A Leaf and Pebble

by Andrew Monroe

  Volant shrugged indifferently. “So what? If you are really talking about an all-out war, numbers make the biggest difference and I can’t imagine you’ll actually make that happen. So I’m calling bull on this whole story.”

  Xylex leaned forward, resting his arms on the desk. “You are correct. But what if the numbers are nearly identical? This war we are going to start, it’s going to be the world against Naturals. Learners and the mundane, fighting side by side against you Stained. What then? How do you think an unstoppable weapon would turn the tide?”

  Ignoring everything else, Volant leaned forward too. “Stained?” He echoed, face flushing red.

  “Oh yes, one of my better terms I have been spreading,” Xylex replied.

  “So that was you?” Volant’s eyes narrowed.

  “Most certainly. I see you have heard it.” The look of satisfaction on Xylex was plastered across his face, goading Volant.

  “It’s a lie, you god spawn!” Volant shuddered. “How could you do that to us? To my mother?”

  Another chuckle, and the councilman sat back while Cralil responded. “It’s no different than what’s been said about the Learners all these years. We’re just turning the tables, whispering the rumor to the right folk.” Cralil adjusted a strand of thinning hair, pausing the conversation while smiling in a self-satisfied way. “Not to brag, but it probably wouldn’t have caught on without my officers letting that little tidbit out every time we traded with a new merchant or shopkeeper. From there, it spread to customers, then to family members, and we have just had to fan it here and there every so often.”

  Already half way from his chair, Volant turned his face towards me and gave me a head nod. It seems he’d decided the signal for escape and it was now. Guess he was tired of waiting.

  Quickly, I summoned Skill into my bound hands. We both stood, crashing together to place our shackles together. I concentrated, one hand aimed at the chain holding my wrists together, while pointing the other down, and hoping Volant’s chain was likewise under that hand. Precious moments of stunned silence went by before Cralil began to holler, demanding the thugs to come help them. The brutes fortunately had left the door locked, and were too busy charging us to bother unlocking it. Xylex was gathering Skill into his hand as well. But he wasn’t nearly as fast.

  I zeroed my Skill into blade-thin lines. It felt as if a razor had sliced across the back of my wrist when I made them reality, and Volant growled in pain as well. Hopefully no permanent harm was done. The chains parted, and we were both free. First priority though, dodging.

  Xylex released his attack in a splayed finger, backhanded whipping motion. The fast closing street thugs took the brunt of Xylex’s attack as we ducked. An outraged roar came from the councilman as he saw his men knocked back. It was time for our exit.

  Volant spun his arms around him like an asymmetrical ballet dancer, following with a slight but powerful pivot that forced his hands out from in front of him. A blast of air spiraled out, mimicking his movement before striking a window and exploding out in a rain of glass and mortar. I rushed for the opening, and jumped through, falling out into the darkness. Right before I cleared the window though, I saw Volant juke to the left, towards Cralil. I barely had time to register what he could be doing when I hit the ground, tucking into a contained roll. Ignoring the remaining Thumpers who stood down the street, eyes wide with shock, I looked back to the window. A bloody gash across the side of his head, and a screaming Cralil in his hands, Volant came barreling out of the opening. Instead of falling like a normal person, he shot up into the air, boosted by his Talent billowing beneath him. As he soared above me with Cralil still in his hands, one of the other brutes came tumbling out of the opening, landing with a bone breaking crunch after the two-story fall.

  Volant pulled a knife out of Cralil’s belt, the same intricate one he’d had on the ship. Now high above me now, I gaped as Volant released his unwilling passenger, still holding on to the knife. A piercing scream grew louder as the merchant tumbled toward the ground, ending with a too soft thump, more felt than heard. The body didn’t move. I ran in the direction that my airborne friend was coming down towards. I climbed up to the roof he landed on, and we sprinted off into the darkened maze of alleys that made up Kalaran’s rooftop landscape. A dozen twists and turns down as many blocks, and the loudly pursuing Thumpers finally lost track of us. Panting in the corner of three joined roofs, I finally had a chance to work off the shackles. Both of our wrists were bloody from my less than accurate blast that freed us. Honestly, it could have gone much worse. We both still had our hands attached.

