Dr. Griffin slowly came to his feet, shaking as he checked the broken vial. “Um, well, this used to be claustrophobia medicine, but it went rancid so long ago...You know what? I won’t lie to you; I have no idea what it is now.”
Margaret brought Ryin up, and Dr. Griffin attended to his wounds, as well as Captain Evere and Mina.
Athel approached Blair as he lay immobile in his casket of roots. She parted them enough to get a good look at his face. “Just what are you?” she asked. “There’s seventy-eight islands and none of them have shapeshifting magic. Where do you come from?”
Blair grinned but said nothing.
“Why do you need a Treesinger? Just what are you planning to do?”
Blair chuckled. “Boy, you guys are really bad at this, aren’t you?”
“What do you mean?”
Blair blinked. “Why would I just tell you what my plans are? What benefit would that be to me?”
“Well, in my book the villains always explain their...” Athel waved her hand and cut herself off. “Never mind.”
Blair chuckled. “Villain? You actually think I’m the villain?”
Athel shifted her weight. “Well, yeah, what else would you be?”
Blair laughed. “My father and I are the ones who will bring the true villains of this world to justice, once and for all.”
Athel tilted her head. “Who?”
Blair grinned. “Isn’t it obvious?”
From her perch in the corner, Setsuna laughed as she swung her legs.
“What’s so funny?” Athel asked.
“You guys,” she teased. “Don’t you know you've gotta break someone first before you start asking them questions? A tough guy like this could take weeks to break, and frankly, you just don’t have the time.”
Blair turned his needle-like eyes and regarded Setsuna for the first time.
“For once, she brings up a good point,” Alder reminded. “We should leave here as soon as possible.”
“Tell me, Senndaisian,” Blair called out. “How much are they paying you?”
Setsuna appeared next to him, sucking on her candy. “What makes you think they're paying me? Maybe I’m here just because they are all my bestest buddies.”
Athel rolled her eyes.
Blair licked his thin lips. “Let me ask you, what good is a fortune if you never get a chance to spend it?”
Setsuna opened one green eye and looked at him sidelong. “Not much, why?”
Blair clucked his tongue. “If you don’t see it, then you're as naive as they are. If you steal someone’s wallet, you can just slip away. If you steal seven trillion you can’t just disappear. They will never stop hunting you.”
Setsuna flicked her wrist and a throwing knife appeared in her hand. “Well, you're the only one who has seen my face...”
Blair laughed. “Your image has been recorded by the observers hundreds of times since you got here. When you leave this place, you and your Guild will be hounded every minute for the rest of your lives. It won’t matter where you go.”
Setsuna flicked her wrist again and the throwing knife disappeared. “So what?” she asked flippantly.
Blair grinned. “I can offer you immunity. A clean slate for you and everyone in your Guild. A chance to spend that fortune without having to look over your shoulder every minute of every day. Never enjoying a meal, never getting a good night’s sleep. Always peeking out of windows, always wondering if that person behind you is following you, living every day in constant fear of capture. A life of unrelenting paranoia. Think about it.”
“You're actually trying to talk someone over to your side?” Athel chuckled. “You should know that never works.”
Setsuna licked the candy again. “Only the Stone Council can grant the kind of immunity you describe.”
Blair looked her straight in the eyes. “I am the Stone Council.”
“That’s impossible,” Athel retorted. “He’s obviously lying. The Stone Council is made up of representatives from each of the...”
Setsuna reached out and pinched Athel’s lips together with her fingers. “So, what would I have to do?”
Athel smacked away Setsuna’s hand.
Blair shrugged as best he could, being bound by roots. “Just close the exit gate so no one can leave here.”
“Wait, what?” Athel asked.
“And then?” Setsuna asked, raising a sculpted eyebrow.
“Nothing, just wait for the authorities to arrive.”
Setsuna flicked her candy stick away and turned around to face everybody. “Sorry guys, it’s nothing personal, this is strictly business, and I just got a better offer.”
“No, wait!” Athel reached out, but Setsuna had already disappeared.
