Chapter 18
Bang!
The wooden target splintered and broke apart. One of the dwarves grinned and started reloading, while his companions crowded around to examine the weapon. Jaas uncovered her ears and picked up the quill again.
It seems the people here have developed a new kind of weapon. A metal tube of sorts, filled with a combustible substance they call sparkpowder. When they put a metal bullet inside and ignite the powder, the shape of the tube expels the bullet at great speeds—much faster than a simple sling bullet, or even a longbow’s arrow. The device itself seems to have several names: matchlock, flintlock, flametongue, or just plain gun. I’m certain that this is the same kind of weapon that injured Arico.
It’s fascinating, really. No one on the Outside has ever had much use for flammable powders. These flametongues would be useless compared to a well-placed fireball spell. And yet their design is ingenious. A properly designed gun could have range and accuracy far beyond any standard bow or crossbow. If they’re ever able to increase the size of the gun, to propel bigger metal projectiles, they might even be able to knock down walls and towers!
She winced as another loud bang rang out, and thought back to her earlier encounters with the Sustained. I’ve seen these weapons often, but didn’t know what they did. Had I known, I would have been a lot more afraid. The idea that a projectile can be launched at such a great speed that it could conceivably pass all the way through my body without even slowing down is disturbing to me.
Jaas carefully looked back over her notes. Needle and thread used for healing. Aqueducts spread through dozens of different patches to distribute water. Now explosive powder used as a weapon? Time and again she’d been surprised by the marvels these people had invented without magic. Inventions they’d only achieved because they’d had no magic! And yet by comparison, a concept as simple as a well had apparently caused a great stir among them.
Arico had been sent off on another of his oh-so-important missions, but Alzhi and Durhu had come to bring her and Endu’s family back here. During the trip, they asked her dozens of questions about wells, including how best to dig and maintain them. Jaas only knew the basics of course; she was no farmer. She’d told them what she could.
Wherever ‘here’ was. It certainly wasn’t the Fishbowl, nor in the underground training area beneath it. They’d brought her inside a short, sturdy-looking building, and dwarven guards stood at all the doors. She’d seen walls at the edge of the patch as well, though they looked old and poorly maintained. At first Jaas had wondered what Endu and her two teenage boys were doing here, but then she realized they’d been brought back here for their own safety, and were being kept indoors for the same reason. Any navigator could look out from the threads at any time, and if the Sustained saw humans in a dwarven patch, unharmed, they’d know something was up.
Jaas mulled over the possibilities in her head. Endu had patched up Arico, after he’d first been injured, but then she’d returned to the village in Tellek patch. Then at the Ritual of the Waters, she and her boys had discreetly ignored Jaas and Arico in order to blend in with the others. Endu had hidden Jaas in her home briefly after the Rejoining. Was it possible that the Sustained had found out what Endu had done? Were they after her for helping Arico?
If so, Endu and the boys would most likely be moving into the Fishbowl like Jaas had. It looked like Jaas would have to give that puzzle box away sooner than she’d thought. That was fine, though. Jaas had spent an hour or two trying to solve it and open the box, but had eventually given up. She’d seen her share of blacksmith puzzles before, but they were nothing compared to the box itself. Codi Farrier was clearly a skilled blacksmith and designer.
The Fishbowlers had been welcoming and kind. Ansanah had been especially wonderful, helping her decorate her home in a comfortable manner, and her husband and son had shown up from time to time with her. Codi had dropped by once, with a gift of food. As before, he’d spent the next half hour talking about his niece and how wonderful she was.
To her credit, Endu seemed well at ease despite the walls around them. It seemed pretty clear that Endu was involved with the movement in some way. She’d probably been to the Enclave several times before. She was mixing sparkpowder in different quantities and purities, and had enlisted her sons to assist. They bored of it quickly though, and she eventually excused them to go play with the young dwarves at the other end of the hall.
A dwarven apothecary was present as well. Or a chemist, as he was called. Jaas wasn’t completely familiar with all the new words here, but that one was easy. It was just a shortened version of alchemist. He carefully poured and tested each new variation of sparkpowder in turn. Such innovation! His methods were almost exactly the same as the magical experiments Jaas remembered back in the Academy with her peers.
