Chapter 74: Elevation

Chapter 74: Elevation

The sentinel collapsed bonelessly to the cobblestones as Velika released him. She knelt down, casually making sure that the unfortunate man was still breathing. He groaned as she pressed her fingers against his neck to check for a pulse.

“Oh, don’t complain. You attacked me, remember? And after you pretended to surrender. No honor, I tell you,” she said as she stood, dusting off her knees. She was in one of the central intersections of the city, surrounded by a ring of the Watch—mostly officers, but with a few battered-looking sentinels supporting them.

She looked up at them, daring them to attack. “All done? Anyone else want to try a sneak attack like this idiot?” She gestured to the downed sentinel. None of them moved, watching her with fear and wariness. It looked like the fight was over for real this time. “No? Good. Someone come get this fool.”

She rolled the downed sentinel over onto his back with a gentle shove of her toe. Weapons clinked as the ring of Watch members shifted uneasily, but nobody came forward to obey her command. Velika frowned. “You!” she shouted, pointing to one of the officers at random. The man jumped, his bronze Watch plate clinking against the metal rings of his armor. “Drop the sword and come pick up this guy. Get him to one of your healers or whatever.”

The Watch officer looked at a nearby sentinel, a woman wearing full plate armor and wielding a sword and shield. Velika’s frown deepened. She growled as she took a threatening step toward the officer she’d singled out. “Don’t look at her, look at me. I’m in command here.”nôvel binz was the first platform to present this chapter.

The unfortunate officer’s response was cut off as a figure abruptly fell from the sky, landing behind her. Velika groaned as Westbridge stepped forward to lay a hand on her shoulder.

[Not yet you aren’t,] he said coolly, ignoring the cries of surprise and terror from the Watch. [Status?]

“Just great,” Velika said with a sigh, shrugging out from under his hand and turning to face him. “Did you deal with the goldplate?”

“Yes. He won’t be an issue any longer,” Westbridge said aloud. Velika smiled at the wave of despair that swept through the crowd following the Citizen’s matter-of-fact statement. Westbridge didn’t even look winded, though that might have just been an act. From what she’d seen, the Guild branch-leader had been quite strong.

“It is time,” Westbridge said, still ignoring the Watch completely. “Are you ready?”

Velika grinned. “I’ve been ready. Let’s do it.”

[It will be painful,] Westbridge said, using telepathy again for some reason. [We will move to a private location. Come.] He offered her his hand.

She slapped it away in irritation. She wasn’t a child to be led. “Get going, old man. I’ll follow you on my own.”

Westbridge sighed and floated up into the air, but not before he repeated that stupid incantation of his. He addressed the gathered Watch as he rose. “Do not attempt to interfere. Like it or not, she will be your warden until the barrier falls.”

Velika snorted, leaping into the sky to join him. “Warden? Really? Did you do that on purpose?”

“What?” Westbridge said, pausing his ascent.

Velika rolled her eyes. “The pun. You can’t tell me that was unintentional.”

“I do not see it,” said Westbridge.

“The Watch’s leader is called the Warden, and with the barrier trapping them here...”

“Ah, yes. Amusing,” Westbridge said. His face didn’t look amused. The man had no sense of humor whatsoever. Velika followed him as he floated lazily over the city. She used Airwalk sparingly, bounding between invisible platforms rather than trying to walk through the air as Halgrave had done. This is how Airwalk is supposed to be used. Stupid big blue showboating bastard. She glanced back, seeing the Watch milling about helplessly where they’d left them.

Westbridge led her to a large open-ceilinged building. It looked like it was a bathhouse, but the bath itself had frozen over. The pair set down on the pristine sheet of white snow that blanketed the surface of the ice. The entire room was pristine, in fact. The tile walls of the pool practically sparkled. Wow, someone really takes their cleaning seriously, she thought as she looked around the room. Still, my elevation is going to happen in a bathhouse? Really?

Westbridge cleared his throat, the sensation feeding into her mind through the telepathic skill that he was using. The glass orbs containing the faces of the assembled Citizens popped into existence behind him.

“Why do you do that?” Velika said, interrupting him before he could get started.

“What?” Westbridge asked, fixing her with an annoyed look.

She laughed. “The psychic throat-clearing thing. It’s weird.”

“Quiet,” Westbridge said testily.

Velika grinned. It was fun messing with the man. She shook her head as Westbridge launched into his speech. She’d let him have his moment. There was a place for pomp, after all. She just hoped he didn’t waffle on for too long. A bathhouse... I suppose it could be worse. At least it’s clean.

[Attention residents of Fel Sadanis and Citizens of the DKE. This is Citizen Westbridge. The area is now under our control. All dissenters have been pacified. There will be no further interruptions. I now return to the matter of the governance of the city and the surrounding lands. It is my great honor to nominate Lady Velika Vekuavak for elevation to the office of Citizen Fel Sadanis, pending confirmation by the full assembly. Is there any Citizen who will second this nomination?]

