by Joshua King
I saw another door across the room and thought of the guide bringing me through the shadows. Maybe we had passed through more than one door. I rushed across the room, pushing people aside with total disregard. I got to the door and smashed through it. Rather than finding the room on the other side, I ended up in the alley again. Ty followed, and I turned around as he shut the door. The sound of it slamming burst around me. Instantly, the wall looked solid.
“No!” I shouted.
I pounded my hands on the wall. My fury was spiraling, and I was starting to feel out of control.
“They aren't there,” Ty boomed behind me.
The intensity of his voice made me stop, and I turned around to face him.
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“You're looking for the Dragon,” he said. “They aren't there.”
“They were,” I said. “I saw them. They were in a back room.”
“You might have seen them,” Ty said, “but somewhere else. Those who know of the Dragon know they possess a mysterious form of magic that lets them use the shadows as transportation. Wherever there is darkness, they can move to wherever they need to. It only seemed they brought you into a back room here because they wanted it to. They weren't there then, and they aren't there now.”
22
“You need to tell me what’s going on,” Ty said.
I suddenly realized I had no idea where to go. If I was in New York, I’d go back to my apartment, or even to Solomon’s. I didn’t want to go to the version of the bar that was here, and I didn’t have anywhere else to go. Ty seemed to realize what I was thinking and gestured toward the street.
“Come with me,” he said.
“Where?” I asked.
“You need to get away from here,” he said. “We’re going to my apartment.”
He started down the sidewalk and I felt into step behind him.
“You have an apartment here?” I asked.
“Where do you think I live?”
“The basement at Solomon’s?”
“No,” he said. “I don’t live in the basement at Solomon’s.”
“What happens to the portal when you aren’t around?” I asked.
I didn’t care. It didn’t matter to me if he put a lock on it, gave it a pacifier for the night, or folded it up and carried it home with him in his pocket. I was just trying to distract myself on the way to his apartment.
“It stays where it is,” Ty said. “I put protections on it to prevent anyone from trying to move through it.”
We hadn’t gone far when Ty turned down an alley and led me up a set of narrow metal stairs. We walked out onto a fire escape, where he opened a window. Climbing through, he held a heavy golden-colored curtain out of the way so I could follow him in.
After seeing Ashe’s apartment in the bar, I expected Ty’s to be similar. When I got inside, I saw it was nothing like it. Rather than the large living room and separate bedroom, bathroom, and kitchen in Ashe’s apartment, everything seemed to be in one room here. The only thing I didn’t see was the bathroom, and a chipped white door to the side probably took care of that.
“It’s not much,” he said.
“It’s a place to go,” I said. “Is this your only place?”
I told myself it was just curiosity. If I was being honest with myself, I’d admit it was because thoughts about my own future were constantly churning through my mind. As the finalization of my transformation grew closer, I had to think about what was going to happen to me moving forward. I probably wouldn’t be able to pull off trying to go back to my normal life looking like this. Besides, I had no interest in ever flinging a pizza or answering a phone with a stupid company slogan ever again. I didn’t know what I was going to do in the Underworld, or even what life might look like once I was completely separated from my human existence, but something about Ty’s meager apartment was reassuring.
“I have an apartment in New York, too,” he said. “But I prefer it here. You should sit down.”
It wasn’t until he said it that I realized I was pacing back and forth across the small room. Nervous energy kept me moving, but I forced myself to sit down. Ty came up and sat at the other end of the couch.
“We got to The Foundry right around sundown,” I said, launching into the story even before he asked. “We didn’t see you, but the man standing at the door let us through. I realized when I saw him he was one of the men who attacked Ashe and me in the clothing shop.”
“Wait, what?” Ty asked.
I realized he didn’t know anything about what had happened to Ashe and me since we passed through the portal.
“Aurora wanted me to come to see her at Nakatomi Tower,” I said. “I went to talk to her, and then afterward Ashe told me I should get some rest. We were walking through the city, and were chased by three men. You didn’t hear about a fight in a clothing store?”
“Was there a broken window involved?” Ty asked.
“I might have thrown one of them through the front window of the shop,” I admitted.
Ty nodded.
“Is that when you went to Stephana’s house?”
“Yeah,” I said. “Ashe said she would be the one to go to because she still eats human food. I needed it because I was completely exhausted.”
“When she called me, she told me you were there. She said there was something you needed to talk to me about.”
“She didn’t want to talk to you about it over the phone,” I said. “She said The Foundry would be the best place to go. But when we got there, you weren’t there yet. The guy at the door was one of the men who attacked us. I’m sure of it.”
“Did he recognize you?”
“I’m pretty sure he did. The way he looked at me,” I shook my head as I tried to come up with the right way to describe it. “It was like he had been expecting me to be there. Like he knew I was coming, even though he had no way of knowing it. He opened the door and we went inside. That door, the black one, I saw it and was immediately drawn to it. I don’t know why, but I felt like I had to get through it. I walked up to it and told the guard to let me in, but he said I had to wait for the Dragon to summon me.”
