Chapter 8 – The Shoat
It took a long while for Recluse and I to regain all of the Essence that we'd used banishing and re-summoning the demon that had made an appearance at my initiation. We retreated to his manse where we wouldn't be seen by any of the Ravenous Winds who were patrolling around the walls of Nexus. Though I was personally afraid that I would be recognized by someone I'd formerly served with, Recluse assured me that the Winds were "most thoroughly" infiltrated by Sidereals who would do worse than report us to the authorities. As I paced the loading dock for the warbirds and gazed out over the massive library and the plasma furnace that dominated the heart of Recluse's factory cathedral, I considered everything we'd learned from our unwilling Malfean informant.
The Delibrative's annual Calibration party had been the event of the season for more reasons than one. Since everyone was expected to attend, it acted as a kind of insurance to prevent Solars from attempting to use certain dangerous spells of Adamant Circle sorcery that could only be cast during Calibration. Over time, our predecessors had become so corrupt that only the feat of getting caught doing something that would send all of Creation spiraling into the Deep Wyld would keep them in check.
Even with the memories that I had of the First Age, I still couldn't conceive of doing something as awful as what the demon claimed he'd helped my previous incarnation accomplish. Apparently, Perfect and Alexander had once used the days of Calibration to summon a Third Circle Demon into Creation so that it would create a "distraction" significant enough for them to do something far more reckless. The thought of how many people had surely lost their lives solely so that theThree Circles Societycould set the Well of Udr in motion made me feel sick.
Recluse didn't like the information we'd gleaned any better than I did. He sat with Godchaser hovering over his shoulder for a long while, muttering again about his "protoscemaic vortex" and musing over where it had disappeared to. I didn't bother to ask him to explain. When he began theorizing about the Well, listening to him only gave me a headache.
I decided to head back to Nexus as soon as I was able. I didn't sleep at all, though I wanted to. I had the most horrible, incoherent dreams I'd ever had in my life. A hideous, monstrous woman was calling for me, using Amira's voice when I resisted her summons. I'd never had such dreams before and I decided to attribute them to dealing with demons. Although the presence I felt was distinctly not Malfean or Fae, it was malevolent and very familiar. For some reason, it felt like a Lunar to me.
As soon as the sun came up, I decided to start walking back to Nexus. Keeping off of the main roads it took me most of the day to reach the city. It had been several weeks since I'd seen Roach or Amira, but I had a fairly good idea of where I'd probably find them both. I knew they were both sore about my decision to leave them out of the business of The Three Circles Society, but I'd had more than enough of sorcery. Despite the nearness of Calibration, the thoughts foremost in my mind were of a good meal, a glass of wine and Amira in my bed. If I was very, very apologetic, I suspected that she would forgive me for slighting her in front of my new "friends".
Anathema's was in its usual state of chaos when I arrived. A group of soldiers in the colors of the Ravenous Winds were sitting in the corner across from the stage, but I didn't recognize any of them. I wished belatedly that Veritas had come back to the city with me. Godchaser had a knack for detecting Sidereals and I had the distinct feeling that I was being watched by someone with Charms at their disposal.
Though I was still far from comfortable with all of Viper's wild girls, I knew that nothing said "trouble" like a man who acted like he was ashamed to be walking into a whorehouse. I sighed heavily and let Kitten paint my forehead when I walked in the front door. I noticed that she was very careful with her brushes and suspected that she'd found out from her employer that I really was a Solar.
"Is Amira here?" I asked.
Kitten shrugged. "Haven't seen her today."
"What about Roach?" I pressed.
"The Murqai that Viper likes?" She hazarded a guess. I wasn't surprised that Kitten thought Roach was a bandit. He had worn southern clothes since we'd arrived in Nexus at any rate. "He was here this morning." She admitted. "But he usually takes off in the evening."
