Ole Vaile
Nine Ashen Hearts

Episode I – The Reasons

I am neither this nor that.

My chorus is the splashes of waves

in the rays of the sun at dawn.

My lullaby is the chillness of the night sky.

Yet even though the moon is painted with jagged scars,

while our memory hides in the voids between the stars,

we can still trust the earth and our feet

to bring us to places where we are destined to go.

“Volume 73: Of Things You Will Forget,

or the Various Nonsense that Boils in My Head”

– Grivetre the Two-Sided

* * * * * * * * *

The pillars of the world stand on stories that have sprouted in memory. Along them flow delicate thoughts, like light rivers that nourish the oceans. Their waves meet rocky shores and break, merging with wind-driven dust, then settle on the surface, burying the past beneath them.

Thus, one leaves behind loneliness, attempting to fill and capture the infinite, sacrificing oneself and becoming completely lost—only to return to the source once again.

Someone saw this on the edges of invisible boundaries, where the beginning trembled behind the veil of what once was, while the end was just as hidden and seemed beyond reach.

There, the echo softly whispered through the azure haze in the languid calm of motionless halls, lulling the walls woven from cold stone and weightless lines. A keen ear could have traced this whisper to the steps of a swift shadow, which disturbed the ancient velvety silence.

That moment could hold no memory, and among many other things, the shadow did not remember its name. It only tried to keep up with one seeker—the same one who was casting this shadow in a rampant search for something unknown. The haste of his steps was fueled by a drive akin to what could be called bravery. Or perhaps it was folly? Desire, need, mystery? The seeker, like his shadow, could not pinpoint exactly what it was; yet he was here, which meant the reason was hidden somewhere close.

A dance of white flames flickered in the distance of this darkened path and freely shared its pure light. However, the shadow had little desire to approach it and stretched out in the opposite direction. The impenetrable clarity of the flames begged to grab onto everything that touched them. That scared the shadow greatly, yet it dared not leave the seeker. As he advanced, the darkness around him began to change. With each new step, the ancient layers of dust and moss on the walls crumbled, the reflections of the light became clearer, and the secrets of architecture blossomed in spirals.

Folly! Without a trace of doubt, it was folly. How deftly it (together with the unknown in its embrace) guided the light steps of the seeker through the enveloping twilight. Strangely, it did not seem that he even tried to resist it. Earlier observations and experiences had taught the seeker that everyone is a fool at first—but will he remain a fool? Perhaps that was the real question. Without any false riddles or obscure illusions…

The surrounding walls captured within their stones some eye-catching patterns shaped out of fine metals, each of which told a history of events long lost in oblivion. They flashed and slipped out of the seeker's sight, while his attention was too slow to capture them. The symbols ran past him, turning into vague strokes, resembling a whirlwind of colors under an artistic brush. Images of bygone days remained behind the seeker in the echoes of his footsteps and intertwined with disappearing elaborations of shapes.

In that thick-as-wax moment, another question arose, but this time the truth rang within it: why was he so thirsty? The seeker's throat tightened with desire, and something glimmered in his chest. He knew the solution was near. Yes, a suitable remedy was in the brilliance of this round shape before him, but it was empty—not a sip, nor a drop within it. Where did the whim of these demanding shackles come from? Why were they demanding deliverance…

It didn't matter. The seeker did not stop—there was no way to stop. Like a ghost, another question revealed itself: will *he* stay at all? He heard in response some distant splashes of water. Despite all these unanswered questions, he was still here: he took a chance and crossed the threshold to conquer the revealed unknown. Moving through it, he saw how the hall began to lose its integrity. The moss-covered slabs beneath his feet softened and gave way, as if he were walking on quicksand.

The old stones of the walls followed the floor, only to fall under the influence of an unknown force. The images melted and dissipated from the radiant light in the distance, which beckoned the seeker with its purity with every step he took. Something was eluding him, but what? He couldn't remember and didn't know what it was like to remember.

Somewhere behind, the seeker heard a bird-like chirping. The columns twisted like melting candles and blocked the way but remained beyond the invisible limits of the seeker's gaze. The shadow behind him grew, approaching the glow, and did not slow down in front of the falling debris until an entire part of the wall collapsed, scattering its inaudible strokes on the only visible path. Something suddenly eclipsed that distant light, and the footsteps faded into silence.

Without guiding lights or sounds, all became empty. The restless seeker took a blind step, and that invisible, empty step meant the whole world to him. The second step followed the first, then a third, and the echo rushed to fill the void. The darkness began to shift and take on bizarre shapes. Within them, the work of forgotten masons emerged—carved from the gifts of the earth. The echo hinted at the direction, gently touching those tired old walls, reminding them of their existence and purpose, which outlined the seeker's only path.

When the alluring light emerged from the obscurity again, a fluttering silhouette appeared at the very end of the hall. The seeker hid behind one of the pieces of the fallen column and watched as the azure flame outlined a restless figure: she was thin and elegant, in a long, uneven dress that resembled a roughly carved imitation of silk. The figure was not alone and constantly kept her back to the seeker. She spoke in unfamiliar words in front of the fire, but her company preferred to stay in the dark.

The rustling of the dress ceased with her words when she stopped, but the more the seeker tried to examine her, the closer the figure appeared. Then she finally revealed her hooded head. She had no face, just a white bone and two gaping voids with quivering sparks instead of eyes. Suddenly, the flame went out, but the whiteness of her appearance—her high neck and bony arms—stayed imprinted like a ghost on a black canvas of darkness.

Invisible feet immediately brought the shadow to another place, but the ghostly shape in the roughest silks pursued the seeker—her gaze reappeared in the patterns on the walls and kindled a fire in the seeker's chest. He continued to stick to the shadows and did not stop until he noticed a delicate arch that seemed out of place here. The soft jade light surrounded the arch, along with tall leaves of pale grass on which a translucent beetle swayed. Perhaps this pleasant vision was what the seeker searched for?

All that remained was to enter the arch.

The passage led the seeker with his shadow through the empty heights into a special hall where azure ruled and the answers hid. Narrow passages slowed the steps of the shadow until it fell on rows of strange boxes. The seeker immediately wanted to check them all, but only one of the boxes was tied with black ribbons and seemed to be trembling, waiting to be opened…

The shadow stretched out into the shape of a knife. A chill ran through the seeker. The binding ribbons fell with a metallic clang, but the lid of the box did not give way, as if someone was holding it. The weight pulled the seeker down when *her* ghostly presence appeared very close to him. She was looking for him. She was waiting for him. Or so he thought…

Suddenly, like a snake, fear grabbed the seeker—she was much closer than he thought… The ghostly figure without a face pursued his shadow, and he could neither hide it nor separate himself, no matter how hard he tried. The blasted ghost was already behind the boxes that hid him; she knew he was here. Soon, she would catch up with him. Run! Away, back to the arch while there was still time!

The seeker searched no more. The fire of horror burned in his chest. The treasure's defenders were powerless to save him from the bony hand reaching out to him, and he, feeling only the shock in his head, could only witness its ghostly approach. The shadow of the seeker disappeared—it caught light, and he was so lost that he could not find himself… The lightness of his unseen movements felt like flying. Faster and higher, easier than running! There was only one direction—down. A fall, not a flight it was! A fall…

Cates?

* * * * * * * * *

Cates!

Now he remembered his name. Like a bell, it woke him up and returned him to a dark corner at the top of the tower. The sensations of prolonged falling, along with the noise in his ears, dissolved without a single trace. The softness of the satin pillows held his head with selfless care and banished the ghosts that left his chest on fire…

Cates took a deep breath and opened his eyes. The dream that started it all scattered into tiny fragments in his brain. The fleeting burning feeling turned into cold needles and then disappeared in the warmth of the leather jacket under which Cates slept. He always found safety within his dreams, but now they had become his torment.

The awakened one's gaze focused and revealed a partially lit chamber. Cobwebs fluttered in the corners, while wide pipes sprawled along the walls, leading to various kinds of rusty capacitors and filters. Their reddish patterns intertwined with noble patina in an attempt to replicate the shades of sunset clouds that crept through a series of thin windows. Aloe flowers blossomed on the windowsills under the care of a lone cactus. Above it all, almost touching the roof, was a large stained-glass window.

The wavy rays divided its round and cracked pattern into symmetrical parts. The lower half was slightly open, and a familiar silhouette of a woman in the rays of the departing sun nestled in its curve. She balanced by gently swinging her leg, and her focus was on the mechanical claws strapped to her wrists. Their sharpness reflected the darkening sky, with which her outfit was about to merge. She noticed that the sleeper was no longer asleep and stretched, clicking her claw. A cheerful whisper broke the silence of the twilight, reminding Cates that he still had ears:

"Cates? You sleep rather soundly for a shadow! Sweet dreams?"

