City of Death

by Laurence Yep

  Her mother caressed Scirye’s cheek. “It was very rash, and you’ve been very lucky, my lare.” Lare was “beloved” in the Old Tongue and only used for the special people in one’s life.

  “We may have been lucky,” Scirye argued, “but we’ve also been very brave and very smart.”

  “I’ve already spoken with the goddess’s priestesses and they release you from your vow,” her mother said soothingly.

  It would be so nice to stop the quest and let others take care of Roland and Badik. She thought of her conversation yesterday with Māka. If ever there was someone with less aptitude for magic, it was Māka—and yet she kept trying. With the world at stake, Scirye couldn’t give up either.

  “I wish it were that easy,” Scirye said, trying to explain what she felt inside. “But this is between me and the goddess. Only She can release me.”

  “It’s better not to meddle in heavenly matters.” Her father frowned sternly. It was a look that made large war griffins bow their heads obediently. “We are not letting you kill yourself, young lady.”

  Her mother held up her free hand. “She’s not one of your griffin hatchlings, dear.”

  Her father scratched behind his ear. “Yes, it’s a lot easier to tell them what to do.”

  Kles rose from her father’s wrist to land on Scirye’s shoulder where he turned. “Lord Tsirauñe and Lady Sudarshane,” he said, speaking for her as he so often did. “I know you would like to think Lady Scirye is still little so you can keep her from harm. But you cannot.”

  Scirye looked back and forth between her parents. They were treating her like a reckless child playing with matches, but she had fought monsters, escaped magical traps, and traveled vast distances. She was no longer small and helpless, and yet her parents were still treating her as if she were. They didn’t want to accept that her adventures might have changed her.

  Nor had they grasped an even more awkward truth: It was Scirye who was protecting them and not the other way around. And she would go on keeping them safe whether they wanted it or not.

  She suddenly became aware of the gulf between her and her parents and it saddened her. Was this what growing up was like? And compared to battling Roland and Badik, it was silly to fight over measuring herself. Better to indulge her parents and enjoy what might be her last time with them.

  “Yes, take my height for old time’s sake,” she said and set her back against the beam.

  As her father scored the wood with his blade, Scirye felt guilty. The last thing Scirye wanted to do was to hurt her parents’ feelings, but she knew she would have to leave.

  And soon.

  23

  Leech

  Despite the luxurious beds, Leech had tossed and turned the whole night, wondering if Bayang knew about the Voice and what she would do. The strange thing was that he was more upset about losing her friendship than about losing his own life. After years in the orphanage and then the streets, he did not trust many people, so he treasured his few friends. Even when she had nagged him, he knew deep down that it was out of concern for him.

  Leech was sitting by a window as the late-morning sun streamed through the glass while he tried to figure out what to do.

  You’ve got too big of a mouth, the Voice whined. Why did you have to make the dragon suspicious?

  For all of the Voice’s skill at flying and fighting, Leech realized the Voice was still a young boy who let his feelings whipsaw him back and forth instead of controlling them. Could the Voice learn to master his fear and anger?

  Who knew? Bayang had always cut that process short before that could happen in previous lives.

  Leech tried to calm the hysterical Voice. She promised not to kill me.

  She gave that oath to you, not to me, the Voice pouted. She can claim the deal is off.

  Leech looked anxiously in the direction of Bayang’s room. Just across the hall, the dragon would not have to go very far to hunt the Voice down. And yet even as that thought came to him, something else teased his mind just out of reach—something that lay beyond the obvious bond between Bayang and the Voice, the Hunter and the Hunted. But what?

  He lost his train of thought when a miniature badger leaned against Leech’s boot. “I’m going to get the hang of this if it kills me,” he said in a tiny voice as he drew a paw across a furry brow.

  Dozens more slumped against his feet, too exhausted to complain. He was actually ankle deep in little Kokos.

  “Maybe you don’t have the personality to change into a tiger,” Leech hinted. The little badgers shimmered, merging together into a full-sized Koko.

