Sword and Genevieve were ready, dressed in white linen and leather strappings that doubled as an extra layer of armor. They ensured that Timothy and I had our bags properly packed since they knew how much weight each bag had to be. We stood with our traveling clothes on, and I took a moment to reassess the past year. Timothy had an unusual appetite to learn of the Alhalma and started to sense the presence of my haunting whenever I used my Ikulme. Genevieve and Sword have been able to find inventive ways to beat me at my game while sparring. Though, they did not know that the partial reason for their victory was because of that damned dark entity.
“Are we ready for this?” My knuckles tense around my bag straps.
The three of them shifted the weight of their bags. My Ikulme rippled, and the space before me became vibrant. The hall of heroes lit up while the air distorted and split open, showing Sandra’s mansion. Timothy bolted through, and I went after him. I stole a glance, catching Sword and Genevieve smiling at each other before braving the portal together. Timothy left the mansion door open, sprinting to find his mother. There was a squeal in the house. Sword squeezed my shoulder at the moment we followed the boy in. His excitement convinced me that returning him was the right thing to do. I took a moment to stare in the direction of the park. Breaking my daze, I strode through the door and into the living room. At the sight of the woman with the dark caramel skin and copper red hair, my blood froze.
“Seth.” She brought her chin down, her gaze on the floor. With a casual air, she rested her left arm on a sword on her hip—her relic.
“Cindy.” I threw a glance at the map.
It was updated. Lenost was on a small island with little chance of invasion. Only the harbor would be a realistic choice for an attack. The high mountains where the Library was, acted like a cliff wall no one could scale. I chewed on the inside of my cheek as I peered at the small wooden blocks on the painted ocean. There were five and six more at the harbor on Mainland’s desert city, Volupto. When I was a kid, Piper told me that all beautiful things came from there, and that, if he could, he would have them in his bedroom each night.
“So, they are planning on invading Lenost?” I stared at Sandra, who held Timothy in her arms. Both were teary eyed and happy to be reunited.
“We’ve been spying on them for some time. Our double agent’s been leaking information. The demons believe that all the cloaks are based in Lenost and want to end us in one strike.”
I thought about it for a while before clearing my throat and daring Cindy with my gaze. “If they hit Lenost, they will end us. This is the first city to have liberated itself from their grasp. By three idiotic cloaks a few years go, but nonetheless—”
“Irtizi?” she said in the ancient language and crossed her arms. “If I remember correctly, it was two cloaks with adult minds and a kid who thought he knew better.”
Her smile widened into glee. My face became warm. My Ikulme wanted to lash out. I squared my shoulders and drew closer to her.
“Is that what you remember?” I lowered my voice as I watched her.
She crossed her arms while she strode toward me, deep green eyes narrowed when I challenged her with my gaze. “You were nothing but a bratty boy who couldn’t get grown-ups to play along with an idea that would never have worked.”
I wiped some of her spittle that dotted my face. She wanted me to lose my temper. I cleared my throat. The onlookers shuffled out of the room.
“That’s what I thought,” she murmured and muttered curses in the ancient tongue.
“Wow.” I kept my voice in a monotoned pitch. When she faced me, I grinned. “I didn’t think you’d be like the close-minded adults I had to face when I was a child.”
The zing of a blade drawn echoed through the room seconds before the cold steel pressed against my neck. She wore a snarl, and her eyes were wild with anger. With a sly smile, I acknowledged I’d won this round.
Sandra cleared her throat. She lowered Timothy from her hip. He inched closer to the wall, watching the conflict unfold, his knuckles white before his mother motioned for him to leave the room. “This squabble needs to end.”
“This boy shouldn’t be planning with us. He has no right to be part of it when he laid down his cloak.” She pulled the blade back and, in a masterful twirl of her hands, sheathed it. I touched my throat, my fingers sticky with my blood.
I rubbed my thumb over the wound. The wound itched as my Ikulme healed it.
“I’ve recruited and trained more than a hundred cloaks over the past three years. When they were ready, I’ve sent them out into the Yabasrana,” she turned to me with a sarcastic smile, “to find other Libraries and occupy them. When the time comes, we will squash the demon horde.”
“Not unless you close the gate in the Deadlands.” Sandra pressed her finger to a location on the map. “You suggest we bait them with Lenost?”
Cindy grinned. “Not a poor plan if I say so myself.”
“It’s the worst.” I snapped and stepped forward.
The space on the map where Sandra tapped was a dark blotch with pictures of burned trees.
“Ugh, not this again.” Cindy pulled herself up and crossed her arms.
