The Webbing Blade

INSIDE THE CRYSTAL CITY

THE SETTING SUN caught all the buildings before them in a great, bright orange luminescence. The brightness of it all made Lou’s eyes sting, and he had to shield his eyes from the glare coming off the glass. Slowly, his eyes grew accustomed and he could make out the forms of the buildings before him.

It was just like all his dreams. The buildings grew up out of the cobbled streets in elegant, arced constructions. He followed their curved lines as they towered up above him, into the darkening blue sky above. He breathed in the smells, no stench of sewage like there had always been upon entering Endmere, everything about the place was fresh, like it had been greased up with lemons and limes.

In the near distance he could hear the light thrumming of a guitar, or some other instrument he couldn’t identify. Back in Endmere they only had few musicians in the village, some who could play flutes or a drum. Only when hobblesmen passed through Endmere did they ever get anyone with real musical talent.

But now, standing here in Ilsnare, he knew that The Crystal City had all the culture in the world.

Up ahead, though, he saw the fence, keeping them back for the time being. And then, at the gate to the fence, a pair of guards. They wore the same uniforms as the ones up on the ramparts, back at the barricade, and Lou wondered if they were the same guards.

His question was answered almost right away when he recognised the voice of one of them, speaking to Sully at the front of the group. Seeing that he was wearing the uniform of a skuller—that he was a skuller—he decided he’d better stand alongside him. So he shuffled his way along the group and stood beside Sully, waiting there patiently.

Maun, a member of the Royal Guard, as he’d introduced himself back at the barricade, stood stern-faced with his bow slung over his shoulder. He was much shorter than he’d seemed up on the ramparts. Perhaps about a head smaller than Sully, and a head and shoulders shorter than Lou.

From looking at him, how Maun’s eyes darted between the two of them, Lou knew that he didn’t trust either of them, that they’d have to work for his trust. “You’ll have to change before we let you enter the city,” Maun said. “Can’t have you going about here in those uniforms. Only the Royal Guards can wear uniform in the city. King’s orders.”

Sully grunted.

Maun glanced to Lou, then to Rut who’d just shown up at his shoulder. Then he looked back to Sully. “What did you say about the villages? That they’re burned down?”

Lou saw this as his opportunity to get more involved, and so he decided to speak up. “Three villages,” he said. “Endmere, Quagsmile and Gwindermere. All of them gone.”

Maun pouted. “Sounds a little odd, don’t you think?”

Again, neither Rut or Sully seemed to want to speak up, so Lou took it upon himself. “People talked about magic. Said that magic might’ve been at play.”

Even as he said it, Lou could feel both Rut and Sully turning in on him, glowering at him. And he knew that he’d said just the wrong thing.

Maun, too, grew uneasy. He took a step back, slipped the other Royal Guard standing at his shoulder a sidelong glance, before looking back over them. “Like I said. Gotta take those uniforms off before you enter the city.” He stepped away from them. “This zone’s known as Taldry, and we’ll get you all sorted out with temporary residencies as soon as possible. Where you can get those uniforms off.” He nodded to the horses too. “I’ll have my men take those off to the stables, get them taken care of.” Then he cast a look up at the sky, the light fading away now. “Better not to be out in the streets at this time. When the mist descends.”