Meadowcity (20 page)

The boy in the corner was slowly but steadily nailing crates together, as he had done all night, clanging steadily with his hammer.

Ven was amazed at how well Ember seemed to read him.  Adra glanced at the boy by the crates and raised her eyebrows at Ven. 

“Long way to go to get stuck sifting lime,” she said.

“I came with her brother,” he nodded to Ember, “and a Rider.  Meadowcity’s next on their list.”

Adra nodded, her eyes down on the screen as she shook it side to side, slowly. 

“Didn’t think you looked cut out for stonework,” she said.

He made a small smile, “I’m a hunter.”

“A hunter and a Rider,” she mused.  “What’d they send you for?”

“Find out what they’re up to.  We got a threat delivered about the same time Flint stumbled through our gate.”

She nodded again, locking eyes with Ven.  "Well here’s what we’ve been thinking.  The stone,” she gestured to the powder they were sifting, “they need it for the firebombs.  They’re manufacturing them all in Lightcity.”

Ven’s eyebrows wrinkled together.

“Yep, Lightcity’s in on it,” she whispered bitterly.  “I heard the Scouts talking about the patrols hauling all of it to Lightcity.”

“What are they mining our stone for?  What about the quarry at Lightcity?” Ember asked, nearly forgetting to keep her voice down.

“I expect they need those citizens to do the tech, putting the globes together.”

A soft crunch warned them of the Scout at the door, her sneering face not becoming any more pleasant as the night had worn on.  She looked miserable at having the night shift—perhaps she was being punished for something too.

The woman entered and made her way around the edge of the room, looking into the bins to note their progress.  Ven saw the small satchel on her back bulging with small round objects. 
Firebombs.

Before he knew what he was doing, he stuck out his leg just as the Scout stepped in front of him.  Losing her balance, Ven swiftly made a grab for her satchel, in fear of the firebombs exploding.

Ember jumped back from the bin, scattering stone everywhere as her scoop went flying.

The Scout was still falling forward, her arms bent backward as Ven grabbed the pack off her back.  Adra retreated, folding herself against the wall away from the bombs.

Without her arms to catch her fall, the Scout fell flat on her face, her arms smacking the stone floor.  All of it happened in an instant.  The boy in the corner stood dumbfounded, hammer hanging limp in his hand, mouth wide.

The Scout cursed, flat on her stomach, as she tried to get up, swearing loudly.  Ven put his foot on her back, pinning her down.  He handed the pack to Ember, and pinned the woman’s arms.

Now they were really in it.

He pressed his foot down harder on the Scout’s back as Ember went to look around the room for something to tie her up.  The Scout began to swear louder at them now and plea for help.  Ven looked around, panicked.

A kick in the ribs did almost nothing to quiet her, and Ember ran over, tearing the cloth off her head and balled it up, stuffing the dusty cloth in the woman’s mouth.

A moment later, Ember came back with a cord, reaching down to tie the Scout’s wrists.  Ven handed her a knife so she could cut another piece for the woman’s feet.

Ven looked around.  The boy in the corner was frozen, staring wide-mouthed at them.  Adra stood against the wall, watching silently.  The Scout squirmed endlessly but Ember managed to tie her legs together too.

Ven kept his leg upon the Scout until they decided what they were going to do. 

“No, wait!” Adra yelled.

Ven and Ember whipped their heads around just in time to see the boy running from the room, dropping his hammer with a clang.

Ven cursed. 
Was the boy going to report them, or just fleeing?

“We need to go, now,” he told Ember, who nodded fervently, eyes wide.

They looked at Adra, who shrugged. 

“I’ll stay,” she said.  “I’ll tell ‘em you hit me, too.”

Ven knew that story wouldn’t hold up once the Scout was untied.  Adra knew it.

Ember grabbed the Scout’s pack and shouldered it, making sure the ties were secure before putting it on.

“You want us to leave you a little protection?” Ember asked the woman, lightly patting the satchel full of bombs.

Adra shuddered. 

“I couldn’t touch those things.  You go.  I’ll be fine.  Just—do what you came to do, and put an end to it, alright?”

Ven and Ember nodded seriously and gave the room one last look before leaving.  Adra took Ven’s place and put her boot on the woman’s back, pretty firmly too.

“Are you sure?” he asked her.

She fixed the Scout with a watchful eye. 

“Maybe I’ll leave her here and make a run for it.”

Ven nodded, hoping she could get away before the Scout got help.

Out in the foyer, Ven put his knife back into his belt.  They would need to blend in walking along the path.  He looked over at Ember.

“You can’t take that pack,” he said.

