13

Meleko felt more like home than any city Edric had lived in since he fled Londinium to join the New Roman Legion when he was sixteen. It certainly helped that the ocean surrounded the city on three sides, so he could go swimming whenever he wanted, and the air was thick and humid enough to keep his gills moist without much effort. Even more than the lure of the water, though, it was the people and the buildings that he loved. Nearly one in three people in Meleko were Sior like him, born and bred beneath the waves of the Sunken Sea. The rest were mostly lions, with a handful of elephants and leopards and one single cow. Many of those sharks, like him, were from Londinium originally, and they all agreed that the buildings of Meleko were second only to those of their ruined home beneath the waves.

For where the residences of sunken Londinium were of purely Astral construction, the buildings of Meleko fused Astral accents onto otherwise local designs. Almost every clay brick or jungle timber home in Meleko had a cooling relic built into its roof that would ward off the worst of the tropical heat from the inhabitants, and several had a wall or wing constructed from reclaimed platinum. Many had projectors like Simend's, and the Meleko Players supported themselves as much by renting out archives of their productions to locals as they did from selling tickets to live performances. And what performances they were, using Astral lighting and luminaries' arts to complement their already stellar actors, all inside a theater that could rival any of its imperial counterparts in Italia. Theatergoers would wander the streets of the city late into the night after the performances, drifting between lively taverns and relic-lit terraces, all watched over by the ruined bands of the ancient source of their lifestyle glowing in the sky far above.

The Remnants indeed represented everything that gave Meleko its character. Kamissa—the Sage of Meleko and Edric and Simend's employer—had founded the city nearly a decade ago specifically to research the mysteries of Astral relics. She'd brought her own fellows with her, and word quickly spread through the small community of Astral researchers and historians about the new sanctuary for their studies just south of Sahara, free from the overbearing hand of the Star Cult. Meleko grew quickly over the years, and treasure hunters from all the world over brought their relics to sell to the sages there. Over time, as more and more symbiotes were recovered, more and more of the growing city's inhabitants joined the ranks of the world's luminaries. A cohort which, as of just three years ago, had grown to include Edric and Simend.

Those two luminaries were, right then, swimming off the north coast of Meleko. They had agreed that a meeting with Kamissa while Edric was so dehydrated would be a stunningly poor choice. So Edric had stripped down to his rubbery swimming briefs, leaving even his scarf behind, and sank below the waters of the bay. When he eventually crested the surface, Simend was padding across the bay as well. "Sim! What are you doing?" he called. "You can't go into a meeting with Kamissa smelling like wet dog!"

"You're right," Simend agreed. "We'll just have to visit the bathhouse to wash off the seawater and dry me off."

"We were going to go straight to Kamissa's," Edric said.

"What's another hour?" Simend asked.

Once Edric's stomach had sufficiently calmed down and his gills were thoroughly saturated, the two of them headed into the market to visit the local bathhouse. "Welcome home, friends," said the Kembo acting as attendant. "It has been some time."

"It has indeed, friend," Edric said. He recognized the well-dressed elephant, but he had no idea what the man's name was. "The two of us will be bathing together today."

"What scents are in season?" Simend asked.

"Today's soaps include white incense, buchu, and the last batch of this summer's gardenia. We also have a small amount of imported Aquitanian cedar and Aegyptian jasmine still in stock for an additional cost."

"The jasmine," Simend said quickly. "I'll absolutely pay extra for that."

"Something unscented for me, please," Edric said. "My scales don't hold scent as well as fur."

"You do always smell fishy," Simend agreed, and Edric slapped the jackal with his tail. It was an old joke and a comfortable routine.

Once inside with their towels and soaps, they found a stall to themselves and stripped down. They rinsed off in the Astral showers, helped each other soap up, and rinsed off again. Edric dried himself off with the towel before wrapping it around his waist. Simend, however, stood in front of the wind generator, letting the stiff, warm breeze dry his fur and flap his lips around. His tongue lolled from the side of his mouth. "I never get tired of those things," he said once he was dry.