She called him by name—that was a rare occurrence, like her uninvited evening visits. The parched throat of Cates rustled like sand under a desert wind in response:

"Vish. I almost didn't recognize you. Have you stopped being a shadow?"

The guest questioningly tilted her scarf-covered head. A scarlet thread quickly drew arrow-like patterns on it, moving onto the high collar that wrapped around her long neck. Cates rubbed his eyes.

"I mean, usually you had the decency to knock."

Vish tapped her claw against the unbroken parts of the glass, and a small smile appeared on her lips.

"Knock-knock? I really wanted to knock earlier, but my hand couldn't dare to pull you out of the world of dreams! As I see, you're not happy to see me."

"I didn't expect you at this hour…"

The attention of Cates sharpened with suspicion of something amiss. It was important to swallow the worry and not show it.

"Ah, I see! You want to say that you didn't dream about me? Another wish of mine shattered…"

"Don't fret, Vish. It's getting dark, and the unchained faceless will soon go to their dreamlands. For sure, someone will dream of you… How long have you been sitting up there?"

Vish brought the claw to her chin and muttered something under her breath, then breathed in… and out.

"One. Huh, only five hundred forty-one breaths after I climbed up here. Counting helps me keep my balance, you know. I haven't heard from you in quite a while. You're not writing, not picking up the contracts. I was suspecting that you're in hiding."

The dark corners of the room reminded Cates of the ghost that had followed him not too long ago. Hiding wouldn't save him from simple figments of the mind! If only numbers could help with such ghosts… However, he'd try counting if he ever met one of them again.

Vish stayed up on the window, her cyan eyes catching the awkwardness and a certain vulnerability in Cates as he lay in this strange and untidy bed made of a pile of pillows. His head was heavy from unrest, and he wanted to return to sleep, but he couldn't.

Only one option remained. Cates silently got up from under his jacket, found his boots, and walked over to the filter on the wall, from which purified moisture dripped into a large tray. In it, a spider dangled its legs and struggled in a futile attempt to get out of the water. It seemed like death could have been salvation for the spider, yet Cates wasn't sure. Still, when he was thinking about putting an end to the spider's misery, his hand simply reached for a fallen leaf from the windowsill and, with it, moved the spider onto the cactus.

Actually, Vish was the liar here—she was the one who hadn't written back all this time. Doubts made themselves known and tingled in the mind of Cates. Maybe it was not the night he had been preparing for. He needed to think everything over a couple more times, especially…

"Ca-a-a-tes? You're not in hiding, huh?"

This question pulled him out of his thoughts with an impulse.

"No, I'm not in hiding. What gave you that idea?"

He stretched, yawned, and returned to the tray to wash his face. The night was still far beyond the horizon, and something told him not to rush to conclusions.

"The links now are busy with other pressing matters, so they don't care about me now anyway. Likewise, I don't care about them…"

"You mean to say that you're not bound by a contract right now? Did something happen?"

"No, nothing yet. But this, as we know, is a matter of time…"

The cold water washed away the rust from his thoughts, and Cates looked out of the tower window down onto the city, where the fading flame of the sun's rays was turning to bleak orange. The roofs were shining in anticipation of the pale touch of the moon. It was the 973rd cycle after the Cataclysm, and the 14th day of the Fox was finding its end.

The sands that surrounded the city—unforgivingly coarse, full of ash and tears of the past—would rise with the arrival of the days of the Wolf, which would bring storms of caustic salt to devour the dying fire of the last refuge. Then the bones born from the earth would rot, and the wind would scatter their dust—so the old story went, and there was no end of it in sight. In the city, everyone was responsible for their own stories, while Cates served as an instrument for shaping them. Vish started swinging her leg over his head, looking around.

"Yep, your corner got a bit rustier, and the stained glass cracked—is it because of the storm or something? Anyways, it could use a little measure of patching up, that's your trade, or it was, at least… The next storm will come from the north; it'll be black, they say."

"The last cycle's frost caused the cracks, but I can't get my hands on some glass and paint while the links give out contracts to everyone who tries to look like a shadow."

"The needs of the links are growing, so it is not surprising that the unchained are trying out their flow for the sake of some extra drops."

"By doing that, they create instabilities and ruin their own histories, as if intentionally. Although everyone has their own problems. Just like you, Vish—your problems brought you here at this hour, didn't they? Got a troublesome contract?"

"Hm, you are definitely right about some things. But no, everything is fine with my contracts. In fact, I closed one recently for the Fires. And now, when I was walking on the roofs, I noticed your window!"

Of course, the Fires—Cates thought to himself—who else? It had been a little over a cycle since Vish got involved with the Fires. She had treated him differently then. Perhaps because she hadn't known him as well, or had imagined him differently?

"To me… Stop looking at me like that! The Fires take care of their shadows no less than the other links! Even despite their, um, oddities. Don't worry, I'm without a trace. As soon as I got the emeralds, I immediately left them."

She pulled out a quiln as proof—a scratched silver cylinder with a bright green glow on one side. Capsules like these held the means to power many of the devices that kept the city (along with the small pockets of life outside Sol) running. Each link was willing to fill such quilns with emerald drops in exchange for completing their side of the contracts. Information, infiltration, surveillance, substitution, sabotage—the lives of shadows were rarely boring. Anyone could become a shadow. Any shadow could become alight.

Vish didn't say a word about her contract's target—usually she found it curious to dissect every detail. Cates stared blankly at the quiln in her hand, trying to remember where he had left his own.

"Impressive. Then why are you here? There are cozier places where your dribs would be most welcome."

"Oh, don't be cross! The Fires won't even dare to peek in here, it's too high! And if they try to…"

"They won't, and you know that. They erase their stories the same way they burn through contracts and will soon forget about the need for taboos…"

"No need to blame all of the Fires for what has happened. They won't forget taboos; otherwise, everyone will forget. And then what will happen, can you imagine?"

Cates imagined and looked down at the city, over which the departing sun gleamed in a crimson sky. Several inquisitors had been staining the streets more often lately. They were looking for something—just like Cates. Everyone was looking for something here, and when they weren't, they waited. All that remained was to figure out what Vish was looking for. Cates thought that he'd fix the stained glass if he came back…

But he wouldn't come back if he didn't depart, and now he simply waited until Vish would reveal everything on her own. The most important thing was to pay attention and listen. She tightened the straps that held her claws and continued the interrogation.

"You didn't hear anything about the lord's arrival?"

"Is it because of him that the inquisitors are hanging around?"

"Sures. They and the other followers of the lord returned with him a week ago from… Mmm, I forgot from where. Their expedition was far, far from here, anyway. You've never been there? I mean, outside the circles?"

"I'm not one of the followers or a part of any other links, you know that. I couldn't care less about their affairs."

Vish had distracted him from thirst long enough with her interrogation. She continued to look for his involvements with the links, but she didn't dare to simply ask him. Was she worried about his answers? Did the truth scare her that much? Maybe she simply needed time. But where on earth had his flask gone…

Cates took a glove out of his pocket and put it on. Rugged fingers snapped against the heating rod, and a spark stirred the dried drops from the quiln on the end of it. A tiny flame appeared and shared itself with the candles in the corners of the room. The dim light revealed Vish: a corset of dark patterned fabric clasped her waist, beneath it a loose tunic with long sleeves in which she hid her wall-climbing claws. Tall boots with a riveted platform served the same purpose. She wrapped her arms around her knee and tilted her head.

"It's cozy in here. Safe. I can see now why you stayed here."

"Clever girl. You can climb down from there. I only need to find one thing…"

Strangely, the flask was nowhere to be seen. Cates searched the room and checked the pockets of a belt that was hanging on the wall, yet instead of the flask, he found his quiln. Its emerald glow, unlike Vish's quiln, was almost completely gone, and the pitiful crackling sound meant that it was nearly drained. Nevertheless, it would help quench his thirst.

"Cates! Is that why you switched to candles? Your quiln is almost gone! Do you want me to share a few drops with it?"

"No, it's got enough drops to cover my needs. Are you hungry? I had something tasty… somewhere. Relatively."

With a candle in hand, Cates approached a glass container with water in the middle of the room. Another container was inside it—closed and without water but with edible things. A piece of whale fat languished at the bottom along with a dozen pieces of shark (delicious) and a bunch of shrimp. Cold water in the dark did a good job of preserving food this way. Vish was not leaving the window's curve, as if she was very cautious. She watched as Cates scooped up water from the first container into a jug with a heating rod, and he said:

"There's some whale, even shark meat. Would you like some? Maybe shrimp? I can make a soup."

She shook her head with her tongue out. Cates wasn't too hungry either.

