by Matt Larkin
Chandi screamed, launching herself onto the soldier and smashing his face onto the metal bridge. Once more she vented her rage on the man, crushing him, then she crawled to Naresh. Blood oozed from the puncture in his side, and Kala must have broken some of his ribs. Chandi cradled Naresh’s head, and pulled him to the side of the bridge. Chandra, please let the other soldiers leave them in peace. They never should have come here.
One of the airships flew past, firing something that seemed to resemble Fire-Lances at the bridge. Explosions rocked around her, and Chandi could only scream.
Kala stomped on the head of another mechanical bear, then kicked off it, launching himself into the air. Flames exploded beneath his feet and a sword of fire appeared in his hand. He must have flown thirty feet through the air to impact that airship, slamming the flaming brand into the balloon. An explosion wracked the craft, flinging Kala free. He landed on a bridge below them, surrounded by more mechanical soldiers.
The flaming airship plummeted toward Chandi and her fallen husband.
“Naresh!” she shouted. “Get up! Right now!”
The craft collided with the bridge ahead. A wave of heat washed over her. A deafening roar filled her ears and shook her to the bones. The bridge split like a log chopped in half.
Chandi tried to shift her gravity to the sloping surface, but it pitched her and Naresh off it.
Her husband was free falling ahead of her, unconscious.
The winds swept away her screams. It tore her clothes and stung her eyes. She folded her arms by her side to fall faster. She had to get to Naresh. She had to.
They’d fallen a hundred feet, two hundred. The rush of air was all she could hear. Debris and men and machines fell all around her, but she focused on Naresh. The waters below were getting closer. Chandi reached her hand out and wrapped her fingers around her husband’s ankle. “Naresh!”
He couldn’t hear. She jerked him, slapping his leg. And then he opened his eyes, groggily, and looked at her. He shook his head once, then their position shifted. They were still falling, but not among the debris. Now the city was beneath them. And approaching very, very fast.
“Naresh!”
He looked down and must have Strode again. They appeared at the foot of the palace, laying on a metal platform. The man on the balcony looked down at them and shouted, pointing soldiers toward her. She didn’t know the language, but she knew the man, now.
Rahu’s hair was longer than she had ever seen, and he looked younger, but it was definitely him. Which was impossible. Rahu was dead.
It felt like something had coiled around her heart. Rahu was dead. And he was standing in front of her, not a ghost, but in the flesh.
She reached for Naresh, but he’d lost consciousness. Chandi hefted him up, carrying him away. Soldiers closed in around her, more than she could ever fight alone. Still, she drew her Blessings and ran, dodging the attackers as best she could.
The palace gates were closed, so she shifted her gravity to the wall and ran right up it, then leapt off, Naresh still cradled in her arms. He was losing a lot of blood. It soaked her kemban and sarong and made her hands slippery.
In the distance a mechanical creature was flying. Chandra, the serpentine thing looked like Tioman had, except made of iron and gears. It launched a blast as if from a Fire-Lance at Kala below, and explosions engulfed the bridge he stood on.
Then Kala walked from the inferno, his clothes burning away, and flames swirling around his arms. He was a Firewalker, too? The fire spiraled around his hands then shot out at the dragon in a vortex. A cascade of blasts ran along the thing’s spine as it fell from the sky.
Chandi kept running with Naresh, not sure where she was going.
“Over here!” Kala shouted. “Bring him.” The man stood on the bridge below. Chandi couldn’t afford to trust him … but neither could she take a chance not to. She had to do something to help Naresh, and she had to do it fast. She leapt off her bridge and landed on the one below, twenty feet from Kala.
He dispatched three more soldiers, but held up a hand when she moved in closer to him. “Keep your distance.”
What now?
He pointed down the bridge, toward the city. “We can find shelter in the slums. Go now. I will keep the Clockworks off your trail.”
Clockworks? The machines?
Chandi drew her Glamour, blending herself and Naresh with their surroundings, and ran into the deep city. Soot and smoke covered everything. Explosions continued behind her.