  “Now what?” Volant asked.

  “I don’t know about you, but a meal and a bath sound wonderful,” I replied. The roof we were laying on was only a hop and a skip away from Jorcum’s Higher Learning Academy, our school.

  “Now that you mention it, that does sound wonderful.” Volant turned to check himself over, noting a variety of cuts and scrapes from our mad dash.

  “After that, tempt fate a bit, and try and get our stuff back from the Guard. I feel naked, and I doubt your mom will be thrilled about you losing that sword. Then, we get out of here and spread the word of what these people are up to. Try to find this benefactor that’s in charge of Gods Fury, and finally go see my family in Erset.” I tried to keep a casual tone, but Erset seemed the only place I could feel safe again.

  “And then?” Volant asked.

  “I’m not sure. But we’ll think of something if we can get all that taken care of.” I gestured towards the school and he nodded in agreement.

  Twenty-two

  We left the shackles and our bloody shirts on the roof, and spent far too long sneaking across through dimly lit streets, grimy alleys, and the occasional cave to arrive at the gated entrance in the cavern’s corner. Along the way, we stole some fresh clothing with only a modicum of guilt. Though the official entrance was locked for the night, we knew a fair number of not so secret ways to get in. Really, the gate was to keep the first years from leaving. Any one there much longer than that should have found other paths in, or they didn’t really belong in the first place. One such entrance went directly to and through the kitchens, though it was a bit difficult. Hunger is a great motivator, so we went for it anyways.

  We climbed the wall next to the gate, until finding a small cave that leveled out onto a high, narrow bridge of eroded stone. From the bridge, we were able to climb down the rock face onto the roof of the kitchens. It was still a mystery to me why everyone in Kalaran had a roof on their building. But I wasn’t going to complain. We continued on in silence, scaling down the kitchen’s wall. From there, it was quick work jimmying open the door. We now had all the food we could want.

  Faces stuffed, we wound our way through the enormous second cave that housed the majority of the school, taking a stop at a spring fed bath meant for faculty. After we washed up, we continued leisurely around the campus. At least here I felt safe, and it was good to slow down. In one of the hundreds of corners at the school, we had made our own personal hideout and study hole. A high up cave too small and tucked too far back in an unused, dead end alley that was almost never visited by regular faculty or students. A months’ work worth of hay was piled up in the cave, enclosed in a ring of bricks. Cheap wool blankets still hung from convenient stalagmites on one side, and a forlorn boulder formed an almost passable table sat in the middle of the cave.

  “Ah,” I said with a sigh. “It’s good to be back.”

  Munching on a stale roll he’d taken from the kitchens, Volant mumbled his agreement. No sooner had I laid down, the world went dark and I finally went to sleep without worrying about someone stabbing me. Giggling woke me up after an eternity of dreamless sleep. I sat up, feeling like a new man, but unfortunately also finding three girls whispering to each other while watching us. Confused, I rubbed at my own eyes, forcing the sleep away. The three identical women were sitting against the cave’s wall.

  “Umm,” I said sti
ll half asleep, “good morning, I guess?”

  “Good afternoon, actually,” said one of them.

  “But really, what’s the difference?” said the second.

  “It is Kalaran after all. Home of the eternal dusk,” said the third.

  Our commotion woke up Volant, who was wrapped up in the curve farthest from the girls. He groaned when he saw them. “I hate mornings. And twins weird me out. This is a dream, right?”

  “Actually, we are triplets!” said the first, who looked far too cheerful.

  “And as we were telling your, friend-” began the second, before being interrupted.

  “Or lover, we don’t judge. We are very open minded,” said the third,

  “It’s afternoon,” the three said together in a harmonious chorus.

  Volant groaned even louder. “See Nil? Creepy. So. Unbelievably. Creepy.” He flopped back down and pulled his blanket over his face. “You deal with this. I can’t.”

