CITY OF BRIDGES

36

Resolutions

A misty spray came out of the ceiling.

Leonie had no idea how long she’d been unconscious, but her fur was soaking. She blinked water from her eyes. Craning her head to the side, Dianah and Brendon could be seen lying on the floor with water pooling around them. She felt the bed throbbing, and there was a faint humming.

Dazed, she tested her straps again. With effort, the scorched one finally snapped, she had no idea what it was made from, something other-worldly not cloth or leather. Reaching across, she realised she still had tubes attached to her arms and legs, like Magda had. Carefully removing the melted remnants, she was surprised at how little blood escaped before clotting. Clumsily she released the rest of her bindings and swung her legs around to the side. Sliding gingerly off the bed, she remained there until the room stopped spinning, breathing deeply, looking at the two sprawled, unmoving bodies.

Checking for her own wounds, she couldn’t find any. She had healed completely, even her fur had been repaired. Her tail had regrown! Leonie couldn’t believe it. When she got off the bed, the humming stopped, as did the vibrating.

She walked around in a tight circle, watching her reformed tail flow behind like a streamer on a kite. She stopped when she got dizzy, but rejoiced in swishing her tail back and forth numerous times before getting back to her current situation.

Dianah’s clothes were charred rags and Brendon’s hair was severely singed. Both were badly burnt, except for the portions of Dianah with hroltahg skin. blisters already visible. The walls closest to the fireball were darkened by the intense heat and some of the furniture had melted. She had a brief pang of regret, but squashed that when she thought of the trickery and lies, dosing her and reverting to their original plans. No. No remorse for them. They don’t deserve it.

She found her grav-harness on the floor and clipped it on, then her pouches and the scroll case. She took a brief moment to swish her tail back and forth, never believing that she would ever feel that sensation again!

Determined to make sure nothing like this was ever repeated, Leonie decided to permanently block access to the sanctum. In her earlier exploration of the palace she found a storeroom along the passage before the library doors. With any luck she’d find what she was looking for. Leonie carefully jogged through the library, wondering where Magda had gone. The storeroom was located where she remembered along the wood-panelled corridor. In earnest, she searched through the pile of discarded boxes. A familiar odour assailed her nostrils. The barrels of balbon she’d found earlier. There was a large barrel, half-full, and two smaller barrels. Leonie managed to get the two in her arms. If she had time, perhaps she’d try rolling the bigger one, but she was not going to push her luck. It was awkward enough juggling these two casks to the cavern.

Leaving a barrel at the bottom of the stairs, she unstoppered the other and began pouring out the contents as she made her way towards the cliff exit reaching about halfway before it ran out. She dropped the empty cask in the slick of oil and jogged to the exit. Knowing full well the volatility of the oil, and not wanting to get roasted again tonight, Leonie put as much distance as she could between herself and the ensuing blast. She spent a few minutes releasing the pigeons by opening their cages to the hole in the wall before crawling through it herself. Turning and hanging onto the edge, she wedged herself in the entrance. She needed a clear line of sight. Once in place, she slowly drew in power, wondering at the extent of her new capabilities. The fireball she cast in the sanctum was far bigger than anything she had created before and she doubted she had enough to do that again. Was this the result of Styx’s training plan?

In a shallow arc, another ball of fire, just as powerful as the previous one, sailed into the cavern, igniting the fumes before it reached the oil. The shockwave deafened her, the force of the air shooting through the hole caught her off guard, blowing her back end over end. In a reflex action that saved her from plummeting into the cold water, she twisted the harness dial and her fall slowed to a stop as rock fragments flew and splashed in the water below.

Since the harness only provided up and down motion, Leonie adjusted the dial slightly. Descending until her paws were in the water, she started paddling to get closer to the cliff and the rocks; she still had some mapping to do. A chance look up caused her to keep still; a couple of heads were peering out. “Do you reckon they heard that explosion?” she muttered to herself. Think, next time, stupid. Leonie castigated herself for arousing the palace when what she really needed was everyone to be relaxed and sleeping.

