Chris Evans - The Light of Burning Shadows

“Ready for what?” Alwyn asked. He wiped a palm against his caerna to dry the sweat.

“Anything,” Yimt said, as he walked to the end of the alley with the section close behind. Without pausing, Yimt strode out into the middle of the road. Alwyn recognized Miss Synjyn’s brindos at once and started to relax. “Well, that’s a relief, Sergeant.”

Yimt lowered his shatterbow and sighed. “Somehow, Ally, I don’t think it is.” He waved to Miss Synjyn. The wagon wheels juddered across the cobbles as the brindos halted. A wash of dust swept over the soldiers and Alwyn turned his head and coughed. When he looked back, Miss Tekoy and Miss Red Owl were off the wagon.

“Alwyn of the Empire, what are you doing out here so late? This is not suitable behavior, young man. You need to rest your leg if it is to have any hope of truly grafting,” Miss Red Owl said.

Light laughter echoed off the surrounding buildings behind Alwyn, but he refused to turn to see who it was. He felt his face flush. I’m not a kid anymore. “I’m fine.” He spat the words out with force. He saw the surprised looks on the faces around him, but he couldn’t hold it in. “In fact, I figured out what attacked Kester on the last island, and I got us a map of the desert and an idea where to find it. I really wouldn’t know what’s appropriate for a young man anymore, but for an Iron Elf, this is.”

Silence reigned for several seconds. Finally, Rallie coughed and leaned over the side of the front bench of her wagon. “May I see it?” she asked, holding out her hand. “The map you so forcefully procured.”

Yimt looked over at Alwyn, then at Rallie. “I’m still the sergeant around here,” he said, pulling the map from his jacket and handing it to her. “Leaving in a bit of a rush, aren’t you? Going somewhere or just taking the brindos out for a late-night trot?”

Rallie took a drag on her cigar until the end became bright red and ignored Yimt’s question. She bent over the map and studied it in the glow. “Tell me, Sergeant, how did you-I’m sorry-how did Private Renwar acquire this map?”

Yimt looked over at Alwyn again before answering Rallie. “Met a dwarf, one of the thirty-four survivors of Frillik’s Drift, no less. When he found out we were heading out to the desert he dug this up. Damn nice of him, I’ll say.”

Rallie continued to study the map. “Really? Whatever is he doing here?”

“Retired,” Yimt said. “Guess he came down here for the heat. The mountains get mighty cold in winter.”

“That they do,” Rallie said. “Well, this was very nice of him indeed. This is far more detailed than any map of the Hasshugeb that the Prince has in his possession. I’d guess this dwarf is a bit of an explorer, too.”

“Griz? Naw, he runs a basket place off the market. Well, probably does a little black market on the side if I had to guess looking at his setup, but solid as a ton of lead,” Yimt said.

Rallie sat up and took the cigar out of her mouth. “Griz Jahrfel?”

Yimt nodded. “Aye, that’s him,” he said slowly. “You know him, then?”

Alwyn wondered if there was a hint of jealousy in Yimt’s voice. Up until now he’d been the only dwarf in Rallie’s life, not counting her editor back in Celwyn, a fact Alwyn knew Yimt didn’t know.

“Must have bumped into him somewhere or other years ago and oceans from here,” she said, rather quickly, Alwyn thought. “Now then, judging by this, it appears were both heading in the same direction. I can’t imagine that’s a coincidence.”

“That’s where you’re headed? Out into the desert, just the three of you?” Yimt said.

“Sergeant, events are once again moving rather rapidly. Tyul and Jurwan left the ship sometime earlier this evening and are tracking something into the desert.” She looked up to the sky before she continued. “With the imminent prospect of a Star returning, this has most definitely piqued our curiosity. More curious, though, is that all paths appear to be leading straight for this.” Her finger stabbed down on an area just to the southeast of Suhundam’s Hill. Alwyn peered over Yimt’s shoulder for a better view.

“The Canyon of Bones, lovely,” Yimt said. “Probably a scenic little picnic spot. I’m sure nothing unpleasant or remotely horrifying has ever happened there.”

Alwyn looked over at Scolly, waiting for the inevitable question about picnics, but Scolly just scratched his arm and said nothing. It was just possible even Scolly got the gist of Yimt’s sarcasm. Would wonders never cease?

The rest of the soldiers clustered around. “I don’t like the sound of that one bit,” Teeter said. “Who names a canyon that? Why not just call it ‘Bloody Terrible Place Where Monsters Live.”

“Nobody said anything about monsters,” Yimt said.

“Don’t have to, they just seem to show up unannounced these days,” Teeter said.

“All the more reason to keep your eyes peeled, then,” Yimt said, shooing them all back from the wagon. Alwyn turned to go, but Yimt motioned for him to stay. A light flickered to life in a window down the street. “See what I mean? Spread out and stay sharp.” Yimt jumped up onto the wagon for a closer look, then reached out a hand and helped Alwyn up. “Teeter does have a point. Things are getting a mite peculiar. Ally felt something earlier. You know, I think I even did, too,” he said, looking skyward. “That blue light up there means something, doesn’t it?”

Rallie cocked her head to one side. “Interesting. We three felt it as well. I dare say before too long most of Nazalla will have a sense of it. Another Star is indeed returning.”

Yimt whistled. “Here we go again. Okay, I’ll get the lads moving, and the rest of us will stay put here with you until they return, then we can head out.”

Rallie was shaking her head before he finished. “No. There isn’t time to waste. The Star is coming now. We have to get out there. The regiment will have to catch up as best it can.”

Now Yimt was shaking his head. “Oh, no, I’m not letting you go out there on your own. It’s too dangerous. We all saw what happens when a Star returns.”

Movement down the street behind the wagon caught Alwyn’s attention. More lights were flickering on in windows, and several people had now stepped outside. A few were even standing on their roofs. Everyone was looking up.

“We’ve got company,” Alwyn said, tugging on Yimt’s sleeve.

The dwarf cursed under his breath. He looked to Rallie. “You live and breathe this political stuff-what’s about to happen here?”

Rallie looked over her shoulder. “Simply, the Empire arrives in force and that very night the Jewel of the Desert-the guiding Star of the Hasshugeb Expanse-returns. Who here wouldn’t see that as a repudiation of Imperial intent?”

Repudiation was a new one for Alwyn, but he caught the meaning. “People are going to be upset, aren’t they?”

Rallie offered a sad smile. “Change never comes easy. Some will be overjoyed, but most will be scared, then upset, and then angry. You saw what it was like in Elfkyna. This time it will be worse. The world as people have known it is shifting under their feet and over their heads. Were it a simple matter of the Empire protecting its citizens from an ancient power like Kaman Rhal or the Shadow Monarch, things might remain more or less stable…but the Stars change everything.”

“How can they have such power?” Alwyn asked. He understood the power of magic in the way he understood the power of a cannon. “How can they affect people’s minds that much?”

Rallie took the cigar out of her mouth and waved it. “They don’t, not directly. It’s what the Stars represent that is so potent. Think of that uniform you wear. Under it, you’re a man like any other man…well, most of you is. But when you put it on, you become the shiny, sharp point of a very long bayonet wielded all the way back in Calahr. And you’ve been that point at a lot of people’s throats for hundreds of years. Now a Star returns, one that you, as symbol of the Empire, have given little credence to. This Star promises nothing but possibilities.”