Will Wight - Of Dawn and Darkness

That was when the Emperor finally took notice of them.

“When I heard that story,” Urzaia said, “I decided that the Emperor must not know. If he knew the story, he would know this was not a rebellion, and he would not have sent me. By then, I had made enemies in many of the villages, as you might imagine. But those who would let me help, I helped. I built fences, fixed sleds, fought Kameira that attacked. I made a difference, I think. And I fell for a local woman, settled in, built myself a house. For two years I lived this way. It was boring, but sometimes boring is nice. And I could fight Kameira bare-handed, so that was exciting.

“After two years, another Navigator showed up with personal instructions from the Emperor. They had the Imperial Seal and everything. This paper told me that I had run out of time, that I needed to kill until there were few enough villagers to fit onto the Navigator’s ship, and then to pack the holds with the rest. We would return to the Capital, where they would face trial.

“Not only did I tear up the order in his face, I was…not so kind to the Navigator. Or his crew. They sailed out much faster than they planned, I think. But now, I regret that I did not kill them and send their ship to Kelarac.”

Urzaia looked to the distance and sighed, his smile fading completely for the first time. “Three months later, two of my brother Champions came to take me. It was the most interesting fight I’d had for seven years, so that’s something to thank the Emperor for. But there were two of them, after all, and they were not weak. They are the ones who now call themselves Eight and Nine, actually.” He nodded to the door of the cabin, beyond which Eight stood sentry while Nine recovered from his burns.

“They took me to the Capital, where my own Guild Head passed sentence on me in the name of the Emperor. I was stripped of my titles and rights as a Champion, and sentenced to death in the gladiator’s arena of Axciss. This is not so rare, you understand. Criminals can continue making money for the Empire, even while they face the penalty of death. For me, I am happy to die where I was born.”

Urzaia smiled again and settled back on his heels. Calder was sure his own face showed some combination of shock, anger, and horror, but Urzaia didn’t seem to mind. “This is why you shouldn’t trust the Emperor too much,” Urzaia said. “He is not like they say he is. Maybe he cares about the Empire, but he does not care about its citizens very much.”

The statement struck deep in Calder. It was exactly what he’d always said, based on his Reading of the Imperial relics.

He had to get this man on his crew. If only there was some way to get around his inconvenient death sentence.

Calder leaned forward and grasped the bars of the cage, staring intently into the Champion’s eyes. “Urzaia. I can’t do anything now, but I will come back for you.”

The prisoner’s eyebrows rose. “It would surprise me if you did.”

“You just need to hold on. Stay alive. Do whatever you can. But some day, as soon as I possibly can, I will come back for you. I have reason not to trust the Emperor myself, and I can’t let a man go who’s smart enough to see things as they are.”

Urzaia laughed, though he kept it quiet enough not to alarm Eight. “I don’t consider myself a smart man. But if all I must do is keep winning, I can do that. I have not lost in the arena so far, and I don’t see a reason to do so now.”

He looked back at Calder, still grinning. “I will wait for you as long as I can, Captain. How long do you think it will take?”

Calder had no idea.

The man in the steel blindfold could come and go as he wished, but Jerri was still a prisoner. That grated on her even worse than his attitude. More than once, she was prepared to leave, but he always said something to trick her into staying.

“Even the basest Elderspawn can wait in the darkness for a week. A servant of the Great Ones must be able to tolerate the dark.”

“I can come and go because I am only a humble messenger. If I were fit to be the guardian of this room, I too would stay.”

Each time he returned, she considered killing him. And each time, he managed to say exactly what would get her to stay. Even though she knew it was impossible, she started to wonder if he was Reading her mind.

That, and the Emperor’s quarters had a full bathroom complete with a toilet and functional plumbing. Otherwise she would have burned her way to freedom days ago.

Now, on what she determined was her sixth day in the Emperor’s Elder-sealed room, her self-proclaimed guide appeared again. He stepped out of the shadows as though he’d been there all along, gold teeth gleaming in the middle of his smile. “Good news, Mrs. Marten.”

The name hit her hard, harder than she would have expected. She’d spent most of her married life on The Testament —and years prior to that, too—where everyone called her by her first name. On shore, no one knew them. Hearing it now, from a fellow member of the Sleepless in the belly of an Elder construct, felt…entirely wrong.

But he had likely said it just to see her squirm, and she wasn’t about to give him the satisfaction. She threw her braid behind one shoulder and straightened her spine. “What is it?”

“They’re finally coming in.”

He had spent the last six days deftly dodging any question about what they were waiting for. Now…was this it? They’d waited for the Imperial Guard to stop poking at the Elder seal and finally wheel in the big guns?

But what did she care if the Imperial Guard made it in here?

“Are we going to wait here for them?” Jerri asked, finally. She hated to ask him, but she felt entirely out of her depth here. Whatever the cabal had this man doing, she didn’t understand it.

Maybe it was a trick of the light, but her guide was a little harder to see than he had been a moment before. Even his brightly colored robes had dimmed to little more than shadow, and she could only pinpoint him clearly because of the reflections of gold in his jewelry. It was more than a little unnerving, which made her feel more at home. Dealing with Elders was supposed to be unsettling.

“Here’s what I would like you to do, Jyrine,” the man said, gently taking her by the shoulders. She didn’t resist, allowing him to move her a few feet to the right. The soft organic light hanging from the ceiling hadn’t gotten any dimmer, but he was still bathed in shadows, even inches from her face. As he moved, she sensed the movement of a vast bulk behind him, though she saw nothing more than a normal human silhouette. As though he were something massive cramming itself into the shape of a man.

He finally released her when she was standing with her back to the Optasia, facing the door. “Stand in this spot as long as you can, using the full extent of your power to defend yourself. That’s all. When at last you feel like you cannot continue or you are about to lose your life, you can simply…stand aside.”

Gold flickered in the darkness as he smiled.

The Elder seal around them trembled, and a beat of thunder shook the floor. The Guards had begun their attack. Her heart pounded and her breath quickened from a mix of fear, anticipation, and the sheer thrill of adventure. Her earring began to sparkle, gathering green light.

“Who are you?” she asked, not for the first time. He’d dodged her questions before, but now…now, she hoped, he would give her a real response.