Page 5

Graz

A fter my brush with Gusak, I meander back out to the massive cavern that the clan calls home. Brightly-colored crystals cover the walls, coming in wild hues of pink and blue and purple, even some green. It’s a beauty which hides just how dangerous it is down here. The stone stairs wind around the cavern in a spiral shape, and if you were to slip, you’d tumble down and get speared on a crystal far down below.

The Grand Chieftain doesn’t know this is down here, thankfully. Before I came to occupy it, my shop was little more than an abandoned house used as a front for the clan. But when Gusak realized my proclivities were not toward the criminal like my best friend—and I built his elevator for him—he stationed me in the shop to keep an eye on things above ground and disguise his shipments.

There’s a campfire going on the third level, so I step off the stairs there to see who might be around home base. An orc I don’t recognize sits by the fire eating from a bowl, but his dark demeanor keeps me from greeting him. A young trolless sits on the opposite side, with red hair in a smattering of braids around her head. I think she’s one of Gusak’s newest recruits, so he keeps her on close missions.

How long ago she was living on the streets? That’s how he discovers us, after all, by scooping the dregs of society up off the floor and giving us a place where we can belong.

If you rescue a dog and feed it, you have that dog’s loyalty, and he knows that.

“Hey,” the trolless says as I squat by the fire near her. “You’re the inventor, right?”

I give a disaffected shrug. “Yep.”

She sidles a bit closer. “Nice to finally meet you.” We shake hands, and hers lingers for much too long on mine.

This would be the perfect opportunity to enjoy a soft cunt and release all this festering hunger inside me. She stays close by as I find something to eat, and makes small talk when I take up residence next to the fire. I’m pretty sure she’s interested, which doesn’t happen to me often.

But ever since I got back, I have an unbalanced feeling, like my head isn’t on straight. And though it’s early, I already feel tired. My cock has fallen utterly silent.

Eventually, I get to my feet and say goodbye, much to her disappointment. But she’ll find someone else, I’m sure of it. Then I get in the elevator and head back up to my shop.

Besides, I have work to do before I’m ready for my next trip.

* * *

Vienne

The entire way back to the King’s city of Culberra, Raiden is cold and unyielding. He barks orders at me even when there are more novice recruits among us who should be doing his bidding. There’s nothing I can do to get back into his good graces after turning him down, and he makes it known.

I suppose it’s what I expected from a military man. His ego is bruised, and now he needs a way to vent his frustration.

I roll my eyes and do what he says when he says it. We may be the History Corps, but we still have our chain of command. It’s only another few days until we reach the train, and then we can load up and speed on to Culberra.

Endlessly I play with the withered worm in my pocket, hoping for a moment alone so I can investigate it thoroughly. I fear it as much as I’m dying to learn more about it. It’s clearly powerful, if it can grant the ability to communicate across language barriers. And somehow, that orc was able to summon that scaly beast from somewhere else. It appeared like...

Well, magic.

At last, we arrive in Culberra, rolling to a stop at the city station. Raiden goes to meet with the King and discuss our findings, leaving the rest of us free to return home at last.

My apartment is one of four in a small building, and I’m overwhelmed with relief when I open my front door. It’s been a month since I was here last, and I can’t wait to sleep on my soft bed again, even though it all smells a little dusty.

I enjoy my work with the Corps, and traveling around the world has always been a dream of mine, but that doesn’t mean I don’t appreciate a down mattress and a feather pillow from time to time.

The moment I lie down, I’m thinking about the worm, about the orc in the ruin and what he was after. Somehow I need to get to the Stoneteeth without Raiden and the rest of the team at my back. I suppose that depending on our next assignment, I could feign illness of some kind, or perhaps put in for a vacation. But I’ve never skipped a mission, never missed out on an opportunity to go somewhere new and explore the world beyond human territory, and if I did it would certainly make Raiden suspicious.

This is more important than any of the work I’ve done until now, I know that. Whatever we found in that swamp, it’s bigger than the King’s History Corps.

I toss and turn all night, unable to quiet my mind. Whenever I close my eyes, I can see that purple glow of magic around the edges of my vision, as if it’s closing in on me.

* * *

The following day, we all meet to debrief and receive our next assignment. Raiden is rather nasty, and I wonder how long he’s going to pick on me before he gets over it. Maybe I should give up and sleep with him again so he leaves me alone.

We all gather around the table, and Raiden relays orders. After finding very little in the swamp, the King’s is no longer interested in ancient ruins. Instead, some sailors have discovered an old shipwreck hidden along the coast and he wants us to take stock of it. As always, the unspoken question is whether we’ll find some treasure buried inside.

That’s what the King is after: rare artifacts, gold, or anything that will translate into wealth. Though he is intrigued by mysteries and new discoveries, which I think is as much entertainment as he gets in his old age. He loves ancient tombs, where kings and queens of the past are buried. He sits, rapt, as Raiden tells him about the offerings we found—with drawn diagrams, of course—and the riches they tried to take with them into the next life. Of course we bring him the loot, too.

I wonder if the King will want to be buried with his wealth. He’s long past his prime, so it’s not too far off. He’s probably considering his own immortality even now.

