Chapter 4 – More Mischief
"So that's the plan." I finished, after telling Quill everything that I had worked out in my head. Veritas, Amira, and I had gone to meet Quill at his official "office" on the edge of the Big Market, a ramshackle old building filled to the brim with stacks of disorganized paperwork and expired permits.
The state of the place was absolutely terrifying until one realized that Quill had deliberately created the mess specifically to keep the public expectation of forward progress at an absolute minimum. He had lovingly cultivated an environment of bureaucratic futility in his workplace and had thereby ensured his own job security for centuries to come. Being a sometimes paper-pusher myself, I was left in awe of deviousness and somewhat shocked by his apathy.
"What do you think?" I pressed. "Are you in?"
Quill mused over everything he had heard for a moment and then a grin spread across his face. "It's hysterical! I love it! I love it, I love it!" He paused. "Though I do seem to remember that you were supposed to be doing a job for me?"
"This has nothing to do with that. Our previous agreement still stands. I'll investigate Nagezzer for you and find out anything I can about girls being sold. Believe me, I don't want anyone in the hands of the fae." I shook my head heavily. "But we've got to help Roach first before Yarati turns him over to Mnemon Rai. Old Thunderstormer is not someone you want to match wits with. He'd see through this ruse in a heartbeat. Fortunately for us, Yarati is too obsessed with his own status to even look at anyone who isn't a Dragonblood. He'll fall for it."
"There's some risk involved, obviously." Veritas hesitated for a moment. I could tell he still had some misgivings. I had a few myself, but I was more worried about what would happen to Roach if we didn't act right away than I was worried about saving my own skin. "Our "story" has more than a few holes." He admitted.
"Have you ever heard the phrase "Good enough for government work?" If the people you're dealing with are fools, it doesn't have to be perfect!" Quill argued. A spark of recognition lit suddenly in his eyes. "Gods, no wonder all of this sounds so familiar! You're Perfect, aren't you!" He exclaimed, turning to Veritas.
"That was my name once." Veritas smiled slightly, obviously pleased to be recognized as his previous self.
"Which must mean… Faeslayer?" Quill's normally broad grin widened considerable. "Hah! So the rumors were true!"
"Rumors?" I raised an eyebrow skeptically in his direction.
"The Fae are in a state of panic. I haven't seen them so disorganized in a very long time! There isn't much that they are afraid of, and even less that they respect." Quill explained. "And let me tell you, all of the jabbering I've heard has left me absolutely convinced that you are the most terrifying thing ever to walk the face of Creation. Since the Great Contagion they've made leaps and bounds, expanding back into the lands your previous incarnation once chased them out of. They're afraid that they're going to lose everything they've gained. Heh. That is what you're planning, isn't it?"
"To kill as many fair folk as I possibly can? More or less." I nodded.
"Well, normally I would say that you were being a bit hasty… but frankly, I'm feeling a little more courageous than usual, especially now that I know they've taken Sapphire prisoner. And with the old Society's coming back together..." He paused. "Let me tell you, I am sick to death of having The Red Queen poking around this city and would not object at all to seeing her tossed back into the Deep Wyld for the Unshaped to gnaw on." Quill replied brightly. "Ah, it is a bit like old times, isn't it?"
"I'm afraid that I don't actually remember you." I admitted. It seemed strange to say such a thing. The more I spoke with him, the more I knew him… and yet at the same time, I didn't know him at all. "Who were you in the past? Many-Starred Cloak?" I suggested, using the name of the Eclipse Caste who had been a member of the same circle as Perfect and Alexander during the First Age. It was only natural that his new incarnation would have found its way to Nexus just as the two of us had.
"Several lifetimes ago. I hold the dubious distinction of being the most-often slain member of our Circle. I'd prefer that you just call me Quill." He replied. "Though I suppose you could use my old moniker from The Society… that is, if you remember it." Veritas and I glanced at one another momentarily. There was a familiarity surrounding Quill that both of us could sense, but neither of us seemed to remember what his nickname had been in the past.
"Heh. Looks like the tables have turned, Circlemates! You two old folks are now the young'uns and me, the kid… now older than both of you." Quill laughed, putting an arm around each of us. "I might be enjoying this, just a little."
"And just how old are you?" I demanded. He looked about thirty, but from what I had learned about the average lifespan of Solar Exalts, I knew that didn't mean anything at all.
