Hungry Heart - Book 5 - Ch. 9 (Patreon)

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Chapter Nine – Rules for Harmony

The boat rider should have more answers, Toru decided as he walked around with Mako in his arms. After all, he had been the one to bring them here, under the pretext that it was only there that the young lad could be cured of whatever illness he suffered. He couldn’t get what Te’cla had told him out of his head. Now, he was supposed to be able to see all of the shards and get them from their hiding places. So, if that was true—

He placed Mako down on the grass and turned his arm until his palm faced upward. Yes, he could see the small, sharp fragment embedded in the skin, so he continued to focus on it. For a moment, he touched his shoulder in the hope that the shards living there would call for their smaller sibling and force it to reunite with them. Nothing of the kind happened. The shards lay dormant under his skin, and Mako held onto his without wanting or knowing.

The boat pilot had to be the answer. Since he knew enough about needing to bring Toru and Mako here, he also had to know what could be done to save the young man. With sure steps, Toru walked toward the edge and looked over. Below his feet, thick white clouds lay while above him the day was turning into a cool evening.

“Hey,” he called out. “You with the boat!”

He raised his voice, his calls turning into loud shouts. The blanket of clouds remained as silent and unmoving as before. A prickling sensation made his hackles rise. What could be going on? First, the man with the boat brought them here and then disappeared seemingly without a trace. And now, he had left Toru and Mako here as if they didn’t need a ride back down. For all Toru knew, the boat pilot could very well be hand in hand with Te’cla. After all, what sort of magic had the hermit spun to get him here so that he could give him the ability to see the shards? Now, that thing appeared to be useless as Toru couldn’t take advantage of it as long as he remained stuck here, in this place up in the clouds.

He realized the other reason why he felt goosebumps all over his skin. As the evening set in, a breeze was rising, making the air turn frigid. It was so strange to think that it could be so cold up here when the city below looked as if a gentle summer was eternal in its lands. Toru didn’t hesitate for a moment and took off his shirt to wrap Mako in it before putting him back in the cocoon Claw had made for him from his cloak. More layers meant more warmth for the vulnerable lad. Toru could withstand the cold as long as he had fur on his body. He shifted into his tiger and grabbed the bundle formed of Mako’s unmoving body to hike him over his back. If there was a way out of here – and there had to be one – they would find it.

***

Varg and Duril decided to stop by their inn before going to the shore of the Aureate Sea again, so they could grab some food and other necessities. If Toru hadn’t returned yet, which was the most likely conclusion since neither he nor Claw had returned, they should see about their friend’s needs. Claw wasn’t the kind to complain and could resist almost anything through thick and thin, but that didn’t mean he should have to. Not when he had friends to care for him.

Arid came to them, as they waited in the big hall downstairs. But his arms weren’t filled with the things they had asked for, and the expression on his face was one of dumbfounded suspicion. Varg tensed and squeezed Duril’s hand in warning briefly.

“There are guards here to see you,” their hospitalier informed them, his back stiff and his eyes narrowed. “They are in your room, inspecting your things.”

Making a run for it wouldn’t warm these people toward them. After a short exchange with Duril, their eyes meeting, Varg said out loud, “We have nothing to hide. Please, inform them that we are downstairs.”

Arid turned on his heel, but he kept stealing glances at them over his shoulder. The inn was unexpectedly quiet at that hour. No other guests were in sight, nor the usual personnel going to and fro. The evening had barely fallen, so no logical explanation could be found for that lack of activity. Varg thought he should have paid more attention to their surroundings, but it was too late to have regrets. Caught up as he had been in the mystery that lay as a veil over this place and its use of the shard, he had neglected to pay attention, a thing that was uncharacteristic of him.

“They suspect us,” Duril said. “Do you believe it would be better to leave and avoid any confrontation with the guards? I don’t like the idea of having to report to them when we should be on our way to meet Claw and Toru.”

“If we did that, we would only make them believe that they are within their rights to pursue us as wrongdoers. We will see very quickly what this is all about. I doubt they have anything concrete against us.”

