Storm of Chaos

by Andy Peloquin

  Not while I draw breath! Grim determination settled within his chest and he tightened his grip on his daggers’ hilts. We’re going to stop every one of those bastards, no matter what the cost.

  Sundown had found him chafing with impatience to depart, and it had taken all of his self-control not to bark at the Secret Keepers leading the expedition. Even now, as they slipped in silence through the network of Serenii tunnels, he had to fight the urge to speed up, to run ahead of the Secret Keepers. Only the fact that he didn’t know the way kept him firmly in line with the priests.

  The Secret Keepers had used an entrance that led from the wall of the Artisan’s Tier deep into one of the Serenii tunnels. The moment they entered, two had produced palm-sized green stones. The stones gave off a dim glow, and whenever they passed one of the red gemstones set into the wall at regular intervals, they caused them to light up so bright they illuminated the passage for ten paces in every direction.

  Kodyn had to marvel at the ingenuity. More Serenii magic, he decided, just like the runes carved into the wall.

  His eyes roamed the indecipherable markings and symbols. The curious part of him ached to know what they meant—Hailen might be able to tell him—but he’d have to think about that another time.

  The eight Secret Keepers they accompanied were all stern-faced, broad-shouldered men and women. They had abandoned their thick brown robes, ornate white headbands, and flowing shendyts. Now they wore lightweight, sleeveless tunics and trousers, all the better to move and fight freely. Their headbands were strips of white-enameled metal—a half-circlet, half-coronet. Though they carried no weapons Kodyn could see, he had little doubt they would hold their own.

  He brought the image of Ennolar’s map to mind. The tangled lines had depicted all of the hidden routes that led around Shalandra, yet made no mention of the Heartspring. According to Robban, the Secret Keeper leading their hunting party, that had been intentional. The Heartspring’s location numbered among Shalandra’s best-guarded secrets.

  Evidently not well-guarded enough, Kodyn thought with a snort. Somehow the Gatherers managed to find out where it was.

  Robban had suspected the traitor on the Keeper’s Council. By tradition, a handful of the city’s secrets—including the location of the Heartspring, the presence of the Serenii tunnels, and who knew what else—had to be shared with a select few of the highest-ranking Necroseti. It seemed this particular secret had been entrusted to the wrong person—a mistake that could kill everyone in Shalandra.

  So why in the bloody hell aren’t the Secret Keepers moving any faster? Kodyn stifled a frustrated growl. If it was me, I’d be running like a Fox fleeing the Praamian Guard.

  His answer came a moment later. Robban stopped at what looked like a blank section of wall and held out her hand for one of the glowing emerald lamp stones. The moment she moved the gemstone close to the wall, the symbols and markings began to glow bright green. The wall lit up in a strangely beautiful mandala, complex lines of brilliance etched into the golden sandstone.

  Kodyn’s eyes followed the swirling lines until his head ached. He would never have found it searching on his own, even with all of his years of experience as a thief. No wonder the Secret Keepers believed it was secure. It would be impossible for anyone to find—anyone who didn’t know what they were looking for, that is.

  Robban pressed the black ring on her middle finger to the center of the circular pattern and a quiet thunk echoed in the tunnels.

  A hiss escaped as the wall slid to one side to reveal a shorter, narrower passage into darkness. Fresh air wafted across Kodyn’s face, carrying the scent of water. He fancied he could almost hear the rush of water from far in the distance, though it might have simply been the excited beating of his heart. Within, the gemstones glowed a bright white instead of the dull red of the passages without.

  “We move in silence,” Robban signaled, her face set as hard as the stone in her hand. “Midnight is still two hours off. We’ll have to hurry, but there should be time to get into position to catch the Gatherers by surprise.”

  Kodyn’s heart hammered in his chest as he followed the Secret Keepers in silence through the compact tunnel and down the steep decline. Two hours should be more than enough time. The source of the water had to be close for him to smell it on the air.

  Yet that scent proved deceiving. An hour passed and still they hadn’t reached the Heartspring. Just more rune-carved walls and bright-glowing lampstones, with the sound of rushing water growing louder, tantalizing him.