"Irrelevant. I can't remember anyway. Now you were saying something before about utterly humiliating a bunch of Dragonbloods. I'm afraid I'm rather fixated on that!" Quill smirked, resting his chin on his folded hands. A jester's cap would not have looked out of place on his head and I wondered briefly if getting him involved would turn out to be a tremendous mistake.
I had another thought also, but before I could say a word, Veritas spoke for me.
"You mentioned the Three Circles Society?" Veritas pressed.
"But of course!" Quill exclaimed. "I've heard you two bantering! "Faeslayer" this, "Recluse" that! If Shadowsbane and Heart-of-Gold were here, I'd have to strangle myself! Fifteen hundred years and it's as if no time has passed at all!" He laughed.
"So you were a sorcerer too?" I hazarded a guess.
"I'm not a sorcerer anymore?" Quill eyed me skeptically. "Well, that's news to me, considering that I was one this morning."
"You are a sorcerer too?" Veritas observed. "Good. Perhaps you can help me convince Faeslayer that he needs to begin studying The Art. How far have you mastered?"
"Far enough." Quill replied with a smug smile on his face.
"Sapphire Circle?" Veritas pressed.
Quill only pointed at the ceiling.
"No!" Veritas protested. "Sun-in-Glory, you can actually do it? Adamant Circle Sorcery? With power like that… you could terraform pure chaos!"
"Why, my dear Circlemates… who do you think keeps all the Wyld in this city inside of Firewander?" Quill laughed. Taking us each by the arm again, he walked us into the nearest bar.
I can't remember the rest of the conversation that Quill and I had that evening, but sometime before midnight I found that I had a sick sort of feeling weighing heavily on my heart. I suspected that Quill had probably convinced both Veritas and myself to do all kinds of things we were going to regret. As charismatic as he was, he was also dangerous and none of us really knew anything about him.
According to Amira, Solars had only started returning in large numbers in the year that I was born, after the disappearance of The Scarlet Empress. Judging by his apparent age, I reasoned that Quill could have Exalted when I did myself, more than ten years past. I wasn't surprised that he treated me like a child. Veritas did the same thing, and he'd been a Solar for less than a year himself.
I fought the urge to silence both of them by using what I really knew. It was easier to pretend that I had been deep in denial than it was to explain that I'd spent a decade reliving all the important parts of my life as Alexander Faeslayer.
More frightfully still, there was a rumor that certain Solars had actually escaped the Usurpation. Veritas confessed that one he knew, a woman called "Windswept Rhapsody" who was more than a century old. The fact that Quill claimed to have mastered Adamant Circle Sorcery was troubling enough, especially since he had proven himself to be every bit as mad and reckless as I had feared he might be.
Since timing was crucial, the four of us decided to put our plan into action before the sun came up. Quill had decided that the event called for a drink and had bought himself more bottles of wine than any being, mortal or otherwise, had any business consuming over the course of one night. He was still nursing the last bottle as he staggered into Yarati's tent, Amira marching along behind him with me in chains. The chains had come from one of Viper's so-named "play-rooms" and were not nearly as strong as they appeared, which would be advantageous to us if things went south and ended in an actual fight. As planned, Veritas had resumed his filthy beggar guise and was demanding coins from any soldier who came too close to him, smudging something too foul to consider on the hems of their crisp blue and white uniforms.
"What's this?" Yarati demanded, obviously caught off guard as we entered.
"I've caught a demon. I hear you've been looking for one." Amira replied, sounding exactly how she appeared… like a middle-aged Dynast who carried a little extra weight.
Yarati smiled as he saw me. I scowled at him.
"Not so arrogant now, are we?" Yarati taunted. "You know, you were a good soldier once, but you are a pathetic Anathema! Captured by one old man?"
Amira frowned. Since her very mission in life seemed to follow me wherever I went, she obviously disliked hearing my growing "reputation" belittled.
"Ahem." Quill cleared his throat. "My employer, The Taimyo will not be addressed as "Old Man". He finds this term objectionable. You will not use it again, or he will go directly to your commanding officer with his prisoner." Whether it was because of the amount of alcohol he had consumed, or because he thought it would add to the character he was playing, Quill drunkenly staggered into Yarati's desk. When Yarati grimaced, Amira cleared her throat again.
"My apologies, Taimyo." Yarati paused. "You had an offer for me?"
