Zachary Jernigan - No Return

Of course, Churls had never mentioned a child, but he had seen the woman naked on the morning of the cat attack. Though she moved to hide it while she bathed, he nonetheless saw the scar on her lower belly. Undoubtedly, she had reasons for not volunteering this information.

And he would never ask. Nor would he ask her daughter to tell him the story.

This did not mean he intended to say nothing. He had suppressed his displeasure during their headlong rush to the city, but now he gave it voice. “If you can give me energy and almost heal a dying dog,” he asked, “why didn’t you treat Vedas?”

The girl appeared next to him. She took his hand, though he felt no pressure at her touch. I was scared. I don’t want him to know about me. Hurry!

His craggy brows met over his nose. “He was asleep the entire time, girl. I only woke him before I left for the city.” His fingers curled into fists. “You had more than enough time.”

She stamped her foot, but it made no sound. I was scared!

“You’ll do it later, then? When you’ve got your courage back?”

I’ll think about it. She disappeared, and reappeared a moment later. The man inside heard you talking. He’s waiting with a weapon behind the bar. A big gun with two barrels. There’s a table turned over in front of the door, and a lot of chairs piled behind it.

Berun’s anger did not fade. The girl spoke too flippantly about Vedas’s health for his comfort. He briefly considered threatening her, telling her he would not retrieve Churls unless she agreed to make Vedas well, but could not make himself do it. Most likely, Vedas would not die from his wounds. Churls very well might come to harm if she remained in the city any longer.

He positioned himself before the door. “Where is she?” he asked. Upstairs, third door on the left. She’s asleep and probably won’t wake up soon. She’s recovering. The girl stared at her feet. She made some bad choices and nearly died, but I made her better—mostly better. That was before I helped you find the monastery. I hope she likes what I did. I want her to not be angry at me anymore.

He could not say why, but these words stilled his remaining anger. He found himself fighting the urge to praise the girl for helping Churls. He wanted to make her smile. She reminded him so much of her mother, damaged in ways beyond his comprehension. Perhaps this was not unusual. Maybe all men were fractured in the same sense, and only he had been blind to it. Still, he thought not. He liked Churls, more than he had ever liked anyone. He liked Vedas. He shared their concerns, though by all rights he should not.

The thought lingered, troubling: He should not? Who was to say what he should and should not do? His father no longer controlled him—how dare his mind act as though it were not his own? He was free to align himself with any person or philosophy he chose.

Resentment moved through him like lightning through sky.

He kicked the door, which splintered down the center but did not otherwise budge. Its edge cleared the frame as his foot struck again. Furniture crashed to the floor inside. Wooden legs snapped as the table fell over. A third kick knocked the door off of its hinges, sent it spinning into the dark interior.

In the silence that followed, he heard the distinct click of someone cocking a hammer. He identified the weapon from this sound alone: an alchemical cannon, a handheld weapon capable of hurling an iron ball at great speed.

“Hold it!” he bellowed into the room. “I know you have a cannon. Don’t waste your shot on me, it won’t do any good. I’m just here for one of your guests. Once I have her, I’ll leave, and you can board up again.”

A flash of light. The bullet stuck his forehead, rocking him backwards. He did not even hear the discharge, so loud was the tone that reverberated throughout his body. He hummed like a struck tuning fork.

Pain. One or two of his spheres had been knocked loose by the blow. “I’ve got another coming!” a voice called. “Don’t come any further!”

In four heavy bounds Berun had the innkeeper by the collar. He slapped the weapon from the man’s hand and lifted him from behind the bar.

The temptation to hurl him into the street nearly overcame Berun, yet he resisted. Hurting a blameless man would not ease his temper. He hungered for a fight. Once he got Churls back to the monastery, he would return to find a contender. Rioters or Tomen, Adrashi or Anadrashi—it would not matter as long as they stood a small chance against him.

“Stay put,” he said, blue eyes flaring brightly enough to illuminate the room. “Don’t try to stop me. Don’t call for help. Don’t send anyone else to do these things for you.” He put the man down and turned toward the stairs.

On second thought, he turned back.

“The Castan woman is my friend. If you helped her, then you’ve got my thanks.”

‡

On the night of their arrival in Danoor, he had left Churls and Vedas at the door to the brothel. He did not want to intrude while they said goodbye. Hopefully, they would speak plainly and honestly with one another, but he did not think this likely. It had been one way with them for too long, and Vedas could not afford to be distracted now.

After a long day of running, Berun felt on the verge of toppling over in the street. He rounded a corner and sat against a wall next to a refuse pit. He did not drift into dream or lose consciousness. Nonetheless, time progressed without him. Only when he caught himself tracking shadows along the ground did he realize morning had come. Of course, Churls was long gone, and the man who tended bar in the brothel offered no clues as to her whereabouts.

With no leads, Berun made his way to the tournament grounds. He attended the first day of fights, most of which were held in open-aired arenas, little more than shallow bowls dug out of the hard earth. Careful not to be seen, he watched Vedas from a distance. He had no desire to distract the man. Moreover, he did not want Vedas to know that Churls was not in attendance.

He need not have worried. Vedas had eyes only for his opponents. Brothers and sisters clapped him on the back as he made his way from bout to bout, and he stared straight ahead. Now and then a White Suit spat at his feet while he rested for a moment between bouts. He did not appear to notice. He did not even pause to look at the chalked bracket diagrams that had been posted at each arena.

Berun attracted attention from others, however. Men who knew his reputation conversed with him, posed for alchemical image-castings next to him. Surprisingly, as many Adrashi approached as Anadrashi. Only Ulomi avoided him altogether.

“Word has it you came here with the Black Suit, Vedas,” a fat Stoli merchant said. “He won’t make it through the day, I reckon. There are bigger and faster men than him.”

“You’ve seen him fight?” Berun asked.

The merchant pulled on his mustaches. “Well, no. But I’ve heard others talk about him.”

“Are you a betting man?”

The merchant looked like he had been asked if he breathed air. “Of course! Last year twenty percent of my income came from fight winnings. My wife has been asking for a badlander maid for years, and I was finally able to afford one.”

Berun clapped the man’s shoulder hard enough to make him wince. “When it comes to the final bout, if I were you I’d bet black. Your wife will thank you.”

Ten rounds occurred the first day. Vedas fought eight White Suits and two of his own brethren. He won each handily except for the day’s final, which occurred after nightfall in the immense covered arena. At eight feet tall, the huge Tomen from Bolas towered a foot and a half above Vedas, outweighed him by two hundred pounds. His strategy, taking punishment until an opportunity opened for an offensive, was simple but effective. Vedas worked every angle without apparent damage, and was caught twice by bone-crushing punches.