She looked at him with outrage, her red hair swinging, “Why not?” she hissed.

“You’re not a Scout.  How would you have gotten that satchel?”

She huffed and stared around the foyer. 

“Fine.”

She took it off, but opened it up, pulling out two globes and placing them into her coat pockets.

Turning around the foyer, she shifted some of the crates stacked by the door, and slipped the pack behind them.  “I’d throw them down the rift, but I think that
might
draw a lot of attention,” she said.

Ven shook his head.  Carrying the globes with them made him more nervous than going empty handed.  He had seen what they could do to sturdy stone bridges, and didn’t want to witness it himself.

“Where to?” she asked.

They peered out the doorway, finding the path deserted.

“Your villa?”

“I’ve got a better idea,” she said, and slipped out the open door.

Right on her heels, he followed her down the path, the sky clear above them.  The only evidence of the sun was a soft glow in the east. 

Keeping his eyes from looking over into the rift, he stared down at the path, following Ember’s footsteps.  Her feet were wrapped in brown leather boots, leaving almost no tread in the grit at their feet.  She stepped very lightly down the stone path, steps barely a whisper.

As they neared the two staircases, Ember chose the one leading up, towards the villa.

“When they change shifts, they use the lower path,” she pointed out, climbing the stairs two at a time.  “Let’s get out of sight and figure out how to get Flint,” she said.

They passed the villa but Ember kept walking.

“Where?” Ven asked, looking behind them for followers.  The Scout could have gotten free.

“Here,” she said, halting. 

They were four villas down.  She jiggled the latch and went in, the heavy wooden door squeaking on its hinges.  Ven followed her inside the empty villa, immediately feeling trapped.  The only light inside the stone room seeped in through a crack in the curtains in the front.   Ven went farther into the room to keep his distance from the windows.

“I don’t suppose this one’s got a tunnel in the back, does it?” he asked.

Ember shook her head.  “This is the Clearstone’s villa,” she said, wincing as the door closed with a squeak. 

“I saw them yesterday in the mine,” she added quietly.

The layout was much like Flint’s villa, and Ven supposed they were probably all carved out around the same time.  The front room was a common room, and it too had been searched, though probably just for food. 

The thought of it made his stomach grumble.  Maybe they would find something that had been left behind.

“I don’t think they’ll check here, if they come looking for me.  Who knows where that boy ran off to.”

Ven grimaced.  That hadn’t been planned well, he knew, but they hadn’t had too many options to begin with.  He began to look around in the cupboards in the kitchen.  Ember went and found their washroom and cleaned up.

By the time she came back, much less covered in dust, Ven had found two small plums in the corner of a cabinet.  He handed one to Ember as he bit into his, the sweet fruit almost too ripe, but it would have to do.

The Clearstones must have been a small family, as their table was crammed against the wall, with only two chairs.  Ven sat down, eager to get a little rest after such a long night of pointless work.

“So, what’s the plan?” she said wearily, quickly finishing off her plum and finding a cloth to wipe her sticky hands on.  She leaned back in her chair, her long red hair flowing down the back.

Ven puffed out a breath.  He didn’t really have one, not yet.

“Well, Sylvia and Flint are in the Hall.  But they’re going to be looking for you.”

“So we go to the Hall at shift change.  Like we’re on our way back from the mine.”

It sounded so easy.  Ven was sure it wouldn’t remain that way, the way things had been going so far.

Ember stood and crept toward one of the front windows, peering out through the tiny crack in the curtains.

“Can’t be long now,” she said, pulling back from sight.

Ven stretched his legs out in front of him, and then wiped his hands on the cloth Ember had used.  He couldn’t help but wonder what in Arcera he was doing here.  It seemed like all they had done was put themselves in danger, and possibly rescue Ember—though that was still up in the air.  They had to get out first.

“So where’s your Governor?” he asked, now thinking over the conversation they had had with Gero before they left.

“Selena? They locked her in her office once the attack was over.  It was the next day; everyone was trapped, cowering in their villas or trying to help the wounded.  Then the Scouts were pulling everyone out of their villas, dragging us to the Hall. ”

“We didn’t know what happened to her until they forced us all into the Hall.  We all packed in, I didn’t really think the whole city would fit in there, and it took hours to get everyone in.  The Scouts were there though, keeping everyone in line,” she added bitterly.

“Once everyone was in, this one Scout got up and made a speech.  Telling us Skycity was now in charge, and we were to behave.  The whole time, the Scouts are walking their wolves and lions around the room, on tethers.”

Ven nodded, and told her about the Scouts they had seen on the trail with the lion.

