The hill on which they stood dropped into a broad valley that rose briefly to an eastern ridge before flattening onto a wide plain. Low stone walls cluttered the slope directly below, remnants of long-collapsed houses, and building detritus filled the valley and the opposing ridge, divided by long empty strips that might have been wide streets. But it was the vast middle-distance that drew Meg’s eyes. Scattered across the plain, bisected by a dark snaking river, stone ruins, their shattered facades washed amber like the guide’s robes, reared like forgotten memories as the fragments of a dream teased the edge of her consciousness. The nearest structure on the northern river bank was a circular building, a massive decayed amphitheatre, its crumbling face glowing in the sunset, and beyond it, perhaps a thousand paces on, another series of structures reared from the ruins, shattered towers jutting above crenellated walls and abandoned stone buildings that sprawled over a vast area. Across the river, opposite the second conglomeration of structures, was the hollow shell of a third imposing ruin, its roof long collapsed, its surviving delicate grey spires grasping at the mauve clouds. In the fading light, shadows stretched from the decayed structures cluttering the plain, giving the ruins the effect of a land of artificial light and darkness.
‘This place is huge,’ said Chase, awe resonating in his voice.
‘It was the capital of a great empire,’ Meg told him.
‘And what happened to it?’ he asked.
‘It was a cruel empire, from what I remember reading,’ she said. ‘In the end, it was destroyed by its own greed and power.’
‘How can its own power destroy it?’ Swift asked.
‘The Ashuak people worshipped dragons,’ Meg explained, ‘and the dragons were their source of power over other people. They thought they controlled the dragons through their priests, but the dragons had other ideas. In the end, the dragons came and destroyed the city and the great Ashuak empire collapsed.’
‘You tell some weird stories,’ Swift said, shaking her head.
‘History is full of weird stories,’ Meg replied. ‘That’s why it’s important to know what has happened before.’
‘Look at that place,’ Chase said, and they all turned their heads towards a hill on the north-eastern perimeter of the ruins where the ruins of a dark, square building peered over a tangle of trees and undergrowth. ‘What lived there?’
‘We’ll find out tomorrow,’ Meg said.
‘We should set up camp before it gets darker,’ Wahim suggested. Meg informed the guide of their decision, but the guide began to argue. ‘What is he saying?’ Wahim asked.
‘He says this is not a good place to camp. Spirits will come and kill us in our sleep,’ Meg translated. ‘He says only mad people camp by the city.’
‘What about those mad people?’ Swift interrupted, pointing towards the distant river.
At first Meg couldn’t identify what Swift was pointing to, but then she saw the thin line of smoke trailing into the sunset sky. She spoke to the guide who stared in the same direction before he shook his head and gave his answer. ‘He says they are probably rabbit hunters,’ Meg informed her companions.
‘Rabbits?’ Chase asked.
‘The little grey animals we’ve been eating since entering this land,’ Meg explained. ‘People earn money from their skins.’
‘They’re plentiful,’ said Swift, pointing again to the nearest stone ruins. A host of rabbits were hopping across and sitting among the stones. ‘People here won’t starve from a lack of meat.’
‘So where will we set up our camp?’ Wahim asked.
‘Close to the river would be good. We need fresh water,’ Swift argued.
‘Then we’ll go there,’ Meg agreed. She told the guide of their intentions, but the man shook his head vehemently and waved his hands as he retreated from the group.
‘Where’s he going?’ Swift asked.
Meg turned from the guide who continued to retreat and said, ‘He won’t come any further. He says if we stay here we will die.’
‘Great,’ said Chase. ‘We come all this way and now we die.’
‘Don’t be an idiot,’ Swift told him sharply. ‘Are you going to order him to stay?’ she asked Meg.
‘No. We don’t need a guide anymore. This is the place we want. Tomorrow morning we can search the ruins. Tonight, we need to rest.’
‘Then we’d better stay on our guard if he’s right,’ Swift warned, watching the guide fade into the shadows at the base of the rise.
‘No fires tonight,’ said Wahim.
Meg picked up a stone, cradled it in her hand until it emitted a soft orange glow and passed it to Wahim. ‘I wish I knew how you do that,’ Chase said.
