The Arcana: Shadow Wars, Codex I

Chapter II: A Knife Unsheathed

In which giants crash the gate

Much happened beyond that, Edana said, winding down her tale. Bessa didn’t have the heart to ask her to elaborate right then. For several moments she sat motionless on her pillows, in shock at what befell the Nuriels.

Rousing herself, Bessa threw her arms around Edana and held her tight. “I’m so sorry.”

Edana buried her face in Bessa’s shoulder, keeping silent.

After dinner everyone stole into the courtyard to enjoy the late spring breeze. Bessa and Edana opted for the vineyard instead.

Glowlights hung from the columns lining the main avenue, their best light on this moonless night. The avenue wound down from the compound to the sloping, terraced hillside where the grape vines grew. However, the women did not intend to stay on the path; they both carried a palm-sized glowlight.

The avenue divided the eastern and western blocks of vines. It would take a team of five hundred oxen to plow the breadth of the estate in one day, or two hundred oxen from the compound to the river.

A long enough walk for them to talk alone. No one would overhear them, save the nightingales trilling throughout the vineyard. Six blocks of vines, from north to south, separated Bessa’s home from the river.

Edana closed her eyes, inhaling deeply. She inhaled several times before sighing at last. “I want to remember this scent,” she said, and opened her eyes again. “The breeze coming off the river…I want to be here when the hyssop is in bloom. I must fill my nose with the scent of the soil and the grapes and sweet rushes. I’ve missed it.”

A kernel of dread formed in Bessa’s stomach. “Why must you commit it to memory? Aren’t you here to stay?”

Shadows fell over Edana’s face, partially concealing her expression. “I had supposed you to be married. That your grandmother arranged a match for you, and you were joined already.”

Bessa blinked, surprised by this response. “Is that how things work in other parts of the empire? Grandmother wanted me to complete my education. A little while after you left she made arrangements. I am betrothed, to a man named Lysander Xenakis. He’s from Pelasgos, like my grandfather.” Her lips curved. “I think my selling point is my dowry, this vineyard. His family can now say they have property the whole breadth of the empire.”

“When will you marry?”

“In two years. He joined the legions before the betrothal, and he’s still there. I still haven’t met him. At least he’s not old. What I know is he’s twenty-five, and they say he’s distinguished himself in battle. And Uncle Hedrek says he must be a little unusual, because he’s gryphon class and their men don’t usually serve in the army until they’re in their thirties. He must be brave because—”

Just in time, Bessa stopped herself from pointing out that gryphon-class men must catch and tame gryphons in their youth, to serve as their adulthood rites. All in the service of providing gryphons for the emperor’s army.

But Edana’s thoughts seemed elsewhere. “So he thinks independently and he didn’t use his connections to only do make-work? Men of his class normally don’t achieve rank, they’re simply granted it. Perhaps he can actually fight,” Edana murmured. “Do you have a pledge from him? A guarantee he or his people will defend your lands, if needed?”

There was an edge to her voice that bewildered Bessa. “Is everything well with you?” she asked, venturing a step toward her.

Edana in turn stepped back, further into the shadows, and started for the river. “I wish it were day,” she said. “A golden veil lies over my memories of this vineyard. This is where I last knew happiness.”

Cold dread washed over Bessa, as she considered how Edana must have lived after the massacre, of the grief she’d endured.

“Bessa…”

That tone. A tone Bessa had heard once before from Edana, when she came to tell Bessa she was leaving Falcon’s Hollow. But Edana’s expression attested to news a thousand times worse.

Bessa hurried over to Edana’s side, shifting her glowlight to look Edana in the eyes without blinding either of them.

“Please tell me. No matter what.”

But one false start, and Edana lapsed into silence. Gathering her thoughts? Finally she sighed and said, “If I tell you half of what I wish, I would bring a great evil on you. Tomorrow morning let’s discuss defenses and fortifications and other plans. And I beg of you, if you have a pledge from Lysander’s family, ask them to fulfill it. Starting now. Keep vigilant, especially at night. When you hear news of strange attacks, believe it. And flee.”

Though her words were astonishing, they mattered less than how Edana said them. As children the foster sisters lived peaceful lives, and their sorrows were few. But when sorrows did come Edana retreated inside herself, as though her spirit kept a secret refuge that let her endure what she otherwise couldn’t.

