Among Giants

AMONG GIANTS

Warden was standing very still – a statue in the shape of a man. Tonight he wore a black doublet with a high collar, its shoulders trimmed with gold. Its sleeves concealed the arm I had bandaged.

He gazed down at me with no expression. His eyes no longer glowed yellow, but electric blue. I grasped in vain for an explanation.

‘So,’ he said quietly, ‘you dress wounds and feed the helpless. How quaint.’

Pure revulsion filled me, laced with fear. I considered running, but then I saw the other four Rephs, all with ironclad dreamscapes.

Graffias had stitched me up. These Rephs had waited for me here, to catch me in the act. When I took up a defensive stance, three of them chuckled. They laughed the way a raven talked – a mimicry of the real thing.

I should have sensed their dreamscapes coming. Tension and fatigue were grinding my guard down, along with my lack of life support.

Warden did not laugh. He looked at his fellow Rephs, then at me.

‘Terebell,’ he said, ‘go to the blood-sovereign. Inform her that we have found my tenant.’

Terebell considered me with steady golden eyes. Her dark hair was short and glossy, curving around her lean face like a hood. This was the Reph who had taken Tilda and Carl into Oriel.

‘It will be done,’ she said.

She strode ahead of the others, the darkness swallowing her whole.

‘You are some way from the residences,’ Warden said to me. ‘A white-jacket has no cause to venture beyond the lamplight.’

‘You told me to acquaint myself with the city,’ I said. ‘That’s what I was doing.’

‘Amaurotic House is out of bounds, as you are well aware. The Grey Keeper informed me of your attempt to bribe him,’ he said, confirming the obvious. ‘He also ordered you not to return.’

‘I was checking on one of the amaurotics. Is that a crime around here?’

‘Their welfare is not your concern. Since we have business elsewhere this evening, I will overlook your impertinence,’ he said, ‘but do not expect me to do so again.’ He turned away. ‘Come with me.’

I was outnumbered and unarmed. Trying to get out of this situation would be suicidal. Surrendering to the inevitable, I followed him.

Warden led me back down the boulevard. The other Rephs walked behind us, keeping a respectful distance. I glanced at his eyes again.

He caught me looking. ‘If you have a question,’ he said, ‘you may ask.’

‘Why are your eyes like that?’

‘Doubtless you will soon find out.’

I stiffened. ‘You’re taking me somewhere to punish me, then?’

‘No. I am taking you to your first test.’ When I gave him a sharp look, he said, ‘I did call at Magdalen to collect you. When I saw you were gone, I suspected I might find you at Amaurotic House.’

‘I’ve been here two days. I haven’t even done any training.’

‘The first test requires none.’

‘We’re not testing in number order?’

‘That is the usual approach,’ Warden said. ‘You are an exception.’

Of course.

‘I have one more question,’ I said, keeping my voice low. ‘What happened to you last night?’

Warden looked straight ahead.

‘I rescind your invitation to speak,’ he said.

I almost bit my tongue in two. Patronising, despicable bastard. I should have killed him.

The Rephs escorted me back to the lamplight, to the building where Nashira had turned my world upside down. For the first time, I noticed the gold letters arching over its gates, reading THE RESIDENCE OF THE SUZERAIN. The guards bowed when Warden passed, pressing their gloved fists to their chests.

The gates closed behind us. The steely clang tightened my muscles. My gaze darted, seeking handholds and footholds. Looking for a way out was an instinct I could never shake.

Warden took the gravelled path that wrapped around the oval lawn. Two of his friends went to stand guard on either side of the doors, while a third came to my other side. He was the spitting image of Pleione, down to his well-boned face and raven curls.

Flanked by Rephs, I stepped over the threshold, into an entrance hall with spotless ivory walls. Suhail Chertan waited beside a stone pillar.

‘You may remove your tunic,’ Warden said to me. ‘It will limit your range of motion.’

He framed it as a choice, but I had none here. ‘You told me this didn’t require any training,’ I said. ‘Is it something physical?’

None of the Rephs answered. I unbuttoned the white tunic and handed it to Suhail. We proceeded up a set of black steps, where two gates opened to allow us through a gilded baroque screen.

When we emerged on the other side, I turned colder. Several Rephs awaited us in a long chamber. The back wall was a feat of intricate stonework, humanlike figures carved all the way up to the hammer-beam ceiling. A chequered floor reflected the candlelight.

Warden went to one knee and lowered his head. I did the same when a Reph stared me down. Most of them were unfamiliar.

‘Arcturus.’

I risked a glance.

Nashira Sargas had appeared. Tonight she wore a set of black robes that covered her to the chin, along with the obligatory gloves. Passing an old wooden chair, she came to stand in front of us.

‘I see you have brought our curiosity,’ she said. ‘Good evening, 40.’

