constant fleeing for my life were taking their toll.

  I awoke in the bedroom in the duke’s house to the smell of food. Darting up, I saw a plate of steaming soup had been placed on the table near the bed where I lay. Eagerly, I dove towards it, grabbing the spoon and gulping the soup down in huge mouthfuls. It was truly delicious soup… watery enough for my deprived stomach, but flavorful enough to satisfy me.

  Far too soon the bowl was empty and I felt tired again. How many days had I been on the run, unable to get a good rest? I climbed back to the bed again.

  The dream began again—the same dream. I saw the shining water, the dark pearly shapes forming, rising from it. I saw the ice-blond hair flow like a river as the woman fought them, just as I had.

  The woman fought, her hands swinging like a dancer’s. The watery shapes were forming and re-forming. One of them struck the back of her head. She fell forward to her hands and knees, stunned, but tried to get up again. They hit her again, over and over, until she fell.

  The last thing I saw was the watery creatures dancing around her, silent shrieks of glee almost vibrating in the air.

  And I saw her face.

  It wasn’t me. It was Nessy.

  Had Nessy been to this city?

  I awoke with a start. What did Nessy do that the people from the fountain wanted to hurt her so badly? “Oh,” I groaned at the ceiling. “Why did you keep secrets from me, Nessy? Why didn’t you tell me?”

  My forehead felt sore. Was I getting sick?

  I noticed the bowl on the table had been refilled and I made my way to it, hungry again.

  As I ate, I gazed around the room. Tapestries graced the walls in warm colors, skillfully made. The colors in them danced before my eyes…lovely, strange shapes.

  Squinting my eyes, I stared harder. No, that wasn’t right. Slowly, I cocked my head.

  The shapes were pictures! I stared, the tips of my fingers growing co
lder.

  A picture of a savage lion’s head stared back at me, its mouth open to reveal a snake’s tongue. Below it, human figures danced, their bodies bent at horrible angles. Below that, twin serpents writhed, their bodies half-alive, half-skeleton.

  Shuddering, I turned away, refusing to stare at any more of the ghastly tapestry.

  “No wonder the duke puts it in the guest room,” I murmured. “He doesn’t want to look at something like that.”

  Through the sheer curtains over the windows, I could see that it was rainy and nearly dark outside. How long had I slept?

  My appetite for food forgotten, I padded to the door, opened it, and looked out. The door to my room was one of many along a long, high-ceilinged hallway, dimly lit by lamps set in the walls. Pulling my shawl over my shoulders, I wandered past at least ten other doors like my own. They were all locked.

  At the end of the hall was a room, geometrically shaped to hold a wide, angular window that looked down onto the city below. It was dark, so I could see nothing but black shapes below me. The patter on the windows told me it was raining.

  Lighting flashed, illuminating the city. I backpedaled away from the window, startled, as the city momentarily spread itself before me in white light.

  I looked down, trying to see through the darkness. Glimpsing faint light from a lantern far below, I realized someone was outside the duke’s house, banging on the gate. I heard shouting. I could discern two words: “help” and “hurt.”

  Maybe no one else was awake on this rainy night, but I was not going to let someone in need shiver in the rain. I hurried to the stairs.

  And stopped abruptly, still in the shadows on the staircase, as the door banged shut. Whoever was outside had been tended to, but I was curious, so I craned my neck to see.

  Below, two of the duke’s men carried a body sprawled on a canvas stretcher, a hand hanging limply towards the ground. The fingers dripped, but I was relieved to see it was only water from the rain outside, not blood.

  The duke’s men moved silently, making the whole thing look like a funeral procession out of one of my books. I crept after them.