We're almost halfway!
It didn't take long for Essix to find Meilin, Abeke, and Finn.
"And there's their mistake!" Rollan said "They let me keep Essix out"
They were just climbing a grassy bank that afforded a view of Trunswick when Finn spotted the falcon circling. He waved one arm, and then two. Abeke and Meilin joined in. Essix wheeled toward them. "It's Essix. Does that mean something's happened to Rollan?" Meilin asked. The thought annoyed her. If someone was going to hurt that boy, she wanted it to be her.
"I can't tell if that was a compliment or not" Conor whispered to Abeke
"Essix doesn't seem alarmed enough for him to be dead," Finn said. Abeke winced, but Meilin appreciated that Finn didn't try to sugarcoat the possibilities for them. Lives were at stake. It would do them all well to remember that. Finn shielded his eyes to better see the falcon. "But she seems agitated. It's hard to say if Rollan sent her to us or if she's come on her own accord. Do you see a message tied to her leg?" "Nothing," Meilin verified. "Are they in Trunswick?" Finn called up to Essix. The bird shrieked back, three times.
"That means yes" Rollan said
Meilin said, "I think that means yes." Finn asked the falcon, "Should we meet up with them right now?" Essix cried out once. It was an angry, ferocious bark of a sound. Quite clearly: no. "Imprisoned, I would guess," Finn said. "Or working secretly to get information. Either way, we'll have to be cautious." Meilin considered. She touched the tattoo where Jhi waited in passive form. It wasn't nearly as effective as the meditation sessions, but the gesture reminded her of that clarity of thought. She asked, "Should we circle the town to see if we can learn any more?" Finn nodded. "Probably a wise idea. I shouldn't really go marching into town without some strategy anyway.
Everyone eyed Conor and Rollan.
"What?" Rollan said "It was Conor's idea!"
The Earl of Trunswick and I had a disagreement not too long ago." "What sort of disagreement?" Meilin demanded. Finn narrowed his eyes in the direction of the castle. "He tried to kill me." That seemed like a valid reason to avoid going into town. "In any case, it would be advantageous to have a plan," he added. Abeke made a little pained noise. At first Meilin thought it was because of worry, but then she saw no — it was because the Hawkers' ridiculous black cat thought Essix was going to eat her. The cat had affixed its claws rather securely into Abeke's hair.
"And she would not let go" Abeke said
It looked as if the animal was actually growing directly from the other girl's head. "You could let that cat down," Meilin said scathingly. "You wanted to free her, and now she's free." Abeke tried to remove the cat from her head. Reams of her own hair stretched from her scalp to the cat.
"Literally attached to your head," Meilin said. "I'm going to guess separation anxiety" Rollan said
"She's scared," insisted Abeke, still tugging. The cat let out a rattling wail that oscillated in time with the tugs. "She won't slow us down." Meilin narrowed her eyes, but it was hard to argue. Abeke had been seeming a little more feline lately, more like Uraza.
"My spirit animal is a cat." Abeke said "what do you expect?"
Maybe this was part of it. "Good. Keep it that way. The others need us, whether or not they're in immediate trouble. The sooner we find out more and meet back up with them, the sooner we can get to Rumfuss. Now, let's get out of here, unless you want the Conquerors to catch us." Before Meilin could stop herself, the insinuation slipped out — the prospect that Abeke might not mind the Conquerors finding them at all, since she might still be working for them.
"And you were not supposed to know I was thinking that" Meilin said. "It's fine" Abeke said "I already knew"
Finn leveled a very heavy look at her. Tarik or Olvan would have probably scolded her for talking to Abeke like that,
"Exactly right" Olvan said
but she thought they also would have understood why deep down, Meilin still didn't trust Abeke. And it was hard to be very kind to someone she didn't trust, now more than ever. But Finn simply turned away and, under his breath, said something only Meilin could hear. "Trust must be practiced."
Meilin wanted to roll her eyes and ignore him, but his words — and his quiet disapproval — rankled her. Somewhere along the way, she had started wanting to impress him. This annoyed her for reasons she couldn't quite find words for. Why should she care for the respect of a man who wouldn't even lift a sword to save himself at that forest battle? But he had led them across the Giant's Chessboard and the moor, and had pulled her from the waste. And without his advice in the Moon Tower, she would have never learned about Jhi's problem-solving abilities. What is a warrior's heart? she wondered. Does it always carry a sword? Grudgingly, she said out loud, "Abeke, I'm sorry if... my words seemed harsh. I didn't mean them that way."