Warden stayed on one knee at my side, gaze downcast. A strange way to greet his partner, but customs might be different in the Netherworld.

‘I understand my consort found you close to Amaurotic House. You have taken it upon yourself to feed one of its occupants,’ Nashira said. ‘The Grey Keeper distributes the amaurotics’ rations. Your intervention demonstrates contempt for his authority.’

‘Yes.’ I heard myself say it. ‘He should pick on someone his own size.’

‘You will address the Suzerain with respect,’ said the one who resembled Pleione. ‘Unless she invites you to speak, hold your tongue.’

‘Peace, Alsafi,’ Nashira said. ‘40 is new, but she will learn.’

With all my willpower, I swallowed my retort. Nashira gave the smallest nod, and Warden stood. After a moment, I did the same.

‘I trust Arcturus has told you why you are here, 40,’ Nashira said. ‘You may be surprised to be summoned this soon, but your gift is of great interest to us. As was the incident that led to your arrest.’

Warden stepped away from me, while Alsafi left through a side door. Nashira and I were now facing each other across the room.

‘Your first test is simple,’ she said. ‘All we ask is that you show us your gift.’

I glanced at the other Rephs. Surely they didn’t want me to fight her.

‘I will ask you again,’ Nashira said. ‘What manner of clairvoyant are you?’

I wet my lips. My best way out of this might still be to feign ignorance.

‘I told you at the oration,’ I said. ‘I don’t know.’

‘Tell us about your clairvoyance, then.’

A draught blew into the chamber. It cut into my undershirt, leaving me stiff with goosebumps.

If I did nothing, surely they would have to fail me. They might send me straight to the Rookery. I could learn a few circus tricks, keep a low profile, start looking for a means of escape.

Jaxon leaned out from my memory, teaching me how to charm and deceive: A lie is harder to distinguish when it dances with the truth.

‘I’m sensitive to the æther. I feel it a long way around me,’ I said. ‘Sometimes I see visions of the future. They give me headaches.’

‘Show us,’ Nashira said. ‘Send us a vision.’

‘They come at random times. I don’t know how to share them, in any case.’

‘How convenient.’ Her tone never changed. ‘You would have me think you are an untaught oracle. Doubtless this deception has been successful in the past. The differences between auras can be subtle, but no oracle can kill with their spirit.’

Now I was remembering the swoop into darkness. The unbearable pain, as if my own body was punishing me for what I had done.

‘I didn’t kill anyone.’ I held my voice steady. ‘It was the poltergeists.’

‘Of the two bodies found on the train, only one bore signs of a poltergeist attack,’ Nashira said. ‘There was also a survivor, whose spirit had been violently dislodged. He, too, was unmarked.’

Scion had conscripted my father for his expertise in forensic pathology. I wondered if they had forced him to examine the bodies.

‘They attacked me, too.’ I showed her the scars on my left palm. ‘See these?’

‘Those marks were noted upon your arrival here,’ Nashira said, ‘but they are not recent. Our eyes can tell, even if yours cannot.’

I fisted my hand at my side.

‘You caused two deaths that night,’ she said. ‘I believe you can project your spirit from your body. For your first test, I would like you to do it again.’

Perhaps I could.

Nashira wanted a dreamwalker for her entourage of angels. There must be something I could do that she had no way to deter, some advantage I could use against her. I could demonstrate my ability in front of all these Rephs, just as they wanted.

To the best of my knowledge, only an unreadable could lock out a dreamwalker. Nashira was not unreadable. Even if her defences were strong, there had to be a crack. If I could find it, I could worm into her dreamscape and give her the shock of her life.

I could kill her.

Before I could encourage her to volunteer, Alsafi returned. He bore a limp figure in his arms, a human with a black bag over their head.

The prisoner was dumped into the wooden chair, and their hands cuffed to its arms. This was an amaurotic. I thought of my father and felt sick to my stomach – but the figure was too small, too thin.

‘I believe you two know one another,’ Nashira said, just as I recognised the dreamscape. ‘Sebastian has been asking for you.’

Alsafi removed the bag.

Seb stirred. His eyes were the size of small plums, his hair hung in reddened strings, and his lips were cracked and swollen, crusted with dry blood.

Alsafi slapped his cheek. Seb managed to look up, blinking in the candlelight.

‘Paige?’

His broken voice made my blood burn. I rounded on Nashira.

‘What have you done to him?’

‘Nothing permanent,’ she said. ‘That is your task.’

‘What the hell are you talking about?’

‘Hold your tongue.’ Alsafi took a step towards me. ‘Or I will relieve you of it.’

‘No need, Alsafi,’ Nashira said. ‘Let her embrace her anger, her fear. Those emotions must have overwhelmed her on the train.’

