They had to stop by the hiding place where Kiri had left her dress on the way to the theater district so she could change and didn’t have to keep running on the rooftops. Garon suggested she could watch from the rooftops again, but she didn’t intend to be left outside. It had been miserable and crazy-making watching Neal walk in to talk to Garon without knowing what was happening.
The theater district was made up of a cluster of theaters lining the outer edge of a plaza that had at its center the city’s great stadium. The plaza stones were all different kinds and shapes, but perfectly fitting, laid out like a crazy quilt around the stadium’s high walls. The streets all around curved into it, so they jutted out like spokes on a wheel, and in between each pair stood at least one theater. Some of the other theaters were as massive as the Academy’s main hall, but the White Stage was only about the size of the warehouse where Kiri had met the outsiders. The building was made entirely of white marble, shot through with iridescent veins. The words WHITE STAGE was carved across the front facing onto the plaza stones in tall bold letters, flanked by two stylistically carved bird’s wings. Garon and Kiri entered by two sets of heavy wooden double doors (painted white to match the marble) with a small foyer in between. Though small, the interior was opulent. The second set of doors opened straight into the theater itself. It couldn’t have seated more than two hundred people. Most of the soft, cloth-covered chairs were empty, but a few people sat in the first two rows watching two actors who appeared to be rehearsing on the stage. One was reading from a loose sheet of paper. Nobody turned to look and see who had come in. Garon looked like he was about to call out, but Kiri elbowed him and shook her head for him to be silent. She had a feeling that their entry had been noticed, but it would be rude for anyone to interrupt the players. They should wait for a pause. So Kiri and Garon walked up behind the seated watchers, and waited for a break in the rehearsal.
The actor with the paper was in the middle of a melodramatic speech. He used his free hand to gesticulate as he forcefully spoke his lines. The actress on stage with him stood with one hand laid across her breast, watching him with wide eyes.
“-so many years have I searched for you”-he closed his fingers in a fist and raised it to the heavens. “-not knowing whether you yet lived” he opened his hand and laid it, palm outward, across his forehead. “-and to think all this time, here you have been” - wide gesture encompassing the audience “-in disguise-”
Witnessing the quality of the performance, Kiri decided she didn’t care as much about interrupting and cleared her throat loudly. Both actors rounded on her angrily, along with the three people sitting in the front row. One, a man with a gray-streaked beard and receding hairline, stood up. “What is it?” he demanded.
They had definitely broken etiquette, but there was no point apologizing. Kiri elbowed Garon.
Garon took a second to catch up, he had stared quite surprised at Kiri’s interruption. He shrugged it off and pulled the token coin out and showed it. “We’re here to speak to Tevin.”
“I’m Tevin,” the bearded man said. He edged into the aisle and called out to the others. “Ten minutes. Review the speech. A little less passion, I think.” The others dispersed, heading off to the wings.
Kiri and Garon ended up huddled close with Tevin in the aisle. Tevin leaned close to look at Garon’s token, then nodded. “What can I do for you, friend?” he asked
“We’re looking for the Enforcer,” Garon said. “Or more accurately, his beasts.”
“You’ll find them in the same place,” Tevin said. “He never goes anywhere without them, or they him.”
“They do now. He’s dead.”
“The market this morning,” Tevin said. “That attack was the beasts alone?”
Garon nodded.
“Well,” Tevin blew out a long breath. “I know where they would go, when they were with the Enforcer, but now...who knows?”
“Where?” Garon asked.
“You know there are tunnels all under the stadium?” Tevin said. “He would go down there. Exactly where...I don’t know. But in those tunnels.”
“How do we get in?” Kiri asked.
“There are many doors,” Tevin said. “Show your token at the south gate of the stadium. There’s an entrance there.”
One of the other people who had been watching the performers was edging up the aisle expectantly, clearly wanting to talk to Tevin, so Kiri and Garon took their leave. It didn’t seem Tevin had any more information for them.
There had been no more news of the beasts attacking or being seen in the city since the attack on the market that morning. It was Kiri and Garon’s hope that that meant the beasts were resting in their usual den. There was no reason to expect them to stay there past nightfall, the time of day when they had been known to be most active when they were under the Enforcer’s control. So Kiri couldn’t hide her irritation when Garon insisted on stopping in the plaza and reviewing their plans before heading to the south gate of the stadium.