"Then just coffee?"

He prepared two cups, poured a handful of black powder and a pinch of dried herbs from small boxes on the shelves into the jug. The names of the spices did not find themselves in his anxious memory, but he remembered their taste, identified them by smell—he could never fail at identifying the smell, it was unmistakable. Shaking the jug, he touched the rod with its glow, and it turned red from the heat, boiling the water in the jug in ten seconds. Vish looked at it with little to no enthusiasm.

"Don't you have anything stronger? Don't bother, I'll manage without. I shouldn't have woken you up, now I feel guilty. Go back to bed, Cates. You look like you haven't slept in an eternity. Or maybe even two."

He didn't listen to her and finished brewing the coffee. The cool calm of the evening air mingled with the scent of sweet fire. Cates took a few sips, quenching his thirst with the strong taste of spicy tartness. Vish gulped.

"You're being too shady, Cates, your quiln wouldn't last until the Wolf. Still, answer me this: why don't you take contracts anymore?"

He understood now why she was so cautious—he was being shady indeed, but he could not reveal absolutely everything she wanted to know. He didn't need the contracts because he didn't need the drops. He hid the fact that he had broken one of the taboos.

"I had contracts when I was remembered."

"Ha, really? You and forgotten? Don't flatter yourself. You're not that great of a shadow yet."

"I'm just a shadow, like any other. In games of the links, we are the drops for exchanges and recharges. There should be another way instead."

Vish fought the urge to make a heavy sigh:

"I… You know, I also thought about that. But nothing ever happens the way you'd expect. What are you planning to do, if not the contracts?"

"No, without contracts there are no shadows. And I'm not against them, it's just… There's nothing to grab on to… I can't sleep, and when I do, I dream of danger, unstable ground, exposure. As if everything is turning against me. It's funny that even wanting to leave the shadows, I'm afraid to expose myself, and when I look back, I only see mistakes."

He tried to drown the excuses with the warmth of coffee. Vish eyed him warily.

"Do you know what your problem is?"

"I don't know."

"You see yourself as a problem. You are a shadow—just like me—only you like to build towers in your head and bang yourself against them endlessly. Believe me, contracts are not the worst thing you could do."

Cates sipped his coffee and listened attentively as Vish continued:

"Stop seeing problems in everything. Especially in yourself. What happens to a rabbit when there is no more carrot? And to the wolf when there is no rabbit?"

"I know only that in the city, all that is left for me is to wait until I end up in hiding or worse."

"It seems to me that there is a 'but' lurking somewhere here."

"There is one place… where the secrets are hidden. Maybe there I can find some light against these shadows?"

"This 'light' has got an emerald tint to it, right?"

The sly smile on her face brought up new worries. The carrot was becoming a rabbit.

"So you want to become a wolf, Vish?"

"No, I… I mean… Damn it!"

She tugged on the straps on her black tunic, releasing the mechanism attached to her arm, and her claws turned toward her forearms with a metallic clang. Time had marked them, but they remained reliable. Vish could only hope they wouldn't let her down one day. Her cyan eyes flashed—she tried to say something but lacked the strength or courage. Cates understood that such things could not be solved even with dozens of full quilns.

Gracefully, Vish slid from the bend of the window to the floor and took several silent steps along the rough beams of the tower toward Cates. A small dot like a black star decorated the outer corner of her left eye. She kept her head hidden under the scarf and murmured without her usual smile:

"Listen, Cates. Since we've mentioned hidings… I'm here because I have nowhere else to go. The links hold no options for me, you see… I got my claws in things best left untouched, and that resulted in some backlash. I see now that I really, really shouldn't have done that…"

She faltered and turned away for a moment. So that was it!

"It's me who's in hiding. But only for a short time… That contract from the Fires caused this, you know."

"Don't tell me that contract linked you against the Sparks…"

The Sparks, unlike the other links, were not too bad. Their element was water, and their sections were the closest to the tower of Cates. Vish kept muttering with an innocent face:

"Sparks? Not really… Any other links you don't particularly like?"

"I doubt I can count them all… The Pikes, for example?"

She shook her head.

"Vives, maybe? Claws?"

Wrong again. Vish began to enjoy this little game, watching his growing anxiety. Cates continued guessing.

"Well, can't be the Coals, right?"

She expressed a deep thought and raised her finger to her chin, amazed at her own deviousness.

"M-m-m. No, not the Coals. Need a hint?"

Cates hesitated with the correct answer, although he knew it. The links divided the city in agreement, and only one link was extremely brittle, even crazy.

"Vish? It's not who I think it is, is it? Blink if it's not them…"

Vish didn't blink and didn't respond.

"Ashes, Vish? You're hiding from them? Have you lost your mind?"

He hit the target. Why couldn't she come up with anything other than climbing up here…

"Don't the Fires provide protection with their contracts, Vish? I cannot fathom why you even got involved with them!"

She only lowered her shoulders and puffed out her cheeks, not expecting such a reaction from Cates.

"That's not their problem, really. It's just that the Ashes have uncovered… Damn, do you even know how many cycles have passed since the last successful finding? So, behind the outer circle, they finally found something long lost and precious! From the times of Precata!"

"Long lost… precious? Is it like the second sock?"

Vish furrowed her thin eyebrows, and her playful mood completely evaporated. The possible outcomes overtook and outlined bleak consequences in her head. She pursed her full lips, but Cates would not stop looking for the reasons.

"Of all the shadows, you knew perfectly well the dangers of taking contracts against the Ashes, Vish. What puzzles me is why the Fires are up against them. Is that why the lord's return is bothering you? What do the Ashes want? Drops? Mirrored contracts?"

Vish didn't answer but circled around the room. To distract himself, Cates patted his pockets and took out several envelopes of dried seaweed with spicy cubes of cereals. Putting one cube on his tongue, he drenched the sweet taste with the hot bitterness of coffee. The tartness burned his worries and warmed him up from the inside, banishing the last ghosts that had settled in the corners of his skull.

Vish looked at the remaining cubes with sadness, realizing that, just like Cates, she couldn't reveal everything. At that point, she stopped testing the waters and decided to dive in:

"Damn it all, okay, I confess. Not everything is smooth with those blasted Ashes because of one little detail."

"As I understand, that detail of yours is about 'wanted alive or a little less alive'?"

"You understand correctly. Only the contract has nothing to do with it. Because there was no contract… I stole a trinket from the Ashes for myself. With no contract. I couldn't help it!"

"Yes, thank you for the confirmation. You, indeed, went mad. That's twice as bad. Thrice, even. What kind of trinket was it? A relic? A cache?"

"It doesn't matter—it's a useless thing, but very pretty, believe me. I would have returned it, but the Ashes… No, it's impossible now. They are after me! Trying to find me in any way they can!"

"I don't believe you could have gotten yourself into such a mess; it's not even setting yourself alight, it's plain silliness. You're not that silly."

"Well, maybe I am that silly, what do you know… I'm gonna go… Will take my chances with the Fires."

"Vish. Wait. The Fires can't help themselves, how are they going to help you?"

"I don't know. I don't want to think about myself. Something will work out, it always does. Haven't you ever noticed that?"

"There's no protection without a contract, Vish. And I cannot do anything with that mad bunch, not to mention the valuables of Precata."

"You're right. I'm in full emerald. All the watchers are on their toes, the other links as well. The storm is coming, and my pockets are, well… At least I've evaded the inquisitors so far."

"So the inquisitors are after you too?"

Vish conjured up an innocent face. Cates knew well that even if she got into this unintentionally, her history was tainted, and there were no simple ways to erase it.

"I'm under the pendulum, Cates, in need to disappear. I'll deal with the links on my own; I only need some time to loop my trail. Will you help me?"

Her future unraveled before Cates. He saw several lines: the first one would lead her into exile from the circles without her quiln, that is if she ended up in the hands of those who sought her. Another line showed her voluntary surrender; that way, she would still be exiled, but she could keep her quiln. The last line was not under any consideration, as it would mean a permanent joining with the lower links. Cates took a sip of the hot coffee and nodded.

"You can stay here for as long as you wish. The Sparks won't let the Ashes or the Fires get close to the towers. The water is more important to them than a couple of troublesome shadows."

The light returned to the eyes of Vish, and she slapped his shoulder with joy.

"Hah! Now you're talking! You've mentioned coffee? I'll drink a cup just to fill it again. But for starters…"

She winked as her fingers deftly began to wander through the spice jars, quickly tweaking the brewed coffee with a pinch of this and an ounce of that.

"Look: cinnamon sticks, cloves, star pods—all together in this proportion, it will be tastier! And what an aroma!"

"I'll try to remember, Vish. Thanks."