  How is that possible? His mind raced. The smell of water only carried so far, even in these sealed stone tunnels. After long minutes, he gave up trying to figure it out. Chalk that up to one more impossibility of Serenii ingenuity.

  The passage suddenly ended and Kodyn found himself stepping from the narrow tunnels into an enormous subterranean chamber. Smooth-carved stone rose to a high-vaulted ceiling easily twenty paces above his head, and the cavern appeared at least a thousand paces wide and long.

  Just ahead of them, the stone floor dropped off into a chasm a hundred paces wide. Kodyn caught a glimpse of water churned white rushing through the bottom, easily fifty paces below the level of the pathway. The underground river disappeared into darkness, flowing south to ultimately empty into the Frozen Sea.

  The scope and size of the Heartspring itself boggled Kodyn’s mind. An enormous dam straddled the river, a hundred paces tall and two hundred wide, built of a deep brown stone that seemed to repel the water rather than absorb it. Three stone water wheels ten times the height of a man sat in the river, turned by the fast-flowing current. A quiet whump, whump echoed from the mechanisms that connected the wheels to the dam. Kodyn guessed those pumped water to each of Shalandra’s three Wellsprings. The reservoir itself was the size of a small lake.

  Keeper’s teeth! He struggled to keep his jaw from dropping. His eyes roamed the colossal stone construction and he found it hard to imagine human builders attempting something of such breathtaking size. It would take all of the artisans in Praamis a hundred years to build that. No human mind could ever conceive of something as ingenious as the self-powering Heartspring. It had stood for thousands of years, never failing in its task of supplying Shalandra with water. The same could never be said for anything built by mankind.

  His wonder turned to horror as something new caught his attention: a glimmer of light off to his right. The pathway led along the cliff bordering the river before reaching a massive stone bridge that spanned one of the three rivers feeding into the reservoir. On the far side of the bridge, the glow of three oil lanterns revealed a score of dark-cloaked figures rushing about, rolling small wooden barrels toward the water’s edge.

  Ice flooded Kodyn’s veins. The Gatherers.

  Aisha growled a curse beside him.

  Suddenly, the whump, whump sound of the Heartspring grew louder. Kodyn sucked in a breath as the wheels turned faster and a sluice near the top of the dam slid open. Water poured through the aperture, deluging the water wheels and filling three channels that disappeared into the stone walls of the caverns.

  The channels that fill the Wellspring!

  Midnight had arrived, and the Gatherers were in position to fill the Heartspring with their poison.

  Robban’s hands moved at lightning speed. “We need to hit them now, before they dump their poison into the lake. Stay quiet and out of sight as long as possible, but go quickly.”

  Kodyn didn’t need to be told twice. He took off at a run, racing toward the bridge. His heart leapt into his throat as he pounded up the inclined stone surface. He could see no pillars or supports, nothing but enormous blocks of dark brown stone suspended on thin air above a gorge twenty paces wide. Yet it held, as sturdy as the cliffs upon which it rested.

  Heart hammering in his chest, Kodyn sprinted across the bridge. The whump, whump, whump of the fast-moving water wheels grew louder with every passing heartbeat, drowning out any sound his soft-soled boots made. The oil lanter
ns ahead provided scant illumination, but Kodyn had run through darkness before. Only this time, his destination held no gold, treasure, or escape from pursuing guardsmen—he ran to save all of Shalandra.

  He risked a backward glance and found Aisha and the Secret Keepers hot on his heels. Robban had outpaced the rest of her comrades and now ran a step behind him. Kodyn was fast, but the Secret Keeper was neck and neck by the time he reached the far side of the bridge.

  Together, they collided with the ranks of the Gatherers. Kodyn waited until the last minute to draw his long sword. His first swing, backed by the force of his charge, sheared through a Gatherer’s neck with a single powerful stroke. He hacked again, this time chopping the sharp blade deep into another cultist’s arm.

  The man’s scream shattered the stillness of the Heartspring. Kodyn loosed a wild shriek and brought the wounded Gatherer down with a thrust to the chest. His long sword punched through boiled leather, cloth, and flesh. The man fell back with a gurgling grunt, blood leaking from his mouth and staining his tunic.