“We don’t have time to go all the way over there and tell Tagg every step,” she told Garon. “If he’s even there. He seemed eager to go off and solve this on his own despite asking my help. And we’re right here by the stadium already; it would just be a long walk there and back to end up in the same place.”
Garon dug his booted toe into the groove between two of the plaza stones. “It’d be a mistake to leave Tagg out of this. He has more against these beasts than anyone. I’d resent being left out of it, if I were him. And we don’t have to walk over there. Use the stone.”
Kiri didn’t have an argument against this. Maybe there was more to her feeling of not wanting to involve Tagg than concern over time, but time was the only concern that mattered. So what if she didn’t like Tagg? She pulled the stone out of her pocket.
Garon placed a restraining hand on hers. “Not here,” he said. “We have to go out of sight first.”
Looking around, Kiri realized he was right. There were a number of people around. The plaza wasn’t crowded, but it wasn’t deserted either and there were no obstructions around to keep the people going about their day from noticing a man and woman disappear in front of them.
“You’re right,” Kiri agreed. “Behind that building.”
~
“Ugarga-” Tagg gabbled and scrambled backwards across the mucky stones as Kiri and Garon appeared in front of him. Colin’s mother, whose name Kiri realized she still didn’t know, cursed as she dropped the dried meat she had been carrying right into the thin stream at the center of the tunnel.
“We don’t have much time,” Kiri said. “We have a lead on where the beasts might be and we want to be there before dusk.”
Tagg regained his composure quickly. His voice was completely normal when he said, “You appeared like the Thief Lord’s men. The meeting must have gone well if he showed you how to do that.”
Kiri opened her hand and showed the black rock lying there. “It’s this. He called it a traveling stone. Too bad I have to give it back when the beasts are dead.”
“What’s your lead?” Tagg’s eyes stayed on the traveling stone. Kiri was ready to snatch it back if he tried to take it. “Where are the beasts?”
“We think they’re under the stadium,” Garon said. “We’re going to search the tunnels.”
Kiri ground her teeth a little, but didn’t say anything. She’d never really thought she’d be able to leave him behind, but she did not want Garon to come. He would just be in danger, and it was a harsh truth that he was unlikely to be of much use. Did he even have any weapon at all?
Tagg lifted his head and stared into Kiri’s eyes. She wanted to look down, but instead she lifted her chin and dared him to call her on her dismay at Garon coming along.
Tagg’s eyes flicked to Garon and he threw a little half-grin in as he said, “I’ll leave you two lovebirds to it, I think,” he said. “You go on to the tunnels and I'll drop a message to keep the Thief Lord’s agent in the loop. He won’t appreciate it if we don’t, and I have a business to rebuild.”
A business to rebuild? Kiri couldn’t believe he could be so cold about the deaths that were the reason he had to “rebuild” but there wasn’t any time to deal with it, or him, or anything else. “Fine,” she said. “We’ll see you back here after.”
“But there won’t be any more reason to hide, right?” Colin said. He had been watching the whole exchange eagerly, but even he had the sense not to ask to come along.
“I’ll want to make sure with the Thief Lord’s agent first,” Kiri said. “But yes, when this is done, you should be able to go home.”
“Let’s go,” Garon said. He put a hand on Kiri’s shoulder and nodded to her.
Kiri gripped the stone hard and closed her eyes. “Faiga.”
This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it
~
The South Entrance to the Stadium was a broad, high arch closed off by a metal-post fence just a little taller than a grown man. There was a gate at either end. One was chained and locked. The other stood open, blocked only by a bored looking man in a rumpled blue coat who was picking his teeth with what looked like a raven’s feather.
“No entry until one hour before the show,” he said as Kiri and Garon approached. When they kept coming, he looked annoyed and tossed aside his feather. “Look, no exceptions,” he said. “And if you’re with the players, this is the wrong way. They’re over by the-”
Garon pulled out his token and it held it right in the man’s face.
The gate guard didn’t look any happier but he stepped back and out of the way. “Go on in, friend,” he said. As Kiri and Garon slipped past him through the open gate, he bent to the ground and picked up his dropped feather and went back to picking his teeth with it.
“Let’s find this entrance.” Kiri stayed close to the wall of the arch as they proceeded into the stadium, hoping to see some gap or entry soon. “I want to get away from this guy.”
“I don’t know which is more disgusting,” Garon whispered back. “That he was picking his teeth with a feather, or that he went ahead and kept doing it after it fell on the ground.
