The Icon Unbound

Chapter Eighteen, Part A - Saiph

Here is our first look at the world outside Waterwall. Time for some fun and games and intrigue. Also: new clothes. I did seriously consider chopping this entire chapter. Tell me if you think it gets in the way or if the tension is not being driven forward. Let me know in the comments. --Elizabeth, UPDATED 06/19/2017 

This small town sat like a fat toad in a dry pond.

Saiph rolled his shoulders and stared at the first settlement he had seen in this hellish week, and felt his skin crawl with the wrongness of every detail. The cheap materials made this town feel more like a camp. Unlike the twisting, cobbled streets of Waterwall, these roads had been laid out in a grid that had been trampled to dust under the feet of the constant flood of travelers making their way from their failing farms to the Red City, where, Corwin explained, there were rumors of work.

Despite the strangeness of their surroundings and the danger ahead, Saiph felt relieved to be closer to an obvious supply of food and water. For seven days he'd been forced to watch in close quarters the physical danger the Icon put herself in every time she put a meal in the bellies of his family members. Every day they spent on the mountain added to his anxiety. It killed him to see her so... uncertain. She shook before each session, and he watched her, his mouth as dry as a stone. Any act of power might be her last. At night, he could feel her trembling, despite how far away she lay. Once or twice, she cried out in her sleep, from a nightmare or from her own troubled thoughts, he couldn't guess.

Only Nadir watched her as closely he did. The drakys never once strayed more than three paces from her side. Jealousy made Saiph short-tempered.

At the edge of the town, Corwin went ahead, instructing them to wait.

"This place is a hole in the ground," he muttered. "Don't talk to anyone. They will try to sell you something. The local Chosen in residence lives in that big house at the end of the street. He probably hasn't seen the Bone Palace since his investiture. He's not all that powerful or he wouldn't be here, so we don't need to worry too much if we keep a low profile."

"If he were any use, this land wouldn't be as dry as a husk," The Icon murmured.

"Not everyone is as strong as you. It's probably all he can do to keep the well clear and full." Corwin glared at Honor. The week of travel had not endeared them to one another. "I wouldn't go looking to kill him. Out here, it's considered extremely rude."

"Hold your tongue," Honor hissed. "You know nothing."

Corwin ignored the opening salvo to fight. "We can get provisions here, but I'll have to trade a few gold shavings. It may take a day or two." He ran a hand under his hat, dislodging his hair. "I'll get you rooms at the Inn. Some clothes are in order as well, you all look like you walked out of a ballad."

"Perhaps we can use the time to track the drakys or our fellow... pilgrim." Rigel offered.

"Or," Corwin said, "instead of looking for trouble, you could take the time to keep your own drakys out of sight. People remember the power of these animals. They'll either try to steal him from you, or kill him to end the blight."

The Icon put her hand on Nadir's nose. "No one will hurt my friend."

"Then be cautious. Especially out here. People this close to the mountain are superstitious."