Chapter 27

27

There won’t be any bad guys. That’s the problem with civil war. You’re fighting your own people.

~ Lord Vlerion of Havartaft

Kaylina rode down the highway with Vlerion and Jankarr, drizzle dampening their skin and the taybarri’s fur. Wind whipped at their faces. Their mounts set a fast pace, and her pack thumped against her back with each lope of Levitke’s powerful legs.

The rain wasn’t keeping the city from burning, and urgency filled them all. Nobody complained about the pace. There wasn’t as much smoke as when the Kar’ruk had invaded, but Kaylina didn’t know if that was because fewer buildings were on fire or the rain was tamping it down.

“You wouldn’t think the queen or the prince would want to burn the city they’re trying to take control of,” she muttered.

Vlerion glanced at her, but they were cresting another hill, and the walls came into view ahead, the smoke hazing the air and making it hard to see the harbor and the royal castle on its plateau. Jankarr withdrew a spyglass and held it to his eye.

“Are the gates open?” Vlerion asked.

“No,” Jankarr said. “There are a bunch of guards turning people away.”

“They may let us pass,” Vlerion said.

Kaylina remembered the castle guards who had opened the portcullis for him to leave.

“Wait. Those aren’t guards. Or at least not only guards. I see green uniforms. More of those mercenaries.” Jankarr lowered the spyglass and looked at Vlerion. “They’re not going to let you in.”

“No,” he agreed.

Jankarr looked at Kaylina. “I don’t know if they’ll let us in either. It depends on what’s been happening today.”

Distant booms rang out from the city.

“Sounds like there’s fighting around the base of the plateau,” Vlerion said. Another boom floated to them. “And more. There’s smoke coming from— Is that ranger headquarters?” He pointed.

Jankarr lifted the spyglass again.

Worried for her brother, Kaylina wanted to ask him about Stillguard Castle too.

“There are too many buildings in the way to say for sure,” Jankarr said, “but it’s the right direction. I don’t think we should assume the mercenaries and rangers are on the same side. When I left, there was some debate about whether we would back the prince before he was officially coronated. And you could tell people were hoping he wouldn’t be officially coronated.”

“Could we slip in through the catacombs? Is that entrance we once used still being guarded?” Kaylina pointed off the highway, toward the farmlands where she’d once escaped through a shed with an access point.

“If it is, it won’t be as heavily guarded as the gates. Let’s try it.” Vlerion directed Crenoch to run off the highway and into the fields, the grass nipped low by the cows and sheep from the nearby estate.

“Can you tell if there are fires burning around Stillguard Castle, Jankarr?” Kaylina asked. In the castle, she thought, but she believed the sentinel would come to its defense. Of course, vines, even magical vines, couldn’t put out fires.

Jankarr peered through the spyglass again. “It’s hard to tell from here, but I don’t think there’s smoke coming from that part of the city.”

“Thank you. I’m relieved.”

“Yes. We can stop by for mead after vanquishing whatever bad guys are menacing Port Jirador.” Though Jankarr’s face remained concerned, he managed a wink for her.

“There won’t be any bad guys ,” Vlerion said. “That’s the problem with civil war. You’re fighting your own people.”

“There are some who would argue the prince is bad,” Jankarr said. “He’s at least snotty and unappealing.”

“A loathsome crime punishable by death.”

“ I thought so.”

Vlerion glanced at him. “Have you even met him?”

“Yeah, I had to guard his yacht four summers ago when he was in town for a meeting. He called my taybarri fat and said the rangers had gone downhill since they started letting commoners in.”

Crenoch whuffed three times and glanced at Jankarr’s taybarri. Zavron bared his teeth and batted his tongue in return. Kaylina wasn’t sure how much the young taybarri communicated with each other through those whuffs but suspected Crenoch had agreed that Zavron was on the chunky side.

More booms drifted across the countryside as they rode, their mounts’ breathing growing heavier. Kaylina rested her hand on Levitke’s shoulder, willing some of her power into the taybarri. Her hand tingled faintly. If the magic worked as desired, she didn’t know, but Levitke’s head came up, and her tail swished a bit.

Thanks for riding hard for us, Kaylina thought to her.

Taybarri in danger, Levitke responded.

All her friends back in ranger headquarters, yes.

The shed came into view ahead, the same squat stone building that Kaylina remembered. Seeing it also brought to mind the low doorway and the ladder leading down to the catacombs. There wouldn’t be room to take the taybarri that way. Levitke and the others would be distressed not to be able to help, especially if they believed their kin in danger.

