by Evan Winter
Kellan tried again. "Who will join me? Who will fight for the Queen?"
A voice called out from the crowd. "Chosen don't surrender."
Otieno walked away. "I'm for the Indlovu Citadel, as I was ordered to do on the authority of the chairman of the Guardian Council." He left. So did the Indlovu.
The last man from Scale Osa was Jabari Onai and he tried to make them see sense. "Tau, don't do this. It's madness. Kellan, come with us. This is not our affair."
Tau said nothing, but it was disturbing how different Jabari seemed. He was still bigger than Tau. He always would be. It was just that he no longer seemed that way.
Kellan answered. "I'm not throwing away anything. I'm valuing my life and honor in the best way I know how."
"That's it then?" said Jabari
"It is."
Jabari sighed. "I would be no kind of Noble to leave my Inkokeli to this task alone." Jabari joined them, though he did not look happy doing it.
"Nobles," said Hadith. "All but one of them abandoned you. Such loyalty."
Tau could see Kellan was crestfallen. These were the same men he had led for a cycle, the ones he had taken to the Melee.
"Are we doing the right thing?" Jabari asked.
This time, Tau responded. "I'm going," he said. "I need to speak with Odili about my father."
"Very patriotic," Hadith said. "I'll go too. Not for revenge, but to try and save my people from annihilation." He turned to what was left of Scale Jayyed, less than thirty men. "The Indlovu Citadel is that way," he said, pointing towards it. "I'm going this way with Tau, this beautiful Lady Gifted, my close friend Nkosi Kellan Okar, and this other Indlovu initiate. I'm going to fight with them, because, in spite of our differences, we would all like to see an end to this war that has taken our fathers, mothers, brothers, and sisters from us.
"We go to save our Queen from a tyrant, who'd happily let all of us die so he can call himself a Royal-Noble for a few more moons. That's what I'm doing, because it's the right thing, and because it's what Jayyed would have wanted."
Hadith put his hand on the hilt of his sword and drew it from its scabbard. He held it aloft, examined the blade, blood still on it. He nodded to the weapon, as if to say it would serve, and he began walking towards the Gifted Citadel. Tau, Zuri, Uduak, Yaw, Kellan, Themba, and Jabari went too. Following behind them was every man left in Scale Jayyed.
KEEP
The city had obeyed Odili's curfew. They saw no one along the paths and every house was shut tight. The citizens of Citadel City were afraid. The Xiddeen were coming and Odili would let half the city burn, so he could finish the Queen.
"We're almost there," said Zuri. "Wait here, I'll go around the corner and ask to be admitted. When they open the gates, rush in. Try not to kill anyone."
"We'll try," said Themba.
"I mean it," she told him. "These are our people."
Zuri went around the corner and Tau heard her speaking. The voice that responded was gruff, male, an Indlovu. No doubt one of Odili's men, which meant he had already stationed fighters in the Gifted Citadel. Tau wondered how many and if their small party could take them.
He heard the gates creak. It was time. Hadith, who was in charge since the men were almost all Lessers, signaled the charge and everyone rushed the gates.
Kellan, Jabari, and Uduak, using their long strides, got there first. Tau, Hadith, Yaw, and Themba were right behind. The lone Indlovu, opening the Citadel's bronze gates, yelped as Kellan cracked him across the head, and the Scale streamed into the Citadel.
Tau had expected the Gifted Citadel to look like the Isikolo. It did not. Its adobe buildings had been painted black and, at night, they looked more like shadows than structures. Many of the buildings had a second floor and many were domed. Most of the buildings appeared to be interconnected and, Tau guessed, an initiate could travel much of the Citadel without having to venture outside.
"Weapons down!" Kellan hissed at the four remaining Indlovu on guard.
"What is this?" one of them asked.
"Respectfully, Nkosi, there is little time to explain. We're here on orders by Abasi Odili," Hadith told them. "The siege is taking too long. We are to join the attack by taking the tunnels that lead from this Citadel to the Keep."
The Indlovu looked at Hadith. "We have Lessers fighting with us?"
"We do," said Kellan reasserting control of the conversation.