The heads disappeared after a couple of minutes. No alarm was raised that she was aware, so she continued to paddle, glad the watchers couldn’t see well in the dark. And damn lucky they haven’t got an obelisk looking out to sea.

Upon reaching the rocks, she clawed her way closer to the cliff face and started rising. Pausing at the now slightly larger opening, she took a moment to look inside. The cavern was full of smoke, leaving little opportunity to see her work other than a few flames here and there. She continued to rise.

Eventually the ringing in her ears abated, but a slight headache remained as the window loomed above her. Leonie stopped to listen, but heard nothing. Peering over the sill, two watchers were sitting and staring intently at the crystal displays. Checking for any other presence in the chamber, she slunk inside and rose to the same spot as before.

Carefully she pulled out the map and charcoal stick and began adding the details of what areas of the city were visible. She deduced each monument or obelisk had several points of view; all had at least two, but the ones nearer the centre of the city had three or four angles of site. The charcoal stick was down to a stub before she was satisfied.

Fearing the harness would soon drain, she rolled up her map and made her exit, relieved everything had gone smoothly.

Perhaps it was just her paranoia coming through, but during her trip home, she was extra cautious. “I’ve never been this lucky,” she muttered navigated her way along the shoreline to the waterfront docks.

Pausing in the shadows as a couple of late-night walkers ambled down the street, she recognised the lane where the royal courier was assassinated. Looking back, there was little sign of anything amiss in the darkness. Perhaps the combination of distance, thunder, the roiling waves and the cave exit facing away from the city was sufficient to suppress the noise, which might account for the lack of alarm being raised.

Deciding there was no need to wake Jade on her return, she left the unrolled map on her desk instead and headed home to sleep.

Sitting astride the apex of the roof of her room, Leonie surveyed the cityscape as she munched on her breakfast. It was going to be a warm, sunny day. Every now and then, she flicked her tail just because she could.

Across the uneven rooftops of the web, the larger buildings near the plaza and merchant quarters obscured the bulk of the ships in the harbour. While she had been mapping, a brief opportunity had availed itself for her to get closer to the crystal displays. It took a few moments, but finally she spotted the area nearest where she lived. It was on the edge of a blind spot; the two closest obelisks did not directly view her section of the rooftop. To be safe though, she determined to keep to the south and west side from now on.

The short time of her return from Qelay had been busy. Brendon and Dianah were now history and Zander had no knowledge of her specifically. Lothas and Alen, including many of the Death sect were no longer a threat. And, thankfully, that meant no further encounters with Evlin.

The Woorin Brotherhood could still be a menace if Coundar thought she was alive and kicking. Best to keep him unaware then, she decided. Without a doubt, the death of another high priest would get other temples nervous, not to mention the possibility of raising the ire of their gods. “Irate temples was one thing, angry gods could be a worry,” she sighed.

Although she didn’t like the answers, her burning questions were resolved. More could be done, but vengeance wasn’t what she sought anymore. She felt no exultation. While she might be good at it, killing left her feeling ‘hollow’. It was simply one way to survive. Leaving and putting all this behind her was another way. She had to believe it was a better way.

She would tell Jade of her decision to definitely leave with Feiron. It was the only sure way to keep everyone out of trouble, and she suspected her presence was putting a strain on the Takers Guild as well. She was looking forward to flying with Slana, Dorn and Faldo, sometimes missing their banter.

*

“Here you are. Where have you been?” Feiron oozed up from the alley and formed into the old merchant to sit beside her.

“Regrowing my tail.” She swished her tail in his Hectr’s face.

“What? How did you do that?”

“It’s all this training Styx had me go through.” She found it a struggle to keep a straight face. “You know how you need to concentrate to form a shape?” She continued after his dubious nod. “Me too. I just spent all night concentrating, and here it is. All fluffy and shiny; better than new.”

Feiron looked stunned. He almost dripped off the roof.

Leonie burst out laughing.

He pulled himself together and reformed. “I see. Hilarious.” He grabbed her tail and pulled.

