《The House Beneath - A Progression Fantasy》 1.01 - In the bakery, with the kitchen knife
Hina staggered back from the blow, crashed into a cooling rack and fell against the counter. Her arms sent a mixing bowl and a rolling pin flying before she caught her balance. A huge scowling figure loomed over her in the humming electric light. Lagi clenched his fists, eyes bright and glistening. Pale light from Ofelia''s crescent streamed through the high window behind Lagi''s head¡ªit was early morning. The bakery wouldn''t open for hours yet. No one was coming to help her. She swept her hand back and forth along the bench beside her, looking for something, anything. "How can you be so fucking selfish, Hina? Fuck!" Flecks of spittle landed on her face. Her head was full of angry bees. She shook it. It didn''t help. "You can''t do this to me." Lagi drew his enormous hand back. "You can''t. I won''t let you." His palm caught her across the face with a crack. Hina''s vision flashed with tiny points of light and a groan slipped out of her mouth. "It''s not right." Lagi shook his head, jowls swaying. "It isn''t right." The tips of her fingers brushed against something. She reached out. "You can''t¡ªyou can''t leave me." Lagi looked down at her, lower lip trembling. "You made a promise, Hina." His hand stretched back, paused. "Tell me you won''t leave me," he said, voice small and desperate. "Tell me you won''t." Hina shook her head. No. She was leaving. She had to. Roaring with grief and rage, Lagi struck her. His fist caught her in the stomach. Folded by the impact, Hina collapsed to the floor with the breath knocked out of her lungs. She curled herself up around the sick and hollow pain of it, one hand holding her stomach, the other gripped tight to what she''d found on the counter. "No. No." Lagi muttered. "This isn''t right. No." Hina had to get up, the thought pierced through the buzzing thrum in her head. She had to get up or she''d die here. One way or another. "You can''t¡ª" Lagi shuffled back and forth muttering to himself. "She can''t¡ªyou can''t¡ªno." Ignoring the ache, the wrongness in her guts, Hina rolled up into a crouch on the floor. Lagi brought his leg back for a kick. "You can''t do this to¡ª" Driving herself up with the full force of her legs, Hina''s right hand pushed out and up with what she''d found on the counter, the only thing that could be of any help. She pushed up with the knife, the tip of it catching on white linen. Pushed hard at first, and then the resistance was gone. The knife slid home with a deep wet shluk. The bakery fell silent. The rage drained off of Lagi''s face. Watery eyes blinked at Hina, then looked down. His expression was hurt and confused. Hina''s mouth opened. She followed Lagi''s gaze to the handle of the knife sticking out of his chest. The white knuckles of the fist that held it. Her knuckles. Her fist. Her knife. Hina wasn''t quite sure how it had gotten there. It didn''t seem real. Lagi lurched back, pulling the knife free from his chest with a squelch. He slumped against the base of the new oven that he''d been so proud of, breathing hard. The knife was in Hina''s hand, bloody. She wiped both sides of it on her apron, watched with horror as red seeped in to beige linen. That was going to leave a stain. A sick sucking sound came from Lagi''s chest. "Oh." Hina looked down at his pale face, his staring eyes. "Sorry," she said. "Sorry." She could taste bile. "Sorry." "You¡ª" he croaked. "Can''t¡ª" Blood pooled on the clay tiles, spreading along the lines of grout, reaching towards Hina''s feet. Her stomach lurched, and she bent double, retching. Droplets of sick and blood splashed onto the doors of the glossy wooden cupboards. She''d only cleaned them yesterday. Sliding down with her back against the wood, Hina hugged her knees. The room spun. Lagi''s gurgling breaths got louder. The reek of shit cut through the blood and the bile. He was¡ª Something twisted in Hina''s guts. She let out a low moan, head between her knees. She couldn''t stay here. She knew that. She couldn''t stay here. The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. A wet gasp repeated, slower now, as Lagi tried and tried to catch his breath. It stopped. The electric lights crackled and hummed into the quiet. Hina''s eyes opened. Blood and sick had soaked into the hem of her dress. She had a lot of laundry to do. She let out a hysterical giggle then pressed a hand over her mouth to keep the sound from getting out. She saw her hand on the knife again, pushing up, pushing in. It had hardly taken any effort at all. Hina had to go. She pulled herself up on shaky limbs, one hand on the counter for balance¡ªfingers still clutching the knife, white knuckled. Only a slight change of plans. Lagi lay on his side awkwardly, white face in the muck. He wasn''t moving anymore. He was¡ª It was nothing to worry about. Lagi was¡ª By her own hand. Lagi was dead. Hina had to leave, before someone came. Had to be gone before someone found him. Had to get clean. She couldn''t go anywhere looking like this. * * *
The first time Hina had come home from working in the bakery, clothes covered in flour, Suki had been furious. Furious that she''d been walking around town looking like a common labourer when she had a reputation to uphold. Whether that was Hina''s own reputation or her mother''s, Hina wasn''t sure. Since then, Hina''s mother had made her keep a change of clothes at the bakery. They were folded up in the washroom, on the shelf next to the shower. She supposed she should be grateful for that now. Hina rinsed the knife in the sink, and left it there to dry. The package from her dress went onto the edge of the sink where it wouldn''t get wet. She glanced at the mirror. There was blood on her cheek, the tiny spots bright against brown skin. She brushed at it with her fingertips. It smeared. Standing in the shower, which filled half the space in the small tiled room, Hina turned the faucet. Cold water hissed out of the shower-head to fall like tiny knives, stabbing into the top of her head and her face. The shock of it swept away some of the fog in her head. Hina''s clothes soaked through in moments, blood and muck running down, across the tiles and into the drain below, disappearing like magic. When the worst of it was rinsed off, Hina struggled out of her wet clothes, peeling them off of her body. She kicked off her sandals, rinsing them under the water. Hina didn''t have a spare set, not here, not anywhere she would be able to get to. She''d have to make do with what she had. Her filthy clothes she left bundled at the base of the shower to rinse while Hina washed herself properly, scrubbed at the blood on her legs with the little bar of white soap. She closed the faucet and caught the last of the drips of water from the shower on her back, shivered with the cold of it. It was okay. Hina took a deep breath. She filled her lungs and then slowly exhaled. She was okay. She had survived. She had survived... and there was a body in the other room. A flash of blood and a knife¡ªHina took another breath. Her mind tried to work on the problem, slipping over it like she was trying to peel vegetables with oily hands. There''s a body in the other room. And what next? Someone finds it. She tried to work through the consequences, one step at a time. When someone found the body, the best case was that Hina wouldn''t be going anywhere for a while. And the worst case was not good. Hina swallowed hard. If they decided it was murder, a short trial and an execution was a real possibility, like what happened with that Henderson woman who killed her husband, only a few months ago. Gallows in the town square. Or if the court was merciful, prison and hard labour. For years. Hina had only finished school a year ago. Her father might be able to protect her. But even if he could, and Hina wasn''t sure that he could, that would be it: she''d be stuck in Grambe for the rest of her life, stuck with whatever new deal her father decided to make. No. She had to get away. But there was a body in the kitchen. It was early. The bakery wasn''t due to open for three or four hours, and Lagi sometimes opened late. More often these days. She had a little time. Hina imagined moving the body, hiding it. That would buy her more time. But Lagi was a big man, he towered over Hina and was much wider. Had been a big man. Hina couldn''t lift him, but she might be able to drag the body a little way, if she had to. She could do it if she asked Kai for help. And her little brother would help if she asked, Hina was sure of it. But no, Kai didn''t need to see this. It would be better for Kai if he didn''t have to see this. It would be bad enough telling him about it. Kai wasn''t going to like this at all. He''d never liked breaking the rules. Not that it had done him any good. If she was working alone, it might take Hina an hour to drag Lagi out of the kitchen, into the store-room and down the hatch into the cellar. An hour, or more, of hard work. And then she''d have to clean the kitchen for it to mean anything, and that would take longer. Hours at least. Too long. Someone might come looking before she was done. And she was leaving, anyway. Better to be hours away than to spend hours making sure nobody found the body. She was prepared for leaving. Yes. She''d lock the doors and disappear. Get Kai and go, before this became a problem. Before it became a bigger problem. Drying herself with the coarse linen towel on the hook behind the door, Hina put her clothes on, shift under green linen dress, belt around her waist. The parcel from the edge of the sink went into the pocket of her clean dress. She shoved her feet back into sticky sandals, which were not obviously bloody. Good enough. The knife was clean, with a hint of discolouration in the wood of the handle, but it wasn''t an obvious murder weapon. It was a medium-length cooks knife, for cutting vegetables. Hina had stolen it from her mother''s kitchen, she''d been using it to cut dough. She slid the knife through her belt. The pile of wet clothes showed red marks and they were undeniably Hina''s clothes: leaving them would announce her as the killer for sure. Did that matter? Back in the kitchen, Hina kept her eyes from the body while she walked over to the pile of empty flour sacks in the corner. She took two back to the washroom, wrung out the worst of the water over the drain, and put the wet clothes into one sack. The bag dripped onto the tiles while she hesitated. She was prepared for the journey, but there were things here that might help. In the front room, yesterday''s loaves were still on display. Today''s batch wouldn''t be ready for the oven for hours yet. Two crusty loaves went into the empty flour sack. The cash register beckoned. Taking money might make Hina look guilty. More guilty. She pulled the lever, and the drawer opened with a ding. Coins glittered within the tray. Most of them were copper pennies the size of her fingertip, but there were also a few copper boots and five silver quarter-crowns. It was a lot, more than Hina had in her purse. Lagi must have forgotten to clean out the register yesterday. It was enough that Hina could take most of it and nobody would guess that any was missing. And Lagi wasn''t going to need it anymore. Four quarter-crowns, a handful of pennies and three boots went into Hina''s purse. She closed the cash register with metallic rustle and a ding. There would be more in the safe, but Hina didn''t have the key, and she didn''t want to search Lagi''s pockets for it. What she had was enough. Through the door to Lagi''s apartment, there was more that she could take, more that could help her. But taking Lagi''s personal possessions felt wrong in a way that taking money from the till didn''t feel wrong, or didn''t feel very wrong. And Hina had to go now. There was a knock at the door. 1.02 - The Messenger
The knock came again. Hina froze. Whoever was outside would have heard the bell of the cash register, if they had been there for any amount of time at all. And the lights were on. But maybe, if she was quiet, they might go away? The door began to open. The bell rang, announcing a customer. Like this was a normal hour on any other day, like there wasn''t a dead baker in the other room. Hina stood still, one hand on the cash register. A small man stepped into the room. He wore a gray suit and tie, and held a briefcase in one hand. The man was bald except for a neatly trimmed white mustache which matched his bushy eyebrows. He pulled the door closed behind him, ringing the bell a second time. Looking around the room, he took in the mostly empty shelves and paused on the display case full of medals that hung on the wall. When his eyes came to rest on Hina, he stopped, and his face broke open in a broad smile. "Ah, good, good," he said. "Worried I''d missed you. Took a wrong turn back there somewhere." He plucked a pocket watch out from inside his jacket and glanced at it. "Ah. Looks like I''m right on time." He tucked the watch away. "I''m sorry?" "Miss Mahina Gardiner?" "Who''s asking?" "Miss Gardiner, my name is Ivan Marlow." He walked up to the counter and extended one hand, a look of concentration momentarily crossing his face. Hina hesitated, and then leaned over the counter to shake his wrinkled white hand. One firm squeeze and then done. "Oh," His eyes widened. "I see." His face shifted back into a friendly smile. "I''m Hina. How can I help you, Mr. Marlow?" "Good, good. I see that I''m not in the wrong bakery then." Hina gave a tight smile. "How can I help you, sir?" "Oh! Today, today I''m a messenger. Here to deliver a letter. Though I must say," he leaned in and lowered his voice, "I took the place of the usual fellow, hoped to meet you myself." He leaned back. "Just marvellous. I''m sure you''ll be exactly what we need." "I''m sorry?" "Oh, yes. One moment please." He looked left and right at the crowded display stands, and put his briefcase down on the counter. He opened it, revealing a clutter of papers and small items. There was a vial of blue liquid, a copper flute, a large red gem with writing carved into its many faces¡ªthe briefcase closed, latches snapping shut one after the other. "Here we are," the man said, holding out a small envelope. "An invitation. I''m sure you''ll be able to make sense of it." It was a simple white envelope, with a red wax seal and Hina''s full name written on the front. "An invitation?" she asked, still feeling off-balance. "Yes, yes. Like I said, I''m sure you''ll be able to make sense of it. I''m sure of it." He smiled. "Read it carefully. It''s very important that you do." "Who did you say this was from?" "Ah, yes. Let''s just say it''s from someone who considers you a friend, for now. A potential friend, perhaps that''s more accurate. When you answer the invitation, they''ll be able to explain everything to your satisfaction, I''m sure." "That''s... ominous." Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on. "Oh, I''m sure that''s nothing to worry about. All the best things in life are a little bit ominous, aren''t they?" Hina looked at the envelope again. "I''m not sure I want to open this." "Well, there''s no need to open it now. In fact, I''d advise against it." He smiled. "Make sure you''re alone, and in a private place when you break the seal. You wouldn''t want to be interrupted, would you? Or for the contents to fall into the wrong hands, of course. That wouldn''t do at all." "Right, the wrong hands." "I see that you understand." He tapped his long nose with a fingertip. "Loose lips and all that. Yes, yes, you''ll do just fine. I''m sure of it." "Thank you?" "Oh, no, no. Thank you," he said. "I''m looking forward to your contribution." Hina gave him a blank look. "In any case, I must be on my way. The turning of the wheel never stops." "Of course." He gave her a short bow. "To our next meeting. I''m sure it will be under better circumstances." He gave her a knowing grin. "No matter how well deserved." "What?" "Well. Good day, Miss Gardiner." Hina watched as he walked out the door. The bell rang twice in short succession. The door closed firmly, and the bakery fell silent once more. Had he known about Lagi? Hina shook her head. She put the letter away into her pocket. Something to think about... later. For now Hina had more important things to worry about. She picked up the flour sacks with her dirty clothes and the loaves of bread. There was nothing else here for her. But she should, at least, try to delay any further visitors. She tried the handle on the front door. It rattled, but it didn''t turn. Locked. Already locked, just like she''d thought it had been in the first place. Strange. How had the man gotten in? It didn''t matter. What mattered was getting out of here before someone else came. Hina went out the back door, the one they used for deliveries. She locked it with the black iron key that she kept on a leather cord around her neck. Lagi might remain undiscovered for a day or two, if Hina was lucky. Maybe all of the usual customers would assume he''d come down with a cold. Hina briefly considered leaving a note on the door, but decided against it. It could make things worse if they were caught. As it was, she could still argue that it was self-defense. And it was. But if she tried to cover it up, well, that would no longer be an option. Someone must have heard all of the shouting. The bakery was not so far from the nearest residential district that Lagi wouldn''t have been heard. When the bakery didn''t open, someone would remember. Hina walked faster. A few streets away from the bakery she broke into a jog. Grambe was a small town, a little over a thousand people. Hina lived with her brother and her parents in a large house by the east wall. It wasn''t far. Hina turned the corner and the house came into view. She leaned one hand against the pale wall of the Fischer house while she caught her breath. The Gardiner house was blocky and two-storeyed, with a walled courtyard out the back. Three steps led up to the porch, where an oil lantern flickered above the front door. All of the windows were dark. With a deep breath to center herself, Hina walked around to the back of the house. She placed each foot carefully. She lifted the latch on the gate, then lifted the gate itself so it wouldn''t scrape against the tiles as she entered. The hinges squeaked towards the end of its arc, and the end dropped down to rest on the tiles. It wasn''t going anywhere. Moving by touch and memory, Hina found the weathered wooden stool under Kai''s window. She held her breath while she stepped up onto it, leaning most of her weight on the windowsill. The stool wobbled a little, but it held her. Hina pulled the warped panels of the shutters out towards her, first the right one and then the left. The hinges on the second shutter shrieked. Wincing, Hina stopped to listen. A bird called in the distance, but nothing seemed out of the ordinary. The room was dark, with a musty smell. "Kai," Hina whispered. And then louder: "Wake up Kai!" A voice groaned. "...Hina?" There was a pause, then more quietly: "What¡ªwhat is it?" "We''ve got to go, Kai. We have to go right now." "What? That''s not¡ªdid something happen?" "Later. I''ll tell you about it later. We don''t have time. If you''re still coming with me, we need to go now." Kai groaned again. "Okay. Give me a minute." "We don''t¡ªhurry, please. Fast as you can." There was a grunt in response, then some rustling noises came from within the room. Kai''s thin silhouette emerged into the pre-dawn light. "Are we¡ªout the window?" "Quickly." "Back up, give me some space." Hina climbed down off the wobbly stool and stepped back. "Careful." Kai came down feet first, sandals and bare legs followed by the rest of his lanky body. His left foot found the stool, and he let his weight down slowly. With a loud snap, the stool broke, and Kai tumbled to the ground. He let out a low, pained hiss. Reaching down into the shadows, Hina found his arm. She pulled him up and towards the gate. "Come on, come on." Stumbling, Kai followed. From somewhere inside the house a door slammed. Hina pulled Kai up the street and around the corner. The front door burst open and crashed against the wall. She risked a glance backwards around the wall of a building, trusting in the darkness to keep them out of sight. Their father stood scowling, lantern raised against the dark as he peered out. Broad and tall, the shadows he cast in every direction only made him seem bigger. He stomped down the steps and along the road, heading towards them. 1.03 - Climbing over the wall
Hina pulled her head back behind the wall of the Pattersons'' house. "I don''t think he''s seen us, but he''s coming this way," she said to Kai. "Let''s cut through the alley." Kai nodded. Her eyes had adjusted enough to the dim early-morning light that she could see his worried frown. She took off down the dark laneway behind the house. Hina stepped around the chairs the Pattersons kept behind their house, and the stools on the other side, and the empty bin. Her foot landed on the edge of a glass bottle and she stumbled and fell. Hina yelped with the pain of all of her still-forming bruises. The bottle bounced off the ground further up the alley, then found something solid with a crash and the tinkle of broken glass. Kai gave her a hand up. The broken glass would be mostly against the side of the alley. Hina tested each footstep along the other side of the alley until they were clear, then increased her pace. She couldn''t jog for long, but they didn''t have far to go. Two turns on, Hina slowed, both to catch her breath and because they were getting close. And there it was, the gate with the broken latch. She walked forward and pulled it open. She held a finger up towards Kai for quiet¡ªnot that he could see it¡ªthen stepped into the courtyard. It was a familiar layout: three metres by four meters tiled, with a line for washing and space for sitting. All of the nicer homes in Grambe had a similar yard, but this one was special. The owner was an older man whose wife and children had been killed by sapphire mites a few years back. Or at least that''s what the gossips had been saying in the bakery a few months ago. The story went that the man had no other family and now lived alone in a home that had enough room for many others¡ªa scandal, if only a minor one. Hina had noticed the clutter from the street while walking past one afternoon. She''d thought of it immediately when they needed a place to hide their travel bags. In the early stages of their preparations, Hina had been able to hide their things in the cupboard of her room, under the pile of spare blankets. But as the stash grew, she''d grown more and more nervous that either her mother or father would find it, and kill their fledgling journey before it began. She''d hidden a handful of things at the bakery, but when she found this spot, it was too good to pass up, and she''d moved all of it across town. Both Hina and Kai had been making regular trips out here to add to their preparations daily. The old man in the house didn''t seem to have noticed. Around the shadowy mess of decaying furniture, empty crates and rubbish, Hina found the mostly intact shipping crate where she''d stashed their things. She lifted up the lid and reached in. Her stomach lurched when her hand didn''t immediately touch the familiar shape of her travel bag. What if someone had found it? What if they''d taken it? Her fingers touched canvas, and she felt a surge of relief. In the alley, she opened up her bag to feel for the essentials. Nothing seemed to be missing. Her fingers traced the outline in her pocket. Everything seemed to be there. At least something was going to plan. "Got everything?" she asked Kai quietly. "Uh huh." He finished checking his own bag and slung it over his shoulder. The flour sack with the bread went into Hina''s bag. She hesitated for a moment before putting the other one with the bloodied clothes into her bag too. It could be bad if she was caught with those, but she didn''t want to leave them here where they were likely to be found. She''d dump them when they were out of town. A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. "Okay, let''s get out of here," she said, slipping her bag over her shoulder. Hina led Kai through the maze of narrow streets across town, to the break. It was a place where a part of the town wall had collapsed years ago, and the town council had never gotten around to fixing it. It was a good sign for the safety of the wilds outside of town. The break was the best way out, if you didn''t want to go via either of the main gates. Those would be locked and guarded, even at this early hour. The wall was made from carved blocks of ancient stone, each one as long as Hina''s arm. She didn''t know when it was built, and there was nothing about it recorded in the town library. It rose to around three times Hina''s height¡ªbuilt to keep out monsters much larger than anything the town had seen recently. Nothing even half that size had made it to the walls in a hundred years. But here, at the break, it was only two thirds of that height. Much easier to climb, though the jumbled stones near the top looked treacherous in the early-morning shadows. A voice shouted from behind them, "Stay where you are! Don''t move!" Four of the town guards had rounded the corner at the end of the street, fifty or sixty metres away, and were walking up the street towards them, spears held upright. Lantern-light illuminated their blue uniforms. Hina''s heart raced. She''d thought that they would have more time. A lot more time. Kai looked down at the ground. His hands shook. Hina couldn''t let him down. "Hey." She clasped him on the shoulder. "We''re getting out of here. Follow me." She ran towards the fallen stones at the base of the wall, scrambling up as fast as she could. The soft scraping sounds of Kai following came from behind her. And then the heavy, jangling footfalls of the guards running up the street in the distance, getting closer. She reached as high as she could for the top of the wall, feeling for footholds with the points of her toes. Her bag was heavy on her back, drawing her backward, down towards the town and the guards and the life that her father wanted for her. She fought it, hauled herself up with all of her might, pulled herself forward. Her muscles strained, blood rushed loud in Hina''s ears. And then she was up, standing on the jumbled stones near the top of the broken part of the wall. She gave Kai a hand up, breathing hard. From the top of the wall the fields stretched off into the distance in the morning light, gold and green, evenly studded with the walls of the farms. Vegetation deep enough to get lost in. Another guard ran towards them along the top of the wall from the north gate. A shout came from below. A guard on the ground pointed them out to a broad dark figure¡ªHina knew that silhouette¡ªher father. She felt a sick stab of shame deep in her guts and was overcome with the urge to confess, to explain. Maybe it wouldn''t be so bad¡ªno. No. She was going to get out, she was going to get them both out. Hina lowered herself down the outer face of the wall. This side was much steeper, but the mortar had long-since worn away, if there had ever been any mortar. There were gaps between each stone, and the edges didn''t quite line up, leaving hand and foot holds for the careful climber. The Climber''s Guide said to keep three points of contact with the surface at all times, but Hina ignored that. She scrambled down as fast as she dared. One of the guards came into view at the top of the wall. A face she almost recognised under the helmet. She''d served him at the bakery only a day or two ago. He was pointing down towards her. "Here!" he shouted over his shoulder. "Hey! Stop!" he called down to them. "Around here!" Hina pushed off from the wall and dropped for the last metre, down into the ditch around the wall. She landed in a clear spot and took a few shaky steps before she caught her balance. Her legs and feet rung with the sudden shock of the landing. "Drop down," she called up to Kai. "Quickly!" He landed beside her with bent knees. "You good?" "I¡ªI''m okay." Hina grabbed his hand and pulled, leading the way across the ditch, running as fast as she could while prickles of fear on the back of her neck spurred her on. They would have to lose them in the fields. "To the north west," yelled the guard on the wall. "In the crops!" The tall leafy plants came to well over Hina''s head, the air had a bitter smell. A spiderweb caught her full in the face and Hina winced, but she kept running. Spiders wouldn''t kill her. A stitch developed in her side and Hina slowed, sharp pain stabbing into her chest as she breathed. She angled their path off to the left, circling around the town. Running in a straight line would make them too easy to follow. She''d lost track of where they were in relation to the farms she had seen on the wall, and she wasn''t familiar enough with the farmland outside town to be sure. There was no way to know what was ahead of them until they came out of the fields. So long as they didn''t stumble into a group of farmers, she''d just have to keep moving out towards the edge, and hope for the best. Eventually they came across a little dirt track running through the fields. "Looks like our road," Hina said, judging their direction from the position of the sun. "Keep an ear out." "Okay." Kai nodded. "So, wanna tell me what happened?" 1.04 - Lychfyr and sleep
Hina walked along the dirt road for a while in silence. From somewhere out of sight overhead, a crow cawed. She wasn''t sure what to tell Kai. But he did have a right to know. Effective Communication said that being direct was best for difficult news. And she had to say something. She had a flash of her hand on the knife. Hina stopped walking. "I killed him." The words just slipped out. Someone drove an invisible spike through her chest. "I killed Lagi." "What?" Kai asked, startled. He limped to a halt beside her, standing before a solid wall of long twisting leaves. "I knew¡ªit was something big, but¡ª" "I told him I was leaving and, he got so angry, Kai." Her mouth kept moving. "I thought he was going to... He hit me, a few times." Her face and her guts ached at the thought. "The last time, I picked up a knife and... I killed him." Kai looked down at her, his narrow features were a blank mask. He didn''t say anything. "He died. On the floor in the bakery." She took a deep breath. The ache in her chest faded a little. "And then I took money from the register, and a creepy man walked into the bakery while I was doing it. He didn''t see¡ªhe gave me this letter. Then I came to get you." Their shallow footprints marked the loose brown dirt of the road. Kai''s were bigger, and unevenly spaced. Would they turn around now, and leave hers to go on alone? "I''m sorry," Kai said at last. "I''m sorry you had to do that." "You don''t¡ªyou don''t think I''m horrible? That I was wrong¡ª" "No," Kai shook his head slowly. "Some people... Some people need killing." "I''m sorry." Hina sniffed. "I should have told you, told you sooner. You can go back if you want to." "No. I don''t wanna go back. No." He paused for a moment, brow furrowed. "We''ve gotta keep going¡ªthey''ll catch us if we stay here. We can talk about it later." Kai took her hand and pulled her on. And Hina let herself be pulled along. He was right. They had a long way to go. After walking a while, Hina felt better. Better with every step she took away from Grambe, away from her father and mother. Better for every step she took away from Lagi. And for the feeling that she was heading towards something. A different life, certainly one in which she wouldn''t end up married and raising children within a few years. A freer life. Her left hand traced the comforting shape in her pocket¡ªthe letter that had started all of this. And then she remembered the other envelope, the one from the creepy man¡ªIvan¡ªthe one she hadn''t already looked at. She fished it out of her pocket. It was just like she remembered¡ªthick paper with her name on the front and a seal with a strange symbol. Alone and in private. Hina glanced back down the narrow road between the rustling plants. There was no-one in sight. Close enough. Hina opened the envelope. The seal broke, and Hina felt a snapping tension within her chest. "Did you hear that?" she asked. "Hear what?" "Nevermind." Inside the envelope was a single piece of heavy paper, which Hina took out and read:
Mahina Gardiner, You are formally requested to come and dine with The Grove On any single night of your choosing Accomodations will be provided Be sure to bring a gift Regards, The Grove-keeper
She passed the paper over to Kai and looked into the envelope to see if she''d missed anything. At the bottom was a little metal disc, the size of a penny, shiny and green. On one side, the image of a walled tower, and on the other, a tree. An olive tree? She couldn''t quite make it out. It wasn''t money¡ªprobably worthless. "This was from the guy this morning? The one in the bakery?" Kai asked. "The door was locked and he just walked right in." "Was it," he waved his hands in the air, "a ghost?" "A ghost?" Hina''s heart lifted at the hint of a smile on his face. "He gave me the letter. I don''t think ghosts can do that. Can they?" "I dunno. Never seen a ghost." He looked down at the letter. "But no address. Not even the nearest town. How''d we¡ªhow would you take them up on this?" "I have no idea." Hina shrugged. "I guess we''d have to ask someone. Or maybe the little disk that was in there does something." Stolen story; please report. "Show me?" Hina passed it over. "Like a coin," Kai said. "But I dunno what it is." He shrugged and handed it back. "Except creepy. Let''s never go there." "Wherever it is." He grunted. "So, they''re gonna follow us?" "At least until we''re out in the wild." "And then?" "I''m not sure¡ªit depends on whether they''ve found the body." She sighed. "Whether they''ve found it yet. I''m pretty sure they''ll find it eventually." "How long will that take? Did you hide it?" "No. I thought about it, but he was way too big¡ªI would have had to get help to move him. I figure it''ll be a day or two at the most. He''s almost never closed for a whole day, even if he sometimes opens late." "And then what?" "We keep going. Try to stay ahead of them, stay out of sight until we get to the city." "But not after that?" "I think if we make it to the city in time, they''ll let us go." "You think they''ll protect us, even with him dead?" "If not, we''ll disappear into the crowds. Nobody will be able to find us." "So we just go ahead with the original plan? Walk for six weeks and hope for the best?" "Once we''re in the wild, we move fast and avoid attention." Hina chewed at her bottom lip. "That''s the main thing. And we stay away from other people. At least the first few days. If anyone asks, we''re visiting family in the next town over. But, leave the talking to me, okay?" Kai shrugged. "Suits me." This would work. They wouldn''t get caught, Hina wouldn''t let them. While the main roads weren''t perfectly safe, they had a plan. They would be fine. If worst came to worst, Hina had her knife. And there was more she could do to be prepared, when they were properly away from Grambe. Ahead, the fields ended. There was no fence, just an abrupt line beyond which the crops no longer grew, like the sharp edge of... a biscuit. Hina held up one hand and crouched at the boundary for cover. Half-hidden by the plants, she looked out. The land was clear¡ªgrassy soil rose up to a huge wall of tangled brown and green, the Grambe hedge. Off to the side a stone cottage was dwarfed by the barrier plant. Hina looked carefully, but nothing was moving out there. Hopefully they were early enough to avoid notice, and the guards were still searching through the fields, or on the main roads. "Follow me." Hina walked out into the open, angling away from the caretaker''s cottage towards an empty stretch of hedge. The Grambe hedge was one of several key defenses against the wild, common to the towns and cities of the valley. Hina didn''t know if people who lived elsewhere used hedges or not, now that she thought about it. The lychfyr¡ªthe hedge¡ªwas covered in poisonous thorns, and grew to be very large with the right kinds of encouragement. The thorns weren''t deadly to human beings, let alone to most of the beasts of the wild. But they were sharp enough to pierce through thick fur or scales, and the toxin was strongly soporific. The combination was enough to discourage idle exploration, even for many of the larger horrors. With careful cultivation, the hedge allowed carts and people to pass through along hidden, winding paths. From the outside, these passages looked like nothing more than irregularities within a solid mass of angry thorns. Beasts on the ground outside couldn''t see through the hedge, and the town itself was set far enough back from the border to prevent any but the loudest of sounds from passing over. It wasn''t a perfect system: the largest beasts could peer over the barrier. And sometimes others managed to follow travellers through. Occasionally the caretakers grew complacent, or hedges were destroyed, or¡ªthere were many possible points of failure. Grambe hadn''t seen anything like that in recent history, but it happened in other places. Sometimes whole towns were lost when the next lines of defence failed. The remains of one of them, Atherton, was on the route that Hina had planned to take them to the city. They would be out there soon, in the wild with the monsters. Hopefully they could avoid attention. The lychfyr was even bigger up close. It filled the sky, a wall of twisting branches covered in finger-length thorns and masses of tiny green-black leaves. A hint of decay was on the breeze. There weren''t any visible paths into the hedge. Not here, not anywhere in sight. Last time they ran away¡ªthe only time that Hina had been outside of Grambe¡ªthey''d taken the main road, which was wider and much more obvious. But the two main roads out of Grambe were guarded, and those guards would be watching for them by now. The main road wasn''t an option. It hadn''t worked last time, anyway. The guard had caught them only a couple of hours away from town. The skin on the back of Hina''s neck prickled. Where they were standing would be visible to anyone who came out of the fields¡ªthey needed to move. "Keep an eye out for a way through," Hina said. "I don''t know where the nearest path is." She started walking along the hedge to her right, then broke into a jog. The ground crunched, shifting slightly under her feet with every step. The dirt had a faint shimmer to it. Nothing else grew this close to the hedge. More crunches came from behind her as Kai followed. The edge of the thorns shifted back and forth as she jogged. With every dip and turn in the barrier, Hina was sure that this was the one, that this was their way out. Only to be disappointed when she drew closer and found another impenetrable wall of spines. "There!" Kai called. "Quickly!" It was a dark and narrow gap in the foliage, barely wide enough for a person, and almost too low for Hina to stand up straight. But it was there. A way out. "Here!" A man''s voice yelled from across the clearing behind them. "Found them!" There were four of them in uniforms with spears. And they were too late. Hina stepped into the opening. She sucked in her breath, twisting her torso back and forth to avoid the thorns. The passage widened, just a little, the stench of rot intensified. Her forearm caught on something, and Hina pulled it free as she pushed her way further in. A thorn brushed through her hair, the roof of the passage lowered as it curved. Hina hunched her shoulders to protect her head. This wasn''t one of the better maintained paths, the caretakers had let this one go to seed, for months or years. Hina half thought she should make a complaint: unmaintained passage hindered my flight from justice. She only hoped that it went all the way through. The thought of having to turn around and go back was¡ªshe didn''t want to think about that. Light filtered through the foliage as the sun rose out of sight and overhead. Something caught Hina''s foot and she fell to her hands and knees. Her palms came down hard on the crunchy dirt, irregular shapes shifted under her weight. The ground around her was scattered with them, pale things. Bones. And wisps of fur among them. Beasts of the wild. Beasts who tried to pass through the hedge and failed. Hina lifted herself back up. She wouldn''t be joining them. Hina wouldn''t be feeding the barrier. Not now, not ever. She was getting out. The roof lowered, and Hina dropped to her hands and knees. She crawled, pulling her bag free where it had caught on the thorns above. Hina''s limbs felt heavy, the light dimmed. Ahead, a gap. A way out of the endless tunnel. She struggled for every movement now, forcing each limb forward as if against great resistance. She couldn''t stop here, the bones under her hands and feet blending with the image of a knife and her hand on it. Kai was¡ªshe hoped Kai was still behind her. Hina didn''t have the energy to turn and look. In a final burst of strength, she pushed herself through the gap and out of the hedge and into the dim morning light. The thorny vegetation surrounded them on three sides, but through a gap directly ahead, beyond the shimmering dirt, grass extending down and beyond that, rolling hills. The wild. Kai pushed through the gap in the hedge behind her, bloodied but moving. Hina collapsed to the ground and slept. 1.05 - Great potential
Two weeks earlier. Turning the handle, Oskar pulled the door open and stepped in to the bakery, out of the rain. A bell rang as the door opened, and again as he closed it behind him. He walked up towards the register. A bored looking girl watched him through wire-rimmed eyeglasses, a book open on the counter in front of her. She was dark-skinned, short and plump, and there was a hint of an old bruise at the base of her neck. But she looked around the right age. And¡ªyes. There was something there. Over the last year or so, Oskar had begun to get feelings about the ones that were worth testing, and this girl was giving him a good feeling. Probably only a minor talent, but minor talents paid his salary. Oskar mentally thanked the inn-keeper for the tip. "How can I help you?" the girl said, voice flat. Her eyes crept back to the book. "Hello." Oskar put on his best smile. "My name is Oskar Capello, and I''m a recruiter with the Qalarian Academy." He picked a card out of his pocket with practiced ease and held it out. He''d been doing this for quite some time, and he had pitches tailored to a variety of circumstances prepared and ready to go. Looking at the girl, he discarded the approach he''d taken with the last child. This one was older¡ªperhaps she''d already heard some of the criticisms of the academy. Though this far out from the city, he doubted that he would need to address them directly. No, he knew the right approach to take. The girl glanced up. "Don''t get many of you around here." She took the card and closed her book. "How can I help you, Mr. Capello?" "Have you been tested to determine your capacity to work with potentia?" "What''s that now?" "It''ll tell us whether you can enroll in the academy. Whether you can learn to draw power from the invisible energy that''s all around us, and whether you can learn how to use it." "Is that rare?" "Not especially. Most people can learn to work with potentia, and perhaps one third of everyone I test has enough capacity to study further. But every now and then, I come across someone with true potential for greatness." He smiled. "Who knows: you just might be the next great hero, defending our world from the horrors outside." "Is that really necessary?" The girl said. "When was the last time a monster breached the town walls?" And here it was. "Well, that''s up to you¡ªthe question of whether it''s necessary, I mean. But don''t you want more from your life than staying here in this two-penny town, cowering behind the walls? With power¡ªenough power¡ªyou can go where you please, when you please." The girl was nodding, which Oskar took to be a good sign. "No matter your goals, no matter your inclination, the academy exists to help practitioners be the best that they can be." "Hmm." The girl gave him a small smile. "No, I haven''t been tested." Oskar leaned in a little. "Would you like to be?" "What happens? If I say yes?" "The test is painless and only takes a moment. I''ll ask you to take my hands and hold on firmly, and then I''ll perform the diagnostic working." "And then what happens?" "If you have capacity, I''ll go away and let my supervisor know, and depending on how much¡ªdepending on the results of the test, you may receive an invitation to the academy, and you can decide to join us for studies¡ªor not." He gestured with open hands. "No pressure from me or anyone else to join up if you don''t want to, and no obligation one way or another¡ªsome people worry about that with the testing." He took a breath. "But if you do have capacity, we hope that you join us¡ªthat''s why I''m all the way out here, of course. This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there. "We have the finest program for practitioners on the continent, if I do say so myself. And of course, graduates are all honorary citizens of the city, which is quite the perk." The girl was nodding slowly. "And I''d have to go to the city? When?" "Yes. Admissions examinations for the new year start in just over twelve weeks." "How would I even get there?" "As I understand it, there are caravan routes that go north to Tenbury from here, and then on to Geth, where you can catch a train all the way to Om Qalar." "Expensive trip." "Think of it as an investment¡ªin yourself. But we''re getting ahead of ourselves. There are no guarantees that any of this is necessary." "Right." "Would you like to take the test?" "Yes, I think I would." Oskar took out the notepad from his breast pocket, along with his fine black pen. "What did you say your name was?" "Hina. Mahina Gardiner." "Mahina¡ªGardiner¡ªGrambe." He checked the spelling with her, and scribbled it all down. "You can read and write, Hina?" "Yes." "Good. Now, I''ll ask you to hold out your hands for me, one over the other like this." He put the notepad and pen down on the counter and demonstrated. Hina held her hands out. They trembled a little. Oskar held both of her hands with his right one. "Okay, this will only take a moment." He closed his eyes while he shifted his mind into the correct state, forming familiar patterns and empowering the working. This was his eighth test of the day, and there were more to come. Oskar''s eyebrows went up. The results were not at all what he''d been expecting. "Very interesting." He opened his eyes and smiled at Hina. "Very interesting indeed." "Well? What did it say?" "You certainly have some capacity. I''ll have to get in touch with my supervisor, but you should¡ªyou''ll definitely be hearing from us soon." "How long will that take?" "A few days, no more than a week." The girl let out a deep breath. "What about fees? For the Academy? Accomodation in the city?" "Yes, I suppose we should talk about that," he said. "Fees vary¡ªdepending on the candidate''s capacity¡ªthey''re typically outlined in your letter of invitation, and loans are available for those who need them. Accomodation is provided for students. Or if you don''t want to share a room with other students, cheap private lodgings are available in the city. But you''ll have to arrive early." Oskar smiled. "Any other questions?" "How would you travel to the city, if you were me? Assuming I wanted to go." "And assuming that"¡ªhe gave her his most reassuring smile¡ª"I couldn''t afford the train fare?" The girl nodded sharply. Perfect. Just perfect. "I''d walk south," he said. "It''s a long trip, but it''s the only way to get there without spending a lot of money. I''d join up with any reputable caravans I could find along the way, but if there were none available, I''d walk. You have long enough to prepare and to make the trip, but not long enough for any substantial delays." "What about the wild?" "Move fast. Keep your eyes open. Don''t attract any attention." "That''s all?" "Most of the time when people run into trouble, it''s because they''re careless, noisy, or slow. Caravans are slow, which is why they''re so heavily guarded. But even they only rarely run into serious trouble. One or two ordinary people walking through the wilds are much less likely to run into problems. If they''re careful." "Have you done it?" "Oh, yes. I walked here from Tenbury, and I''ll be heading along the river towards Rocli when I''m finished here. But it''s a little bit different for me. I''m a practitioner, and I can protect myself. Once¡ª" "What''s going on here?" came a deep voice from behind the counter. A pyramid of a man filled up the doorway, frowning and wiping his hands on his apron. "Lagi." Hina took a step back. "This is Mr. Capello. He''s a recruiter from The Academy." "Oh? What''s he doing here?" "I''m in the area performing capacity testing for student candidates." The man looked older than their usual intake range, but perhaps: "Have you been tested to determine your capacity to work with potentia?" "Not interested." The big man shook his head. "I''ve got cakes in the oven, and I could use a hand." He looked pointedly at Hina. "So if there''s nothing else?" "My apologies, I see that I''m interrupting." Oskar collected his notepad and pen. "Hina, it was a pleasure to meet you. You''ll hear from us soon." "Thank you." Oskar turned and left. The bell above the door rang on his way out. It was still raining outside, but Oskar didn''t mind. He absent-mindedly performed a minor working to keep the worst off, but his thoughts were on the girl. This was why he loved his job: it was full of surprises, and this one could turn out to be an excellent pay-day. The best candidates came from the least likely places¡ªa less thorough man might have skipped the bakery entirely. And a less thorough man would have missed out. There had been other visits in Oskar''s schedule for this afternoon, but they could wait. He had to get a move on before someone else stumbled upon the girl and snapped her up. He''d have to send a message to the academy right away: they had first rights, they were paying his salary. But he wondered which of the secondaries was most likely to bite: Jhalarn was hungry for candidates now more than ever, but the politics was always difficult. It wouldn''t do for Qalar to take offense. Silversong were still paying below market, but the girl was right up their alley. And The Grove was much more active lately, or perhaps even The Eyeless? Oskar supposed that for this one, he could send out messages to all of the likely parties and see who was interested. An unaffiliated prize of this magnitude was worth smoothing a few ruffled feathers. In his room at the inn, he sat down at the desk and began to write the first of many letters. This was turning out to be an excellent day. 1.06 - Enter the wild
Hina woke tense from a dream of being chased, and the sick ache in her gut grew as the memories trickled in. Where she was and what had happened. They were coming for her. For both of them. And this time, they were going to do more than just take them home. She rolled over into a sitting position, wiped dirt from her face. The sun was somewhere behind them¡ªafternoon at least, but so much brighter than it had been. A bird chirped in the distance. Kai was lying face down within arms reach, his backpack rising and falling slowly. The bag had a long tear in the side, the fabric moving unevenly as he breathed. The clearing was smaller than she remembered, lychfyr thorns all around them except on one side. Was it closer than it had been before they slept? Hina touched Kai''s shoulder. The blood on her arm was dry. She ignored it. "Kai, you okay?" She spoke quietly, there was no telling if anyone from Grambe was nearby. The rustling of the hedge would cover the sound of their voices, she hoped. Kai groaned. Hina shook his shoulder. "Are you hurt?" "No... sleepy..." He opened his eyes. "Oh shit." Kai moved to crouch beside her in the dirt. "Are they here? Nearby?" "I don''t think so. We''ve been here a while," she held up her bloodied arm. "I got pricked at least once." Kai nodded slowly. "Thorns went straight through my shirt," he said, touching his left side. "Just a scratch, though." "Show me." Hina moved closer. The holes in the fabric were barely there. "Lift up your shirt? Bram''s Emergency Treatment says¡ª" Kai rolled his eyes. "It''s fine." But he lifted up his shirt anyway. Hina leaned in to get a better look. Kai''s scrawny torso was a tapestry of yellow and orange and brown. Bruises. Old bruises. And his side was caked with dried blood. Hina reached out a hand to check the most recent wounds. "Ouch." "Shush. I haven''t touched you." There were three scabbed over wounds on his side. Hina thought they looked superficial. "It looks... okay." "I told you." Kai''s loose long shirt dropped back down, forming a tent over his knees. Hina considered the plant growing around them, looked down at the blood on her arm. She shuffled closer to the center of their little clearing. She shook her head to shake away some of the fuzziness. "If they were going to find us here, maybe they would have already. But they know which way we went. If we head out there now," she nodded towards the opening in the hedge, towards the wild, "it''ll be a long walk before we''re out of sight. If we wait until dark... It''s not long now." "Don''t think we should wait here." He was looking back towards where he had been lying, where a faint depression was visible in the ground. The thorns were nearly touching it. He shuffled closer. "Think they''ve found the body yet?" Hina shook her head in a sharp motion. She shook it again. "If they haven''t found it yet, they will soon," her voice small and quiet. Kai rocked back and forth on the balls of his feet. "If they''re looking now, they''re gonna look harder when they find Lagi. I think we run now. Get far enough into the wilds that they can''t follow. That they can''t tell which way we went." "And if they spot us running?" "Better there than here." Hina thought about that for a moment. She shrugged. "I can''t argue with that." "And I don''t think they''re gonna follow us into the wild. Not right away." "I hope you''re right." If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. Through the gap, the ground sloped up gradually into a series of low hills, long grass waving in the breeze. There was a stand of trees at the top of the hill in the distance¡ªif they made it that far without being spotted, they''d be out of sight. Safe. The road that ran along the river towards Hertley was somewhere towards her left. They must have gotten turned around. That was okay, they didn''t want to travel along the main road right now anyway. She looked around the edges of the hedge, left and then right. No sign of anyone. "I can''t see much, but I think we''re okay from here." "Let''s do it." Hina walked fast into the grass and up the slope, feeling exposed, like she''d stepped up to the podium at a school event. She glanced looked back over her shoulder. No-one in sight. She broke into a jog. The grass was knee-high and scratched against her bare legs as she moved up and over the first hill and then the second. Hina slowed to catch her breath at the tree line. Standing in the dappled shadow of a sala tree, she turned to look back. The great mass of the Grambe hedge filled her vision, sun a above it in the sky. Nothing was moving, no boats on the river, no-one on the road. The feeling of being watched faded. The school-children had gone home for summer. Hina led them through the trees at an angle which would intersect with the road eventually, and when they got close to the road, turned so that they were headed in the same direction. It would be slow, walking around trees and bushes, but this way they wouldn''t seen by travellers on the main road, and they were close enough to the road that they wouldn''t get lost. Hertley was south and a little east, in any case. Hard to miss, for all that they would be circling around the town. The sun began to set as Hina found them a grassy clearing. "Let''s stop here." Sitting down felt amazing. Hina lay back for a moment, bag resting beside her, wild grasses tickling her hair. Her eyes closed. The warmth of the morning sun woke Hina. A bird called loudly from overhead. Her stomach gurgled audibly. She was hungry, she hadn''t eaten since¡ªshe remembered yesterday. The hunger faded a little. Hina rolled herself out of her blanket and sat up. Her bruises ached. Her face was tender to the touch, and her¡ªeverything hurt. She groaned. The blanket was a mystery. Kai must have put it over her after she fell asleep. He was sitting a little way across the clearing, cross-legged with an empty bag in his lap. The contents of his bag were piled on the grass in front of him. He was moving his hands back and forth in a circular motion. Was he sewing? "Morning," she said. Kai looked up. "Morning." He nodded towards the pile of stuff, continuing his stitch. "Bags got ripped up. By the thorns. Missing a couple of things¡ª" He hissed and put one finger in his mouth. "Ouch." Hina''s left hand found the outline of the shape in her pocket. "Which things?" She turned to look at her own bag. There was a tear down the bottom, she vaguely remembered pulling when it had gotten caught on the thorns. The tear was the length of her hand. "My spare shirt¡ªthe blue one? And the hatchet." "You stole Dad''s hatchet?" "His hammer, too." He grinned and held it up. "Few other things. He''s gonna be really angry." "Here." Hina threw him half a loaf of bread. "Sleep okay?" "Yeah. It''s really nice out here. Peaceful." Hina munched on the other half while she spread the contents of her bag on the ground. It looked like she had most of everything: Two spare dresses, one for working and one nicer one for the entrance exam. One of the big metal water bottles that she''d stolen from a grocer in the market. Kai had helped distract him, and had the other one. Her blue woollen blanket¡ªshe was sitting on that. Her mother''s little iron cook pot, which had a lid that you could clip down. One bundle of brown jute string. One spool of white thread, and one of her mother''s iron needles. Kai was using these to repair his bag. Three books of Little Flame matches. A small ceramic bowl and a spoon¡ªKai was carrying his own set. The knife¡ªin her belt. And the food: Two big bags of dried beans, red and black, rustling in their wax paper wrapping. They would need to be soaked before cooking, but they would last a long time if Hina could keep them dry. Kai should have two more bags in his pack and a few other things. Two more of seasoned and roasted beans, good for eating straight. A paper packet of sweet raisins for a treat. One more loaf of bread in a flour sack¡ªstolen, but made by her own hands. One small wheel of sharp yellow cheese. Three plums. A little jar of oil. A bag of her mother''s favourite spices. And one flour sack full of bloody clothes, slightly damp. Her blanket must have been plugging the hole in her bag. But she was missing a few things: her good black scarf was nowhere to be found, along with the little jar of honey she''d taken from her mother''s kitchen, and she was sure she''d brought another bag of beans and at least one more plum. Hina sighed. "I guess this will have to do." "Hmm?" "Few things missing, nothing major." "We''ve got enough food?" "Assuming you''ve still got your share?" "Yeah." "We''re good for a week or so before we need to stop in town. Are you done with the needle and thread?" Kai threw them over. Hina picked the spool up off the ground and dusted it off. She got started on repairing her bag. "Let''s get going after I''m done with this?" "Ready when you are." Kai was loading his things back into his bag. When she had the tear stiched up, she pulled the thread tight, broke the end with her teeth and tied it off. Her fingers found the shape in her pocket again. She got up off the blanket and folded it up. It went into the bottom of her newly repaired bag. One by one, she picked up each of her supplies from on the ground and put them back into her bag. The flour sack with the bloody clothes stayed on the ground. Here was as good a place as any to leave it. Hina paused, then pulled the envelope out of her pocket, opened it and unfolded a heavily creased letter. She sat back down on the grass and began to read. 1.07 - Mixed correspondence
Mahina Gardner, In recognition of your exceptional field test results, we are pleased to invite you to attend the undergraduate entrance examination being held on the first day of summer, 3146, for study at the Qalarian Academy of the Artes. Present this letter upon arrival. Should you be granted admission, we are prepared to offer you a full scholarship conditional on academic performance, covering your undergraduate tuition, room and board. Your admissions officer will discuss the terms and conditions of this off with you after your successful examination. Enclosed you will find a small selection of introductory training manuals for awakening your potential. We encourage you to read each one thoroughly, and to practice the exercises daily. Admission is conditional on satisfactory independent progress with these exercises. The academy reminds you that admission confers preliminary Qalarian citizenship, with all of the rights and responsibilities that this entails. Warm regards, Phillis Yander Head of Admissions Qalarian Academy of the Artes
Hina put the letter back into her pocket with a smile. She picked up her bag and slung it over her shoulder and they set out, walking parallel to the road. It was slow going, walking around trees and bushes and over rocky ground. She had read the letter over and over again, but it still didn¡¯t seem real. It had just appeared on her pillow, the morning after she''d met the recruiter in the bakery. She had been dreaming of this day for so long, and now it was here. She was going to the Academy. She was on her way. Even with the complications. If the academy worked out, if she passed the exam and was admitted, Hina wouldn''t have to go back to Grambe ever again, if she didn''t want to. And she didn''t want to. Even putting the¡ªputting aside that she was a fugitive, she didn''t want to go back. Not ever. The academy was both her best chance at freedom, and what she had been dreaming of for all of her life. It was a lot to take in. She just had to get to the city, and then she could start her new life. When she arrived, she would have to study of course, and study hard. But that wasn''t new or unexpected. Hina was well aware that the education she had received in Grambe had been woefully inadequate, but the hundreds of hours that she had spent in the Grambe library had to be worth something. She''d read everything she could get her hands on, everything that she could bring herself to be interested by, and while the Grambe library was small¡ªperhaps a couple of hundred books in total¡ªit gave her a decent starting point. She hoped it would be enough. But that was all in the future. Weeks away from being what she had to worry about. For now, she had to get there. They had to get there safely. And that was going to be a challenge. But maybe the exercises could help. She would have to practice them every day, one way or another. If she was lucky, something in there would help them get through the dangers of the journey. If something had come along while they had been sleeping off the effects of the thorns... Or even if they had slept longer and the thorns had grown closer. They had been lucky. And luck wasn''t something that they should be relying on. Luck ran out. So they had to be prepared. Hina had to be prepared. Ahead of her was a clear stretch of grassy ground, no obstacles in the way¡ªshe could walk and read. She took out the first exercise from the academy letter, a thick yellowed card printed with block letters.
Cycling Potentia for the Practitioner-Aspirant Potentia, the source from which all power stems, is omnipresent within the natural environment, occupying wholy spiritual space that overlaps with the physical. It may be drawn from the natural environment and transformed by a practitioner into neutral power, which may be used in any number of workings. The process of transforming natural potentia into neutral power was developed in antiquity, and remains largely unchanged to this day. The process consists of the following steps:
  1. Find a peaceful space, free from distractions. Tranquility is recommended but not required. Aspirants who experience difficulty in sensing potentia are recommended to seek an outdoor space under the light of the sun. Flowing water and environs with an aspect of growth, e.g. growing plants may also be helpful. If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
  2. Adopt a tranquil state of mind free of all stray thoughts and images. Cultivate acceptance of the true self and a spirit of openness to the wider world. Closed eyes are recommended until the correct state of mind can be triggered reliably.
  3. Feel the winds of potentia brushing against the edges of one''s ambit, the edge of one''s influence. The quality and nature of that potentia will vary by location, but even a poor location is sufficient for the suitably prepared aspirant.
  4. Without moving physically, draw the potentia inward with a pulling action. Hold for a moment, and then relax and allow the potentia to flow away. Various metaphors and images may be helpful for visualisation. The analogue to breathing is a common and helpful association, i.e. draw potentia in through one''s ambit on the in-breath and release on the out-breath. Care must be taken to avoid using metaphorical associations as a crutch, which may stunt a practitioner''s future development.
  5. Repeat the in-out cycle. Beginning practitioners should cycle for no more than thirty minutes per day. The most important thing is to listen to one''s body, and not to cycle beyond one''s own internal limitations, as these will develop with time. With time and experience, the aspirant may extend their cycling up to one to two hours per day, but no more. Personalised assistance should be sought out beyond this point.
Note well: the aspirant should under no circumstances engage in the meditation of a sign or pattern while cycling at this early stage in their development.
Hina put the envelope back into her pocket while she considered the card. She''d read it before, of course. She''d read through both the letter and the exercises several times, and attempted this exercise many times. There wasn''t anything in this one that seemed like it would help with the journey, not directly, at least. And the other one was similar¡ªthey both had the air of being foundational, rather than being directly practical. But there were hints and implications that seemed promising. Perhaps succeeding with the exercises along with a little more information would be enough. She wasn''t sure where she was going to find that information, but there had to be some way to get it. She''d have to ask around when they were in towns and when they met with other likely people. Brampton was the first city along their route¡ªmaybe there were some practitioners there that she could ask. And in the meantime, she would have to practice what she had. Success with these exercises would be part of the admissions exam, and she had to be ready for it. Was going to be ready for it. Failure was not an option. But the problem was that Hina hadn''t had any success with the exercises so far. And this one was the most basic of them all¡ªfoundational. If she couldn''t do this one, she wouldn''t be able to do any of them. When she''d sat down to practice in her bedroom at Grambe, the most she''d been able to feel was a slight tingling¡ªand that might have been her imagination. But maybe a change of location would help. Her bedroom hadn''t been the most tranquil place in the world, after all. Hina resolved to try again¡ªafter lunch. As many times as it took. Her stomach rumbled. The sun was high. Ahead was a break in the trees, the curve of the road visible in the distance. Perhaps it was time to stop for lunch. "Let''s stop for lunch over there?" she said. "Yes, I''m starving. I didn''t want to say anything, you seemed lost in thought." Hina walked off the path onto a grassy patch and sat. It felt good to stop¡ªher legs and feet ached. She wiped her face with her hands¡ªcarefully, her face was swollen and tender to the touch. She slipped her bag off her shoulder, let it fall to the ground and lay back. "Give me a minute," she said. They hadn''t even come that far. And Hina wasn''t unfamiliar with walking, but she could already feel blisters forming where her feet met the straps of her sandals. Hina reveled in the luxury of being off her feet for a few moments longer, then sat up. There was a lot to do. But first, food. "What are we having?" She opened up her bag and started sorting through it. "Today we have a selection of the finest local delicaces: crusty bread and sharp cheese." "Fancy." Hina pulled out a loaf of round bread that was more than a little bit stale. She ripped it in half with two hands, passing one half to Kai and taking a bite from her own. It was good bread. Lagi rarely woke up early enough to help with the bread these days. Or he had rarely woken up early enough. The thought left a dull ache in her chest. She found the cheese and passed some to Kai before biting into her own. It was beautiful: salty, tangy and delicious. A fine distraction, and a great accompaniment to the bread. Before she knew it, bread and cheese were gone, leaving only a faint sense of satisfaction. "I''m going to be sad when we run out of bread." "We''ll get more." Kai paused. "How long until we get some more?" "Maybe a week of walking before we stop in any towns? We''re good for a bit longer, but I figure that''s about where it''ll be safest to show our faces. Maybe a day or two earlier if we need to." "It''ll be fine. We keep going until sunset?" "Maybe a bit before? It''ll take a while to set up camp," Hina said. "But let''s sit and rest a while here before we get going again? I want to try this." She flourished the exercise card. Digging into his bag, Kai pulled out a battered paperback book: The Blood Queen. "I''ll be here if you need me." Hina read through the card again, then crossed her legs and closed her eyes and tried to focus on her breathing. The sun was warm on her face, and there was a faint breeze, the grass smelled fresh and full of life. She could feel a connection¡ªlike she was closer to the world, more in touch with it. And hopefully with the energies of the world. There was an electric crackle of energy at the edge of her awareness, just beyond her skin. She wasn''t sure if it was her imagination or not¡ªher wanting. Hina focused on her breathing, in and out, and nothing else: she was a being, an entity, embodied within the moment. The crackling energy around her intensified. She breathed in and out and in. And on that last breath a hint of something buzzing and powerful came with the air into her lungs. Hina breathed in potentia. She felt a jolt of pure power and a sense of rightness. Like she was on the edge of transcendence, more real than reality, like the world existed to respond to her desires. And then it was gone. The feeling faded, leaving her drained. She buzzed with left-over energy, but under it was a bone-deep weariness that felt like it went deeper than the physical. She lay back on the grass while she caught her breath. The memory of power was right there. And Hina wanted more. 1.08 - Ruins of Atherton
"We''re going to need a fire tonight," said Hina, clipping the lid onto the cooking pot. It was early, the sun only a little over the horizon. "Unless you want to eat dry beans, anyway," said Hina. They''d been walking for almost a week, and were nearly through their fresh food. She was ready for a hot meal tonight. Kai had been setting out "rabbit snares" for the last few nights, but Hina wasn''t sure that he knew what he was doing. They hadn''t caught anything, anyway. "Hina," Kai sounded thoughtful. "Do you know how to make a fire?" "You''ve waited this long to ask?" "We haven''t needed one yet. But do you?" "I''ve read a couple of books on the subject." "The Art of Firelighting?" Kai grinned. "Noble Pursuits of the Firemaker? What about: The Campfire Guide?" "Cooking with Fire, by Miles Keene." Kai snorted. "Do you know how to make a fire?" "Yeah, of course. That''s one of the things they taught us in the militia training." "Good," Hina said. "So if my way doesn''t work, we have a backup plan. You''re plan B." "I bet..." Kai was smiling. "I bet you the last plum that you can''t make a fire without using, hmm, more than five matches." "You''ve still got a plum?" "I was saving it. What do you say?" "Why do you still have a plum? Are you hiding food from me?" "Don''t change the subject. Five matches, or I get to eat the plum." "Fine. I''m pretty sure I can do it with one, maybe two." "Gotta be roaring¡ªit doesn''t count if it goes out right after." "That''s okay." "So you''re in? You''re taking the bet?" "Yeah, you''re on. But," she said, "if I win, you''re cooking dinner." "But it''s my plum!" "It''s our plum, Kai. Or are you chickening out?" "Fine, fine," Kai said. "The beans are already soaked, right? All I gotta do is boil them?" "Yep. And watch to make sure they don''t burn. I don''t want to eat burnt beans." "Then I''m in." "Good. We need to find a really good spot for the fire, somewhere out of the wind, and out of sight of the road. And we''re going to need to find some dry wood. Keep an eye out, yeah?" "Pity we lost the axe." "We''ll manage. We''ve got a knife for making kindling, and we can break the bigger bits up with our hands. We don''t need to chop down any trees." Around mid-morning they came to a fork in the road, which continued to the south east and the south west. Across the road and into the distance was another great hedge like the one around Grambe, only this one had gaps where it had been burned to the ground in several places. Through the gaps were overgrown fields. "Atherton," said Hina, shaking her head. She had stopped walking, the better to look. "What happened?" "You didn''t hear?" Kai shook his head. "About four or five years ago now¡ªI suppose you were pretty young, so it''s no surprise you don''t remember, but it was a big deal at the time¡ª "A group of traders carrying... iron back in from Hacurymock. Somewhere along the way they attract the attention of a greater beast¡ªthe man in the inn described it as a stone giant without a head, taller than a house¡ªa monstrosity. They say that it breathed fire from a face in the middle of its chest." This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience. "And what happened?" "Well, the traders were out of their depth. They''d lost some of their guards in an encounter with a flock of monstrous birds and didn''t have a chance of dealing with the thing. They fled towards the closest town." Hina gestured. "Atherton." "And that was it? There was nothing they could do?" Kai was staring at the gaps in the hedge. "It burned the whole town?" Hina shook her head. "The beast burned through much of the hedge and fought the guard. The militia was called in. The battle attracted other beasts¡ªnothing quite so big, but enough. They say that the town guard killed it, but not before it had broken great big holes in the town walls." "And then what happened?" "The townsfolk were evacuated at the first sign of trouble, of course. The guard and the militia fought until everybody got away, and then they retreated too. "Atherton was bigger than Grambe, with a much larger garrison, but thirty or forty people died in the fighting. And then the town was abandoned. "They''ve been talking about rebuilding it, about resettling Atherton for years. But Tenbury has other priorities¡ªor that''s what they say, anyway." "But they took all of their stuff? The buildings in there are empty?" "Thinking about looting?" "Is there likely to be anything in there?" "Nah, I don''t think so. It''s been years. Anything of value would be gone by now." "Aw." "Now, the fields are another story. Atherton was known for its fruit trees, apples and plums and pears. They say that the trees are still there, grown wild now, brambles and weeds all over. Might be worth a look?" "Are there beasts in there?" "Might be. But there''s nobody living here, so it doesn''t seem likely. Why live near a hedge if there isn''t anything good to eat?" "I could go for a quick look. We don''t need to go all the way into town." Hina led the way, down the slope to the road, and then walking along the road towards the hedge. As they walked, the fields beyond the hedge came into view, thick and overgrown plants stretching towards the sky. Here and there trees grew, their branches dotted with red and yellow and white fruit. "Looks like we''re in luck," said Hina. "There are still some trees here." "But where are the orchards?" "Hmm." "I''m not wrong, right? There should be rows of trees?" "Maybe they''re just not visible from here. Or this side was crops, and the other side was orchards." Hina led them through the hedge, feet crunching on the blackened ground. The passage was almost a hundred meters wide, but nothing grew in the space where the hedge had been. "Look," said Kai, grabbing Hina''s arm. "A house." He pointed to an old stone building that stood near the hedge, visible now that they had come around the corner. "It''s still standing." The building was a single story, with a thatched roof and a stone chimney. The walls were covered in ivy, and the roof was sagged in places. But the vegetation had been cut back around it¡ªit was standing in a little clearing of its own. The door looked sturdy, and the windows were intact. "The caretaker''s cottage," said Hina. "And it''s still standing." "Think someone lives here?" "Who would live in a place like this?" Hina wondered aloud. "Plenty of food if you know where to look, but no protection from the wild." "Let''s have a look," said Kai. "Maybe it''s abandoned." There was almost a little path that led from the road to the cottage, where the grass had been worn down by the passage of feet. Hina and Kai walked along it, and then stopped at the door. "Should we knock?" Kai asked. Hina hesitated and then rapped her knuckles on the door three times. There was no answer, but the door swung open, just a little, moving smoothly on well-oiled hinges. "Not latched?" Kai asked. "Not locked either." She pushed on the door to open it the rest of the way. There was a faint smell of rot, and a buzzing. "Hello? Is anyone here? We saw the house from the road. We thought someone might be living here." There was no answer. Through the door was a simple room, with a wooden table and chairs. The walls were stone, lined with brightly colored woven tapestries, and the floor was covered by a thick rug. A small stack of wood stood by the empty fireplace. The buzzing continued. Two clay bowls were on the table, cutlery laid out neatly to either side. "Where are they?" Kai asked, standing by the table. "Oh, ew." He put a hand over his mouth. Inside the bowls, the pulsing white bodies of insects squirmed and writhed. "Maggots," Hina said, grimacing. "Where are the people? And hmm." He picked something up off the table. There was a door set into the wall behind the table. Hina moved towards it and the buzzing grew louder. She reached out with a fingertip to push it open. The smell was strong now, rot and sick and¡ª The door opened. After a glimpse, Hina grabbed the door handle and pulled it firmly closed. "Let''s go¡ªlet''s get out of here," she said, voice tight. Hina walked out the door of the cottage and kept walking. Kai picked something up out of the corner of the room, then pulled the door closed behind them. "What happened in there? Did you see anything?" "Dead, all dead. Been there for a while." "Oh." "What did you find?" Kai put a hand into the paper bag he was holding. He took out something pale and took a bite, then smiled. "Dried fruit¡ªapples, I think," he said. "But¡ª" He hesitated. "Shouldn''t we... go back and deal with them? A prayer? Burn the bodies?" "No. We can tell a priest when we get into the next town, maybe." Kai grunted. "I''d want someone to do it for me. Better than feeding some bogle." "Yeah," Hina said. "Me too. But I don''t think¡ª" She stopped. "We can, if you want to. If you think we should. It''ll take most of the day, I think¡ªbuild a great big fire, drag the bodies out. Say something." Kai stopped walking, turned to look back at the town, which was just a smudge of hedge rising in the distance. He sighed. "They''ve been fine for this long, maybe it''s okay if we tell a priest in the next town." "They''ll know what to do." They walked on in silence for a while, and then Kai spoke again. "I found this," he said, "on the table?" He held up a small yellowed piece of paper. Hina took it and read while she walked.
