A Crucible of Souls (Book One of the Sorcery Ascendant Sequence) (Volume 1) Paperback

by Mitchell Hogan

  “Oh, I didn’t do much. I wanted to make sure you knew you couldn’t have stopped what happened. You’ve lost a lot in only a few days — the new home you made for yourself, the friends, the place you had found, somewhere you fit in, where your talents would be appreciated.” Miranda let go of his shoulders, walked to the stove and poured herself another cup of tea. “There are still people who care for you. I know you haven’t had people like that for a long time.”

  “Who?”

  “Me, silly.” Miranda took a sip of her tea. “I’m just saying it’s all right to care yourself. For others.”

  “I do,” began Caldan then hesitated. “I’m… not used to it, that’s all.” He toyed with a piece of smith-crafted metal.

  “Caldan, I…” Miranda broke off with an irritated frown as a loud banging came from the door.

  Caldan leapt to his feet with one hand on the sword grip, ready to draw. Miranda placed her cup on the table and crossed the room.

  “Who’s there?”

  “Elpidia,” replied a muffled voice.

  Miranda sighed in relief, while Caldan remained still, alert. She unbarred the door and clicked the lock open.

  Elpidia’s face shone with sweat, and she was breathing heavily. She looked harried and agitated. Behind her, the shopkeeper, Amerdan, followed her into the room. Elpidia raised an eyebrow at Caldan and his readiness. He relaxed and placed the sword back on the table next to his sack.

  Elpidia wore travel clothes, a worn, heavy skirt and a shirt under a thick jacket. She carried a backpack and a leather satchel.

  Amerdan smiled as he saw Caldan. He was also dressed for travel but wasn’t carrying anything other than a few belt pouches and two sheathed knives.

  “There’s a commotion in the streets,” exclaimed Elpidia. “The Indryallan soldiers are all over the place, searching for someone.”

  Caldan exchanged a glance with Miranda. It was more than likely they had discovered Simmon with the sword and knew someone had been inside the guild and spoken to him before he died. What the master knew was enough to cause the invaders problems, if the truth became known, though proving what they had done would be close to impossible.

  “Yes,” said Amerdan. “They’re combing the streets and stopping anyone who wears a crafted item and taking them for questioning.” He gave Caldan a quizzical look. “It sounds like they are looking for anyone associated with the Sorcerers’ Guild.”

  Elpidia gingerly lowered her satchel to the ground and shrugged off her backpack, dropping it to the floor with a thud.

  “Why are you both here?” asked Caldan.

  Elpidia snorted then spoke. “I told you I’d come. Did you think I wouldn’t? Remember our talk? My research is critical.” She looked at the stove. “Is that tea, my dear?” she said, addressing Miranda, who nodded. “Lovely. I’ll fix myself a cup.” She crossed the room and peeked into the teapot.

  “And I felt I had to do more,” Amerdan said. “Miranda told me of this place, though I admit I expected you two to be long gone.” He looked at them expectantly.

  “We had some things to do,” replied Miranda. “We plan on leaving the city as soon as we can.”

  “What? No!” burst out Elpidia. She looked pleadingly at Caldan. “My… research.”

  Caldan held up a hand. “Peace. You’ll get what you want, though you might be safer if you came with us.”

  Miranda looked sharply at him but remained silent.

  Elpidia’s agitation diminished, though she still looked worried.

  Amerdan leaned against a wall, unconcerned, giving each of them a measuring glance before he spoke. “I will be coming with you,” he said quietly. “If that is acceptable. His tone implied it should be.

  Miranda cursed. “I told my contact there would only be two of us. He’s not going to be pleased. With four the danger goes up ten times, as will the price.” She ran a hand through her hair and rubbed the back of her neck. “I don’t have many ducats to spare.”

  Amerdan smiled and reached into a pouch at his waist. He placed a stack of coins on the table. Gold ducats.

  “That should be sufficient, I assume.” Giving Elpidia a look, he added, “For her as well.”

  “I… can’t pay you back,” Elpidia wailed.

