The raven and the mockingbird spoke one morning. The night before there had been a eting of the forest. The raven and the mockingbird stood opposite each other, as did the hound and the wolf, as did the tortoise and the boar. Man ca to the circle and stood opposite an empty space, however. The mockingbird asked the raven why that was.
The raven replied that n carried their opposites within them, that they hunted glimpses of each other from pools of still water. Man stood apart from the rest because he knew the empty space was not empty at all - only waiting for the water to calm.
- Pre-Gharic Ardan manuscript, vellum, c. 500 PE
The wind clawed at Michaels face, bringing tears to his eyes. He turned back to the others with a grimace; Charles gave him an encouraging nod. The artifex looked excited, his face animated as he gestured forward. Toss your pack first, then twist to the left, he shouted. A baby could do it!
Be quick once you hear the brakes, Sobriquet said. The train will slow for the curve, but only for a minute or so. Ive looked ahead down the track, and theres not - there, go!
Michael heard the high, tallic whine of the trains brakes engage; the engine began to follow the tracks ponderously to the left. He took a breath, threw his pack from the right side of the train - and jumped.
He imdiately regretted jumping. For a mont of panic Michaels mind went blank; as gravity began to speed him down toward the rocky infill surrounding the tracks he called to Stanza. The world sighed into golden-edged clarity, the impact of his bag against the ground sending a shuddering wave across the grass. The panic had shifted into a species of focused concern, and Michael frowned as he adjusted his feet in midair.
His leading foot struck the rocks; the jolt of impact staggered him despite Stanzas guiding hand. He let himself fall to the side, taking the secondary impact on his shoulder and rolling once before popping back up to his feet. Michael jogged down the slope and let the montum bleed off, noting his pack tumbling to a stop so distance away - then released his grip on Stanza.
The thudding of his heart surged in his ears, and he felt short of breath. His legs wobbled as the wave of adrenaline crested and broke. A noise from further along drew his attention - Charles was rolling freely down the hill, his bracelets expanded to a sh of thin tal that kept his body elevated over the worst of the impacts. Behind him, Sobriquet hit the ground with sowhat less grace. Michael saw Vernon jump from the train with a panicked yell.
There was a brief pause before Luc stumbled out of the train with Emil close on his heels, the two n falling a fair distance away from where Michael had landed. He watched them tumble for a mont, then shook his head and went to retrieve his pack. Charles was helping Sobriquet up when Michael rejoined them, the latter giving the forr a sour look.
You didnt ntion that your thod was suited for an artifex, she grumbled, swiping irritably at the grass and dust on her shirt. Look at you, youre not even dirty.
Charles shrugged and nodded towards Michael. He managed, he said, grinning. You going to let the lordling show you up like that?
When we get to ndian Im going to give you nightmares for a week, she muttered. Co on, lets check on the others.
They walked over to where Vernon had landed and helped the auditor to his feet. Vernon pushed off their hands and gestured wearily to Luc and Emil. Go help them, he coughed. Emils hurt.
Michael ran over to find Luc relatively unscathed, helping Emil sit upright. The older mans leg was twisted unnaturally at mid-shin; he was pale-faced and sweating, pulsing with fear and anger. That last seed directed at Luc - Emil glared at him with surprising venom.
I wont ask if youre all right, Sobriquet said, walking up to inspect Emils leg. Anything else, or is this your only injury? Charles can splint it, if its just the leg, but well have to set it first.
Emil closed his eyes and nodded, tight-lipped. Go on, then, he grunted. Charles bent down and touched Emils leg, the bracelets flowing from his arm to form two wide bands above and below the break. The tal contracted, squeezing down.
Charles crooked a finger; the bands wrenched Emils leg back into shape. The carter gave a high, short scream of pain, then sagged back to rest of his elbows, breathing hard. Ghars blood, he wheezed. Just shoot next ti.
Take a mont, Sobriquet advised, standing up to look around.
Vernon walked up to join them. Where are we? he asked. Short of Sau, I know, but how short?
Sobriquets soul flexed around her for a mont. Not too bad, she said. We should be able to reach the crossing to ndian before morning if we walk through the night - and we should, since Sibyl will figure out what we did when she sees the blind spot diverge from the train. Im veiling as much as I can, but theres only so much I can do against her.
Through the night, Michael muttered, looking down at Emil. Charles was drawing stiff bars of tal between the two bands, locking them firmly in place around his leg. I dont think we can keep that pace, not with Emil walking on a splint.
Emil shook his head and spat into the dirt. Dont mind , he said. Ill follow the tracks to Sau. I dont have anything they want. I can make my way to Arenga from there, catch a ship back to Daressa.
