Eight 4

Mumu swung her pack toward Haol, then offered her back to Weni. “Quickly now.”

I handed my pack to Teila and crouched so that I could carry Anya. Ikfael made room for her by merging with the figurine hanging around my neck. We’d need stealth and speed for what came next.

Snow launched herself far down the slope, and as soon as she gave the all-clear, Yuki cast the necessary Dog’s Agility and Night Eyes for me. Then, we were running-running-running for the trees below and the cover they provided. An Iron Heart soon followed to protect my knees and ankles. I focused on my footing to keep from slipping.

Once we were under the trees, still we flew to put distance between us and the fireworks around Fort Olana, determined to outrun any undead that might gather around us. So far, they’d been easy prey, but once inside the city, who knew what we’d find.

Anya held tight, her beak to the side to keep it out of the way. At one point, as I dodged around a half-split pine tree, she whispered, “Sorry.”

But I didn’t have the attention to spare her; all my focus was on the ground ahead and on our surroundings. The undead only appeared to my spirit eyes when the ghosts clung to their old bodies. If not, then they didn’t register. Still, sometimes was better than none, so I kept my eyes wide open, trusting my teammates to find the path ahead.

After a couple of minutes of full-on, Dog’s-Agility sprinting, Mumu slowed us to an unempowered pace. We were almost at the mountain’s base by that point, the fireworks visible only sporadically through the forest’s canopy.

A brief pause let Mumu and I disembark our passengers, for Ikfael to emerge from her figurine, and for Haol and Tegen unhood the lanterns. Anya offered her Light spell, but Mumu declined. Moving forward, we’d cast our spells sparingly, not knowing when we’d need them most.

Then we were off again, jogging at a good clip with Snow and Mumu leading the way. There were many more undead in the area than we’d anticipated. The records we’d examined back in Albei had seriously underestimated their numbers. Yet Snow and Mumu threaded the gauntlet until the walls of Old Baxteiyel came into view.

The ruined city was nestled against the base of the mountains, and the walls wrapped around it in a half circle. Only a handful of structures were supposed to have remained intact inside: the five temples that made up the Arc of Knowledge; a place called the Hall of the Inquisitors; a building called the Treasury theorized to be a mausoleum of some kind; and the pyramid which sat under the mountains.

We came out of the woods at a relatively intact section of the wall, although the battlements—about eighty-feet up—appeared to have been slagged at one point. The stone looked melted like candy left in the sun.

Orienting, we ran toward the nearest gap. An undead giant beetle emerged from the ground in an attempt to ambush Snow, but the blynx teleported before the creature’s claws could close. Then Mumu dashed in to spear it and open a gap in the dilapidated carapace for Haol to shoot through. From start to finish, except for Snow’s Blink, there’d been no magic involved, just skill.

We quickly closed on the undead beetle, but Haol’s arrow had been enough to kill the creature—darklight spilled from the carapace’s gaps. We also saw the glimmer of silverlight inside, but it vanished. One moment it was there, the next it was gone.

That gave us pause, but we had to leave the carcass unexamined. When Snow Blinked up to the top of the wall to overwatch the area, Yuki said, ‘Undead are closing on your position.’

‘They can sense us at this far a distance?’ Mumu asked, starting to run again. ‘Through the stone?’

‘From inside and outside the city, yes,’ Yuki replied.

“Did I? See that right?” Anya said, panting. “The silverlight—”

“You did,” I said, “but we won’t be able to investigate until we can get somewhere safe.”

Mumu called back to me. “Eight, the storm?”

By that point, the rain was a steady drizzle. Checking, I saw that the forecast hadn’t changed since the last time I’d looked. Yet since the sky refused me, there was no way to get a more accurate read on when the weather might turn for the worse. “I don’t know! But sooner we get to shelter the better!”

Mumu waited for us at where the city wall had been split. From here on out, we’d move in tighter formation to keep the undead from separating us. Together, we climbed over the rocky debris and through the must-be-more-than-thirty-feet thickness of stone.

On the other side, we caught sight of undead approaching from both the south and west. None of them were too dangerous from what I saw of their talents, but any delays could cause trouble, so we ran through the remains of an alley directly across from the gap in the wall.

Well, calling it an alley was generous—a path lined with rubble would be more accurate.

The ghost of a wooly mammoth seemed to be resting inside one of the adjacent ruined structures. He eyed us as we went past, his expression… bored. I didn’t give it much thought. There was plenty of rocks to trip up an inattentive runner.

