House of Blades

by Wight, Will

  To her surprise, the whole of Simon made him look...competent. Even dangerous. Though his hair was wet, for some reason, and he fiddled with the clasp of his cloak as though he had thrown it on in a hurry. Was it raining outside?

  “Simon,” Alin said, but Simon looked past him. He looked past Leah, too, though that wasn’t entirely a surprise. Simon usually had difficulty looking her in the eyes.

  “That’s a nice room,” Simon said. Leah blinked. She had thought herself beyond this particular danger when Alin ignored it.

  “Simon, we have to get going,” Alin said urgently. The shouts from below grew louder.

  “A nice room,” Simon repeated. “And are you wearing a necklace?” Curse those pearls, she had forgotten to take them off. Simon glanced at her neck, and then, just as much of a surprise, met her gaze. His eyes were steady and not accusing, but searching.

  “He gave me gifts, sometimes,” Leah said, as if this were admitting something terrible. “And he came to see me. I think he meant to...I mean, I think he was going to make me one of his...” She broke off, as if she wasn’t sure how to finish the sentence or didn’t want to.

  A woman’s voice, calling from below: “The tower! They went into the tower!”

  “It’s okay, Leah,” Alin said soothingly. He shot a hard look at Simon. “We’ve got to go, now. Questions later.” He put out both hands and focused on the air in front of him.

  Leah had never seen a Gate to Elysia open—no one had, for the past three centuries—but clearly this was not going well. Gold light swirled, then stopped, then broke apart, then gathered again into a vague oval. Sweat gathered on Alin’s brow, and he barely managed to keep from collapsing. Simon moved as if to catch him, but Alin stayed on his feet.

  More footsteps pounded up the stairs, carrying with them a glow like a portable bonfire just around the corner. Naraka, then. Reinforcements.

  Alin grunted at himself and heaved as though pushing a boulder uphill. Then, finally, the golden Gate snapped into clarity. Leah stood staring at a city of gold and rainbows under a golden sun, silver-and-diamond parapets sparkling with a thousand different colors. Very few of the Territories were plain or ugly, but this...

  Leah had heard some of the older, more superstitious legends call Elysia a paradise for a virtuous. Seeing this beautiful city of gold and shining jewels, she could almost believe it.

  “Move, now!” Simon said, and pushed Alin into the Gate. Leah followed, just as a pair of men in the rust-colored robes of Naraka crested the stairs. One of them began to wave his brand in a pattern that would call on the Furnace, but then they were on the other side of the Gate, and the opening slid shut.

  All three of them stood on the lush grass of the field outside the city of Elysia, Alin panting as though he had just run up a hill. Simon stood in his black cloak, alert, scanning the tops of the city walls and flexing his right hand as if wishing he held a sword. Leah almost relaxed. They were safe, for now. No one but an Elysian Traveler could open a Gate here. Unless...

  A horizontal slash in midair, where the gate had just closed, began to glow cherry-red. One of them had a gatecrawler, or whatever they called the Naraka equivalent. Not good at all. They would be able to force the Gate open in seconds. Gatecrawlers could only pry open a Gate seconds after it closed, but they were also by far the best way of following a Traveler into a foreign Territory. It looked like there would be a fight after all.

  Inside Elysia, Leah could barely sense her Territories. It would take time to summon even a meager defense, and by that time she could be burning to death. Of course, she could reveal her identity to the Naraka Travelers, but she was hesitant to take that step until she had to. For one thing, if she revealed herself and the Damascans still lost, she would have some unfortunate questions to answer for Simon and Alin.

  Which meant that her fate was now, more or less, in the hands of two half-trained boys.

  Clearly, she was doomed.

  ***

  Alin knelt on his hands and knees in the soft grass of Elysia, trying to gather his strength, trying to force his head to stop swimming. Leah grabbed him by the shoulders, trying to get him to focus, but all he could do was think about her blue eyes, and how strange it was that a person could have blue eyes, and how they reminded him of the sky back in their world, and how the blue sky was much better than the boring yellow one here…

  Leah shook him again, harder. “They’re forcing the Gate open!” she shouted.