Anders, This is your final notice. We have shared the bounty of The House with you and your family, and now the bill is due. We can find you, no matter where you try to run. Repay your debts. Or I will come to collect with interest. - G
Hina looked up at Kai. "What do you think?" "Someone sent this note," Kai said. "Killed them when they ignored it." "All of them." Hina shivered. "Even the children. Doesn''t that seem a little much?" Kai grunted. "Horrible." 1.09 - Cooking with fire
Late in the afternoon, they came across a dip in the ground, a rough circle that was ten or so metres in diameter, surrounded on three sides by mossy boulders that rose to around Hina''s height. A little path lead away to the west between the boulders. It was the perfect place for a campsite: out of sight of the road, and out of the wind too. The only problem was that it seemed that someone else had thought so too. A circle of blackened stones and ash stood in the center of the clearing, leftovers from someone else''s fire. "Looks good," Kai said, putting his bag down with a thump. "Best place so far." "It looks like a great spot, but whoever left that might come back." Hina said. "We should probably move on." "I don''t wanna walk anymore, Hina," Kai said. "I''m tired and hungry and I wanna sit down. And," he said, "you can''t get out of cooking dinner by making us walk all night." "You''re making dinner," Hina said automatically. "But..." She stood there for a moment, looking at the circle of ash. She hesitated. Kai sighed loudly. "Do you want to look for another one?" He stretched his arms out, and then his neck. "We can, I guess." He reached out to pick up his bag again, ever so slowly. Hina wasn''t sure. "For all we know, someone camped here once, weeks ago. And I don''t think we''re going to find a better spot." She slipped her heavy bag off her shoulders and felt herself relax, almost involuntarily. She sighed. "Let''s find some firewood." "Good." Kai stopped reaching for his bag. "I''ll keep an eye out for any wild-folk." He started whistling an upbeat tune, and wandered off beyond the boulders. Hina stared after him for a moment and shook her head. He was being quiet enough that she didn''t need to say anything. And she supposed he hadn''t seen the bodies¡ªthey were abstract, easier to shake off that way. Most of what Hina felt was a gnawing sense of dread. And hunger. Maybe it was mostly hunger. They needed to eat. But first, fire. And she''d have an easier time getting Kai to cook if she had good kindling. She walked in circles around the campsite, picking out fallen sticks and branches, anything small enough to break and use directly. Without the axe they couldn''t use anything bigger. They were lucky that it hadn''t rained in the last few weeks¡ªthe last time it had rained had been the day that the academy recruiter came to see her¡ªso what she found was reasonably dry, and she thought it should work. How dry did firewood need to be, anyway? The book had stressed that drier wood was better, but she wasn''t sure how much it was necessary. If it had rained yesterday, would they have no chance of making a fire? With food that needed to be cooked, it was something to consider. It was usually pretty dry around this time of year, at least. They were through the rainy season, all they had to worry about was the occasional storm. She returned with an armload of branches and got to work on breaking some of them up. She picked out the first branch and looked around for a good way to break it up. Her gaze settled on the nearest boulder: a big, grey and mossy rock that was covered in sparkly yellow specks that caught the fading light. It would do nicely. Hina leaned the branch up against the top of the boulder, put her foot in the middle, and shifted her body weight to break it. The branch let out a loud crack as it broke. Hina froze. She watched the edges of the campsite for a long moment before she let out a long slow breath. She broke the next branch more carefully. Soon enough she had a pile of small and medium sized branches. Now she needed kindling. She set to work on peeling bark and bits of wood from some of the branches until she had a pile that looked like it might work. Kai returned with an armful of bigger branches, which he dumped beside her. "Here," he said. "Now, we need to break those up. Lean them up against the boulders and step on the middle to break them. Quietly, yeah?" Kai rolled his eyes but he got to work. Mentally reviewing her campfire book, Hina built a little hut with the smaller branches in the ashes of the old fire. In the center, she piled up about half of the kindling. The preparations looked right, a pyramid of pieces of wood that started small and grew in size towards the outside. The match would light the kindling, and then the fire would spread up to the smaller branches, and then to the bigger, and by the time it got through those, Kai would be back with some even bigger pieces. If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. It should work, in theory. "This is match number one," she called out. She struck a match and held the flame to the kindling, blowing gently. It caught. A flash of flame spread to the kindling, and a gust of wind blew it out. Hmph. Bad luck, really. She just needed to try again. "Match number two," she called out. She struck another match and held it to the kindling, shielding it from the wind with her other hand. The kindling caught, and the flames spread through it, licking at the smaller branches. The kindling burned quickly, burned out in moments. The smaller branches never caught. There was a small glowing ember on one of the branches, but it went out while Hina watched. Smallest branches not close enough to the kindling, then. Hina rearranged the branch house so that more of the smaller branches were in contact with the kindling. She put the rest of the kindling in the middle. If she failed again, she''d have to make more kindling. "Three," she called out. She lit a match, and it went out immediately¡ªcaught in the wind. "Four." She struck another match with a little too much force and the match broke, the flaming head falling to the dirt where it fizzled out. Last match. "Five." Match to flame, the kindling caught and burned. Flames licked up towards the smaller branches, which were more heavily within the flames with her new design. The smallest branches caught, flame creeping up towards the bigger branches, which caught too. Success! Kai, who had been watching, wordlessly passed her a bigger branch. She took it and set it over the top of the fire, and added two more, in a triangular pattern. And a few more along the outside. The fire grew to a crackling, roaring blaze. It shot sparts into the air and set the shadows to dancing. Hina turned to Kai, grinning. "Got it in five tries." "Good job," Kai said, begrudging. "Next time, I''m making the fire." "Deal." "What do I need to do for dinner?" "When the fire dies down a bit, add some water to the pot, put it onto the fire, and stir it while it cooks. Don''t let it burn." "Alright." "Then, after it cooks through¡ªtaste ''em to see if they''re done¡ªwe''ll eat." "How do you feel about eggs?" "What?" "Eggs? Yes or no?" "I like eggs." "Good." "Okay? Well, I''ll be over here, yell out if you need me." Hina sat back on crossed legs by the fire. It felt good just to sit, but she tried not to let it distract her. She considered her cycling exercise. Over the last few days she felt like she had been having some success, but each time she managed to draw in potentia, she got distracted by the strange sensations, lost her focus and had to stop. She suspected it was a matter of experience, in knowing what to expect. The rush of potentia was intense, overwhelming. The exercise card spoke of imagery¡ªmetaphors that could be helpful in drawing potentia. She wondered if there was an image she could use which could help to incorporate and regulate that intensity. Not that the image would be doing anything in itself, but perhaps it could prepare her mind for the experience. She thought about where she was¡ªher physical circumstances: the rocky ground was hard beneath her, the tingling power all around. Like a rock in an endless ocean¡ªor a rock in a stream? Resisting, guiding, controlling the flow of water. She was a rocky outcrop within a gentle trickle of a creek. Hina breathed in. The creek grew wider and deeper, became a stream of rushing water as she inhaled, grew into a mighty river, flowing deep and strong. Underneath the image, a buzzing intensity flooded Hina, but she tried to ignore it. The rock endured, resisting the pressure, guiding the flow. Hina breathed out, the power seeping out of her as she relaxed. The river calmed, the image of it subsiding, returning to that of a trickling creek. A tingle of power remained within Hina''s chest, a crackling energy filled her body. With an effort of will, she ignored it. She breathed in again. The creek flooded, became a mighty river once more. The rock endured, standing strong amidst the waters, redirecting a tiny fraction of its flow into itself¡ªstrengthening the stone? It didn''t quite fit, but close enough. Hina breathed in and out again and again, tranquil and unmovable within the torrent. She was eternal and unchanging. The tingling within her chest grew and grew. With each new breath, the peak of the river intensified, and the stone endured. Except¡ªit took Hina several cycles to be sure, but the edges of her stone were being eroded by the water, even as it imparted something into her. It was only a little around the edges, but where once the stone had had sharp edges, they were becoming rounded. The stone was wearing away. And Hina was the stone. She slowed her breath, her draw on the potentia. Could she lessen the wear? Stop it entirely? She tried to control the intensity of the river with her breath, applying her will to the image as she drew potentia inwards¡ªthe river didn''t have to rage. The river faded back down to a stream. It took some effort to maintain¡ªto not allow it to grow as she continued to draw power. She managed it, watching the edges of her stone closely for any further signs of wear. After six cycles, she felt confident that the stone was no longer being worn away. Or if it was, it was at a rate beyond her ability to perceive. She cycled seven more times, the stream growing and fading each time¡ªher control over it sloppy but gradually improving. It was another thing that she would need to practice. Gradually she slowed, and opened her eyes. The sun had set and it was dark beyond the firelight. The beans were bubbling on fire and smelling savoury and delicious under the woodsmoke. Kai dropped to the ground on the other side of the fire. He''d been climbing a tree? He was covered in dirt and leaves, and had his hands cupped against his chest. "What are you doing?" Hina asked. "Eggs," he said, spreading his hands to reveal three of them. "I found a nest." "Nice one!" Hina said, and Kai grinned. "Gonna be a good dinner," he said. He cracked the eggs one by one on the edge of the pot, and tipped them into the pot. "Are the beans nearly done?" Kai stirred the pot, then dipped a spoon into it and took a bite. "Just about done, I think," he said. Leaning forward, Hina picked up the spoon from the clay bowl nearby, and took a scalding bite from the bubbling pot. "Yeah. Bit soupy, but just about done." She added a shake from the spice bag and stirred it in. "This can come off the fire whenever you''re ready. And then we can eat." The buzzing, the tingling in Hina''s chest persisted, a feeling of energy and anticipation. She felt like she could do a backflip if she wanted to. Like she could do anything. Kai wrapped the handle in one of his spare shirts before lifting the pot off the fire by the handle. He set it down on the ground nearby where it would cool. "Hello there," a woman''s voice called from the darkness. 1.10 - Dinner and a conversation
"May I join your fire?" the woman''s voice called from the darkness. Hina looked at Kai, who shrugged. There was no point in pretending that they weren''t there. "Welcome," Hina called back. A small, olive-skinned woman stepped through the gap in the boulders to the west. She wore a thick, grey dress and leaned on a gnarled and twisted staff. The staff was as tall as she was. A green shawl was wrapped around her shoulders, and she had short, dark hair and a pointy chin. Her face was heavily lined, and wore the hint of a smile. "Welcome," Hina said again. "Please come and sit by the fire and share in our hospitality," she said, reciting the words from Guest-rites by O. Grant. "Very gracious," the woman said with a nod. "I accept your hospitality." She set her staff to lean against a boulder, and sat down almost directly across the fire from Hina, legs to one side. Her eyes twinkled. "So, what''s for dinner?" Oh. Hina had offered her food, hadn''t she. "Uh, spiced red beans. And eggs. Would you like a bowl?" "That would be lovely, dearie." "My name is Hina." Oh. Should she have introduced herself with a false name? Next time. "Kai." "Ah. A pleasure to meet you both, I am Gerda," the woman said, watching Hina closely. Hina broke eye contact, leaning towards the cook pot to fill a bowl for the woman. The beans were a bit watery, but there was nothing to be done about it now. She gave Gerda her own bowl and spoon. They only had the two sets, but someone could eat from the cookpot, or Hina and Kai could take turns. "My thanks." Hina served up another helping into Kai''s bowl and passed it over to him, along with the other spoon, keeping the pot for herself. She caught the woman''s eyes on her as she moved back to her seat by the fire. "Please, go right ahead." "Not eating, child?" "Uh, we only have the two spoons," Hina said, cheeks burning. It was hot by the fire. "I''ll eat after Kai." "Ah, I see. Well, we can''t have that. Someone might get the wrong idea. Here." Gerda held out a spoon. Hina frowned at it. Gerda hadn''t retrieved it from anywhere that Hina had seen¡ªit had just appeared in her hand. "Thank you," Hina said. It was a shining, silver thing that caught the firelight, with black lines running through the face of it¡ªcarvings? She took a bite of the beans, holding the pot by the wrapped handle with one hand away from her body while she used the spoon with her other hand. The beans were bland, but hearty enough, and as she took that first bite, Hina realised that she was starving. Across the fire, Gerda smiled in approval. She dipped Hina''s spoon into Hina''s bowl and took a delicate bite. Hina ate quickly, one bite after another. As the silver spoon scraped the bottom of the pot clean, she vaguely remembered that she had been planning for left-overs when she started soaking the beans in the morning. They would have to cook more next time. And be better prepared for unexpected guests. Hina looked up, and the woman was watching her, smiling. "Hungry?" Gerda said. "Yes," said Hina, her face hot. "It''s been a long day... Why are you travelling the wilds, after dark?" "It''s hot, and filling¡ªjust the thing after a long walk. My compliments to the cook," Gerda said, glancing at Kai and then Hina before settling back on Hina. "Thank you both for your generosity. It is a rare thing, to find welcoming strangers in the dark." Gerda put her bowl down. "As to my business, I was kept late, visiting friends who live in the area." "Do you live nearby?" "Oh, no, dearie. My home is a long way from here. I was just passing through. I have a handful of other visits to make, to meet friends, and perhaps to make some new ones." "In the wild?" asked Kai. He threw another piece of wood onto the fire. The flames danced up. "Oh, I have friends all around these parts." Gerda smiled again, showing neat white teeth. "Always happy to make new friends." If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. "Isn''t it dangerous, travelling alone? What about the beasts?" "There''s nothing in this valley which would harm an old woman like me." She smirked. "And if something or someone gets any ideas, well, I have a few tricks up my sleeve." Her smile faded. "But what about you, children? What are you doing out here all alone, armed with only your good manners?" "We''re on our way to visit family," Hina said, and Kai nodded from across the fire. "In Brampton." "Ah, fellow travellers then," she said. "Brave of you. Brave and foolish. What would you do if a beast of the wild stumbled across your campsite?" "We''d fight," Kai said. "We''d run away," Hina said, glancing at Kai. "At least, we would if whatever it was was beyond our ability to fight." "Yes, dearie, know your limits." The woman nodded. "But running into the dark? Towards other, perhaps more dangerous beasts? What if you were sleeping when a beast came across the campsite? Hmm?" "We''d manage," Hina said. She thought of thorny vines creeping closer while they slept. "We''ve managed so far." "Hmph. Toothless," the woman muttered. "But a whiff of power, just a hint." Her voice rose: "What would you do girl? What would you do, I wonder, for power? For real power?" "Uh, excuse me?" "You are a practitioner? A student of power?" Hina hesitated before nodding. She gave up on the Brampton story. "I¡ªI would like to be." "Who is your master, girl?" Hina shook her head. "I have none. I¡ª" The woman frowned. "Oh, I see¡ªthe academy? You''re one of theirs?" Hina nodded slowly. "Hmph." The woman lapsed into silence. Hina turned to look at Kai. He was staring at her, eyes wide. He shook his head in a short, slight movement. "I was a student myself once," the woman continued, drawing Hina''s gaze like a magnet. "It was different, perhaps, in those days. My master was a cruel man, my apprenticeship long and harsh. But I learned my lessons well," she said. "Better than that old fool expected, certainly." "Wh¡ª" "For all his foul nature and petty lessons, my master liked to keep secrets. It wasn''t until after his untimely passing that I learned all that was to be learned from that man. He kept his journals well-hidden, but I found them in the end." "Wha¡ª" "He deserved everything that he got, that one," Gerda smiled nastily. "As so many do," she said. "In any case, what I mean is that I feel a certain kinship with you, girl, as you scrabble around in the dark looking for power. Scurrying from place to place, keeping out of sight of your betters." "I¡ª" "I have a gift for you." "That''s really not¡ª" "Enough, girl. If I wish to give you a gift, I will. And none will stop me." Gerda turned away from the fire and seemed to be doing something with one hand, out of Hina''s sight. "No, no. Hmm," Gerda muttered, "Ah, yes. Yes." Gerda held something out to Hina. "Take this, may it keep you safe in the night." It was a small piece of paper, no, a card. "Thank you," Hina said, her voice small. She took the card. It looked a lot like ... her cycling exercise? The words were hard to make out in the firelight, but the title read something about a barrier. Something fluttered in her chest. It looked like exactly what she needed. "Ah. And this." Gerda held out another card. "For your development¡ªit''s better for everyone that you learn to work a sign early, and this is one of the friendlier ones. Hmm, perhaps suited to your nature, I could not say," she said. "Learn its lessons and put it aside. Do not bind yourself to it¡ªI would be very cross to see your potential wasted, dear." Her voice turned hard. "And we don''t want that, do we now?" "Thank you," Hina said again, shaking her head. "And hmm." She looked at Hina intently. "Yes. You have potential. But strengthen your ambit before you attempt the sign, yes? You have a guide to the basics of ambit compression?" Hina considered her other academy exercise, but that was on ambit expansion, which didn''t sound like the same thing. She shook her head no. "I don''t know what they''re teaching in the academy these days." She turned again. "Don''t skimp on your foundation, girl. Waste of everybody''s time. Ambit compression is essential for any lasting career in the art." Hina hadn''t been taught anything yet, but she didn''t correct Gerda. "One last gift then." The woman turned back, holding out another card. "Polyander is an arse, but his introductories are... acceptable." "Right, of course," said Hina, not understanding at all. "Thank you." She took the card. "Enough. More than an even trade for a bowl of bad soup." Gerda stood. "When we meet again, you will be in my debt for this kindness. Do you understand?" Hina nodded. "Speak, girl." "I understand." "Good. The deal is struck," she said. "Now, I must be on my way. I have friends to visit, and I am sure you have a long journey ahead of you. Good night, children." Gerda took up her staff and stood, made eye contact with Hina. "I do hope that nothing eats you before we meet again," she said, teeth flashing in the flickering light. She walked off between the boulders and out into the night. Hina held her breath for a long moment. Gerda didn''t come back. The trees swayed in the breeze, shadows dancing among the trunks and the branches. Hina sighed and turned to Kai. "What just happened?" "Was that¡ª" He coughed. "Did we just meet a witch?" His eyes were wide. Hina shook her head. "I don''t even know." She paused. "Don''t ever say that where she can hear you. We do not want to offend that woman." "What did she give you?" It was too dark to read the tiny text, but she could make out the titles. "The first one is: Introductory Ambit Development, then," she turned to the next cards, "The Lesser Sigil of Guidance and Bell''s Lesser Barrier¡ªthey look like the exercises with the letter from the academy." "Hmm. Are they... safe? That woman... she wasn''t right, Hina. Something was wrong with her." "I don''t know. I don''t think she was trying to hurt us? I''ll look at them in the morning." Hina looked in the direction that Gerda had gone, but there was no movement. No telling whether she would return, or when. When we meet again, she had said. Hina shivered despite the warmth of the night. She tidied up, collecting the bowl from where the woman had been sitting¡ªthe food seemed to be untouched. Gerda had only taken a single bite. But Hina''s spoon was gone. Gerda had taken it, and left the silvery carved one behind. Hina slept poorly, dreaming of shouting figures, her hand on a knife and oh so much blood. In the morning, Hina woke with the sun which came far too early. Daylight streamed in through the trees. Her memories of the night before seemed hazy and unreal. The exercise cards lay on top of her bag where she''d left them. 1.11 - Two kinds of guidance Hina read the first card, which described a working: Bell''s Lesser Barrier. It showed how to use a series of patterns to invest power into an area that you wanted to protect. The area had to be marked out by a line in the ground, and you had to walk along that line while completing the working.
She read through the instructions and the diagrams three times, and once more for good measure. The symbols were strange and twisted things, but the process was simple enough to follow. After two more passes through the instructions, Hina felt ready. She hunted through the ground around the campsite until she found a fallen branch that looked suitable, straight and about the length of her forearm. She stripped off the bark and the connecting twigs and branches until it was reasonably neat and clean. The end was rough with exposed fibers where it had broken off, but she trimmed it as neatly as she could with her knife. With her branch in hand, Hina sat and cycled, drawing power into the pool within her chest. She filled herself with buzzing energy until she was near to bursting. The instructions for the barrier required her to visualise three symbols¡ªa kind of spiral, a knotted line, and a bundle of hooks. She had to visualise them one after the other in a loop, while she projected her intent into a line she traced upon the ground. She built the mental picture of the spiral, one kinked angle and jagged loop at a time. The finished image didn''t feel like anything. Maybe she''d missed something? She wiped the image in her mind clean, and started again. On her third try, she felt the pattern click into place within her mind, and it changed. Instead of an image that Hina was imagining, the pattern felt like a living thing, shimmering and turning within her mind''s eye. It tugged at her in some intangible way. She dismissed the image, and the symbol disappeared with a pop. Hina summoned the sign once more to be sure that she could do it¡ªthe instructions wanted precise timing. The spiral popped fully formed into her mind, and disappeared just as quickly as she banished it. She could feel that a tiny fraction of the buzzing power within her chest was gone. Fed to the pattern? Or consumed by her connecting with it? The next two patterns came quickly now that Hina knew what to expect. She summoned each one three times before she moved on to the next step in the instructions. Adding power. Hina got to her feet and held the branch in one hand with the tip resting on the dirt. With the first sign held steady in her mind, she pictured a thin line of energy, running from the pool of crackling power within her chest, and extending towards the pattern. The spiral reacted, growing and twisting as energy flowed into it. It pulled at her thread, trying to draw more energy into itself. Hina resisted, keeping the line thin and steady. And then she dismissed the pattern, and switched to the next one. And the next. She extended the same thread of power to each one. With the patterns empowered, it was harder to keep up the cycle of summoning and dismissing them in turn, and the amount of energy that she had to spend to keep them in place increased. And they fought her the whole time, trying to draw more and more energy from her. At the current rate of drain, she would only be able to keep this up for a minute or two before she was drained dry. She could feel a pressure building, as the working tried to take effect. If she didn''t give it an outlet, it would collapse, and Hina would be left with a headache and a drained pool of energy. So the next step then. And quickly. With the signs cycling through her mind, Hina tried to project her intent through the stick and into the ground¡ªthe starting point of the circle. The working slipped out of her control, the energies thrown out of balance. The twisting spiral flared with emerald light and then dissolved. Hina''s head throbbed, and a wave of dizziness washed over her. She sat down on the ground, and rubbed her temples. The instructions said something about needing to keep the working balanced? And that was what it had felt like¡ªshe''d shifted the balance of the working and it had all slipped out of her control. The pool of power within her chest was more than half full¡ªshe could try again. But no. While this was turning out to be an extremely valuable gift that would keep them safe¡ªHina offered Gerda silent thanks¡ªbetter not to overdo it. And she had other gifts to look at before they moved on. The title of the next card read: The Lesser Sigil of Guidance There were four complex geometric figures drawn below the title, and at first glance something about them made Hina''s brain buzz. Blood rushed into her ears. These figures were loosely similar to the patterns from the barrier working, but different. More complex. Hina didn''t want to try to summon them, not right now. Her head still ached from the barrier working, and the pain didn''t fade as Hina looked at the figures. Something about the way the lines moved was distressing on an instinctive level, like the shapes weren''t allowed, like they were somehow wrong. But they were fascinating. It felt like she was looking at a puzzle that she couldn''t quite solve, but the solution was tantalisingly close. The pain in her head grew as she continued to look at the marks, but it was a distant sensation, like it was happening to someone else. Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website. But something felt wrong. With an effort of will, she forced herself to look away from the card. Hina stared towards the horizon, the pain in her head fading. The morning was bright, birds were singing in the trees. A breeze brushed through the leaves. It was just a drawing, printed lines on paper¡ªit couldn''t hurt her. She felt a flash of embarrassment for being concerned in the first place. She could handle this. Hina picked up the page once more, ignoring the feeling of wrongness. The drawings were sickening, but they were just drawings. She resisted the urge to look away. This could be how she survived, how she kept Kai safe. How she kept herself safe. It could be exactly what both of them needed, just like the barrier. And the barrier had been perfectly suited to her situation. There was another niggling thought in the background, but Hina ignored it. She stared at the twisted lines, glancing from one figure to the next and to the next and back again. There was something here. A secret truth, a hint, an underlying principle about¡ª Each and every angle, every one of the twists and curves within the diagrams¡ªevery marking was precise, placed exactly where they should be and nowhere else. Understanding began to form within her. Beyond the mind-bending shapes themselves, there was a commonality between each of the four figures. They were a variation on a common theme, a shared truth. The longer she looked, the more the drawings seemed to make sense. The buzzing within her head intensified, the roaring in her ears was louder now. But Hina was on the edge of something. The shapes¡ªas complex as they were¡ªthey were a simplification. A representation of something greater. Four points of reference for single whole. Four shapes that when combined¡ª The combined sign popped together in her mind, each of the four figures slotting together to form one whole twisting three dimensional shape. The sigil came to life, inked lines redrawn in fire and electric pulsing light. It twisted and rotated, the lines moving and changing, the shapes shifting and reforming. Hina watched with fascination. It seemed almost alive, and somehow real. More than anything she''d ever seen before. Floating there within her, the sign felt more real than Hina herself felt real. Like Hina was a dream and the sigil was the one who dreamed of her. The unreality of it left Hina adrift, disconnected. She watched the thing, mesmerised. Secondary shapes entered her awareness, hundreds of twisting lines and loops and whirls. These were simpler, less difficult to look at¡ªless wrong, but they confused her all the same. They were constantly changing in an endless stream of complexity, fading in and out of her mind''s eye. Hina''s stomach turned, bile rising in her throat. This wasn''t right¡ªshe needed to stop it. She tried to dismiss the vision, to banish the sign. She tried to force herself to think about something, anything else. She was vaguely aware of the exercise card slipping out of her fingers, falling to the ground. Her eyes were open, she could perceive the world outside. She stared off into the distance past the shifting boulders and into the trees. Trying to replace the sign with another image, any other image. It didn''t help. It didn''t matter. She had seen it. She had seen it and¡ª She felt a faint sense of amusement from the horrible thing, hanging there in her mind, all writhing lines and pulsing shapes. A sense of sickening mirth, and of acknowledgement¡ªa barely perceptable nod from a stranger. It had seen her too. There was an inaudible snap, and the sigil unravelled within her, dissolving into its consitituent parts then fading away, taking the lesser signs with it. Hina felt hollow, like she was an egg that someone had poked a hole in, and drained her substance out. Like she was the shell of a person and everything else was gone. Like everything she was had been taken away. The boulders around the campsite fell to the ground with a deep thump, spraying dirt and dust into the air. The world went brown and dark.
* * *
When Hina woke, the air had settled and there was a thin layer of dirt over everything. The boulders, the nearby trees and all of their things. It was early. The shadows long on the ground. Hina''s lips tasted like dirt, and her throat was parched. And something smelled awful. She reached blindly for her water bottle. It wasn''t there. Her bag wasn''t in reach. "Kai?" "Hina! You''re awake!" And then Kai wrapped her in a hug¡ªit was an awkward angle, but she tried to hug him back. "What¡ªwhat happened?" Her tongue felt thick and heavy. "I don''t¡ªI dunno. You did," he gestured, sitting back on the ground nearby. "Then you collapsed. I didn''t know what to do," he said. "I thought about¡ªyou know, getting help. But where would I even go?" His voice went small. "And then that woman came back." Hina coughed and spluttered. "Water?" "Oh, here." He handed her a water bottle. Hina drank and coughed and drank again. "Thanks." "You''re welcome." Kai was still talking small. "What happened, Kai? Was it Gerda?" He nodded. "She came back." "What did she do? Did she hurt you?" He shook his head. "Not¡ªnot really," he said. "She made me get out of the way so she could look at you. I tried to stop her, but." He shook his head. "After, she said that you needed help that only she could give." Hina had a sinking feeling. "She put her hands on your head and did ... something. I could feel it, almost. Like a rushing feeling," he said. "And then. Then she said that you needed to sleep, and that you would be okay once you woke up. And..." "And?" "That I had to tell you when you woke up that you owed her two debts now. One from before and one for this. And that she would come to collect." Hina groaned. "I''ve been waiting for you to wake up since yesterday." This was not good. "And, there''s a circle around the campsite, like the one in your card. It has been there since she left, since last night." "You read the cards?" He made a face. "Of course I read the cards." "And you didn''t see anything? A vision?" "No," he said. "I didn''t look too hard. Those symbols are strange¡ªthey hurt to look at." He shook his head. "Is that what happened to you? You looked too long? I knew that woman was bad." "Yeah. And that was a friendly one." She groaned again. "What?" "When I looked at them, really looked, the four drawings snapped together into this greater... thing." As she described it, the image of the sign half-flashed into her mind¡ªshe focused her eyes on the darkening sky, the leaves of the trees swaying above. The image of it went away after a few moments. Kai was frowning at her. "Whatever it was, it burned itself into my brain, and I couldn''t get it out of my head." She had another flash of fiery lines writhing. She banished it. "And it moved the boulders?" Kai asked. "They could have squashed us. Those rocks are huge!" "The big one made more of them," she said, remembering, "and all together they moved the boulders?" Or was it the little ones? "And they used me, used my power to do it? I felt so so empty." She didn''t feel like that anymore. "And that''s what knocked you out?" "Yeah, I think so. And then it let me go." "It let you go?" "It¡ªI couldn''t do anything, couldn''t get it to leave." She shrugged, feeling an ache in her shoulder¡ªa lot of aches. "It felt wrong. I think that if I had been better, been stronger, it couldn''t have done anything I didn''t want it to." "You''re not going to try again?" Hina shook her head, hard. "No. Not now. Not any time soon. No." "Well, good," Kai''s voice was firm. "I think that''s what the woman was talking about last night¡ªthe night before last? I didn''t think of it while I was looking at the card. But she said I shouldn''t use it yet, didn''t she?" Kai nodded. "And I guess this is why the academy didn''t give me instructions on how to use a sign." She shook her head, slowly. "That could have gone badly. Could have gone worse," she said, remembering the debt. The debts, plural. "Did she do this on purpose? The woman?" Kai wondered aloud. "Did she do this to make you even more in debt to her?" His eyes widened. "Like the people in the cottage?" Hina hesitated. "I don''t know. She didn''t seem like she was trying to hurt me." "I don''t like her." Hina shook her head. "Hopefully we never have to see her again." She didn''t think that was likely, though. Whoever this woman¡ªGerda¡ªwas, Hina was sure that she would be back. Hina only hoped that it didn''t cost them too much. 1.12 - The howling
"Ahead," said Kai, touching Hina''s shoulder and nodding forward. "Beasts. On the road." Dark brown shapes moved through the trees in the distance, near the center of the road. Hina and Kai were walking along the edge of the road. The risk of being spotted by a passing caravan was lower now¡ªthis far from Grambe they could be anybody. Of course, they still hid in the roadside vegetation when they heard other travellers go by, but that hadn''t happened in a while. Not since they''d left the campsite where they''d met Gerda, yesterday. And that was strange. Until now, they''d been passing several groups of travellers every day. Now that they were approaching Brampton, a minor city that sat at the intersection of four separate roads, the road should be more heavily traveled, not less. Perhaps these creatures were the reason. Or part of it. Hina stepped onto the road and squinted through her glasses to try to make them out. One paced back and forth, and others were lying down. The moving one was a big, dog-shaped thing. It was hard to tell how big from where they were, and she didn''t want to get closer. "Our friends from last night?" The howling had kept her awake for hours. The standing beast paused in its circuit and lifted its nose into the air like a dog. "Back up a bit," said Kai. "I think he can smell us." Hina followed Kai up the road until they were a hundred meters further away. The creatures were a blur from this distance, but they hadn''t moved. "Thoughts?" said Kai. "Can we wait for ''em to leave?" "Who knows how long they''ll be there. We could cut around through the woods?" "Don''t wanna cut too close, though." "Yeah. And this is our road, unless we want to double back to the fork and head towards Knaton and Ormsfield. Going to take a while longer if we do that." "How much longer?" "A week, maybe?" Hina crouched down in the dirt and drew a few lines. "We''re here." She pointed. "And the road goes along here to Brampton, and then around¡ªsouth¡ªto Blandmanch, which is where we want to be to continue on to the city." She drew a long curving line from the road that they were on that swung around to the left. "And all the way down here is Ormsfield." Her finger traced another line from near Ormsfield connecting to Blandmanch. "So we can go that way instead, but then there''s no road between Ormsfield and Newbury, or at least not on the maps I read." "We''d cut through the forest?" Kai sat down cross-legged in the dirt and leaned forward to peer at her makeshift map. "It doesn''t look far." "Maybe we could find a guide, I don''t know. We''d have to ask around when we get there. But it''s a long way out of our way for a bit of a gamble." "What about to the northeast?" "If we head back to Atherton and then on to Bortonby, we might be able to find someone to take us south through the wild to Brampton, but they say that''s a dangerous trip." "Hmm. Great big caravan comes through here, and they''re gone, right?" He shrugged. "We just have to wait long enough." "Sure, but we don''t know how long that''ll be. And what if they aren''t killed? What if they come back before we get clear?" "Okay, how about this¡ªwhy can''t we head south?" He mimed drawing a line from where they were that went straight to Blandmanch. "Circle round the beasties, keep going." "Risky. We don''t know what''s in there." "Worse than these things?" He nodded backwards. "What do we know about this wood?" "I don''t¡ªthey do say that it''s is pretty tame around here." Hina frowned. "And it would save a lot of time." "If we got turned around, we''d hit one of these roads to Blandmanch, right?" Kai pointed. The woods were surrounded by roads on almost all sides. "Right. So long as we don''t run into anything worse. Or head in completely the wrong direction." "How far is it?" Kai said. "How long? If we go through?" "Two, three days of walking? Maybe. It''ll be slow going. Slower than what we''ve been doing." "And through Brampton? If we got past these things?" "Four or five? Maybe more. The road goes wide around the trees." Walking through the forest might even save them a day or two. Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. "And we''ve got the barrier." Hina made a face. "Maybe. I can try it, but I''m not sure I can make it work for a whole campsite. Maybe just enough room for both of us to sleep. Like logs¡ªno moving." "Let''s do that then. And also, that means¡ªnever mind." Hina was thinking about supplies. "We were going to stop in Brampton, and we''ll have to skip that. We''ve got dried beans for a few more days." "We''re fine for longer. Even if it''s a week, we''ll be fine." She rolled her eyes. "In an emergency, sure. If we''re running from beasts, I want to be well fed." "We''ll be fine." He grinned. "It''s an adventure." "Okay, fine. We''ll cut through." "Yes!" "We''ll have to be extra careful. Move fast, stay quiet, keep our eyes open." "Of course," Kai said. "No problem. Lead the way." Hina led them back along the road until the dog-things were entirely out of sight. And then she turned and led them into the trees.
* * *
The forest was dark and shadowy, the brush soft and spongy underfoot, a mat of dead leaves and decomposing branches. Light pooled in the gaps where the canopy was thinnest. There was a risk here, that without being able to see the sun they''d end up going the wrong way. They could walk in circles if they weren''t careful. Pausing by the base of a tree, Hina took out her knife and carved an arrow into the bark, showing their direction of travel. The birds were loud. Louder than they had been by the road. A continual background chorus of chirping and song. Hina caught sight of them every now and then, small dark birds foraging in the leaf-litter. And splashes of blue and yellow in the canopy overhead. As the day marched on, Hina carved arrows every ten or twenty trees. She wasn''t sure that they would help¡ªthere were enough trees that they could get lost without ever crossing their own path¡ªbut it was almost meditative to carve a direction into a tree. The marks would be grown over in days or weeks, but for now she was carving their path upon the world. Carving it upon living things that were older and more fearsome than Hina was. Things that, if they died here, would eat them and grow over their bodies. Somehow the arrows helped with that feeling. And with the feeling of being toothless. The back of Hina''s neck prickled, like they were being watched. The shadows were all moving, all of the time, swaying in response to a breeze that Hina couldn''t feel. Nothing. Ahead, something moved out of sight behind a tree at ankle height. Ordinary animals, or at least something small. And of course animals lived in the forest, or what would the beasts eat? And there were beasts somewhere here, Hina was sure of it. A black bird winged past her, wing beats loud. It flew close enough that Hina could have reached out and grabbed it. The bird flapped up towards the canopy. They followed it onward. Hina paused to carve an arrow into a nearby trunk. The sky grew darker, deepening the shadows, reducing visibility. The rocky ground rose, and Hina picked her steps among the tree roots. A pressure built in the atmosphere, a tension. The birds stopped singing. Had stopped some time ago. The undergrowth was shifting and dark. Rain began to fall into the silence. Rivulets trickled down tree trunks, raindrops filtered through the canopy to fall in streams, splashing down on Hina and Kai as they walked. The leaves grew slippery underfoot. Hina took smaller steps, keeping her sandalled feet under her shoulders for balance on the slope. The trees parted onto a ridge. The ground dropped away before them and the greenery continued below. A tall grey building poked through the trees¡ªa mossy stone tower that narrowed as it rose to a flat peak. A spire. Light flashed and thunder roared from somewhere off to the right. A trickle of rain-water ran past Hina''s feet and down the steep slope. "Spooky." Kai''s voice was quiet under the sound of the rain. He wiped curly dark hair out of his face. His eyes were wide. Far ahead the trees ended and clear grassy hills rose towards pale mountains. The sun was hidden by the clouds, but Hina thought they were facing south-east. Near enough to the right direction. "Down and across. We''ll try to skirt around the spire." "The spire?" "The tower." "Ah." Kai nodded, rain trickling down his bare chin. "Me first." Hina watched as Kai moved backwards down the rocky slope. He tested the ground with every step, and sent loose rocks tumbling far below as he climbed down and out of sight. Then it was Hina''s turn. She put her hands and feet in the same places that Kai had for the first few steps, but she quickly lost track. Her feet hurt and her arms ached. The strap from her heavy bag cut into her shoulder as she descended. The path down was muddy and narrow, cutting close to the ridge and down under the rocky cliff face. A channel of water streamed down the middle, splashing and cascading down to a river below. It was a long way down. Hina lowered herself down with hands and feet on the dryer rocks and mud beside the water, moving from one slippery handhold to the next. A wet stone shifted when she put her weight on it, and her hands slid free. She squeaked and scrabbled to catch her balance and grabbed at a rocky outcrop, but the rock came loose. Hina''s chest came down hard on the slope, her face spashed into the muddy stream of water, wet stones scraped against her face. She picked up speed. Her hands grabbed at the rocks and stones and the mud, slipping off and over one after another before she caught hold of a solid outcrop and held on tight. She held on with all of her might. Her other hand caught a jagged stone that cut into her palm, but she ignored the stinging pain and held firm. She clung to the rocks, panting. To her left was a drop of two meters or more onto wet stones at the edge of moving water. "You okay?!" Kai''s voice came from below. "I¡ª" Hina gasped. Blood dripped into a tiny puddle on the rock below her face. "I''m okay." She breathed. One gasping inhalation after another. By reflex, she drew a trickle of potentia in with the air. Her heart slowed, her shaking muscles felt stronger. "I''m coming down!" she said. "You''re nearly there!" One hand-hold at a time, Hina continued down the slope until her feet touched solid ground. Kai gave her a worried look, standing at the edge of a river of rainwater. "You okay?" He touched his forehead. Hina''s face stung when she brushed the same place. The red on her fingers washed away in the rain. "I''m fine! Let''s go up!" The knee-deep water tugged at Hina''s legs as she splashed across the river. Mud squelched and pulled at her sandals until she climbed up the bank and into the trees, where the soil was dry only by comparison. She held on to a blackened tree branch while leaning down to give Kai a hand up. They walked on¡ªwet, dirty and tired. But still moving forward. Behind them, something howled. 1.13 - The Spire
Hina rushed up the muddy slope, fear lending strength to tired limbs. The beast howled again behind them, loud and close. The dog-things were back. Or something like them. Hina hoped that they were chasing something else¡ªsome animal¡ªor even someone else. She wasn''t feeling generous right now. Her right hand checked her belt and found the knife. It wasn''t much, but if it came to it, she''d at least see one of them bleed. The barrier¡ªshe wished she''d spent more time on figuring out how to make it work. After what had happened with the sigil, she''d been too afraid to try again. And that had been a mistake. She should have taken the risk, and they were paying for it now. Or, would it help right now? Maybe not. Any amount of rain could break the boundary of the working, if the water flowed over it. And the beasts were hunting them¡ªmaybe it wouldn''t help unless they could find somewhere dry and out of sight. Her foot slipped on the wet leaves and she fell forward, catching herself on tangled tree-roots. Half-crawling, she pulled herself up the steepest part of the slope with her hands before she got back up to her feet. The spire was over to the left behind the trees. Hina angled them away from it through the thickest parts of the forest. The trees were strange, bare things with blackened branches that spread in all directions. No straight lines at all. Water kicked up by Kai''s sandals splashed onto her legs as they ran through the puddles between the roots. Hina put a hand on the trunk of one of the bare trees for balance. The surface was rough under the sheen of water, the bark scratching at her hand, the ridges making a shape that felt almost familiar. A sharp pain spiked into her hand, and Hina jerked away. Fresh blood welled in the center of her palm. A beast howled behind them. And another directly ahead. Hina veered to the left, away from both of the howling things. Kai was one step behind her, his arm was bloodied, he pointed onward. The spire came into view, a curved and weathered wall of mossy grey stone that stretched up into the haze. Streams ran down it on all sides. A massive door stood open in the face of it. The edge of the door broke up the flow, spraying rainwater in every direction. Hina jogged into the clearing around the tower, angling their path past it and towards the other side. A beast stepped out of the murk on the other side of the trees, blocking their path. A wolf-like thing, brown and as tall as Hina to the shoulder. Curling horns, like a goat''s horns, rose from behind its ears. It stood proud with rain streaming down its back. Watching them. Another one stepped out of the trees to the left, and a third was behind them¡ªa smaller one, two thirds of the size of the biggest one. It padded towards them, and froze when it saw that Hina had seen it. To the right, a fourth sat at the tree-line. "Into the spire!" Hina could barely hear herself over the roar of the water. She caught Kai''s hand, pulled him along with her as she walked backwards towards the door. The beasts paced forward with every step that Hina took. Water splashed the back of Hina''s head from a new direction. They were on the threshold. The doorway a gaping hole into darkness. The biggest beast was close. The gap in the door was narrow, maybe too narrow for the beasts to follow. Hina hoped so. "Go go go." She pushed Kai through the doorway and turned with her back to the door. Three of the beasts were close¡ªtwo of the middling ones to each side and the smallest right in front of her. If Hina had a spear like the one she''d used in militia training, she could have poked the closest one in the nose. It snarled at her, white teeth flashing in the murky light as it stepped foward. Hina backed up until she made contact with the wall of the tower by the door, knife held low and ready. Water from the door splashed over her head and neck. If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. Something¡ªKai¡ªgrabbed her backpack and guided her backwards through the doorway. She glanced back and dumped the bag on the stone floor before turning back to the open doorway with her knife ready. "Close the door, Kai!" The rain came down in sheets. The smallest beast had disappeared while she looked away¡ªall of them were gone. Hina leaned forward to see around the doorway. Nothing. No movement. "Won''t budge!" Kai pulled the handle in the center of the door with his whole body. "It''s stuck!" The rain cut visibility down to a handful of metres. She leaned as far out as she dared for a better look, but the clearing around the tower was... empty. She watched the tree line carefully¡ªthere. One of the beasts was watching from under the trees. The biggest one¡ªa tall shadow in the murk. "They''re watching¡ªthey''re not coming in." Maybe they couldn''t fit. "Keep an eye on the door¡ªI''ve got an idea." "Got it." Kai took her place in the doorway, dripping muddy water into the puddle at his feet, hammer held loose in his right hand. The room was large, and almost bare, a half-circle about fifteen metres across, with another enormous metal door set into the far wall. That one was closed. A woven rug added a splash of green in the center, covering much of the floor. A painting hung on the wall to the left. On the other side of the room, a fireplace crackled with heat and light. The light was wrong¡ªconsistent and steady, like it was coming from electric lights rather than a fireplace, but there were no lamps or candles or anything that Hina recognised as a light source. High above, the ceiling was dark¡ªif it was there at all. Heavy backpack in hand, Hina walked over to the fireplace, dripping muddy water with every step. The mantlepiece rose over Hina''s head and an oversized iron poker leaned against the wall. The fire burned low, glowing embers and a few licks of flame. A stack of wood stood ready in a niche next to the fireplace. Someone had tended to this fire recently. But there was no sign of them now. The room was warm and clean, not at all what she expected from the weathered exterior. Someone must live here. Hina would have to explain when they showed up. Surely they''d understand. Any normal person would welcome a stranger seeking shelter from the wild. She glanced at the closed door which stretched far over her head. She hoped it was a normal person who lived here. "Any movement?" she asked Kai, who still stood in the doorway. "Nothing," he said. "Haven''t even seen ''em. Think they''re gone?" "No." Hina started taking things out of her bag, and setting them by the fire. Her bag was soaked through. "They chased us this far. They''re not going to give up so quickly." Her bag supposed to be a little bit waterproof, but not, she supposed, proof against a torrential downpour and falling into the mud. She would have to find a way to hang out the clothes, but that could wait. She found the empty flour sack near the bottom. Perfect. As she took out her half-full water bottle, she had a thought. "How are you for water?" she called. "Hmm." She heard faint clattering as Kai shuffled his gear around. "Low," he called. The roar of the rain and the rushing water was distant, but Hina could still hear it. She found the cookpot and opened it up: it wasn''t clean, but close enough. She dumped the rest of the water from her water bottle inside. "Fill both of these up? Please? You should be able to do it without going too far out the door. Catch some of the water running down the sides of the tower. We don''t know how long we''ll be in here." "Yeah, yeah." If they were going to be trapped in here for a while, that was their first concern sorted. Though water would still be a problem if they were in here for more than a couple of days. But if someone lived here, surely there''d be a source of water nearby, maybe even somewhere inside. So on to the next problem¡ªthe door. Hina picked up the oversized iron poker and shifted one of the smouldering logs closer to the middle of the fire. Fine grey ash puffed into the air. There was a lot of ash built up in the hearth. She tested the heat by moving her hand close, then touched it with her fingertips. Hot, but not unbearably so. One handful at at time, Hina stuffed hot ash into the flour sack until it was half-full¡ªfull enough. She wiped ash off of her hands onto her filthy dress. "Still good?" she asked over her shoulder. "Hina, I''ll say if I see something." It was time then. Hina picked up her wand¡ªher tree branch¡ªand found a dry spot near the fire. Legs crossed, Hina put the branch across her lap and began to draw potentia. It came into her with a rush at her barest suggestion, wild and hard to control. She sensed it wearing at her, at the fabric of her being. Something intangibly Hina dissolved into the raging torrent of potentia as she drew it into herself. But it was only for a moment, and then she was brimming with power. The rush of power shook away some of her exhaustion, replaced it with a buzz of excitement. Taking up the flour stack and her branch-wand, Hina walked to the entrance, leaving another dripping trail of muddy water on the tiles. Two water bottles sat neatly by the wall. "Step back a bit?" Hina asked. She emptied the sack of ash out onto the floor. The ash soaked through, turning to black mud that grew thick as Hina stirred it with her sandalled foot. Good enough. Time to take another risk. Branch-wand in hand, Hina prepared herself for the barrier working. 1.14 - Breathing room
Hina ran through the patterns that made up the barrier working through her mind. Hooks, then spiral, then knot. The patterns came readily to her mind when she reached for them¡ªit had only been a couple of days ago that she had last tried it. It was different this time. The patterns were friendlier, more responsive to her desire. They rotated peacefully within her mind, hardly twisted against her at all. Because she had done this before? Or because of where she was? Hina added a thread of power to the cycle of symbols. And then pressed the point of her branch down into the ashy mud. She projected her intent¡ªand the working lurched as the balance shifted, but she was expecting it this time, and she held on, holding the edges of the working firm with her mind as she traced a circle in the mud. She drew the smallest possible circle that would fill the space between the doorway and the door while she continued the cycle of patterns. The working snapped together and a wave of weariness followed. The barrier stood in the gap, a crude loop in the dirt. She''d done it. Hina sat back on the stone tiles while she caught her breath. "That''ll tell us if they try to get in?" Kai frowned down at the circle from where he was leaning on the wall nearby. "Even with no-one in it?" "I don''t see why not," Hina said. "And yeah¡ªso long as they can''t move the door. Or there isn''t another way in, or... We can stop watching the door now." "Okay." Kai shrugged. "Gonna start drying stuff out." He picked up his bag and water bottle and dripped his way over to the fire. The fire looked warm and friendly and Hina wanted nothing more than to sit and rest. But there were too many things to do. Kai had the right idea. All of their things were soaked though, their food supplies needed to be checked¡ªthe packaging might have protected some of the beans, but the open bag they had been eating from would definitely be wet, and would spoil if left unattended. Wet clothes would go moldy, and then she wouldn''t have anything to wear to the entrance exam. And the food would spoil. Hina was hungry. It had been a long day. She forced herself to her feet¡ªshe''d deal with the food first, that was the most important thing. If their food all spoiled, it would be a long and hungry walk to Blandmanch. Hina picked out the open bag of beans from the pile of wet things. It was soaked through, but the bag was nearly done anyway. She could cook the rest of them now. The beans hit the water with a series of tiny splashes. Hina shook the bag to get the ones that were stuck to the paper. The other bag of beans in Hina''s pack looked okay. The wax paper was wet on the outside, but the water hadn''t gone through. Taking the long iron poker from where it leaned in the corner between the wall and the mantlepiece, she poked at the fire. Embers flashed as she spread out the blackened logs into a low flat platform and balanced the pot on top. Hina lifted the lid off. "Can you watch this? Stir it occasionally?" Kai was sitting nearby, surrounded by all of the things from his bag and holding his book out towards the flames while he leaned against the wall for support. He gave a tired nod. "The beans haven''t been soaked¡ªexcept by the rain, anyway¡ªthey''re going to take ages," Hina said. "I''m going to check the other stuff." Clothes next, and she had to figure out some way to hang them¡ªthey wouldn''t dry in a bundle on the floor. She found the string, and inspected the wall. The blocks were large and uneven¡ªa crack, there where the stone jutted out, would take a loop of string. Another spot further along the wall took the other end of the string, and she tied something like a clothes line, with three thin lengths of jute twisted together and tied at the ends¡ªenough that it could hold a handful of heavy, wet clothes. She hung up her best dress and shift and left them there, dripping on the floor below. When she had found places for each of her garments, she got to work on hanging out Kai''s clothes. They''d all dry eventually. Kai''s book had wet pages. Hina stopped. The letters and cards would be soaked through. Were they all ruined? She carefully picked the envelopes and the set of cards out of her pocket and separated the pages. She spread them out on the hard stone of the mantlepiece. The outer pages, especially the cards from Gerda, were soaked through. Some of the ink had run. There was nothing to be done other than to dry them out. She''d just have to wait and see how they looked once they were dry. Hina looked at the hard stone floor where Kai was sitting, and then at the rug, warm and green and inviting. She patted the skirt of her dress. She wasn''t dry exactly, but she was close enough. This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it. The rug was warm and dry and the softest, most comfortable surface she''d sat down on in days. She sank in by just the right about. Sitting down felt good, but... She tried lying back. Yes, that was better. All of Hina''s worries drained away.
* * *
Light streamed in through the doorway onto Hina''s face. Kai was snoring quietly beside her. The fire crackled, burning merrily, the cookpot on the stones nearby. Hina''s stomach rumbled. The beans were delicious and still warm, somehow the best thing that Hina had ever tasted¡ªmuch better than they had any right to be, for all that she hadn''t spiced or seasoned them¡ªit was boiled red beans and nothing more. A warmth spread through her, and with it came a sense of comfort, like everything was going to be all right. She ate her fill, and thought about that warmth. The beans should have been cold, shouldn''t they? She wasn''t sure how much time had passed. Daylight was coming in through the doorway, but otherwise the light inside was much the same as it had been. And she wasn''t sure what time they had arrived, not with the storm and how dark it had been in the forest. She didn''t think it had been night-time. Late afternoon, maybe? Standing as close to the doorway as she could while keeping clear of the curve of her barrier, Hina looked outside. The day was bright and clear, the sun out of sight. It must be late morning by the shape of the shadows in the trees. She''d slept late, then. Slept for a long time, if they''d arrived in the afternoon. They''d wandered through the forest for most of the day, then been chased up a hill through the rainstorm. And she''d managed to do the barrier working for the first time¡ªa warmth rose up in her chest. But it had been a lot, so no wonder they''d slept late. But now, she felt rested and comfortably full. And it was a beautiful day out there. Hina could handle whatever came next. There was no sign of the beasts, the clearing around the tower was rainwashed and empty. But she wasn''t willing to cross the barrier to be sure, not just yet, not given the effort it had taken to put up even such a tiny barrier. The idea of setting one around the whole campsite in the evenings when they camped seemed entirely out of reach for now. But, it was something she could work up to. Something to practice. Hina looked around the room. She''d barely glanced at it the night before¡ªstone walls and floors, fireplace, rug, sleeping brother, spooky sourceless illumination, great big door. Had they even tried the handle last night? She had been distracted, but she didn''t think so. It seemed like a pretty big oversight to ignore another potential source of problems, but it hadn''t come back to bite them this time. The door was a twin of the one at the entrance, over three times Hina''s height, and made from some kind of metal, all in a single piece. There was a ring for pulling on at the height of Hina''s head, and a keyhole below it. The ring creaked as Hina lifted it, the cold metal chilled her hands. She pulled, first with her hands and arms and then she leaned back, putting all of her weight into it. The door didn''t move. At all. It didn''t even wiggle against the latch, like the front door to the bakery did when it was locked. "Didn''t move for me either." "Good morning." "Morning." Kai rubbed at his lower back. "Still got company?" "I didn''t see anything. I didn''t want to take down the barrier to check until we were ready to go." She nodded towards him. "Are you injured? I should have asked last night. You had blood on your arm." "No, I''m..." He looked down, rubbed at his right arm. "I''m fine. Slept funny. Rolled on something hard." He looked at her. "You''re not hurt, are you? Your face," he touched his own cheek. Hina remembered the blood from when they were running. She touched her cheek. Something flaked away, but there was no pain. "Seems okay." Kai grunted. "There''s food in the pot, but we should get out of here as soon as we can. Let me know when you''re ready." Hina considered practicing one of her exercises, then remembered the papers getting wet and setting them out to dry. The letter from the academy had been protected by the envelope, it was stained around the edges but still readable. She hoped the admissions staff wouldn''t judge her too harshly for getting it wet. The invitation from the grove and the academy exercises were similar: stained but readable. The cards that hadn''t been inside envelopes were less well off: the ink from the lesser barrier card had run across the page. The first few lines were okay, but the rest of the card was obscured by a swirl of black ink. Hina supposed it had been the last card she had looked at, at the top of the stack in her pocket. It would be a shame to not have the paper to refer to, but it was the one she''d spent the most time with over the last day or two, and she had more or less memorised the working, so it wasn''t a great loss. Hopefully she could pick up a notebook in Blandmanch. If she could write down what she remembered, it could be a useful reference for later. And there were other things that she had been learning that it might be useful to record. Like the patterns that she''d seen when she used the sigil. The ambit strengthening exercise was mostly readable. The ink had run at the edges, but she would be able to figure it out, she was pretty sure. The last card, the lesser sigil of guidance, which Kai must have put onto the mantlepiece, looked fresh and new. Hina didn''t want to look too closely, but there was no water staining. The paper was crisp, thick and white. Hadn''t it been yellowed before? The first envelope she tried tore when she tried to open it, the paper soft and fragile. The second one held up, though the paper felt brittle. She put all of the papers into it and then wrapped it in the wax paper from the empty bag of beans for waterproofing, and put the bundle away into her pocket. She would need to find a better way to store these and soon. Another rain storm could be a disaster. She went through the clutter by the fire and collected her things put them into her bag. The unopened bag of beans was dry to the touch. And the ones from Kai''s bag seemed fine too. So long as at least one of them didn''t spoil, they were okay. It was only a few days walk to the next town, surely. They would be fine. Hina took down the clothes, which were stiff but dry, and took down the string she''d used to hang them. She untied the loops she''d made at the ends of each piece and wrapped it loosely back around the spool. "Ready?" asked Kai. His bag was on his back, and his hammer was held loose in his right hand as he stood near the door. "I don''t see ''em." Hina took another glance around the room, her left hand checking the envelope in her pocket, her right finding her knife on her belt. The tree branch was tied to the side of her bag, which she slung over her shoulder. "Okay, I''m ready. Go ahead." 1.15 - The secret underneath
The barrier snapped as Kai stepped over line. His feet left footprints in the dried mud. Hina turned sideways to push through the gap, her bag catching on the doorframe. She bumped into Kai, who stood still just outside the door. Then Hina saw the beasts. Two of the smaller ones were lying down, watching from the tree line. The big one was standing in the open, watching. It took a step towards them. "Back back back," said Kai, pressing against her. Hina squeezed through the doorway and moved out of the way. Her knife in hand, held low and ready. Kai turned to face the door as soon as he passed through. He had his hammer in his right hand, knuckles white. The two of them waited, watching the doorway for a long time. Nothing came through. "Are they waiting?" Kai said. "For us to come out?" "It looks like it." "What do we do?" "Unless you want to fight them," Hina was breathing hard. "We just have to wait them out." Kai ducked his head out the door and pulled it back. "At the edge of the trees. All of ''em. Just sitting there. Not good. Rather fight in here than out there." "I don''t know. I don''t think I like our chances one way or another." "Hmm. I think¡ªit could work." He gestured to the doorway. "Head in the doorway, hammer to the face. That''s a bad day for anybody, wolf or not. No matter how big it is." "If it doesn''t bite off your hand first. Do they even fit through the doorway? Is what why they''re waiting?" "Smaller ones, maybe." "I figure we wait. We''ve got water for a day or two if we stretch it out. How long can they possibly stay out there? They have to eat, right?" Kai shook his head. "Hopefully not too long." "I''m going to put the barrier back up, yell if anything happens." Hina moved a few paces away, and sat cross-legged on the floor to cycle, branch in her lap. The torrent of potentia was just as strong as it had been yesterday, but she found it to be less overwhelming this time. It didn''t wear away at her quite so much. Perhaps the force of her will was a little stronger, or it was because she was better rested. She was full to brimming within moments. Standing up, she took out her water bottle, and splashed water on the dried mud in the doorway, stirring with her sandalled foot until yesterday''s lines and their footprints were obscured. The barrier snapped together and Hina leaned on the wall for support, slid down it to sit on the ground until the wave of exhaustion passed. Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more. It was good practice, if nothing else.
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"What am I gonna do in the city?" Kai asked. "While you''re at the academy?" "You''re asking that now? Like I said, we''ll find you an apprenticeship, or you could go back to school once we get there. I''m sure we''ll be able to arrange it. What would you like to do?" "I''m not¡ª" He cleared his throat. "What would I apprentice in?" "You liked the militia training, right? Maybe you could join the guard? Everywhere needs guards." "Maybe." He paced back and forth from one side of the room to the other, stopped to stare at the painting. "Who''s this old guy, anyway?" Hina had barely looked earlier. It was a faded full-body portrait of a stocky man well-past his prime in a wooden frame, to scale with the doors¡ªenormous. The subject wore a dark suit with a white shirt and spectacles, and had tufts of bushy grey hair and a full beard. He was glaring down at the room with his arms folded. "Not a friendly looking fellow." "Is he..." Kai walked from side to side, looking at the painting from different angles. "Is he looking at something?" He stopped. "Oh." He walked over to the rug. "Maybe..." Kai folded one corner back, and began to roll it up. "He''s looking this way. Maybe..." Hina watched. "Yes! I knew it!" "What is it?" Hina couldn''t see past the rolled up rug from where she was sitting. "A safe?" She slowly got to her feet. "Looks like..." he was still rolling the rug towards Hina. "A door? A hatch? Knew I was sleeping on something weird." Kai had stopped with the rug a little more than half rolled up. He was bent down with his hand on a handle in the floor. "Can''t. Quite. Lift it." A square wooden door was set into a frame in the floor, with a ring handle¡ªlike the main doors¡ªthat Kai was pulling with both hands. The hatch matched the rest of the room in scale. "Let me help." The handle was big enough for both of them to pull on it at the same time. Hina stood beside Kai, feet on the frame around the hatch. She bent to hold the handle with both hands. "Ready?" They pulled. Hina could feel the strain in her arms and her back. Something shifted, the door began to lift. First only a fraction, and then as Hina continued to pull, a gap appeared between the hatch and the floor. A wedge of darkness into the space below. As the door rose to the height of her waist, Hina shifted one hand to the wood of the hatch itself, and then both hands. She stepped around the sides of the frame in the floor to keep the door in reach as she pushed it up towards its midpoint. Past the mid-point, the door slipped out of Hina''s grasp and it fell to slam against the rolled up carpet with a boom. "You okay?" Hina asked, eyes wide. Kai grinned. "Glad I didn''t try to catch it." "It''s a long way down," she said. "I wonder what''s down there." A ladder led down into the shaft, the walls of it were lined with pale stone¡ªthe same stone as the rest of the building. "I bet there''s something great." "A way out, maybe." "Or treasure? Bet nobody''s been down there for years." "Someone made the fire, Kai." He glanced at it. "Oh. I thought... I dunno what I thought," he said. "Are we going to go down there?" "I don''t know." "Maybe there''s something to help with the wolf-things." Hina gestured to the hatch door. "If someone closed this while we were down there, we''d never be able to get out. It took both of us to open, and I can''t imagine that working from the top of a ladder." "Hmm. What about..." Kai moved over to the fireplace and picked up the iron poker, which was as long as he was tall. "A lever?" "You want to carry that up a ladder to wedge under the edge of the door?" "No, won''t work. We climb to the top of the ladder, lift, then wedge this under the rungs to hold it open." He gestured to the open door of the hatch. "The loop of the handle will keep it in place." "I guess. If the poker and the rungs of the ladder are strong enough to hold the door open." "And it works as a weapon." He held it with both hands and made a poking motion. "Like a spear. Or a club." "Pretty blunt for a spear." "Better than what we''ve got." "My other thought is that whatever''s down there might be worse than what''s up here. Like, we don''t know what''s down there, and we might get trapped in with whatever it is." "Does it matter? We can''t deal with the wolves already," Kai said. "If we have to run away from whatever''s down there, we''ll be no worse off than we are now." "Okay, but we''re going to run away at the first sign of any trouble. If I say run, you run, got it?" "Deal." Kai gave a small smile. "I wanna go first." Hina followed Kai down the ladder. 1.16 - Down the hatch
It was a long way down. The ladder''s rungs were widely spaced, like they were made for limbs that were longer than those of any ordinary person. Hina measured her progress in the lines between the bare blocks of stone that lined the walls, blocks that grew larger as she descended. A tension built in the air, like Hina was in the beginning stages of her cycling exercise. The potentia was thick all around her without her even having to think about it. And that made a kind of sense. Cycling in the room above had been intense. Did potentia always get denser the further you went underground? Or was it something about this place? Her legs burned, and her arms ached. Sweat dripped from her brow. Her foot reached down, but instead of another rung, she found flat stone. A circular room, dimly lit with that same sourceless light as the room above. Empty, except for a tall arch-way in the wall opposite the ladder. It wasn''t even dusty. Kai stood at the bottom, looking out the doorway. "It''s foggy down here, or something. Are you okay?" He turned to look at her. "I''m¡ª" Hina took a deep gasping breath. "I''m fine." She took another. "Long way down." "Do you wanna sit for a bit?" "No." She bent with her hands on her knees and waited until her heart-rate slowed. "No, lets keep going. Let''s see what else is down here." Kai gestured for her to go ahead. Hina''s right hand touched the knife on her belt, and she stepped through the arch. The corridor curved off into the distance, a grey mist obscured the far end. Hina walked, sandals slapping against the stone floors. The roof stretched far above Hina''s head. The hair on her arms stood up¡ªthe air was cool and sweet, like the breeze on a spring day. The path curved back and forth for long enough to stretch out Hina''s aching legs, and then the corridor was joined by another to the left. The second one ran back at an angle, like the two corridors were branches on a tree, and Hina was heading towards the trunk. It was narrower than the main passage, narrow enough that Hina''s shoulders would have nearly touched both walls as she walked¡ªtheir father''s shoulders wouldn''t have fit at all. They paused at the intersection. Hina looked down the new passage, and along the way they''d been travelling. Aside from the width, there was no difference between the two¡ªboth were obscured by the fog. "Which way, do you think?" she asked. "It''s like a maze down here." "We don''t wanna go back the way we came, do we? Even if it''s just a bit." The main corridor curved back and forth again, and then there was another intersection, also branching off at an angle back in the direction they''d come from, but this time, on the right hand side. This one slanted upwards into the grey fog. A chittering sound came from somewhere in the mist behind them. Hina turned around, but there was nothing there. "Did you hear that?" "Not sure what that was." Kai shook his head. "A rat? Let''s keep going." The corridor branched again and again, always in the same way, with different hallways joining at angles, while the main passage continued straight ahead. All of the secondary passages were smaller than the main one, which had grown even wider as they walked. They couldn''t get lost¡ªthe main corridor was still wider than all of the others¡ªbut she repeated the list of turns they hadn''t taken in her head. Left. Right. Left. Left. Right. Left. "Oh!" Kai spun around. "Oh. I thought I..." He was talking quietly, just over a whisper. "What?" She whispered back. "I thought I saw..." "What?" Hina''s heart was pounding. "What did you see?" "A figure in the mist. Out the corner of my eye..." He looked left and right. "Gone now." They walked on. The passage was wide now, wide enough that two of Hina could lay down and stretch out without touching the walls. Footsteps echoed down the corridor behind them. And then the chittering sound again. She turned, knife in hand. "You heard that, right?" Her pulse quickened. Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on. Kai nodded. He held the iron poker high with both hands. The footsteps went silent for a moment, and then returned, faster and punctutated with the occasional chirrup. A figure appeared in the fog¡ªdark and person-shaped, but its face was wrong. It held something long with both hands¡ªa staff of some kind¡ªat waist height as it ran forward out of the mist. It chirruped and squeaked, slowing as it came nearer. Its squat body was covered in dark fur¡ªno clothes¡ªand its rat-like face protruded forward. "Hello?" Hina said. Was it a person? Was this who the tower belonged to? The figure chittered, its black eyes staring at Hina. It rotating its staff, drawing one hand back so that the end of it was pointed towards her. The end of the thing''s spear, Hina realised with a start, as the metal point came closer to her face. The creature paused, and gave an inquisitive chirp. "We''re sorry to intrude, we came in trying to get away from some beasts... Uh. Other beasts?" The thing squawked angrily and stepped towards her, making a little jab with the spear in her direction to punctuate its vocalisation. Hina stepped back and raised her hands¡ªthe knife clutched in the fingers of her right hand. "We''re very sorry." Kai pressed his backpack against the side of the corridor as the rat-thing advanced. The thing chittered louder and stepped towards Hina, punctuating chirps with jabs with its spear, the point aimed at Hina''s chest. It didn''t seem to have noticed Kai at all. She walked backwards, maintaining her distance. "Hey! Put that away! We didn''t mean to offend you. We''re just trying to get out of here." The thing gave an angry chirp and thrust out with the spear. The point flashed in the light as it rushed towards Hina''s face. She yelped and hopped back, narrowly avoiding the blade. Kai''s poker whistled through the air and the end of it struck the thing in the shoulder with a crunch. The rat-thing shrieked and turned to face Kai, spear thrusting out. Hina ran forward, knife held low, her mind clear now. She thrust the knife into the thing''s side, and it shrieked, jerking back and pulling the knife from her hand. Kai''s poker struck it on the head and the thing fell to the ground, its long tail twitching. The rat-thing chittered faintly and then let out a gasping moan and went still. One arm leaned against the wall for balance, Hina reached down to retrieve her knife from the thing''s thick grey fur. She wiped it off and put it back into her belt. "I¡ª" Kai''s face was red and his breath came hard and fast. He slid down to sit his back against the wall of the corridor, within reach of the thing on the ground. The poker clattered to the floor. "Are you okay?" Something hard rose in Hina''s throat. "Are you injured?" "No. No, I''m¡ªI''m fine." His chest rose and fell and his head drooped. "It didn''t get me." "Hey, hey." Hina crouched down next to him, squeezed a shoulder. "It''s okay. You''re okay." "What¡ªwhat was that thing? Why was it trying to kill us?" Hina shook her head. "I don''t know, Kai." "I never¡ª" "We tried talking to it, and it tried to kill us. We did everything we could." "Yeah." Kai sniffed. "Yeah, I guess." "Come on, we can''t stay here. We need to keep moving. There might be more of them." She shivered. "Or other, worse things." "Yeah, okay." He grabbed the thing''s spear and pushed himself up onto his feet. Hina bent to pick up the poker. Quiet footsteps echoed from up the corridor to the right¡ªthe way back to the ladder. "Come on, let''s keep moving," Hina said. The next intersection had passages branching off in both directions. There was nothing visible in either one, just more bare stone walls that curved away into the mist. "Do you think anybody else is down here?" Hina said. "Any people, I mean." "What''d they be doing? It''s just corridors. Endless." "Maybe there are things down the passages we aren''t going down. Maybe we''re on the main road, and everything that matters is on the side roads." "Should we try one? Just to see?" "We could mark the floor so we can find our way back." She scraped the tip of the iron poker against the stone of the floor. It left behind a white mark. "It''ll do." As she stepped into the corridor to the left, Hina saw it out of the corner of her eye. A figure. Beyond the edge of the mist, and tall¡ªnearly tall enough to touch the ceiling high above them. It was all black against the grey fog, with something red where its face should be. When she turned her head to look at it directly, it was gone. "I saw it," Hina said. "Just for a moment." Kai sighed. "I hoped I was seeing things." "Let''s... let''s keep moving." The side passage branched too, every hundred meters or so, another hall branched off. These all ran in the same direction that Hina and Kai travelled. Footsteps echoed behind them. Hina scraped lines on the floor at every intersection, pointing back the way they''d come. The footsteps grew louder. A chittering sound came from behind them. Kai led them on, increasing the pace to a jog that strained Hina''s tired legs. He led them past three more intersections. And then there was a door. She nearly missed it. It was set into the wall, a pale rectangle, almost the same colour as the stone. "Inside?" Kai asked. Hina nodded. "I think so." She reached out and touched the door. It was cool and smooth to the touch. She pulled on the metal ring, the door swung open and they stepped through. She pulled the door closed behind them, and stood watching it for a long moment. The footsteps grew louder and then stopped. Hina waited, holding her breath. The footsteps continued on up the corridor, getting further away. They faded into the distance. "Wow," Kai''s soft voice came from behind her. The room dwarfed every other room Hina had ever been in. If she couldn''t see the near wall stretching up towards the darkness where the ceiling should be, she might have wondered if they''d ended up outside. But no. The sky¡ªthe ceiling¡ªwas completely empty, but Hina could still see. The stone of the floor dipped and rose like a natural thing, continuing on in all directions except behind them. And in the middle distance, rising above the stone, and standing against the dark, was a little wooden cottage. Smoke puffed up from its stone chimney. 1.17 - The old man
Inside the cluttered single-room building, a thin man sat on a rough wooden floor before a stone fireplace, staring into a flickering fire. The deep lines in his forehead showed a lifetime of worry, and his vacant eyes reflected the dancing flames. His long white hair was tied back in a ponytail, his full beard hacked short. Dirt-covered pants and a stained shirt covered his body. He looked up as Hina stepped through the doorway, and his face brightened. "Thank the gods you''re here!" The man stood. "I''ve been waiting for you for¡ªI don''t even know how long it''s been. I was starting to think you''d never come." Hina moved out of the way so that Kai could come through. The door swung closed, hitting the frame with a wooden thunk. Hina glanced in Kai''s direction. He shrugged. "I''m sorry," she said, fingers tightening on the handle of the poker. "Who did you say you were waiting for?" The man''s face fell. "I thought you were the ones who were supposed to come." He let his extended hand drop to his side. "You''re not¡ªnot here to help with the problem?" "Problem?" Hina asked. "What problem?" "The problem with the graveyard. The bodies¡ªthey keep¡ªthey keep waking up." "Wait, what?" Kai asked. "They won''t stay buried. I''m at my wits'' end. I''ve tried everything¡ªevery ritual, every prayer. Nothing works. I sent for help¡ªweeks, months ago, but no one has come. Until now. Until you." "I''m Hina," she held out a hand. "We were just passing through." "Oh. Oh! Yes, of course. I''m sorry. I''m sorry, I''m just so¡ª" He looked at Hina''s hand, then belatedly took it. His grip reminded her of the touch of an insect. "Alik. I''m Alik. The caretaker. I''ve been here for¡ªI don''t know how long. I''ve been here for a long time. I look after the graves." "Kai." Kai shook his hand. "So this"¡ªHina gestured broadly¡ª"is all your home? Do you know how we can find a way out?" "Oh, yes. Oh, I suppose I''d better show you the problem." The man said. "Yes, this way." He pushed past Hina and Kai and walked out the door. Hina looked at Kai and shrugged. They followed Alik through the door. She gasped. The island of stone in the void was gone. It didn''t make any sense. They were outside, somehow, on an ordinary afternoon. The sun was just about to set. The house¡ªthe same rundown shack that they''d seen from within the dark room¡ªstood in a graveyard. Perhaps fifty graves with crude wood and stone markers inside a crumbling wall, and there was room inside the fenced off area for many more. "What?" Kai said. "How¡ª" "Where are we?" Hina asked. Her fingers clenched around the base of the poker, which she had leaning against her shoulder. "What is this place?" "The graveyard." Alik walked on in amongst the stones, his voice calling back to them. "Like I told you¡ªit''s just over this way. Follow me." The man led them to a pile of freshly turned earth beside a simple wooden marker that read Barth. There was no date. The hole had been filled in, the earth was dark and looked freshly turned. "This one." He pointed to it. "I buried him yesterday. He''s gone now. But he''ll be back before morning." "How do you know he''s gone?" Hina asked, curious now. "I saw him. He got up and walked away. Saw him with my very own eyes. Just a few hours ago." "Do they do anything?" Kai asked. He tapped the butt of his spear against the grass. "Other than leaving? And coming back later?" "Every time one of them walks, the Murchers up the road lose a pack beast, or a chicken, or a dog. Or the Flints lose a sheep. Once... once it was a child. From the village, up the way." "What¡ª" Hina shivered. "What happens to them?" The man blinked and looked at Hina. "I beg your pardon?" "What happens to the bodies? When the dead walk? When an animal goes missing?" "Oh, I see. The bodies are found later, mutilated¡ªdrained of blood." "How many graves?" Kai asked. "Have been disturbed?" "Six. Pater Yori was the first. And then Frau Murcher, the senior, who died almost a year ago. Then Old Levine, who was mauled by a pack beast. Gilda Grey and her husband Daven, who died of the wasting. And now this one. Barth, a farm-hand." "And all of them were buried within the last year?" asked Hina. You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. "No. Pater Yori was oh, it would have been two years ago. More. Frau Murcher Senior was a year ago, or a little less. The others were within the last six months, perhaps." "When it started, was Frau Murcher¡ªsenior¡ªalready dead?" "Aye." "What about¡ªyou said, Gilda was next?" "Old Levine," Kai corrected. "Right. Old Levine. Was he already dead, when all of this started?" "No, no. He was alive when the first of the sheep went missing. He died a few days later. Torn up by a pack beast, yes." "What do you think is happening here, Alik?" Hina asked in a soothing voice. "What do you think is causing this?" "I¡ªI don''t¡ª" He paused, seeming to collect himself. "If I knew that¡ªI''ve tried everything. A ritual to quiet the spirits¡ªcalling on the gods." He shook his head. "I sent for help from the church. Sent for you." "I''m sorry, Alik. We''re not from the church. We''re just trying to get out of here." "I¡ªno, no." He shook his head. "Please, I''ll do anything. Just help me. Help me stop this. I have¡ªI have a treasure, a treasure from the war. I''ve been saving it for years. It''s yours, if you can help me." "Can you show us the way out?" "Yes, yes. Of course. Anything, so long as you help me first." "What kind of treasure?" Kai asked. "Gold and silver, a few items of value. Not a lot, mind you. But it''s yours¡ªeverything I have¡ªif only you can help me stop this. It''s¡ªit''s well hidden," Alik said. "You''ll never find it unless you help me. No. You have to help me fix this, first." Kai looked at Hina and gave a small nod. Directions and a little bit of treasure would go a long way, Hina supposed. They could certainly use it for supplies, maybe even to buy passage with a caravan. And if they could avoid the wolves... She nodded back. "Okay. We''ll try to help you," she said. "You will! Oh¡ªthank you, thank you!" "We''ll try. I can''t make any guarantees," Hina said. "Why don''t you go inside, and we''ll poke around for a bit, and see what we can figure out." "We''ll come get you if we need you," Kai added. "Oh, of course. Of course." The dirty man left them without another word. He walked back to the tiny shack near the center of the graveyard and disappeared inside. When Hina was sure that he was gone, she turned to Kai. "What do you think?" "He''s pretty crazy," Kai said. "But I believe him." "What even is this place? We were in the corridors and then there was a house in the middle of a huge empty room, and now what, we''re outside? In a graveyard? Is this even real?" "I think..." Kai sounded thoughtful. "I think it''s a trial. I think we''re in a trial." "Like a test?" "No, no. Or kinda? Like if we do the right thing, we''ll get a reward. If we do the wrong thing, nothing. Or maybe we''ll get punished." "A reward... like the treasure?" "I think so. It happens sometimes, in books. You go in a spooky house in the woods, and if you do the right things, you get something good. Like treasure." "What happens if you do the wrong things?" "You get hurt. Or die." Kai leaned his weight on the spear. "But that''s just in the books." "Do you really think this is real? The same as the books?" "Maybe? It sounds pretty similar! That guy¡ªdidn''t seem to be all there, but he knew what he wanted. Not anything else." "Okay, so you want to just, play along?" It was strange, but Hina didn''t feel like they were in a lot of danger. Less than the corridors, at least. And if the wolves were still out there¡ªthe spear was a good start, but they needed more. Maybe treasure was exactly what they needed. "Let''s try it," Kai said. "If we don''t get anywhere, we can go and look for another door." "Wait, wait. Is the door still there? Are we still in the stone room and this is all like a dream? Or are we really somewhere else?" "I think... I think we''ve gotta act like it''s real." "Can we talk to the people on the farm? In the village?" "I don''t know¡ªmaybe?" Kai said. "But shouldn''t we watch the grave? For when it comes back? If it comes back?" "Yeah¡ªyeah that makes sense. Hmm. And I don''t want us to split up. Okay. So we watch and wait." Kai turned in a slow circle. "Up on the roof? We can lie down and watch from up there?" Hina looked around. The land was flat around the graveyard, leading to low hills in the distance. The roof seemed like as good a place as any. The shack''s stone chimney jutted out from the wood of the walls, and angled as it rose. Kai held out his hands as a platform so Hina could step up, and she climbed from the chimney up to the roof, while Kai scrambled up behind her. The roof was flat, tilted down towards the other side from where they''d climbed. It was covered with dirty wooden shingles, which were old and worn and missing in places. The roof must leak, if it rained. But how could it rain under the tower in the first place? It didn''t matter¡ªthey were going along with the situation as it presented itself. For now, at least. The surface creaked under Hina''s weight, and she lay down carefully on her front. Kai lay down next to her. The grave was in sight, and they were as far out of sight as they could be. It didn''t seem like the man¡ªAlik¡ªhad noticed him climbing on to his roof. There was nothing to do but wait.