"Why do we need more men? Why did you hit Alinafe? And did you say that you spoke with the Inkokeli? Odili has already gone through the tunnels."
Uduak looked at Tau. Tau nodded. They attacked. Tau had two of them down, including the talker, as Uduak, Kellan, Hadith, and Themba took on the last two.
"I didn't kill them," Tau told Zuri when it was over.
She looked at the others. They all nodded, except for Themba, who looked down at the Noble by his feet and shrugged.
Zuri closed her eyes for a breath. "This way," she said.
"Close the gates and you five stay here," Hadith told a few of Scale Jayyed's fighters. "We can't leave the Citadel completely undefended. Actually, one of you will come with us to find these tunnels. If the Citadel is in danger of being overrun, gather up as many Gifted as you can and take the tunnels to the Keep. Hopefully it'll still be standing."
The plan set, they carried on. Zuri led them deep into the grounds, to a small common area, a circle in the Citadel. The buildings surrounding the circle looked alike enough to be replicas, there were many doors, and several paths leading out of the circle. Zuri chose one of doors and they went inside.
Tau had never seen anything like it. From the outside he'd thought the building had two floors. He was wrong. It was one floor, but the ceiling was two floors high. It made him uncomfortable and he felt as if the whole thing could come crashing down at any moment.
The room was also large. They were in a rotunda, the edges of it had columns and hallways leading into darkness. The space had no adornments and the floor was pristine. It was the statues that held his attention though.
In the centre of the rotunda was a statue of a familiar and beautiful woman, dressed in black robes. Towering over her, its head reaching past the height of the building's two floors and extending into the rotunda's dome was a Dragon. The statues were made from bronze, life-like, and the woman stood twice as tall as an average Omehi, but the Guardian, no doubt due to the limitations of space, was a fraction the size of an actual Dragon. Still, the proportions on both woman and Dragon were perfect.
Of course, there was no way to capture the eye-bending effect of a Dragon's Scales but the artist had created a reasonable facsimile by bending the bronze this way and that in minute variations. It must have taken an eternity, but the result was worth it. Light hitting the Dragon statue reflected at a thousand different angles. It took the breath away.
"The Goddess?" asked Yaw, whispering.
"No, it's Queen Taifa and the Guardian that burned back the hedeni after we made landfall," said Zuri. "Quickly now, the Preceptors and Gifted initiates will be in this network of buildings, as they wait for the attack on Citadel City. If they hear us and come..."
"Lead on, Lady Gifted" said Hadith. "I have no desire to meet a Scale's worth of angry Gifted."
Zuri guided them across the rotunda to a heavy door.
"Is it wood?" asked Tau, touching it and pulling his hand back. It was wood, but unlike any he knew. It was heavy, dark, and solid.
Zuri pulled a necklace out from her black robes. "It's wood from the Targon, Taifa's warship. It's wood from Osonte."
Tau returned his hand to the door, feeling the wood's warmth, wood from Osonte, from the motherland. Beside him, Zuri manipulated the bauble on the end of her golden necklace, one of the ones all Gifted wore, revealing a key. The key slid into the door's lock, Zuri turned it, and the door opened onto a dark passageway with stairs descending into the earth.
"This will take us to the tunnels and they will take us to the Guardian Keep,
" she said.
Kellan pushed his way to the front. "Let's go. The Queen needs us."
"I will guide you to the tunnels that go up and into the Keep. That is where we part," Zuri said.
"What? No," Tau told her.
"You need to get to the Queen as fast as possible. Nothing matters if she dies. But, even if you save her, we cannot hold the Keep against Odili's Indlovu."
"That's what I keep thinking," piped in Themba.
"The Keep will fall to Odili's men or, failing that, it'll be taken by the Xiddeen. We need to make sure we have enough time to hold talks with the Xiddeen, to tell them we're innocent of Odili's betrayal."
"And, our odds don't change if you're with us or not. So, you should stay with us," Tau told Zuri.
"Our chances do change. I will go to the coterie. There are enough of them to form a Hex. I will call our Guardians."