  “Can they do that?” Alin asked. His voice sounded hazy to his own ears.

  “Apparently! We need to move!”

  “Which way, Alin?” Simon asked. He spun around, looking for a way out, and the movement sent his cloak billowing behind him. Alin wondered if he had moved like that on purpose, to look dramatic.

  Alin kicked his brain, forcing it to focus on important matters. If the Travelers were trying to re-open his Gate, then they would show up in the same spot he had. Which meant that they had to get away. But it also meant...

  “Help!” he yelled, as loud as he could manage. He touched the golden sun in his mind, sending a bit of Elysia’s power into the call. “I need some help!”

  The crimson slash in the air widened a little, and Alin thought he could hear men’s voices from the other side.

  A golden giant, nearly a twin to the one that had given his life defending Alin earlier, strode into the meadow, using his golden staff as a walking stick.

  “Initiate,” the giant boomed, nodding to Alin. “Where is my brother?”

  “Killed,” Alin said, because he wasn’t sure what else to say.

  The giant howled, an enormous and mournful sound. “Where is his slayer?”

  “Also dead. I killed him.” Maybe that would prevent the giant from blaming him. Then again, maybe not.

  “But his men are coming after us now,” Alin hurriedly added. “They’re trying to break open the Gate.”

  The giant planted his feet and held his staff in front of him. “Go, initiate,” he said. “I will hold them.”

  Alin didn’t recall ever hearing either giant’s name, but he resolved to find out. “Thank you,” Alin said.

  The bright red slice widened like a broad mouth, and Alin caught a glimpse of familiar blood-colored robes before the giant speared his staff through the opening. Then Simon was grabbing him by the arm and hauling him forward.

  “Come on,” Simon said. “We’ve got to move. Can you take us somewhere? By Traveling or whatever?”

  Alin panted as he staggered along, but he thought he could manage a single Gate back to the real world. Of course, there were still the other limitations.

  “Yes,” he said, “but it won’t get us far out of Bel Calem. Maybe just past the walls. We’re going to need a ride.”

  ***

  They emerged from the golden Gate riding three shaggy white bears. Simon wasn’t sure if it was the best thing to ever happen to him, or the worst.

  Each of the bears wore a suit of armor and a saddle made of gold, and they ran along at a smooth ground-eating pace that put the walls of Bel Calem far behind them only minutes after they appeared. Unfortunately, the gold saddles were even less comfortable than they looked.

  “Why can’t you take us back through another Gate?” Simon called. “We could go farther in your Territory.”

  “Can’t,” Alin yelled, from the back of his own bear. He still slumped over his mount as if he were exhausted, though he sounded lively enough. “I can only open one Gate each day. And the city only stretches so far, so we can only Travel from one end to the other.”

  “That’s a lot of rules,” Simon said.

  “Why can’t we use yours, then?” Alin asked.

  Simon cleared his throat, though Alin was too far away to hear. “You can’t exactly Travel through Valinhall. Every Gate takes you back to where you started.”

  “How can you call yourself a Traveler at all, then,” Alin called. He sound
ed like he was teasing, but it still put Simon’s back up.

  “Let’s try a straight fight,” Simon said, “and we’ll see who—”

  “Boys!” Leah interrupted. “Eyes forward!” When she took the lead like that she sounded uncomfortably like her aunt.

  Simon looked ahead to see a formation of men on horseback, in the purple-and-brown uniforms of Malachi’s troops, form up in ranks. They were still distant, but he could see spearheads gleaming in the sun as they were leveled toward the three riders.

  “What now?” Leah called.

  Alin started to say something, but Simon called his gifts and hopped down. Thanks to Valinhall’s strength and speed, he kept up easily with the galloping bear. His cloak streamed behind him, and he had to admit that he liked the way it looked, billowing along behind him like a black banner.