"They make such a mess of your fur, though," Edric told him. He patted the padded table at the side of the stall. "Hop up. Let's get you brushed."

After Edric had brushed out Simend's front, back, and tail, the two got dressed and headed back out into the city. By then, though, it was time for the evening meal, so the two of them headed to their favorite tavern, where the food was tasty, filling, and cheap. There they shared a meal of sesame rice with tilapia, steamed eggplant, and a thick local beer that was impossible to find anywhere else.

The sun had set before they emerged from the tavern. "Maybe we should wait until tomorrow at this point," Edric said. "It's getting late."

Simend looked up at the Remnants and sighed. "No," he said. "You know we can't."

"I know," Edric agreed. "Let's go."

They walked slowly through town, enjoying the warm evening so late in the season. Not that it ever really got cold in Meleko, but even after years away from Italia, they both continued to enjoy the mild winters on the south side of Sahara. The skies were clear, the air was warm, and a host of buzzing, crystalline relics kept the roads free of mosquitos. The two of them greeted friends and acquaintances who were also out to take advantage of the beautiful night, and once again, Edric was reminded of how much he loved Meleko.

But they soon found themselves in front of Kamissa's workshop. The front of the building was squat and unremarkable, a flat-roofed building constructed with clay bricks where Kamissa did most of her experimentation. The back, though, was a massive, multi-story warehouse built of timber and Astral platinum that contained the entirety of the city's unidentified Astral relics. The lights within the front workshop still burned brightly. "Do you think she's still working?" Edric asked.

"Of course she is," Simend said. "What else does she ever do?"

"I don't know," Edric said. "Sleep?"

"I bet she has a relic for that too," Simend grumbled.

They stared at the door for nearly a minute. "You going to go in first?" Edric asked.

"No," Simend said. "You should go first. I'm still angry she broke into my house."

"Fine," Edric said. "You fluffy baby." He walked into Kamissa's workshop and looked around, Simend close behind him. The shark didn't know how the leopardess got any work done amongst all this mess. Almost every spare workbench and much of the floor was piled high with silent Astral relics or unidentifiable loose parts. He could only see her over the heaps on the desk she sat behind because he was so tall. She, of course, spotted him immediately.

"Ah, Fisher!" she called. Her voice was thick with the accent of the southern island of Agisymba. The Language might have been the common tongue of Meleko, but it was native to almost nobody who lived there. "It is good to see you. Is your friend with you?"

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"Do you mean Simend or Binta?" asked Edric.

The petite Ingwe woman rolled out from behind the desk on a metal chair covered in black cushions. "You need more friends," Kamissa said. "Hello, Simend. I wondered when I would see you boys." She wore a brightly colored skirt and chestwrap covered in geometric patterns that clashed with her spots. Her symbiotic left arm went entirely uncovered, and on her head was a combination radiant lamp and magnifying lens.

"Were you really?" Simend asked. "So it was you who broke into my house while we were away."

"You call that depressing old heap a house? I will never understand why you insisted on dragging it out of the crater, let alone why you decided to live in it." Kamissa raised the lens away from her eye, shut off the lamp, and smirked. "I have to admit. You have a very fine viewing collection, though." She winked at Edric, and the Sior felt his face begin to burn.

"Why'd you do it, Kamissa?" Simend asked through clenched teeth.

"Because I need you to do me a favor," she answered.

"Why would you expect me to do anything for you after you break into my house and mess up all my stuff?" Simend growled. He turned to leave. "Whatever you want, I'm not interested."

"I suppose you do not want this back then," Kamissa said. She grabbed a polished metal sphere from the mess on her desk.

Edric's face got even warmer. "Is that his missing archive?" he asked. Simend paused at the door.

