City of Steel (Chaos Awakens Book 3) (29 page)

“Crow sends his regards, Xandrith.” Tilda spoke, her voice was exactly as Xan remembered it, but her words were a slur of barely recognizable sounds because of the wreckage of her mouth. “He wants you to know that we’re going to kill you for doing this to us. We’re going to kill you and everything you love because you brought us out here to die. Your whole life is a curse, Xandrith Dalt. You destroy everything and everyone who gets close to you, and soon we’re going destroy you.”

“I did everything I could!”  Xandrith pleaded with the vile remains of the old woman.  “I didn’t mean for any of this to happen.  I’m just trying to do what’s right!” 

“How could someone like you ever know what’s right?” Tilda laughed. The sound was terrible coming from her broken mouth.

A pressure on Xandrith’s back made him jump and turn back around.  He’d forgotten entirely about the thing Haley had become.  He turned around hesitantly.  He didn’t want to show his back to the risen Tilda creature, but he couldn’t leave another threat at his back either. 

“Xandrith?”  It was Haley’s voice.  He looked at her and for a minute he could still see the twisted version of the fox mask, but it seemed to melt away before his eyes.  As it vanished, the light returned to the room. It peeled away the darkness until everything was back to the way it had been when they’d first arrived.  “What’s wrong, Xan?”  Haley asked, her concern was evident. 

Xandrith stepped away from her and returned to the bed.  It had all seemed so real.  He’d even been able to smell the rot coming from the phantom Tilda, and the chill of the darkness had settled into his skin.  What was happening to him? 

“Please talk to me!”  Haley was pleading now.  Her voice was on the edge of panic, near the point of hysteria.  Xandrith really did need to tell her what was going on.

He gestured at the bed. “Come sit down. I’ll try and explain as much as I can, but I don’t understand it all.”

Haley quickly sat down.  She had an expectant expression on her face, as though Xandrith might be able to tell her something that would make her feel better.  He wasn’t sure she was going to like what he had to say. 

“I’m going insane.” He began.

Chapter 8

Beyond the Wall

“Maybe it’s some sort of troll magic?”  Haley posed the possibility after Xandrith had finished his exhaustive explanation of what was happening to him.  She’d gone through a wide range of emotions during his retelling, but had finally settled on a heavy concern. 

“You’re the one who can sense that kind of thing, do I appear to have any magic tied to me?”  He asked, somewhat hopefully.  It would be nice to know that he wasn’t actually losing what was left of his mind. 

Haley looked crestfallen, answering Xandrith’s question before she even spoken. “No, I don’t see any magic on you.”

“That doesn’t leave a lot of alternatives.” The assassin noted morosely. “This is my own fault. I abused the powers I had, and I intentionally shattered my own mind to give Kassa a second chance. I would do it all again, though. I just need to hold it all together long enough to finish what we’re doing here. Since I know that some of the things I’m seeing are not real, I can make an effort to act accordingly when things start to get strange. My imagination can’t kill me. I think.”

Haley frowned. “That sounds like you’ve already given up on yourself. You’re not in this thing just to die. You’re going to survive, and you’re going to get better.”

Xan shrugged helplessly. “I don’t want to die, or to go insane, but I’m already doing the latter. I don’t know if it’s reversible. I’ve never heard of anyone going uninsane.”

Haley was still hopeful. “You’ve told me yourself that there are healers who can work wonders, Xan. When this is all done we can find one together. I can get my burns fixed, and you can have your poor brain repaired.”

“Maybe.”  Xandrith pretended to smile.  If Haley wanted him to hold onto hope, he would pretend to do so for her sake.  He’d never heard of anyone having a mental breakdown healed by a mage, and there were very few mages left in the world.  For Haley’s sake, Xandrith hoped she would find someone to work on her burns.  He was aware that she was in constant pain.  Some of the burns still tore and bled when she was being particularly physical.  She never complained about the pain, or let it interfere with what she needed to do, but Xan knew it wasn’t easy. 

The door to their small room and prison cell opened and a group of Unth stepped in carrying several pieces of equipment.  Xandrith felt something close to relief as a distraction from his mental problems presented itself so neatly before him. 

