Shadows Over Kaighal

Chapter 2-2

Koshmarnyk squatted outside a window, pressing his fingers against the brick wall and balancing on the narrow ledge. The night concealed him from any prying eyes, and though he didn’t enjoy the climb, risking it was a better choice than causing a bloodbath if he decided to simply enter Gildya Magna. As soon as he had his footing, he peeked inside, but the dark room gave no indication of who its inhabitant was. I wonder if he still lives here? Any changes in the adepts’ structures could have had his former colleague moved to another quarters, but Koshmarnyk counted on Gildya’s laziness and attachment to tradition. For the fearless inventors and explorers of reality they were supposed to be, they surely loved their conventions. At the same time, any adept would do to pass the message, even if it would take a bit more convincing.

He inspected the window. Up on the fourth level of the building, the adepts must have felt safe enough to refrain from installing shutters and traps. The reinforced crystal panes rested in metal frames that relied on a simple mechanism to keep the window shut. If needed, he could get inside within a heartbeat.

“It would be a waste if you fell and broke your neck.” The nightfly hovered by.

Koshmarnyk refrained from reminding Veranesh that he’d gone to Gildya at the demon’s very request. “I don’t suppose you have news from either of them?” He thought of the note from Kamira he found in the tavern room that confirmed the Devanshari man’s revelations about the mages’ trap. It explained where both Kamira and Veelk disappeared to and why.

“You needn’t worry. She is still alive, and the energy keeps flowing.” The nightfly shifted in the air, and the sound of its wings cutting the air was the only sound for longer than Koshmarnyk liked. “I know nothing of the mage killer, save that the dagger I gifted him is destroyed.”

Koshmarnyk could swear concern rang in the demon’s voice. He might have been fishing for an emotion that wasn’t there, or perhaps Veranesh preferred Veelk alive simply because the mage killer was Kamira’s friend. He sighed. Kamira claimed they could trust Veranesh, but Koshmarnyk still had his reservations. Even Suzhaul’s actions weren’t always what his people considered just or honest, and Veranesh wanted his freedom above all. He was so close to regaining it, he might care less about those he used to get it back.

“I’ll look for him once I’m free,” Veranesh said, to Koshmarnyk’s surprise. “If he went after the people sent to seal the ruins, they have to be somewhere between my prison and the city.” The nightfly flew down to his arm and coiled around it. “Call for me again when you’re done with that human.”

Inside, a man entered the room, and Koshmarnyk focused his attention on him. The warm glow of an imbued lamp lit a tired face surrounded by a stub of a beard and graying hair. Years certainly hadn’t been merciful to Adept Davshil.

Koshmarnyk knocked on the crystal pane.

The adept inside flinched, and his eyes widened when he recognized his guest. Hesitating, he glanced at the door, but then walked over to the window.

“Glad you’re still alive,” Koshmarnyk said as soon as Davshil let him in.

“Are you here for revenge?” The tired voice belonged to a man accepting his fate.

“If you think so, why did you open the window?”

Davshil snorted, and for a glimpse his face lost all the years, reminding Koshmarnyk of the much younger and more energetic man. “With all those demons you had put in your body, I wouldn’t be able to run fast and far enough. I’d be just living in fear trying to postpone what would come anyway.”

“You seem more solemn than I remember.” Koshmarnyk couldn’t help a quick inspection. Davshil looked healthy enough, so it likely wasn’t an ailment of the body, and they weren’t close friends even before Davshil and others had betrayed him. “I’m not here to kill anyone. I bring a message to Gildya.”

“A message? From whom?” Curiosity brought liveliness to the adept’s face.

“In days to come, a demon will pass over Kaighal,” Koshmarnyk said. “He’s after the high mages and wishes no harm to the people in the city, so it’s best if Gildya stays out of his way.”

Davshil stared at him. “That’s rather… unexpected.” He took a deep breath. “Is he one of those who attacked the overseas kingdom?”

Koshmarnyk offered him a half-smile. It was so like Davshil to fish for information, but Koshmarnyk wasn’t about to give him any openings for more questions. “No.”

“And you’re involved with him?” the adept pressed.