“Tell me. Tell me. What do you mean by—”

A scream pierced the night. Beyond Edana, at least a mile away, flames glimmered high in the sky.

Another scream, and Bessa hiked up her chiton, knotting it at her knees. All the better to run. Glancing over, she noticed Edana had just finished doing the same, their childhood habit coming back to them. They raced forward. The huge glowlights stationed on posts at intervals in the vineyard, plus the one she carried, supplemented Bessa’s memory of any hazards on the path. She shouted warnings to Edana, who kept close behind her.

The flames grew brighter as the women drew nearer, and Bessa stopped short when she came to the edge of the terrace and the perimeter of the vineyard. Beyond lay the compound reserved for the vinedressers, the workers who tended the grapes.

Her heart leapt into her mouth at what she saw: shadowy figures fleeing to and fro amongst the flames, and being cut down before they took even three steps.

Light glinted off metal in the fire light. Swords? From the darkness, screams rang out nonstop. Three figures broke away from the shadows, rushing towards Bessa. The smallest was holding on to something, revealed in a flash of light as a toy soldier. Oran. The boy carried his little centurion everywhere he went.

A roar of thunder clapped. The figures stumbled, overtaken by a gigantic ball of lightning and fire.

Bessa screamed, but was cut short by the strong hand that clamped over her mouth, and the other that held her still from behind.

Surprised, Bessa dropped her light, and its glow vanished in a puff. At first she tracked the crunch of its roll down the rocky path, but she was forced to forget the orb as panic welled inside her. She began to twist and claw at the hand silencing her when Edana’s whisper penetrated her brain.

“Bessa. Bessa, they’re gone. I need you to listen, or you will be lost, too.” So toneless was Edana’s voice that she could only be deep in her trance. Only the strength of her grasp betrayed her.

Bessa stilled. Her body jerked as Edana moved backward, taking Bessa with her into the block of vines and into complete darkness.

“Don’t scream, and I’ll let you go.”

Alright. Breathe. Relax. Now Edana released her. Though Bessa whirled to face her, the darkness defeated her; the starlight was too feeble.

Smoke choked her, and she vainly fought to suppress her cough. The pain of the effort overtook her, and Bessa sank to her knees.

“You need to run,” Edana said when Bessa went more than a heartbeat without wheezing.

“Edana,” Bessa gasped. All she saw when she looked up was Edana’s faint outline looming over her.

“Fetch your guards and all the men of the house and arm them. You need to evacuate, flee to the Watch. Go now, while your family can still be saved.”

So cold. So dispassionate. Perhaps Bessa was the one a dreamlike trance?

“Edana,” she tried again, struggling to her feet.

But Edana’s shadow was moving away from her, and the darkness swallowed her, leaving nothing for Bessa to latch onto. Where was the glowlight she dropped? No, nevermind; the orb wouldn’t reactivate without its power scepter. And its light would make it easier to track her movements…

“Edana!” Where was she?

“Run,” came the fierce voice from somewhere to her left. “I will see to your people. You see to your family!”

Shudders rippled through Bessa’s body. No. No. Raiders were attacking her vineyard. Why wasn’t Edana running from them? But the scrape of Edana’s slippers on the ground told her where Edana was running.

Toward the flames.

Time slowed down. Fear rooted Bessa in place, binding her.

I’ve made my peace, Edana had said. All night long she seemed more subdued than Bessa ever remembered of her. Why did she run now, toward the danger? To make an end to a life she hated? Did she expect Bessa to allow her to die? But Edana’s people did not believe suicide was honorable, Uncle Min’da taught them that much. Edana would not have deliberately chosen to throw her life away.

But she might risk her life recklessly trying to save someone else’s.

Feeling her way back to the lane, Bessa tried to plan. Somehow, some way, she would drag Edana back to the house. If they traveled along the river, they would gain time. Edana didn’t want to die badly enough to endanger Bessa, too, did she?

Another step, and the world as she knew it ended: limned against the firelight, on this side of the gate, stood a giant. A true giant, at least nine feet tall.

A giant.

A giant.