"One that my employer thinks you will not refuse." Quill replied. "You have in your possession a certain young Southerner whom I believe you are holding because of a peculiar connection he has to this Anathema that my employer has captured. My employer wishes to trade the Anathema for this young man."
"Roach?" Yarati blinked in disbelief.
"And of course, a substantial finder's fee." Quill finished.
"How much does he want?" Yarati asked.
Quill turned to Amira, the two of them conversed briefly and in a very serious tone… and then Quill wrote some number on a scrap of paper and showed it to Yarati. I did not see how much it said, but I suspected from Yarati's reaction that it was a fairly big number.
"Thirty percent?" He suggested.
"Absurd!" Quill barked in protest.
"Forty?" Yarati looked nervous.
"Fifty! No less!" Quill finished. "A gentleman's agreement, then? Shall we shake on it?"
"Not so fast." Yarati shook his head. "If word of this gets out… I'm not sure how it will be perceived."
"We'll swear to secrecy then. Since you currently have us at a disadvantage, you'll promise that my employer, myself, and my employer's... lover may leave your camp peacefully without being fired upon or followed. You'll guarantee our safe return to Nexus. And we'll all agree that none of us present here will say anything about what's transpired. We'll swear that we never met, that no money changed hands and no prisoners were ever set free." Quill recited. "Do you agree to the terms?"
"I do." Yarati nodded, taking Quill's hand. He must have noticed that something was wrong immediately because he tried to pull away. I knew from experience that Quill had an iron grip.
"Then let ours be an honorable oath, sealed under Heaven." He smirked. Yarati stared in horror at the mark which appeared on his brow.
"Anathema? Seize them!" Yarati shouted.
Not a soul moved. Quill wagged a disapproving finger at the Dragonblood. "Not so fast! We're bound now, you and I! I trust that you know the consequences of breaking such an oath?"
Yarati paled.
"Right then, come along, Faeslayer!" Quill bowed dramatically. I effortlessly broke the chain on my cuffs and went to join him.
"What's the meaning of this?" Yarati demanded. "Who the hell are you, Taimyo, that you associate with demons?"
Amira resumed her usual appearance. "Boo!" She replied with a wicked smirk. "C'mon boys, off we go!"
True to their commander's oath, not one of Yarati's men attempted to follow us or shoot at us. But long after we made it through the city gates, I could still hear them cursing. Veritas wore a very smug smile on his face. His construct giggled, obviously enjoying the trouble we'd just caused.
"You know." Quill said, as we parted ways in the Big Market. "I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship."
Within moments he was gone.
"We should not trust him." Godchaser announced. The construct didn't say much normally – at least not in my presence, though I often heard Veritas jabbering with her nonstop in Old Realm when the rest of us were busy.
"Your construct is right." I agreed, turning to Veritas. "Quill is a madman and he is going to get us all killed."
"All the more reason to investigate Nagezzer as soon as possible and get you out of his oath." Amira nodded solemnly.
Roach smiled slightly.
"What?" I demanded.
"You guys rescued me." He replied.
"You didn't think we would?" I put my hands on my hips, doing a fair impression of my Mnemon Rai when he felt compelled to lecture one someone. Roach laughed.
"Don't be stupid, Boss. I know you goaded the rest of them into it!" He jerked his thumb at Amira. "I was just thinking that I'd better stick close to you from now on. I know it's going to be dangerous, but..."
"But?" Veritas raised an eyebrow at Roach.
"After what happened back there?" Roach laughed. "They're going to think I'm one of you. No one will ever believe that three Solars came to rescue one mere mortal!"
"That's because most people don't know a damned thing about us." Veritas paused. "If I have to chose between myself and someone who's done nothing wrong, I'll protect the innocent every time."
"That's an interesting vow, coming from you, Perfect." Amira observed.
"You don't know a damned thing about me either, Heartsblood." He retorted. "I'm not the same person I used to be."
Amira glanced around to be sure that no one was listening in on us. "We shouldn't all stay together, at least not until this whole thing blows over. I'm going let Viper know we're all in one piece. Try finding beds somewhere in Fishmarket or Glassmaker's. I'll see you all in the morning at the bridge." Without another word, she kissed me, changed into her stray dog form and bounded away.
Veritas shrugged and struck out on his own. Roach glanced up at me hopefully, as if I had a plan.
"Looks like it's just you and me." I told him.
He punched me in the shoulder. "Right behind you, Boss."