"But it sure sounded that way" Meilin said
Abeke's eyebrows shot up. She appeared so surprised by this miserly kindness. Was it possible Meilin had been a little too uncaring the past several days? Just because she sometimes doubted Abeke's loyalties didn't mean she had to be so cruel about it.
"Finally learn how mean you can get" Rollan said.
Finn looked over his shoulder. He didn't say anything. Not a word. But he nodded, and Meilin's heart felt lighter. They climbed over the bank, down toward Trunswick, keeping enough distance to avoid attracting any unwanted attention. Meilin searched the town's appearance for any clues as to what kind of place this could be and what their friends could be up to inside it. The town's structure was straightforward: castle crowning the hill, buildings huddled around it. It stank of beeswax smoke, coal, and the peculiar scent of horse hooves, so Meilin could tell already that it had more than its fair share of blacksmiths. The blue flags that flew from nearly every roof flapped listlessly, made of heavy wool rather than the silk and linen flags that Meilin had grown up under. The entire town seemed crude and disheveled in comparison to Zhong's elegant cities, and Meilin felt a pang in her heart. She pushed it down. No time for weakness or second-guessing her decision to stay now. "Ah, Trunswick," said Finn. His voice had gone a little flat. It was a bit like his face had gone when the Hawker had brandished the knife. "What is that over there?" Meilin asked. Over a nearby knot of trees, a patch of sky was dark with smoke. Lifting her chin, Abeke sniffed the air. "I think it's a bonfire. It's not just wood they are burning, anyway. Do you smell it?" Abeke was right. There was something a little off about the odor of the fire. Something a little unpleasant that made her feel anxious. Zhong, burning ... She pushed the thought away as her eyes stung. Finn interrupted her thoughts by saying, "It doesn't feel like a good sign."
"They are burning the Howling House where Conor and I are!" Rollan shouted. "Wait what!" Lenori said. "No" Conor said "I said in the last chapter they are burning their fields… Maybe"
"Finn... I think Essix is trying to tell us something," Abeke said. She pointed in the other direction, toward Trunswick. Or rather, since she was holding the cat with both hands, she pointed with the cat to where Essix circled over a large building partway up the hill. "Do you think the others are in that building?" "It would be bad luck if they were," Finn said. "That's the Howling House. It's where they keep people and animals who bonded without Nectar, and developed the bonding sickness. Well, one sort of bonding sickness — it's for those who went mad. It's part hospital and part prison." Meilin's mind turned over his words: those who went mad. She had heard of the bonding sickness, of course. Everyone learned about the dangers of bonding without the Nectar. In the days before Nectar, some bonds went well, and other bonds didn't. Human and animal were tied to each other, and yet couldn't connect. Sleepless nights piled one upon the other. Some were able to work through it on their own, or learned to live with the difficult bond. But others, as Finn noted, went mad. This was why even the most remote village in Zhong had a designated authority to notify the Greencloaks when a child came of age. It was hard to imagine anyone bonding without Nectar these days.
"Have you ever heard about the Bile?" Rollan asked. He was ignored again.
— harder still to imagine enough difficult bonds to warrant an entire prison. Meilin asked, "You think they're being kept prisoner there?" "It is the only place that would hold them and their spirit animals, yes. Everything inside that building is reinforced to prevent spirit animals from escaping." Meilin said, "How do you know so much about that place?" Finn didn't answer. He'd gone all quiet and faraway again. Suddenly she remembered what he had said in the Moon Tower. He had bonded to Donn without the Nectar. What had he called his bond? Difficult. Difficult enough to be locked up in the Earl of Trunswick's house for insane humans and animals? Difficult enough that the Earl of Trunswick might have tried to kill him? "So now what?" Abeke demanded.
"I asked" Abeke said "Not demanded"
All three of them looked toward the sun in the sky. Finn said, "We wait." He held out his arm, and Essix coasted smoothly down to land heavily on it. Abeke settled to the ground, opened her bag, and pulled out some jerky to munch on. They all seemed content to wait. Waiting was Meilin's least favorite thing.
