by B. T. Narro
I’m never going to be confident. But he wouldn’t tell her that.
He checked on the storm, lifting himself high into the air to see over the mountains. The volcano wasn’t erupting in that moment, no smoke, no spewing lava. The storm continued, though, with lightning striking twice in the short time he watched. Being a hundred miles closer now meant he could see the hallowed ground of Eppon around the volcano.
He couldn’t imagine being a human sacrifice and jumping into the volcano. Peering through his seescope, he could see steam coming off milky pools gathered around it. He thought he saw something resembling an enormous lizard stick its head out of one particularly large one.
He told himself it was just the water shifting over a rock. It was too big to be anything else.
There were many thin pillars of smoke coming out between the milky pools, some billowing softly like a flag in the wind, others spurting out suddenly as if from an explosion beneath the blackened ground.
He came down and told them, “The volcano has stopped for now, but the storm is still going.”
“What does it look like? What’s the land like?” Shara asked.
So Neeko explained what he’d seen, leaving out the rock that might’ve been some lizard-like creature as big as five men.
She sighed as she glanced up at the sky. “I wish I could see through your eyes.”
“No you don’t,” Neeko said. “Then you would never get anything done.” He waited for her look of confusion. “You’d be too busy staring at yourself all day.”
She squeezed her hands up by her shoulder. “Aww.”
Cedri pretended to vomit.
*****
The city of Wertisall was frustratingly difficult to find. It took them three more days of riding to come to where they believed it should be based on Shara’s map, but they found nothing but hills and eerily black trees.
The land had been changing the farther south they went into Thalcea. There were more swamps than lakes. Many of the hills were completely covered in a dusky green plant that looked like the top of a bushy tree. It made travel even more difficult, as they couldn’t ride through clumps of them.
There was a smell to the air, a hint of sulfur. It took a day before Neeko stopped feeling a slight sting in his throat with every breath.
He began to panic when Shara started to wheeze one night. She sat up holding her chest. Neeko put his hand on her back.
“How bad is it?”
“It’s manageable,” Shara said, her wheezing unchanging.
Cedri peeled back her blanket and pushed herself up. “What’s wrong?”
“I’ll be fine,” Shara said.
The psychic came over and knelt beside Shara. She surprised Neeko by taking Shara’s hands. “Having trouble breathing?”
“A little.”
“Damn. Steffen would probably know of something to give you for that.”
“I should’ve asked him before he left.” She had a long, strained breath.
“Is it the air, or is it worry?” Neeko asked.
“I think it started with the air—” a wheeze interrupted her. “And now it’s worsening as I worry. I should be fine if I can just calm down.” Another wheeze came, louder now. “I’m going to be fine.”
Cedri removed their blanket, pushed Neeko aside, and crawled onto Shara’s lap to face her. She wrapped her arms and legs around Shara and rested her chin on Shara’s shoulder. Shara squeezed her in return.
“Slow breaths,” Cedri crooned.
Gradually, Shara’s rapid breathing returned to normal, her wheezing disappearing. But Cedri stayed clasped to Shara for a full minute more, the rustling air the only sound. Finally, she rolled off Shara’s lap.
“I feel wonderful,” Shara said in disbelief. “Was that all psyche?”
“Mostly.”
Shara gasped. “I just realized something.” She shook her finger, pointing at Cedri. “You know how badly you can cause pain?”
“Yes?”
“Can you cause all other feelings with the same force?”
“Not exactly. Pain is actually the easiest feeling to manipulate. Our bodies are ready to detect pain at any moment, and just as ready to tell us when it’s gone. Comfort is similar, so I can make people feel physically comfortable with ease, but relaxing takes much more effort.”
“Is attraction one of the easy ones?” Neeko asked. “You said it wasn’t difficult making the luminary of the PCQs feel lust toward you.”
“Well…that’s only because he already had an attraction toward me. If he’d thought I was revolting, it would’ve been impossible to make him lust for me.”
Shara lifted a clump of Cedri’s oily blonde hair. “You should have a bath before we find Wertisall, then. Might as well use that beauty again.”
“You don’t exactly smell fresh, either.”
“I’m aware, but I’m not going to be the one flirting.” Shara smirked.
Cedri folded her arms. “I really hope I will be of more use than that.”
Shara dropped her silly grin as she embraced Cedri.
“You already are.”
*****
It took until late evening of the next day for them to finally find the city of Wertisall, though Neeko wasn’t sure he could think of it as a city now that he’d seen it.
Wertisall was tucked away against the southeastern mountains of Thalcea. With only one route available to its entrance, a man-made tunnel through a hill rolling off the mountains, Neeko expected to find strange people in this secluded dwelling.
The city itself was fortified with walls of stone ten feet at their shortest and twenty at their highest, crowned by parapets protecting attentive archers who paced along the high walkways.
The mountains behind the city were sparse with dying trees drooping in the shadows. Night had come quickly. The moon glimmered ominously through the cascading clouds of gray.
Worry tightened Neeko’s stomach as he saw all of this through his seescope. He gave it to Cedri.