But the coast is not the direction I want to go; my destination is much farther inland. I know Raiden would never allow me to go do my own investigation, even if I had a plausible reason.

After briefing, the Corps disbands for the night, preparing to leave in two days’ time. My mind whirls, trying to think of reasons I could avoid this mission. I sit in my apartment alone in the dark, peering down at the dried-up worm in my hand. It still glows purple inside, as if the worm body is merely a disposable casing for the magic hidden there.

I know I need to be careful with it, whatever it is. I only have one, and who knows when I’ll stumble across another?

This ancient civilization, whoever they were, had access to something this powerful. Powerful, but hidden away. So why are they gone now?

I can’t keep puzzling over this alone, going around in circles. It’s time to go find Mom.

* * *

Near where I live—close to the King’s castle—the streets are straight and clean, the horse shit quickly cleaned up after it falls. Down in the belly of Culberra, though, things are different. This is where goods are dealt behind closed doors, and children and animals run wild in the filthy alleyways.

This is where the archives are, hidden away in the bottom of the old city.

Now I’m beginning to wish I’d never given Raiden the information Mom found while she was sorting old books. If they are indeed marking the locations of more magical ruins, it could be a very dangerous thing for him to have. But they were just hunches, legends, about places around the world that ancient people had lived. Hopefully he won’t think twice about it after my lie in the swamp.

At last, I reach the archive, which is tucked inconspicuously into a darkened stone doorway. I rap on the heavy wood door and immediately someone calls, “Hold your horses, I’m coming.”

It opens with a creak so loud I squint. Mom stands in the doorway, head cocked.

“Vienne!” The deep grooves in her face lift as she smiles. “Come in, come in. You haven’t been down in the dregs here for a while.”

“Sorry. Went on a long mission.”

I can barely see anything when the door to the archives closes behind me, but it’s designed this way on purpose. Sunlight would damage much of the collection, so it’s all lit by candles.

“How was your trip?” Mom attempts to tidy the mess on her desk, piling papers up haphazardly. “Did you find anything?”

I’m not really supposed to tell anyone about the History Corps’s activities, but of course I ignore this direction when it comes to my mother. I sit at the chair across from her on the other side of her desk and lean back.

“Oh, yeah. I found something.” I fish the worm out of my pocket and set it on the desk. “I found this.”

Her eyes grow huge. Tentatively, she reaches toward it.

“Be careful,” I say. “I don’t know what it can do.”

Mom pauses, because if there’s anything I know about my mother, it’s that her anxiety of the outside world isn’t limited to leaving the archives. Anything foreign or strange makes her quiver.

“What am I looking at?” Mom adjusts her glasses and peers closer.

“Magic, I think.”

Her head snaps up. “Pardon me?”

So I recite the whole story from start to finish about the orc I met, about the stone that rose out of the floor, even about lying to Raiden. The wrinkle between her brows grows deeper and deeper.

“Vienne,” Mom says in a warning tone. “You are getting into something very serious. Whatever this is, it’s beyond dangerous.”

I sit up in the chair at the severity of her tone. “What do you think I should do?”

I’ve always known what I want, always gone after it with relentless abandon. I’ve crossed oceans and deserts, and Mom has always been the one to temper me, to bring me back to earth and make sure I never end up like my dad. He was also always searching for answers and digging up the past to make sense of it.

He crossed the ocean, intending to do research on the other continent, but his ship vanished. When we never heard word, it was assumed the ship went down in an ocean storm. I never saw him again.

My mother sits in silence for a long time, examining my specimen.

“What if this trollkin you met finds it first?” she says. “What if he’s the one you should be afraid of? Maybe it’s up to you to go and make sure that doesn’t happen—that more magic doesn’t fall into the Grand Chieftain’s hands.”

I couldn’t say why, but I feel certain that’s not the case. That orc must be a free agent. He was clearly afraid of what would happen if anyone else found out, so I’m nearly certain he’s keeping the discovery close to his chest.

“I think you should go to the Stoneteeth.” Mom crosses her arms. “As much as I hate to suggest you put yourself in danger by heading into contested territory, you’re also the only one I would trust to encounter more magic and do what needs to be done.”

I tilt my head. “What needs to be done?”

“Getting rid of it, of course.” She gestures with her chin at the worm. “This is immensely powerful, from what you’ve told me. Should it fall into the wrong hands, it could change the course of the entire world.”

I try to imagine what would happen if some asshole like Raiden got his fingers around something like this, and protectively I sweep the worm back up into my hand.

“You want me to destroy it.” I tuck it away in my pocket once more. The thought had never occurred to me, but I understand where she’s coming from. And maybe she’s right. Maybe something like this is from another time, a time when the world was different. Now, given the way things are with war always about to break out, it may be for the best to simply eliminate the threat.

If that’s what I need to do, then I also need to get there before that orc does. And that means I have one choice.

When I get home, I start throwing gear into bags, knowing I’ll have to leave first thing in the morning. I scribble out a note and address it to Raiden. Partway through, my vision starts to go blurry, but I hastily rub my eyes and finish up, signing my name at the bottom.

It’s my resignation letter.