Luc bit his lip. You cant, he murmured.
Emperors moldy cock, I cant, Emil snorted. Dont tell what to do, you little shit. If you had jumped when you were supposed to-
Youre bleeding, Luc said, his voice unsteady but clear. Inside your leg. You feel fine now, but in a few hours the pressure will build to the point where it chokes off blood flow. You wont make it to Sau, much less Arenga.
Emil stared at him for a long mont. You can see that? he asked.
Luc grimaced; Michael felt his thoughts spinning in razor-edged flurries. Fear, pain, doubt - none of them diminished, but the storm quieted until they burned silently within him, still and separate.
Im - an anatons, Luc said. The last man who bore this soul was evil. His fingers ca up, trembling as they plucked at the wrappings that hid his right hand. He unwound it slowly until the skin was bare. But he was one of the best anatontes in the world, and Ive read - extensively from his library, yes?
Michaels mind showed him images of swollen, bloody flesh growing uncontrollably from Clairs neck; he grit his teeth and swallowed against a suddenly-dry mouth. He wanted to ask him if he was sure, if he felt ready - if he had considered the consequences if he failed.
He held his tongue. They all knew. They had all seen Michael fail at the sa task, and watched Clair die as a result. He could feel Emils fear as he decided, the trepidation as he looked Luc in the eye and gave a small, sharp nod.
Luc slid Emils trouser leg up as much as the brace would allow, his eyes fluttering closed as he touched Emils bruised flesh. Nobody moved. Emils eyes bulged, his jaw clenching against sudden pain - and then Luc withdrew his hand.
He opened his eyes, a rare smile on his face. I was able to knit the bone, he said. I stopped the major bleeding as well. Your leg should be fine.
I suppose it wasnt so hard after all, Sobriquet murmured, looking up at him expressionlessly.
The smile faded from Lucs face; before anyone could say anything Sobriquet shook her head. Never mind, she sighed. Were all tired, and well be more so before we rest. Luc, thank you. She reached out her hand to help him up.
Luc looked at it for a mont before taking it with his still-covered hand and letting her pull him upward. Sobriquet held his gaze for a second more, then turned to Emil.
How do you feel? she asked. Can you stand?
Emil groaned and took her offered hand, rising gingerly to his feet. He tested his leg, putting weight on it slowly; he winced, but stayed standing. Ill be fine, he said, turning to Luc. Thanks for the fix - but next ti Id rather you just jump faster.
Luc shifted nervously and nodded, tugging the bandages back over his exposed hand.
I would very much appreciate if we didnt do that again, Vernon said. At any speed, ever.
Well receive the tests as we were ant to receive them, Sobriquet said airily, bending down to shoulder her pack. Im beginning to grow rather fond of that phrase, actually. Is everyone ready? We should be off before too long. The entire point of this exercise was to steal a march on Sibyls cutthroats.
She looked around and found no objections. Then off we go, she said. Michael, if you please.
Michael nodded and took the lead, walking through the grass until he ca up against the treeline. He took a breath and reached out to Stanza once more, feeling it filter out into the trees and wrap around the bushes. A small frown crept over his face; the forest here was once-again different from the ones he had known further south. It brimd with oak and elm, and several sorts of bramble clawing at anything brave enough to walk through. He sent his sight forward into the forest, peeking between the thorns to get a sense of the soil and humus, the spread of the roots and arc of the branches.
Sobriquet cleared her throat quietly; Michael turned with an apologetic shrug. Just getting to know the forest, he said. He turned back to the front and took another deep breath, letting it out slowly as he fixed Jeorgs prior example in his mind. Our path goes forth into the north.
Trees creaked aside and bushes retracted, clearing a narrow aisle through the underbrush. He stepped onto it, extending the working forward and holding it open behind while the rest filed into the forest.
Ive been wondering, Sobriquet said. Is there any reason you dont just reuse the sa rhy? It seems like itd be quicker that way.
Michael shrugged. Jeorg always made a new one, he said. He talked a lot about being present where you were working, about the importance of being in the sa space as what you were trying to change. He said it was hard to think outside of a room you were in - and I think itd be harder to work with words that you strung together outside of the mont you were trying to use them.
She raised an eyebrow. Ive never found it particularly difficult to think outside of a room I was in, she said.
Hed have an answer for that, Michael said ruefully. I dont. I wish you could have t him. Id be interested to hear what thoughts he would have had on your soul.
Based on what youve said, Im not sure we would have seen eye-to-eye on it, Sobriquet replied. Dont mistake , he sounds like he was quite a man - but I doubt hed approve of my thods, nor I of his.
