Chapter 20
Chapter twenty
The Ascent
Garrick was right. I didn’t like the plan.
The Citadel Library and its lofty bell tower were barely visible from where its steam exhaust pipes jutted out into the Analon River.
The pipes vented from the massive steam engine that provided heat and power to the entire library—one of the many innovative marvels within its walls.
The circular pipes came up to my shoulder—just barely tall enough to walk through without crawling, which was fortunate since they would burn bare skin on contact.
Fourth bell had rung, and the pipes were venting, shooting jets of deadly hot steam. The moment they stopped, I raced into one of them, taking great care to avoid the scalding sides. My burning leather soles gave off the smell of searing flesh, a grim reminder of the cost of slipping.
I had counted 358 and 342 seconds between the last two ventings. The slight fluctuation probably depended on how much steam power the library used. Either way, I figured I still had plenty of time as I ran the half mile between the pipe outlet and the maintenance hatch.
I had packed light, forgoing my backpack and nearly half my vials. I did, however, have the parchment I’d found in Queen Amara’s tomb safely tucked in my breast pocket. Perhaps there was something in the tower that could help me decipher it.
The heat was thick and oppressive, and sweat poured down my face. More than once, I nearly tripped on the seams of the pipe as I raced along, narrowly avoiding the scalding sides.
I was also unhappy about relying on other people to get this job done. Other people were messy and unreliable. Other people made mistakes. Other people could betray you.
I had counted 260 seconds when I finally got to the maintenance hatch, which was barely an outline on the wall of the pipe. I knocked on the hatch with the hilt of my dagger in the rhythm Garrick had shown me.
No response.
A low rumbling came from farther down the pipe.
Dust! More than sixty seconds early. Why had I been in such a hurry to run into the pipes? I should have counted a few more times.
Vibrations ran up my legs. A hot wind blew past, buffeting my hair and clothing—a precursor to the deadly vapor that would follow.
I knocked on the hatch again and cursed under my breath. This was precisely why I never relied on others. There wasn’t time to escape from the pipes. In moments, steam would envelop me and melt the skin off my bones. The heat was getting fierce, nearly scalding my skin. My eyes burned.
I knocked hard on the hatch once more, trying to keep my panic at bay. Halfway through the pattern, the hatch cracked open, flooding the pipe with cooler air.
“Quickly,” a man hissed on the other side. He didn’t have to tell me twice.
I leapt through the opening with steam lapping at my feet and rolled onto the stone floor of a small maintenance room.
A man in dark robes tried to slam the hatch shut, but steam continued to escape through the edges.
He was relatively young with a plump body, brown hair, and bangs cut straight across.
“Help me!” he yelled as he struggled with the latch on the door. “We’ll be cooked alive!” Steam buffeted the door, trying to escape.
I hopped up and shoved the door with every bit of strength I could muster, trying to keep the deadly vapor from flooding the room. The extra force was just enough to allow the man to wedge the latch closed before the pressure of the steam blasted the door open.
We shared a glance of relief, panting hard. But my relief quickly turned to anger, and I scowled at the man. “That was cutting it fucking close.”
“It couldn’t be helped. The high scholar, Master Corvane, stopped me on the way,” he said, shrinking back at my aggressive tone. “I was lucky to get here at all.”
And I was lucky not to be a puddle of dead flesh, but there was no need to be gruesome, so I held my tongue. “Do you have something for me?”
“Ah, yes,” the man said, pulling a bundle of dark brown fabric wrapped in twine out of his robes. “This will help you blend in.”
I undid the twine and unfurled a robe very similar to the one he was wearing. The only difference was the silver ribbon sewn along the edges—his was lined in blue.
“These are the robes of an initiate, our lowest rank,” the man said. “In these, you’re less likely to raise suspicion when people see a new face. But I’d advise you to avoid people, lest they ask you questions you can’t answer.”
I nodded. “Thank you.”
“I’ll leave the room first. Count to one hundred before you exit.”
“Okay.”
As the man approached the door, he looked back. “I wish you luck, whatever your task. If you somehow live, tell Garrick I’ve paid my debt in full.” He left the room without waiting for a response.
After slipping on my robe, I surveyed my surroundings.
Metal pipes crisscrossed the walls and ceiling.
A glowing glass ball illuminated the room.