  Amerdan waved her protest away. “Think nothing of it. There may come a time when you can help me in return.”

  Elpidia nodded thankfully. “I’m grateful. There isn’t anything for me here… not anymore.”

  Caldan regarded the woman. Leaving the city with Miranda would have been tricky, but four people made it much more difficult. Someone had to warn the empire about what was happening here. He sighed. They couldn’t abandon Elpidia and Amerdan now, and he had a feeling Elpidia would follow him whatever happened. And with her damned compass she could pursue him wherever he went.

  Which reminded him… He held out a hand. “Give me the compass,” he demanded.

  Elpidia’s face went red. “You… Miranda told you, then. You know why I needed it.” Her mouth tightened into a thin line.

  “She did. And I do know. But it’s served its purpose, and I don’t like the idea of someone being able to find me like that. Especially not with what’s happened.”

  Looking distinctly unhappy, Elpidia pressed the crafted item into his palm with a sour look. Caldan slipped it into his pocket.

  “Did you hear where they’re holding the people they took off the street?” he asked.

  Elpidia shook her head. “They took them towards West Barrows, but where in that district we didn’t hear.”

  “Probably the keep, then,” said Amerdan. “It makes sense for the Indryallans to set up their headquarters there. Especially since it looks like they want to keep everyone content and have a smooth change of power. They’ve also set up kitchens along the docks and are feeding the poor.”

  “They’re letting people go, though?” Miranda asked.

  “From what we heard, yes. After questioning they’re released.” Elpidia hesitated, frowning into her tea cup. “They look like they’re trying to keep the city running as if nothing has happened. In fact, with all the good projects they’ve implemented, most people have welcomed the change.”

  “They don’t mean well,” growled Caldan.

  Elpidia turned to look at him. “How can you know?”

  “I know,” he said flatly, feeling a chill. Because they force people to kill against their will, he wanted to say. “We need to leave as soon as possible. You can come, if you want. Miranda, where is your contact?”

  Miranda blinked. “Today, he said he would bring word sometime. That’s the best he could do at short notice. I think they’re taking advantage of the blockade and using their tunnels to make a lot of ducats. I suspect we’re in a queue.”

  “So, nothing we can do but wait.”

  “I’m afraid so.”

  Caldan nodded. “Make yourselves comfortable, then. We have to wait, and I have work to do.” He turned back to his smith-crafted metal pieces.

  Miranda took Elpidia’s hand and drew her into the other room, where they began a conversation about what to take with them.

  Caldan felt Amerdan’s eyes on him as he returned to work. He attached metal rods to each other, tapping the ends with a hammer until they clicked in place. Each rod was as long as his arm from elbow to wrist and thicker than his thumb. He tested each joint, easing the rods back and forth to check they moved smoothly. Four of these joints lay in front of him as he began assembling a fifth, this one made up of shorter rods, five in total, each rod thinner than the last.

  “Why five in that one?” asked Amerdan of a sudden with a strange intensity.

  Caldan spared him a glance as the last rod clicked in place. He laid it next to the others. “It’s a tail. When it runs, a tail is essential to equilibrium.”

  “It… runs?” Amerdan stared at him curiously.

  With a shrug, Caldan drew out more metal pieces from his sack and piled them next to the legs
and tail. “It should, if I get everything right.” He turned to Amerdan. “Are you hungry? I’m starving.” He stood and rummaged through their food supplies and began preparing a meal of crusty bread and cheese.

  They sat around the table, where they had eaten a meal of bread and cheese washed down with hot tea. Caldan had eaten twice as much as any of them, including Amerdan.

  “I thought Amerdan here did well, but you…” Miranda trailed off and shook her head. “I don’t know where you put it. Truly, you should be overweight.”

  Elpidia grinned then covered her mouth with a hand.

  “I’m still growing,” protested Caldan.

  “I doubt it.”

  Caldan opened his mouth to reply when there was a knock at the door. All of them froze and looked at each other. Miranda rose and wiped her hands on her pants. “It’s probably my contact,” she said and strode to the door. “Who’s there?”