“Ow!” she winced.

“It’s real?”

“Yes.”

“I mean really real!”

“Really real.” She laughed, as she filled him in on the recent palace visit. “I left the map with Jade on my return. Once she’s studied it, I’ll make copies and let you have one for your mentor as well. We all need to be wary.”

“That would be a good thing to have. Thank you again. Very handy indeed.”

“Hey. Maybe if there’s time when you get back, I’ll take you up there and let you see it for yourself.”

Feiron looked to the palace in the distance. “We’ve handled undead, the assassins and wyverns; what dangers can the palace possibly hold to thwart us?”

“That’s what I reckon,” she agreed, her attention drawn to shouting.

They both look down to the lane as some people started quarrelling. It looked like a drunk had wondered into the path of a merchant’s cart. No one was injured, but there was a di’anth hopping from foot to foot, in agitation. Then he bolted. The merchant gave chase and the drunk stumbled away in the other direction.

“City life,” Feiron sighed. “I’ll miss it.”

“No, you won’t” Leonie slapped him in the arm.

He grinned. “I have a question about the obelisks and the watchers; if they can see where you live, why didn’t they come to get you?”

“My place is just out of sight, but I reckon they’re after someone else. There were pictures of this white-haired man everywhere around the room, and at every desk.” She pulled out one of the pictures. “I grabbed this last night. Zander may not be a murder as I first thought, but he is definitely paranoid.”

“Any idea why?” Feiron looked at the picture with, flipping it over and studying it in detail. “This is incredible.”

Leonie shrugged. “He’s wearing some strange clothing though. He looks very pale, but not sickly pale; just needing more sun.”

“A foreigner perhaps, from the north?”

Leonie shrugged. “And what brings you to visit?”

“A message from Phil. They will collect us at the end of next week.”

“How did you get a message from them?” she asked.

“My mentor won’t reveal her sources.”

“I don’t suppose it was carrier pigeon?”

“Carrier pigeon? I doubt it.” He shrugged. “I’ve not seen one around there. Why?”

She shook her head. “I saw one recently. Just coincidence. So, we have just over a week? I reckon I can stay out of mischief for that long.”

“You’ll have to do it alone,” he said after a pause.

“Why is that?” Leonie looked at him quizzically. “Where are you off to?”

“I can’t say where, but I’m being enrolled into the Guild of Investigators.”

“You? I’ve never heard of the Guild of Investigators?”

“They aren’t in Delta, or Athglenn for that matter—”

“Where are they?”

“It doesn’t matter, but I will be back in time for our exciting departure. This is a great honour. They normally only take illios with far more experience – several years at least.”

“And – no offence – especially with your recent activities, shouldn’t they wait for you to get all your faculties straight. How is your memory? Have you got all your shapes down now?”

“I have, but it’s actually because of my recent activities this came about. The experiences I’ve undergone, especially with wyverns, hroltahgs and even melting, are apparently sufficient.”

“Making mistakes has merit with your lot? Where do I get to enrol? I should be front of the line.” Leonie smiled. “But, I guess congratulations are in order.”

“Thanks. Perhaps I’ll put in a good word for you.”

“Does this guild know about you going away?”

“My mentor has informed them. She assures me it is in fact ideal. The guild has very little contact with Plenari, or the Tesak’i.”

Leonie considered her next question. “Do you reckon Phil would like the idea of you spying on his people.”

“Spying? No indeed. Just keeping my people abreast of the goings on, politics etc.”

“Yes. Spying.” She nodded.

“You make it sounds so underhanded.”

Leonie shrugged. “You’re the spy. I’m just a thief.”

“With very unique skills, but one with such poor eyesight. It’s a shame really.”

“Poor eyesight? How do you reckon?”

“I noticed your tail straight away, but I’ve sat here for quite a while, and yet you haven’t noticed my hair. Very sad.”

“Your– Hey, you’ve got eyebrows!”

“Your powers of observation never cease to amaze me.”

* * * *

The End

Book 2

Shadow of the Tower