Dawn on the Bridge of Whispers was something not to be missed. Though Roach was annoyed by my desire to get up before the sun, he grudgingly admitted that it did paint a beautiful picture as it rose over the river and started to wake all of Nexus. I tried to hide the fact that there were tears welling up in the corners of my eyes. It felt like a very long time since my morning on the mountaintop when I'd stood in the presence of the sun and first began to question whether I was damned or Chosen.
Now that I was certain of the latter, I could feel those early morning rays pouring through and warming every corner of my soul as if I were made of glass. It also seemed like a long time since I'd last dreamt of the First Age. Had those dreams of mine been meant to drive me to the life I was now living? Would I never again see the world as I remembered it so clearly? As if to answer my question, the sun's light caught the river in a peculiar way, making it look almost blue again. If I wanted to bring back that glorious world, I'd have to do more than wish for it. I'd have to work until my own hands bled and make it so.
Veritas arrived first, sipping a cup of coffee. He rested his elbows on the bridge rail and looked out over the river himself. Godchaser sighed dramatically and he didn't bother to scold her. Though he usually twitched and looked irate when she revealed herself in public, it would have been a disservice to the Unconquered Sun to start fighting when he was in the midst of painting such a lovely scene for the three... or "four" of us, counting the construct, to witness.
Amira arrived an hour later with a grin on her face and two fresh, hot loaves of bread. It seemed like it had been a very long time since I'd eaten anything and I must have wolfed down more than my fair share because Veritas eyed me with disapproval. After our breakfast, we agreed to infiltrate Nagezzer's compound in the evening. Viper had informed Amira that "The Slug" was throwing a party. If we all posed as guests, we could potentially conduct our investigation without drawing any attention at all to ourselves. With our plan set out, we parted ways again.
It was early evening, not quite sunset when the four of us met up again near the wall surrounding Nagezeer's compound. Even though his warehouse loomed over us, we had to take extra care to avoid being seen. There were a number of people gathering for the party that "The Slug" was hosting, which was why Viper had suggested that we plan our assault sometime before full dark. The more bodies that were mulling about, the better chance we had to hide ourselves if things didn't go according to plan.
"Roach and I will check out the main house. Veritas, you look in the warehouse for anything fae-tainted or anything you think might be a weapon. Amira, you're our eyes and ears out here. Make yourself a bird or something. If it looks like trouble is coming, raise the alarm."
Amira grinned broadly. I did not doubt that whatever she did to warn the rest of us would be loud and unmistakable.
"We'll meet back here in twenty minutes. If anyone doesn't come back by full dark, we'll assume that they've been captured." I finished.
Like thieves into the night, we scattered.
Thanks to Roach, getting into the party was much easier than I'd expected. Plenty of the men attending were mercenaries. Roach and I casually followed in the footsteps of one arrogant-looking Bronze Pioneer with a large retinue and pretended to be busy as we passed through the gates. Picking up some crates, we then became the "assistants" of the evening's entertainment, carrying instruments and racks of costumes into the house. No one asked us anything. They assumed, probably because we were speaking High Realm and working, that we belonged in the Dynast's house.
While getting into the house had been simple enough, the security outside of the areas designated for the party was much trickier. To distract a guard standing in front of one of the doors that led upstairs, Roach took a handful of pebbles and started flicking them down the hall. When the man moved to investigate the source of the noise, the two of us slipped behind him.
Though we knew we were looking for evidence of the girls or the fae, it was difficult to find either. There were a large number of women living in Nagezzer's house, but even the one that Roach and I initially thought was a prisoner turned out to be chained to the wall for "entertainment purposes" and not at all upset about her situation.
It was very nearly time for us to meet back with Veritas and Amira when we stumbled across a cracked door on the third floor. There were several men inside, all dressed in the colors of House Sesus. Sitting in front of them on a red plush couch was a hideously obese old Dragonblood, a Wood-Aspect whom I did not doubt was Sesus "The Slug" Nagezzer. He puffed on his pipe and narrowed his beady little eyes at his underlings, looking annoyed.
"Well?" He demanded.
"We delivered the new girl to the bakery as you ordered, sir." The first of the men admitted. "But..." He began.
"She give you trouble? I suspected she might. I've heard things about that Shadowsbane. With what the whores all say about her... you'd think she would have been harder to catch." The Slug sighed.