"It is," Kamissa said, tossing the archive to herself. "The absolute worst I could find amongst your otherwise delightful collection. You can have it back after you do this one thing for me."

"I don't know," Edric said, recalling what they'd seen back in their home with Binta. "I don't think there's anything worse than what we already saw."

"I am very certain you think so," Kamissa said pointedly. "Because I know he would never tell you about this one." The archive slapped against her palm as she caught it from another toss.

Edric frowned, but Simend turned back to face the leopardess. The jackal's face was calm, but his tail was still, and the lights on his arm had shifted from their regular, intermittent pulsing to a focused stream speeding from his shoulder down into his hand. The lights on Kamissa's arm suddenly matched the same pattern, and she clutched the archive tightly in her other hand. Edric stepped back, making sure he wasn't between them.

"What's the job?" Simend asked. His voice was level in a way that Edric recognized from far too many encounters with wayward luminaries and their brainwashed followers. It was how Simend sounded not long before the two of them were alone beside a bloody highway or atop a silent ship.

"An old acquaintance of mine needs help," said Kamissa. She stared at Simend, her tail flicking and her yellow eyes gleaming. "And by 'help,' I mean the sort of help the two of you are so adept at providing."

"Are luminaries involved?" Simend asked.

"My friend would not have called me otherwise," said Kamissa. "The job is a bit of a departure from the work I normally give you, though. This time, you are going to be protecting people from luminaries who are pursuing them."

"We're not bodyguards, we're hunters," Simend said.

"This time you're bodyguards," Kamissa told him. "You're to protect a Sabwan man and a Homin woman from the luminaries pursuing them."

"Do we know anything about who they need protecting from?" Edric asked.

At that, Kamissa looked away from Simend. "If my friend is to be believed?" she said. "And for the record, while I hate the man, I believe everything he says. The fact that he contacted me at all after so many years speaks volumes about his desperation."

"Kamissa…" Edric said.

Kamissa sighed. "The New Roman emperor's current Enforcers," she said.

Edric and Simend looked at each other, the shark wide-eyed and the jackal scowling. When had the Enforcers started getting symbiotes? And why would the emperor be sending his personal bodyguards away from the capital?

"Where are we headed?" Simend asked, still looking at Edric. The shark shook his head. No archive was worth a job like this.

"The original distress call came from Cibalae," Kamissa said. "My friend expects you will be able to catch up with the clients in Byzantium."

Edric gaped at Kamissa. "They really think they can avoid the Emperor's Six all the way from Cibalae to Byzantium?"

"They seem quite confident," Kamissa said. "Especially considering the clients have, by all accounts, already convinced two of the Six to defect and join their own cause."

Simend and Edric again exchanged glances. Somebody had convinced two of the Enforcers to break their oaths? What was going on in the Empire?

Simend cocked his head at Edric, but the shark again refused. "You know we shouldn't, Sim," he said. "Nothing good will come from us getting involved with the Legion again, defectors or no."

"He doesn't know what's at stake, does he, Simend?" Kamissa asked, tossing the archive to herself again. "I have a projector here. We can show him. Maybe he'll understand then."

"We'll do it," Simend said.

"We'll what?" Edric roared.

Simend folded his ears back and refused to look at Edric. "We'll set out for Byzantium tomorrow," he said. "Now hand over that archive."

"Catch," said Kamissa, and tossed the archive to the Sabwa. Simend raised his left hand and, with a final, brilliant cascade of his radiant sigils, blasted the sphere out of the air with a blinding burst of vermilion light. A cascade of blackened ash settled to the floor. "A wise choice," said Kamissa. Simend said nothing else and stalked out of the workshop.

Edric glanced after his friend before turning back to Kamissa. "What did you have on him?" he asked.

"Every single thing he cares about," Kamissa said. She leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms, looking Edric over from head to foot. "For what it is worth, I am sorry."

"Sorry for what?" Edric asked. "Blackmailing Sim and forcing us into an unpaid job we don't want to take?"