"No. Thank you. The recipes are worth writing down, just you wait… Where's the ink?"

She scribbled down the recipe, and together they finished their coffee, seeing off the last rays of the sun. The streets below emptied as, one by one, the lights went out, sending the faceless to dreamland. The dried white trunks of the trees stretched upwards like hands, trying to catch the reflections of light that warmly bid farewell to the sleeping city and wished everyone a good night. Only occasionally did a green dot run along those lines to lead a lonely grain of sand through the labyrinth of twilight.

It was the perfect time to begin the preparations.

Cates began to circle the room in search of something more important than the flask. The sought-after item was not on the shelves, in the filters, or in the secret corners. He turned over the stacks of books, looked under the condenser, between the pipes, under the pillows… The curiosity of Vish did not allow her to remain in place as she swayed right after him.

"Are you searching for the second sock?"

"Found it!" exclaimed Cates, but what he found was not a sock, but a battered bag that had been hiding under the pillows all this time. After rattling the bag's contents, Cates finally pulled out the flask, whose shiny edges reflected everything in the room. An amber fire splashed inside it, but it was more of a pleasant addition than a necessity. Returning to the bag and rummaging through it, Cates pulled out another item, but this time a heavy one: pure emerald light gleamed from its side with a barely noticeable murmur. Vish almost squealed in amazement.

"You have a full quiln, dripping from every dent! How is that possible! You're not afraid that history will catch up? It's taboo to have more than one quiln without a contract. Have you been lying to me all this time?! Answer!"

Cates weighed the almost translucent silvery shell in his hand and fell into a memory. Compared to an almost empty quiln, a half-empty capsule looked brighter than the nearest star.

"This quiln is nothing more than a pitiful ransom from the departed, that's all. Don't be deceived, Vish; it's not full—there's a little more than half of the drops."

"That's what I'm talking about—it's empty but backward! Even this amount would be enough for… It's hard to even imagine!"

"A cycle, at best…"

"A cycle! At least! We can drop down! We can drip on the passage and leave the blasted city to try our courage in the outer circle! What say you?"

"So I'm the one who's building towers here, huh? Vish, you offered me your drops earlier; I can only offer you the same, but I'm not going where you want to go. Take them—it'll be enough for the passage."

"You know that I won't take them, but thanks, Cates. I appreciate it."

"I've never used this quiln. Maybe it's because I've been waiting for the right time?"

"Hah, then maybe the right time is here?! Just imagine! No links, no contracts, no histories. The shadows that returned from the expeditions told me about quiet and fruitful places outside the circles. Many others went there after the days of Decay. They will accept us."

"They will accept us, and we'll howl at the moon 'till the end of times with them. They are exiles."

"And who are we? Shadows are not supposed to last. Besides, when was the last time you ate anything other than seafood? You're sick and tired of whale meat, aren't you?"

Cates looked at the line where the sky met the salty earth. Even from the top of his tower, he couldn't see the edge of the outer circle. There are no sharks, that's for sure, but wandering the desert didn't seem that appealing. It seemed like an exile because it was exactly that.

"So you want to accept the exile? And take me along with you?"

"No."

"Well, why! Vish the pariah. Sounds cool."

"Cates the idiot. Sounds just as well."

"Why won't you join one link for good? You said it yourself—the Fires look after their shadows."

"Do you want me to brand myself in honor of their idol? Or maybe I should arrange a kiss with the dust of the streets for your pretty face?"

"Alright, got it. But let's assume that we'll get through the inquisitors and the rest on a skiff. There's nobody who'll be waiting for us in those lands. Well, except the wolves and tza-people. And besides, there could be a lot worse than here."

"It's really hard to imagine anything worse than here! What could be worse than these damned taboos and contracts? The links gnaw at each other's necks with smiles on their nasty faces! You already mentioned that they no longer respect the history. It won't be long before they forget about taboos and only the ones like the lord will remain…"

Cates could name a few things that were indeed much worse than that, but he didn't want to argue. He'd use the quiln for other things. The attempts of Vish to lead him astray only strengthened his desire to get out of the tower fast. Indeed, maybe he was waiting for this very impulse from her all this time.

"The ones like the lord, you say? So your trick with the links was meant to challenge him? You want to become a wolf, Vish."

She turned away. Indeed, there was nothing more to say. The time had come. Soon the last lights would fade, and the ethereal reflexes of the moon would remain the only guides in the night. The hands of Cates nervously returned the empty cup to its place, and he began his preparations for the descent.

The first necessary thing for that was his belt. It consisted of triangle-shaped parts, from which leather straps sprouted. Cates wrapped them crosswise around his torso. The rest of the straps wound down his patched pants and fastened to his boots, creating a framework for climbing hooks and wedges.

With that done, Cates picked his jacket off the pillow with his finger and put it on, black side up. On rare outings during the daytime, the white part helped to cope with the heat, but now it was time for the colors of the night. Aloe extract, along with a flask, found their place in the pockets.

The shadows needed to remain unnoticed among the faceless, so many elements of their activities had to be disguised. A thin hood emerged from under the jacket, supported by two needles fixed behind the collar. That way, they redirected sounds and improved hearing. They could also help with locked mechanisms if needed.

"Where are you going? Nobody needs a shadow tonight. I know that well…" Vish muttered while trying to stand in the way of Cates, yet he was quicker. He didn't want to spend any more time daydreaming. Having noticed an empty expression in his eyes, Vish understood his intentions but didn't want to admit them.

"You're not going to the other side, are you?"

His silence started to anger her.

"So you are going? And the bone box of yours hasn't cracked? Let me check."

Cates dodged her swooping palm.

"Doesn't seem so! You're not bound by a contract, and your emerald's not dry—so why in hells do you want to go into that blasted hole?"

"The histories. The shadows told me of secrets hidden inside. There is something, I'm sure of that…"

"Well, hell! The shadows never told me anything like that!"

Vish could hardly restrain her voice and bit into the mechanism of the claws with her fingers. She was ready to hold Cates back by force.

"You conjured up a problem because of some simple histories? Most of them are the work of the lower links to keep their disciples in check. They worship all sorts of nonsense, including the former lords. I've known stronger shadows than you, and none of them ever came back from there."

"Then maybe it's not so bad out there."

"That place is the worst—a trap full of dead histories. Worse than a den of vipers, worse than a whole city with Ashes…"

"And that's why you are staying here."

"Like the truest truth I am, for sure."

She crossed her arms over her chest, and after a minute of glaring at Cates, she exclaimed in her stubbornness:

"I'll come with you. Let me come with you!"

"No."

"But think about…"

"I said no. Learn to take 'no' for an answer and leave it."

"Cates! You're not under a pendulum, unlike some… and still, you scoff at some decent opportunities!"

"Vish, this is not up for discussion… You wanted shelter, it's yours. Stay here. Stay safe. And if I take some time to come back, don't forget to water the cactus."

She chuckled with some bitterness and whispered something. Cates did not catch that and adjusted the needles under the hood. He didn't want to listen to anyone. He could not admit the possibility that she was right and didn't welcome any new unnecessary doubts.

Cates tied the straps on his hands and feet and took the last necessary thing from the wall—a hook on a long segmented rope. An elastic rod was on the other end of that rope, allowing him to unclasp the hook with an impulse by turning it.

Vish appraised the preparation of Cates and looked for any omissions. Her cyan eyes followed his hands as they wrapped the rope around his waist and the frame of his jacket. He desperately wanted to come up with a cause for this recklessness. It was a simple risk. It was worth it. For the reward. He'll uncover the mystery. No one was there. Except histories. With no explanations. There's no need to come up with them, no matter how sweet that would be. Everything was under control. Why should he admit that his plan was no plan at all? And to whom should he admit it? To Vish? It was none of her business.

Cates finished wrapping the rope and calmed his thoughts. He was focused and ready. Without looking back, he jumped onto the curve of the stained glass window and clasped the hook onto the metal frame. Vish followed Cates with only her eyes as familiar movements directed him down from the window to the twilight peaks of the city.

Angular protrusions, similar to the bones of the spine, followed the sides of the tower. The air passed through them to filter the desert dust, and their shape allowed them to be used as anchors for ascent and descent. A shiver ran down the back of Cates when the iron cold of these spines took the warmth from the coffee as a price for passage. All the towers previously had platforms and ladders, but the Sparks sealed them to protect the internal systems from the tricks of the links. Cates always thought that climbing up was easier, but now he had to rely only on his strong grip. Descending along the dark side, familiar movements led him down from a safe height. The textured interweaving of the rope rustled under his gloves. The frame on the jacket helped the memory of his hands to catch the hook and soon he dropped low enough to jump to the neighboring roofs.

