White Devil Read online

  “We live in the Highlands,” she said instead.

  “Oh, the Highlands? I was there a few years ago, what a wonderfully peaceful place it is. My, my, a very dear friend of mine lives there, you know.”

  “Is that so?” Lilith asked politely.

  “Why yes, I would not claim it for any other reason, dearie. Oh, it’s been quite some time since I have met with him. Perhaps it is about time again. Say, when are you planning to return? Perhaps I could give you a message for him?”

  “Certainly!” Lilith exclaimed. “I am not sure when we can go back, but I am already quite impatient. What is your friend’s name? Perhaps I know him already.”

  Catarina smiled knowingly, the kind of smile Lilith was used to seeing on Colm. The dwarf took her hand and patted it gently.

  “Oh, I dare say you do.”

  *****

  The journey was long but speaking with Catarina made Lilith forget all about how uncomfortable she had felt in the steamer at first. Over time, her friends relaxed as well, and Selene even chimed in with a question of her own every once in a while, while Lilith quizzed Catarina about all the places she had been and seen. Both were eager to find out more about the different countries, their customs and the dwarf’s experience in them. It helped that Catarina was an easy conversationalist who could carry the dialogue on her own.

  There was a brief period, in which Catarina excused herself to spend some time in the dining cart, when their compartment fell silent. Each one of them pondered their own thoughts, and for the first time since they had left Tsoaluo, Lilith was able to take a look out the window. The scenery rushed past them at high speed, but it was evident that it had changed considerably. The further they traveled, the more often were the fields split by little woods, and the fewer villages or smaller towns they saw in the distance. The forests were alive and luscious green, growing both high and wide, and Lilith saw many birds circle their skies. There were fields filled with cows, sheep, goats, horses, and even pigs. There were some other animals as well, creatures she didn’t recognize, and Lilith noticed that she wasn’t the only one paying close attention to them.

  Zero was carefully studying the animals they passed, sometimes barely muttering under his breath, his eyebrows furrowing every once in a while, indicating his undivided attention to his subjects. He had returned to human shape, watching them. When they drove through a forest, trees whooshing past the windows too quickly to make out anything, Zero took out a small notebook and sketched down some of the animals they had seen. Even though they were just shaded line drawings and Lilith could only see them upside down, she could recognize each one with ease. She almost expected the animals to jump and gallop from the paper.

  Watching Zero move the pencil across the paper in precise, decided movements that brought forth quiet, rhythmic scratching noise, made Lilith sleepy. It probably didn’t help that it mixed together with the low, rumbling vibrations of the racing steamer. After a while, Lilith vaguely realized that her eyes had closed, but somehow, she couldn’t muster the strength to open them again.

  Balthasar looked at everything they had managed to set up. Grinning, he shook his head.

  “Ye’re a miracle, ye are,” he yelled, clapping the man next to him on the back. Colm smiled back at him.

  “Really, it wouldn’t have been possible without you all of you,” he admitted.

  Balthasar shook his head again in cheerful disbelief but left it at that. In his opinion, Colm was one of a kind. Not everybody just died and came back to life a few minutes later for no reason at all. And then, his master plan was ingenious. It had so many twists, so many back-up ideas and no one even suspected a thing.

  The pirates had spent the past two days or so gathering people from the villages together to build temporary fortifications. A certain number of them had gathered near Violet Cottage to be trained in the basics of combat by Ryo and Balthasar. It was going well. The villagers were learning quickly, and they all helped one another, whether they were from different villages or the same household. And all because Colm had explained the situation to them and mentioned his fears and suspicions for the future.

  Though the little girl, Milly, was no less incredible. She continuously ran errands for Colm and when she wasn’t doing that, she was watching Balthasar and Ryo train the villagers and gave immediate magical healing aid whenever someone got hurt.

  Balthasar admired all the people that lived in these mountains. They were what he had missed in Jianlah. And they deserved all the good that may come their way. He was glad that Selene had decided to help them out, even though it was something quite different to what they had done in the past.

  “It’s racing the river,” Colm mumbled, looking into the far distance, toward the Tree of Life on which Balthasar’s home land lay. Their girls were somewhere much closer to the Tree. Balthasar knew what the other man was talking about – they didn’t know how much time they had before someone would try to take over the Highlands. Colm was certain that it would happen soon, and Balthasar trusted in the man’s judgement. But in any scenario, it would be a huge relief to have their girls back safe and sound with the weapon they needed to successfully defend the Highlands against a whole army. Or possibly two.

  Truth to be told, Balthasar had his doubts about that mystical weapon. He didn’t doubt its existence as such – he had seen stranger things – but he had his reservations about the extent of the artifact’s abilities. He simply found it hard to believe that a single weapon, handled by a young woman – a girl – winged or otherwise, should be able to defeat a whole army by itself.

  “Uncle Balthasar!”

  Milly came running to them excitedly. She had taken to calling him uncle, for whatever reason. Perhaps she had wanted to give him a title, seeing as she kept calling Colm her Master.