"That's just the thing, sir." The second guard shook his head. "She was no trouble at all. Walked all nice like, even though she didn't have no shoes on. It was almost as if she wanted us to take her inside."
"That's nonsense. You're giving that woman far too much credit. Shadowsbane may be a spitfire, but she knows damn well that she doesn't stand a chance against The Red Queen." The Slug scoffed.
"And what should we do about Three Pearls, sir? She's been asking questions." The first man asked.
"Tell her nothing. She can't prove that we took her daughter and I don't need that witch breathing down my neck." The Slug replied. "This will all be over soon enough. Now see to the animal and report back to me."
I'd heard enough. Careful not to give away our location, Roach and I ran back to meet Veritas and Amira behind the warehouse. When they weren't at our appointed meeting place, I decided to pry the doors open just slightly to see if they were still inside. I saw them immediately, Amira in her dog form and Veritas right beside her, hiding behind a crate. Looking like a ghost, his construct poked her head out to see whatever they were looking at.
"Maker?" She whispered.
"Quiet, Godchaser!" Veritas scolded.
Standing in the aisle of the warehouse before a set of enormous doors was a very old Water-Aspect Dragonblood. He was dressed all in black with strings of pearls around his neck and gold rings on every one of his fingers. He also had more weapons on his person than I could count. I suspected right away that he was a professional rogue of one stripe or another. The fact that he'd taken out two House Sesus guards with one of his arms in a sling meant that he wasn't someone to be trifled with.
Unfortunately, my entrance proved not to be very stealthy. The Dragonblood immediately noticed Roach and I standing in the doorway and then caught sight of Godchaser.
"Heh." The Dragonblood smirked. "Veritas?"
"Oh, Maker! It's Jing Wei!" Godchaser exclaimed.
"Jing Wei?" Veritas seemed equally surprised. He stood up and walked towards the Dragonblood but didn't go for a weapon. Obviously the two of them were well acquainted. "What are you doing here?"
"Investigating "The Slug"." He remarked with distaste. "Word has it, he's up to something unscrupulous."
"Since when have you cared about anyone keeping their hands clean, pirate?" Veritas taunted.
"Feh! Why are you here, demon? Mysterious Anathema business?" Jing Wei retorted, a smile on his face.
I was stunned. The Dragonblood knew that Veritas was a Solar and they were friends?
"Same reason as you." I replied, butting my way into their conversation. "Sesus Nagezzer has been kidnapping girls. He's been turning them over to the Red Queen who has them locked up in some place that everyone keeps calling "the bakery". It can't be far from here. They tie the girls up and make them walk there."
"I know." Jing Wei gritted his teeth. Apparently he'd gotten the same information we did and he didn't like it either.
"Well, we'd better hurry and do whatever it is we're going to do. The Slug's men will be here any minute to feed that animal." I finished, staring up at the enormous doors in front of us. There was something just beyond them and it was breathing very loudly. It sounded huge. "What is in there anyway?"
Jing Wei explained. "It's called a "Beast of Resplendent Liquids". A cow which produces large quantities of very pure opium instead of milk. If we set loose that animal somewhere nearby where everyone can see it... that will immediately confirm Nagezzer's dealings with the fae. And the resulting fallout should also distract the Red Queen at least long enough for us to get inside her "bakery" and release the girls she's taken."
"Hold on, we?" I demanded. After my bargain with Quill, I definitely didn't want to jump into any more agreements with strangers, particular when they wanted to commit a crime.
"I know where the bakery is and I can lead you there, but I'm going to need help to pull this off. The place is swarming with fae, and I'm in no position to fight them right now." Jing Wei admitted grudgingly, gesturing to his arm. "You demons might actually do some damage."
"And considering how we've worked together in past, my friends and I may be willing to help you." Veritas interrupted before I could respond. "Of course, that's going to hedge on you not calling us demons!" He reprimanded. "Sun-in-Glory, you know damned well what we are!"
The old Water Aspect smiled slightly. "That Ping rubbed off on you, didn't she? Where is she at? She'd be a sight for sore eyes tonight. Useful too, in a situation like this."
"I haven't seen her since a few days after we left the Ying Long." Veritas admitted, not looking very happy about the situation Jing Wei had brought up.
"What did I tell you? A woman like that has a scorpion stinger!" Jing Wei sighed.
"All right. Let's get down to business!" Roach rolled up his sleeves. "I'm going to show all you how this is done."
