Page 45 of Leviathan's Song
Arvad looked to Levi and asked a few questions in Abyssean before answering me, “The mer took our largest heartstones because they said we couldn’t keep them safe.” His tone was bitter and held an ocean of resentment. Heartstones were a fairy resource. They were the only ones able to create them and survive the conditions to harvest them. It sounded like the mer were taking advantage of the sprite’s distress to acquire them under the thinly veiled guise of being helpful.
I pursed my lips. I could see this group using a golem to defend the sprites and then holding onto it for “Alliance purposes” once the city was properly fortified. If I was going to make a golem, I wanted to supply it directly to the sprites—after all, it was their heartstone and their city—but if I took the contract with the Alliance, I had a feeling the mer wouldn’t allow that.
My mind took a dozen pathways imagining all the ways this could go wrong. My gut told me my fears were well-founded, so I asked Arvad what his thoughts on it were and what his fears might be if I took their contract. He asked Levi for clarification on a few things and sunk back down into the pool with a frown to think for a moment.
We ended up talking for a while longer, discussing his concern that the golems would only serve to escalate the violence and destruction surrounding The Deep. Would relying on the Alliance for defense eventually mean economic enslavement of his city to pay for that defense? How would their culture and way of life change due to interference by these outsiders? Would they ever be able to rid themselves of the mer’s interventions once they were firmly entrenched?
I had a lot to work through in my mind, and I knew that no matter what choices I made there were going to be unfortunate outcomes, but a plan began to take root as we talked. Eventually, we escorted Arvad back to his companions and Levi delivered the rest of his plant goop wrapped in a leaf with a slight bow and quick exchange of pleasantries.
Before leaving town, we followed Arvad’s directions to a small grotto that had been set up as an emergency shelter, where he indicated Adonci’s mother was caring for her last living grandchild. I felt a little better knowing her son was being cared for by his family and among his own people, but seeing all the displaced people, the despair and hopelessness written on their faces, pierced me through. I couldn’t save them. But maybe I could give them some of the tools to save themselves.
Chapter 17
“Stop it.You’re annoying me. I can handle the shop for a few weeks,” Sidney grumbled as she checked another name off her list. Her hair was pulled back into an easy ponytail, and she reached back to tighten the gathered strands as she leaned back in her chair.
I huffed at her. “I just feel guilty about leaving you here by yourself for so long. And I’m not going to be here to update any product or fill any orders—”
“Elara, stop. Chill.”
I put the last clamp on the gem set I was placing in a sword hilt and set it down to take a breath. She’d taken the news with only a few questions after I’d returned to the shop Friday evening. When I told her I was planning to work last night and today to fill all the most important orders, she’d opted to come in with me, even though it was Sunday, so she could start placing calls to any customers that might happen to be in The Void.“That way if anyone is angry about their orders being postponed, I can just hand the phone to you and let them yell at you and not me,”she’d half-joked.
So far, no one had been angry, but I’d been scrambling all day to get every bit of work done I possibly could. Sidney had brought me lunch, Levi had stopped by with dinner for all of us, and I hadn’t left my desk except for a few unavoidable bathroom breaks. We were both a little cranky.
“I’m sorry. I’m just stressed out about all this. There are going to be people coming in to pick up orders that aren’t here, and I hate doing that to people.” I focused on the gem set in front of me and pushed some of my energy into it, directing my intent toward speed and strength.
Sidney just shrugged. “We aren’t Voiders, Elara. We’re used to not having instant communication with everybody we’ve ever met and their mothers.” She made a face like the thought was horrifying before continuing.
“And yes, this shop is important to the two of us. We’ve put a lot of work into it these last two years, but I get that it’s not a baby on life support, ya know? These sprites are people. They’re real, actual babies, and mothers and fathers and brothers and sisters. They matter more than people getting their orders on time.”
She had her boots propped on the counter and crossed at the ankles, doodling large scrawling loops on her notepad as she talked. “Worst-case scenario: our shop goes under. We’ll survive. We can always figure it out, right? But these people literally might not survive. You’ve basically got an entire city trying to hang on for the next two weeks, hoping you come through for them. You made the right choice.”
She said it matter-of-factly,shrugging as she spoke, as if she didn’t know her words were a balm to all my guilt and fear and second-guessing. Sometimes I loved my best friend so much I wondered how I’d gone most of my life not knowing her. “Thanks, Sid.”
“I’m not saying you don’t owe me. I’m so jealous that Levi gets to watch you animate those juggernauts I could peck his eyes out.”
“Ugh, you’re awful.” I broke into a wide grin. “I’m sure you’ll come up with some way for me to repay you.”
“Yeah, like a paid vacation after this is all said and done.” She kicked her feet off the counter and rapped her knuckles once on her desk as she stood. “Speaking of which, I’m going home. Am I going to see you before you leave? I’m not, am I?” She bent to loop her arms under mine and hauled me up out of my chair for a hug.
“Sidney, what—” She lifted me off the ground and squished me against her boobs like I was a toddler.
“I can’t help it. You’re just solittle,” she said when I protested. “Do you need anything before I go? You’ve got your wasps?”
I waved her off and locked the front door behind her—you’d think she was my mother sometimes. Uninterrupted time to work helped me focus and get more done, and three hours later, though my eyelids felt heavy, I scanned my list of orders and felt pretty good about how things were wrapping up. I was beginning to pack up for the night when someone’s magic brushed over my awareness, and ice slid down my spine.
Two someones’ magics. Just around the corner, out of view of the front window, I could feel the two men who had pulled knives and cornered me in Dry Gulch. I didn’t need to question it. I recognized their magic immediately.
I dropped into a crouch and backed behind a counter, where I wouldn’t be in view of the windows, and sent my wasps to the front door. I couldn’t let them get inside. My brain tried to parse through my options, but it was hard to think over the pounding of my heart. I pulled out my phone and sent a short message to Levi. He was so close, but knew I couldn’t rely on him being awake or seeing my message in time.
Within seconds, a man had his hands cupped to the front window, his face peering in through the glass. A loud BANG sounded as the second phantom shook the front door to try the lock.
I didn’t even think.
I just reacted.
All six wasps scrambled through the mail slot in the door, metal legs clicking. I fought against a full body shudder, desperate to keep a mental grip on my weapons, only allowing two wasps to deliver their payload. The rest were to watch and wait. I didn’t spend all that time devising a non-lethal defense only to screw up now and kill them in blind fear.
Screams erupted as the men became aware of my hunters, flailing and trying to fight back. Two thuds sounded dully as the screams cut off, and I sat in silence for several beats, trying to calm my racing heart. The view through the window wasn’t low enough to see the sidewalk without creeping closer, so I crouched and drifted as quietly as I could to the door, quickly finding dark shapes sprawled on the ground. Fear tried to overwhelm me again, but I shoved it back, finding a root of anger instead, simmering and growing in the back of my mind, and I clutched onto it like a tiger by the tail.