I ignored her and focused on the map. “If we are to assume that your double agent isn’t being a agent for both sides, Lenost will fall within two years, at most. I take it you’ll return to the Mainland. There you won’t need to see the suffering that Lenost will go through. You’ll stop receiving messages, and like an owner who starves their animals, you’ll just let Lenost die.”
Cindy held out a finger to me. “No, because we’re planning to attack Volupto within the week.”
Eleven demon-filled ships would make their way here. She wanted Lenost, a city that has just barely gotten out of their suffering, to fight and hold back the horrors that would hit the harbor. While she and her gang attacked the remaining six, probably taking those boats and sailing onward to destroy the demons ships at the harbor in Lenost. It would work, except for one missing piece of the puzzle.
“I don’t know how capable your men and women are, but to fight off so many demons only to have them return from the Deadlands within months puts you back here.” I glanced at those in the room.
Their eyes widened when they realized they were trapped in a cycle.
“Why not just travel to the gate and end it all?” Cindy spoke with a higher pitch.
I shook my head at her suggestion. In order to travel to the Deadland, I needed to have been there. I couldn’t open up a portal to a place that didn’t exist in my frame of reference.
“Cindy’s right. The coming fight with the ships approaching Lenost has nothing to do with me. Best if I travel undetected to the Deadlands and end it there. Having Lenost as bait is perilous, though.” I scanned the map again, searching for another solution.
“We’ve been busy, Seth. You haven’t been to harbor in five years.” Silence fell while Sandra chose her words. “I understand why you’ve been avoided going, but in that time, we’ve reconstructed the walls of Lenost. We won’t allow them to enter.”
I shifted my weight, and my chest tightened. “I’ve been in a Library, what do I know?”
“Smartest thing you’ve ever said.” Cindy leaned onto the table.
I mirrored her movement and locked my gaze with hers. “Which is why I have to take your boat to the Mainland while you stay here to fight off any demons.”
“What?” she protested.
I held up a finger to ask her to wait. “Your gift of protection is legendary among the ranks. It helped with the previous battle when you were keeping the demons away from the people. You are the best option to fight on this wall.” I turned to Sandra, “Cindy will be of far greater use in defense than attack.”
Sandra fixed her gaze on the open space between Cindy and me. “I’ll allow that on one condition, Seth.” She bit her lower lip. “Take Timothy with you.”
“Now, wait, I had him for a year, and he can defend himself from any of the Alhalma attacks.”
“And leave him here, at the very center of a battle?”
Sandra’s eyes pleaded.
“Who is your double agent?” I turned to Cindy.
She gritted out, “Brandon, Lucy’s brother.”
My stomach dropped. I steadied myself and took a slow breath. His scruffy face with freckles and black hair came to mind. He’d always seemed serious. I studied my left palm where a scar ran across it.
“Right.” I scrambled for a topic that would be my saving grace. “Cindy, have you passed your smithing skill on to anyone?”
She frowned. “Yes, why?”
“I have two cloaks who will need relics of their own.”
The Voluptian shook her head as she stared out of the window for a while. “Whether or not we like it, the demons will be attacking Lenost. It was never our choice.”
I couldn’t quite put my finger on it, but something in how she spoke forced bile up my throat. This meant going to the Mainland, undetected by incoming demon-filled boats. It meant facing Brandon after I’d let his sister die in his absence, braving areas I haven’t been to yet, while hoping Ulhezaoi blessed me with a vision of the Deadlands to smooth my journey. It meant death, fighting, and nothing but trouble and pain. I had to do it, though. I was the last Traveler, probably the last person who would have the strength to enter the Deadlands without dying while closing that damned gate.
“It was never my choice to be a traveler, either. Yet here we are. Get over your dramatics, Cindy. This is war. Isn’t that what you screamed at me while I held her in my arms? This is war. Snap out of it.”
She marched to me. “What happened that day is on you. Adam and my Lionel would still be alive if you just did what you had to.”
“But not Lucy, right?” I peered into Cindy’s dark eyes, wanting to fight her.
“All conflicts have sacrifices,” she whispered.
I shook my head and stormed the door. “I’ve noticed that. This time you will have to sacrifice any idea you had of including me in your plan.”
“Seth, come back here,” she shouted after me. I entered the hall where five people waited.
They awkwardly stood by for our meeting to end. Sword and Genevieve leaned against the wall on one side with Timothy near them. Two other cloaks were posted on the other side as they gawked at each other and spoke in hushed voices. One of them had blackened fingernails.