"Oh?" Amira raised an eyebrow in his direction.
"I'm an expert on cattle rustling!" He claimed.
"Roach, you were ten years old when you left the south!" I rolled my eyes.
"Okay, so I never personally stole any cattle! But I'm still Murqai, remember? It's in my blood!" He argued.
Jing Wei laughed. Veritas still seemed concerned, and not only by the mention of "Rhapsody" whom I suspected had been a lover of his.
"So where's Matsu?" Veritas asked the old Dragonblood. The name meant nothing to me, but the expression that crossed Jing Wei's face was unmistakable. Whoever she was, Matsu was very important to him, someone he would do anything to protect.
Jing Wei sighed heavily. "Recluse, why do you think I'm in this mess?"
"I suppose it's no small thing for a Prince of the Earth to willingly work with Anathema." I paused, watching his reaction. "How do we know you won't betray us?"
Jing Wei only shrugged. "I deal in secrets for a living. Everyone has them, and some are worse than others. Better the demon you know." He gestured to Veritas.
"I trust him. Jing Wei will keep his word and he won't be running to the authorities. If possible... I think the Realm hates him more than it hates us." Veritas nodded. "As he says, better the demon you know." He echoed.
"This just keeps getting more and more complicated." I remarked.
Amira wrapped her arms around me. "Oh, Loren!" She sighed heavily. "This is nothing! Just wait until Heaven and the Underworld start making trouble for us."
"But honestly! Can't we solve one problem before we get buried in another one?" I protested.
Veritas patted me on the shoulder. "Of course not. That would be far too easy!"
"Will one of you give us a hand with these doors?" Jing Wei demanded, pulling along with Roach. He stopped short as he noticed that I'd already opened the opposite door by myself. I hadn't even realized that they were heavy.
"Damn you, demons. Making me look bad." He replied sarcastically, rolling his eyes. "Now you four get that cow out of here and into the river. I'm going for my ship. We'll probably need it before this night is through. At least the implosion bows at any rate. Be careful, you! Can't have anyone cutting off your branded head until I rescue my baby girl!" Jing Wei warned Veritas, who sighed heavily. Then he swiftly disappeared into the night.
"How did you two meet?" I asked Veritas.
"Jing Wei helped me escape the Blessed Isle." Veritas replied.
"A good friend then." I observed.
"Not always. When he found out that I was a Solar, he originally wanted to throw me into the sea." Veritas smirked. "But we're past that now."
"That's reassuring." I admitted.
"How so?" Veritas raised an eyebrow in my direction.
"My father is Dragonlord Chiron. I was born into one of the main families of House Cathak." I sighed heavily. "If I'd Exalted myself, I would have been his heir."
Veritas looked extremely surprised at the sound of my father's name, but he said nothing.
"But you are Exalted! You're a Solar!" Godchaser protested. Veritas sighed as the construct hovered over in my direction, looking extremely irate.
"And that's why I'm obviously not inheriting anything!" I informed her.
"You'd rather be a Dragonblood?" The construct demanded. Her tone suggested that she couldn't conceive of anything more absurd.
"I never said that!" I argued. Clearly, there was no way to explain to the construct that I did miss my family, and that while I never expected that things would ever return to the way they had been, I still hoped that one day I would be able to speak to Mnemon Rai again. I had come to realize that apart from Roach, he was one of my dearest friends. Amira said nothing, but she gave me a disapproving look.
"There must be something wrong with your brain. You should let my Maker fix you." She decided.
"Godchaser!" Veritas scolded.
"Forget it. Let's just take care of this cow!" I decided. Godchaser led the way into the back of the warehouse. Veritas followed her, Amira and I followed him, and Roach followed us. My eyes adjusted slowly to the darkness. I could smell the scent of flowers and something else, a strong animal musk. The sound of the creature chewing its fodder was like the rumble of thunder on the horizon.
"What is that?" I stared up in disbelief at the creature, its legs like tree trunks. It was shackled to the ground with the most impressive set of jade chains that I had ever seen.
Roach cracked his knuckles. "Moo." He said.
"How are we getting it out of here?" I demanded. That was when I heard the sound of Nagezzer's men fast approaching. They hadn't arrived as quickly as I expected they would, but they were definitely running now. Someone had heard us arguing - or maybe caught Jing Wei running off.
"We've got company!" I shouted.