* * *
The moon rose, big and white and singular. An unfamiliar moon. That, more than the lack of protections from the wild, was what convinced Hina that they were in some other place. Not the world they''d left behind outside the tower. Somewhere else. Whether it was real or some strange hallucination, she didn''t know. The man had spoken their language. And his clothes were normal enough. The graveyard wouldn''t have looked out of place out the back of some out of the way farm near the hedge in Grambe¡ªthe farmers out by the edge were strange sometimes. But this wasn''t Grambe. A figure appeared at the top of the hill beyond the graveyard. A lurching, staggering silhouette. It made a bee-line for the grave, the one that Alik had showed them. Hina poked Kai in the ribs. "It''s here," she whispered. Kai snorted awake. "W-what?" "It''s here!" She pointed at the figure. "The corpse, or whatever it is." The figure crouched down at the grave and scratched at the dirt, a shadow amongst shadows. Hina hopped down from the roof, landing in the dirt. There was a quiet thud as Kai landed beside her. She strode forward, making her way through the dimly lit graveyard. It was bright enough to see outlines, under the strange moon, but the night was drained of colour. The sound of scratching and the patter of shifting earth cut through the quiet of the night. As they stepped around the grave-markers, the figure came into view, crouched down as it clawed at the turned earth with its hands. Something smelled like rot and death, with a hint of roses. "Hello?" Hina said, tentatively. The digging stopped. The figure went still. It jerked up to its feet, standing crooked with its back to Hina. It was shaped like a person¡ªtwo arms and legs and a head. But there was something wrong with the back of its head. The figure swung itself around to face Hina. "Oh." The thing¡ªthe corpse¡ªwas a man in tattered rags. Its eyes were blackened empty pits. It didn''t say anything¡ªit swayed from side to side. It lunged towards Hina with its arms extended. 1.18 - Unburied
The shadowy figure¡ªthe corpse of Barth¡ªrushed towards Hina, claw-like hands extended. She jumped back, startled. She tripped on a grave stone and fell to the soft earth of the grave with a painful thud. "Oof!" She dropped the iron poker. Barth stepped forward towards her, then turned¡ªfacing Kai. She frantically swept around in the grass for the poker, but she couldn''t find it¡ªthere was no time to look, the knife would have to do. She scrambled to her feet. Kai and the corpse were facing one another, its hands raised against Kai''s spear. Kai jabbed at it, and the thing pushed his spear point aside with one hand while stepping in to slash at him with the other. Kai yelped and hopped back, bringing the spear back into line. Hina ran around the grave, coming at the thing from the side. There wasn''t room to get behind it. Barth turned partially to face her, but Kai kept it distracted, the spear tip darting out to jab into the thing''s side. It turned back to Kai, and he stepped back, out of its reach. With a step forward, Hina plunged her knife into the corpse''s back. The blade slid into its torso with little resistance¡ªshe gagged on the stench of its rotting body. The corpse caught her in the chest with its elbow as it half turned, the force of the blow sent Hina reeling. She winced¡ªshe could feel the bruise beginning to form, but she wasn''t seriously injured. Kai was putting too much pressure on the thing for it to be able to hit her with full force. Kai thrust his spear, and the point connecting with the Barth''s face. Its return slash caught Kai in the ribs, fingers passing through his shirt. Kai gasped. Knife held high, Hina ran forward and plunged her blade into the base of the thing''s neck. She felt something crunch under the point of the knife, and a bitter smell filled the air. Something shrieked, a high whining sound that hurt Hina''s ears. The corpse collapsed to the ground, leaving behind a wiggling insectile thing on the blade of Hina''s knife. The shrieking continued for half a minute and then grew quiet and stopped. The thing on the knife stopped moving. Kai took his hands from over his ears. "Was that... it?" "I think so?" Hina''s ears were still ringing. "Let''s go inside and get a better look at it."
* * *
The man¡ªAlik¡ªsat on the floor, once again staring into the flames of the fire. He looked up as they came in. "Barth has been put to rest," Hina said. "Or, he''s lying on top of the grave at least. He''ll need to be reburied, I suppose." She held up the knife. "This was attached to him." The firelight revealed a black, spider-like creature, the size of two fists together. Four of its twelve limbs were thin and twice as long others. All of them ended in sharp tips. It was segmented and covered in coarse dark hair. It didn''t have eyes or a mouth or anything else that Hina would have expected to find. She held it away from her body, her knife at arms-length. Thick grey ichor oozed from the wound in its center. "I... what?" Alik''s face went pale as his eyes took in the corpse of the creature. "Where did you... find that?" "It was on his body¡ªattached to his neck," Hina said. "Some kind of parasite?" She leaned down and pushed the body off of her knife with the end of the iron poker, which she''d found again in the grass after the fight. It fell to the floor, a dark and dead thing. "But..." "We''ve helped solve your problem," Kai said. "You mentioned treasure?" He had his spear resting against his shoulder. "And you said you''d help us find the way out," Hina added. "Right... Of course," Alik said. "I¡ªI suppose you have resolved the problem. A puppeteer..." He shook his head. "I''d¡ªI''d never have guessed." "You''ve seen them before?" Hina asked. "Oh yes." He rose to his feet. "But the boy is right¡ªI promised a reward. I¡ªI will not go back on my word." This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. Alik took three steps away from the door, then crouched on the floor. He lifted one of the weathered floorboards before fishing something out of his pocket and reaching down into the hole. There was an audible click. The man replaced the floorboard, and moved to the corner where he lifted a sizable section of boards up¡ªa hatch. "Please, follow me," he said. Hina glanced at Kai, who nodded. They followed Alik down a short flight of narrow stairs and along a corridor, and then right at a four-way intersection. There was no mist, but otherwise the path reminded Hina of the corridors they''d come through to get here. Alik led them to a square room with a ladder leading down. "Ah, yes." He began to climb down it. "This way," he said, as he moved out of sight. The room below was a chapel of some sort¡ªfour rows of pews before a raised platform and an altar, and high arched ceilings. There were no windows, but the room was lit by the same sourceless light that had been everywhere except the shack and the graveyard itself. A wooden box sat on top of the stone altar, which was little more than a rectangular slab of stone. As Alik moved down the aisle and approached the box, Hina caught a glimpse of something moving under his ponytail. Hina grabbed Kai''s arm and pointed while Alik fiddled with the lock on the chest. The lock clicked open, and Alik lifted the lid of the chest. "Here we are. I''m afraid it''s not much, but it''s all I have. Please take it... take it and go." "Thank-you," Hina said. She moved around the other side of the table. The chest contained an assortment of small items¡ªa silver bell, a gold coin and a brown leather bag. "Gold and silver," Kai said. "But not much." "Take it, with my thanks. I must... I must return to my work," Alik said. "When you''re done, come and find me. I''ll... show you the way out." "Of course," Hina said. "Thank you." Alik vanished up the ladder. A scraping sound followed. "What?" Kai whispered. "What just happened?" "I think... I think he had one of those things on his neck," Hina whispered back. "Do we¡ªdo we kill it?" "I''m not sure." "We should help, shouldn''t we? He needs help¡ªthat''s what we''re here for¡ªthat''s the trial." Hina paused then nodded slowly. "Okay... When we go back up, we can try it." Kai picked up the gold coin then flipped it into the air, watching it sparkle, then passed it to Hina. It was heavy, about the length of her little finger across and thin. On one side, the weathered face of a bald man, frowning. On the other, a nine pointed star in a circle. "Shiny," she said, passing it back. "You hold on to it for now." The leather bag looked like a purse but bigger, and it clinked when Hina picked it up. It had a belt loop and a draw string that she pulled open with her fingers. Inside were a bunch of shiny metal stones, black and about the size of Hina''s thumb to the knuckle. "Huh." She picked one out¡ªit was heavier than it looked. "Oh, interesting." Kai took one and held it up to his eye. "Hang on to those, for sure." Hina wasn''t sure how they''d be useful, but maybe they could sell them later. She untied her belt and threaded it through the pouch, so it would sit opposite her purse, on her hip to the right. It pulled her belt down a little, but not so much that it was uncomfortable. It was lighter than Hina thought it should be, given the weight of the stones individually. A high, keening chime rang out as Kai lifted the silver bell. The sound of it echoed in Hina''s head, a heavy and oppressive note that drowned out everything else in a painful cloud of noise. "Don''t¡ªdon''t do that." Hina groaned. "Don''t do that again." Kai had a pained look on his face. "What¡ªwhat was that?" He set the bell down on the table again, movements careful to avoid ringing it again. "I don''t¡ªhas that been there the whole time?" There was a door set into the wall behind the altar, nearly the same colour as the stone-work, but it was unmistakeablely a door. There was no way she could have missed it earlier, was there? "No." Kai sounded unsure. "No, that wasn''t here before. Was it?" "Did the bell do that?" Hina picked it up off the table, carefully holding the ringer away from the edges of the bell. It was the width of two fingers together and made from slightly tarnished silver, with a ring at the top so it could be hung from a hook or a string. The face was carved with tiny letters in a language that Hina didn''t know, all sharp angles and curves. "Grab me the string?" "You think it makes doors?" He shook his head. "String''s still in your bag, I think." "Right." Hina carefully set the bell down on the table. She took off her bag and fished out the string, then cut a short length. She wrapped several layers around the bell ringer, then tied it off. Wincing in anticipation, she tilted the bell. It didn''t make a sound. "Safe now, I think." Hina put the bell away into her bag, along with the bundle of string, and slung her bag back over her shoulder. "I don''t think it makes doors, no. But maybe it reveals them?" "Hmm. That could be useful." Hina pushed on the center of the door, and then when it didn''t move, tried pulling the recessed handle on the right hand side. The door swung open to reveal another corridor that stretched off into the distance. "Hina," Kai said. "Where is the ladder?" It was gone. Even the hole in the roof through which they''d climbed down was gone, the only sign that it had ever been there was a handful of scratches on the stone wall. "Alik must have locked us in here..." Hina said. "But why?" "I think," she said slowly. "I think he''s one of those things. There was something moving on his neck." She shuddered. "I think he''s keeping us here for later." "Or he''s afraid of us. We did kill the other one. But I bet he doesn''t know about this door." Kai patted it. "Let''s see where it goes." The hidden door clicked shut when Hina pulled it closed behind her, and they walked up the corridor. Hina''s legs were stiff and aching, but the further they walked away from where Alik had left them, the better. "Do you think we did it?" Kai said, after they had been walking a while. "Did what?" "You know¡ªthe trial¡ªdid we win?" "If that''s what it was," Hina said. "I don''t know. We got some treasure¡ªthe gold coin has got to be worth a lot. It could buy a whole house in Grambe, maybe even a few houses." "Oh, yeah. Maybe we could buy a pack beast to carry all of our stuff." "Do you know how to look after a pack beast?" "How hard can it be?" Around a bend, the corridor ended. Through a doorway to the side at the end of the passage, there was a small round room, with an oversized ladder set into the wall. 1.19 - Stones
Hina sat with her back against the curved wall in the room with the ladder. Her arms and legs ached from the walking, and the climbing and the brief fights. A year ago, she wouldn''t have even been able to imagine doing that¡ªkilling things that were trying to kill her. A year ago she wouldn''t have been able to imagine going into a place like this where everything was trying to kill her. But there was something deeply satisfying about confronting a direct threat and coming out ahead. It was easier than the other kind of conflict. Once you got over the initial panic. The break was a good opportunity to run through her exercises, so Hina did just that. She cycled, the power rushing into her, and this time it was a little more controlled than before. When she was done, she held a buzzing pool of crackling energy within her chest. And it felt like she was holding more of it now. Was it just a matter of practice, or was the greater baseline intensity necessary for improvement? Or was she just imaginging it entirely? It was hard to know for sure. Ambit expansion was next¡ªthe second exercise that had come with the invitation to the academy. She''d started on it after she''d woken up from their last encounter with Gerda, and Hina needed to make more progress before she could move on to Gerda''s compression exercise, which required a developed ambit. And moving forward with the compression exercise would give her a chance of using the sigil again, safely. And given how easily it had moved the boulders around the campsite, the sigil would have been extremely useful over the last couple of hours. Spending time in this place, and in the wilds for that matter, was making it clearer that she needed more options for defending herself. More options in general. Right now, if she was backed into a corner, all she had was the strength of her body, her knife, and the borrowed iron poker. It wasn''t enough. So ambit expansion was what she had to work on. The theory was simple enough¡ªget a sense of the border between the edges of your self¡ªyour ambit¡ªand the potentia all around you. And then project power into that boundary, which would make it flexible, and then push. Simple in theory, but the execution was complicated. Last time she had managed to shift her ambit around the point of her right index finger, but as soon as she stopped focusing on it, it shifted back to almost where it had been to begin with. Kai was sitting with his back against the wall on the opposite side of the room, sipping water with a thoughtful expression on his face. No monsters were coming down the corridor, or down the ladder¡ªno sign of Alik, or the apparition, or the rat-things. Hina shifted her mental state. The right state of mind came easily down here. She tried to focus her attention on the whole of her body, sensing the border between her self and the potentia all around her. She found that while she could run her attention along the border, she couldn''t focus on anywhere near all of it at once. She started with her left hand, tracing the surface with her senses. She examined her left hand closely, observing the scattered freckles on the back of her hand, and the knife-slip scar on the side of her middle finger. The worry-damaged nailbeds on her thumb and first two fingers. When she felt like she had a good understanding of herself, of her left hand, Hina focused on the border, enveloping as much of it as possible in her senses. She gathered her will, and projected her intent, pressing out against the world beyond her ambit. There was a shift, as her ambit expanded around her left hand. The change was slight: not enough. Hina pressed harder and was rewarded with another shift, then three more in quick succession. Exhaustion seeped into her focused mental state. Hina held up her right hand, where the ambit around her index finger was still ever so slightly expanded when compared to the rest. So she focused on the other parts, projecting her intent. If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. After a handful of moments of sustained pressure, Hina''s ambit shifted, expanding until matched her left hand. There was a sense of balance, a sense of equilibrium there. The exhaustion seeped in a little more. Hina repeated the process for her forearms, and then her upper arms. Each step a little easier than the last, as if her efforts with the rest of her ambit were contributing to the stability of the overall expansion. After her right upper arm, she was too tired to continue. Hina relaxed her will, a little worried about losing all of her work¡ªthough in every case where her ambit retracted, it was easier to expand later, so was it really losing anything? She relaxed and her ambit quivered and stilled, staying expanded¡ªever so slightly¡ªalong the whole of her hands and arms. Success. She slumped back to lean more heavily on the wall, a faint smile on her lips.
* * *
"I''ve got an idea," Kai said. Hours later, they were still in the round room with the ladder, but it had been a break they''d both needed. Hina had even gotten in a brief nap. "Gimme a hand? Hold this." Kai passed Hina the middle of a bundle of strings. "I''m gonna pull it, hold tight right... there." "What is this?" "Well," Kai pulled the strands from one side taut and formed three groups. "You know how we''re trapped?" He braided the strands. "Yeah." "Surrounded by fiends?" "Yeah." "And how we''ve gotta get past ''em?" "Unless this ladder goes somewhere else, yeah." "And how we found that bag of really heavy rocks?" He held both ends of the braid. "Okay, let go. Hold the middle, two fingers like a hook." Hina did as he asked. Kai pulled both ends taut. "I figure we throw the rocks at the wolf-things." He formed three groups of strands, staring intently. "Maybe scare ''em away." He braided the groups together. "And this¡ªwhat you''re doing makes us better at throwing rocks?" "Uh-huh." "Huh. What is it?" "It''s a sling. They used to use them for hunting." He pinched the end of the braid. "And war. Hold this." He split the threads into two groups and dropped one. "Hold tight, I''m gonna pull on it." He divided the threads into three groups and braided them together. "So why did they stop?" "Well, maybe a crossbow is better." He pinched the end of the smaller braid. "Hold this in your other hand." He started on the other side. "But we don''t have a crossbow." "I''ll put one on the shopping list. Where did you learn to do this?" "Ariki took me hunting rabbits a couple of times¡ªin the empty fields outside town." He pinched the two smaller braids together. "Hold this tight." Kai began to braid all off the strands again. "We''d sneak over the wall. He showed me." "So you made one of these before? But you didn''t bring it with us?" "This was¡ªbefore. I left it with him. I didn''t want anyone to find it." "Okay." She didn''t want to push. "So how does it work?" Kai paused and pointed at the two overlapping braids. "You put a rock here." He continued braiding. "The two straps make a pouch. They hold it so long as the sling is¡ªstretched out? You swing it around and the rock stays there, but if you let it go or whatever, the rock falls right out of the pouch." "Right, so you''ve got a rock in there. Then what?" "Put the rock in, hold both ends, and you throw it. One end has a loop for your finger. You let go of the other end when you throw. The rock goes flying really far." "This would kill a wolf?" Hina didn''t quite manage to keep the scepticism out of her voice. "Really?" "Maybe. Hurt it, at least." He tied a knot in the end of the braid. "All we gotta do is hurt them," he said. "And they''ll run off, probably. Knife." Hina passed it over. "This is filthy. Did you not clean it?" He poured some water on his shirt and then washed the knife off with it. "Ugh." "Sorry." She frowned, annoyed to be apologising for not cleaning her knife. "I was a little busy." Kai trimmed the loose strands at the end of the knot. "Wanna see?" "Sure. Let''s try it in the corridor?" She passed him one of the heavy black stones from her pouch, and slung her bag back over her shoulder. She followed Kai into the hallway. "I''m gonna stand over here," he walked a few steps away. "And aim that way." Kai stood facing away from Hina, both ends of the sling in his right hand. With his left, he put his stone into the pouch. He drew his right hand back, and pushed the pouch down with his left hand, so that it started to swing back around his right hand. As the stone neared the top of its arc behind his right hand, Kai pulled it forward in an overhand throw, and released the end of the sling. The stone went flying, and hit the wall of the corridor with a crack, and bounced, skittering out of sight along the wall. Hina walked with Kai to retrieve it. They walked for a long time before they found the black stone lying on the ground in the center of the corridor. She bent down and picked it up, checked it for damage: the stone was completely unaffected by its multiple collisions with the wall. "Huh." Hina smiled. "That was impressive. Let me try?" It was harder than it looked, the stone would slip out of the little loops if you moved the wrong way while throwing. Kai had to duck out the way of more than one stone that went flying in the wrong direction. But after twenty or thirty throws¡ªthrowing back in the direction of the ladder, for easier retrieval¡ªshe felt like she had the hang of it. "Do you want to make another one of these for me?" "That one is for you. I used up most of our string," he looked sheepish. "And I''ve got this spear already¡ªyou needed something better at range." "Huh. Well, thank you. I appreciate it." He smiled. "You''re welcome." "So want to try going up the ladder now?" "Yeah, let''s go up." 1.20 - Up the ladder
Like the ladder they''d come down, the ladder up was oversized, the rungs much further apart than Hina was used to. She had to stretch to reach each hand and foot hold, and hold on to the side with her hands and feet to keep her balance. She climbed. It was further up than she remembered from the last ladder. Her hands grew slippery and she could feel her muscles straining. Her legs ached as she pulled herself up. The pressure in the air¡ªshe''d almost forgotten about it¡ªeased as she climbed. They''d walked a long way, in the corridors and after, but the walls of the shaft were the same as before. Were they still inside the same tower, or were they going to pop up in an entirely different place? And the graveyard had been somewhere else entirely. Hina suspected that they would have trouble finding the city if they were too far away. They''d have to ask someone the way. And they''d have to find someone to ask. Maybe it would be best if they could find a way to go back out they''d come in, even if that meant dealing with the wolf-things. Between the sling and the spear, they''d be able to chase them off now. Probably. After what felt like forever, she reached the top. Above her was another hatch, this one was made from silvery metal, not wood¡ªmaybe it would be lighter. She moved as far as she could to the side of the ladder so that Kai could help. Hina checked her grip on the ladder, then began to push up. The hatch began to move. Hina had to climb up the ladder to keep her grip as it lifted. At the tipping point, the hatch stood for a moment and then fell backwards. It slammed into the floor with a great reverberating crash. The room above was small, round and dimly lit, with single oversized door that had a handle on the left at the height of Hina''s chest. It looked familiar. "Where are we?" Kai spoke quietly. "I... I don''t know," Hina said. "In the room behind the locked door? Maybe? Or somewhere else." A shallow cupboard with simple wooden shelves was set into the wall by the door. Most of the shelves were bare, but one held a small glass object. She picked it up¡ªit was a glass container with white powder inside it, and holes in the top. "A salt shaker? What is that doing here?" She turned it over in her hands, looking for a label, but there was nothing. When she shook it, the powder swished around inside. "Poison, maybe?" Kai said. "Or tiny white rocks¡ªsand?" "It looks like salt. It would be nice to have some extra spices. The beans have been pretty bland so far." "We should test it first. On an animal, maybe. It could be anything." Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere. "Yeah, I guess so," Hina said. "I suppose that''s sensible. Where are we going to find an animal though?" "When we get out of here. We''ll have to catch one. Or set out bait, or a trap." Hina put the salt shaker into her pocket. "Let''s keep going." She tried the handle. A mechanism clicked and the door swung open. Beyond was a wide open room¡ªa landing, a broad half-circle that the room with the ladder touched on, stone floors covered in rich green carpets. Across the space, on either end of the flat side of the half-circle, two wide sets of stairs curved out of sight. One leading up and curving to the left, and the other leading down. The height of each step was taller than Hina''s knees. And there was something about the staircase that drew her eyes¡ªshe forced herself to look away. To the right a huge metal door was set into the wall¡ªa familiar door. It must lead to the antechamber where they''d slept. On this side, it had a handle. To the left of the stairs¡ªnext to the downward staircase¡ªwas an oversized door, this one made of rich dark wood. It was closed, and the handle was up in the corner, well out of reach. On the other side, near the upward staircase, a regular-sized door was set into the wall. Hina stepped towards it. It was the first time she''d seen a door in the spire that looked like it was made for people. She reached out to touch it, but her shaking hand stopped short of the wood. The back of her neck itched. Something was wrong. She had the sense that they''d made a terrible mistake. A noise came from high above and out of sight, a heavy thud. Whoever it was that lived here... Kai grabbed her arm. "What are you doing?" he whispered. "Let''s go!" Another noise, a thunking clatter. It was awake. Hina froze, her heart racing. The staircase was in the edge of her vision, a few short steps away. Her head turned towards it. Another thud came from above. An oppressive presence flooded the space, and a throbbing spike of pain shot into Hina''s temple. She took a step backwards, Kai pulling her towards the exit. A thunk from overhead. And then another. The sounds resolved into great, heavy footsteps on the stairs. Descending slowly. Blood roared in Hina''s ears. She stopped. If she stayed perfectly still¡ª "Hina!" Kai hissed. "Come on!" The footsteps grew closer and louder. It was coming. Kai pulled, and Hina stumbled on wobbly legs. The bent iron poker dropped from her hand. It bounced off the carpet and clattered against the stone at the edge of the room. Kai dragged her on and over to the door to the right. "Push!" She pushed. After a long moment of both of them pushing with all of their might, leaning into the door, the door shifted. The hinges shrieked. The massive door moved, shifting slowly, the gap widening. The footsteps boomed behind them. It was nearly here. In moments it would step into the room and see them tresspassing, and there would be nothing that they could do about it. It would¡ª "Come on!" Kai darted through the gap, pulling Hina on and into the antechamber where they''d slept the night before¡ªunaware of the dangers hiding just out of sight. Unaware of the thing on the stairs. It must have been sleeping only a handful of meters away this whole time. Kai ran across the room. He tripped on the edge of the rolled up rug and pulled away from Hina''s hand, stumbling past the fireplace and towards the door before he caught his balance. His feet left tracks in the dirt and dried mud. Hina ran a few paces behind him, already breathing hard. A sharp pain developed in her jaw, her blood roared in her ears. The barrier snapped with a sound like a twig breaking as Kai''s foot touched it. He pushed his way through the gap. Behind them, the door slammed shut. The room fell silent. The footsteps were gone. Hina''s hands found the weapons at her belt as she followed Kai. She took out the sling and one of the heavy stones, slipped the stone into the sling''s pouch and held it ready in both hands. She passed through the doorway. To the outside, where the wolves were. 1.21 - Wolves and other beasts
Hina scanned the treeline beyond the tower, ready to throw her stone at the first sign of a beast. Kai stood next to her, his spear held ready. The sun hadn''t risen over the trees yet. She shivered with the cold breeze. There was nothing in sight, nothing was moving¡ª A man with shaggy brown hair walked out of the forest directly in front of Hina. Lean muscles rippled, his disheveled beard swaying with each loping stride. A filthy set of dark-brown suit pants covered him from the waist down, suspenders dangling. He wasn''t wearing anything else. "Well, hello there," he called out, walking steadily closer. Behind him, wolf-like shapes stood at the edge of the forest. Hina could see two of them clearly. Her legs felt weak. Were there others waiting just out of sight? She turned a little to the side, ready to throw. Kai held his spear in both hands, pointing out. The wolves didn''t come any closer. They stayed at the edge of the forest behind them, one lying down. The other stood still as a statue. Both watched her. The man walked right up to Hina, ignoring both of their weapons. "I must admit, I''m a little impressed." He spoke loudly, and Hina didn''t recognise the accent. "Nobody like you has come out of there in a very long time. Little fella in particular." He took one step forward and put his hand out. "Bruce." His smile showed teeth. Hina hesitated. She let go of the sling with her right hand, handles dropping to dangle from the pouch in her left hand, the stone hard and heavy within her fist. She dropped her left hand to her side. She took the extended hand. "Hina." One pump. Bruce''s grip was firm. She nodded in Kai''s direction. "This is Kai." Hina drew her hand back. "So," Bruce leaned in. "What''s your secret?" He breathed in heavily, nostrils flaring. And leaned back, raising his eyebrows. "Well?" Hina looked blankly at him. "You know the drill. Me and mine," he gestured vaguely behind him. "We''da killed and eaten ya, you know, if you hadn''t gone in there." He nodded towards the tower at Hina''s back. "Way of the world. Still might, being honest, depends on what you have to say about all this, I suppose." His smile got bigger as he leaned in, dropped his voice a little. "Sometimes we let the little fellas like him go," he tilted his head towards Kai. "It''s good for business, brings in new customers." He got louder. "But not your kind." "What¡ªwhat kind is that?" "You know what you are. Nothing personal, you understand. But here you are. Outside. With him. And both of you smelling like the old man." His smile faded, his voice hardened. "How?" "We killed¡ª" A softness in Hina''s chest shifted, went firm. "Everything¡ªeverything that threatened us in there, we killed it." She took a step forward, right hand slipping down to the knife in her belt. "You understand?" Bruce''s eyes went wide. "Oh, did you now?" he said. "How very, very, " he grinned, "scary." He leaned in close, brown eyes staring right into Hina''s. "What about the old man? Did ya kill him too?" Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon. What old man? Alik? "No," said Hina. "We¡ªwe talked. We came to an, an arrangement." She thought about the footsteps on the staircase, the feeling like doom descending. Better to keep it vague. There was a pause and Hina forced herself to maintain eye contact¡ªto show no fear. Or, as little fear as she could manage. Bruce looked thoughtful. "Well, well, well." He took a step back, then he smiled again, showing teeth. "Must say, that''s exactly what I was hoping to hear. Here I am, and here you are." His smile turned friendlier, the wildness gone away for a moment. "Just as you said, I too am looking to make an arrangement. We''ve been at this for a while, me and mine." "At¡ªhunting travellers?" "That''s right. Travellers, children, run-aways, even the occasional adventurer. Them that won''t be missed. We chase ''em in there, quick as you please. Now yes, some do go missing here and there. Some of them even come out after, and we let those go. Well, most of ''em. What I''m getting at is that we do our share, just like we agreed. You couldn''t ask for anything more. No complaints." Bruce looked at her intently as if waiting for a response. "It¡ªit sounds like you''re doing a... good job?" "Glad you think so. Glad you think so." He looked pleased for a moment. "I like to think of it as a calling. We do our best." His gaze returned to Hina in full force. "So. Me and mine, we''ve been thinking that it''s time we started getting our fair share." Hina swallowed. "What do you want?" "Coin for starters." He frowned. "Getting into this business, we thought we''d just go ahead and take what we wanted, when we wanted it. Hasn''t worked out that way. They''re a surprisingly penniless bunch, our marks. What little coin there is ends up in there." He inclined his head towards the tower. "It must do. We certainly haven''t seen it. And a few creature comforts would go a long way. A very long way... And of course." Bruce paused. "Of course, we want a bigger slice. What we''re getting now, well it barely keeps us clothed and fed¡ªso to speak, you understand? It''s not right." "I see." Hina worked to keep her expression neutral. "And you know I don''t speak for¡ªcan''t speak for... the old man?" "Oh, of course not. Nobody speaks for the old man but the old man. But," he said, "if you could have a word with him? As you say, you do have his ear, you''re on speaking terms." He leaned in. "Isn''t that right?" "Wait, you don''t speak with him directly? How do you... How does that work?" "We hold to the terms of our agreement, naturally, of course we do." He put a hand alongside his face as if for secrecy, "but you wouldn''t catch us dead in there, even if we hadn''t agreed otherwise. Whole place is unnatural. You know how it is, I''m sure. It''s unnatural." Hina didn''t, but she let it pass. "Let me think for a second." She paused for a long moment. "We''re on our way to the academy, did you know that?" "Oh, fuck me." Bruce frowned. "He''s not even teaching you himself? That''s not good. Thats disrespectful, that is. Why¡ª" "So," she interrupted. "Here''s what we''ll do. I will have a word with him, see if I can make your case. But I''ll have to do that when I come back in a few we¡ªmonths. In a few months." Hina held her hand out in Kai''s direction. "And for now, here''s something to tide you over." She gestured towards Kai again, expectantly. Kai passed her the gold coin, fingers lingering a little longer than necessary. Hina held it out for Bruce. "Are we in agreement?" Bruce reached for the coin. Hina held it back. "Are we agreed?" She repeated. Bruce frowned. "I think." He paused. "Hmm. I think we can live with that. For now." He took the coin, then looked at it closely. He grinned. "Yes. This will do nicely." He made eye contact. His brown eyes were so dark they were nearly black. "Do hurry back." He turned and walked back into the forest. The wolf-beasts had disappeared some time during their conversation. Nothing moved. The forest was still and silent. Hina looked at Kai, who was staring into the forest with a blank expression. She patted his shoulder. "Come on, let''s get out of here." 1.22 - Salt
"Did you have to give him the coin?" They were walking through the forest. "The best, most valuable thing we found in that place?" "What do you think, Kai?" Hina moved around a spiny bush. The trees were thinner here, the spaces between them filled by other plants. "What would you have done?" "You couldn''t give him silver?" "Like the bell?" Hina hadn''t thought of offering that. "Do you think he''d have taken it?" "Coins, Hina." "You think I should have stood there, digging around in my coin purse for my seven silver coins to pay the werewolf? Do you think that would have worked?" Kai groaned. "No." A pause, and then, "Werewolf?" "Bunch of wolves chase us, then a wolf-like-man shows up with a bunch of wolves, starts talking about them like they were his¡ªI dunno, maybe they were his pets." "Werewolves aren''t real." Hina looked at Kai, who had hint of a smile on his face. "What do you think they were?" "Vampires." "The wolf man and his pet wolves were vampires?" "Yup. Everyone knows vampires can turn into wolves." "When the moon is full, right?" "Throne has been full for like... three nights? You didn''t notice? From after we saw that woman. It is a full moon. So. Vampires." "Don''t werewolves have something to do with the full moon too?" Hina glanced at him. "Wait, you think vampires are real? Really?" "Everybody knows that." There was a hint of a smile in his voice. "Okay, well. Whatever it was, that guy was fucking terrifying." "Don''t swear, Hina." Kai paused. "What was that about ''the old man''? Did he mean Alik? Did you make a deal?" "I think he was talking about the thing we heard on the stairs. The footsteps. I don''t know. I was just making things up, Kai. Whatever it took to get us away from them." "So if we see those things again?" "You heard what he said: they don''t go inside the tower. So we''re fine for now. And we''ll probably never see them again." Hina glanced left and right. The foliage twisted and moved in the breeze. No wolves in sight. "If we do see them again, same plan as last time, yeah?" "Yeah, I guess." He sighed. "I''m just sad about the gold. It was so heavy..." A bird squawked over the sounds of the forest. Hina held up a finger to her lips and started moving in the direction of the angry cawing and squalling. Around the base of a broad and twisted trunk, the battle came into view. A red and black bundle of clawing and pecking and squawking fluttered and rolled in the leaf litter. A black bird swooped down from the canopy into the tangle then flew up and away. It turned around to come back for another pass. As Hina stepped forward, the bird in the air gave a shrill call and curved past her into the trees. The bigger of the two birds on the ground disengaged; its wings beat loud as it flapped up into the canopy and out of sight. The bird on the ground croaked. It lay on its side, black and red feathers splayed out in a depression in the leaf-litter. It fluttered its wings as it hopped up to its feet. Dragging one wing behind it, it limped away along the ground. Hina dropped her bag to the ground and rooted through her belongings. She pulled out the empty flour sack from near the bottom. A little ashy, but servicable. Moving carefully and quietly, she followed the limping bird. It squawked, hopping and fluttering towards the base of a tree. Hina took two quick steps forward and dropped the open flour sack on top of the the bird. The sack landed a little to the side, one black and red wingtip stood out against the brown of the sack. The bird pulled its wing in under the edge of the bag. "Hey, hey, little bird," Hina said softly. "Don''t worry, I won''t hurt you." She reached out and put a hand on the bird through the sack. It squirmed and then went still. Moving quickly, she lifted the bird up and pulled the mouth of the sack closed around it, supporting the bottom of the sack with one hand. She carried the bird back to where she''d left her backpack, and stashed it in the top of the bag on top of her dirty work dress, tying the sack closed with a length of the left-over string. The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. "Dinner? Or test subject?" asked Kai, when she was done. "Not dinner." Hina frowned. "Maybe a test subject. Maybe a friend." Hina''s backpack croaked occasionally throughout the rest of the day as they walked on.
* * *
Hina took the glass shaker out of her pocket, and looked at it by the flickering light of the fire. The beans they''d eaten for dinner had been warm and filling, but bland. Salt would be one thing, and welcome, but who knew? Maybe it was something better. She imagined new and exciting flavours bursting onto her tongue. Roast beef with gravy, and applecakes for dessert. Or those little berry pastries. Hina shook her head. Better not to think about it. But she was looking forward to Blandmanch. They were far enough from Grambe that it was probably safe to go shopping, maybe they could even sleep in an inn, with a real bed. Somewhere safe. Beyond the fire, the night was still and quiet. But the wolves were out there, somewhere. And even if they weren''t following, there would be other things. Yes. It was time. Hina crossed her legs and took out the branch-wand that was tied to her bag. She settled it across her lap, and stilled her mind, focusing on the sensation of the world beyond her skin, that hidden energy. She breathed in potentia. The crackling power was calmer here. It came at her call, and fled when she released it. With every out-breath, it left behind a little piece of power within her chest, a building, buzzing hum. Gradually, her inner pool of power filled. She could feel it, warm and tingling, like a fire in her chest. And ever so slightly bigger now, than she remembered from within the tower. Fuller and deeper. Maybe this time, it would be enough to keep them safe. For a barrier big enough for them to sleep inside. She''d planned out the campsite with that in mind. A tiny fire, blankets set up side by side, and their bags piled at the end, all on a clear patch of soft earth. Kai sat by the fire, reading one of his battered books by the firelight. She could walk around all of it within a handful of steps. Hopefully, that would be small enough. Hina stood and extended her branch-wand. She summoned the patterns, one after another after another, and then empowered them, holding the images firm. The pressure within the working began to build¡ªwithin a handful of moments building to a level where she could barely hold it, while continuing the juggle the signs. She projected her intent out through the branch into the ground, releasing the pressure. The working shifted, but she was ready for it, holding the cycle steady as the power within her begin to move out, into the world. She took a hurried step forward, dragging the tip of the branch along the ground beside her and paced out the circle. Every step was a challenge, the balance of the working shifting and changing as she moved her body. The patterns shifted and tugged at the flow of power if she grew distracted even for a moment, and she couldn''t afford to waste even a drop. The circle snapped together while Hina was on her last dregs of power. The wave of exhaustion took her by surprise; the ground rose up to meet her and she thudded down. "Hey!" Kai said, looking up from his book. "Are you okay?" Her bag squawked grumpily. "Phew." Hina said. She gave Kai a tired smile. "Did it." Something glowed in her chest, a warmth that spread through her body. She''d done it. Her knee was uncomfortably close to Kai''s, but she didn''t care. Nothing would be able to sneak up on them tonight. And she''d only get better with time. She shuffled back to lie on her blanket next to Kai. Just for a moment. Her bag gave a grumpy croak. "Fine, fine," she said. "I''ll get up." She didn''t. She just lay there, staring up at the canopy for a few minutes. Until her arms and legs stopped tingling. The bag croaked again. Pulling herself up, she shuffled over to her bag and picked the wriggling sack out of it. "Hey, hey," she said softly. "Nobody''s going to hurt you." She carried the bag over to the fire where the pot with the leftover beans sat. "I''m going to let you out, okay? Give me a minute." She scraped together a spoonful of beans, and took the shaker out of her pocket. Holding it up towards the fire, she shook the white powder around inside the glass. Hopefully, it was something good. Carefully, she shook a tiny amount out onto the beans on the carved silver spoon. After setting the spoon down on the ground, she poured water from her water bottle into Kai''s bowl, and set the bowl down too. "Here you go," she said. "Food and water, just for you little bird. I''m letting you out now." She held her breath while she tugged at the string tying the bag closed. The squirming in the bag continued until a black feathered head poked through the opening and peered up at Hina. The bird hopped clear of the sack, dragging a limp wing. "Pretty girl, aren''t you? Or a pretty boy, I suppose." The bird had deep red tips at the end of its feathers. Its short, slightly curved beak opened and closed slowly. Its black beedy eye watched her closely. "Would you like something to eat?" Hina said softly. "I''ve got some tasty beans right here. But I won''t rush you." The bird croaked. Flecks of blood and ash clung to its feathers. The bird cocked its head to the side, and hopped towards the spoonful of beans. One eye watched Hina as it bent its head down and dipped its beak into the food. It cocked its head back to swallow. It made something like a cackling noise from deep within its throat, and ate another bite. One head-cocking swallow at a time, the bird ate all of the beans that Hina had set out for it. When there was no more, it looked at Hina and cawed. "Hungry bird," Kai said. The bird hopped back, and cawed again. "Would you like more?" Hina asked. "There''s more in the pot." The bird cawed and cackled. It dipped its beak into the bowl of water and drank. "Is that my bowl?" Kai asked. "I''ll need to take that, okay?" Hina moved her hand forward slowly to take the spoon. The bird hopped back with a caw, watching her. Hina lifted the lid from the pot and took out another spoonful of leftover beans as the bird watched. She put the lid back onto the pot, and set the spoon down in front of the bird. "Here you go, enjoy." The bird cackled and began to eat again. When it was done, it cawed for more, and Hina fed it. "How much can you eat, little bird?" she said to it softly. "More than I''d have thought, that''s for sure." After the fifth spoonful of beans, the bird seemed to be done. It let out a two toned croak, and took a hop away from her. Hina held her breath, hoping. The bird hopped again, one wing fluttering. It hopped up onto Hina''s water bottle and began to preen, beak running through its feathers, apparently ignoring her now that it was fed. Good enough. "We''ll have more food for you in the morning." The bird looked up, and then returned to its grooming. There was something joyful about its twitchy little movements, its fluttering wings and its splash of colour. It was fascinating in a way that the wild birds of Grambe had never been. She watched it out of the corner of her eye as she lay down on her blanket beside Kai. On the ground that she had claimed as her own, if only for a little while. Ground that normally belonged to creatures like this bird. Creatures that were wild and free. Hina hoped that the bird would stay. Almost as much as she hoped that she hadn''t poisoned it. 1.23 - Hunting rabbits
Hina woke to cawing. The black bird perched on her bag, watching her. It whistled, and croaked when she sat up. The line of the barrier lay within arm''s reach, unbroken. Their safe space in the wild. Hina smiled. "Good morning, bird." The bird croaked again, and cocked its head to the side. It hadn''t hopped away in the night, she had half expected to be woken by the sound of it breaking the barrier. If it was intelligent enough to break the barrier at all¡ªsomething to test later, perhaps. The morning sun streamed through the trees, and other birds called in the background. The bird croaked louder. "Break-fast?" it croaked, tilting its head. "Oh my, you can talk?" She poked Kai in the ribs. "Kai, the bird can talk!" Kai groaned. "What?" He sat up. "It''s alive? And it didn''t fly away?" The bird croaked again, louder. "Break-fast?" "Oh. And it talks." "Let''s get you some breakfast," Hina said. "Then let''s get going." Taking a spoon, Hina filled Kai''s bowl with the leftover beans from the night before. "This is for you, little bird." She filled the pot with a couple of handfuls of dried beans and the last of the water from the fountain in the spire, to soak. "I''ll be back in a bit." Hina broke the barrier with a snap. The bird hopped back from its bowl and looked at her. Then it dipped its beak back into the food. When Hina returned to the campsite, the bowl had been scraped clean, and the bird was perched once more on her backpack, watching. It cackled at her. "We can try the shaker when we stop tonight, I guess. I''m looking forward to tasting something other than beans. And we''re getting low on those." "Oh! Let''s catch something for dinner," Kai said. "With the sling!" "It''s a shame we don''t have enough for another one¡ªtwice the chances, right?" "Yeah. Give me a minute." Kai stood, and wandered off into the forest. "I need to get in there," Hina said to the bird. "Don''t make a fuss." She moved over towards her bag gradually. The bird squawked and hopped off the bag, trailing its injured wing. It croaked at her from just out of reach. Hina got to work packing up. She rolled up her blanket and stuffed it back into her bag, along with the other things scattered about the campsite. She put the flour sack at the very top layer of her bag, so if the bird wanted to ride there, it could do that without messing up her things. "Maybe we can take turns with the sling," Kai said when he returned. Hina supposed that would be okay. But it would be better if they were both throwing rocks at whatever they were trying to hit. Or. "Could you throw that spear?" "I dunno. Never tried." He picked it up from where he''d left it, one end stuck in the ground. "Maybe..." "Sounds like something to try. For hunting, I mean. Try and hit that bush? The one with the yellow flowers?" Kai took a few steps back. The bird whistled. Kai drew his arm back in an overhand motion, and threw. The spear flew through the air and landed point first a foot away from the bush. "Not bad," Hina said. "Not bad at all. You should practice that." "Thanks." Kai practiced throwing a few more times, and then it was time to get moving. "I''m going to pick my bag up now, okay?" Hina said to the bird. It croaked out a low tone. Hina picked up the bag and slung it over her back. The bird hopped over to her shoulder with a flutter, sharp claws digging in. It cackled, then hopped back onto the bag. She lead them on, into the forest. She thought they were heading roughly south east, at least most of of the time. The forest was bright and fresh, birds sang and called to one another in the branches. The bird on her backpack gave the occasional croak and grumble when she stepped down too hard or too quickly, the backpack bouncing on her back.
* * *
The trees thinned as they walked, the undergrowth growing thick with bushes and shrubs. Hina fought her way through, pushing the plants aside as she walked. They came to the crest of a hill. Down down them was a clear, grassy space before the forest continued on the other side. "Look," said Kai, softly. "Over there, on the edge of the forest." He pointed. The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. Hina followed his gaze. "I see them." There were three or four furry shapes moving at the edge of the tree line. Kai was preparing his spear. "On three?" "Can you throw it that far?" "I''ll try!" "Okay." "One." Hina lowered her bag to the ground, then took out a shiny black stone and her sling. "Two". The furry things were small targets. She lined up the shot, and focused, pushing all other thoughts out of her mind. "Three." She threw, putting her full strength into the over the shoulder throwing motion. She released the stone with a snap, as the free end of the sling collided with the body. The stone flew down the slope and disappeared against the trees on the far side. The furry shapes were gone now. She started down the slope. The bird croaked from behind her. Kai''s spear stood point down in the grass, marking the place, or somewhere near it. He picked it up. But there was no sign of anything else. No dead animals, certainly, and no stones or impacts with the ground. "I suppose this is another thing we need to practice," she said. "Help me find the stone." They hunted high and low. Hina followed the probable path of her stone further into the trees, but there was no sign of it, and the bird was croaking louder on her back every time she bent down. "We''ll just have to get closer next time," she said. "And practice. Yeah."
* * *
Late in the afternoon, they came across a clearing¡ªsmaller, this time, a thin strip about twenty or thirty metres across. As they approached the edge of the trees, Hina saw movement on the far side. She held up a hand and pointed. Kai looked along the path of her hand, and then nodded. Hina readied her sling. She placed a stone into the loop in the middle and held it taut with her other hand so the stone wouldn''t slip out. She looked at Kai and mouthed "One... Two... Three." Hina stepped forward, rolling her shoulders in an easy bowling motion. Her hand shot forward in a throw, and she released the other end of the sling, catapulting the stone forward with a whip-snap. The stone blurred as it flew across the clearing to to the other side. In the distance, a sharp squeak. Shapes on the other side of the clearing scattered. Hina walked across the open space to where her stone landed, where Kai''s spear stood proud. A fat speckled bird lay on the ground, dead. A smooth black stone was nearby. The fallen bird was egg-like, with a feathery tail and feet on the bottom, and a rounded head that curved into a pointy beak at the front. It was brown and white and it looked delicious. She might have been a little hungry. "You killed it! Nice one!" "Thanks!" Hina grinned. She picked up the stone, wiped it off on the front of her dress and put it into her pouch. "It looks like you were pretty close too." "Maybe." "Well, you know what the most important thing is?" "What?" "Dinner!" Hina picked up the bird by its feet. "Come on, we''ve gotta find a place to camp." Kai looked at the bird in her hands. "Do you know how to turn that thing into food?" "Field Dressing Game by uh, Hessler? And you know that the Fischers kept quail, right? They had a whole pen of them in their courtyard." Kai shook his head. "We were there all the time¡ªI guess you were a little young. Anyway, I''ve been there while they dressed quail, and this looks a lot like an oversized quail." "Do you have to take the feathers off? Like a chicken?" "I''ll work on it while we walk. Unless you want to?" Kai shook his head twice. "Come on, we''ve only got a few hours of light." A trail of small brown and white feathers marked their passage through the afternoon.
