That’s news to me. Apprehension races through me. Will my fledgling power be inhibited, too?
The narrow crack in the cliff wall widens into a passage, and we press into it. There’s a gaping hole at the end with iron bars around the sides. Roshan leads me onto the metal platform of an ingenious pulley system, and we descend into a lightless cavern. The wind dies away above us in a mournful howl, and soon there’s nothing but silence and darkness as if we’re being swallowed up right into the maw of the earth. My heart rams into my rib cage.
“Are you all right?” Roshan asks.
“Fine. Descending into an abyss is not my favorite.”
Panting, I try to focus on my body instead of the encroaching darkness beyond the rickety platform. My stomach roils with each foot. I guess this is why the Dahaka have evaded discovery for so long. No one in their right mind would suspect that there was any kind of secret city buried in the heart of this barren place. It’s brilliant, actually.
After what feels like an eternity, we finally come to rest on solid ground in the depths of the seemingly bottomless canyon. Tiny, gridlike illuminated pockets are visible in the rock walls rising hundreds of feet above us—structures carved into the rock face itself—as wellas huge spindly towers of cubed light stretching upward for miles like massive stalagmites. An entire thriving metropolis built into the bedrock of the grotto. I marvel at the sheer enormity, ingenuity, and beauty of it.
In spite of the red dust coating the surface and the windstorm raging above, the landing area is clean and well run. The sounds of bustling life reach me even as the hum and drone of activity overhead draw my attention. Multiple bridges and roped platforms crisscross the width of the gap, stretching all the way up and leading into dwellings and buildings excavated from all sides of the massive cavern. Lichen and vines line the earthy walls from top to bottom, with various minerals glittering on the sides. It feels like a whole other world.
“Welcome to Nyriell,” the commander says, striding toward us from a second platform that has stopped next to ours. I rear back at the sight of him—despite the many descriptions of him in the newssheets, none of them managed to capture how huge and imposing he is. The man is a walking mountain! He laughs at Roshan’s wan face. “I trust that little squall up top wasn’t too rough for the two of you.”
“Squall, my ass,” Roshan grunts. “That was a fucking rock cyclone.”
I’m shocked at his reply, but the commander only claps him on the back with a gruff laugh. I frown—do they know each other? Or does Roshan’s charm work even on this man, the most wanted man in the kingdom. “Aran will get you settled in your quarters.” He eyes me next. “And you, cadet, how are you? In one piece?”
Surprised at his friendliness—the newssheets had always touted him as a man whose only language was violence—I nod warily. “Sure. Aside from nearly dying.”
His smile is enigmatic. “Death comes for us all. What matters is how you meet it.”
When he moves to speak with another soldier, I lean toward Roshan. “What was that about?” I whisper. “Does he know who you are?”
“Yes,” he says in a low voice. “I made an arrangement with him to bring us here. I did not want to compromise your safety. We have a... temporary alliance.”
I blink, stomach souring at the idea of trusting a stranger, even as Roshan’s motives warm me. “In exchange for what?”
“Information.”
The way he says it makes me think that this agreement has something to do with his family and the crown, but it still doesn’t fully ease my nerves. The more people who know our identities, the more vulnerable we are.
The enemy of my enemy is my friend,I repeat to myself. Roshan has gotten us this far. I trust him. We’ll just have to tread carefully.
A slim, handsome man dressed in tan approaches us. Pretty ultramarine tattoos are etched on one side of his face and throat, and a thick gold necklace rests below his collarbones, hanging around his shoulders. He looks more like a monk than a rebel, and we bid him good day.
He welcomes us, bowing deeply as if we are esteemed guests. “I am Aran. It is my honor. Follow me, please.”
“Pretty advanced setup here,” I whisper to Roshan as we trail Aran. “Where do you think they got the resources to build this?”
“The Dahaka are funded by many wealthy lords in each of the four houses,” Roshan whispers back. “Not everyone is an admirer of the Oryndhr monarchy.”
I narrow my eyes. “I thought you said your father was a good man.”
“He was. But since his illness, my brother has held the Imperial House’s ear, and in the last few years, the aldermen of the other houses have bowed more to him and his mother than they did to my father. Javed’s the reason they’re so keen to expand beyond Oryndhr’s borders at any cost. You don’t think they’re salivating at the chance to have powerful, magical creatures of their own?” Roshan’s voice deepens with feeling. “Greed and supremacy are powerful motivators.”
None of that surprises me.
“This way,” Aran says, leading us around a crowd and then swerving sharply. “Don’t look, it’s unpleasant.”
Of course, with that caution, I crane my neck to see the source of the disturbance. I take in a broken wagon, and to my horror, it’s full of blood-spattered bodies.
“What happened?” I blurt out.
“Scav attack,” Aran says, his eyes downcast as he waves his hand in a circular motion over his face down to his chest in some kind of silent blessing.
I exhale slowly. In the Dustlands between the cities, if anyone comes up against a Scav siege, the chances of being sold off are high. And if they can’t sell someone for gold or trade them for jadu to distill into the hallucinogen they call Jade, well... Scavs are known for eating humans. I bite back my revulsion and turn away from the remnants of the wagon. Those bodies could easily have been mine and Roshan’s, save for luck.