"Stall them!" Veritas hissed. He picked up the first length of jade chain and spoke a single word in Old Realm. Essence flared from his fingertips and the chain cracked – but not completely through. "This is going to take a minute!"
I barreled out the doors of the warehouse directly into Nagezzer's men. Not sure what I was running from, they hesitated for a moment and then whirled around and charged after me, yelling obscenities in Rivertongue and High Realm.
I ignored them and effortlessly leapt twenty feet up onto the wall that surrounded the compound. The guards who were already up there almost lost their pikes in shock. They quickly recovered and chased me over to the gate. I looked down at the street below where a small crowd was gathering and then at the men coming after me from all directions.
I jumped. And as I fell, I invoked the Charm that Veritas had taught me. I reached for my daiklave with my mind, calling the blade. One moment I was empty-handed, about to fall fifty feet onto four guards with spears and the next I was landing with a force that cracked the paving stones, clutching the hilt of my extraordinarily ostentatious sword. Though I wasn't flaring with Essence, someone figured out what was going on anyway and started yelling "Anathema".
Half of the men who'd been chasing me turned tail and bolted right away.
That was when the gates behind me came crashing down. There were a lot more men than I expected pouring out of Nagezzer's house. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Amira in her largest wolf form, biting at the hooves of the cow, which despite its enormous size behaved exactly like any of its ordinary brethren would have, snorting and bellowing. The creature was so large that it tore a piece from the roof with its horns as it stampeded through the gate. Two small figures bounced up and down on the enormous animal's back. One was Veritas, clinging on for dear life.
The second, who held the jade chain wrapped around the animal's horns… was Roach. He rode that enormous beast as if it were a green pony, a wicked and triumphant grin on his face and threw one arm in the air with an incoherent war cry.
"Anathema!" Someone else shouted. I wasn't sure if they were yelling at Amira or me, so I did the only sensible thing I could. I started running myself in the wake of the cow, which was stampeding in the direction of the Bridge of Whispers, clearing the streets of revelers.
On the opposite side of the river, early evening was prime business time for the theater district. More people than I could count witnessed the cow bursting out of Nagezzer's compound. Not wanting the maddened animal to hurt anyone, I gave it a sound slap on the rear with the flat of my daiklave. After launching a mule kick in my general direction and taking out the wall of a nearby building, the beast went where I'd hoped it would, towards the river where Jing Wei had suggested we herd it.
The end of the road was getting closer, and the nearest anchored ship was a good distance away, but I felt as though I could make the jump from the shore to the vessel. Essence began to burn all around me as I poured it into my daring leap.
When I landed on my feet on the deck of the nearest ship, a tremendous splash warned me that my companions had succeeded in driving the cow into the river. A dozen crossbows were pointed at them as the huge beast moaned and snorted, paddling away from the shore.
"Stop where you are, Anathema!" A sailor ordered me. "There's nowhere you can go!"
That was when I saw Veritas, who was standing on the rump of the cow begin shaping a spell. If I'd been burning brightly before, he was impossible to ignore then. Huge tendrils of fire flowed from his fingertips and caught the rigging of the ship I was on. In panic, the crew leapt overboard as their Air-Aspect captain vainly tried to extinguish the flames. He turned slowly to see what all of the commotion was about and stared at me in abject terror. I took advantage of his moment of distraction and threw him into the water.
A second burst of fire suddenly rocked his ship I was on and I saw Veritas sprinting off on the opposite bank of the river.
An enormous, very fast-moving vessel rose up from beneath the waters of the river, blinding everyone on the docks with brilliant blue Essence lights and deafening them with a horn unlike anything I'd ever heard. It was some sort of First Age submersible, as old as the warbirds Veritas had stowed in his manse. The hatch opened with a hiss and there was Jing Wei, standing with his arms crossed and a dozen bushels of poppies behind him.
The only thing that still stood between the cow and Jing Wei was the Bridge of Whispers.
Remembering what Veritas had said about the bridge being designed to raise and lower with Essence, I leapt back the way I'd come, from one burning ship to the next. Ignoring the startled shrieks and shouts of theater-goers, I put my hands on the channels in the marble, willing the bridge to life. It did rise, slowly and painfully… just high enough for Roach to guide the cow underneath it. Essence flared around me, and for a moment I was glowing brighter than Veritas.
Then he cast another spell.