"I need to teach you patience" Rollan said "Because your tutors didn't teach you that very well"
Trunswick was a silent place after dark. When night fell, Abeke, Meilin, and Finn crept closer to town. Unlike the cities of Zhong, which were lit and beautiful even at night, Trunswick was nearly as black as the moor. Only a few lanterns illuminated the main street up to the castle. There were no candles in any of the windows. No voices rose from the bars and no stragglers moved through the streets. Even Trunswick's famous and industrious blacksmiths completely disappeared as night fell, leaving behind only a few glowing embers in their forges. Guards stood in vigilant silence at each of the gates. Finn whispered, "There's something very wrong with this town." Meilin, Finn, and Abeke crouched around the back of the wall. There were no gates here; no one to see them. But that meant there were no easy entrances either. In a low voice, Abeke asked Uraza, "Can you find us a weakness in the wall?" The leopard galloped away, low and silky. She returned a few minutes later to lead them to a bricked-up gate. Some of the barrier had crumbled, leaving an opening just large enough for a person to crawl through. Meilin kept Jhi in passive form. The gap was not large enough for a giant panda. On the inside of the wall, the soundless nature of the town was even more pronounced. Meilin was very aware of their footfalls on the uneven cobblestones as Finn led the way up the narrow roads toward the Howling House. Uraza trailed behind, ears swiveling as she listened for threats. Overhead, Essix's dark form flitted from roof to roof, confirming they were headed in the right direction. At the Howling House, torches blazed, their fiery reflections thrashing in the puddles of last night's rain. Out front, guards moved restlessly. At least three large mastiffs lay just inside the door. It was a hive of activity in comparison to the quiet town. "This seems impossible!" Meilin whispered to Finn. "Patience," he whispered back.
"Ha!" Rollan said
Meilin wasn't very fond of patience. Abeke whispered to Uraza, and the two of them danced quietly through the shadows, finding an invisible path around the side of the fortified barn. The leopard led them to a hiding space in a blacksmith's shop directly across the narrow road from the Howling House. It was full of the things one would expect to find in a smith's shop — anvil, furnace, wrought iron firedogs for holding wood — but was also cluttered with cabinetry and farming equipment. In the smith's, Abeke crouched behind a half-built cabinet. Finn took a place behind a large harrow. Meilin hid beside the still-warm forge. The blacksmith was on the higher side of the road, and from their hiding places they had a clear view into one of the only rooms with a normal-sized window. Inside, there were five people eating a not insubstantial meal. One very handsome, oily man and four kids. The last time Meilin had seen the man with his tidy beard and expensive clothing, he had been stabbing one of her allies in the back during the battle for the last talisman.
"Are you sure that's not Zerif?" Olvan said
Just the sight of him placing a spoon in his mouth was enough to close off her throat for a moment. She barely checked her first impulse, which was to leap across the road and engage him in combat on the spot. "Zerif," Meilin and Abeke snarled at the same time. Their voices were equally harsh, which surprised Meilin. She still didn't trust Abeke, but her rage at Zerif sounded genuine. Uraza's tail thrashed at the abrasive tone. Finn said, "l'Il stand watch here. You two go listen." Abeke handed Finn the cat and Meilin shook her head with annoyance "What are you planning to do with that thing anyway?" she demanded. "Throw it at Rumfuss?"
"It's called a pet Meilin" Abeke said
But Abeke merely smiled, cool and catlike, before following Meilin to the window. The voices inside were mumbled, but audible. "Don't be foolish," Zerif was saying in between bites of dinner. Meilin was disgusted to watch him eat — not because he wasn't careful, but because of the opposite. For some reason the care he took to place each bite in his mouth and then wipe his lips infuriated her. How dare he eat like there is nothing wrong in the world. How dare he wipe his beard clean as if it matters if he is handsome! "No one will care about the Great Beasts when we're done," he continued. "Did you see any of the townsfolk caring a whit for Briggan today? They only had eyes for Elda." Devin preened as he admired his wildcat tattoo. "She is everything the people want." "That's what I am telling you children," Zerif said. The older blond girl with the flat frog looked rather annoyed at the word children. "For decades, the Greencloaks lured in most people with their talk of Erdas's Great Beasts. By making every village everywhere reliant on the Greencloaks and the Nectar, they denied the power every country already has. Briggan serves no one but Briggan!
"That is not true!" Conor said
But you, Devin. You serve Eura with their black wildcat. And you, Tahlia, serve your people with Tiddalik, Stetriol's beloved water-holding frog. Ana, with Amaya's glorious and fearful gila monster, Ix. And of course Karmo with Impundulu, Nilo's lightning bird. How long have your people been waiting for these legends to release them from hardship? Now they don't have to wait for the future. We make the future."