There was some activity from across the room. Dwarves had spilled in from the training yard outside, and Endu’s boys were with them. Veles stayed with the dwarves and tried out some combat moves with them. As he tried to wrestle one of the taller dwarves, Sabra ducked into the building as well. He was able to stand in here, but not up to his full height. He watched Veles straining to put his opponent down with a barely visible smile on his scarred lips. Meanwhile the older brother had apparently noticed her, and was approaching.
“Lady Senneco,” Balter said, giving a deep bow. “It’s a pleasure to finally meet you. I’ve looked forward to this ever since I first saw you grace our humble home back in Tellek patch.”
Jaas wasn’t sure what to make of this. His language was all out of place. Balter was a farmer, and he was only sixteen, but it was clear he was going out of his way to make a good impression on her. Slightly bemused, Jaas decided to play along. “Thank you for your warm welcome, Balter d’Endu,” she responded in the old Vasiri custom. He probably wouldn’t recognize the greeting, but it was the most formal thing she could think to call him. “And please, call me Jaas. I’ve never thought of myself as a lady anyway.”
“Of course, Jaas,” he said with a bit too much warmth in his voice. “May I join you?”
Jaas gestured to the seat next to her, and he wasted no time in sitting down, though he kept looking at her intently. “I’m told you’re from the Outside. You must have seen some incredible things out there. I’d love to hear about your adventures, if you’re willing. I’m sure my brother would want to listen as well,” he added, glancing critically over at Veles. “That is, if he can pay attention that long.”
“Another time, maybe.” Jaas said diplomatically, following his gaze. Veles was now sitting on the wooden floor of the large building, alone. The dwarves had mostly gone, and the remainder were sitting at the long tables on the far side, drinking together. Sabra took up an entire side of one of those tables, and had at least three mugs in front of him.
From what she could tell, Veles was staring down at the paneling of the floor with great interest, as if he was trying to figure out how it had been constructed. That made sense, actually. He’d spent his entire life in stra’tchi patches, where wooden floors were uncommon. Most of the buildings she’d seen back in Tellek had ranged between Arico’s simple log cabin, to stone and brick buildings on a rocky foundation, to the massive ugly brick factory in the middle of town. Even his own home had been stone and mortar.
“Actually, I’ve never been much of an adventurer either. Until I came here that is. But then, I’m sure you have a few stories of your own to tell,” she prompted Balter, hoping he’d stop staring at her and start talking about something else.
“Oh, yes,” he smiled broadly. “Have you heard of Ona?”
Jaas nodded fractionally. “I think I have. That’s a sport, right?”
“Only the best sport in the world,” he said excitedly. “There are teams all over the city, and huge tournaments happening all the time. Even in winter. In fact, there’s one happening at the Laentana itself!”
“Let me guess. You’ll be competing.”
“For the honor of Tellek patch,” he confirmed, sitting up a little taller with obvious pride. “I made our patch’s official team last year. The captain said I had real potential!”
Jaas smiled inwardly at that. In a village with fewer than two hundred people, an ‘official’ team had to be pretty small. Most likely Balter’s captain had been humoring him. Jaas listened offhand, as Balter began describing the game in detail.
It was clear that Ona wasn’t just a means to popularity for an already popular young man. It was also a passion of his—something he drew real meaning from. Despite his obvious excitement though, Jaas couldn’t quite get into the same spirit. Athletic challenges had never been that interesting to her, not even back at the Academy. Still, she was happy to listen to him ramble on about it, adding her own smiles and nods at appropriate points.
He was just getting into the intricacies of refereeing the games—what people could and couldn’t get away with—when his little brother spoke up from his own side of the room. “I challenge Sabra the Deathwatcher to an Earth Match!”
The entire room went dead silent. Even Balter shut up, looking at his brother in shock. Veles stood proudly extending his challenge through his stance. From what Jaas remembered, a Deathwatcher couldn’t refuse such a challenge. She’d seen Veles hanging around Sabra before, with a kind of hero-worshipping look on his face. No doubt he knew exactly what he was saying.
Sabra stood, pushing his chair back against the wall with a scraping noise. “How old is child?”
“Thirteen,” Veles responded defiantly. “But a Deathwatcher can issue a challenge at any age!”
Sabra snorted. “Child is not a Deathwatcher.”
