31. The vase

Right under my nose was a huge dog with its fangs exposed. Its dull, menacing growl came to me with impressive clarity. I had been looking at it, eyes wide open, for a long time, I don’t know how long, maybe hours, days… To me it was as if I had been seeing death coming for an eternity.

“Come, little one,” a voice whispered to me. “Come on, don’t be afraid. I’ll sing you your favorite lullaby, okay? Come on, listen, don’t tremble.”

Still, I was shaking. I was shaking, but I didn’t know why. Was it fear, or was it the stuff Warok had made me swallow, or was it because I had consumed my entire energy stem with so much magic… I didn’t know. It didn’t matter to me now, because my master was there. Sitting beside me, he handed me a clean rabbit bone, and I took it between my teeth as he began to sing softly:

Survivor,

don’t be afraid.

The storm’s going away.

I’m here, you are not alone.

Don’t be afraid.

The storm is already gone.

Sleep peacefully, my child.

But the thing is that the huge dog kept looking at me, showing its teeth and growling like thunder.

Sometimes, the Cave became a well-lit room, with figures moving about and talking in low voices. At one point, the bearded man came up to me, forced me to my feet, and said:

“Hey! Wake up, kid!”

He shook me, but I only managed to stammer without much energy:

“Let go of me, isturbag.”

I didn’t take my eyes off the dog, a rather easy task as he was always facing me, wherever I looked.

“Hold on a sec,” the bearded man whispered. He reached for my neck, and I backed away; I bumped into the wall, and he then grabbed my pendant, his expression frowning. “Where did you get that from?”

I looked at him defiantly, and he dropped my silver pendant, shook his head, and walked away. At last, by sheer force of will, I managed to chase the dog away. I hissed at him repeatedly:

“Go away. Go away. Go away!”

Then my nakrus master intervened, he cast a spell, and the dog disappeared. I caught my breath, groped around until I hit a log, sat up, curled up and, seeing thousands of stars appear in the sky, fell asleep. The last thing I felt was my nakrus master kindly laying a blanket over me. The strangest thing was that when I woke up, I was also under blankets, in an unfamiliar room and in a… bed. Devils. It was my first time sleeping in a bed.

For a few moments, I was nervous as I realized that I had no idea where I was. Then I remembered the day before, Warok, Adoya, the drugs, and… the dogs. Terror threatened to take hold of me again, but I pushed it aside and worked on analyzing my new situation. I was in a large, comfortable room with several beds. It was already daylight and a diaphanous light illuminated the wooden floor. And there were people in the room. The Blue One and the Blonde—two of the five strangers who had pulled me out of the alley where… where Warok had died. Was it I who had killed him? Without a doubt, but I didn’t know if it was because of the mortic shock, the blow he had taken when he fell, or the product in the bottle. In any case, it hadn’t killed me, but I was a sokwata, I thought suddenly. Unless… unless Warok had lied to scare me and not really poisoned me… but I doubted it. In any case, I was more relieved than saddened by his death.

I sat up, and my movement interrupted the whispering of the two women sitting on a bed. Seeing them together, it was impossible not to notice the resemblance. They looked like twins, except for the color of their hair. One, the blonde, had a strange black scar running across her cheek. Both wore loose, dark clothes.

As they both looked at me, I remembered that these strangers thought I knew something about the Black Hawk, and I stiffened.

“Ayo,” I whispered.

I slipped out of the covers and stood up, moving away from the bed. I didn’t feel comfortable in this place at all. I took a quick look out the window and recognized the noisy Tarmil Avenue and the store across the street. We were in The Ballerinas. Why had these people taken me to the inn they were staying at?

“Who are you? Why did you bring me here?” I asked, making a vague gesture with my hand.

I saw the two young women exchange a glance before the blonde spoke up.

“Good morning, my boy. I’m glad you’re feeling better.” She stood up, and I watched as she positioned herself so that she was blocking the door. She gave me a beaming smile. “I am Zalen. And this is my sister, Zoria. And we brought you here because we didn’t want to leave you alone in this state with a corpse. You’ve been raving all night.”

I made an apologetic pout.

“Damn. Well. Thank you. So… can I go now?”

The Blue One cleared her throat, and the Blonde’s smile grew even wider.

“We didn’t kidnap you, kid, but if you have any information about the Black Hawk and the Ojisaries… Who knows, you might have heard something.”

I looked at them both and shrugged. Then I saw the Blue One take out several gold coins, and my face darkened.

