Page 66 of Inferno
Tschecee emerged from the baker’s at that point – this was one face Yorin recognised, thankfully. He’d met Tschecee in passing several times, given that the man was a cobbler. It wasn’t an uncommon situation that they were expected to coordinate a customer’s clothing with their shoes for some special occasion or other. But until now, Yorin had had no idea that the man was a Chalandrian. It occurred to him that he didn’t know what species a lot of these people were – and moreover, that he didn’t even know what the various different species from Chalandros looked like. He’d heard plenty of stories from the warriors about ‘red demons’ or ‘purple demons’ or ‘green demons’, but nothing that told him anything useful about the people he was now depending on for Nerik’s life. In the end, he decided to shelve those questions for later. They had bigger problems to deal with now.
For Alfrix’s sake, you’re going to get yourselves killed,Nerik told them again.
Like it or not, we’re here to rescue you,Yorin told him. He’d deliberately chosen a prime spot where he could stare at the cage – and therefore at Nerik – while at the same time looking like he was doing little more than patting Zandro and killing time.Okay, everyone, we need a plan. Or maybe the first step would be to identify the barriers to saving Nerik, and then solve them, one by one.
The first problem would be having no key to the cage,Kit began.Forlegard, do you have any suggestions on that front?
If you want to get me out of the cage, all you need is a fire next to it.That was Nerik, jumping right in, despite his repeated instructions for them to abandon him.If it’s a decent size, I can just merge with the fire, right through the cage bars.Yorin’s heart sang at the news. This was why he’d wanted Nerik to be involved in the conversation; he would know things about his own physiology that other people didn’t, and come up with plans that other people wouldn’t think of.But no one’s going to let you build a fire right next to the cage.
We’d have to kill the guards for that,Gosta said.
Out of the question,Nerik said sharply.They’re just following orders. They’re not even full members of the army yet. They shouldn’t have to pay for this with their lives.
In a couple of months’ time, there’ll be out there killing every poor sod who comes through the gate,Gosta snapped.
The last time someone was trapped in the cage,Forlegard said,you had to kill the Captain of the Guard. And no one complained about that.
Yorin’s head snapped up at that. ‘You had to kill the captain’, he’d said. But was the ‘you’ singular or plural? You, Nerik, or you people together?
Yorin saw Nerik put his head down, then a softer request came through the link.Rimdolen, can I talk to Yorin privately for a moment? I mean, with you, of course, but without everyone else?
Shit. It was ‘You, Nerik’, then.
Very well,Rimdolen replied, and Yorin felt a subtle shift in the channel of communication.All right, you can talk now. I apologise for my intrusion into your privacy, but it can’t be helped.
There was silence for a moment, while Nerik carefully adjusted his position so that he was facing Yorin, while making sure it didn’t look too deliberate.
I killed Captain Leefe,he said, honestly and bluntly.I didn’t do it on my own, but I’m the one who killed him.
Nerik was a murderer. Yorin wasn’t sure whether to be grateful for his honesty or not. Would it have softened the blow to beat around the bush for a while?
Why did you do it?Yorin asked. He wasn’t sure what difference it would make. He wasn’t sure what to think about the whole thing, actually. Hundreds of Chalandrians were killed every cycle. Did it matter if one of the warriors was killed in return? Did it matter if the man was killed in town, rather than on the battlefield? While not common, it was certainly not unexpected for a warrior to die in battle. Was this actually any different?
A woman was being held in the cage. Leefe was going to kill her. One of the warriors decided to free her – he’d apparently come around to the realisation that Chalandrians are people, not demons. But Leefe objected and was going to kill this warrior, as well as the woman in the cage. We gave him several warnings and opportunities to back down. We gave him the choice to walk away. He refused. So I killed him.
It sounded so reasonable when he put it like that. But it was still hard to know what to think. Yorin had been brought up with a firm belief that killing people was wrong. And yet no human in Minia would have any problem with murdering a Chalandrian in a public spectacle tomorrow morning. Perhaps he simply needed to shelve his doubts for now, and deal with the more immediate problem. Then he could analyse all the hows and whys and wherefores later.
Under the circumstances, I dare say that course of action might have been justified,Yorin said to Nerik.I wasn’t there, so it would be difficult for me to pass judgement on it, one way or another. But I know you well enough to believe that you wouldn’t take another life without a strong reason to do so.
There was a pause, then Nerik said,You’re not entirely happy with it, though.
Yorin sighed.This is all getting very complicated very quickly. I haven’t had time to process it all. I only found out you’re not human a couple of days ago. I’m doing my best, Nerik. I really am. But this is a lot to deal with.He dared to look directly at Nerik, albeit briefly.Even if you did kill Captain Leefe, I’m still not abandoning you to a public execution.
When Nerik spoke again, his tone was a fraction warmer, and Yorin imagined that he was grateful for the support, even if he wasn’t willing to admit it.If you get yourself hurt here, I’m going to be seriously pissed off.
If you’re alive to be pissed off, I’m going to take that as a win.
A trickle of wry laughter came down the link, then Nerik said,Okay, Rimdolen. Let’s get back to the full conversation.Yorin felt a ripple flow through his mind, and then the presence of half a dozen other minds touched his again.
How’s your fire?was the first thing Gosta said.
Low,Nerik replied, not making any attempt to disguise the truth.I got very nearly drenched in a river. Which is how the warriors were able to capture me. I managed to absorb a little bit of wood after that, but I’ve lost too much heat trying to dry myself out.
How long could you last with what you’ve got?
A couple of hours,Nerik said, and once again, Yorin felt entirely frustrated with how much he didn’t know. How long could Nerik usually go without restocking his wood supply? Were there any long term consequences to these repeated drenchings? He’d been soaked through only a couple of days ago, in the storm. How often could he endure that and recover?
We need to get him some more wood,Gosta declared, and she was right. It wasn’t yet midday, and if Nerik was going to last until at least nightfall – which would be the earliest possible time they might enact a rescue plan – then he was going to need more fuel before then.