“Besides the obvious archers,” she said as she looked, “I can’t tell if there are other guards.”
“We need to reach higher ground to see,” Neeko said. “Shara, from what you know about Wertisall, would we be in danger of being attacked if we’re seen?”
She pondered it as she shifted her mouth from side to side. “Without knowing who we are, they wouldn’t shoot us, but we would be captured and questioned.”
“Without going all the way around and floating down from over the mountains, I can’t get in without being spotted.”
“You’re not going alone. We just need a good lie and they’ll let us in, especially with the freshly cleaned Cedri the Beautiful here.” Shara danced her hands around Cedri as if presenting her to a crowd.
Cedri scoffed, then used a voice as if performing on a stage. “Lock away your husband when she comes to your town. Shield your man’s eyes when she walks by. For no man can resist…Cedri the Beautiful.”
Neeko was in disbelief, but Shara lightly applauded with a jubilant look. “She jokes! She jokes!”
“All right, Shara.” Cedri pushed out her hands. “What’s our story? Who are we to these Wertisall wretches?”
“These Wertisall wretches are men and women of deep faith. Wertisall is one of the South’s oldest cities, though it’s been rebuilt in the last twenty years since Priest Elbick took over for his late father. He fortified the city with those walls of stone and reverted to some of the old rules of faith. A prayer to both gods must be spoken before any meal. Women cannot be out alone after sundown or show any skin beneath their neck. Things of that kind, nothing we need to worry about in our current attire, and with our gentleman escort here.” She extended a hand toward Neeko. “Though, I believe it will be too risky to claim we’re from Wertisall. None of us knows enough about the city to get away with that. Let’s use the same story that we did in Finkestown: We’re traveling from Sastien Village, but this time we want to see the great Priest E
lbick. We don’t often get to leave the village, but we’ve saved up enough for our trip and we’re going to the capital next.”
They walked straight to Wertisall, protected by nothing but a false show of confidence.
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
NEEKO
The entrance to Wertisall was wide enough to fit two carriages side-by-side. Only one person stood in the center, a threateningly large warrior clad in steel armor that looked too heavy for any man to bear all day. Behind him awaited an open door of the thickest wood. Neeko was thankful Jaymes would be attacking Tramberr and not this city. He wasn’t sure if they’d ever get through, even with their battering ram.
Shara had told Neeko to speak for them, so he greeted the man. “Hello, sir. May we enter?”
“Where are you coming from?” Archers peered down from the parapets.
“Sastien Village.” Neeko provided the story Shara had created.
The armored guard regarded the two women behind Neeko, though no expression crossed his face.
“Because of the storm in Eppon, Priest Elbick has reverted to the old mandates of faith in an attempt to appease the god of death.”
Neeko wasn’t familiar with the old mandates of faith. Did this mean there were even stricter rules than Shara had predicted?
“Being from Sastien Village,” the guard continued, “you might not have the proper knowledge to follow our rules. If that’s the case, I suggest you come back to see the priest once this war is over and the sacrifices have recommenced.”
Neeko couldn’t ask Shara if she knew about the old mandates of faith without revealing that he had no knowledge of them. He glanced at her for a clue as to how dangerous it might be for them to enter. She showed him a hard look, determined.
“We appreciate your concern,” Neeko told the guard. “But we’re familiar with the rules. We would greatly like to see your leader and meet him if possible.”
“You won’t be meeting him, but you will see him at the stadium. Tonight is the weekly sacrificial battle. Even as a visitor, you’re forced to attend if you step within these walls.”
A stadium full of people might be an easier place to get away with killing the priest. “Has it already begun?” Neeko asked.
“It’s just about to start.”
“We’ll hurry then. May we pass?”
The guard motioned at the watching archers. “Wait for your escorts.” As two archers disappeared from the parapets, the guard took a long glance at each woman with Neeko. “The three of you must be of stronger faith than most in your village for you to wish to attend.”
Neeko didn’t know exactly what that meant, though he didn’t like the sound of it.
“We are,” Shara said, bowing her head in deference.
Cedri mimicked her.
“Good. Leave your horses here and come back when the event of faith is over. If you didn’t get the chance to speak with the priest by then and wish to stay the night in the city, I’ll help make arrangements for your mounts.”
Neeko was somewhat surprised by the man’s convivial attitude. The archers appeared from an opening in a side wall. Neeko thanked the guard and walked to them, the two women following like servants. He glanced at Shara to find her making a face that indicated she wanted to tell him something.
She knows what to expect in the stadium. Unfortunately there was no way of asking until they were there.
Within its walls, Wertisall reminded Neeko of nightmares he’d had. From what he knew, Wertisall was an army city—there were more living here who were paid by King Marteph than those who weren’t. Neeko figured the city was rebuilt and fortified with stone walls to support the army’s defense of this location. It made him wonder exactly how long Marteph had known he was going to war.
The city seemed deserted with everyone at the stadium. Only half of the buildings looked close enough to a typical house for Neeko to think of them as homes. The rest were stone towers and monuments that did nothing more than confuse him, as he was unable to understand their purpose.