  “What’s with ye, lil one?” Balthasar asked.

  Giddily, the little girl pointed toward a group of people.

  “They want to be trained in fighting things! We have newbies,” she cheered.

  Balthasar lit up a little more. More people wanting to learn how to fight was a good sign. The more people knew what they were doing, the better their chances were.

  Lilith didn’t wake up again until the steamer slowed down with an ear-shattering whistling. A glance outside the window proved the change in landscape Catarina had promised. There was some scrub and bushes, even grass, but the forests had been left behind and the land didn’t seem sturdy enough to support fields for most plant life. However, Lilith could make out some water-logged fields, undoubtedly irrigated by design.

  A moment later, they were passing some buildings, the architecture similar to Tsoaluo, except greyer and more weather-worn. Paint was stripping off here and there. Lifting her gaze, Lilith saw the boardwalks in the sky. They were broad enough for two to three people to walk past each other comfortably, with protective railings on either side of the walk. Indeed, they reached between the buildings, some of the connections even covered by roofs. People were rushing to and fro up there, but Lilith could see almost no one on the ground. Catarina seemed to have been right – people avoided the lower city and remained quite happily in the sky. She wondered what kind of people chose to stay below.

  The steamer slowed down further and stopped next to a large wooden platform leading directly into a building, which, according to the large, green letters above the doors, was the steamrail station. There, the steamer came to an almost silent halt.

  The bustle to leave the train made Lilith uncomfortable, and it was no different for the others. Zero changed into a bird and left the steamer overhead, together with Amethyst. Ayalon decided to wait until most people were out of the tubes so he would have enough space to get off. The rest of them were stuck in the crowd, shuffling forward – occasionally getting knocked about – toward the exit.

  The air smelled sticky, wet and even a little moldy. It was warmer here than it had been in Tsoaluo, and the proxim
ity of so many people didn’t make it any easier. In order not to lose sight of her in the crowd, Lilith grabbed Selene’s hand. She regretted not having waited with Ayalon until the mass of people had left. Somehow, she had been swept up by the general movement.

  They waited just outside of the station. It was astonishing how quickly the throng split up and disappeared. It wasn’t long before the group was together again. Even Catarina had waited with them.

  Zero remained in bird shape and was looking down at Nenbalon, Lilith thought that may not be a bad idea. It would be easier to switch between the different levels of the city and to travel across it with wings.

  “Why are you still here?” Amethyst croaked, regarding Catarina with narrow eyes.

  “My, what a lovely voice you have,” the dwarf exclaimed, clapping her hands together. “I figured since it happens to be the first time for you in Nenbalon, I could show you around a little. I have a few hours to spare until my next steamer, after all. What do you say, dearies?”

  Lilith and Selene exchanged a glance. Selene shrugged, so Lilith turned to Catarina and smiled.

  “We would be very happy if you would. Perhaps you could show us to the archives where you were working before? There is some research we would like to do while we’re here.”

  “Absolutely, right this way, my dear.”

  Catarina led them into a building next to the station. Looking up, Lilith saw that a lot of upper level pathways crossed and led there. It was a circular building, allowing paths to attach from all sides. About half way up there was a platform, with plants blocking the view of its contents.

  The inside of the building was very plain. There were some benches attached to the walls of the room, and some steps up to a large, circular podium in the center. Above this podium, there was a hole in the ceiling of the same dimensions. Other than an entrance on both sides, there were no other doors. Above both doors were bluish, rectangular plaques on which appeared a luminous, almost flaming number.

  “Silphan stones,” Catarina explained. “Some technomancers infused them with an order, so these particular ones are tuned to tell people on what level the elevator is.”

  “Technomancer? Elevator?” Amethyst asked and flapped his wings annoyed.

  Catarina laughed.

  “They are both relatively new, and I suppose the Highlands being out of the way you wouldn’t have come across these things, dearie, but technomancers are mages that specialize in infusing Silphan stones into technology. It’s like an energy source to power machines, once they have been told what to do. Any low-level mage can learn how to do it, they teach it at the university in Fintel. One of my cousins entered a course recently I believe.”

  Amethyst sighed in defeat.

  “Elevators?” he repeated.

  Catarina winked.

  “That, you shall see in a moment.”

  She led the group onto the platform and stepped on a button in the floor.

  Lilith thought she could suddenly make out a shimmer, reflecting lights in the air around the circle. Simultaneously, the platform moved up, so gently Lilith could barely feel the movement.

  Selene stepped to the edge of the pedestal and placed her hand on the shimmer which indicated a barrier of sorts, an almost invisible wall.

  “This works in a similar way to the steamrails, right?” she asked.

  Catarina nodded.

  “You’re right, it does, but I don’t know enough of the particulars to explain it myself. It’s some form of technomancy conjoined with magnetism. But let’s get off here.”

  The platform rose to the same level as the first floor and halted, the shimmer in the air dissipating. Catarina urged them to step off, and a moment later, the platform moved further up. There were more people bustling around on this level. Some were moving to another level the same way they had done, others were only moving from one boardwalk to another.

