Tim Lebbon - Echo city

The moonlight was bright, unimpeded by clouds, and to the south, across this narrow finger of Crescent, rose the imposing mass of Marcellan Canton. Lines of lights snaked up its gentle hillsides where streetlamps had been lit, and window lights speckled the entire shadowy mound. At its pinnacle, the blazing illuminations around Hanharan Heights were there as usual, but there was a particular intensity to them tonight. It was as if every single light in that place was lit. The canton's outer wall was silvered by moonlight, and this was Peer's destination. For some reason, she felt that once she reached there, she would be safe.

We stole their god, she thought. Nowhere is safe. But she tried to shove that idea down as she ran. Grasses whipped around her legs, then she entered a vast field of whorn plants, tall as her shoulders and pungent with their burgeoning crop. Shoving the close-growing plants aside with outstretched hands, she ran as fast as she could, tripping over roots on occasion, her palms sliced from the plants' fine leaves.

She was desperate to reach Rufus again. He'd looked confused and bewildered, but deep down there had still been some measure of control. Whether or not he knew how special he was to Echo City now-if what the Baker said was true, if she could use him to help them all-Peer still felt responsible for everything that had happened to him. Discovering who he was and where he had come from had been a shock, to her as well as to him. But she wanted to help him learn more.

She sensed that she was no longer alone. Risking a glance behind her, she saw nothing, but she knew that the Dragarians were out now, flooding up furiously into the moonlight. Dane Marcellan and the Blades would be dead, and she only hoped that the others had taken full advantage of the lead they had been given.

Stumbling into an area of flattened whorn, she almost came to a standstill, looking around for whatever had made the rough path. But then she saw that it headed south across the fields and knew who had come this way. It'll be easy to follow, she thought, but surprise was no longer with them, and stealth could not save them. It all came down to speed.

Freedom from the oppressive belowground was good, but she had never felt so isolated. Peer ran as fast as she could, her breathing and footfalls the only sounds. She expected a poisoned arrow to strike her at any moment, plunging her into the same agonies that had taken Malia. She considered weaving to distract any potential killer's aim, but that would only waste time. Fast, she thought, faster-just run!

The wall loomed before her, and the path of beaten whorn she'd been following faded out. On top of the wall two shadows waved to her, and she heard a voice calling. Though it confused her, right then it was the finest thing she had ever heard.

"Go left!" Alexia called. "There's an open door." Peer did as she said, rushing diagonally toward a dark shape at the base of the wall, a newfound burst of energy carrying her across the rough ground. And that was when she heard the first of their cries.

Pausing for a moment to look back, she saw hundreds, perhaps thousands, of thrashing shapes forging through the whorn like a wave of darkness about to wash against the canton wall. Above, other shapes drifted and flapped, low to the ground but faster than those on foot.

She rushed through the door and someone slammed it behind her, plunging them into darkness. Heavy metal bolts were thrown, then timber thumped against timber.

"Where's Malia?" Alexia asked.

"Dead."

"Oh. Come on, we don't have much time."

"I can't see-"

"Grab my hand. I know the way." Peer felt her hand grasped and she held on tight, following Alexia through a twisting corridor to the other side of the wall. They emerged into moonlight again just as there were shouts atop the wall, first of surprise and then alarm. Finally a scream of pain, and the sounds of combat rose again.

"Sleepy Blades getting a taste of the fight at last," Alexia said.

"They didn't see me coming in."

"Like I said, sleepy. Come on, Nophel is taking us to something called a Bellower."

"Good," Peer said, and the thought of sitting back in that claustrophobic pod while the Bellowers blasted them south was wonderful.

"And Dane?" Alexia asked hesitantly.

"I left him and the Blades fighting," Peer said. "I don't think…"

Alexia nodded. "Good. He's caused a lot of pain."

"He saved our lives."

Alexia shrugged, and they started to run again. Soon they reached the others, waiting in the shadow of a butcher shop's canopy. The shop was closed, but the smell of fresh meat still hung heavy on the air. They had all manifested, and Rufus leaned against the wall, head bowed. He was breathing hard. He looked up as Peer approached, staring at her with haunted eyes. Peer felt a rush of relief, and she suddenly felt safer than she had any right to.

"Your friend won't think himself Unseen," the tall Unseen said.

"It's not natural," Rufus said. "It's something of hers." Peer could sense a relief in Rufus that she had returned, and she went quickly to his side, grabbing his hand and glad that he gripped back. "I don't want it anymore," he said. "Get it out of me."

"Not sure we can," Alexia said.

"Maybe Nadielle," Peer said, and she felt Rufus flinch at the name. "Rufus, it wasn't Nadielle, it was the Baker before her who sent you out."

"They're all the same." He looked down at his feet, and Peer noticed Nophel staring intently at him, the deformed man's good eye glittering with tears or avarice.

"What is it?" Peer asked.

Nophel shook his head.

"Really, we need to get the fuck out of here right now," Alexia said. The sound of fighting at the wall had increased, and from several directions they could hear the familiar Scarlet Blades' horns as the call went out. Hundreds would be rushing to join the fray, but Peer was quite certain they would not arrive in time. Already she could see vague shapes flying above the city, circling here and there as they searched the warren of streets, squares, and alleys for their quarry. One fell, twisting and screeching as it flapped at the several arrows piercing it, but she didn't think the Blade archers would be so lucky again.

"They'll find me," Rufus said.

"Not if I can help it," Nophel muttered. "Come on." He led them along the street, dodging from shadow to shadow as they aimed for the route down to the nearest Bellower chamber. Peer knew that something had begun and that the Dragarians-emerging overtly from their canton for the first time in five centuries-would not cease in their quest until they found Rufus.

They followed the deformed man as he led them from street, to alley, and then down beneath the Marcellan levels. He knew where the tunnels were and where the oil torches would be kept. He knew which doors to open and which to ignore. As they emerged into the Bellower chamber and he immediately set about priming the chopped creature, she felt a distance growing about her, buffering her against what was happening. Self-defense, Penler's voice said, and she grinned without humor. At any other time she would have been curious, asking Nophel about what he knew, but today such curiosity seemed redundant. At the city's most dangerous time in history, now it was also at war.

What could be worse? she thought as they gathered around the first of the Bellower pods.

"I can't leave," Rufus said. "I belong back there."

"Oh, for fuck's sake!" Alexia shouted.

"Rufus?" Peer asked.

"My name is not Rufus," he said. "It's Dragar."

There was silence for a while, and then Nophel chuckled. "Er… fine. Can someone help me with-"

"They told me. I remembered. They paid the old dead Baker to chop me. She used her own essence and that of Dragar, the Dragarians' murdered prophet."