by Ryan McCall
He had a shaven head, with black tribal tattoos lining the sides of his face. She recognized him. His name was Royas, a native of Huffolk. He was a swordmaster of the Arm.
She held his head and tilted it so he was forced to look at her. “What do they know?” she demanded.
“That you killed tor’Kraos. They don’t know why, and they don’t much care. You’ve betrayed your vows and turned against us. So now you are marked for death.” She let go of his head and he slumped to the ground. She was marked. Any assassin that caught sight of her was obligated to kill her, no matter where she was or who she was working for. She hadn’t expected them to catch up with her so soon. Royas may have only happened on her by chance.
She ran into the room to check on Michael. The blade had gone in deep, cutting one of his lungs, based on the shallow, gasping sounds coming from his throat. The girl was at his side sobbing. Lucina bent down and thrust a cloth into the girl’s hands. “Put that on the wound. Press down as hard as you can with both hands.”
The girl looked at her, as if unsure what to do.
“Now!” said Lucina with force.
The girl did as she said, her hands trembling, slowing the blood flow slightly. Lucina leaned forward towards Michaels face.
“I am truly sorry. This is my fault, I should never have come here, but I wanted to see my brother one last time. He’ll blame me for your death, as well he should.” All she had done was caused her brother pain by staying.
Michael smiled up at her with his bloodstained lips.
“What is it?” she asked.
“You look good from this angle. I…had…no idea…Reese had such a…gorgeous sister…he…he-he.” He gave out another series of gasps and spat blood from his mouth. He wheezed a few more times until finally stopping. His dead eyes stared up at Lucina, as if judging her. She slid his eyes shut. The girl was curled up against the wall nearby, quietly crying.
This was all her fault. She should have been more careful. She wanted to explain herself to Reese, but that would only put him in danger. She grabbed a piece of paper and wrote as fast as she could.
She needed to get out of here. The noise of the shots would have undoubtedly woken someone and they would alert the university security. With the assassination still fresh in everyone’s mind, the guards would not waste time.
When she finished writing she went back to Reese’s apartment. She opened the cupboard and placed the paper in his hiding spot. He was sure to find it.
She would never be safe from the Arm, no matter where she went. She had been stupid to think that she could hide. Even if she traveled across the Twilight Ocean and to the far eastern side of the world, where no one had explored, she would still be looking over her shoulder. Reese wouldn’t be safe either.
If the Arm wanted her then they would get her, but not the way they expected. She would face them on their own territory. She made her way off the university grounds and headed towards the Torphin district. She would rent a room in a flophouse and in the morning purchase a train ticket for Longhaven.
Chapter 48
Night had set over the Crean Valley. Cassandra sat on a cold stone floor next to Reese. They were locked in a large room with the rest of the class, Professor Xerin and the staff of the excavation site. The guards had piled them in here without saying a word and locked the doors. They had only been opened once to give them food. It was cold beef stew and tasted awful, but Cassandra was starving.
In the corner of the room Xerin was quietly talking with the head of the excavation site, Professor Farrin MacShim, one of Alkon’s leading archeologists. They had been talking for a long time. Xerin would be enquiring about what had happened. MacShim and the other staff looked exhausted, they must have been locked up for days.
She noticed Reese had a book in his hand. “Where did you get that?” she asked.
“I was reading it when they grabbed us out of the carriage. I hid it under my shirt,” he replied.
“What’s so special about it, that you didn’t want to leave it in your bag?”
He closed the book and looked her with dead seriousness. “It was my father’s personal notebook. He visited this site several times himself, he believed that there was tangible colossi evidence buried here.” He opened it and moved so she could see.
“See, he made a detailed map of the site. We’re here, he carried out his excavations here,” and he pointed. “The lowest tunnels in the south-west quadrant. He mentions a giant talon that he found. He was going to dig further, but there was a cave-in that collapsed the tunnel. It would take them weeks to re-excavate the space. He died before he could make another trip.”
“It’s too bad,” said Cassandra. Reese’s father may have been on to significant find. “If we weren’t trapped in this room, we could be out there picking up where he left off.” She kicked her foot against the floor in frustration. “What in the hells do they even want? Why would anyone take-over an excavation site?”
“Who knows,” said Reese. He put his book back under his shirt and leaned against the stone wall. “Bandits? They’ve heard a rumor about buried treasure on the site. It happens all the time. They’re idiots for believing it though. No one has ever found anything from ancient civilizations here. It’s nothing but dragon bones and the odd dead elemental. Useful for zoologists like us, but no real value to anyone else. If the Cartral or the ancient Estar had cities out here, they would have been discovered by now. The university’s had the empire’s finest archeologists and paleontologists digging here for forty years.”
“I’m not so sure,” she replied. “They’re far too organized for bandits. Think about how they followed the orders of that agorid. She was commanding them like soldiers. They’re not looking for buried treasure.”