How long had it been since I'd seen Roach? A week? Two weeks? It seemed too long. Roach had always kept me sane, reminding me that I hadn't eaten or slept and constantly asking me normal questions such as whether I thought the bard performing on stage was any good and whether I preferred pan-fried noodles or pork ribs for dinner. I'd been so wrapped up in my training with Recluse that I hadn't even noticed his absence. The more I learned about the black deeds of the Three Circles Society, the more I found myself losing my grip on the very things that would prevent me from becoming a monster. Roach always saw the world as a better place than it was, and Amira saw the best in me. It had been a very foolish decision to cut the two of them out of my life.
Still, my hopes to seem comfortable and "at home" inside Anathema's were completely dashed when I glanced out the window and caught sight of three soldiers in unmistakable red armor walking down the street. They seemed to be considering whether or not the fun of visiting Anathema's would be worth the trouble they'd get into for patronizing a blacklisted establishment. One of them laughed in a particular manner that made my blood run cold. When he stepped into the light outside the front door, I realized that the youngest soldier was my cousin, Teric.
Not bothering to explain why I was in such a hurry to hide, I raced upstairs and flung opened the door to one of the "private" rooms. The whore who'd been fixing her makeup scurried out into the hall and I stared out in the direction of the river.
Sure enough, a very familiar House Cathak warship was docked near the armory. The scarlet banners left me with absolutely no doubt as to who had just arrived in Nexus.
I didn't have to guess where my father was staying, and though I knew it would be madness to get anywhere near him, especially if Mnemon Rai had revealed what had happened to me... I decided that I had to see him. At very least, I needed to know why he'd come to the Scavenger Lands in such a rush. I hoped he'd already planned the trip and prayed that it had nothing to do with me.
"The Scarlet Legion is in Nexus?" I demanded.
"Camped outside of the city since this morning. I hear the Dragonlord is visiting family. The Emissary gave him a special pass." Kitten nodded. "Should I go get the mistress?" She asked, standing in my shadow. A well-concealed dagger on her hip glistened in the moonlight. Clearly, the whore was much smarter than I would have given her credit for.
"Not yet. But if I'm not back here by closing time, tell her I went up to Sentinel Hill." I replied.
"You're not going to go start trouble with those Scarlets, are you?" Kitten whispered incredulously.
"No!" I vowed... and then scoffed at myself. Though there was no sense in telling Kitten everything, someone would need to know where I went, and why. "Look, it's not how you think. Dragonlord Chiron is my father."
Kitten's eyes widened in disbelief and she swore incoherently in Rivertongue. "And you're going to go see him? Are you mental?" She demanded.
I started to climb out the window.
"I'm telling the Mistress! And then I'm sending Shadowsbane after you!" Kitten informed me.
"Go ahead! At this hour, both of them are probably drunk!" I retorted. "Don't follow me!" I scolded her as she climbed out onto the roof.
"Yeah, well someone better!" Kitten remarked. She watched me as I slid down the drain pipe and sighed heavily. "What is with you people?" She demanded, once my feet were on the ground.
"What do you mean by that?" I asked.
"Are you kidding?" Kitten wagged a disapproving finger in my direction. "All of you Solars sound like you're stuck in Act Five of The Seven Daimyos! You know, the part where Son Yu and Hawk both lay there on the ground and talk for ten minutes before they bleed to death? It is my duty! Oh, I die! How I die!" She finished with an obnoxious strangled groan, obviously imitating the character from the play what she was quoting. "You think you're a big damn hero, hunh?"
"Absolutely." I smiled slightly despite myself and leapt effortlessly down to the street.
I decided to take the alley behind The Drunk Duck and began running in the direction of Sentinel Hill. I caught my breath and composed myself before I crossed the bridge leading into the exclusive district. If I acted as if I belonged, I'd probably be mistaken for a servant.
It seemed strange to pose as a servant when I'd been raised to behave in Dragonblooded company as though I were a Dragonblood myself. But something had changed in me. When I'd thrown my insignia into Recluse's sacrificial fire, I'd vowed that I was done being a servant of the Realm. What I hadn't anticipated was that I would actually feel different afterwards. For the first time, I was looking at the world I'd been raised in through the eyes of an outsider. I was no longer a loyal son of House Cathak hiding a terrible secret. I was a Solar, walking brazenly into one of the most Dynast-infested parts of Nexus.