Through the alley’s exit, we came out onto a broad thoroughfare, the old stone pavers peeking through the dirt. To the southwest, we spotted the glow of lanterns from around a corner and heard the sound of combat. To the west, the body of the mammoth’s ghost charged in our direction. Oh holy hells.

Savage Mammoth Alpha (Undead, Dark)

Talents: Trampler Extraordinaire, Silent Runner, Tusks of Doom, Stronger Than Strong, Mindless Rage, Seriously Enraged

And, like a general, the mammoth led an army of zombies and skeletons—a mixture of about twenty humans and beasts. My training kicked in, and I whistled the extreme-danger warning, then got to clicking on each of the undead to identify the most lethal ones.

Four in, and I’d already found two who were dusk, a Strongarm human zombie and Poisonous Embrace copper-hide giant skunk. Narrating internally, Yuki passed the information to the rest of the team. At which point, I fully expected Mumu to release the restriction on using magic. Asiik seemed to be occupied by Fort Olana, so it should be safe enough. Instead, she led us toward the other expedition.

“My Wild Sense tells me there is a silvered among them.”

We ran flat out until just shy of the corner that would lead to the other expedition, then she turned into an alley that paralleled the street they were on. These buildings seemed to have held up better, and through the gaps, I caught sight of someone tossing hazy-purple bolts like they were darts. Through another gap, I spotted Tethdlen.

Not only was the philosopher silvered, but the expedition from Ganas Hakei had many more members over Level 5 than we did. The undead should peel off from our trail to go after them. But they didn’t. No, against all expectations, the savage mammoth slammed into what was left of the alley wall to continue chasing us.

Our stealth skills were meant to be used against Asiik. They were useless against the undead who were able to sense the life in us. That was what the other expeditions were for, but that strategy seemed to be useless.

The whole point of a smaller expedition was to be able to move under the radar. How was that supposed to work when the undead didn’t follow the rules?

Our steps splashed as we ran through the alley, making our way farther and farther south. Thank the gods for Snow and Yuki. They teleported ahead to guide us, letting us move through the ruins of buildings to put obstacles in the undeads’ way.

From the corner of my eye, I saw Ikfael sign, “We need more distance to lose our pursuers.”

Yuki shared her message, and Mumu must’ve agreed because she tossed her pack to Haol. I knew what that meant, so I did the same with Teila.

I barely had time to notice Anya’s labored breathing as she climbed onto my back before the Dog’s Agility kicked in. Suddenly, we were flying again, and if not for the Night Eyes spell, I would’ve crashed into a dozen walls as we wove through the maze that was Old Baxteiyel.

‘Two casts,’ Mumu sent.

So, that’s what we did—two full minutes of empowered sprinting, almost a full mile traveled in that short a time. We were all panting by the end, but that should’ve done it. And at first Snow reported that we’d succeeded. Then, she found a spot to perch higher up and saw the savage mammoth still headed our way. More undead in different parts of the city were also starting to turn toward us.

“Is it Amleila controlling them?” I asked, rubbing at the stitch in my side.

“What else could it be?” Weni replied.

“Even if it was, she should prioritize the more powerful expeditions,” Mumu said. “I certainly wouldn’t ignore a silvered if I were in her position.”

‘Something’s wrong with the pattern of their behavior,’ Yuki said. ‘The same thing happened earlier in the evening—when the undead attacked Tegen instead of going after Eight.’

After I repeated the uekisheile’s words, Tegen said, “I was the bait; that was my role.”

“But that only works after you’ve attacked them,” Teila said. “Back then, the skeleton charged right at you.”

We all nodded at that, recognizing the truth she’d observed.

“We need to keep moving,” Mumu said.

“One of the Arc’s temples is close by,” Anya said.

But Mumu shook her head. “We won’t be able to enter until we lose our pursuers. Otherwise, we’ll be trapped inside.” She got us going again, this time at a jog.

Meanwhile, back on my shoulder, I noticed that Ikfael had her thinking face on.

“What is it?” I asked. “Do you know something?”

“The feathers distributed by the hierophant…”

I turned to read her signs more clearly. “What about them? They’re supposed to help the racers enter the pyramid.”

“No, they’re not. Think about it—the feathers are part of his divinations, a way to move fate and fortune toward giving him the treasures within the pyramid.”