‘The warmth will be useful tonight,’ she said. ‘The clouds have gone.’
Chase gazed up at the star-filled night sky. A waxy moon sat a handspan above the horizon. ‘I wonder if Passion is watching the moon?’ he murmured.
‘I’m sure she is,’ said Wahim, passing the warming stone to him. ‘She knows how to take care of herself, Chase. Your sister looked after you as much as you looked after her.’
‘Who’s going to take first watch?’ Swift asked.
‘I will,’ Wahim offered, accepting a second warming stone from Meg.
‘I’ll go second,’ said Chase. ‘Where’s Whisper?’
‘She’s foraging,’ said Meg, preparing a third stone.
Hearing the clunk of stone on stone, faint and close, Swift crouched against the low wall and peered into the moonlit ruin. Shadows crept stealthily from dark patch to dark patch, momentarily silhouetted against the moonlight. She counted four—no, five—shadows moving towards their camp. She had to make a quick choice. She loosened her knife. Another silhouette crept across a patch of moonlight. Six. Even for me, that’s too many. She slid silently along the wall, keeping a wary eye on the threat as she assessed her options for alerting her companions. A yelp startled her and a silhouette leaped from hiding, madly flailing arms and legs. A second broke cover, heading for the first, and also suddenly started dancing like the first, until both bolted, screaming with fear. Swift ran towards the darkness where she knew more were hiding and surprised two men in the shadows who immediately scrambled to their feet and fled after their colleagues. Two to go, she thought, and slipped into the shadows to listen.
A voice whispered nearby, but she couldn’t understand the words. Another answered. She judged they were within a few paces, probably behind the wall to her right. Then the men started yelling like their companions and as Swift stepped into the moonlight both were already running into the ruins.
‘What’s going on?’
She turned to find Wahim and Chase approaching from the river bank. ‘We had company,’ she replied.
‘You sure scared them,’ Chase said.
‘It wasn’t—’ Swift began to answer, but she jumped back in alarm as something touched her ankle. Looking down, knife ready to strike, she spied a black shadow sitting on its haunches.
‘The rat!’ Wahim declared, and laughed.
Swift lowered her knife and bent to scoop up Whisper. ‘I nearly turned you into a meal,’ she said.
‘Clever animal,’ Chase added.
‘Tough animal,’ Swift corrected. ‘She just chased off six men.’
‘What?’ Chase sputtered.
Swift explained the events. ‘The rabbit hunters?’ Wahim suggested.
‘I think so,’ Swift replied.
‘Should we shift camp?’ Chase asked.
‘Not tonight,’ Swift told him. ‘I think the rabbit hunters just met with one of the ruin’s ghosts. They’ll be too scared to come back in a hurry,’ and she scruffed the rat’s ears, much to Whisper’s delight. ‘I can’t wait to tell Meg.’
‘Let her sleep,’ Wahim advised. ‘She’s very tired and troubled.’
‘What makes you say that?’ Swift asked.
‘She’s been talking in her sleep,’ Chase chipped in.
‘Saying what?’
&
nbsp; ‘She speaks in another language,’ Wahim explained. ‘It’s strange to wake up and hear her.’
‘She’s a very strange person,’ said Swift. ‘She hasn’t said much, but she would have had a very hard life, losing her kids and living through all the changes. I feel sorry for her.’ Chase laughed. ‘What’s so funny?’ Swift challenged.
‘You,’ Chase told her. ‘You haven’t exactly had it easy.’
‘None of us have,’ Swift retorted, ‘and if this adventure doesn’t pan out for us, and Meg is right about the Demon Horsemen, none of us will ever again.’
She was startled to be at the centre of a great library, surrounded by endless, overflowing bookshelves. ‘Impressive, isn’t it?’ a voice asked.
She turned to a shadow of a man, featureless and dark. ‘Who are you?’ she asked.
‘Who are you?’ the shadow asked in return.
‘What is this place?’ she asked.
‘What you are looking for,’ the shadow replied.
‘But where is it?’
‘Where you are,’ the voice told her.