I tried to keep my head about me and avoided staring too long at any of the people who passed me on the road. It was very late, and anyone acting nosy would immediately look suspicious. It felt like an eternity since I'd last seen my cousin Lao's house. Compared to Anathema's or any of the other places I'd been staying, the manor should have looked like a palace to me, but I'd also taken up residence part-time at Recluse's manse while he trained me in sorcery. Waking up in the shadow of a two-thousand year old airship had given me a sense of perspective. Even Recluse's smallest tools were dazzling in comparison to Lao's over-dressed residence. I somewhat doubted that I would ever be impressed by anything mundane ever again.
Perched on the wall of the outer courtyard, as close as I dared get to the house, I used a little Charm that Recluse had taught me and listened for familiar voices behind the rice paper screens on the patio. The largest shadow to the far right I was sure was my father. Even when he wasn't wearing armor, he had a commanding physical presence. Across from him was Lao, and the others moving in the background I guessed were some officers of the Scarlet Legion along with Lao's household servants and guards. The first thing I heard didn't surprise me at all.
"He's probably gone down to that... that blacklisted nest of heresy!" Lao snapped.
Anathema's. Of course. They were talking about Teric, who I'd just seen.
"Teric is not a fool, Lao." My father sighed heavily. "And he's very intent on a promotion. He won't embarrass himself!"
"Uncle, you give him far too much credit!" Lao retorted. "That boy is completely undisciplined! Mark my words, he'll be drunk, penniless, crawling with lice, and probably painted by the time he gets back to this house!"
I smiled slightly. Though I'd never particularly liked Lao, he was sharp. Belatedly, I remembered that I'd been painted myself, and though I didn't intend to step out into the open, I rubbed off the mark Kitten had put on me anyway.
My father made snorted. "You're particularly unpleasant this evening, Lao. Is there a reason why?"
"Uncle, I'm not a child, nor am I one of your soldiers! I'm a man of business and if I'm going to continue pouring jade into the coffers of our noble House, I must insist that it is not squandered! I know that you're partial to your own blood, and Aunt Karisa's children... but Teric is a fool! He's not fit to command two Scales, let alone your Scarlets! You can't retire!" Lao finished.
My father, retire? I'd never even conceived of such a thing!
"I'm old, Lao. Older than your father and Karisa both." He sighed heavily.
"So choose a suitable heir! Hesiesh as my witness, one of your children must show some promise!" Lao groaned.
"Only one of them." My father was silent for a long while. "You know, I used to believe that the Dragons were not capable of making mistakes. But these last few years..." He fell silent. "They must be punishing me. There's no other reason for it. They must have known how much hope I poured into my son."
"Jaret's been dead for a decade, Uncle." Lao reminded him.
"I'm not talking about Jaret!" My father snorted."Rai Jin still hasn't said anything?"
Me? He was talking about me!
"No, and I don't think that he will." Lao paused. "It isn't your fault." He added, probably just to say something.
"It isn't?" My father echoed. "I sent Loren back here! I packed his things myself and now they tell me he's gone without a trace? Not even a body to bury? I've threatened every one of the Winds! They tell me Loren was killed by Anathema, by the fae, by Murqai... I've heard that he was eaten, set on fire, trampled, stabbed... kidnapped by the Emissary! Not a single story matches! I personally questioned one hundred and eighty-five men, more than half of them mortals, and for some reason all o fthem lied to me! Loren must be alive, and I can only assume that Rai Jin does not want me to know where he is."
I wanted to see my father's face. Though it wasn't smart to sneak any closer, I wanted to know if he looked the way that I felt that he must. Very carefully, I climbed down the trellis and hid in the magnolia bushes. From my new hiding place, I could see the back of Lao's head and my father's profile. He looked old, older than I'd ever thought he was capable of appearing.
"Maybe he deserted?" Lao suggested. "Maybe that's what Rai Jin doesn't want you to know?"