The words clicked in my head, the realization spreading through me. “We don’t know how or why the feathers are meant to be useful, only that they’re useful to Xefwen’s purpose. We assumed they’d benefit the racers, but that’s not a stone we can stand on, is it? In fact, they might even be detrimental…”

Ikfael’s expression turned grim. “The feathers have life and air affinity. That must draw both the undead and Asiik to them.”

I stopped walking. “Dear gods, these things are danger to us.”

The others had stopped along with me. As soon as I’d asked Ikfael about her idea, they’d been following the discussion, and now they looked as stunned as I felt.

Ikfael continued, “To anyone who carries the feathers, they are deadly, yes.”

“Our Ikfael is being awfully calm about this,” I observed.

She nodded. “The feathers only matter if one is interested in winning the race.”

The realization spread among us like a light in the darkness.

“Which we are not,” Anya said.

“Which we are not,” Mumu confirmed.

“Which we are not,” Ikfael reiterated.

“Three times is intention,” I whispered to myself, then to the others said, “Are we sure? The feathers might be hurting us now, but they could prove useful later.”

“No benefit is worth Asiik’s attention.” Mumu unslung her pack to remove the feather stored inside—the warm, gentle glow emerging to caress her face. Then she used her spear to jam the feather deep into a crack in the rocks. “Do it now,” she commanded, “while we’re still unbothered by the undead.”

“You want them all here?” Haol asked.

Mumu nodded. “Yes, but in difficult to reach places, so that the undead are forced to linger. Thirty beats for the task, and then we make for the nearest temple in the Arc of Knowledge.”

Ikfael grabbed my feather and dove with it under the nearest intact wall. The undead would need to knock down the stone and dig to find it. Meanwhile, the others found similarly challenging spots.

From there, we took off again, cutting through the remains of what might have been a public kitchen at one point. A couple of large stone ovens were partially intact against a wall. Engraved above them were the words, “To eat is to live.” Both the ovens and the engraving must’ve been enchanted to have lasted this long.

The kitchen’s exit led to another of the wide thoroughfares. We were about halfway between the two northernmost nodes along the Arc of Knowledge. On our map, they were labelled as the Temple of the Sun and the Temple of Wanting.

Turning left, it looked like Mumu would lead us to the Temple of the Sun, back toward where we’d come through the wall, which made sense since we’d be close to a known exit.

A reasonable plan you’d think, except, with impeccable timing, both Ikfael and I turned our heads to the south. The itch between my brows was back, and I found it hard to tear my attention away from where the Temple of Wanting stood. From the expression on Ikfael’s face, she experienced something similar.

“I don’t like this,” I muttered.

“Our zasha doesn’t intend us harm,” Ikfael signed.

“Are you sure you can say that?” I asked. “If the hierophant’s divinations work on his behalf, your zasha’s work on hers.”

“She saved our lives in Bashruuta,” Ikfael replied.

To which I answered, “I had an exchange for that. Does yours guarantee your safety? What about the rest of us?”

“There are no guarantees,” Ikfael replied. “Not in this life.”

Once again, the team had followed our discussion, and Mumu led the way two streets toward the mountain to put more distance between us and the place where we’d hidden the feathers. We posted under a plinth. Whatever statue that had once stood atop was long gone, though.

“We have a moment,” Mumu said. “What is it? Quickly.”

I looked to Ikfael; she’d ideally be the one to explain.

Her face was troubled, but she signed, “The spirit of the land whose territory encompasses all of Albeityel…”

“The Serpent of Stone and Stars?” Mumu asked, seeking clarification.

“That is one of her names, yes,” Ikfael replied. “She’s asked something of me and provided guidance for I can accomplish it.”

“And our Eight?” Tegen asked.

“I also have a deal with the spirit, except mine is to help Ikfael.”

Mumu must’ve sensed my hesitation. “There is a question of trust?”

“No,” Ikfael immediately replied.

My response was slower. “Maybe. There’s a something deeper going on than we know, and it makes me nervous. This spirit’s exchanges, they’re fair but the path they take is… well, it can be brutal.”

“My choice was my choice,” Ikfael said. “I told you I don’t regret it.”

“But she held back critical information,” I pointed out.

“For a reason,” Ikfael replied. “There must be a good one.”

“Your zasha has a prior relationship with the defenders of Old Baxteiyel,” I said. “It had better be a damned good reason.”

For the first time, Ikfael hesitated. “I admit it is troubling, but the exchange holds. I must see it through.”