  Finally coming to terms with the three sisters being in our hideout, I turned back to them. “What are you doing here?”

  The first one flipped a heavy, dark brown braid from one shoulder to the other. “This is our place. Better question is, what are you doing here?” Three matching pairs of brown eyes accused me with the question.

  “It seemed like a good place to spend the night,” I replied. “And, he’s not my lover.”

  A simultaneous sigh of disappointment rose from the girls. “You make such a cute couple though,” the second said.

  “We were really hoping to see you two cuddle,” the third giggled out.

  Volant’s head popped out from under his blanket. “Hear that? More. Creepy.” Just as quickly, he disappeared back under into his safe world of wool.

  “Ladies. Please, you’re scaring my poor friend.” I paused, mind racing. This wasn’t ideal, but it wasn’t as bad as a couple of Guard having found us while sleeping. “How about we exchange names?”

  “I’m Diedra” said the first, and then pointed at the other two. “Dendra is the one wearing the gaudy black necklace, and Joy is the gimpy one. She broke her leg on a horse when we were kids, and has had a limp ever since.” The other two waved when their name was mentioned, Joy a bit more sheepishly than the second.

  “Diedra, Dendra, and Joy?” I asked, puzzled. “There almost seemed to be a theme for a moment?”

  Joy answered, shrugging indifferently. “Mother knew she was going to have twins. She had the first two names picked out. Unfortunately, she died in childbirth, and our father was gifted with triplets, not twins.”

  All three nodded in agreement. “Pa didn’t like the allusion mother had chosen, and so Joy was named Joy. Simple as that. Now what’s your name, bed snatcher?” asked Dendra.

  “I’m Leaf, and the one hiding under the blanket is...” I said, dying off at the end, looking in Volant’s direction.

  “Pebble. The names Pebble.” A muffled voice said from under the blanket.

  Joy rolled her eyes. Leaf and Pebble were the names of the two bumbling sorcerers in a well-known play. Diedra stood first, arms crossed across her chest. “All right, Leaf and Pebble. As much fun as it is to find a pair of men in your bed, I think it’d be better for all of us if you left.” There was no fear or uneasiness in her voice. Instead, a challenge now defined her, a dare to try and not do what she said. “Also, he called you Nil. We aren’t dumb.”

  Standing as well, I spread my arms wide. “We shall leave if we must. But I have a favor to ask first.” When the three said nothing, I dropped my arms. “Promise me that you won’t tell anyone you saw us here for at least a day or two.” When Joy nodded, I continued. “Also, for your own sake, you may want to avoid mentioning us to anyone that may have a friend in the Guard or Council. They might take their frustrations out on you if they find out you saw us and didn’t say anything.”

  The girls perked up at this, each one displaying varying degrees of curiosity and mischief.

  “On second thought, you don’t have to leave quite so immediately,” said Joy.

  “Yes, we would be grateful if you told us why they seem to have something against you,” said Diedra.

  “We are not fans of them, you might say,” finished Dendra.

  Another groan came from Volant, still under the blanket. “Please, for the love of all things good, quit with the spooky twin act!”

  “Sorry,” all three said sheepishly before giggling again.

  I shook my head apologetically. “If I told you, they may kill you just for knowing.”

  “That’s stupid. If it’s that serious, they’d kill us if they found out we saw you anyways, on the off chance you told us. Therefore, you should tell us anyways since our lives are now jeopardized by your mere presence in our cave,” said Diedra.

  “Good point,” I conceded. Instead of telling them the whole tale, I gave them the short version, beginning with our arrest, and ending with the escape, and leaving out the part with Volant dropping Cralil to his death. Giving up on his attempt to hide from the triplets, Volant finally sat up and removed the blanket at the end of my story. They all waved at him, and he returned it half-heartedly.

  “Wow, good story,” said Joy. The other two agreed far more passionately than normal women should when speaking of violence committed against Kalaran’s Guard.

  Volant turned to Diedra. “What do you have against the Guard? Most people would be calling for them right now. Especially after hearing that.”

