Chapter Two

 

The false breeze pushed past Duro's skin. It was barely enough to upset the fine hairs on his forearms. He held up a flat hand. The others stopped silently, except for one. Duro turned his head, meeting gazes with Xylos, who was right behind him. The younger clan member gave a tight nod, accepting his responsibility for the scuffed foot. The other two, Adrenalynne and Brazio, stayed motionless waiting for his instruction.

Duro found it hard to believe that he was sneaking through the Undercity with a patrol group nearly entirely composed of former Razor members. Yet he had no fear that they would betray him. The wounds of the attack on the Machi were still fresh in their eyes and in the tightness of their jaws. Besides, their honor, once they had given their oaths to Daraja, was lock tight. They would sacrifice themselves for their new clan as quickly as they would have the old.

He flashed hand signals, but in seeing their confusion, he realized that not all of them translated between the clans. Some were unique. Duro mouthed the words, "Others ahead."

After they nodded, Duro continued through the uneven tunnel that had never been widened or made flat since it headed north to the alliance areas. He leapt up, grabbed a handhold on the wall, and shimmied through a tight gap. On the other side, he pulled his blades and waited, even though he knew no one was nearby. But it was one thing to know, and it was another to doubt. The knowledge that a maetrie named Dominion Thule was behind the alliance clans and the Crows' betrayal made Duro more cautious, because the city elves had ways and methods that even he didn't understand. Duro had had few interactions with the city elves in the past, but their reputation and the events that had transpired only four days ago proved that they shouldn't be underestimated. And unlike Daraja, he believed everything Pandora had told them about her relatives. He knew a warrior when he saw one.

Once everyone was through the gap, they climbed at an angle towards the entrance. When he reached the top, Duro duck-walked forward to keep a low profile and peered over the edge at the massive cavern beneath.

Fungus glow along with the waterfall that crashed into the pool on the opposite side gave the space an ethereal feel. When he'd been a young warrior with dreams of glory and little regard for his own safety, he would sneak away from the Pajot and swim in the pool when he grew frustrated with the pace of his progress. The water was ice cold, but there was a carpet of moss that covered the edge of the pool, which made it a great place to lounge after a dip.

He knew the place like the holes in his heart and so he immediately knew that something was wrong. He spotted an object at the center of the cavern on a flat area. It was about the size of a person, wrapped in gauze like a funeral shroud. As Brazio stepped onto the ledge, he nodded towards the object, studying the former warleader of the Razor clan for his reaction.

Brazio frowned at the object then flashed a sign, asking, "Danger?"

The sense that someone was nearby was no longer present. Duro expanded his amber to its maximum range. If someone was in the cavern, they were hiding themselves with sorcerous means. He gave a shrug. To reach the cavern floor would require a fifty-foot climb down a difficult stretch, which made their position extremely defensible. Given the lack of understanding of the Drops' signs, Duro decided it was acceptable to speak out loud.

"I don't think anyone is here now, but they were recently. Maybe even a few minutes ago," said Duro softly.

Xylos leaned on a rocky protrusion, peering into the cavern. "What is that?"

"A body, you dumbass," said Adrenalynne, rolling her eyes.

The woman was the least "Razor" of any that he'd met, with piercings and tattoos and a shaved head. She fit in more easily with the Drops and their practiced disregard of social norms.

Xylos screwed up his face before it smoothed away to understanding.

"Oh."

"Are we going down?" asked Adrenalynne.

Her face was nicked with a few scars, but was otherwise smooth and bore the freshness of youth. Duro couldn't remember when he was like that, even though he knew he had been once.

"Eventually."

"I'll go," said Brazio with a hunger in his gaze.

Duro gestured to the younger waku. "There are entrances to the northwest and to the east by the waterfall. I want you each to cover one."

As the two waku descended the cliff face without ropes, Duro turned to his counterpart. While officially Brazio was a step below him, Duro saw him as his equal. No one else in the Undercity concerned him if it came to a scrap.

"Are you sure?" asked Duro, the question not about the danger, but what he would find beneath the shroud.

"I need to know."

"It's likely a trap," said Duro.

Brazio looked away briefly, the corners of his mouth deepening with wrinkles. Shadows haunted his expression. "Likely."

"I can go. I know it hasn't even been five days," said Duro.

"They gave me new blood," said Brazio with dark circles around his eyes. He looked tired. Duro would have preferred that he hadn't come along, but he hadn't wanted to hurt the man's pride by refusing him.

"That's not what I mean."

Brazio checked over the edge at the two waku who were just reaching the cavern floor. As they hurried across the stone, he asked, "What do you think?"

"Good warriors. Xylos isn't as disciplined, but I would be happy to fight with him at my side."

"What about the Academy? You've had a chance to watch them train," said Duro.

"I have nothing but respect for your warriors, our warriors." Brazio shook his head. "You know what I mean. But we won't survive this if they can't become true warriors in their own right. Even these two, as talented as they are, I could kill without much effort. We're outnumbered and cut off from most of our sources of stones, while the alliance is finding new ones all the time."

"The nervous student, the one your nephew keeps as one of his friends, he has one of them," said Duro.

"Tiger's eye is what they're calling it, though the stone isn't orange, nor is he a warrior. I was surprised when he attuned to an amber," said Brazio.

"You don't think we have enough good warriors," said Duro.

"No," said Brazio. "But we could, if we can push them beyond their limits. The girl Pandora has skills."

"And your nephew and daughter. There are a few others I can see with promise."