Out of nowhere, the drizzle thickened so that big fat drops began to fall, splattering against my face and arms. The wind also kicked up, howling eerily through the streets.

“Is it beginning?” Tegen asked, looking up.

So did the rest of us. It must’ve been human nature.

“What we’ve heard doesn’t affect our purpose,” Weni said, “but we should find shelter soon.”

“Ideally inside one of the temples in the Arc of Knowledge,” Anya added, “so that our time can be spent studying its secrets.”

Mumu turned to me, which was about as big an honor as I’d receive from her. Ikfael was the zasha of Voorhei, but she asked me to make the call on where we should go.

I, in turn, looked at Ikfael. The otter squirmed on my shoulder. “Please. Let us go to the Temple of Wanting.”

Haol climbed up onto the plinth. “Three other expeditions lay in that direction.”

‘One moment,’ Yuki said, followed by a hum in the connection as they conferred with Snow. ‘We’re repositioning.’

A beat later, Snow’s location radically shifted, moving quickly in a series of blips, and then upward in elevation. For a moment, I thought she was heading into the mountains, but no, she’d stopped at the level of… the top of the pyramid?

The uekisheile merged their consciousness with mine, and then shifted our attention back to Snow. The blynx crouched as small as she could make herself, hiding among a collection of saplings that were part of Asiik’s nest. She’d found a spot protected from the rain. Below us, we saw the pyramid and the whole of the ruined city. Our first impression of it looking like a bombed city were spot on, with only a few buildings still standing.

Most importantly, the undead ignored our expedition, no doubt drawn by the power and the life affinity in the feathers the other expeditions carried. As for the winged kalesk who made the top of the pyramid his home, his assault on Fort Olana continued. We caught glimpses of him in the air above the keep.

The nest itself was thirty-five yards across and made from the trunks of smallish trees. There wasn’t a speck of guano, nor bones or rotting carcasses. Asiik was apparently more fastidious than that.

Is this safe? we asked.

Snow answered, ‘Will flee if the predator returns. Will warn if undead threaten. Will come to Eight when winds blow.’

With a mental nod, we left her to it, and our consciousness split, dropping me back into my body. “Snow found a good position to overwatch. The way to the Temple of Wanting looks clear. I… I don’t foresee any issues going there.”

Mumu nodded. “Then we’ll do as you say.”

“The blynx can teleport that far?” Anya asked. “Or is it—” She suddenly stopped talking, flustered. “No, no, don’t answer. I’m not supposed to ask.”

I grimaced, realizing I’d partially revealed my ability to communicate with Snow at a distance. In my defense, I’d had other things on my mind, and the expedition had been on the move for over twenty hours by that point. I was approaching a Long-Dark level of exhaustion.

Surreptitiously, Mumu held her hand by her side and signed. “Can’t be helped. They’re not stupid. Limit damage.”

I nodded. “The mechanism for how is a secret, but if Snow’s senses danger, I’ll know.”

“We understand,” Weni said. “Thank you for trusting us with this information and the other, as well.”

Anya nodded. “Yes, yes!”

“More quietly,” Mumu chided.

Anya whispered, “Yes, yes.”

Up on the plinth, Haol sputtered, then the incipient laughter turned into a cough. We were all exhausted, but smiles spread around our circle. It was a release from the tension of only a moment ago. A decision had been made; we’d make sure it was a good one.

“What?” Anya asked, but Teila merely responded with a side hug.

Mumu whistled for Haol to join us, and we fell in line to follow her southwest, taking the most direct route to the Temple of Wanting. We passed through a couple of demolished buildings; only a shared wall between them remained standing. Past that, was an open pit full of water. It might’ve been a pond or a pool at one time.

Deeper into the city we traveled, from ruin to ruin, and the farther south we traveled, the more we encountered standing walls. Peeking inside the structures, I glimpsed echoes of the past—ghosts lost in the memory of working at their long-gone benches, of cooking at empty hearths, or of toiling at some other trade.

The dead of Old Baxteiyel were famous for having been conquerors, but I saw that they’d been artisans too.

The rain poured down harder than before, and it felt like the taps were getting ready to really open wide. Mumu sensed it too, because she picked up the pace; there were no more opportunities to peek through gaps in the walls.

‘Hold,’ Snow sent, and the expedition did, crouching against the rubble of whatever was close by.