  “When you’re in the main ring, you got to play it big.” Koko threw himself onto a cushioned divan. “But this shape-shifting works up an appetite.” Picking up a small bell from a nearby table, he rang it. When an Indian servant in a turban entered, the badger said grandly, “Jamir, bring me one of everything on the breakfast menu.” He sniffed a foreleg. “And then maybe run another tub for me.”

  Jamir didn’t blink an eye. “Sir, rose petals or jasmine blossoms?”

  “Oh, what the heck. I deserve both,” Koko said breezily.

  When Leech caught a whiff of his friend, he fought back a sneeze. Koko had already taken so many perfumed baths that he reeked of scent. Cleanliness was even more important to the badger than his usual greed and gluttony, but Momo’s comment about his aroma yesterday had driven him into a frenzy of soaping and scrubbing. “You’re going to rub off your fur if you keep this up.”

  Koko brushed a foreleg. “Got to look good for dollface.”

  Since they had arrived, Momo was all that Koko talked about, which was making Leech feel a little jealous. But he quickly told himself to get over that. In all the time that Leech had been with Koko, he’d never met another badger until now. Perhaps Koko was lonely for his own kind.

  In a little while, Jamir returned with a tray heaped with food, and after serving them, went into the bathroom to prepare a bath for Koko.

  Leech watched Koko wolf down slices of roast lamb, lamb in a piece of flat bread, and then lamb covered in pomegranate sauce. “Slow down, will you? What’s Momo going to say when you blimp out?”

  Koko sucked the sauce from his claw tips. “She’ll tell you that a badger’s belly is his glory.”

  Careful not to get jabbed by Koko’s fork, Leech took a hard-boiled egg. “Any more glory and it’s going to take two griffins to carry you.”

  A gong began booming through the citadel. The very rock beneath his feet seemed to vibrate. Voices began to shout outside.

  Hurrying to the door, Leech stepped outside. A male servant was running down the hallway, his sandals slapping the floor. He was in an Indian robe but the material was a green, yellow, and black plaid. “You’ll come with me to your quarters.”

  Leech managed to snare the man’s arm as he tried to pass. “What’s going on?”

  The man blinked as if he’d been so preoccupied that he hadn’t noticed the boy. He babbled something in Kushan.

  Leech looked around until he found Jamir had come to the bedroom doorway. Their servant looked as panicked as the man in Leech’s grip.

  “The axes,” Jamir translated shrilly, “the axes are gone.”

  Leech blinked. “Axes? You mean the ones we took from the museum?”

  “Sir, the sacred double axes never leave here. Anything you had were simply imitations of them,” Jamir said. When Leech still looked blank, the servant struggled to explain. “The sacred axes are symbols of the empire. It … it is like kidnapping His Imperial Highness himself.”

  Well, Leech thought with relief, I know Koko didn’t take them. The boy had been up all night listening to the badger snoring. From all the uproar inside and outside the palace, someone was in big trouble. And for once, it isn’t us.

  The servant Leech was holding gave the boy an exasperated push and started to run on even as the boy fell against one of Bayang’s double doors.

  The door flew open under his weight and he
fell onto the floor of Bayang’s room. That set off four maids crying out in surprise.

  Embarrassed, Leech scrambled to his feet and looked about for his friend. “Bayang?” he asked.

  One of them replied in accented English. “She is not here.” The maid gestured to the bed. “That was cold when we came in this morning. Maybe she not even sleep here.”

  Leech had a bad feeling about this. Where was Bayang?

  24

  Scirye

  Scirye sat with the other companions in her room late that afternoon.

  Koko folded his forelegs. “So where do you think that overgrown lizard’s gone?”

  Leech said nothing but sat with the distracted look that he so often had now, instinctively playing with his armbands.

  “And what a coincidence that the sacred axes are missing at the same time.” Tute stretched lazily. “How well do you really know Bayang?”

  Scirye glanced at Leech for help defending their companion, but he was still lost in thought. She felt guilty for not asking him what was bothering him. What kind of friend was she? “Leech, are you all right?”

