Fire

by Rosie Scott

  Bjorn chuckled. “In a heartbeat, child. I am getting up there in years, and given all this god business, my life will be but a speck of yours, but I'd come with you. Considering this little jailbreak of yours will have you running from the law, I'd suggest you go hang out down south in Nahara for a few years.”

  “You think we'd be safe there?” I questioned.

  “As safe as you're going to get without crossing the ocean to another continent.”

  I nodded. “Thanks, Bjorn.”

  “Anytime, love.” Glancing back to Nyx, he commented, “Now, it's getting kind of late, and you have a big day tomorrow, don't you? Maybe I should be heading back to the university.”

  I grabbed him into another hug. “What big day tomorrow?” I murmured, in jest.

  “What? Oh, I don't know. Must've gotten confused with something else.” Bjorn was grinning when we separated. “I love you, Kai. I am so proud of you, you know that? Even with all this necromancer business.” He wiggled his eyebrows. “I mean, he is a good-looking boy.”

  I gave him a goofy smile. “You might want to leave before I refuse to tell you I love you back.”

  “Yeah, yeah, all right.” He slowly backed out into the hallway. “I'll see you in three years, girl. Red Moon. Don't leave me hanging, yeah?”

  “Never.” I swallowed hard as he started walking away. “I love you! And I'll miss you!”

  Bjorn turned near the end of the hall. “I'll miss you too, love!”

  “I'll only miss you this much, though,” I replied, holding two fingers out about an inch apart.

  Bjorn laughed heartily as he disappeared out of sight. A little piece of me went with him.

  “I kind of regret not going to see him more often,” Nyx commented, behind me. “He's a good man.”

  “Yes,” I agreed. “He is.”

  I had just closed the door to our room and gone back to sit on the bed when another knock came at the door.

  “Yes?” Nyx called out, feigning irritation.

  “Kai, may I speak to you?” Silas. Given the tone of his voice, I felt a pang in my chest. Nyx and I exchanged glances.

  “I'm coming.” I got up and headed to the door, where a distraught Silas stood. “Are you okay?”

  “Can you come out here a minute?” He requested, his eyes flicking back to Nyx.

  “Yeah.” I closed the door behind me. Silas walked down to the end of the hall, where a large window overlooked the cobblestone streets outside. I followed him, watching as he averted his eyes to the city outside. “What's on your mind?” I asked him, softly. I wanted to make this easy for him. I figured I knew what he had to say.

  His forehead creased as his eyes watched the stars flicker over the city's skyline. “This is the hardest thing I have ever had to do,” he murmured, his Adam's apple bobbing as he swallowed emotion. “I thought I was done making hard decisions when it came to you, but somehow, this is hardest.”

  My eyes fell to his hands, which were twitching as he stared out the window. I knew he was talking about his decision almost two years ago at this point to break our romance and revert it back to a friendship. I knew he regretted that, now that we knew his reasons for doing so weren't applicable.

  “I keep hoping that you've read my mind, and that you will make the decision for me, but you won't. I respect that, in a way. You are letting me be free to make decisions as you wanted me to do for you.” He hesitated, before a shaky exhale blew through his lips. “I still love you, Kai. I always will. I know I have given you reasons to believe otherwise, and I am sorry for that. I am not asking for you back. I understand we are beyond that. I know you feel for Cerin. I know the reason we went to find him was because you were seeking love that I refused to give you, and that this all, in a way, is my fault.”

  “Silas, you made your decisions. I've made mine. Do not place blame on yourself for doing what you felt you needed to.”

  “But I have done many things I felt I needed to that have caused you distress and trouble. Our differing opinions on things are affecting our actions and causing problems between us, and...” Silas trailed off, his voice broken. “I would rather be a fond memory to you than a recurring problem.”

  There it was. He'd finally said it. I had expected this, but there was no way I could have prepared for it. I fought back tears as I followed his gaze out the window, because looking at him was too hard.

  “Please say you understand,” he said, the words hopping over hiccups.