‘That savage mammoth is moving,’ Yuki added.

I pinged them with a desire to see it for myself, and they pulled me to them, our consciousnesses merging. The visibility was terrible, but through Snow’s eyes we saw movement along one of the thoroughfares—the blurred outlines of the zombie general charging and his band of undead following behind. Drawing a line along their path, we saw that it led to the Hall of the Inquisitors.

Glimmers of lantern light and flashes of magic indicated that at least one expedition had posted there—the solid walls would help to keep the undead from surrounding them. It was difficult to make out, but they seemed to be holding their own.

Gazing out at Old Baxteiyel, looking for disturbances in the patterns, it seemed the savage mammoth wasn’t the only undead closing on the Hall of the Inquisitors. We caught sight of stray movements elsewhere, including… ‘A single undead approaching from the north,’ we warned Mumu.

Then we split consciousnesses, and I rushed back to my body. Blinking the rain from my eyes, I took stock—my spear was in my hands, I hugged a three-foot pile of stone that had likely been part of a closet once, and the others were passing along the warning about an incoming undead.

“One?” Mumu asked.

“That’s what Snow saw,” I replied.

“Then go,” she commanded.

I nodded and slipped over the rubble to pad along a ruined street, circling to flank the undead’s approach. I looked and looked, but it appeared this one had left his ghost behind long ago. He was invisible to my spirit eyes.

Okay to use Night Eyes? I thought.

‘Yuki, can Snow see Asiik?’ Mumu asked.

‘No,’ they replied. ‘The winged kalesk is too far away.’

‘Then, go ahead, Eight. Spend your mana as necessary.’

I cast the spell, and the night brightened. There she is... A lone skeleton ran heedless of the rocks and rubble. She tripped and scrambled in her rush to get to the Hall of the Inquisitors, her path taking her through the building in which my expedition waited.

It’d be easy enough to move out of the way, but this skeleton didn’t feel powerful—Level 3 or 4 at the highest—and her only intact talents were Home-Bound Defender and Unceasing Rage.

A piece of cake, I thought, which Yuki relayed to the team.

‘We’ll disable and capture this one,’ Mumu sent. ‘Don’t interfere with its passage and warn if others are approaching.’

Understood, I replied and found another plinth to climb. The people of Old Baxteiyel must’ve been fond of their statues.

Scanning the area, I didn’t see any other threats approaching my expedition’s position. The Hall of Inquisitors would likely see some trouble, though, if that expedition didn’t start moving soon. That’s what the others seemed to be doing—engaging in a series of running battles to thin out the undead numbers. It was only possible because Asiik wasn’t present to harass them.

The winged kalesk possessed a talent for A Fierce and Powerful Cunning, though. He wasn’t stupid, and so I couldn’t help wondering if maybe he wasn’t concerned about the expeditions. Was it a kind of disdain? Or was it that the useless, repetitive barrage against Fort Olana… was it a ruse? A way to lead us all into a false sense of security?

Ikfael and I had learned a lot from Leilu about the kinds of things someone with power over the air could do. We’d prepared countermeasures, and hopefully they’d be enough. Fingers crossed.

Looking to the southeast, I saw our destination, the Temple of Wanting. The building stood three stories tall, and I noted a pride in its lines, in the way it withstood the rain, and in how the whole structure must’ve been enchanted for it to remain standing so long after the artisans who built it had died.

We were only about half a mile away.

‘All done,’ Mumu sent. ‘We’ve secured the skeleton. Eight, rejoin the team and we’ll move on.’

On the way, I replied and started re-tracing my steps toward where the others waited. The expedition’s lanterns were my goal.

I found my team crouched around a rib cage on the ground. The rest of the skeleton lay shattered and scattered around them. And, yeah, the ribs wriggled around, because the undead was technically still “alive,” but it couldn’t do anything.

I arrived in time to hear Anya ask, “Here or in the temple?”

“Here,” Mumu replied. “In case the other undead can sense it’s… distress.”

Anya pulled a dagger from its sheath and checked to make sure everyone was watching. She waited for me to join their circle before sliding the tip through the ribcage and breaking the core. The coal-like particles floated and dispersed as expected, leaving behind a pea-sized nugget of silverlight.

And then the silverlight melted and flowed into invisibility. Haol shot his hand out to intercept it, but he caught nothing. The silverlight appeared to have dematerialized. We all turned our heads in the direction it’d gone—the Temple of Wanting.