Page 19

I sit in my cell in Ironhold that night and I reach out with my mind, wanting to know that what I have achieved is going to be enough. It is dark outside, and I know that soon the first steps of my plan will start to come to fruition.

I stretch my powers, leaping into the mind of a night flying bat. I guide it through the darkness, seeing with both eyes and ears, the world a place of echoes and shadows. What I do tonight will require me to connect to this animal at a distance further than I have state connected to one before. Yet I believe it to be possible because Lady Elara has sent birds to me in the past. If she can maintain control at such a distance, I believe that I must be able to.

I guide the bat down into the city, searching for the ways into the crypts beneath it. Aetheria is built on centuries of its own past, layers of the city that have been forgotten, sewers and tunnels, crypts and hidden places. I find a way in for the bat, but I do not stick to its mind. Instead, I use it as a point from which to reach out further, feeling for more minds beneath the city.

This is something I have not been taught how to do. It is something I am having to feel the way to do, working it out as I go. I can feel the minds of small animals as they move beneath Aetheria. Small animals and larger ones too. The beast whisperers like to keep some of the beasts they have tamed down near the temple. I can feel the small minds of rats and spiders, the harsh predatory mind of a crocodile, and several stranger things.

I split my attention between them, balancing myself as I look through their eyes, careful never to lose touch with own being. I borrow sight in a dozen or more different ways, seeing the world in different shades and from different angles. I hear as well, hearing the conversation of the beast whisperers.

“We should run, Elara!”

a voice says.

“No, if we run, we will never stop running. Our rebellion will be over before it begins. Lyra has betrayed us, but she has also given us a chance to succeed. She has told us that our enemies are coming. We can make use of that.”

I do not dare get too close to them. I know that if I do there is too much of a risk that they will sense my power riding on the animals. They will know I am watching, and it may be that they're able to retaliate.

“Why would she do this?”

a man's voice asks.

“She's trying to save the noble young man she's so besotted with,”

Lady Elara says. “Maybe our enemies threatened him. Or maybe they just got a hold of her and beat the information from her. It's hard to say for sure. She will pay you for what she's done in due course.”

“But why tell us?”

The man insists.

“Maybe she's trying to make up for that betrayal, or maybe she has some idea that we will run. Maybe this is her idea of mercy. You all know how attached she is to that concept. It doesn't matter. What matters is that we are ready. Go to your positions.”

I switch between the eyes of different animals, watching the beast whisperers as they spread out in the spaces beneath the earth, ready for the fights to come. Lady Elara stands at the center of the temple of Deira, both in challenge to anyone coming and as a way of luring them closer.

I can see the others making their way along the passageways: a mixture of nobles, soldiers whose loyalty they have bought, and retainers. Some of them hold flames in their hands to light the way. Others crackle with lightning. Vex is there, blades already floating around him ready for use.

I could still put an end to this, still call it all off by controlling something that can talk and shouting a warning. I don’t. I can’t. If I give the different sides any warning now, my whole plan will fall apart. There is only one way out of this for me, for Alaric, and for the people of Aetheria. This is the only option, as painful as it is to sit and watch it all.

I see the moment when Vex and the others supporting him burst into the temple, ready for violence. Lady Elara stands there in front of them, her arms spread wide.

“You?”

Vex says, obviously not quite believing it. “You're connected to the spectral covenant.”

“Not just connected to it, my dear,”

Lady Elara says. “I lead it. And you are here to try to crush us.”

“It doesn't have to be that way,”

Vex says. “You can submit to us. You would be useful servants in the fight against the emperor. Do that, and I will let you live.”

“You'll let me live?”

Lady Elara says. She laughs then, and as she laughs, I see figures detaching themselves from hidden places, partly hidden by her illusions.

The spectral covenant charges at those who would destroy them, roaring and shrieking as they come.

The two sides attack each other in a sudden blaze of violence. Beast whisperers leap out from their hiding places, catching Vex’s forces by surprise. Animals charge forward alongside them, starving hounds, big cats, even one of the crocodiles that stalks the tunnels.

They are prepared for this moment and Vex is not. It means that they slam into his forces with sickening violence, teeth and claws rending. In just seconds, the world seems to be filled with blood and death. I see a nobleman brought down by a beast whisperer whose hands turn to claws to disembowel him. I see the jaws of a crocodile clamp down on the leg of a mercenary soldier.

Vex is the first one to fight back, sending his knives singing through the air to plunge into flesh, bringing down people and animals alike. For all the power of the beast whisperers, they are not invulnerable, and several are brought down in that first rush of combat. Vex has brought allies with him with their own powers, and now the air is filled with the crackle of lightning and with bursts of flame.