His words died on his lips as Arid came down the stairs with the guards on his heels. They were outfitted in heavy metal armor, painted black, the only adornment being a large golden sun imprinted on their chests. Large pointy helmets hid their faces, and Varg frowned as he realized that skipping this encounter might not have been that bad an idea. Nonetheless, he straightened up and took in the three large men that made the large hall appear suddenly smaller as they filled it with their presence. Varg searched for their eyes behind their helmets, but it was an impossible feat. They could just as well be dead behind their masks. It was even impossible to tell whether they were human or not. Varg felt tempted to believe the latter.

“What can we do to help you?” Varg inquired politely.

“A mercenary and a scholar,” one of the guards spoke. It was the one in the middle and it appeared that he pulled rank over the other two, based on criteria known only to them. “What are you doing here, in Coinvale?”

“We’re travelers. We heard of this place and thought that it would make a good stop for us. The magic of Coinvale attracts many a wanderer. We felt compelled to visit.”

“You are traveling with two others,” the guard continued. His voice was deep and sonorous, as could be expected from someone of his height and size. “Are they scholars or mercenaries?”

“They’re warriors for coin,” Varg replied. Given only those two choices, he didn’t harbor any belief that people of this place would take a single look at Toru and Claw and believe them to be scholars.

“Three mercenaries for one scholar. What sort of knowledge do you protect?” the guard asked.

“We’re fellow travelers, companions and close friends,” Varg explained. “The relationship between us is not an arrangement based on coins exchanging hands. May I ask what this is about? I doubt it is routine.” The time for him to push back a little had come. Too subservient to these guards and they would raise even more suspicions. Playing the role of law-abiding visitors was essential if they wanted to throw the guards off their track.

“It has been brought to our attention that you have gone against the rules for harmony repeatedly.”

The rules for harmony. The pamphlet Misar Dagou had mentioned. Varg set his eyes on the guard, trying again to find a way to stare into the man’s eyes. That is, if there was a man in there, and not some other creature he hadn’t heard of before.

“If we did so, it happened only because of our lack of knowledge. What rules did we break?” he asked, tensing just a smidge to show the guards that any wrongdoing even if committed by accident was something they wouldn’t take lightly.

“You disobeyed the rules of hospitality,” the guard replied. “But more important than that, you are behind the fall of the Heart of Tradeweaving.”

The only sound that followed was a gasp from Arid. The young man covered his mouth and stared at Varg in disbelief.

Varg frowned and feigned confusion. “With all due respect, that sounds like a baseless accusation. We didn’t do such a thing.”

“You were there when the mechanism stopped. And you stole the fragment of the true Heart with malevolent intentions. Do you deny these accusations?”

“Yes, I deny them,” Varg replied.

The guard turned toward Duril. “You weren’t there, scholar. You are free to go.”

“Wait,” the healer intervened, “what about my friend?”

“We will take him in for questioning.”

“But he didn’t do anything,” Duril continued protesting.

“That is not in your power to decide. The facts speak for themselves.”

“Where are you taking him?” Duril asked, as the two silent guards grabbed Varg.

“He will be imprisoned until the date of his trial. Move aside, scholar. If you interfere with the due process of justice, you will leave us no other choice but to imprison you, as well. The Rules for Harmony must not be violated.”

Varg made a short gesture for Duril so that his friend understood that they shouldn’t cause more trouble for themselves. He doubted there was a prison that could keep him, and right now, he believed that playing along would be better than acting against these guards.

“You also mentioned my neglecting to obey the rules of hospitality,” Varg said. “Can you tell me what that is about?”

“You were a visitor to the house of a Coinvale citizen tonight. You failed to follow the rules of the home where you were allowed entrance.”

“Such as? Forgive a stranger for asking so many questions.”

“You were informed of them and failed to follow them nonetheless.”

Varg felt his eyes growing wide. “Are you imprisoning me for not asking for a second cup of tea?” It seemed absurd, but not so unlikely now that he understood the lack of proper reasoning in these guards.

“You were informed of the rules for harmony and failed to follow them,” the guard repeated.

Duril stepped in front of them. “That is absurd,” he accused. “Is this how you treat everyone who comes here?”

“If you’re asking if we hold the Rules for Harmony in the same high esteem in our dealings with everyone equally, the answer is ‘yes’. Step aside, scholar.”

“I am sure this is just a big misunderstanding,” Varg said and warned Duril with his eyes. It wouldn’t help Toru in any way if they ended up being wanted by the guards. Their movements through the city would then be watched, followed, and eventually hindered. If not worse.