I placed my hand on his shoulder. “She must be training you hard.”
He frowned, and I pointed to his hands. The soldier shrugged and pushed them into his cloak to hide them.
“Come.” I strode to the door.
Sword and Genevieve followed me. Timothy stayed behind. I gave him a sad smile. He would have to hear from his mother what was going to happen next. We left and headed for the streets.
“Where are we going?” Sword asked. The two of them fell in step next to me.
“To my old place, if it hasn’t been rented out yet.” I flicked a glance at a man standing in the shadows of an alleyway. His eyes were hidden under a hat. Old survival habits kicked in. We were being watched. “We’re leaving tonight. We’ll just have to think of a way to keep the kid unnoticed.”
“Timmy is going with us?” Sword scanned the rooftops of the buildings.
“Yes,” I followed his gaze, “this place is going to become a war zone again.”
The people laughed and smiled while they haggled and traded in the large market square—its colored bricks were lain in a sort of tree pattern. The buildings, that fenced the square, stood tall and empty. The area was hollow during the night, echoing fleeing footsteps. Today, laughter and singing filled the air.
“That’s the song they wrote for you after your last battle. Do you want to listen to it?” Genevieve asked.
A far-off choir became more apparent. I shook my head and snaked through the crowd to a looming black-bricked building. I focused on the leather clothing that I had on and allowed my Ikulme to grab cloth from the stalls I passed. With no one seeing, the cloths slithered to me and knitted into a black cloak. The hood was the last to pull itself over my head. When we reached the building, Sword tapped me on the shoulder.
“That was an amazing display of your power, but you did just steal.”
I cussed under my breath and glanced at the market. “Force of habit.”
We came up the stairs and stopped in front of a heavy wooden door. I pushed it open and entered a modest apartment with two rooms. The kitchen had cracking paint on the walls. A wooden table and chairs had toppled over from insect damage. In the other room was a stack of mattresses.
“I never could afford a proper bed. There is the bucket if you need to go to the bathroom.”
Sword peered inside the bucket. “It hasn’t been cleaned in years.”
“No, really?” I remarked sarcastically. I rubbed my thumb over the two names that were scratched into the wood of the window shelf. I pulled away when I noticed the little droppings scattered over the floor.
“The rats live here now. I left in a hurry. I couldn’t clean the way I wanted to. There’s probably rotten or dried food in the pot.”
“Yep,” Genevieve called.
I rubbed my left palm, staring at the knife on the small box in the bedroom corner. I swallowed, recalling Brandon’s voice when he repeated the promise we made to each other. No matter what happens, we would protect Lucy with our lives and to fail meant to face death at the other’s blade.
“Seth?” Genevieve waved at me. “Still with us?”
I joined them. “Tonight, we leave for the Mainland. More cloaks await us at their Library. The two of you will receive your relics, then we’ll have our first skirmish in Volupto. They want to cut the monsters off while they’re attacking Lenost. We’ll travel to the Deadlands.”
“It is a full two-year journey, you are aware of that?” Sword leaned against the table that tilted under his weight.
The broken mirror piece on the table reflected my face. “The hope is that I get a vision of the forest. I can use my Ikulme to open a portal and transport us there.”
“I don’t think taking the kid is a good idea. He’ll be in the way,” Genevieve spoke while in thought, her gaze darting.
“True, but Sandra isn’t giving me a choice on the matter.”
“Still, you must be glad.” Sword nudged my shoulder.
In the reflection, my face contorted with concern.
“Well, the last two months, he’s been falling asleep on your lap at night when you read. The two of you bonded.” Sword picked up a cup and blew into it with a hollow sound.
“That’s exactly why he should stay,” I said.
Genevieve touched my arm. “He isn’t Lucy, Seth. The two of you’ll be fine. I just don’t know whether we should shove him into battle.”
I didn’t know either. I wouldn’t be able to protect him, and I’d learned my lesson on allowing others to protect the ones I loved. My misplaced trust was what killed Lucy.
“I’ll just have shelter him, hide him, jump in the way of a blade for him, along the way.” I walked to the kitchen area.
“You mean taking him onto the battlefield?” Sword’s eyebrows raised. “Bad idea.”
“Well, not exactly into the heat of the battle. Maybe hide him in an abandoned hut or something beforehand.” I didn’t glance at Sword, knowing full well my solution was impractical in most situations.
“You know war doesn’t work like that,” Sword protested.
I held up a hand. “It’s the skirmish in Volupto then straight to the Deadlands. No detours.” I gave both of them a stern look.
They crossed their arms and didn’t meet my gaze.