"You mean to control the future with your fake animal "legends" Rollan said
Devin nodded enthusiastically as Meilin silently fumed. "How long do we have to deal with people like them, then?" demanded Karmo, jerking his chin toward the interior of the barn. He was a handsome, dark-skinned boy already as tall as Zerif. "As long as we battle the Greencloaks, we are distracted from our true purpose of aiding our people." People like them. Meilin was sure he must mean Rollan, Conor, and Tarik. "Once we get the talismans, they will be powerless to stand against us," Zerif said. He was briefly distracted by his reflection in the spoon. He admired it. Tahlia looked vexed. "Just how can you be so certain? There are four other children with Great Beasts out there, looking for the exact same thing as us." "Two," corrected Devin with a smirk. "These two we already have aren't getting out any time soon. My father built the Howling House to be the best." Abeke and Meilin shot each other a look. Two? Who was missing?
"Tarik unfortunately" Rollan said sadly
"And I chose all of you to be the best," Zerif said. "The four returned Great Beasts were summoned at random to rather unworthy human partners, as I think you saw earlier today. Each of you, on the other hand, was handpicked to be a hero. Excellent breeding —" He smiled at Devin. "Exceptional intelligence —" He pointed his spoon at Tahlia. "Exceeding connections —" This was directed to the girl with the lizard. "And exacerbating strength," he said to Karmo. The table was quiet, probably because none of them knew what exacerbating meant, including Zerif. "With the Bile," Zerif continued, "we can create even more worthy heroes. It creates bonds even when the Nectar fails. And the bonds are superior. The human has complete control! We choose the animal! No follower of the Reptile King needs to worry about bonding with a field mouse. Long live the Reptile King!"
"Conotrol?" Lenori said "No bond is controlling. It's about partnership!"
"I almost killed the Reptile King" Abeke said "The Reptile King won't live forever"
The table was quiet again, and the faces of the children indicated that they had heard Zerif give this speech before. Finally, he cleared his throat, moved his plate, and produced a piece of parchment. "Here's the map we got from the two urchins. Devin, you and Karmo will use this to follow them to their destination. Get the talisman. I will come find you." Karmo said dubiously, "You are not joining us?" "Karmo," Zerif said. He stood and draped an arm across the tall boy's shoulders. "Karmo, Karmo, Karmo. Now that the first stage of your training is done, it's time for me to return Tahlia to Stetriol and Ana to Amaya, where they can begin to inspire their people. Devin remains here in Eura where he is most influential. And you, as we've discussed, have more work that you can do on Nilo's behalf before you go home as a hero. There are two of you. Two of them. I think we can all agree that Elda and Impundulu are more than a match for that panda, even with Uraza helping her." Meilin gritted her teeth.
"I really wanted to punch Zerif!" Meilin said
There was no point in staying any longer. Punching Abeke's arm lightly, she indicated for the other girl to follow. When they returned to Finn, Meilin said grimly, "They're definitely Conquerors, handpicked by Zerif. He says they have some sort of version of Nectar that can force a bond. And they have Rollan and Conor there in the Howling House." Finn's expression went very dark. He said, "At Greenhaven, we had heard rumors. .. . There's no time to spare. We have to get the others out. What we need is a diversion. Havoc. So they don't have time to attack us." Meilin felt an idea prickle. She whispered, "Keep a lookout. I need to have a moment of silence." She released Jhi from her dormant state. The panda was dreadfully conspicuous in the dark. Not the black bits, of course. But everything white. And the blacksmith shop was not designed to fit a panda. Jhi shifted her weight so that the anvil would stop poking her in the flank. Meilin asked, "Jhi, will you help me? I think I have an idea, but I need to focus." The panda actually looked happy to be asked — ears pricked forward, eyes brighter, mouth less tense. Meilin hadn't realized before that Jhi's face was capable of holding such expression. The moment Meilin closed her eyes, the panda's calming influence washed over her. It would be easy to fall asleep, she thought. She could curl up in the panda's soft fur right here. Suddenly she missed Zhong so badly that she could cry. This was all part of the panda's power, she knew. Pushing down all her logical barriers. She didn't have time for it. Focusing, she shoved away the emotion. Choices swirled into view. This time they were more like stars than planets:
"Oh great this thing again" Rollan said
bright and hard to look at directly. When Meilin considered some of them — causing a commotion with the mastiffs, sneaking in another window, attacking the guards directly — they fizzled and died out. But one choice stayed bright. Meilin let it circle her as she studied it from all sides, looking for dull areas or weakness. This idea isn't an easy one, she thought. Jhi's encouragement washed over her. Of course she was right. Meilin had never needed the easy way. She opened her eyes. "Well?" Abeke asked. Meilin said, "I'm going to need you to cover for me. This idea is going to take a bit of time."
"Half decent plan" Abeke said "Not the best though and you didn't think it thorough well. I'll go"
"Yeah. No. I didn't." Meilin said "I had to think fast though"
Chapter Nine. Escape