“My name is Veles, and I should have been sent to the Deathwatch patch,” he insisted, and Balter shook his head, covering his eyes. Jaas spared him an amused look, but then refocused on the confrontation. Her memories of Arico’s Earth Match sprang back into mind, and she wondered what Veles could be thinking.
With a massive shrug, Sabra moved towards him. “Sabra will call child Bruise. Because when this is over, child will be covered with them.”
“When I win,” Veles countered, “you’ll name me a Deathwatcher. Deal?”
The dwarves stood up as well, and a few more who’d apparently been in the hallway outside joined them. Jaas and Balter moved a bit closer to see the fight—if it was to happen. “He’s been obsessed with Deathwatchers for years now,” Balter explained under his breath. “I never thought he’d be reckless enough to challenge one!”
“You could probably put a stop to this,” Jaas responded. “Sabra’s reasonable, for a Deathwatcher. He might let him go if you asked him respectfully.”
“Even if I did, Veles would never forgive me!” He paused, and a thoughtful look spread over his face. “My brother may be crazy, but he’s not stupid. He wouldn’t start a fight if he didn’t have at least a chance at winning.”
Frankly, Jaas couldn’t see how. Sabra was more than twice as tall as Veles—closer to three times, actually. He probably weighed eight or nine times as much. While Veles did look fit enough, being a farm kid, Jaas doubted he’d last more than a few seconds. And to win, he had to knock Sabra to the ground hard enough that he couldn’t rise!
Sabra nodded. “Very well. If child wins, Sabra names him Deathwatcher.” He stepped out into the middle of the wooden flooring, and Veles backed up a bit.
Jaas found that odd. Something didn’t feel right about the way they were standing. Veles didn’t look afraid, and he’d backed up intentionally, as if wanting something. While she tried to put her finger on it, one of the dwarves stepped up with a raised arm and lowered it between them.
Sabra moved just a bit closer, a mocking look on his face. Even as he approached though, Veles raised his right leg and stomped down on the floor as hard as he could. The wooden floorboard broke loose under his foot, and the longer end of it swung upwards, hitting Sabra right between the legs.
Jaas’ mind flashed back to Veles earlier, sitting on the wooden floor. He must have loosened the board then, and no one had noticed. Admirably, Sabra didn’t make even a sound, as virtually the entire room winced in sympathy. Even Veles looked grim, as he regained his footing and charged at the giant. He didn’t weigh much by comparison, but even his slight impact was enough to tip Sabra over onto the ground.
There he lay, clutching at his privates, his normally tanned face a noticeably paler shade. Veles stood and counted out to ten in front of everyone, and then leaned in towards Sabra. “You can name me later,” he said quietly.
Suddenly Jaas realized that Otrul had entered along with the other dwarves. He stepped forward, looking at Veles appraisingly, and then turned to the others. “An’ what have ye learned from this, eh?”
A rolling laugh spilled through the other dwarves. “Never let yer enemy pick tha battlefield!” One of them spoke up, and the others nodded in assent.
“Tha’s right!” Otrul said approvingly. “Yer ma’s lookin for ya, boy,” he said to Veles, and jerked his head to indicate the upstairs. Veles obligingly nodded and made for the door.
“I better go with him, in case he has any more crazy ideas,” Balter said disdainfully, but Jaas could hear the unmistakable pride in his voice as well. He took her hand in both of his. “If you need anything—anything at all—don’t hesitate to ask.” For a moment, Jaas was afraid he was going to kiss her hand, but he just bowed and left. She shook her head. A lover and a fighter. Endu must live a very interesting life indeed.
“Wait.”
The word was a bit strained, but loud enough. The boys paused at the entrance, and looked back again with everyone else. Sabra was standing up again, wincing. “Come here,” he ordered in a similarly pained voice. Veles smirked up at his brother and stepped back into the room, making his way surely and steadily over to Sabra.
Jaas felt a chill as she wondered what was going through Sabra’s mind. Was there some code of behavior Veles had broken? Was his cheap shot going to get him in more trouble than a defeat would have?
Sabra stood looking down at Veles for a moment, and then pulled a dagger from his belt. In one smooth motion he nicked his left palm, and then handed the dagger hilt-first to Veles. It was the size of a short sword to him by comparison, but that didn’t seem to bother Veles much. The boy did the same and they clasped hands together. Veles’ hand could barely wrap itself around a few of the giant’s fingers, but he didn’t seem put off by that. He held on firm, a triumphant look on his face, as blood dripped on the floor from both of them.
