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40: DISTANT VOICES


“What is it that you want for yourself, my little wolf?” his cousin, Queen Soulful Ember, had said over a hundred years ago. It was an endearment that she only used for him when they were alone—when she could act as his cousin and not as the queen.

She had asked once before: in her throne room, on the day that he’d reached his majority. On that day, she called him Wolf Who Rules Wind and accorded him no more favor than their cousin Earth Son of Stone. Wolf requested then that she give him time to marshal his forces. He’d gone straight from that very public audience to High Meadow Temple to corner Wraith Arrow and the others of Howling’s First Hand. He’d spent two decades after that, gathering up another strong Hand, a hundred laedin, dozens of households, and waiting for Discord to win her sword.

Only when he’d done all he could prepare, he waited for a chance to meet with the queen on her first day at Summer Court on the Emerald Island. If she said yes, it put him a quarter of the world closer to his goal just as the last hard frost of spring gripped the place that the humans called “Hudson Valley.” He’d begged for a private audience, so no one could steal a march on him if she asked him to delay his plans because of his young age. She had agreed to meet him in the lush greenness of her conservatory with only Pure Radiance and her First, Sword Strike, in attendance. In that sheltered space, the lilacs were blooming early, filling the air with their sweet lushness.

She had forgone all trappings of power. She wore a simple red fairy-silk dress. Red armeria flowers were woven into her golden hair instead of her ruby-studded circlet. The look in her vivid blue eyes said “Impress me.”

Wolf spread out the human map that his older sister, Starlight Singing in the Wind, had given him. “This is a western continent, beyond the island that my brother Whiskey was given. The humans had just started to explore it when the gateways were closed to Earth. I have spoken with my father and he is willing, as head of the Wind Clan, to fund a set of Spell Stones. I have considered all that was known by the humans and decided on this landing, just north of where this river meets this large bay. It would provide a large protected harbor with plenty of level farmland. I did some initial surveys of this area last summer and found a strong fiutana at the edge of this palisade. I would set my Spell Stones here.”

She had her head canted in the way that meant that she was thinking deeply. She tapped her chin with her fingers. “I see why you needed time before you made your request. I assume that you have things ready, waiting just for my word.”

“Yes.” He’d gambled that she’d agree and had sunk much of his last funds into the purchase of a young gossamer. The crossing by ship would be too slow and perilous. He needed the speed of the airship. “Since it was uncharted by elves before the time of the Reckoning, it’s also unclaimed and thus property of the crown. You alone can award it to me.”

She continued to tap her finger. “Oh, how the others will yelp ‘unfair’ that I give you such a thing. Who else, though, could make use of it? One would need to be free from other obligations and with at least two Hands, scores of laedin, and a dozen households—which you have gathered.”

She turned to her right where Pure Radiance waited. The female stood silent as a statue, the red blindfold of her caste in place, which announced loudly despite her silence that she was there as her queen’s eyes.

“What do you see?” Soulful Ember asked.

Pure Radiance leaned down to run her hand over the map. “Truly he is Howling’s grandson. This is the place that you need your wolf to guard. Be generous. His reach needs to be wide.”

At the time, joy had jolted through Wolf, blinding him to implications that there would be something to guard against and that it would be a distance from his initial settlement at Aum Renau. Later, he would spend the winter months surveying all that the queen had given him, making plans that came to nothing when Pittsburgh appeared at the far edge of his holding.

If he’d known…

But what could he have done? No matter what, there needed to be holdings in the east to allow for trade. Pittsburgh had several strong fiutanas but none comparable to the one at Aum Renau. Building on the coast had been fairly simple—pushing deep into the forest to reach Pittsburgh had been a struggle. His people had needed those seventy years of ease to build up something that could hope to withstand the oni.

If wishes were horses, as the humans said, beggars would ride.

The path to this moment was so convoluted that he’d never imagined that Pure Radiance had been pushing him down it. She had convinced the heads of the Clan to marry into the royal family. She was responsible for his many brothers and sisters, whom he loved dearly; he could not hate her for that. It galled him, though, that the events she set up led to him asking them to protect his East Coast holdings. All the things he would have done differently if he had just known that the oni were in Pittsburgh. That Sparrow would betray him. That there were horrors in the forest. Like his domi, he must wonder why he wasn’t simply told of the danger.

“We’ll be there soon enough,” Wraith Arrow said quietly, guessing the direction of Wolf’s thoughts. “The distant voices have been quiet.”