They had faced circumstances that could be considered a lot more complicated than one of them being imprisoned by the forces of men. However, his to and fro with Duril was convincing because the guards eventually pushed the healer aside. He threw one last look at his friend as he was forced to follow his soon-to-be jailers. Who knew? Maybe Coinvale’s prison held answers they wouldn’t find anywhere else. He’d treat this as an opportunity to understand this place that had suddenly turned very strange.

***

Duril wished he could remain as calm as Varg had as his friend was taken away. He hurried outside and followed the group with his eyes until he lost them from his sight. Behind him, Arid the hospitalier hovered, probably curious about the whole thing. He would have to wait for answers, because Duril had none to share with strangers. These people had been reckless already, manipulating the shard of Hekastfet for their own gain, without knowing how close to danger they were.

“Why did Mr. Varg have to do such a thing?” Arid asked, seeing how Duril kept his back to him.

“He didn’t do anything,” Duril said sharply. He turned on his heel. Claw needed to know about this, and if Toru was back, it was all for the better. With their forces combined, they would find a way out of this mess. The shininess of the city, with its many lights gleaming brightly, appeared before his eyes like a fraud, fool’s gold without much substance under it.

“Are you coming back? You still have outstanding bills--”

Duril stopped and looked at their hospitalier. “How much?” The language everyone spoke here was coin. As he pulled his purse out, a thought hit him and calm returned to his senses. If people here liked to sell themselves so easily, it was great. It meant they could be bought, for the right price.

Arid hurried to his side, and Duril opened his palm. “Take what you need.”

For a moment, he saw a glint of greed in the young man’s eyes, something he hadn’t noticed before. It shocked him as the transformation happening before him held an incongruity to it, a piece of a puzzle that belonged to a different place. He didn’t understand it and opted for ignoring it for now. There were more pressing matters to see to.

“Please, take what you believe you deserve for your service, too,” Duril suggested, feeling weary and upset.

“No, I couldn’t,” Arid squeaked and averted his eyes from the coins resting on Duril’s palm. He counted hurriedly, almost without looking. “This is all you owe us. Will you be coming back?”

“I can’t say right now.”

The hospitalier had the nerve to look brokenhearted, for lack of a better word. Duril couldn’t understand what was happening, and a part of him believed it to be important, but he had no time to waste. He bid Arid a hasty goodbye as his feet began moving faster.

Only when he was too far away to go back without wasting even more time, he realized that he should have asked Arid – and probably paid for the information – where the guards had taken Varg. The prison of Coinvale had to be tucked away from visitors’ eyes, as travelers here were meant only to see and be awed by the beautiful face of the city.

And now, he believed that there was an ugly side to it, as well.

***

When he arrived by the shore of the Aureate Sea, his heart sank. Far in the distance, he saw Claw’s lonely silhouette, shoulders hunched, head bent forward in thought. There was no sign of Toru and Mako, which meant they had yet to return from their quest.

“Why are you alone?” the bearshifter asked when he noticed him.

“Varg was taken by the guards. No sign of Toru, then?”

“None, whatsoever. What do you mean by that? What guards?”

“Someone must have seen you and Varg right after the fall of their landmark. I don’t know the details, and the city guards appeared to be people of few words, but they were adamant about Varg’s role in the fall of the Heart of Tradeweaving, as they named the incident. That, and you wouldn’t believe it, but Varg’s refusal of a second cup of tea at Misar Dagou’s house tonight also counts as a violation of what the people here call the Rules for Harmony.”

Claw searched Duril’s face for a few moments. Now, if he recalled properly, Claw had been the most reserved of them regarding the appeal of the city. He hadn’t gotten excited over the outside beauty of the streets, nor seduced by the tasty foods they offered everywhere. All the time, he had remained on guard, watching carefully those passing by them, most likely intending to make sense of a place that was as strange to them as they were to it.

In hindsight, Claw had done the right thing, and they shouldn’t have been quick to let themselves be impressed so easily by shiny lights and welcoming vendors. A darkness lay behind the beautiful veneer, and Duril wasn’t completely sure that it was there because of the presence of the shard or if there was something else inherently wrong with the city.

“These Rules for Harmony, what are they?” Claw asked, his intelligent eyes observing their surroundings with renewed interest.