  “I do. I understand completely, and I'm sorry,” I offered, going toward him to hug him. I let myself cry, then. It wasn't like Silas hadn't seen it before, and I wanted him to know that this was hard for me, too. I felt his arms come around me, and hold me like it was the last time. I knew it probably was, but to acknowledge that completely would be too much.

  “I am sorry for all of the trouble I've caused you,” he murmured, just above my ear. “All I've ever wanted to do was protect you and help you. I know that by leaving, I will be unable to do any of those things, and it kills me.”

  “It is not your job, Silas. Not anymore.” His armor was streaked with tears below my cheek as I held onto him. “You have focused on me for far too long. I want you to be free. Find something you can throw yourself into, and do it. I know you can.”

  “I will, and I will dedicate it to you,” he said, before finally pulling back from me. We gazed at one another for a while, as if committing each other to memory. “You may not believe me when I say this, Kai, but despite all our disagreements, I wish nothing but the best for you. Your quest to save Cerin, your desire to change the way the world views necromancy...they are daunting tasks, but I know you can do it. If anyone can, you can.”

  “Thank you,” I murmured. His words meant so much to me. “And thank you for your decisions at Sirius's court, Silas. I have thought about it and it was a selfless thing to do. My anger would not allow me to see it at the time, but you saved my life and tried to save Cerin's.”

  “It means a lot to hear you say it,” he admitted, his hands slowly rubbing at my own, longingly.

  “Where will you go?” I asked him, then.

  “I think I will return to Celendar,” he answered. “I have not seen my family in quite some time. It will be nice to be in the forests again.” He paused, and smiled softly at me. “You would love them, Kai. Trees that rival the mountains. It puts the Seran Forest to shame.”

  “I will visit someday,” I promised.

  “I hope you will. Be sure to ask for me, and I will give you a tour. Show you the sights.” He hesitated. “After I get reacquainted, myself.”

  “I will hold you to it,” I replied. Letting my fingers slip from his, I said, “Be careful, Silas.”

  His sharp green eyes were sad in mine. “You too, Kai.”

  It was the second time someone I loved would walk away from me that night. I didn't plan on either goodbye being permanent, but sometimes you make plans, and the gods will only laugh.

  At times, literally.

  Twenty-one

  The skies were a blanket of dark periwinkle blue that hugged the snowy Seran Peaks. With a discerning eye, one could see the stars twinkling, eager to join the night. Meir loomed in the sky behind us, shining brighter as the day ran off and made way for the darkness. The second moon was headed back to the horizon, preparing to complete its second run over Chairel for the year. As I watched the sky, the first snow of this year's Dark Star began to fall, drifting lightly down from the heavens in white puffs.

  Water rushed by my boots by way of the Seran canal, carrying sewage from the city off toward the Servis Ocean. Nyx had mistakenly called it a river during our plans.

  A mixture of sewage and water poured out of a large pipe that came out of the underground. Filling in the circle of the pipe was a thick black iron gate that Nyx was in the midst of unlocking. The iron had rusted and corroded near the bottom of the bars, at times discoloring the water that ran through it to a runny copper.

  D
espite being sewage, the water didn't smell too bad or look too thick and awful. It seemed to run clear past Nyx's boots as she stood on the edges of the pipe. Of course, we were still outside. It was possible that as we followed the pipe underground to the water treatment plant, the smell would overwhelm us.

  Click. Snap. The iron gate creaked as Nyx slowly opened it, pulling her body to the left side of the pipe to leave way for the arc of it. Theron and I hopped the short distance from the side of the canal to the pipe, hurrying through the gate. Sound became condensed in the pipe; the water rushing by us sounding ten times closer and louder in here.

  Nyx followed us as soon as she could hurry around the gate, closing it slowly behind her.

  “Does that need to be unlocked for us on the way back?” I asked her, my voice barely over a whisper. I hadn't needed to be so cautious; the entrance we'd just come through was outside of Sera's gates, and by quite the distance. Still, I didn't want to sabotage anything about our mission tonight. Nyx was used to doing things silently. Theron was great at it, too, given his tracking abilities. I was the only one I felt I needed to worry about. I had been able to be quiet enough to avoid confrontation a few times over our journey to Whispermere, but I would need to travel silently today.

