Chapter 2

Jelenna and I walked along the top of the dam, checking on the archers at their posts. The dam was the cornerstone of Greatfalls' existence. The water that ran down from the mountains behind us collected there, enabling our agriculture and ensuring that we would survive even when the rest of Fyr was dry.

Which it was. As long as anyone could remember, Fyr had struggled with lack of rainfall, and the latest drought had lasted five years. I gave thanks to Vazzart that we'd been prepared for it, and prayed that the suffering in the rest of Fyr might be eased. Of course, I knew that was unlikely. Outside of our city, the people of Fyr worshiped Stahkla, the God of Fire and Metal, and followed the Dark Lord of Ashfuror. In Greatfalls, we knew both to be bringers of chaos and destruction. I had sympathy for their ignorance, but unless they rejected their ruler and their god, their lives wouldn't improve.

As the afternoon sun beat down on our heads, Jelenna gazed out onto the water of Safehold reservoir. The water sparkled, the gentle wind creating ripples across the expanse. On the far end, the mountains rose, looming over the evergreens and wooden houses of the small city.

I found myself entranced by the thatched roofs and chimneys peeking through the greenery, brown and green, all bathed in the bright white of midday. Inside, the people of my city went about their day, untouched by drought or violence. The lives of these families were what I sought to preserve. My own troubles were less important.

"You're pensive."

Jelenna's voice startled me, bringing me out of my reverie into the present.

"The man who killed my parents is dead."

"He is," Jelenna replied. "But his son is still alive. You could track him down and beat the shit out of him."

I barked out a laugh. "Sure. I'm going to go all the way to Ashfuror, hunt down Cyrus, and what? Spank him?"

"Sounds fun to me." Jelenna winked.

"It doesn't matter. I haven't thought about avenging my parents in a long time." I watched as gentle ripples traverse the expanse of the reservoir. "It's just strange that I didn't know. I understand. It was a long time ago, there's no reason Grandmother would have brought it up."

"Isn't it recorded somewhere for posterity?" Jelenna frowned. "It seems important enough that it should be in the Archive."

"I'm not the heir. I don't have access to the Archive."

Jelenna grunted. We stood there for a moment, the cool breeze lapping at our faces. Then Jelenna broke the silence.

"What if you were the heir?"

My shoulders tensed at her words. Why couldn't she let this go? "I told you not to bring that up again."

"Athard's an asshole," Jelenna kept on.

"No, Jelenna—"

"Your Grandmother has to see that. You would be a hundred times better than him as Prime."

"I don't want that!" My voice came out louder than I'd intended, but I was angry. "A military life is one of rules. Soldiers thrive on clarity. It's my job to make sure nothing is vague or uncertain for them."

"You're good at that."

"Being a politician leader, ruling a city, it's all subterfuge and manipulation. I don't have the stomach for it."

Jelenna squinted at me, then spoke. "Athard certainly has an appetite for that side of things."

"He gets it from Grandmother. If only he inherited her love for the people."

I looked out once more on the water. The gentle waves had a calming effect on me, evening my breathing out.

"I worry about being in the dark, once she's gone," I continued. "I don't want to be his tool. But he will be ruler. He will have access to the Archive, to the knowledge of our family and to the artifacts gathered there. Only the Prime can claim that."

"What do you think is in there, anyway?" Jelenna's eyes sparkled with curiosity. She loved a good mystery, and I couldn't say that I hadn't wondered myself on occasion.

"Hard to say. I know that Vazzart has gifted Greatfalls with several powerful artifacts over the generations, but I've never seen one used. Grandmother's staff is an artifact of Vazzart, supposedly, but I don't know what it does."

"My cousin Omer, you know, the assistant librarian?" Jelenna's voice bounced with enthusiasm. Talk of magic brought out her obsessive side. "He loves history, he's always researching this or that. He found an old volume that talked about the people from beyond the mountains. Evidently, they could use magic without an artifact."

I laughed, shaking my head. What a disaster that would be. "The fact that the gods choose the bearer and limit the magic of an artifact is the only thing keeping it from being abused. If anyone could have that kind of power, people would do horrible things!"

Jelenna shrugged. "I'm just telling you what Omer said. It would be amazing to have that kind of magic. Don't you think?"

