Unbroken Chain

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

That night Ashok slept in the burned-out building where he’d first drawn his maps of the city. He hadn’t intended to, but as he’d stood outside the door of the room he’d shared with Chanoch, he realized he didn’t want to go in and see it vacant.

He slept little and woke often from strange dreams he couldn’t quite remember. Finally, he got up and walked the torn pathways around the trade district, avoiding people wherever possible.

Ashok knew he should be preparing to leave the city. Chanoch was gone, and he’d fulfilled his promise to Natan. There was no longer anything keeping him in Ikemmu. Yet he couldn’t make himself leave. He craved solitude, but he couldn’t stomach the thought of walking the Shadowfell plain alone.

Truly, father would laugh to see how pathetic I’ve become, Ashok thought. Weak and indecisive.

After three days of little rest and listless wandering around the city, Ashok returned to the training yard and saw Cree and Skagi talking to Jamet. When they saw him, they immediately excused themselves and came quickly over.

“Where have you been?” Skagi demanded. “Uwan’s had us looking everywhere for you. He almost gave up on the mission.”

“What mission?” Ashok said.

“The four of us-Vedoran’s meeting us later today-are to escort Tatigan through the Underdark,” Skagi explained.

“Tatigan?” Ashok said. He hadn’t seen the merchant since they’d spoken in Darnae’s shop.

“That’s not all,” Cree said. “You’re going to lead us.”

“Me?” Ashok said. “What about Vedoran?”

Skagi shook his head. “Uwan says it’s going to be you this time,” he said. “Fitting punishment, I say, for what that Blite bastard did to Chanoch. What do you think, eh?”

Ashok didn’t know what to say. He’d come to see Skagi and Cree ostensibly to say goodbye, yet in the next breath he found himself asking, “When do we leave?”

“Last bell,” Cree said. “Vedoran said if we found you he’d get Tatigan and meet us and Ilvani at the Veil.”

“Ilvani?” Ashok said, shocked. “What does she have to do with this?”

Cree glanced at his brother. They both looked uneasy. “We were as surprised as you,” Cree said. “But Uwan thinks-see, Ilvani used to go on raids, and scouting missions of course. But ever since we got back …”

“Uwan thinks she needs to get back to her old duties, that it’ll do her good,” Skagi said.

Ashok shook his head. “He’s wrong.” he said. Again. Wrong about so much.

Cree shrugged. “It’s not for us to decide,” he said. “She’s meeting us, and we’re to escort Tatigan.”

Something Cree had said suddenly registered in Ashok’s brain, and he said, “What’s the Veil?”

You’ll see the Veil soon, Ilvani had said.

Skagi chuckled. “I’ve been waiting to show it to you,” he said. “It’s our way to the other side.” He motioned to Cree and started walking. “Come on. We’ll get some provisions together.” His lip curled into a mischievous smile. “Then you’ll see it with your own eyes.”

It took longer than they expected to gather the necessary gear and provisions, even though Skagi assured Ashok that the journey through the Underdark and back would take only a day.

The brothers guided him north of the trade district to a well-worn, deserted road that led straight to the canyon wall. Ashok remembered the road, but he’d ignored it when he had made his maps of the city, thinking it was a dead end. They passed beneath the Spans, and Ashok heard the waterfall in the distance behind Makthar.

The shadows on the deserted road were deeper, and as Ashok’s vision adjusted to the lower light conditions, he saw a raised stone arch set into the canyon wall ahead of them. Four guards stood at either leg of the arch, and the keystone bore the carved sword of Tempus, its blade pointed down toward the ground. It was exactly like the portal arch outside the city gate. Ilvani stood beneath the sword, her back to them. She was staring at the wall. None of the guards paid her any attention.

“Well met, Grecen,” Cree called out to one of the guards. “Any sign of our merchant friend?”

The guard shook his head. “Not yet,” he replied.

“Vedoran’s missing too,” Ashok said. He went up to Ilvani. “Are you all right?” he asked.

She turned to him and bowed her head in greeting. “I told you I would be here,” she said.

“How did you know?” Ashok asked.

She tapped her temple with a fingernail. “Too many questions. Not enough space for them all,” she said.

“Fair enough,” Ashok said. “But are you certain you’re up to this?”

Weariness crossed her face. “Uwan,” she said simply.

“Uwan,” Ashok said, understanding. “He’s always taking things before they’re ready.”

“Yes,” she replied.

“Well met, Tatigan,” Skagi called out, and Ashok turned to see the merchant coming toward them.

He had his green spectacles on and a large sack on a strap over his shoulder. “I’ve a lot of coin this time, Skagi,” Tatigan said. “You’ll have to walk extra slowly.”

Skagi snorted. “Prepare to be left behind, old man,” he said.

“And who’s this going to accompany us?” Tatigan asked, peering over his spectacles at Ashok. “Tempus’s emissary, is it?” He winked at Ashok.

“We’re waiting for one more,” Ashok said. “Then we should be ready to leave. Not”-he looked at Skagi-“that I fully understand where we’re going.”

Skagi grinned. “Be patient,” he said.

Cree and Skagi went over to converse with the guards, and Ilvani drifted back to the arch. Ashok stood with Tatigan. Neither spoke for a time.

“I saw Darnae early this morning,” Tatigan said. “She asked after you, said she hadn’t seen you in days. Where have you been keeping yourself?”