  Then Kodyn slammed into the next Gatherer, a scrawny fellow with a rusted dagger and a fanatical snarl twisting his face. Kodyn cut off the man’s arm at the wrist and drove his own well-honed blade into the man’s chest. With a savage kick, he sent the dying body sagging backward into another cultist.

  A dark shadow hurtled through Kodyn’s field of vision. Aisha slammed into two more Gatherers wrestling with a heavy barrel. The tip of her spear opened a throat and dug a deep furrow into the second man’s shoulder. The Gatherer cried out, dropping the sword he’d tried to fumble loose from its sheath, and staggered backward. Right into the man that had been holding a barrel tilted over the Heartspring.

  Kodyn’s heart froze as the Gatherer was knocked off-balance and the uncorked cask yawed wildly, about to drop its vile contents into the reservoir. Once in the water, it would be sucked into the now-open sluice and spread to the Wellsprings.

  No!

  Relief surged within him as a brown-robed figure snatched up the barrel before it fell. The Secret Keeper managed to keep a tight hold on the wooden cask even as the now-recovered Gatherer attacked. The cultist got off two lucky strikes, one cutting a shallow cut across the priest’s forearm, before another Secret Keeper brought him down beneath a flurry of blows.

  Kodyn cut down his opponent—a woman with a red Earaqi headband and a wild light in her eyes—with a cross-body slash. In the heartbeat between one enemy and the next, he had a chance to marvel at the Secret Keepers’ abilities.

  The unarmored, brown-robed priests fought with breathtaking skill. Every movement was precise, each strike placed with perfect control to inflict maximum damage. Their bare-handed blows snapped bones, pulverized flesh, crushed throats, and shattered noses. When the Gatherers struck at them, the Secret Keepers simply flowed out of the way. The instant after steel whistled through empty air, the priests were back on the attack. One reached up to his circlet and tore it free of his head. White-enameled steel uncoiled like a snake as the Secret Keeper lashed out. The whip-like sword laid open his enemy’s throat to the bone. A heartbeat later, the white steel headband once again encircled his forehead, with only a hint of blood on its razor-sharp edge. The Secret Keeper’s empty hands flew with the deadly precision of a blademaster’s sword as he brought down another cultist.

  Then the instant passed and the next Gatherer charged Kodyn with an upraised short sword and a cry of “For Hallar!” Kodyn’s lightning thrust met a wall of steel, and the man forced him back three steps, forcing him on the defensive. Kodyn gave ground, maneuvering the man away from the barrels of poison and his comrades.

  His foot struck a stone and he wobbled, his sword flying wide. A triumphant light shone in the Gatherer’s eyes as he thrust his short blade at Kodyn’s exposed chest.

  Yet it had simply been a ruse to sucker the man into making just that mistake. Kodyn’s quick horizontal chop knocked aside the thrust and laid open the Gatherer’s throat to the bone. The man’s eyes flew wide and he clapped his hands to his neck. Blood gushed between his fingers and he gasped for air, mouth agape. Slowly, like a felled oak, he toppled forward to land face-first on hard stone.

  “Kodyn!” Aisha’s scream pierced his ears. “Stop him!”

  Kodyn’s gaze snapped toward Aisha, following her outstretched finger toward a Gatherer that stood a short distance from the rest. The man had been caught apart from his comrades, but he’d taken advantage of the distraction to seize a barrel and haul it toward the water’s edge. He now stood poised over the reservoir, tugging on the stopper.

  Time slowed to a crawl. Kodyn knew he’d never make it to the man in time. A throwing dagger could take down the Gatherer, but he couldn’t risk the man falling into the water with his toxic burden. Yet he couldn’t do nothing. The sluice was open, the Heartspring pumping water to the city above.

  Horror coursed through Kodyn as he sprinted toward the man. He seemed to be moving through mud, every step painfully slow. His eyes fixed on the Gatherer wrestling with the stopper. The ten-pace distance seemed immense, but Kodyn pushed the thought from his mind. He couldn’t contemplate failure—it meant death for all in Shalandra.