"I have enough to worry about as it is."

She started to reply, but was interrupted by a long, clear tone, like a bell, pealing out over the reservoir. Across Safehold, a shimmer of gold and silver ran through the water and burst into the air with a joyful splash. Somehow both solid and insubstantial, the manifestation hung above the lake a few feet in front of us. It twisted and turned, forming exquisitely curved shapes, intersecting and merging. If it was trying to communicate something, I didn't know what, but it was beautiful.

The manifestation slowly left us, quivering as it faded to nothing. After a moment, I realized I was holding my breath. I released the muscles of my core, forcing my lungs back to work.

Jelenna let out a laugh, deep and joyous.

"Vazzart must approve of what we're doing, to send us a sign like that!"

"I hope so." I stared out at the empty space where the phenomenon had appeared. "The God of the Water and the Forest doesn't come to us very often these days."

Jelenna clapped me on my back, her touch strong and stinging. "Trust it, Skye. Let's make sure that we're ready for whatever comes. What do we need to do?"

I thought for a moment. The Archers were ready. I believed that. They'd grown into an even more formidable fighting force over the years. I trusted them to take on anything.

Still, we couldn't be too prepared.

"Let's ride out and survey the outer wall. We can find and repair any weaknesses before the Lord of Ashfuror gets within spitting distance."

"Come on, then. Let's mount up."

A few minutes later, Jelenna and I sat on our steeds as the stewards raised the gate skyward. Blaze had been my mount for a few years now. He was a tall, black stallion, and with me he was sweet and mischievous. But he had a strong kick and a sharp bite waiting for an enemy, or anyone who treated him poorly.

Jelenna sat atop Cherry, a brown-red horse a little shorter in stature than Blaze. Cherry wasn't sweet to anyone . Her relationship with Jelenna was more like two rivals than rider and mount, and at any given moment I wasn't sure exactly who was winning.

Jelenna and I rode out onto the plains of Fyr. I loved the feeling of riding, the wind whipping through my hair, feeling Blaze's muscles stretch and flex beneath me. There was a sensation of power, but also of partnership. Although I'd never been on a truly long journey, even a few leagues with Blaze put me in a good mood.

As we passed through the gate, the shift in setting was instantaneous. The lush greenery of Greatfalls stopped abruptly past the walls. The years of drought had turned the soil dry and clay-like, and there was no vegetation outside of a few scraggly shrubs. What had been a pleasant afternoon sun inside the city was a tormenting burn on the arid, cracked plain.

I scanned the horizon in every direction, but there was no trace of humanity. The nearest farming village was leagues away, if anyone even still lived there. There was no life in the area surrounding my home city. The sight of it left a desolate emptiness in the pit of my stomach.

We rode north along the outside of the wall, stopping at the dry riverbed to inspect the great outlet pipes where the waters of the dam could be emptied when necessary. It was part of the duty of the Prime to monitor the use of water in Greatfall. Any excess would flow out to be used by the rest of the people of Fyr.

It had been four years since the last time Grandmother allowed any water to be released.

The stonework and metalwork around the outlets had been crafted in Ashfuror long ago, during the ancient times of peace. The system was intricate and, when fully functioning, unassailable.

Jelenna dismounted, walking up to inspect the metal grates and seals that protected this place of weakness in the wall. It was enough to give me nightmares, the thought that somehow the armies of the Dark Lord would pry their way into the city through the water system, but thankfully none had been able to do so in our long history.

Giving a quick thumbs up, Jelenna hopped back onto Cherry's back and we continued our northward ride.

Pride stirred in me at the sight of the well-maintained walls. The stonemasons of Greatfalls took great care to repair any flaws as soon as they were discovered. Every citizen of our city was committed to our security.

We approached the northernmost end of the outer wall, where it met the sharply rising mountain. The sheer cliffs made it impossible for approaching armies to flank the city. Perhaps half a league away from the wall's end, Jelenna stopped and pointed.

"Do you see that?"

I squinted in the direction of her finger, but didn't see anything unusual, except…yes. There was a slight movement at the foot of the wall.

"What is it?"

