Guild Of Zeroes

Chapter 21

"It's gone," I repeated. "It's all gone."

Quin put a hand on my shoulder. "We don't know that. There might be something left. People might have survived."

I balled my hands into fists and shot to my feet. "Are we looking at the same tower? There is nothing left. My home, my whole fucking life is gone."

Mouse stepped past us, squinting at the shattered windows ringing the library at the top of the tower. Curls of black paper drifted on the breeze.

"There were a few iron chests in the library," said Mouse. "There's hope that something useful is still here."

I walked to the door of the tower and waved for the others to follow me. Nothing could have survived this. The stone of the tower was still warm, nearly too hot to touch. I was shocked the whole thing hadn't toppled over and collapsed in on itself. The front door had been blasted off its hinges and lay up against the far wall of the entry way. There wasn't much of it left. When I was small that door seemed impossibly solid to me. It always promised safety and a comfortable bed. Now it was little more than a few scraps of charcoal and bands of steel that had been warped and twisted by the blast.

"We should check the armoury first," said Quin.

The air was hot and dry, but inside I was freezing. I was numb, like I had been dunked in ice water. All I could do was stand there and nod, only half listening.

"If there are any weapons left, we'll need them," Quin continued.

"Okay," I said. "Good a place as any to start."

We pushed through the ruined atrium. A few charred pots still carried the skeletons of charred plants and a few threads of a huge tapestry still clung to the wall.

Mouse frowned at the tapestry and walked up to it. "Huh," he said. "Was this always here?"

"A burnt carpet?" I said, my voice dripping with acid. "No, Mouse. This wasn't always here."

Mouse dropped his gaze to the floor and his hands balled into fists. He took a deep breath. "No," he said, not quite able to keep the frustration out of his voice. "Not the tapestry. The door behind it." He ran a hand through the soot on the wall, clearing the grime away from a shining steel door inlaid with curling copper runes.

"No," I said. "Well, I'm sure it was always here, but this is the first I've seen of it."

Mouse tugged on the copper hoop that served as a handle. "It's locked. I wonder if there's a key somewhere."

"And that will help us how?" I said, folding my arms across my chest and doing my best to look at anything but the ruins of the place I used to call home. I didn't succeed. Every inch of the atrium, every fleck of ash, sent a fresh dagger through my heart. I had always been Parsnip, nobody Guild apprentice from Tower Four. Now I was Parsnip, nobody from nowhere. I was a Guildsman without a hall, without a master, without a single hope in the world.

"Snip," said Mouse. "I know you're hurting. I know you're struggling more than we are, but for gods sake, I need you to pull yourself together right now. This attitude isn't helping."

Apparently the frozen lake of pain sitting in my chest was secretly made of lantern oil, and Mouse's comment struck a match to it. A flash fire of rage seared my heart. I crossed the space between us in one long stride and jabbed a finger into Mouse's chest.

"You listen here, you little shit. You don't know what I'm feeling. Imagine standing in the ashes of your home, hells all of this ash is probably the only thing left of our brothers and sisters, imagine that Mouse. Imagine breathing in the black flakes of the people you looked up to and just pull yourself together. Put it out of your mind and get on with your job. I don't think you could do it. So you don't get to tell me how to feel or act right now." A tear rolled downed my cheek. "I can act however I damn well want."