  He seemed to come out of a dream. “Yes, what?”

  Scirye frowned. “Tute was wondering if we could trust Bayang. Weren’t you listening?”

  Leech toyed with his armbands nervously. “Sorry. I was worried about Bayang.” He turned to Tute. “We’d never have gotten this far without Bayang. She’s saved our lives time and again.”

  Tute’s claws ripped the expensive Persian carpet in frustration. “Maybe she was just keeping you alive so she could get into the palace.”

  “Have you got mange on the brain?” Koko snapped. “You’ve only been with us a couple of days so you don’t know her like we do. She may be a grouch, but she’s no thief.”

  The badger had voiced Scirye’s own thoughts, though she wouldn’t have put them in those exact words.

  “Besides,” Koko added, “if anyone was going to steal something and then take a powder, I would have said it was going to be me, not the big green lizard.”

  The lynx sat on his haunches. “Yes, I would have thought that too.”

  The badger glanced at him sideways. “You didn’t have to agree with me so fast.”

  Māka tried to distract Tute by scratching him behind the ear. “The Lady Scirye is the chosen one. If she vouches for Bayang, then I trust her judgment.”

  But Tute twisted away from her hand. “Don’t be so naïve, Māka. We just met them. We don’t really know how loyal the dragon is.”

  Māka had begun to alternate squeezing a rubber ball in either hand. Scirye supposed that was to develop strength for her magic tricks. “Tute, if you say one more bad word about Lady Scirye’s friend, you and I … we will no longer be partners.”

  Tute’s ears stood up in shock. “You’d pick her over me? But I’ve got our best interests at heart.”

  “And the Lady Scirye has the world’s,” Māka replied firmly.

  “That’s the thanks I get for all I’ve done for you,” the lynx grumbled but he fell silent.

  Scirye didn’t want their pact to break up Māka’s friendship with Tute. “Māka, you really don’t have to—,” she said uncomfortably.

  The sorceress turned to Scirye. “But I do,” she said with such absolute faith in their quest that Scirye squirmed. “You are going to save the world.”

  I just wish I could be as certain, Scirye thought to herself.

  25

  Leech

  Leech was only half aware of the others as he argued with the Voice. He was tired of the tedious job, but he knew he had to convince the Voice of Bayang’s innocence before the young brat that was the Voice panicked.

  She’s left us holding the bag, the Voice muttered. When are you going to face the truth about her?

  When are you? Leech shot back. She’s my—our friend. She would never do that.

  Even though it was dangerous for Bayang to know about the Voice, Leech missed her. It amazed him how much his life was already entwined with that of the dragon’s. Yes, she could be a nag and a worrywart, but her scoldings had been no worse than the orphanage matron’s, and at least the dragon spoke the way she did out of concern rather than the matron’s mean-spiritness. And Bayang took a great deal of responsibility upon her broad shoulders so it was unlike her just to run off, let alone steal a sacred treasure.

  Suddenly there were angry voices in the hallway outside.

  “Chin,” Scirye said to the maid who had been kneeling on a cushion in the corner, “please see what that’s all about.”

  Rising, the maid went to the door and opened it to reveal Nanadhat spread-eagled across the doorway, trying to make a barricade with his body. “You cannot enter the princess’s palace without Her permission,” he protested.

  He tumbled onto the rug when Captain Nanayor shoved him. “His Imperial Highness has ordered that the vizier take custody of the dragon’s accomplices in the theft of the sacred axes.”

  Scirye got off her bed and drew herself up, looking every inch the haughty noble lady rather than the girl who was Leech’s friend. “Nanadhat, send word to the princess.”

  Nanadhat got up off the floor with Chin’s help. “I already have, lady.”

  Scirye glared at the captain as he marched into the room with two Wolf Guards. “If we were accomplices in the theft, why didn’t we leave with Bayang?”

  “I’m no criminal mastermind, but maybe it was to scout out more treasures.” Captain Nanayor pulled a machine pistol from the holster on his belt and made a point of clicking off the safety. His two guards did the same with their guns. “All I know is that you are now mine.”