She turned back to the books, her restless reading urge stirring. ‘We’ve met before, haven’t we?’ she said.
‘Yes,’ the voice answered.
‘Can I read these?’
‘Read what you will,’ said the voice.
‘Have you read these?’
‘Many times,’ the voice replied.
They woke to a soft drizzle and a world cloaked in grey light, and retreated into the shelter of an old stone house to dry out their clothes and goods. Swift related Whisper’s night adventure to Meg while Wahim and Chase stoked a tiny fire to life in what once might have been the house’s common room. ‘Where to now?’ Swift asked when she finished her amusing tale.
Meg stared into the rain. ‘I will know the place when I get to it,’ she replied.
Swift snorted and shook her head. ‘You mean we have to search this entire city? Have you seen how big it is?’
‘We’ll start at the obvious places—the big ruins.’
‘What are you looking for, exactly?’
‘A library.’
‘Anyone for cooked rat?’ Chase asked. Meg turned to find Wahim and Chase laughing at Whisper who had decided to dry herself by the fire, so close that her black coat seemed to be smoking with steam.
Swift started laughing as well, while Meg scolded, ‘Whisper!’ which only drew a quizzical stare from the little animal. Then she flinched and scampered away from the flame, sat on her haunches and started licking her side that had been closest to the fire.
‘For an overnight hero, she isn’t the brightest animal I’ve known.’
‘She’s smarter than you,’ Swift quipped. ‘And she can fight better too.’ Chase responded by pulling a face at his sister, leaving Wahim and Meg laughing harder.
They shared their meagre rations—grain, dried fruit procured in an Ashuak town—and drank the fresh water provided by the river, but by the time they were ready to begin exploring the ruins, the rain hadn’t ceased. ‘Looks like we get damp,’ Wahim announced. ‘Which way first?’
‘The old palace ruins might be a good place to begin,’ Meg suggested. ‘Kings and emperors are fond of libraries.’
‘The palace it is, then,’ said Swift.
They walked through the rain between ruins until they found the main street that headed towards the building they assumed had been the imperial palace. ‘No sign of our rabbit hunting friends,’ Chase remarked as they walked along the wide road, skirting the rubble from collapsed buildings.
‘How long since this place was abandoned?’ Swift asked.
‘Three centuries,’ Meg told her. ‘The dragons destroyed much of it. Then an invading army pillaged it. Since then, a lot of the building material that could be easily salvaged has probably gone into the closest towns and villages.’
‘Wouldn’t it make more sense to rebuild the city?’ asked Chase.
‘Cities are complex places,’ said Meg. ‘They rely on a strong government and service infrastructures to take care of daily things like sewerage and water supplies and a host of things.’
‘How do you know all these things?’ Chase asked.
‘I read. I’ve seen places. I listen to people,’ she replied.
‘Who needs to know all that?’ Swift disputed.
Meg shrugged. ‘Somebody does. Otherwise there’d be no cities.’
‘That’s not a good sign,’ Wahim said. The others followed his gaze to the east, near the river, where a flock of carrion birds circled purposefully low in the sky.
‘Dead animal?’ Chase suggested.
‘Or worse,’ Swift replied.
Meg’s attention was suddenly interrupted by an intruding thought. This way. She looked for Whisper and spotted the bush rat sitting atop a slab of stone, sniffing the air. This way, she repeated.
‘We’re heading over here,’ Meg announced.
The others turned. ‘I thought we were going to the palace ruins,’ Chase complained.
‘No. Whisper has found something,’ Meg explained.
‘Now the rat is leading us through the ruins?’ Swift asked.
‘You said she was smart,’ Chase reminded her.
‘Smarter than you,’ Swift retorted. ‘There’s a difference.’
Meg ignored the banter as she followed the bobbing and weaving bush rat through the ruins onto another wide avenue that led towards the north-eastern section of the city and the black structure in the middle of wild vegetation. Occasionally Whisper vanished, but she quickly reappeared, sitting up to make certain Meg was following as she continued to head inexorably towards the black ruin. ‘I had a strange feeling we’d end up going to this place,’ Swift said as Whisper’s intentions became clear.