“As Deathwatcher, Sabra recognizes a brother. As warrior, Sabra recognizes a comrade. As exile, Sabra recognizes one who was lost. Sabra calls on all Deathwatchers to see, now, that this warrior has earned the right.” It was a meaningless statement, given that he was the only Deatwatcher there, but Jaas supposed the ritual was specific and unyielding.
The giant took a deep breath, and then continued. “Sabra names you a Deathwatcher, Veles. Let none question that in the days to come.”
The dwarves immediately started clapping, and Jaas joined in after a moment. Balter was clapping too, even as he shook his head. Jaas didn’t quite understand the importance of this moment, but she could tell a momentous occasion when she saw one.
-.-
A few hours later, Jaas found herself working alongside Endu at one of the chemist tables. Endu was no doubt there for her expertise, and Jaas out of pure curiosity. From what Jaas had been told, sparkpowder was perfectly safe as long as no one lit up a fire. Still, she preferred to keep her hair and eyebrows intact. Jaas had seen some of the dwarves sporting some interesting-looking burns.
Jaas related what had happened down below, and Endu nodded knowingly. Apparently her sons were well known in Tellek patch for both traits respectively. Balter used his skill with sports to get attention, and had learned to be quite charming when it came to the women back home. In contrast, Veles really had been obsessed with the Deathwatchers since he’d been a child. Apparently he’d almost been picked as a Deathwatcher during his Rejoining, but hadn’t quite made the cut. Ever since, he’d used that as a drive to be the strongest—or in this case the most inventive—fighter he could be.
That reminded Jaas of the other Rejoining, which she had witnessed. “That girl, Pelo. Is she all right?”
“She will be,” Endu assured her. “I wrapped her shoulder up with birch leaves. They’ll deaden the pain and hold off infection.” Her eyes were lost in memory for a moment. “They did the same for me when I was little.”
Jaas shook her head. The word infection was new to her as well. In the outside world, wounds often festered and got worse over time without magical intervention, but she’d never really understood why until she’d had a chance to talk to one of the dwarven healers here. Apparently, the world was teeming with living creatures that were far too small for the eye to see. They could enter open wounds and begin multiplying, causing swelling and rot. These healers (apparently including Endu) had found a number of materials that could kill these creatures and prevent such infections. Strangely enough, strong drink was one of those materials, which explained why Endu had used it on Arico just after he’d been shot.
Jaas never would have believed it if she hadn’t seen these creatures herself. The dwarven apothecaries had shown her a device made of glass lenses set on top of each other, capable of magnifying objects hundreds of times their original size. Jaas had her own magnifying glass, wherever her pack was now, but she never would have considered combining them. It was simply another miraculous device: apparently invented by Endu herself. Perhaps that was why the Sustained were after her.
The threads themselves were often used for medical purposes. According to Endu, if a navigator brought someone inside, and then extended a part of their body out of the threads, the person inside could study what their flesh and bones looked like. Endu seemed quite knowledgeable about how the body worked, despite not being a navigator herself. Until navigators had started using that method, it had been necessary to dig up the dead and study their remains. On the Outside, Jaas’ people simply relied on magic to keep people healthy. When Arico had been shot, Jaas had found the stitching process fascinating, but there was no need for that kind of study back home.
Now that she was able to open them up on the chemist’s table, Jaas could see the inner workings of each gun. Each one’s metal tube was straight as an arrow, of course, as it would have to be. Jaas looked down it before handing it over to the nearby dwarf. “Have you tried cutting curved grooves on the inside of the tube?”
The dwarf shook his head. “There dinnae be any reason for tha’. Tha tube needs ta be straight all tha way, or it’ll break open as soon as it’s shot.”
“No, nothing that deep. Just enough to get the bullet to spin as it leaves. When I throw my—uh, ball, it always goes faster if it spins.” Jaas smiled nervously.
She’d been about to say ‘throw her spells’, some of which were a lot like projectiles, but she doubted it would mean much to them. “For that matter, the bullets will move faster if they’re shaped like ovals and not spheres. If you can get them to fill the entire tube, that is. If not, you’ll just blow a bunch of fire out the end of it when you light the powder.”