Youre probably right, Michael said. He frowned at a particularly stubborn scrub oak, nudging it a bit farther off the path. But then again, who knows. Im beginning to think that the Jeorg I knew was rather different from the one most people t. His ti alone changed him from the man he was. Its sothing I was hoping to ask Leire Gabarain about, when we et her.
Michael could almost hear Sobriquets eyes snap onto him. The Star? she asked.
She trained Jeorg, years back, Michael explained, speaking slowly; a disconcerting blend of unease and focus was pulsing out from Sobriquet. He said she was the one that inspired him to found the Institute, so that Ardalt could be more like ndian.
The footsteps behind him stopped; he turned to find Sobriquet staring at him. After a mont, she shook her head and motioned for him to keep walking. That is not sothing we are supposed to know, she muttered. Thats not sothing anyone is supposed to know.
Michael turned his sight, puzzled. He never said that I should keep it secret - but, then again, Ive found that there were quite a lot of things he should have said and didnt.
Michael, youve just told that ndian substantially abridged their neutrality to weaponize Ardalt against the Safid. She rippled with agitation, then forcibly stilled it. Do a favor and dont let on that you know this. Theyll be suspicious just because you know Jeorg, of course, but do not give the ndiko any additional reason to suspect that youre a threat to their neutrality. Our lives are complicated enough already.
Thats not- Michael paused. Okay, yes, I suppose that is more or less how Jeorg phrased it. I hadnt really considered ndiko politics in all of this.
You should probably start, Sobriquet advised. They present a united front to outsiders, but from what Ive heard their internal discussions are remarkably fractious. Their neutrality is about the only thing they do agree on.
Michael sighed. So were really not safe in ndian after all, he said. Were just trading danger for danger, like we did with the Safid.
Oh, no - well be substantially safer in ndian, Sobriquet said. Well receive notice of our death or imprisonnt by formal writ rather than Sibyls n coming to slit our throats in the night, its a big step up.
I can feel myself relaxing already. Michael pressed forward through the forest, his thoughts spinning with mories of Jeorg. The old man had been trendously fond of ndian, and of Leire in particular - but he had intimated that she might not be equally eager to see him, now that he thought about it. Michael had assud at the ti that there was a personal issue that had divided them, but if Sobriquet was correct then ndian might want to avoid anything that would call to mind the Ardan who had once studied with the Star of ndian.
He felt the dread settle into his stomach, a low, cold knot that twisted while they walked. Day deepened to evening, and then again to night. Still, they walked. Michael let the fires inside him swell and burn, strengthening his sight. Forging the path also beca easier, almost effortless by comparison; he silently chided himself for not thinking of using the fires from the start. There did not seem to be a fatigue associated with using them, but he did notice that Vincents fire in particular was difficult to keep trained on the task at hand, sliding back into quiescence when his attention wandered away from it.
Was the difference in his personality, or was it that Vincent would have objected to his soul passing to Michael? He dearly hoped it was not the latter, although he knew that Vincent would indeed have objected; it was the thought of so lingering vestige rebelling within him that turned his stomach. Michael did not fancy himself a captor of the unwilling.
Light found them in the chill hours of the morning, with fog rising in low swatches from the forest floor. The light showed that Emils face had once more gone pale and drawn with exertion; during a short pause for water he had indicated the carters condition to Sobriquet. Her response had been a tight shake of her head, her lips pressed together bloodlessly: Emil would persevere until ndian. She had been growing increasingly agitated as the sky lightened above them.
Michael thought he could guess why. Sibyls n still hunted them, and the further north they traveled the closer they were to Sibyl herself. Sobriquets eyes strayed north again and again, always along the sa heading - toward so distant ship in the strait, where a young woman sat and searched and hated. He kept the fires burning well past the days first light, feeding Stanzas rush through the forest.
That was what saved him, when the first bullet cut through the foliage; the bright-gold edges of mirrorlight bent and curved around a straight track through the forest, a blazing line that traced directly to Michaels collarbone. His eyes widened as he realized what it ant, the danger flaring equally bright in his mind. He had the presence of mind to push Sobriquet aside as he dodged; the bullet went just wide of his shoulder and slamd into a tree. Charles shouted in surprise, the others dropped low as more shots cracked overhead.
Shit, Sobriquet spat. I see him. Her soul blurred, and Michael heard a distant scream. There was a crash of a body falling into the underbrush; more screams followed from around them. After a mont, she opened her eyes. The woods grew silent.
I doubt I found them all, she whispered. But I can hope I got their spotters. Slow, low and quiet. The border crossing isnt too far now, just over that next ridge.