"I don't think so. I overheard some fisherman talking on the docks this morning. Apparently there are heroes in this city. One of them is supposed to be a swordsman with a penchant for rescuing beautiful young women." My father laughed slightly.
"Oh, you mean the Anathema?" Lao laughed.
"Anathema?" My father echoed. "An Anathema took those girls?"
"No, the Anathema rescued them! Women began vanishing several months ago. It seemed safe to assume that they were being killed by the fae... but then they all returned, spouting the most absurd yarn about being saved by a group of Anathema and a dog! Dragons, it's all anyone's been talking about for weeks!" Lao explained. "This city has gone completely mad. Someone fixed a First Age fountain in Glassmaker's Alley. A very influential woman whose only son was kidnapped had the boy returned by a stranger with "a burning white sun" between her eyes! Two crooked merchants turned themselves in because someone beat them in at mah jong and told them to do it!" He rolled his eyes. "It used to be that we only had that wretched Shadowsbane to worry about. Now it's a veritable infestation!"
"And you're sure these "heroes" are all Anathema?" My father pressed.
"Except for the Murqai and the dog, that's the only thing everyone seems to agree on." Lao groaned. "Now, I was out of town on business when those Anathema exposed Sesus Nagezzer's dealings with the Fae, but apparently two of them made quite the show on the waterfront. One is surely that red-headed monk you told me about, the one who robbed you. The other... well, he's described as huge and terrifying."
"And that's all?" My father pressed.
"Oh, and beautiful!" Lao scoffed. "Majestic! Radiant! Like a king! They call him the Faeslayer and the following he has is enormous! Practically a cult! You can understand why we're a bit concerned for the general populace, Uncle. This kind of heresy is particularly difficult to purge."
Something ran across the opposite side of the courtyard. I almost reached for my daiklave, but then I remembered where I was. That was when I noticed the shadows on the ground were moving. My father noticed it to. He slowly stood and reached for his blade, which was resting against a chair only a few feet away from his grasp. Lao looked nervous.
"What is it, Uncle?" He whispered.
"There's something coming." My father replied. "Something that does not belong here."
A smell worse than the Yanaze on a hot day immediately assaulted my senses and I blinked in disbelief as I realized that the shadows I had seen belonged to a dozen shambling, river-bloated corpses. The Fae could not have concocted something more horrific, but I knew that I was not witnessing their work. A pale little girl in archaic funerary robes sat on the wall to Lao's courtyard where I'd perched myself. Her eyes were cold and emotionless, like the eyes of a dead fish, and she was smiling a malicious, mirthless smile.
"Alexander? I know you're here! Come out, come out wherever you are!" The little girl recited in a sing-song voice.
She was looking for me?
On the girl's brow was an open circle which looked very much like Sapphire's Caste Mark, except that it was black and dripping congealed blood. The dead shambled closer. My father quickly dispatched the first dozen corpses with a proud battle cry, but there were more of them coming. Cousin Lao ran into his house... and out a moment later with a sword, accompanied by one of his guards and four of my father's Scarlets.
There were more walking dead coming from inside the manor, and inside, people had started screaming.
"I know you can hear me, Alexander! And if you don't come out of hiding, I'm going to cut this ugly little man into pieces!" The horrible girl bounded down from her perch and approached my father. Four black metal chains as thick as a man's arm emerged from her back. They were crowned with vicious looking, barbed blades and moved like snakes as she walked.
"Mother has been calling for you, but you've been ignoring her! Rude boy, ignoring Mother!" She waltzed towards my father casually and pulled her chains back, preparing to strike at him.
I immediately thought of my nightmare and the blood in my veins ran cold. That monstrous woman hadn't been a dream? Who was she and what did she want with me?
I didn't have time to wonder. My father was still on his feet, but recovering from the strain of fighting off so many of the dead. I did not doubt that he could parry one of her blows, but four? He wasn't armored and he hadn't been prepared for a fight. His fiery anima had already begun to flicker, setting him apart from the sea of gray and black that was closing in around him. The little girl had made a mistake in threatening someone I cared about! Even if my father wanted nothing more to do with me... even if he tried to kill me after I saved him, I couldn't leave him to be cut down!