"A Hex," asked Tau. "I wouldn't have thought a Hex could be formed without its members having trained together?"
"When it is necessary, we do what we must," Zuri told him.
"Coterie?" asked Kellan.
"They tend to the Youngling beneath the Keep," said Zuri. "The Youngling is the link between us and the Guardians."
"You Gifted keep an immature Dragon captive? Why? The Dragons are our guardians."
"Not by choice," Zuri told him.
"How does any of this help us against Odili and his Indlovu?" asked Hadith. "The Guardians nest in the Central Mountains, they can't get here in time."
Zuri had been looking at Tau, speaking to him. She looked away and down the tunnel. "Sometimes, a Guardian in flight will wander closer than the Central Mountains. I will look for and Entreat the closest one. I will call it to our purpose. It's the only way."
Kellan added his voice to hers, bolstering her argument. "She's right. We can't defend this Keep with just a half-Scale of Ihashe and whatever is left of the Queen's Guard."
Tau did not like this. He shot a look at Hadith, hoping his sword-brother had another plan or objection. Hadith opened his hands, palms up. He had nothing.
"Zuri, promise me that you'll do the entreating. You cannot be just one of the Hex. Promise," Tau said.
"I will," she said to him.
"Promise."
"I promise, Tau. I promise."
Tau nodded.
"Queen," said Uduak and they began their descent.
The tunnels were rougher than Tau would have imagined. They were barely wide enough for two to walk abreast, the ground was bare dirt, the ceiling low, and the walls were coarse and uncolored adobe.
Torches burned every twelve strides. They lit the way, but couldn't banish the tunnel's gloom. In the flickering light, Tau's mind turned heaving shadows into lurching demons.
"How much further?" he asked, growing anxious so far beneath the surface. The walls, he thought, kept closing in, getting tighter, restricting the space and his ability to breathe. "How much further?" he said again, panting.
"We're almost there," Zuri said, taking his hand and holding it. "Focus on your breathing. This happens to some."
"What does?" Themba asked her, watching Tau.
"The tunnels, some find them disorienting."
"I'm fine," Tau said, trying to stop the ground ahead from tilting and his hands from shaking.
"Shhh!" hissed Hadith. "Voices."
"Indlovu," Kellan said. "Around the next bend."
Tau looked ahead, the tunnel did bend, he couldn't see more than thirty strides off before the torches disappeared.
"Odili came through the tunnels with men," Hadith said. "He knew a siege would take too long. These tunnels were his insurance."
The voices of the Indlovu grew louder and Kellan broke into a trot. "Hurry! We may be too late!"
Tau slid his hand from Zuri's and ran after Hadith, stumbling like a drunk. He had to get out of these Goddess-cursed tunnels. The Scale ran with him. They made no cries of war, but the clamor of twenty-five odd fighters with armor and weapons was more than enough to alert the Indlovu.
The Scale rounded the bend, coming face to face with six of Odili's men. The narrow tunnels made the difference in numbers mean little. At most two could face two.
Ahead, the lead Indlovu was one of the fattest Tau had ever seen. He had shiny beetle eyes that his face seemed to be trying to swallow and a thick-lipped mouth that was curled like it had tasted something sour.
"Hold there!" he ordered.
Kellan pushed his way to the front, past Hadith and Tau. "There is treachery here. Guardian Councillor Odili means to murder the Queen. Stand aside."
"Loyal Chosen would not aid a capitulator like Tsiora. She is no true Queen. If you are loyal, return the way you came."
Tau could not take it anymore. He had to get out of the tunnels. "Out of the way!" he said, throwing himself at the fat man.
The earth beneath his feet seemed to shift and he almost fell, righting himself just before the fat Noble swung for his neck. Tau threw himself to the side, banged against the tunnel wall, and fell back. He heard the scrape of bronze scuffing adobe and, his stomach churning, he crawled away from the Indlovu as fast as he could. He felt hands grip him by the shoulders and he was about to swing his sword when he heard Yaw call out and drag him back, away from the fighting that Uduak and Kellan had joined.
"What is wrong with you?" demanded Hadith, looming over him.