* * *
In the evening they stopped in a little clearing with trees on all sides. Hina''s fingers were sore, but the game bird was mostly defeathered and that was worth a little discomfort. Hina''s mouth watered at the thought of fresh roasted bird for dinner. It had been a long time since she''d eaten any kind of meat. The black and red bird on her backpack was quiet. "You okay back there, little bird?" she said, softly. No response. No matter. "I''m gonna make a fire," Kai said. "Okay. I''ll take care of this." Hina gestured with the game bird. "And you, little bird," she said. "I''m taking off my backpack now." The bird was muttering as she set the backpack down, almost words, but Hina couldn''t quite make them out. Otherwise it didn''t move, though it watched her closely. She let it be, there were a lot of things to do now. And she was sure it would come around with food. Food. She grinned. Hina found a fallen branch to lean on, and began to dress the bird. Mrs Fischer had a big cleaver that she used to cut off the wings and the heads of the quail, but Hina''s everyday cooking knife would have to do. It was a little tricky to get a good cut without a solid surface beneath her, but she managed. Next, remove the entrails and the other bits that weren''t good to eat. Carefully. Mrs Fischer would do¡ªsomething. A cut down the bottom? Sounds about right. Hina gave it a try. She pulled out all of the bits on the inside and left them in a pile on the ground. And hmm. "Hey, little bird," she pointed down. "This is for you, if you want it." The black bird croaked and then croaked again. It hopped in Hina''s direction, dragging its injured wing. Soon it was picking through the off-cuts happily with its beak and claws. "Break-fast," it muttered between bites, "break-fast." As for the rest, they only had one pot, which was full of beans, so frying was out. Hina figured she had two options: she could cut the bird up and dump it in with the beans. But the pot was already pretty full, and this was a lot of bird¡ªseemed like a stretch. Or she could roast it over the fire on a stick? Yeah, that sounded great. They could eat most of it that way, and add the bits that didn''t cook properly in with the beans. They''d even have leftovers for tomorrow. Hina balanced the dressed bird in left hand while she went to look for a roasting stick. Carrying it with her was messy and awkward, but better than some wild animal¡ªshe glanced at the black bird, who was still rooting through the off cuts¡ªbetter than something getting into it while both she and Kai were distracted. A short walk in nearby forest and she found a suitable branch, two fingers thick and longer than her arm. She trimmed off a few wayward twigs with her knife¡ªbalancing the stick between her knees while she used the knife with her right hand. The knife was getting blunt, which wasn''t a surprise given all of the mistreatment. They''d need to find a tinker to sharpen it in Blandmanch when they got there. She picked out a few more of similar size, imagining a framework of sticks to hold the bird over the fire. And then they''d just have to turn it every now and then while it cooked. The process had been briefly described in her campfire book. Prepared stick in hand, Hina impaled the raw bird and stuck the end into the ground. That would keep it out of the dirt and out of the reach of any nearby scavengers. And then she picked the string out of her bag and got to work on setting up a frame. She settled on a design with three sticks on either side, tied together at the top, and then the piece that the meat was threaded through could span the two. By the time she was done, the fire was burning cheerfully. Hina set the game bird on the frame, across the fire, and took a seat on the ground. "Now we wait," she said. The black and red bird hopped back over to Hina''s bag and climbed back on top of it. "Good bird," it said. "You''re welcome, little bird, any time," Hina said. "You know what, you''re going to need a name. Any suggestions?" The bird croaked. 1.24 - Naming the beast
"Is it a boy or a girl?" asked Kai. "No idea. Unless you wanna tell us, little bird?" They sat by the fire, waiting for the meat to cook. The forest was still and dark. The bird perched on Hina''s backpack, its head cocked to the side. "Good bird," it said. "So I figure, neutral names, you know¡ªnames that work for both?" Hina said. "What about... Stanley?" "Have you ever met a girl named Stanley?" "Maybe he likes it. Bird?" The bird croaked. "Definite no," Hina said. "You don''t know that. Stanley¡ª" "¡ªwhat about Lou. Are you a Lou, little bird?" The bird croaked and then croaked again, muttering under its breath. "Boo. Terrible name," Kai said. "And he doesn''t like it either." "I''m really not sure it''s a he." "Well, whatever. He''s a bird." "Good bird," the bird said. "Does he want to be called bird?" Kai asked. "Good bird." "We are not calling it bird." The bird croaked sadly. "Okay, okay. What about... Bean," Kai said. "You know, with the red feathers? And the black feathers, too." "Hmm, maybe." Hina looked at the bird. "What do you think?" The bird croaked. "Sounds like a no to me. But it''s a good idea, what about Ruby?" The bird preened its feathers. "Bean?" asked Kai. "Bean, bean," the bird said. "Good bird." "Does he understand us?" Kai asked quietly. "It almost sounds like he does." "It''s a bird, Kai. I''ve read that they can be pretty smart, but he''s just copying words and responding to tone of voice¡ªand food, he doesn''t really understand what we''re saying. Right, Bean?" "Good Bean." "Well, that''s settled then. Good pick." Hina turned the meat over the fire. The fat sizzled as it dripped, and her mouth watered from the smell. "Okay, this is done. Done enough," she said. She lifted the meat off the fire on the spit. "Cut some off for us?" She handed him the knife. "Don''t cut too deep, the insides won''t be cooked." Kai cut off a piece for himself, and another for Hina. Bean sidled up to him, "Good bird?" "Okay, if you like." He cut another piece. "Careful, it''s hot." He put it onto the ground near the bird. Bean whistled. Hina put the spit back over the fire where the rest of the meat could cook, and where it would be safe from talking birds. Burning the tips of her fingers, she took a bite. It was juicy and delicious, with crispy skin. The edge was a little undercooked, but it was the best thing she''d ever tasted. The beans were next. Hina took the pot from out of her bag, and unclipped the lid. She added some water, and then held up the salt shaker, giving it a careful look before adding two shakes into the pot, one for each of them¡ªtalking birds didn''t count. She put the pot onto the edge of the fire, onto a couple of pieces of wood that Kai had put there for that purpose¡ªthanks Kai. She cut off a few more pieces of meat and added them to the pot, as much as she could fit. "Can you keep an eye on the meat?" Hina said. "Just give it a turn every now and then, yeah? And if it smells like it''s burning, it probably is. The fire''s way hotter than an oven. Oh, and give the beans a stir occasionally?" "Got it." Hina gave him a good long look. Maybe it was uncharitable, but she didn''t want to eat burned beans again. "Really, I''ve got it." Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. Hina took her wand from where it was strapped to the side of her bag, then sat down and crossed her legs. She was a little worried about the sounds and smells of the fire. Perhaps she should have set up a barrier before they started cooking? It was just such a pain to be trapped inside a tiny campsite all night. And she didn''t think she could manage setting up a barrier more than once in the same night, not any time soon. Hina cycled until she was full to brimming, and holding more power than she remembered from last time. She smiled and stood, branch in hand. Hina visualised the first pattern of the barrier, the twisted spiral¡ªthere were little inward lines along the length of the central whorl that reminded Hina of teeth, and they had to be placed ever so precisely. Even after practicing this almost a dozen times, it still took quite a lot of focus to get the patterns right¡ªto begin with, at least. Once you got started, they took on a kind of life of their own, and you only had to hold them in place and stop them from twisting or changing. She moved on to the next sign¡ª "Hello?" a girl''s voice called from in the woods behind Hina. Bean whistled two notes. "Hello there," Kai said. Hina dismissed the pattern in her mind. She hadn''t committed to the working yet, at least. She tossed the branch towards her bag. A slim girl walked out of the trees. "May I share your fire?" the girl said. She looked a little younger than Hina. Golden hair fell past her neck, contrasting with her pale blue dress. She had a leather satchel over her shoulder. Hina looked at Kai, who was already nodding. The girl didn''t look like she would murder them in their sleep, and there were two of them and only one of her, after all. "Of course," Hina said. "Please, be our guest." Hina took a seat near the fire and gestured for the girl to join them. "Thank you. I''m Olivia." "Hina." "Kai." "Good Bean." "Oh, you have a bird." Obviously. "What are you doing in the woods by yourself, Olivia?" asked Hina. Olivia took a seat on the ground on the other side of the fire, crossing her legs beneath her. "I''m on my way to the city. The academy, do you know of it?" "That''s funny¡ª" "¡ªThe Qalarian Academy?" Hina interrupted. "Precisely. I''m on my way to study there. Summer intake is in, oh, just under eight weeks." "Isn''t it a long way away?" Hina said. "Oh, yes. Much too far to walk. But I''m told I''ll be able to arrange transport from Blandmanch. It''s something of a rite of passage in my family, to make your own way to the academy. I''m confident that I''ll be able to figure it out." "All of ''em?" Kai said. "Your whole family are practitioners?" "My mother, my father." Olivia''s lips quirked. "Her mother and some of her siblings¡ªmy uncles and aunts, at the least. I don''t know about the rest." "Interesting." "Oh, I''m sorry. What about the two of you? What are you doing out here?" "We''re¡ª" "¡ªon our way to visit family in Blandmanch." Kai frowned at Hina. "My uncle and his wife just had a new baby," Hina lied. "We''re on our way over there to help out." "And you''re camping in the woods, too! Gosh, that''s brave, and very generous." Olivia smiled broadly. "Aren''t you lucky that I ran into you both. I happen to know a few tricks, if something stumbles across us in the night." "Wow, that''s great," Hina said, aiming for admiration and not quite getting there. "What can you do?" she asked. Bean cackled in the background. "I know a force working that should be sufficient for most of the smaller beasts in the valley. Oh, and I can do an alarm ward when it''s time to sleep. If..." She looked at Hina with big eyes. "If you don''t mind sharing a campsite?" "Of course not!" Kai said. "Turn the meat, Kai," Hina said. "Force, huh. Is that cutting force, or is it more of a bludgeoning kind of thing?" "Uh, it''s a bit tricky to be precise enough to cut¡ªyou have to work up to it. I can handle blunt force. A bit like a hammer. And of course, that''s what tends to be more useful out here in the wildlands." "We were just about to eat. Do you wanna join us?" asked Kai. "That would be lovely, if it isn''t too much of an imposition." "Not at all," Hina said, biting down her irritation about stray rich girls eating their food. But they weren''t so low on food that they couldn''t share, and they probably had more meat than they could get through before it spoiled. Hina wasn''t sure about mechanics of preserving meat outside of a chiller¡ªsomething about drying? Salt? Better to share than to let it go to waste. Even if it was annoying. "We don''t have a spare bowl, though," Hina said. "She can borrow mine," Kai said. He took the knife and cut a piece of meat off the bird, and brought it over to Olivia. "Here," he said. "The beans will be a while longer." Olivia took a bite, eating with her fingers. "Oh, that''s delicious. What is it?" "Some kinda bird. We don''t know the name," Kai said. He sat back down. Hina shrugged. "You hunted this?" "Hina got it. With a sling I made," Kai said, smiling proudly. "That''s amazing. And it''s so good." She ate more. "Where did you say you came from?" Hina started to answer, but Kai got there first. "Grambe. Little farming town up north." "Oh my. Now that is a long way¡ªyou must have been on the road for a week or more. But why are you in the forest? The road goes all the way to Blandmanch, doesn''t it?" "We ran into some beasts on the road near Brampton, they chased us for a while," Hina said, staring at Kai, hoping he''d get the hint. "We got away eventually." She wished they were sitting at a table, in kicking distance. "That must have been terrifying. What were they?" "Wolves, but big. With horns," Kai demonstrated with hands spread on his forehead. "How scary. How long ago did you say that you last saw them?" "It''s been a couple of days now," Hina said. "Oh, good." Olivia visibly relaxed. "I''m sure we''re no longer in their territory. The bigger beasts¡ªgroups or individuals¡ªthey normally have a fixed range. They say there are things like bears in these woods, but I haven''t seen any. I only left home the day before yesterday, but I haven''t seen anything more dangerous than an oversized rabbit. From the stories my mother tells, I expected to be fighting off monsters three times a day, but nothing so far." "We''ve had a pretty quiet trip ourselves, all things considered." "Where did you say you came from?" Kai cut himself another piece of meat and munched on it with his fingers. "My family''s home is in the hills near Knaton." That set off warning bells in Hina''s head. "Didn''t know anyone lived outside of the towns," Kai said, "except for wilders. Isn''t it dangerous?" "We''re lucky, I guess. We have big stone walls and my mother and grandmother are there to keep everyone safe if something monstrous comes along. But that hasn''t happened in a long time." "Some of the bigger farms are separate from the towns, too," Hina added. "Quite right," Olivia said. "And most towns start like that, just a few families working together to make a home in the wildlands. It doesn''t happen every day, but it isn''t rare, either." "So they just said ''Okay Olivia, go figure out your own way to the academy'' and left you to it?" asked Hina. She wasn''t sure she believed it. "Well, kind of. They had a big checklist that I had to cover first, to prove to them that I could look after myself. But they were very supportive. It''s a bit of an adventure." Hina shook her head. "I think the beans are ready." "Good bird," said Bean. "Good bird." "Yes, yes, you can have some too in a minute. Olivia, would you like a bowl?" "I would be delighted." Olivia passed Hina her bowl. 1.25 - Trinket identification
As Olivia started to raise a spoon towards her mouth, Hina had a horrible thought. "Wait!" Hina said. Before you eat anything, she thought, let me tell you about how we might have poisoned your food with an unknown substance. It''s okay though, we''re the friendly kind of poisoners. Never mind all of the other things that Hina had lied about. She couldn''t not tell her, though. That would be awful. "Sorry, stop, don''t eat that yet," Hina said. Olivia put her spoon down. "Why?" She frowned. "What''s wrong?" "This is awkward." Hina sighed. "A few days ago, we came across this salt shaker in the woods. I sprinkled some of it into the food¡ªour food¡ªbefore you arrived, and I... I only just remembered that now." "Oh," said Olivia. "Oh." She put down her bowl too. "That is awkward. Thank you for telling me before I ate it, I think? There wasn''t any of this stuff on the meat, was there?" Kai stared at Hina with a horrified expression. "The meat didn''t have any." Hina shook her head. "We were trying to do a controlled test, Bean¡ªthe bird¡ªate some of it last night, and he''s fine. We were going to test it ourselves tonight, but then you showed up. So." She scrunched up her face. "Sorry." "Hmm." Olivia looked down at the bowl of food in her lap. "Can you show it to me? The... salt shaker?" "Of course," Kai said. "Hina?" There was probably nothing wrong with that. What was she going to do, steal it? Hina took the shaker out of her pocket, took three steps around the fire and passed it over. "Here." Hina sat down again. "I''m sorry, I didn''t mean to¡ª," I didn''t mean to almost poison you, she thought. "I just thought you should know," she finished. Olivia stared at the salt shaker. "This is¡ªwhere did you say you found this?" "Um, in the woods a few days back. There was this ruined building on the top of the hill, and it was in there." Kai was shaking his head. "Hmm." "What is it, do you know? It feels... significant. Like there''s something special about it." "It feels like a trinket," said Olivia. "I don''t know what it does. If it''s food, most people try them on animals first, like you did. They''re usually... safe to test." "What it does?" Hina asked. "What do you mean?" Olivia shrugged. "My mother has a little metal box that she showed me once. Inside the box are two salted crackers. Any time you take them out and eat them, or throw them away¡ªit doesn''t matter how you get rid of them, those salted crackers are always inside the box the following morning." "The same crackers?" "I always wondered about the same thing." Olivia smiled. "Superficially, at least, they''re the same crackers, down to the imperfections. Same bubbles, same shape, same markings." "And do they do anything when you eat them?" "They do. After you swallow a bite of either of the crackers¡ªand it has to be a substantial bite, you intuitively know the direction of the nearest game animal. It only lasts a moment, but it''s enough to get you on the right track." "Really?" asked Hina. "Really. You get maybe two good bites per cracker. Oh, and the crackers make you thirsty. You have to drink... a lot of water." "Amazing," said Kai. "Imagine if we''d had that. We could''ve caught two birds. Maybe even three!" "My mother says that they''re very handy in a survival situation. It works on your own internal definition of game, so you can tweak the results a bit. Of course, the direction may or may not be very useful. The nearest rabbit might be underground, or it might be a bird flying overhead." "Huh. So how do we figure out what it does?" said Hina. "I mean, we know that it''s probably not poison." Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author. "Probably not poison to birds," chimed in Kai, helpfully. "Right. So you were saying that they''re usually safe to test?" "There are people¡ªin the city, and other places¡ªwho specialise in figuring out what they do. It can be a whole profession in itself, sometimes. They have a whole suite of tests that they can run to figure out what''s likely, and then they can narrow it down from there. "From what I understand, they usually won''t hurt you without some kind of warning, especially the ones that look like food." Olivia held up the shaker. "Now, to me, this either looks like food, or it looks like the kind of thing you use to poison the foreign minister. I think we can rule out poison, given that your friend there is happy and healthy." "Break-fast?" "That''s a relief," said Hina. "I want to try it." She took the silver spoon and her bowl and served herself up some of the beans. It was a bowl of brown mush with a few large chunks of meat, but it looked good, and it smelled good. She hesitated with the spoon in front of her mouth, and took a bite. It was delicious. "Mmm," she said. "This is really good." She took another bite, and another. "Go slow," said Olivia, "in case it does something weird?" "Right," said Hina. "But also. It''s two shakes through the whole pot." She took another bite. "And it tastes amazing." "That could be the effect," said Olivia. "It could make basic or unpalatable food taste better." "Hey." Hina narrowed her eyes. "We might be in the forest right now, but I know how to cook." "No offence intended¡ªthe meat was very good," said Olivia. "I''m just saying that could be the effect." "Fine. I don''t think I''m turning into a frog, anyway." Hina took another bite. "Any strange feelings, anything unusual running through your mind? A feeling of connection?" "No, nothing. I''m just hungry, and not in an unusual way." "Okay. Then I think it sounds like we''re safe." She smiled. "I''m going to try a bite." Hina watched as Olivia picked up her bowl and lifted the spoon to her mouth. She took a bite, chewed and swallowed. "Oh, my," she said. "That''s really good." She lifted another spoonful towards her mouth. "This is just beans and meat?" "And mysterious trinket salt," said Hina. "Gosh. This is wonderful." She set her bowl and spoon back down. "Assuming that we don''t wake up in the morning as beetles, that is a really good find. I wonder how much you need to have to get the effect. Two shakes for what, three, four bowls full of absolutely delicious beans?" Hina nodded. That sounded about right. "Think about the applications¡ªyou give this to the cook in a busy tavern, and they can make anything taste good. Could be a little unethical if it works on spoiled food. That would need to be tested. But unless there are some serious downsides, this could be quite valuable." Olivia reached over and passed the shaker back to Hina, smiling. "Nice one." "Thank you?" "I imagine it comes down to how much of the salt there is, and whether it replenishes itself. If it''s a finite amount, that''s great for camp dinners for a while. If it refills itself, that''s a whole other story. And then you have to consider how much and how frequently it replenishes itself, if it does." Hina nodded. "That makes sense." "Someone pass me a bowl of beans, please?" said Kai. "Oh, right. Sorry, Kai." Hina refilled her own bowl and passed it to him along with the silver spoon. "Here you go." "Thanks," Kai said. His eyes widened as he took a bite. "Huh, you weren''t kidding. Nutrition and delicion." Bean croaked beside Hina. "Good bird? Break-fast?" "Yeah, I guess you can have some too," said Hina. She used the blade of the knife to scoop up some of the beans, serving them onto the ground for lack of a better option. "Here you go." Bean cackled and ate. If it was poison, they were all poisoned together. Somehow, that made Hina feel better. "Is that a talking bird?" asked Olivia. "I wasn''t sure before, but those were definitely words." "Yeah, he''s a good bird." "Good bird," said Bean, "Good bird." He cackled again before returning his attention to the beans. "How¡ªwhere did you get him?" asked Olivia. "We ran into him in the woods," said Hina. "Let me guess," she took another bite. "A few days ago? Same place you found the salt shaker? Mysterious ruins?" "No. No, it was after. He was being attacked by a couple of bigger birds, and we chased them away. He was injured and decided to come with us. Or she, I guess. We don''t know his gender." "He must be someone''s pet," said Olivia. "Or something. I''ve never heard of a talking bird just appearing in the wildlands before. Only the rarest of the beasts can talk, and they''re not usually friendly." "Well, I figure he can stay with us as long as he wants." Bean whistled. "Do you hear a lot? About the wildlands?" asked Kai. "Oh. My family travels. Someone''s always going somewhere and bringing back stories. This is the furthest I''ve been by myself. It''s... different. Not bad, exactly, but different." "How so?" "It just seems so... ordinary. I expected more danger, more excitement. My uncles are always talking about encounters with bandits and monsters and wildlings and all sorts of things." Hina yawned. "I''m about ready to turn in. Olivia, you were saying something about a ward?" "Oh, yes, right." Olivia stood up. She walked back and forth a few times, looking at the ground around the fire. "I''ll make a circle around the fire. You won''t be able to go out until morning¡ªnot without waking everyone up, so if you need to go, do it now." She grinned. "On that note, I''ll be right back." Olivia walked off into the forest. Hina waited a moment, then turned to Kai. "Thoughts?" "I like her," said Kai. Bean chirped low and then high. "She seems like a good person," Kai said. Hina wasn''t sure. There was something about Olivia that made Hina uneasy. Beyond the fact that she was a stranger with power, a stranger who came from power. "Just be careful," Hina said. "She almost seems too nice." "I don''t think so." Kai shook his head. "But I''ll keep an eye out anyway." He paused. "Back in a bit." He walked off into the forest, in the opposite direction from Olivia. "Good bird," said Bean. Hina sighed. She hoped Olivia didn''t stay with them for long. Some of those lies were going to be a hassle to keep up. 1.26 - Protective wards
Hina wasn''t going to pass up the chance to watch someone else perform a working, no matter how irritating they were. The blonde girl walked to a point around ten paces from the fire, then stopped. Hina, Kai and Bean were sitting around the fire while they watched. The remains of the game bird that Bean had picked over were scattered behind Olivia. Hina felt a hint of something stirring, or maybe she was imagining it. Olivia walked at a snail''s pace around the campsite. Behind her right foot, a line appeared on the ground, like she was dragging something invisible. The line only moved when Olivia moved. Hina couldn''t see any mechanism for it. Was that force? An intangible, metaphysical force? All the while, the almost imperceptable stirring continued. Like the faintest of breezes on a still day, in contrast with the real breeze that occasionally blew smoke from the fire into her face. Hina grew frustrated. She couldn''t learn anything from this. She''d have to ask questions, and that was awkward. There was a level of curiosity that was normal and appropriate for the person that Hina was pretending to be, but Hina wasn''t sure exactly where the line was. Olivia turned towards them, the circle complete, and gave a little half bow while smiling. "There you have it, one warded campsite." "Thank you," said Hina. "So it''ll wake us if anything crosses the line?" "Yes, anything bigger than a rabbit. Or if anything physically breaks the line. If your friend here." She nodded towards Bean. "Decided to hop across, that probably wouldn''t set it off. If one of the huld stumbles across it¡ªor any other kind of boggle¡ªwe''ll be up and running for the hills in moments." "Huld?" asked Kai. "Big, hairy creatures that look kind of like people. They''re sometimes seen in the forests in the valley." She scrunched up her face. "We... don''t want to meet one." "Do they talk?" "Uh, I don''t think so. They eat travellers sometimes." "Oh." "How did you draw the line in the dirt?" asked Hina. "Uh, tiny application of force against the ground while I walked. It''s tricky to juggle two workings at once, but I''ve got the hang of it. It was one of the things I had to master before I was allowed to take this trip." "Huh. Interesting," Hina said, thinking. Maybe when she was able to try the sigil again, she could try something similar. Writhing lines bloomed within her mind''s eye¡ªshe dismissed the image. "Well, I am going to bed. Do you have everything you need, Olivia?" "Yes, I do. Thank you once again, for dinner and for the company." "You''re welcome," said Kai. "Let us know. If you need anything." Hina set up her blanket and lay down. It was nice to have a little more space, and nice to be full of good food¡ªthe taste lingered on her tongue, savoury and delicious. She felt within herself for power, and found it thrumming there within her chest, a little diminished from the time that had passed since she''d claimed it. She wondered where it went¡ªdid it dissipate naturally, or was she holding it wrong? Olivia probably knew, but Hina couldn''t ask her. Hina focused on her boundaries. Olivia must be drawing the line of her ward from within her ambit, meaning that it was much larger than Hina''s. She had a long way to go. Hina''s ambit was expanded, if only a little, along her arms and upper torso. She focused on her chest and applied her will to the boundaries between her self and the greater world. She felt the familiar shift. Focusing on her shoulders, Hina continued, expanding her ambit around her left shoulder and then her right, and then her neck. Afterwards, she was too tired to continue, but that was enough. She was pleased. Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. If her rate of improvement continued, she was only a week or so away from being able to try the first stage of the compression exercise, and then maybe she could try the sigil again. And maybe that would be enough to get them to the academy. She hoped so. Bean curled up on her bag. He let out a low chirp. "Good night, little bird," Hina said softly. She drifted, and let herself go down into the dark. In her dream she was with Lagi again. He shouted, and when the knife plunged into his chest, his shouting turned to bells. A ringing cacophony that drowned everything else out. A bird shrieked, and Hina woke. Something dark lay on the ground near Hina''s blanket, faintly illuminated in the dim Throne-light. She followed the line of it up to a huge shadowy figure that loomed over the campsite. The bells faded. The ward. Something had broken the ward. Hina''s heart raced. "Wake up! Wake up!" she yelled. "We''ve gotta go!" On the other side of the fire, figures were stirring. The huge shadow sniffed. The noise of it was overwhelming in the quiet of the night. It stepped forward, footsteps shaking the ground under Hina''s legs. One leg stood between her and Kai, the other on the other side of the embers of the fire. Hina snatched up her bag, grabbed Bean and shoved him into the top. He squawked, and Hina had a stab of guilt that she didn''t have time for. The monster reached forward and grabbed at something near the fire, great paw whooshing through the air. There was a sound of tearing and an enormous mouth chewed and swallowed. Kai and Olivia were up and moving away from the campfire, tiny sihouettes in the moonlight. Hina followed, stumbling over their scattered belongings. "Hina?" Kai''s voice said. "Right behind you," she said. "Come on, this way¡ªinto the forest." They were moving too slowly. Hina came up from behind them. She grabbed Kai''s hand on one side, and Olivia''s on the other, and pulled them ahead. The moonlight was bright enough to avoid the large dark shapes of the trees. Hina stumbled over tree roots and the uneven ground. The most important thing was to get far enough away. If the thing, whatever it was, was occupied with the left overs from their dinner, all the better. Once they were far enough away, they could find another place to sleep, and Hina would put up her own barrier. Nevermind what Olivia might think. She never should have trusted the girl to protect them in the first place. Hina stumbled into another clearing. Were they far enough away? Maybe. If the thing wasn''t specifically chasing them. Had it noticed them in the first place, or just the food? It would have to do. Who knew what else they might run into, stumbling around in the dark. She crouched down. The earth shifted under her fingers, rich and soft. "Huddle up," she said. "I''m going to put up a barrier, but it''s going to be small. Smaller than Olivia''s ward." "I beg your pardon?" Olivia''s voice said into the darkness. Hina ignored her. They were standing close together, it would do. She took off her bag, set it down near Kai. Bean croaked from inside the bag. Hina took the branch and sat back, cross-legged. It took her a moment to find the right state of mind to draw power, but when she did, a flood of potentia came to her. Her well filled within moments. She stood and summoned the patterns for the barrier. They snapped into place within her mind, one after another, with not a line out of place. Projecting her intent through the branch-wand¡ªthankfully, she''d tied it to her bag before she''d slept¡ªshe drew her line in the dirt, walking quickly in a small circle around the others. The edges were close enough that they would have room to lie down with their bags inside the circle, but no more than that. She completed the working and felt it snap together. Then the exhaustion hit her¡ªa wave that crashed into her and threatened to wash her away. She half-collapsed, sitting down heavily onto the ground inside the circle. The void pulled at her, trying to drag her down. She was so tired, but she fought it. Fought to stay awake¡ªthe monster might find them again, and they might have to run. Footsteps thudded in the distance. She could feel the vibrations through the ground beneath her. She scooted herself closer to Kai and Olivia, both of them were peering out into the darkness. Hina put her finger to her lips and got a nod from Kai. The foliage above shifted, and Olivia frown was illuminated. She had a look of concentration on her face. Hina put a hand on her shoulder and shook her head. The other girl looked at her. She looked down at the line around them, just barely visible in the moonlight. Olivia shrugged and her frown relaxed a little. The footsteps grew closer. A tree branch snapped and something fell to the ground. Then it was there at the edge of their clearing. A broad silhouette that rose to the height of a tree. The figure snuffled, huge lungs like bellows drawing air from all directions. It turned left and then right¡ªa hint of fur shining in the moonlight. The footsteps continued, at an angle to them now. The thing crossed the edge of the clearing and passed on into the forest. Hina huddled inside the barrier, holding Kai and then Olivia close. If it came back, all they could do was run. Its legs must be longer than Hina''s whole body. If it saw them, and it wanted them, it would catch them. She shivered in the dark. The tremors grew fainter, the footsteps fading into the distance. Hina spent a lot of time that night listening in to the dark. She didn''t remember sleeping, but when the light began peeking through the trees and she sat up. Kai was snoring beside her. On the other side of Kai, Olivia was lying still. Her eyes were open, her brow furrowed. She sat up, and carefully backed herself up until she was sitting at the edge of the barrier while staying clear of the line itself. She hugged her knees to her chest. Stared at Hina. "You lied to me," Olivia said. 1.27 - Truth and consequence
"Why did you lie to me?" Olivia said. "What did you expect, Olivia? You''d just wander in out of the forest, and we''d tell you all of our secrets?" Irritation crept into Hina''s voice. "Like you did?" "I can''t believe you!" She was sitting right at the edge of the barrier. "I have been nothing but generous and friendly, even when I thought you were ordinary." "Ordinary! Yes, that''s exactly why I lied! For all I knew, you could have snapped your fingers and left our guts steaming on the ground." "It doesn''t work like th¡ªNo. I''m done explaining things to you. What, are you some kind of third rate witch? Sneaking around the forest, poisoning people, and not being very good at¡ªanything!" "Your ''ward'' didn''t even work! The beast came right to us." Olivia made a frustrated sound. "You''re the ones who messed up at basic campsite procedures by leaving food everywhere. You left animal guts on the ground beside your beds! Of course you attracted a beast!" "Why didn''t you tell us?!" "I thought you knew what you were doing!" "We''ve got no idea what we''re doing," added Kai, sleepily. "Thanks Kai." Hina rolled her eyes. "That thing is after probably after us now. And we left a whole bunch of stuff back at the campsite." "You can''t go back," Olivia said. "Even if it''s gone, there''ll be others nearby. You can''t just cut animals up and go to sleep in the same place¡ªhave you never been in a forest before?" "No," said Kai. "We haven''t." Hina sighed. She supposed that was a fair point. "This was the first time we''ve caught anything." "Well, that was stupid. There, I said it." She sighed too. "What is this circle?" "Bell''s Lesser Barrier." Olivia''s eyes went wide. "Where did you get that?" "You''re not the only strange woman we''ve met in the woods. The other one seemed friendly, too. At first." "And she taught you a working? That doesn''t make any sense, Hina." Hina sighed. Better to let her read it, she supposed. She fished the letter from the academy out of her bag¡ªwhich croaked. A little water stained, but still legible. Hina leaned forward to pass it over. "Here." "Oh." Olivia read, her frown deepening. "So you''re what, a baseborn charity case?" "What is that supposed to mean?" "And a strange women showed up in the woods to teach you workings? Restricted workings? Did she give you anything else?" "An exercise on ambit strengthening," Hina said. Olivia scoffed. "You''d need it." "And the lesser sigil of guidance," Hina continued. "What?" Olivia stared at her. "Have you looked at it? Have you used it?" Hina nodded slowly. "Yes." "The woman. She came back after," Kai said, "did something to fix Hina. Said that we owed her a debt." He shook his head. "Something''s not right about her. The woman." "I don''t like when people lie to me," Olivia said. "Just tell me the truth, okay?" "I''m not lying, I swear," said Kai. He looked at Hina. "I haven''t lied at all." "He''s telling the truth," Hina said. "Listen, Olivia," Kai said, "what was that thing last night?" "A forest huld, I think. A little one." Olivia seemed distracted. "I didn''t get a good look." "A little one?" said Hina. "It was almost as big as a tree!" "They get bigger. The trinkets, did they come from this woman too?" "The trinkets?" "You know what I mean. The salt shaker and the others¡ªthere are more in your bag. I can feel it." If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. "The wolves we told you about. They chased us into this tower, only it wasn''t ruined, all of these rooms and monsters were in there?" Kai said. "We found those things inside." "What? What on earth were you thinking?" Olivia''s voice rose. "You went inside a House?" Kai and Hina looked at one another. "What?" Hina said. "What''s a House?" Kai asked. "They kill people, you know that? Especially ordinary people. Or even nearly ordinary people." "It wasn''t that bad. We fought what, three monsters? Got some stuff and then left." "We were trying to get away from the wolves," said Kai. "We were trapped in there." "You didn''t make any deals or promises? To anyone or anything while you were in there?" Kai shook his head. "No, nothing like that," Hina said. Except for agreeing to help Alik, but she didn''t think that counted. "Well, maybe you got lucky, I guess." Olivia sighed. "Just... don''t do it again." She shook her head. "My mother says that they all look different, but you can tell by the feeling when you step inside. There''s a... wrongness that is supposed to make it obvious. You''re supposed to leave immediately unless you''re already powerful." "And you''re not? Already powerful?" "No, Hina. I am on my way to the academy as a first year student, just like you. Apparently." Hina reached forward and plucked her invitation back out of Olivia''s hands. Olivia groaned. "I guess we''re going to be classmates." Hina shook her head. On a whim, she held out her hand. "Nice to meet you, Olivia. I''m Mahina Gardiner, Student Candidate to the Qalarian Academy." Olivia sighed and took her hand. "I am Olivia Moore," she said, giving Hina''s hand a single gentle shake before releasing it. "A pleasure to meet you too." "So, that forest huld, or whatever it was," Hina said. "Could you have scared it away?" "Not a chance. You''re supposed to avoid attracting their attention in the first place. I don''t know what you were thinking." "It was an accident," Kai said. "We didn''t know." Olivia sighed. "So, if it comes back?" Hina asked. "What should we do?" "We''re going to have to run," Olivia said. "We can''t fight it." "Can we hide behind a barrier?" "What does this barrier actually do? Do you know?" "Whatever''s on the inside is harder to notice. And it makes a warning noise if anything intentionally crosses the barrier. Similar to yours, I think." "Then no." Olivia shook her head. "It won''t help¡ªmaybe if it''s dark or it hasn''t noticed us. Huld are smart, Hina. If it''s looking for us, it''ll notice the effect this thing"¡ªshe pointed carefully at the line of the barrier¡ª"has on its attention, and it''ll come straight to us. They like eating practitioners, more than anything else. The House is probably why it''s here." "What¡ªwhy do they like eating practitioners?" "They eat power. They''ll take ordinary people if they can''t get practitioners, of course, but they prefer us," Oliva said. "Like most of the beasts. We''ll have to hope it doesn''t see us. Or smell us, or hear us. If it decides to follow us, we''ll be in trouble." Birds were chirping in the background. Hina''s backpack croaked. The morning light made the forest seem like a bright and cheerful place. A tree branch broke somewhere off in the distance. Hina shivered. "If we travel swiftly, maybe we''ll be able to make it as far as Blandmanch before it catches up with us. It seemed a little too big for this forest. It probably can''t move at full speed through the trees." Hina nodded. "Okay. What are we missing? I know we left the cookpot. The bowls and spoons, my blanket at least." "My spear," said Kai. "My blanket too. I got my bag, but I left my water bottle." They both looked at Olivia. "Oh, I lost a blanket, that''s all. Nothing important." "So we''re going to have some cold, hungry nights until we make it to town. We''re probably okay for water, but we''ll be stopping to refill more often." "We''re pretty close, aren''t we? To Blandmanch?" asked Kai. "Yes. A day or two, I think," Olivia said. "At the most," Hina said. "What are your plans, Olivia?" Olivia paused for a few moments, frowning. "I think," she spoke slowly, "it would be sensible for us to stick together, at least until Blandmanch. We can reconsider after that, if that''s okay with you two?" "Yes," Kai said. Hina nodded. "I have a little food we can share, but it won''t go far with three of us," Olivia said. Hina''s bag croaked again. "Or four of us, I guess." "We''ve still got plenty of beans, just no way to cook them." "Just¡ªif you could. I don''t have any right to your life story, but if there''s anything else I need to know¡ªI don''t like being lied to, okay?" Hina was in the bakery, her hand on the knife as it slid¡ª She nodded. "Okay." Kai looked at her and turned to Olivia. "Hina killed someone back at home¡ªin self defence." "Kai!" "We''re on the run," he continued, talking quickly. "From our family and maybe also the guard? I don''t know¡ªwe haven''t seen hardly anyone since we left. The guard chased us out of town, so we''re probably gonna have to deal with that at some point? Hina thinks that if we get to the city we''ll be fine, but..." He glanced at Hina before looking away, into the distance. "I don''t know if that''s true." He ran out of words and stopped talking, took a deep breath. He didn''t look at her. Hina''s bag croaked. Olivia''s face went slack. She appeared to be fascinated by the trees. After a few moments: "It wasn''t... murder?" she asked, in a small voice. Hina touched her face. The bruises had faded now, but she felt numb. "He was my bethrothed, I guess," she said. "He was trying to force me to stay¡ªhe was so so angry." She crossed her arms over her chest. "Maybe¡ªI was just trying to get away." Her head felt hollow, her mind stuck on a loop of half finished thoughts. She didn''t¡ª She hadn''t¡ª It wasn''t¡ª "Her face. It was black with bruises. They''re faint now, but you can still see em if you look close," Kai said, shaking his head. "It wasn''t murder. That man, he deserved everything he got. And more." A warmth bloomed in Hina''s chest. "Oh," Olivia said. She shook her head. "Sorry. You didn''t have to¡ªI''m sorry I asked." "It''s okay," Hina said, watching herself talk. "It''s¡ªit is what it is." "It was important," Kai said. "Like, I had to say something." He screwed up his face. "If I didn''t, that was gonna come back to bite us later." "Thank you, I guess?" Olivia nodded slowly. "Yes. You''re right. Better to know." In the distance, a heavy footstep, followed by another. Hina was distantly aware that the birds had stopped singing. "We need to go now," said Kai. He stood and held out a hand to Hina, pulled her up. "Get ready." He pulled his bag onto his shoulder, and helped Hina with hers. Bean croaked from inside the bag. "Which way?" asked Kai. Hina and Olivia both pointed in slightly different directions. "Follow me," Olivia said. Kai shrugged. "Okay," he said. The snap when he broke the barrier with his toe was loud. Olivia led the way in a kind of half-walk, half-jog. Kai followed, pulling Hina by the hand. The footsteps grew louder behind them. 1.28 - Footsteps
Olivia led them through the forest at a jog, darting around trees and over tree roots, up the gradual slope. Towards Blandmanch, and safety. Hina didn''t know how far away Blandmanch was exactly, but her estimate still had them at least a day''s travel away. And she didn''t know about the others, but Hina couldn''t maintain this pace much longer. Her lungs burned, her legs felt like weights. Heavy footfalls in the forest behind them spurred her on. The creature¡ªthe huld¡ªwasn''t chasing them in earnest, or it would have already caught them. There was no doubt in Hina''s mind that the huge figure in the darkness last night could move much faster than she could, even if she was running at full speed. Its legs must be taller than her whole body. The fog in her head faded as she moved, the physical sensation wearing away at it until she felt clear. Clearer. Kai jogged beside her, Olivia was a little ahead. The edges of Hina''s vision were dim, and she was breathing hard. Her heart-beat roared within her ears as she watched the ground in front of her. Her only thought was on making the next step and the one after that. Then there was a person in her way. Olivia stood still, facing forward. Hina let her numb feet and legs stop falling forward. She rested her hands on her thighs while she caught her breath. The footsteps continued behind them, getting closer. "What is it?" asked Kai, only a little out of breath. Hina forced herself to look up. Olivia was pointing ahead and a little to the left. The was a gap in the trees ahead, where rocky ground rose sharply. Rocky fingers of earth reached towards them on either side. The trees continued above. They might be able to climb, if they did it quickly. Hina took a deep breath. She could climb, if she had to. "Up?" asked Kai. Olivia and Kai walked forward, closer to the slope. Hina followed, forcing her tired legs to move. They wobbled as she walked. "Or, in there?" said Olivia. There was a triangular gap in the rocks ahead, a path leading away into darkness. Olivia walked closer. "It looks like it goes in deep. And it''s small enough that it won''t be able to follow us in." The footsteps picked up in speed, louder now in the enclosed space of the little valley. Hina could feel the vibrations through her aching feet. Kai looked up the slope, then he looked at Hina and shrugged. "In. We can hide and come out to climb when it''s gone," she said. "Alright." Kai slipped his hammer out of his belt and held it ready. "Me first." He went in. Olivia followed, and Hina took up the rear. The footsteps grew louder, and a massive shape appeared at the edge of the trees. Hina followed Olivia into the cave. "Hurry up, it''s right behind us." A few meters in, Hina scraped the side of her head on a low rock. She recoiled, staggering forward blindly until she bumped into Olivia, who had stopped ahead. Something smelled foul in the enclosed space. Like sweat and bile. The air was thick with it. Hina gagged. "Tight here," Kai''s voice said. "And dark." Hina''s bag croaked sadly. Something scraped in the passage behind them. A long low sound, growing louder. The breeze brushed the back of Hina''s dress against her legs, and she jumped forward. She turned and pressed her back against Olivia. A shape was moving in the shadows. Hina felt a hint of something moving in the back of her mind. Then there was light, and she could see the huge furry thing¡ªa hand? It was groping at the space in front of her. She yelped. This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. It had long sharp nails like claws, and dark fur on the backs of its fingers. It reached towards her. Hina''s knife was in her hand before she realised she''d drawn it. She stabbed at the hand. The blade went into the tip of its index finger, black blood spilled out onto the dirt. The smell intensified¡ªbile and death. A deep rumbling voice bellowed in pain and outrage from outisde the cave. The hand jerked back. Olivia''s pressure against Hina''s back shifted, and Hina stumbled backwards into the empty space behind her. The hand reached down the tunnel, black and bloodied fingers groping blindly. Hina shuffled back until there was solid stone behind her. A flash of blue¡ªOlivia''s dress in the narrow passage ahead. She crouched and followed. Something brushed at her again and she pressed forward, shuffling as fast as she could. And then she was clear. Hina tumbled out of the narrow passage, into an open space. The smell faded¡ªor maybe she was just used to it now. The bellowing continued behind them. And the sound of scraping and shifting rock. The scraping and shifting intensified, building to a roar. Dust and dirt rushed out of the opening, filling the air of the larger cave. Hina coughed, and covered her mouth with her sleeve. She could barely see. The sounds slowed and then stopped. The muffled bellowing faded. It was still. Hina sneezed. The dust tickled her lungs. She sneezed again. Her hands found Kai''s, and then Olivia''s. They were all coughing and sneezing. The dust took a long time to settle. And then Hina could see enough to get a better idea of their situation. The cave was wide, with a shallow roof that rose to just over their heads. The ground sloped downwards, becoming a much taller space towards the bottom. The dim light¡ªOlivia''s working, Hina assumed¡ªdidn''t reach all the way across the room. The far side of the cave was dark. Beasts might live in that darkness. But nothing seemed to be moving right now. "Everyone okay?" Hina asked. Olivia nodded stiffly, her eyes were wide. Kai shook his head. "Are we trapped?" "I don''t think so¡ªthis cave, the bit that we''re in now, is huge. There''s probably another way out, further down the hill. But we''ll dig out if we need to," Hina said. She squeezed Olivia''s hand. Olivia startled, shifting back slight in a twitchy movement. "Are you okay, Olivia?" Olivia nodded, blue eyes staring back at Hina. Her expression was blank. "Not injured?" Hina asked. "I am unharmed," Olivia said. She took a deep breath. "Thank you." Hina set her bag down and opened it, revealing Bean, who squawked grumpily. He hopped out, climbing up her arm to her shoulder, where his claws dug in sharply. He croaked and moaned and then croaked again. "Bad place," he said. "Bad place." "Hey, hey. It''ll be okay, little bird." She held up a finger to stroke him. Beak clacking, he snapped at her finger. And then he went still. She stroked the side of his head for a moment. "We''ll be okay." He leaned in to her finger. Hina took her water bottle out of the bag and took a sip. She passed it to Kai, who drank deeply before handing it back. "How much water do you have, Olivia?" "I''m fine for now." "We''re going to need more than that, Olivia. We don''t know how long we''ll be down here." She searched for words with a tired brain, and then continued. "We need to know what our problems are before we can solve them." Olivia gave a half laugh. "Other than being trapped in a cave? And the huld trying to eat us, you mean?" She paused and took a deep breath. "I understand what you mean." She sighed and then unclipped the buckles on her satchel with a practiced hand. Her left hand flipped the top open and reached into the bag. Her arm went in further than made sense to Hina, as the girl groped around for a moment, arm muscles making little movements. Olivia''s hand came back into view holding an oversized canteen, as big as Hina''s water bottle. "See?" Olivia said, setting the canteen onto the ground with a thud and a muffled slosh. Hina stared. There was no possible way that such a large container could fit in Olivia''s satchel, which looked a better fit for carrying documents than luggage. "How?" "It''s." Olivia sighed. "It''s a storage device." "A what?" said Kai. He was staring at the canteen too. "It''s bigger on the inside." "Isn''t it heavy?" Olivia shook her head. "Not much heavier than an ordinary bag of this size. The things inside the bag aren''t physically inside it. It''s kind of like the mouth of the bag is linked to another place. I don''t really understand the theory, it''s... complicated." "Where did you get it?" Hina asked. "It was a gift from my mother, for meeting her requirements for the journey to the city. They obviously wanted me to have the best chance of arriving safely. I''m not supposed to let anyone know that I have it. And that''s ruined now." She clutched the bag close to her chest and shuffled back against the wall. "If you try to steal it from me, I''ll¡ªI''ll haunt you¡ªI''ll haunt you to your deaths!" "Hey, hey," Hina made soothing noises. "It''s okay. We''ll be okay. Nobody is going to steal anything from you. We''re going to get out of here. Together." Her everything ached, but Hina''s head was complaining the loudest. She needed to sit and rest. But before that. "I think we''re out of immediate danger. We have water for a couple of days if we stretch it out. We have light¡ªhow long can you hold the light, Olivia?" Olivia was bent forward over her bag, with her head down. "A couple of hours, maybe?" "Can you teach me how to do it? So we can share the work?" Olivia hesitated. "I''m not supposed to. But fine." She sat up and put two arms into her satchel and rooted around for a while. She brought out a yellowed card and looked at it for a moment. "Please, please don''t turn yourself into a horrible monster. Okay?" She held out the card to Hina. "Okay?" Hina took the card. "What... what does that mean, exactly?" "You know what happens when you mess up a working? You must know." Hina shook her head. "No. Sorry." Olivia sighed. "Just... be careful, okay? Don''t perform workings beyond your skill level, or when you''re too tired to focus. And don''t try to do anything that you don''t understand. And if it feels wrong, stop." "What happens if I don''t? If I do the wrong things and mess up?" "Most of the time, nothing. But uncontrolled workings¡ªanything can happen. You''re providing power and intent to change the world and then letting the working do whatever it wants with that power." "And people die from that?" "If they''re lucky." "And what if they''re not?" "That''s where the worst kinds of monsters come from." 1.29 - In the cave
Hand-written blue lettering covered the card. There was no title, just a few lines of description, and then the bottom of the paper was taken up with several detailed drawings. Familiar drawings. Precise, twisting lines, loops and curls that didn''t look like anything in particular until you focused on them. Hina didn''t focus on them. Not yet. She wasn''t going to make that mistake twice. The instructions explained how to generate an indirect light within the practitioner''s ambit, using the signs. And how to vary the strength of the light. And the circumstances under which to apply each of the five variations of the design. The efficiency would vary depending on the phases of the moons, how far underground the practitioner was, and the distance from the nearest body of water. Hina read through the card several times, and considered the circumstances. Ofelia was waxing¡ªjust a sliver visible in the sky last night. Throne was full and would be for another few days, while Archer was fully dark. The nearest significant body of water was the river, which was days away. Based on those details and the remaining criteria, Hina selected the fourth design from the card. She studied it, tracing the twisted lines with her eyes, measuring the turns and twists and kinks. When she thought she had a feel for it, she stopped. Her inner well felt near to empty, after last night''s emergency barrier. Fixing that was the first step. Hina felt for the energy in the world outside herself, drawing potentia with every in-breath and releasing it with every out-breath, keeping a tiny fraction for herself as power. A pressure built gradually in her chest, until she was holding all that she could hold. Looking at the paper again, Hina summoned the shape of the fourth design into her mind. It popped into her head, lines writhing slightly. It was big, far bigger than the symbols from her barrier working. With a flex of her will, she held the symbol still and unchanging within her mind. It took some effort to hold it there. Yes¡ªit was a strain, but she could manage it. It would get harder as soon as she fed it power, but her practice with the barrier patterns applied directly to this part of the working, and she was stronger for it. She fed the tiniest of trickles of power into the sign, and it brightened, shifting and twisting within her. She held it still, and a sense of blooming fullness began to grow. It wanted an expression. Carefully balancing the sign and the thread of power, Hina allowed it an outlet within her ambit above her right hand. Light blossomed. A soft, diffuse glow that lit up the ground under her hand. The sign within her mind flexed and shifted, trying to shake itself free. Hina held it still, clamping down with her will. The shifting ceased. It was a strain to hold it in place, but she could do it. She was doing it. She allowed herself a smile of satisfaction as she dismissed the working. So long as the moons were in the right place, and she was slightly underground and near a river, she would never be without light again. Hina was going to need to memorise the rest of those patterns. Or at least find a way to copy the instructions. Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. She repeated the process three more times, lighting up the ground under her in flashes, until she was sure that she could reliably remember this variant without referring to the card. After a short rest, Hina stretched and stood up. "Thank you. I can take over for a while when you need a break." Olivia nodded. "I''m going to need that back." "Oh. Right." Hina looked down at the card in her hand. "Here." She handed it over. Olivia put the card back into her satchel. "Shall we go and look for a way out? Or do you two want to wait here and rest?" "Let''s all go," Kai said. Olivia stood. The path down to the other side of the chamber was stepped, with sudden, sharp changes in elevation. Easy enough to climb down, but Hina didn''t want to have to go back up. And for all that she''d pretended to be confident, she suspected that clearing the rubble from the collapsed entrance would be beyond them. There had to be another way out. There had to be. The far wall came into view. Uneven, orange stones jutted out, casting strange shadows. Off to the right, one of the shadows was deeper than the others. A path forward? "Passage over here," Kai said, looking towards the other side of the room. "There''s one here, too," said Hina. She stepped closer to peer down it. She wished she''d kept the light working going¡ªbut there was no sense in wasting her reserves while Olivia had hers lit. "It''s dark, but it looks like it runs straight." "This one slopes down," Kai said. "It''s steep." "We don''t want to go any further down. Let''s try this one first." Olivia didn''t say anything, but she followed as Hina led the way down the passage, holding her arm up to provide light. Around a bend, Hina ducked under a place where the roof dipped down to below the height of her chest. The passage broadened, sides curving away into the dark. Loose stones crunched underfoot as the path descended. A hint of brightness glowed, far in the distance, at the other end of a wide cavern. A dark shape moved out of sight around a corner at the edge of Hina''s vision. The rocks were uneven, jutting up and out, with person sized¡ªand larger¡ªboulders scattered about the space. A light breeze whistled past them. The rotting, sweaty smell from the entrance was back, and stronger than before. Hina climbed down a steep section of rock into a bowl shaped cavity near the center of the cave. The ground crunched again, and she looked down. Bones. There were bones everywhere, animal bones and some that were bigger. And there, a human skull, half buried in the dirt. They''d stumbled into some kind of predator''s nest. A large shape shifted against the rock face. A human-sized figure. Another lay on the ground ahead of them¡ªthis one bigger. And a third, much larger, was over to the left. Hina stopped. She grabbed Kai and Olivia. "Light!" she whispered. The light went out. Hina held her breath, listening. Her eyes adjusted to the dim light from the cave mouth ahead. The whistling breeze shifted and changed. Stones clattered in the darkness. Hina crept forward, pulling Olivia and Kai forward. The way out had to be ahead¡ªshe couldn''t see it, but the light must be coming from outside. Beasts didn''t build fires. Figures shifted slightly in the darkness to either side. Breathing with faint hissing, whistling voices. Tip-toeing through the center of the cave, Hina kept her eyes on the light ahead. A hissing exhalation changed pitch and something shuffled in the darkness. Stones¡ªor bones¡ªclattered as something moved. One of the figures was standing up, the faint light catching dark fur. They had to go. They had get out of here right now. No longer worrying about minor sounds, Hina pulled the others forward and then let go. She scuttled over bones and rocks like a crab, using her hands as much as her feet. Hina headed towards the light. The clatter of her companions'' movements followed her. Over a rise in the rock she saw it. The way out. Light cascaded through the trees of the forest outside. They were nearly there. The sounds behind her were getting louder. Not just the clatter of small people moving swiftly anymore, the thunk and thud of bigger creatures standing, shifting boulders with their weight. Something huge rose up in the darkness, extending itself to full height. The light from the cave mouth reflected from its eyes. The sunlight showed its outline¡ªa brighter shadow among shadows¡ªtoo big. Much too big. Bigger than ten of Hina, or twenty, or more. Heart pounded in her chest, Hina ran. She sprinted over the uneven ground, which grew brighter with every step. Leaping from boulder to boulder, spurred on by fear and adrenaline. A deep voice bellowed and Hina felt the force of it in her chest. Other voices rose from the darkness behind her to join it in a chorus of monstrous rage. The ground shook with a series of heavy impacts. The creatures were coming after them. On her next leap, Hina''s feet landed in the soil of the forest. The earth soft and yielding under her feet. Maybe in the trees, maybe they could lose them. Another great voice bellowed from within the forest ahead of them. 1.30 - The world outside
Hina rushed into the forest, leading her companions away from the monstrous voice beyond the trees to the right. She couldn''t keep her sprint going much longer, but a few moments could make all the difference. "The trees!" Kai said through huffing breaths. "They can''t move so fast in there." Hina nodded, a broad up and down motion that Kai wouldn''t be able to see from behind her. Bean clung to her shoulder, claws digging in. Olivia was following¡ªHina could hear her panting breaths. She risked a glance back over her shoulder. The cave mouth stretched wide, tall and dark, and the rumbling sounds of dozens of the huld emerged from it. They were coming. Hina ran. Past the leafy green vegetation at the edge and then in among the trees, darting between the trunks, trying to keep her footing on the uneven ground. A stitch built in Hina''s side, each great gasping breath stabbing into her. She wasn''t going to be stopped by a little pain. It wouldn''t be what killed her. She led them through the densest parts of the forest to maintain their lead. To stay out of reach, for just a little longer. The heavy footsteps behind them didn''t get any closer, but they didn''t go away either. The trees thinned¡ªthe edge of the forest. Hina''s hopes rose. They were almost there. A vast open space stretched out, ground covered by tall yellow grass. The sky opened up, clear and deep blue. The sun dipped low in the west. A hedge stood tall among the grass, like the Grambe hedge, only smaller in scale. Just across the field. Perhaps a hundred metres away. Hina sprinted towards it, her lungs burning. People lived there. People who might be able to help. And even if there wasn''t anyone there, they could use it to hide until the huld gave up. If they could find a path into it, at least. Other hedges dotted the landscape in the distance. Farms. And far off to the right¡ªpale walls rose over the horizon. Blandmanch. Hina moved into the knee-high grass. Coarse fronds whipped at her legs, stinging her skin. She barely noticed. They needed to find a way into the hedge before the huld caught up. If it was a farm, there would be a road leading to the city. There. On the far side of the hedge, a thin dirt track poked through the grass, leading towards the city. Too far. They wouldn''t make it. But there would be other paths under the hedge. The farmers wouldn''t use the main gate every time they went outside. A smaller passage would be better¡ªthe main path might be wide enough for the huld to follow. And that would be a disaster. She ran towards the hedge, looking for a path, a gap in the wall of thorns. Low to the ground, she spotted a dark shape. An opening, large enough that she could crawl through. Even if it didn''t go all the way to the other side, maybe it would be enough. She risked a glance back. The huld were out of the forest, huge figures running in pursuit. It was the first time she''d gotten a clear look them. Almost human shaped, the smallest would have towered over Hina, and the largest may have been seven or eight times Hina''s height. Five or six of the creatures chased them across the field. Neither the smallest, human-sized nor the titanic figure that Hina glimpsed in the cave seemed to have followed them. Thick dark fur covered their broad bodies. Their faces were broad and flat, with bulbous noses, and several had long tusks jutting out from between their lips. They pursued at a walk, their long strides eating up the distance. If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. "Follow me!" Hina gasped. "There''s a gap here." Hina ducked into the low passage, slowing to avoid the cruel thorns. Their passage under the Grambe hedge flashed through her mind. Touching the thorns now would be a death sentence. Kai and Olivia followed. A great bellowing yell came from the field behind them. The huld had seen them enter the hedge. Hina hoped the huld tried to push through the hedge after them. And were eaten by it, that the thorns grew over their bones. This passage was well-maintained. Hina climbed to her feet and jogged forward. The path twisted and turned, but the thorns were cut back from the sides. After a few turns, she couldn''t see the light from the fields behind them anymore. The bellowing of the huld continued, but the sound was muffled. Bean pressed himself into the curve of her neck, a silent passenger. Help must be nearby. Her legs cramped, but she took another step, and another, unsteady on her feet. The passage opened onto broad green leaves and a splash of yellow flowers. Fields, crops of some kind. There were people ahead, hurrying in their direction with worried faces. Someone offered her a flask of water, and Hina drank deeply. She was parched. "Huld," Hina said. "Following us. We lost them at the hedge." "It''s okay dear. You''re safe now," a middle-aged woman said. She had a deeply lined face and a motherly look. "Let''s get you kids inside. It sounds like you''ve had quite the ordeal."
* * *
The farmer''s name was Pettie. She sat them down at a heavy wooden table and brought them fresh bread and water. Hina flopped into her chair, sheer relief flooding into her tired limbs. Bean hopped off of her shoulder onto the table with a croak. The walls stood tall and strong around them, thick stone blocks. The chair sturdy under her weight. Hina relaxed, just a little. She shared her bread with Bean. One of Pettie''s many children brought her another cup of water while Bean drank, dipping his beak into her cup. The horror of the forest faded as she ate. "Now, why don''t you tell me what happened," Pettie said, after they''d eaten their fill. Hina looked up. "We were travelling in the forest," Olivia said, her face red and blotchy. "Hmph," said Pettie. "And we stumbled across a big group of huld. Not the little ones, full sized. They chased us for a long way, until we saw your farm. We ran for the hedge, and Hina found us a way in. We lost them there." "How many huld?" "At least six chasing us. There may have been more. A lot more in the group we saw." "The ones that chased you¡ªlet''s focus on them for now¡ªyou said they were the big''uns?" Olivia nodded. "Two, maybe three over eight metres. Others near to that." "Oh, that''s not so big. Now, if they were the twelve-metre monsters from the mountains, that''d be something to worry about. But a few of that size¡ªwe''ll let the city deal with it in the morning. Lennert''s heading over at first light, and he can give you kids a ride¡ªI assume that''s where you''re headed?" "Yes," Olivia said. "We were on our way to Blandmanch." "Good. Well, you''re welcome to spend the night here. I''ll set you up with some beds, and you can get some rest. Lennert will come by and get you in the morning before he heads into town." "What¡ªwhat if they come back?" Hina said. "What if they attack the farm?" "They ain''t stupid. They''ll hang about like a bad smell and hassle travellers on the roads, but you don''t catch huld of that size attacking farms. And well, if they do, we''ll deal with it. We''ve seen worse." "Oh." "If it''ll make you feel better, let me tell you that my boy Hump¡ªHumphrey¡ªjust got back from the academy a few months ago, learning gods know what." Pettie shook her head. "Any ways, he''s here to help us out if something happens. So there''s nothing to worry about. You kids get some rest. You''re perfectly safe here." "Thank you," Hina said. "We really appreciate it." "Oh, it''s no trouble at all." Pettie led them through the maze of buildings inside the farm wall. Curious farm hands and children watched them as they passed. Some of them wore friendly smiles while others just stared. "How many people live here?" Olivia asked. "Thirty-five¡ªno, thirty-six now. Estel''s new baby was born just yesterday." She smiled, broad and genuine. "We''re small, but we''re growing every day. It''s just the three families for now. We have room for five, but it''s hard with the forest¡ªlook who I''m talking to, of course you understand. But we''ve got a good community here. Good people. The best of people, if I do say so myself." She looked at them more closely then. "If any of you change your mind about wherever you''re going, think of us. We''ve can always use more young folk, and we''ve got, hmm." Her gaze turned to Kai. "Three young women about your age who I would be delighted to introduce you to." She turned to Olivia and Hina. "And we have two young fellas about the right age for either of you. Or the other way around if you like, we ain''t yellow here. Not yet, anyways, and not ever if I have anything to say about it. "There''s a place for everyone, like my dear mama used to say, bless her soul." Pettie shook her head, a strand of grey hair coming loose. "Now, I mustn''t get distracted, there''s a hundred things to do before dusk. But you come and find me if you''re interested in hearing more, you hear? "For now, here you are, this is you." She pushed on the wooden door of a thatched stone building. "Washroom''s right across the way. And like I said, Lennert will swing by to grab you in the morning. Ask one of the kids if you need anything." A boy near Hina''s age were standing with a younger girl on the other side of the courtyard, eavesdropping. The girl smiled and waved. "Thank you," Hina said again. "We really appreciate it." 1.31 - Kindness of strangers
Four beds lined the walls and a window to the right opened onto the stone wall of another building. The room was small, but it was clean and dry. "Beautiful," said Hina. "This is the nicest place we''ll have slept in weeks." She slipped off her backpack and sat down on the closest bed. She sank into the soft bedding, like being hugged by a cloud. Bean hopped off her shoulder and down off the bed, hopping around the room to explore. There was a knock on the door. Hina looked at it. Olivia was already moving, and Hina felt a deep sense of gratitude that she wouldn''t have to deal with it. "Hey there, you folks interested in sharing a drink?" The boy at the door held up a brown bottle. "I''m Lonnie, and this is Deyn," said the girl standing just behind him. She held up a loaf of bread, "And we brought food, too. Figured ya might be hungry." Olivia glanced at Hina, who shrugged. "Of course, please come in. I''m Olivia." "Kai." "Hina." She gave a little wave. "Oh, you have a bird!" said Lonnie. She sat down on the floor near the bed that Kai was sitting on, crossing her tanned legs beneath her green dress. "What''s his name?" "That''s Bean," Kai said, smiling. "He''s a good bird." Lonnie was breaking off a piece of bread. "Can I feed him?" She looked up at Kai. Bean chirruped. "He''d love that," Kai said. Bean hopped close to accept a piece of bread, then hopped away, dragging his wing. "Bad wing, huh," Lonnie said. "If you want I could splint that up for ya?" "Lonnie here looks after all the animals when they get sick," Deyn said. "Rabbits, dogs, even the pack beasts sometimes, though that''s supposed ta be Carrie''s job." Kai looked at Hina. "If it won''t hurt him," she said. "That''d be very kind of you." "Well, I''ll be right back," Lonnie said. "Here, you can look after this." She passed the loaf of bread to Kai and left the room. "Oh, and here. Health." Deyn raised the bottle and then took a sip from it, passed it to Hina. "Where''d ya meet this little fella?" Hina had a sniff and took a sip. Some kind of grain spirit, rich and strong. Warmth spread through her, right down to her bones. She passed the bottle on to Olivia. "We met him in the forest, being attacked by two other birds. We chased them off, but his wing was already injured." "Good bird." "Oh, he talks!" said Deyn. He took a bite of bread, and tossed a piece towards Bean, who caught it with his beak. "So, travellers then! And through the forest! We hardly ever get travellers come through here." He put his hand in front of his face and lowered his voice. "It''s very boring." Lonnie came back in. "Oh, yes. Very boring. We never get ta meet any interesting birds here on the farm." "Or people," said Deyn. "Or people," Lonnie agreed with a smile. "Here, pass me some of that bread. Bean, isn''t it?" She crouched down and addressed him where he stood watching on the floor. "Can I have a look at your wing? I think I can help it heal with this." She held up a spooled bandage. "And you should be back in the air in no time at all." He croaked. Kai took a sip from the bottle and coughed. Lonnie stepped closer to Kai. She patted him on the back, taking the bottle which she raised to her lips for a sip. "Ah." She sat down on the ground and held the roll of bandage out to Bean. He hopped closer, tilting his head. "What do you think? Wanna give it a try?" He hopped closer again, watched her with one eye. "Alright. I''m gonna take this," she unrolled some of the bandage. "I''ll close your wing, and then wrap this round, so it don''t move anymore until it''s fixed." She reached out with her left hand, and Bean hopped away. She held it there for a moment, staying still. He hopped back. Moving slowly, she took hold of the end of Bean''s wing. He let out a low croak as she touched him, but didn''t move away. She carefully folded the wing. "Okay, gonna hold that there for a moment, and." With her other hand, she moved the bandage into place. "And now I''m gonna wrap you up." She cut the end with a pair of scissors from her pocket and tied it off. If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. He croaked. She turned to look up at Kai. "You can keep the rest of this," she passed him the roll of bandages. "You want ta change that every couple of days, just like I did now." "Thank you," Kai said, giving her a smile. "Oh, it''s nothing. But you''re welcome." "Lonnie can''t help herself," Deyn said, smiling. Kai took another sip from the bottle and coughed again, spluttering. "So, where are y''all from?" Lonnie said, "Like I was saying, you''re not the usual type we get out here. It''s soldiers and traders, mostly." Hina looked at Olivia. "My brother and I come from Hertley. We met in the forest," she gestured to Olivia. "Me and Kai are visiting family in Blandmanch." "Oh, interesting. Maybe we''ll see each other again," Lonnie said, looking up at Kai from her seat on the floor. "Maybe we will," Kai said, smiling at her. "I''m sure we''ll pass through here again on our way back." Hina shook her head. They were never coming back here. But she kept her mouth shut. "What about you?" Deyn said, taking a sip from the bottle. He looked at Olivia. "I''m from Knaton, I''m heading towards the city. I''m to be a student at the academy." Deyn gave a low whistle. "Hump¡ªour brother, he got back from there a few months ago," said Lonnie. "Gone for seven years. Hardly even recognise him now." "He''s strange one. But a good fellow," Deyn added quickly. "Just wouldn''t want to get on his bad side." He shook his head. "How''d y''all meet up?" "Like Hina says, I bumped into these two in the woods and tagged along. It''s a good thing I did, too. Not long after we ran into a big group of huld. It was a close thing." "If we hadn''t got through your hedge when we did..." Kai trailed off. Hina nodded slowly. "It was a close thing." "Oh boy," said Lonnie. "Can we meet your brother?" Kai said. "Hump? Oh, sure thing. I''ll have ta go find him, see if he doesn''t mind stopping by to say hello." Lonnie said. "Do you wanna come with?" "Sure!" Kai stood and followed Lonnie out of the room. "Well, I best leave ya to it." Deyn said. "I''ve got a few chores to finish up before dark. Maybe I''ll see ya in the morning before ya head out?" He looked at Olivia. "Maybe." She frowned. "We''ll be heading into town early, with Lennert?" "Oh, great. I''ll be right there with ya. We''ll have time to chat on the way." He stood up. "Have a good rest now." And then it was just Olivia and Bean, and the quiet. Hina sank into the bedding, her eyes began to close, and she forced them open. This was a rare opportunity to wash up and get clean¡ªthe first one in a long time. She had to take it. "I''ll be back." She pushed herself up onto tired legs. She hadn''t been paying much attention earlier, but their door led to a courtyard. Pale orange stone made up the walls of the buildings on all sides and the tiles under her feet. A staircase rose up the outside of the building where they were staying, leading to a second floor. Presumably with another room like the one they were staying in. Temporary accommodation for labourers? In Grambe, the farms were more or less self-sufficient. It must be different here, especially if this farm was so far under the expected population. And given the proximity to the forest, it wasn''t surprising that they had trouble finding enough people to live here. It was hard to believe that they were safe now, when had only been what felt like minutes ago that they were running from monsters. But this farm had been here for years, apparently without any major problems. And the hedge system was used throughout the valley for a reason. She could trust it, couldn''t she? She had a flash of an enormous huld crawling through one of the gaps in the hedge, and shuddered. But it didn''t seem likely. Hina pulled open the door on the opposite side of the courtyard to reveal the washroom, just like Pettie had said. A long drop behind a wooden door, and a wash bucket big enough to swim in, with an old-fashioned hand pump. No running water here. No matter, Hina could manage. Even this much was luxury after weeks on the road. She drained and refilled the tub several times before she was clean. And dried herself on the scratchy brown towel that had been left at the foot of her bed. Lonnie and Kai were back in the room when she returned. An older man with tanned skin and handsome¡ªif weathered¡ªfeatures had joined them. He sat on the floor near Lonnie. "¡ªit''s a hard time, but rewarding, if you can handle it," the man said. "Hey Hina," Lonnie said. "This is my brother, Humphrey." "Nice to meet you." Hina waved. "I hear you''re back from the academy?" She sat down heavily on the bed she had claimed and hung the towel over the end of it. "He was just telling us about his military service," Kai said. "Which took four years." "After studying at the academy?" Hina asked. The recruiter had said nothing about that. "They make you a citizen when you enrol," Humphrey said. "And all citizens are subject to mandatory service. Practitioners have it easy, in a way." He trailed off. "Four years?" Hina said. "That''s a long time. Were you aware of this, Olivia?" Olivia nodded. "I knew. It''s a fair trade for proper study. The alternatives are... not so good. The survival rate for independent practitioners is very low, even inside the families." "One in four graduate after three full years of study," Humphrey said, with a flat voice. "Most that don''t fail out and go into service early. But around a third are killed practising the art." "Which is an excellent ratio," Olivia said. "Really?" Hina wasn''t sure. "That''s... that''s a lot." "Outside the academy, it''s something like three in four that are killed." Humphrey shook his head. "It''s worth it, even with mandatory service, if you have the talent and wish to pursue it." "But you''re home now?" Hina said. "You''re not going back?" "I''m done." Humphrey shrugged. "I''m going to be a farmer. There are ways to use my skills here, and I don''t have to worry about being killed in some other country''s war." "What did you specialise in? If you don''t mine me asking?" Olivia said. "Fire." Humphrey said. "The Sign of Flame." "Oh." Olivia said. "That''s... interesting. I''ve never met a practitioner of that sign before." "It''s one of the more common ones," Humphrey said. "They push most of the students towards Heat, Earth, or Force. They''re the most useful for the military. I was lucky enough to get a good teacher. If you meet Miss Perry, say hello for me, won''t you?" "Of course," Olivia said. "I''ll be sure to do that." "You heard about the beasts that chased us here, right?" Hina asked. "Of course. You don''t have anything to worry about here. The hedge is well-maintained, and the walls are strong. If anything does get through, I''ll be there to help deal with it." Humphrey said. "But ah, I can see that you''re tired. It was a pleasure to meet you." "Likewise," Hina said. "I hope we''ll see you again." Lonnie and Humphrey said their goodbyes and filed out of the room. Hina lay down on the bed and drifted into the dark. Monsters chased her, right behind her at every step. When she turned to look back, every one of them was Lagi, hulking and strong. She woke to the sound of bells and screaming. 1.32 - Death and destruction The alarm bell rang loud. One penetrating note after another, over and over again, excitement in the rhythm and cadence. A woman screamed in the distance, and an inhuman voice bellowed something incoherent. A familiar voice. The huld. Hina shot up, dreams forgotten. "They''re here!" she yelled. "They''re here!" The bell rang once more and then fell silent, but the screaming continued. A scraping sound escalated to a booming roar as something collapsed outside¡ªsomething nearby. The others were up and scrambling to get their things together. "We''ve got to go, right now." Hina swept her things into her bag and swung it over her shoulder. Bean hopped up her arm and onto her other shoulder, holding on tight. He squawked. "Everyone ready?" Olivia stuffed a pillow into her satchel and snapped it closed. "Yes." Her voice was tight. "Yeah," Kai said, sounding half-asleep. "Okay." Hina pushed open the door. "Follow me." Throne-light streamed into the shadows of the courtyard¡ªenough to see outlines and some of the details between. A woman-shaped shadow ran past, towards the front gate. The direction that most of the noise was coming from. Where they¡¯d entered yesterday. A sturdy wooden gate that was big enough for two carts side-by-side. But there must be smaller gates. They wouldn''t use the big one for everything. Could they find one of the smaller gates in the dark? Before the huld found them? Hina turned in a slow circle. The wall stood close behind the building they''d slept in¡ªstars peeked out from over its curved line. And the staircase up to the room above theirs ended pretty close to the wall. If they could get up onto the walkway on top of the wall, they''d be able to see where the gates were. Maybe they could even climb down the outside of the wall, if it wasn''t too steep. She ran up the stairs. The others followed, soles slapping against the flagstones. At the top, a railing guarded the edge of the landing and a rough wooden door led to the room on the right. Hina stepped up on the rail, and quickly hopped across the short gap up onto the walkway on top of the wall before she could think too hard about the distance to the ground below. "You first," Kai said from behind her. Olivia didn¡¯t reply. Around the bend of the wall to the left, a building was burning. In the shadows cast by its flickering light, a huge furred figure moved. Tall¡ªmuch too tall. One of the bigger huld. The yelling and the screaming and the bellowing continued. Humphrey¡ªthe practitioner¡ªwhere was he in all of this chaos? Fighting? Hina peered out following the line of the wall. In the distance, she could see the gate and some of the courtyard before it, the greatest concentration of light and movement. A handful of people holding weapons and farm tools were in the courtyard facing huge figures. Some screamed and ran. Some were torn apart by claws and teeth. The farmers didn''t stand a chance. One of the person-sized figures was glowing, wrapped in flickering red light. Hina felt a pull in her ambit¡ªfelt the hints of a working of great power on the wind. Her throat burned and her skin tightened. A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. The figure of the practitioner erupted into flames, a ball of fire expanding to engulf the courtyard in a roaring blaze. Flames leapt up into the sky, and for half a moment the night was brightly lit. Huge furred silhouettes stood out against the farm buildings, and people ran away in every direction. So many people. Hina looked away from the burning brightness for a moment, and when she looked back, all that remained was a handful of glowing embers. The courtyard was burned out, empty. Nothing moved in the dim light. She shook herself out of her daze. They needed to get out of here, and they needed to get out of here now. The screaming hadn''t stopped. Hina looked down at the others. "Come on, what are you waiting for?" Olivia stood behind the railing, looking down at the ground below with wide eyes. Looking down through the meter-wide gap between the wall and the railing. She shook her head. "It''s not far, I''ll catch you if you slip," Hina said. "Hurry up!" Bean whistled encouragingly. Kai was standing behind Olivia, ready to move but not ready to leave the girl behind. Hesitantly, Olivia climbed up onto the railing, Kai steadying her with a hand. She stepped forward over the gap, arms outstretched. Hina grabbed her hand and pulled her the rest of the way onto the wall. Kai hopped across after her. "Look for a way down," Hina whispered, and received hurried nods in reply. Leaving the others, Hina walked along the wall. She stayed near the edge, peering over it. The farm-wall wasn''t like the wall of Grambe, old and crumbling and good for climbing. It was new¡ªconstructed from small closely-fitted stones. But it was much shorter too, not quite twice Hina''s height. Low enough that they would probably be okay if they let themselves down by holding on to the top edge of the wall with their arms, and then dropped the rest of the way. That would be a little over a meter to fall. Not safe, but less dangerous than facing one of the huld for sure. She hoped Olivia would be able to manage it. They didn''t have any other options. The trick was finding the right spot. Falling that far onto uneven ground could mean a broken ankle or worse¡ªa major inconvenience on any day. But right now it would be a death sentence. Half way along the wall, where the screaming from near the front gate was furthest from them, Hina gave up on finding a good place to jump. Escape was more important. Here would have to do. She beckoned the others to her. "Anything?" Hina asked, when they were close enough. Kai shook his head. Olivia didn''t look at her. "Then we''ll have to jump down here." Kai nodded. Olivia was staring down at the ground below. She looked up, eyes wide. "We''re climbing down here," Hina said again. She took Olivia''s hand and gave it a squeeze. "Watch Kai. He''ll let himself down and then drop, then you do the same. It''s not far. I''ll come last. Okay?" "Al¡ªalright." Kai lowered himself down, stilled for a moment, and then dropped to land with a thud. He stumbled backwards, but caught himself after a few steps. "Kai?" "I''m good. Olivia, I¡¯m ready, I''ll catch you!" "Okay, Olivia, now you." Hina tried to sound encouraging. "You can do it." Olivia took a deep breath, staring down at the ground. She hesitated for a moment, then turned around and lowered herself over the edge as far as she could, then dropped. "Eep," she squeaked, and then: "Sorry, sorry." Hina shook her head and then followed, the points of her toes scraping against the rough stones as she climbed down and then let go. The impact sent shooting pain up her legs, but she managed to keep her balance. Bean murmured grumpily from next to her ear. As she turned away from the base of the wall, a large figure moved in the shadow cast by the crops. A towering shape, half again as tall as Hina. It stepped forward into Throne''s harsh light to reveal a distorted, almost human face with a broad turnip nose and long cruel tusks. It had one arm held out with claws extended as it paced forward. Its other arm was half gone, ending in the blackened stump of an elbow. The stench of bile cut through the smoke in the air. The thing''s wide mouth stretched open into a grotesque grin. It raised its mouth to the sky and roared. "Run!" Hina yelled. "To the hedge! It can''t follow us in there!" Olivia and Kai were already running. Hina tried to follow her own advice, swerving to the left while keeping one eye on the huld. Bean clutched her shoulder, the points of his talons digging into her skin through the coarse fabric of her dress. For a moment, she thought she''d made it. The huld stood still for a heartbeat, and then it moved, rushing forward with frightening speed. It was faster than Hina. It took two long strides and then it was on her, its huge hand snapping closed. Long fingers wrapped around her wrist and jagged claws cut into her skin. Blood trickled down her arm. Bean shrieked and the weight of him disappeared from her shoulder as Hina was pulled upwards. Red-hot pain spiked from the bones of her wrist, and she screamed. The huld dangled her by the forearm, held her high, appraising. Hina kicked at it, but her feet caught nothing. The movement sent her swinging back and forth in its grip. Useless. The thing''s inhuman grin widened, black beady eyes staring down at her. Its lips parted to reveal row upon row of sharp teeth that glistened wetly in the moonlight. It lifted Hina towards its mouth. 1.33 - Grip The beast''s grip tightened on Hina''s wrist as it pulled her towards its gaping mouth. Its teeth were sharp and white, and its breath was hot and foul. She was going to die, and this thing was going to eat her. Her thoughts were a jumble of fear and pain¡ªand anger. Her vision flashed red and white. How dare it. No. Not now, not like this. A hint of a twisted shape came to her mind, unbidden. Hina reached out for them, solidifying the wicked angles and sharp lines into something that felt tangible. The light working. The thought flickered into her mind that the conditions weren¡¯t right, that it was a risk to try. She ignored the thought, and shoved a thread of power from her diminished well towards the symbol, and it connected with the writhing pulse of turning, twisting lines. She scrunched her eyes up, but the sudden flash of light burned even through her eyelids. The huld roared in pain. It turned away from the light, but its grip on Hina didn''t loosen. It clamped down more tightly on her wrist, sending new waves of fire through her injured arm. Hina screamed, and the connection in her mind flared and then snapped, taking the light with it and leaving the memory of fire and an indistinct pain in her mind, a reverberating ache that she didn''t have time to think about. Her right hand held the knife¡ªshe didn''t know when she''d drawn it, but it was there, her fingers wrapped painfully tight around the oiled hardwood handle. She swung herself forward, sharp pain flaring in her arm as she levered herself against the huld''s grip. She reached out with the knife. Stabbed. A motion that lit up her mind in memory. The point found something hard, something that gave way. The knife slid home. Anchored by her blade in the base of the huld''s neck, Hina held herself out of reach of its snapping jaws. It bellowed out a deafening roar of rage and pain. Its grip on her arm was still vise-tight, so she pulled the knife back and stabbed it again, the point finding its way through dense fur and into flesh. Like an unripe lingfruit, it resisted the blade of her knife before yielding. The blade came to rest against something harder¡ªbone. Blindly, she stabbed again. The flesh was hard. Harder than Lagi''s had been. The bursts of white and red light in Hina''s vision grew brighter, and a rush of something intangible flowed into her. Power. Overwhelming power. She took it all, mind slipping into a trace of rage and pain and fear and power. She took until it felt like she was going to explode. And then it shifted, altered, the sensation draining away, leaving her empty and cold, and her muscles were screaming in pain, her arm a blur of pain and white light. Hina was on the ground. She didn''t remember falling. Her hand clutched the knife, and she thrust it over and over again into the huld''s body. Her head was full of fading white light. She couldn''t see anything other than the huld. Hands found her shoulder and pulled her back. "Hina!" Olivia''s voice was a harsh whisper. "Hina, stop. Stop!" "We gotta go!" Kai said. Hina blinked and looked around. The huld was a huge and indistinct shape, a dark shadow against the dark. It was still. Silent. She looked down at her hand, and saw the knife, black with monstrous blood in her white knuckled grip. Another body flashed into her mind, gasping breaths under harsh electric light. Hina let go of the knife, and it fell to the ground with a dull thud. Kai bent down and picked it up. "Ugh." He wiped the blade on the monster''s fur and stowed it safely on his belt before he grabbed Hina''s arm and pulled her up to her feet. "C''mon." Bean croaked from his perch on Kai''s shoulder. Bean¡ªHina was overwhelmed with relief that he was okay. He could have been crushed in the scuffle. Anything could have happened to him. The strength drained out of Hina¡¯s legs and she stumbled. Her stomach churned, and she felt like she was going to throw up. She fell to her knees, her hands on the ground. She retched, but nothing came up. The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. Olivia was there, lifting Hina''s left hand off the ground. She clucked her tongue and dug into her satchel. A cool, wet sensation splashed over Hina''s hand and grew colder. The fire in her hand faded, the pain dulled, replaced by a numbness that burned in its own way. With dull, not quite pain that was fearfully close. But her concern felt distant. Hina''s head felt light, and her thoughts were flitting everywhere, she couldn¡¯t keep track of them. Olivia wrapped something around Hina''s hand in a series of firm tugs that pulsed through Hina''s body. "There, that should do for now." "Thanks," Hina said, her voice hoarse. "Can you walk?" Olivia asked. Hina nodded, and pushed herself up onto her feet. She swayed, and Olivia caught her. "I''m okay," she said. "I can walk." "Come on¡ªit''s not far to the hedge," Olivia said. She took Hina''s uninjured arm and led her on. The hedge rose up high, a looming shadow in the moonlight. It covered the horizon on all sides. In the distance, flashes of flame shot up into the air over the farm. The screaming had died down except for one voice that shrieked over and over. And then that voice fell silent. The night was still, except for the dull roar of distant flames and the rustling of leaves. A figure moved along the wall, heading in their direction. Another figure joined it. Light. They needed light now. Hina felt for the well of power within herself and found it full, but¡ªit hurt to touch it. She reached for it, and drew back in a shock of pain. Her mind ached. "Light. I can''t¡ª" she stammered. Olivia nodded. "I can do it." She raised her right hand, and light bloomed on her fingertip, illuminating the leaves and the thorns in a flash. It cast shadows with clear edges. She led them along the edge of the hedge, along the corridor of empty space between the hedge and the crops, shining her light into the curves and crevices of the hedge, looking for a path, looking for a way out. Hina staggered along behind her, her head pounding, Kai''s hand heavy on her shoulder. "Over this way," a voice from behind them whispered. Two familiar faces lit up in the glow of Olivia¡¯s working. "He¡ª," Hina started. "Nearest path is back a ways, next field over," Deyn said. "Follow us. Or don''t." He turned and walked away, Lonnie following after him like a shadow. Olivia''s light dimmed. She guided Hina by the arm after Deyn and Lonnie, Kai keeping watch behind them. The flames rose high over the farm wall. The roaring grew louder, and the taste of smoke burned the back of Hina''s mouth. Nothing else moved as they followed Deyn and Lonnie across the open field. Deyn led them into a gap in the hedge. The shadows twisted as Hina moved forward, leaning on Olivia, following flashes of Lonnie''s green dress. Someone held on to Hina''s bag from behind. The path was clear and well maintained, Hina didn''t even have to duck as she staggered back and forth along it. And then they were out. The grass stretched out in front of them. Olivia¡¯s light went out, plunging them into darkness. The forest was to their left, so the city must be¡ª Hina could see it, faint lights in its towers on the edge of the horizon, under a field of stars. Deyn and Lonnie walked towards the city. Hina hurried to follow, leaning hard on Olivia''s arm. And then she slowed her pace. What do you say when you''ve just barely escaped destroying someone''s home, when the monsters that were chasing you have killed their whole family? No, that wasn''t fair. She didn''t destroy anything. She couldn''t be blamed. She didn''t do anything. But they might not see it that way. They had run away. But no one could have expected them to stay and fight when the monsters came. They weren¡¯t soldiers. Not even real practitioners, not yet. But¡ª. The farmers had given them food and shelter. They''d been kind. Some of the others must have made it out too. Surely most of them had. Hina looked around. She didn''t see anyone else moving through the grass. They walked for what felt like an hour, until the sounds of burning grew faint, and the smoke was carried away on the breeze. Until Deyn stopped walking, and then after a moment, Lonnie stopped too. The two of them sat down in the grass, the tops of their heads just barely visible over the leaves. They were still. As Hina and the others caught up to them Deyn turned. Hina couldn¡¯t meet his eyes. Lonnie stared into the dark, like a puppet with her strings cut. "Keep walking," Deyn said, his voice thick. "You ain''t welcome here." "Everyone''s dead, Deyn. Laura and Hattie and Luke and," Lonnie¡¯s voice went small. She listed names in an endless stream. "You did this," Deyn said, staring at Hina, Kai, and Olivia. "You did. You all did this." "No," Kai said. "We didn''t¡ª" "You killed everyone. My whole family. All of them, gone." His voice broke. "Why¡ªwhy did you do that? Why?" "Surely some of the others¡ª" Olivia started. "We didn''t¡ªit wasn¡¯t us¨C" "Everyone is dead," Lonnie continued in her painfully small voice. "Everyone! Everyone." "We gave you shelter. Food and water and a place to sleep. And you brought beasts to us. Right to us." "No," said Kai. "No, no." "Go away! Just go. Get the fuck out of here, you bastards. You destroyed our home." Hina didn''t have any words. Her thoughts were a fog. Her guts twisted. And then she was walking, one foot after the other. "That''s right, go!" Deyn was yelling from behind them. "Go destroy someone else''s life. You ungrateful fucking parasites." Hina walked until she couldn''t hear either of them anymore. 1.34 - Night in the fields
"What happened back there?" Kai asked quietly. "What..." He hugged his bag to his chest. The three of them sat in a small clearing in the grass outside of Blandmanch. The grass rose over their heads and smoke hung on the air. "What was that? How did they get through the hedge? Why were they there?" Hina shook her head, a dim shadow in the moonlight. "I don''t know. I don''t know." The pain in her hand had faded to a dull ache¡ªsomething Olivia had done that had brought a strange numb sensation to her remembered wounds¡ªbut her head was still pounding. She dreaded the thought of what she would see when she looked at it in the morning. Her fingers were still there, she could feel them at least, but something felt wrong. She didn''t want to think about it. She looked at Olivia, who had joined Kai on the dirt with her legs folded underneath her, her dress bright against the tall grass behind. "Olivia, what was that?" Kai asked. "They like practitioners." Olivia sounded exhausted. "More than anything else. And they like people too. The two of us walking past so many of them must have been enough to get their attention. When we escaped the smaller group, they must have gone back for reinforcements." "But the hedge¡ª" Kai started. "You saw how big they were," Olivia said. "Huld are smart, and a hedge can only do so much. One of the big ones must have made a path for the others." "Are they all dead? Really?" Kai asked. "All of those people?" "I don''t know. Some of the others must have gotten away. They must have." Kai''s face was wet and he hugged his bag tighter. Bean had hopped onto his pack, leaning against the boy''s shoulder. "Why didn''t they listen to us?" Kai asked. "And what about Humphrey? Why didn''t he¡ª" Olivia sighed. She looked at Hina and shrugged helplessly. ¡°I don''t know. I really don''t know.¡± "We need to rest," Hina said. "We¡ª We can talk about it later."
* * *
Hina didn''t sleep much that night. She lay still in her small space on the hard dirt inside the barrier. The pain of touching her well of power had faded to a dull ache by the time they''d found a place to camp, and she''d managed to struggle through the working. It had been a risk, but they''d needed it. Needed safety. Somewhere the huld wouldn''t stumble across them in the night. But even within a safe space of her own making, Hina couldn''t relax. Whenever she closed her eyes, she could hear Lonnie''s sobbing. Or Deyn''s accusations. The echoes of screams. Her throat hurt, like a stone was lodged in the back of it. The twisting in her guts hadn''t gone away. The line in the dirt was barely a hands-width away. And beyond that, the road to Blandmanch. The city gates would be closed until dawn, which was at least a few hours away. Olivia lay next to her, close enough that Hina couldn''t move without bumping into her. Kai was on the other side, snoring faintly. The flames in the distance were no longer visible, but the smell of smoke hung in the air. Hina had put up a barrier and the three of them lay down together in the tiny space like this was normal, like it was something they did every night. Like that''s just what you do¡ªleave everyone to their own thoughts after a disaster, just keep moving forward and don''t think about it. Don''t think too hard at all. And maybe it was. Hina hadn''t wanted to talk about it. But she couldn''t sleep, either. She lay there under the light of the stars while a trickle of sweat dripped down the side of her face, too close to Olivia, not moving, listening to the others'' slow breathing. Of course Deyn was wrong, they hadn''t killed anyone. All they had done was run away. They were the victims here. Maybe not as much as the farmers¡ªan image of the screaming farmers running while the huld cut through them flashed into Hina''s mind. No, not that much. But they were still victims. The beasts of the wild are a force of nature. You can''t blame anyone else for them, you just have to do the best you can. If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. Still. Hina''s decision had led to the deaths of all of those people. If they''d run in any other direction, all of those farmers would still be alive right now. How could that be anything but her fault? She wiped sweat from her forehead. Olivia shifted slightly beside her in the dark, snoring gently. They''d warned them, or at least they''d tried. The woman, Pettie¨Cthey had told her about the huld, and she had decided not to do anything. Their walls and their hedge were enough to keep out a handful of huld, she''d said. Why hadn''t she listened? If she had listened¡ª But they''d warned them. And Humphrey too. He''d told her that they were safe, and she''d believed him. No matter what Deyn said, it wasn''t Hina''s fault. That was how it worked, wasn''t it? They''d done the right thing by telling the people who rescued them about the danger, so they could make their own decisions. What they did with that was their own responsibility. Wasn''t it? Even if the huld were only there because they were following Hina, Kai and Olivia, the farmers had had a chance to do something about it. To call for help, to run away, to do something. And they''d chosen not to. And that wasn''t Hina''s fault, any more than it was her fault that the huld had been trying to kill and eat them. Hina didn''t have the power to control the huld. Or to kill them. Or to make them go away. Even if it had been her mistake with the game bird that had attracted the beasts in the first place, she wasn''t responsible for what had happened after. She wasn''t responsible for the actions of monsters, or farmers who didn''t take warnings seriously. She didn''t quite convince herself, but it was something. It didn''t feel like enough, but it was something. Enough for her whirling thoughts to hold onto. Hina lay on the hard ground, not sleeping, for a long time.
