Adversaries Together (37 page)

As they walked Fery noticed more and more
light coming in, then as the hall turned slightly it opened up into
a wider hall. There were window every five feet or so, not the long
slits of the towers and other building but larger and teardrop
shaped. The floor and walls were smooth, covered in a white plaster
making the whole hall perhaps the brightest place in the dwelling.
Fery went to the nearest window and looked out; she saw the open
glen below.

“
Brilliant view.” She
said.

“
It’s more than that,” Kira
came over, “The trees are set at just the right angles that these
windows are obscured but we can see out.”

“
Clever.”

Kira pulled Fery along, “But that’s not what
I want you to see.” They moved down the corridor and when they
reached the end, it opened up into a large room. The ceiling rose
up like the interior of a dome and the floor dipped down slightly
making the entire space look even more cavernous.

“
This is larger than the
great room.” Fery stepped inside and wandered toward the middle of
the room. She pointed up to the open circle at the ceiling that was
pouring light into the room in an empyreal cone, “Where do you
suspect that is?”

Kira shook her head, “I don’t think it’s as
near as we think. I was staring up at it for a while and I think
it’s like a well with mirrors all along it.”

“
You think it’s pulling
light down from some far up opening?”

“
Something like that,” Kira
nodded, “It wanes when clouds come by but you can still see a quite
bright glare up into the opening.”

“
Whatever did they do
here?” Fery shielded her eyes as she tried to spy what Kira spoke
of.

“
It’s a bit like the solars
they have at the Cathedral but not,” Kira walked along the wall,
“But this is was is really interesting.”

Fery turned to look over to her; she blinked
a few times and rubbed her eyes. They refocused and she saw what
Kira was talking about—a giant mural circled them, a vivid
bas-relief.

“
And then look up,” Kira
craned her neck as she walked backwards slowly to join Fery, “It’s
a map of Syr Nebra.” The walls sloped up and the two saw the great
painted map of the world encircling them.

Kira pointed just to their left, “There we
are.” A bright yellow teardrop marked the Cruor, perhaps six feet
from the Novostos.

“
There’s more land here
than I know.” Fery followed Kira’s finger then drifted to the left
of it to find her own city, Rikonen, which was marked by a red
diamond. She kept turning her head expecting to see The Deep come
back around but just kept going, “The Deep is huge.”

“
And look,” Kira drew
Fery’s attention back to the right.

“
Where is that?”

“
I’ve never seen it
before,” Kira admitted, “I didn’t think there was anything much
beyond the Ashka Sea over the Ragans.”

“
My father told me about
Lappala but this…” The land continued down below the black diamond
that was Lappala for several feet before it joined the bright white
that signified the southern pole. But to the east of Lappala, there
was more land although not a single bit of it was named or had a
mark on it.

“
And there’s more beyond
the North Sea,” gestured to the strip of land that looked like it
was painted as mountains that lead to another expanse just as large
as that south of Lappala. It too bled into the white of the
northern pole, “Whole lands that they knew existed but didn’t know
anything about.”

“
That we’ve never known
about.” Fery added.

“
Queer, isn’t it? How
between the Cathedral, the Spires, and Essia that we know nothing
of these places?” Kira’s voice was full of wonder, “A whole sea
beyond the Ashka that we’ve never set an oar in or felt the wind
of.”

Fery nodded equally awed, and then she turned
to Kira with a confused look on her face, “Do you think Roth knows
about this?”

“
He must.”

Just then there was a voice echoing through
the halls calling out to Kira and Fery, “Speaking of.”

“
I’m becoming far too aware
of that bellowing.” Kira said conspiratorially as she made her way
back. Fery lingered looking around for a few more moments. It
seemed like an eternity as she took in the mural with the light
from above seemingly illuminating new parts of it.

“
Fery!” Kira had come back
and stood in the doorway, “Fery now, come, this sounds important.”
Kira’s voice was urgent.

Fery jumped down from the last few footholds
to join the others at the base of the cliff face. Roth stood ahead
of everyone, his hands on his hips unmoving and saying nothing.
Wynne and Kira stood close to each other. Kira held an arrow in her
bow at the ready while Wynne held a shimmering falcata that Roth
must’ve given him with his spearbow slung over his back.

“
Do we know who this is?”
Fery asked as she stepped to the two. Before either could say
anything, Roth spoke.

“
We don’t. But they’re
coming from the same direction that Reg left by.”

“
What does that mean?” Kira
asked.

“
Reg’s come back with
friends?” Fery suggested.

“
Or with enemies.” Wynne
added.

“
Or it’s…”

“
Jena and Goshen.” Roth
finished Kira’s thought and stepped forward.

Kira moved to follow him but Wynne held her
back nodding for Fery to follow after, “You need to stay here with
me; we’re cover for these two.” Wynne held out the falcata for
Fery, “Here.”

Fery ignored it, drawing two long degens from
the sheaths at her sides and falling in step with Roth who already
held katars in each hand making his arms look like long knives.

“
Go to the left flank,
you’re aiming at anyone or anything that comes from the right.”
Kira obeyed Wynne’s instructions as he put his sword away and
lifted his spearbow. The two began to move forward on their guard
looking beyond their friends for any kind of movement.

“
Stay calm, Kira.” Wynne
said

Ahead of them, Roth walk with a hard
certainty. They newcomers would be coming out of the woods across
the glen at just about the same time as he and Fery would
emerge.

“
If it’s anyone we don’t
know, don’t hesitate.” Roth said to Fery.

“
Don’t worry,” she tried to
sound prepared and did but as they reached the tree line she
hesitated a moment. “How many can we handle, do you
think?”

“
We’ll only know after it’s
done.” Roth said coolly.