But all she could focus on was Naresh’s weak breaths.
CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED EIGHTY-SIX
Chandi knelt by Naresh’s side in the shadows of the windowless room. The only light came from a crack in the door to the sitting room, where Kala waited. The foreigner had refused to come in. Chandi stroked Naresh’s brow. His breathing had become more regular, but his skin had grown cold. She’d bound his wounds as best she could.
It was a shame they didn’t have more Amrita. Chandi bit her lip. No, it was probably for the best. Naresh would be fine. He had to be. He would. Her husband was strong. Her hands were shaking. Chandra, did she want the Amrita for him, or for herself?
For a time she lowered her head onto his. “Please help him,” she asked Chandra. Maybe he wouldn’t listen, but it couldn’t hurt. And she couldn’t lose Naresh.
She slipped from the room, shutting the door. He needed rest.
“The ravages of destiny weigh heavily on you,” Kala said without looking at her. His voice was low, and he spoke softly. The man sat with his legs folded beneath him, his wrists resting on his knees. Just the way her father had once meditated.
“What are you talking about?”
“Energy. You’ve opened yourself to the energies of the universe, but you don’t know how to control them, so instead they control you.”
She knelt beside him. He’d removed his tattered shirt, revealing rock-hard muscles and a body as toned as Naresh’s. He still wore leather pants, although fire had melted those in places, too. His eyes held her gaze and she wasn’t quite able to look away. Was the emerald sparkle just her imagination? His red-gold hair hung about his face, setting off that sparkle.
Chandi shook her head, breaking away from those eyes. “Are you saying I can control lunacy?”
He shut his eyes. “All that is within you is you, and therefore under your control. Your mind and body are mere manifestations of your soul, and a soul, while it can be tainted, is not subject to simple madness.”
Was that true? It seemed impossible. All her life, she’d been taught the price of the Blessings. Be a goddess, pay with your mind. Everything had a price. But Kala was more powerful than any Moon Scion, and though certainly odd, he didn’t seem quite lunatic.
“Show me. Please.”
He drew a deep breath, then opened his eyes and crawled over to her side. He waved for her to position herself in the same meditative pose he’d been in, then placed his hand on her stomach. Her skin tingled where he touched her, spreading warmth through her abdomen, and lower. Chandra, she hadn’t expected to … She set her jaw. She would not indulge such thoughts.
“Your energy begins here, and rises up along your spine, drawn in by chakras. When you infuse them with your life force, you bend the natural rules of the universe. Close your eyes.”
She did so, but couldn’t quite still her breathing. The warmth of his hand on her abdomen left her lightheaded.
“Every breath you take is life. You draw in the essence of the universe, the akasha, and convert it into your own life force, prana. See that energy, running through your body like a river. It goes where you tell it. It is yours. It is you. Your soul is an immortal, eternal aspect of creation. A divinity in its own right.”
“I … I took a drug that made me this way … I need it.”
Kala blew out a breath. “This chemical changed your body, allowed you to infuse these chakras in a way normal humans cannot. But the chemical does not define you. Your essence run
s deeper. See the change inside you. When you see that change, the lunacy and the addiction, fold it into a ball. This ball has a latch. You can lock it away. The choice is yours. The control is yours.”
His low voice left her dazed, half asleep. Her mind saw the things he described. A river of energy coursed through her body, a flow connecting her to everything. She could see the lunacy interrupting that flow, and could taste its foulness. She focused on that river, diverting it around the ball of lunacy Kala described.
Rough fingers brushed her cheek. Kala held her face in his hands as she opened her eyes, stroking her jaw with his thumb. Her heart was pounding in her chest. Sweet Chandra, this was not going to happen. Rangda take her body for this reaction.
“I’m married,” she said, her throat dry.
Kala removed his hand, slowly closing his fingers. “I can see that. You just … reminded me of someone.”
“How is it you don’t remember me?” His face was too close to hers, so she moved back. With increased distance, the pressure in her stomach faded a little. It had just been the stress. She was just so worried for Naresh.