“We have acquired the things you requested.”  One of the Unth men spoke.  He wasn’t the same one from earlier.  Xandrith found it strange that they never gave names and seemed to work interchangeably without ever drawing attention to the fact that the individual you were working with at one moment wasn’t the same one who came around next time.  It was like they were on some kind of work schedule and when one was off duty the next stepped up and took over seamlessly.  It was a little disconcerting, but so were a lot of things about their people. 

Xandrith stood up and walked over to the Unth. One of them held up a set of knives the likes of which Xan had never seen. They were in scabbards on a brown leather belt, but even in the scabbard they were strange. The scabbards were made of the same material that the wall was made of, and the knife appeared to be made of the same crystal, though the hilt was wrapped in leather. Xandrith reached out to accept the blades, but the Unth pulled them back out of his reach.

“These knives are not like typical blades.  Watch closely.”  He nodded to one of his companions who pulled out a wood block and set it on the small table in the room.  The Unth with knives approached the block and drew one of the daggers, which was made of crystal so refined and thin that it was like a shard of glass.  It was edged on both sides of the blade with a tip that was just slightly flared.  There was a black stone set in the middle of the knife’s crosspiece.  The Unth slid his thumb across this and then pressed the knife blade against the block of wood. 

Xandrith didn’t have to wait long to see what made this Unth-built knife different. The blade sunk into the wood block like a hot knife through warm butter. He pulled the knife from the block as easily as it had gone in, and then just set the blade against the wood, holding the hilt in his hand loosely. The blade sunk through the wood, slicing into it as though it was possessed of its own will. The Unth returned the blade to the scabbard.

The Assassin had never seen anything like it before.  That was a knife that would cut down a troll.  How had the Unth made it?  It looked so fragile. 

“Once drawn, run your thumb across the gem to activate the cutting blade.  However, once activated the blade will cut almost anything it touches.  If you need to store the blade in a leather sheath, or hide it beneath your clothing, be sure to draw your thumb across the control gem again to put the blade to sleep.  The gem will pulse when you’ve activated it, and when you’ve deactivated it.  Putting the blade back in the scabbard that we’re giving you will also deactivate the blade.  With this, you may fight the trolls if you need to.”  The Unth explained before handing the belt and knives to Xandrith.

The assassin fastened the belt at his hips and slid the scabbards to his back so that they wouldn’t show from the front.  He wouldn’t fit in amidst the trolls very well if he was wearing Unth weapons visible at his hips.  Still, it felt good to have a complete set of knives again.  It was a foolish notion, but Xandrith felt somehow immortal with a good pair of blades at his disposal. 

Another of the Unth came forward, this one carrying a large piece of strange black leather.  Xandrith could recognize it as a piece of troll attire before he could even smell the particularly foul smell given off by the creatures.  It wasn’t exactly like rot, or the stink of being unclean, but more the smell of something long in the damp and dark.  It was the stench of life deep below the surface of the world.  Xandrith took the cloak and unfolded it, wrapping it around his shoulders.  He pulled the hood up and threaded the remaining stub of his single horn through one of the holes that had been designed just for that purpose.  He’d seen trolls with horns broken off before, so he didn’t think that would make him stand out. 

The cloak was clearly made for someone larger than him, even though he was not a small human.  Luckily he was tall enough that he could keep it from dragging on the ground, even if it did wrap around him almost twice. 

The next Unth came forward holding two items. In one hand he held a small bowl with a red substance staining the bottom of it, and over his opposite shoulder was strapped a sword of immense proportion. The blade, if Xandrith had stood it next to him, would have gone from the ground to his hip. It had a wide tip at one end, and a curved edge. The scabbard was designed so that the blade swung free from the side and not up and out, which would have been difficult to achieve even with a troll’s long arms. It looked like a mean weapon. It wasn’t crude by any stretch of the imagination, but it looked like it had been built for unspeakable acts. Of course, were not all swords built for unspeakable acts?

Xan’s eyes returned to the bowl of red dye.  “This isn’t what I asked for.”  He stated, since the red dye obviously wasn’t the dark color he’d asked for. 

