Dralin (28 page)

Chapter
17

“What a pretty little present Private
Bobbell brought us.” The man behind the desk stood.

Something pushed Pelya to the side just as
another man reached to grab her. The motion was enough for her to
run to the door. Right before she got there, it flung open on its
own knocking the two men in front of it to the ground.

Pelya ran her fastest down the hallway and
out through the door to the alley, which was also pulled open
inexplicably. She was going so fast that she ran into the wall on
the other side of the alley, causing her to stumble. For the first
time, she turned and looked back only to see a glowing green web
coming straight at her. Pelya ducked and rolled to the left, but it
stuck all over an arm and leg. Some of it tore when she yanked, but
it was strongly tethered to the wall and ground.

Then the shadows around it darkened and
ripped the strands from her, scaring her even more. Above her, a
crow cawed. She was sure it was the same one when she looked up to
see it resting on a brick jutting from one of the buildings.

A man ran out of the door and into the wall,
just as she had done, falling on his behind in the sticky
substance. Pelya barely evaded his outstretched hand as she dashed
away, her heart racing in fear. Looking over her shoulder, she saw
the crow claw the man’s head, drawing blood and screams of
pain.

Convinced that the crow was an ally, she ran
as fast as she could. Pelya was strong for her age and had done
obstacle drills with the Guard. The alleyway she ran down was a
gritty version of those and she was truly running for her life this
time.

Voices called out behind her while footsteps
began pounding the cobblestones and echoing off the wall. The alley
split into two. The crow flew over into the left one and cawed to
her. Pelya took that one, briefly noticing that the bird’s eyes
were most definitely purple.

The alley took a sharp turn and she pushed
against a wall to keep her balance. When she saw green pollution in
a puddle on the ground, she leapt over it, flying through the air
and landing with a thud that knocked the air out of her. Pelya got
to her feet and kept running, but her chest began to hurt from
exertion and fear.

A dark corner ahead suddenly became
inviting, so she rushed to it. One of the buildings in the alley
was set deeper than those around it, creating a small space. There
were garbage and debris along the edge, but she was able to back
into the corner.

Pelya heard the men coming down the alley
and realized they would see her. Alarm gripped her muscles, but
just as she was about to bolt, she heard a whispering “shh” in her
ear. Shadows slowly caressed her arms and legs, causing her to
relax involuntarily.

Three men came running at full bore. They
had a perfect line of vision to see her, but the shadows continued
stroking her skin and Pelya could feel their cool touch even
through her clothes. She breathed calmly, letting her chest relax
as the men ran past. They didn’t notice her at all.

A moment later, the shadows stopped
caressing and pushed her back into the alley. The crow cawed from
the left, so she immediately ran in that direction. Pelya didn’t
know what to think about shadows and a crow guiding her, but it was
much better than what would happen if the thugs who killed Bobbell
found her. The thought sapped the strength from her bones and she
stumbled to a halt.

The image of the sword piercing her uncle
flashed in her mind, as did the sight of blood flowing from his
lips while he mouthed words she could no longer hear. Pelya burst
into tears and fell to her knees. Panic and fear ganged up to
squeeze her heart tightly and prevent her from doing anything. Her
throat constricted, making her wheeze as she tried to breathe.

Pain shot through her scalp as her hair was
pulled, causing Pelya to cry out. The alley came into focus again
and flapping wings beat about her head. The crow yanked her hair
again to get her to come fully back to reality.

Pelya got to her feet and half-heartedly ran
some more. A minute later, she saw another dark corner that looked
inviting, so she rushed toward it. Once she got there, her eyes
were drawn to a wide ledge above that also looked inviting. She put
up a foot to use the wall for leverage, but as she did so, it was
grabbed and supported. Shadows heaved her up and she quickly caught
the ledge while more pulled her arms.

From the alley, she heard voices coming back
the way the men had run. Pelya’s back was pushed so she lay down on
the ledge It was slightly damp from the previous night’s rain and
more than a little dirty, but she stayed still. Footsteps pounded
back down the alley and faded into the distance.