The beast whisperers have some advantages, because they know the territory, know all the best hiding spots, and they have had time to bring animals to their side. That is good. It was part of my reason for telling them the danger was coming. If I had not, there was too much of a chance they would simply be wiped out.

Instead though I have sparked a bloody battle. Lady Elara wades through it, manipulating her illusions to try to distract her enemies even as she sends creatures against them. A flock of bats flies at the nobles, sharp teeth ready to bite until Vex sends his knives to intercept them.

“Hit and move!”

Lady Elara commands. At least some of the beast whisperers obey, running back into the tunnels, drawing the nobles and their allies forward. By drawing them out, they're able to bring them into more ambushes. This is far from the easy victory Vex was hoping for.

They start to pull back from one another, as if realizing that they're evenly matched. My fear is that they will be able to put aside their differences and work together, at least for now. I do not know if Lady Elara would lead such an alliance or if Vex would, but I'm sure it would not be good for the city either way.

Thankfully the emperor’s forces choose that moment to attack, ambushing both sides at once. The emperor has sent guards, but even they have powers of their own, some with elements flickering on their blades, some conjuring lights so there is no way to hide. If the battle was relenting a moment ago now it is a thing of utter chaos with losses on every side.

“Flee!”

Lady Elara calls out to the others. “We cannot fight everyone. Get to safety!”

She uses illusions to hide herself just as blades slammed through the spot where she was standing. I can see them miss her through the eyes of a spider that I send scuttling on the wall after her. I see her turn to that spider, and fear builds in me as I realize that she has sensed my presence there.

“You did this,”

she snarls. “I gave you everything and you betrayed me. I will kill you for this, Lyra.”

She slams her foot into the spider, and I feel a sudden burst of pain as if it were my own body bursting apart. I am flung back to myself, was thrown out of the heads of the animals I am looking through. The jarring impact of that is enough to send me stumbling to the floor.

The die is cast. I have betrayed both of the sides that offered me their help. I have given the emperor everything.

But I know he will not be grateful. I doubt he will live up to his word at all. He plans tomorrow to throw me into a battle against my fellow gladiators. And if he preserves Alaric’s life, it will only be temporary.

That is why there is another part of my plan. Forcing myself to my feet I leave my cell, hunting through Ironhold. I can hear the sounds of partying, those gladiators who have finished their fights celebrating. There is drinking and music, although still not on the scale that it would be at the conclusion of the games.

I head through all of it, reaching out to the animals of the fortress until I see who I'm looking for. I find her in the middle of the dining hall, surrounded by other gladiators. I make my way there, weaving through the crowd of them, avoiding the ones who want to pull me into dancing or into some drunken embrace.

There are no guards here, and that's a good thing. They've obviously decided to leave us to our own devices for the night. They will watch on the walls as usual. I look over to where the chalkboard stands. Tomorrow's bout has already been put up. A dozen names. Mine is up there. So is Bella’a and Cesca’s. So is Rowan's. We are all to fight until only one of us stands. The emperor is going to spend our lives in a moment of spectacle.

Some of them stand close to it, staring at it as if they cannot believe it. Bella is among them. I go to them all.

“You've seen what happens now,”

I say. “The emperor doesn't care about any of you. He means to have us fight to the death until only one of us remains. Entertaining the crowd has always counted for more than anything to him.”

Bella looks over to me. “That sounds as though you're ready to join my side in all this.”

I shake my head. “Your way of doing things is about tearing down everything you can, hurting as many nobles as possible. I don't want that. I'm not joining you. You’re all joining me.”

She looks surprised by that, although not as surprised as Rowan.

“What are you doing, Lyra?”

he demands. “I've told you I don't want any part of some rebellion.”

“What's the alternative?”

I ask him. “We all fight until one of us is left? What happens when it's just you and me left, Rowan? Somehow, I doubt the emperor will let you get away with faking your death again.”

He looks troubled by that.

“You've seen the way things are in the streets,”

I say. “You all have. You all want to be free, to get through your five seasons and walk out of here. But tomorrow, only one of us will get to live. I'm proposing a way where we all have at least a chance of surviving.”

“I could go to the guards,”

Cesca says.

“You could,”

I reply. “And then they would kill me, and you would still have to fight. Do you really think you're going to be the last one standing tomorrow?”

She looks sheepish.

“I know why you do the things you do, Cesca,”

I say. “The same reason so many people around here. You want to be safe. But there is no safety as long as we are trapped in this place.”

“You’re talking about escape?”

Bella asks.

I shake my head. “No, I'm thinking about something much bigger.”