The Unth nodded. “This will disguise your flesh more effectively than something black. Smaller trolls have brighter skin than larger trolls. If we had darkened your skin like you wanted, you would have stood out amongst the horde.”

Xandrith hadn’t noticed that fact himself, though when he thought back on the trolls he’d encountered that did seem to make sense.  It wasn’t exactly something he’d spent much time thinking about.  He’d asked for a dark dye because the color changes to his own skin had all been dark, but if the Unth were correct, this would indeed work much more effectively. 

The assassin took the dye and the sword.  He put the sword over his shoulder on top of the cloak, and used its strap to tie back some of the excess.  This left one of his arms exposed, so he took the red dye and used it to cover his exposed arm, and then rubbed it carefully into both of his hands.  The thick red paste absorbed into his skin readily, and it wasn’t long before he’d covered all of his visible skin, and some of it that was less visible just to be safe. 

“You will need to wipe off the access after a few minutes, or else the dye will rub off on anything you touch.”  One of the Unth commented, watching him with something close to curiosity. 

They stood waiting for the dye to dry, and then when the Unth said it was alright, Xandrith rubbed down his flesh with a treated cloth they’d also brought with them.  It was somewhat alarming to see so much red coming off of him, yet his skin remained a deep, partially-dried-blood red.  He handed the cloth back to the Unth and turned Haley. 

“How do I look?”  He asked with a grin. 

“Awful.”  She replied, grimacing at the new red Xan.  “Don’t smile when you’re around the trolls.  Your teeth don’t look exactly like theirs.” 

“Ah, that’ll be good to remember.”  He replied. 

“If you’re ready, we’ll take you beyond the wall now.”  One of the Unth said, impassive as ever. 

Xandrith looked over at Haley.  She looked worried, and with good reason.  Xandrith was worried as well, but more for her than for himself.  Now that he was dressed in his disguise and ready to embark upon this information gathering task, he found himself falling into old habits.  He’d never infiltrated trolls before, of course, but he’d worn many disguises over the years.  Instinct and practice were taking over.  He felt eerily calm about the whole endeavor. 

“I’m ready.”  He told the Unth. 

“Follow me.”  The man told him, and together they stepped out of the room.  Xandrith didn’t look back over his shoulder to see Haley again.  It wasn’t that he didn’t want to see her again, but that expression of fear and anxiety she wore ate away at his confidence.  His own concern for the girl would chip into the façade he needed to put in place if he was going to be successful. 

The Unth led the way at a fast march, covering ground quickly with a surprisingly wide stride considering his short stature.  Xandrith didn’t have any difficulty keeping pace with his own long, lanky body, but Haley would have probably been at a near jog to keep up.  Instead of heading back for the stairs that would have taken them to the top of the wall, the Unth took Xan back down to the ground level and then along the base of the wall until they reached a small opening that was cut into the ground running parallel with the wall. 

The small cave went down until they could no longer see the opening through which they’d entered, and then turned abruptly in the direction of the wall.  Xandrith expected there to be a tunnel passing through the crystal structure, but instead they came to a stop when the passage intersected the underground portion of the barrier.  There was a solid crystal wall blocking their passage.  Xandrith was confused. 

“Stay close.  If you fall behind, you die.”  The Unth said, and with that he stepped into the crystal.  It rippled like the surface of water as he passed into it and Xandrith stood, mouth agape, for nearly a full second before the words spoken by the Unth echoed back through is mind.  He took a quick, deep breath, and then jumped into the crystal wall behind his guide. 

It felt like jumping into thin water.  He could feel the press of the liquid crystal on his skin all over him, pushing against his clothes and dragging against the sword on his back.  It was cold to the touch, like ice.  The chill instantly made him panic.  Instinct told him he should try and swim up and out, but the Unth was moving away from him, walking in a straight line.  Xandrith could feel a pressure at his back, as though the crystal-liquid there was growing thicker, solidifying.  He stifled his instinct and dashed forward after the Unth.  The crystal became thinner as he drew closer.  The Unth was creating a bubble in which one could pass through the wall, but it wasn’t a large area.