They crossed by many small fields, each one with a statue at its center. Most seemed to be of mythical animals, possibly representing something spiritual. Neeko hadn’t read enough about the history of faith to know. There were children with wings, horses with hands, and a man fending off a dragon. He soon found other scenes of battle—some with giants fighting among men.
There were a few other people in sight by then, all of whom were ahead of them and walking in the same direction. The long stretch of quiet was broken by a rumble of voices as the massive stadium came into sight. It was as big as King Quince’s castle, though it was a perfect oval. Yellow light poured through the entrance of a long tunnel built through one side of the stadium. It seemed to be the only entrance, so it was the only exit as well.
Heat blasted Neeko as he came through the tunnel. It was the source of the light: a stone tower with a lit brazier at its top. It held a raging fire that looked as if it was about to spill over the edge. Neeko was thankful to step away from it as the archers brought him and the others toward the stairs.
“Sit anywhere,” one of the escorts instructed.
The stadium’s stone benches were mostly occupied by people who didn’t look all too different from those in Lanhine. Neeko had expected much more armor and weapons, but it seemed as if these soldiers didn’t bring them to this…show? Neeko didn’t know what to call it. Based on the looks Shara had given him on the way here, he assumed there was much more to it than an audience watching an act of entertainment.
Fortunately, most of the empty space along the benches was at the front, so he hurried to a spot in the first row. The arena was just seven or eight feet below him.
Shara was reluctant to sit. “We should go farther back,” she said quietly.
“I want to be close to the priest.” Neeko pointed directly ahead. There were two more braziers atop a stone tower. Between them was a long, wooden altar with a statue of the gods standing on each end. The blue one was the god of life, a woman clasping flowers to her chest, her head bowed in a look of profound thought. The red one on the other side, the god of death, looked out at the arena before him. His shoulders were armored in spiked flames and he posed as if he dared anyone to stand against him.
The priest stood between the statues and behind a table that stretched across the altar. Upon it were brass ornaments holding candles. At the very center was a gem-encrusted bowl, its rim lined with gold and large enough to fit a baby.
“It’s a risk to be in the front.” She gestured at the empty space all around them. “Which is why no one sits here. Let’s at least move to the third row.”
No matter where Neeko sat, he’d still need to be closer to get py around the priest’s neck, so he figured he might as well move.
They climbed up a couple of rows and Shara sat in the center so she could whisper to both of them.
“Cedri, look as ugly as possible.” Shara yanked at Cedri’s hair to make it disheveled.
Cedri leaned away and pulled the hood of her tunic over her hair to hide herself. “Why?”
“No, you can’t wear that.” Shara pulled it down for her. “Every woman must show her hair and face during this ritual. Oh, two hells, I can’t believe we’re here and so close to the front. Look, almost all the other young women are in the back.”
Neeko took a glimpse to see that she was right.
“Two men are going to drink from the sacred water blessed by the priest,” Shara continued. “Then they’ll fight to the death. Supposedly, the gods will decide who should win so the victor will be deemed a ‘blessed man.’ He will then choose any woman he desires from the audience and take her to bed in the hope of impregnating her with his now blessed seed. Afterward, he’s sacrificed.”
“Hells, I’m not doing that if I’m chosen,” Cedri whispered, folding her arms.
“You’ll be killed here in front of everyone if you refuse.” Shara wagged her hand. “It doesn’t matter. It won’t
be either of us. The odds are in our favor.” There was no certainty in her tone.
“This is barbaric,” Cedri whispered. “I can’t believe men actually agree to fight.”
“It’s widely believed that this is the most glorious way to die, to be victorious in battle, then bed the woman of your choosing and give her a ‘blessed’ son. From what I know, the last time this ritual was done was over a hundred years ago, before the first sacrifices were brought to the volcano and the waterfall. There are still family lines of ‘blessed’ sons and daughters, and they’re treated with the same deference as a member of the royal family. I’m sure there’s some in this audience.”
The priest came forward to the edge of the altar. He commanded silence with a simple lift of his arm. “The sacrificial battle will begin shortly,” he announced. He looked to have aged just past the middle of his life. He was an average-sized man, Neeko noticed as he focused on the priest’s neck. The collar of his red robe came up around the sides of it, but that wouldn’t be an issue.
Neeko could feel himself begin to sweat as he thought about the act of killing. It wasn’t that he disliked the idea; he was ready. It was completing the act and escaping with Shara and Cedri.
Don’t move your hands when you choke him. Stay steady as a statue.
The priest returned to stand behind the table as two armored men walked forward from either side of the arena. The crowd murmured, then hushed when the men faced each other with the statues of the gods looming over them.
The priest gestured at the man to his left beneath the god of fire. “Colin Gare is an officer of our army. He’s a master swordsman who’s sworn to protect the South against any foe. He’ll be missed, but the gods will be pleased at this sacrifice.” The priest gestured to his right. “Rebel Gare is Colin’s younger brother and another officer in our army.”
My gods. “Did they volunteer or were they chosen?” he asked Shara.
“Volunteered.”
“So they knew they would fight each other?”