Their bodies flashed in front of me, the two men on the carriage floor – one hollowed out, one driven mad.

That was my test. To earn my next tunic, I had to kill an amaurotic.

I had to kill Seb.

‘No,’ I said.

‘No,’ Nashira repeated.

The word carried in that echoing space, right the way up to its rafters.

‘I can’t do it,’ I said. ‘I won’t.’

Alsafi did not beat about the bush. His massive hands clamped on my shoulders, and he shoved me towards Seb. My boots squeaked on the polished floor as I pushed back in vain.

‘Kill the boy,’ Alsafi said, ‘or I will have Graffias bring all the amaurotics here to die. Scion can always send us more.’

‘No.’

‘Take the test.’

‘I can’t.’ I spoke between my teeth. ‘Did you not hear me, Reph?’

Alsafi held me with bruising force. Seb watched dully, blood seeping from a cut on his brow.

I suddenly clawed for Alsafi, trying to rake his face. He jerked back as if my hand was on fire, releasing one of my shoulders. I used my other hand to swipe his knife from its sheath on his belt.

One deep stab was all it took to break his grip. I lurched away from him and stood in front of Seb, the knife clutched in my hand.

‘Stay back,’ I warned.

Nashira was unmoved. To her, I was already a performer – a human with a head full of confetti and fireworks, here to entertain my betters.

For the first time, I noticed the angels Liss had mentioned, close to Nashira. Only two of her five were here, but they hummed with power. If I attacked her, they would overwhelm me.

Warden stood nearby, his gaze soldered to my face. I pointed the knife at him.

Alsafi lifted a hand to the wound I had just put in his side. When I looked at the blade, I saw a yellowish light at its tip. The same glow that had bled from Warden.

‘You are resourceful,’ Nashira said. ‘Very well. If you refuse to kill the amaurotic yourself, perhaps you will defend him.’

‘And you expect us to respect you.’ I shook my head. ‘State of you all, torturing some frightened kid who can’t fight back.’

‘If you are what I suspect, then you can fight back, 40.’

Seb was crying now. I tightened my grip on the knife, but my hands were clammy.

‘I can’t,’ I said again. ‘Just fail me. Send us both to the Rookery.’

‘That would be a terrible waste of potential,’ Nashira said. ‘Aludra, disarm her.’

Aludra Chertan stepped forward. Pale hair sleeked to her waist, not a flyaway or split end in sight. She drew it away from her face, fastening it at the base of her neck.

‘This is your last chance, 40,’ she said in a silvery voice. ‘Kill the amaurotic.’

Even if I had wanted to, I still had no idea how to project my spirit, or I would have done it for Jaxon. Even his barbs and wheedling had never forced it out. Only a threat to my life had worked.

‘No,’ I said.

Warden came to join Aludra. I planted my feet, taking slow breaths through my nose.

Part of me knew I would lose. I couldn’t defeat all these Rephs with a knife, and other than the two angels, which would only answer to Nashira, there were no spirits to spool in this chamber.

But seeing Warden reminded me. When I had cleaned his wounds in the dark, his blood had sharpened my perception of the æther.

Alsafi had the same light in his veins.

I held the blade up to my face and inhaled. The æther enfolded and submerged me like ice water. All at once, I felt calmer. I focused.

With a flick of my wrist, I flung the knife at Aludra. She sidestepped it, but only just. My aim had improved, just as I had thought.

Aludra picked up a candleholder – almost as tall as she was – with unnerving ease. ‘You have lost your weapon,’ she said. ‘Not that it would have helped you. What are you going to do now?’

‘Come and find out,’ I said.

Aludra stalked towards me. I led her away from Seb. I was leaving him vulnerable, but Warden made no move towards him. His gaze stayed on me.

When Aludra swung her improvised weapon, I ducked. The candleholder hit one of the carvings, destroying its face in a shower of dust. I moved again at once, trying to keep plenty of distance between me and the Reph. If she could wield something that heavy without breaking a sweat, she could also snap me like a twig.

I didn’t expect her to throw it at me.

Seb screamed my name as the candleholder soared across the chamber. I dived to the floor. A heartbeat later, the candleholder clanged down, barely missing me. The din rang through the chamber like a stricken bell. Before I could get up, Aludra was on top of me. She lifted me with one hand, bringing us face to face again.

‘We know what you are,’ she said. ‘Your days of hiding are over.’

It came out of nowhere. As I struggled against her grip, a dizziness rushed over me, as if I had been turned on my head. The sickening loss of control before fainting – that was the only thing that compared.

It took me a moment too long to realise. My aura was pulling towards hers, into it. Her eyes brightened, turning a livid red.

‘Aludra,’ Warden said sharply.

She glanced at him. I tasted metal, felt the wetness on my cheeks.

Now I understood.