“You can’t see the Dragon unless you’re summoned,” Ty said.
“You know them,” I said.
He gave a slow nod.
“Why did you go to that door? You were supposed to be waiting for me.”
“I know. I told you, I don’t know what it was, but something about that door just sucked me in. I had to go through it. Like whatever was on the other side was calling to me. Of course, now I know there wasn’t anything on the other side.”
I was still having trouble wrapping my head around that.
“Did they summon you?”
“Yes,” I said. “Ashe and I sat at the bar to wait for either you to get there, or the Dragon to summon us. She decided she wanted a drink, but the bartender couldn’t be bothered with us, so she got up to order. Just a second later, a guy appeared in front of me.”
“He came out of the shadows.”
I nodded.
“He told me they were ready to see me, and grabbed my shoulder. The next thing I knew, I was in some room with them. They told me who they were, and said they just wanted to see me.”
“Just wanted to see you?”
“Yes. The leader said I was a hybrid of powerful ancient blood, and they wanted to see me.” I was getting frustrated again, and jumped to my feet. “They took Ashe,” I said. “The guy who took me to the alley said they weren’t going to return her, that she was payment.”
Ty looked at me intently.
“Payment for what?” he asked. “What did they do for you? The Dragon never does anything for anyone without payment, but they won’t take anything without giving something in return.”
“I didn’t ask for anything from them, other than if they knew where someone was.”
“Who?” Ty asked.
“It’s why Ashe and I were coming to
see you, she thought maybe you would know.”
I knew I was rambling. I wasn’t making any sense. But the thoughts in my mind had tangled and I was struggling to unravel them enough to talk to Ty.
“Sit back down,” Ty said. “You need to calm down, and tell me what the hell is going on.”
I sat down, but couldn’t keep one leg from bouncing with the energy and anger still flowing through me.
“When I went to see Aurora, she told me she didn’t know if she was going to go through with the transformation. Apparently if she does, she’s bonded to me for the rest of existence.”
“Shit,” Ty said.
“I know. She said if I wanted her to give me the blood I need to finish my process and not rot away into a pile of primordial ooze by next week, then I needed to go talk to a friend of hers and bring back the answer to what makes me different. She promised to trade her blood for the answer, but only if she got it from this man.”
“Malakan,” Ty said.
“How did you know?”
“He’s been her confidante for a long time,” he said. His eyes met mine briefly. “Did Ashe tell you I was once a member of the Shades?”
“Yes,” I said.
“Did she tell you what happened? Why I’m not anymore?”
“No,” I told him. “She just said you might be able to help us find Malakan because you were a Shade once.”
“I’ve never been to his house,” Ty said. “The only times I accompanied Aurora and Darien to a meeting with him, it was in one of the buildings at the palace. But I’ve heard rumors that he lives on the outskirts of the city.”
“The Dragon told me he lives where two rivers meet,” I said.
“They told you that?” Ty asked.
His voice was tense, and it struck me that there was more significance to that exchange than I knew.
“Yes,” I said. “They said they don’t know where he is, but how to find him, and that he lives where two rivers meet.”
“That’s what they did for you,” Ty said. “They gave you that information, so they took Ashe in exchange.”
I felt my stomach drop.
“They took her because I asked where to find Malakan?”
“They felt they deserved something in return for helping you. But that doesn’t seem like enough. Did they tell you anything else?”
I hesitated.
“What do you know about Malakan?” I asked.
“What do you mean?”
“You said you’ve never been to his house, but you were around sometimes when Aurora and Darien met with him. What do you know about him?”
“I never really met him. I saw him many years ago, but I’ve never had a conversation with him, and know very little about him. Why?”
“One of them, a woman, told me to be cautious about the people I consider friends, because one of them is out to deceive me.”
“That’s the council they gave,” Ty said. He seemed to think about this, then looked at me again. “We need to find him.”
“We need to find Ashe,” I insisted.
“Malakan is going to be the way to find Ashe,” Ty said. “The Dragon does nothing accidentally. Everything is strategic and purposeful. If they gave you that warning, and then took Ashe as payment, he is going to be the path to finding her. Tell me again what they said about where he lives.”
“They said he’d been cut off from his people, and lives at the crossing of two rivers.” Ty’s face darkened. “What is it?” I asked.
“Only one river runs through Solan City.”
23
“The woman specifically said Malakan lives where two rivers meet,” I said, as if repeating it would change things.
Ty knew Solan City far better than I did. If he said there was only one river, that meant there was only one river. Besides, if the city really was an exact mirror of New York City as Ashe had told me, then he was right. The Hudson River was the only one that crossed the city. There was no other river to meet it.
