Blood of Innocents (Book Two of the Sorcery Ascendant Sequence) (69 page)

He took his time, making sure no one was watching, but the village was still and silent, as if everyone had packed up and left yesterday.

He shrugged, and dropped his river stone over the edge, as close to the center of the well as possible. A few moments later, he heard a splash, and satisfied he’d know where his bone
trinket
was when he needed to retrieve it, he turned and left the village. At his back, it was as quiet as it had been when he’d found it.

•

Caldan slowed his pace as he neared the gate into Riversedge. Only an hour or so ago, the queue to enter the city had been orderly and controlled. Now, though, a mass of people was pushing to get inside. A few were arguing with the Quivers on guard, and gesticulating toward the south, where there were trails of smoke on the horizon, winding their way into the clear sky.

Outside the gate, farmers, merchants, teamsters, and traders were pushing each other in their eagerness to get inside. Among them were many dirty and raggedly dressed men, women, and children. Caldan guessed they were the residents of the makeshift dwellings outside the city walls. Everyone was fairly civilized at this point, but it wouldn’t take much for chaos to break out. Whatever they were concerned about, it didn’t look like the Quivers had much of an idea what to do.

All along the road, groups of people approached Riversedge, laden with possessions. Carts were filled with furniture, wagons with produce and crates and chests. Off in the distance, clouds of dust thrown up from different locations in the countryside indicated many more people were moving toward the city. Their telltale dust plumes showed they were in a great hurry as they headed for the main road. He couldn’t tell how many people approached along the road, as it was paved, but judging from the crowd already at the gate, there were many more to come.

Caldan took in the wild eyes of the scared citizens pushing to enter Riversedge, along with the Quivers’ harried, frantic looks at each other.

“By the ancestors,” he cursed. Something was very wrong, and he could only reach one conclusion. The Indryallans were coming. Why they’d waited so long was a mystery, along with what they hoped to achieve. Maybe they were giving a show of force before the emperor and his armies arrived.

He chewed a thumbnail, thoughts churning furiously. One idea after another he considered and discarded. What was he going to do, wander back to his rundown apartment and wait for the warlocks to track him down?

He tapped a heavyset man on the shoulder. An irritated face turned to appraise him.

“What do you want?” asked the man gruffly through a mouth of yellowish teeth.

“What’s going on? Are the Indryallans coming?”

“Huh. We might wish they were. It’s worse than that. A horde of jukari have been spotted to the south. Entire towns and villages have been burned to the ground! And you know what they do with the people they capture?” The man shuddered then leaned in close. “They eat them.”

Jukari? In a large group? Caldan remembered reading about the creatures a few times in books on the Shattering and the centuries after. If he recalled correctly, they were rarely seen outside two or three at a time, and never near civilization. Certainly never much farther than the empire’s borders.

“Have the reports been confirmed?”

The yellow-toothed man gave him a sharp look. “I don’t know, but I wasn’t staying around to find out.”

A quiet voice came from behind them. “I saw them.”

Caldan turned to see a woman holding hands with a tall man. Both were lean and hardened, and wearing workmanlike leather clothes. Judging from the horses behind them, laden with furs, they were trappers.

“Where?” asked Caldan. “How many?”

The woman looked at her partner, who nodded. She glanced down, scuffing at the dirt on the road with the toe of a boot. “It was only two days ago. In the morning. We were heading into town with our pelts to sell after a few weeks trapping. It’s a nice little town… was,” she corrected herself. “It was nestled in a valley, and we came at it over a ridge only to see the buildings burned to the ground. It must have happened at night, else we would have seen the smoke. There were at least a hundred jukari that we could see. Filthy gray creatures. They were gathered in groups, eating… I don’t know what, but…” Tears welled in her eyes.

Her man put his arms around her. “Shh. The Quivers will take care of them.”

She nodded, a short jerky movement. “We ran. As much as we could, warning anyone we found on the way. Since then, we’ve been passed by others who’ve seen things, terrible things. We can only travel so fast, and there’s been many a person fleeing for their life who’s passed us by. They’ve come from everywhere.” She gestured around them. “As you can see, I don’t think there’s only one group of the monsters.”