“No, ma’am, I can’t take that. Why are you looking for the Black Hawk? For a reward?”

The twins exchanged another look, and then the Blue One said:

“Actually, we’re not looking for the Black Hawk. We’ve heard… that the Ojisaries have a hostage. An important hostage. A gnome.” I think my flinch did not go unnoticed, for her eyes sparkled. “That man is a friend of ours.”

I breathed in, looked casual, and shook my head.

“Sorry, ma’am. I don’t know any gnomes. Can I go now?”

The Blue One looked upset. The Blonde, on the other hand, smiled.

“Sure. You may go. And we promise to leave you alone and not talk about that dark elf if you don’t tell anyone about the… gnome, understand?”

My pulse quickened as I thought they might accuse me of killing Warok. I swallowed and rolled my eyes.

“Natural. Not a word, ma’am.”

I passed Zalen nervously and, already at the door, stopped, and cleared my throat.

“By the way. Thanks for… last night. If it weren’t for you, right now, those dogs might be gnawing on my bones.”

I hesitated and looked at both of them. I was afraid to talk too much, but… the curiosity was too strong.

“Why are you looking for that gnome?”

“Why, you ask?” The bluish woman rose to her feet and stepped forward with a nimble gait while brusquely stating, “Because he’s like a father to both of us.” She came so close that, in order not to have to support her eyes that seemed to see everything, I looked away several times, uncomfortably, as she continued, “Imagine two lost and desperate teenage girls, wandering for moons and moons through wild lands because, in the lands of the sajits, they are called monsters, and suddenly, bam, a man pops up and offers a cure for all their suffering. He takes care of them, pampers them, loves them… And years later, a bunch of devils appear who enslave us and separate us. It is in such circumstances that fury is reborn, bright, burning like a fire that cries out for freedom and vengeance—”

“Zoria,” the Blonde interjected with a clearing of her throat. “Calm down, will you? You’re scaring him. The boy says he doesn’t know anything.”

“And he’s lying,” the Blue One hissed.

In her eyes shone strange little lights, as if she had a starry sky inside. Suddenly, I felt an energy groping at me, but her spell, whatever it was, bounced off and had no effect on me. The surprise on the Blue One’s face made me pout mockingly. I heard her gasp.

“Admit you’re lying,” she insisted. “I can tell by your expression. You know Dessari Wayam.”

I looked annoyed and was in the process of searching for a convincing answer when suddenly the door swung open, the swing of the door hit me, and, straining to dodge the Blue One, I nimbly slipped out just as the bearded man entered, saying cheerfully:

“Apple pie for our queens…! Hey! Stop right there, you rascal! Get him, Sarpas!”

The giant tried to grab me by the arm, but he was not quick enough. I escaped and ran down the hall before I noticed something. The pendant. I didn’t have it anymore. I suddenly turned around and shouted:

“Damn thieves! My pendant!”

The bearded man had given the apple pie to the redheaded caitian and with one hand he was swinging the collar brazenly.

“Is this what you’re looking for?”

I glared at him. What was pressing me and putting me in a bad mood was not so much the exasperation of being robbed, but rather the urgency of getting out of there and away from that Blue One. Maybe she was telling the truth, and this alchemist was her friend, but if they stole him, we’d be surely left without sokwata. And I wasn’t going to allow that. I wasn’t going to tell them anything until the gnome gave us a definitive cure. Life was worth a silver pendant.

Seeing the bearded man advancing down the hallway of the inn, I stepped back and threw:

“I swear I don’t know anything. But I can help you. I know the Cat district. And I know people. I’ll be back here in a week,” I promised. “But now I’m leaving. I’ll leave you my necklace as proof of good faith: take care of it, it’s mine, and it brings me luck. I’m going,” I repeated.

Under the bearded man’s baffled gaze, I turned around and ran off without anyone chasing me. Maybe they weren’t such bad people after all. They had saved me from a very bad situation. And they hadn’t accused me of murder. They deserved some attention from me… But not now.

I was already at the end of the corridor when a tall matron appeared, and when she saw me, she looked appalled.

“But what are you doing here, little devil! Get out of here! Get out of here!”

To get out was precisely my intention, and I told her so, but the innkeeper’s grip helped me to achieve my purpose anyway. She took me down the stairs, dragged me to the backdoor, and after searching my pockets to see if I had stolen anything from her customers, she decided that there was no point in taking me to the police station and expelled me from her establishment. As soon as she dropped me in the alley, I regained my balance and shouted at her:

“You old hag!”