  And, of course, he didn’t bask in the look of astonishment on Alin’s face, and the impressed look on Leah’s. Not at all.

  “I’ll deal with this,” Simon said. “Just keep riding straight.” He put his hand out and summoned Azura, making completely sure to keep it pointed into the air. The last thing he needed was to drive his sword into the ground and trip while he was trying to look impressive.

  Can you help me out? Simon asked Caela, who had replaced Otoku during his last trip to the House.

  Of course, Caela replied. You know, some of your other advisors are going to be upset with you, choosing me again. There are many more of us.

  I’ll stick with the ones I know for now, thanks, Simon said. Now, can you keep me from looking like a fool?

  I’ll keep you alive, Caela said. But as for the other? No promises.

  Simon smiled and would have laughed, except for what lay ahead. He was going to have to kill some men who were just doing their jobs, and he had had his fill of that for one day.

  Still, he had no choice. Not really. Drawing on steel and essence both, he pushed his speed to the limit, leaving Alin and Leah far behind.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO:

  THE HOPE OF ESCAPE

  They had abandoned the road almost immediately after breaking through the cavalry line, intending to lose their pursuers in the countryside and circle around to the northwest, toward Enosh and Myria. They didn’t get the chance.

  The scattered trees and scraggly brush of the landscape gave very little cover, especially to those riding great white bears and being tracked by those who could search from the air. Simon’s first plan had been to ride until they lost their hunters, then to open a Gate into Valinhall and shelter there until they felt the pursuit had passed. Maker only knew where he was supposed to put three huge armored bears in the House, but he would skin that cat once he’d caught it. The trick was to find a place where the Damascan Travelers wouldn’t see him open the Gate. If they never knew where the Gate had opened, he reasoned, they couldn’t force their way through.

  It had been a good plan, but it seemed that every time he tried to stop and open a Gate, a Traveler would step out of nowhere, or a bird with steel talons would dive and try to rake out his eyes. He tried three times, each where he was sure they were unobserved, but something always interrupted at the last second.

  “We’ll just have to outrun them,” Leah had said after the third attempt, when a creature like a steel porcupine had burst from the cliffside and leaped at Simon ten seconds before he finished tearing open the Gate.

  He had to kill the thing, but by the time he did, the rocks around him tore themselves out of the ground and formed into a giant hand, which groped around blindly on the ground, trying to crush him. Simon was forced to flee.

  Back on his bear and running, Simon called back, “Can we?”

  Simon had no idea how a normal bear would fare carrying a human on its back and running at top speed for hours, but he suspected these creatures took a little something extra from their Territory. They never stumbled, even over rocky terrain, and kept up a far faster pace than a horse could maintain for any length of time. Still, they were beginning to show signs of weariness: Simon’s mount panted loudly enough to be heard over the sound of their passage, and its gait wasn’t as smooth as it had been earlier. Which, unfortunately, made the ride even more painful. He doubted he would ever be able to sit up straight again.

  Alin shook his head, and it seemed to also have the effect of waking him up; he looked to be dozing off in the saddle. “They’ve run most of the day already,” he said. “They can’t keep this up much longer. I don’t know how long, but...”

  Not long enough, Simon was sure. Every couple of miles something would fly overhead or pop out of a Gate. If the mounts didn’t at least last until nightfall, when they had a chance of hiding, they would all die.

  Which meant that Simon was down to two options, the first of which was to keep running and hope they weren’t killed. Since he was betting Alin and Leah’s lives as well as his own, that was no choice at all.

  Which left his second plan.

  “Slow up,” he called to the other two, motioning for them to draw their mounts alongside his. “I have an idea.”

  He told them. And, as expected, they didn’t like it. Leah protested especially, which was gratifying.

  “You’ll be killed,” she said. “Almost certainly. Even in the best case, you’ll still have to get away, which leaves you in the same place you are now.”