“The only thing we can do is go to the river,” Ty said. “Maybe we'll be able to find something there. Even if there isn't a second river, Malakan can't be far from the only one there is.”
I nodded.
“Let's go,” I said.
I had expected to go for another long walk. It was the only way we had been traveling recently, and fortunately my renewed body was better able to handle it than I would have been just a few days before. I was relieved, though, when Ty led me to a car behind the building. We got inside, and he drove us to the river.
“This is the Triking River,” Ty said.
We drove along it as slowly as we could, looking for any hint as to what the Dragon might have meant. Of course, there was no second river. I kept going over the words in my mind, trying to find some other meaning behind them.
“Nothing,” I said. “It's just one river.”
“I know,” Ty said.
“What if it's not actually a river,” I said. “What if it's just something that’s like a river?”
“What do you mean?”
“I don't know. I've never been good at riddles or solving puzzles. I like it when people are straightforward and actually say what they mean.”
We fell silent for a few more seconds, then my eyes snapped over to Ty.
“What if it's the name of a place? Is there anything around here with a name that has something to do with rivers? A bar or a restaurant, or even a store called Two Rivers or River Crossing or Meet Me at the Damn River So We Can Find The Warlock?”
“I think that last one is a little wordy,” Ty said. “But that's a good idea. I don't know of anywhere around here with a name like that, but it's always possible. Get out your phone and start looking.”
I looked at him incredulously.
“Solan City has its own browser?” I asked.
“It's just like the regular world,” Ty said. “Right down to the bitter and self-important business reviews.”
I shook my head as I pulled out my phone.
“Some of the creatures around here give a whole new meaning to Yelp,” I muttered.
I opened the browser on my phone and saw that it had completely changed since we'd gone through the portal. Pulling up a map, I searched around the area, looking for anything that sounded like it might be the place the Dragon had mentioned. I focused my search near the river at first, then gradually widened it to several blocks away.
“Anything?” Ty asked a few minutes later.
“No,” I said. “Nothing.” I shoved my phone back in my pocket, then slammed my hands down on the dashboard. “Damn it!”
“Can you think of anything else? Did the Dragon say anything else besides the thing about two rivers meeting?”
“No,” I said. “That's all they said. That was their helpful information. That’s what they took Ashe for.”
We had nearly reached the end of the river and I looked ahead of us. A massive bridge, the mirror of the George Washington Bridge, loomed in the near distance. Something struck me about it. As we got closer, I leaned forward.
“What is it?” Ty asked.
“Pull off,” I told him. “Just find somewhere to pull off. I want to go over to the bridge.”
Ty checked behind him before making a sharp maneuver and skidding to a stop by the side of the road. As soon as the car stopped moving, I wrestled my way out of the seat belt and got out of the car. I'd been past the George Washington Bridge more times than I could count, but something was different. There was something under the bridge.
“What are you doing?” Ty asked as he jogged to catch up with me.
“What is that? What's under the bridge?”
“Homeless people, I'm guessing,” he said. “The Underworld has them, too.”
I nodded. That was a reasonable explanation, but something about them drew me in. I was distinctly aware of the pain and burning in my thigh. Aurora's bite was getting worse, and the last time that had happened, it was because she was nea
r. As I got closer, I could see a makeshift town filling the shadowy area under the bridge. Teetering towers of cardboard boxes, torn tents repaired with countless strips of tape, and piles of tangled garbage were illuminated by an occasional trash can fire. People made little groups throughout the space. Some were huddled around the fires, while others sprawled out on flattened cardboard. It was the picture of poverty and desperation.
We started drawing the attention of the people beneath the bridge when we were a few steps away. Two men staggered toward us from where they had been gathered with three others huddled over a pile of sticks that I could only guess was some sort of game. I couldn't tell if they were drunk or had just been crouched for so long their legs had forgotten how to walk.
“Looks like we have some visitors,” one of them said.
“What is this place?” I asked.
The other man grinned and made a dramatic gesture with his arm, sweeping down low until he was almost bowing.
“It's our home,” he said. “Welcome to Final View.”
The other man laughed uproariously like it was the funniest thing he'd heard in a long time. Considering he was wearing one shoe, torn pants, and a sweater so threadbare I could almost see through it, I figured that was probably not saying much. He didn't look like the type of guy who had a lot to laugh about. At the same time, he didn't have the sense of tremendous sadness and hopelessness hanging around him that I would have expected.
“Final View?” I asked.
“Why do you call it that?” Ty asked.
“Well, because every community needs a name, doesn't it?” the other man said seriously, then dissolved into a cascade of giggles.
I looked at him. He didn't look as bad off as the first man. I glanced back at the other man. Maybe it was a fashion choice.
“But why that name?” I asked.
The man glanced up toward the bridge.
“You see that spot? Right up there?”
Several yards away, I noticed a mark on a section of the bridge over a dark stretch of water.
“What is that?” I asked.