Not saying anything, Jelenna rode toward the spot, and I followed a few strides behind. Alarm twitched in my chest. Something about this was off. As we got closer the problem came into focus — writhing, furry bodies about the size of dogs, maybe forty? Fifty? More than I could easily count. We slowed, keeping our distance.

Jelenna identified them first. "Rock gories. There must have been a chink in the wall. They're clawing at it, trying to open it up more."

"This isn't normal." Rock gories were friendly creatures and stayed in family groups of three or four. They weren't pack animals.

"It's the drought. They're desperate for water. They can hear the reservoir behind the wall."

Stepping Blaze forward, I called out to them.

"Hya! Get out of here!"

There was a tiny hesitation as the mass of limbs and fur paused at the sound of my voice, and then resumed its work.

"Rock gories are usually afraid of people," I called out to Jelenna. "They must be desperate. We can't let them keep digging into the wall."

Jelenna grabbed her bow from her back, stringing an arrow and letting it fly. It struck one of the animals with a thud, and it collapsed onto the dry dirt.

Once again the mass of furry bodies stopped, but this time the group turned toward us. Their small, beady eyes shone out of their square faces, as their long snouts sniffed at the air. As one, the gories growled and bore their teeth.

"What the hell!?" Instinctively, my hand went to my bow. "Rock gories are supposed to be easy to scare off!"

"Enough hunger and thirst will make anything violent."

With a leap, the animals came for us, a turbulent river of fur and teeth and claws.

Jelenna and I began shooting, splitting apart and guiding our steeds to get on either side of the pack of crazed mammals. Another gory went down, then another, but it didn't slow their advance. Soon they had managed to flank us both.

My arrows flew, one after the other, finding their target over and over again. A minute later, there were ten rock gories lying dead, but the others took no note of it. I was holding them off, but barely, and I didn't have an unlimited supply of arrows. I'd run out sooner rather than later.

I couldn't shoot fast enough to prevent them from getting to me. When the first clawed at Blaze, he sent it flying with a kick that crushed the rock gory's skull. That didn't stop the assault, though, as they nipped and clawed at us from all sides.

I jumped down, grabbing for the long dagger in my belt, slashing one gory's throat and gutting another. Their bodies pressed against me, and I felt the sting of their teeth tearing into my leathers, but I jabbed back at them. Every Archer was schooled in knife fighting, in the event that an enemy got too close to shoot. My training kicked in, and my movement became unconscious. Thrust, slice, stab, again and again.

Taking advantage of the distraction, Blaze kicked and trampled, his hooves crushing the soft bodies of the rock gories underneath them. Between the two of us we managed to put down many of the animals, and I could sense the assault getting thinner.

Until a roar echoed on the empty plain. Piercing the air, raspy and feline, it could only be one thing.

"A zakar!" Jelenna yelled, although I couldn't see her through the crowd of rock gories around me. "A zakar come down from the mountain!"

That was not good. A predator cat the size of a small horse, zakar were solitary and elusive animals. I'd caught a glimpse of one once, hiking the nearby slopes. It had disappeared seconds after I'd even registered it was there. They didn't attack people. At least, that's what I'd always been told, but today I'd learned I couldn't trust the conventional wisdom.

As I was sliding my dagger up the torso of one gory, the zakar roared again. It was louder, much nearer to me this time, and the shock pushed me out of my fighting rhythm. My feet slipped on the blood pooling beneath and slid out from under me. The rocky ground met the back of my head with a sharp pang, and the world flashed bright in front of me. I clenched my gut, fighting to hold on to my consciousness.

A rock gory was on me then. Its hot, wet breath warmed my face as I struggled to hold it at arm's length. It was straining to get at my throat, and we were locked in opposition. I needed leverage to push it back and attack with my dagger, but I couldn't get it.

The jaws of the rock gory inched closer and closer to my neck as my arms grew weaker. Driven to rage by its thirst, it growled low and lunged.

I closed my eyes, wanting my final sight to be something other than the feral face of the beast. Its sharp teeth grazed my neck.

"Need a little help?" It was a man's voice, deep and smooth. I didn't recognize it, but in my desperation I didn't question it.

"Yes!" I grunted out.

There was a sick sound, like a butcher knife slicing through wet meat, and a whimper. The weight of the animal came down heavy as it collapsed on top of me.