Setsuna reappeared atop the wreckage of the Claw and clenched her fist. The huge exit gate closed down to the size of a coin, and the vault was once again bathed in almost complete darkness. Only a keyhole of light came in from the gate. Setsuna leapt backwards and disappeared.
“Oh, we are completely forged,” Ryin yelled as he rose to his feet, clutching his bandaged shoulder. “We are annealed, fullered, ground, and quenched. Might as well toss us in the bargain bin now.”
“Colenat, calm down,” Mina ordered, her voice shaking from the venom running through her.
Hanner created several balls of fire and tossed them about into the air. The room was too big to be fully illuminated by them, but it provided enough light to cast everything in an eerie shadow.
Over on the Dreadnaught, Margaret poked her head up over the damaged podium, her large glasses glowing from reflected firelight. “Can we leave now?” she squeaked.
“It’s not that bad,” Athel soothed, searching the vault for any sign of Setsuna.
There was a distant thud.
“What was that?” Dr. Griffin asked as he yanked a quill out of Captain Evere’s leg and looked around.
“That’s a good thud, right?” Alder asked, lighting a torch.
“When is a thud ever ruttin’ good?” Hanner countered as he slung Strenner over his shoulder and readied his rifle.
Another thud, stronger this time.
Athel walked over and placed her hand on the remains of the Juupa roots, allowing her to speak to the trees still outside. “No, it’s not bad,” Athel announced.
“Oh thank goodness.”
“It’s worse.”
Another thud, louder.
Blair laughed aloud. “What you hear is the sound of the Heshi’sians. They have recovered their strength and are digging down here.”
“Well, that should take a while,” Alder supposed.
“Do you know how fast Stonemasters can dig?” Blair corrected. “Each of them is moving ten tons with each swing.”
“We are so totally forged...” Ryin continued.
Hanner stomped his boot to get everyone’s attention as he coddled Strenner. “Quit frettin' and get to doin'. Our only squattin’ way out of here is to find that ruttin’ little pixie and force her to open the gate,” Hanner announced, “so let’s flush her out!” Hanner punched out his fists, and from each breathed out a swath of fire. He aimed them towards a wall, and began sweeping about, bathing the vault in fire from floor to ceiling.
“Careful, don’t kill her,” Mina cautioned as she released a jet of ice in another direction. “We need her alive to open the gate.”
“I don’t think that'll be a problem, woman,” Captain Evere commented as he took a couple shots off into a dark corner.
“Margaret, get your winds going, see if you can sense her,” Athel requested as she readied her staff.
“Um, ‘kay.”
Margaret began swirling the air inside the vault. Fire and ice curved and swirled about. Athel grew little Juupa rootlets out of the ground, each of them flicking about in the wind in the hopes of bumping into something.
Then Athel sensed a root getting stepped on off to one side. “Over there!” she pointed, and everyone turned just in time t
o see Setsuna vanish through a gate.
“Up above!” Mina released a silver blade of sonic energy that tore into the wall behind where Setsuna had been, but she had already disappeared again.
Setsuna appeared on top of Hanner’s head, balancing on one toe. “Sorry guys,” she giggled sweetly, “but a cute little girl like me just wouldn’t do well in prison.”
Alder aimed his blunderbuss at her.
“Wait, wait!” Hanner bade as he ducked. Alder fired with a roar and a kick, spraying metal all through the air where Hanner’s head had been only a moment before. There was no sign of Setsuna.
Realizing what he had done, Alder held up the gun furtively. “Um, please accept my sincere apologies.”
Hanner snarled and snatched the weapon from Alder’s grip.
“If it makes you feel any better, I'll make sure to visit you guys when you are in prison,” Setsuna taunted from where she now stood atop the command podium of the Dreadnaught. “I'll bring you some scones.”
Behind her, Margaret poked her head up in confusion.
“Hit her, lass,” Captain Evere commanded. “Hit her now with your best shot!”