Wolf could only pray that it meant that his brothers and sisters were well—not that they’d been vanquished after yesterday’s frantic messages.

The plan was that he and the Stone Clan domana would take their airships to Aum Renau while Prince True Flame took the train to Brotherly Love.

Wolf’s young gossamer had been bred from merchant stock. It was much smaller, faster, and less aggressive than the Stone Clan beasts. Until their ships had departed, his would not come near the airfield. The Harbingers’ gossamers were well used to each other and could be moored together. Since Wolf wanted to make sure his people in Pittsburgh were organized and braced for a possible second attack, it made more sense for the slower beasts to use the airfield first.

“Maynard,” Wraith Arrow murmured, announcing the arrival of Wolf’s old friend and ally.

Director Maynard looked much the way he had when they first met, decades ago. He wore chest armor over a crisp green uniform, a rounded helmet, and multiple weapons tucked into holsters and pockets. The only change was that he looked worn and old.

“Wolf Who Rules Wind.” Maynard bowed. “Are you well? We have heard some disturbing rumors.”

“Director Maynard.” Wolf bowed in return. “I am well. I hope to continue to be well, but that is not a given. I have heard how your people supported my domi without reserve. Please pass my thanks on to your warriors. I must leave for my East Coast holdings. What are the EIA plans?”

“My men have blockades on all the bridges out of the city,” Maynard said.

“You are trying to trap them within the triangle?” Wolf questioned the wisdom of this since the wedge of land between the Allegheny River and the Monongahela River was Pittsburgh’s most populated area.

“We’re finding it difficult to coordinate with the royal forces,” Maynard admitted. “They do not know the city but they’re suspicious of anyone who is not an elf. My advance squads were unable to direct them in any meaningful fashion. My intelligence reports say that the oni landed at Herrs Island and crossed into the Strip District via the Thirty-first Street Bridge. I’ve managed to set up barricades at Twenty-ninth Street so that they hopefully funnel back to the island. That’s where I’m hoping to trap them. There are only two bridges off the island to the North Side and we have them heavily blockaded. So far it seems successful. The royal marines are driving the enemy back toward the island. The oni shouldn’t be able to escape safely. Personally, I’m hoping that they’ll try swimming for it.”

Windwolf nodded as he pictured the area. The next bridge down from the Thirty-first was the bridge at Sixteenth Street. The Strip District lay between the river and the high cliffs of the Hill District. The busway with its many barriers sat at the foot of the cliffs, making another barrier to the oni escaping that way. Maynard’s strategy might work, especially if the oni were lacking leadership. The problem was the royal marines. He turned to Blade Bite. “See that the royal marines understand this tactic.”

Blade Bite bowed and jogged off.

Maynard changed the subject, almost hesitantly. “The young humans born on Elfhome and some of the young elves not affiliated with any of your enclaves have banded together to make an unofficial military group. They’re the ones who kept the oni from reaching the enclaves yesterday until Oilcan and Beloved Tinker domi could get to the front line. They were also the ones who helped Olive Branch Over Stone get the train safely through the front line. They don’t have a standard uniform, which means that the royal marines will have a difficult time telling the humans from disguised oni. I have some influence on the leaders but not complete control over them. They promised me that they would stay out of the triangle if they’re allowed to patrol the areas outside of it. It seemed like a good compromise.”

Wolf had heard that there were many humans out of uniform fighting alongside the EIA last night, but his people couldn’t identify them beyond that Tinker domi had vouched for them. With the EIA stretched thin, it seemed wise to allow the improvised group to continue. “Very well.”

Wraith Arrow shifted forward to give a report on details he’d learned since the domana meeting.

“The tengu report that a large number of the oni fled out of the city proper.” His First motioned to the towering ironwoods that edged the wide grassy airfield. “The tengu are sweeping the forest beyond the Rim. They have found and eliminated pockets of oni but so far have found nothing of note. What fled north have continued in that direction. The tengu will pursue, whittling the oni down. Unless the enemy converges with a large hidden force, the oni who fled into the forest should not pose a threat.”

“Any word from the tengu that went east to the camps?” Wolf asked.

“The camp that we attacked is empty,” Wraith Arrow said. “It is a burnt shell. The camp immediately south of it has been abandoned. The scouts are pushing on to the camps east of them. They have the human version of the distant voices, so we should hear shortly what they find.”

The camps were over a day’s march away. With the tengu keeping watch, Pittsburgh should have plenty of warning if that force advanced on the city. It was somewhat comforting news.

