The Reach Between Worlds (The Arclight Saga, Book 1) (25 page)

Kyra looked over the blade. “I’m all ears.”

“Good, because I’ve got something resembling a plan.”

They returned to Taro’s house to discuss their next move. The living room was a bit cramped with at least fourteen people squeezed inside of it.

Aris continued. “If the Arclight was active, we’d know. I suspect Vexis is stuck.”

“But I thought you were the Arclight,” Ven said, much to Aris’ annoyance.

“I was dumbing it down for your convenience.”

Taro spoke up. “It’s like Pipes’ birds, I think. Even after he died, his templary didn’t disappear. The constructs stayed alive.”

Aris nodded. “There are safeguards designed to keep people out of the Arclight chamber, but they won’t hold Vexis off forever. We need to get to there first. A small group could get into the Magisterium undetected.”

“But how will we get into the city?” Kyra said.

“We won’t be,” Aris said. “Your place, princess, is Tyrithia. It’s the largest city in the country outside of Endra Edûn.”

“My place is taking back the capital,” Kyra said.

“The Imperator is finished and the Sun King is dead. You’re the only person with the authority to command anyone. If by some miracle we kill Vexis, restoring order is going to take a significant force. You need to gather that force.”

“I agree with Aris,” Taro said. “If you were killed it would be a disaster.”

Kyra looked as though she was going to disagree, but her expression dissolved into a begrudging acceptance. “All right.”

“Me and Taro should go alone,” Aris said. “The fewer, the better.”

“You’re not going without me,” Suri said.

Aris shook his head. “This isn’t a vote.”

“And this isn’t a request,” Suri said. “My dad is still in the city, and I’m not going to leave him to die.”

Aris rubbed his temples. “I’m not slowing down for you. Fall behind, you’re left behind.”

“And how exactly do you plan to get into the city?” Ven said.

“We fly, of course,” Taro said.

“There are artillery cannons along the walls. Any one of them is strong enough to blow the
Eventide
out of the sky,” Kyra said.

“If we can’t fly,” Aris said, “then we’ll fall.”

Something Resembling a Plan

Taro wasn’t sure what he was expecting to happen between him and Kyra. Some sort reconciliation? Some small inkling that the rift between them wasn’t irreparable? It didn’t materialize. The only words she spoke to him were in passing, just as she left for the
Eventide
.

“The ship leaves at 0100,” she said as the door slammed shut.

Suri and Ven followed, and Aris soon after.

“I’ll be in the wagon,” Aris said.

The hand-carved clock on the wall said it was just past midnight.

“Do you have to go?” Enam said, latching onto Taro’s leg.

Taro patted his brother’s messy hair. “For a while.”

“But you’ve been gone for so long already.”

“And look how well you and Decker have been doing. The house is clean, Mom and Dad are getting their medicine. I’m impressed.”

“That old guy in the suit comes once a week and cleans,” Decker said.

“Old guy?” Taro muttered. “Mort?”

Decker nodded. “He brings medicine and food, too. Never asks for money.”

At least Mathan had kept his word on that point.

Taro went into his parent’s bedroom and when he shut the door, his father sat up on the bed. His frail arms grasped a metal cup, and he sipped at it to clear his throat.

He looked over Taro for a good minute before he spoke. “What’s that you’re wearin’?”

“A Magisterium uniform.”

“You a soldier now?”

“An artificer. Yes,” Taro said.

“I see. Doin’ honest work then?”

Taro let out an exasperated laugh. “For once I don’t have to lie. I’m doing honest work.”

“You’d save yourself a lot of hardship if you did that from the start.”

“You’ll be happy to know it’s all caught up with me. I might not be coming back.”

“You think I’m happy when seeing you suffer?”

“Yes,” Taro said stone-faced.

“You got it backwards. I worry about you more than I worry about anyone else.”

“So that’s why you trashed me every day?”

“I was hard on you, but—”

“Every morning, every night, beating me down. Just once I wanted you say you were proud of me, just once I wanted you say ‘good job.’”

His father raised his voice. “A good job doing what? Stealing? Lying? You want me to pat you on the back for that?”

Taro’s eyes darkened. “Being honest doesn’t put food on the table.”

“There are honest jobs out there.”

“Sweeping floors for two pence a night? Washing dishes? How was that supposed to pay for family of six?”

His father was silent.

“That’s what I thought,” Taro continued. “If my choices are between watching my brothers starve or taking the purse off some rich bastard, I’m going to do just that.”

“And how has that view worked out for your sister?”

The comment cut into Taro much deeper than he’d expected. He left and slammed the door behind him without another word.

With his back to the door, he heard his mother’s faint voice speaking to his father.

“You’re too hard on him,” she said.

“He needs a steady hand.”

“What he needs is a father.”

Upon hearing his mother’s voice, Taro wanted nothing more than to go in and speak with her, but he couldn’t bear to be in the same room as his father. He hugged his brothers one last time and left.

The
Eventide
was in a woodland clearing outside Ashwick. It hovered several feet from the ground, kicking up leaves and rustling the grass like a hurricane. The artificers were loading up the final supply crates when Taro and Aris boarded.

_____

The
Eventide
ran remarkably well considering it was held together with sloppy spot-welds, rusted deck plates, and the prayers of first-year artificers.