"It's the tunnels. Their closeness bothers some," Zuri explained.
"The closeness?" Hadith said. "What kind of weak-minded thing is that?"
"He'll be fine when we reach the surface."
Tau dry-heaved and began to shake. It was like the storage barn in Daba. It was like his first few times facing the demons in Isihogo, the fear, the tension. He tried to adapt. It wouldn't take. He had no experience with this, no clue how to conquer it, and realizing that made it worse.
"It's clear!" Kellan shouted. "Let's go."
Tau was pulled to his feet and his arms were thrown around Hadith and Yaw's necks. They half carried, half dragged him down the tunnels. His head was down, dangling loose, so he saw the fat Indlovu. The man was dead from a thrust through the chest. They ran on for a hundred strides and Tau tripped on the ground when it began to slope upwards.
"I leave you here," Tau heard Zuri say to the Scale. "But, I need a few fighters to help me convince the Coterie of my plan."
"Of course." Hadith picked five men to go with her.
"Sharp bronze does make the best arguments," offered Themba.
"Continue up this tunnel," Zuri said. "It will take you to the surface."
Zuri went to Tau. Hadith and Yaw stepped away, giving her space. "You will feel better soon. Be careful, Tau." She hugged him. "I love you," she said. "I always have."
Tau groaned. He heard her. He wanted to tell her to stay. He could protect her. He had learned all he had so he could do so. He hugged her with arms as firm as seaweed, trying to hold her to him, trying to make her understand that she needed to stay. He had to protect her.
"Let's go," said Hadith.
Zuri kissed Tau, touched his face and mouthed the words again. "I love you," she said. Then she stepped out of the embrace, wiping at her eyes. "Goddess be with you," she said to him. "May she be with you all."
"And you, Lady Gifted" said Kellan.
"Help me with him," Hadith told Yaw. "We go!"
Tau managed to turn his head back to Zuri. She was watching after him. She gave him a small smile, before the curve in the tunnel took her from sight. Tau closed his eyes, she had told him she loved him. She had said that. He tried to orient himself on that, as the world swirled.
A few strides later they stopped. Tau kept his eyes closed, but heard wood splintering. He wondered if the door on this side was also made with Osonte wood.
"We're out," Hadith said. "You can open your eyes."
Tau did, dropped to his knees, and threw up. He could hear fighting.
Hadith squatted beside him. "Get yourself togeth
er. We're here."
Tau lifted his head, breathing in the sweet scent of open air. He opened his eyes and gasped. They were at the end of a corridor. The floor was tiled in a patterned mosaic, the walls were smooth adobe which soared for four floors and were painted in brilliant colors. Tau had found the dignitary's quarters in the Southern Isikolo to be opulent. The interior of the Guardian Keep made those rooms look little better than his hut in Kerem.
Tau struggled to his feet, his head muddy. "Zuri..."
"She goes to get us Dragons," said Hadith. "Pray it works or none of us will live to see the sun."
"The fighting is this way!" yelled Kellan, dashing down the hallway and past row after row of enormous tapestries.
"Can you fight?" Uduak asked Tau. Yaw was beside the big man, looking worried.
"He'd better," said Themba. "We're outnumbered."
Tau nodded.
"Right." Hadith hefted his sword. "Let's go make peace."
STATUE
The hallway opened up into the keep's enormous anteroom. The open space was circular and had a third floor balcony that extended around its circumference. Offering access to the balcony were two wide staircases that clung to the curved walls. Supporting the balcony were thick sculpted columns around which scattered and isolated groups of men fought for their lives.
The majority of the fighting was focused near the exit to a hallway on the far side of the anteroom. That was where Tau saw most of the armored Queen's Guard in their distinct maroon-stained leather.
Abshir Okar, the Queen's Champion, was leading the defense as the Guard tried to hold the hallway against several units of Full-blooded Indlovu. He was incredible. Abshir darted this way and that, his sword whistling through air, flesh and bone, as he called out commands and slew those who stood against him. Tau was impressed and worried. The Champion was a brilliant fighter but it would not be enough, not against such odds. The Queen's Guard lost two men for every one they killed.
