Terry Simpson: Ashes and Blood

Letting out a deep breath, he focused on the cliff spanning up from the half-frozen river. Voices whispered outside the Eye as he held onto his Matersense. He’d enveloped himself within both once he met Exalted Leukisa and Ordelia. A good decision too. The Eye had saved him from succumbing to the war of emotions he experienced when he saw the massacre outside the city.

The cliff and the filthy water gushing from the sewer exit were his key to breach the city’s walls. The ability to reach the tunnel’s entrance was another dilemma altogether. Layered ice coated the cliff, and although it covered most of the river in a sheet thick enough to hold considerable weight, the constant disturbance from the sewage runoff meant there was no way to reach the wall, much less the tunnel. Not if he didn’t want his men to freeze to death. There was also the matter of the water in the tunnel itself. Imagining himself submerged within its icy grip made him shiver.

Kendin, the musical notes of his voice smooth and rhythmic, was conferring with Exalted Leukisa. The miniature versions of the Svenzar stood silently in the snow along the riverbank near the rest of Ancel’s men with Mirza in command. Comprised of at least a hundred Seifer and Nema accompanied by their pets, three times that number in Dosteri Dagodin, as well as fifty Pathfinders, they amounted to more than a minor threat. Given their proximity to the castle, Ancel still marveled that a warning hadn’t sounded. It made him realize the skill Leukisa possessed to go along with his strength. A strength belied by the Exalted’s leathery skin drawn tight over his face, deep-sunken eyes, and gnarled fingers. Leukisa’s Forging kept their presence hidden both in sight and sound.

As he studied the Forge, he picked out its delicate structure. Whereas he might have forced the essences into a solid, the Exalted had kept them as they were for the most part. They appeared natural, flowing at the correct points. Upon closer inspection, Leukisa had woven transparent bands of light thereby twisting exactly what the area revealed. When he didn’t look at it through his Matersense, it appeared as if the cliff, the castle itself, and the trees along the bank, their trunks frozen until they burst, cast long shadows over mounds of snow.

To keep the noise of their presence from any guards, Leukisa diverted air essences, streaming them in the opposite direction well past the river’s far bank. Ancel’s lip twitched when he considered the confused expression of anyone who happened to pass by the area reached by those sounds. The murmur of any conversation and the occasional grunt, bark, or snarl from a wolf or daggerpaw would certainly spark stories of a vale haunted by troubled spirits.

A low whine from Charra brought his attention back to his immediate surroundings. Kendin approached, his massive feet flattening the snow with each step, leaving imprints to match. He hoped the Svenzar had discovered a way to tackle the issue of the tunnel. Leukisa watched with those piercing eyes of his but kept his distance. If the Exalted had taken exception to Ancel’s displeasure at his presence, he did not show it.

“Leukisa believes he can hide what we plan,” Kendin said.

The Svenzar’s speech was a contrast of high and low pitches with each word. If one didn’t understand Sven, it was little more than odd tinkles and hums. Ancel didn’t know why or how, but the more he’d heard the language, the more his ability to decipher it and eventually speak it, had increased. It was something he’d question Ryne about at some point. At present, he wasn’t concerned. Learn, adapt, and take advantage. A mantra from the Disciplines .

“What do you think?” Ancel asked. Despite the Exalted’s Forge, he’d be damned if he left any final decisions up to him.

“You allow distrust to cloud your judgment.” Kendin gestured around them. “He has made our position invisible to prying eyes. I believe he can do what he promises. As things stand, we do not have much choice if you wish to save the ones captured.”

Melancholy enveloped Ancel for the briefest of moments before he suffused the feeling. He couldn’t afford to let his prejudices cause a delay, and yet a hasty decision and walking into a trap would be just as bad. He sighed. Sometimes a leader had to take risks. This was one of those times. “Do what’s required. We enter either in secret or all-out attack. The end result is all that matters.”

“A wise decision.” Kendin raised his right hand to the air and made a fist. At the same time, his left hand elongated and plunged into the snow. “A protective ward exists all along the walls. Any touch would set it off. The drain you brought us to is unguarded. We will make it possible for your men to reach it and pass through without the water to trouble you.”

Brows furrowed, Ancel tried in vain to think of a Forge strong enough to do what was needed. One that wouldn’t be detected by whatever or whoever controlled the city. He gave up. “Even if you manage this, how will you be able to follow us inside?”

Foot by foot, Kendin’s body shrank. “We will always be close. Ask what you need of us, and we shall give our assistance.” The Svenzar continued to speak as he melded with the earth. “Have your men follow when the steps are built.” With those words, his body dissolved altogether.

Through the Forms, Ancel discerned where Kendin became one with the ground. The same occurrence repeated itself among all the Sven. Tracing the ripple left in their wake, he stared in shock as they, now a part of the earth, traveled to the cliff wall. As each one gained the icy surface, they reformed into what he could only describe as a set of stairs, joining where the other stopped. The steps continued up until they were level with the sewer.

A disturbance three times as large as the others flowed up the cliff face. It stopped, and then grew from the ice-covered surface. Edges curved out into a cylindrical shape large enough to hold a man. In moments, it joined with the drain.

Ancel cocked his head to one side. The thing was a tunnel made of stone and fit into the sewer exit, tilting slightly upward. Water gushed around the outside, some spilling from the new formation. In slow increments, the new runoff dwindled until a mere trickle escaped. However, sewage still rushed around and down the new tunnel’s exterior while inside remained dry.

“I’ve seen lots of strange things in the past few months,” Mirza said as he strode over, “and still I see something new often enough to shake my head. Never a dull moment.”

“Indeed.”

“Well the men are as ready as they’ll ever be. Before the water starts making those stairs as slick as a dancer’s oiled backside I say we do what we came here for.”

“This won’t be easy,” Ancel said in response to Mirza’s dry humor. “I fear what we’ll find inside the city.”

“Nothing is ever easy.” Mirza’s expression became grim. “Whatever awaits inside we deal with as needed.”

Ancel wanted to tell his friend what he suspected, but instead he nodded. If he was right, there would be time enough for Mirza to see how bad things were and the type of treachery they would have to deal with in the future. “If it goes bad in there, get as many out as you can.”

“How will I know when that is?”

“Trust me, you’ll know.” With his Pathfinder escort, Charra at his side, and Mirza following, Ancel headed to the front of his men.

The first step onto the platform-like stairs felt strange. He knew he was walking on living stone, on the bodies of the Sven. The sela essences that made up their life swirled from one to the next. They vibrated within him as if from his own heartbeat.

When he reached the new tunnel molded onto the cliff wall and the old algae-encrusted exit with icicles around its edges, he stopped. The opening yawned before him. He knew the new tunnel growing from its insides was Kendin’s body. The hole in front of him had to be a part of the Svenzar’s mouth. Well, you wondered if they would eat you, and now they will. The humor eased his uncertainty. After a deep breath to clear his thoughts and the hint of fear fluttering in his belly, he strode inside.