Giants…did not exist. This had to be a monster, a shadow-conjuring from a sorcerer. Yet she could make out the outline of armor. Was it a person? Or an animachina—a living machine—made by a wicked tekmage? A soldier? The contours of its armor revealed it was not an imperial soldier.

Her heart thudded, and her insides went cold. Could she get away? Did it see her? She took a step back.

The giant took a step forward. Bessa’s nerves twitched. If she ran, would it chase her? If she stayed still, would she become invisible in the darkness? Could she hope that the firelight blinded it as it passed the gate?

Was she too late to escape?

The giant held something in its hand. A grappling hook? Or a flanged mace. Easily sufficient to fight someone in armor, overkill for someone clad only in silk.

He raised the weapon. The hooks spread further apart, making room for a fist-sized ball of lightning.

Every muscle in her body locked. Her eyes darted to the block of grapevines to her left. Run. Run. Now.

Bessa dove for the block of vines, right as the air crackled and became thick and pungent as if a storm were imminent. She twisted, her sleeve was caught on one of the trellises. Ruthlessly, she tore at the fabric, ripping herself free. A strangled cry escaped her as she struggled.

Don’t dare look back. Don’t you dare. The giant was sure to be right behind her.

Rushing forward, she willed herself to reach the next lane before the giant caught her. Greedily she gulped for air, at the same time suppressing a visceral urge to scream.

A few steps more … a few steps more to the end of the block…suddenly she came to the lane she sought. The slope of the hill forced Bessa to slow down; she cursed every step as she padded up into the next terrace, and its lane. But now she had options to hide or to escape…assuming the giant did not have night-sight. The monster was not using a glowlight, or any other kind of light on this moonless night.

A nocturnal predator. An arsha’tûm conjured from the realm of Erebossa most likely, but by whom? The Philomelos family had no feuds with any sorcerers. But in their youths her grandparents defended this land and the town from the Furi, bloodthirsty sea raiders of ordinary size. Perhaps the Furi now returned, and brought along some special friends, mercenaries from a country rich with giants? Maybe they wanted revenge for all the heads the Silurans had claimed in their victory.

Blood quickened in her veins. Just one look back…

No giant. The screams now grew dim enough that she would have heard the clank of his armor at the very least. What of Edana? Could she escape, too?

I will see to your people.

Surely…surely she had not sacrificed herself solely to buy Bessa time to escape? Perhaps in the six years since the massacre, Edana had become a priestess? The idea gave Bessa hope, and accounted for Edana’s confidence she could face the creatures.

All the same Bessa prayed, “Amyntas, Benevolent One, I beg of you: protect Edana. Please.” No more would she say, unwilling to confront the fear that she was too late in asking the Protector of Innocents to intervene.

At last she came to the intersection where she could turn and ascend to the next terrace. The path leading up the hillside to her home was bathed in the light of the hanging glowlights. Her body sagged as her relief died within her: for the rest of her flight she would be in plain view of the giant and any allies of his. It could cut her down before she reached her doors. Another glance back. Nothing, but with no light she would not see the giant before it was too late.

So. The long way it must be, then. Forcing herself to ease into a block of vines again, Bessa berated herself for having to double back and give up ground she had gained.

Tears rolled down her cheeks. The tears flowed faster when it dawned on her that she had led the giant to the easy path in the first place. It could cut her down before she warned everyone.

And Edana would have given her life for nothing.

Another desperate hope came to her.

Pippa.

Bessa crept through the lane, the pain in her heart finally penetrating her consciousness. Gritting her teeth against the pain, Bessa considered Pippa. Could the girl’s gifts help them? Might she save herself, at least? The young huntress possessed the skill to start small fires and command a flock of birds, summoning her own falcon when she pleased.

It would not be enough.

Bessa clutched her stomach, sick at the thought of Pippa having to do battle…and of what would happen to her and their family if she couldn’t rise to the occasion. Could Pippa survive?

Some of her dinner reversed itself, and Bessa forced it back. It hit her that Pippa was the same age as Edana had been when she’d been orphaned.

It finally occurred to Bessa to pray for herself, that she would live long enough to warn her family.

Bessa crept through the trellises, trying not to trip herself up in her fear and worry. At last she reached another terrace. Three more to go.