  The Alderi shook her head, putting her hand on a lever just inside the gate. “This opens it from this way,” she replied.

  I nodded. Theron and I waited to the side of the pipe, letting Nyx pass by us. This was both of our first times going this route, and we would rely on the assassin to take us the right path.

  We slowly made our way through the rushing water, pushing through the resistance of the current and following the pipe's path toward the underground of Sera. The water breached my boots and soaked my leather armor, adding to my weight and discomfort. It was freezing. While the Dark Star weather hadn't yet gotten as cold as it was known for, this water had originally come from underneath the Seran Peaks. It was mostly runoff from the snow of the mountains, and its path underground had ensured its temperature stayed low.

  The pipe angled to the right, after awhile. It wasn't long after that when I heard a distant humming. Up ahead was a faint light at the end of the tunnel, shining downward from above. As we approached it, it was clear to me we were beneath Sera. There was a room above us, and as Nyx hurried below the light, I realized it was a grate that led to the water treatment room. When she was below it, she pulled out her lock picking tools, going to work on unscrewing one side of the grate. As Theron and I watched, she stopped, quietly moved to the side of the grate, and held one finger up to her lips.

  I listened intently to the ground above, though I could hear very little over the rushing water beneath my boots and the humming in the room over us. I did notice when the light coming through the grate was dimmed into shadow, and I knew someone was walking around above. Then, the shadow passed, and after a few seconds, Nyx continued unscrewing the grate. Finally, the grate swung downward, and she took a step up the ladder built into the wall of the pipe, poking just the top of her head up. A moment later, and Nyx was gone, having hurried up into the room above.

  Theron and I waited in silence for a few moments. Then, one blackish-purple hand lowered into the pipe, and made a “come here” motion. I went up the ladder next, and the ranger followed closely behind me.

  We were in the corner of a tall room made of thick stone, and it was dimly lit. A large, floor to ceiling object rose just beside us, humming. It must have been one of the vats Nyx had told us about that heated water for use. As my friend closed the grate behind us, I looked above our heads, where a scaffolding bordered the room to allow access to the top of the vats. Thankfully, no one was on it right now.

  Nyx passed me, moving to the left of the vat, crouching amongst the shadow, becoming a part of it. I followed her, slowly, trying to find a method to crouch like this that wouldn't completely kill the circulation to my legs. My boots were still mushy inside from the water of the sewers, and I knew we had to be tracking water across the floor. But this was a water treatment room, and what tracking we were doing was behind the vats and in shadow.

  I was so thankful to have Nyx. The woman knew what she was doing.

  Theron tapped me on the shoulder from behind, and I glanced back. He nodded forward, where Nyx had hurried across the gap between vats, and was motioning for me to join her. As quietly as I could, I scurried across. Theron soon followed.

  We circled the second vat around the outside, sticking between the thick stone wall and its shadow. Nyx waited at the edge of its shadow, watching the room ahead. Though dimly lit, it was still much brighter than where we were. I could hear some people talking in the room, but the echoes of their voices made it difficult to discern their direction.

  Then I saw the origin of the voices, watching as two workers crossed from left to right ahead, in the midst of conversation about what the plans were this year to keep the pipes from freezing during the harsh weather. The conversation slowly teetered off to our right as Nyx waited ahead. Then, with a quick motion behind her to follow, she hurried forward.

  Once we were out from behind the vat, the water treatment room opened up to our right, but Nyx was headed left, scurrying up some stairs that led to a doorway. She glanced both ways, before checking on Theron and I, who were coming up behind her. Without a word, she hurried through the doorway and went right, where a stairway led upward.

  At the top of the stairway, Nyx hesitated, and fell back to a crouch from her dart up the steps. Ahead, in the storage room, was a lone woman, sorting through dry goods for the kitchen, her back to us.

  I felt my heart pounding in my chest. I didn't want to hurt her. I hoped there was another way.