* * *
When Hina blinked her eyes awake, the sky was beginning to lighten. The air was cool and a bird called somewhere in the distance. A hint of ash hung on the breeze. A rock dug into Hina''s side, and she rolled over slightly to push it out from under her. From atop of one of the packs, Bean gave a low croak. Olivia''s gentle snores were almost comforting. Hina looked around. Her hand was¡ªshe lifted it up into the light. It was still there. Bruised and swollen, but the fingers wiggled, dried blood flaking off. The scratches on her wrist and fingers looked shallow¡ªthey''d stopped bleeding. And the pain had faded to a dull ache. She''d gotten off lucky. It was a relief. Hina''s thoughts churned, but she felt a little better. They''d¡ª She needed to be prepared for what was coming next. They were safe from the huld, for now. Probably. The next challenge was different. In the morning, in an hour or two, the gates of Blandmanch would open, and they would go inside. And Hina didn''t know what that would look like. She knew that some cities had complicated processes before you were allowed in, sometimes involving paperwork and fees or even interviews if you were foreign. And Hina had never been to Blandmanch. She didn''t look anything like Olivia, or any of the farmers. Almost everybody around here was of Ortinian descent, even the farmers with skin so pale it seemed almost bloodless. Hina and Kai would stand out. Would they be in trouble with the townspeople about the huld, and the farm, and all those people? Hina had a vision of being arrested. Having to stand trial for leading beasts of the wild back into civilisation. And in the investigation, they''d find out about Grambe, and that would be that. She shook her head. That was ridiculous. Nobody in their right minds would blame them for being pursued by huld, and seeking help wherever they could find it. They''d warned them. They''d done the right thing. She''d¡ª Hina shut her thoughts down and focused on the next hurdles. The other risk was that there were people in Blandmanch who were looking for her. A young Leli woman from Grambe travelling alone with her brother, wanted on suspicion of murder¨Cnews must have reached Blandmanch by now. If there were forms, paperwork, they would have to lie about their names and where they came from. They''d have to convince Olivia to lie too. Hina wondered if she''d do it, or if it was even fair to ask her. When they had decided to travel together, they had only agreed to travel together as far as Blandmanch, and then they would reconsider. Maybe it would be better to separate now. If Olivia arrived alone, she wouldn''t have to lie about them¡ªwho would even give her a second glance, a well-dressed Ortinian girl? But if they arrived together and the gate guards decided to interview them separately, that could go poorly. It had been nice to have someone else to share the journey with, someone who knew more than Hina did about so many of the things that she needed to know. She knew about trinkets, and workings, and what awaited them at the Academy. And more than that, Olivia was ¡­ nice. Friendly and kind in a way that Hina could get used to, even if she was a little naive sometimes. Hina wondered how she was doing, if Olivia''s mind was replaying the same scenes as hers was whenever she stopped thinking of the future. They would need to talk about it when the sun came up. About their next steps. Even if Hina and Kai parted ways with Olivia here, they didn''t have any good options other than to continue on into Blandmanch. They were too low on supplies to continue on to some other town. And somewhere smaller, like one of the farms, would be unlikely to have everything they needed. Visions of screaming, running people¡ª No, they''d have to try to enter Blandmanch in the morning, with or without Olivia. They could purchase supplies for the next leg of their journey, and hopefully find a caravan heading in the right direction to travel with. A break from walking would be nice. Hina could spend her days practising. She was excited to see what kind of progress she could make with enough time to dedicate to practice. So long as they could find one that was going the right way. And they could afford it. They had a little silver, and a few treasures that they might be able to sell in the market. They could sell the bell, and the salt shaker too if they needed to, though Hina would prefer to hold on to those if she could. Getting to the academy would solve all of her other problems, so that was the only thing Hina had to focus on. She would do what she had to do to get there in one piece. She''d sell the sandals off her feet if that''s what it took. Hina was going to the academy. She had to. And she couldn''t risk anything interfering with that. "Are you awake?" she whispered to Olivia. 1.35 - Decisions
"Olivia?" Hina whispered. The noise felt too loud in the stillness of their pocket in the field. "Are you awake?" Dark grass swayed over Hina''s head, rustling in the cool breeze. The sky was grey but growing brighter. The sun would be up soon. There was a long pause. "Yes. Why? Has the salve worn off already?" "What? No, or I mean, my arm is a lot better now. I mean, how are you doing? Last night was ... that was intense." "Intense? And horrible, and terrifying and just plain awful?" The words tumbled out as Olivia''s voice rose in pitch and she sat up. "How am I doing? I am not doing well, Hina. I am not doing well at all." Hina took a couple of steadying breaths. "Do you¡ªdo you want a hug?" And then Olivia rolled towards her, one arm wrapped around Hina pulling her closer until her other arm could wrap around her tightly Hina held still for a moment, then she moved her arms, returning the embrace and giving Olivia a squeeze For a moment they stayed there like that, and Hina felt something shift inside her head, some deep inner tension started to relax and her mind whirled a little slower. Her eyes stung, and she blinked back sudden wetness. And then Olivia let go, and pulled back. They were lying side by side, face to face in the dim morning light. Olivia sniffed. "Was he right? Did we do that?" Her voice was thick. "Did we get all of those people killed?" "Hey, hey. No," Hina said firmly. "No, of course not. We were just trying to escape the huld." Olivia sniffed louder, almost half a sob. "Do you¡ªdo you really believe that?" "We aren''t responsible for the huld, Olivia. Or for the farmers. We warned them and they chose not to listen. That was their call." "Why didn''t they listen?" "I don''t know. Maybe they thought we were exaggerating. Or I don''t know, maybe they would have been right if we weren''t¡ªyou know¡ªor maybe they''d never really had to defend themselves before and didn''t realise how bad it could be." "And now they''re dead." She sighed heavily, her breath hitching on the exhale. "We¡ªwe should have tried harder." Hina shook her head. "We tried pretty hard. I think we warned them what? Three times? Warned several different people. They didn''t want to hear it." Olivia swallowed and rolled onto her back, hugging herself as if holding herself together "I keep telling myself that we did the right things. We warned them. We did what we could." Olivia swallowed. "But they''re still all dead." "And they wouldn''t be if we''d run in a different direction." "Y-yes." "But we would be dead instead." "Why didn''t they listen?" This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source. Hina shook her head, and then Olivia pulled her in for another hug. Kai grunted and rolled onto his side. "Listen," Hina said in a low voice once Olivia had shuffled back. "In the morning¡ªin a few hours, we could be inside Blandmanch." She wiped her eyes with the back of her right hand. "What do you want to do when we get there?" "My plan¡ª" Olivia sniffed. "My original plan. I was going to walk to Blandmanch, and then. I would join a caravan to Modmin, if not all the way to Om Qalar. They¡ªthere''s supposed to be one passing through Blandmanch every couple of days. No more than a week. And they''ll take you for a fee. Do you¡ªdo you want to travel together?" "I''d like that." Hina''s lips twitched. And then she frowned. "But I''m worried that they might be looking for us." "Why did you do it¡ªwhy did you run away?" Hina supposed it was a fair question. She took a deep breath. "The man I¡ªkilled." The knife. The blood. With a flex of will that came much more easily now, Hina dismissed the images that the thought conjured. "The man I killed¡ªhe was my betrothed, I guess? I told you that already? He ran a bakery in Grambe, I worked there for a while, since school finished. While I figured things out. "Lots of the other kids from school¡ªwell, I didn''t know what I wanted to do yet, and I always liked baking¡ªit was something to do in the meantime." Hina took a deep breath. "I liked it. I liked the work, and I liked Lagi, at least at first. He was a bit strange, but nice enough, most of the time. "Only, my father and my mother had arranged that he would get to marry me, and they didn''t tell me any of this. I only found out a few weeks before¡ªbefore. "When I found out, everything changed. They acted like they were doing a favour, like I was being ungrateful. I didn''t want to marry anyone, but they didn''t care about that. Like my feelings weren''t even a consideration. And they were going to make sure I followed through with it, too. One way or another. "And then I got the letter from the academy. Lagi¡ªI thought it would be polite, or kind even, to at least tell him I was leaving. He''d have to find some other girl to marry. Well, that was a mistake. A big one, I see that now. "My father is on the town council. He likes to think he runs the place. Maybe he does, I don''t know. "I do know that if I had stayed, even if they cleared me of murder, I would never be able to go to the academy. I would never leave Grambe. It would just be whatever they picked for me. Until I was married off to some merchant or tradesman that my father needed for something, and trapped in that place until the day that I died. "So I left," she finished. "And I took everything that was important to me," she said. "And I will never go back." Olivia didn''t say anything for a while. Then she said, "Okay." "That''s it? That''s all you have to say?" "We just got over a dozen people killed by the huld, Hina." "I guess¡ª" "So, I don''t know what to say to any of that," she said with a quaver in her voice. "But I believe you. That you did the right thing, so I''ll help if I can. What do we need to do? When we arrive in Blandmanch?" "The main thing is that if anyone is looking for us, they''ll be looking for a girl named Hina and a boy named Kai that come from Grambe. So, if anyone asks, I''m... Lori, and he''s Mica. And we''re from Hertley." "Isn''t that too close to Grambe? And you''re obviously still, distinctive?" "Maybe, but it''s the only other town I know well enough to describe. And with three of us, it should be less obvious," Hina said. "And I can''t do anything about the rest of it. And I can''t imagine we''re the only Leli kids in this whole city. So hopefully it won''t come up." Olivia hummed. "What about your reason to travel?" "Same as we told you before. We''re going to help out with my uncle''s new baby¡ªonly instead of Blandmanch, he runs a bakery in Om Qalar. They have bakeries there, right?" "Um, yeah. Everywhere has bakeries, Hina." "So, Lori and Mica are going to Om Qalar to help out with the bakery while their uncle and his wife have their hands full with the new baby. He''s paying for the trip. Everything else happened like it happened, you know, except for the workings¡ªthey were all you," Hina said. "We got really lucky when we ran into you." "That sounds ... fine. What about me? Do I need a fake name?" "No¡ª" "¡ªFenne. I''ve always wanted to be called Fenne." Olivia interrupted excitedly. "I don''t know why. I just like it. And should I be from Hertley too? Did I grow up there, or somewhere else and then move there?" "Do you want to be from Hertley? I think Hertley is almost all Leli folks, farmers and the like. It might be easier if you''re you. Or you, but named Fenne, if you like? But just if someone asks, right? Don''t volunteer anything." "Oh, of course." Hina could hear the smile in Olivia''s voice. "Whatever you say, Lori." 1.36 - Blandmanch
There were six guards at the gate, wearing crisp green uniforms. One stood by while another poked through the load on a cart with the butt of her spear. Two others hung back inside the gate. Another pair stood at the head of the long queue of pedestrians¡ªone of these, tall woman, beckoned Hina forward. "Good morning Miss. Welcome to Blandmanch. Do you have anything to declare?" Hina''s legs ached from an hour of stop-start waiting, and her chest fluttered with tension. She wore her best and cleanest dress¡ªthe one she''d brought for her interview at the academy, just in case it helped with not being recognised. "Good morning," she said. "What do I need to declare?" Olivia groaned and stepped forward. "Morning Ma''am. We''re all travelling together. We''re not carrying any trade goods or anything that''s restricted." The guard smiled. "Okay then, saves me a couple of speeches. Entry fee is one copper boot per person. And the little one''s free," she said with a nod and a smile towards Hina''s shoulder. Bean croaked agreeably in the guard''s direction. "Say Miss, what kind of bird is that?" "He''s ah, a northern crow," Hina said. Bean squawked in irritation. Hina fished a shiny silver quarter-crown out of her purse, along with a much-bigger copper boot. It was an alarmingly large percentage of her coin. Hopefully not an indication of prices inside the city. "For the three of us." The guard took the coins. "Close enough," she said, smiling. "Welcome to Blandmanch." She waved them through the gate behind her. "Next!" That was it, apparently. Hina walked forward, though the gate and into the city. The square beyond the gate stretched broad and wide, walls and the buildings constructed from smooth orange stone that reminded Hina of the stone in the caverns where they''d run into the huld. In the outside world, that same stone seemed bright and cheerful. The whole city was oversized¡ªevery building Hina could see rose over three stories. And people filled the square. Buying and selling in little booths. Standing in groups and chatting. And others, rushing back and forth, a constant stream of them heading in all directions. It was like market day in Grambe. But this was just another day, and just one of many gates. The sound and the presence of so many people rose up like a pressure in Hina''s chest. She felt like she was going to be sick. Bean nipped Hina''s ear. "Ow." He did it again. "Ouch. Stop that!" she said. "I know you''re not a crow." He squawked. "I had to say something." He croaked. "If you''re not a crow, what are you?" "Good bird." He croaked. "Break-fast?" "Okay, I''ll say that next time anyone asks." Bean cackled. A troop of jangling guards marched past, and Hina jumped. Twenty or thirty soldiers in green uniforms, marching in step with long complicated-looking spears over their shoulders. They pushed through the crowd, heading towards the gate. "Fucking beasts," one of them muttered. Not one of them even glanced in Hina''s direction. She took a deep breath. They''d made it inside, and they needed to discuss their next move, only Hina couldn''t see¡ªthere. An empty space at the edge of the square, behind a booth. Hina pushed through the crowd to reach the empty space. And revelled in the relative stillness. "So, next steps?" she said. "What do we need to do again?" asked Kai. "One more time. We need to go to market, both to buy supplies and replace the things we lost, and also maybe to sell a few things, and then we need to find a caravan. Depending on when the caravan is leaving, we might also need to find a place to spend a night or two. Have I missed anything?" "Could camp outside again if we need to," Kai said. "I don''t know about you two, but I would love to sleep in a bed tonight," Olivia said. "And yes, that''s everything." "Do we want to split up, or all stick together?" "I don''t think we''re in that much of a hurry," Olivia said. "And I want to look at trinkets, if we can find a reputable seller. I don''t know if that''s likely this far from the city, but I''d like to try." "I''d like to see what''s available too," Hina said. "And maybe we can find some food on the way to the market." There were four streets leading out of the square by the west gate. The sign overhead announced it as Three Rocks Gate, with a helpful pictogram showing three black balls. Small alleys lead between the rows of buildings. The paths that led along the walls on either side were blocked off with heavy iron gates. The broadest of the four roads had a sign on the wall of a building near the entrace which read Market Street. Market street was broader than any of the streets in Grambe, and for all of the crowds of people wandering past¡ªand the occasional cart pulled by pack-beasts¡ªHina could feel herself adjusting to the bustle. If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. Blandmanch was just an oversized town on market day, and Hina knew how to deal with that. They pressed through the crowds. "Is this normal?" said Kai, half-yelling to be heard over the noise of the crowd. "Is it always like this?" "I have no idea!" A group of three people to the left were holding skewers of meat¡ªand Hina''s mouth watered at the sight. She looked around for a vendor. It was about time for breakfast, now that they were somewhere that had shops and people and food. Ah, there, behind the group of old men in robes. Hina pulled Kai and Olivia by the hands, out of the street and into the courtyard behind the old men. There was a cloth booth with a short queue of people lined up in front. She joined the queue, which was moving quickly. It was quieter off the street. "Good morning. Three please," she said, holding up her fingers. She paid a copper penny for three skewers of unidentified meat. After passing skewers to Kai and Olivia, Hina took a bite of her own. Delicious. The last time she''d had meat was¡ªthe first night the huld had attacked. There was a young man in nice clothes leaning against the wall nearby. "Is it always like this?" she asked, looking at the young man. She gestured towards the street. He smiled at her. "Every year. You in town for the festival?" "Visiting family. Haven''t been here in years." "Ah, feast of The Stranger. It''ll get worse later," he said. "Uh, visitors should stay off the streets after dark. But I''m sure your kin will keep you out of trouble." "Thank you, much appreciated," she said. "Hmm." Olivia was frowning. "We should hurry then, run our errands and then find a place to stay as soon as we can. And if there''s a caravan leaving today, let''s depart with it." "Sounds good to me," Kai said. "And me. Give give me a minute." Hina gave the last piece of meat on her skewer to Bean, who chirped happily before tearing into it with beak and claw. The market was in grassy field near the center of the city. Towers rose over the buildings to the north¡ªthe city keep? The square bustled with people and stalls and carts, all of them buying and selling and moving about. It was like the Grambe market if you took ten times the people and animals and things, and put them into a space that was about thirty percent larger. Hina felt like that was about right. "Food first." "Over there," Kai pointed. Hina purchased dried beans, dry-roasted beans, a jar of fermented cabbage, some potatoes, a small bag of flour, a tiny cake of yeast and loaf of fresh bread for two copper boots and five pennies. She also looked for a cookpot to replace the one that they''d lost, and winced at the prices. She couldn''t find anything of comparable quality for less than a crown, and she couldn''t spare that. They only had seven silver quarter-crowns, and a few copper coins. Eventually she managed to find a battered iron pot at a second-hand seller that had been repaired too many times for copper boot, and picked up three chipped earthen bowls and a set of two spoons for another three pennies. She spent some time looking for a lantern, but what was available was too expensive. With any luck they would be able to avoid exploring dark places for a while. And anyway, she had a working for light, even if she could only maintain it for a little while. Instead, she bought two cheap wax candles and a fresh box of matches, just in case, for the cost of two more pennies. Hina paid with one of the silver quarter-crowns, and got one boot, three pennies and two ha''pennies back. The change went into her purse. At a stall selling cutlery, she got her knife sharpened for a ha''penny. And at a nearby paperseller''s stall, she bought a small notebook, two pencils and a little metal sharpener for a copper boot. And she picked up two woolen blankets for another two boots. The goods were split between Hina''s and Kai''s bags. All in all, the shopping left her with five quarter-crowns, one copper boot and four and a half pennies. Hina would have been pleased with that, if their money hadn''t been so tight. She figured two quarter-crowns each was the minimum that travelling with a caravan could cost, and that would be leaving one and change for the whole of the rest of the trip? It didn''t work. They were going to need to sell something. "See anywhere for the bell?" she asked Kai. "Is it special?" asked Olivia, who had been watching with a small smile on her face the whole time. "You know, like the others?" Hina nodded. "You''ll get a better price for it in the next city. I haven''t seen any proper dealers in trinkets here so far. This market may be the wrong place¡ªI have a recommendation for a merchant in Modmin, if you can wait." "I''m not sure that we can. But I guess we can see about the caravan and then come back if we need to." Hina spent another fifteen minutes looking through the stalls, but the closest she could find to a suitable seller was a silversmith. The stall had a few finely worked pieces on display, a formal goblet with flowers etched into the side, a decorative engraved spoon, a beautifully intricate tea-set. It was one of the few stalls with guards: two hard-eyed men and a woman who stood close by, watching the crowd for trouble. Walking up to the man in the stall, Hina said, "I ... inherited this little silver bell¡ªI was wondering if you could tell me if it''s worth anything?" The man behind the counter, a thin older man with short grey hair, spectacles, and shaven chin, gave her a tight smile. "Certainly," he said. "So long as you allow me to make an offer. We buy, sell and appraise." Hina glanced around, but no-one was watching them too closely. Kai and Olivia were standing nearby, for support. Olivia frowned, but didn''t say anything. She slipped her bag off of her shoulder. The nearest guard shifted, a stern-faced woman with a hand on a weapon in her belt¡ªsome kind of club. She watched Hina closely. The bell was near the top of Hina''s bag. She held it out to the man behind the counter. The guard let her hand drop, posture relaxing. "May I?" the man behind the counter said, he reached out a hand. When Hina nodded, he took the bell and examined it. He held it up to the light close to his glasses, then put it down on the table in front of him while he held a lens up to his eye. Finally, he pulled out a set of scales from behind the bench, and set it on the counter. He set the bell onto the platform, hunching down to read the dial, which was facing away from Hina. "Interesting," he said. "An inheritance, you said?" "That''s right," she said. "My great-aunt left it to me in her will." Out of the corner of her eye, she saw that Olivia was staring at the bell, eyebrows raised. "Hmm. Even the raw weight of metal, and those carvings. Hmm," he said, hesitating for a moment. "One scepter, four crowns." "Huh." That was a lot of money. "Thank you." She reached to take the bell back. "Two scepters," he said, holding on to the bell. "I really can''t go higher." Hina hesitated. A scepter was worth somewhere around twelve crowns. You could buy a small house in Grambe for two or three scepters. That much could cover their expenses for the rest of the trip, and then some. Olivia poked her in the side, hard. Right. If they could get more in the next city, it would be foolish to sell it now. More might mean three or even four scepters, and that would put them in a good position at the academy when they arrived. Better to wait. "Thank you for the information. I''ll come back if we decide to sell." She leaned forward and took the bell, pulled it firmly from the man''s grasp. "Two and six." The man sounded faintly annoyed. "It''s a good price. Better than you''ll get anywhere else for your... inheritance." He sniffed. "No." Hina shook her head. "I''m going to need to think about it." "Very well," he said, with a tight smile. "I''m only in the market for the festival. If you change your mind and come back later, I won''t be here. So, take this." He held out a paper card. Hina took it. It read M. Schuster, Merchant in Silver and showed an address in the financial quarter, which Hina had seen a sign for on their way to the market. "Thank you," she said. "I''ll stop by if I decide to sell." The man nodded sharply. Hina put the bell back into her bag and shouldered it. Time to find a caravan. 1.37 - Caravan-master
It was still early, and the inn was quiet, cool and dark. Hina made her way to the bar where a middle-aged woman was serving drinks and chatting with a few regulars. She pulled out a stool, sat and waited for the inn-keeper''s attention. The others sat down next to her. "What can I get you, dearies?" "Small ale. Three mugs, please." Hina set down two copper pennies on the bar. "Coming right up." The woman swept up the coins and left a little ha-penny in their place. She collected three mugs from below the bar, and filled them from the big wooden cask on the counter behind her, one after the other. She set the full mugs down in front of Hina and Kai with a slosh of foam. "Thanks. Can you tell us anything about the road to Modmin?" "Of course, love. Caravan came in on that road yesterday, said they had a run in with some beasts. Kotbec, I think." She looked at Hina. "Nasty birds with enormous claws, run as fast as a person. They attack smaller groups sometimes. And we''re coming on bandit season too. Wouldn''t recommend you kids going out there by yourselves, that''s for sure." "Know of any caravans heading out that way? Ideally leaving within the next couple of days?" "You know what," she raised herself up onto her toes, peering across the room behind them. "Yeah, they''re still here. There''s a fellow over there by the name of... Yusuf, yes, that''s it. Go and see him, he''s over there in the corner. His group''s heading out towards Modmin at dawn, I think¡ªthey might take you if you ask nice, and if you''ve got the coin." "Thank you," Hina said, nodding. "By the way, do you have rooms available?" "We''re almost booked out, you know, with the festival? Going to get mighty busy around here in another couple of hours. Already busy for this time of day. We''ve got one room left. Only one bed, but I can have my boy drag in some sleeping mats. Two quarters for the night." "Two quarters?! That''s a lot." "If it''s not you, love, I''ll have it booked before dinner. Festival brings in folks from all around." She squinted at Hina in the dim light. "Say, you look kinda familiar. Where did you say you were from?" Hina''s heart skipped a beat. "Hertley." "Hmm. Doesn''t ring a bell." The woman shrugged. "Well, you let me know if you want that room. I''d say you''ve got an hour or two to decide, but I''ll be giving it to whoever pays first, understand?" "Thank you. I''ll be back if we decide to take it." She walked over to the small group of people at the table in the corner. "Hello there, the inn-keeper says you''re headed to Modmin?" A small man stood and held out his hand. "I am Yusuf." His head shone in the lamp light. Hina shook his hand. "Lori. The inn-keeper said you were heading to Modmin?" "I have a small caravan¡ªsix wagons, a guard of twelve. We are heading south towards Walton via Modmin, yes. We depart at dawn." "Are you taking passengers?" "The three of you, or are there others?" "Just us." "And you would be joining us to Modmin only?" "That''s right." "It''s an eight or nine day journey, depending. Three people." "Yes." "One crown each." He eyed the knife and the sling at her belt. "And you will assist if the caravan is attacked, yes?" One whole crown each. Hina wouldn''t have been able to pay that in a year of working at the bakery, and she didn''t have nearly enough to cover that now. They only had one and a quarter and a change. She was going to have to rush back to the market and sell the bell. There was no chance of a room for the night. And she was still short by three quarter-crowns. Almost as much as she''d planned to leave Grambe with, before Lagi''s generous donation. Maybe they should think about walking. It would add a couple of weeks to the journey, though, and that would make the timeline pretty tight. And they hadn''t done so well on their own to this point. The farm¡ªit hadn''t gone well at all. The trip to Modmin was a little under half of the rest of the way to Om Qalar, and a break from being responsible for keeping everyone safe from the dangers of the road was pretty appealing. Especially if they continued making progress. If safety was the most important thing, they may as well just stay here in the city. But there were more important things than safety. Yes. They''d have to sell the bell, but it was worth it. "We''ll¡ª" "Two and one, for the three of us." Olivia said. "One now, the rest when we join." She held up a large silver crown. "Hmph." He paused. "Very well, I accept. Meet us outside the south gate at dawn." He held out his hand, and Olivia passed him the coin. "Don''t be late. We will depart without you." Hina pulled Kai and Olivia over to an empty table near the door, as far from Yusuf''s group as she could get while remaining in the tavern. Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. "What are you doing?" "I''ve got it. You can pay me back. Or," Olivia said. "Am I wrong? Would you not need to sell something important for a pittance to afford the journey? If I''ve misjudged, then I apologise." Hina''s cheeks were burning. It was probably the ale¡ªshe took another sip, shaking her head. "Why does it matter?" "I don''t think we should talk about it here. Let''s camp outside the walls again, we''re meeting the caravan outside the gates anyway. We''re a little better equipped now." "I didn''t think you wanted to camp?" "I don''t. But," Olivia leaned in. "I''m a little worried about that silver merchant." "You think he might do something?" "I don''t think we should risk it." "Good girl," croaked Bean. Hina tipped the last of her ale back. "Listen." The inn-keeper was standing at their table. "You look like good kids, and I don''t want to see you out on the streets tonight." She gave them a tight smile. "I''ll give you the room for a quarter, if you''re interested?" A man by the bar was watching them. Hina looked at him, and he looked away. One quarter sounded like a great deal. "That''s¡ª" she started. "Thank you," Olivia cut in. "But we''ve really got to be going. We''ve made other arrangements for this evening." Hina looked at her. "We have?" "Are you sure? I''ll even throw in breakfast. My man makes a great breakfast." "No, thank you." Olivia said firmly. "We''ll be fine." "Alright, then." The inn-keeper frowned. "Best of luck to you, then." Hina pushed back her chair with a scrape and stood. "Let''s go." She looked back around the room. The man by the bar watched them leave. Across the street, on the wall of another building, alongside faded advertisements and flyers was a printed poster with the words "HAVE YOU SEEN THIS WOMAN?" and a line-drawing of a Leli girl with a heavy brow and a broad face. Groups of men and women were loitering near the entrance, leaning against the buildings, drinking from brown bottles and smoking something that smelled faintly like rot. One of the men who was smoking caught her eye and smiled. He nudged his companion, and they both laughed. Hina looked away. She led her group into the south square, towards the gate. It looked much like the east gate¡ªa huge wooden door standing open. Guards worked in the space between, regulating traffic. And there were guards up on the wall, watching. A steady stream of people were walking out the gate from inside the city. It didn''t seem like there were any restrictions on leaving, only on entering the city. That suited Hina just fine. They joined the stream. One of the guards glanced at her when she drew level with the wall, but the man glanced away just as quickly. Apparently there were more important things to worry about than three young people leaving the city. Stepping onto the dirt of the road out of the city, Hina relaxed. They were out of the city, and they were safe. A handful of buildings stood outside the gate, by the road. And there was a large cleared area where several wagons waited. "This where we meet the caravan?" Kai said. "Looks like it." "We should stay in sight so we can see them in the morning. I don''t want to miss them." "We won''t miss them," said Olivia. "They''ll wait for us, for at least an hour. If not more." "He said they''d leave without us if we were late." Olivia shook her head. "He''s trying to make sure we''re on time. He won''t turn down silver, not unless we seriously inconvenience him," she said. "And an hour or two won''t make much difference to his schedule. They''ll make it up at the end of the day if they have to." "Have you done this before?" "No, or I mean, not by myself. But I''ve made this journey once before, with my parents. And my father and my uncles tell a lot of stories." "How old were you, last time you made this trip?" "I was eight," said Olivia, reddening. Hina nodded. "In Modmin, when you sell the bell, if you decide you want to sell it. You might want to consider letting me do the bargaining." "Wait, why?" "Bargaining is a skill, and I''m good at it. I can get you a better price." "I always got a great price from the merchants in Grambe." "Did you do the household shopping often? For your family?" "Only occasionally. My mother did most of it. She liked to do it, didn''t want anyone else taking her place." "Just think about it. I''m sure I can get you a much better price." "How much do you think it''s worth?" "Five, six scepters." She shrugged. "Maybe more. Those things are rare, and it''s a beautiful example." Hina''s eyes widened. "You think it''s worth that much?" "At least. It will depend on getting it identified, and what it does, but it''s a trinket. Those are always worth something. And that looks a lot like the bell of unbinding that my father has." "Over here," said Kai. "There''s a good spot here." Hina walked over, pushing through the waist-high grass. Kai had found a small rocky clearing in the waist-high yellow grass. The ground looked soft enough to scratch a barrier into the dirt. Hina set her bag down on the ground. Bean hopped down onto it with a chirp. It wouldn''t be comfortable to sleep on, especially all bunched up together, but the barrier would keep them safe. She needed to figure out some way to use it on a surface that she couldn''t draw on with her tree-branch wand. And she also needed to work out how to make the barriers bigger so they had more space. "Think anyone''s watching? Wondering what we''re doing out here?" Kai asked. "The guards on the wall, I mean. Or the people out there on the road." Hina could make out the shapes of people moving along the top of the wall, though they were too far away to make out any details. "Maybe. I don''t think anyone is going to care. They''re probably used to seeing people out here," said Olivia. "I bet people in town come out here all of the time." "No way," said Hina. "The people who live in the city do not casually walk out into the countryside where the monsters are. I bet they wouldn''t even consider it." "There aren''t any monsters in this field," Olivia said. "The city would deal with them." "It doesn''t matter. We''re outside the wall. There could be monsters anywhere." "There are a lot of travellers and merchants on the road. Farmers, too." "That''s different. The ordinary people who live in a city or a town¡ªthey don''t travel. No way. There isn''t anywhere in there from where you can''t see the walls. They''re a constant reminder of the things out here that''ll get you, if they get a chance." "But what about all the people on the road?" asked Kai. "People who get paid to risk it. Merchants with guards, mostly. And people who don''t get a choice. Like the farmers¡ªthough they don''t travel any further than from their farm to the city and back," she said. "But most of those people have never been out here." "We should ask someone," said Olivia. "I bet we can find someone who''s been out here." "Did people go outside the walls of your... home?" "Yes. The fields outside the walls of the manor are safe enough during the day. Like this. I was forbidden to go out at night, of course. I think I would go mad, cooped up inside walls all of the time." Hina just shook her head. "What?" said Olivia. "Is that so strange?" "Yes!" said Hina. "Even with the hedge around the Grambe farms, only people who had to went outside. You just casually wandered around?" "I guess my family kept it safe," said Olivia. "I never even thought about it." Hina shook her head again. "I don''t know what to say. It''s strange, that''s all." "But you''re out here now? In the wildlands?" "Yeah," Hina said. "We''re out here now. Being inside the city reminded me, I think." "Reminded you of what?" "Feeling safe, I guess. Like nothing was going to sneak up and snatch me away in the night. Like, no matter how bad it is in there, it''s better than being outside¡ªout here." "Did you see the flyer, outside the inn?" "I saw it. It''s not a very good likeness, at least." "Saw what?" Kai asked. "There was a wanted poster outside the inn. For me." "Oh." "What do you want to do?" Olivia asked. "I''ve been thinking about it. I think we just keep doing what we''re doing. Join the caravan in the morning, keep being Lori and Micah and... Fenne. Keep to ourselves." "Avoid attracting attention," said Kai. "Exactly." Hina hoped it would be enough. 1.38 - Trade secrets Olivia frowned at Hina. "It''s complicated," she said. "I can''t share secrets, you understand?" "Of course," said Hina, trying to keep her frustration out of her voice. All she''d asked was how Olivia was drawing the line when she put up her wards. A major limitation of Hina''s barrier was that she could only use it on surfaces soft enough to draw on with a stick. "Any hints you can share will help keep us both safe." "Okay, yes, that¡¯s true." "And am I not going to learn all of this when we get to the academy anyway?" "Hmm. It''s possible. But regardless, I am going to be required to justify anything I tell you, both by my family and potentially by the academy itself," Olivia said. "They don''t like information being shared with non-initiates, and I understand their position given what''s at stake. "But¡ª" Olivia raised a finger to cut off Hina''s objections and continued talking. "The ward working you''ve been using is unquestionably the more effective of the two we have access to between us, so it''s better that you continue to be the one protecting our campsites. And with that in mind, I think I am justified in giving you a few hints without giving you the working." She looked satisfied with her explanation. Now they were getting somewhere. "So what can you tell me?" "My ward includes a pattern that physically cuts a line into the ground while I walk the boundary. I can''t share any part of the working, and in any case, I don''t think it would be within your abilities right now, not with your current level of ambit development¡ª" "¡ªwhat''s wrong with my ambit?" "It''s very healthy looking for what, a few weeks of practice?" Hina nodded. "But you can''t expect too much in so little time." "How long have you been developing yours?" "Four years." "Four years!" Olivia was at least a year younger than her, and she''d already been practising for four years? Hina''s face flushed. She had no idea she was so far behind. "So you can''t expect too much just yet, but give it some time." Olivia gave her a gentle smile. "We all have to start somewhere, as my father says. And many of the students at the Academy will be just as inexperienced as you are." She coughed. "In any case, my assessment is that the technique I''m using isn''t a possibility for you right now, even if I could share it, which I can''t. Sorry." "That''s a shame." "But, if you have other questions, I can try to answer some of them?" They were sitting on the ground at their campsite outside Blandmanch, heads just under the height of the yellowed stalks of grass. Out of sight from the road, until they stood up at least. Kai was on the other side of the small clearing, sitting cross legged with a book in his lap. Bean perched on his shoulder. Hina thought quickly. There were so many things she wanted to know, ever since she''d found the invitation on her pillow. And then she''d gotten the other one. She still hadn''t figured that one out. "Any ideas about this?" She fished out the invitation from The Grove and passed it over to Olivia. Olivia frowned at it, and her eyes widened as she read. "How¡ªwhere did you get this, Hina?" "A man came into the bakery and dropped it off. Weird old guy. He said his name was, uh. Ian? No. Ivan. Morr¡ªmarlow. Ivan Marlow," Hina said. "Why?" "You didn''t"¡ªOlivia looked alarmed¡ª"tell me you didn''t make a deal with this man." "I haven''t made any deals." Except the debt to Gerda, but that wasn''t exactly a deal, was it? "I just accepted a sealed envelope." "Are you sure?" Olivia''s voice rose. "You didn''t agree to do any favours? You didn''t promise anything? Any deals at all?" "No." Hina shook her head. "He said he was a messenger?" "For The Grove, Hina." She gave the phrase a weight that Hina didn''t understand. "The blasted Grove." "What¡ªwhat is the grove, exactly?" Olivia wasn¡¯t listening. "Are you completely sure you didn''t make any deals? Even something that didn''t seem like a big deal at the time?" "I think I said thank you?" "Well, that¡ªthat''s stupid, but probably not enough." Olivia sighed and muttered, "I wish Mother was here. I know she can detect a pact, even in the early stages." "What?" Hina didn¡¯t like that. She had just thanked the messenger like she would anyone delivering a parcel, she hadn¡¯t agreed to anything. "Listen, Hina," Olivia''s blue eyes looked straight into hers. "You must never, ever answer that invitation. I don''t know what you''ve done to draw its attention, but you have to avoid any further interactions." She waved the envelope in the air. "The academy might deny you admission if they heard a rumour about this, no matter how good you are," she said. "Certainly they would have nothing to do with you if you''d had any further contact, let alone made any deals. They''ll screen you during the admissions process, and they''ll find out. They always do." This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. "But, but¡ªwhy?" "These things," she gestured with the invitation, "are our enemies. The enemies of all humanity. They offer power, yes, but at a great price." "The invitation?" It was an ordinary letter, in an ordinary envelope. "The Houses, Hina. The Grove is one of them. They twist the souls of people¡ªanyone who interacts with them. You might look the same, but everyone who bonds with a living House ends up a killer and a monster, no exceptions. If you meet someone who is bound to a House, you are duty-bound to kill them¡ªany practitioner is. And if you can''t kill them, you should run away and find someone who can." She held the invitation out to Hina. "Burn this. Please." "O¡ªokay," Hina said, taking the invitation back. "If they found that on you in Om Qalar, you''d be executed on suspicion of treason. Hina, you have to get rid of this!" "Okay, I''ll¡ªI''ll destroy it. We won''t be making any fires tonight. But the first chance I get, I''ll burn it." "Good." Olivia''s face was serious. "I''m glad you understand." Hina did not feel like she understood. "But, what even is a House?" "You don''t¡ªokay. I suppose that''s to be expected." Olivia paused, thinking. "You know about the church of the Holy Flame, right?" She paused. "The Torch?" Hina nodded slowly. "Yeah. They have a shrine in Grambe. Some people use them to send messages, but I don''t know anyone who is a serious devotee. Except the priest, I suppose. " Olivia continued, "so you take an ordinary flame, a campfire, a candle, whatever. You let that burn for long enough, maybe decades. Eventually, the flame takes on a life of its own. And if you let a living flame grow big enough..." "It becomes a House?" Kai chimed in. Apparently he''d been listening. Bean croaked disapprovingly. "It becomes the Torch?" Hina tried. "It becomes intelligent. Many of them gain the ability to work power in their own right. If you feed a flame like that, allow it to grow for long enough, it might become like the Torch." "And the Torch is a god?" "Maybe a demi-god? No, no. I don''t think the Torch is a god of any sort, but it''s certainly powerful. I think it''s technically a greater spirit." "And any other flames from it are the Torch itself?" Kai asked. "They''re linked?" "That''s what they say¡ªand there''s definitely a link. And that''s why there''s a Torch shrine in every major town. You can gain power from a bond with any living flame, but the academy, uh, discourages it." "Huh," Hina said. "You just have to let a fire burn for a long time? And you can gain power from it?" "And feed it the right things, unless you want to wait fifty years before it''s useful. But that''s beside the point, and don¡¯t sound so excited. What I''m getting at is that the current theory about the Houses is that they''re similar to the Torch," Olivia said. "They''re something that has been allowed, maybe encouraged, to grow and grow until they''ve grown beyond their original limitations into something completely different, something strange and alive. And unlike the Holy Flame, they want to destroy humanity¡ªor at least enslave us." "Wait, what?" Hina said. "Why?" "I don''t know. I don''t think anyone knows. But that''s what they do. Like I said, they offer power, but it changes you. Every time. The only good House is a dead House. And even then, you have to be careful, because even dead, they''ll still change you. It''s just that without a guiding intelligence behind it, you can delay the change long enough to do some good." "So the ruin in the forest?" Olivia nodded solemnly. "Dead House." "What about the trinkets we found?" "Those are usually okay, like I said before. As I understand it, the dead Houses are allowed to exist because they''re useful. The things you find there, trinkets, artefacts, trials: they make humanity stronger. The Lesser Signs too, I suppose." "The signs are from the Houses?" "Where else would they come from?" Hina didn''t know. "Somewhere... else?" "Maybe. But I don''t think so. Most new sigil ''discoveries'' come from expeditions into the dead Houses. The Lesser Signs are the least dangerous, but... well, you would know better than me, Hina. You''ve touched one." "It was horrible," Hina said, shuddering with the memory. "Like something huge and alien was pushing its way into the world, into me." "Exactly. And that was a Lesser Sign. The Academy has a whole department dedicated to studying them, and we''re still not sure what they really are. The workings come from that research, or at least many of them do." "Wait, if there are Lesser Signs, are there greater ones too? Do they study those at the academy?" "No." "No, there aren¡¯t? Or no, they don¡¯t?" "The Greater Signs are too dangerous. Anyone found with a bond to a Greater Sign is executed on the spot. Even possessing a card like the one you have would be considered treason, if it was a Greater Sign. From the city, they send out teams to hunt down rumours of the Greater Signs across the whole world." "So, worse than an invitation from a House?" There were apparently quite a lot of seemingly benign things you could be executed for in Om Qalar. "Much worse. The Houses are enemies of humanity, but the Greater Signs, well, they could destroy cities, convert whole populations into monsters, or worse." "Huh." "I hope that puts things in perspective." "Kind of. So exploring the ruin in the forest was okay, and touching the lesser sign was okay, and the trinkets are useful and valuable, but the invitation is bad?" "Exactly. I mean, the sign isn''t great¡ªit''s dangerous to you. But the invitation is both bad and dangerous." "Okay." Hina shook her head. "Thank you for explaining, I guess." "You''re welcome." "Forest fires. Are they smart then, too?" Kai asked. Olivia thought for a moment. "Probably not? It would have to be a really big fire, and most of the time they burn themselves out before they reach the threshold. Apparently it does happen sometimes, though. Not in the valley, but I''ve heard stories of it happening sometimes in the forests of Quetta." Kai gave her a blank look. "A long way to the south. In any case, not something we need to worry about up here." Olivia yawned, and Hina realised how late it was already. The sun would be setting soon. "Okay, one more question." Hina took a deep breath. "At the farm, what happened to Humphrey?" Olivia looked uncomfortable. "I think... He lost control of his working, and the sign took him. Transformed him. Or that''s what it looked like from where I was standing. It¡¯s complicated." "Transformed him?" Olivia nodded. "It happens sometimes. It''s why¡ª Oh, never mind. It''s not important." She started undoing the buckles on her satchel. "What?" "Nothing. Now, If there''s nothing else, I need to catch up on some study while we have the light." She pulled out a heavy tome with a worn blue cover and started reading, apparently already done with the conversation. "Okay. Thanks." Hina frowned and stood up. She supposed she had her own work to be doing, and she shouldn''t push too hard. They had a long journey ahead. There would be time to ask more questions later. 1.39 - Movement
In the empty area near the city gates, six heavily loaded wagons were waiting with a herd of pack beasts. A small crowd of people were standing nearby. A short well-dressed man with dark skin was darting back and forth, talking to the drivers, the guards and the crowd. He made eye contact with Hina as she was walking up the road towards the caravan and stopped walking. He turned and walked up to them. "Greetings," he said, speaking quickly. "You and your group are up on the third wagon," he pointed it out. "Wait nearby until the driver asks you to board, yes?" "Thank you," Olivia said. "We''ll do that." "And the matter of payment, the balance of..." He looked down at the notepad in his hand. "Five quarters?" "Yes, that''s correct." She flipped open her satchel and reached into the pocket. "Here." "Very good." He nodded and tucked the coins away into a pocket on the inside of his jacket. "We''ll be on our way shortly." Yusuf turned and walked away in the direction of one of the other wagons. Olivia looked at Hina and shrugged. "I guess we go and wait over there," Hina said. After a few minutes of waiting by the wagon amongst a handful of other passengers, a heavyset man came and stood near the front. "Passengers," the man said in a loud voice, "please go ahead and board via the ladder to the rear of the wagon. We''ll be on our way shortly. Please get my attention if you need assistance with your personal belongings." The wagon was a tall, box-shaped wooden vehicle, with a bench at the front for the driver, with room for at least four people to sit side by side. Two burly pack-beasts were waiting patiently at the front, ready to pull them away on request. From the back, Hina could see past the guard rail into a large cargo area, heavily loaded with crates and bags and boxes of goods and even a few barrels. She recognised sacks of grain from Grambe and one of the crates near the top was full of apples from Hertley. Some of the other passengers were already boarding, a man carrying several bags followed by a woman with a small child in her arms. Hina joined the queue behind Kai, and followed him up the ladder when their turn came. Bean gave a little chirp as she reached the top. The space for passengers on top of the wagon looked comfortable, with wide benches along the sides and racks for luggage in the middle. A rail ran around all four sides to keep passengers from falling off, and there was a little cloth roof that spread out from above the rail, which would provide some protection from sun and rain. Towards the end of the bench opposite from the ladder, Hina took a seat¡ªthe better for being out of the way of the other passengers. She sat down with her bag between her knees. Olivia sat down beside her, and Kai sat down on the other side of Olivia. "This is nice," Kai said. "We don''t have to walk anymore." "And we''ll get a pretty nice view of the countryside from this elevation," Olivia said. "Better than walking by far." "Maybe we''ll spot a hidden ruin or something," Kai said. "I hear there''s all kinds in the hills around Modmin." "Hmm," Olivia said. "Maybe we will." "Well, I''m looking forward to having lots of time to practise," Hina said. "Sensible." A handful of other passengers boarded over the next few minutes and took their seats. Hina counted eleven people in total, including her group and the young child with the couple who had boarded before them. When new people stopped climbing the ladder, the space on top of the wagon was still looking comfortable. Hina was pleased that they wouldn''t be crammed into a small spaces for the journey. There was sitting room free for half again as many people. At the front of the wagon, a woman climbed up over the side to sit on the railing, facing forward. She took a black metal crossbow down from where it was hanging from a strap over her shoulder and settled it into her lap. Leaning back over the railing, two guards with spears sat beside the driver of the wagon behind them. This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it. Hina wondered what would happen if they ran into a beast¡ªor even one of the huld. Would the wagons stop while the guards dealt with the threat? There were twelve guards, Yusuf had said, two per wagon. And the passengers were obliged to help in an emergency. Was that enough to deal with a huld? What if there was more than one? She imagined a massive figure tearing through the guards¡ªlike the huld tearing through the farmers by the farm-house gate. But surely the caravan-master knew his business. He wouldn''t last very long if he regularly lost goods and passengers to the wild. And neither would Hina if she wasn''t prepared. They would arrive in Modmin in eight or nine days, assuming they didn''t run into any serious trouble. From Modmin it was about a week and a half of walking¡ªuphill¡ªto Almewich, and another week or so from there to Om Qalar. Almewich wasn''t on any major trade routes, so it was unlikely that they would find another caravan heading that way. Not unless they wanted to wait for a week or more in Modmin. It would be faster if they headed east to Walton and then caught the train, which would take them through Burton and then all the way to Om Qalar in a matter of days. But Hina and Kai didn''t have enough coin for that, for one, and more importantly, she didn''t think they should risk it. If there were flyers in Blandmanch, there would be worse at the train station. That inn-keeper had asked too many questions, now that Hina thought about it. And she''d tried too hard to get them to stay the night. So Hina needed to be ready for another long stretch in the wild. Looking around the wagon at the other passengers, no-one was looking in Hina''s direction. It was a shame that they didn''t have more privacy, but she supposed she''d have to make do. First thing was her ambit. She had worked on it last night outside Blandmanch and had managed to expand her ambit along her legs and torso. And there was no reason why Hina couldn''t continue to work on it now. It wouldn''t even look like she was doing anything to the other passengers, unless there was some way to tell¡ªshe''d have to ask Olivia. Later. Hina focused her mind and felt for potentia at the edges of her ambit. There was a different feeling to the energy beyond herself, a fullness and a sense of motion. She took a breath and drew it in, then released it. And repeated the process. A sense of freshness and energy filled her, left her invigorated. Hina drew until her well was full. Until she felt like she was holding all of the power that she could hold. And she could hold noticably more than she could before the¡ªthe farm. Whatever had happened there at the end had deepened her well, and she was stronger for it. With her well full, Hina could feel her ambit more tangibly, a field of energy all around her, within her control. Her influence extending out into the world ever so slightly, all around her body. All around her body except for around her head. Hina traced the lines of her face and head with her inner senses, the arc to the top of her skull. Past dark hair to her high forehead, her thick dark brows. Down past her nose, and past the her lips¡ªpursed in concentration¡ªshe relaxed her expression. She traced her attention past her round chin and plump cheeks. Collectively, these were the last parts of her boundary that remained unchanged. When she felt like she had the right sense of herself, Hina focused. She gathered her will, and pressed out, pushing against her boundaries. Seeking balance, an equilibrium with the rest of her ambit. Hina pushed out with all of her might. She pushed and pushed until she could feel the edges of her will fraying. And then something shifted, and came loose. The boundary around her head relaxed, became responsive to her press, and moved. This time her ambit shifted further than any of the other times she''d done this. Something about expansion along all of her boundaries? It felt fluid, and like it was moving a long way as she continued to press out. Gradually, another sense of resistance developed as she pushed, until she could push no further. It was enough. Hina relaxed a little, holding on to her progress with a little effort. She put two fingers to her forehead, facing outwards, in line with her nose. She could feel that her second finger was just inside the boundary of her ambit¡ªa massive expansion when compared to the less than a finger''s width of ambit she had developed around the rest of her body. Could she... She assessed her will, her energy. She had enough power for another attempt, she thought. Just one more. Hina felt for her ambit around the rest of her body, where it joined to what she was holding already¡ªher neck and shoulders and arms and all the rest. It came into her attention more readily that she''d expected, or perhaps it made sense¡ªit was all part of the space in the world that she had claimed, continued to claim for herself. She could feel it¡ªit was ready, she was ready. She gathered her will, and pressed outward once more. She felt the flexibility in her ambit around her face spreading downwards, a wave of responsiveness. And then her ambit came loose in a ripple. Pushing with all of her will, Hina pressed outward. She held the whole of her boundary, pushing it out in every direction until she met that sense of rising resistance. She pusehd until she could push no further against the resistance on all sides. And then she held it there. Hina let out a long deep breath as a wave of exhaustion spread through her. She had to let go now, and hope that the change stayed where it was. Or that it would be easier next time. She could live with having to repeat this process a few times until it stuck, if that''s what it took. Releasing her attention around her left ankle, Hina let it fall out of her will ever so slightly, and then released it entirely. Nothing changed. And then after a moment, she felt the sense of flexibility harden around her foot. Her ambit didn''t move at all. Encouraged, she tried her right ankle, repeating the process. And then, reaching the ends of her energy, she released all of the rest, all at once. She took several deep breaths. Her ambit stiffened, the sense of flexibility fading. But it stayed where it was, and Hina couldn''t help but smile. Her boundaries extended two finger-widths out into the world in all directions. 1.40 - Ambit compression
None of the other passengers seemed to be looking in Hina''s direction. It was afternoon, and she only had a couple of hours before they stopped for the night. Sitting in the corner of the top of the wagon, Olivia and Kai''s bodies partly shielded Hina from sight, and she turned her body away as she read from the card for ambit compression. The instructions were straight-forward, at least in terms of the process for the base technique. Conceptually, it was more complicated, but it would allow her to shrink her ambit while increasing its strength, flexibility and density. She could then expand it further¡ªthe increased potency would help¡ªand then she could repeat the whole process several times. Eventually, this would allow her to progress to the next phase in ambit development¡ªwhich was not specified in the card, and Hina couldn''t imagine what that could be. Not for the first time, she wished for a comprehensive guide to all of this that explained where each technique fit into the broader whole, ideally with benefits and trade-offs outlined in advance. Maybe at the academy, she could find something like that. The card alluded to secondary techniques, ways to actually fold her ambit that would result in a greater than linear increase in potency, but it didn''t go into detail. She had to assume that the basic technique would be good enough. Or, she supposed she did have someone to ask. "...Fenne?" "Hmm?" "Tell me if there''s anything wrong with this?" She handed over the card. After a few moments, Olivia looked up. "Where did you¡ªnevermind. It''s fine. Relatively standard entry-level technique." "Not going to stunt my growth?" "It''s a little old fashioned, but it shouldn''t have any long-term drawbacks so far as I know." "What about the secondary techniques it refers to? Are they better? Any downsides to not starting there?" "Hmm. I''ve heard that starting with the advanced techniques might be better. Some of the older families do this. But it''s... risky, especially without dedicated assistance. A mistake might damage your foundation, for what¡ªwait, do you have instructions for any of these secondary techniques?" "No." "Well, problem solved then." "You don''t have access to any of these secondary techniques?" "No. I''m still working through my entry-level technique." "The same one?" "Broadly similar, yes." "And you can''t¡ª" "No." "Right. Okay. And you don''t have any books¡ª" "No. Sorry, H¡ªLori." "Right. Okay, then. Well, thank you for the information." "Anytime," Olivia handed the card back. She returned her attention to the book she was reading, which Hina had never seen before¡ªa small brown tome with a leather binding and no title. The open pages were filled with printed letters in a language that Hina didn''t know. It was a puzzle for another time. For now, Hina should focus on ambit compression. But compression was a strange word for it. Her ambit wasn''t a piece of fabric that she could fold in half, or scrunch up into a denser shape. It extended outwards from her in all directions. There was no way to fold it over like a sheet of paper. Conceptually, it didn''t make sense. And the exercise itself didn''t seem to line up with that theory in any case. The card didn''t want her to fold her ambit back over itself at all. In fact, it seemed to only reduce the diameter of her ambit as a side effect. What it wanted her to do was more like¡ªas part of the ambit expansion work she''d already done, she had moved the boundaries of her soul¡ªher ambit¡ªoutwards, but only the boundaries. The fabric of her soul between the external boundaries and her body had been stretched, and was less dense as a result. Now she was going to force the rest of her soul to expand into that new shape. Some of it, at least. If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. And part of that process would contract her ambit. But it was only a side effect. Perfectly skillful application of this technique would result in less or even no contraction, while still allowing the soul to stretch into the new shape. But beginners were expected to contract their ambits in the process. It was not considered a problem. In any case, because the net outcome was a stronger ambit that was typically smaller, the technique was still called ambit compression. A quirk of the terminology. It was more than a little confusing. And thinking about the metaphysics of it made her head hurt. But the exercise itself didn''t seem too complicated. It primarily required willpower, and concentration. And after sitting safe in the bouncing wagon for several hours since lunch, Hina had plenty of both. She closed her eyes, and felt for the edges of her ambit. Allowing her perception to expand, she brought as much of her ambit as she could into her awareness. And then she repeated the process again and again, until she had a faint sense of the whole of the thing. The edges of her soul, if the instructions were accurate. Tracing backwards from the parts of her ambit that she could feel, the connecting threads, Hina followed them inward. There was so much more to it than she had imagined. Layers of shimmering fabric floating in the void, wrapped in and around herself. Only the very edges touched the world beyond. Only these extended beyond the bounds of her body. Bright lines tangled together in the dark of her being, which had a density¡ªa weight to it, especially towards the center¡ªthe intensity fading away with distance. The shape of it was almost familiar, tickling something in the back of her mind. It was hard to focus on, Hina could feel her attention threatening to slip away, as if she was dreaming. She had to focus, she was here for a reason. While she held the complex, twisted shape of her ambit within her perception, she gathered her will. Remembering the feeling of flexibility that her ambit had held when she expanded it, Hina visualised what she wanted. The end goal. And then with a practiced flex of will, Hina guided her ambit¡ªher soul¡ªinto alignment with that image. And Hina expanded. The twisting curling lines of her inner being stretched outwards, the weight in the center of her soul diminishing ever so slightly. The shift cascaded through the whole of her being, a thrill of power reverberating through her. For a long time, she sat there, breathing deeply with her eyes closed while the wagon bounced along the road towards Modmin. While she adjusted to the feeling of the change. And Hina felt changed, in some fundamental way. Like there was more to her now. She put two fingers to her forehead. She could feel that her ambit extended to the edge of her first finger and no further, but it was more tangible too. She could almost feel the weight of it with her fingers. Almost. Hina breathed deep and a smile spread across her face.
* * *
Now that she had some time, seven or eight days away from Modmin, Hina wanted to be more intentional about her practice. She''d been putting in time here and there, wherever she had it, but the focus had been on whatever she felt like at the time, and that had meant that some important things were being neglected. Or at least not given enough focus as they deserved. Ambit development was feeling like a much bigger deal than she''d expected. The feeling of expanding her sense of being had been something else¡ªa hint of power on a level beyond anything she''d experienced. It felt important. Like she needed to do a lot more of that. Like maybe it would help with other things, like the sigils. That first experience of the Lesser Sigil of Guidance had been terrifying, how it had brushed aside her attempts to assert her will without even trying, and refused to be dismissed. The sense of inner strength she was feeling now felt like the beginning of a solution. She wasn''t ready yet. The sigil was her best bet for keeping herself and Kai safe in the wild¡ªthe best weapon she''d found so far¡ªbut she wasn''t ready to face it again yet. But she felt like she would be, if she continued. So first priority: more ambit expansion and compression, at least one more cycle, maybe two or three. She could devote time to that every morning and afternoon for the rest of the journey, and she would. Secondly, she needed to continue to work on cycling in an intentional way. Her well had steadily increased in size since she''d started¡ªespecially after the encounter with the huld, but surely there were other ways to improve. Maybe it was just a matter of being consistent. Or maybe it was a matter of spending more power and replacing it. Hina would need to experiment to figure out what worked best. Or she should ask Olivia. Yes, she should start with that. Olivia may not be willing to tell her, but she might give some hints. Hina put that on her mental to-do list. Third, Hina needed to be intentional about practicing the workings that she''d learned. She had been using them, but not putting in enough effort to improve with the ones that weren''t immediately useful. Like the light working¡ªshe had a sense that if she didn''t actively practice that one, she wouldn''t be able to recall the pattern with enough precision to use it next time she needed to. The copy of the pattern in her memory felt like it was degrading, like some of the details had faded¡ªmaybe she could reconstruct it, but it would only get harder with time. She checked the others mentally, one by one. The barrier was okay¡ªshe''d been using that nearly every day and the three patterns sprang into her minds eye with ease. But she supposed that now that they were travelling with others, she would need to be intentional about practicing it. And the Lesser Sigil of Guidance¡ª The sigil popped, fully formed, into the center of her minds eye at the thought, tendrils writhing around the edges. Strange geometry twisting in a way that hurt her head to look at. Amplifying her headache. Hina frantically pushed it away, turning the force of her will to dismissing the sign, before it could activate and use her like a puppet. Before it left her as a burnt out husk, lying on the ground. The other passengers would wonder why she''d suddenly collapsed. The¡ª The sigil faded. The roaring in Hina''s head subsided. She was okay. It¡ªit hadn''t overpowered her? She was still herself. She was still in control. She breathed in, her eyes on the horizon, the countryside passing by unnoticed. She breathed out. She was okay. 1.41 - Suppertime
"Fenne?" Olivia looked up from her book. "Hmm?" "How do I increase the amount of power I can hold?" "Your reservoir? It''ll grow naturally over time as you cycle and spend power. There are ways to speed it up, special exercises, foods and so on. But before you ask, I don''t know any of the exercises, and they''re risky if you don''t know what you''re doing." "Does hunting beasts help?" Olivia looked at her for a moment, frowning. "Yes, but it''s not recommended. You have to get right up close to see any benefit, and the benefits depend on the strength of the beast. It''s not worth the risk. Not even the oldest families do that anymore." They were sitting off to the side of the campsite, inside the circled wagons. The sun was low, but it was still light enough to see clearly. The caravan-workers were moving around, preparing dinner and seeing to a variety of chores, while the passengers were scattered around the campsite in small clusters. Nobody else was nearby. Hina felt a phantom pain in her wrist, and she rubbed it. Now that she thought about it, she''d only noticed an increase in her capacity after killing the huld, and not any of the less dangerous creatures she''d fought. And she didn''t want to get into a situation like that one again any time soon. But maybe when she was stronger. "What about the foods?" "They''re generally safe, but rare. We occasionally had rosemarrow with dinner at home, but it''s not something you can go out and buy¡ªit only grows in the wildlands." "Rosemarrow?" "Little bitter seedpods from a plant that looks a bit like a rosebush. You make it into a kind of tea. Tastes horrible, like gnawing on an old shoe." She grimaced. "But they say that it''s good for increasing the body''s capacity to hold power." "Huh. Would you know it if you saw it? The plant, I mean." "Probably. They''re not common, and they only flower under very specific conditions, but we can keep an eye out. Speaking of which, I wonder when they''re going to start serving dinner." Hina''s stomach panged with hunger at the mention of food. "I don''t know. I''ll guess I''ll go see if I can find out." She stood, and walked across towards the fire, where something smelled savoury and delicious. Through a gap between the wagons, she could see Kai talking to some of the guards. Two workers stood near the fire, one tall man with a thick beard who was cleaning and cutting vegetables on a folding table, and the other, a much smaller man, was tending to a bubbling pot, suspended over a cookfire. "Hey there," Hina said, approaching. "How are you two doing?" "Good, good. Give us a few more minutes, and we''ll be ready to serve up. Joined us at the ''manch, did you?" asked the small man. "Yeah, with my brother and a friend. I''m Lori." She gave a little wave. "Tobin, and he''s Irving." The man stirred the pot. Crinkles formed around his eyes as he gave her a friendly smile. His clean-shaven face was red from the heat of the fire. "Pleased to meet you." "Looks like quite an interesting setup you''ve got here." "We do what we can," Irving said. His lips quirked up as his knife kept up its steady rhythm. "Good tools make for good food." "I know what you mean," Hina said. "I''ve been doing a lot of camp cooking lately¡ªall of this looks like it would have been a big help. Cooking with a pot over a fire is a lot harder than I''d thought." "Oh now, that''s for sure," Tobin said. "You''ve gotta prep the fire and use a cookstand if you want a consistent temperature. Reasonably consistent at any rate. I wouldn''t want to be making pastries out here, that''s for sure. Burn two for every one that comes out right, I reckon." "And a good table is essential for prep work," added Irving, chopping away. He paused to wipe his brow with the back of his hand and then continued chopping. "I bet. My uncle''s a baker and I help out sometimes. Can''t imagine making good bread over a fire." "Oh, bread''s not so bad," Tobin said. "It just takes a little bit of practice. Closed pot over the coals. Not too hot, that''s the trick. You bury it a bit, keep the heat in¡ªand there''s nothing to it." "I''ll have to try it sometime." She paused. "Are those mushrooms? They''re huge." A small pile of roughly chopped brown and rubbery-looking vegetables sat on the edge of table¡ªthe pieces were almost as long as her hand. "Hastire''s Finest," Irving said with a note of pride. "All the way from the good source itself." "He loves those fucking mushrooms," Tobin said, looking up at his fellow with a toothy grin. "Hasn''t shut up about them since we picked ''em up in Tenbury." "They were a great find, I''ll have you know. And I, for one, appreciate good food," Irving said. "These little beauties add a dusty, savoury complexity to any dish. They''ve good cooked or raw¡ªa meal by themselves, if you don''t mind the price. And I hear they''re cheap as chips in Hastire." He looked wistful. "What a treat that would be. Mushrooms every night, and for breakfast, too." The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement. "He only gets to use a couple of those fancy mushrooms per meal, says our Yus''", Tobin said. "So we''ll be hearing about ''em till the end of the leg." He shook his head. "In any case, young miss, come back in about twenty for the feast." "Thanks! I''m looking forward to it." Hina walked back towards where Olivia was sitting with her book, and Kai joined her on the way. Bean gave her a two-toned whistle from Kai''s shoulder in greeting. "Hey, guess what?" Kai said. "What?" "I spoke to one of the guards, and they said that I could train with them in the mornings if I wanted to. You two can come too, if you want." "Hey, that''s great," Hina said. "Good for you." "Thanks!" Kai said, "It''ll be great to get some practice in with a spear." He looked at Hina. "Are you going to come?" "Nah, I think I''m going to focus on the other stuff for now. Though I do want to keep up practice with the sling, and that seems like a good time to do it, so maybe I''ll come along for that. Fenne might be interested." Olivia looked up. Kai gave Olivia a bright smile. "Hey, want to come train with the guards and me in the mornings?" "Spears and hand-to-hand, that kind of thing?" she asked. "Yeah. Maybe they''ll let us use one of their crossbows too, though I haven''t asked about that yet." "It''s not really my kind of thing, but I appreciate the offer," she said. "I''ll think about it." "Okay, if you decide to come, it''s at dawn. H¡ªLori''s going to come and practice with her sling. Oh, if you wanna do that, you could borrow hers." "Thanks. I''ll think about it." "Sure. ...Lori, when''s dinner?" "Twenty minutes, I think," she said. "It''s some kind of soup, with fancy mushrooms." Bean croaked. "Huh. It smells really good," Kai said. "I''m going to go explore a bit more. See you at dinner." He walked off. Practice seemed like a good idea, so Hina sat herself down on the ground near Olivia. It was a good opportunity to practice her patterns. Starting with the light pattern. The conditions weren''t right for actually using it, but she could try to reconstruct the image of the sign. She closed her eyes and tried to remember it. Something that looked a little bit like the sign popped into her minds eye when she focused, but several of the details were blurred, or seemed entirely wrong. She wondered. "Fenne, can I borrow the light card again?" Olivia sighed. "I really shouldn''t," she said. "No, I''m sorry, I can''t. I will get in trouble." She paused. "Last time was an emergency, please don''t push me on this." "Sorry," Hina said. "It''s just¡ªmy memory of it has faded." "That''s normal, most people can''t remember patterns unless they''re continually using them. And that''s the only reason it was okay for me to show you that card in the first place." "Wait, so it''s normal to just forget them?" "It''s something about the patterns themselves that makes them hard to retain in memory. Most people can''t hold on to more than a handful, even when they''re using them daily, and it''s worse if you use signs." "Worse how?" "Like, most sign-bearers can''t use patterns at all, can''t retain the images well enough to summon them, not even with a reference. Not unless they''re really good at it, or the patterns are very simple, or sometimes when they''re thematically related to the sign. "Huh. That''s weird." "Think of it like there''s a conflict between the two." "Why does anyone use them, then?" "Signs are powerful, up to something like a hundred-fold more powerful for the same amount of energy when wielded by an expert, at least... most of the time. And they are much easier to use. Most students at the academy get put into sign-track, like Humphrey was telling us at the farm." "Before he got killed." "Yes." "What''s the advantage of using patterns?" "Flexibility. While most people do tend to develop affinities for specific kinds of patterns, you get access to a broader variety of workings. The best pattern-users can eventually develop a similar level of power to that of a sign-bearer¡ªit''s just a lot more work." "Interesting. And you''re angling for pattern-track?" "Oh, very much so. My whole family works patterns. It''s the only option for me, really." "What happens if you don''t get in?" "It would be a disaster. Completely. I don''t even want to think about it." "Okay, well¡ªsorry about the light thing, I didn''t realise." "Thank you for understanding." "There''s just so many things I don''t know, you know? So having someone to ask is really helpful, even if you can''t tell me everything." "Of course, I''m happy to help where I can. I know that you''ll return the favour when I need it." "Yeah... So, hang on, is it hard to get into pattern-track at the academy?" "Well, yes. They only take the top students, maybe ten percent of the year''s intake. It''s technically possible to transfer in after the first year, if you demonstrate that you''re good enough. But¡ªyou want to get into patterns from day-one, if you can do it." "Why?" "Because of the conflict. It''s a lot harder to learn patterns after you get too far into learning signs. And if you bond to your sign, which most people tend to do around the end of the first year, there''s no chance of switching. So you have to decide what you want as soon as possible, and then go for it." "What will they be testing for? For learning patterns?" "In admissions for signs-track, they''re primarily looking for people with potential¡ªthey''ll take anyone who shows enough promise. But for patterns, it''s a lot more involved. They''ll want to see what you can do already. I''ve been told that they''ll test my ability to use some of the basic patterns, which they''ll provide during the interview," Olivia said. "Though it''s best if you''re already familiar with them. Using new patterns is much more difficult of course." Hina had a sinking feeling. "And potential, ambit strength and depth," Olivia continued, "and the strength and quality of any affinities you might have, and your ability to use them. Having advanced beyond the first stage is a big plus, but almost nobody does that before getting to the academy, so it''s hardly a factor. And any trinkets and artifacts you have and can use," Olivia said, "especially ones that you''ve discovered yourself¡ªthe idea is that who your family is isn''t supposed to be a big part of it." Which was a relief, at least. Hina didn''t have a famous practitioner family, but she did have a few trinkets. But what they had to do with anything, she wasn''t sure. "Why are trinkets a part of it?" "I believe there''s supposed to be a link between advanced uses of trinkets and artifacts and the ability to use patterns. I don''t know the details, however." "Okay. What else?" "The usual things, like reading, writing, logic and so on. Like any other school. And then when they''ve tested and measured all of that, they pick the best out of the available candidates." Olivia grimaced. "It''s a big deal, and it''s a lot of pressure. I''m pretty worried about it, to be honest." "From what I''ve seen, you seem like you''ve got most of that covered already?" "Yes, well. The competition can be pretty fierce, especially amongst the families. Mine''s not one of the big ones, but we''re still relatively well-known. Like I said, it would be a disaster if I didn''t get a place. A scandal, even." Hina felt a pang of sympathy. "I''m sorry. That sounds really tough. Is there anything we can do to help?" "Well, actually." Olivia smoothed out the fabric of her skirt. "If you really don''t mind, there is one thing you could do to help." 1.42 - The question
"I''ve been meaning to ask actually," Olivia said. "If you''re sure you don''t mind helping, well. I was hoping I''d get a chance to pick up some trinkets along the journey, but I haven''t found anything yet¡ª" "Do you want to borrow one of mine?" "No¡ªmaybe, maybe the bell?" Her words rushed together. "If we don''t find anything better? But what I meant was," she slowed down, "that if the opportunity came up, I''d like to go and look for something. I was hoping you''d come and help?" "Into a House? Like The Spire?" "No, no. Not a House. My mother would kill me, if we survived. No. But there are other places." "Oh, of course. I''d be happy to." Hina meant it¡ªand there was a good chance that wherever they went would have something for her as well. "I''m sure Mica would be too." "Uh, only," Olivia stammered, "it would be better if he didn''t come. Like, this time, at least?" "Oh?" "These places¡ªsometimes they react poorly to non-practitioners¡ªit can get dangerous. It would be better if we went alone." "Oh, really? I didn''t know that. When we went into The Spire it didn''t seem too dangerous." "You are almost certainly wrong about that," Olivia shook her head. "If you weren''t in serious danger, you were extremely lucky. It''s more likely that you were in great danger and didn''t realize it." She took a deep breath. "But that''s not the point. It''s about ambit strength. Too low and it''s a problem, too much variance between the members of a group, and that can be a different kind of problem. And, uh. You''ve actually only just reached the level where it makes sense to go together." "You can see that?" "Not see, exactly. It''s more like a feeling. You get a sense for concentrations of power after a certain point. You should be near it now, I should think. Maybe after a few more months of practice." "Oh." Hina remembered how it had felt, the pressure in the back of her mind when Hina had last paid attention to Olivia performing a working. When she''d put up her ward, before the huld had found them. "I guess that makes sense." "So it would be better if it was just the two of us," she said. "This time. Maybe¡ªmaybe we can bring him along another time? If it goes well?" "Okay," Hina said. "I guess that makes sense. So what are these places you have in mind?" "So you''ll really do it? You''ll come with me?" "Of course." "Really really? It could be dangerous. I must be completely clear about that." "Really really." "Oh, thank you. Thank you so much." Olivia''s eyes were shining. "This is wonderful. It could be just the thing. What a relief. I''d been worried that I would have to go alone, or do without entirely." "So where are we going?" "Uh, well, I was thinking¡ªyou know it''s faster to get to the city by going north and catching the train, right?" "If you can pay for a ticket, yeah." And if you aren''t on the run from the authorities. "I considered it, but." She threw her hands up. "It''s expensive, and then there was everything else." "Right, of course." She looked sheepish. "But the main thing is that there are a lot of old ruins and temples and even a couple of dead houses between Blandmanch and Modmin, and further into the hills. Modmin in particular is popular with explorers since there are so many good sites nearby." She shrugged. "You''re saying that that''s why you came this way, rather than catching the train to the city?" "One of the reasons, yes. The main reason. Other than it being traditional, of course." "So we''d set out from Modmin? And go where?" "Only if we don''t find anything suitable sooner." "Wait, so you want to leave the caravan and go exploring?" Hina wasn''t sure that she liked the sound of that. "What if we don''t make it back in time?" She didn''t want to be left behind. She hadn''t had enough money to join the caravan in the first place. "I don''t think that will be a problem. Some time tomorrow we should start passing by the first of the ruins, and if we can find a likely site near our campsite, we can explore for a few hours in the afternoon and evening after we stop, and continue with the caravan in the evening. I don''t intend to risk being left behind." The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. "Okay, that sounds reasonable. We''ll have to tell Mica, though. I can''t agree to keeping it a secret." "Of course. When he gets back for dinner." "How do we know where to look?" "Well, actually, I''ve got a map of the sites around Modmin. There are three that we should be passing near over the next couple of days. Here, I''ll show you." Olivia rummaged around in her satchel for a few moments, then pulled out a folded piece of paper. "It''s a little old, but it should be good enough." Hina took the map and unfolded it. It was a simple sketch showing the hills and valleys around Modmin, and some of the twisting road that connected it to Blandmanch in the north. There were five locations marked with simple crosses. "Where did you get this?" she asked. "My father gave it to me. I don''t know where he got it from. Some old friend, I think." "And you''re sure it''s accurate?" "No." Olivia shook her head. "It''s unlikely that it''s accurate now, if it ever was. There''s no guarantee that any of these sites are accessible, valuable, or even there at all. This is a map of places that might be worth investigating, not anything more certain than that. If we don''t find anything, we can ask around in Modmin. Someone there will be able to guide us in the right direction¡ªit''s one of their major industries." "But any site which a guide can take us to is going to be pretty well picked over, right?" Hina asked. "It''s possible. But there are a lot of sites, and they''re finding new ones all the time. These hills were full of people a long time ago, and they left a lot behind. It''s better if we can find a site on our own, but if we can''t, the guide option is likely to work, it just might take longer to find the right kind of place." "So this one?" Hina pointed to a cross near the top left of the map. "Wait, where are we now? Here?" She moved her finger to a spot on the winding road near the top of the map. "Here," Olivia said, pointing a little further along. "We''re part way around this bend." "This first site, we''ll camp somewhere near it tomorrow? Or just past it?" "Yes, I think so. If we''re quick after the caravan stops, we can get there in time to explore for a couple of hours, more if we don''t mind coming back after dark." "Uh. I''m going to need a way to make light. Especially if these sites¡ªthey''re going to be dark, right?" "It''s likely, yes. I think..." Olivia grinned. "Well, given that you''re helping me out with this, I''d say that it''s my responsibility to make sure you can make light independently." She rummaged around in her satchel once more. "Here, you can borrow this for a while. Take notes if you need them, to better understand the working, of course." Hina smiled and took the card, glanced at the vaguely familiar shapes drawn in dark ink. "Thank you." She didn''t really follow Olivia''s reasoning, but it was what she wanted, and Hina would take any help she could get. She tucked it away into her pocket. She''d make a proper copy of it, now that she had a notebook. And she''d write down everything else she could, too. Olivia went back to her book, and Hina started writing. First, she copied down the light working, carefully transcribing all of the symbols and all of the text. When she practiced the working later, she''d have to use her own notebook as a reference¡ªthat would help make sure that she''d copied everything correctly. And then, when she was done with the light working, she started on copying all of her other workings and her thoughts about them into the book. Better to have some duplication than to risk losing everything, if something happened. All of them except for the lesser sigil of guidance¡ªthat one could wait. Hina did, however, start on sketching out some of the patterns that she remembered from when she''d used the sigil. She could only remember parts of them¡ªnot enough to work with, but it was a start. Given that the light working had faded from her memory, Hina didn''t want to be relying on her memory. Not if she could help it. The more she could record, the better off she''d be. While she was writing, she remembered the book that they''d found in the spire. It was in Kai''s bag, and they hadn''t even looked at it yet, which seemed like a waste. What if it was hiding some valuable information? Or better yet, what if it had some workings hidden within the pages? That would be a real find. Though workings related to ritual sacrifice might not be of much use to her, she supposed. She didn''t want to be involved in anything like that. But better to know than not to know. Once she''d finished writing, she borrowed Kai''s bag and pulled out the book and started flipping through it. Like Kai had said, the title page read "Ritual Sacrifice: A Practical Guide". The author was listed only by their initials, "O. U.". The book appeared to be a collection of essays, each one on a different topic related to ritual sacrifice. The first essay covered a history of the practice, from the earliest known examples to the present day¡ªthough there were no dates in the book, so it was unclear when it was written. Ritual sacrifice was apparently a common practice in many cultures, and had been for thousands of years, for a variety of reasons. It could be used as a way to appease greater entities, or to provide benefits for a group of people, or as a way to increase personal power. Hina read on with a kind of horrified fascination. The author of the book seemed to be arguing that it was a practice that should be revived, and that it could be used to improve the world. The second essay was more practical, and discussed various ways that animals could be used as sacrifices, even going to far as to describe two different rituals and comparing and contrasting the two. Each included drawings and pictures of a working that might be used to facilitate the sacrifice and to draw power from it. While the workings weren''t ethical, or practical for her right now, they were interesting. Perhaps there were principles that she could learn from them, even if she didn''t want to use them directly. She read on.