"No, I am not sorry about that," Kamissa said. "I really would do anything to help my former friend. I hate him, but we still value the same things."

"What are you sorry about then?"

Kamissa considered him for a while longer before she answered. "Several things, but it is not my place to discuss them," she said at last. "You will have to ask Simend. He knows."

Edric frowned. "Did you already know what was on that archive before you broke in?" he asked.

"I did not," Kamissa said. "And it was an unpleasant surprise, let me tell you. But on the matter of the break in, make sure Simend knows he needs to improve his security measures."

"Only luminaries can get in, Kamissa," Edric told her. "How much more secure does he need it to be?"

"In a city full of luminaries? Much," she said. "But I did not even need use my arm to get in, Edric," she said, holding up her symbiotic left arm. "I picked the lock. It is just a door, and any competent thief with a minimal amount of radiance shielding would be able to waltz in there and take any Star-blasted thing they want. And with the number of Astral relics Simend keeps, they would end up wildly rich."

Now Edric crossed his arms. "And you really think a relic thief is going to be able to go anywhere in your city without getting caught?"

"Of course not," Kamissa said with a disgusted huff. "I would have the idiot liquified on the spot. But my point stands. Simend is not keeping his relics properly secured according to city law, and he is lucky I only rearranged his house rather than repossessing his arm and everything else he owns."

"You didn't just rearrange his house, you stole one of his archives and blackmailed him," Edric pointed out.

"Which is still him getting off easy," Kamissa hissed. "That archive is best off as ash."

Edric frowned at the leopardess. "What was on it?" he asked.

She shook her head. "It is not my place to say," she said. She lowered the lens back over her eye and rolled behind her desk. "You will have to ask Simend. And do not mention the matter to anyone else. I have my own discussions to have once the two of you have left."

Edric frowned at her for a while longer, but Kamissa had returned to her work. He no longer existed to her. Eventually he sighed. "Let your friend know we should be in Byzantium in three or four weeks. Provided we can find a ship."

"You are to meet a Sabwa named Dalibor at the Drowned Dog Inn," Kamissa said without looking up from her work. "And good luck, Fisher."

Edric grimaced. Why did it have to be the Drowned Dog? "Thanks," he replied, hurrying to follow Simend.

The jackal had not waited for him. "Do you want to pack or find a ship?" Simend asked when Edric caught up.

"What was on that archive?" Edric asked.

"Something I should never have recorded," Simend answered.

"What was it?" Edric asked again.

"Leave it, Ed," Simend said, his tail curled between his legs. "I knew it was a mistake when I recorded it. I should have smashed it right away."

"The archive may be gone, but Kamissa knows what was on it," Edric pressed.

"I know," Simend growled. "But it doesn't matter anymore. The archive's gone."

"And you don't think she can blackmail you with just the knowledge of what it showed?" Edric asked.

Simend covered his eyes and took a deep breath. "I'll deal with her the next time we're in town," he said.

"Simend…" Edric warned.

"I'm not going to kill Kamissa, Ed," said Simend. "I just need to talk to her."

"If you're not going to tell me what was on it, can you at least tell me if you know why Kamissa doesn't want me to talk to anybody else about it?" he asked. "Because that's weird, right? I mean, why would anyone else care about Kamissa taking one of your archives?"

Simend gaped at him. "Yeah, that's weird," he said. He gulped. "Kamissa said that?"

"Yeah," Edric said. "She said that she had her own discussions to have once we left."

Simend put his hands over his muzzle while his eyes searched Edric's face. Edric had no idea what the jackal was looking for. "That's concerning," Simend said eventually.

"What was on that archive, Sim?" Edric asked again.

"I just…" Simend sighed and ran his hands over his face. "I can't, Ed. Not right now. I'm sorry. Let's just get ready for the job."

Edric shook his head. "I'll find us a ship," he said, and stomped away without another word.