She paused again when she detected the sound she’d been dreading: the clank ping clank ping of the armored giant. The sound was faint at first, but it grew louder and louder, until she felt the pounding of footsteps against the ground. Holding her breath, she looked back. Firelight brightened the sky. How long before the fires reached her house?

Even at this distance, she had precisely enough glowlight to see two great shapes come into view.

Giants.

Her heart sank: whatever Edana had planned, she had failed, and she was lost now to Bessa.

Even more, it would only be a few heartbeats before the giants came to the main path. They would move openly, uncaring if they gave forewarning of their approach. No one in her household posed a threat to them.

Her insides turned to ice. Frozen in place, Bessa inhaled sharply, choking on grief. Closer, and closer the giants came; soon enough they would see her if one of them should glance to their right.

The clanging grew louder. Once again the air crackled and once again Bessa caught the scent of a thunderstorm: the lightning weapon had been fired.

A roar filled her ears, forcing her to cover them. The ground rumbled and she dropped to her knees. Trembling, she looked up, supposing she would at least face her killers. But then—crash! The giants lurched, seeming to tumble into each other. Another crackle, another roar, and boom!

The giants fell, with such force that Bessa flinched when they hit the ground.

Once more her feet acted like tree roots, for all that she could move. What happened? There was only silence now. A glimmer of hope flickered in her heart. Either the invaders were fighting amongst themselves, or…

A shape was moving up ahead, beyond where the giants had fallen. Its size and contours told her only that the newcomer was not another of the giants. It took a moment for that detail to sink in before Bessa’s heart leapt with relief.

Edana?

One step forward. Halt — if the giants were mercenaries hired by the Furi—if—then Bessa had better take heed the disparaging remarks her uncles had made about mercenaries and the Furi both. The former were likely to fight over the spoils once the killing was done. The latter were not famed for their honor.

The shape passed, and Bessa’s thoughts raced. If she waited long enough, she might claim one of the lightning weapons for her own, and finally deal with the invaders on equal terms.

Slowly she counted to twenty, then dashed into the lane. Again she halted. Heat radiated from the giants’ corpses. With a stray branch Bessa quickly poked through the tangle of the giants’ bodies until she made out a head. From there she found a shoulder, then a length of arm. She ventured to touch the prongs of the lightning weapon. Hot, but not unbearably so.

Bessa seized the shaft and gasped. How lightweight! So much so that she held it up high, to catch the distant glowlight. The light gave her all the proof she needed; she truly did hold the giant’s lightning weapon.

A novel device, unlike anything she’d ever known of. Supposedly, far beyond even Anshan, in Lyrcania, there lived tekmagi who could create fantastic items to perform feats that required pure sorcery in Rasena Valentis. Maybe the giants were Lyrcanians?

Not important. The other stranger had too much of a head start already. If the stranger was not Edana, Bessa needed to hurry.

At full speed Bessa sprinted for the main path. This time, this time she might be able to save someone.

She was just in time to see the giant-slayer rounding the corner at a fast clip, and onto the thoroughfare, a good thirty feet ahead of her.

The light revealed the giant-slayer’s silhouette. The killer was tall, slim and curvy. Bessa froze. Edana? Or a sorceress?

She reached down, snatching at the dirt, until she grasped a nice round stone, the kind one of her house guards might use if he needed bullets for his sling. Bessa took aim. If the woman were Edana, she’d forgive Bessa. If she were a sorceress…

Putting everything she had into her throw, Bessa struck for the giant-slayer’s hamstring. She was rewarded with a yelp from the woman, before she ducked back into a lane to crouch behind the vines.

After a moment, Bessa peered out from her hiding place, reminding herself the darkness would cover her. But the woman had turned back, and now her face was bathed in the light.

Bessa’s heart somersaulted.

“Edana!”

Edana paused, lowering the giant’s weapon, the twin to Bessa’s. They raced toward each other, and met in a fierce embrace.

“Why are you behind me?” Edana demanded, releasing her. “And how did you take one of their weapons?”

“How did you take one?—Nevermind, we need to get to my family!”

Edana clasped her free hand, and together they ran the rest of the way up the terraces to Bessa’s home.