S. Grove - The Glass Sentence

1891, July 1: #-Hour

In some parts of the Triple Eras, there is a great devotion to the Chronicles of the Great Disruption. In Xela, believers celebrate the “enday of the world,” a day that will spell the end of the human world. Followers of the Chronicles claim that the Great Disruption was the first of many, and that the Final Disruption will result in an end of all days.

—From Veressa Metl’s Cultural Geography of the Baldlands

FAR ABOVE THEM, up past hundreds of feet of rock, the glaciers were encasing Lake Cececpan. Ice had surrounded the lake, sending the few families who lived on its banks fleeing northwest toward Nochtland. The waves of refugees from farther south had already rushed past the city, convinced that even the high stone walls would offer no safety. Though the Southern Snows were still out of sight of the city, no one could now deny their inexorable advance. A line of boldevelas streamed out through the northern gates, trailed by even longer lines of people who traveled on foot or in wagons. The exodus northward had begun.

But the glaciers had not yet reached Nochtland, and for the moment they had halted at the banks of Lake Cececpan. Though the lake was no longer visible, it was still there. It appeared to have been swallowed by a large chunk of ice shaped like a perfect pyramid. The ice struggled to gain purchase against the patches of hot soil that protected the lake and portions of the tunnels below it. The vast city below ground remained buffered from the frigid air, but beyond it, where the tunnels and caverns were cut from ordinary earth, the water had frozen solid, marbling the rocks with veins of ice. The freezing water loosened rocks, causing innumerable tremors and crumbling the walls of the underground warren. As the rocks settled, the shaking stopped and cold air filled the tunnels.

Down in the underground city, Sophia ran as fast as she could, her damp boots sticking to the dirt. She and Theo followed Shadrack as he raced through the city, away from the Sandmen’s pistols and the falling rocks caused by their bullets. Sophia tried to call to him, but she was so out of breath that she could hardly find her voice. They had reached a narrow avenue, and while Shadrack slowed to find the easiest way out, Sophia managed to say, “Shadrack, up there.” She pointed, feeling sure that she could see the staircase and the opening high in the cavern wall. As she did so, a bullet hit the tower near her and a chunk of white limestone splintered over her head.

“Go on, then,” Shadrack replied urgently. “Hurry.”

Sophia took off. Her breath came more and more painfully. She turned a corner, slipping on the loose soil, and sped over a broad archway that led to the aqueduct. This has to be it , she thought, running beside the aqueduct, following it under two slender bridges.

Abruptly she found herself at a gate identical to the one at the city’s entrance, only a few feet from the far wall of the cavern. And she had been right—the stairs were there: cut into the stone, they zigzagged upward precipitously toward the opening in the wall. “This is it,” she cried, turning to the others.

There was no one behind her.

She stood, stock still, staring in disbelief at the pale buildings. She could hear shots and the thundering of footsteps, but she could not tell whether they were near or far. She was about to dive back into the city in search of Shadrack and Theo, but then the rocks above her head splintered with a loud crack, showering her with dust.

One of the men had seen her. He came from beside a building a good distance away, advancing steadily. While he held the revolver with his right hand, he loosened the long rope of the grappling hook with his left. Sophia had only two choices: she could run along the perimeter or she could climb the stairs. For what seemed like an eternity to her, she stood, full of doubt, as the man came toward her. Then she whirled and began to climb as fast as she could.

The steps were only three feet wide, and there was no railing. She kept her eyes forward and did not look down. He won’t climb , Sophia thought desperately, he’ll shoot rather than climb . As she heard the wall splinter behind her, she knew that she had guessed correctly. I have to make sure the others see me. Without stopping, she reached into the pocket of her skirt and dropped a seed—she did not wait to see if it sprouted. Her legs were beginning to feel weak and she could tell, from the trembling sensation in her knees, that she was slowing down. The stair beneath her bottom foot suddenly gave way, and she looked down in horror to see it crumbling beneath the prongs of the Sandman’s grappling hook. Keep going, keep going! she told herself fiercely, gritting her teeth and pushing forward. She passed another turn and dropped another seed. There was another turn, another twenty steps, another seed, another turn. . . . How much longer? she thought, not daring to look up or down. She counted, ticking off twenty steps and a turn and then another twenty steps. And then, at the top of the next flight, there it was: a narrow entrance in the stone.

She ran the last twenty steps and ducked into the dark entryway. Stopping to catch her breath, she looked out into the immense, domed cavern. The sight made her dizzy. The city seemed small, like a cluster of spun-sugar houses. She could still hear the occasional burst of gunfire. The Sandman was nowhere to be seen. The seeds she dropped had burst into brilliant bloom, climbing up the limestone wall and casting a piercing white light into the chamber. If they look up they’ll know where I went , Sophia thought, her breath painful in her chest. They can’t possibly miss it. I can wait here until they notice.

She looked out over the city desperately and suddenly saw a pale glimmer from among the buildings—a brief silver flash. It was not a torch or a sword blade; it reminded her of something. Light reflected on a mirror, moonlight on a windowpane, something else—what is it? There was the flash again, and she realized that it was Theo’s hand, wrapped in the silver thread. She took a deep breath. “Theo!”

A chunk of rock burst from the wall beside her leg. The Sandman was still several flights below, and the angle of the stairs did not permit him a clear shot. But he would keep climbing, and sooner or later he would reach the doorway.

Sophia turned away in anguish; she would have to keep going. It was impossible to see inside the tunnel. She dropped a seed and waited impatiently as the vine climbed the tunnel wall, springing to life with a hundred blossoms. The air smelled like honeysuckle; the flowers shone like tiny stars, and as they bloomed Sophia saw the wide tunnel that curved upward along a set of wide, stone stairs. “ More stairs?” she cried in despair.

She kept her strength by walking at a measured pace, and whenever the faint light of the last vine grew dim, she dropped another seed so that the sweet-smelling flowers would light her way. Soon the sound of shots faded, and she could hear nothing but her own steps and rasping breath. Although there were no footsteps behind her, she did not allow herself to believe that she had outrun her pursuer.

The climb felt interminable. Her feet in the wet boots moved woodenly. She knew that she had to keep climbing, but she felt a sense of despair at having left the others. They will see the vines, she said firmly. They will see the vines and know where I went. She tried to keep track of time by counting her steps. One step per second . One seed every fifty steps .

When she reached five hundred steps, her legs began to shake. At eight hundred steps, she was certain she could not go on. But if she stopped, surely she would lose track of time. If she rested for what felt to her like a moment, an entire hour might pass and the man behind her would catch up. I have to , she thought desperately. Just for a few seconds . Her legs seemed to stop moving of their own accord. Leaning against the wall in the dark, she closed her eyes. Her knees were shaking so hard she could not even stand. With an involuntary sob, Sophia sank to a crouch and rested her head on her bent knees. She counted carefully: one, two, three, four, five, six . . .