  “Still better that one of us stays in danger than three of us,” Simon pointed out. “And I’m the only one who can open a Gate to escape, if I get a chance. Just find a hole and stay there until tomorrow, and Alin can Travel you most of the way back to Enosh. Alin, can these bears get back to your Territory on their own?”

  Alin shook his head. “I have to bring them through a Gate.”

  “Well then,” Simon said. “I guess I’ll be borrowing them for a while.” He was trying to act more confident than he felt, which was surprisingly easy. He felt such little confidence that faking any was more than he really had.

  “I guess so,” Alin agreed. “We’ll come back for you, Simon. If we can.”

  They wouldn’t be able to, and Simon knew it, whether or not Alin did. He still appreciated the gesture, and he nodded his thanks.

  Leah looked like she was trying to say something as well, so Simon saved her the trouble. “Leah, thank you,” he began. He had planned all along to say this, but now that he came to it, actually speaking was more embarrassing than he had expected. He cleared his throat, adjusting the clasp of his cloak to give him something to look at besides her. “Thank you for...under the wagon. Running out. I wouldn’t have escaped if not for that, and you wouldn’t have been caught. So thank you.”

  Leah’s face flashed in an odd mixture of emotions, but after a moment she just shot him a shaky smile. “I’m sorry about your mother,” was all she said.

  They were approaching a cliff that would, for a few moments at least, hide them from any watchers in the air. “Up there!” Simon called, and shifted his weight. The bear followed, heading in that direction.

  “We’ll have to be quick,” Simon said. The other two yelled something, probably agreement.

  When they rode between a cliff and another outcropping of rock, hidden as best they could from the sky, they slowed their mounts for just an instant. Just enough for Alin and Leah to hop off and go scurrying for cover.

  Simon sped up again, one bear underneath him and one on either side, running together. Hopefully from a distance, it would look like nothing had changed.

  Please don’t die out here, Caela said from his belt. It would take me ages to get back to the House.

  “I’ll do my best,” Simon said out loud. And he rode on, putting the steadily sinking sun behind him. South was death, and Alin and Leah would be heading northwest, so the least he could do was head east. Draw them off.

  A cry sounded from far above, and a dry bush to his right burst into flame.

  Well, at least some of them were still following him. If not
hing else, that would give the other two a little more breathing room.

  Steadily tiring, panting more heavily with every step, the white bears lumbered on. Simon wondered how long they would be able to keep it up.

  ***

  Not long, as it turned out, but not from any fault of the bears.

  Only an hour after Simon had left Alin and Leah, before the sun had even set behind him, a cliff rose up in the distance. It looked like a wall of rock stretching almost horizon to horizon, with only one broad crack in the center providing a way through.

  A canyon. Perfect. The best way to get himself caught, especially in unfamiliar lands.

  Worse, he could see his hunters to either side: far to the north and south, giant lumbering creatures of steel, or short beasts—maybe the size of a dog—that wore fire on their backs, and at this distance were little more than streaks of flame running through the scrub brush. All headed for the same cavern entrance he was.

  “Maybe I can get there first and open a Gate,” he said.

  Not likely, Caela responded.

  “Well, here’s hoping.” He booted the bear in the side. Simon wasn’t sure that made the beast go any faster, but it made him feel like he was doing something, so he did it again. The bear growled a little, deep in its chest, and rolled one icy blue eye up to look at him. Simon stopped kicking the bear.

  The canyon wasn’t as wide as it had appeared at a distance, barely broad enough to contain all three bears side-by-side. That was an advantage, as Simon saw it: his pursuers wouldn’t be able to see him as easily, and if they did catch up, he would be able to fight them better in a place where numbers wouldn’t count so heavily against him.

  Then again, he would have to be careful swinging around a sword the size of Azura in these confines. And a Traveler from a different Territory might even be able to bring the canyon walls down around him. Maybe it was best if it didn’t come to a fight, after all.