The evening city greeted the new shadow with a refreshing breeze. The neat, curved streets had almost disappeared, and with them the unchained people: traders, whalers, masons, farmers… all those who were up to nothing. Instead of them, various members of the links littered the alleys. An uneasy liveliness was present with them. Instead of their usual routine, they were more vigilant and numerous. Their patrols prowled chaotically under the watchful eye of sentries that protected their domains. In part, this could be explained by preparations for the month of the Wolf, but there was a different kind of tension in the city. Cates suspected that the Sparks had become the new target of the lower links. Open confrontation seemed to be about to begin. The fragile unity of the links was counting down its last grains like an hourglass.

The salt-covered roofs beneath the feet of Cates were like the white steps of a huge staircase, ready to capture the footsteps of a lonely shadow until the next storm. His boots began to tap out a light rhythm—running along the flat roofs stretched over no link's land, he tried to keep to the shadows. The chosen path appeared before his eyes from memory: here was a descent, here to the right and through the passage, now keep the balance, slowly, along the beams, along straight lines creaking with age…

He observed as the sequence of his actions began to resemble the recipe written by Vish. To the left now, down the drain, avoid the cracks, to the right, through the arch, up the balcony to the lightning rod spires, carefully squeeze through the snaking pipes, don't get burned…

The recipe came to an end when Cates abandoned the safety of the roofs. His feet finally touched the deserted streets, and an unusual feeling of ease took effect—he knew exactly where he needed to go. His heartbeat was quiet in the creeping night, the silence in the air only rarely interrupted by the slight buzzing of purifiers and vapor collectors that fed the bowels of the city. Cates knew the tangled streets well and was already far from the upper levels and the bright quarters of the Coals, where life did not subside even in the dead of night.

The time-worn Golden Curve stretched out before him, a road that led through the outer and inner circles of Sol like a wave. It followed under the white purity of banners to the great staircase and the empty throne. The weather was calm, and the shields that protected the city from the ashen storms were closed on the west side and watched over Cates' back. When the approaching storms coated everything with salt and sand in a bitter powder, these giant walls rose like petals to protect the inner circle. Rainwater flowed down their slopes to the lower levels, where it was purified and then sent through the towers to continue circulating along the Golden Curve. When the storm passed, the petals retracted, and the splendor of the sun returned to be reflected everywhere, driving the shadows to the far corners of the dreamlands.

Cates made his way past the watchers, keeping to narrow alleys and walking along the vents and pipes—the veins and arteries of this sleeping white leviathan. In the very center of the city rose a spire, connected to the towers that supported life in the inner circle. Once, the spire served as the seat of the lord who ruled Sol for hundreds of cycles. Many faceless believe that this lord witnessed the Cataclysm—countless stories were composed about his limitless power and immortality. Only now the throne was empty, and the lord was often gone on his expeditions outside Sol. The city was somehow managed by the links, whose only goal was to preserve the life that was slowly slipping away from their grasp. They could only control the flow of the emerald drops for the quilns and the quality of life they nourished. Salvation, as the lord assumed, was held by the relics of Precata.

Cates had no time to believe such assumptions.

The saturation of black and red flags divided the anarchy of the city into controlled parts. At the very top of the city were the sections of the Ashes—the corrupted offspring of the days of Decay. They blindly obeyed the lord and were bound to him by hatred and decay. The shadows (and the unchained) were best to avoid them at all costs.

To the left of Cates were the sections of the Sparks: their ranks consisted of traditionalists, guardians, historians, and priests. They were like the Embers and close to the faceless in their unrealistic desire to overthrow the lord. Their dogmas were the opposite of the Ashes, and their contracts were aimed at containing the influence of the lower links on the circulation of water in the city.

The image of Vish on the window was still fresh in Cates' memory. He turned and looked at the thin line that was the tower he had climbed down from. And to think that Vish was seeking refuge beyond the outer circle, where there was nothing but outcasts, dangers, and scavengers. However, there were no Ashes or Fires; at least she was right about that. Was it fate that guided Cates? He had walked out into the night over a thousand times, but now it all seemed different. Was it because of her? The appearance of Vish took him by surprise, but she was just another variable in a sea of unknowns. He should not be distracted—the decision was made.

Being a shadow, living constantly on the edge, sooner or later one can start believing in courage—a sequence of events where one false step could lead to failure, but every other step gave more strength and confidence to a shadow. It was as if each mistake changed for the better, becoming a count of happy coincidences, like an invisible hand leading the shadows through any obstacles to their goal. Cates believed in courage because more than once it had helped him get out of hopeless situations. He continued to believe and went down the spiral streets in the direction of the sea. Sometimes patrols of the lower links passed in front of him, but they did not notice another shadow among the thousands of other shadows. Cates, however, did not take risks and waited patiently until they moved out of the way.

As he approached the southern sections of the Fires, he circled around them along empty alleys of the unchained. He ran past scorched earth, past the remains of days gone by—traces of conflicts that few could remember. The Fires were united tribes and echoes of the old world. It was said that once they were scattered across the desert and eventually gathered under a white banner of a queen known as the Drawing-Thread. When she disappeared in the days of Decay, her followers grew embittered and gathered under the red banner of the Fires. Now they, like the Ashes, were the lord's followers. Their fanaticism, however, rarely went beyond the limits of what was permitted. Usually, they made noise and burned marks on their skin, but tonight, instead of the usual screams, they were silent.

Cates warned Vish to stay away from them, but she always did the opposite. Despite the little irritations, eventually every shadow had to resort to contracts from the lower links, since all the links were interconnected. At least the inquisitors were nowhere to be seen, but it was better not to catch their eye at all, with or without a contract.

One of the places on the shadow's path bore traces of the days of Decay—the confrontation that broke the integrity of the city. Histories of those days flashed through Cates' mind, but their reasons were unknown to him. The consequences of those days divided everyone into links, faceless, and unchained, and the burned sections of the city were left untouched as a reminder. Dying and murder were the most terrible taboos. The punishment was banishment without drops. Cates did not carry a weapon and could agree with this taboo because it was the basis for protecting shadows. A hook with a rope, however, when used correctly, always pulled him out of slippery situations, while only the inquisitors were allowed to carry weapons.

Cates lost something here many cycles ago, when he was not yet a shadow, and the Fires pulled him into their games. He could have lost more if the big shadow of little Vish had not driven them away. She didn't prance around back then:

"Pyromaniacs are easy to scare off, but getting rid of the fire is rather difficult. Let's hurry… Cates, isn't it? I've heard about you—that situation with the glass house of the Ashes—it turned out well. Don't be surprised; you can't hide such things from the shadows… I want to help you, because no one like us should be left alone… Believe me, for that manner of action, one can obtain permission, and I suggest you become one of us. Your knowledge of the faceless builders will give us an advantage, and the contracts will provide protection"

A secret can only be revealed once. Why was he thinking about her right now? Their previous contracts flashed before his eyes. How he led the shadows to hidden places, how he often watched over them or distracted the guards and made sure that Vish had an exit point. She always tried to be independent and took those contracts that dripped the most emerald drops. Did the quilns lead her to the Fires? Could she have done something different? Did all this matter to Cates? No, but that was how his world looked, and he was a part of it.

Block these thoughts out, focus! The fog in his head was dulling his perception, he was whispering something under his breath, his breathing was getting heavier. He needed to be focused, and now she was distracting him at the most inopportune moment. Maybe the sea would clear his mind before he changed his mind and turned back. The other side held the point of no return. The sounds of the waves touched Cates. He was getting close.

The stone staircase underfoot led down in a smooth serpentine, cutting through rough boulders along a gray cliff that took ultramarine onto itself and hid under the white splashes. The emerald sea of Emir was shedding the sapphire hues of its waves, preparing to accept the starry mantle of the sky. Cates stopped halfway down the stairs to catch his breath. Last time, invisible chains held him in place. He was forced to return to the warmth of pillows and tasty pieces of shark at the top of his tower. The sky was about to leave its last faded stroke to allow the wolven sun to appear, and the cold would pour from its pale scars.

The darkest moment—the most terrible, trembling, but painfully familiar—gripped Cates. It was not from fear, he told himself. The quiln would soon warm him; he had only to climb to the other side of the bone-colored wall. The pier awaited him there. The stars above Cates lit themselves one by one. Among them, the noble and not-at-all-wolfish grandeur of the moon appeared: its light reflected from the sea, slowly penetrating the ether-saturated air and concentrating in clouds of bright fog. Etheric particles—another consequence of the Cataclysm—held back the light and drove out weak shadows even from the darkest places. Cates continued to descend to the sea. This time the dark loosened its grip, and he did not experience much resistance. His attention hid entirely in memory, sending into oblivion everything that was good in the city and everything that was bad.