* * *
After dinner, Bean hopped up onto Hina''s lap and chirped. "How''s it feeling, little bird?" she asked. "It''s about time to change your bandage again, I think." Bean gave a low croak, but he didn''t hop away. The white cloth around his wing had taken on a faintly dirty colour, though he didn''t seem to be in any pain. She sliced through the knot with her knife and unwrapped the fabric. Bean stretched his wing out, and flapped it slowly. It looked a little stiff, but he seemed to be able to move it. "Is he better?" asked Kai, looking up his book. He was lying on his blanket, his book held high to catch the last rays of sunlight. "He looks like it. I''m going to leave the bandage off for now, I think. We''ll put it back on if he looks like he''s still in pain." Bean chirruped, and hopped up onto Hina''s arm, then up to her shoulder. He leaned in and curled up against her neck. "Good bird," she said, stroking him with a finger. "Good bird." 1.43 - Bad hole
"This is it?" Hina asked, peering down into the dark hole in the ground. "This is the place that was marked on the map?" "I believe so. It''s the only thing of note at this location. And it looks like the right place." It was more of a chasm than anything else, really. A crack in the masonry of an ancient road, spread wide and deep into the earth. The yellowed stones went down for a metre or so, and under that, natural earth and stone stretched off into the dark. The hole descended at an angle, but it was steep enough that they would need to climb down. Bean croaked from above, perched near the top of a bare and blackened tree. "Bad hole," he said. He nearly blended in with the branches, until he spread his wings. "Bad hole." This was the third site that they''d visited, the others had all turned out to be unsuitable, one way or another. The first cross on Olivia''s map had led to a cave in the hills, but there was nothing inside. They''d spent hours looking before they gave up and went back to the caravan. And the second site had been worse: there had been nothing there at all. Just a tree surrounded by an empty circle of stones. No cave, no buildings, nothing. Kai had come with them to help look for the first two locations, but this time he had stayed behind. Something about a card game with some of the guards. Hina was okay with it really, he wouldn''t be coming inside with them anyway¡ªif they found something¡ªso Kai might as well be enjoying himself. Still, it was strange to be anywhere without Kai after so long. She kept turning around expecting to see him, but he wasn''t there. Compared to the last two sites, this hole was a lot more promising. It was at least something in the right location, and it was big enough that they could fit inside¡ªmaybe it even led somewhere like it was supposed to. Only, it was a hole in the ground. And it was dark down there. And narrow. Hina wasn''t entirely excited about the idea of going inside. It wasn''t that she was afraid, so much as she''d prefer to face whatever danger might be down there with some room to move around. Not at the bottom of a hole. The thought of getting her leg caught on something while something like one of the huld was trying to eat her¡ªwell, she didn''t want to think about it. She wasn''t afraid, exactly. Just cautious. She had an abundance of caution. "You''re sure that this is the right place?" Hina looked at Olivia, who was staring down the hole in the late afternoon sun. "This is the place." Olivia''s voice was tight. "I''m sure of it." "And we aren''t going to get stuck down there? We''ll be able to get back out again?" "No, Hina, we won''t get stuck. And we''re at the right spot according to the map. We haven''t found any other ways in, this is the best chance we have. You aren''t backing out, are you?" "No." Hina frowned. "But how do we know there''s anything down there? How can we be sure?" They''d spent half an hour searching the ruined buildings nearby. The biggest one had a single standing wall that rose to three or four times Hina''s height, and it had the remains of a staircase that led down into the earth, but it was blocked by a pile of rubble. There was no way that Hina and Olivia could clear it without spending several days moving the fallen stone. And there was no guarantee that there would be anything down there anyway. "We''re just going to have to go down and see," Olivia said. "I think the big building there was a temple to one of the strange gods, and our site is probably below it¡ªif we can get in, there should be all kinds of good stuff down there." "Do you at least have a rope?" Hina asked. "It looks like we can climb down, but I don''t know if we''ll be able to climb back up again. Especially if we''re carrying anything, or if one of us gets injured." "Oh, yes. Of course. I have a rope somewhere here," Olivia said, rummaging through her satchel. "Yes, here it is." She pulled out a bundle of heavy brown rope, and Hina felt a pang of envy. Olivia''s satchel would solve so many of Hina''s problems. Maybe they''d find another one like it in the temple. If she was lucky. "That''ll help," Hina said. If they could climb back up, that was a start. "Is it long enough?" "Yes, it should reach," Olivia said. She tied the end of the rope around the trunk of the tree that Bean was perched in, and then tossed the rest of it down into the hole. It fell into the darkness, and Hina couldn''t see the end of it. "I think it''s about twenty metres long, and it can''t be more than ten down, right?" Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. "Should be okay." Hina gave the end the rope a good tug, and it didn''t budge. "I think we''re good." Now they just had to go down there. Hina looked at the hole again, and then back at Olivia. Hopefully Olivia wasn''t expecting her to go first. She twisted her hands together, and then looked back at the hole. Maybe it wouldn''t be so bad. "I''ll¡ª" Olivia hesitated, looking down into the crack. "It''s my venture. I''ll¡ªI''ll go first," she said. "Are you ready?" Hina nodded. Her hands automatically patted her belt for her her knife, her sling, her pouch of stones, Kai''s hammer, and her purse. She tugged the strap of her backpack. She was ready. She nodded again. "Thank you again, for doing this," Olivia said. "I really appreciate it." "Of course. After you," Hina gestured down. Holding on to the rope with both hands, Olivia gave it a tug. She hesitated for another moment, then began to climb down, supporting her weight with her feet on the stones and then the rock below it. Tiny stones came loose as she descended, and skittering down into the hole. It was for the best that Olivia was going first. Hina had spent the last few days practising with the sling in the evenings, and practicing the workings that she knew and working on her ambit¡ªto the point where she had completed a second compression and was nearly ready to try for a third, but she still didn''t have any workings that would help in a fight, not as more than a distraction. Olivia had a better chance of being able to deal with whatever they came across down there. She just hoped it wasn''t anything beyond what they could handle. In her mind, she saw a vision of the arm of the huld reaching out of the darkness, and she shivered. But there was no point in worrying about it. There probably wasn''t anything down there. There was a real chance that they''d get to the bottom and find that it was just a hole in the ground. And then they''d have to try again when they got to Modmin in a day or two, with a guide and all of the hassle that that would involve. Although at this point Hina was starting to think that being guided to a heavily picked over site might be better than searching and searching and never finding anything. "You okay down there?" Hina called to Olivia, who was moving out of sight into the dark. "Yes," Olivia called back. "There''s a ledge here¡ªyes, this is the bottom. Come on down. I''m going to try for a light." Hina looked up at Bean, who watched closely from his perch. "Bean, we''ll be back soon." Bean whistled a two-toned note at her. He didn''t move. He would be fine. He was a smart bird. Hina took a deep breath, and began to climb down. She didn''t have a lot of experience climbing, but the rope helped a lot. And at least it was a warm, dry day. It was nothing like climbing down the muddy slope before the Spire in torrential rain. This was hard work, but straight-forward. And the sides of the hole seemed pretty stable. Hina supposed it must have been like this for a long time. In the dark below her feet, a light appeared. "Oh, gosh." Olivia breathed. "This is amazing." Hina''s feet found level ground, she was at the bottom. Looking up, she could see blue skies framed by the the hole, and the top of the tree the rope was tied to. The space was wider than she''d expected¡ªroom to move her arms and legs, at least. And it wasn''t far if she needed to climb back up in a hurry. She let out a long breath, some of her tension leaving with it. Behind her, the crack descended at a shallow angle, before hitting a wall of large masonry blocks¡ªthe lower levels of temple, maybe. A jagged opening led into the building beyond where the wall had collapsed inwards. Olivia was a beacon of light, crouched at the opening, looking within. "What is it?" Hina asked, moving closer. "The carvings on the walls," Olivia said. "They''re in High Ossurian¡ªI can''t read more than a couple of the glyphs here and there, but what they mean is that this is the right place." Her voice held a note of triumph. "We found it." "Huh," Hina said. Finally. A sense of excitement welled up within her. "So, we go in now?" "We go in," Olivia said. "The floor below us is only about a metre below this opening, so we should be able to climb back up without the rope. The corridor seems intact, and it looks dry, though I can hear water somewhere. I think we''re fine to proceed." "Okay, remind me one more time. What are we expecting in this one?" "Like I said, I think it''s a temple to one of the strange gods, maybe. I think it''ll be similar to your experience in the House¡ªguardians, but nothing too high powered. Nothing beyond what we can handle. "But please, no unnecessary risks. If either of us feels like we are out of our depth, we retreat back here right away." "Okay," Hina said. "Let''s do it." Olivia dropped down into the corridor, taking the light with her. Hina should have started her light working already. She had been practising for this scenario, so the right variant of the sign was still fresh in her mind. She summoned the pattern, and fed it a little power¡ªflexing her will to hold the sign steady, though it hardly took any effort at all. The light working had gotten easier to control after her first ambit compression, and much easier after the second. Her cheeks flushed with warmth as the working flowed out of her. A point of light bloomed on her forehead and filled the corridor with a gentle glow. Maintaining it was a strain, but less than it had been before. She felt like she could keep it up for an hour, if she had to. Hina climbed down into the corridor where Olivia was waiting. She lowered herself down to the fallen stones, and then stepped down onto the smooth pavers of the corridor floor. She looked around, checking for threats. The corridor was long, and at either end, open doorways led to dark rooms. Nothing moved, no monsters were visible in the darkness. Water dripped from somewhere off to the right. The air held the hint of something wet and musty, but the smell was faint. Great lines of glyphs and script ran along the walls at head height all along the corridor. They didn''t look like any language that Hina had ever seen before. All strange, angular shapes and pictures that she couldn''t make sense of. The images gave her a faint sense of unease, though she couldn''t say why. It wasn''t important. Because beyond that, Hina could feel something else. A sense of tension in the air. A familiar one. The feeling she''d had in the House, though it wasn''t nearly as strong. The feeling of power, waiting to be grasped. It felt like she was waking up. Like she was on the edge of something big. She couldn''t keep the smile from her face. "Which way do you want to go first?" Hina asked. 1.44 - Shatter
"Every right hand turn first," Olivia said. "If we stick to that rule, we can''t get lost." From the hole behind them came a squawk, and then Bean fluttered into the light, landing on Hina''s shoulder. "Bad hole," he croaked. "Dark dark." "I thought you were going to stay outside," Hina said. "But you''re welcome to join us." She fed him one of the dry-roasted beans she kept in her pocket. "Good bird." Bean ate and then croaked sadly. He dug his claws into her shoulder and whistled a low note. Olivia''s footsteps echoed strangely as she led the way down the corridor. She paused at the doorway, casting shadows as she waved her hand back and forth, peering into the room beyond, before stepping inside. Water dripped. Hina followed her in. A raised walk-way led to a small circular platform in the center of a large cylindrical space. The ground-level was flooded, foul-smelling water dripped from a stone spout in the far corner. Olivia stood at at railing of the platform, looking down. "Anything down there?" Hina couldn''t see anything in the murky brown water. "I think I saw something. It moved under the surface." Hina scanned the walls. There was a line of carved symbols running along the wall near the top that looked like text. Hina couldn''t read it, but some of the shapes looked familiar. More carved symbols in the floor circled the edge of the platform. Olivia was right in the middle. "Olivia?" Hina called. "Do those symbols mean anything to you?" She pointed. "Pardon? Oh. Some kind of ritual circle? To amplify a working, maybe? A particular working? I don''t know a lot about ritual¡ªmy mother mentioned¡ª" "¡ªdo you want to be standing in the middle of it?" Hina interrupted. "Is that safe?" "Oh, gosh. Right, right." Olivia quickly moved back onto the walkway, stepping lightly over the circle in the floor. Nothing happened. "I don''t think it''s dangerous unless activated. I''d have to perform the right working to set it off, whatever it does. But it is better not to take chances, thank you." "What did you see in the water?" Hina asked. "Something big¡ªI only caught a glimpse of it. Maybe a fish? A big fish. Let''s hope we don''t have to go down there. Shall we try the next room?" "I''ll go first." Hina led the way back down the corridor, past the crack in the wall leading outside, and into the next room. It was rectangular and huge, with high ceilings and two rows of four stone pillars spread evenly throughout the room. Two smooth and featureless statues guarded the exit at the far end of the room. There were no other doors that Hina could see. To her right, a banded wooden box sat against the wall. It had a rusted iron padlock dangling from the front¡ªcompletely out of place given the age of the rest of the temple. "What is this doing here?" "Hina! Company!" Hina turned. One of the statues was walking across the room towards Olivia, its movements slow and deliberate. It was a little over two meters tall, its body pale, smooth and androgynous. It didn''t look friendly, though she wasn''t sure where that impression came from. Her right hand slipped into the pouch at her waist while Hina''s left hand plucked the sling from her belt. She took a deep breath and readied herself to throw. Bean fluttered up off her shoulder as Hina drew her arm back. She threw, putting her whole body into it, ends snapping on her release. The stone shot through the air. And missed. The black stone hit the wall behind the statue with a crack, sending chips of masonry flying. Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original. No time to think. Another stone went into the pouch. She threw. And hit the statue in the center of its featureless chest. Chips of white stone broke off and fell away. And then the second one started moving. It jerked to life with a sudden violent motion and stepped towards Hina. The second statue was smaller and wider, the shape of it reminded Hina of Francis, the Grambe smith, if all of his finer details were smoothed away. It walked towards her. "Dealing with the second one!" Hina yelled, hoping that she could in fact handle it by herself. Another stone went into the pouch, and Hina threw. It hit the statue in the face with a crack, and the statue staggered back, but it didn''t fall. The statue began to run towards her. An avalanche of stone in motion, footsteps slamming into the ground, shaking the floor with every step. Hina threw another stone and missed. The statue was almost on top of her now, only a few meters away. Too close to throw again. Hina dropped the sling and Kai''s hammer found its way into her hand. The stone figure reached out for Hina with its long arms. She stepped forward, hammer raised, and swung. The hammer cracked into its featureless face, a shower of stone chips exploding outward. She felt something deep within it shatter under the force of the blow. The statue''s arms closed, grabbing for her with a crushing grip. She was in the bakery, Lagi reached out¡ªHina shook off the image. She ducked under its arms and ran around behind the slow moving thing as it continued to stagger forward drunkenly. It turned towards her slowly. Its face was cracked like a broken mirror, dark fissures extending out from the points of impact. Dashing in, Hina took another swing at its face. The statue''s arms reached for her. Her hammer connected with a crash and shards of pale stone went flying, pieces of its shattered face falling to the floor. The statue went limp, its arms dropping to its sides as it tottered forward. She stepped quickly out of the way. The statue fell to the ground with a crash, pieces of it falling away to rubble. "One down!" she called out. A cracking sound came from behind the pillar to Hina''s left, and then a crunch. Hina moved around the pillar to see the other statue stagger back from Olivia, then fall backwards to collapse against the ground in pieces. "Clear!" said Olivia, breathing heavily. "Clear, clear," Bean squawked in agreement from the lintel above the doorway they''d come in through. "What''s this?" Hina said, looking in the rubble of the statue she''d felled. The rubble was collapsing into powder as she watched. Something black and shiny rose to the surface. Hina brushed the powdered stone aside. "Some kind of black ball?" She picked it out of the rubble. Something was thrumming inside the ball. Hina could feel it as soon as it entered the edge of her ambit. "Oh. That''s..." "A beast core," Olivia said. "Earth aspected, I think." Olivia was holding one of her own. "It feels powerful." Hina felt like she was understating it. "Is this as useful as it feels?" "They''re valuable, at least. Useful in a working if the aspect is suitable, though earth is among the least useful¡ªfor me at least. Still, not a bad find. And a good sign for things to come." "Huh. How valuable, exactly?" "Maybe a few crowns? If we find the right buyer. These are small, which limits the applications. But they''re still worth something." "Nice," Hina said. "Well worth the effort then." "Let''s see about this box," Olivia said, gesturing. "Any idea how to pick a lock?" "What''s with that, by the way?" Hina asked, walking over to the box. "Why is there a padlock on it? Surely this place is older than that? Older than padlocks?" "Maybe someone put it there recently?" Olivia said. "Relatively recently¡ªit looks pretty rusty." Hina shrugged. "Anyway, no¡ªI have no idea how to pick a lock. Why would you even ask me that?" "I don''t know, I thought you might have picked it up somewhere." "My father is on the Grambe council, Olivia." "Well, you seem resourceful, that''s all I''m saying." "Hmph." Hina grumbled. But she did want to find out what was in the box. It was a very suspicious looking box. She crouched down to look at the lock, which was heavily rusted. "Any objections to me trying to break it?" "No, go ahead." Hina stood and took a deep breath, then swung her hammer. There was a dull metallic snap, and the lock fell away from the box. "Huh, that was easy." Tugging the broken pieces of lock away to fall to the floor, Hina lifted the latch and opened the lid. The hinges squeaked. Inside was a dark stone bowl, about the size of Hina''s cupped hands. A shallow bowl, with uneven edges. It felt somehow substantial, even just looking at it. "Huh. Trinket?" "I think so. I''ll take this for now, and we can divide everything up on the way back to the campsite?" "That''s okay with me. We''re here to find you some trinkets anyway." "Yes, but Mother says that it''s important to split things up evenly, so that everyone gets a fair share." "We can split it up at the end, then?" "Yes." Olivia reached into the box and picked up the bowl, then stashed it away in her satchel. "Let''s keep going," she said. "We don''t want to spend too long down here, and I have a feeling that there''s something good just ahead." "Just around the next corner," Hina said. "Yeah, I''m with you." Bean fluttered down to land on Hina''s shoulder. "Good bird," she said, giving him a scratch behind the ears. And then, to Olivia: "Okay, let''s go." She followed Olivia through the doorway that the statues had been guarding. Her fingers tightened on the handle of her hammer. She was ready for whatever came next. 1.45 - Place of power
The doorway led to a cramped corridor littered with loose stones and rubble. Hina followed Olivia along the curved passage, stepping carefully over the loose stones, until Olivia stopped suddenly a few paces ahead. "It''s blocked," Olivia said. "We won''t be getting through here." Hina moved up to stand beside her. A pile of stones filled the corridor ahead. Was this the other side of the blocked staircase of the building outside? Maybe. "Did we miss something, or is this it?" Hina asked. "Can this really be all that''s down here? Were the statues really guarding nothing but a dead end?" Olivia shook her head. "I don''t think that''s likely. There must be something else. We''ll have to go back, check the other rooms for hidden doors or other secrets. The room with the pillars is the most likely candidate, I think. It''s big enough," Olivia said. "Or maybe in the room with the water. Though I don''t think we''re adequately prepared for exploring underwater, if it comes to that I think we should leave it. We found something, even if it was less than we''d hoped." "I guess so," Hina said. It was a bit disappointing. The bowl was interesting, but they certainly hadn''t found anything as good as Olivia''s bag. "We can try the next site, I guess." "Or try again in Modmin when we get there, yes. We''ll have to see what the bowl does, anyway. It might be something wonderful for all we know." "I guess we''ll find out." She stepped out of the corridor into the room with the pillars. "So what are we looking for here, anyway?" Hina''s sandals scattered the remains of one of the statues as she walked over to the wall on her right. "Secret passages?" "If we''re lucky." Olivia''s voice moved towards the other side of the room. "Maybe loose stones that hide a storage space. A hidden door, or a mechanism? There must be more to this place. And more exits to this room, in particular. It''s too big for a connecting room. There''s absolutely nothing on two of the walls." Hina ran her fingers along the rough stones of the nearest wall, for lack of a better idea. Nothing felt too unusual, except. "The lock on that box still seems strange¡ªout of place," she said. "What, someone climbed down through the hole from outside, waved to the walking statues, and then locked that bowl inside an ordinary wooden box with a modern padlock and went out the same way? It doesn''t make any sense. It can''t have been more than a couple of dozen years old, at the most. The steel wasn''t rusted. But the rest of this place is ancient." "The ritual circle on the floor in the other room¡ªmaybe someone came down here to use it, and left the bowl locked in here so they could come back for it later?" Olivia suggested. "It would make sense if the bowl was a component in a ritual." "Why leave it here, though? Why not just take it with them?" Hina asked. "And the ages still don''t match up." "Why do people store things when they could just carry everything around with them?" Olivia''s voice held a hint of amusement. "What a mystery. Maybe they were planning to come back for it later, and then they didn''t." "You know what I mean," Hina said. "It doesn''t make any sense." "And that''s the other thing. Does it have to make sense?" Olivia asked. "What about the stuff you found in the House? Did someone put that there, too? What happened to them?" "I kind of thought the House did it. That''s what they do, right? They leave good stuff lying around to lure people in. You told me that." "Right. So why would this place be any different?" Olivia asked. "If we''re ruling out a person, and I''m not sure that we should, but if we are: why does there have to be a reason for the bowl and the lock to be there?" "Is this a House, Olivia?" Hina asked. "It doesn''t feel like a House. Don''t get me wrong, it''s creepy and there''s something off about it. But it''s not the same¡ªthere''s hardly any of that... feeling. That overwhelming atmosphere." "Of power?" Olivia asked. "I don''t think it''s a House, but I suspect that some of these places¡ªplaces of power¡ªoperate on the same principles. Or similar principles, at least. They want similar things, as a baseline." "Wait. Places of power?" Hina asked. "You mean it isn''t just the Houses? There are others?" "Of course there are others," Olivia said. "Hundreds. Maybe thousands. All kinds of them, all over the world. We focus the most on the Houses because they''re the most active in their danger, but they''re hardly the only kind." "And they lure people in?" Hina asked. "For what?" "Usually to eat them. Or if it''s a temple, maybe for sacrifices? Sometimes they want to be worshiped. Sometimes it''s a principle that they embody and they want to spread it. There''s a lot of different reasons." Hina''s fingers bumped against a jutting out stone about the size of both of her fists put together. She tried to push it in, but it didn''t budge. "Huh," Hina said. This was news to her. "Why does nobody talk about this?" She tried pulling the stone out instead. Something shifted slightly. "They do? Apparently not in out of the way farm towns," Olivia said. "My family is constantly talking about places of power." The stone shifted when Hina pulled it, and she managed to draw it out by a few scraping centimeters. She pulled harder, and the stone came out entirely. "Oof," she grunted. It was heavy¡ªit slipped from her fingers to the ground with a thud. Hina jumped back before it fell towards her feet. And then saw the hole in the wall it had been hiding. Which went in deeper than the stone had been. "I think¡ªI think I found something." Hina crouched down so the light emanating from her forehead lit up the little hollow behind the stone, which was deeper than the stone had been. There were two things in the hole, a shiny metal disk. And a handle. Hina looked at the disk first. It was about the size of a crown and octagonal, with rounded corners. On the face was an intricate symbol that reminded Hina of a pattern, though it wasn''t nearly complicated enough to be a real one. The other side held another symbol, which looked complementary to the first¡ª The memory of her first experience with the Lesser Sigil of Guidance fresh in her mind, Hina stopped. The symbols felt like they could almost fit together, she could sense that. But she didn''t think about it too hard. She slipped the disk into her pocket, where it clinked against the beast core. "What did you find?" Olivia asked. "There''s a handle here," Hina said. "Maybe it opens a door? And this." "Huh." Olivia held the disk up look at it better. "I don''t know what this is. That''s not..., hmm. Unusual." She handed it back. "Hold on to this, we can look at it when we''re out of here." "Should we try the handle?" Hina asked. The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. Olivia brought her face close to hole in the wall and carefully shone her light¡ªwhich was emanating from her right hand¡ªback and forth from several angles. "If it''s trapped, I don''t see it." "Do you think that''s likely?" "Hmm. Not sure. I think we probably would have seen some other traps by now if there were any, but it''s still a risk." "So, what do we do?" Reaching forward with one hand to grasp the handle, Olivia said, "Ready?" "Ready." Olivia pulled the handle, which gave a distinct click, and then she hopped back out of the way with a squeak. A scraping, grinding noise came from further along the wall and an otherwise inconspicuous section of the wall folded open to reveal another passage¡ªthis one narrow, barely wide enough to fit a person. "You okay?" Hina asked. "I''m fine. Nothing happened when I pulled it." She took a deep breath. "Other than the obvious." The newly opened passage was narrow and it curved out of sight a few meters in. It was lined with the same large stones as the room Hina was standing in, only rougher and less polished. "Are you going to wait here?" Hina said, looking at Bean, who was watching, perched on the lintel over the door that led to the exit and the ritual room. Bean croaked. "Suit yourself." Hina shrugged. "Shall we?" she asked Olivia. Olivia nodded sharply. "Keep an eye out for trouble." She stepped through the doorway, and Hina followed. The stones brushed against her shoulders. The passage curved three times and then ended in a huge circular room, like the room with the water, but bigger in every way. There was a strange musty smell, and something in the atmosphere that gave Hina pause¡ªa weight, or maybe a presense¡ªa sensation that was much stronger than what she''d felt in the other rooms. "There''s something here," Hina murmered. "Feels... off." "Uh-huh," Olivia agreed softly. "But also¡ªsomething wonderful. I can feel it." The room had ceilings that stretched up into the darkness, and the walls were lined with broad stone pillars. In the center of the room was a raised area, with a stone table and a few things scattered around it. The stone table drew Hina''s eye, like it was magnetic. And Hina didn''t trust that feeling. She carefully pointed her eyes away, avoiding the pull. They stood just inside the doorway. Hina scanned the room carefully for any threats and saw nothing obvious, but she wasn''t sure. The air held a tension, and the pillars could have been hiding any number of people from where Hina were standing. Hina walked forward towards the center of the room, stopping short of the raised platform, and turned slowly, looking in all directions. One quarter of the way around the room, the pillars concealed another doorway, through which she could see another room filled with piles of rubble. Near the end of her revolution, Hina froze. Olivia stood still, a few steps ahead of her near the stone table, staring at something with an awed expression. Hina followed her gaze to the huge dark figure that stretched up towards the ceiling, at least twice Hina''s height and broad. "Oh!" she started, and jumped back a step as her heart raced. The thing didn''t move, its horrible snarling face was still. A huge statue carved from black stone stood between the pillars one quarter of the way around the room from the door they''d come through, in a niche in the wall that kept it from being visible from the entrance. Its form was like a man with bestial features, and four feathered wings, and lips pulled back in a snarl, revealing sharp fangs and pointed teeth. Eyes, too many eyes, were carved into its face and its forehead and in the points of its wings and in the centers of its outstretched hands. All of the eyes seemed to be looking at Hina. A wave of pressure washed over her, and she stumbled back another step. The air was thick with its presence, and Hina gasped for breath. The whole of it drew Hina''s eye, like the magnetism of the table, only stronger. It wanted her to look at it. And it was hard to look away. It was a representation of a being of pure power, of strength and grace. And it was beautiful. Beautiful and horrifying all at once. It wanted her to see it. But Hina had been getting a lot of practice lately at resisting the pull of things that wanted her to look at them. She dragged her eyes down to the floor, and then to the girl standing near the table. "Olivia?" The blonde girl stood with her mouth open, staring at the statue. Her eyes were wide and unseeing. A faint frown creased her forehead. "Olivia!" Hina said, louder. Olivia did not reply. She stood transfixed. There was writing carved into the floor under Olivia''s feet. Under Hina''s feet too. All along the edge of the raised platform, in a circle around the table. The symbols were strange and twisted, and they had a weight to them, a sense of significance. She grabbed for Olivia''s hand. When she made contact, a painful jolt of energy snapped through her fingers and up her arm. She let go with a yelp. She jumped back until she was clear of the ring of symbols, on the lower part of the floor. This wasn''t working. She needed to do something. To break the connection. Her hammer found its way into her hand. The carvings on the floor had to be a part of it. She swung her hammer at the nearest one, and a twisted letter exploded in a shower of stone chips. Olivia took a slow step forward, towards the statue. She reached out towards it. Glyph after glyph shattered, each one sending up a cloud of dust as Hina stuck the floor with the hammer. It wasn''t helping. Hina glanced at the idol, the strange god? And it was glorious. She felt a pull from it¡ªit wanted her to¡ª With some effort, Hina forced herself to look away. She looked down at the floor, at the carvings, one section of the circle marred now by her hammer. The carvings might be a part of it, but they weren''t the main problem. No. It was the idol. The presence. Of course it was. She wasn''t sure why she hadn''t made that connection until now. It didn''t matter. She backed up towards the door, then turned behind the nearest pillar and walked along the wall, keeping her eyes down. Thinking small thoughts. She was nothing, beneath notice. Harmless. And there it was¡ªa beautiful black stone leg, rising up from a stone platform. The niche the statue stood within was a broad half circle, and the thing itself stood upon a raised dais within the center. Its waist stood above Hina''s head, and its wings stretched towards the ceiling high above. There was a gap between the base of the dais and the wall. A gap that was big enough for Hina to fit through. As soon as she moved behind the statue, the pressure lessened. She could breathe again, and the horror of it hit her all at once. This thing was a monster. It was trying to eat her. It was trying to eat them both. Hina swung her hammer at the back of the statue''s leg. Hit it in its magnificent calf, and then struck it again and again, black stone chips flying. The tension in the room grew as soon as the first blow landed, grew until it was almost unbearable. Hina did her best to ignore it. Put all of her energy into the next strike. A sense of anger filled the air. An intangible rage. The hammer came down once more, and the leg shattered. The statue teetered and began to tilt. Hina''s heart lurched at the sight of it¡ªOlivia would be crushed¡ªshe had to get her out of the way. But she was far too late to stop it¡ªshe only managed to get a few steps closer before the statue reached the point of no return. The great black stone toppled to the side and collapsed against the nearest pillar with an overwhelming crash and shattered into a thousand tiny black pieces. Pieces that dissolved into dust as they hit the ground. All that remained was a black shadow on the ground that faded away as Hina watched. The sense of presence was gone. Olivia stood dazed, but apparently unharmed. She blinked and looked around, as if she was waking up from a dream. Her right hand held a knife that Hina had never seen before. The blade was black like the statue had been. "Hey, hey." Hina stepped forward and took her hand, pulling the knife from unresisting fingers. "You''re okay." The knife went into Hina''s pocket. "Hina?" Olivia sounded confused. "What¡ªwhat happened? Oh. Oh, gosh. I¡ª" "It''s okay. You''re okay now. I dealt with it." Olivia sat down heavily on the edge of the platform. She groaned and put her head in her hands. Hina had the urge to sit down too, but she didn''t. There were more corners to check. She wasn''t sure if the room was safe yet. "You wait there, I''ll be right back," she said. A hurried search revealed the rest of the room to be empty. There was nothing hidden behind the pillars, no furniture except the table. No exits except the doorway to the left and the one they''d come through. No other niches except the one the statue had been in. And the doorway to the left led to a store-room, of a kind. It wasn''t filled with rubble like she''d thought. No. Piles of bones filled the room. All shapes and sizes, sorted into stacks, by type. Too many bones. How long had this temple been here? Hina shook her head. It didn''t matter. She had to get Olivia out of here. On the floor at the far end of the bone room Hina caught a flash of silver in the light of her working. She picked out a curved silver ring and put it in her pocket. Better than nothing. There didn''t seem to be anything else of value unless she wanted to sort through the bones. And she didn''t. Hina left them to their rest and went back into the main room. Olivia was still sitting on the edge of the platform. She snapped her satchel closed as Hina approached. "Are you ready to get out of here?" Hina asked. "I think I''ve got everything of interest. There isn''t anything else in here." She didn''t mention the bones. Olivia looked more composed now, though her forehead was creased with a small frown. She stood and brushed herself off. "Yes. Let''s get back to the caravan." 1.46 - Equitable distribution
Bean perched on Olivia''s shoulder as Hina and Olivia walked back to the campsite. "¡ªand you just... broke it?" Olivia asked with a note of disbelief in her voice. It had seemed like a good idea at the time. What else were you supposed to do with an evil statue of... "Who was the statue of, anyway?" "That was Ezir of the Wandering Stones. One of the common representations." "I don''t know that one. It was horrifying." And somehow still compelling, even in memory. Hina shivered despite the warmth of the afternoon sun. "Yes. One of the strange gods. You aren''t supposed to say their names, especially when you''re in one of their places, not unless you want to attract their attention," Olivia said. "But I think defacing one of their idols¡ªwell, I don''t think saying its name is any worse than that." Her voice was light, but Hina could hear tension behind it. It wasn''t surprising. "In any case, there are shrines and temples to all of them, all through the valley. I don''t know that anybody really worships them now, but the temples are still there." "There were a lot of bones. Most of them were old, but... not all of them." "You think that people have been going there to... worship?" "And there was the padlock." "There was no dust. Not anywhere in that altar room. I remember thinking it when we walked in. I thought it was just because the place was... well, a place of power. But maybe it was people." "Why would they do that?" Hina wondered. "Sacrifice to that thing?" "The idol was... breathtaking. Even if it was just a statue, it was so beautiful. I''ve never seen anything like it. It was just..." "It was trying to eat you." "Y-yes." "What does it offer in exchange?" "Power. Always power, one kind or another. Usually as a fraction of what they take from the sacrifices. Like the Houses, it''s poisoned, but it''s there. For those who want to claim it." "But they aren''t as dangerous as the Houses?" "They don''t tend to be, no. They don''t tend to operate on the same scale, it''s usually limited to the area around the shrine or temple. Though as we''ve seen, they can be... dangerous enough. The compulsion that thing was sending out¡ªit was much worse than I had expected, more dangerous than anything we should have been dealing with. I¡ªI''m sorry. We should have left with just the bowl. I should have been more careful." Hina shook her head. "Are you okay?" "I''m fine." Olivia didn''t sound fine. "I took a tincture while we were in there, to help with... processing the stress¡ªI only had the one. I''m better now, all I need is time and rest. I... I''m just glad you were there. Thank you." "Anytime." Hina definitely wanted to know more about the tincture, but it didn''t feel like the right time to ask. "I''m glad you''re okay. Do you want to see what I found?" "Oh, yes. We should split up the proceeds before we get back to camp," Olivia mused. "Better not to do that with a potential audience. My apologies, I got... distracted... by everything else." "It''s okay, I understand. It was¡ªintense. You really think that was less dangerous¡ªno, it''s not important right now. I''m glad we got out of there in one piece." Bean whistled agreeably. "Yes." Olivia took a breath, and then continued in a more steady tone. "Let''s see. I have one beast core, and the stone bowl¡ªyou already know about those. And this bracelet. It was on top of the altar." She picked it out of her pocket and held it up. "Here, have a look." She passed it over to Hina. It was gold in twisted lines that faintly resembled tree branches. "It''s pretty," Hina said, "but what does it do?" She passed it back. "No idea! We''ll have to ask someone, or experiment." Olivia sounded almost excited to talk about trinkets. "Trinkets from places like that temple are more frequently safe than the ones from the Houses, but it''s always best to wait and ask a professional," she said. "I didn''t find anything else¡ªit''s a bit of a small haul, I''m afraid, though at least we didn''t come back empty-handed. What about you? Did you say you found something other than the token?" The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. "This ring." Hina held it up. "Was in the room with all of the bones." It was a simple silver band with strange letters carved into it. "Here." She passed it over to Olivia. Olivia took it and examined it. "No language that I recognise. Definitely a trinket, though. Anything else?" "Just the token I showed you earlier, the beast core, and this." Hina held up the black knife. "You were holding it, when..." The knife had a simple triangular blade made from shiny black stone and a wooden handle. The stone was smooth and cool to the touch. She took the ring back, and passed over the knife. "Creepy. You can see the marks where it was carved¡ªknapped, I think they call it." Olivia turned it over in her hands, looking pensive. In the distance, an animal howled. Hina stopped walking and looked around, but she couldn''t see anything. Rolling hills and dead grass stretched out in every direction, broken up by the occasional copse of trees. The sun was low in the sky. She shook her head. They were a long way away from the Spire. She started walking again, and caught up with Olivia before looking down at the knife again. "Is it special? You can tell, can''t you?" "I don''t¡ªI don''t think so. It doesn''t feel like a trinket to me." "How can you tell, exactly?" "Trinkets have a kind of depth to them, when they touch your ambit. And artifacts are often the same, though it depends on the artifact, of course. I''m not an expert, but you can feel the difference between a normal object and one that''s special. Usually, anyway. Mother has several, of course, but there are a couple where I can''t tell from touching them¡ªthere''s a deck of playing cards that lets you influence the order of the deck when you shuffle it, and you can''t feel anything at all when you touch that. And she has others that you can feel from all the way across the room." Hina took the knife back and examined it. The blade looked wickedly sharp, and the surface was faceted. Within her ambit, it didn''t register at all. "It does feel... ordinary." The silver ring, in contrast, resting in the palm of her hand, felt faintly significant. And like it was tugging at her, ever so slightly. "I think I see what you mean," Hina said slowly. There would be plenty of time to experiment later, she supposed. "Yes," Olivia said, sounding distracted. "Anything else?" "No, that''s all I found," Hina said. "How do you want to split it up?" "Let''s see." Olivia paused for a moment. "We need to split everything as evenly as we can, of course. But we have wildly different items. Three likely trinkets, two beast cores, a knife that''s probably just a knife, and that token, which is... well, I don''t know what it is. Not as valuable as a trinket, that''s for sure." Hina nodded, though she wasn''t sure Olivia could see it. "So, I propose," Olivia continued, "that we group the knife, the token and the two beast cores as a set. All together I think they''re about as good as an unidentified trinket¡ªa known quantity rather than a gamble. And then we have four sets of items to pick from, which means two each." "That sounds fair to me," Hina said. "We''ll take it in turns to pick one?" "We can... flip a coin to decide who goes first?" Hina nodded. "I''ll flip." The talk of rigged playing cards was enough that she was a little wary of letting Olivia do it. Though she didn''t think that Olivia would try to cheat her, not really. "All right." Hina stopped walking and opened her coin purse¡ªwhich was feeling pretty light¡ªand took out a little copper half-penny. "Spear or sparrow? Ready?" Olivia nodded. Hina tossed the coin into the air. "Spear," Olivia said. Catching the coin, Hina flipped it on to her wrist to display the image of Llfandr, The Spear of Persted, the ancient hero standing with his arm back, ready to throw. "Spear it is." "I''ll take the bowl." Hina nodded. "Okay, I''ll take the ring." It felt better in her hand than the bracelet had, somehow. "Bracelet." "And that leaves me with the rest. Okay, that works for me." "Are you sure?" Olivia sounded worried. "I don''t want you to feel like you''re getting the short end of the stick." "Yeah. The process was fair, and I agreed to it. I''m happy with this little ring and the other bits and pieces. And we did this so you could find some trinkets, after all. I think we''ve done pretty well." "Yes, I suppose we have. Here." Olivia handed over a beast core. She smiled faintly. "I''m glad that''s dealt with." They continued on. "So, really no idea what any of this does?" Hina held the ring up to her eye as she walked. The strange letters were carved into the inside of the ring as well. "I''m planning to find out about mine in Modmin, they do a good trade in trickets there with all of the sites in the area, there''ll be someone who can identify these for us for a fee there." Bean chirped in approval. "It would be nice to know. We''ve been carrying around a lot of stuff..." Hina said. "How do they know?" "How do they know what?" "How do they know what the trinkets do? Is it a working? Or what?" "As I understand it, you get a feel for these things after a while. And then the shape of a trinket often gives you a good guess about what it does, if you''ve seen enough of them, and as I understand it, there''s a working that fills in some of the gaps." "Huh. I wonder if just anyone can learn it." "I think so, but I''m sure the full details are at least a bit of a secret." A few minutes later, they were back at the campsite. Hina waved to the guard who was standing by the nearest wagon, facing outwards towards the wild. He nodded in return. "Welcome girls. Any trouble out there?" asked the guard, a nervous fellow named Sterg who was about twice Hina''s age. "No, nothing to report," said Olivia. "Hopefully we''re in for a quiet night," the guard said. "We''ll hit Modmin tomorrow afternoon. If we don''t have any trouble tonight, this''ll be the quietest I''ve ever seen this stretch. Spooky." "Well, good luck with that," said Olivia. "I''m going to turn in." "Evening." Hina looked around the campsite, but couldn''t see Kai. He must have been with the guards, playing cards and drinking, or whatever it was they did when they were off duty. There was another distant howl while Hina was setting up her blanket near Olivia''s. She looked out towards the horizon, but couldn''t see anything. She shivered. "I''m going to go see if I can find Kai," she said, "I''ll be back in a bit." "I think I''ll try to sleep. See you in the morning." 1.47 - The situation
Hina wandered over to where the off duty guards were sitting around a little fire outside of the circle of wagons. They had a card game going at a little folding table lit by a lantern in the growing dark. "Hey guys," she said, approaching, "seen Micah?" "Micah? He''s not here," said Kosta, one of the younger guards. He put his cards face down on the little table and turned to face Hina. "I haven''t seen him all afternoon¡ªhe''s probably off with Ellia again." There was a murmur of agreement from the other card-players. "Ellia?" Hina asked, "red hair? Tall?" "Nah, that''s Niovi," Kosta said, "Dark hair, and a bit of a scar on her cheek. But yeah, she''s tall." He took a glance behind himself, then nodded. "Marc''s on watch to the east¡ªhe might know where they went." "Thanks," said Hina, "I''ll go find him." Marc was standing out past the circle of wagons, crossbow in hand, peering out into the darkness. "Hey, Marc," she said, "have you seen Micah?" "Your brother?" Marc asked, not turning around, "no. I haven''t seen him since we stopped for the day." "What about Ellia?" "I think she''s on watch to the south-west. Or she was when I last saw her. It was a while ago¡ªbefore my watch started." "Thanks," said Hina, "I''ll try over there." "Everything okay?" Marc asked, glancing towards her then turning back to the dark. "Just trying to find him," Hina said. "See anything out there?" "Caught a glimpse of something a few minutes ago. Probably just a fox or something." He turned back to the dark. "Good luck finding your brother." Hina walked back to the wagons and across the campsite, looking for Ellia. She exited the circled wagons facing roughly south-west, but she didn''t see anyone. Away from the road the grass was knee high and rustling. "Ellia?" she called out, softly, "You out there?" Hina caught her foot on something that yielded slightly, and she tripped, fell to the ground. She caught herself on her hands and knees, and scrambled back to her feet. A body lay in the grass. For half of a panicked moment, Hina thought it was Kai. But no. Whoever it was was taller, and armored¡ªpale hands. Ellia. Relief warred with horror. She needed to get someone, to get help. She nearly cried out, but then remembered where she was¡ªin the wild after dark¡ªand covered her mouth. Hina stumbled back towards the campsite, found the nearest guard¡ªthe guardsman who had greeted them earlier, who was standing with Kosta outside the ring of the wagons. "There¡ªthere''s a body out there¡ªin the grass," she started. "I tripped over it." "What''s that?" said Sterg, turning to face her. "A body?" "To the south-west¡ªI was looking for¡ªfor Micah." "Better show me, girl," he said. He picked up a glowing lantern from the ground at his feet. "You got this?" he asked Kosta. "Yeah," Kosta said. "Come back quick, hey?" "Well, come on then," Sterg gestured towards Hina. "Time''s a wasting." This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. Hina led him towards the place where she''d found the body. She walked past the place the first time, and then stumbled across it when she retraced her steps. "There," she said, pointing. "Oh fuck," Sterg said under his breath. He crouched beside the still figure, held his lantern up to its face and put a hand out. "Ellia. Dead. Throat''s cut." He stood up, turned to face her. "And the boy''s missing?" his voice was grim. "Nobody has seen him all afternoon, Marc said he might be with Ellia," Hina said, voice small. "But he didn''t¡ªhe isn''t." "Come on, we need to let the others know," Sterg said. "And we need to get this poor girl back to camp before something finds her." One of the pack beasts lowed from behind them in the distance, loud in the night. Sterg led Hina back to the card table where the off duty guards were sitting and led her to a chair that was off by the side. "You sit right here and wait," he said, voice firm. "Okay¡ªyou''ll find him?" "We''ll find him." He went over to the guard table and had words with the guards sitting there. Two of them hurried off back the way they''d come¡ªto find Ellia. Sterg walked swiftly into the center of the wagons, metal jangling as he walked past, leaving Hina with the third guard. Marc carried a folding chair over to where she was sitting and joined her. He sighed. "Tough business, huh. I''m sorry." "I''m sorry too. I didn''t know her well. But. She was nice." "One of the nicest," Marc agreed. "And Kai¡ªhe''s a good kid, too. Hopefully he turns up soon." "I hope so," said Hina. "Sterg said she was stabbed?" "He thinks something cut her throat¡ªand he thinks it was from behind," Marc said. "But they''re going to bring her back to camp now and see what they can find out. Any ideas about where Kai would go, if we went anywhere?" "No," said Hina, shaking her head. "This is the wild. He wouldn''t go anywhere by himself," she said, "not willingly¡ªcertainly not without me." "We''ll do our best to find him," said Marc. "But¡ª" he shook his head. "We''ll do what we can." Yusuf approached where they were sitting, walking quickly and carrying a lantern. "Is she a suspect?" He was looking at Marc. Marc shook his head. "Good." Yusuf looked at Hina. "Go back to camp and get some rest." "My brother''s missing," Hina said. "We''ll find him if he''s out there," said Yusuf, "but there''s nothing you can do to help right now. Get some rest¡ªsomeone will wake you if we find anything." "You promise?" "You have my word," said Yusuf. Hina nodded, and stood up. She walked back to the center of the wagons and found her blanket, Olivia lying nearby. "What was all that about?" Olivia asked, sitting up. "M¡ªKai''s missing," Hina said. "And one of the guards¡ªEllia¡ªshe''s dead." "Oh." It was a short sharp sound. "Oh." Bean croaked, and flapped up and circled around to land on her shoulder, sharp claws digging in. Hina barely noticed. "I found her body in the grass," Hina said. "Tripped over it looking for him." "What happened to her?" Olivia asked. "Throat cut, they think." "And they''re looking for Kai?" "That''s what they said," Hina said. "They said there was nothing I could do." "You''ve checked everywhere?" "The wild is a big place, Olivia." "Inside the campsite, I mean. Is his stuff still here? In the wagon?" "I haven''t checked. The guards thought he was with Ellia. I asked what, five different people, and they all thought he was with her." "Let''s go and look in the wagon," said Olivia, sitting up. "Maybe he''s asleep up there somewhere, or maybe he left something behind to tell us where he went." Their wagon was right behind where they had been lying. Hina made her way towards the back of the wagon, getting a nod from one of the guards who was standing nearby. When she moved towards the ladder, the guard called out to her. "Hey! What do you think you''re doing?" "We need to check up on the wagon," Hina said. "My brother, Micah, is missing, we were thinking he might be up there?" "Oh, you''re the girl who found Ellia?" the guard said, looking at her. "I''ll have a look with you." "It''s really okay," Hina said. "I can do it myself." "Yes, yes. You''re a big girl. But if something goes missing, it''ll be better if I can say I was supervising, and didn''t see you take anything, hey?" "Oh. Okay." "You two go up first," the guard said, "I''ll follow. Don''t touch anything until I''m up." Hina went up the ladder, the narrow climb easier with practice. She reached the top, checked on both sides of the pile of luggage, but no one was up there. "Nothing," she said to Olivia, who was stepping off the ladder. "Is his bag here?" "Doesn''t look like it." Hina walked up to the other end the wagon, checking luggage, but nothing looked familiar. "I don''t see it." "No luck?" asked the guard, in a rumbling voice. "No, he''s not here," said Hina. "And I don''t see his bag. But thanks for letting us look." Back on the ground the guard cleared his throat and said, "I hope you find him. Best of luck." She and Olivia walked back to their bedrolls in the center of the wagons. Olivia was frowning heavily. "I found this, under the bench," she said, "where we usually sit?" She held up a small, folded piece of paper. Hina took it eagerly. "What is it?" "A letter¡ªyou better read it." "From Kai?" Hina said, worried now. She didn''t think that Kai would leave willingly, but if he had, he would have certainly left a note. If that''s what this was¡ª "Please, just read it." Right. Hina unfolded the note and read.
Mahina Gardiner, My patience is at an end. I have taken the boy into service for the Grove. Consider your account to be settled in full. - G
1.48 - A better plan "What?!" Hina reread the note again, but there was no mistake. Gerda had taken Kai. Olivia didn''t say anything, brows furrowed. "Why¡ªwhy would she do that?" Hina asked, her voice shaking. "What does she even want with him?" "What debt, Hina?" Olivia''s voice was quiet, but there was an edge to it. Hina looked up at her, confused. "What?" "What is the debt that this note is referring to? You told me you didn''t make any deals." "I¡ª" "I asked you several times, Hina. And you said ''no, Olivia, I don''t know what you''re talking about. I certainly didn''t make any deals.'' You said that every time I asked." She looked angry now. "So what debt? Did you lie to me?" "No!" In her attempt to keep her voice down, it came out as a hiss. "I didn''t make any deals. I told you what happened already¡ªthis woman, I didn''t even know she was associated with a House¡ªshe showed up, forced me to take the workings¡ªthe ones I''ve been using to keep both of us safe. And then she insisted that I owed her. I didn''t make a deal. Not with her, not with anyone. I didn''t even know what a House was until you told me!" She was shaking, and she didn''t know if it was from fear or anger. Maybe both. "And now she''s taken Kai." Hina felt like the strength went out of her limbs, and she wrapped her arms around herself. "I don''t¡ªI don''t know what to do." Bean pressed in against the base of Hina''s neck, his feathers smooth and warm against her skin, his sharp claws somehow comforting as they gripped her shoulder. He let out a soft cooing noise that Hina could feel more than hear. Something dripped from Hina''s chin. Her throat ached. She didn''t have time for this. She wiped at her eyes with her fingertips. Olivia stared for a long moment, her expression gradually softening into concern and then something like guilt. "Deals aren¡¯t always obvious, you know. But sorry. I¡ªI suppose I jumped to conclusions." She let out a heavy sigh. She looked over her shoulder, then back at Hina. She frowned. "We need to make sure nobody else sees that letter, to start with. We''ve talked about that." "Oh." Hina paused. Some of the tension in her chest eased. Olivia wasn''t abandoning her. Probably. "Oh." She folded the note up and tucked it into her pocket. "Is it¡ªis it well known enough that people would recognise it by name?" She shook her head. "Better not to take the chance." Olivia didn''t say anything. She stared out into the darkness with a worried expression. After a long moment, she said, "I''m sorry, Hina. This is bad. I think we need help." She continued talking, but Hina had trouble focusing on her words. Kai was gone. It felt like something was missing from Hina''s chest. And she was supposed to be looking after him. Looking through the letter again, there was no "or else", no alternatives offered. She didn''t even know where The Grove was to go and get him back. Gerda seemed to think that this was the end of the matter. That she could just take Kai and¡ª "Hina!" Bean croaked in annoyance. "What?" "I think we''re out of our depth with this, Hina. I think we need someone to help us." Help would be nice. "Who can we even ask?" Olivia hesitated before answering. "My parents. My mother knows everything there is to know about Houses." Hina thought about that for a while. It wasn''t that she was opposed to getting help, if it was trustworthy. She''d have thrown herself on the mercy of the Grambe council if she''d have thought she would be treated fairly, but she''d known all along what would have happened. If Olivia''s mother could be trusted to get Kai back safely, that would be wonderful. But it didn''t seem likely. Hina had certainly never met her, and Olivia had told her a lot of stories about people being put to death for the barest of contact with the Houses. If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. "Are you¡ªOlivia, are you telling me that I can trust your mother?" It was hard to keep the skepticism out of her voice. "Really?" "Of course." Olivia almost sounded surprised by the question. "She''s completely trustworthy." "I mean, I''m sure she''s a great person, but are you saying your mother wouldn''t have me arrested if she knew about¡ª" Hina lowered her voice. "If she knew about what happened in Grambe?" "Oh. We... don''t need to tell her about that. We just need help with Kai. And she''s good at that kind of thing. It''s kind of her specialty." "What, exactly, is her specialty?" "Dealing with Houses. She¡¯s the one they call in when there¡¯s a problem. Or one of them, anyway." "And she''d know what to do to get him back? Does she even know where The Grove is? Do you?" "I don''t, no. But she might. And she''d know what to do¡­ if it''s possible to get Kai back, she''d be the only one I''d trust to do it." Hina wasn''t sure she liked the sound of that. "And what about having contact with the Houses? She wouldn''t have me arrested for that either? Or worse?" "No, I don''t think so." Olivia''s frown deepened. "So long as she didn''t think you sought them out, or¡ªknowingly¡ªmade any deals. She''s less... superstitious than some of the others in the community." "But she''d send me back if she heard about Grambe?" Olivia hesitated. "I don''t know. I like to think she''d be more understanding than that, but she''s a big believer in the rule of law. I think she''d be happy to help you out after she heard your side of the story, but I can''t guarantee it. But we don''t need to mention it¡ªnot unless it comes up." It was better than no plan, Hina supposed. Maybe it was worth the risk. No, it was worth the risk. Kai was worth the risk. "How would you even get in touch with her?" Hina asked. "We''re more than a week away from your home." "When we get to Modmin, there will be a shrine of the Torch in the city. It might take as long as a day or so to arrange, but I''ll be able to speak with her via relay. I think it''s likely that she''ll wish to speak with you too." "You don''t think she''ll tell you to have nothing to do with me and Kai after she hears the story?" Hina asked. "I mean, you said even having the invitation was considered treason in Om Qalar." Olivia hesitated. "We''re not in Om Qalar right now. And the politics isn''t quite so straightforward as that. Our family isn''t strictly aligned with the city¡ª" Olivia cut herself off with a shake of her head. "I don''t think she''d do that¡ªI hope not. She tries to help people where she can, Hina. She''s not a tyrant." Hina sighed. The alternative was to stumble around and try to find The Grove on her own. And take her invitation¡ªshe hadn''t gotten around to burning it yet¡ªand try to get Kai back herself. Not that she thought that would work, not without knowing where to go. And even if she found it, she didn''t know that she''d be able to get Kai back on her own. Gerda was scary enough by herself. Putting herself within direct reach of the House? It didn''t seem like such a great idea. But she couldn''t leave Kai to whatever fate Gerda had in store for him. She couldn''t. Trusting Olivia and her mother was a risk, but it was the best option that she had. "I suppose..." Hina hesitated. "I suppose I''ll trust you on this. Oh, I hope Kai''s okay." Olivia gave her a sympathetic look. "I''m sure he''s fine. For now. At least until they get to the House, wherever that is." "It must be somewhere nearby, mustn''t it?" Hina asked. "I mean, they waited until now to take him. We must be close." "I don''t know. They might have been waiting until we left him alone. You met this woman near Grambe, the first time, didn''t you?" "Gerda. Her name is Gerda. She said she was travelling¡ªI don''t know where she came from." "Did she give you anything, other than the workings?" "No..." Hina shook her head slowly. "There was this spoon¡ªshe swapped hers for mine when we were eating. It was silver, with patterns carved into it. It seemed strange at the time, but... harmless. I didn''t think anything of it." In retrospect, harmless was the last word that Hina would use to describe anything about Gerda. She shivered at the memory. "Show it to me." Olivia sounded urgent. "I¡ªwe left it behind on the night we met you. When we were running from the huld. We left a lot of things behind. It was with the cooking equipment. I used it to eat my dinner." Olivia looked thoughtful. "My mother has a sense for the presence of some of her trinkets. You could use something like that to track someone, if you knew what you were doing." Her eyes widened. "Maybe this woman thought you were trying to run away from her." "Oh." Hina''s heart sank. That made a kind of sense. "And took Kai in retaliation." "It''s only a theory. But it''s possible. I don''t know." "And then what? What will they do to him?" He didn''t deserve any of this. "I don''t know. If he agrees to a pact, we will be duty-bound to kill him. That''s the worst case." Olivia shook her head. "They may not try for a pact for weeks or months if we''re lucky. Especially given that he won''t be looking for one. Normally, normally it takes some time to convince someone to make a pact, if they aren''t already willing." Hina didn''t think that it was likely that Kai would agree to anything. He was stubborn when he wanted to be. "He''s heard all of your stories, same as me. He knows what they do to people." "If they can''t convince him to make a pact, if they don''t think they can convince him..." "Then what?" Olivia hesitated, then her voice dropped to the barest of whispers. "Sacrifice." The image of an altar and a horrifying statue flashed through Hina¡¯s mind. A knife glittering in Olivia''s hand. Blood spreading along the lines of a tile floor. Olivia straightened. "My mother will help us get him back. I''m sure of it." "I hope so." 1.49 - Roadside news
Yusuf came by a few minutes later to tell Hina that they hadn''t found anything, and that they would be proceeding towards Modmin in the morning. The authorities would have to send out search parties once they arrived¡ªit wasn''t something the caravan was equipped to handle. The losses of Kai and Ellia were tragedies, but they couldn''t afford to delay the caravan any longer. They had to keep moving. Hina would have been furious about that if they hadn''t found the letter, but now. Now it was for the best. Better that the caravan-guards didn''t get involved with Gerda or The Grove. Better that they didn''t find out anything more. Hina didn''t sleep much that night. She spent hours tossing and turning, thinking about what she could have done differently. Could she have prevented Kai from being taken if she''d insisted on him coming with them to the site? She supposed not, not unless they''d taken him inside. In fact, it might have been easier for Gerda if Kai had been alone outside the temple while they explored. The caravan was the safest place that she could have left him, and that woman had taken him anyway. Had been able to manage it without anyone noticing. Except Ellia, she supposed. She wondered if Ellia had seen anything. If only they could wake her up and ask her. But it didn''t work like that. If there was a working that could wake the dead, Hina didn''t know it. Hadn''t seen any hints of it. Though she was starting to realise that there were a lot of things she didn''t know. She sighed and rolled over on her blanket, tried to find a comfortable position. The only thing that Hina could think of that might have helped was if she was stronger. Strong enough that people couldn''t mess with her. Strong enough that she could protect the people she cared about. Strong enough that people like Gerda and Alik and Bruce and all of the others would steer clear, rather than risking her wrath. She could feel it simmering within her chest, the anger. They''d taken from her. Taken someone she cared about. But she wasn''t strong. Not yet. And the best thing that she could think of to do¡ªthe only thing she could think of was to work on getting stronger. So, when Hina gave up on sleeping, her mind turned to practice. She cycled until her well was full, then ran through the workings that she knew, summoning the patterns one after another so that the images would remain fresh within her mind. And then she practiced casting. She started with the barrier. She traced a small circle with her finger in the dirt beside her blanket, the working came together as she summoned and dismissed the signs in careful sequence. Hina moved on to the light working. The patterns fought her when she empowered them¡ªmore than they had in the temple, like they could sense her distress, the dark thoughts bubbling under the surface. She could feel the twisted lines struggling to break free and do¡ªwhat? She didn''t know what the pattern wanted, only that she couldn''t allow it. And she knew how to deal with them now. She flexed her will and the twisting, writhing movements stilled. The working snapped together and she directed the light outwards through the palm of her hand, down into the dirt. Her hand glowed a little through the blanket, but it was barely noticeable. She released it and the light winked out. She repeated the two workings that she knew several times. The process grew easier with each repetition, but she stopped before she was too tired to continue. Last was her ambit. Hina pressed out at the edges of her ambit until she could feel her will straining¡ªnearly at the limit of what she could bear. She was so close to being able to attempt a third compression¡ªand from there, maybe she could try the sigil again. Maybe. She rolled over and lay on her back, eyes tracing the stars above. A deep weariness spread through her limbs. Her eyes closed. Sleep found her.
Mid-morning, Hina saw a rider in the distance, heading towards them from the direction of Modmin. The tall shadow resolved into a human figure on the back of some sort of beast¡ªa creature that was lean where the pack beasts were broad. It bounded along the road at high speed. Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on. A loud two-noted whistle went out from the head of the caravan, and Bean echoed the sound of it from her shoulder, getting smiling looks from the people around them. The wagons slowed and then rolled to a stop. From the railing at the front of their wagon, Hina couldn''t see much of what happened. Their wagon was towards the end of the caravan¡ªtoo far back. The guard on duty at the front of the wagon gave her a glance and a smile. "Don''t worry, someone will come by to tell us all about it," he said. "When we break for lunch, if not sooner." The wagons were back on their way within minutes, and the rider moved past them, circling wide around as they passed. A tall woman in a rich green cloak. The top of her head as she perched there on the back of her mount would have nearly reached the tops of the wagons, if she''d come closer. Her mount was a fearsome thing, huge and dog-faced, with a black bushy tail. Bounding along on its back, she was out of sight down the road and around behind a hill before the wagons had moved on more than a hundred metres. "Any idea who that was?" Hina asked the guard, a bearded fellow whose name she didn''t know¡ªthe one who had shown them up on the wagon the night before, when Olivia had found the letter. "That was a messenger from the city," he said. "You can tell by the green cloak. Cap''n''ll have stopped her to get news from the next town, if he can." "I wonder where she''s off to now," Hina said. "Probably to Blandmanch, or further still," he said. "They move about a lot, those messengers. And leave us in their dust as they go." Hina watched the road for a while, but the rider didn''t come back. There was no sign of anything else heading towards them from Modmin, either. She went back to her seat, wondering what story the messenger had brought. And if they''d hear it, like the guard had said. "Any idea what that was?" Olivia asked as Hina sat down. "The guard thinks it was a messenger from Om Qalar," Hina said. "They''ll tell us whatever they learned later." The tension in Hina''s chest didn''t fade.
When they rolled to a stop for the midday rest, one of the guards¡ªMarc¡ªclimbed up the ladder before anyone had gotten down from the top of the wagon. He sat down next to Olivia. "You kids hear the news yet?" he asked. He was barely any older than they were. "No," said Olivia. "We saw the rider, but nobody had told us anything." "The young miss was in a hurry¡ªlike you''d expect, I suppose¡ªdidn''t want to say to chat. But she says there''s trouble in Modmin," he said. "Guards are in a tizzy, questioning everyone who enters or exits the city. She herself says she got stopped twice. And in her city livery, too." "What are they looking for?" Hina asked. Dread seeped down into her gut and sat there like a cold stone that grew heavier with every passing moment. "Some kind of murderer, apparently. Happened up north, in some nothing town. They''ve got word from up high that whoever did it is headed to Modmin of all places. They''re delaying all honest travellers until the culprit is caught. Sounds like bullshit, but nobody asked me." "Seems like a lot of bother," Olivia said, frowning. "You''re telling me. But we''ve gotta be going in anyway¡ªjust don''t be surprised if it''s well after dark before we get inside the walls. Might even get a two night stop, if we''re lucky." "Did she say anything about the murderer?" Hina asked. "Who they are?" "Nah. I''m sure the guards at the gate will tell you all about it when we get there. Something to look forward to, eh?" he said.