And seeing the murderous expression the matron showed me, I thought it prudent to make off at a run. I left the alley, and instead of going down the Avenue to the Cats, I decided to go to the Esplanade. It must have been after nine o’clock already, and my intuition told me that Manras and Dil would be there; Dil because he always followed Manras, and Manras because, according to Yerris, he had become a devotee of the teachings of Nat the Diver. And Nat the Diver loved to operate on the Esplanade.

I guessed right. After loitering for a while in the huge square, I saw the three of them standing in a circle by a doorway, talking with Swift and with… Syrdio. I glanced cautiously at the Galloper, then cried out:

“Ayo, company, ayo, shyurs!”

They turned to me, Swift smiled, and Manras let out a cry of joy.

“Sharpy!”

When I saw him literally throw himself on top of me, my heart filled with emotion, and I laughed as I heard him unpack everything he had done in the last three weeks:

“You don’t know what happened with the pretty baker! She gave us rolls with honey, just yesterday, for the holidays, and for free, the Patron Saint be blessed, I swear! And you don’t know! The other day, we went with Swift to see the monkeys at the Wild Garden. And then the Venoms had one of her fits… The guard threw us all out, calling us boys… boys terror kids! Boy sterius? Yeah, well, something like that. Hey, Sharpy! Have you seen my new shirt?”

I took advantage of his torrent of words to greet Dil with the usual friendly pat on the head and I replied to all the stories with “Wow, good mother, is that true, shyur?”, interspersed with bursts of laughter and merry teasing. I had well noticed that Syrdio had gone away, and Swift merely patted me on the shoulder and said:

“I’m glad to see you on your feet, shyur. With such a good track record, there won’t be a self-respecting gwak who won’t shake your hand.”

I smiled at him and watched him walk away, realizing that although we got along well, he didn’t want me in his gang because he didn’t want trouble among his own people. I saw him join Syrdio, and I glanced at Diver with a questioning look. The latter had not moved, and he gave me an embarrassed pout.

“Listen, Sharpy, I wanted to tell you… If you tell me you didn’t snitch at the Black Cat for the sokwata, I believe you.”

I nodded and smiled.

“I didn’t snitch. I swear by the ancestors of all the supreme gwakery of Estergat.”

Nat the Diver smiled back at me and held out a hand. I shook it vigorously.

“You can’t complain,” he said. “I’ve sharpened the claws of your friends and enlarged their knowledge. Well, Manras’ at least. Dil… is a special case,” he pointed out. He poked Little Prince’s head, looking amused, and concluded: “I leave them healthy and educated. I’m more of a lone wolf. And… by the way, if the alchemist finds a cure… you’ll tell me, won’t you?”

I huffed.

“Natural! Don’t know how long it’ll take him… but I bet you ten nails he’ll find it.”

Diver was already backing away, and he chuckled.

“You’re not taking much of a risk, Sharpy! Ayo!”

I raised my hand, smiling, and saw him disappear behind a cart full of onions. A few moments later, I saw him on the steps of the Capitol, near Swift and Syrdio, chewing… an onion, I guessed.

“Why are they leaving?” Manras asked, confused.

I shrugged, shoved my hands into my pockets, and yawned.

“We gwaks come and go… That’s just the way it is. We’re leaving too. Come on, shyurs. Get moving. How about we go visit the Priest?”

“But he’s no longer at the Hospital,” Manras objected, following me.

I stopped dead in my tracks when I heard the news.

“What?”

The little dark elf shrugged.

“Well, yes, that’s what the Black Cat told us. The Priest called a doctor a miscreant, and the doctor took exception; they kicked him out, and the Black Cat took him away.”

“Good mother,” I exhaled. “Do you know where the Black Cat is?”

He made a face to say he didn’t know, and I shook my head. Damn. Knowing the Priest, he’d probably called that doctor a miscreant without even thinking about it. He’d called me so dozens of times… but, of course, I was me, and a doctor was a doctor. I shook my head and smiled.

“Bah. Then let’s go to lunch.”

* * *

For the next three days I did not set foot in The Ballerinas. Instead, I went to the Hostel every afternoon. Despite my efforts to transcribe what I heard through the purple stone, my results were still disastrous. The only thing I could make out was that a man named Shokinori and a man named Yabir were looking for the Purple Orb, Korther’s relic, which they had lost many moons ago, and from what Korther had deduced from my translations, they were both in the Underground and traveling to the Surface with the intention of continuing to cast spells and getting closer to the Orb. The idea that they were looking for it seemed to intrigue and fascinate Korther more than it bothered him, I don’t know if because so much interest from these Undergrounders confirmed the “incalculable” value of the relic or for some other reason. In any case, I was getting bored with the whole thing, but I wasn’t complaining because I was earning my daily half-siato, and with that I’d already been able to buy a pair of trousers without holes and fill my pockets with nuts.