Vlerion dismounted when the taybarri stopped. “Crenoch, you three will have to find another way into the city. We’re going to?—”

Two Kingdom guards in chain mail stepped out of the shed, swords in their hands.

“Nobody’s allowed into the catacombs,” one said, looking warily toward the group, especially the taybarri.

Vlerion and Jankarr drew their own swords. The guards’ faces blanched as they either recognized who they would have to deal with, or simply knew rangers in general were well trained.

Kaylina slid off Levitke’s back and drew her sling, still preferring that weapon to the sword.

“Do you want to fight us?” Vlerion asked calmly.

“No, my lord.”

“Do you want us to take your weapons and tie you up, so your superiors believe you tried your best to stop us?”

“Yes,” the other man said.

“ No .” The first guard scowled at him.

“No?”

“That would be dishonest and dishonorable.”

His buddy shook his head and gave Vlerion a plaintive look, but the other guard kept scowling at him. He sighed and said, “No, my lord.”

“All right.” Vlerion nodded at Jankarr, and they sprang for the guards.

Kaylina loaded her sling, intending to help, but, as always, Vlerion moved with preternatural speed and struck with the power of a bear. He disarmed and downed the first man as easily as if the guard hadn’t been trying to fight back, then turned and took the second from behind. Jankarr held his sword on the guards as Vlerion tied them up.

“Those bonds won’t keep that long,” Jankarr said.

“Our taybarri will watch these men,” Vlerion said.

Levitke blew out air and looked toward the city. Kaylina doubted she would stick around for guard duty. Would the mercenaries at the gates let taybarri pass if they didn’t have riders? She didn’t know. In general, people seemed to believe them simple animals instead of the intelligent beings they were.

Crenoch swished his tail and issued a questioning grunt.

“No, you can’t eat them,” Vlerion said.

Kaylina highly doubted that was what Crenoch had asked, but the guards’ faces grew even paler.

Vlerion left them tied and sitting against the shed, then waved for Kaylina and Jankarr to follow him inside.

“Let’s hope the presence of mercenaries at the gate means there aren’t any left in the catacombs,” Jankarr said as they descended a ladder into darkness.

“That would be ideal.” Vlerion didn’t say that he would rather not have to kill more men, but Kaylina knew it was true. As he’d already implied, he didn’t think the people they encountered would be bad guys. They were all kingdom subjects. “There used to be a lantern down here.”

Kaylina heard him patting along the wall.

“If the guards want to keep people out,” Jankarr said, “they’ve probably taken away any lights.”

“Did you bring a lantern?”

“Originally, when I went down into the catacombs, yes, but I lost my pack in a skirmish. If Sergeant Zhani hadn’t been with me, I would have lost my head.”

“She’s good and calm in a fight. Did she go back to headquarters?”

“To report what we heard to Targon, yes.”

“I didn’t pack before Targon shooed me out of the city,” Vlerion said. “Kaylina, did you bring a lantern?”

“Sorry. Only cookies.” Kaylina had cinderrock matches, since she’d been thinking she might need to start a campfire in the preserve, but she hadn’t intended to traipse through dark tunnels. “Hold on. I have an idea.”

Numerous times now, the brand on her hand had glowed green. Usually, it happened when she was interacting with the sentinel or using magic for something else, but maybe she could entice it to do so on its own. She gazed at it in the dark, willing her power to create illumination.

It was easier than she expected, the brand tingling and her hand warming. Strong green light flared from the leaf-shaped mark on her skin, bathing their faces and the walls around them, including a crumbling archway and tunnel leading toward the city.

Jankarr gaped at her. “Well, isn’t that… handy ?”

Kaylina had a feeling the word odd or weird had been on his tongue, but he smiled, seeming pleased by his punny replacement.

“Yes,” Vlerion said firmly and rested a hand on her lower back so they could walk together and lead the way.

Feeling like a human lantern, Kaylina tilted her hand toward the passageway ahead.

Mostly dirt, their tunnel wasn’t as well built as the centuries-old catacombs, and they had to step over numerous fallen stones and mounds of dirt. There were more than she remembered from her first journey, and she recalled the earthquakes. They might have shaken stones free. She eyed the arched ceiling as they walked, hoping a quake wouldn’t occur while they were underground.