  “They call this place the crossroads. There are a few of them around town, at least one for every district. They’re usually next to important places, like the townhall and the steamrail station. There is one near the library as well, but they have blocked off the lower access point there because of an incident a few months ago. Nasty business, really. But I won’t bore you with the specifics. Follow me!”

  With those words, the dwarf led them onto a boardwalk heading north. The walkways weren’t as busy as Lilith had feared, but there was still limited space for them to move. Lilith felt a little constricted and one glance at Ayalon proved that he felt the same.

  “Catarina,” Lilith called out. The dwarf turned around.

  “Yes, my dear?”

  “May we fly there? It would be quicker, and we do not have much space to move here, especially poor Ayalon.”

  Catarina regarded the dragon for a moment.

  “I suppose it would do no harm,” she eventually said. “The patrol guard and the postal service are made up of dwarf dragons and gryphons as well, and they seem to be able to fly between the boardwalks just fine, so your scaly friend should have no problems either. I will direct you, dearie, if that is alright with you?”

  The last part was directed at Ayalon, who agreed with a rumble.

  “Not a bad idea,” Selene muttered to Lilith and swung herself onto Ayalon’s back, before helping Catarina up.

  Lilith considered calling out her wings for a moment, but she caught herself at the last moment. They were still in Pbecrah. Surely Lady Xelma would have raised the alarm to all local authorities. Lilith knew for a fact that the woman could send messages through the fire, even though, Lilith added as a bitter afterthought, she might have killed anyone able to receive such a message within the country. Still, it might be too risky to show her wings in a town like this, where she could be jumped and seen from all directions.

  Something nipped at her shoulder. Zero had turned into a large eagle and indicated to her to get on his back. Smiling, Lilith obeyed. A moment later they were airborne, Amethyst flapping quickly between Zero and Ayalon.

  “To the left at this tower here – yes, and now rise to the next level so you can fly over that building – yes, and now dip down below and turn right underneath that boardwalk – yes, and now just straight for the next seven, there you go dearie! Oh, and after that, we need to turn left again and then…”

  Lilith tuned out Catarina’s directions and turned her attention toward the city. Tsoaluo had been a very large place, with so many people that she had hardly thought there could be any left in the country. Nenbalon proved her wrong.

  There were many boardwalks stretching between buildings of various sizes and towers that stretched up between them. Sometimes the flat roof of a building was used to connect several paths, sometimes paths merged and split mid-air. Due to the nature of the boardwalks, most buildings had a generous diameter, however their shapes tended to stretch between hexagons to decagons and perhaps even further. Octagonal buildings appeared to be the most common. All of Nenbalon, boardwalks and buildings, were made of wood. Lilith recognized the patterns and colors from the furniture in Violet Cottage and knew it to be sturdy. The huts for the pirates had also been constructed from the same wood, as it could withstand most weather and was not overly affected by moisture.

  However, even the sturdiest of woods could not keep the towers from swaying a little when a big gust of wind struck it. How people could live on these oscillating monuments, Lilith couldn’t comprehend, but she was fascinated all the same. The boardwalks were a bustling mess, packed with all sorts of creatures hurrying forward, only very few stopping to look at the eagle and dragon flying underneath or overhead.

  Watching a long, slightly wider platform that appeared to serve as a market place, Lilith found herself glad they did not need to navigate their way through this maze of walkways. All of them crossed one another above and beneath, and Lilith could not determine the logic behind them. The towers usually had signs where the boardwalks attached to them, but ther
e were so many, and especially with the different levels, Lilith found it too confusing.

  The market place concerned her as well – she was baffled how people did not fall off it on either side. The stalls were stacked beside one another, allowing only for a narrow passage through the middle, however people managed to rush through here as well, despite others inspecting the goods left and right.

  “And that’s it, the rickety building with the dome, yes, right here, you can land on that ledge, that’s it, dearie.”

  Catarina’s voice broke through Lilith’s marveling and made her gaze forward.

  Zero landed on a flat balcony below which a path led into an octagonal building through several triangular arches. Even though the architecture was full of sharp edges and corners, the wood itself was smooth and polished. Letting her hand stroke over it while walking through the arch into the building, Lilith wondered if it had been coated or glazed with something, but she could detect no signs of it. The room in which they found themselves had the same type of opening on all eight sides and was empty, aside from the wide spiraling staircase in the center.

  “I’ve always hated these stairs, you know,” Catarina grumbled as she bumbled toward them and began to ascend. The stairs led down as well, however someone had attached a sign to the railing. The handwriting was atrocious, and Lilith could not make out the words, but based on the large lettering and the red color, she guessed that it was something forbidding access.

  She went up the stairs with Catarina and Selene, followed closely by Zero and Ayalon. Lilith was glad the stairs were wide enough for the dragon – she would have felt bad had he not been able to join them. Amethyst had silently taken his place on her shoulder.