[Seconded,] said another voice, one she didn’t recognize. She looked at the floating orbs, trying to tell who had spoken. Westbridge must have forwarded the other Citizen’s words to her and the city as a whole. Message spells had a distance limit, one that the DKE implants bypassed. It wouldn’t have been possible for the other Citizen to send that directly. She looked back at Westbridge as he continued.

[The nomination has been seconded. A yes vote will confirm Lady Velika Vekuavak as Citizen Fel Sadanis. A no vote will initiate a formal discourse of the meri—]

[Enough, Westbridge. Nobody is going to vote no. Get on with it. I’m missing supper for this,] interrupted another voice. Velika smiled as she recognized it. It was her aunt, now Citizen Kallias. The woman was known for many things, but patience was not one of them.

Westbridge’s annoyance was a sight to behold.The mental clearing of his throat that came next contained all of his frustration as he pressed on, ignoring the interruption. [A no vote will initiate a formal discourse of the merits of the candidate, following which a second vote will be held. I now call upon the Citizenry to cast their votes in this, the most serious of matters.] He glared at the orb containing the image of Velika’s aunt as he sent the last few words.

One by one, the Citizens cast their votes. Velika held her breath as the green lights appeared. Soon, only one orb remained unilluminated. Peering at it, she saw that it belonged to Citizen Jarro. The green light that finally lit the orb flickered as if the magic was responding to the man’s reluctance. Velika smirked. Jarro had a bit of a reputation for going against the other Citizens. She’d half expected him to cause a problem, especially since Westbridge had just finished trashing a powerful member of the Guild. It was commonly known that Jarro had split loyalties due to his past.

[The vote is unanimous,] Westbridge said. [Lady Velika Vekuavak is no more. The name of her family will be set aside. Her past loyalties, set aside. Her past life, set aside. She now takes up the mantle of a Citizen of the Democratic Kingdoms of Ekrustia. She shall be known by the name of her domain to remind everyone that a Citizen’s duty is first and foremost to the people.]

Within his orb, Citizen Jarro’s face bore a complicated expression. Velika didn’t even notice. Westbridge was sticking to the script, reciting the familiar litany for the elevation of a Citizen. She’d heard it when her Aunt had been elevated. It was all just noise. It didn’t mean anything.

“I don’t know the words,” Ava said, shaking her head. “What’s ‘egress’?”

“It’s what we’re doing,” Mlem said, eying the crowd. He’d already told her what it meant, but it seemed she’d forgotten. He’d explain it again later. Getting through the barrier came first. There was a large group of the Watch on the other side, those that had been on patrol and returned to find themselves locked out of the city. A little ways away, he spotted the Guild branch-leader, Halgrave. He watched as the man swung mightily at the barrier with a hammer, sending up a massive explosion of water and earth as the weapon struck. There was no sign that it had any effect on the shield, not even a sound making it through the impenetrable wall. Force won’t work then. Magic it is. The Skipping Stone has never failed me before...

He frowned and looked back at his daughter. “Come on, let’s get away from the crowd. If this works, they’ll be all over us. The Skipping Stone only has enough charge left for one exchange if we bring the cart with us. I doubt I’ll be able to find someone with the spare mana to charge it back up, even if we do get out. Need I remind you that it is not a toy?”

“But it’s fun,” Ava protested as he led them east, away from the gathering Watch. He reached down to tousle her hair, laughing as she squirmed away.

“I can’t stay mad at you. Still, it takes me a full day to charge it for a single use, and that’s just for me, not all of this.” He waved vaguely at the cart following them. “How many days’ worth of charge did you use in your little game?”

She shook her head. “Not that much! I’m small, not like you. You’re huge!”

He looked down at his stomach again. Ouch. Point, daughter. Damn cart.

They walked for a few more minutes until they were safely away from prying eyes. Ava hopped up onto the cart now that they were out of the city, riding along happily as he trudged through the mud. The journey cart tended to attract a fair bit of attention, so he usually made a show of pulling it himself once they got into the city. Under the circumstances, he didn’t feel the need to bother. People had plenty of other things to gawk at. He signaled the cart to stop as they reached the barrier. He rested his hands against it, probing the frictionless surface. It didn’t feel like any barrier he had ever felt before. It felt real. Plan B is looking like it might be called for after all.

“Okay, here goes,” he said to himself, reaching out to grab the side of the cart. He slipped his other hand into his pocket and pulled out a plain gray river rock. It was a smooth flat oval, perfect for skipping, hence the name. Skipping Stones were rare and expensive, but hardly one-of-a-kind. He’d acquired this one when he was a teenager and he had it to thank for much of his early success. It had gotten him out of a lot of trouble, and into quite a bit more.

When thrown, Skipping Stones were able to phase straight through even the strongest of magical defenses by virtue of the powerful spatial enchantments anchored within them. When one struck the ground, the thrower would be teleported to wherever it had landed. They would have been a favorite of thieves, but the expense made it such that if you could afford one, you didn’t really need to be a thief any more—unless you wanted to be, of course. The stone in his hand was probably worth more than everything in the cart, other than the cart itself. Warding against them specifically was tricky, but not impossible. It was time to see if the Majistraal had been up to the task. The stones had only been invented in the last hundred years or so, so there was at least some hope.