Margaret raised her hands and blasted Setsuna with a gust of wind, but only managed to flap her skirt and hair about.
Setsuna turned around and cocked an eyebrow. “Really?”
Margaret giggled and pushed up her glasses. “I’m still just a novice.”
Mina let loose a blast of ice, but only managed to freeze the spot where Setsuna had stood.
Setsuna stepped out through a tear behind Ryin and slashed her throwing knife. Ryin spun around, but she had already vanished. With a snap, his cut suspenders gave way, and his Navy pants fell down around his ankles.
“By Maltua’s Great Anvil, I will see that little witch riddled with buck-shot!” Ryin swore as he picked his pants back up.
“Don’t be so stolid Ryin,” Setsuna taunted from the shadows. “That’s probably as far as you've ever gone with a woman.”
“She’s right, you know,” Captain Evere groused as he fired his rifle.
Hanner and Mina threw out more fire and ice into the darkness where Setsuna’s voice had come from, then they lost track of her completely.
The thudding noises were getting closer by the moment.
“Ah, this is hopeless,” Ryin complained as his tattoos on his arms glowed. The metal fasteners on his suspenders fused back together beneath his pinched fingers. “Nothing can beat magic like hers.”
In the wreckage of the Claw there was a stirring as someone lifted up a beam and shoved it aside. Out of the corner of her eye, Athel caught a dark figure rising up.
“Over there,” Athel called, and everyone’s weapons were trained on that one spot.
“Whoa, whoa! Don’t shoot, you knotheads,” the dark figure requested, arms held up.
Athel squinted, trying and make out the figure’s chiseled features in the darkness. “Privet?”
Privet removed his cloak and cowl. “Yes, it’s me, don’t shoot me to pieces.”
Athel was so happy to see him that she completely forgot to be surprised. She ran up towards him, fully intending to give him a hug, when she remembered that she was still mad at him. She slowed her pace until finally coming to a stop right in front of him, arms crossed. “What are you doing here?” she said accusingly.
“I snuck aboard the Claw when it passed through Falmar. I came here to save you,” Privet explained, obviously a little put off by her coldness.
“Yeah...well, what makes you think I need any saving?” Athel asked.
There was another large thud, this one so close the room shook.
“They've reached the vault door,” Blair taunted. “Even with magically hardened rock, it'll only take them a few minutes now.”
Privet pointed at the vault door. “That is what makes me think you need saving.”
Athel stepped back, unable to think of a retort. “Yeah...well, still, no one asked you to.”
“I know,” Privet answered honestly. “But I came anyway.”
Athel turned her face, blushing heavily.
There was another thud, and the vault door trembled.
Privet took out his Navy pistol and walked over to where Blair was being held fast.
“I still don’t see what you can do to help us,” Athel said as she followed him. “It’s not like you bring any magic to the table.”
“That is true,” Privet said as he checked the primer and cocked the flint lock. “Your magic is very strong, but you are soft. You aren’t willing to get your hands dirty. That is what I bring to the table. I can do things you wouldn’t even consider.” Privet jammed the pistol barrel right in Blair’s eye and called out to the darkness. “Hey, moss-eater, you listening?”
“Nope, can’t hear you,” Setsuna called back from the shadows.
“In a few minutes the Heshi’sians are going to burst through that vault door, and when they do, your deal with this guy won’t mean squat if he’s not here to honor it.”
“What do you mean?” Setsuna called back, now from another direction.
“I mean I’m about to pulp this guy’s head, and if I do, then you will die with the rest of us.”
“That’s quite the bold bluff,” Setsuna accused from behind him.
“It’s not a bluff and you know it,” Privet said as he turned around. “When they break in here I'll be a dead man with nothing to lose, and it wouldn’t take nothing on my part to kill him just to spite you.”
“So what’s your point?” Setsuna asked from a shadow, now far away.
“My point is that if that gate stays closed, you die with us and you know it. Now, you open that gate back up, and we can all walk out of here alive. Those are your two choices.”
For a moment, all was silent as Setsuna considered his words.