Caldan thought she was right. It looked like the whole countryside was on its way to Riversedge for protection. “Why haven’t the Quivers alerted everyone in the city? They need to prepare.”

Yellow-tooth scoffed. “What, and panic everyone? I doubt they know what to do.”

The line moved ahead of them, and they shuffled toward the gate. Surprisingly, it didn’t stop, and they kept moving. It looked like the Quivers at the gate had decided to dispense with their usual inspections and questions in order to prevent the gates becoming a bottleneck and the crowd descending into chaos. A wise move.

Caldan nodded his thanks to the trappers and the other man as they passed through the gate. To the side, the Quivers on duty stood and watched the influx of people into the city. They looked… worried. Not a good sign. They hadn’t been much use when Anasoma was invaded. How could they face a horde of creatures of nightmare from the Shattering? With luck, the city’s walls would stop them dead, but if they were breached…

One thing was certain: the Protectors would already know. They’d be able to help, use their sorcery to protect the Quivers and the people fleeing the jukari. Caldan sighed wearily. He couldn’t escape Riversedge, and the Protectors were probably on their way to the walls now. And he’d only just escaped from them.

•

Caldan started, heart thumping in his chest, when a deep cough sounded beside him. He turned to see Master Mold staring at him with a puzzled expression on his face. It had taken a few hours for Mold to appear, and behind him stood two armed and armored Protectors. Caldan noticed the plain hilt of the sword Mold wore—the
trinket
sword. He’d better not give the master a reason to use it.

In the time it had taken Mold and the Protectors to travel to the south gate, the flood of refugees had increased tenfold. From his position atop the wall, Caldan could see smoke plumes in the distance, drifting into the sky. The people that now hurried toward the gate cast anxious glances over their shoulders and looked far more harried and frightened than those he’d spoken to earlier. The jukari must have been right on their tails.

“Caldan. I thought you’d be long gone,” remarked Mold in his gravelly voice. “Out of the city and away from us.”

Caldan shook his head. “You know it was a stupid move to try and escape. The warlocks or the Protectors would hunt me down. It was brainless of me to think I could run.” Except it gave him a chance to make sure Miranda would be looked after, and to hide his bone
trinket
.

“Whatever you think was going to happen to you, I can guarantee you’ll not be hurt.”

Except you can’t, and you don’t know it. “That’s a discussion for another day. There are more important things right now.”

Mold followed his gaze out over the crenellations and toward the people flooding into Riversedge. “If you’re right, the jukari have gathered in larger numbers than we’ve ever seen before.”

“It’s not my word. Talk to the refugees fleeing from them. They’ll tell you.”

“Confirm with a few of them, will you,” Mold commanded one of the Protectors.

The man nodded and hurried down the ramp to the ground, passing a massive catapult set atop the tower near the gate.

Caldan watched the Protector then returned his gaze to Mold. The master didn’t look concerned there might be a jukari horde fast approaching.

“Shouldn’t you be gathering the Protectors to assist? The Quivers should be out there guarding the people coming in, and so should the Protectors. If we get as many as we can on horses, we could ride out and see the jukari for ourselves, then we could safeguard the people on their way here. Some of them are bound to be caught and… we should help them.”

Mold shook his head. “This is a matter for the Quivers. It’s none of our concern. There are a great deal more of the soldiers, and they’ll be able to handle any threat.”

Caldan frowned. “Why haven’t they sent Quivers to help, then? They’re here, atop the walls and inside the gate, but no one’s been sent to protect the people fleeing in front of the jukari.”

“As I said, the Quivers will handle the jukari. I’m sure they know what they’re doing.”

“And what are they doing? They’re hiding behind the city’s walls. There could be people dying out there, expecting to be saved by the Quivers. We should do something.”

Master Mold looked troubled. “It’s out of our hands. Our edict is to control the use of forbidden sorcery, you know that. The Quivers are much better equipped. We’ll keep a watch from here, in case there are any vormag with the jukari.”

With growing frustration, Caldan shook his head and looked at his hands. What good was sorcery if it couldn’t be used to protect ordinary citizens? And vormag… he’d read about the creatures as well but thought they were similar to jukari.