On the fourth night, the murmurs of the Undergrounders had become so muffled that, giving up trying to understand them, I had resumed reading the Theories on Infernal Creatures when I heard Shokinori say:

“With caution.”

I looked away from the book, and with a sigh, picked up the quill and translated. I looked up. Through the slits of the closed shutters I could see only darkness. Korther would not let me leave his office with the stone, so I stayed with him while he wrote letters, read, or chatted with Aberyl. At the moment, he was reading the newspaper of The Night Gazette.

“No, no, no!” Shokinori cried. I gasped, “The tracing, Yabir, the tracing is wrong!”

It was the first time I had heard them with such clarity, and I looked down at the Orb in confusion. It seemed they were casting another location spell.

“You’re going to break the bond, stop!” Shokinori growled.

I thought I was safe in my chair, but I was wrong: I felt a sudden jolt of energy. I gave a muffled cry and with a spasmodic movement threw the Orb across the room. The stone struck a pretty vase, which shattered with a crash on the floor. For a second, there was silence, and I did not move. Then I met Korther’s eyes and turned pale.

“Well done,” Korther said, folding the gazette without losing his temper. “Excellent, lad. You just destroyed a vase that cost me thirty-two siatos. Is there any particular reason?”

I nodded at once.

“Yes. The Orb went crazy. Shokinori started yelling that Yabir was going to break the bond and, bam—”

“And bam,” Korther interrupted, rising to his feet. “Goodbye vase.”

I guessed, despite his serene demeanour, that he was angry, and I lowered my eyes with a mortified look.

“I didn’t do it on purpose…”

Korther bent down, picked up the stone, and sighed as he looked at the broken vase.

“This is irreparable. Pick it up and throw it away.”

I stood up; he sat down while examining the Orb; and after putting all the pieces of the vase in my shirt, I looked at the kap, hesitated, and said:

“I’m sorry, Korther.”

The kap sighed.

“And I even more so. At least the Orb still works. You better warn me when you see those two getting closer to Estergat. Go on, scram and come back tomorrow.”

I could forget the fifty nails that day, I understood. I nodded and was about to let go of my shirt with one hand to open the door when it opened with a bang and hit me; I nearly knocked over a silver figurine, held it back as best I could, and all the pieces of vase fell back onto the carpet. Blasthell.

“Oh,” Aberyl said, puzzled, as he entered. “Sorry for that. What happened?”

With a sigh, I bent down and promptly picked up everything again. Korther answered calmly:

“The boy decided to tear down my house. What’s going on, Ab?”

Aberyl shook his head and moved forward, dropping a letter on the table.

“A letter from Frashluc,” he declared.

I saw the reptilian eyes of the Black Dagger kap sparkle. And I saw them immediately turn to me. I winced, understood the implied suggestion, and hurriedly picked up the last piece of the vase before standing up, muttering an almost inaudible “ayo,” and walking away as quiet as a shadow.

Once at the front door, I positioned the latch so that it would close by itself and quickly walked away into the darkness of the night. When I took the street that led down to the Timid River, I intended to throw all the debris into the river of Estergat, but the further I went the more I thought that if the vase had cost Korther thirty-two siatos, it must still have some value even in this form. After a little hesitation, I left the river street and entered the Labyrinth. I passed by The Drawer, but I just glanced to see if Yarras was there, and, so to speak, I said “ayo, ayo,” and left. I went to The Blue Flame. I’d never been in a public house before, and what I saw impressed me a little: the walls were covered with tapestries, and the tables and counter were crowded with people. However, the atmosphere was different from that of The Drawer. When I recognized Lotto the Tinker sitting at a table, I zigzagged between the beautiful ladies to reach him.

“Lotto! Say, is Yarras around?”

The little man arched his eyebrows and lowered his tankard.

“Ah, Bard. Yes, I think he’s upstairs. What are you carrying there?”

I shrugged.

“Something I want to show him.”

And before he could ask me any more questions, I took the direction indicated and climbed the stairs without anyone stopping me. Twice I glanced into the wrong room before I heard Yarras’ voice through a half-open door:

“… poppet,” he said. “Because, truthfully, if you intend to move that pawn, you’ve lost the game.”