“You’ve come through the Time Chamber, haven’t you?” Kala said. “But you don’t yet realize the implications of your journey, nor the eventual destination. Whatever experiences we shared in your past have not happened for me. Not yet.”
That was impossible. Time Chamber? Chandi bit her lip and leaned back against the wall. It was impossible, wasn’t it? “You’re saying I’ve traveled backward in time? I thought the Astral Temple sent us to another place.” This world of madness and metal and chaos. But Kala claimed it wasn’t another world at all—just the past. And if Rahu and Kala had come from the past … She shook her head. No, she had to focus on the task at hand. She’d lose her mind trying to understand all this.
“A journey in time is a journey through space.”
Chandi shook her head. This was nonsense. It might explain how Rahu was alive, and looked younger, but how could this be true? If it was, it meant that the conversations she’d had with Kala hadn’t happened yet. Or not for him.
“What’s your name?” he said.
“Chandi.” When they’d first met, he’d known who she was. Chandra, she was getting a headache. “Then where are we?”
“One of the Tripura cities. Three floating cities that rule the world. This is Vidyunmali.” His face darkened. “City of the Triumvir Rahu.”
“How are they flying? What are these Clockwork things?” She blew out a breath. “I mean, what on Chandra’s dark side is going on?”
Kala smiled, just a little, though he looked sad. “History unfolds in eras, cycles of change and continuity. Here, the Triumvirate rule the world through technology more advanced than you’re acquainted with, so it must be lost some time in the future. This technology allows them to levitate cities, control the skies, and build the creatures you speak of.” He paused, and his eyes glazed over for a moment. “And like fools, they thought to master time, only to become enslaved to it.”
“And you’re from here?”
“No.”
That was enlightening. Chandi resisted rolling her eyes. He was always like this, wasn’t he? And yet, when he drew near, she … No! Damn it, no. Naresh was hurt, maybe dying.
She turned back to Naresh’s room. “Can’t you do anything for him?”
Kala shook his head, slowly. “Not me. I cannot help, but there is someone here who could. The right medicine could speed his recovery.”
Chandi stood, shaking herself. “Then tell me where to find him.”
“It’s beyond the Hall of the Triumvir. My appearance would draw too much attention. Those parts are still solidly under Rahu’s control. We will take them, soon.”
She shook her head. “Naresh can’t wait. I’ll go. I can change my appearance to look like these people.”
Kala folded his arms and leaned back. Whatever went on behind his unusual eyes, she couldn’t guess. “Then find Nairyosangha. He’ll be able to help your husband. Go quickly. This place is not safe.”
Really? She hadn’t considered that. This time she did roll her eyes, then stepped back out into the street.
CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED EIGHTY-SEVEN
Mostly, the streets were empty. Chandi would guess those not involved in the fighting had fled, or locked themselves in their houses. But given the destruction raining down over this city, the utter devastation caused by Kala and Rahu’s war, hiding might not do them much good.
She had thought to find answers to the chaos in her own world—only to find a time engulfed in even more destruction. How could all of this have happened, and no one remembered it? Such godlike power to float cities, forgotten … Or recounted only in myths of gods?
Chandi had disguised herself, creating the illusion she wore the trousers and long coat of one of the women here. All the soldiers seemed to wear a sash with an elegantly curved knife attached to it, so she took one from the body of a fallen warrior. He wouldn’t miss it, and it helped her disguise.
Kala was right. She saw the addiction, the lunacy as a ball now, and she worked around it. It was a part of her, but she could control it. Except that ball kept threatening to crack open.
She ran down the dark, empty streets. Night had fallen while she rested by Naresh’s side, but explosions and the retorts of those hand-held Fire-Lances still echoed in the distance. Vidyunmali was tearing itself apart, and she didn’t want to be around to see it.
The path was confusing, but Kala had told her to seek out a man called Nairyosangha. She couldn’t talk to him, of course, but hopefully he’d accept pearls as payment. Who didn’t like pearls?