“As far away as possible,” Ashok said. “I’m not good company these days.”

“She’s afraid you’re going to leave,” Tatigan said.

Ashok sighed. “She’s perceptive,” he said. “I won’t go anywhere without giving her word.”

“That’s good to know,” replied the merchant.

“There’s Vedoran,” Skagi said grimly, pointing up the road.

Ashok turned to look and saw Vedoran coming quickly toward them. His normally graceful stride was broken. He dragged his boots and nearly stumbled twice before he got to them. Skagi laughed derisively.

“Have you been in Tatigan’s wine, Vedoran?” he said. “No wonder you’re late.”

“I’m fine,” Vedoran said tersely. He walked past Skagi to greet Tatigan. “I apologize for my lateness,” he said. “We can leave anytime you’re ready.” He glanced briefly at Ashok. “Lead on,” he said.

Ashok noticed Vedoran’s hands shaking. He’d steadied his walk, but it was an effort, Ashok thought. As the group gathered together, Ashok walked past Vedoran, but smelled no strong drink on his breath. His hair was slightly askew from its tail, and his skin was paler than normal, but in all other respects he seemed in control of himself.

Skagi called him to the front of the group, and Ashok had no more time to wonder about Vedoran’s condition.

“Time to lead us through the Veil,” Skagi said and nodded to the arch.

Ashok looked at the bare canyon wall. He glanced at Skagi and the rest, but they were waiting on him. Even Vedoran accepted his new role as leader without comment or conflict. Ashok found that a jest indeed, since he had no idea where he was going.

“But I go,” he murmured to himself, and stepped forward until his nose was almost touching the stone. He smelled earth and something faintly electric, like contained lightning, and underneath them both dampness. He closed his eyes and took the last step forward.

His body passed through the wall, and Ashok felt a breath of wind blow his hair back, like the air currents between doors. The electricity hummed along his skin and then was gone. The air turned to damp, and there was a smell of moss everywhere.

Ashok opened his eyes, looked around, and was engulfed by a sudden vertigo that made him stumble back a step.

Hands on his shoulders steadied him, and Ashok looked back to see Ilvani behind him. She had to reach above her head to touch his shoulders.

“What is this?” Ashok asked her. “I don’t understand.”

“You passed through the Veil,” Ilvani said. “Everything here is real, even if your eyes say no. The eyes always say no, but they lie.”

Ashok tried to get his breath, but his senses were still awry. The city before him was obviously Ikemmu, except that everything was wrong.

Before him there were the four towers whose summits nearly brushed the top of the cavern-the trade districts and Makthar with its thundering waterfall, and Athanon with its fence. But the towers on the far side of the Veil were smaller than those on the other, with fewer of the archways for teleportation.

The people Ashok saw coming and going from the trade districts were almost all human, dwarven, or one of the other races. He saw one shadar-kai for every two dozen other races. The trade district was much larger and more built up on that side of the city as well. The buildings were newer, constructed in the last ten years, Ashok thought. Much of the debris that cluttered the roadways on the other side of the Veil was missing.

“Two faces for one city,” Ashok said.

Tatigan stepped through the Veil with the others. Ashok hadn’t realized that he and Ilvani had been the only ones to cross for several breaths.

Skagi said, “Surprised?”

“I had no idea,” Ashok said. He nearly laughed aloud at his feeble plans when he’d first arrived in Ikemmu, of his enclave ever having a chance to attack the city. “How many people live here?” he asked.

“Roughly eight thousand souls,” Tatigan said before anyone else could answer. “But that’s not counting the traders and planewalkers that come through here every day. Most of them only ever see this side of the city.”

“Where is this side of the city?” Ashok said. “Are we below where we were before?”

Tatigan chuckled. “Prepare to be dizzy, lad,” he said. We’re in exactly the same spot we were before. We haven’t gone anywhere at all.”

“I don’t understand,” Ashok said.

“We’re in the Underdark,” Tatigan said. “Specifically, this place is known as the Ramparts of Night. We crossed from the shadow world to the thing that cast the shadow. Right now we’re below the world of Faerun, my home.”

Cree laughed. “Tatigan has made a study of Ikemmu’s geography,” he said. “He’ll go on for days if you let him.”

“Someone has to chronicle the marvels you take for granted,” Tatigan said. “Your city exists in two worlds simultaneously, and you don’t think that’s something to respect?”

Skagi shrugged. “Means we can be attacked on two fronts. That’s why only certain people get to cross to the Shadowfell side,” he explained to Ashok. “Only permanent residents get to go there.”

“They trade comfort for security,” Tatigan said. “The other races have worked hard to restore the Underdark side of the city, but the Shadowfell side is the point of refuge in the event of an invasion.”

“And this?” Ashok said, nodding to the bustling market. “This is the true trade district?”

“Where all the coin is made,” Tatigan said. “You can smell it in the air.”

“We’re wasting time,” Vedoran said, speaking up. He’d been so quiet Ashok was startled to hear his voice. “Tatigan, if you please.”

“I do please,” Tatigan said, sniffing. He fell into step beside Ashok. “I’m writing a memoir about the city. There is a path that we’ll take up to the surface and then you’ll tell me, you who have never seen the colored world like this”-he poked his green lenses-“if this city is not a wonder. I wager you won’t be able to say it.”

“I wouldn’t make the wager,” Ashok said as they started off into the mirror city. He glanced at Ilvani. “The wonders in this city are limitless.”