Fret not, dear heart, let not them hear
The mutterings of all your fears
The flutterings of all your wings
-- The Amazing Devil, The Horror and the Wild
After so many years of knowing Abi and the insanity she seemed to attract, Irímé hadn't thought anything could surprise him much any more. He was wrong. Several times during Lian's story he interrupted with, "You have to be making some of that up!"
"That's what I thought too," Abi agreed. "He hasn't even told you about his time as a spy yet."
Irímé stared at her, then at Lian, then shrugged helplessly. "Go on."
The four of them had moved to a small room that had no dead monsters lying around and an open window in case they needed to make a quick escape. There were no chairs, so all of them sat on the floor. Shizuki leant against Irímé's side and apparently went to sleep. Irímé draped his coat over him.
Lian finished with, "So we came here to get rid of the monsters. I think we've destroyed all the ones in the spaceport. Now we just need to find all the ones in the rest of the countryside."
"How do you intend to do that without killing innocent people?" Irímé asked suspiciously. From what Lian had said he had an unpleasant suspicion that the answer would be 'I don't care how many innocent people die'.
Abi spoke up. "I thought we could find a way to lure all the monsters into one place. That other one, the one at the party, it came to find me. Maybe these ones will too."
Irímé looked down at Shizuki. "First we've got to find a way to get Shizuki home."
"How?" Lian asked. "None of us know how to fly a spaceship, there aren't any pilots around, and I certainly don't intend to take a child through the Void."
Irímé turned to Abi for explanation. She shuddered and muttered something about birds and skeletons.
"We've got to get back home as quickly as possible," she said. "It's not fair to leave Mirio in that mess."
"That mess you got him into," Lian muttered. "Has it not occurred to you that when we go home, I'll be expected to marry him because of your idiocy?"
Abi winced. Irímé looked blankly at her, trying to make sense of this conversation.
"You could always say you failed to complete the challenge," Abi suggested.
Lian rolled his eyes. "I think it would be less embarrassing for him and me if I simply stay here and never return to Gengxin."
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In spite of how unexpected the attack was, there were pockets of survivors hidden throughout Gradoné. Some had taken shelter in cellars. Some had climbed onto roofs. Some had simply been lucky enough to live in houses that the monsters couldn't get into.
The ones hiding on roofs were in the perfect position to see where the monsters went. As soon as they left one area, a survivor kept watch from above in case they returned while another survivor climbed down and hunted for anyone else who was still alive. In this way they managed to meet up with some of the people hiding in houses or cellars. By carefully climbing from building to building they made their way into the city centre, in search of a still-functioning radio.
Finally a survivor found one in the city hall. She turned it on and sent an urgent message to Saoridhlém.
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"Have you heard? A group of serial killers are murdering people on Muirus 9436!"
"They're not serial killers. I heard they belong to a cult that tells them to murder everyone who doesn't follow it."
"No, you're wrong! The message says they're flesh-eating monsters!"
"And if you really believe that, perhaps you'd like to buy a house overlooking the sea in Feranir[1]."
None of the gossipers paid much attention to the woman sitting at the table behind them. Haliran, on the other hand, listened to every word they said.
Since her escape she'd spent most of her time in cities where it was easy to hide. She'd hidden outside a blacksmith's shop until the blacksmith left, then used his tools to remove her handcuffs. Then she'd stolen clothes from a clothesline, picked a woman's pocket for money, and made her way to the nearest large city. She had no clear idea of where to go or what to do beyond 'evade capture for as long as possible'. The only thing she knew for certain was that she wanted to get revenge on Ilaran and Siarvin. But she also knew that they would be waiting for her if she tried to attack Tananerl. She had to find a more roundabout way of dealing with them.
This message from Muirus 9436 was exactly what she needed. A little bit of digging and she discovered that the incompetent necromancer had visited that planet shortly before the first report of walking corpses. A few questions asked to the right people and she discovered that Abihira had disappeared, possibly to Muirus 9436. Haliran easily put those facts together and deduced that there really were flesh-eating monsters on the loose.
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Years ago she'd met another necromancer, a much more competent one, who kept a cellar full of those monsters. Anyone they bit turned into one of them. A plan began to form in Haliran's mind. If she could get one of those monsters from Muirus 9436 to Vanerth, if she could set it loose in Tananerl, it would get rid of Ilaran and Siarvin for her.
She just needed someone to help her catch it.
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"The first thing we need to do is find the best place to lure the monsters to," Abi said. "It has to be somewhere with nowhere for them to hide and also not near the rest of the city."
Irímé looked out at the spaceship's landing area. "If we move that ship out of the way--"
"No," Lian said. "Too many buildings around. Too many ways for them to escape. We need somewhere we can trap them, somewhere like--"
"An outdoor theatre?" Irímé suggested.
The other two considered this.
"That would work," Abi agreed.
Lian nodded. "As long as we find a way to lock all the doors. Are there any outdoor theatres in this city?"
