The Way Into Darkness: Book Three of The Great Way (52 page)

“No species has the power we have,” Speaker continued. He’d let his carefully diplomatic body language slip, and his arrogance shone through. He had begun to talk to them as if they were children. “For us,
hunt
,
prayer
, and
magic
all come from the same root word. We seek power the way a predator stalks prey: we seize it and make it our own. Do you think the Evening People could create the spell-disruptor you have acquired somewhere? They would call it blasphemy to summon, then drive out The Great Way. My people consider it sacred.

“That is why I say that these gods you mention--Fury and Fire--are folktales. The Great Way connects so many different places that even we are astonished by its size, but a special, separate god for only your people, here in this remote world? The concept strains credulity. As for the other force, Fire, I do not understand how a being can lose its life before its time. If it dies, then its time must have come. Anything else is philosophically suspect.”
 

The alligaunt became silent. Cazia didn’t look up at Tejohn’s face, but she could see that he was gripping his spear so hard his knuckles were white.
 

“Well,” Cazia said, not trying to hide her annoyance. “I can see why they call you
Speaker.
”
 

To her astonishment, the alligaunt laughed. “Indeed. Thank you for making a joke from a conversation that should not have become so serious. It is my duty to welcome you and put you at your ease, not lecture you on delicate subjects.”
 

“I am grateful,” Tejohn said, “to hear your thoughts on the matter. So, when does this examination begin?”
 

“Each city has a Speaker, but Examiners are few. One is on the way even as we linger here. Would you like to feast? You would not be expected to hunt for your own meals in this environment, of course, but we have nothing to offer but unscorched fish.”
 

Cazia and Tejohn shared a glance. Raw fish? Ugh. “Thank you, but we’ll be fine for a while yet.”
 

“Then I shall leave you to explore the city until she arrives. You can go wherever you like except down. The levels below this one are full of egg clusters and the newly hatched; their caregivers will not honor any truce if they find you there. Climb upward as you like; there are wonders here.”
 

“You trust us here,” Cazia said, “armed and wandering loose in your city?”
 

“We do, but please understand it is not from contempt for your power.” Speaker’s tone and body language demonstrated absolutely no respect for their power. “It is not because we think you too small to offer harm. Rather, we respect a developed mind. We have seen your kind engaging in the sacred pursuit. You are hunters like us, yes?”
 

No.
“Yes,” Cazia said.
 

“Of course. And like every developed mind, you know when to strike and when self-preservation bids you to stay your hand. In this place, surrounded by powerful hunters in their natural habitat, what attack could you make against us that would not also cause your swift and sure deaths? No, I think we are safe because you, like all living things, want to be safe.”
 

“That’s very logical,” Tejohn said evenly.
 

Speaker bowed to them, entirely sure of himself. “Hunters like us know when it is time to chase and when it is time to preserve our own lives. You have already demonstrated your intelligence. We do not fear you throwing away your lives on a useless hunt.”

With that, Speaker bowed and swam away, leaving them alone. Tejohn glanced at her. The old soldier looked miserable. He said, “I swear they looked peaceful.”
 

Cazia couldn’t help it. She laughed.
 

Tejohn shook his head and said, “Fire and Fury, I should have known better. My apologies for getting you into this, my tyr.”
 

My tyr! How things have changed.
“No apologies necessary,” Cazia said, laying her hand on his arm in what she hoped was a comforting gesture. “I’m glad we came. We needed to make contact with them and warn them about The Blessing.”
 

“Not that they seem to care.”
 

“What I can’t understand is how they hid this place. We flew over this lake at night; there’s no way we would have missed all these lights.”
 

“They have a shield,” Tejohn said. He pointed upward and outward from the balcony. “Do you see where the dark water above us suddenly turns a bit lighter? They placed something dark just below the surface that shields them.”
 

Cazia couldn’t see the change in color he was pointing out. “Your eyes must be even stronger than mine now.”
 

“The only thing I can’t figure is why. They’re powerful enough to build a citadel no army on Kal-Maddum could breach. Why hide?”
 

A prickling thought at the back of Cazia’s mind made her uneasy but she wasn’t sure exactly what it was. “Did you see the spiked metal circlets some of them were wearing? I found one just like it in Qorr Valley.”
 

“What do you think it means?”
 

Cazia couldn’t answer. Something at the back of her mind was churning, trying to come to the surface, but she couldn’t bring it out.
 

Tejohn moved to the edge of the braided wood that formed the balcony, waving his hand to move in the water, then looked down. There was no railing, of course, and if he lost his footing, his armor would drag him down to the parts of the city that had been forbidden to them. Cazia fought the urge to grab hold of him.
 

The soldier was not looking at the balcony. He was looking out into the murky darkness of the lake. “There’s something below us, too,” he said. “I caught a glimpse of it when they pulled us in.”
 

Cazia stared down into the darkness and felt goose bumps run all along her skin. What did the alligaunts have at the bottom of the lake? “We can’t swim down to take a look,” she said, “but I have a different idea.”
 

She reached down and examined the globe light attached to the outer edge of the balcony. It looked very like a basic lightstone, although it was made of wood, and she could feel the potency of its magic well before she touched it. A globe with an enchantment this powerful would glow for years.
 