"I''m going to stretch my legs before we get moving again," Hina said to Olivia with a pointed look. Her heart lurched in her chest. "Want to come?" "Of course." Hina put her bag on and climbed down the ladder. She walked up the road a bit. The caravan was still stopped for lunch, and other passengers were wandering about the roadside, so she didn''t stand out too much. "You think they''re looking for you?" Olivia asked when they were further out of earshot. "Even if they''re looking for someone else, I can''t take the risk of going in there." "But what about the plan?" "I don''t know. But I can''t go in there. I... I guess I''ll just have to walk, and ask around at the next town. If you want to come with me, you''re welcome, but I... I don''t expect anything." "We need to get help," Olivia said, ignoring most of that. "I don''t think we can do this alone." "What else can I do?" Hina asked. "I don''t think it''s worth the risk to try to sneak into Modmin. Even if we go in without the caravan, it''s too risky." "Okay, what about this? I''ll go to Modmin and go to the shrine by myself, and we can meet up further down the road." Some of the tension in Hina''s chest eased. "You''d do that? Are you sure?" "I''m sure," Olivia said. "Do you know the way?" "Of course," Hina said. "I''ll just... circle around the city. We''ll meet where the road to Almewich branches off? I remember the map¡ªthere''s a fork. I''ll camp out of sight of the road, on the north side." "Very well. I''ll see you there tomorrow, then." "I''ll wait two days," Hina said. "If you don''t find me, I''ll meet you in the city. We''ll have classes together, I guess." After she found Kai. Somehow. She tried not to think too hard about how she would do that without Olivia''s help, or that of her family connections. Olivia didn''t respond to that. "Do you have everything you need?" "Uh. I think so? I have food for about a week. Do I need money to get into the city? I have about six quarter-crowns, will that be enough?" "Better to have more, in case you need it," Olivia said. "I''ll give you some." She rummaged through her satchel and pulled out a little purse. "Here." Hina took it without hesitation. Olivia hugged her tightly. "Be careful. I''ll see you in no time." "Thank you. I will," Hina said, squeezing the shorter girl briefly. "I''d better go before anyone notices." And then Hina turned away, and she was alone for the first time in a long time. She walked away from the road to the south, into the rocks and the scrub. On her shoulder, Bean chirped. Not quite completely alone. 1.50 - Fork
Hina walked in a wide circle around the city, a distant bundle of walls and towers in the distance. She scrambled over rocks and through bushes, and at one point had to backtrack nearly half an hour to find away around a wide crevice in the rocky ground. She could maybe have jumped across, but she didn''t want to take the risk¡ªit looked deep. Bean circled around her, croaking and chirping, and occasionally coming down to rest on her shoulder. Hina was glad for the company. It would have been faster to travel closer to the city, but she didn''t want to risk being seen. Not when they were looking for her. Probably looking for her. Strange that this was the first time they''d encountered anything like an organised search after weeks on the road. She''d have expected it to taper off with distance. But aside from a flyer on the wall in Blandmanch, there hadn''t been much¡ªat least so far as Hina had noticed. Maybe there had been search parties and they had just managed to avoid them¡ªthe days in the Spire might have helped with that. And maybe they were really looking for someone else in Modmin and this was all just Hina jumping to conclusions. But she didn''t think so. She was sure they were looking for her. Maybe someone had spotted her in Blandmanch. The inn-keeper had acted a little strange now that she thought about it. But there was nothing she could do about it in any case. All she could do was keep going, get to the city, join the academy, and hope that was enough. Stick to the plan. She wasn''t going to turn herself in¡ªKai would be as good as dead, or worse. So she had to put it out of her mind. There wasn''t anything else she could do. She had to focus on getting stronger, to focus on getting Kai back. And Hina was going to get Kai back. She had to. But the feeling like someone was about to tap her on the shoulder and take her back to Grambe¡ªthat feeling wouldn''t go away. It was always there, sometimes out of sight, but always there. Hina shook her head and walked on. In the early evening, Hina found the road again. She watched it from a distance for a while, but only saw a few people. No sign of a search party or any kind of group of guards. It was quiet enough that she could walk along it without running into anyone else if she picked her moment. And she was tired of walking over uneven ground. Her feet were sore, beginning to blister again after over a week of sitting in a wagon all day. And it would take hours for her to prepare a fire and a good meal. At least Hina would eat well. She still had the salt-shaker, which hadn''t seen any use while they were travelling with the caravan. They hadn''t needed it¡ªthe caravan cooks had known their stuff. Hina joined the road and walked along it, heading away from Modmin, following her shadow. According to the maps she''d studied in the Grambe city library, the road she was on led to Penkley, and then all the way to Walton by the river. She could catch the train there and arrive in Om Qalar within a day or two, with the purse of silver Olivia had given her. There was over two crowns in that purse. More money than Hina had ever had before. Enough for a train ticket. If Hina wanted to risk getting caught. If she left Kai behind. Even the thought had her stomach twisting in knots. She didn''t want to leave Kai behind. But if he was already lost, maybe that would be the better option. Maybe she could escape notice alone or, she supposed, with Olivia. It was an awful idea. If there was even a chance that he was okay, she had to try to save him. Kai was her responsibility.
* * *
The turn-off to Almewich was nothing more than a faded wooden signpost and the start of another road to the south. Hina walked out into the scrub to the north. The ground was rocky and uneven, wind-swept and littered with boulders, scraggly trees and bushes. She found a sheltered spot that was protected from the wind on one side, and from where she would be able to see the road. Taking off her bag, Hina took a seat on one of the nearby rocks. She took a drink from her water bottle and just sat there for a moment. It felt good to get off her feet. But there was a lot to do and she didn''t have long before dark. First, she needed wood for a fire. She had spotted a few scraggly fallen branches as she walked here, and she gathered them up. A little copper snake hissed at her from where it was sunning itself on a nearby stone, and she backed away carefully, carrying her armload of branches back to her campsite. It didn''t follow. She''d read that snakes didn''t usually bite, if you gave them some room. Hina made a fire with a practiced hand, using hands and sandaled feet and the nearby rocks to break up the bits of wood. She built a platform out of the branches, and lit the kindling below it, got the fire lit with only three matches. Take that, Kai. When the fire was burning well, she filled the new pot with a healthy serving of beans, tossing a couple to a happy bird as she worked. She poured water over them and set them down near the fire while she waited for it to burn down to a good cooking temperature. While she had appreciated having regular meals provided by the caravan staff, she was glad to be back to cooking her own meals for a while. There was something satisfying about cooking over a campfire, pot bubbling away, spreading good smells out into the night. And she even had a little bag of flour and some yeast in her pack, so she could try making campfire bread if she wanted to. And maybe she''d be able to bake properly again when she¡ªwhen they¡ªreached the city. The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. Maybe there''d be a good kitchen wherever they ended up. Hina took her branch wand out from where it was tied to the side of her bag, and focused her mind while she waited. She found the sense of power at the edges of her being, and drew it in. She drew power until her well was full. And then she set the beans to bubbling on the fire. Bean was perched on a rock nearby. "Gonna put up the barrier now," she said. He chirruped. She figured that meant he was okay with it. Taking up the wand, Hina began the process of summoning the patterns of the barrier working. She drew a broad circle in the dirt around her campfire, bigger than any she''d attempted before. Enough for the three of them to lie down comfortably¡ªnot almost on top of each other like they had been, in those last few nights before the caravan. The others would have been impressed, if only they were here. When she came back around to her starting point and the working snapped together, she was pleased to find that over a quarter of her power remained. And she felt a deep sense of relief. Nobody would find her here now. She could rest safely. Hina sat by the fire while her dinner bubbled away. She added a shake from the salt shaker to the pot and stirred it with her spoon. The little bit of white powder in the bottom of the shaker looked bigger now. Bigger than she remembered. She had the rest of the night, and tomorrow too, to wait for Olivia. As she ate, Hina considered what she could do with that time, to prepare. To be prepared for the worst case: if nobody was coming to save Kai and she had to do it herself. Somehow. She dug through her bag until she found the invitation from the Grove. She unfolded the thick paper and froze. Scrawled across the empty space at the top of the page was a message in large, spidery letters.
Come and find us near Almewich
Hina''s heart raced. She looked around, but there was nobody there. She was alone except for Bean, who peered back at her with a bright eye and croaked in a questioning tone. She got out the note from Gerda and compared the handwriting. It wasn''t the same. But she had no idea who could have written it. Or how they''d gotten access to the invitation to alter it. Had the message been there all along? Or perhaps hidden in some way so that she hadn''t seen it until now? The chances of someone getting into her bag without her noticing seemed slim, but she couldn''t rule it out. The walls of Modmin stood proud in the fading light. No-one seemed to be moving in the rocky scrub around her. She shivered despite the warmth of the evening. But there was nothing to be done about it. And now, at least, she knew where to start looking. Convenient that it was so close to where she was, and where she was going. She''d just have to make sure she was ready for it, whether Olivia showed up or not. She hoped Olivia would show up, but she couldn''t count on it. Mentally, she ran through her list of weapons. She had her sling¡ªshe''d been practicing with it every day, and she was getting better at hitting her targets consistently. Her knife, and Kai''s hammer both still hung at her belt. But none of those seemed like they would be enough. Not when faced with someone like Gerda. The only thing Hina had within reach that seemed like it would be useful was the sigil. Though there was some irony in that she was considering using the sigil to fight Gerda, when Gerda had given it to her in the first place. Why had she done that? Hina shook off the thought. It didn''t matter. She didn''t have any better options, and if she could use the sigil to save Kai, she would. If she could use the sigil without it turning her into a drooling vegetable. Or worse. The question was whether she had developed her ambit enough. She had gone through the compression exercise three times¡ªthat was enough, right? What had Gerda said? Just that she needed to develop it more, not how much. Last time she had accidentally summoned the sigil, that had been okay. She had been able to control it enough to dismiss it. And that had been after her first successful compression. Maybe it would be fine this time. She had to try. But better not to rush into it. Better to wait and do it when she wasn''t so tired. She would wait until morning, and if something went wrong then, at least Olivia wouldn''t be too far away. If she waited until Olivia was here, Olivia might try to stop her, so it had to be first thing in the morning. In the mean time, she needed to finish reading the book. After the temple¡ªafter the letter from Gerda¡ªit seemed more important than ever to understand that book. Hina shared the last of the food with Bean, and then started to read.
* * *
She woke to the sound of a rock skittering across the ground. She sat up and looked around. The fire had well and truly died out, and the sun was low in the sky to the east. Looking towards the road, she saw a figure approaching. Olivia? It was hard to tell from this distance, but she was pretty sure it was Olivia. Hina watched and waited as the figure approached. She didn''t want to call attention to herself until she was sure who it was. Bean chirruped and flapped up into the air, breaking the barrier as he crossed it with a loud snap. He flew in a wide circle around Hina, and then over to the approaching figure. He crowed and glided down. Probably Olivia then. Hina took a deep breath and stood up. And sat down again. This was sooner than she had expected. There would be no time to practice with the sigil this morning. And surely good news would have taken longer? "Hello Hina," Olivia said, stepping around a boulder and into Hina''s campsite, Bean perched proud on her shoulder. Olivia''s eyes were red and she looked tired. "How did it go? Did you manage to get in touch with your parents?" "Yes," Olivia said with a frown, "yes, I did. They''re¡ªthey''re not going to help. I''m sorry." She sat down on the rock next to Hina. "Oh." Hina felt a little deflated. "I guess that''s that then. I guess we''ll have to go and look for Kai ourselves?" "About that," Olivia said, voice small. "I have been told that under no circumstances am I to accompany you if you intend to search for your brother. I''m¡ªI have to return to the caravan. And catch the train to the city from Walton." "Oh." "Sorry." She scrunched up her face. "It''s awful. I''m so sorry." Hina sighed. "It''s okay," she said, "I''ll¡ªI''ll figure something out." "There''s¡ªthere''s more. My mother says¡ªshe made me promise I would tell you this¡ªthat your brother is already dead, and that if you know what''s good for you, you''ll come with me, and never step foot anywhere near that cursed place. She said that she''ll cover the cost of your travel." Hina sighed. "I didn''t¡ªI didn''t tell her about the other thing." "Anything else?" "No, that about covers it." "Thank you for passing on the message." "What are you going to do?" "I have to try. I have to." Hina didn''t even need to think about it. She was sure. "I don''t think¡ªI can''t live with myself if I don''t try. He''s¡ªhe''s my responsibility." "Yes." Olivia sniffed. "I figured." "Did she, did she know anything about where it might be?" "No. She said she didn''t know, but it wouldn''t be responsible to tell you¡ªor me¡ªeven if she did. I''m sorry." "Oh." It would have been nice to have confirmation, but at least she already had a lead. "I understand." And then Olivia was rummaging through her satchel. "I picked up a few things while the market was open yesterday, you know, while I was waiting for the relay? It''s not much." She took out a series of wrapped paper packages and set them on the ground one by one. "But I hope it helps, even if just a bit." Hina leaned forward and picked one up, unwrapped a corner. "Meat?" "Salt pork. It should last a week or so." "Oh, thank you." "And some rice and salt and some spices¡ªI thought you might like to branch out a bit. Especially since you can''t go shopping for yourself." "Thank you," Hina said. "I appreciate it." "Sorry again. I really wish I could come with you." Olivia sniffed. "No, I¡ªI understand, really I do. I''m sorry I got you into all of this. If I could just walk away..." "It''s not like that." Olivia sniffed. "I just¡ªI can''t." She shook her head. "I have to get back before the caravan leaves. I don''t want to wait for the next one." "Go on then. I''ll see you at the academy. Travel safe." Olivia spread her arms wide and Hina embraced her. And then Hina was alone again. 1.51 - Experimentation
Hina walked south all day. The road was narrow and winding, climbing steeply into the hills. Flocks of red birds flew overhead, and Hina watched them as she walked. She had never seen birds like these before, bigger than Hina had thought that birds could be. But they flew high above. Bean gripped her shoulder tightly and was silent for most of the day. He clung to her like a statue, except for when he greedily accepted bits of food from her hand. He didn''t fly overhead as they walked like he had the day before. Hina wondered if he was still injured, or if he was just tired. In the afternoon she camped at the entrance to a shallow cave, protected on three sides. She checked it thoroughly for signs of habitation, but except for a few old bones and some spiderwebs, it was empty. Nothing had been here for a long time, and no passages led deeper into the hill. She cooked, and ate the best meal she''d had in weeks, meat and rice and beans, spiced and seasoned with the salt shaker. Mentally, she thanked Olivia for the food, and then cursed her for leaving Hina alone. Or perhaps that wasn''t fair. Hina couldn''t decide. She wished that Olivia was here. That night, Hina dreamed that she was in the bakery again. Her hand was on the knife as it went in to Lagi''s chest. And it felt right. A warmth flooded into her as Lagi collapsed to the ground. The sense of satisfaction lingered until she woke with a start, and rolled over to look for Kai, and then remembered. She was alone.
* * *
The birds sang as the sun rose. Though their voices sound more like angry shrieks than the music of the birds that Hina was used to. And they were loud. But no matter. Hina was up and moving before the sun had fully risen. And that was a good thing, because she had a lot to do today. Today was the day¡ªHina was going to try the sigil. And it would kill her or save her, she didn''t know which. But she had to try. She ate slowly, sharing leftovers from last night with Bean while she thought it over. He was still quiet, but he chirped and croaked in response to the food. While she ate, she thought about the sigil, and how she was going to tackle it. There were no backups here. If she got into serious trouble like last time, Kai wasn''t here to save her. Olivia was gone. But if she didn''t do this, then she had nothing and Kai was as good as lost. There was no world in which the light working would be enough to overcome Gerda and save Kai. She needed more. And if she ended up losing herself here to the sign, trying to save Kai, was that worse? Worse than going to The Grove with nothing to help her? Worse than losing Kai for good? Hina didn''t think so. Kai was worth the risk. Crossing her legs beneath herself, Hina sat on her blanket by the ashes of the fire. She felt for her boundary¡ªfor the edges of her ambit, and the potentia that flowed beyond. She drew it in, cycling potentia into power again and again until her well was full to brimming. The sigil popped fully formed into her mind as she the thought of it, but no¡ªshe dismissed the sigil with a flex of will. Hina could do better than that. There was no need to be impulsive. She was in control, and she would take her time. From her bag, she took out everything that had a chance of helping her: the two earth-aspected beast cores, her wand, and the crisp white paper card with the sigil printed on it. She considered the trinkets for a moment, but decided that they wouldn''t help, not without knowing what they did. Or, perhaps¡ªshe took out the bell and considered it. A bell of unbinding, Olivia had said, though she hadn''t been sure. Maybe if she rang it, it would help Hina to dismiss the sigil if it got out of control. With careful hands, Hina unwrapped the string around the clapper, and set it on the ground in front of her. And then she put the card with the sigil on it directly in front of her, and rested her the wand in her lap. The beast cores she balanced on her folded knees¡ªinside her ambit, just in case she needed them. It wasn''t that she knew that the wand or the beast cores would help, but they couldn''t hurt. The cores were earth-aspected¡ªprobably¡ªand she was working with stones. It seemed appropriate. She also took out her notebook and a freshly sharpened pencil. She put these to one side, within reach. If Hina succeeded, she wanted to record everything. Hina needed to learn its lessons. From the pouch at her belt, Hina took three of the heavy black stones that she''d taken from The Spire and placed them in a triangle around the card. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Glancing at the images on the card, she reached out with her mind, and summoned the sigil. It filled her mind''s eye with complex twisting lines¡ªlines that reminded her of the vines of a thorn bush, or the roots of a tree, coiled into a three-dimensional ball. It hung there dormant, rotating slowly. Radiating its sheer want in waves of rising intensity. When the growing pressure didn''t get a reaction from Hina, the waves began to decrease in strength. It settled into a pattern of rising and falling waves of want as Hina watched it. It wanted power. Hina held it there, looking for a sign that it was going to overpower her, a sign that it could. The sigil didn''t move beyond its constant rotation. It didn''t fight her. Maybe it couldn''t. It gave her a sense of interrogation, of waiting. Hina took a deep breath. She was in control. It couldn''t hurt her. The sigil felt like a well of infinite patience, waiting for her to make the first move. To tell it what she wanted. Hina breathed, and focused on what she wanted to happen. The stone at the top of the triangle, floating. She fed the sigil a trickle of her power. A tiny thread extended towards it. Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit. The sigil flared to life within her mind, rotating faster and faster. It yanked on the thread of power she''d offered it, pulling hard, trying to draw more from her. With a flex of her will, Hina held the thread steady, resisting the pull. Holding to what she was offering, allowing nothing more. She tried to stay calm, reminded herself to breathe deeply. When she was calm again, Hina focused on the stone once more. Up, she visualised. Up. Nothing. Maybe it needed to be within her ambit? Oh. Of course it did. Cheeks reddening, Hina picked up the stone. She rested it on top of her open hand in front of her lap. Not directly under her face¡ªit had a clear path to the sky. Up, she visualised again. Up. The sigil pulsed in reaction, tendrils unfolding within her mind. It pulled hard on the thread of her power, and when it didn''t succeed in expanding the channel, it stopped fighting her, and drew on the thread. Hina had the sense of a cup, filling up slowly as a trickle of water was poured into it. After six heartbeats, the cup was full to brimming and she felt the last drops meet a threshold. A pattern flashed into her mind, empowered, twisting¡ªshe only caught a flash of it, and then it was gone. Replaced by another, which was banished just as quickly. The stone shot into the air with a loud whoosh as it passed her head. It flew up and up, and then it was gone. Hina dismissed the sigil with a flex of her will, and waited. After a moment, she picked up her bag and held it over her head, just in case. The stone did not return. The barrier around her campsite broke with an loud snap. Hina looked around, but nothing else happened. Nothing crashed back into the ground where Hina had been sitting. She put the bag back down. Bean croaked at her, tilting his head to one side. Hina shook her head as she turned to a new page in her notebook. She sketched out approximations of both of the patterns that she''d briefly seen in her mind before the stone had shot up. She wrote down the date, the approximate time of day¡ªmorning¡ªand the location. She estimated the length of time that each pattern had been shown¡ªfractions of a heartbeat¡ªand the timing between the two. And added a drawing of the stone just in case. She would need to try that again before she was sure that the pattern was right. So she did. Hina summoned the sigil again, and fed it a trickle of power, and shot another stone into the air and once more wrote down the patterns that it flashed into her mind. They were the same patterns as before, and between the two sketches, she was pretty sure that she had transcribed them correctly. It was enough for now, time to try something else. Collecting the beast cores that had fallen to the ground, Hina took her position again. She put two more of the shiny black stones on the ground, and held one in her hand. She was going to need to go looking for the stones she''d sent flying, but it could wait. The sigil popped into her mind and Hina fed it a tendril of power. She was ready for the pull now, and held steady. She visualised the next stone¡ªsomething less dramatic this time¡ªfloating in a slow circle around her. The sigil pulsed, tendrils unfurling. It yanked on the thread of her power¡ªit wanted more, much more. Hina resisted, fighting the sigil. After a few moments, the sigil ceased, went still. Nothing happened. There was no sense of a cup filling, just stillness. A sense of waiting. Why did that not work? All she wanted was for the stone to float around her. Was that too complicated? Was it difficult to do? Hina dismissed the sigil while she thought about it. The stone was starting within her ambit¡ªthe other working hadn''t worked until the stone was inside her ambit. But to orbit, the stone would need to move away, and then come back. And when it came back, it would have to do that from outside her ambit. Maybe that was too difficult. But the first time she''d used the sigil, boulders had lifted into the air from well outside her ambit. What had been different? The working had been entirely out of her control, the sigil had been running wild. Maybe it wasn''t a good comparison for what she was trying to do now. Something to ask about at the academy. Working under the assumption that she could only act on the stones while they were inside her ambit, what would be the most useful thing that she could do with them? Slung stones shattering the animated statues in the temple came to mind. If she could use the working to throw them with more force than she could manage with the sling, and without the wind up, that could be a useful weapon. Especially if she could learn to throw them more accurately. Hina summoned the sigil again, and fed it a tendril of power. She visualised the stone in her hand, and visualised it flying through the air, flying forward. The sigil pulsed, tendrils unfurling. The image of a cup filled over the course of a heartbeat. Patterns flashed into her mind, one after the other in staccato sequence. The stone flew forward and smashed into the rockface on the other side of the campsite with a deafening crack, sending a cloud of dust and shattered stone flying in all directions. Bean squawked loudly from his perch nearby and flapped into the air, his wings beating hard. Hina uncovered her face. None of the stones had been thrown her way, luckily. "Sorry!" she called out, but Bean was already gone. Fair enough. That could have gone worse. Better not to chase him, she supposed. Hina wrote down the patterns while they were fresh in her mind. And then she tried it again, aiming further afield, at a pile of rocks about a hundred meters away. The patterns that flashed into her mind were different this time, different in both symbols and sequence. The stone flew through the air, and smashed into the rocks, sending a cloud of dust up. She wrote it all down as best she could. When she tried it a third time, with the same target, the patterns were the same as the previous time. She added speed on the next attempt, willing the stone to fly towards the same set of rocks, only faster, with more force. The image of the cup took half a heart-beat longer to fill, and the patterns were entirely different from the previous attempts. After the third attempt at that same working, she thought she had the patterns recorded correctly. The question was, could she use those patterns herself, without the sigil? Hina dismissed the sigil, and took a deep breath. The working as she''d recorded it consisted of only two symbols, but the sequence was precise and the timing seemed to be important. She practiced the patterns, summoning them one after another in turn until she felt like she''d gotten it right. And then she considered the power. She visualised a cup of power filling up, to roughly the same size as the cup that the sigil had shown her. And then divided it into four equal parts¡ªon her best guess about how the sigil was distributing the power between the individual patterns. With the portions of power ready, she summoned the first pattern and shoved a portion of power into it, and then the second, and then the first again, and then the first one a final time. The timing as close as she could manage to what the sigil had shown her. The pressure of the working built up within her, and Hina focused on the direction that she wanted the stone to go. The stone shot out of her hand, flew through the air and smashed into the rocks. A cloud of dust erupted into the air. Success. Mostly. It had worked, but it was not quite the same. The working had taken her longer to complete, and the stone had flown noticeably slower than it had with the sigil. She supposed that some of the force of the working had been lost somewhere¡ªmaybe the timing was off, or maybe the power distribution. The working had felt unbalanced, somehow. But it had worked. Even if it wasn''t perfect, it was a start. She would need to work out a better solution for practice as she travelled. Some kind of target, maybe. The flour sack stuffed full of something soft and yielding. Maybe she could stuff it with grass. Hina looked up at the sky, the morning was half-gone. She needed to get going. Whistling long and low, Hina wondered if Bean would come back, or if this was it. A lump formed in her throat at the thought of losing him, too. She needed to be more careful. After a few long moments, Hina whistled again, and then she waited. She hoped she wouldn''t have to tell Kai that she''d lost him. An answering whistle came from behind the rocks on the other side of the campsite, and then Bean fluttered down from the sky to land on her shoulder with a croak. "Hey, welcome back," she said. He nipped her earlobe. "Ouch!" she said. "I''m sorry, okay!" "Bad girl!" Bean croaked. "I didn''t mean it! Ow!" She covered her ear with one hand. Bean nipped her thumb. "Hey! I''ll let you know next time, okay?" Bean croaked at her, stopping the attack on her fingers. "Break-fast?" "Fine, fine. Give me a sec." Hina opened up her bag and took out a handful of beans and offered them to the monster clinging to her shoulder. Bean cackled in between bites. 1.52 - Walking south
"Drop the bag," a woman''s voice called from behind her. "And your purse," she added. "Leave ''em on the ground and step back." "What?" "Grant!" A man stepped out from behind the rock face ahead of Hina, crossbow raised and pointed in her direction. "We''ve got you surrounded, lady. Drop your stuff and step back." Hina''s eyes widened. "You''re not¡ªyou''re not going to shoot me, are you?" It wasn''t hard to sound scared¡ªshe was scared. "Hurry up, lady." The voice was impatient. "We don''t have all day." Hina had walked into a dip between two hills with rocky cliffs on one side¡ªthe perfect place for an ambush, or a robbery, she supposed, though it wasn''t a particularly busy road. It was early afternoon, the shadows were long and sharp. She slipped her bag off slowly, turning as she did it to get a look at the woman behind her¡ªthere was another crossbow in her hands. Was it just the two of them then? She looked from side to side and risked a quick glance up to the cliff top, but didn''t see anyone else. "Good, now your purse." Bean shrieked from somewhere overhead. The sigil sprang into her mind as Hina called it, and she extended a thread of power to it. She untied her purse from her belt, and tossed it to the ground with the jingle of Olivia''s coin. Her left hand slipped into the pouch of stones¡ªshe took two, held them in the palm of her hand. "Step back!" the woman called. "Go on, stand on the other side of the road." Hina did as she was asked, standing with her back to the cliff face, facing towards her bag. "Good. Stay there, don''t move," the woman said. The man¡ªGrant¡ªwalked forward and leaned down to pick up Hina''s bag. She could see both of them now. The woman had her crossbow pointed at Hina. Hina visualised what she wanted to happen and opened her hand, palm up. The sigil pulsed within her mind, drawing deeply upon her thread of power as it unfolded. She allowed the sigil to pull her thread wider until it was a broader channel and held it steady there by force of will. The cup filled to overflowing within a single heartbeat. The man straightened, holding her bag and purse. Patterns flashed and twisted in her mind. The stones in Hina''s hand shot out, one after the other, in opposite directions. Hina threw herself at the ground. The bow clunked as it fired, followed by another clunk. There was a wet meaty smack, followed by another, half a second later. Someone screamed to Hina''s left. The sigil was writhing within her mind, pulling hard on the channel of power, drawing more from her against her will. Hina bore down with her will, fighting to dismiss it¡ªthe resistance broke, and the sign disappeared with a pop. Her arms stung as Hina picked herself up off the stony ground. Both bandits were down. The one on the left was still screaming, high-pitched wordless shrieks. The one ahead of her was still. There were two crossbow bolts in the ground near her feet. One angled down like it had come from behind her. A third bandit. Hina jumped backwards and spun around, looking for the final enemy. Her left hand reached for another stone. Nothing was moving on the cliff top. Had they run off? Or were they waiting out of sight to take another shot when Hina''s back was turned? She had to grab her things and get out of here. Hina hurried over to the man lying in front of her, picked up the purse he''d dropped on the ground. She tied it to her belt with efficient, practiced motions. Grabbing her bag by the strap over the man''s shoulder, Hina pulled. It was caught¡ªcaught around his arm. A crossbow clunked behind her, a bolt buried itself in the man''s back with a wet thunk. She barely heard a distant voice say, "Shit!" Hina whirled, caught a flash of a figure in the shade of a rock formation above. Not the sigil¡ªnot unless she had to¡ªshe''d overused it, and it was getting more and more difficult to control. The familiar patterns to throw another stone came together slowly in Hina''s mind¡ªtoo slowly¡ªHina needed to spend more time practicing this. Later. She empowered the working, projected her intent. The stone in her hand went flying up the cliff face. It flew wide of where she''d seen the figure¡ªwho wasn''t there now in any case. They''d ducked down to reload, of course. More crossbow bolts were coming, Hina had to get out of the open. Hina turned and ran, looking for cover. There¡ªa rocky outcrop. She dove behind it, stone chips and dirt went flying as another bolt hit the stone nearby. Another stone in her hand, she risked a glance over the outcrop. The bandit¡ªa woman?¡ªon the cliff-face was peering down the crossbow at Hina. Hina ducked back down as the crossbow clunked. The patterns cycled through her mind as she fed them power, completing the working as she stood with her arm raised high, palm up. The stone shot up the cliff-face, right where she''d been aiming, this time. A yell followed, and a figure slid, fell forward down the cliff. The woman landed nearby with a crash and a clatter of sliding stone. And then there was silence. The first woman had stopped screaming¡ªHina wasn''t sure when. The only sound was the wind, and the birds screeching. A lot of birds screeching. Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. Bean flapped down to land on Hina''s shoulder. "Bad bird!" he croaked. "Bad bird!" The volume of the birds increased a deafening cacophony of flapping and screeching and cawing. Hina ran back to the man who was lying on the strap of her bag and pulled with all of her might. The man shifted, his body turning onto its side as her bag came free. As he moved, his face came into view. It didn''t¡ªit wasn''t the right shape. "Run, girl," Bean muttered. And then his voice rose to a shriek. "Run! Run!" Hina swung her bag over her shoulder and sprinted down the road to the east as the wave of birds descended behind her. When she looked back from a little way up the road, the bodies were hidden by swarms of red feathers. Person-sized carrion birds snapped and fought over the remains. None of them were paying any attention to her now, but when they were done with the corpses? Hina hurried away up the road. It was a shame. Hina was sure that the bandits would have been carrying valuables, things she could have used. Or maybe not¡ªthere were three of them, and Hina had only passed a handful of other travellers on this road. How lucrative could banditry be, given the circumstances? Though, she supposed, the inn-keeper had warned them about bandit season. And the last set of travellers that she''d passed, a husband and wife travelling with a loaded pack-beast, had warned her about bandits in the hills. She hadn''t been sure what to do with the warning. She was obviously going to continue travelling either way. There were no other roads on the map to where she was going. If any one of a number of things had gone differently, Hina would be dead. She''d nearly died. Either from having had all of her supplies stolen while she was much too far from the nearest town, or bleeding out on the ground, pierced in the guts by a crossbow bolt. She had been lucky. And luck was not something that you were supposed to rely on in the wild. Or anywhere. She didn''t believe in it. It wasn''t part of her plan. But Hina didn''t know how she could have been better prepared. The stones and the sigil and the patterns had worked. If she hadn''t had them she would have died. And that was... fine. Fine as a last resort. But they hadn''t helped her to avoid that kind of situation, and they wouldn''t have helped if any of those crossbow bolts had been better aimed. She shivered. A whirlwind of stones would protect her from crossbow bolts. But she was a long way from being able to manage that¡ªdidn''t know of a theory that would let her control the stones outside of her ambit. Maybe if she''d offered enough power to the sigil¡ªbut that seemed like a risky thing to do. And anyway, Hina didn''t have enough stones in her pouch for a whirlwind of stones. But in any case, that wouldn''t do much against a crossbow bolt that she didn''t see coming. Unless she kept it up all the time, which she certainly couldn''t do. Not any time soon. She had to be ready for the next time. She didn''t have any way to detect trouble before it happened. Other than listening to the warnings of fellow travellers. She had to do better. She had to be better. Hina had stopped walking¡ªshe wasn''t sure when¡ªand she was standing still, staring at the road ahead of her. The sound of the birds was dull roar in the distance. A little off to the side of the road, Hina set her bag down on the ground. She took up her wand and made a barrier. And then she sat and breathed. She was faintly aware of large red shapes passing overhead nearby, but she ignored them. Friendly talons pressed in sharp against her shoulder. She ignored those too. Hina breathed. Deep breaths in and out. She was safe within the barrier. She breathed for a long time. Safe. After a while, Bean shifted, impatient. He tugged at her hair and nibbled at her earlobe, gently. She sighed. "Okay, okay." She stroked Bean''s head, turning to look at him. He leaned into her hand. "You did good today. Thank you." "Good bird?" he tilted his head. "Good bird," she agreed. He fluttered over to her bag and pecked at the opening before turning to look at her with his pitch black bird eyes. "Break-fast?" "Okay, sure. We can eat." Bean cackled and hopped out of the way to give her room to open the bag. Hina munched on some of the leftovers from yesterday, dipping her spoon into the pot, while Bean ate from his own bowl, beak clacking againt the ceramic bowl she''d put his food into. She wondered if it was worth going back to search the bodies. The birds wouldn''t have been interested in anything she was interested in, after all. Would they have left by now? She couldn''t hear them anymore. The risk was that the screaming and the screeching had attracted something else, something worse than the bandits and the big carrion birds. Something that might have scared the birds away. Or maybe they were just done. Enough birds like that could strip a body in minutes, that''s what Hina had read. Carrion birds were common in the mountains to the south¡ªthese mountains¡ªbut they were rarely a risk to a healthy traveller, or that''s what the book, Dangers of the Halsea, said. The books weren''t always right. Hina was beginning to realise that now. If she was going to go back, she wanted to do it soon. Before any other travellers came along and took the spoils for themselves. Hina imagined piles of silver shining in the sun. A hoard of stolen treaure that could solve all of her problems. Bean was finishing up his bowl of beans. Hina wondered if he could go and look for her. He could fly and talk, after all. If there was anything nasty waiting nearby, he could fly away. Maybe he could tell her about it. If he could understand the request, that is. Hina still wasn''t sure how much Bean could understand. She looked at him, and he looked back at her, tilting his head. She held out her hand, and he hopped up onto it with a little chirrup. "Good girl," he said. It was worth a try. She took up her bag and stepped across the barrier, which broke with a loud snap. She walked back down the road a ways, and then stopped. She turned to look at Bean, perched on her shoulder. "Bean?" She held her right hand out, and he hopped over to it with a chirp. He looked at her, tilting his head. "Bean, I want you to fly ahead to where the bodies were, and tell me if there are any beasts there now." He looked at her, tilted his head to the other side. "Can you do that?" she asked, feeling foolish. He was just a bird, after all. Bean croaked. He flapped his wings and flew off, flying low to the ground along the road. He was heading in the right direction at least. Hina sat back down to wait. The pouch of stones was feeling lighter on her belt. It was about half full, maybe sixteen or seventeen stones left inside it? She''d lost a few practicing her workings, and a few on the road to Blandmanch. She counted them out, one by one, and then put them back in the pouch. Fifteen stones. Not many at all. Even if there weren''t piles of silver, Hina needed to go back to collect the four stones that she''d thrown at the bandits, if she could. She supposed she could replace them with other stones¡ªshe should be keeping an eye out for suitable rocks as she walked. But there was something about these shiny black rocks that felt special. They felt good in her hands. Heavy, yes, but something more that Hina couldn''t quite put her finger on. There was a depth to them. The thought triggered the memory of Olivia talking about trinkets. And yes, there was a kind of trinket-like depth to these stones, though they felt entirely different to the ring and the salt-shaker. Weaker, perhaps. But still different to a regular stone. She picked up a stone from the ground nearby which was about the same size, though rough and with jagged, uneven edges. It was light by comparison. And less¡ªless deep. Hina felt for her well¡ªfound that she only held a sliver of power, after the fight, after the barrier. No surprises there¡ªit was more power than she''d spent all at once ever before, with the way her well had been growing. Was she able to cycle again today? It would be the second time¡ªshe''d cycled this morning. She''d only managed to cycle twice in one day once before, and she''d been exhausted for a whole day after that. Spreading her feet wide for balance, Hina felt for the potentia in the air around her. She drew it in, cycling one breath at a time until he well was full. The ground looked soft and appealing, but Hina stood, wobbling just a little. The wave of dizziness passed. She heard Bean''s croaking caw before she saw him. He flapped in towards her from her right. "Well, hello. Welcome back." Bean croaked as he fluttered down to land on her shoulder. "Did you find the place? Was there anything there?" "Bad thing," he croaked. "Bad thing." "There was something there?" "Bad bad," he said again. "Bad thing. Bad bad." "Is it coming this way?" "No no," he croaked, "Good girl." "Do I need to run?" Bean tilted his head at her. "Break-fast?" "I guess that means no." Hina passed the bird a roasted bean from her pocket. "Good bird." Bean cackled. "Good bird." She supposed that was useful information. There was something scary where the bodies had been that she would have to run away from, if she was closer. Hina would have to try again in the morning. 1.53 - Almewich
"No thing," Bean said. "No bad. No no." "Good bird," Hina said, tossing him a treat from her pocket. It was early, and Hina''s shadow was long before her as she walked down the road towards where she had left the bandits the day before. She hoped that Bean was right¡ªthat he understood her at all¡ªand that whatever had been hanging around the bodies yesterday was gone for good. Even if there weren''t any valuables left behind, she needed those stones. She didn''t have any way to get more. Last night while she was practising her workings in camp, she had tried to use what she was thinking of as the throwing patterns on an ordinary orange stone she''d picked up from the roadside. It hadn''t worked. The stone had moved like she had gently nudged it out of her hand. Not a throw at all. Nothing like the force she got from the working when she used the shiny black stones. It seemed that the patterns that the sigil had taught her were specific to the kind of stone being thrown. Maybe she could learn new, more appropriate patterns for the orange stones from the sigil. But she didn''t want to try. The sigil was fighting her now, every time she summoned it, and every time she summoned it, it was a little harder to dismiss. Something had changed since she used it to kill the bandits, and she wasn''t sure what. To be fair, it had already started being difficult before the bandits had shown up. It was like the more she used it, the less she could control it. Though she suspected that maybe another round of ambit compression would make it safe again. For a while. And Hina had been working on that, but it was slow going. She had pages of notes on the patterns that she had learned from the sigil over the last few days, but all of them only worked with the black stones. So she couldn''t afford to lose any more of them. And so she had come here, to the side of the road where she''d fought the bandits. There was no sign of the bodies, just a reddish smear on the ground about where they had been, a few tattered scraps of cloth, some long red feathers and a rank smell. The ground was scuffed and clawed in all directions. One of the shiny black stones lay against the cliff face. Hina hurried over to pick it up and put it into her pouch. She searched high and low, behind rocks and in the bushes by the roadside, but she couldn''t find any others. Swallowed by one of the birds, she supposed. Some birds, she''d read, would eat stones to help with digestion. Or maybe it was accidental. But there were no more stones here. She took a feather. It had alternating bands of rich red and orange, and was as long as her arm and wide at the end. And only a little bit bloody. Hina slipped it into her bag, not quite knowing what it would be useful for, only knowing that she wanted it. And then Hina walked back down the road. There was nothing else she could do here, unless she wanted to scale the cliffs and look for the stones she had thrown up there. And she didn''t want to do that. It wasn''t worth the risk of a fall and a broken arm or a broken leg. Hina would just have to make do with what she had.
* * *
Almewich was a small town, as small as Grambe. Hina caught sight of the walls as she rounded a bend in the road on her third day of walking since fighting the bandits. And that in itself was surprising. There was no sign of a hedge or any other natural barrier around the town. Perhaps they compensated in other ways¡ªmore guards, maybe. But so far as Hina knew, Almewich was a small mining town. The gate was manned by two guards, and they let her inside without question. It was mid-morning, and the courtyard inside the gate was quiet. A few people were moving about the square on errands, but nothing like the bustle of Blandmanch. The buildings were all of orange stone and in a different style to Grambe, all of a single level, with clay tiles on the roof. But it was near enough that Hina almost felt at home. Like this was an ordinary day and she was walking to work. Almost. She had a few goals in Almewich: news, and some hint about the location of the Grove, rumours if nothing else. The note had said that it was nearby, but she didn''t want to stumble around in the hills looking for it, not without exhausting her other options first. Second, she wanted supplies for the rest of the journey, and fresh clothes for the city, if she could manage it. And third, a night in a good inn¡ªand a bath¡ªwould be luxurious. Olivia''s coins would surely stretch that far. Hina had a stab of guilt at the thought of spending Olivia''s coin frivolously before she remembered that she was angry with Olivia for leaving her alone. The two thoughts balanced out. And anyway, arriving presentable in the city was important. She didn''t want to be turned away from the gates for looking like a beggar. A warm bath and a soft bed would be a good start. Inside a friendly little bakery, Hina bought a flaky pastry from the chubby Ortinian girl behind the counter, who reminded Hina of herself¡ªif things had gone differently¡ªbut for the pale colour of the girl''s skin. Most of the people in Almewich were like that, pale with dark hair, so much so that Hina felt that she must stand out. But there was nothing to be done about it. The girl at the bakery recommended a tailor''s shop two streets over, and Hina shared her pastry with Bean on the walk. The prices were higher than in Grambe, but more reasonable than what she had found¡ªfor fabrics at least¡ªin the Blandmanch market. Hina picked out fabric for two new work-dresses and one of finer stuff¡ªall in a basic design. She paid in advance plus a fee for a quick turn-around¡ªfive quarter-crowns in total¡ªand was told that she could come back to collect the dresses the following morning. They worked fast in Almewich. At the inn that the girl in the bakery recommended, Hina was given a room with a bath and a bed. She soaked herself clean and washed her filthy clothes, which were tattered and worn from the long journey. She slept until evening, fresh and clean for the first time in a long time.
* * *
Downstairs in the common room Hina paid two pennies for a bowl of stew with bread and two mugs of strong ale. She looked around the room for a likely place to sit and chat to the locals. It was a wide square room with a high ceiling, and a large unlit fireplace off to the side. Too warm for a fire at this time of year. There were a handful of tables and chairs scattered about, without any particular order. She was early, and it was still quiet. Only a few groups of people sat at the tables, and another couple sat on stools by the bar. An older man sat alone in the corner, and Hina walked over to him, holding her mugs of ale. If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. "Mind if I join you?" she asked. The man looked up, eyes catching on the beer in her hands before rising to her face. "Welcome be," he said. Hina slid her second mug across the rough wooden table across to him, and raised her own. "To your health." "And yours," the man replied, taking a sip. "Ah. Good ale," said Hina. "Aye, they do a good job here," said the man. "What is that flavour? Berries? But somehow salty?" "There''s a spikey little berry that grows in the hills out there. Odd taste, but it goes down well." "It grows in the wild?" "Aye. Banate, they''re called. Children go out to pick ''em in the summer. Dyes their little hands and faces blue." "I''m... Lori," she said. "Pavol," the man said, taking a long draw from his mug. He gave a vague circular gesture with his other arm. "What brings you to an out o'' the way place like this one, Miss?" "Just passing through. Headed south. Though I''d love to hear more about the town while I''m here." "Ah. Well, we''re like anywhere else, I''d say. Mines in the hills to the north and under much o'' the town, farm or two to the east. Good folk, mostly, though a few you''d best steer clear of." He took another deep draw from his mug. "Like anywhere." Hina''s bread and stew arrived. She broke up the bread and she dug in with her spoon. Bean hopped on to the table and ate the crusts. "Fine bird you got there," said Pavol. "Thank you," said Hina. "He''s a good companion." "So where are you headed, Miss Lori?" "To the city." "Ah. Most don''t come this way, what with the bandits and the hills. And... it''s not the safest way to travel." "I''m not worried," said Hina. "I can take care of myself." "Ah, I''m sure." "I ran into a few bandits on the road yesterday." "Oh? And you''ve still got your purse. Good for you." Pavol drained his mug and set it down. "Not many folks as can say that." "Any other dangers nearby that I should be aware of?" "Oh, I don''t get out o'' town much these days. But you hear stories, you know. Beasts in the hills, on the roads. Not always the kind wi'' claws and fangs, neither. Children gone missing from the farms. And, well, you don''t want ghost stories, I''m sure." "Let me get you another drink, and then I want to hear all about it." Hina paid a half penny for another mug of ale, and brought it back to the table. "Here you go," she said, setting it down in front of Pavol. "My thanks," he said. "Where to start? There''s an old building out in the hills, not too far from the road, stands all by itself. No beast ever touched it. "Travellers go missing sometimes, nearby. And the occasional townsfolk. They''re never found. And they say that the bandits never go near it." "You''ve seen it yourself?" "Aye. I''ve seen it. Never went inside, though. I''ve heard that it''s haunted. Even from the outside, there''s an evil feel to it." "What does it look like?" "Like an inn, I suppose. Great big stone building with a low fence around a stand o'' trees. Been there as long as I can remember, it''s off the south road, west from the third bend." "Anyone ever go inside?" "Oh, aye. The young ones sometimes boast that they''ve been inside. Dare one another to go in. Some of ''em disappear, never seen again." "Hmm. Anything else?" "Been hearing howls at night, out in the hills. Oh, and one o'' the boys in the mines went missing, few months back. Them that was with him said a shriveled up old woman dragged him away in the night. Probably drunk and fell down a hole, but you never know." "Thank you," said Hina. "I''ll be sure to avoid that place to the south, if I come across it." "Oh, and there''s a standing stone to the southwest. Some say they seen ghosts there, in the dark of night. Just stories, I''m sure." Hina finished her meal and went up to her room to practice and rest. If the Grove was nearby, she would have to be ready for anything. In the middle of the night, she woke and thought she heard howling in the distance. She lay awake for a while, listening, but the sound didn''t come again.
* * *
As she came down the stairs in the morning, Hina heard raised voices from the common room. Her bag was slung over one shoulder, and Bean was perched on the other. "You can''t be serious," said the innkeeper with some heat. "I can''t have you barging in here and searching my rooms. I have customers," he said. "I have a reputation to uphold." Hina stopped, half-concealed behind the stairwell. "We''ve got word that there''s a fugitive in town," said a man''s deep voice. "We''ll be searching Isidoro''s too, don''t you worry." Hina peered around the corner. A guard in a blue uniform leaned against the bar, and another stood by the door. Two more were moving around the room¡ªHina stepped back out of sight. "A fugitive?" "Aye. Murdered some folk up north, they say. Young woman and man together. Leli-folk¡ªyou know, with dark hair and brown skin?" "Well, we ain''t got anyone like that staying here." "All the same, we''ve gotta have a look. You know how it is." Moving as quietly as she could, Hina backed up the staircase and went back to her room. The window was small, but it looked like she could just about squeeze herself through. The hinges creaked as she opened it wide as wide as it would go, leaning out. A narrow alley ran down the side of the building. Empty of people, as far as she could see. But the ground was a long way down. Muttering a prayer to the Preserver, Hina threw her bag down. It landed with a thud and a faint clatter that she hoped no-one would have heard from inside the inn. A normal, everyday sound, she told herself. Bean fluttered out the window, flapping up and circling wide into the sky. The side of the building had a few handholds, a window-ledge here, a drain-pipe there. Hina climbed down, and when she ran out of handholds, dropped down the rest of the way. She landed on her feet, and sharp pains shot up her legs. She shouldered her bag and stumbled down the alley, away from the front of the inn, picking up speed as her legs warmed up. The tailor was a risk, but Hina had paid in advance. Her money might stretch to buying more clothes in the city, but only just. And if she did that, she might be in trouble if there were any other significant expenses. Better to collect the clothes she''d already paid for, so long as they weren''t waiting for her at the tailor''s shop. But they hadn''t known she was staying at this specific inn, so there was a good chance they wouldn''t know about the tailor. She wondered how they''d caught up with her, but Hina shook her head. That was a question for later. When she arrived at the right street, Hina paused, watching. The shop looked quiet enough, no-one was moving around outside. She went inside. The tailor sat at his work table, sewing under a bare electric bulb that hung overhead. He looked up at the sound of the bell over the door. "Ah, yes, Lori, isn''t it? I''ve got your clothes ready. I hope the fit is to your liking, but we''ll make any adjustments you need, of course." "Thank you," said Hina. "I''m in a bit of a hurry, I''m afraid." "No time for a fitting, then?" "Sorry, I''m afraid not. I''ll have to take them now, and make any necessary adjustments myself¡ªor I''ll take them to a tailor in the next town." "Hmm. Well, I suppose that''s fine. It''s your money. One moment." He got up and went to a cupboard, and pulled out a bundle of clothes. "Here you are." Hina took the bundle. "Thank you very much. I''m sure these will do nicely." Bean joined her outside the shop, flapping down to land at her shoulder. "Bad man," he croaked. "Run, run." "Which way?" Bean squawked. "Am I heading towards them?" He flapped up and into the air overhead. Hina didn''t have time to wait. She took off down the street, walking as quickly as she dared. She felt like any minute now, she was going to run into a guardsman and then she didn''t know what was going to happen. Would they even let her through the gate? It didn''t seem likely. But at the same time, she didn''t know of any of the other ways out of this town. She could climb the wall and hope for the best, but knowing where it was safe made that much more likely to succeed. Hina didn''t know anything about this town. Not really. If the gate was closed when she got nearby, she''d have to try the wall, she decided. If it was open and she was stopped, she''d try to talk her way through. Or she''d run if she had to. They wouldn''t follow her too far into the wild, surely. Especially if she ran off into the countryside rather than following the road. It wouldn''t come to violence, she hoped. She didn''t want to hurt anyone. Not without a good reason. But if they cornered her, she didn''t know what she would do. Her hands patted the pouch of stones at her belt, found the handle of her knife. The sigil popped into her head at the barest suggestion. She flexed her will to dismiss it. It wouldn''t come to that. But she was still thinking about it when she reached the gate that she''d come through the day before. The gate stood open, and there were no guardsmen in sight. Relief flooded through her. No-one was going to stop her. She could just walk out. Hina didn''t question it. When she stepped around the corner of the gatehouse, she saw the bodies. They were strewn across the ground in a ragged line near the wall. Three of them, all in blue uniforms. The blood looked fresh, seeping in the hard packed red dirt. Not good. Hina glanced around, both along the road to the south and up into the hills, but she didn''t see anyone moving. Bean fluttered down to land on her shoulder with a croak. There was no sense in waiting around. People would assume¡ªthey would assume what they would assume, and that had nothing to do with her. She walked on. Out of the town, along the road and into the wild. Kai was close, she was sure of it. And Hina was going to find him. 1.54 - The Grove
The building stood at the top of a low hill at the edge of the mountains, south-west of Almewich, which was hidden from view by rocky outcroppings and the trees that covered the hillside. Like the man in the inn had said, a low wall surrounded the building and a small copse of trees grew within its shadow. Twisted and blackened trees with silvery leaves, healthier than most of the trees in the rocky hills, but still not quite right. Hina resolved to steer clear of them. Her palm stung with half-remembered phantom pain, and she rubbed it absently as she walked up the path. The structure itself loomed over Hina, a tall stone building that was almost a tower. Three rows of narrow windows ran up the front of the building, and wings of the building extended to either side, shorter than the main structure, but still tall enough to be imposing. A set of double-doors stood at the top of a short flight of steps. They looked like they was made for a giant, constructed from sturdy dark wood and banded with iron, they rose to twice the height of the door in Hina''s childhood home. The doors were closed. All together, the building tickled Hina''s memory of the Spire, though this one had none of the Spire''s indications of age and ill-repair. For all that those hadn''t extended to the inside. Hina stared up at the doors for a long moment. It had been days of walking since Olivia had left her. Since she''d lost Kai. He was in there, somewhere. He must be. She didn''t know what she would do if he wasn''t. Her sandals scuffed the hard-packed earth path as she walked up to the steps. The air was still and heavy, and the sky was a dull grey, the sun hidden behind the clouds. She hesitated at the end of the hardened earth path¡ªwhich started half-way up the hill, for some reason¡ªand then climbed the stairs up to the door. Each step was just a little bit too high, and Hina took them one at a time, feeling the weight of her backpack and the weapons on her belt. Her arm reached out towards the nearer of the two door-knockers, a distorted face at the end of the metal ring. And stopped short. It was the right place, she could feel it down to her bones. A pull that she couldn''t ignore. Like this place had a gravity all for her. She fished the invitation out of her pocket and read the now-familiar words once again. Something fell out to clatter onto the stone steps with a metallic tinkle. She bent down to pick up the greenish-metal token. On one side, a walled tower. And on the other, a tree with twisted branches. For some reason, she''d forgotten about the token until now. Hina didn''t think Olivia had ever seen it. She held it in her hand, feeling the weight of it. The warmth. The depth of it within her ambit. A sick feeling welled up in Hina''s stomach. But there was nothing for it. Her hand reached out to the door knocker again. Before her hand touched the metal, the door moved. It creaked open, swinging back into the darkness of the building before it stopped, leaving a gap just wide enough for Hina to slip through. Through the opening, shadowy furniture could be seen in a dim room beyond. Cool air wafted out, carrying the scent of dust and rain and something else, a vegetal smell that Hina couldn''t place. If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. "Hello?" Hina whispered. She coughed and tried again, louder. "Is there anyone there?" No answer. Bean gave a low croak. His claws gripped her shoulder tightly, betraying a tension that Hina was beginning to recognise. "No, no," Bean muttered, barely audible. "Bad, bad." He continued to mutter under his breath. His wings flapped, his feathers tickling Hina''s neck. "I know," Hina said, her voice barely above a whisper. "But I have to. Kai is in there." Bean muttered something inaudible in response. Hina hesitated on the threshold, and then shifted her weight to step inside. As she did, Bean''s claws released her shoulder and he flapped up into the air with an alarmed caw. Her heart lurched as she turned to see him fly up and out of sight. He cawed from high above, and then fell silent. Something in Hina''s chest twisted in a hard knot. She was alone again. Everyone had left her. Hina looked back at the door. The open doorway like a half-open mouth, waiting to swallow her up. But she couldn''t go back. The only person she had left was in there. And she couldn''t leave him. She couldn''t live with herself if she did. There was no other choice. She had to go in. And standing here thinking about it wasn''t going to make it any easier. She held her breath and stepped inside. Half surprised to watch herself do it. As she stepped over the threshold, the sense of pressure was immediate, a weight on her skin that echoed into her bones. It wasn''t menacing, exactly, but it was oppressive. This space was not like the world outside. It belonged to something. And whomever it belonged to, they were watching. It was much like she''d felt in the Spire, but amplified a hundredfold. And it made Hina feel like a mouse in a trap. If she could have flown away, she would have. But Hina was here for a reason, she reminded herself. Her feet took another step forward, until her sandals stopped on a richly woven rug over a stone floor. She looked up to a dim, square room with a high ceiling and stone walls. It was filled with clutter. A faint sense of recognition thrummed through her. The unbearable presence faded down to a dull background hum while Hina''s eyes adjusted to the dim light. Apparently Hina was not unwelcome here. Or that was the impression she got. Polished wooden furniture filled the space, tables and cabinets scattered with loose items. A large mirror on the opposite wall reflected Hina and the doorway and the room and the dull grey sky of the world across the threshold. The high windows next to the door were covered with heavy curtains, and the light didn''t have any obvious source. Paintings hung on the left and right walls, each with bright colours and strange shapes that Hina didn''t look at too closely. She hadn''t expected to be let in so easily, not without at least talking to someone. She''d expected someone to be here. For that matter, who had opened the door? The House itself? Did it respond to the invitation, the token? She didn''t know, but she supposed it didn''t matter. Kai was here, somewhere, and she needed to find him. But he wasn''t here. And neither was anyone else. Hallways extended from the two far corners of the room, and a closed door stood under the mirror¡ªa regular-sized door, not like the giant one that Hina had entered through. Hina stood just inside the doorway. She wasn''t quite sure what to do next. She supposed it was like any other exploration. Right-hand first. She''d find Kai eventually. Hopefully before she found anything else. Hina put the invitation back into her pocket, slipping the token back into the envelope. She checked her weapons, hands moving automatically along her belt, weighing stones. She patted her knife, her sling. Her throwing patterns were ready to go at a moment''s notice, after days of practice. And they were deadly if she used them right, she knew that from experience. And the sigil was there. If she really needed it. If she could bear the risk. Hina was as ready as she was going to be. She turned to the right-hand passageway and walked towards it, footsteps slapping against the stone floor, and then muffled against another thick rug. She twisted her hips to pass an end table that jutted out into the walk-way and stared down a long corridor that led off into darkness. Framed pictures lined the walls and closed doors and open passageways dotted the corridor at irregular intervals. Far in the distance, the corridor branched off in two directions. Hina had a sense of vertigo, like the corridor was a pit she could fall into forever. The sheer length of it stretched far beyond the bounds of the building she had entered. But she caught her spiraling panic with a deep breath. This was nothing new. Not really. She could do this. She had to. Hina stepped into the passageway. "Oh fuck, missed my cue," said a faintly familiar voice from the room behind Hina. 1.55 - Conditional hospitality
"Ah. There you are," the voice said¡ªa man''s voice, with gravelly undertones. "And here I thought you weren''t going to show. Serves me right." Hina turned to see a man walk into the entry-room. He wore grey suit and his shaggy hair had been tied back in a long tail, his feet crammed into brown leather boots. Someone had trimmed his ragged beard until it was almost neat. Bruce appeared to be a reasonable approximation of a town councillor, or a wealthy trader. And then his mouth stretched open into a wild grin and the illusion shattered. "What¡ªwhat are you doing here?" Hina asked. She looked behind him, but there was no sign of the wolves that he''d had with him last time, at the Spire. Hina hurried back into the main part of the room, where there was space to manouvre. Where she could back out the door if she needed to. Bruce paused in the doorway. "What''s that supposed to mean?" His grin stayed fixed in place. There were about three metres between them. Hina could hit him with a stone before he could reach her, if she was quick. "But. Weren''t you with¡ª" Bruce held up a hand to interrupt her, shaking his head. "Oh, that. Got a better offer." He strode forward, stopping in front of her, just a touch too close. The lesser sign of guidance popped into Hina''s mind, but she held back. She needed to find out about Kai first. "Now, first order of business," Bruce said. "How the fuck did you get in here?" "I knocked. I have¡ªI have an invitation," Hina said. She dug into her pockets and pulled it out to wave the envelope in the air. Bruce reached out in a lighting-fast movement and snatched it out of her hand. "And it just let you in?" He plucked out the letter and unfolded it, the motion more delicate than Hina would have expected of him. He looked up. "At least let me do my fucking job. Fuck''s sake." His big brown eyes scanned the text. And his eyebrows rose. "Oh, she''s not going to be happy about this." He shook his head. "Well, then. I guess that''s that." He handed the envelope back to Hina. "That''s... that?" Hina wasn''t quite sure what had just happened. "That''s that. Conditionally speaking, you are a guest. All rights and responsibilities as implied." "But. What are you doing here?" "I''m the doorman. Don''t you dare laugh." There was no risk of that. Bruce leaned in conspiratorially. "Still better than the last lot, I tell you what." His eyes narrowed. "Now, is this business, or pleasure?" "Business or... pleasure?" "Girl, what is the nature of your presence within this House?" "I''m¡ªwhere''s Kai?" "Ah. Good. Back on track, then." Bruce''s grin widened. "He''s here," he said. "Or he will be. He''ll be back in time for dinner." "Where is he? Is he okay?" "Keep your trousers on." He looked down. "So to speak. Nora''s taken him on a bit of a walk. Like I said, they''ll be back before dinner." His voice got more serious. "Now. Will you be joining us? Vanh''s been cooking up a storm all afternoon. Oh. I''m guessing he knew you were coming. That puts quite a few things into place." "I don''t think¡ª" "And Missus G''s here too. She''ll want to see you. She''d had quite a few things to say about you. Quite a few things. And plenty of questions besides¡ªyou made quite the impression." "I need¡ª" "Fine, fine. I''ll explain the situation." It felt like Hina was only hearing some of the conversation. "Like I said, that invitation grants you entry to the house as a guest, on the conditions as outlined. Formally speaking¡ªand I''m required to inform you that I''m acting under instructions here¡ªthe house extends its conditional hospitality until noon tomorrow¡ªsubject to further extension¡ªif¡ªand only if¡ªyou consent to share a meal according to the terms of your invitation¡ªgods know where you got that. No ifs ands or buts. And Kai won''t be back for a few hours anyway." His grin grew wider. "Or you can decline, of course, and your conditional guesthood will be revoked. Your choice." Hina looked down. "Fine. I accept." "Delightful. Follow me and I''ll show you to your room." "My room?" "''Accommodations will be provided''¡ªthat''s what it says. In any case, you''ll want to freshen up, change into something a bit." He gestured up with both palms. "You''ll want to get off on the right foot. Dinner is a bit formal for my taste, but what can you do? We''re in a bit of a downturn." "Fine." "Cheer up, love. Situation could always be worse. Come on, follow me." Hina watched as he opened the door under the mirror and began to walk through. And then she followed him down the corridor. He turned twice without hesitation and seemingly at random. Their path should have intersected the other corridor that Hina looked down, but Hina couldn''t say for sure whether it did or not. Nothing looked familiar. In this corridor, at least, there were paintings opposite every door and at every intersection, which Hina did her best to memorise. It was the only point of reference she could find in the seemingly endless maze. They''d turned left at The Frog Ascending, and right at Ghostly Reflections. The paintings were unlabeled, so Hina was making up the names as she went along. She hoped there wouldn''t be too many more turnings. Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator. Bruce stopped in front of an ordinary looking door. "Here we are," he opened the door. "This is you." Hina glanced at the painting outside the doorway first, Tentacles on a Plate. Then walked inside. The window was the first thing she noticed, opening on to a grove of¡ªolive?¡ªtrees, long shadows among twisted and gnarled trunks, branches graced with halos of silvery green leaves. The sky was clear and slate grey¡ªthere was no sign of the heavy clouds that had filled the sky when she''d arrived. The room was furnished with a bed, a wardrobe and a desk with a mirror above it. The walls were painted pale blue, the floor covered with a thick rug. An open door in one of the walls led to what looked like a washroom. "Pretty nice, right?" Bruce said. "Big fella provides. Dinner''s at sunset. Be ready. Until then, feel free to explore the House¡ªyou''re a guest, so nothing too bad''ll happen to you. Someone¡ªprobably me¡ªwill come get you when it''s time for dinner." "Is Kai¡ªis he alright?" "Best wait and ask him yourself, alright? Now, I''ve got better things to do. Sort yourself out, and I''ll see you at dinner." "Wait¡ª" The door closed firmly and a latch clicked into place.