“They are all presented in a pamphlet that I had no idea I should have purchased, interested as I was about other aspects of the city. Misar Dagou sells it, and tonight, he mentioned that it’s the pamphlet he sells to all interested travelers, and that most of them don’t fail to pick it up.”

“And yet, he didn’t mention anything when you went to his stall when we arrived here. All these things are beginning to shape into a story I don’t like. So, they concluded that Varg was behind the incident from today. Did they mention anything about me? If anyone saw Varg at the scene of the crime, so to speak, and put two and two together, they must have seen me, as well.”

“They didn’t say anything, and both Varg and I kept from giving them any ideas. They intend to question our friend, so maybe that’s a bit of information they think they’ll obtain soon. It is better that you don’t show your face in the city, under the circumstances.”

Claw nodded thoughtfully. “Tell me about these guards.”

Duril offered everything he knew and had noticed. The bearshifter listened to him carefully and appeared lost in thought for a while. In the meantime, Duril observed the Aureate Sea, flowing gently against the shore with its usual sound of cheerful coins ringing against each other. But the sound had in it a touch of artificiality, and Duril couldn’t help thinking that their experience with the city could have been very different from the start if they had arrived here without any coin in their purse.

“We will have to find where Varg is being held,” Claw said. “However, as you mentioned, I cannot show my face in the city without drawing unwanted attention. I have an idea about how to do that, but first, we need to find out why Toru isn’t back yet. While I suppose that a quest like the one he is on will take as long as it will take, sitting idly about at the moment is a bad idea.”

“Do you believe we should just ask the boat pilots about it? Can you even identify the one that took Toru from the others?” Duril asked while his eyes watched the flowing masts in the distance.

“The one who took Toru to the destination of his quest should still be there, waiting for his passengers, don’t you think?”

“Of course, that’s right,” Duril agreed. “But what should we do? Varg will most likely spend the night in Coinvale’s jail, wherever that is, while Toru is nowhere in sight.”

“Then we must ask for a ride,” Claw decided for them both. “Answers exist, we just have to find them.”

***

The island in the clouds presented no challenge as far as exploring it went. Except for the altar on which Te’cla had held him earlier to communicate his plans and give Toru the ability to see and find all the fragments, it seemed to be covered by the same soft grass everywhere. And along its edge, the abyss stretched below Toru’s feet. Not even he could consider a jump down to the Aureate Sea below; not when he had someone with him as vulnerable as Mako was.

He turned back into his human and rested for a bit, crossing his legs under him and closing his eyes. Why did his quests have to involve these sorts of riddles? There always had to be one, and he didn’t like riddles.

What would Duril, Varg, or Claw do if they were here? They would think of something clever, but something clever didn’t usually come as easily to him as it did to his friends.

Maybe he had missed something. He hoisted Mako up onto his back and walked around, careful not to miss a spot. As this place appeared magical, there had to be things that helped it exist. His steps took him back to the altar, which he began to examine with keen eyes. His fingers felt around the stone’s edge.

His shoulder jerked, making him stop.

“Do you feel something?”

The shards in his shoulder remained silent. Toru returned to the same spot and stuck his hand below, searching blindly. There was something there, and his fingers brushed against a rough surface.

His shoulder jolted him back, throwing him to the ground. He barely had time to turn in mid-air so that he didn’t land on an unfortunate Mako and break the poor lad’s bones.

“You’re there, then,” he said with a hint of triumph.

He set Mako carefully down and went searching for the hidden fragment. Didn’t Te’cla say that he could see them now? Toru stared at the stone surface, although it seemed too thick and dense for it to become see-through.

Yet, there it was. Its unnatural gleam called to him and Toru used his entire strength to punch the rock. It split down the middle and Toru saw the small fragment popping out of its hiding place. Without thinking twice, he placed his hand over it and the fragment hurried to burrow into his skin and join its siblings.

The ground beneath his feet rumbled. Toru leaped back.

“Oh, no,” he whispered as he realized what was going on.

The same thing had happened with the printer. And when Varg and Claw witnessed Mako getting attacked by the freed fragment of the shard.

There had been no magic keeping the island in the clouds afloat. It was only evil power. And now, with it gone to rest inside Toru’s shoulder with the others, the island was falling from the sky.

TBC

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