He concentrated, focusing on the cart and his daughter. He could afford no mistakes. They would come with him. He whipped his arm forward, flinging the stone at the barrier as hard as he could. He wanted to get it over as much of the lake of icy water on the other side as possible.

The stone struck the barrier soundlessly and ricocheted, flying back over his shoulder. His eyes tracked it as it headed toward a large puddle where the meltwater had pooled.

“Depths,” Mlemlek cursed, just before he, his daughter, and the cart all vanished with an abrupt popping sound.

Citizen Westbridge stepped onto the teleportation platform as the fires continued to burn in the city around him. It was past time for him to get back to his own domain. He glanced at Citizen Fel Sadanis, standing nearby. She still looked the worse for wear, but she was recovering from the implantation quickly.

“Are you sure you don’t want to stay awhile?” she asked in a mocking tone. “The scenery around here is just beautiful.” A burning wall collapsed with a crash, the flames having weakened the supports. Westbridge paid it no mind. The fire was nothing to him. The residents of the city were already hard at work extinguishing it. It wasn’t like he had any magic that would have been able to help without causing even more damage anyway. It was Velika’s problem now.

“No,” he said, touching the activation glyph for Jarro. He’d unblocked it once more. Now that the barrier was up, only those on the list could get through by any method, including the teleportation platform. “I have been away from Westbridge for too long already. I still have three more jumps to get back. You will learn that ruling over a city is not as easy as it seems.”

Velika scoffed. “I’ll be fine.”

Westbridge shook his head. “I have already given you my advice. You would do well to follow it. You must make them respect your authority, as well as your power. Fear is a useful tool, but if you continue like this—”

“Spare me the sermon, Westbridge. We’ve been over this already.”

He sighed. Charge was building in the platform, draining the storage cells below. He idly considered stepping off of it to explain further, but decided against it. Recharging the platform would be problematic while the barrier was up. It didn’t help that the bloodworks was on fire. The mana in the blood that the Bank had stockpiled to fuel the platform was being released into the air as it burned, only to be drawn down into the barrier stone.

Westbridge waited a few seconds, then looked at Velika with a serious expression. “Good luck, Citizen Fel Sadanis. If you need anything, contact the logistics subcommittee through the link like I showed you. Don’t mess it up.”

He vanished in a flash of light just as he finished the last sentence, giving her no time to respond. He smiled as he was hurled through the non-space of the teleportation network. Perfect timing, just as planned.

He appeared in Jarro and stepped off the platform. He could have immediately triggered the glyph that would take him on to Ellis, but, as expected, Citizen Jarro was waiting for him.

“Did you tell her?” Jarro asked.

Westbridge’s mouth quirked. “No.”

Jarro laughed. “She’s gonna be ripshit when she finds out.”

“Yes,” Westbridge agreed. “I am looking forward to it.”

“You still think it’s a good idea? Trapping her in there all alone?”

Westbridge looked at the gray-haired Citizen placidly, considering his response. Citizen Jarro was an archer, a real mage-killer as he recalled. The man had been in the Guild, though, so that meant he had mostly hunted monsters, not men. There was no sign of that past now. He wasn’t even carrying a weapon, the burdens of leadership leaving his face lined and weary. As worn as the old archer looked, Westbridge had to admit that the man did know how to run a city. The common folk loved him, even if he was unpopular with the other Citizens.

“We cannot trust her yet,” Westbridge said finally. “If she survives the month, I will return and allow her access through the barrier. Until then, Fel Sadanis will remain completely sealed to everyone.”

Jarro grinned. “What if you die before that? Who’ll lower the barrier? What are you, like a hundred?”

Westbridge snorted. “You are one to talk,” he said mildly. Jarro had already been old when he’d joined the DKE, and that had been years ago. “The barrier will remain, even should I die. Theoretically, someone could access the barrier stone to lower it, but there is no one within that bubble with the necessary skill to operate the artifact. It takes a true mage. Either way, it is a pointless discussion. I am not going to die. The objective has been accomplished. Whether Velika succeeds or fails in her duty, it matters not. The city will remain sealed.”

Jarro snorted. “You mages, always acting so superior. I bet you’ve got one in mind already for her replacement.”

Westbridge kept his expression neutral. “Perhaps. Now, if you will excuse me, I need to contact the defense subcommittee.” He looked toward the large building sitting on a hill overlooking the city of Jarro, then back at the man bearing its name. He made a snap decision. “I will use your office. It appears to have been adequately warded. If you will excuse me.”

He turned away from Jarro and floated away, his flight spell still active even after passing through the teleportation platform. By rights, he should have just continued on to Ellis, but there was a famous restaurant in Jarro that he’d always been meaning to try. It wouldn’t hurt to make his report now and then have dinner. He’d be home again before the dawn. His city could wait a few more hours.