He spent the rest of the journey without meeting a single soul, and then the docks appeared before him: a shell of piled-up walls of bent metal separated him from the way to the other shore. Cates approached the lowest wall, untouched by the ether, and threw the hook over the cornice. A few minutes later, he was descending on the rope on the other side of the wall. No one was watching what was happening in the docks, since nothing was really happening down there. The hangars and warehouses were empty, the rusting metal of abandoned boats and ships was of little interest to anyone, and even the faceless could cope with the sea during storms, not to mention that nobody was willing to risk the priceless quilns for a simple fish.

It seemed that not so long ago there were several sailors for each boat, each with a full quiln, but over time the city's resources began to dwindle, and emerald drops became rare. Most of the boats and skiffs were left unusable due to the decay and destruction brought on by unsinkable (unlike them) time. Now only whalers and the lord's ships remained to plow the sea. Cates, however, had long ago noticed one vessel that should be able to deliver him to the other side of the bay.

The docks held a jumble of ships of all sorts with rusty chains, and a small skiff hid among them. Cates approached the skiff and inspected its reliability. There was a time when he returned similar vessels from the other shore—those who did not return no longer needed them. Patina patterns covered the metal of the mechanisms, the portholes were mottled with dirty gold hues, hollow bones framed it for support, and beneath them were embossed the letters that made up its name: Kinitat. The time-worn sides of the skiff bore crude drawings of fish, symbols for good luck and calm waves, and beneath the helm sat a dormant engine. Seashells jingled on the transparent bottom of laminated glass.

The quiln compartment was empty, as expected. Cates desperately wanted to wake the skiff and cut the ferocity of the wave with its sharp nose. The lock on the chain yielded to a simple picking of the hook, without even having to use the needles. The emerald glow of the quiln reflected on the mechanisms and was ready to share its power.

The wind raised a wave that shook the skiff, but Cates paid no attention. The electric threads in his brain burned with the torment of invisible fears. What if this vessel sank? Would he be able to swim? Would there be a way back? He stared at the light of the quiln in his hand, guiding it into the appropriate slot. Even partially submerged, the quiln managed to stir the engine, and a warm, barely noticeable purr ran along the entire mechanism. Although Cates felt uneasy using this quiln, the corners of his mouth curled from the feeling of control at the tips of his fingers and the smooth vibrations emanating from the engine. Aiming the skiff's nose at the opposite side of the bay, Cates pressed the quiln deeper in and, as if invited by the night itself, silently rushed away from the harbor, following the reflections of the moon on the calm waves.

He no longer thought of Vish—or he thought that he no longer thought of Vish—as he looked through the transparent parts of the skiff into the water at the myriad lights that gave the sea of Emir its emerald shades. Singing phosphorus illuminated the seabed, resembling the dormant light of a quiln, interrupted from time to time by rapidly moving fish and other sea creatures. These underwater stars intertwined with the stars of the night sky and danced around the full moon, whose noble face was visible even through its scars. Cates had heard histories about the moon being whole and pure before the Cataclysm, but now its crude appearance could scare many. It didn't scare or bother Cates; in fact, he was glad that the moon would accompany him tonight.

He couldn't put together a single reason for what lured him to the other side. Instead, he simply felt that courage was leading him in the right direction. The mysteries that troubled his mind, inspired by the shadows, would receive their share of light. The promises of histories would be fulfilled. He wanted to check everything on his own.

His fears and desires had the same roots. He didn't like the alternatives. He would find what he was searching for, even if he didn't know what it was.

The warm rumble of the skiff's engine sounded like a farewell prayer for the doomed, but Cates continued to hold the steering wheel tightly. He wanted to dissolve the anxiety that had seized him by choosing the unknown instead of the familiar fear. Soon, however, the intoxicating feeling of a new discovery awoke and pleasantly pinched his chest with fleeting confidence. It seemed that the skiff stood still, and the sea rushed past it, racing with the rest of the world. Thus, the shadow's destination was approaching—its ragged reflection appeared first. There it was, already visible far on the horizon…

The-fortress-of-no-return.

Sharp teeth of its black walls, tormented by storms, protruded from the ashen earth, and among them, two long fangs—the silhouettes of towers—aimed at the shining moon and grew with each passing second. Like rods, they supported the heavy sky, which seemed to be ready to collapse and hide this nightmare. The worries, mixed within a cacophony of the splashing water, irritated Cates.

Cutting through the bay, Cates seemed to be in a waking dream, and the skiff separated him from the raging waves, like a message in a bottle. Empty. Hopeless. About nothing. Through the waves, on the waves, under pressure, at the bottom… not at the bottom. In his head, Cates envisioned a plan for arrival: he would land among the rocks so that their shadows would hide the skiff. Then there was the question of getting inside—here he could only hope for his hook and rope. Another important thing: he must remember to pull the quiln out of the engine.

The attention of Cates shifted from the wheel to the fortress in the distance. Many histories and even more lies had been told about it. Almost everyone agreed that it had once been the seat of the lord before the city was built. Many saw in its shape a huge throne; many simply considered the place dangerous due to the weakness of the old structures. It was said that some other lord had once ruled Sol, but such stories were now taboo. Cates remembered them, as they promised relics, knowledge, and danger. Unthinkable devices and artifacts lurked in the dungeons underneath the ash. How could this fortress be abandoned? Who allowed it to descend to empty ruins?

Was Sol going to suffer the same fate of oblivion? What if the fortress was filled with ghosts? Or even wolves? Was it best for Cates to turn back? He recalled the histories of the shadows that brought him here. One in particular told of the lord's beating heart that held incredible power in the farthest, lowest chambers. It was said that the lord had cut out the heart because of love for his lost queen, whom he was trying to find in the ashen desert. Cates wondered about the reason for such histories—what gave them their beginning and meaning?

It's all fiction, most likely. Only figments, conjured by the shadows out of boredom. There's nothing there. The sea freshened Cates up, but the thoughts of return that clouded his mind were soon dispelled by the sound of the skiff hitting the shore. Cates didn't even notice how quickly he crossed the bay, and he hoped he'd enjoy it more on his way back. The important thing now was to return.

There was no pier in front of the fortress, only a deserted beach between jagged rocks, where the wrecks of ships and boats, washed aground by the storm, lay surrounded by the bones of strange sea creatures. The white shades of these bones formed strange symbols, the meaning of which could only be read by those who saw their fate on the face of the moon. Cates was not one of them. He dropped the anchor, did not forget to pull out the quiln, and jumped from the skiff into the rough sand.

A wolf's howl could be heard above the sounds of the waves. Cates was definitely not welcome here, nor was anyone else, for that matter. He gazed with eerie interest at the fortress towering over the shore: built of dark stone, covered with a layer of burnt salt, it seemed abandoned, gnawed on by hungry time. The patterns of the stonework of the impregnable walls imitated the night sky, golden lines outlined its sides and curves, and its jagged corners silently wailed as a constant reminder of its unfinished construction. Refined silvery bars protected the high windows from simple intrusion.

Two tall towers stood above these walls. They were similar to the central spire of Sol, and one of them was slightly taller than the other. On the left side of the fortress was a third tower, if you could call it that. It was much shorter than the other two, and its top was supported by a network of silvery wires, akin to a spider's web. Cates could not discern more details from his position, and the high walls cared little for him or his intentions. The hostility emanating from the fortress was almost completely opposed to the city, although it was similar to shields in that it protected something. Only what is required in defense usually has value.

Standing at the base of the walls, Cates began to realize just how high they were. The salt from past storms, like scales, coated the entire fortress. It had settled into the crevices, clogging and smoothing the sharp edges. Cates tried to grapple the old stones with his hook, but the salt chipped off in chunks, making the climb too precarious. Claws would have come in handy here. Some of the ledges were cracked or had been torn off entirely by previous visitors' attempts to climb. There was no other visible way in. Cates had to find another approach.

Or turn back.

Or turn around the corner.

He moved clockwise around the fortress to where the wall met the sea and sank deep into it, leaving the safety of the shore. A rhythm of black metal bars and thin spaces between them was carved high into the wall, while stones, honed by the relentless waves, hid and protected the paths to the secrets within.

Cates climbed onto the treacherously slippery surface of the stone defenders and, carefully maintaining his balance with measured steps, climbed as high and as close to the wall as he could. The thrown hook caught on one of the bars and connected the seeker with the other side across the roar of the surf. Gripping the rope tightly, he pushed off from the slippery stones and jumped, meeting the approaching wall with his leg. He could hear the waves crashing beneath him, the cold of the spray driving him upward. What if there was only pitch black and no ether? This doubt almost threw him off his vertical balance, but his hands rushed forward, pulling him higher and higher. The rope passed over his elbows, segment by segment, and gathered, wrapping around his waist. Only barely noticeable wet spots from his boots remained on the cold wall.