  “Bees,” came the reply through the thick timber.

  Elpidia looked up.

  Miranda opened the door and a dark-haired man entered. He looked at each of them in turn, raising an eyebrow at Elpidia, who returned his stare with a steady look of her own.

  “I take it you two know each other?” asked Amerdan, echoing Caldan’s thought.

  “We have had occasion to do some business,” replied the man called Bees.

  “He’s one of the best sources of information in the city,” said Elpidia. “And the most resourceful when it comes to finding things.” Bees gave a short bow in her direction.

  “Bees, glad you finally arrived. When can we go?”

  “Always business first with you, Miranda. You should learn to relax.” Bees smiled to take the edge off his words. “I had a hard time avoiding the patrols the Indryallans have out looking for certain people. Luckily, they’ve not issued a reward for these fugitives, who might otherwise have been delivered into their hands quick smart.”

  “Is that a threat?” asked Miranda.

  Bees clasped both hands to his chest over his heart. “Goodness, no! I wouldn’t stay in business long if I made threats to my clients, would I?” His tone was half-serious, half-mocking.

  “Do we have a way out?” continued Miranda. “I assume that’s why you’re here?”

  Bees frowned. “You told me there would be two of you, and yet here I see four.”

  “Circumstances have changed.”

  “Still, it’ll be riskier. And taking such a risk will cost.” He rubbed two fingers together.

  “How much more? And don’t try to cheat me, mind!”

  “I wouldn’t dream of it.” Bees made a show of thinking for a few moments.

  Caldan was sure he had calculated a new price the moment he saw there were four people in the room instead of two and was dragging the negotiation out.

  Bees gave Miranda a sly look. “I heard the invaders are searching houses and warehouses around the docks… Indeed, they’re not too far from here.”

  Caldan and Miranda exchanged glances. If this were true it meant the invaders knew their general whereabouts. It was only a matter of time until they were found, if they stayed put.

  “My thought is that the risk has increased since we last spoke. The new price is eight.”

  “Eight!” exclaimed Miranda in surprise. “It was two for two and now it’s eight for four?”

  Bees spread his hands in a helpless gesture. “More risk, more bribes, more people need wages. I’m giving you a discount because I know Elpidia. Though I wouldn’t have thought she would leave the city. Perhaps there is a story there?” He gave Elpidia an enquiring look. She shook her head but refrained from replying.

  “Ah. Saying nothing is still saying something, is it not?”

  Miranda counted out six gold ducats. She held the coins up in a stack between forefinger and thumb. “Six and we have a deal.”

  Bees turned a glum look on her. He flicked a glance at Elpidia, hesitated, then slowly shook his head. “No. I cannot agree. It’s said they are looking for someone, a young sorcerer with short hair.” He looked pointedly at Caldan.

  Caldan hissed through his teeth, and Miranda cursed under her breath.

  The Indryallans who’d imprisoned him and Bells got a good look at him. It was likely he wouldn’t be able to roam the streets without being spotted.

  “Pay him,” Caldan said. “We need to get out before they find us. And the longer we delay, the higher the price will go.”

  “Smart man,” said Bees, holding out his hand. “Eight for now, but only because I know Elpidia. I don’t know why she needs to get out of the city, but for her I can give a generous discount.”

  Miranda scoffed. “Not likely.” She handed over eight gold ducats, which Bees accepted with a grateful nod. “We have a deal, then?”

  “Certainly. Are you ready to leave now?”

  “It won’t take more than a few moments to have our gear organized.” Miranda looked at Elpidia and Amerdan. “Do you have everything you need?”

  Elpidia gestured to her belongings. “All I need is here. I’m sure if I need anything for my research I can find a substitute, depending on where we are.

  Amerdan patted the belt which held his pouches and knives. “Ready,” he said.

  Caldan noticed the shopkeeper also had a bundle inside his shirt and wondered what it could be. He shook his head. Probably nothing important.

  “All right,” she said. “Caldan, are you ready?”

  “Yes, it won’t take long to pack up.” He shoved the metal rods back into his sack and accepted the blanket Miranda handed him.