Darkness finished loading his people onto his massive gossamer. The horn to loose the mooring lines sounded and the airship drifted upward, trailing ropes that were being rapidly hauled up.

“That is one away,” Wolf said.

Maynard listened to something on his earpiece. “Information has come in that the oni command had a large camp downriver. The tengu have dispatched people to see if there might be more forces being held in reserve. We won’t hear back from there for several hours, if not days, since the oni employ cloaking spells to hide their camps.”

Wolf nodded uneasily. “It has been like fighting shadows.”

“Tactics of cowards,” Wraith Arrow growled.

Tactics of someone who knew that they had an entire world braced against them. If they managed to take out the Spell Stones at Aum Renau, then only the Stone Clan could fight against them in the Westernlands.

You can only hold what you can protect.

At least his beloved and her cousin would be able to protect Pittsburgh if he failed at Aum Renau.

* * *

Cana Lily’s gossamer was departing when a young Stone Clan sekasha came striding up in a way that spoke of purpose. Instantly, all of Wolf’s Hands went on alert.

“I need to speak to you, First,” the stranger said to Wraith Arrow, giving a bow that acknowledged him as a senior of another clan but of the same caste. “I am The Hound that Races Alongside Death’s Midwinter Moon Over Mountains of the Enemy. I was born at First Bastion. At the time of choosing, I took myself to Cold Mountain Temple and trained under Tempered Steel.”

The young warrior looked as if he was newly out of his doubles.

“On what matter do you wish to speak?” Wraith Arrow asked in a tone that said he would not tolerate a test of skill. It was common for young sekasha who came to Court to seek out duels to show off their fighting abilities. They wanted to prove that they weren’t just Vanity Hand material. Wraith Arrow was often a target of these since he had served Howling as First during the Rebellion and the Clan Wars, but failed to protect his domou from assassination. Wraith Arrow’s failure and his retreat to High Meadow after Howling’s death made him highly attractive for such tests. Those duels, though, were Wind Clan versus Wind Clan during peacetime.

“I wish to speak of the death warrant on the House of Death Wind for the assassination of Howling. I believe it was unjust and wish for you to abrogate it.”

“The House of Death Wind is no more,” Wraith Arrow said.

“It is not completely,” Moon Dog stated. “A child was born since the warrant was put forth. As the child is orphaned and homeless, the child remains part of the household of Death Wind. It is completely unjust that a child not even born during the time of the events should be held responsible for the acts of the household.”

“Hate can be learned from the breast of the mother,” Wraith Arrow stated coldly.

“Sparrow Lifted by Wind has been proven a Skin Clan mole within Howling’s household. It was she who planted the lies of Howling’s intent to kill the holy warriors of his household to free himself if the Wind Clan was not chosen to lead our people.”

“You speak of things that you cannot possibly know.”

“Perhaps. Because of the ill omens in my name, I sought out the Wind Clan First when she came to visit her father at Cold Mountain Temple. We spoke at length about how she came to be First. She was quite open with me—perhaps because I was still in my doubles or because I was first candid with her. Howling’s assassination was just one step in that journey but one vital to her ascent. In that knife stroke, she went from a lowly half-breed of a young landless domana to the head of her caste in the Wind Clan. The battles that she had to fight to prove her worth and her loyalty to her domou’s clan were countless. I would wager it safe to say that no one was more vested in knowing the truth about Howling’s assassination than she.”

“I stand corrected,” Wraith Arrow murmured. He had to, else it would seem that he was speaking ill of the Wind Clan’s First.

“While Otter Dance on Wind had no proof, she always suspected Sparrow Lifted by Wind. Otter Dance believed that the assassination was part of the Clan Wars’ hatred of others. She obviously did not suspect Sparrow’s connection with the Skin Clan. Sparrow’s opposition to Longwind’s marriage seemed to be more of the same—thus was she exiled away to a minor holding. If Otter Dance had anything more concrete than suspicion, I believe she would have warned Wolf Who Rules not to take Sparrow into his household.”

“My blade mother had warned me against Sparrow,” Wolf admitted. “She believed, though, that Sparrow’s fervor came from a love of the Wind Clan, not an ill will toward it. Her caution was that if I took Jewel Tear as domi, I would most likely have to put Sparrow aside. Since Jewel Tear refused to respond to my proposal, I did not heed Otter Dance’s warning. Her treatment of my Beloved Tinker seemed more of the same.”