Abi looked out the window. It was still only mid-afternoon and there was plenty of sunlight. "I suppose I could try to find one."
Irímé did a double take. "You can't go outside! It's not safe!"
"Not on foot," she agreed, "but I was thinking of flying. I've got to get used to it somehow, and nothing's trying to kill us right now so this is as good a time as any." She looked at Shizuki, still fast asleep next to Irímé. "But we really have to get him home somehow. I'm going to ask Ilaran if it's okay to take him through the Void as long as he promises to keep his eyes closed."
Lian looked at her as if she was out of her mind.
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Ilaran had heard many strange things from Abihira, but this took the cake. Take Shizuki through the what now?
The Void, she repeated, which really didn't clear things up. It's... It's like teleporting but more disturbing.
That was all he needed to know. No. Absolutely not.
How are we to get him home, then?
You're with him. So is Irímé. And Lian may not be the sort of person I'd want around Shizuki, but I don't think he'll harm him. He's safe enough with you for now.
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When she finished speaking to Ilaran Abi turned to the other two with a thunderstruck expression. "He thinks Shizuki is safe with us."
"Well, that's true, isn't it?" Lian said. "He's certainly safer with us than he would be going through the Void."
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Haliran knew plenty of people who would be interested in a walking corpse. Some would want it to experiment on with various types of magic. Others would want it to scare people with. Others would want to use it as a weapon to kill their enemies. That last group usually knew ways to stop a corpse's bite turning other people into walking corpses, so that they could have their enemies ripped apart without the inconvenience of them coming back and attacking other people. Since the last group's goals lined up with what she wanted a corpse to do to Siarvin and Ilaran, she decided to find someone in that group.
It was easy for her to find almost anyone. She kept a mental record of all the people who might possibly be useful to her, and how to find them. She bought a train ticket under a false name and went to a city where a potential helper lived.
Gimalinya Narmirisvóeln -- or at least the woman who called herself Gimalinya Nirmirisvóeln; Haliran knew it was unlikely that one of the most infamous gangsters in western Saoridhlém would really meet her in person and had probably told a subordinate to impersonate her -- eyed Haliran suspiciously. "I know why I would want a walking corpse. Why do you want one?"
"To get revenge," Haliran answered honestly.
Gimalinya drummed her fingers against the table. "Explain."
"I want to kill my ex-husband and his nephew. As soon as they're dead the corpse is yours to do with as you wish. I don't care if you want to use it to wipe out an entire city."
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Even though she knew there were no more monsters in the building, Abi kept a wary eye out as she left the room and walked out to the landing area. Irímé and Lian had offered to come with her, but the memory of the last time she transformed made her prefer to be alone. She might still accidentally turn herself into something half-bird and half-immortal before she finally managed to fully shapeshift, but it would be less embarrassing if she had no witnesses.
First she summoned her wings. They were the easiest part of the transformation.
Maybe I don't need to fully transform, she thought. I can just fly like this.
She flapped her wings gently, hoping to rise slowly off the ground. Instead she rocketed up to be on a level with the roof. Abi stared down at the ground. It suddenly seemed very far away.
I flew before. I'm not going to fall, she reminded herself.
She tried to turn around. Instead she accidentally did a somersault in mid-air.
This is hopeless!
She tried to glide down to the ground. This time she managed it without falling. She still landed more heavily than she wanted to, but at least she wasn't injured.
It looks like I do have to fully transform, she thought gloomily.
That took several attempts. Sure enough, she ended up in an in-between form with feathers growing out of her face before she finally managed to fully become a phoenix.
At once Abi discovered the difference between trying to fly as an immortal with wings and trying to fly in a form meant for the air. She took off easily and soared over the roof. A slight movement of her wings and she could speed up or slow down.
From here she could see there were no monsters nearby. The spaceport was in the middle of an open field. The nearest buildings were a good distance away. As she flew over them she went higher to get a look at as many streets as possible. All of them were empty, from tiny side-streets that led nowhere to main roads leading in and out of the city centre.
It was easy to see that the buildings below were houses, with only an occasional small shop among them. There wouldn't be any theatres in this area, outdoors or otherwise.
Most theatres are near a train station, Abi remembered. She wasn't sure if she'd read that in a book or been told it, but it was as good a clue as any. Now, where was the nearest train station?
The trouble with flying so high was that at a certain point it became hard to distinguish what she saw on the ground. She flew right over a railway track without realising what it was until she passed another track leading off it. Abi changed direction and followed the first track. It led her to a station, but there were no outdoor theatres near it.
Now she was closer to the city centre. She went higher again to see down into the streets. Then she spotted them. A large group of monsters shambled slowly down a road.
Abi's first instinct was to burn them. She stopped herself when she realised how close they were to the shops on either side of the road. If she burnt them she might accidentally set the whole city on fire.
None of them looked up when she flew over their heads. They continued their slow walk, and she continued her search.