“Why vormag? What’s special about them that… ah, I see. They’re sorcerers.”

Mold hissed in disgust. “Abominations. More so than the jukari. They aren’t sorcerers, as we know them… but they have wells and can use them to activate the basic
crafting
s they cobble together.”

“So, we do nothing as well? Wait for the jukari to kill anyone they catch up to on their rampage toward Riversedge?”

“I don’t like it any more than you do, but…” Mold spread his hands. “All we can do is support the Quivers in case of vormag. From our histories, with a jukari force this size, there’ll be vormag. Our role is to neutralize their sorcery, not to go haring off on our own.”

Despite his words, Caldan could tell the master was uneasy. It must grate on him as much as it does me, but he’s set in his ways—to only combat forbidden sorcery. Anything else is someone else’s problem.

The Protector rushed up the ramp toward them. With a nod to Mold, he outlined what he’d learned. Just as Caldan had said, the refugees reported jukari in great numbers, decimating towns and settlements. Only those warned in time, or with horses, were able to get away.

Mold sent the man off again. “Round up the Protectors from the headquarters, and have them assemble here, down below the wall. And send messages to our stations around the city. I’m afraid we might need everyone to meet this threat. Full battle gear. We haven’t trained for this but we need to do what we can.”

Caldan raised his eyebrows but remained silent.

Mold turned to him. “When this is over, you’ll come back with me. We won’t confine you again; you’ve shown that’s no use, and it looks like you’re resigned to abide by the warlocks’ judgement. You can stay here and see what develops; we might need your skills. We’re to support the Quivers, and that is all. Am I clear?”

With a nod, Caldan turned and leaned on the wall, his attention outside the city. His hands clenched the rough stone until his knuckles turned white.

Chapter Forty-Two

By the ancestors, cursed Felice to herself. What’s wrong with these people?

They were standing in the pouring rain. They’d followed Rebecci and her people out of the Cemetery and along the docks until they reached the head offices of the Five Oceans Mercantile Concern.

“It’s safe now,” Rebecci whispered to her. She assumed the woman meant because Savine had been… what? Captured? Killed? She had no idea what had happened, but she knew it wasn’t natural.

The pale sorcerer had left the building with a look of grim determination, and before following her Felice bade Izak stay behind at their offices to keep warm and eat some food. He looked skittish after all that had happened and could use some time to relax.

After she’d caught up, Rebecci ignored her repeated questions, and wandered along a wooden pier sticking out into the harbor until she reached the end. Once there, she sat, legs dangling over the side, and stared out at the ocean. Soon after, the dark clouds above started drenching them with cold water.

Felice shivered and stuck her hands in her pockets. She hadn’t recovered yet, and the chill rain might trigger a relapse of her sickness. Bloody sorcerers.

She prodded Rebecci with the toe of her boot. “What are you doing?”

Rebecci turned her head to face her. She looked even thinner now the rain had soaked her clothes and they clung to her body. Even her wild hair now hung lank against her head and face. Felice suppressed a laugh. She looked like a wet cat. One that hadn’t eaten for weeks. She was as thin as a stick. It was a wonder the wind didn’t blow her into the sea. Maybe the water weighed her down.

“Thinking. Communicating with the First Deliverer.”

Rebecci turned away from Felice and continued staring out over the swell. From this angle, Felice could see the sorcerer’s lips moving, as if she were speaking without making a sound. Both hands were in her lap, wrapped around something: the metal-encased diamond
crafting
, Felice assumed. Rebecci’s hands had a greenish cast, as the light from the gem penetrated through her pale hands.

“Who’s the First Deliverer?” It was an ominous title. Delivery from what?

“Delivery from our annihilation,” said Rebecci in response to her unvoiced question.

Uncanny. The woman made her decidedly uncomfortable.

“What’s he saying, then?”

Rebecci remained silent.

Felice hunched her shoulders and bent her neck, trying in vain to avoid the fat drops of rain. Atop a pier next to her, a seagull squawked and peered at her with beady yellow eyes. She’d just about had enough of these people and their obfuscations.