Still eyeing the burning ships nervously, the cow swam in the direction of Jing Wei. I leapt over the whole river to meet Veritas. It didn't matter that the distance was more than a hundred feet. Veritas stood with his arms crossed and watched with smile on his face as Jing Wei landed his ship and the cow obediently boarded, snuffling in the piles upon piles of red poppies. Clambering down from his unusual mount, Roach joined Jing Wei.
"A submersible!" Veritas exclaimed. "Jing Wei, you scoundrel! Where did you steal this ship? What happened to The Ying Long?"
"Sank. This is the Ying Long II!" He replied proudly. "She's somethin', eh?"
"Brilliant!" Veritas agreed.
"Still got a few kinks here and there." Jing Wei added gruffly. "This demon technology takes some getting used to."
"I'll sort her out for you." Veritas volunteered.
"I suppose you could." Jing Wei smiled slightly. "But if you rig anything on this boat to kill me, demon, you'll regret it! I'll haunt you for eternity!"
"Where's Amira?" I wondered.
Of course, the moment I asked that, Amira staggered out of the river on the opposite bank near the Whisper Bridge and shook herself dry. Preposterous as it seemed, no one seemed to notice when the enormous silver wolf shrank down to the size of an ordinary dog and vanished into a nearby alley. There was no sense in worrying about her. If there was one thing that I was absolutely convinced of, it was that Amira was perfectly capable of taking care of herself. I also knew that she would find me no matter where I went.
Everyone on the waterfront was staring at Veritas and myself. In fairness, we were both extremely difficult to ignore. The pillar of light around Veritas burned gold, red, and blue. Delicate gears and formed of Essence cascaded all around him. For a moment he looked so much like his previous incarnation that I almost expected to see tendrils of sentient forged gossamer darting out from his sleeves.
From the way Jing Wei shielded his eyes, I guessed that I was glowing just as brightly myself. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see that the shapes my Essence formed were of white banners in the wind, spectral soldiers, and charging horses in all the soft colors of the sunrise. Even if no one watching could have possibly made out our faces, Veritas and I could look directly at each other.
"I think we should lie low for a little while." I paused. Really, it sounded like an asinine thing to say.
"Hey, Anathema! You comin' aboard or not?" Jing Wei demanded.
Without hesitation, we both ran aboard the vessel and Jing Wei closed the hatch. Within moments we'd vanished into the murky depths of the river. If anyone tried to follow us, they never guessed where we went.
Despite the fact that we knew we had very little time to rescue the girls that Nagezzer had already sold, it took a good long time for Veritas and I to recover all of the Essence we'd used.
When the both of us finally stopped glowing, Jing Wei surfaced his vessel near the Brood Market. He dumped a few bushels of poppies in the middle of the square and Roach coaxed the cow out. We left the animal with a sign around its neck explaining that it had been liberated from Sesus Nagezzer's compound and that he had acquired it from dealing with the Fae. Generally speaking, Nexus was a town not known for its effective legislation, but the mere fact that the animal produced controlled substances that Nagezzer had not been paying the appropriate taxes on would certainly attract the attention of the Guild.
And most likely, Adamant Quill, who would know that I was in the process of fulfilling our bargain.
Without any other excitement, we parted ways from Jing Wei and followed the directions he gave us, which led us back in the direction of Harlotry. The bakery was not hard to find, and when we arrived Roach and Amira were already waiting for us. I stared up at the doors, hoping that the Red Queen was somewhere else, dealing with Nagezzer and trying to sort out what we'd done with her cow. She'd certainly left enough of her underlings behind to make things difficult for the four of us.
Roach and I gave Veritas a leg up and he peered through a small crack in the top of the door. "Not good." He grimaced. "Fifty goblins, maybe more."
"Fifty-six." Godchaser quipped.
"Any sign of the girls?" I asked.
"No." Veritas admitted.
"No mortals I can sense." Godchaser added.
"What are they doing?" Roach pressed.
"Eh... baking? At least that's what it looks like." Veritas sighed heavily and hopped back down to the ground.
"So now what?" Amira asked, turning to me.
I smiled slightly. "There are no people in there, just fae? Are you sure?"
"Positive." Godchaser nodded.
"That makes this easy." I replied. "Now we break the doors down and kill everything that moves."
Roach gave a low whistle. "Uh, Boss?"
"They're fae!" I protested.
Veritas gave a slight bow and stepped away from the door. "After you, Alexander."
I did not bother to correct him.