Kiri shook her head. “I don’t know--hey, look here.”
There was a break in the smooth wall of the arch right beside them. It was a narrow gap, narrower than an ordinary doorway. They’d have to turn slightly sideways to enter. The stone floor sloped sharply down into blackness.
“Do we have a torch?” Garon asked.
“Not exactly,” Kiri said. “But I have a sort of light. We just need to get past where the guard can see us.” Garon looked at her, and she waggled her fingers.
“Right,” Garon said. “We don’t want him to see that.” He put one hand on the wall and set off down the slope.
Kiri followed behind him with one hand on the wall and the other on his back. The only lucky thing was that after a few steps the passage widened enough they didn’t have to sidle along anymore. regretted that she still had her dress on. It would’ve been easier to walk in the dark like this without stumbling over skirts. But she didn’t want to shed it now and leave it here in the dark. She might never find it again, and she couldn’t afford to buy a new one if she didn’t have to. They kept walking for a little while past when it was so black that everything seemed gone except the two things Kiri had her hands on: Garon’s warm back and the cold stone wall.
Garon stopped. “Okay, this is probably far enough. Fire it up--or whatever.”
Kiri removed her hand from his back. If it weren’t for the sound of his breathing she might have been alone then, especially as she backed up a few steps to make sure she didn’t accidentally hurt Garon when she started their light.
She curled her fingers and twitched them just right and a tiny ball of flame burst alight in the center of her palm. She still couldn’t see around her, so flicked the tips of her fingers again and the ball flared larger, swirling a little as it did. Now the flickering light reached the walls, and Garon’s face, staring and grinning from a few feet away.
“Amazing,” he said, and his hand reached out. “Can I-”
“Don’t touch it!” Kiri snapped. “It hurts anyone who isn’t me!”
“But it doesn’t hurt you?”
“Sometimes it’s really hot,” Kiri said. “Really hot. But I’ve never been burned.”
“Strange,” Garon said. “We’d better get back to searching. I hope that light doesn’t scare the beasts off.”
“There’s no help for it,” Kiri said. “We can’t very well just stumble around in the dark. And it might not scare them. It might attract them.”
“I’m not sure which I’d rather,” Garon said.
“The latter,” Kiri said. “We’re here to fight them, after all.”
“True,” Garon said. “But I still don’t want to want to be attacked by monstrous beasts.”
They walked on in silence. Kiri went first now, holding out her fiery hand to light the way. Her arm started to get tired, and she wished she could give the other one a try, but it wasn’t a practical proposition. Although her power didn’t seem to burn any part of her, only the one hand could hold and control it at all.
There were many passages, most opened up on the right wall, but occasionally there would be one on the other side. It was down one of these that Kiri caught the sound of movement. It was a very organic noise, like scritching and breathing.
“This way,” she whispered to Garon. “I think they’re close.”
A few steps down the passageway a sudden breeze ruffled their hair. The fire in Kiri’s hand didn’t stir even a little, emphasizing the fact that it wasn’t really fire.
“There must be a larger chamber ahead,” Garon whispered. “Get ready.”
The noise got louder. They moved forward cautiously. Just ahead, the walls fell away from the circle of light. It was impossible to see exactly how far into the blackness this new chamber went.
“Wait,” Kiri hissed. Garon was still standing in the passageway. He obediently and silently stopped, patient for Kiri to explain what was going on.
“Just ahead,” Kiri said. “Red eyes.”
Prowling just at the edge of the light, a pair of red eyes moved slowly at about shoulder-height. The light did not show the beast’s full shape, but picked out occasional hints of movement. A leg here, maybe a claw there.
Kiri licked her lips. She needed to prepare for an attack, but it meant their light would become unreliable. She would have to work with only the flashes that the lightning would give her. It seemed too dangerous. There were two more beasts somewhere out there. Or…
She lunged abruptly forward and slammed her hand into the ground. A wave of fire rolled out, forming a half-circle that moved away from her and into the prowling beast. It yowled and leaped backwards.