“No, those are the choices you are giving me. Those aren’t the only choices.”
Athel’s body froze. There was a blade pressed against her throat. Setsuna stood behind her and grabbed her wrist, wrenching it into a joint-lock and holding her fast, forcing her to drop her staff.
“Remove your pistol or I cut her throat,” Setsuna threatened.
Athel could tell she was not bluffing. Her heart beat fast within her chest. She couldn’t move, she couldn’t breathe, she couldn’t think. Despite all the dangers she had faced, this was the first time she felt so afraid. Her life hung by a thread, and there was nothing she could do about it.
“The rest of you, drop your weapons,” Setsuna bullied, pressing the blade harder against Athel’s throat, drawing blood.
Athel could feel the cold sweat forming on her skin. One by one, everyone laid down their weapons.
Privet turned around slowly to face Setsuna. His eyes were fierce, without a drop of fear in them. He stood tall before her, his rippling muscles as calm and relaxed as if he were resting on a summer’s day.
“You know I’m not lying,” Setsuna said, her eyes twinkling.
Privet nodded. “I know you're not.”
There was a flash of metal, and the blade at Athel’s throat clattered to the floor. Athel could only blink in confusion. She had not even seen Privet draw his blade. But there he stood, a point of red blood along the tip of his saber.
Setsuna held her ground, blood trickling down the back of her hand as she flicked her wrist and drew another throwing knife. “You really think you can best me, Wysterian? No woman in my tribe has ever lost to...”
There was another flash of metal and she was disarmed again. As her knife spun on the floor, she forced her injured hand into a fist.
“T-that didn’t count,” Setsuna insisted, a stray hair falling down in her face. “I wasn’t ready.”
Privet stood before her, his body relaxed, his saber held low, as if she presented no threat to him at all.
Setsuna threw Athel aside and stabbed backwards into a gate. Her blade emerged behind Privet, threatening to puncture him. Without looking, he turned
the attack with the flat of his blade, then grabbed her wrist. Setsuna’s green eyes went wide as she was yanked back through her own gate. As she fell to the floor Privet kicked hard with his boot, aiming at her ribs, but Setsuna fell through the floor, creating a fresh gate underneath herself just in time to avoid his boot. Unfazed, Privet threw a knife of his own. Then, to the astonishment of everyone, he jumped down through the gate after her.
It took a moment for everyone to find the pair in the dark. Distant sparks and the twang of metal meeting metal flashed at one end of the vault, and then the other. A trio of throwing knives streaked out of the dark and planted themselves in the floor near Mina’s feet. There was a quick swish of of saber cutting air above them, then off again in the distance.
When they finally did find them, Hanner increased the illumination so they could see them better.
Setsuna was enraged, her normally pretty features twisted into a scowl. Her blood dripped down on the floor from Privet’s throwing knife implanted in the back of her forearm.
Privet stood before her, as relaxed as before, his blade held low, nearly touching the floor.
“Kkeicktten Ttienkkah Kaittamakk,” Setsuna swore as she pulled the knife out of her arm. “I'll have your head for that, you filthy man.”
With his free hand, Privet ran his fingers through his hair. “Boy, you really have a low opinion of men, don’t you? “I know someone you are going to get along great with.” He glanced over at Athel from the corner of his eye.
“Okay, this time is for real,” Setsuna spat onto the floor before them. “I place my honor as a Senndaisian at stake. What do you wager?”
Privet spun his saber about. “Oh, so we're being formal now? I’m afraid I don’t have any honor to place at stake. Privet glanced at Athel again. “Property doesn’t have honor.”
“Land holdings, then.”
“Men can’t have them,” Privet shared, shaking his head.
Setsuna took out a patch and slapped it onto the wound on her arm. It burned hot for a second, sealing the wound. “You must have something.”
Privet thought for a moment, then reached into his pocket with his free hand, pulling out a small, crumpled garment. He tossed it to the floor before them, where it unraveled itself into a white apron.
Isle of Wysteria: The Reluctant Queen Page 29