‘Is this where you’re meant to go?’ Chase asked.
‘I don’t know,’ said Meg. ‘I’m just following Whisper. She seems to know something.’
The road straightened and ran like an arrow to the base of a small hill, which they reached in the rain at what Meg guessed to be close to midday, making the walk longer than expected and emphasising the size of the old Ashuak capital. The road ended at a wide ditch that encircled the hill, and broken stone stubs on both sides showed that a bridge had spanned the ditch. ‘It was a moat,’ Meg said.
‘A what?’ Chase asked.
Meg briefly explained the purpose of a moat to her companions, surprised that they had never seen or heard of the defensive device, but she conceded that moat-building was unknown in the Kerwyn and Western Shess kingdoms. ‘You learned this from a book?’ Chase asked.
‘And I saw some in Andrak, a long time ago,’ she told him.
‘Whisper is waiting,’ Swift said, pointing to the black animal crouched at the edge of the overgrown garden surrounding the black building.
When they crossed the dry moat and reached the edge of the thick bushes and wild trees, Whisper vanished into the chaotic garden. ‘Now what?’ Swift asked, assessing the rampant foliage as too thick for them to walk through.
‘There has to be a pathway,’ Chase said.
‘There was,’ said Swift, pointing to crumbled grey cobbles lying among the grass and smaller plants. ‘It’s overgrown.’
‘We crawl,’ Meg suggested, and she searched for an opening in the vegetation through which she could enter the grounds beyond.
Chase and Wahim joined her, and they searched until Chase called, ‘Here!’
‘It looks like an animal run,’ said Meg, studying the oval tunnel through the undergrowth.
‘If we can fit through there, then it must belong to a big animal,’ Swift said warily.
‘Probably something like a dingo or a wild dog,’ Meg suggested.
‘There are no dingoes in this country,’ said Chase. ‘We haven’t seen any familiar animals.’
Meg got onto all fours. ‘Whisper is calling. I’m going to see where this goes.’
‘I’ll follow,’ said Chase, crouchin
g behind her.
‘What if the resident is at the other end?’ Swift asked. ‘You can’t just turn around.’
Meg ignored the assassin’s complaints and crawled into the vegetation. ‘Here we go,’ Chase said and followed.
‘Wait,’ Swift said, grabbing Wahim’s arm as he went to enter the tunnel. ‘We’re no good to them, sniffing their rear ends in there. Wait to see if they need help or call us through.’
Wahim squatted and listened to the first pair’s progress. Several moments passed before he heard a muffled yell from beyond the vegetation, Chase calling, ‘Come through. It’s safe. You should see this place.’
CHAPTER FIFTY-ONE
The vision they had seen across the city of a solid black keep was a mere facade, a shadow of what might have existed a long time past. The roof had collapsed into the heart of the square and three of the four walls had crumbled to rubble. A multitude of rabbits scattered as the group emerged from the undergrowth, and the grey animals sat up beside their burrows in the rubble, watching the intruders until they came too close, at which point the rabbits disappeared. ‘They’re everywhere,’ Chase remarked, astonished at the number of animals in the ruin.
‘Good breeders,’ Swift noted. ‘Plenty for us to eat.’
‘It’s all black marble,’ Wahim said as he kicked over a chunk of the rubble. ‘The people in my father’s village polished small bits and wore it as jewellery. Traders from the east sold it to them. Now I know where it came from.’
‘The whole building must have been made out of it,’ said Chase, stooping to pick up a piece. He rolled it in his hand. ‘It’s heavy.’
‘Is this what you thought you’d find?’ Swift asked.
‘No,’ said Meg. ‘There’s meant to be a library.’
‘How do you know that?’
Meg met Swift’s inquiring gaze, noting how the young woman’s red hair had grown to frame her head during the journey, and for a moment she felt as if she was looking into a mirror at herself when she was younger—only Swift’s face had a harsher edge, the features defined by hard living and her cruel trade. ‘I dreamed it,’ she said simply. She was aware of the silence following her admission as Swift’s expression shifted from mild curiosity to disbelief.
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