As she stood up on the ledge, Pelya felt
something running down her scalp, over her left temple and cheek.
Wiping it off, she saw it was blood from a scratch where one of the
crow’s talons had accidentally cut her. She looked up to the edge
of the roof directly above and saw the crow. It cawed
apologetically.

“It’s alright,” Pelya assured it. “Thank you
for saving my life.”

It cawed again before hopping higher on the
roof. Pelya got the distinct impression it wanted her to follow.
She stood beneath the ledge, which was just a little out of her
reach. On a gut instinct, she lifted her left foot and was thrilled
to feel it grabbed and pushed up. With a leap, she caught the edge
and scrambled up.

Wooden shingles were at a steep angle,
making her gulp at the thought of climbing over them. Gathering
what courage she had left, Pelya followed the crow up to the peak
of the building they were on. It was one of the shorter buildings
around and she could see other rooftops surrounding it. The crow
flew to another that was a little higher. The other side of the
roof was at a much more gradual angle, so she quickly made her way
along it.

The next edge was chest-high and she pulled
herself up without assistance. Pelya paused to consider how odd it
was that shadows were helping her and realized that they weren’t
even supposed to have substance. The crow cawed again as if warning
her not to think about it too hard. Pelya traveled across that
rooftop to another and another, each one a little higher.

Other crows began to show up as she traveled
over the wooden, slate, and metal roofs. They acted as a winged
escort. Pelya’s arms and legs grew rubbery from the physical and
mental exertion. The horror of what had happened lurked in the back
of her mind, threatening to burst through again. Then all the crows
but the original flew away. Pelya stopped and held onto the
weathervane on the middle of the roof she was on.

It was then that she realized she had
reached the highest point in the area. The roofs of Wizard’s Mall
were around her, looking like hills under the warm sun. Birds flew
about in the distance and the murmur of voices from the streets
below filled the air with a humming sound. Various aromas of
incense and perfumes from the shops below mixed with garbage in the
alleys to create a nauseating effect.

But the most extraordinary sight was the
rise of the Tower District in the distance. She couldn’t make out
individual towers. Instead, they shimmered and moved slowly back
and forth, weaving through each other in circular motion. Rainbow
colors of green, blue, purple and red eddied around all of it,
creating a foggy illusion that went high into the sky.

The crow cawed from the next roof. Pelya
rubbed her eyes to clear them of the colors that hurt her head and
then followed. Coming around to the other side of the next rooftop,
she saw a window that would give the occupant a perfect view of the
hypnotic sight. The crow was sitting on the top of the frame above
it.

The window creaked open slowly, startling
her. She stared at the crow. “I really hope you’re my friend.” It
gave a short nod and cawed at her again. Pelya shrugged and
carefully entered the opening. The crow stayed outside and flew
away.

There was absolutely no light inside and it
took a minute for her eyes to adjust after being in the bright
daylight. Pelya reached in her tunic for another pouch. It still
had the three rune balls Ebudae had given her. She pulled out the
one that created light and said the activation word. A soft blue
glow mixed with the sunlight coming from the window. The room was
empty except for some old furniture and the webs of spiders that
had decided to fill the vacancy.

Pelya walked to stairs going down on the
opposite side of the small room, jumping when the window creaked
closed and latched itself. Shadows were thick in that area and she
figured they had taken care of it. “Thank you,” she told them,
wanting to be polite.

The stairs were steep and rickety, groaning
with each step she took. The next level was also empty except for
furniture. A few rats and cockroaches joined the spiders. Pelya
stepped quickly to the next level of stairs underneath the one she
had just come down. They were rickety as well, but not quite so
bad. When it took five more flights to reach the bottom, she
realized how high up she had traveled on the rooftops. It wasn’t
surprising that she was so exhausted and shaky.

Shadows cast by the blue light in her hand
moved around a doorway to her left. She went through it into
another room and across that to a door beyond. When she reached for
the knob, the shadows pushed her hand aside.