“Hm.” The dwarf looked through the tube curiously. “Ye may be on ta somethin’, lass. I’ll look into it.” He took the gun past the shooting range, back into what Jaas assumed was a forge.
“We’ve never had to shoot very far here,” Endu said thoughtfully. “Not with buildings everywhere. Still, you never know. If that idea of yours pans out we might get better range on these. Glad to see you’re getting into the spirit of things.”
“Thanks.” Jaas started pouring powder with her. “So how did the dwarves invent these things in the first place?”
“From what Alzhi told me it was mostly by accident. Charcoal and saltpeter are everywhere, of course, and they had a supply of sulfur from the old mine on the south end of the Enclave. Almost a hundred years ago, a chemist named Ulrog Stoneheart nearly blew up his forge by accident when a supply of sulfur happened to spill into his fire. Stoneheart recreated the accident and eventually managed to refine the first packets of sparkpowder. Finally the old Hauld had it turned into a weapon, and after a few years sold it to the Sustained.”
That was surprising. “Why would they do that? I thought they hated the Sustained. Why give up such a big advantage?”
Endu shrugged. “I don’t know exactly. It all happened long before I was born. They used guns at first to show the Ascendant Guards what they were up against. Then they offered them in exchange for territory, including a piece of the Waters themselves. One of the dwarven patches borders the Waters now.”
“Ahh, so that’s how the dwarves have stayed independent. Because the dwarves have as much water as they need, the Sustained can’t control them like they do everyone else. That must have been some negotiation.”
Endu nodded “Alzhi says they have records of it in Penntu patch. I’d like to see them someday. Perhaps if we live long enough, we’ll get that chance.”
Jaas gave her a sidelong glance. “Alzhi tells you a lot, doesn’t he? Are you two close?”
“You could say that. We’re married.” Endu kept her face deadpan.
She kept working, but must have seen Jaas’s startled expression out of the corner of her eye, because the ghost of a smile touched her lips.
“We first met when I was a child,” Endu started explaining before Jaas could ask. Her smile stayed, though. “For my Rejoining, just before I was sent to Tellek patch. I was four, and he was sixteen. On his very first trip outside Sustained territory.”
It made sense that the Sustained got their navigators working early. In most nations around the world people were considered adults at sixteen, but children—especially boys—often had to shoulder real burdens starting as early as twelve or thirteen. Patchwork was apparently no exception. Arico had been about sixteen when he’d run off to be with that Sustained lady.
One thing didn’t add up though. “You were four? I thought everyone gets tested at age three.”
“Most people do, but I was a slow learner as a child. I never could quite keep up with the other children, so the Sustained agreed to delay my test until I was ready for it. It’s one of my first memories, actually: Alzhi sitting me down inside that brick hut and asking me questions.”
Endu sighed. “After that I was branded and sent to Tellek patch. I didn’t think I’d ever see him again, and it was almost twenty years before I did. By then Balter was six years old, and Veles was three. I took them in after they were branded, and raised them with a little help from my neighbors. Now, I can’t imagine my world without them.”
Endu smiled slightly and leaned back away from the table. “But try to picture this: there I was twenty-three years old with two little boys on either side of me, listening to the penet’s sermon. And there standing next to him was this newly assigned Sustained navigator, tall and strong. Looking almost exactly as he had when I was little.”
Jaas listened with interest, trying to envision the scene. “Was he bald then?”
Endu laughed lightly. “No, only Ascendant senior navigators have to shave their heads completely. He had a full head of hair back then, sandy-brown. I didn’t think he’d recognize me; it had been so long. But the moment he looked at me, it was plain he knew me. He still had that gentleness and kindness in his face, things that most Sustained would never show one of us. I think we fell in love right then and there.”
She took a deep breath and her voice sobered a little. “We had to keep it a secret, though. He would have lost his rank if word got out, and I probably would have been killed. Sex with a stra’tchi; what a scandal!”
Gentleness and kindness? From Alzhi? Jaas had difficulty believing that. Endu was most likely seeing only what she wanted to see. Still, she had married the man. She was in a better position to know him than Jaas would ever be. “And no one knows? Even after all this time?”
