Coil of Worlds

Dane huddled against the side of a burned building. With every breath, he inhaled the stale scent of ash and charred wood. Shivering in his thin cloak, he drew the material closer to his body. His stomach growled with hunger, but he ignored it.

Food was scarce for the Pyrannis living in the city of Gharra, and what was available was far too expensive. Thievery was dangerous for those caught, but if one wanted to survive the coming weeks, then there was no choice.

He couldn’t remember the last time he’d filled his stomach with a warm meal. Most of the food he scrounged together went to the women and children hiding in the burned-out buildings around him.

Shoving his dour thoughts away, Dane kept a look out for a familiar, strolling walk.

It had taken over a week, but he’d managed to leave a coded message for Timosy. Dane had yet to find Thanel since Malirran patrols made it almost impossible to move around Gharra without suspicion.

A slight tug on the back of his cloak had him reacting on instinct. Striking with precision, Dane grabbed ahold of the arm. He didn’t show his surprise at feeling the frail bones rubbing together beneath his fingers.

Stricken, wide eyes met his, but the filthy face dissolved into outright defiance. The young boy hissed, “Let me go.”

The intonation, not the words itself, made Dane look the boy over again. Soft fingers yanked at his iron grip, and startling white teeth bared themselves in a snarl.

God’s blood! The boy was a girl; the gentle breeding was there under all the grime.

Dane’s glare stilled the girl, and then she cringed inward. He grabbed both her shoulders and tugged the girl back farther into the shadows. He didn’t ask the obvious question. He knew full well why the girl was without a chaperone, slinking around the city on her own. Her entire family was probably dead during what the Pyrannis still alive called the purge. Only the God and Goddess knew how she had escaped notice.

He leaned down and whispered, “It is not safe to be outside tonight. Understand?”

The only sound the girl made was a sharp intake of breath. She nodded once, though her eyes darted this way and that. Her distrust was in every tremor of her thin body.

Dane looked back toward the street and checked both ways, before ducking back to safety. The girl’s fingers felt like ice on his forearm. He inwardly groaned. His conscience was going to get him killed.

Turning his full attention back to the child, he leaned down and whispered in her ear again. “If you wait, I’ll share what little food I have.” He considered the shredded clothes barely hanging on the girl. She’d been smart enough to destroy any clothing proclaiming her heritage, including her shoes. He frowned. She’d made it this long without his protection. Dane had to take the chance she’d wait for him like he hoped.

“Do you know the alley behind the old bakery?” It was only one street over from where they stood.

She studied him for a long moment before she nodded again with flattened lips.

“The alley. Go there. The building is only half standing, but the sign still hangs outside. Make sure no one follows you for a few minutes before you move deeper into the alley. At the corner of the dead end, there is a cellar door half hidden under a shrub. Get inside and wait for me.”

Dane looked back toward the street and recognized Timosy’s gliding walk. He gave his battlemate a quick nod before focusing back on the girl. “I swear on the family I’ve lost that you will be safe from harm. Go, rest. I’ll meet you there as soon as I am done here.” When she trembled beneath his hand with indecision, Dane shook her, then let her go with a small push. “Go.”

He was a fool for placing his trust in a desperate, starving child. He mentally shrugged. Dane doubted the girl would be there, but he’d done his best.

Unwilling to see whether the girl followed his instructions, Dane waited until his battlemate slipped into the shadows beside him. After clasping Timosy tight, he asked the question greatest on his mind. “Have you seen or heard from Thanel?”

Timosy grinned, and Dane almost laughed aloud with relief. “Thanel is alive and well. He was injured when the Malirrans attacked the castle.”

“Injured? How?” Dane whispered.

His battlemate gestured down to his leg but didn’t explain further.

Dane shook his head at his own folly. He could ask when they were safe behind closed doors. Seeing nothing move in the street, they both glanced up at the windows and rooftops above them. Once certain no one watched them, Dane motioned for Timosy to follow him.

Darting one street over and into the alley, he huffed his surprise when a small shadow separated itself from the wall. The girl had shown up after all.

After giving her a curious glance, Timosy turned his back to watch the alley’s opening. Everyone froze when the cellar door creaked as Dane lifted it. He whispered, “Girl, get in. Timosy, you too.”

Once the door shut above him, the tension left him. Dane moved around the small cellar in the dark with familiar ease, his hand hitting the top of the lantern on the first try. No one said a word until a flicker of a flame lit the room.

Ignoring Timosy for the moment, he asked the girl, “You have a name?”

She ducked her head and wrapped her arms around her chest. She stared at them for a long moment. “Leena. My name is Leena.”

Dane bowed to her in greeting. “Leena, I am Dane Ironside. This is my battlemate, Timosy.”

His friend followed his lead, sheathed his blade, and dipped his head. “Young Leena, are you hungry?” Not waiting for an answer, Timosy pulled his cloak aside and untied a bag from his belt. He dropped the bag onto the cracked shelf to his left. He took a small step backward, giving her plenty of space. “I have jerky and a couple slices of dry bread. It isn’t much, but it is yours.”