Side by side, the two strode into the open
glen and saw three bodies coming toward them. They hadn’t seen them
yet when Roth felt a push of air above his head. He snapped his
head back toward Kira and saw her empty bow, tensed and turned back
to the strangers coming their way.

“
Wait!” Fery said, freezing
Roth just as he was about to burst forward. A curse came up from
across the glen. Roth stared out across the field. He heard them;
he saw them. A man he didn’t know was patting the side of his head
apparently checking for blood. Next to him, Jena stood looking
their way, a scowl on her face, with Goshen behind her.

“
Light be damned!” Roth
threw the katars out to his sides, they spiked into the ground as
he walked forward unconcerned.

“
What’s all this?” Jena
demanded as she strode toward them. Fery griped her swords tighter
unsure of what to do but she followed Roth, who seemed entirely
unconcerned.

“
I told them to shot at
anyone they didn’t recognize.” Roth said in a playfully guilty
tone.

“
You’re an idiot.” The two
met and clasped each other’s forearm. Both were smiling, “I’m glad
you’re not dead.”

Roth nodded pulling Jena closer, who didn’t
resist the embrace, saying, “I’m a damn fool. Hope you won’t hold
it against me.”

Just then, Kira gave a cry of glee and came
running out of the woods. Goshen saw her and began a sort of jog to
meet her. The two hugged and Kira quickly grabbed Goshen’s hand
leading him over to the others.

Fery sheathed her swords, “I guess we’re all
friends.”

Declan came up to her, “Are we now?” He was
smiling, twirling the arrow that Kira had shot, “I’m Declan.”

“
Fery.”

Declan smirked, “That’s an odd name.”

“
Can’t say yours is too
common either.”

“
Where I’m from it
is.”

“
Well, then you have your
explanation already.” Fery smiled and Declan laughed. “She hurt
you?” Fery pointed to the arrow.

Declan looked at the arrow and then over at
Kira who was bombarding Goshen with questions and talking faster
than he had ever heard anyone go on, “She nearly took my ear
off.”

“
You’re quick,” Wynne said
coming up on them.

“
Only as quick as she was
anxious.” Declan added.

“
This is Declan,” Fery held
out her hand toward him as she turned to look at Wynne, “and this
is my father Wynne.”

Wynne held out his hand and Declan clasped it
in good-faith asking “Wynne Landis?”

“
Yes? Should I know you?”
Wynne replied.

“
We have a mutual friend.”
Declan nodded pushing out his lip in a bit of a sneer.

“
Oh?” Wynne raised an
eyebrow.

“
A lord in a tall tower.”
He said.

Wynne was taken back a bit but didn’t show
any outward signs of it, “Well, then, we’ll need to have a long
conversation tonight.”

Declan made a sour face, “Please tell me you
have something proper to drink.”

“
Of course I do,” Roth was
came over to them with Jena at his side, Kira and Goshen behind
them.

“
You must be Jena.” Wynne
said.

“
And you are?” Jena asked,
rough but not rude.

“
Wynne,” Fery said, “And
I’m Fery.”

“
Family, they is.” Declan
threw in.

“
What a grand outing this
must be for you two.” Jena said deadpan.

Roth smiled and turned back to Goshen and
Kira, “Let’s ahead get up to the pool.” He waved them up, “The
sooner we eat, the sooner we talk, the sooner we figure out what by
rights is going on.”

The group all assented and began to move back
towards the Cruor. As they walked, Jena nudged Roth and pointed to
the Landis’, “Picked up a few stragglers.”

“
It was necessary, and it
seems you got one of your own.” Roth gestured to Declan who was
continuing to chat up Fery with Wynne eying him like a
hawk.

“
It was
necessary.”

“
Something tells me we’ve
both had our patience tested these past few weeks.”

For the first time in a long time Jena
sincerely laughed, “You have no idea.”

The Kopis, Bandra,
32
^nd
of Mabon

“
I’m still unclear about
exactly what happened, captain.” The Bandrian wharf master, Gris
Kalip, prodded Riv.

“
I don’t quite see what you
don’t understand.” Riv was calm as he stood before the lanky man
who seemed intent on making this transaction take as long as it
possible could. “We were contracted to return a Silvincian troop
from The Blockade to Anhra. The soldiers took sick in route. It
became all too clear that they were too ill to be left in Anhra,
which has no proper medical facilities. That left our only option
here, Bandra, where the brave soldiers could be seen
to.”

“
Yes, yes I understand that
part.” Kalip said.

“
What else is
there?”

“
Why are there ten men
missing?”

“
Those poor souls died at
sea.” Riv tried to sound saddened.

“
But where are their
bodies?”

“
I don’t know when the last
time you were a-sail, wharf master Kalip, but keeping corpses on a
ship isn’t a favored practice. Especially when the bodies may be
riddle with pox.”

“
But bringing them here is
proper?” A frail looking clerk piped in passing by with the
Kopis’s
logbooks.

Riv shot the boy a chilling glance, but
scoffed as he addressed Kalip, “You’d have a plague ship come
drifting into the harbor?”

“
Aye, Spire specters.” Ryan
laughed; Wynne glanced sidelong at him disapproving. Ryan shirked
backed.

“
No, captain, I would not
want that. But the bodies of those soldiers…”

“
Set to rest at sea.” Riv
said authoritatively hoping to put the issue to bed.

“
Well, that seems…fine, I
don’t want to bother with it any longer.” Kalip wasn’t as busy as
some wharf masters were but he certainly gave an air of being put
upon.

“
Excellent,” Riv nodded and
snatched his landing papers from the wharf master, “So I am cleared
to send these men to the proper infirmaries and conduct my
business?”

“
You are certain that none
of your crew is suffering from this infection?”

“
Not a one,” Riv shook his
head, “We caught the illness immediately and quarantined all those
necessary. And disposed of any that were stricken.”