“I’ll admit it’s odd for an agorid to be commanding bandits, but based on her accent, I don’t think she grew up on the steppes. She sounded like she’s from Enz. I wouldn’t worry about her anyway. It’s the big, quiet one who creeps me out.”
Cassandra knew the guard he was talking about and agreed with him. The tigress agorid, Atira, was accompanied by a huge hulking man in black armor. He wore a death’s head mask and never said a word. He followed the tigress around everywhere like a bodyguard. She didn’t know why, but looking at that mask sent a shiver down her spine.
“If they were going to kill us, they would have by now,” said Reese. “Otherwise they wouldn’t waste time keeping us in here and feeding us.”
Cassandra wasn’t as confident about that as he was. “They were happy enough to kill our driver.”
“Only so they could take us by surprise.” Reese sounded nonchalant, considering their situation. He must be still be preoccupied by whatever had been distracting him lately.
“And what if they’re keeping us alive for something else?” she asked. “Something they need us for.”
“What in the hells do they need from a bunch of academics and students?”
She didn’t have an answer to that. Before she could ponder on it further, Xerin headed back to her students and asked them to gather around.
“Alright, listen up,” said Xerin. “Professor MacShim tells me they have been here for three days. They are looking for something. He has been promised by their leader once they have what they want, they will leave without harming us. So sit tight, do as they ask and keep your heads down.”
“What about the attacks?” asked Cassandra. She recalled her conversation with the driver and wanted to know if they were in danger from something other than their captors. Xerin blinked, but Cassandra couldn’t tell if the drakon was annoyed or surprised at her question.
“What have you heard?” asked the drakon.
“The carriage driver mentioned that people have been going missing over the last few months. One of the guards turned up dead.” That elicited a few gasps and whispers from the other students. Cassandra was regretting bringing it up, but she wanted to know for sure.
“It is tr
ue there were deaths earlier in the year,” admitted Xerin. “But Professor MacShim assured me it was nothing more than a mountain lion. The guards shot it a few days before the intruders took the site.”
The students murmured in satisfaction and calmed down. Cassandra sat back against the wall.
Then Reese spoke up, “Does Professor MacShim know what they want?”
The drakon shook her head. “I am afraid not. They have not told him much. They claimed to be a lost hunting party and asked for food and shelter. Once they were inside, they ambushed the guards and locked everyone up. The agorid questioned Professor MacShim briefly, but only about the south-west quadrant of the site.”
South-west quadrant, that’s the same area Reese mentioned thought Cassandra. It could be a coincidence, but it was also a plausible explanation for the presence of the armed men. “Professor?”
“Yes Cassandra?”
“How much would a colossi fossil be worth?”
Reese turned his head to her. She could see the realization spreading on his face. He was drawing the same conclusion.
“It is difficult to say,” replied Xerin. “There have been so few found. What little has been uncovered at this site, is still yet to be confirmed as colossi or not. If they had an eager buyer, then it could be worth a lot. You believe that is why they are here?”
Reese gave a small shake of his head. He didn’t want her saying anything about his book. She bit her lip. “I don’t know. It was just an idea. I mean they have to be after something valuable right?”
Xerin nodded. “It is possible that is what they could be after. I have always believed that there are colossi fossils here. But I am not an excavator, I have not spent enough time here to find hard evidence. I wonder where they would get the idea they could find colossi remains here?”
Xerin walked back over to MacShim and started conversing, more excitedly this time.
Reese sat next to her again. “Thanks,” he said.
“For what?” she asked.
“Not mentioning my father’s book. It’s not that I’m trying to hide it or anything. But I think you could be right. If they’re not after treasure then the only thing of value here is the colossi. They could be looking for the same object my father was after. If they are, then the less of us that know about it the better off we’ll be.”
“What do you mean?” she asked.
“Whoever these people are, they’re soldiers and arms men. I doubt they know the first thing about excavation. If they don’t find what they’re looking for, soon enough they’ll want us to do it for them.” He gestured at the rest of the people in the room. “They can’t help if they don’t know anything.”
He was right. She didn’t want to think about what their captors would do to get answers if they thought she knew something.
***
Atira sat at what had been the desk of the chief excavator, Professor MacShim. The desk was located in the largest of the tents on the site. It was made from oak and was so long that she couldn’t reach the ends of it if she extended her arms. It had been covered in a clutter of documents, scrolls and books when she arrived. She had cleared it off and placed a detailed map of the site and the picture her father had given her on it.
It was not easy work, her father’s men had to be told what to do every step of the way. She hadn’t even bothered using Falco for the digging operation, he would only get in the way. She set him to guard the building where she was keeping the prisoners.
The two books she was using dated back to the site’s initial discovery. A Chasan pilgrimage had discovered numerous dragon fossils which quickly drew in a torrent of excavators. When the novelty wore off, the imperial government had decided to give custody of the site to the University of Alkos.
Both books made mention of the initial surveying of the site, and contained clues to the object her father needed. The problem was that so much had changed since then. The site had been dug up and had tunnels collapsed numerous times.