“So they’ve got their lions and wolves in the Hall, and everybody’s scared.  But they dragged her out, to show us she’s still alive.  She was a little roughed up, but alright.  At least she didn’t give in and sell the city out.  You said Meadowcity was threatened too?”

Ven didn’t answer as the sound of loud footfalls rang out on the path outside.

Half out of his chair, he reached back for his knife, pulling it out and cocking his arm, ready.  Ember was frozen in her chair.

But the runner passed the villa, the steps becoming louder, and fading away again as they headed down the path.  Ven let out a long sigh.  But the knife remained out.

“Yeah,” he said, after a while.  “They sent us a letter by Rider—Sylvia carried it.”

“Do you know what they want?”  Ember asked, hushed.

“Not a clue,” he said, shaking his head.  “I wonder how long this has been going on.  If Lightcity’s in on it too.”

A loud clanging outside the villa brought their heads up.  Ven jumped, his heart racing, but then he realized it was the shift bell.  Ember stood and went to the door, peering out.

“It’s our emergency bell,” she told him.

“Ready?” she asked.

Ven nodded, joining her at the door and regretfully tucking his knife back into its sheath.  He followed as she slipped out the door, hands going to her pockets to check for the globes.  Ven let his gaze drift over the chasm, seeing the sun lighting the paths now, and his stomach dropped; but he took a deep breath, trying to focus on finding Sylvia. 

They headed left towards the stairs, aiming to beat the crowd there.  As they passed Flint’s villa, Ven thought of his bow behind that door, but the moment passed.

Reaching the top of the stairs, Ember put her hand on the carved railing and began to descend.  But after only two steps down, she froze, her red hair shifting in the wind.

The crowd was coming down the path, and right at the head of it, the sneering Scout woman.

“Run,” he said, grabbing Ember’s arm, pulling her back up.

They turned and ran flat out, passing Flint’s villa, and the Clearstone’s a second later.  Ven’s mind ran too.  How were they going to find Sylvia and Flint now?  Where could they go?  The mission was down to getting out alive.

He cursed himself for not getting the bow.  Blending in hadn’t lasted very long.

Chapter Twenty Four
 

Sorin cut through the rain, boots splashing through cold puddles on the stone street.  It had been miserable all week as the mountain was drenched with a chill rain.  But the cold didn’t matter to him now, nor the drops icing down his collar.

We found it
.

His stomach fluttered as he thought it to himself again.

He
was going to be the one to reveal it to Arcera, when the time came.  Which was why he was rushing to the gate to meet Airic Snowdon, the man who had spotted the city.

Falx strode through the wet streets beside him, the two of them swiftly vacating the Hall once Falx had entered with his pronouncement.  Sorin vividly recalled the man dripping rain on the glass floor of his office, as his heart raced at the news. 
We found it.

Rain pelted them in sheets as they reached the gatehouse, the door thrown open at their approach.  Sorin and Falx poured into the small but warm room, dripping wet as they shut the door against the storm.

As they dripped noisily onto the stone, Sorin looked around the room, occupied by three other individuals: Ripon, Starling, and Airic, the man who had finally found it for him.  The Gatekeepers, he supposed, were in the other room, outside the wall.

Airic was drying himself by the fire, his coat hung to dry on the mantle as he tried to get warm.  He had just come back in the city with the news.

With a wary look at Starling, Sorin removed his coat to dry by the fire, the cold finally seeping into his core.  He still wasn’t used to the tame beasts, though now his whole Scout regimen trained their own for the trail.  Falx had a rather intimidating grey wolf called Cirrus, though he hadn’t had the easiest time training the fierce animal.  The poor man had lost a finger in the early stages of training.

They had built a shelter outside the city to house the beasts, though now it was more of a club than a stables.  When in the city, the Scouts would spend time there, sometimes even sleeping there, since more rooms had been added on.  The building was tucked away on the opposite side of the mountain than the gate—keeping wandering Riders from coming upon it.  They called it the Den.

Sorin didn’t know where to begin.  Ripon handed Airic a canister of warm tea, and the man drank.  He must have been travelling all through the downpours the entire week.

The man’s hair had begun to dry into a light blonde as the warm air circulated through the room.  His eyes were a startling green.  He picked at his sleeves, pasted to his skin, as he finished the hot tea.

Sorin reached into his pocket for the map he had ripped out of a book before throwing on a coat and racing out of his office.  His fingers brushed against something else, hard and round. 
Savannah’s ring.
  His stomach flipped.  He had only just picked it up from the glassworks this morning.  But he pushed the thought aside.  He could think about that later.