"Leave my father alone!" I ordered, stepping out of my hiding place.
"Loren!" My father exclaimed. All the life that had been slowly drawn out of him returned at that moment. It was almost worse, knowing that he was so glad to see me... and knowing also that he'd probably never remember me fondly again.
The girl immediately brightened. Before I could warn him against doing something so rash, one of my father's Scarlets decided to take advantage of the fact that the little monster wasn't looking at him. He struck out with his sword, but his blow never connected. The blades on the girl's chains cut him in two at the waist. Without even looking, she immediately killed Lao's guard.
"Stay back!" I warned. "All of you, stay back! This monster is more than a match for you! Hold off the dead!" I ordered. The remaining two Scarlets nodded obediently, positioning themselves in front of my father.
"All right, you beast! I'm here. These men are nothing to you, so leave them alone. Now what does your mother want?" I demanded.
The little girl grinned again, even more wickedly than before. "Silly boy. Mother wants you to die!"
The first of her chains struck just over my shoulder, cleaving two large branches off of the magnolia tree. One of the dead seized my arm, intent on holding me still so his mistress could pin me to the ground like an insect on a collector's board, but I was ready for him.
Despite the alarm I knew that it would cause, I called my blade. The Essence I burned wasn't enough to make me glow, but there was no mistaking an orichalcum daiklave for anything but a Solar weapon. I cleaved down all of the corpses that were within my reach and parried the little girl's chains as she fired them at me. The strength that she possessed was preposterous, especially considering how small she was, and the first time she dodged one of my blows I knew that I'd been right to warn my father to stay away from her.
Any illusions that I'd harbored about her being an unsettling but helpless little girl vanished immediately. She was easily as fast and strong as I was, and clearly homicidal. When one of her dead followers got in her way, she gored him completely through without hesitation. I barely parried her attack and swore under my breath. If I wasn't going to get disemboweled, I'd probably need to use every Charm I knew!
My cousin's household staff and dozen of my father's soldiers had all emerged from the house. They didn't move close enough to interrupt our deadly ballet, but every man or woman who could fight had at least one hand on a weapon. The chains swept close enough to my face to shear a lock of my hair. I countered with a move I'd practiced a thousand times. Focusing my will into blade, I extended the reach of my weapon with a flare of white-hot Essence that struck with the force of a battering ram. My Caste Mark began to burn, but my attack succeeded. The evil little girl was lying on the ground and looked both shocked and singed.
"Your first mistake was threatening my family!" I informed her.
She staggered to her feet. A dark miasma had begun to rise up around her, and I knew that had to be a bad thing. Was it sorcery she was attempting, or something else? I decided not to wait to find out.
The girl parried my daiklave with her chains as I struck as many times as I could, pressing her to the edge of the courtyard where her possible targets would be limited.
"Sister!" The little beast howled. "Sister!" Lightning crackled overhead and the earth made a terrible yawning sound. I thought for a moment that it was an earthquake, but the ground did not start shaking. Nothing happened, except the monster that I'd cornered scurried up the wall behind her like a spider and took off running into the night.
The last thing I saw before I went after her was my father's face. There was nothing I could think to say to him that would have been any consolation at all... but with the condition he was in, I doubted he'd be chasing me.
I leapt the courtyard wall in one bound, trailing Essence like a comet. More than a few startled shouts from the street warned me that I'd been seen, and those cries of alarm turned to cries of terror as everyone saw the malevolent creature that I was chasing. The mark on her brow was bleeding profusely and as she chased me through the pond behind the An-Teng Princess, every single cherry tree on the water immediately withered and died.
I knew that I had to get her far away from anyone who could potentially get hurt.
Leaping from rooftop to rooftop, she fled in the direction of the Nexus District. She was virtually invisible in the dark, but I could hear her clattering chains wherever she landed and I followed her anyway. A few Air-Aspect Dragonbloods were on my heels, and one Fire-Aspect was shooting burning arrows in my direction. Of course, I was far quicker than any of them could hope to be. But the little girl was still faster than I was, and I lost her somewhere near the Bridge of Whispers.