When they passed into the catacombs proper, without running into anyone save the Kar’ruk statues hissing at them from alcoves, Kaylina started to hope they would be able to reach ranger headquarters without encountering any trouble greater than the two guards.

A few distant booms came from above, the ground trembling faintly, but not with the alarming vigor of the earthquakes. Now and then, when they passed near sewer channels, with grates open to the air above, they would hear blunderbusses firing and swords clanging. It sounded chaotic, and Kaylina imagined citizens hiding in their homes, watching with wide eyes as they wondered what was happening. Again, she worried for her brother. Just because Stillguard Castle hadn’t been on fire earlier didn’t mean he couldn’t be in danger.

“Are we heading for the Steam and Strigil?” Kaylina wished they dared veer off to check on Frayvar, but Vlerion would need to unite with the rest of the rangers and check in.

“It’s the closest access point to ranger headquarters,” he said.

“It’s not a favorite place of mine.”

“You prefer the nursery across from your nemesis’s inn?” Vlerion asked.

“No, I don’t like that area either.”

“I’m surprised a woman would object to a steam house full of naked men,” Jankarr said from behind them. “Lots of fit, athletic rangers and guards go there after training.”

“You think she should seek them out for a date?” Vlerion asked.

“If I were a woman, I would. Unless she prefers powerful, wealthy aristocrats. Those are less likely to lurk in the public baths. They’re also often older and flabbier.”

“I had no idea you’d done such a thorough assessment of the clientele.”

“I’ve been there often. It is one of my favorite places. There’s a pretty girl who comes down and scrubs your back, wipes you with a cool towel, and brings wine. They should serve chilled mead. I’ll suggest it the next time I’m there.”

“I’ll look forward to an order from the bathhouse,” Kaylina murmured, not commenting on the rest.

Her main objection to the place was that assassins had tried to kill her on her last visit. Further, the beast had shown up and ripped their heads off. The memory of a headless man floating in one of the baths came to mind whenever she thought of the bathhouse.

Voices came from a tunnel at an intersection they were nearing, and they fell silent. Ahead, rubble littered the ground, and Kaylina eyed the walls and arched ceiling, spotting a few missing stones. Again, she thought of earthquakes and what might happen if they were down here when one occurred. Those stones had probably fallen during one of the last quakes.

When Vlerion paused at the corner to peer into the darkness toward the voices, Kaylina suspected that was the way to the Strigil. Maybe he would opt for another route.

“Put your hand out, please,” he said softly.

Kaylina wanted to joke that it wasn’t a candle that could be snuffed in an instant, but the voices sounded again, closer, and she didn’t risk speaking. When she willed the magic to stop flowing, the glow actually did stop quickly.

“Handy,” Jankarr whispered again.

“Ssh.” Vlerion drew his sword.

Kaylina opted for her sling but rested a hand on his back so she would feel if he moved.

A hint of light came from the direction of the voices and soon grew brighter. It looked like numerous people with lanterns were heading their way. A snuffling noise floated to them. A taybarri? Kaylina wished they would encounter rangers, but it sounded more like a dog. One brought along to track people?

“Should we retreat?” Jankarr whispered.

“Rocko’s got his scent,” came a young voice, the words clear.

His ? Were they hunting someone in particular?

Vlerion stiffened against Kaylina’s hand, somehow knowing even before the next words.

“Lord Vlerion’s?” another man asked. “He’s down here?”

“He has to be. Rocko smelled his boot. The lady who sold it to us said it was his.”

If the men hadn’t been drawing closer, Kaylina would have joked that Vlerion shouldn’t have been so careless about leaving his boots behind all those times he’d changed into the beast. All she did was squeeze his shoulder. She didn’t know if it was reassuring or a question about whether they would fight.

“Hurry. We’ll get a reward if we bring in his head. The prince said so.”

Vlerion shifted and whispered, “Scoot back into that tunnel. I’ll deal with this.”

“You’ll deal with it with me at your side,” Jankarr said, stepping past Kaylina.

She let him, happy to back up so she could use her sling from a distance instead of leaping into a sword fight.

The dog bayed with excitement, its barks thunderous as they rang off the stone walls in the confined tunnels. Another hound joined in. How many people were down here looking for Vlerion?

The footsteps quickened, men shifting from walking to running as they followed the dogs.

“Don’t forget to throw that potion if you need to,” someone said.

Dread swept into Kaylina. These people knew they might face the beast, and they’d come prepared.