* * *
Hina listened, ear to the door until Bruce''s footsteps faded, and then tried the handle. It was unlocked. The last thing she''d expected was to be invited to dinner, and Hina was off-balance. She''d been expecting a fight. But if Kai wasn''t even here, then there was no point in fighting. So she would go to dinner? She didn''t know what to expect. She wished Olivia was here. Her best bet was to wait and see Kai at dinner¡ªassuming he would really be there¡ªand make a break for it then. Or afterwards, in the night. Hina didn''t know what the House wanted with either of them. Not really. It had definitely noticed her when she entered. But it didn''t seem to be an immdiate threat. Maybe playing along for a while would give them their best chance of escaping together? Or maybe it would get them both killed. There was a presence in the air, a pressure. Less strong, yes, but she could still feel it if she thought about it. The House. And she was deep inside it now. Hina could almost feel the weight of it in her bones. Hina hoped it didn''t swallow her whole. But she couldn''t leave without Kai. She had to find him first. Hina washed off the dirt of the road and changed into her new formal dress. It was dark blue with a long wide skirt and short sleeves. The girl in the mirror looked like someone that Hina didn''t quite recognise. A determined young woman with tawny skin and a worried frown almost baked into her face. And she was thinner than she remembered. Well, no surprises there. The journey had been long and hard. Her hair resisted her attempts to tame it, so she tied it back out of the way. The belt¡ªwith her weapons on it¡ªwent on over Hina''s formal dress. Maybe it was impolite to bring weapons to dinner, but Hina wasn''t going to risk going into a room with either Gerda or Bruce without them. Not a chance. And then she sat on the bed and cycled. The potentia was a raging river and came into her in a rush until she was full of the buzzing power¡ªas full as she''d ever been. The sun hadn''t set yet. Looking at the invitation again, Hina remembered that she needed to bring a present. For the House? The invitation was unclear. But she supposed there were no requirements either. Except that she had to bring something. And giving the right gift could be a big advantage. Getting on the House''s good side might be the only way to get out of here with Kai in one piece. If she was lucky. She had a few options: the bell, the black knife, the book on sacrifice. The trinkets from the temple¡ªthought she didn''t know what they did, and she didn''t want to risk giving offense unintentionally. And she had no intention of parting with the salt shaker, so that was out. The knife was the least valuable, and a good choice for a present. She slid it into her belt. And just in case, she tied the bell around her neck on a length of string, ringer still wrapped so that it wouldn''t make any accidental noise. If, for whatever reason, the knife was unacceptable, Hina had the bell available as a fallback. In the mirror the bell looked like a strange choice for a necklace¡ªa little too bulky, almost like a cowbell. But it was better than not bringing it. And it wouldn''t fit in her pocket. And she was sure that it would be rude to bring her backpack to dinner. No. What she had would have to do. Hina got up and opened the door to her room. The hallway was empty, the tentacles of some sea creature sat there, ready to be eaten in the painting. There was a line of characters carved into the frame of the painting, running all the way around it. They weren''t in any language that she recognised, the characters twisting strangely, like¡ªlike patterns that had been pressed flat. Not as complex, certainly. But the resemblance was a strong one. If you took a pattern, flattened it, and took out some of the smaller, less important lines... Was it writing? Were the patterns a language? Hina shook her head. Not the best time to be thinking about that. She walked down the corridor to the left. At the painting she named Lilacs on fire¡ªwhich also had pattern-characters carved into the frame, she turned right, glancing at the paintings as she walked. Every single one had characters carved in a solid, unbroken ring running right around the picture, whatever it was. Even the paintings that didn''t have traditional frames had characters embedded into the edge of the canvas. It didn''t matter. Hina tried a door at random, the door to the right of A Crow, Murdered. It was locked. She tried another, two turns further along, opposite The Onion Guard. The handle turned, and she pushed the door open. Inside was a small empty room with no windows, with a wide basin set into the floor. It wasn''t dark¡ªnowhere inside the building was truly dark. It was lit with gentle sourceless light, like the everpresent light in The Spire. There was no other furniture in the room. Nothing else, just the basin. Inside it, in a shallow layer at the bottom, a strange liquid shimmered and churned. It moved strangely, like it was being blown around by a breeze that Hina couldn''t feel. It didn''t look like water at all, the movements were all wrong. The liquid called to Hina. Called out to something inside of her. It would bring her power and strength and fullness of life. All of her problems would be gone in a flash. Resolved by overwhelming force. An elixir of some kind? Hina kneeled down at the edge of the basin, watching the liquid move. A strange, sweet smell wafted up from it. "That''s not for you," Bruce said, voice coming from behind her. "What is it?" Hina asked, not turning away from watching it. "It feels powerful." "Deadly, too. Come on, time for dinner." "Tell me what it is." "Not sure it has a name. But I tell you true, if you were to take a sip of that, you wouldn''t survive the experience." "Huh." Hina stood up quickly and turned. A flash of disappointment passed through her and faded. "Are you a werewolf?" It just popped out. "What kind of a question is that?" He sounded amused. "Are you?" "Oh, something like that." "And the wolves¡ªthe wolf-like things that were with you?" "My girls." "Are they here?" "Just Nora." Bruce shook his head, a flash of sadness on his face. "Tzeni and Aleka didn''t make it." "The Sp¡ª" "Do not say that name here. Not now, not ever. Not inside this House." "Sorry." "Get a move on or we''ll be late for dinner," Bruce said. "And Kai will be there?" "''course. Little fella''s never late for dinner. Missus G wouldn''t like that." Hina followed Bruce through the maze of corridors. Left at Black Sun, right at Eggs and Bones and right again at The Talking Tree. She repeated the directions over and over to herself. It was her way out. The corridors were empty, at no point did they pass anyone, or even see anyone else. The only sound was their footsteps on the stone floor of the passage, and the soft, gentle humming of the House, a barely perceptable buzz, constant in the background. The only things in the corridors were the paintings, and the occasional door. The paintings were all different, but each one had an element of strangeness. They weren''t like any of the paintings that Hina had seen in Grambe, but there hadn''t been many of those. Mainly portraits in the town hall. Bruce stopped in front of a door near the end of the corridor, opposite The Sky is Full of Bees. He gave her a look and a nod, and then opened the door. He gestured for Hina to go in first. 1.56 - The dinner party
"Ah. Welcome, dearie." Gerda said from the head of the table. "We''ve been expecting you for quite some time now. I almost thought you''d slipped away." She gestured to the empty seat beside her. "Please have a seat, join us. After all, you are our guest." Gerda sat alone at the head of a table set for six, a glass of red wine swirled in her hand. The room stretched wide and high, with large windows that looked out onto the shadowy trees outside, faintly illuminated by a dangling chandelier¡ªthe only light Hina had seen in the House so far. Paintings lined the walls, and a fire crackled in the hearth against one wall. Out the window, the stars were beginning to appear, bright points of light hanging over the trees. Not at all what Hina had expected. She hesitated in the doorway, then approached the table. The scent of the wine was strong, even from a distance. "Hello, Gerda," she said. She stood awkwardly. Bruce walked around the table and took the seat next to Gerda, a broad grin on his face. He nodded towards Gerda, but didn''t say anything. "Where''s Kai?" Hina asked, looking down at Gerda. "What have you done with him?" Gerda wore fine robes of deep grey, with a silver chain around her neck. Her twisted staff leaned against the table, a gnarled thing of dark wood spun with threads of silver wire. "He''ll be along shortly, I''m sure. No matter¡ªwe have much to discuss." She gestured to the empty seat beside her. "Sit." He was okay, and here. Hina nodded slowly. She supposed she should at least hear what Gerda had to say. "What do we have to discuss?" She pulled out the finely carved wooden chair and sat down. "The matter of your debt, of course." Across the table, Bruce grinned. "Bet you didn''t see that coming." "I had considered that matter to be settled," Gerda said, "but given that you are here, I suppose you are not satisfied with the new arrangement. Hmm?" "I want Kai back. I don''t¡ªwhy did you take him?" Hina asked. "It''s only business, dearie," Gerda said. "When you broke the spirit of our agreement, you forced my hand. I had to take something of equal value. It''s only fair, after all." "Equal value? He''s a child!" "Well, you''re here now, I suppose." Gerda took a sip of her wine. "And I assume you have something to offer in exchange for his return?" "I don''t know," Hina said. "What do you want?" "Kai is settling into his new life rather well," Gerda said. "He''s showing signs of being suited to his new role. Of being a compatible and valuable addition to the house. If you wish to offer an alternative, it would need to be a good one." "Such as?" "Six years of service to the house." That was¡ªHina frowned. "Six years?" Maybe that wouldn''t be so bad. "What kind of service?" "Whatever the house requires, you will do it, without hesitation, question or complaint. Within the terms of a binding contract, of course." Oh. Now she saw it. Binding being the operative word. After which, people like Olivia would consider themselves duty-bound to kill her. Hina could see the edges of the trap, but... "And if I agree to this, you''ll let Kai go?" "Yes, naturally," Gerda said. "We would have no need of him, and he would be free to do as he wishes." Hina shook her head. "I don''t know." Olivia would¡ªOlivia had abandoned her. Abandoned both of them. "I need time to think about this. And a lot more information." "But of course." Gerda''s crinkled face twisted into something like a smile. "That, after all, is why we are here¡ªto eat and drink and to talk freely. And you are welcome to stay the night, and I will make myself available for further discussion in the morning. Better not to deal with these matters before dinner in any case." The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement. "But wait, you want me for six years, but Kai¡ª" Hina said. "How long will Kai be here if I decline?" "As the matter stands, Kai will remain in service to the House for the rest of his life," Gerda said. "Such are the terms of his agreement." "He agreed to this?" "Oh, yes." "But you''re willing to let him go if I agree to serve for six years? Why?" "You''re not Kai, my dear," Gerda said. "As it stands, you have greater immediate value to the House." Hina frowned. "What does that mean?" "Kai is a child, as you say. He may grow into a person of power some day, who can know the future? Not I. While you have demonstrated potential and power both, even if you still have much to learn." The door to Hina''s right opened, and Kai walked in, followed by an umber-skinned young woman who walked over to the table and took the open seat next to Bruce. "Hina?! What are you doing here?" Kai stopped in his tracks, staring. "Kai!" Hina stood and ran to him, throwing her arms around him. "I''m so glad you''re okay!" She held him back to check him over¡ªhe appeared unharmed beyond a few scrapes and bruises. She pulled him in and hugged him again. Kai held her tight. "You gotta go now, Hina," he whispered in her ear, sounding urgent. "You gotta get out of here." "No. I''m getting both of us out," she whispered back. And she meant it. She''d find a way. "Be ready." She pulled back, walked back to the table and sat down. After a moment, Kai sat down next to her. "Well then, here we are," Hina said, awkwardly. "What now?" "We are waiting for one more," Gerda said. "Ivan will be along shortly." "Kai¡ª" Hina started. "¡ªLet''s wait for Ivan before getting into it, shall we?" Gerda interrupted. "It''s only polite." "Don''t be rude, Hina," Bruce said with a grin. "This magnificent young woman is Nora," he said, pointedly, gesturing. "Sorry," said Hina. "Pleasure to meet you, Nora. I''m Hina." The woman next to Bruce nodded back to Hina. Her thick dark hair was trimmed into a finger-length layer over the top of her head, and she wore a simple white blouse and a long grey skirt. She smiled at Hina with a hint of amusement. "Greetings. Hina, your brother has told me much about you." An older bald man walked in from the left, carrying a big covered serving dish with both hands. His white mustache matched his bushy eyebrows, and he wore a white shirt with the sleeves rolled up, and grey suspenders. A familiar man, though Hina couldn''t place him right away. He set the dish down in the center of the table, reaching around Kai. "Be very careful, it''s hot. I will return in a moment." He came back carrying two baskets of fresh bread rolls, one for either end of the table, and then lifted the lid off the dish in the center. It all smelled savoury and delicious. "Hina, I''d like to introduce you to my husband, Ivan." Gerda directed a hard look down to the end of the table where he pulled out a chair and sat down between Kai and Nora. "Whom, I believe, you''ve met already?" Faint disapproval was clear in Gerda''s voice. It reminded Hina of her own mother. And then Hina made the connection. The man in the bakery. "Hello, Ivan," she said. "It''s nice to see you again." "Welcome, Miss Gardiner. Welcome, welcome. And congratulations on making it this far." He winked at her. "You''ve done very well indeed." "Uh, thank you?" She hurried to add, "this all looks great, did you prepare it yourself?" Wall''s Dinner Party Etiquette says that you should always compliment the cook. And she was beginning to feel more than a little out of her depth. "Yes, yes. Just a simple meal tonight. But I hope you enjoy it." "He''s been in the kitchen all afternoon," Bruce said. "Working up a storm. I think he knew we had guests coming." "Did you know I was coming?" Hina asked, thinking of the metal token in her pocket. "How did you know?" "Oh, just a small premonition, a hunch as it were. Gifts of the House. A good broth takes time. And I do like to keep busy." "Indeed," Gerda said, frowning. "No matter. It is a pleasure to be able to share the bounty with so many after so long. A prosperous sign for the future of the house." Gerda sipped her wine. "So, what''s for dinner?" Kai asked. He sounded younger somehow. "Soup. Black olive and lamb," Ivan said, "with taminroot and a few other things. The rolls are fresh-baked, though I must admit that they are a little overproofed. It is my sincere hope that since we have an expert on hand, I can persuade her to be of some assistance. Perhaps some pointers after dinner, if that suits, Hina?" "Uh, sure," Hina said. "I''d be happy to help. It''s been a long time since I''ve had a chance to use an oven." Even if it was a really strange time to be baking. "Good, good," Ivan said. "I''ll hold you to that." He smiled, and then turned to Gerda, who nodded. "For now, please, everyone go ahead and eat." Bruce stood began to serve the soup, filling bowls from the large dish in the center of the table. He passed them around, and then sat down again. Nora filled everyone''s glasses with red wine, and refilled Gerda''s glass. When the glasses were filled and the soup was served, Gerda stood, raising her glass. "To the glory of The House," she declared in a loud voice. "May its roots grow deep, may its branches spread wide, that it may share its bounty with all, and bring life to this world and every other." Her words had the ring of a ritual. Gerda drank deeply from her glass, then set it down. Everyone else raised their glasses and drank, like this was a regular occurrence. Hina hesitated for a moment with the glass to her lips, then took a sip. It filled her mouth with an overpowering harsh taste, which faded to a cool sweetness as she swallowed. It left her feeling warm and a little dizzy. And thirsty for more. Hina set her glass down. 1.57 - Small talk
"So Kai, what have you been up to?" Hina asked, turning in her seat slightly in what she hoped was an appropriate way. She sat at the table with Kai, Gerda, Bruce, Ivan and Nora, like this was just another uncomfortable dinner party with her parents and their friends. Except they were in the House. Her knuckles were white as she gripped her spoon, which held a white smear of soup. Kai set his glass down and looked at her, a little smile on his face. "I¡ªa lot of things," he said. "Working in the garden." He nodded to the window. "There''s vegetables growing out there at the edge of the trees. And helping Mr. Marlow in the kitchen. And Nora"¡ªhe looked across the table at her¡ªshe smiled and nodded. "Nora''s been taking me exploring." "Exploring where?" Hina tried to hide her concern, lifting her spoon to her mouth. The soup was creamy and salty, delicious. "Under?" Kai glanced at Nora. "Under the house. There''s a whole bunch of tunnels and rooms under there, and sometimes they connect to other places. Stranger places. Like, uh, before. But different." "The House is vast and full of wonders," Gerda said with a nod. "It stretches across the void and beyond. Its doors lead to many places." "Does it really lead to other w-worlds?" Kai asked. "Other worlds, other places, yes." "Is that safe?" Hina asked. Her next spoonful of soup had a shriveled black olive in it, and she chewed it slowly, savoring the salty taste. "Certainly not. But there is much of value to be found by those who are willing to take the risk. And The House protects those who serve." "Like Kai?" Bruce shook his head, grinning, but didn''t say anything. "Like Nora," Gerda said, "who has been charged with Kai''s guidance until he consents to join the House." "How many worlds are there?" Kai asked, a dreaminess in his voice. He sipped from his glass of wine. "Hundreds, thousands of worlds. More," Gerda said. "The simple truth is that we do not know. There are a handful that the House touches directly, and the ways between its branches are known and well-travelled. "But we know of others that may be reached from those worlds, and more that can be found within the House only on rare occasions." "Those who die in service to the House may return to life once more, reborn amongst those other worlds," Ivan said. "If the House is pleased with them." There was a strange note in his voice. Hina shook her head. "How can you know that?" "It has happened, many times," Gerda said. "And it is a great honour to be chosen." "Has it happened to you?" Kai asked. "Don''t be rude, Kai," Nora said. "You know better than that." "Yes, child." Gerda smiled tightly. "You must never ask a lady if she has died and been reborn. It''s simply not polite." "Sorry. I didn''t mean to be r-rude." Kai looked down at his plate. "It is forgotten," Gerda said. "And to answer your question, no. Not I. But I have seen it firsthand." She frowned and looked away. "But¡ª" Hina wasn''t particularly interested by that. "Kai has been to other worlds?" she asked. That didn''t seem like a good thing. "Yes. World-travel," Nora said, "is excellent training¡ªit strengthens the soul." "I have?" Kai asked. "I thought¡ª" "Wait, so when we were in the Spi¡ª" Hina began. The air went tense. The smile froze on Bruce'' face. "¡ªdo not say that name here," Gerda interrupted. "You should know better than that." She turned to glare at Bruce who threw up his hands. "You should have been better instructed." "Sorry," Hina said. "I didn''t mean to¡ªcan I talk about them generally? The Houses?" Hina asked. "No names. Not within this House, but yes. You may speak in generalities." "Does all of this mean that beneath the¡ªthe other House, if we had travelled far enough, we would have reached other worlds?" "Perhaps," Gerda said. "If you persisted long enough, or the House was willing to guide you¡ªa rare occurrence, except for those who serve. For most, the resistance is too great, and they are turned back before crossing any thresholds." Hina was thinking of the graveyard on the edge of a village that she''d never gotten to see. Of an unfamiliar night sky. "Are they the same other worlds that can be reached from this House?" "It is possible. The well-travelled paths are unique to each House, but there have been cases of Houses sharing destinations." "Are they¡ªare the Houses in every world?" Kai asked. "No, child," Gerda said. "Working to expand the reach of the House is one of our greater tasks as its servants. A task that will require your assistance, should your sister choose not to join us." Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. Hina took another spoonful of soup. An olive rolled over in her bowl, the wrinkled skin looked almost like a shriveled up face. "And that''s why you need more people to join the House?" Kai asked. "To expand the House?" "Yes. Our presence here is small¡ªas you can see, we have been greatly reduced by the... losses of the past¡ªand we are stretched thin. We need more servants, more powerful servants to help us," Gerda said, looking at Hina. "And more souls of every kind to help the house grow." "Why are there so few of you?" Hina asked. "The House has only recently woken," Gerda said. "It has been asleep for decades, dreaming, guarded by a bare few. But now, it is awake." "And it has been here all along?" Hina asked. "So close to¡ªthe city?" "This is but one branch among many," Gerda said. "Our seat of power was once far from here, but the House has grown and changed during its great rest. Now it is here." "And it needs more people?" Kai asked. "More... souls?" "Yes. It needs more souls to help it grow strong, more souls to help it protect itself. More souls of every kind." Kinds of souls? "What kinds of souls are there?" Hina asked. "Kinds is perhaps not quite right word." Gerda set her glass down. "Souls start out as a tiny spark of light and power at the moment of birth, and grow throughout the course of a life. Some grow more than others." "And the souls of the eldest are the most valuable?" "Often. Experiences can increase soul-strength, like working with power, or world-travel. And a talent for the arte often comes from an unusually strong soul. This kind of talent in the young can lead to a lifetime of exceptional growth, given the right resources." "And the House needs strong souls in those that serve it?" Hina asked. "Why?" "The stronger the servant, the most they can do for the House. And the better they can represent its interests." "And how do they represent its interests?" Hina asked. "Say, I were to join the House, what would I be expected to do?" "Hina," Kai said, quietly. Gerda smiled. "Like I told you before, you would be expected to serve the House in whatever way it requires. You would be expected to help it grow, to help it protect itself, to help it expand its reach. To travel through the ways and bring back knowledge, power and more willing servants." That didn''t sound so bad, but¡ª "Why¡ªwhy does Om Qalar oppose the Houses?" Hina asked. "Why do the other practitioners?" "Why do you think?" Gerda said. "The Houses are not united, but are collectively the greatest check within this world on Om Qalar''s power. On the power of the practitioners. "While the powers of this world seems to want to kill us and ours at every turn, we only want to co-exist. To live in peace. To challenge the world and its peoples to grow." "But Om Qalar specifically¡ªthe Houses are its greatest opponent? Not the other cities?" "Yes. Until Om Qalar, the cities and the Houses existed in a kind of balance. Not allies, but neither were we enemies. But the monarch in Om Qalar has changed that. And we can only respond in kind." "But you were okay with me joining the Academy?" Hina asked. "Or you didn''t seem bothered by it last time we met." "Oh, no dear, not at all. We take a pragmatic view of these matters. If you were to join the House, nothing would change in that regard¡ªon a foundational level, the Academy''s training is excellent by any standard. The House would be more than happy to fund your tuition, provide you with a stipend, and ensure that you are placed in the correct classes. "And of course we would provide additional instruction above and beyond what you can learn in the city." "Specific workings, like the ones you already gave me?" Hina asked. "Or¡ª" "And personal instruction in the arte, yes." Gerda smiled. "It has been many years since I have taken a student, but I am confident that I could teach you much. Your path to this point reminds me of my own, after all." "Huh." Hina took another spoonful of soup. "That sounds pretty good." Almost too good. "And all that in exchange for six years of service?" "You would, of course, be expected to represent the interests of the House within the city during your studies," Gerda said. "What would that look like?" "Our representative within the city would have the occasional task for you, but nothing too onerous. An hour or two a month, perhaps. Officially speaking, your service to the House would not begin until after graduation. And after your mandatory Qalarian military service, though that too can be minimised with our assistance. Perhaps a sinecure in the city, or a position within a foreign embassy. It will depend on the needs of the House and the availability of positions at the appropriate time." Hina nodded slowly. "That doesn''t sound too bad," she said. "I''m still going to need some time to think about it." "Can I ask you a question?" Kai asked. Gerda nodded. "What would they do to her? At the academy, if they found out that she was a servant of the House?" Gerda''s smile was tight. "At minimum, they would expel her, and she would be forbidden from returning." "And worst case?" "Her life would be forfeit." "Wow." "Indeed," Gerda said. "The Academy is a dangerous place for us and ours. But it would not come to that¡ªwe have ways of protecting our own." "Like what?" Kai asked. "Hina will find out, if she chooses to join the House," Gerda said. "But I will say this: the House is generous to those who serve it. None regret their choice." She stared along the table, looking at each of them in turn, stopping to linger on Ivan. "Not one." After dinner, Ivan, Nora and Bruce cleared the table and moved into an adjacent room through the door to the left, presumably the kitchen. Leaving Gerda, Hina and Kai alone at the table. Gerda poured herself another glass of wine and then cleared her throat. "Now, Hina. In the invitation that," she frowned, "the House extended towards you, I believe you were asked to bring a gift." "Yes, I¡ª" Hina trailed off. "I brought several items of interest. Can I ask for your advice on which is most appropriate?" "No, you may not." Gerda smiled a cruel smile. "Make your choice, and deal with the consequences. Consider this your first test." A chill ran down Hina''s spine. The bell, or the knife? Which was a better gift, given what she''d seen of the House? Would the knife be offensive, given its history? Or would it come across as a trophy, a sign of her strength¡ªshe''d taken it from a strange god''s temple, after all. And the bell was beautiful and valuable, and perhaps useful. A bell of unbinding, if Olivia was right. A powerful trinket, but perhaps not the right message for a gift. She faintly wondered what the bell would do to someone who was performing a working. Or a ritual. Would it make them lose control? Or would it only break an active working, like the illusion over the door under the Spire? She shook off the irrelevant thought. The knife seemed more appropriate. The knife was the better choice. Yes, the knife. She took it from her belt and handed it to Gerda, held it out with two hands. It felt more respectful that way. "A gift for the House," Hina said. Gerda looked at it, frowning. She did not move to take the gift. "Tell me, girl, what is this?" "A sacrificial knife," Hina said. "Taken from a temple to one of the strange gods." On a whim, she added, "Stolen by my own hand." It was more or less true. Mostly. A smile spread across Gerda''s face. "A fine selection. I accept this gift on behalf of the House." She took the knife. "You have done well, Hina. I am pleased. The House is pleased." Hina smiled back. "Thank you." She felt a little thrill of pride and relief. And then bit it down. She still wasn''t sure whether she wanted to impress these people or not. "Do you need anything else, beyond your time to consider? Any further questions for this evening?" Gerda asked. "Otherwise you may retire to your quarters. I will send my man to escort you." "May I have a moment to talk to Kai?" Hina asked, looking at Gerda. "Alone?" Gerda studied her for a long moment, then nodded. "But of course. I''ll be in the next room if you need anything." She stood, took up her staff and walked through the door to the right. 1.58 - Escape plan
Gerda disappeared through the door to the right, and then Hina was alone in the dining room with Kai, for the first time in a long time. She hope that sound didn''t carry to the adjacent rooms, that nobody was listening in secret. But she couldn''t be sure. She couldn''t hear anything from the other rooms, which was something, at least. They''d have to risk it. "I''m so glad you''re okay," Hina said, speaking low and leaning in close. "When you disappeared¡ªhow did you even get here?" Kai wrapped his arms around her, and Hina hugged him back. "I''m okay. I''m okay," he matched her volume. "You, you''re okay too?" "I''m fine. I was so worried about you. Olivia¡ªher mother said you were dead. That we had to leave you behind." Kai shook his head. "You should have." He looked down. "You shouldn''t be here." "What happened, Kai?" "Bruce and Gerda came to see me while you were off with Olivia," Kai said. "They said I had to come with them. That if I did, I might be able to join the House, and that would solve all of our problems: they''d forgive your debt, make sure you got to the academy, get the authorities to let you go if you needed it. "And I''d get to learn how to fight, get to explore the corridors, find treasures, fight monsters. See¡ªsee the world. Other worlds. They said that I''d get to see other worlds, Hina." "And¡ª" "I thought that sounded pretty good. Like exactly what we needed. What I wanted. I said yes." "But you haven''t¡ªhaven''t joined the House yet? You haven''t made a pact? Gerda said¡ª" "Not yet. They wanted me to wait first. Until I was sure. That it was what I wanted. That it had to be my decision." "What happens if you decide not to join?" "I have no idea. I don''t think¡ªI don''t think they''re going to let me go." "Do you think they''re telling the truth, about all of that stuff?" "I don''t know," Kai said. "They''re scary. All of them are scary people. But it''s different from when we met Gerda in the woods¡ªdifferent from when we met Bruce, too. I feel like I''m safe here, like I''ll be okay. So long as we don''t betray their trust. "Hosp¡ªthe rules are a big deal here. They take them seriously, even if they won''t tell you what they are¡ªyou''ve gotta work them out yourself. But nobody will hurt either of us, or allow anything bad to happen to us, so long as we don''t break faith first." Hina nodded slowly. "I think I understand. Do you want to stay? Is this really what you want, Kai?" "It''s not that. It''s just that I think this is what we need. I think this is what I need to do. So we can both be safe." "But it''s not what you want." Kai shook his head. "I don''t know." "Have they killed anyone else? While you''ve been here." If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. "Some people. Soldiers in the corridors below. Beast-people, mostly¡ªI think they''re people, right?" Hina shrugged. "And Bruce¡ª" "He''s pretty terrifying," Hina said. "Ellia was... she was found dead at the campsite. I found her body when I was looking for you." "I know." Kai sighed. "Or I was pretty sure. I''ve been trying not to think about it. About her. I¡ªI really liked her. She was nice to me." He sniffed. "I''m sorry." "They''re¡ªit''s not too bad when you''re on the same side," Kai said. "You can almost forget that they''re monsters. That they kill people." "And Nora? She''s been looking after you?" "I like Nora. I think she''s like Bruce, though. I don''t want to get on her bad side. But Nora is nice to me. She''s been showing me how to fight. She gave me an axe¡ªa big one on a pole, and she''s been teaching me how to use it." "Did you have to fight anyone? Beast-people?" Kai nodded. "It was like when we were in¡ªthe other place. Scary, but over pretty fast. I think I killed one of them." "And you''re okay with all of that?" Hina gestured widely. "All of this?" "No! I don''t know. I just¡ªI don''t know if I can do anything about it. Not right now. I need to get stronger, to learn how to fight properly. And to learn how to use power. And I can do that here, I can learn to do all of that. It''s just so much." "Kai, I''m sorry." The funny thing was, she almost felt exactly the same way. It was just wrong, coming from Kai. Worse, somehow. "I''m sorry I left you alone. I should have¡ªI should have brought you with us." "It''s not your fault. I chose to come here. I chose this." "If I hadn''t¡ªif I hadn''t brought you here from Grambe¡ª" "I wanted to come. We talked about this, it was bad for me there too. You know that, right? I couldn''t stay." He sniffed. "We left for me as much as for you. You know that. We both do." "Still. I''m sorry." "It''s okay. I''m not mad at you." His voice was thick. "I''m just¡ªI''m just scared." "I know." Hina paused for a moment. "If¡ªif I had a plan, for getting both of us out of here, would you want to try it?" "No." Kai shook his head, shook it again. "No. We can''t. No¡ªwhat is it? What''s the plan?" "I know the way out," Hina said. "The plan is: you come to my room tonight, and then we run away. And we kill anyone who tries to stop us." "That¡ª" He gave a half laugh. "That''s not much of a plan, Hina." "Best plan''s a simple plan." Hina shrugged. "It''s what I''ve got." Kai hesitated for a long moment. "If they¡ªif they catch us, they''ll kill us. For sure this time. They won''t try to talk us into joining the House¡ªwe''ll be dead." He paused. "The people they fight down there, they take them somewhere if they can. They don''t kill them right away. They use them for something. That will be us." "We''ll just have to make sure they don''t catch us," Hina said. "And¡ªI have a few new tricks now. We won''t go down without a fight. Promise." "That''s not¡ª" Kai shook his head. "What happened to Olivia? You said you met her mother? And Bean? Are they¡ªare they okay?" "They''re safe. They''re both safe. Olivia will meet up with us in the city. She, uh. Her parents¡ªafter you went missing and we got the note. They made her go with the caravan the rest of the way to Walton. She''s catching the train to the city." "What happened?" "She tried to ask them for help. It didn''t work out. But we''ll see her again later." "And Bean?" "He''s outside. Didn''t want to come inside the House. He''s waiting for us." "I get that. It feels¡ªit''s strange in here, heavy." "Yeah." Hina paused. "What do you think?" "Do you think it''ll work? If we try your plan?" "I don''t know. If we can get out of here, I think we can make it the rest of the way to the city on our own. And we should be safe from them there." Hina shook her head. "You heard what Gerda said about the city. Someone there will be able to help us, I''m sure of it. "I don''t know if we can do it, but I think we should try," Hina said. "I don''t think being here is good for you, or good for anyone. We have to try." "What''s the worst that can happen, right?" Kai''s voice sounded brave, but his eyes were wide. "We die?" "Exactly," Hina said. "I''d take death over service¡ªeternal service¡ªto this place any day." It felt true in the moment, at least. "I''m getting you out of here, Kai." Kai nodded slowly. "Okay." "Okay?" "Let''s do it." "Tonight?" "I''ll come to your room around midnight. Be ready to leave then." "I''ll be ready. You know how to find it?" "Which room is it?" "Outside the door there''s a painting of a plate of food, with tenacles chopped up on it, ready to eat. Do you know the one?" "I know where that one is. I''ll come and find you." "Which room are you staying in?" "Uh, it''s a painting of a tree-house, on fire. But it''s a long way from here¡ªabout six turns. I dunno how to explain it." "You better not be late." Hina wiped her face, which was wet. "I''ll be waiting." 1.59 - The hand upon the wheel
Kai led Hina through the door to the left, along a short corridor and then up to another door. "They''ll be in here," he said. So there had been little risk of being overheard, unless they had some other way of listening in. Hina hoped not. The Ocean in a Copper Bowl hung across from the door. Kai turned the handle and opened it. The room beyond was an industrial-style kitchen, the kind you might see in a larger tavern or inn¡ªlike the big one by the main gate to Grambe, where most of the travellers stayed. Hina had worked a few shifts there, before starting at the bakery. The fittings were modern, all electric appliances, shiny wooden surfaces and dark grey tiles. Bruce and Nora stood before a running sink, facing away from the door. Ivan sat at a round table in the middle of the room, reading¡ªa newspaper? Hina had no idea where he would have gotten one. "Ah, there you are," he said. "I was beginning to wonder if you''d gotten lost." "I''m going to help clean up," Kai said. "We''ll talk later?" "Of course," Hina said. "I''ll see you at¡ªat breakfast." "Yes, yes indeed." Ivan stood, folded the paper and set it down on the table. "It is time for us to have a little talk, isn''t it?" "Did you say you wanted help with baking?" Hina asked. "Even if it''s a little late." "Ah, well. Let''s take a walk." He gestured to the door. "Yes. We have much to discuss." Hina''s brows furrowed and she shrugged. "Okay, I guess."
* * *
Ivan led Hina down the corridor to the right, through what appeared to be an ordinary living room, with a fireplace and leather couches, and out another door into a small courtyard. The night sky above them was streaked with green¡ªunlike any sky Hina had ever seen. The thin man disappeared into another door while Hina was looking up. She hurried to catch up. They turned left at Crowned Oak and right at Half Moon before Ivan stopped at a door before Lake of insects. He walked inside without hesitation, and Hina followed. The room was lined with bookshelves and a large desk sat in the center. Behind it a window looked out onto dark trees. No lights in the sky, just stars. On the desk was a large bowl, filled with water. Hina stared into it as Ivan sat down behind the desk. The longer she looked the more the image in the water resolved into something recognisable¡ªalmost a reflection, but the view was from above, looking down on the room. Looking down on her. Ivan snapped his fingers, and the image disappeared. "Please, sit," he said. Hina sank into a richly upholstered chair across from the desk. "What was that?" "Please, focus. We don''t have much time." "What? What was¡ª" "Whatever you''re planning, put it out of your mind." The scattered old man was gone for the moment, replaced by a confident, commanding figure. He sat straight-backed in his chair in his perfectly pressed grey suit. "You can''t oppose her. Not yet, not now. She''s vicious when crossed," he said, his voice taking on a note of admiration. "Truly magnificent when slighted. A wonder to behold. But such would destroy you. And in any case, you needn''t worry. You are under the protection of the House. I made sure of that. And I can ensure that protection remains as long as it is needed." "But¡ª" "Your brother, however," he continued, ignoring Hina''s protest, "has no such protection. I must confess that I didn''t expect him to join us. Didn''t learn of him until it was too late. One can''t account for everything. And the House... Well, the House wants what it always wants, wet the roots, feed the leaves. It takes what it can get. I''m sure you understand the problem. You''ve done remarkably well to this point, all things considered. And with only the barest of nudges here and there. But now, well." He tapped his long nose with a finger. "Be careful. Be very careful." Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. Hina''s heart pounded in her chest. "We aren''t¡ª" "Of course you aren''t planning anything. That would be foolish." He gave her a half-smile. "And you aren''t foolish, are you?" Hina looked up, met his steely gaze. "I don''t know what you''re talking about." She almost believed it herself in the moment. There was just so much¡ªall she could do was react. "Hmph. Allow me to be perfectly clear. Don''t act against her. Don''t act against the House. You''ll regret it. I promise you that. The House always gets its due. Blood to the heart. It always¡ªit always comes out ahead." He barked out a laugh. And then another, which extended into a mad cackle. He put a hand over his mouth. "Ah. My apologies. I''m not yet quite myself," he spoke slowly through his fingers. "Haven''t¡ª" He stopped talking abruptly and stared into the distance over Hina''s shoulder. There was nothing behind Hina, following his gaze led to a bare wall. The hair on Hina''s arms stood on end. The twisted lines of the sigil popped into Hina''s mind unbidden. It reached out within her mind, wanting. Almost comforting¡ªa promise of power, of safety. She pushed it away, bearing down with her will until it disappeared with a pop. Ivan visibly gathered himself and then dropped his hand and continued speaking, as if the lapse had never happened. "None of this, none of it is how it should be. Not I, not the House. In my time, the halls were filled with hundreds of us, servants and supplicants both, all under the watchful eye of the House. We were strong, and powerful, and we held true to the compact¡ªnone of these underhanded dealings. But she ended all of that. And look at us now. A tattered remnant of what we once were." He sighed. "But you, you are just what we need. And the House is with us. I''m sure of it. Just you wait, bide your time and it will all work out for the best, you''ll see." Sweat beaded on Hina''s forehead. She nodded slowly, not trusting herself to speak. It was too late, after all. They''d already made their choice. There was a knock at the door. "Ah. That will be the help. I''ll have to leave you to it now. But remember what I said. Take your time and think things through." He stood and walked to the door, opened it and stood back with a hand on the handle. "Good evening, Nora. I trust you have everything in hand?" Nora''s brow wrinkled. "Yes, sir. I think so. I''m just here to escort Hina back to her room." Hina looked between the two of them. A tension hung in the air, but she couldn''t place it. "Come on then," Nora said. "It''s a bit of a walk, I''m afraid."
* * *
Hina stepped into her room and closed the door behind her. Her bag was leaning against the bed where she left it. Judging by the night sky, she had at least a few hours to wait. It would be better not to sleep. She sat down on the floor by the bed, legs crossed beneath herself. The House was strange, and not at all like she''d expected. Scary, yes. But less threatening? Or was that was only because it was trying to recruit her? It almost felt like she belonged here. Like they were trying to make her feel welcome. Hina almost felt bad about lying to them all. Almost. And then she remembered the hunting and the killing and her skin crawled. Bruce was a monster, and Gerda wasn''t any better. Probably. Ivan had an edge to him, too. He was¡ªsharper than she''d thought at first. More dangerous. The House supported them against Gerda, he''d said? Hina didn''t know what to make of that. But he certainly wanted her for something. Had been watching all along. Hina shivered. Even if no-one was threatening them now, she didn''t want to be a part of this any longer than she had to. She definitely didn''t want Kai here, fighting on behalf of people like Gerda, spending time with people like Bruce. He didn''t deserve that. Kai certainly didn''t deserve to take Hina''s place here. If it was the only way to keep Kai safe, she supposed she could do it. But only if she had to. If there was no other option. Access to more workings, more knowledge, more power. She could see the appeal. And what was all that about souls? Gerda had implied that the House wanted strong souls in its servants. The book¡ªRitual Sacrifice¡ªhad said that a stronger soul meant more power. And they''d taken Kai across worlds right away to build the strength of his soul. Was that it? Was that why the House wanted her? Was that why it wanted Kai? Or was it really an investment in better servants for the future? If souls developed over time and with experience, she supposed she could see the value in finding younger people with strong souls. But the other possibility was too terrifying to ignore. They had to get out of here. Both of them. Down the corridor to the right, left at Ghostly Reflections, right at The Frog Ascending and straight until they reached the door. Nora had shown no sign of hesitation on the walk back. It can''t be that hard to find the way out. Hina would find out soon enough. She looked out the window into the trees. The moons were no longer full¡ªOfelia and Throne were both waning, while Archer was waxing with only a tiny sliver visible in the sky. Was the heart of the Grove out there somewhere? Was that grove the House, or was it the building? Or the combination of the two? Every room Hina had be into so far had a window, and every window looked out onto the same trees. It had to mean something. But Hina didn''t know what it meant. Wet the roots, feed the leaves. Hina shivered. There was nothing to do but wait. Hina ran through her exercises, one after another. But she didn''t push too hard. She was going to need her strength in a few hours. If something went wrong. When she was done, she leaned back with her head against the bed and closed her eyes. She didn''t want to sleep. She would just rest for a while. Until Kai came. The dark pressed in on her, and she felt herself slipping away. Hina woke with a start. She''d had a dream of¡ªsomething terrible. The panic shifted¡ªKai wasn''t here yet. The sky over the trees was still dark. It was late. The moons were low in the sky, past midnight for sure. It was late and Kai wasn''t here. He hadn''t made it. Hina had to go and find him. 1.60 - In the corridors
With everything she owned either slung over her shoulder or hanging from her belt, Hina walked out of her room in The Grove. She had her knife, her sling, her bag of shiny black stones¡ªthere were twelve in the bag, and one clutched in her left hand¡ªand the two beast cores, one in each pocket. The throwing patterns were fresh in her mind. Hina was ready for a fight. Her feet pushed her on towards the dining room, for lack of a better place to start. Kai slept six turns away from the dining room, and Hina was going to find him. She followed the path she''d taken with Bruce earlier that evening. Left at Black Sun, right at Eggs and right again at the Tree. The dining room was right... there. Opposite the painting with the Bees. She turned the handle and pushed the door open. Bruce was leaning back on a chair at the dining table, arms behind his head. He had his back to her, facing the window. He was looking out into the darkness. Oddly, the windows didn''t reflect the room, it was like there was nothing in the panes. "Must say, I''m a bit surprised," Bruce said without turning around. "I didn''t think you''d be this stupid." "Where''s Kai?" "None of your business, girlie. Not anymore." "Tell me where he is, or I''ll¡ªI''ll¡ª" "What will you do?" Bruce stood and turned slowly, a broad smile on his face. "You gonna cut me with that knife?" "Tell me where he is." "No, girl." He shook his head. "No, I don''t think I will. What I''m going to do is escort you out. Shame we couldn''t work together, really." He stepped out from behind the chair and started moving towards her. "Bit of a disappointment." "No." "No?" Hina completed the working. She held up her open left hand. "No." The stone shot towards Bruce. He swayed to the side. The stone... flew past him. A dark pit of fear opened in Hina''s chest. The window shattered with a deafening crash. She''d missed. She''d missed. Bruce glanced over his shoulder at the broken window, then back at Hina. "Well then," Bruce said, still smiling. "That changes things." Hina stared at him in growing horror. "You attacked me." Bruce sounded almost gleeful. "That there, is a breach of guest-rite. Hina, you are no longer a guest of this House." Hina''s right hand reached into the pouch of stones, picking out another. She took a step back. The stone was cold in her hand. Heavy. "You know what that means?" Bruce grinned. "That means I can do whatever I want with you." The patterns cycled through Hina''s mind, one after another. Her heart raced, blood roaring in her ears. "I''m going to enjoy this," he said. The stone shot out of Hina''s hand, flew across the intervening space and struck Bruce in the shoulder with an audible thud. It fell down to thunk onto the floor. "Oof." Bruce rubbed at his shoulder. He was still standing. "Quite the punch you got there," he said with a smirk. "Now. My turn." He stepped forward. Hina''s shoulder bumped into the doorframe. She''d backed up as far as she could. She turned and ran out the open door, along the the corridor to the left, her sandals slapping against the floor of the passage. "You can''t run from me, girlie!" Bruce''s voice echoed down the corridor behind her. A strange sucking sensation pulled at her ambit, like potentia was being drawn out of her grasp. It was like someone had opened a door in a closed room, the pressure shifting. Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. But Hina didn''t have time to think about that. She turned left at a painting with a bunch of fruit and teeth. No time to give it a proper name. Her stone hadn''t even hurt him. And she''d killed ordinary people with the same working. She had to do better next time. She might only get one more chance. Something howled in the corridor behind her, her head hurt with the sheer noise of it. She turned right at a painting with a tangle of limbs. While she ran, she took three more of the shiny black stones out of her pouch and held them in her left hand. An answering howl came from somewhere ahead. Nora. Right at the next corner, and then left and right again. Hina wasn''t paying attention to where she was going¡ªnot anymore. Around the next corner, she stopped. A wolf-thing stood waiting in the corridor, mouth open in a toothy grin. Hina recognised it as one was one of the smaller ones from The Spire¡ªmaybe three-quarters of Hina''s height, muscles rippling under thick dark-brown fur. Curved white horns rose from between its ears. It paced towards her, snarling. Hina held her hand up, like she was blowing a kiss. Black stones held out in offering, while the patterns shifted and cycled within her. The working hadn''t harmed Bruce, but. A stone shot out, hit the wolf-thing full in the face. The beast shrieked and stagged back, stumbling over its feet. Hina continued to cycle the patterns. It hadn''t hurt Bruce, but she''d only hit him once. The beast turned as if to run. A second stone shot out, caught the wolf-beast in the side. The patterns spun within Hina''s mind. A dance of twisted lines and power. The third stone shot out and hit the wolf-thing in the face. It crumpled, collapsing to the ground with a low whine. Hina ran, hopped over the fallen pile of fur and teeth¡ªit snapped at her as she passed, but the teeth didn''t come close. She turned a corner to the left. Something howled behind her. Hina turned another corner¡ªleft this time, and stopped at the first door, right around the corner. The handle turned and she rushed through, pulling the door closed behind her. If she could lose Bruce here... She snicked the lock into place. Backing up into the room, Hina found that it was almost identical to the one she''d been given. Bed, desk, wardrobe, mirror, washroom. Window. The back of her foot bumped into the bottom of the window frame. She stopped. Checked her well of power¡ªshe''d spent freely, but it had grown so much deeper over the last few weeks of travel. It barely felt like she''d used any power at all. Perhaps three quarters of her capacity left¡ªcertainly not less than two thirds. She pulled three more stones out of the pouch, which was getting light now. The mirror in the corner of her eye seemed strange somehow¡ªthe reflection not quite right. But there was no time to worry about that. She ignored it. No time to use the working multiple times, not if Bruce could just shake it off. Hina would have to take a risk. The sigil bloomed within her mind''s eye, an emblem of depth and power. Its tendrils writhed around the edges, no matter how hard she tried to contain it with the force of her will. The door shook as something hit it from the other side. An animalistic howl rang out, deafening in the enclosed space. Hina covered her ears until it passed. One of the stones slipped from her hand and skittered across the floor. Something thumped into the door again. The whole thing moving with the impact, the center of the door visibly bending inwards. Hina bent down, scrambled to pick up the stone that she''d dropped. The thing crashed into the door again, the door bending in its frame. It gained an indentation in the center. Crouching down with stones in her right hand, Hina fed the sigil a thread of her power as she started to visualise what she wanted it to do. The door burst open, revealing the horned wolf-beast, which filled the doorway. It was bigger than Hina remembered. Her body froze, some primal instinct holding her in place. But she completed the image as the wolf-beast¡ªBruce¡ªpaced forward, teeth bared, wolf-mouth grinning. The sigil pulsed, and a series of patterns flashed into Hina''s mind, three at a time in staccato sequence. Hina held up her open left hand, trembling ever so slightly. Three stones shot out, hurling themselves at the thing in the doorway. Three impacts blurring into a single loud thud as they collided with his head and chest and head again. The sigil within her mind was bigger somehow¡ªit had expanded, blossomed. Twisting and turning within her mind, uncontrolled¡ªuncontrollable. It grew as she watched it, growing, expanding and twisting faster as it drew on¡ªsomething¡ªin the air. Hina absently tried to dismiss it three times and failed. Panicked, she gave it her full attention¡ªgo¡ªshe put the full force of her will into the command. Something shifted. The sigil began to fade, taking its time. And then it popped out of her mind, leaving behind a faint sense of amusement. Back against the window, Hina slid down until she was sitting on the ground with the knees folded in front of her. The thing that had been Bruce was lying on the floor before her, so close that she could reach out and touch its mangled face if she wanted to. Its paw twiched. It was barely moving. Hina was okay. She was alive. But she still didn''t know where Kai was. And Bruce wasn''t in a state to answer questions. He was dying, if not dead already. Good. It was what he deserved. But how was Hina going to find Kai now? Could she ask Ivan? But no. She had no idea where Ivan was. The wolf-thing huffed out a breath, and then lay still. Hina didn''t know where to go. She didn''t even know where she was anymore. She pushed herself up to her feet, legs shaking. Picked up the sticky black stones on the floor, put them back in the pouch. Clambered over the furry body and stepped out into the corridor. And stopped still in the strange unearthly light of the corridor. A thought occurred to her. She turned back to the door, looked past the body to the darkened window, the shadowy trees beyond. Wet the roots, feed the leaves. 1.61 - Grove-keeper
Through the window, the light of the moons shone down on the trees. And in that moment, Hina was sure she knew where Kai was. It was right there in the name. The Grove. And there was a way into the grove from every room in the building¡ªKai was never even far away. She closed the curtain, and kicked at the window through the coarse fabric. The glass wobbled under her foot, and then shifted before it shattered, falling to pieces on the ground in a crunching, clattering hail of glass shards. A faint rumble came from behind her, but Hina ignored it. She tugged the curtain aside to reveal a jagged hole in the window, sharp fingers of glass still clinging to the frame on all sides. Hina leapt through, landing on the other side on shifting dirt and leaves, and the crunch of broken glass under her sandals. Her right forearm was slashed and bleeding. A trickle of blood flowed onto the soil as she walked. It wouldn''t kill her. Bram''s Emergency Treatment had showed her what a significant wound looked like. This was minor. And Hina had more important things to worry about right now. The noise in the room behind her resolved into a pained growl. Hina didn''t look back. Even if he survived¡ªand Hina didn''t think he would¡ªBruce wasn''t getting up any time soon. The sound faded as she walked away from the building. The night was cold, and filled with the wet scent of the trees. Rotting leaves and damp earth underfoot. Hina walked towards the center¡ªit was a feeling more than anything else. But she was certain, Kai would be there. Stumbling over roots and the uneven ground in the dim light, Hina walked under heavy branches and around curved trunks. She kept between the trees where the way was clearer as much as she could, but the grove only grew thicker as she walked on. She considered summoning a light, but dismissed the thought. The fight with Bruce had left her more drained than she''d like¡ªshe couldn''t afford to waste power. Not until she had Kai and they were on their way out of here. And it was better if she didn''t draw attention to herself with a light. Who knew what else was out here? And both Gerda and Ivan were unaccounted for. Though she half suspected that Ivan wouldn''t stand in her way. But Gerda... Hina''s heart raced at the thought of running into her in the dark. It would be better if she could avoid her entirely. If it came to a fight¡ªwell, Hina hoped she''d have surprise on her side. But if Kai was in the center of the Grove, surely Gerda would be there too. The thought made Hina stop in her tracks. If nothing else, she had to go in with a well full of power. Hina leaned one hand against the rough bark of a nearby tree while she cycled. The power rushed into her, a raging torrent of energy that filled her up in moments. It chased away some of Hina''s physical fatigue and replaced it with a less tangible kind. And with a sense of clarity and purpose. Nothing could stand in her way. She''d bested both Bruce and Nora. She could handle Gerda. Hina walked on. Pressing in amongst the thick vegetation, she walked for what felt like hours. It was hard to tell how big the grove was. She couldn''t see the windows of the house behind her anymore. She couldn''t see where she''d come in. All she could see in any direction was the trees. And the wet trail of darkness that she left behind her in dripping splashes on the ground. At least she wouldn''t get lost. Wouldn''t get any more lost than she already was. And when she touched the wounds on her arm, she could feel that they were already closing. Healing already. She walked on. After what felt like another hour, the trees thinned. Hina walked up to the edge of a wide open clearing. She could feel the sense of power ramping up, the air thick with it. Her eyes drawn to the tree in the center of the clearing. It was tall, towering over all of the others, on a scale of its own. It might have been a hundred times Hina''s height, if not more, silvery leaves shimmering in the moonlight¡ªor no, glowing with a light of their own. Twisted roots and branches fused together, forming a maze of limbs that reached out in all directions. The great trunk was raised on a platform of roots, which curved around and under the tree, coming out of the ground all across the clearing. The shapes that it made¡ªthe patterns¡ªwere mind-bending and hard to follow. Looking at them hurt Hina''s head. She tried to look away from the details, but it was hard. Something in her was drawn to the images, to the shapes, to the way the moonlight played across the leaves. It was a familiar feeling, and Hina resisted the tug of it, glancing in short bursts at the tree. Hina could see its details better than she should have been able to in the darkness¡ªit was lit with a sourceless, directionless light, like the light inside the building¡ªand when she thought about it, Hina could feel the tree. It had a tangible presence, even from the edge of the clearing. A familiar presence. A hint of recognition. A murmured hush in the dark. A shared secret. If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. If Kai was here, he wasn''t in sight. Hina walked around the tree, keeping to the edge, behind the trunks of the other trees. Hidden in the shadows, she hoped. Half-way around, a figure came into view, bent over a platform or a table at the base of the big tree. There was another figure lying on the table, a slight form that Hina would recognise anywhere. The standing figure was chanting in a low voice. Hina couldn''t make out the words. It was Gerda, Hina was sure of it. And Kai on the table, not moving. And she was doing something to him. Hina had to stop her. Kai was not safe. She summoned the sigil, a pulsing, writhing mass of twisted lines that spun within her mind¡ªbigger and more complicated than it should had been for all that Hina had been the one to summon it. It held more detail than she remembered. More loops and whorls and twisted lines popped into being as she held the image. A pattern of such complexity that it hurt to look at, much more to hold. It moved within her mind like a living thing, pulling at her power in all directions. Hina''s head ached from the effort it took to resist that pull, and a deep weariness settled into Hina''s body. She had to act quickly, before she lost control. Forming a thread of power, Hina extended it towards the sigil. The sigil pulled¡ªpulled her thread into a channel, into a torrent, and it wanted more. It asked for, demanded more. It was all Hina could do to hold on to her power¡ªstop it from taking it all at once. Her well drained to a quarter within an instant, and still it pulled, trying to widen the connection. Hina couldn''t keep this up, she had to do something and she had to do it now. She fumbled, feeling around for the beast core in her pocket¡ªwithin her ambit. The little ball of earth-aspected power. Hina needed to link it to the sigil, so the sigil was using the core instead of Hina''s own power. It was something she''d never tried before, but she knew it was possible in theory. Olivia had said so. Hina extended a thread from the beast-core to the thing in her mind, feeling out with it for a connection¡ªshe felt it snap into place. The draw on her own power slowed¡ªwith a flex of her strained will, she tried to reduce the flow of the connection between Hina herself and the sigil down to a tiny thread. Small enough that her rapidly dropping store of power would last a few more moments. It was a balancing act. Hina couldn''t unlink herself entirely. Not without giving up control of the power to the sigil. And if she ran dry, she could lose control entirely¡ªlike the first time, and Hina could feel that if that happened now, the consequences would be far worse. That''s where the worst kinds of monsters come from, Olivia had said. Hina bore down with her will, and the connection shrank. Through the connection, she got flashes of the sigil''s will¡ªan endless pit of hunger, but sated for now¡ªthe beast-core was... adequate. It would be compliant so long as it continued to be fed. Hina took all of stones out of her pouch. Seven shiny black stones piled ready in her left hand. She had to use every one of them. Every advantage she had. Her right hand went to the bell around her neck¡ªunbinding couldn''t hurt, surely. She unwrapped the string from around the clapper and pulled the bell over her head and held it in her right hand¡ªcarefully keeping the clapper away from the sides. If she had anything else that could help, she''d have used it. She cursed herself for not spending the time¡ªthe risk¡ªto figure out what her other trinkets did. And then dismissed the thought. She couldn''t spare the focus. Hurriedly, Hina pictured what she wanted from the sigil. It pulsed within her mind, expanding and contracting three times, with increasing force. She could feel it drawing heavily on the beast-core, a cup filling as it drew far more power than Hina could have supplied¡ªher well was now down to about a tenth, mere dregs of power¡ªthe sigil could have easily killed her if she hadn''t had the beast-core ready. The other one¡ªshe had to be ready to swap it in right away if the first one ran out. Her mind ached as a wave of patterns flashed through it in a complex sequence. So fast that Hina could only catch images of one or two of the patterns amoung¡ªhundreds? More? Hina needed to be closer. She stepped out from behind the trees, walked into the clearing. If Gerda looked up now, she''d see her. But the thin woman stood with her arms raised before the tree, her chanting growing louder and more intense. She didn''t look in Hina''s direction. And there was nothing for it, Hina needed a clear line of sight. The chanting reached a peak and then stopped, punctuated with a gesture from Gerda in Kai''s direction that Hina couldn''t quite make out in the darkness. The image of a cup in Hina''s mind filled as the sigil flashed through its working within Hina''s mind, a whirl of complex patterns and symbols and a flood of power. The air went still, the silence palpable. The working completed with a snap, and Hina felt the sigil''s power surge through her, a wave of energy that threatened to overwhelm her before it went out into the world through her ambit, centered over the palm of Hina''s left hand. Hina raised her right hand and rang the bell over and over again. The noise of it drowned out everything else, and filled Hina''s head with pain and light. A deep, resonant sound that echoed through the clearing. Another roaring, deafening noise drowned out even the sound of the bell. The air lit up with fire as a stone shot forward from within the cloud of stones floating above Hina. The roaring continued as the stones shot forward, one by one to strike Gerda. Something flickered in the air around Gerda, with each deafening impact, flashes of coloured light lit up a sphere around her, three, four, five, six times. With the seventh impact, Hina heard a crack and a loud crash, and a cloud of red dust rose and crashed over Hina. Everything in the clearing was hidden by red dust. It hung in the air while Hina fought to dismiss the sigil in her mind. The torrent of power was still linked to the beast core in Hina''s right pocket, and the sigil resisted her intent to dismiss it. It wouldn''t go anywhere. It hung there in her mind, a huge thing, tendrils twisting and writhing. Hina pushed at the connection with all of her might. She strained and shoved, but it wouldn''t budge. She gathered up the last of her power and pushed again. The core in her pocket crumbled and fell apart. The sigil in her mind disappeared with a silent snap. It left her with a hollow feeling in her gut. Hina''s well was dry. Into the dust, she staggered forward, coughing and spluttering. She stumbled over something¡ªa twisted root¡ªand clambered over it, pushed herself up and forward. Kai was somewhere there, somewhere just ahead. She found the table with her hands, an undulating wooden platform formed the great tree''s roots. Her hand found Kai''s sandaled foot, she shuffled along his body. The air began to clear. Shifting, swirling patches of lightness within the red dark. "Kai?" Hina''s voice was a whisper. Her hands patted up along Kai''s body. He wasn''t moving. She found his head and his neck¡ªtried to check for a pulse and her hand came away wet¡ªblood. He was bleeding. "Kai?" She tried to shake him. "Kai!" He didn''t move. The dust shifted and for a moment the wound was visible. A deep gash in his throat. Too deep. Blood flowed out in weakening spurts that slowed as Hina watched. His body lay still. Kai was dead. 1.62 - Negotiation
Kai lay on the tree-root altar, bloodied and broken, unmoving, the last of his life''s blood seeped from the wound on his neck. The blood dripped down, cutting tracks through the red dust that had settled on the altar, that had settled over everything. The tree loomed over him, its twisted branches covering the night sky in a canopy of glowing silver leaves. Hina bent over the body, held Kai by the shoulders, shaking. He didn''t wake up. "No." If he would just wake up, Hina was sure everything would be okay. She shook him harder. His head lolled unnaturally, the gash in his neck widening. "No, no no..." She hovered one hand over his mouth, feeling for breath. He wasn''t breathing. He wasn''t breathing. He was gone. Dead. Murdered. Hina was too late. Had taken too long. She should have been faster. Should have never let him out of her sight. Gerda. She''d sacrificed him. And there was nothing Hina could do about it. Hina stared down at him, still and silent, the blood pooling around him. The body shifted, moving away, out from under her hand. And down, down into the surface of the altar, tree roots parting somehow to allow him passage, deep into the dark below. The roots folded back over him as he passed through. In moments, Kai body had disappeared entirely, leaving the altar intact, with only dust and bloodstains to indicate that he''d ever been there at all. She stared down in shock, and then she reached out, trying to grab him, to pull him back. "No no no no no," Hina muttered under her breath. "No." She rested her hands on the altar, feeling the blood and the dust under numb fingers. He was gone. The great tree loomed over her, towering and inhuman. This thing. It had done this. This horrifying thing had taken her brother from her, and then taken his body as if his life wasn''t enough. It wasn''t fair. What had Kai done to anyone? What had she? They hadn''t done anything to deserve this. No. This wasn''t right. This could not stand. "Give him back," Hina muttered under her breath. "Give him back. GIVE HIM BACK!" she yelled, breaking the stillness. "You fucking monster, you unholy fucking tree. Give me my brother back, you fuck. He wasn''t yours to take! Give him back!" There was no reply. "Fucking thief," Hina muttered. "Fuck." She looked down. She dripped hot tears into the wet mud. "Fuck," she whispered. Her chest was a black pit of horror. "Fuck." YOU OWE A DEBT, a silent voice echoed inside Hina''s head. A deafening sound that didn''t make any noise at all, but somehow drowned out everything else. Hina paused for a moment. She hadn''t expected a response. Not really. But it didn''t stop her for long. "I owe you nothing, you fucking monster." Her vision flashed red. "Give me my brother back." THIRTY SIX SOULS. "Give him back!" THIRTY SIX SOULS. Confusion filtered through the rage. "What?" YOU WILL SUPPLY THIRTY SIX SOULS, the voice said. CLASS-FOUR OR BETTER, it added. "What are you talking about?" IN TRADE AND IN REPAYMENT FOR THE DEBT THAT YOU OWE, the voice continued, AND I WILL RETURN YOUR BROTHER This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version. "Can you even do that? Can you return him¡ªunharmed?" IT IS WITHIN MY POWER, the voice boomed. "Bring him back, and I''ll do it. I''ll do it. I''ll¡ª" UNACCEPTABLE. YOU OWE A DEBT, the voice said. YOU WILL MAKE PAYMENT IN ADVANCE "What debt? What do you even think I owe you?" THREE TOKENS OF HIDDEN KNOWLEDGE. ONE LIFE SAVED FROM THE BRINK OF DEATH, the voice said. THREE SERVANTS TAKEN. The cards from Gerda, and the time she''d saved her life? "Three... servants taken?" THE KEEPER. TWO WOLFKIND. TAKEN FROM MY SERVICE. TAKEN BEFORE THEIR TIME. With a hint of anger, THEFT, the voice said. "I only killed them because they had kidnapped my brother! And they killed him!" Hina shouted. "They killed him!" The voice was silent for a moment, and then it continued with a sense of patience. THE BOY WAS TRADED FAIRLY, the voice said. KEPT WHOLE AND UNHARMED. UNTIL HE BROKE THE TERMS OF HIS AGREEMENT. UNTIL YOU BROKE GUEST-RITE "He was stolen away in the night. There was no trade." A TRADE WAS RECORDED. LIFE FOR LIFE "I didn''t know! Nobody told me!" YOU OWE A DEBT "Ten," Hina said. "You''ll return him after I''ve given you ten souls." There was a pause. ACCEPTABLE "And he has to be alive¡ªwhole, uninjured and unharmed. Sound of mind and body," Hina said, hurriedly. "Not bound to you or to anyone else, not injured. Not¡ªnot broken in any way. Unharmed." ACCEPTABLE, the voice said. I AM HOSPITABLE, it rumbled with a hint of amusement. "Not changed. Not changed in any way. Not¡ªnot¡ª" Hina struggled to find the right words. "Like none of this ever happened." ACCEPTABLE Hina thought for a moment. "How do I supply the souls?" YOU WILL BEAR MY MARK, the voice said. I WILL RECEIVE YOUR SACRIFICE "I will bear your mark?" YOU WILL BEAR MY MARK "Is that... permanent?" ALL THINGS WILL END IN TIME "Will I be able to remove it?" WHEN THE DEBT IS PAID IN FULL Hina thought about it. "What makes a sacrifice acceptable?" She was thinking about the book. "Does it require a ritual?" ANY DEATH YOU CAUSE, the voice said. WITHIN THE PRESENCE OF MY MARK "How do I know what class a person''s soul is?" MY MARK WILL REVEAL THE NATURE OF A SOUL "Okay." She considered. "And how do I know you won''t just take my brother and leave me with nothing? Or won''t count every death I cause as a sacrifice, or some other loop hole I haven''t thought of yet?" I AM HONORABLE, it said with a hint of disapproval. YOU OWE A DEBT. YOU BROKE GUEST-RITE Hina supposed she probably wasn''t going to get a better answer than that. "Fine," she said. "I''ll do it. I''ll give you ten class-four souls, and you''ll return my brother." THIRTY-SIX SOULS IN TOTAL. NO LESS THAN TWO SOULS PER YEAR, it said. LATE PAYMENT WILL INCUR PENALTIES, the voice boomed. THE BOY NAMED KAI WILL BE RETURNED AFTER THE DEBT IS REDUCED TO TWENTY-SIX SOULS "What penalties?" YOUR SOUL WILL BE FORFEIT Hina paused. "What?" YOUR SOUL WILL BE FORFEIT "Two souls per year? What if I have sacrificed three people the year before? Do I still have to give you two, or does it average out?" I WILL ACCEPT AN AVERAGE, it said with a hint of amusement. IT MUST NOT FALL BELOW TWO SOULS PER YEAR "Measured when?" AT THE ANNIVERSARY OF THIS AGREEMENT Hina thought about it. That seemed fair. "What about souls that are less than class-four?" UNACCEPTABLE "They don''t count towards the debt at all?" THEY DO NOT COUNT "And souls that are higher than class-four?" UNLIKELY, the voice paused. BUT ACCEPTABLE "They count as one soul?" CORRECT "Fine. How will I know how many souls I''ve given you?" YOU MAY ASK, it said. IF YOU CAN NOT REMEMBER "Do I have to stay here?" TRAVEL WHERE YOU WISH "But I will have to come back here to talk to you?" YOU WILL BEAR MY MARK "And I can use it to find out how many souls I''ve given you?" IF YOU CAN NOT REMEMBER Hina''s frustration was mounting. And the situation felt entirely surreal. "Okay," Hina said. "And you don''t have a problem with me going to the academy?" SERVANTS ARE ENCOURAGED TO SEEK HIDDEN KNOWLEDGE, it said. WHEREVER THEY MAY FIND IT "And I will be your servant?" YOU WILL BEAR MY MARK "Fine." Hina couldn''t think of any other problems, except¡ªwell, except the obvious. She knew she was out of her depth, and she had to be missing something, though she couldn''t think of what it was. It was worth it, worth it to get Kai back. He didn''t deserve this. No. And she didn''t have any other option. She had to do it. For Kai. Maybe it wouldn''t be so bad, maybe she could find people like those bandits. "I accept." THE DEAL IS STRUCK Hina nodded mutely. It would have to do. She had a flash of Kai''s broken body lying on the altar¡ªbut no. She''d fixed it. She would fix it. It wouldn''t take long, and she''d get him back. It would be like it had never happened. How long could it take to kill ten people? Maybe she could have that done within¡ª Hina''s feet lost contact with the ground. She was lifted into the air. YOU WILL ACCEPT MY MARK Her arms and legs were stretched out and she hung there in the air before the altar. She tried to pull her arm back but it wouldn''t respond to her commands. THE PROCESS IS MOMENTARY, the voice boomed. EXPECT SOME DISCOMFORT Hina''s ambit shifted, was pulled out¡ªexpanded well beyond the best of her efforts as something alien and inhuman sifted through mechanically through the fabric of her spirit. ACCEPTABLE The sensation shifted to a burning searing pain as the thing made contact with the fabric of her soul, and Hina screamed in agony. The throbbing, twisting pain reverberated through the whole of her being and it burned itself into her, branding her soul with its mark. She could feel it taking hold, a connection¡ªa link to this thing. And then it withdrew, pushing her back together again as it departed, leaving her fully contained within her own boundaries. The waves of pain lessened, fading. She was held there for a moment while the thing watched her. Its attention prickled throughout the whole of her being. WELCOME, SERVANT The thing set her down on the ground, feet first. Wobbling and unsteady on her feet, Hina stood for a moment before collapsing on the ground in front of the altar. Hina knew no more. 1.63 - The walls of the city
"Careful, careful. You''ve been through quite the ordeal," Ivan said, his voice soft and gentle. "You need to rest." "I need to get out of here," Hina said, but she lay back down on the bed. It was her bed, she realised. She''d never slept a full night in it, but¡ª She remembered Kai''s broken body, his death¡ªhis promised resurrection. "What¡ª" "You''re safe. You''ve done very well, very well indeed. And you''re safe here." Ivan smiled like a friendly grandfather, and the expression looked out of place on his face. That more than anything, shook some of the cobwebs from Hina''s mind. He was sitting in the chair beside the bed, watching her. Light streamed in through the open window, and the room was warm. Beyond it, she could see the trees of the grove, clear skies above. Hina was still in the House. "What?" Hina said. "What happened?" "Those of us who are bound to the House¡ªthose of us who are left, we''ve all got to stick together, don''t we?" "But what about..." Hina trailed off. What about all of the people that she''d killed? "Ger? Ger and the wolves?" A look of sadness crossed his face for a moment, but only for a moment. "Did I¡ªdid I¡ª" "You did, yes. Yes, you did." Ivan''s voice was soft, but firm. "You did what you had to do. For all of us." "How?" "You were lucky. You had the support of the House, yes, that''s for certain. And that bell¡ªwell. You did a fine job with the tools that were available to you. The timing was impeccable." "You''re not... mad?" "No, no. Of course not. If they deserve it, the House will bring them back." Hina looked at him for a moment. A small smile twisted the lines of Ivan''s crinkled face. "Do you really believe that?" she asked. "Oh yes. Yes, of course. They''ll get what they deserve. They have. And in the mean time, I''ll be taking care of things around here. I''ll have to work on getting a few new people in. A change of management, as it were." "But¡ª" "You just take your time, you can move along when you''re ready. There''s no rush." He made to stand, hands reaching down to the sides of the chair. "Wait¡ªwhat day is it? How long have I been here?" "You''ve been asleep for... for nearly two weeks¡ªplenty of time, plenty of time left to adjust." "I''ve been here for two weeks?!" "Ah. Most take a month or two to acclimate to the mark. Few are as quick as you. A sign of great things to come, I''m sure." "I¡ªI have to go. It''s what, a week from here to the city? I have¡ªtwo weeks until the admissions interviews?" "Oh yes. Yes. You have time. We''ll make sure you end up in the right place on time. If not, there''s always next year, yes?" "No, I¡ªcan you¡ªcan you get me there faster than walking?" "Oh, if need be. But a good long walk will do you some good. It helps with the adjustment." Two weeks. It was enough time, but barely. "Then." She sat up. "Then I have to go now." "I''m sure that you have questions?" "Oh." Hina realised that there was a lot that she didn''t understand. "Yes, I have questions." "Well, I have time. Please, ask away." "Tell me about souls." The conversation with the House came back to her in a rush. That booming intangible voice. The deal. "What is a class-four soul?" "That, that''s a bit of a complicated question. I''ll try to explain it as best I can." He paused for a moment, and then continued. "Souls grow throughout the course of a life¡ªwe discussed this at dinner, I think. Back before¡ª" He looked down for a moment before looking back at her, grey eyes looking at her intently. "Soul-classes are how we describe that progression. Normal folk¡ªbabies are born with a class-zero soul, and progress oh, up to around class three over the course of a life. Some less, some more. Class-three is the average, I''d say." "But practitioners¡ª" Practitioners are different. People who work with power of all kinds¡ªpower strengthens a soul. Common practitioners develop class-four souls over the course of a lifetime, many go beyond that. The truly powerful, well." His smile broadened. "You can see for yourself, if you activate the mark." "How do I do that?" "Can you feel it?" Hina thought about it for a moment. It was a mark on her soul, on her ambit? She focused her mind like she would if she was doing ambit work, feeling for the edges of her being, the boundary between herself and the world beyond. And there it was¡ªdeep within her, a burning, glowing symbol. She could feel it without stretching her perception across the whole of her soul¡ªwhich was a relief. She didn''t have the focus for anything so involved right now. The weariness was like a heavy coat, weighing her down. "I can feel it," she said. "All you have to do is treat it like you would a sigil. Feed it some power, show it what you want." "Is it a sigil?" It looked similar. A twisting burning pattern of lines and angles and shapes within the depth of her being¡ªso complex that it was hard to look at, at least at first. "No, no. It''s a rather different beast." "Is it¡ªit''s simpler than a sigil?" This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. "Very much so¡ªand attached to you. You wouldn''t be able to use it otherwise. If you taught some practitioner the shape of it, and they managed to reproduce it for a working, I don''t expect that it would do anything." "Huh." Hina watched the thing shimmer within her perception. "What can I do with it?" "Primarily it forms your link with the House. But there''s more, too. Some of it, some will become clearer in time, as your bond develops." "What about the rest? What can I do with it now?" "Try asking it to show you souls." "What will that do?" "Just try it, I''ll wait." Hina felt her well, which was completely empty¡ªstill completely empty since the fight with Gerda. Though it had been over in moments. Somehow, somehow she''d won. It scarcely felt real. Support from the House, and the bell? And she got lucky? The timing? The sigil had run wild, and it had been all she could do to keep it from taking over. From doing¡ªwhatever it was that it wanted to do. She didn''t look forward to trying to use it again. It was something to consider later, though. Maybe after more work with her ambit. Hina drew power into herself. It spread through her, filling her with a sense of power and strength, and relief. Her body had missed it, she hadn''t realised how wrong, how empty she''d been feeling until she started to cycle. Until the power rushed into her. When Hina focused on the feeling of the mark, the shape of it sprang into her mind''s eye fully formed, with a clarity that she hadn''t expected. It was almost a simple shape, a circle with a line through it, but underneath that was a hidden complexity. It was like looking at a fractal, a pattern that was infinitely complex, but that could be broken down into simpler patterns. But on the whole, it was still infinitely simpler than The Sigil Of Lesser Guidance, which had only grown in complexity as she used it¡ªas she killed with it. Was that it? Did using the sigil to kill made it grow within her? Was that why it had grown harder and harder to use over time? Would the mark grow too? As she fulfilled her bargain? Forming a thread of power, Hina extended it towards the mark, moving the thread closer and closer until it made contact with a snap. The mark didn''t draw on her thread like the sigil had, but she could feel it light up, coming alive in a barely perceptable way, moving slightly around the edges. Like it was breathing. She wanted to see souls, she projected the thought at it. And then again, more forcefully: show me souls. The mark didn''t respond, but Hina felt a sense of waiting, an expectation. Then, after a heartbeat, the mark pulsed. The world changed. Shimmering colours overlayed everything. The painted ceiling, the walls and the rest of the room glowed with white light and Hina''s fingertips glowed with coppery light. She turned to look at Ivan, and saw a figure glowing with green-blue light. "Oh," she said. His was a deep, rich colour, much more tangible than Hina''s own glow. "You figured it out?" "What does it mean?" "Tell me what you''re seeing." "Everything is glowing in colours. You''re kind of greeny-blue, and I''m coppery-red, and the the room around us is all white. And outside the window¡ªit''s all white, I can''t see anything out there." "Marvellous. Colours are a common frame of reference." "Some people see it differently?" "Sometimes, sometimes. But that''s not important. What''s important is learning to understand what you''re seeing. Now, questions?" "The colours show strength, right?" "Correct. They progress as a soul grows stronger." "What does class-four look like?" "Like you. You''re class-four, a little over the baseline now." "And class-three?" "Redder. Less orange, more red. Class two is entirely red. And class-one souls are red, but faint, and zero are even less so. Wisps of red, barely there at all." "And higher classes?" "They progress through the colours, but they''re rare. You shouldn''t mess with anyone above class-four, if you can help it." "What class is yours?" "If you don''t know." He smiled. "Then I won''t tell you." "More than ten?" He smiled in response and changed the subject. "You can use this application of the mark to avoid people who are too strong for you. People who might interfere with your mission for the House, for example." "I see." Hina cut off the thread of power, and the colours faded. The image of the mark disappeared from her mind, effortlessly drifting away. "I think I understand. Is there anything else I need to know?" "In the city¡ªand other places, perhaps, but mainly in the city¡ªthere are people who might be able to detect your mark. Keep your distance from them, if you don''t want to be found out, hey?" "Who are they?" "Practitioners who specialise in workings pertaining to the soul. Usually they''ll have to touch you to do their work." He shrugged. "Don''t let them touch you." They talked until Hina grew tired, and Ivan left her to sleep.
* * *
Hina walked out the front door of the The Grove into the wild, backpack slung over her shoulder. The sun was peeking over the horizon, and a bird squawked in the distance. She had a long walk ahead of her, but she was ready for it. She had just enough time, so long as she didn''t dawdle. The world was quiet, but for the whisper of wind and the birds in the background. The grass under her feet crunched as she walked. It wasn''t far to the road, and then on to the city. She was almost there, after all this time. Her belt was weighed down with heavy black stones, and she could feel the weight of them as she walked. Thirteen of them¡ªa fortune. They''d been waiting for her beside the bed¡ªreclaimed from where they''d fallen. A gift from the House. The silver bell was gone, though. She had dropped it somewhere in the grove, and the House hadn''t returned it. Hina hadn''t pushed her luck by asking for it. So she''d need to sell something else in the city, when the money from Olivia ran out. But she had options. Plenty of unidentified trinkets, and her weapons hung heavy on her belt. She''d be fine. On to the city, and then¡ªthe academy. Hina didn''t know what she was going to say to Olivia. She pondered as she walked. It was a difficult one. If Olivia found out the truth, that would be bad. She''d go to her parents¡ªshe''d done it before¡ªand that would be the end of Hina. And if Hina let her think the obvious, that Hina had failed to save Kai, that would be a problem when Kai came back. She didn''t want to have to hide Kai when he came back. Or maybe it didn''t matter. If it took her five years to get him free of The Grove, maybe Olivia''s opinion wouldn''t be important anymore. And if she needed to hide Kai then, she could work something out. A lot could happen in five years. But Hina wanted to get him back sooner if she could. Ten class-four souls. Until what happened in the grove¡ªKai''s bloodied body flashed into her mind¡ªHina had never killed anyone¡ªher hand on the bloodied knife¡ªnot except in self-defence. Maybe that was still true, if defence of a loved-one counted. If accidents didn''t count. She''d done what she had to. What she''d been forced to do. Hina was at peace with that. Mostly. She was getting there. But now¡ªten class-four souls. The thought of it made her stomach turn. The enormity of it. The horror of what she''d agreed to do. It wouldn''t be like the other times, it would be deliberate. Intentional. But. Maybe that didn''t need to be so bad. If it was people like Gerda, people like Bruce, people who were harming others. People who needed to be stopped. That was something else. When she thought about killing Bruce, beyond the blinding terror and the overwhelming anger¡ªknowing that here was a person who killed and ate people? And she''d stopped him from hurting anyone else. Hina felt a faint sense of pride. She could live with that. If she could find more people like that? She could do it. She could even feel good about it. Were there ten people like that in the city? There must be. There were people like that everywhere. People who need killing. If Hina could find them, and if she could be sure that they were the right people, she thought that it was something she could bear. And she would have to bear it¡ªbut she didn''t want to think about that part too hard. Get Kai back. Find a way out of her bargain with the House. Get rid of the mark. And then she could get on with her life. Wings beat in the distance, and Hina looked up. A black and red bird flapped down towards her. She stopped, and held out an arm for a perch. The bird landed on it, tilting his head to look at her with a beady eye. "Hey, hey," she said. "Welcome back." Bean whistled a cheerful greeting. Hina smiled. "I missed you." She stroked the bird''s head, and he cawed, and then flew off. He flew in a wide circle around her, cawing, and came to rest on her shoulder as Hina walked on.
* * *
On the sixth day, Hina came around a bend in the road and saw it. High round walls and towers shining in the sun, capped with a splash of colour. The City. Om Qalar. She''d made it. Somewhere behind those beautiful shining walls Hina would find everything she needed. She''d find it, and she''d take it, no matter who tried to stop her. And then she''d be free.