Charles nodded and crept forward, his bracelets flowing in poised spikes over his fists, shifting with every motion of his arms. Michael took point once more, keeping the clear path just large enough to fit their party. He began to bend the trees only at the base where he could, limiting any shifting in the canopy where an observer might see it from afar.
Twice, Sobriquet paused; both tis n scread in the woods, the sound of thrashing and cracking branches carrying for scant seconds before silence took hold once more. Michael saw light growing past the distant trees, a clear area that was likely the road to the crossing itself. Sobriquet steered them parallel to it, maintaining a good distance from the break in cover.
A light crackling of twigs ca from beside them; Michael spun to see two - no, three n crouched nearby, seemingly as startled as he was by the encounter. Two were ard, their faces sared with dark grease. The third was their Fade, a wan, slender figure that Michael had trouble focusing on. His form seed to blur and shift into the chaos of the forest around them. The surprise lasted only an instant before Charles stepped in low, tal lashing out to loop around the barrel of the nearest mans gun. The barrel of the gun distorted into fluid and blurred across its wielders neck; there was a spray of red as he collapsed.
Michael tried to catch the second man with a burst of growth from nearby trees, but he was already jumping out of Charless range. He fired wildly; the shot took Sobriquet in the shoulder. A stab of pain rippled out. Michael saw her stagger back, blood staining her shirt. Ice flooded his gut, subsud in an instant by white-hot fire. Vincent burned bright and fast at the provocation, but Clair exceeded fla. Michael felt a sun burning in his chest as he turned towards the rifleman and t his eyes. The Ardan soldier worked the bolt on his rifle-
No.
Michael felt the fire sear and twist in his voice, watched shadow bend around him and rivulets of mirror-light stretch in their fractal beauty. There was a discontinuity; when his vision cleared the soldier dropped to his knees with smoke trailing from empty eyes. A blur ca from the side as the Ardan Fade raised a sidearm to point at Michael. A shot rang out, and the Fade dropped. Emil slouched against a tree, panting as he slowly lowered his gun.
A wave of dizziness swept over Michael as the mont passed. He looked down at the face of the man he had killed, his eyes scorched clean from his head and skin lacerated with the telltale organic traces of Stanzas power. He felt a wetness below his nose; his hand ca away bloody.
Ghars fucking- Sobriquet swore, clutching at her arm. Luc, get over here and patch up. Doesnt have to be perfect. Vernon, help Michael. Charles, point - and keep your eyes up, theres probably more of the bastards out there.
Vernon bent to slide under Michaels arm, helping him forward. Co on, the auditor said. Were close.
Michael tried to respond but found his thoughts sluggish, the pulsing rage of the fire dying down now that the danger had passed. Their group staggered toward the road, quiet but for a hiss of pain from Sobriquet as Luc laid his fingers on her arm. Brambles clawed at them as they walked, tearing into their clothing; Michael frowned. That hadnt happened before. It was another second before he realized he had cleared them away previously. With an effort of will he pushed them away - too far.
His uncoordinated push had left them standing in a clear space abutting the road, and bereft of the trees he could see a low concrete structure topped with coils of wire. n stood at the gate and peered from embrasures, guns swiveling to point at them.
Michaels heart thudded with alarm, but Vernon squeezed his arm as he tried to straighten up. ndiko, he said, slowly stepping away from Michael and raising his hands. Not Ardans.
Muddled tension changed to relief; this was it. He took a step forward, then frowned. There were words he was supposed to say, words that Jeorg had written on a long-lost slip of paper. He searched for them and found his thoughts slipping through his fingers, his consciousness waning in the wake of the days exertions.
The n at the gate had shifted their weapons to point at him as he staggered closer. They were like no soldiers he had seen before; rather than the drab blue or grey common to most armies they wore loose fatigues of mottled green and brown with rounded tal helts. Their weapons were dark and bulky, wooden only on the grips and butt.
One soldier stepped forward, keeping his weapon level. Stop, he said, his Gharic precise and unaccented. State your business.
I have- Michael frowned, staggering. He heard Sobriquets footsteps behind him, and heard them stop abruptly when the gun barrels pivoted to her. Clairs fire brightened again, and with it ca a flash of lucidity.
He took a breath and grimaced, drawing on it further and feeding it to Stanza, reaching back for the first ti in weeks to retrace the lingering damage from Sparks ddling in his mind. He quested down paths and alleys until he found early morning sunlight slanting through boat windows, and Jeorg writing quickly on a scrap of paper. He watched the old mans lips move, and felt his own do the sa.
Ah, he sighed. Izarrarentzat. Bizitzaren zuhaitza. The fla slipped through his grasp, diminishing back to a candle in his chest; he had enough ti to see a shocked expression on the soldiers face before he collapsed to the road.
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