I had heard about the legendary flameless candles but had dismissed them as yet another exaggeration.
But inside the ball, no flame flickered.
Instead there was a solitary line of glowing light. I had no idea how it worked.
After sufficient time had passed, I left the room and entered a long stone chamber lined with the same glowing orbs.
I passed countless rooms filled with wooden crates and barrels but encountered no one as I made my way along the curving passage.
The lower chambers of the Citadel Library appeared to be largely untraveled, used mainly for storage and maintenance.
Soon I came to a narrow stairway twisting upward. I passed the entrances to four different floors, pausing each time to be sure no one was approaching. At the fifth floor, I ducked into the hallway, covering my head with the brown hood of my robes and keeping my face down.
My first stop was the aviary to complete Garrick’s job.
Based on the maps he had provided, it should be just ahead.
I passed through the door and entered a massive circular room as tall as it was wide.
A choir of chirps, squawks, and caws erupted the moment I entered.
Countless cages lined the walls. In the center was a cage large enough for a sizable bird to spread its wings and fly.
It rose many stories and had a wire mesh door in the roof that opened to the blue sky.
An elderly man looked up from a table where he was crafting a leather harness. Garrick had warned me that I might run into someone here. Luckily, this man was small and looked quite feeble, and I was prepared.
“May I help you, Initiate?” the man asked.
“Master Corvane sent you this note,” I said, taking from my inner pocket a parchment that glistened with a powerful sedative.
“Why would Master Corvane send me a note?” he said, face scrunched in confusion. As he reached for it, I raced behind him, holding the parchment up to his mouth and nose. But he shoved it away with far more strength than I’d given him credit for.
“Help!” he cried out. Several birds squawked in reaction.
I drew my dagger quickly and knocked him over the head with the butt. That startled him enough for me to reposition the parchment. Before he could fight back again, his frail body collapsed into my arms.
I paused, holding my breath, listening for the inevitable sound of rushing footsteps after the ruckus. But the hallway remained quiet. I was lucky.
I hid the man’s unconscious body under a table. He’d be out for at least half a bell. From that moment, the clock was working against me, so I had to act swiftly.
Each of the cages housed a different bird, ranging from the common swallow to more exotic species like a golden eagle and a multicolored bird with a large black beak that I didn’t recognize.
Below each cage was a note with the bird’s name and species.
Before long, I came to a cage with a note reading ZEPHYRA – WHISPERHAWK.
Inside was a large bird whose feathers alternated between golden and brown.
She had a hooked beak and powerful talons. Her keen black eyes peered back at me.
“Hello, Zephyra,” I said. “So you’re the girl Garrick is keen to set free.”
Zephyra cocked her head. Garrick sent?
I nearly jumped at the voice inside my head.
It wasn’t so much that I heard those exact words, but the thought behind the words was suddenly present in my consciousness.
It had been years since my father had taken me to the forest to listen to whisperhawks, and I had nearly forgotten what the feeling was like, or that it was even possible.
My memory of it was like a dream, faded and distant. This would take some getting used to.
“Yes, Garrick sent me. I’m here to free you. My name is Cas,” I said as I opened her cage.
Can Cas hear Zephyra?
Zephyra danced back and forth from foot to foot, ruffling her feathers.
“I can.”
It’s been years since anyone could hear Zephyra, little Cas.
“Little?”
Cas is much littler than Garrick.
“I can’t argue with that.”
Cut Zephyra’s bonds, little Cas.
Zephyra pecked at the leather strap wrapped around her right leg. A chain attached to the strap looped around the cage, holding her captive. Her skin looked raw from rubbing against the leather.
“Hold very still.” With my dagger, I cut the strap, taking great care to avoid her tender skin. The moment she was free, she jumped out of the cage and flapped around the aviary, finally settling on my shoulder.
Thank you, little Cas. That strap has bound Zephyra for years.
“I’m sorry for what they did to you.”
It wasn’t little Cas’s fault.
“I can still have sympathy for you. Holding an intelligent animal such as yourself captive is nothing short of torture. But let’s figure out how to get you fully free. Is there a way out of that flight cage?”
At the top, a locked hatch leads to the outside. But unless little Cas can fly, that won’t do much good.
“I can’t fly, but let me give it a try anyway. Where’s the key?”