She was certain the object was still in the same place. It gave off a certain high-pitched frequency and she had found one mention in the books of worker’s complaining of odd headaches. Wherever they had been working, the object was underneath, but the book was frustratingly lacking in exact details.
“Fuck,” she said in frustration and stood up. She crossed the room and took a long sip of water. This was going to take far too long. Then it occurred to her; she could use the staff and students she had locked up. They weren’t doing anything else useful and they knew the site and the history far better than she did.
She called in one of the men. He came into the tent. “Yes, Atira?” he asked.
“Have Falco bring the chief excavator and the university teacher out here. I need them for something.”
“As you command.” Her father’s men obeyed her without question. All of them were faithful to him and the cause of the Endless.
***
Cassandra had drifted off to sleep, when she was awoken by the sound of the doors. Her eyes snapped open and she saw the death-mask brute stride into the room. Several students screamed and backed away as he walked forward. Now that he was closer, Cassandra could hear a clicking, mechanical sound emanating from him.
Was he carrying a pocket watch? She wondered why in the hells he would even bother. With those meaty hands of his, he would break a watch as soon as he pulled it out.
Another of the men came in behind him.
He pointed at Professor MacShim. “That one,” then he turned and pointed at Xerin. “And the drakon too.”
“Lady Atira has requested your presence,” the man said to them, “Falco here will escort you to her tent.”
The brute leaned forward and made a loud grunting noise, then he gestured with his enormous, misshapen right arm. Both academics, the human and the drakon, looked at each other and walked out of the room. The hulk, who the guard had referred to as Falco, slammed the door shut.
“By the Creator,” whispered Cassandra. Reese had also been woken by the sounds and watched them exit.
He nodded in agreement. “That can’t be good.”
Chapter 49
The two experts, one in archeology the other in zoology, stood in front of Atira. She could tell they were nervous, their scent gave them away. Agorids had finer senses than other bipeds and tigers had the best sense of smell. Atira could detect sweat dripping off the human and palpable fear emanating from both of them.
She looked at them coldly and said, “The two of you are here because I need your help. My men are good warriors but they don’t know a thing about this site or how to find what I’m after. Professor MacShim, you lead the staff here, so you know this site intimately. Professor Xerin, you are renowned zoologist and a leading proponent of the colossi theory.”
She stood up, her voice increasing in volume. “I want to make this clear. You will both help me find what I’m looking for or I will have Falco here,” she gestured behind them, “kill one of your staff and one of your students for every hour that you refuse. Understood?”
They both nodded.
“Excellent. The object I seek is twelve and a half million years old. It comes from the Pardrax Empire era. I know it lies within the south-west quadrant. Professor MacShim, any idea on where we should start?”
The man cleared his throat. “If I may?” he asked and gestured at the map.
She nodded and let him step forward.
“If it’s a Pardrax object then you should start at this tunnel. It’s the deepest one in the quadrant and leads to most of the larger and oldest fossils that we’ve found.”
“Thank you,” she replied. “Professor Xerin, what I seek is-“
“The Sphere of Katarus,” the drakon finished the sentence for her.
The human had a confused look on his face, he had clearly never heard of it, but the drakon knew what she was after. She shouldn’t have been surprised, Xerin was an expert in colossi after all.
“Your repu
tation is well-earned professor,” she said.
“And you are a fool if you think the sphere is truly here,” replied Xerin. “It is nothing more than a myth, a fairy tale. Like Avathrax the Tyrant or the Lost Cities of Cartral. You could spend decades digging up this entire site. You will never find it, it does not exist.”
Atira ignored the condescending remarks. Xerin didn’t have the same information as her. The drakon hadn’t heard the voice of the Endless speak through the lips of her father. Of course she didn’t believe in the sphere.
“I don’t care what you believe or not. What I do want to know is if you had to guess where such an object was, where would you look?” The drakon looked like she wanted to insult her again but her common sense must have prevailed.
“Farrin is correct,” answered Xerin. “Best to start at the most ancient dragon fossils. You will have to dig deeper though. The only colossi fossil found at this site was at a greater depth than the current tunnel.”
Atira nodded. “I want you two to come. Let’s see if those brilliant minds of yours will have insights when we get down there.”
“We’re going down at this hour?” asked Farrin with concern.
Atira narrowed her eyes at him. She didn’t appreciate him questioning her command. “The quicker I get what I’m looking for, the quicker I leave in peace.”
Falco came up behind the man and placed his mailed right hand on Farrin’s shoulder. The man turned in fright and looked up. “Uh…alright. Yes…anything you want.”
Atira wondered what they must have thought of Falco. Probably think he’s a misshapen freak of nature she thought. His mechanical arm was covered in armor to hide it, as were his other manufactured parts. Most folk assumed he had been born with a mutated arm, no idea of the power and strength that lay underneath.
Atira led the way out of the tent towards the south-west quadrant, with Falco walking behind the two professors, to ensure their compliance. It took them a ten minute walk to reach the tunnel entrance.