The Hall of the Triumvir was domed, perhaps seventy feet in radius, topping a long building. It sat in the center of the city, beyond the palaces. Chandi could see it from the edge of the slums. She could also see thousands of soldiers formed up beyond it. The Clockwork Soldiers numbered almost as many as the living here, and they patrolled tirelessly. She’d have to pass them to get the medicine for her husband.
This had been a bad idea. She’d left Kala alone with Naresh. He wouldn’t hurt her husband—she was sure he wouldn’t. But he didn’t seem willing to go out of his way to help him, either. He wouldn’t even go in the room with him—though Naresh had attacked him, so she couldn’t blame him.
Maybe Glamouring herself to look like a soldier wouldn’t be enough to get these men to let her by. But she had other options. She drew her Glamour tighter around her, bending light and turning herself almost invisible. It took more effort, but with the darkness, no one would notice her at all. She kept her pace steady and light, not risking anyone hearing her as she trod among the soldiers.
And then a Clockwork Soldier grabbed her arm. In her shock, she lost her Blessings, and her Glamour fell away. Soldiers nearby let up a shout, screaming things she couldn’t understand.
Dammit all. Chandi drew her Blessings and yanked her arm free, shoving the Clockwork into one of its fellows. She ran past two men, catching one with a hook when he tried to grab her.
Clockworks closed ranks before her. Chandi jumped, kicking off one’s head, and flipped over it. She landed in a roll, but hadn’t gone far when she realized several of the human soldiers pointed those hand-held Fire-Lances at her.
One shouted at her, motioning for her to raise her hands. She could run, try the Glamour again, but the Clockworks seemed to see through it. And those weapons fired metal very, very fast.
Chandi raised her hands. She wouldn’t help Naresh by dying here. They’d been fools to even try to come to this place.
A woman bound her hands behind her back with metal restraints, then led her through the crowd, back toward the Hall of the Triumvir. Up close she could see the entrance, a massive archway. Beyond the archway, she could see the entire interior of the Hall was curved like a tunnel. A staircase led up to a walkway thirty feet above her, but the soldiers didn’t take her there. Instead they guided her under it, to Rahu, who stood with his
hands behind his back at the center of the chamber. His long, sleek brown hair reached halfway down his chest. He spoke in the local language.
She just shook her head. What in Chandra’s name did he want from her? This man had taken enough from the Isles already. Except he hadn’t even done that yet.
And if she killed him here, he’d never do anything of the terrible things he did. He’d never start the Fourth War. They’d come here for answers, but now they had a chance to save everyone.
Again he spoke, and again she shook her head. “I don’t know what you’re saying.”
He glared, then nodded. Suddenly, he grabbed her by the shoulder and dragged her toward a back room. Inside, stuck to the wall was a crystal resembling the one in the Astral Temple, but much smaller. Rahu threw her against the wall by the crystal, then grabbed some kind of cable. He held one cord, then wrapped another around her restraints.
At some order, his men activated a machine in the corner, and gears in the room began to turn. The whirring increased, and Chandi felt a pressure building in her skull. Something was boring into her mind, like a worm crawling through wet mud. The pressure increased until she screamed, then fell to the floor.
And then the whirring stopped, and the pressure faded. She opened her eyes to see Rahu was also on the floor, clutching his skull.
“You …” He shook his head, then rose. “You were seen with him. Tell me where to find him, and you may live, girl.”
How in Rangda’s underworld had he learned her language? That thing had done something to her, to her mind. Would it harm her?
“Where is Kala?” Rahu demanded.
Chandi swallowed, then shook her head. Even if she was willing to hand over Kala—and she wasn’t, despite herself—Naresh was with him. She struggled to her feet. This was turning into a really bad day.
“He’s going to kill you,” she said.
“So he will come here for you.” Rahu tapped his lip with one finger. “Are you his woman?”
Would it make it better or worse if Rahu thought she was with Kala? But the man must have read her hesitation.