"Shit." I rolled the gory off me and struggled to catch my breath. When I'd recovered, my savior was already moving away. He was tall and toned, dressed in black leathers, swinging a sword in fluid arcs as he took out the rock gories that mobbed him. His face was pale, sporting a few days worth of stubble, and his eyes were green and piercing. Atop his head sat a circlet of onyx.

I pushed myself to my feet and looked in the direction the man was headed. There it was. The zakar. A tall, thick cat with rippling muscles, it was covered in orange and white fur. It was huge, but the swordsman didn't slow his approach.

What was he doing? There was no way to fight this thing on foot.

An arrow whistled as it passed by me, embedding itself in the zakar's side with a thud. I turned my head and Jelenna stood there, surrounded by mounds of dead rock gories.

I grabbed for my own arrows, and my hand only found one remaining in my quiver. Damn.

Jelenna sent another arrow toward the creature, but it went wide as the cat moved to avoid the swordsman's jabs. I made eye contact with Jelenna and she shook her head. She was out of arrows.

The swordsman danced around the zakar, his movements graceful and deadly. He was getting hits in, but they weren't deep enough. The cat was agile. Eventually the man would tire, and the zakar would overwhelm him.

I couldn't help fight the thing with only a dagger. I knocked my last arrow. This was my one chance. If I didn't hit my target, I'd be left totally useless.

The swordsman's eyes flitted to me and then back to the hulking feline. I could only hope he understood what I was trying to do. He sliced the cat across its shoulder, a superficial injury at most, but it had the desired effect. The cat turned its head in response, and I could see the slits of its eyes.

I squinted, took a breath, and let my arrow fly.

It found its mark, piercing the zakar's left eyeball. With a yowl of pain and frustration, the cat rolled onto its side, the end of the arrow sticking out and agitating even more as the animal hit the ground.

With the finesse of a dancer, the swordsman moved to slice the cat's throat. With a roll, the big cat barely avoided the attack, and then it was off. Its muscles flexed and pulled as it ran away at top speed.

"Ah well. Nice shot," he said after watching the cat run for a minute. He walked toward his horse, a large white mare. I hadn't noticed her in the chaos of the fight.

"Wait," I yelled after him. "Who are you?"

"You'll find out." He hopped up on his steed and winked at me. He winked at me. What the hell was happening here? I was uncharacteristically flustered all of a sudden. Who was this strange man? He had incredible sword fighting skills, and was dressed in expensive leathers.

As he rode off, Jelenna made eye contact with me. "He's very handsome," she said, smirking.

"Are you serious?" We had a swordsman in the vicinity of Greatfalls, an elite fighter of unknown origin. We had no idea what his motives and plans were, and she was commenting on how handsome he was? What did it matter that he was good-looking?

"I just noticed." She shrugged, then her eyes widened as she noticed all of the blood and viscera down the front of me. "Are you hurt?"

I made a quick inventory of myself. I was covered in scratches and bites, but my armor had managed to turn the worst of it. None of the blood was mine.

"I'm fine." My eyes went to the swordsman, who was galloping away at a clip. "We need to go after him. We have to find out who he is. "

She nodded and we both started for our mounts. I sprang up on Blaze's back and turned him to follow the enigmatic fighter. Jelenna rode up beside me and I spurred us onwards.

"Commander Adfeld!" A voice rang from behind us. I pulled Blaze up short and we turned. Doren, one of the more promising of the younger Archers, was heading toward us on horseback. "Commander, stop!"

"What brings you out here?" I asked as he approached. "We have to go—"

"No, please stop! I was sent to find you." The slight young man paused, taking several labored breaths. He must have been riding hard.

As he paused, I peered back out in the direction the swordsman had ridden to find that he was…gone! How was that possible? The land was flat, and there were few trees. How could he have disappeared?

"Dammit." The curse was out of my mouth before I could stop it. The man might have saved my life, but he'd also rattled me.

"Commander, First Lieutenant…" Doren's voice wrenched my attention back.

"What is so urgent that you needed to rush out here to get us?" Jelenna asked.

"The Prime ordered me to find you as she found out." Doren straightened, regaining his composure and locking his gaze to mine. "The scouts have returned."