Azarin took us up the coast a bit, but not sensing anything from the docks and boats, we turned inland. We went over neighborhoods full of homes and shops, then over areas of industry where Fairly had to fly between billowing smokestacks, and the ashen air reminded me of home.
From there, we could see but one tiny edge of the city, where the buildings went from dense to sparse, and then it was rectangles of fields as far as the eye could see. Past that were forests, and beyond that mountains, real ones, even bigger than the artificial Great Machine. Keep going that direction, and we’d eventually reach the Elemental Plane of Earth. Up would take us toward the Air Realm. It was doubtful scum like Gerzog would be in the countryside or the city’s upper areas, though.
There weren’t very many maps of the world. Not that wise men hadn’t figured it out over the last several thousand years, but rather because it was too hard to draw. The drawing in theEncyclopedia Ettymushad looked like a tangled mass of string. I’d seen others where it looked like a ball of yarn. Seven different cords, to be exact, all of them colliding, knotted together, and hopelessly entwined.
Everyone knew the Core was in the middle of the seven intertwined realms, heaven was above, hell was below, and the sun and moon and stars went around the outside. It was all very simple.
We turned back into the city, and I realized that even with this speedy method of searching, it was going to take a lot of luck. This place was just so damnedvast. Expanding for forty-five hundred years, the city covered valleys and hills and crawledup mountainsides and was built into plateaus, all connected by roads and highways. Then there were islands in the sky and bridges between them all. Amidst all that were all manner of conveyances, mundane and magical both. There were canals and rivers and lakes, with smaller craft travelling across all of them. There were millions of living beings down there, and time insufficient to fly past them all.
We flew back and forth for hours. It was a good thing today was Fireday, which was by far the warmest day of the week, because any other time, I likely would’ve frozen up here. Azarin was fine. She was used to this. All I could do was try and focus on the magic instead of the discomfort. Azarin had warned me we were running out of time, because Fairly was starting to get hungry and cranky. I really didn’t want to see what she did when she was famished and had two delicious meaty snacks conveniently on her back.
Then suddenly…
“I got something!”
Thirty-Eight
It had been the faintest sensation, but I’d been certain. That had beenmyspell craft.
I opened my eyes to find we were flying over an unfamiliar part of the city. It was tidy streets consisting of close-packed, white, four-to-six-story buildings. “Where are we?”
“I don’t know. I’ve not been here either.”
Glancing over my shoulder, the Great Machine was behind us, so we were on the opposite side of the market from the Slumps. Then I noticed at every corner, there was a church, and there was a particularly impressive, giant super church in the distance.
“I think this is the Cantor’s District.” I didn’t know much about the place, except that it was to aspiring priests, nuns, and monks what the Collegium was to us wizards. “Why would Gerzog be here?”
“Maybe he’s found religion and come to forsake his evil ways?” Azarin laughed at the idea. “Doubtful. Let’s go shoot him.”
The feeling was gone. “Turn back. The bullet’s behind us somewhere.”
“Hang on.” When Azarin pulled on the rope, Fairly shook her massive head in protest. She really was getting tired and cranky. “I know, girl. We’re almost done, then I’ll take you home, and Herbert will give you all the fish you can eat.”
The kwetzel relented and performed one of those rapid dropping spins. I suspected she did that just to damage my calm, but at least we were headed the right way.
I focused as hard as I could, fervently hoping I’d not imagined the sensation. Being a self-taught rank two, what the hell did I really know about tracking magic? But after a moment, I felt it again. “Veer left.”
Azarin did, and as we went over a big wooded estate, the feeling grew stronger. And once we were past its walls, it tapered off. By the time I spoke, it’d vanished entirely. “That’s it. The bullet’s in there.”
Azarin leaned down to pat the kwetzel’s neck. “Thank you. I’m guessing we’ve probably flown over two hundred miles back and forth today. That would’ve taken a lot longer to walk! Good girl. If Herbert doesn’t feed you extra fish, I’ll feed you Herbert… Now what?”
“Drop me off and I’ll go scout it out. Tell the others where I’m at, return Fairly, and then meet me back here. This district looks like it’s filled with decent folk. Be discreet. Make Trax wear his disguise.” That was just a shower curtain and a basket meant to pass as robes and a hat, but in a city with this odd a population, that actually helped a lot.
“Promise you won’t do anything stupid without me.”
I didn’t know if she was worried about me getting hurt, or if she just didn’t want to miss out on the revenge and payback. “I’ll try to stay near that big estate, but if Gerzog moves, I’ll have to follow him. I’ll leave a message somehow if he does.”
“You could always stab yourself and Trax can follow the smell.”
“Yeah, but he chastises me whenever I get injured.”
“He’s a big softy.” Azarin had slowed Fairly down so much that we were no longer gliding, and the kwetzel was forced to start flapping to keep us in the air. “I don’t see a safe place to put this big girl down around here.”
I’d been afraid of that, but there was a small field below us, and based off the grey lumps, it appeared to be where the locals had shoveled all their snow. I started unbuckling my harness. “Like you said. I’ve got an air glove.”
“You’re going to do it?” She was more excited than concerned, because this was the sort of ridiculous thing she’d do without thinking it through. “You mad man. Don’t worry. You’ve been practicing. You’re rank two now. Rank twos are practically indestructible!”
That was a load of trogshit, but her confidence helped. “I’ll be fine.”