Even at a languid pace for an airship of its caliber, the
Eventide
could make the three hundred mile trip to Endra Edûn in under five hours. It felt like weeks.

Taro and Suri changed into less conspicuous clothes, and waited with Ven and Aris below deck. Aris tucked himself away in a corner and was poking at the insides of a smooth metal device with a groove on the side. Taro recognized it was one of Magister Ross’ gravity reducers.

“What are you doing?” Taro asked, not bothering with exactly how Aris managed to acquire it.

“These are only meant for single use,” Aris said, his eyes focused on the insides. “The runes are spent. I’m trying to get one more use of it.”

“We’re going to jump?” Suri asked.

“From much higher than these devices were designed to work. If we get too close, we’ll be shot out of the sky.”

“Couldn’t they shoot us as we fell?” Taro asked.

“We’ll be much smaller targets. And if they did, it would only kill you two. I’d still have a chance.”

“Comforting,” Taro said.

“Don’t sweat it, getting shot out of the sky is the thing least likely to kill you today.” He stopped working for a moment and counted on his fingers as he spoke. “The jump, the landing, Vexis’ followers, void apparitions, a wrathful Old God, not to mention Vexis has a templar that could break you like a soggy toothpick.”

Aris shut the latch on the gravity reducer and handed it to Suri.

“Where’s mine?” Taro asked.

“You’re going to have to share.”

“That didn’t work so well last time,” Ven said.

“You survived, didn’t you?” Aris said. “The reducer should be able to hold the weight of two.”

“What about you?” Suri asked.

“Regrettably, I’m going to be cold-jumping.”

“As in...” Taro rolled his hand.

Aris clapped his hands together. “Splat.”

Cool air rushed past them as Taro, Suri, and Aris climbed above deck. The snowy landscape stretched on like a vast white cloud, and in the far distance Endra Edûn sat waiting. Kyra was above deck, but her eyes glossed over Taro and went straight to Aris.

“We won’t be able to pull you out,” she said.

“It won’t be necessary,” Aris said. “Head straight for Tyrithia. If we succeed, bring back as large a force as you can muster.”

“How will we know if you succeed?” Kyra said.

“If Vexis brings an Old God through the reach, you will know it,” Aris said. His eyes darted from the city back to Kyra. “We need more altitude.”

The order was given and the ship rose high above the clouds, so high the air was thin. The
Eventide
sputtered as if it was going to stall, but finally leveled out. Taro, Suri, and Aris climbed onto the edge of the deck.

“Jump when I give the word,” Aris said. “If you hesitate, you’ll miss it.”

Suri grabbed Taro’s hand. “Are you ready?”

Taro peaked over the side and a shiver shook through him. “As I’ll ever be.”

“On three,” Aris said. “One... two... three!”

Taro held onto Suri’s outstretched hand so hard he felt like he was going to break it. They fell like a stone, hurling towards the sprawling cityscape below. Ice crystals prickled Taro skin and stung his eyes as he watched the ground rush toward him.

“Now?” Taro shouted.

“We’re not close enough.”

The wind whipped them around and threatened to tear them apart. In all the thrashing, Taro lost sight of Aris. Moments before they struck the ground, Suri clicked the gravity reducer. To Taro’s utter relief it worked immediately. Having experienced the fall before, he braced himself for the rough landing. There was one significant difference this time: instead of landing on snow, they landed on hard stone.

Taro tumbled like ragdoll against the icy road, scraping his elbows and cheeks, and smashing his mouth against the pavement. Somewhere in his long roll, he lost a tooth.

“Are you okay?” Taro asked. Suri had been less prepared, and taken the brunt of the fall. He turned her over. “Did you break anything?”

Suri groaned. “Everything.” She tried to stand, but stumbled dizzily. “Where’s Aris?”

Taro glanced around. “I didn’t see him land.”

“He must’ve seen us, though. Should we wait for him?”

“If he saw us, someone else will have too. We need to move.”

Suri steadied herself and they moved a safe distance from their landing site. Fortunately it was just after four o’clock in the morning, and they didn’t have to work too hard to avoid the one or two warders.

Taro went as far as the east entrance to the lower city.

“I can find my father alone,” Suri said.

“Are you sure?”

“I’ll be fine. You’ve got more important things to worry about.”

Taro didn’t argue. Everything in the shadow of the Magisterium was a death zone, and every second brought them one step closer to oblivion.

Taro didn’t bother searching for Aris. In a city that stretched on for miles, he could be anywhere. Instead, he went straight for the Magisterium, as it was the place they were most likely to meet up.

Endra Edûn was quiet and still as a graveyard. At first Taro thought this was due to the hour of the day, but even so it was unusually still. As Taro neared the Magisterium, the true reason became apparent. Uncertainty bred fear. Vexis had many followers, no doubt, but not a majority. Nevertheless, it was unreasonable to expect civilians to fight back against the ruling power. And perhaps some hoped she could do what she’d promised and repair the Arclight. So they locked themselves away in their homes and prayed.

However, this only explained one part of the emptiness. The other part became clear as Taro neared the Magisterium. Huddled around the Midway were thousands and thousands of people. Men, women and children crowded around fire-bins and tents and had apparently been there for some time.

Despite the razor-sharp wind and freezing cold, there were nothing but bright eyes and smiles. They were the blissful faces of sheep eagerly waiting to die.