“Otter Dance believed that Sparrow manipulated the issuing of the death warrant and the speed at which it was carried out,” Moon Dog said. “None of the Death Wind household was ever captured and questioned—Sparrow could not allow the trail of evidence to lead back to her. Not even the children were spared. Centuries of faithful obeyance ignored to wipe clean all traces of the household. It was ruthless and shameful, an act worthy of our creators—but not us.”

“Otter Dance never spoke of this to me,” Wraith Arrow said.

“How could she? Longwind was not the clan’s first choice as head—young and unproven in battle. You were still First of Wind Clan while the debate on Howling’s successor raged on. By the time that Otter Dance became First, the Death Wind household was thought all dead. You retired to High Meadow, satisfied that the guilty were punished, and she had to deal with Sparrow by herself. Anyone with proof of Sparrow’s guilt was long dead by a sekasha’s blade by your orders. It was a battle that Otter Dance had not the resources to spare for.”

Wraith Arrow glowered at the young warrior. “You say there is a survivor who makes this conversation necessary? A child?”

“One still in their doubles,” Moon Dog said.

“That young?” Wolf said in surprise.

Moon Dog nodded. “The mother had been a child herself at the time of Howling’s assassination. Yet this innocent double still has the death warrant over its head.”

“Has it been trained?” Wraith Arrow said.

“What does that matter?” Moon Dog said with a look full of innocence. “Cleansing is the way of the Skin Clan—not ours. Those who plotted against Howling are all dead. Let the living be judged on their own actions. If I need to battle to right this wrong, I will, but my hope is that my caste proves itself worthy of the praise heaped upon it.”

Wraith Arrow glanced toward the airfield where Sunder’s last gossamer was in final stages of loading. Wolf could only guess his thoughts. Everything that the young warrior said was true. There was also the problem that if Wraith Arrow refused, it would require combat to settle. The youth had just crossed half the world to bring the issue before Wraith Arrow. “Later” would not be an acceptable answer.

Wraith Arrow breathed out and raised his hand. “By blood and sword as a sekasha, I recognize that unborn children cannot be held accountable for the actions of their household. I lift the death warrant on the Death Wind household.”

Moon Dog bowed deeply. “Thank you, elder. It gladdens me that one that I respected all my childhood would prove worthy of that esteem. I hope that we will have chance to spar in the future.”

“The Stone Clan loads even now,” Wraith Arrow pointed out.

Moon Dog glanced across the airfield with a sad look. “Ah, I will not be Stone Clan after today. I will accept Oilcan’s offer to be his Second. I will stay in this fascinating city.”

Wraith Arrow looked shocked for a second and then recovered, managing to wipe all expression off his face. “Very well.”

Moon Dog bowed and took himself off toward Sacred Heart.

“How did that one end up with Cousin?” Wraith Arrow murmured once the youth was out of hearing range. “It has been only a few days—a scattering of hours—since the Stone Clan arrived in force! All from Cold Mountain Temple had been with Sunder during the battle in the forest. When would the child even have time to meet Cousin?”

“We will find out later,” Wolf promised.

* * *

Discord arrived just as Wolf’s gossamer drifted in over the now empty airfield, unfurling ropes to tie off at the mooring anchors.

“There are ten copies of the shield spell in each binder.” Discord handed him two leather binders. “You should only need one but it seemed safer to cover all possible situations. We put them in two binders in case domana arrive from the Easternlands prior to Forge and domi being ready to do the spell working. I sent a third to the train station to catch up with Prince True Flame.”

“Good.” Wolf gave the second binder to Wraith Arrow to protect.

Discord continued her report. “You should be warned that domi’s younger sisters are at Sacred Heart. They opened all the nactka containing the baby dragons.”

“All of them?” Wolf managed to say after a moment of surprised silence.

“Yes, eleven very small, very annoying—but mostly harmless—dragons are now flitting about the enclave, sticking their noses into everything. It is sheer chaos. The domi is attempting to stay focused. It has set her back, however, as she had planned to use one of the nactka to reach the full mei to the East Coast.”

“She will figure it out.” Wolf had confidence in his domi.

A runner came running from Poppymeadows. “Domou! A message from Aum Renau!”

He took the paper as his heart dropped in his chest. It could only be bad news.

What a mess! the note read. Glad I didn’t wait for you to answer. You’ve got enemies on your doorstep. Big brother will clean this up for you. Jay Bird.



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