Slowly unfolding the damp map to avoid ripping it, he offered it to Airic.  The man took it, his green eyes scanning the paper as Sorin’s heart soared.

A shaky finger, grey and waterlogged from a week of rain, pointed to an almost improbable place on the map.  Below the land south of Riftcity and Meadowcity, Airic’s finger rested just off the coast of Arcera, in the sea. 
 

*  *  *

Cirrus snarled at Sorin as he walked past, earning a harsh sound from Falx.  The dark animal ceased, chastised by its master.  The Den was alive with Scouts as they prepared to leave, all wanting to go on this world changing journey, but Sorin had chosen only two—Airic and Falx.

The idea was not to overwhelm the fifth city.  They couldn’t begin by intimidating them with an army of Scouts, not if Sorin wanted to unite the five cities, bringing the last one back into the fold.

He had already officially left the city, saying goodbye to Savannah and heading for the Den before he made out for the fifth city.  The ring he had been planning on proposing with sat safely in a small box in his villa, waiting for the right time.

He couldn’t propose now.  The fifth city beckoned to him, and much would happen once he went there.  Uniting the cities would take a lot of effort, and it wouldn’t be fair to Savannah to plan such an occasion amidst the commotion and celebrations bound to occur once the cities were united.

She had noticed a change in him since the discovery, he could tell, but they were happy.  Sorin found himself thinking of the days when they would be married, as he held Skycity, and more, since he was the one to discover the city on the water.  Thoughts of Savannah smiling at him from across his villa as they talked of the future turned up his mouth in a smile as he turned down a corridor in the Den.

All of the preparations had been made for an ambassadorial trip to Riftcity, just as planned.  But Sorin would be making a detour on his way there, the perfect excuse to visit the fifth city to the south, and stopping in Riftcity on his way back for the formalities of the visit.

His boots scuffing on the wood floor, he entered one of the newly added dormer rooms, his nose wrinkling at the sharp scent of pine.  His pack lay on the cot, though he hadn’t slept on it—having only gotten here this morning, after walking out of the stone gates and around the mountain with Falx and Airic.  The two men were readying their hunter beasts for the trail.  Sorin had traded his fur lined cape for a trim leather jacket, thick enough to keep him warm now that Winter’s End was approaching.

Sorin would be back in time to celebrate the festival with Savannah, and again he debated whether the festival would be a good time to announce the fifth city or not.  He would just have to wait and see how the inaugural trip went.

He looked up from securing his pack at the scuff of a boot by his door.  Airic and his beast, a dark grey wolf named Wren stood ready, with Falx lurking in the background. 
Time to go.

In the hall, the rest of the Scouts gathered, offering happy cheers and wistful glances to the two Scouts lucky enough to merit the journey.  The three of them would be the first to visit another city in the many hundreds of years since the founding.  Sorin was just ecstatic that it actually existed. 

In that warm gatehouse that night in the rain, Airic had told them about his journey to the end of the land, to the encompassing sea, and how he had rested for a bit before turning back.  He had stared idly into the distant fog as he had his mid-day meal.

The fog began to clear over the water as he ate, and he began to notice dark outlines of something on the water.  Fingers fumbling, he retrieved his telescope from his pack and extended it, focusing it on the distance.  For a long while he watched wide eyed as the fog revealed an impossible island in the enormous sea that encased Arcera.

Could this be it?
he thought over and over, until he finally spotted them—people, carrying a large wooden crate and settling it by the water.

He had been torn between the burning curiosity of watching more, or returning as quickly as possible to Skycity.  But he had been five days from home, and knew that Sorin had spent a lot of time and effort to find this place, and would want to know right away.

And now Sorin was finally going.  They reached the open doorframe of the Den, and Sorin turned, feeling the need to say something to these rowdy Scouts, who had spent half a year searching for this place.  They quieted, and he looked over their weather-worn faces, some now scarred from their dangerous charges, but grinning nonetheless.

“When we come back,” he said.  “There will no longer be four Cities, but five.  And we will be the ones to unite us all!” 

The men roared, so he went on.

“All of us here and now are going to
change
Arcera, and a new era will begin.”

Starling and Wren barked their appreciation, or more likely their irritation, as the three men left amidst the cheers into the sunny mountainside. 

The Den was nestled in a thick growth of trees on a mossy slope.  As they wove through the trees, Airic loosed Wren from her tether and she went running ahead.  Sorin felt free—he was going to the fifth city at last—where he could finally find answers to the questions that had circled his thoughts for half a year.  But he already knew the answer to the most important one.  It existed.  And they were on their way.