“No one outside the Enclave but the boys, Arico, and Durhu. And now you.” She gave a long look over at the guards by the door. “I know the dwarves aren’t very inviting, but they’re good people. Very loyal to their friends, even if we had to earn that loyalty.” Endu kept on talking about her past, as if a set of floodgates had been opened to let the words out. It was clearly something she needed to share, so Jaas did her best not to interrupt.
“That was about ten years ago, now. Six years ago Alzhi started passing information to the Hauld, and I eventually started working with them on chemistry and medicine.” Endu grimaced. “It wasn’t easy to convince them, either. Alzhi had to give them information for months before they even agreed to meet with us! It was years before the Hauld started relying on either of us. Eventually we were married in dwarven territory by one of their goti priests. The boys were our witnesses.”
Jaas waited for a moment, but it seemed she was done. “Was it the Hauld who told Arico that you and Alzhi were rebels? Resistance fighters? Whatever it is you call yourselves.” Jaas was still having difficulty classifying this movement. It seemed to fit in many categories.
“We just call it the movement,” she clarified with a smile. “And no. I told him myself, years ago.”
Jaas looked over at her in surprise. “But why take the risk? For all you knew he might have gone to the magistrate in Tellek patch.”
Endu shook her head. “I knew he wouldn’t. I had just found out that he was a navigator, so I could have turned him in as well. I decided to do what my father taught me. To share trust with him, so that he could return it. I told him everything so that he knew he could trust me as well. It wasn’t easy to make that leap, but it ended up being well worth it.”
“Is that why you and Alzhi are here in the Enclave? To share trust with the dwarves?” Endu had clearly earned the dwarves’ respect, but Jaas suspected that she had another reason for being here.
Endu didn’t look at her. She just kept pouring small amounts of sparkpowder. Her hand had started to tremble, and her eyes wandered over to the training grounds.
Jaas followed her gaze. Off in the distance Veles was wrestling with one of the dwarven trainees, trying to pin him to the ground, while Balter cheered him on. Veles was taller, but the dwarf was older and stronger, so it made for a good match.
The boys.
Like a rush of cold water down her back, Jaas finally put it together. They’d both reached out to the dwarves six years ago… four years after they fell in love. “You and Alzhi had a child, didn’t you? And then the Sustained took that child away!”
Endu nodded, and wiped at her eyes. “My little girl. Satya.”
Without even thinking about it, Jaas wrapped her arms around the older woman. “And you want her back. No wonder you do this!”
For a moment Endu gripped her tightly, before stepping back and wiping at her eyes again. Her voice turned back to its old businesslike tone as she went back to pouring powder. “I know it’s a risk, but it has to be done. At least I know that if anything happens to me and Alzhi, the dwarves will look after the boys. Sometimes working with the movement is all that keeps me from going mad. Especially when Alzhi is gone for weeks on end, undercover.”
Jaas could only imagine. She was no soldier, but she’d seen the sacrifices the people here had made. Endu had given up a lot to be here. “But Alzhi’s a navigator. Couldn’t he track your daughter down, and bring you to her?”
“He did find her,” Endu responded quietly, her voice rasping a bit. “But it was too late. It was the middle of winter, and Satya had a weak chest. She came down with pneumonia—a… sickness of the lungs—just after they took her away. It spread quickly, and she died before either of us could see her again.”
“Oh, Endu. I’m so sorry.”
Jaas didn’t know what to say. She knew her words were trite and useless. She’d never had children; her focus on work had always eclipsed any chance of that. How could she possibly understand Endu’s pain?
“I see her in the sha’haln sometimes, you know,” Endu said softly. “But she’s older than I remember. She’s playing with the boys, and they’re teaching her how to play Ona. Sometimes I’m there, teaching her how to-” she cut off abruptly, and turned away. Her shoulders shook for a moment, like a kind of silent sobbing.
Jaas put a hand on her shoulder. “You don’t have to talk about it.”
“No. I’m sorry. I want to.” Endu wiped her eyes and turned back. “I see myself teaching her how to be a healer. How to use a mortar and pestle to grind herbs. I see… Alzhi teaching her how to navigate. Sometimes I can see her entire life before me! She would have been so much better than me. So much greater.”
Her shoulders stiffened again, and her face faded back to its usual norm as she got back to work. “I know you’re sorry, Jaas. But not as sorry as the people who took her will be.”