The polished metal dish behind it reflected the light outward like a beacon. Cazia knelt to examine it and was startled to realize the dish was pure gold and thin enough to fold up and put in her pocket.
 

She touched her jacket pocket, trying to convince herself this was a good idea, and realized she’d lost the two translation stones she’d made for this trip. It was just as well.
 

The globe had grown outward from the wooden braid behind it like a flower bud, right through a hole in the center of the dish. They had no way to hack it free. She didn’t bring a saw and there was no “groomer” nearby to steal from. Tejohn’s sword would be useless in all this water. The resistance would be so great that they could never swing it at full strength.
 

Water. Of course. “Take hold of the light,” she said, “and don’t fall.”
 

He did. Cazia began the Fifth Gift, but not the version that created water. This time, she wanted to purify it, but only close to where the wood grew around the globe’s tail. This was the spell Lar had set out to Tempest Pass to learn, the one that was supposed to turn the war against the grunts. Such a tiny spell, but it worked. The wooden stem vanished.
 

The globe came free and began to float toward the surface. It had worked. The dish of hammered gold dropped down and away from them.
 

Tejohn caught the globe and handed it to her. It was lighter than she’d expected, but not by much.
 

Cazia began the Tenth Gift. One of the darts in her quiver would have traveled farther in the water, but she would give the globe whatever momentum she could.
 

When a powerful, skillful adept casts a spell, they do not just exert power. They put their intention into that power and the magic does their bidding.
 

The more skilled she became with her magic—the more The Great Way entered her—the more accurate her darts were. Doctor Eelhook had been a bureaucrat who rarely cast a spell; every dart she had shot was a waste of iron, but now Cazia could shoot five at a time and all of them would strike home.
 

This was no different. She willed the light to fly outward and it did. Not in a sudden rush, the way her darts left her hand, but in a steady outward push that sent it out and down, out and down.
 

She and Tejohn stepped back from the edge of platform to the braided structure behind them. There were no watchful eyes that they could see. Good. They’d been given leave to explore the city, not dismantle it. Still, the alligaunts wanted to understand them better, so here was their first opportunity.
Humans are curious and we break things.
 

The light globe kept moving away from them slowly as it descended. It had already gone deeper than Cazia would have thought possible, when suddenly it bounced off of a protuberance and began to slowly float upward.
 

The light was far, but it cut through the murk, lighting up a space at least twenty-five feet all around.
 

“Are you seeing that?” Tejohn asked.
 

“I am,” Cazia answered.
 

A clawed hand. The light revealed a single gigantic clawed hand.

Chapter 33

“I don’t want to stand out here any more,” Cazia said. Tejohn didn’t have to say he agreed. He just followed her through the arch into the building…the city…
 

No, the hive. It really was a hive. Just beyond the tunnel opening, they found a small, squarish chamber no more than seven feet across. It was open on all four sides, and at the top and bottom, too. There was no lighting or adornment, only the twisted wood. Heavy braids ran upward through the corners of the chamber; only one heavy braid ran horizontally, as a sort of brace. Thinner braids shaped the openings between chambers.
 

The only light shone from the next chamber in. Cazia hurried to it and found a second globe. This one was much smaller and had no reflective dish. Cazia was tempted to take it, but only for a moment. She hoped to find more valuable prizes farther in.
 

The way ahead was dim and dark, but the way down was pitch black. Of course, Cazia could have gone to either side, circling around the edge of the city, but that wouldn’t satisfy her.
 

Above was another light, maybe five chambers up. With a glance at Stoneface to make sure he wasn’t scowling in disapproval, she began to climb.
 

It was so easy, she was almost embarrassed. She could kick off from a braid--the large horizontal brace was best, because the thin decorative ones flexed too much and stole her momentum--and dive upwards to the chamber above. Before she’d even reached the lit chamber, she’d figured out the most efficient way to jump from one level to the next. Swimming! Who knew it could be so much fun?
 

Tejohn was too weighed down by his armor and gear to follow her example, but he managed a very sensible one-handed climb up the braided supports. His other hand was needed to hold his spear, naturally. Cazia almost offered to carry it for him, but it seemed like an awkward, extremely personal thing to suggest.
 

“Let’s go deeper in,” Tejohn said, and they did, passing through ten or fifteen chambers before they came to something unusual.
 

It was a lit chamber, but the light was more blue than the others. Below the light, a square wooden board hung where one of the tunnel openings should have been. For a moment, Cazia thought she’d found a forbidden room, but a quick glance into an adjacent chamber showed that was not the case. It was just a large square slab of wood mounted on the support braids.
 

Tejohn shrugged. He didn’t know what it was, either. Cazia touched the tiny bulge in her cheek where the second gem was hidden. Where were the alligaunt’s homes? Where did they put their things?
 

Peering toward the center of the city, she could see faint glimmers of light shining from nearby chambers, as well as a slightly less dark circle at the very end. Was that the end of the hive? It seemed far, but not far enough to make a city.
 

Tejohn led her toward the center of the structure. “I wish there was more light,” he said quietly. There was something about the darkness and stillness of this nest of chambers that made them want to move quietly.
 

They passed beneath another blue light. Cazia tapped Tejohn’s shoulder and, when she had his attention, kicked to the chamber above. There was another wooden slab, but this one had a coil of rope on it.