  Miranda disappeared into the next room, returning shortly with two sets of bulging saddlebags, one of which she handed to Caldan.

  “May I enquire as to where you are going?” Bees asked.

  “You may,” said Miranda. “But we aren’t sure ourselves. Away from here, until things settle down.”

  “On the contrary, I find it to be very good.”

  “Depends on what you deal in.”

  Bees nodded with narrowed eyes, as if Miranda had stated something wise. “Indeed it does.”

  Miranda gave one last glance around the room, her expression resolved. “It’s time to go.”

  After a nervous walk uphill through the southern area of Cabbage Town, Bees led Caldan and the others to the back of a nondescript building. A squat, heavyset man opened a gate in response to Bees’ coded knock, whispered words, and ducats. They entered an overgrown yard then passed into a stone building.

  Caldan looked around at the bare room that greeted them, unimpressed. Two large windows high in the walls provided light, and the room was empty except for an open trapdoor in the center. A sharp-edged square hole penetrated the stone floor into darkness. Beside the hole sat an oil lamp burning with a flame.

  Bees rubbed his hands together in the cold air. “I hope you don’t mind the dark.” He picked up the lamp.

  “I thought we’d need something,” said Caldan, drawing out some glass balls from his pocket and handing one to each of them. In the center of each nestled a stone covered in tiny patterns.

  Bees gave a low whistle. “Expensive,” he remarked. “Better not lose them.”

  Caldan shrugged. “These won’t last long, and I can always make more.”

  Bees clapped him on the shoulder. “We should talk when you come back.”

  Elpidia examined hers and gave it a shake. “It’s not working. Is it broken?”

  They looked to Caldan.

  “No,” he said. What people didn’t know about sorcery still surprised him. “They wear out, so there’s no point having them working all the time when light isn’t needed. Here.” He accessed his well and linked to all four globes, connecting the anchors in the gems. Each one began to glow faintly, a clean white light.

  Bees stepped to the edge of the hole. “I’m to be your escort. There’s a ladder down to a room.”

  “What is this place?” asked Miranda. “The building, the quality of the stone
work — this wasn’t made to smuggle goods in and out of the city.”

  “Goodness, no,” laughed Bees. “It’s part of the aqueducts. An access hole for repairs, to clear blockages. No need to dig a tunnel when the emperor provided plenty for us to use.”

  Miranda nodded in comprehension. “Makes sense.”

  Caldan knelt above the shaft, saddlebags over one shoulder and sack in his left hand. His sword made it awkward, but he swiftly descended into the gloom.

  “Er,” said Bees loudly. “Didn’t you make a globe for yourself?”

  Caldan cursed himself for being stupid. He could see well in the darkness, but it wasn’t a talent he wanted known. He would have to watch himself. “No need,” he replied calmly. “There’s enough light to see by… and once everyone else is down, their globes will be enough.” He reached a room, from which led two open doorways, one at either end.

  Miranda followed him down, and soon they were all huddled together, holding their globes up for light while Bees held up his lantern.

  “This way.” Bees hunched over and set off along a narrow tunnel, head brushing the ceiling.

  Caldan ushered the others through before following. Though damp and cold, the walls of the tunnel were dry and free from mold or mildew. They had only traveled ten yards into the tunnel when the scent of lemons reached him. He stopped, lifting his head.

  “What is it?” whispered Miranda.

  “There’s… something…” he began.

  Thunder sounded, echoing deafeningly down the tunnel. The air shook as a strong blast crushed them to the ground. Another immense boom reverberated, echoing inside Caldan’s head.

  Screams echoed from above, along with a tearing, grating noise as stone cracked. Behind them, the room lit up as sunlight streamed down the shaft, illuminating clouds of dust filling the space.

  They’ve found us. It has to be Bells.

  Miranda tugged at his arm. He turned to find her eyes red and watery. A trickle of blood ran from her nose. Elpidia lay curled into a ball. Amerdan crouched, appearing unharmed and alert. Bees staggered to his knees, a vacant expression on his face.