"We need more than a few," said Brazio. "Even the ones that finished the Academy need more work."

"What are you suggesting?"

Brazio sighed. "I don't know yet. The stones are still so new. We only learned recently about how adrenaline helps people attune easier. There are other aspects of the faez crystals we surely don't know."

Duro gestured towards his forearm, which had Brazio checking his own. The black lines on his wrist peeked from beneath his sleeve.

"I'll be fine."

"Have you had that before?" asked Duro.

Brazio shook his head. "No. It might be from losing all my blood. Maybe it has something to do with attunement." He checked back to the cavern. "They're in place."

Duro chuckled. "You know the students have been talking about us."

Brazio screwed up his face. "About what?"

"Wondering who would win in a duel."

Brazio nodded. "I've thought about it a time or two. Not seriously. Maybe when this is over."

"When this is over," said Duro, nodding. "If you want to..."

"I do."

As Brazio climbed over the edge, Duro said, "Tonight we should discuss training. I agree that we should do things differently. The other way was too slow."

"Tonight," said Brazio before disappearing below the edge.

As the former Razor moved towards the shrouded body, Duro focused his attention on it. They both agreed it was a trap, but in what way? He had a good idea of who was in the wrappings. It was the reason Brazio had come. Maybe it was simply to enrage Brazio, as he was known for his temper during a fight. To get him to do something stupid. But Duro didn't see that in the man. He'd taken his brother's counsel for years without overstating his hand. He was aggressive in battle, but not reckless. Duro had seen warriors with a death wish. Either they mistakenly thought themselves invincible, or the bloodlust made them foolish. Brazio was neither.

The older warrior—Brazio was at least a decade his senior—approached the shrouded body. His focus was entirely on the object. Duro watched from the ledge, sifting through his senses with the amber. There was something off about the wrappings, or the placement—he wasn't sure. Brazio checked back as if he sensed the same thing. Duro gave him the sign for "Caution, move slow."

Brazio reached the wrapped body. He stared at it as if he'd approached a casket during a funeral. The older warrior put his hand onto the gauze. Even Duro could tell that he'd set the lightest touch. There was no guarantee that it was Niran Santos beneath the wrappings, but why else would they have left the body? On the other hand, there'd been no communication. In the wars of his youth, bodies had been returned after a negotiation, and sent with an honor guard, depending on the station of the deceased. If this truly was Brazio's brother, there should have been a formal handover, probably in the Terreno. Either the alliance's new leader, Dominion Thule, didn't understand their customs, or didn't care. Or it wasn't Niran, but a lesser warrior that had gone unaccounted for.

As Brazio pulled out a blade to cut the shroud from the head, Duro's adrenaline raced into the stratosphere for no obvious reason. It took all his self-control not to tell Brazio to get away. He couldn’t figure out what was wrong, only that it was.

When Brazio put a hand on the body to steady it, there was a wobble that even Duro could see. Brazio checked back, then crouched down to look beneath the body. It was only then that Duro knew what was wrong. It wasn't flat. Something had been placed beneath the shroud, likely a bomb that would trigger when the weight was released.

Duro was opening his mouth to shout when the bomb went off. Even from a hundred meters away, he threw himself to the ground as the concussive wave ripped through the cavern. As soon as it passed, Duro scrambled down the cliff and sprinted to the location where the bomb had gone off. Bits of gauze floated in the air. Pieces of the body were splattered against the stalactites. He waved away the younger waku, giving non-verbal instructions to return to their posts.

Brazio was curled into a ball beneath the ledge where the body had been placed. His skin shimmered from dark gray to his normal lightly tanned color. His eyes refocused.

"I don't think the black diamond protects from concussions," said Duro, breathing relief that Brazio had survived.

The older warrior climbed to his feet tentatively. "I'm in your debt for suggesting the black diamond for me. It was a generous offer considering we'd been enemies only a week before."

"There's no time for half-measures," said Duro.

Brazio leaned on the stone platform. "Do you think it was my brother?"

Duro checked around the cavern until he spotted what looked to be the head. Crouched down and using his blade to cut the gauze, Duro revealed a younger man with a pockmarked face beneath the shroud.

"I'm sorry."

"The maetrie have no honor."

"You've dealt with them before?" asked Duro.

"Once. There's one that owns a bar in the seventh ward. He trades in information. After getting what I needed I decided it wasn't worth dealing with him again. He demands a high price," said Brazio.

"Daraja has had minor dealings with a few over the years. She says she'd rather swim naked with sharks wearing a suit of bloody meat than work with them again," said Duro.

"I pity the shark that tries to bite her," said Brazio, chuckling as he put his fingertips to his temple with a grimace. "She could have taken the diamond for herself as a measure of protection."

"The only protection she needs is a working clan."

"She's smart like my brother. She knows the best path forward and doesn't hesitate," said Brazio.

The older warrior pulled back his sleeve. The black lines had multiplied.

"Maybe there are side effects to the black diamond that we're not aware of, or it's just plain cursed, given that everyone who has had it has died," said Brazio, frowning.

"Or you haven't recovered from your near-death and your body is reacting to the new stone."

Brazio pulled the sleeve up. "Either option is not to my liking."

"We should return to the Pajot. You and I have much to discuss in regard to the training of our warriors."

"Maybe too much."

Duro put a hand on Brazio's shoulder. "We'll figure it out, my friend. The circumstances aren't ideal, but I can assure you that there's no one I'd rather have at my side than you."

Brazio held up his arm. "Let's hope I stay there for a long time."