  A Gatherer stepped in front of him. The woman—another wearing an Earaqi headband—was already mid-swing, her short sword chopping down at his neck. Kodyn had no time to slow his full sprint or dodge. He could only watch, helpless, as the blade whistled toward his throat.

  Steel clanged off steel a hand’s breadth from his flesh. Aisha’s assegai knocked aside the short sword and her dagger laid open the Gatherer’s forearm to the bone.

  Kodyn barreled right into the cultist, knocking her from her feet. Pain flared through his chest where her sharp shoulder had dug into him, but he couldn’t slow. His eyes snapped back to the Gatherer and found the man still wrestling with the bung. Sparing a moment to bless whatever cooper had driven the stopper home, he raced on.

  Ten paces turned to five. The stopper pulled free of the barrel with a loud pop.

  Five steps became four, then three. Drops of clear liquid splashed from the opening as the Gatherer hefted the barrel to his shoulder.

  Three paces, two paces, one. The cultist turned toward the water’s edge and tilted up the cask.

  Kodyn angled his steps and threw himself at the Gatherer from the side. He wrapped his arms around the man’s waist, his legs driving hard to knock the man backward, away from the cliff’s edge. The Gatherer collapsed beneath him and Kodyn rammed one of his knives into the man’s side. A scream of pain echoed loud in Kodyn’s ears.

  Followed by a deluge of liquid splashing over Kodyn’s face, nose, and mouth. Kodyn pressed his lips together in an attempt to keep out the poison. Too late. The thick, clear liquid seeped into his mouth. In his death struggles, the Gatherer beneath him elbowed Kodyn in the side of the head. The attack stunned Kodyn and his swallow reflex kicked in. Foul-tasting poison slid down his throat.

  The dying Gatherer beneath him fixed Kodyn with a triumphant glare. The grinding of the water wheel drowned out his voice, but Kodyn saw his lips forming weak works. “The Long Keeper…comes for…all.” His breath rattled in his throat and his head slumped back to the hard stone.

  Kodyn pushed off the dead cultist and staggered to his feet. Pain ripped through his guts, so all-consuming it sapped all the strength from his legs. He hit the ground hard, his head ringing, but the agony coursing through his stomach drowned out any sensation.

  The poison’s bite burrowed through his stomach and into his body, sending chills down his spine and burning him from the inside out. A cry of horror escaped his lips—it sounded so weak, so helpless.

  In that moment, Kodyn knew. I’m dying.

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  Anger burned like a forge within Issa’s gut as her eyes roamed the masses of people sitting on Death Row. Like the crowds camped along the Way of Chains, they said nothing as she, Etai, and the company of Indomitables marched up toward the Cultivator’s Tie
r, simply fixed her with their burning gazes. The silent protest of their anger-filled eyes drilled into the core of her being.

  Navigating the crowds while maintaining tight formation proved a challenging task. The people made a gap wide enough for two soldiers to march abreast, but it was tight enough that Issa and her trainees had to place their feet with care for fear of kicking or jostling the seated men and women. Accident or not, anything, no matter how minor, could turn this peaceful demonstration violent in an instant.

  Yet, it was the peace and quiet of their protest that made Issa so furious. The people had just watched their Child of Gold arrested and executed, yet they responded with composed calm. The Fifty-Day Revolt had turned the city red with the blood of Indomitables and citizens alike—this seemed all the more eerie for its utter stillness.

  Her fists clenched by her side. Damn the Keeper’s Council!

  The Necroseti had only had scant evidence of Aterallis’ crimes—the discovery of the bodies in the derelict warehouse he occupied could almost be incriminating, yet under normal circumstances, further investigation would be warranted. Issa had no doubt that this, like all of the Council’s actions, had political motivations. Aterallis represented a threat they could not control through bribes or intimidation. The Keeper’s Council had seen death as the only way to deal with him.

  An ugly thought bloomed in Issa’s gut. What if the Keeper’s Council actually set him up?

  Once, she might have shrugged off the thought. Now, after weeks of hearing of the Necroseti’s machinations and connivances, she couldn’t dismiss it as easily. After what the Keeper’s Council did to Briana, is it that hard to believe that they could do something like this as well? Try as she might, she couldn’t shake off the doubt.