Finding himself at a row of thin windows, Cates grabbed the bar and looked back. The invisible point of no return was there, right above the waves crashing against the rocks. On the other side of the bay, Cates could see the white petals of the city, their warm and false promise of protection reflected in his eyes. He turned away and looked inside the fortress. The light-devouring darkness spread its arms before him—there was no bottom to be seen, no trace of ether, nothing at all. Only a bold reflex of the moon peeked through the bars and pointed the way for the invaders. The hook was securely fixed to the window, and one end of the rope fell into the abyss. The rod at its end made no sound, so the height on the other side raised more questions. Cates switched hope for courage, and after filling his chest with sea air, he adjusted the needles under the hood and began to count the seconds until his long-awaited meeting with new torments and, possibly, the answers.

Episode II – The Meetings

Cates' thoughts curled up into a ball and mingled with the sounds of the sea. Only one action separated him from the answers, and perhaps even from salvation. He gripped the rope tighter and took a step into the void, his body plunging downward with awkward heaviness. So far, nothing was as Cates had envisioned in his mind.

Quickly, segment by segment, the gloved hands did their job of lowering him toward an invisible bottom that seemed as though it would touch his toes at any moment… The descent, however, turned out to be much longer than that. His expectations began to peel away like flakes, falling down without the slightest idea of how deep they would fall. The moonlight faded away from Cates, and doubts returned with a new wave. At first, they were silent, but the thickening darkness around strengthened them. The rope in front of Cates' nose was his only link to the outside, yet he continued his descent, worrying that the hook might slip and detach, that there might be no bottom at all, and that he would have to take even more risks with unknown mistakes.

The vertical wall had become an entire kingdom to him, where, in the shapes of stone cracks, he saw mountains and lakes, roads and cities, and also faces and images of people—unkind, unnerving, spelling out warnings. They disappeared as quickly as they had appeared. With the fading light and every new segment passed, Cates stopped noticing them altogether, and the depth of the room posed different, more pressing questions. He didn't want to answer them because the number of options was overwhelming. Yet, as he pondered each one, the sequences in his mind crumbled like sandcastles, only to be meticulously rebuilt, grain by grain.

The light was completely gone by that point, and still, there was no end to the descent.

The sounds of the sea on the other side of the wall began to beckon Cates to return. The waves would have taken him without question and washed away all traces of anxiety. Even the abandoned skiff began to take shape before his eyes, and a faint hope glimmered that he could simply return. Cates did not stop. Soon, when the rope was almost at its end, he found a foothold under his heels on uneven stones that surrounded the newly discovered island of darkness.

The moon illuminated Cates' path even on the darkest nights, but now he was completely lost. The unnatural blackness filling the space relentlessly consumed the invading light. There was nothing else. Cates needed something, anything he could cling to. If he had known it would be so dark here, he would have turned all the warehouses upside down to find a lamp. Maybe he'd even risk venturing into the quarters of the links. But now he had to use what he had brought with him. He took out the quiln. Sometimes a single insignificant item is enough to find much.

The natural light of the quiln could illuminate only what was within Cates' reach. He walked along the tangible walls, running the soft emerald light over them, noticing rare specks of salt carried by the wandering wind. The floor beneath his feet consisted of separate stone blocks, each set at different angles, which, combined with the impenetrable darkness, was somewhat disorienting. Cates wanted to let the quiln roll over them, hoping it would lead somewhere, but that was one of the last options in his mind.

He didn't stray far from the rope as he was thinking, waiting, trying, and stumbling. But then, a moment flashed: Cates peered into the depth of the dungeon and noticed a possibility—a barely visible dot. The first good idea was to reach it, and then to catch, capture, and grab onto it…

Like everything else, dots had to have a beginning. Cates turned and looked up to the very top, where a pale spot, divided into two by a post, held the hook. It was from there that a solitary ray fell on the crooked tiles, noticeable only at the very bottom, where it didn't get lost among other similar rays.

The hook, following the impulse of the tugged rope, detached, and the memory of his hands caught it deftly. The sound of waves beyond the wall interrupted the dull thud against the slanted floor as the other end of the rope was thrown across the darkness near the dot to scour the bottom. Finding no tangible dangers, Cates headed with measured steps toward the dot, which trembled as if filled with fear from being inside this dungeon. When he touched the dot, all his last doubts left him, giving way to the light in his hand, connecting him to the moon. Looking at his pale glove, Cates replaced the quiln with a flask from his inner pocket—the mirror-like surface was just what he needed.

It amused him that, being a shadow himself, he intended to challenge the darkness with a mere shred of moonlight. He placed the flask under the ray, and the reflected light ran across the distant walls, slightly clarifying the situation: there were no doors in the dungeon, but there were also no hints of complete abandonment. All around was one black, primordial void, just like an absence craving to cease being as it was. Cates pondered whether the room felt this way or if he did. Could this really be all he could find? Impossible. There had to be a meaning in these walls; otherwise, why would they be here? Only if the unfinished construction of the fortress hadn't cut them off from the possibility of becoming something more.

The patterns of cobwebs reminded Cates of the corners of his own room and of Vish—her ghost pursued his invisible trail this night—yet he understood that, at that moment, something was eluding him. The reflected ray once again scanned the uneven walls, and again, without result. So Cates stopped looking at the walls and shifted his attention to the ray itself as it left a melting trail behind. Uncovering the void of blinding darkness turned out to be an unexpected joy, and Cates began to draw with the ray, watching as the darkness parted before him. He stopped as soon as the ray began to tremble in a certain place on the opposite wall, which he could not reach without letting go of the ray. When he approached as close as possible, he realized that it wasn't the light trembling, but what pretended to be a wall—something ephemeral, reflecting and distorting its surroundings, taking on their appearance.

Having memorized the location of the trembling spot, Cates left the ray and took out the quiln again. It was necessary to take a step back to move forward. He went towards the image in his mind, and as soon as the quiln touched the wall, its glow vanished into a strange ripple. The trembling "wall" stayed in place as Cates' fingers simply passed through its damp-looking surface, feeling a slight tingling. Clutching the quiln tighter, he took several steps through the flickering haze, watching his body completely dissolve into the vibrations. The sensations were similar to submerging underwater… Deeper and further, leaving all rays behind, he followed the echo that emerged from his footsteps. The sounds completely dissolved but soon returned in all their former fullness, shaking off the awkward feeling of dry water…

Cates was free from the illusion and opened his eyes.

The interior of the fortress finally revealed itself: beautiful arches invited Cates into mysterious corridors and galleries, along which ornate columns supported high vaults, and slanting walls astonished with the elegance of the masons' craftsmanship. Marble slabs reflected rare clumps of ether's light, which was more than enough for exploration. The corridors seemed to stretch into infinity, and along them stood many different statues, watching over their nocturnal peace. Some of them wore masks, while on the faces of others, the evolution of apprentice skills could be traced. The statues vaguely resembled the former Sol guards, although their stone forms could only repel, and not stop, intruders.

A barely noticeable ripple in the purity of the wall hid the dungeon behind Cates. He stared at it for a long time, witnessing its slightest changes. When he touched it again, his hand seeped inside, and the ripple on the surface of the stone intensified. The sensation caused discomfort only when he looked at the missing hand. He was interested in the purpose of such a secret room, but the only witnesses stood silent in stone and could not reveal the secret presence of the new shadow.

Under the high ceiling, a series of narrow windows let in the moonlight, and Cates was drawn by the new feeling of freedom: all of this was his to explore. The possibilities and hidden secrets of this place intrigued and tickled his mind. There were no signs of life, not even of pariahs who would surely have taken a liking to this place. No one was here, not a soul! And it was so quiet that he could hear the beating of his own heart. Indeed, maybe it wasn't so bad here after all.

Above the statues, stone hands protruded from the walls, holding extinguished lanterns. Cates angrily noted their presence and considered taking one—the quiln could have awakened their warmth—but he decided against it. There were too many questions ahead, and extra light could prove deadly for a shadow.

Judging by the location of the windows, Cates was on the lower levels. After his first acquaintance with the fortress, he couldn't wait to climb higher and examine everything properly. Both outside and inside, the fortress remained unfinished and noble, but looked aged because of dust and ash. This age could easily be reversed with a good cleaning. But what had been built would stand for hundreds more cycles in the company of the statues left behind by their creator.

Old thoughts imbued the walls and visited every passing soul, sharing their eerie delight. Cates put the flask back in his pocket and decided to move forward in one of two possible directions. His courage would guide him under the moon's watch, and the night would hide him from prying eyes. What should he start with here?