I understood why their eyes changed.

Aludra released me, and I fell to the floor, my legs giving way at once. I lifted a cold hand to my cheek, finding blood on my fingertips.

‘All this to protect an amaurotic,’ Aludra said. ‘This boy would have seen you strung up by the neck in London. Even if he could move now, do you think he would lift a finger to save you?’

A cool gleam caught my eye. The knife, the one I had thrown at her face, almost near enough to touch. I could put her eye out.

Aludra spotted it. She pinned my wrist with her boot, then leaned down to pick up the knife.

‘A pitiful display,’ she said. ‘You are not even fit for the Rookery.’

‘I quite agree,’ Nashira said. ‘We cannot reform them all, after all.’

‘No,’ Seb choked out. ‘Stop it, please. Paige!’

Aludra knelt and held the blade under my jaw. Jaxon, Nick, the others – none of them would ever know why I had disappeared.

The knife bit hotly into my skin.

And suddenly, I was in the æther.

In my spirit form, I saw without eyes. A silent void, studded with starry orbs. I knew that each one represented a dreamscape. It would be suicidal to attack Aludra – her mind was very old, very strong – but her arrogance had thinned her defences.

I flew into her.

She wasn’t prepared for how it would feel. That was how I got so far. I cut straight to her abyssal zone, the second layer of her mind.

Aludra rallied quickly. Her defences leapt back up. I was thrown out with the force of a bullet, and then I was back in my own body, my head in agony. I fought to breathe, staring at the ceiling.

I had done it again.

My hand went straight to my throat. Aludra had only left a small cut. Beside me, she was lying on her side. Blinded by pain, I lurched to my feet – a hunted animal, surrounded, scrabbling out of a trap.

The chamber leaned around me. The Rephs were disembodied eyes, all the candles blurred and quivering. When Seb called my name, I turned on the spot. It tapped into a memory, to hear someone calling like that.

Finn, don’t leave me.

I took a few drunken steps, only to lurch into Warden. He caught me by the arm. If he was human, I might have thought he was steadying me, but I recoiled from him, panic flooding my body. Almost against my will, I tried the same attack. This time, I didn’t even reach the æther. I buckled to the floor and stayed there.

Sorry, Liss.

Nearby, Aludra looked up at Nashira, nodded once. Nashira gazed at me.

‘So it is as I thought,’ she said softly. ‘You are a dreamwalker.’

Silence reigned for some time. Finally, a Reph spoke: ‘Congratulations, blood-sovereign.’ I closed my eyes. ‘It has been a long search.’

‘Indeed,’ Nashira said.

Alsafi approached me. I was in so much pain that all I could do was let him drag me up, my legs shaking. Warden came to my other side.

Nashira now turned her attention to Seb. His terrified stare snapped towards her.

‘Thank you for your service to our cause.’ She stopped beside the chair and touched his ashen face, almost tenderly. ‘We are grateful.’

Before he could say a word, she twisted his head, the movement so quick I almost missed it. His neck crunched in her grasp.

‘No!’

The denial ripped out of me. I tried to run at Nashira, heat writhing in my blood, only for Warden and Alsafi to grab my arms, holding me back.

‘You monster,’ I snarled at Nashira. ‘Who the fuck gave you the right?’

‘You did.’ Nashira turned to face me. ‘You could have killed him yourself, 40. Had you not taken him food, he would not be here.’

I cursed blindly at her, kicking and thrashing with all my strength, my hair lank with sweat.

‘I ought to give you a yellow tunic for your cowardice. But I will assume you were telling the truth – you did not know how to project your spirit,’ Nashira said. ‘Not without the right persuasion.’

Alsafi was about to dislocate my shoulder. Warden had a lighter hold on me, but his grip was still unbreakable. I dug my fingers viciously into his upper arm – the one I had bandaged, the one that must still hurt. He tensed at once, and I dug harder, loathing him.

‘I will destroy you,’ I gritted out. ‘You see now what I can do. I swear I’ll bring every one of you down. You and your anchor—’

‘Suhail,’ Nashira said. The Reph in question emerged from the side door. ‘40 has passed her first test. Let us congratulate her.’

‘With pleasure,’ Suhail said.

Alsafi threw me to the floor. I tried my utmost to get up, to reach Seb – he was just about clinging to life, I could sense it – but now I was being held down on the floor, and Suhail was there, and I finally saw it, the hot glow of it, as merciless as the light in his eyes.

‘XX-59-40,’ Nashira said, ‘you are bound in life to the Warden of the Mesarthim, and in death to the Suzerain. Henceforth, you will renounce your name, and serve only the Rephaim.’

With those words, pain seared into the back of my shoulder. I couldn’t help but scream. Seb slumped in the chair just as I passed out, and his spirit gave one last flutter, untethering.