“Shut up, I can’t concentrate,” a female voice replied in an absorbed tone.

After so many hours of eavesdropping on Shokinori and Yabir’s conversations, I had a particular aversion to spying, so I knocked on the door and poked my head in. I found the robust, red-haired fellow and a pretty woman sitting on either side of a table, a checkerboard of maog before them.

“Demons,” Yarras articulated, surprised. “Bard? What are you doing here? Hold on a second, I’m coming.” And he added, “Sorry, poppet, I meant to warn you, but…” He moved a piece. “You lose.”

He casually rose to his feet and, throwing a mocking apologetic look at his defeated opponent, walked out, and closed the door.

“What’s the matter, boy?”

I explained things to him by showing him the pieces of the vase:

“I was wondering if this thing was worth anything.”

Yarras arched an eyebrow, took a piece, and looked amused.

“Well, well. Looks like Vargyl china. I don’t suppose I can ask you where you got it from… or why it’s in such a state.”

I bit my lip; he gave me back the piece and shook his head.

“Twenty nails is all I can offer you.”

I shrugged. It was better than nothing.

“It runs.”

He led me to a small, cluttered room at the end of the corridor, and made me put all the pieces of china into a box then gave me the twenty nails.

“Thank you, Yarras,” I said with a smile.

He smiled back at me.

“It never hurts to help a gwak. They say it brings good luck. Oh, by the way…” He hesitated theatrically. “You know about what happened a few days ago on the Wheel Road? They found a dead man.”

The tension washed over me. I arched my eyebrows, feigning surprise.

“Thunders. Really?”

“Yes. Apparently, from what some people are saying, he was one of the Black Hawk’s bastards. He died of a falsin overdose. You didn’t know about that, did you?”

I shook my head several times.

“No, I didn’t.”

Yarras looked at me mockingly.

“The flies also found a cap that had a hole in the visor.”

I turned pale. Damn. And here I thought I’d left it at The Ballerinas… But it was no surprise that the five strangers who’d rescued me hadn’t thought to erase the evidence that could incriminate me. Yarras rolled his eyes and ruffled my hair.

“I think I’ve got a cap lying around here. Wait a moment, I’ll search for it, it runs?”

I looked at him carefully, and Yarras chuckled.

“Relax, gwak! If I had been in your shoes, I would have been less delicate.”

He began to rummage through the clutter and finally pulled out a really old cap.

“Will that do?” Yarras asked.

He didn’t wait for my answer and put it on my head before leading me out of the room. I huffed.

“Thank you, Yarras.”

“It’s only natural: a gwak without a cap is not a gwak as it should be.”

I was not only referring to that, but I knew that Yarras had understood. I took out the twenty nails again, and he raised his hands.

“No way, keep it.”

“No. It’s only fair, for the cap,” I insisted, handing him the coins.

Yarras looked at me questioningly.

“You don’t want to pay for the services of one of my cute cousins by any chance?”

My eyes widened at the thought.

“No, no,” I hastened to refuse. “I—”

“It runs!” Yarras laughed, mockingly. “So… maybe a game of old-nails? You’ve got money to bet on.”

I rolled my eyes, huffed, and the ruffian smiled.

“Runs for you?”

I nodded, cheerfully.

“Well, well, yes, runs for me!”

Two hours later, I left the public house with a debt of thirty-six nails and with the certainty that I still had a lot to learn to play old-nails well and that I should not rely on luck.

Tired after a long day of selling newspapers, wandering the streets, spying on magarists, and getting into debt with ruffians, I decided it was time to return to Wool Square. It was already past midnight, but in the square there were still eyes open. I wandered cautiously among the sleeping gwaks, found Manras and Dil, and lay down beside them with a yawn. I pricked up my ear. There were murmurs from the awake gwaks; one band was chatting quietly, sitting by the central well; at the entrance to a street, I saw one gwak busy demanding some debt from another. I looked away to the sky. The stars were twinkling with unusual sharpness. I put my hand to a pendant which I did not have, and whispered:

“Good night, Elassar.”

My master answered me gently:

“Good night, Mor-eldal.”

I smiled and rolled my eyes as I heard it. Ever since Warok’s death, I don’t know why, harmonies had been playing tricks on me from time to time. It wasn’t too bad as long as the little problem didn’t get worse. And there was no reason to think it would get worse, was there?

I sighed, tried to find a comfortable position, and as soon as I closed my eyes, I fell asleep placidly.