With the fire acting as a shield as it gradually died down, Kiri took a moment to study her next move. Her hand was already clenched, gathering energy. She hoped that the beasts would be frightened enough to stay away and give her a chance to spot them. Being outnumbered, she didn’t want to barrel into full-on combat. Her best shot was to be careful and pick them off. With the arc of fire some five feet away from Kiri and Garon the room was now much better lit. It was a large box-shaped room, and what she could see of it was rough-cut stone. It was clearly man-made, not natural, but not by someone who cared much what it looked like. There was a large hook set in the center of the floor, maybe to tie the beasts to. She could see the beast that had been guarding the entry. One of its legs was smoking a little. Another beast crouched by the wall. Probably too far away from the first to get them both with one targeted attack. The light didn’t quite reach the far corner of the room, leaving it in deep shadow. The third beast was likely there.
A small shick sounded behind her, and Kiri found herself surprised to realize that Garon must have a blade. It was a relief to know he was at least somewhat prepared. She didn’t to turn and see what kind he carried. She had to keep her eyes on the beasts.
There was only one way to do this. Kiri wasn’t sure how long her wall of fire would take to go down. She needed to act now, while it would afford her and Garon the protection they needed while she regained energy between attacks. It only took a moment for her to gather power after sending out lightning, but a moment would be enough for the beasts to strike.
Kiri tried to keep both the beasts in sight as she lifted her hand and let loose the lightning.
The air crackled, and the hair along her arm stood up, and white light arced straight to the guard beast’s fur. But at the same moment as it stumbled and began to fall, Kiri heard behind her a rushing, slamming, and a grunt from Garon. She immediately stopped watching the other beast and spun around.
Garon was struggling on the ground with a beast more than twice his size. It was a confusion of limbs and fur and Kiri couldn’t tell what was going on, but someone had been hurt, blood streaked both man and beast.
Heat was building in her hand, and she wanted to strike, but she couldn’t without risking hurting Garon. And then she saw it out of the corner of her eye, the beast she had taken her eyes off of, jumping over the flames to strike at her.
She spun away only just in time. Her hair ruffled in the wind from its passing as the beast alighted near-silently on its broad paws.
Kiri had no time to waste. She launched as much power as she could, straight at its snarling face.
It was so bright that everything turned white. The crack left her ears ringing. As the scene before her resolved again out of the whiteness, Kiri saw that the beast she had struck lay on the ground, charred black. Near its head, Garon and the other beast struggled, still locked in a fight to the death. And still, Kiri could not strike the beast like she had the others without risking Garon.
She lunged forward but stopped just past their range. This time she gathered only a little bit of heat, and nimbly she lunged for the beast’s long tail, trailing away from the combatants. At the same time, she released the heat from her hand and tugged hard.
The beast howled and rounded on her, leaving Garon behind. Kiri backed up quickly, nearly tripping over the charred beast. The beast was going to reach her before her hand was hot again. Suddenly the advancing beast stopped and yowled. Garon had plunged his knife into its leg. It snarled and rounded on him, the movement yanking the knife away from him. Before it could strike, Kiri unleashed her lightning, a white arc right to its head. It fell dead immediately, red eyes staring out of its face.
Kiri straightened up and let out a long slow breath. Garon, laying on his stomach behind the dead beast, gave her a shaky grin.
“Are you alright?” Kiri asked.
“More or less,” he said. “You?”
“Completely,” she answered. “Let’s see your ‘less’.”
He rolled over onto his back and swung his legs around so she could see them better. One of his trouser legs was soaked with blood. “Bit me in the leg,” he said through gritted teeth. “Hurts.”
“Looks like it.” Kiri stepped around the beasts’ bodies. The circle of fire was almost out completely. It had lasted longer than she hoped, and it gave her an idea. She formed a ball of fire as she had on their walk through the tunnels, but instead of keeping it in her hand she set it on the ground nearby. It would burn for a little while before fading out, and this way, her hands were still free to dress Garon’s wound.
“I don’t have any good bandages,” Kiri said. “Sorry, I didn't think ahead there. But I could use your knife to cut some strips from my dress.”
“Why are you still wearing that?” Garon asked. “Aren’t you the Firebrand right now?”
“Forgot to change,” Kiri said. “It almost tripped me up a couple times, too. I can take it off now.”
Garon grinned. “No, no,” he held up a hand. “We’ll just dress it back with the boy and his mother.”
Kiri looked down at his leg and shook her head. “I don’t think you’ll be getting around on that.”
“You keep forgetting,” Garon said. “Use the stone.”
“Oh, right,” Kiri brought out the stone. “I guess it’s not such a big deal that I’m supposed to give it back now. I’d never remember to use it, anyway.”