  Both Joy and Diedra looked at the third sister, pity in their eyes.

  “One of them tricked me,” said Dendra. An edge creeping into her voice. “He brought me flowers. Took me to dinner. You know, the usual. I thought I was in love.” She shuddered and hugged her knees to her chest. “It ended up he didn’t necessarily love me. More, he wanted to love me, and my sisters. At the same time. Thought it would make a good story, or something.”

  “When she turned him down finally, he and a whole squad came by to ‘Search the premise for contraband items.’ They didn’t leave us alone for a week, sending a new squad to tear apart our little home every day. It’s why we ended up finding this cave.” Diedra said bitterly.

  “And we haven’t forgiven them since,” said Joy. Clenched fists and burning eyes said forgiveness was not an option.

  “People these days.” I shook my head. An idea thrust itself forward as we sat in the heavy silence that comes after a heavy story. “How about a chance at some revenge?”

  We waited till evening. Not that you could tell in Kalaran, the only difference was the lack of people, and less lanterns in windows. The five of us were dressed in an outer layer of dark gray and black cloth, and cloaks with deep hoods to hide our faces. Underneath, we wore the brightest and most festive clothes we could find, in case we needed a change of costume. Our entire afternoon had been spent finding the outfits. Plus, a rope that I’d strongly disagreed with Volant that we didn’t need.

  “Everyone knows you need rope in these situations,” agreed Diedra, eyeing the bundle wrapped around Volant’s waist.

  To my dismay, Volant heard her whispered affirmation, and raised a fist in triumph as we strolled across the rooftops that had helped us escape just a day before.

  A fair number of streets from the building where we had met Cralil and Xylex, sat the Kalaran’s Guard headquarters. No roof access there. All the buildings around the headquarters were separated from the building by a wide, circular road with spokes running out in each direction. Unlike the more modern buildings in Kalaran, the headquarters was windowless, instead having alcoves set sporadically on the second and third floor. Though the building was not enormous by any measure, it was supposed to house a sizable underground complex beneath the imposing structure. At the least illuminated portion of the least visible wall, we stopped.

  “Ladies first,” I said, gesturing to Volant.

  A rude gesture, followed by a passable curtsy, and then he was running at me while his cloak flew behind him. I braced agai
nst the wall, and made a stirrup with my hands. Mentally crossing my fingers, I closed my eyes and heaved upwards as I felt his boot connect. Volant soared up through the air, landing within the alcove. As he went to work on the door, the three girls followed suit, each being propelled up to the ledge of the alcove where they could finish pulling themselves up.

  Awful smelling rope fell down to me, and I grabbed a hold. The triplets were surprisingly strong, and with all three pulling, I was up in no time with no one the wiser. In an act of extreme confidence, or maybe plain and simple stupidity, the alcove led directly into the second floor. No locks. No windows to pry open. Not even a half-asleep Guard like the two who stood by the entrance.

  “All too easy,” Volant said with a low chuckle.

  One of the sisters punched his arm in reply, hushing at him to be quieter. When we peaked down the stairs a crowd was gathered at the base. From the sound of it, they were having a poetry throwdown. Bad poetry, but the crowd was still enthusiastic.

  “Bastards, the lot of them,” said Volant.

  I punched him in the arm, too. “If you wouldn’t have jinxed us, they’d all just be drinking themselves into a stupor or something.”

  Rubbing at his arm, he sighed. “What do we do now?” An idea occurred to him at the same time as it did to me. Both of us looked at the girls, a smile twitching his lips.

  “Not a chance,” said Diedra, hitting Volant again.

  Hands raised in defense; Volant grinned. “Come on! It’d be easy. One of you get down to your undies, saunter in, saunter out, and they will follow like lost puppies.”

  “No!” Joy said ferociously. “We are not pieces of meat to be used as bait. And we are not splitting up.”

  Left hand of god, I thought. We’re screwed. We moved further back and huddled together, quietly spit balling solutions.

  “I think they only had candles in there,” Dendra said. “It would probably be pretty dark if we got rid of them.”