  Nanadhat was outraged. “How dare you threaten her ladyship this way!”

  Captain Nanayor ignored the steward when he saw Leech’s hand on the flying discs. He motioned to the guardsmen, who immediately aimed their machine pistols at Leech. “I was warned those things let you fly. Put your hands up,” he barked. He looked around the room. “All of you. Hands in the air. Your friend proved that we can’t trust you. You’re the vizier’s now, not the princess’s spoiled pets.” He aimed a kick at Tute who sprang away with a hiss. “You barbarians will come with me.”

  “But I can’t leave,” Koko wailed in dismay. “I scheduled a massage for three.”

  “Pampering’s over, beast,” the captain sneered.

  Māka had wrapped her arms around the growling Tute, but she stood up and obeyed. “Is it really necessary to bully us?”

  The captain pointed his pistol at her. “This says I can do what I like. And next we’re confiscating all magical items.” He nodded to his guards. “Search them.”

  Tute crouched, ears low against his head as if he was ready to spring on anyone who dared to touch Māka. But it was Kles who went mad, launching himself from Scirye’s shoulder before she could catch him.

  “I won’t let you lay a finger upon a lady of the House of Rapaññe,” the griffin protested as he flew straight at the captain.

  As the captain swung his hand at the griffin, Leech waited for the nimble creature to dodge, but he simply hovered, presenting an easy target for the backhanded blow that sent him flying.

  Crash!

  The small chess table overturned, spilling pieces everywhere.

  “Kles!” Scirye ran to the prone griffin and, dropping to her knees, scooped him up into her arms. The griffin rolled over, shaking his head groggily, too dazed to answer. Scirye felt his limbs and body until she was satisfied nothing was broken. Then she narrowed her eyes as she glared at the captain. “You’ll pay for striking my retainer.”

  Crack!

  A bullet tore through the rug into the floor just before her. “Your title means nothing now. And when the vizier’s done, your father will be stripped of his titles just like the princess.”

  Scirye held up her palm. The goddess’s mark was burning an angry red. “We are engaged on a sacred quest.”

  The captain paused at the sight. Then he swallo
wed and said, “The vizier said you would try to fool us with that simple conjurer’s trick.”

  Nanadhat cleared his throat. “If someone must search the ladies, let a maid do it,” he suggested, heading off a deadly battle. “Your master would tell you to show that much courtesy.”

  “Oh, very well,” the captain said reluctantly and motioned to Chin. “Go on,” the captain said and indicated Māka with his gun. “Start with her.”

  Chin approached Māka cautiously, making sure to keep the sorceress between her and the snarling lynx.

  “It’s all right,” Māka said soothingly to her friend. “You’re always saying I’m not much of a magician.”

  “But it’s the principle of the thing,” Tute grumbled, but he simply watched as Chin slipped the grimoire from Māka’s sleeve and then removed the belt with the star charms and the necklace with the signs of the zodiac—and even the rubber ball Māka used for strengthening her fingers. They made quite a respectable little pile when the maid was done.

  The captain wagged his gun at her wrists. “The bracelets too.”

  “They’re just decorative,” the sorceress said as she added them to the pile at her feet.

  Despite everything, even the Voice was impressed. I didn’t think she looked strong enough to carry that kind of load.

  Next, the maid said something in Kushan that sounded like an apology, and Scirye shrugged, submitting to the undignified hunt. With a contrite bob of her head, the maid removed Pele’s charm as well as the pouch with the otter figure, which the captain immediately claimed.

  “The animals too,” the captain said to his guards. He purposely held his pistol on Māka while a guard cautiously searched Tute who growled and spat all the while.

  The guard looked surprised when he felt Koko’s fur.

  “Heh, heh, how did that get in there?” Koko laughed nervously.

  The guard pulled out a silver spoon. “Where do you keep it?”

  Koko shrugged. “It’s a tanuki secret.”

  Two silver forks, a knife, and even a small spatula were added to the pile along with Koko’s charm from Pele.