Still needing a place to hide myself, I turned around and doubled back in the direction of the Big Market. I broke down the door to Adamant Quill's office and charged into the filing room. There was no sign of a secret entrance to the Whispering Serpent, but I did notice a humming sound coming from beneath the floor. When I slammed both of my hands down on the granite slab, it split open, revealing a flight of stairs.
I jumped down and just as my pursuers came blazing into Quill's office, the stone closed up over my head. I made a mental note to thank Sapphire – and to apologize for doing something so incredibly pigheaded. I knew that I never should have gone to see my father, but what worried me more was the horrible little girl that I'd encountered.
Whatever she was, she was not something that belonged in Creation... and the fact that I'd lost track of her before learning anything about her "Mother" or her "Sister" worried me considerably.
True, I was not likely to be held in high regard as a member of House Cathak any longer, but I still instinctively held Dragonbloods in higher regard than the soulless creatures of the Wyld. Not that the little girl was fae... I would have sensed it if she was, but I felt in her presence the same kind of disregard for mortal life. The way that she'd slain my father's men had been too efficient, even for an accomplished killer. Despite the form that she wore, she was clearly a monster incapable of remorse.
Not waiting to see if those who'd been chasing me could sort out where I went, I headed down the steps and followed the tracks of the Whispering Serpent to the buried Temple of the Unconquered Sun, the manse that had once belonged to the Zenith Caste of our Circle. Decomposing corpses of flying hagfish and the familiar scent of alchemical ammunition warned me that Sapphire had been in the tunnels recently.
With Recluse and Quill working together, it had been very easy for us to clear a path back to the Temple that had been buried five years ago in the biggest earthquake Nexus had ever suffered. I remembered clearly how it had felt to stand with my Circlemates for the first time in 1,500 years in the shadow of the enormous orichalcum statue of the Unconquered Sun.
I was not entirely surprised to see Sapphire sitting at the foot of that statue, rolling a peach in her hand. Sapphire looked even more small and childish than she usually did.
When I entered the room, she smiled slightly. "Burned too much Essence?" She teased.
"I tore the door off of Quill's office." I admitted. "But I don't think I've been followed."
"He'll love that the place has been ransacked again." Sapphire remarked. "It'll give him an excuse not to come into work for awhile."
"I've been meaning to ask why he works in that office." I admitted. "Not that he actually works, I understand that he mostly uses Charms to slow down actual progress, but..."
"Quill has a lot of responsibilities." Sapphire shrugged. "I think the Permit Office is sort of his way of thumbing his nose at bureaucracy. It's a place where he can be inefficient and blow everyone off without really hurt anything."
"I'm sorry. You lost me when you used the words "Quill" and "responsibility" in the same sentence." I replied.
"You don't know him like I do." Sapphire informed me.
"Maybe not." I admitted. I sat down beside her and looked up at the Unconquered Sun. He had a very peculiar expression on his face, a good-natured grin.
"I wonder about our Zenith." Sapphire mused.
"So do I." I admitted.
"But don't you remember the First Age?" Sapphire pressed.
"Not everything." I sighed. "And sometimes not the things I wish I remembered."
"It seems unfair." Sapphire admitted. "I mean, we have all of this power and yet sometimes we're still..."
"Helpless?" I suggested. It was the last look on my father's face that came to mind as I answered her. His expression was something I would not soon forget.
How could I apologize for something I'd never asked for? I couldn't feel the way that I knew my father would want me to feel, ashamed of what I was. It had taken me ten years to understand that I hadn't been cursed or damned, but given the greatest gift and most daunting responsibility imaginable.
We sat for awhile in silence. "We're not meant to face everything alone, Sapphire. That's why we have our Circle. We balance each other's strengths and weaknesses." It was something Recluse had told me and it felt very true as I repeated it.
"But our Circle's not complete! It's missing a piece! It's broken!" Sapphire protested.
"It won't always be broken." I reassured her.
"Maybe not, but how long can it hold out the way it is?" She demanded.
I had no answer for that.