“I’m but a messenger, and all I ask you is to pass the word to the council.”

“You’ve changed.” Davshil shook his head. “I’ll deliver your message, but I can’t promise they will listen. And they might choose to warn the mages.”

“Warnings won’t change anything.” Koshmarnyk mustered confidence, wishing he had the demon’s certainty. It was Kamira’s fate at stake, after all. “The high mages will fall, and if the council wants to see Gildya still standing on that day, do your best to convince them to keep everyone out of that demon’s way.” He let a note of concern to ring in his voice, hoping Davshil would conclude that Veranesh was indeed a threat better avoided.

Davshil sat heavily in the chair. “But how can we be sure the demon won’t take advantage of our doing nothing?”

Of course, more questions. Koshmarnyk grimaced. Gildya might consider him a rogue adept dabbling in forbidden experiments, but had never given them a reason to doubt his truthfulness. “I told you, he’ll be here for the mages. Give him no grounds to attack, and everyone else will be safe.” Koshmarnyk sighed. As much as questioning of his word irked him, in a way, he could relate to his former colleague’s doubts. He himself was not quick to trust Veranesh. “Arm and prepare if it makes you sleep better at night. Just don’t be fools to attack first.”

“And what about you?” Davshil asked. “When I heard news of your escape, I thought you’d be far in the south now, or sailing for Juamha.”

“I had some debts to pay first.”

“I see.” Davshil shifted uneasily in his seat. “The Gildya will want to know who brought the message. And if they learn you’re still around, some might think it would be best to get you back where you were for the last ten years. Or find another, final solution.”

Koshmarnyk first tensed at the hidden warning but then relaxed. Whatever threat would come, it wouldn’t be Davshil’s doing, and it wouldn’t be now. “Back then, they only succeeded because I was foolish enough to believe they wanted to talk. If any troublemakers get the wrong ideas, be sure to remind them of it.” Issuing threats wasn’t his way, but he’d rather make Gildya back away than waste time and energy on fighting them. He just had to ensure they left him alone.

Davshil narrowed his eyes. “I never considered you a killer. Would you really turn against your former colleagues?”

“If they attack first, I won’t stand idle,” Koshmarnyk said coldly. “I won’t let them drag me back to another prison over their childish fears.”

“Childish fears? I’d consider attaching imbued stones to a living body a serious concern,” Davshil said.

Koshmarnyk knew better than take the bait. He’d had enough similar pointless discussions before Gildya turned on him. At the same time, ignoring such a remark felt like giving it credence. “I’m a living proof against your serious concern.” He walked over to the open window before the shortsighted adept could draw him into a pointless argument. “Be well, Davshil.”

“You too, Alluvendran.”

Koshmarnyk looked over his shoulder. That name was everything he had left behind. Everything that made him doubt Gildya—politics, backstabbing, jealousy, secrecy… The list went on longer than he cared to recall. Perhaps Davshil and others were right, and binding imbued stones with flesh posed unknown dangers, but for the inventors and explorers to give in to their fear and give up learning the answers meant going against everything Koshmarnyk used to believe Gildya Magna stood for.

Without hesitation, he descended the wall. At least Davshil had the decency to allow him to leave instead of raising the alarm. It seemed that threats, no matter how petty Koshmarnyk might consider them, worked well on people eager to subdue to fear, any fear.

Landing nimbly on the street’s cobblestones, he had a notion of severing the last ties with the place that offered little beyond disappointments and betrayals. With the message delivered, Koshmarnyk had no reason to go near there ever again… Even the revenge he had considered so often during his imprisonment faded in comparison to everything else the world of the free people had to offer. And the best payback he could possibly imagine for his former colleagues was to let them stew in their own inability to think beyond safe and comfortable ideas.

As soon as the shadows of a nearby alley offered him shelter from any prying eyes, he focused on the stone linked to Veranesh. The nightflies uncoiled from his arms in an instant.

“I’ve reached the surface. I’ll arrive in the city soon,” Veranesh said.

Koshmarnyk glanced back at Gildya’s building for the last time. He could only hope those thick heads would make the right decision. Otherwise, Kaighal’s streets could change into rivers of blood.