Pelya pulled back and waited for a minute.
She looked around the room at the one couch mostly eaten away by
rats. Moths had nearly finished off a tapestry that once hung from
the far wall, and the fireplace lay dormant. It reminded her of the
ancient buildings underground.

The knob clicked and turned slowly. When the
door opened a crack, Pelya pulled it enough to see out. She was on
a street with a mixture of shops and houses. It was bright and
people were walking back and forth about their business.

Then she saw a guard unit coming up the
street, searching for something or someone. Pelya crushed the rune
ball as Ebudae had shown her and threw the ashes on the ground
while running toward the unit. Rune balls could become unstable if
not made for multiple uses.

“Pelya!” one of the guards exclaimed,
pointing at her. She knew the woman, who was always nice. Her name
was Minda and she had black hair and blue eyes much like Pelya’s.
The unit ran to Pelya and surrounded her as she rushed into Minda’s
arms and began bawling.

“Pelya,” the unit leader said, trying to get
her attention. He was an average man with brown hair and a shaggy
goatee. “Pelya . . .
Pelya
!” he yelled, finally getting the
girl to turn. “Who were you supposed to be with today? Why are you
alone?”

“And why in the world are you in Wizard’s
Mall?” another asked disapprovingly.

“Unc . . . Uncle Bobbell . . . is dead,”
Pelya stuttered, snot running down her nose. She couldn’t seem to
keep from losing control now that she was safe among family.

“Where? Tell me quickly,” the unit leader
commanded while Minda wiped Pelya’s nose with a handkerchief she
pulled from inside her tunic.

Pelya turned her head back and forth,
looking for anything familiar much to Minda’s exasperation because
she was still trying to wipe the girl’s face. Finally, Pelya looked
at the unit leader. “I don’t know,” she wailed despairingly.

The man folded his arms and looked around.
Then he blew a piercing whistle that hung on a chain around his
neck. It would call any other units to his location. Most times,
the squad sergeant and corporal would each be with units
nearby.

He looked at Pelya, who was still sniffling
and wiping at her red eyes. “I can see you’ve just been through a
terrible ordeal, but we need to know about Private Bobbell and what
happened to him, so I suggest you figure out how to keep it
together long enough to explain everything you can remember.”

“Y . . . yes, Sir,” Pelya said. She gulped
deep breaths of air and let Minda clean up her face. A moment
later, three sharp tweets came from behind them. The unit leader
responded with two tweets. It was a way of locating each other. Two
more units came from that direction, making up all but one unit of
the squad.

“What is it?” the squad sergeant asked while
running up. Pelya recognized her as Sergeant Rashel. There was a
wizard with her too. The wizard’s brown robes were slit up the
sides of the legs to enable him to run easily. He wore black
leggings underneath

“Pelya Jornin rushed up to us alone,” the
unit leader said, pointing at the girl. “She was with Private
Bobbell, but said he died. I told her to get control of her
emotions so she could report.”

The sergeant looked surprised to see Pelya
there. “So that’s who the death was. What in the
world
was
he doing in the Mall with Pelya?!”

“I don’t know. Perhaps you should ask the
girl,” the unit leader said in irritation. Minda, the sergeant and
most of the other guards there glared at him. Pelya realized he was
one of the people who didn’t like her.

Sergeant Rashel squatted down in front of
Pelya. “Can you lead us to Bobbell, Pelya?” When the girl shook her
head, Rashel’s eyes widened. She reached a hand to Pelya’s right
temple and wiped the blood that was still slowly trickling
down.

“It looks like just a scalp cut, Sergeant,”
Minda told her quickly. “I think she’ll be alright, but she’s
shaking like a leaf.

Rashel nodded. “Pelya, I need you to tell me
as much as possible so we can find his body. Make it as quick and
concise as you can.”

Pelya nodded and collected her thoughts. It
was difficult, but she was determined to do everything she could.
“I asked him to bring me here thinking he’d say no, but he said yes
instead.” She wanted to cry from guilt at the admission. It was all
her fault.