  Nyx made the decision for me, darting out silently from the stairway and grabbing the woman, her right hand clasped over the worker's mouth, her left arm keeping her still.

  “Do not scream,” Nyx murmured in her ear, turning to face us and motion toward a big canvas bag of produce near their feet. Because I didn't know her purpose, Theron entered the storage before me, beginning to untie the rope that held the bag shut at the top. “We are not here for you.”

  The woman's eyes were wide as she breathed heavily against Nyx's arm. She stared at me in a state of shock. I realized that she probably recognized me, from passing me in the hallway or serving me before. As Theron set to work tying the woman's hands together behind her back and sitting her down on the ground, I rummaged around in my coin purse.

  “You did not see us here,” I murmured, dropping two gold coins in the pocket of her apron. I knew it was equal to her pay for a fortnight, but it was just a fraction of what I had on my person. “For the inconvenience.”

  The woman nodded abruptly, bewildered by the situation.

  Theron came back over to the woman, tying a long piece of canvas he'd cut off a produce bag around her head, keeping it between her lips.

  “There might be a ruckus,” I told her. “Wait until it dies down. Then yell for help.”

  She only nodded.

  We left the storage room behind us, moving along the counters of a kitchen in the midst of its after dinner downtime. Thankfully, most of the workers had been on the other side of the kitchen washing dishes, so our path to the last hallway before the dungeon was clear. The doorway ahead beckoned to us, a cobblestone wall from across the university hallway teasing us with a job nearly finished.

  Then, a wrench was thrown into our plans. A kitchen worker entered the doorway from the other side, carrying a tray of half-eaten food and coming to a stop when he saw the Alderi before him.

  “Guards! Assassins!”

  The call vibrated against the walls and in my ear drums. I could only watch as Nyx sprung from her crouching position, throwing her twin daggers forward and into the gut of the man who'd set the alarm, before slicing them outward to his sides. The man fell backwards into the hallway, his intestines spilling out of the wound meant to silence him. His tray fell to his corpse, glasses and cer
amic plates alike sliding off of it and crashing to the stone floor beneath, shattering into pieces amongst a puddle of blood.

  It was too late. There was now pandemonium. The kitchen workers were screaming and in a frenzy, arming themselves with the knives they had available. Somewhere in my head, I heard Nyx's voice echoing, telling them they would not die if they left us be. Some listened, some did not.

  Nyx whipped her head to look at me. “Get Cerin! The guards are coming. With luck, we may avoid most of them.”

  Theron followed me as I ran out into the hallway. It wasn't until the dungeon's door that I saw the guards, running from the university entrance toward me, drawing their swords.

  “Unlock the dungeon, Kai. I will hold them off.” Theron drew both of his swords, preparing for battle.

  Even as I pulled the key Bjorn had given me out of my pocket with one hand, I prepared a shield for Theron in the other. Only after it connected in an egg-shape over him, its energy field glistening in the lights of the hallway, did I focus on the door. I shoved the key into the lock, failing to open it right away from my nerves.

  “Sister!” I stopped. Looked to the left. Behind a rush of soldiers on their way to us was Terran, his eyes wide with a variety of emotions. He was dressed in full armor, and had a deep green cloak on that matched his eyes; it was the same one I had bought for him for his twenty-fifth birthday, just four years ago.

  I said nothing. I only stared back at him, the brass key rattling in the lock. Time was too short. With one last glance toward my hand which held the key, Terran turned back to the rest of the workers and tourists alike in the entrance to the university.

  “Bjorn has betrayed us!” He screamed, his hoarse voice echoing off of the cobblestone walls. My heart sunk into my stomach, and then I remembered that only the members of Sirius's court held sets of keys made of brass. All other soldiers, guards, and workers used aluminum keys. By process of elimination, Terran had figured out the culprit, with little more than a glance.

  The dungeon door clicked open. I rushed inside, slamming the wooden door shut behind me. I heard Theron and the guards come to a clash outside, even as my eyes darted down the line of cells, looking for Cerin.