A grunt escaped Dane. It was more than he had to offer the child. Leena never turned her back to them, but she snatched the bread and crammed it into her mouth, chewing quickly before taking another bite.

Glancing over at Timosy, Dane asked, “And you, how did you fare in the battle?”

His friend scowled. “I have a few new scars but nothing serious. I was next to Thanel when he dropped. At first, I thought he was dead. I killed the two Malirrans closest to us, then checked on him. The Malirrans were so intent on reaching the curtain wall I was able to move him out of the fight to a safer area.”

They both shared a glance. Dane noticed that Timosy had aged in these last several months. They were no longer young, naïve boys fresh from training. For a while, the only sound in the room was the girl chewing and swallowing her food.

“We are safe for now,” Timosy continued. He ran a critical eye around the cellar. “I’ll move Thanel here in a couple days. This cellar is more protection than where we’re holed up, but he is just now on his feet again.”

Dane hesitated, looking over at the girl. Leena listened to every word they spoke, and he was certain she could repeat verbatim everything they said.

“Aside from finding you and Thanel, there was a reason why I left you a message.”

His battlemate’s nod was knowing. “You have news.”

He hesitated again. “Yes, I have reason to believe our old battlemate is coming to Gharra.”

A long pause met his statement. Leena’s eyes darted back and forth with growing curiosity.

A slight movement ruffled the other man’s cloak, and then Timosy’s hand gripped a dagger with white knuckles. He breathed, “Skye.”

Staring up at the cellar door, Dane answered the question his friend refused to ask, “I saw his mother die on the day of the purge. She died with his name upon her lips.” He shuddered at the memory. “Her last words were a warning of his return.”

Timosy grunted his skepticism. They both jumped when Leena interrupted in a voice full of awe, though still tremulous. “The forewarning is Goddess blessed.”

Dane lifted a brow in question.

The girl stepped forward, her jaw clenching with determination. Leena sucked in a breath, her hands holding her clothes in a death grip. “Have you forgotten the stories? The Goddess, if the woman is deemed special, may choose to provide a forewarning when a woman dies. The last forewarning recorded occurred over two hundred years ago.”

Dane and Timosy shared another glance. They had never heard any religious teachings regarding the Goddess, but they were trained for war. However, Dane was there when Skye’s mother spoke to him, so everything in him knew Skye would return. He had felt the strength of her conviction that her son would return. He needed both his friends’ help in planning what to do when Skye did.

Timosy tossed his knife, once, twice, three times, and Leena backed away until she hit the wall. He finally said, “Not that I agree, but why would Skye return here, now?”

“I don’t know, but he was our battlemate long before he was exiled by those within our troop. I’ve never believed the accounting they gave for banishing him. You know as well as I that Skye must have had a reason for acting the way he did. He vanished that night.”

A loud gasp came from the girl. She held up a trembling hand. “Skye? You speak of the banished warrior. Skye Silverhand? He’s the one who you believe will return?”

Dane gave the girl another appraisal. The more she talked, the older she sounded. News of Skye’s banishment, due in part to the rare occasion in which banishments occurred, had spread throughout Gharra and was spoken about for weeks afterward.

Timosy ignored her interruption. “He was our battlemate. Was.” He threw his knife across the room, where it struck another shelf with a resounding thwack. “He left us. Our honor was left in tatters, and we were forced to regain it with the deaths of men, women, and children.”

Dane’s next words were all the more powerful for the lack of temper. “We would have killed the women and children whether Skye was exiled or not. You cannot blame him for the innocent blood on our hands.”

Before Timosy could respond, Leena murmured with a swift shake of her head, “I don’t know what you speak of, and I do not care. What happened in the past does not matter. The Goddess has given you a task. The warrior’s mother spoke to you. If Skye Silverhand is returning to Gharra, then the God, and the Goddess especially, has a reason. You cannot fail.”

Dane watched as she came to her full height, throwing her hair back behind her shoulders. Her blue eyes blazed with knowledge and hope, the defeat that clung to her disappearing with every second that passed. His heart sank, but Timosy beat him to the question.

“Who are you, Leena?”

“Does it matter? The Goddess has spoken. You have an exiled man to find in a city crawling with the enemy.”

Dane gazed at her. What manner of girl had he brought into his shelter?

Timosy spoke up at last. “It matters, but keep your secrets. For now.” After giving the girl his barely veiled threat, he faced Dane. “I have my doubts, but I trust you. You’ve always learned information that no one else could gain.” He sighed. “I must return to Thanel, but tell me your plan first. As soon as Thanel is able, we’ll join you here. It’ll be easier to coordinate if we’re in one location.”

With Timosy’s agreement, Dane felt hope for the first time since Gharra was conquered. He grinned. “Do you remember where we lost the Kurite woman?”