YASH STRAINED her recovering eyes at the darkness. Without the lantern and with the moon drowned in clouds, the only light was from the lightning in the sky, and they were leaving that behind as quickly as possible. Which was not as quickly as she would have liked. It also was too dark for Chej and Ruesp to see, so they all had to make their way by feel as whatever was at their backs dug into the tower, tearing huge hunks of it out.
“What is it, Chej?” she asked.
“A monster,” he said. “Bigger than the Beast. Much bigger. The size of a tower. It’s trying to get to us.”
“Nalzhu,” she said.
“The Emperor’s xual?” Chej said.
“It must be,” she replied. “Give me the bow and arrows.”
“Give them to me and keep running,” she said. “It’s after me. Eventually it’s going to realize it should shatter this tower at the base.”
“Can you see?”
“I’m not sure. It’s dark, right. Can you see?”
“It’s dark,” Chej confirmed.
“Then I’ll take a chance. If it’s as big as you say, I won’t have to see very well to hit it,” she replied.
Chej sighed, but she felt the bow against her hand and took it, followed by the arrows. She handed him the knife.
“Keep the knife,” she said. “I only have two hands.”
“I’m not certain of that,” Chej said. “Be careful, Wife. Don’t die.”
“I can only avoid death for so long,” she said. “But I’ll do my best to see we don’t meet up tonight. You do the same.” She paused. “Go to one of the remaining tower masters. Coral, maybe. If any of them can help, it’s Coral.”
“He’s the Emperor’s ally.”
“He was. But if Nalzhu is free, destroying the fortress, he might have a change of heart.”
“Maybe,” Ruesp said. “We can try.”
“Yes,” Yash said. Then she began running back up the stairs, putting an arrow to the string.
Twenty steps took her to what was now the top of the tower and a gale of wind-whipped rain. For a moment she saw nothing, but then lightning brightened the clouds and a giant shadow appeared between her and the sky. She shot at it.
The arrow flared and then flashed, and in its light Nalzhu was revealed. A thing of stone and jewels, he stood as tall as the Earth Center Tower. The arrow had struck him in the chest and continued to flare for a moment before sputtering out, leaving a red blotch of molten rock.
“Who are you, my enemy?” she shouted into the wind. “What name did we call you by?”
In response, Nalzhu slammed the back of his fist into the tower. She leapt as high as she could. Stone shattered beneath her as she came down on top of the gigantic arm, to which she was, in comparison, no bigger than an insect. But she was an insect with a sting. She ran a few steps up the arm and released another arrow. This one struck him in the face, showering sparks and lava into the storm. In the burst of light, she suddenly knew she had seen him before. Or something like him. But where?
She jumped from his arm, dropping toward the roof of the fortress, singing of being a leaf, a butterfly, cotton tufts in the wind, but the landing was still hard. She barely recovered in time to dodge the palm that slapped down after her.
The fiery wound in Nalzhu’s chest was already congealed; part of his head glowed red, but that was quickly fading to black as well. But a light was building in the hollows of his eyes.
I need to know its name! If only Deng’jah were here.
“I am here,” a voice said, right in her ear. “But I don’t know its name.”
“Deng’jah!”
“Yes,” he said. “The little prank you played on Pinion was nearly the death of me, too. But here I am.”
“Good,” she said as she dashed across the roof. If she could stay near the giant’s feet, it might make it harder for him to reach her. “Feel free to offer advice.”
“I just told you all I know.”
“But if he’s not naheeyiye, what…” She paused. “I remember now,” she said. “I remember why he looks familiar.”
“Does that mean you have a plan?”
“Yes,” she said, glancing across the roof toward the Red Coral Tower. It was too far away. She would never make it. But the Obsidian Spear was just a run of a few dozen steps.
“Watch out for me, Deng’jah,” she said. Then she turned her back to Nalzhu and sped toward the tall black spire. At the same time her gaze was fixed on it, she saw, through the insect’s eyes, Nalzhu coming after. She heard the crash of his stone feet, even through the thunder. She dodged north as the monster bent to smash her then hugged close to the remaining base of Pinion’s tower. She leapt up onto the wall at the edge of the roof and skittered to where the inner wall of the fortress almost connected the two towers. What was left of Pinion’s tower shattered as she jumped across the gap; she managed to take shelter behind the curve of the Obsidian Spear as stones flew as thick as the rain. Then she leapt up, gripped a windowsill, and heaved, fingers fighting for purchase on the wet stone.
She rolled into the tower. Behind her, Nalzhu paused for a moment, trying to figure out where she was. Then he strode toward the tower, his feet crushing through the roof of the fortress with each step.
Yash found the stairs and ran down. She had not reached the bottom when the Obsidian Spear jolted from impact. She drew a breath and smelled a sharp, carnivore musk.
She knew it was the xual the Hje called Nasch. She didn’t know what its real name was and now she might never.
She saw Nasch through Deng’jah’s eyes, emerging from the broken Obsidian Spear, a sooty cloud of smoke that quickly condensed into a form nearly as large as Nalzhu. She saw the tiny figure behind it that must be Xuehehs the Obsidian, gesturing and shouting words she could not hear. Nasch now had a long, sinuous body and a head that was something like an otter and something like a bear. Nasch crashed into Nalzhu, savaging the bigger monster with powerful, heavily muscled forelegs.
“I’m sorry, cousin,” she said with a sigh. “But you will help me, I hope. Delay him for a moment. And when this is over, I will do my best to find you, name you, send you home. Deng’jah, back to me.”
The vision vanished.
An ear-splitting shriek carried down the stairwell as she burst into the guard chamber. The men were already staring fearfully at the stairwell, and the door to the fortress was open. She shouted, as loudly and shrilly as she could. The men, taken by surprise and obviously confused, scrambled out of her way as she charged through the door and into the ruined, burning fortress.
The few people who remained in the place were trying their best to get out. Almost no one seemed to notice her, and certainly no one got in her way.
“Deng’jah,” she called.
“Here,” the insect said from her shoulder.
“I’ve made a mistake. I need you to find me the quickest path through all of… this.”
“To where?” Deng’jah asked.