The first thing Cates noted was the various doors. There were many, and most of them were open, but almost all led to empty rooms, often without ether. There were no treasures, relics, or quilns to be found yet.

The darkness still lingered nearby: in the corners and behind the carved columns, under the wide arches, and everywhere the moonlight lacked the strength to reach. Without a clear idea of where to go, Cates simply continued in the chosen direction, ready to change it if his first choice led nowhere. The moon flickered through the narrow windows, guiding him to places rich in ether.

Entering one of the rooms, he found tools for butchering carcasses and bones on the shelves—apparently of animals. Had hunters used this place to store their catch? Maybe vivisectors? Desert wolf pelts hung on hooks and seemed perfect for wrapping up snugly on the cold nights of the coming month. Among the broken lamps, right next to the pelts, gleamed silver cylinders. Quilns! Cates picked up a couple and twirled them… There wasn't a single emerald drop inside, not even a dried one. However, the mere presence of quilns, even empty ones, promised the presence of something useful left behind, forgotten, or hidden in dark corners. Cates was now fully confident that his search would bear fruit…

Could these walls protect against the coming storms? With willing and capable people to address the necessary needs, it seemed manageable, but who would leave the city when everything needed was already there (even if in meager amounts)? Cates wanted to somehow bring this place to order, but a closer examination of the room yielded nothing valuable; the pelts turned out to be moth-eaten, and the tools crumbled from corrosion.

Other rooms were even less interesting, except for the dining hall, where stone statues were seated at a long table in warlike poses. Cates examined the table more closely: before the statues' fake interest were glass bowls and plates, holding a whole lot of nothing covered in storm-tossed salt, garnished (for taste) with a layer of dust. A feast indeed. The place at the head of the table was unoccupied, but Cates had no desire to taste the dusty nothingness or participate in the conversations of the sleeping statues. His eye caught one valuable thing—a decorated box stood at the edge of the table. Something inside it rattled—not food, not quilns. Despite the shadows robbing the box of almost all its colors, its sides depicted a familiar and timeless story from his childhood:

"…And the stars watched every night as the beast flew down from the mountain and swallowed children awakened by the flapping of its wings. When the stars could no longer bear to watch, they asked the moon to illuminate the night to calm the beast, and so the moon did. But the light only angered the beast. So with great effort, it leaped onto the moon and bit it fiercely, trying to swallow it whole. Alas, the moon was too big and too bitter for the beast, and the children in its belly disliked the salt so much that they cried out together and tore the beast apart from within. As it fell from the moon, salt poured from its belly and covered all our lands. Finally, the beast dried out, bitter and useless—its hide decayed, its bones turned into mountains, its tears filled the sea, and the freed children returned to their joy…"

Cates brought the box closer to the falling moonlight to inspect it better and accidentally opened it. Music began to play. Instantly slamming the lid shut, he cowered, cursing his carelessness, but didn't attempt to catch the escaping notes, allowing them to break the silence of the corridors. The box returned to its place, and the shadow left the hall with ringing in his ears and a storm in his chest. No one responded to the melody.

The returning silence calmed Cates, and soon, as he continued exploring the corridors, he stumbled upon a gallery with moonlit frescoes. They depicted events that had occurred long before the formation of the links when the city was still whole. Mostly, they focused on a tall wanderer who walked through the ashen deserts, leading faceless people to the edge of the world. Together they began to build walls and towers, resembling the outlines of the city. Sun motifs symbolized the rebirth of life in the heart of the city, and its influence spread through the circles of Sol…

Cates began to understand that this fortress was not a dungeon, but a palace—forgotten and abandoned.

The ashes of the lands became fertile, and the city flourished, giving life to trees that grew to the sky and held back the ashen storms. Then people simply lived, and everything was as it should be. It was hard to say what disrupted the usual course of things. Cates' suspicions fell on the days of Decay. As he continued to examine the frescoes, he wondered whether those figures could depict the future, or if it deliberately would not be as predicted…

Further along, the moonlit drawings became ghostly, blurry, and finally ceased altogether, leaving the story unfinished. Thus, the palace turned into a tomb, defiled by oblivion and left to the mercy of the ashen storms. Now only silence remained a faithful companion to these memories and ruled the calm of these impregnable walls, with its sole guest, albeit uninvited, being Cates…

A noise appeared from the distance.

Loneliness melted with disappointment, fueled by burning pricks all over Cates' body. He wasn't alone here after all, and the owner of this place might be dozing in their quarters… or hiding in fear… or waiting in ambush. Just in case, Cates prepared to pretend to be a hungry outcast seeking refuge. He resisted the obvious, hoping that it wasn't the music box that had given him away, and retraced his steps back to the ripple.

The thought was interrupted by a new presence in the corridor—a steady and rhythmic knock… Only now did Cates realize how deep he had ventured. The sound of the sea had completely disappeared, and no thoughts could be heard—so quiet and still was this place. But from that void, a heartbeat emerged and intensified, along with the approaching knocking on the stone floor. Footsteps. They grew louder, closer. Cates instantly pressed himself to the shadows behind the column and began to wait. To his surprise, he didn't have to wait long, for the source of those footsteps was right in front of him. A feminine figure briskly walked past the shadow that had merged with Cates. He thought that she wouldn't have noticed him, even if he was standing in her way.

A black-and-purple dress flowed in sharp waves from her shoulders, a veil concealed her face, and long sleeves held her crossed arms. This lady was too clean for a pariah and too elegant for the faceless. The links also rarely wore dresses and certainly not in the center of who-knows-what; in short, no one in the city resembled her. The firm step of the lady indicated her familiarity with the fortress, and moreover, many doors opened right before her. Before she could get too far away, Cates decided to follow her and, trying not to reveal his presence, became her shadow. He needed to keep her in sight, not fall behind, and not get caught—false excuses would definitely not work on her. The main thing was to be mindful of every move. Always.

This proved to be no easy task. Many corners of the palace were indistinguishable from one another, but the statues served as good waypoints due to their uniqueness. The lady walked quickly and somewhat chaotically: she often entered random rooms for a few seconds and then came out again. Cates hoped she wasn't searching for him because of that noisy music box. He began to get distracted by possible outcomes again; it even seemed to him that the lady, having entered one door, came out of a completely different one. Despite the strange routes, she mostly went up to the upper levels, and following her, Cates realized he could explore this enormous fortress for hours until dawn. Such long stays were not part of his plans, and he had not dismissed the idea of returning safely to his attic, but what he would bring back with him remained unknown.

A wide corridor adorned with golden patterns led the lady to two parallel staircases. Most likely, their winding steps belonged to tall towers. Having climbed up the left staircase, the lady disappeared behind one of the identical doors. Cates waited a couple of minutes, assuming she would soon return. She did not. Tired of waiting, he opened the closest door with a tense hand, trying not to make the slightest creak, and went in. A cracked reflection of Cates welcomed him inside: a large mirror in a silver frame played with the features of his face through its broken glass, changing and hiding them like a bad liar. The lady, however, was nowhere to be seen! Moving further into the room, Cates turned his gaze to the tapestries, where marvelous floral patterns rhymed with the gentle waves of sands under the rule of an embroidered sun, opposite motifs of the sea, moon, and stars. There were no other doors in the room, only two tall windows. Perhaps he had entered the wrong room.

No, he had never been so wrong. There were no wings behind the lady's back, and she most probably disappeared behind a different, hidden door—it wasn't as if she had jumped out the window. To test this possibility, Cates wanted to lift the tapestry but noticed a cobweb on it and abandoned the idea, proceeding to examine the room. Near the windows, vases held large swaying feathers of unknown birds. Thick books with cracked spines were neatly lined up under a long, low slab that extended from the wall to the center of the room. One half of the slab formed a bed with large pillows and silk sheets, while the other half served as a table. Above it, a basket of white branches with a veiled stone head hung from the ceiling.

On the "table" part of the slab, Cates found a thin bone for writing and a scratched envelope with an equally scratched letter inside. At the untouched corner, he could discern only two letters: Od. Not recognizing the signature, Cates approached the windows to examine the envelope further. The paper's material differed from all other messages he had seen during the contracts, and he'd seen many, including those intended for the ruling links in the city—even once he held an envelope addressed to the lord. But on this paper, he could find no codes, no hidden marks, except for a couple of red threads and sharp marks on the smooth fiber. Despite the crumbling paper in his hands, Cates attempted to read it:

"– 946, PC. 89, Harvest Month. The priestess is alive. Time will heal the bones, but won't remove the scars. Additionally, her memory remains in the dark. It seems she has forgotten everything that can be forgotten; she doesn't even remember her name…

…The grace is running out. A drop here, a drop there. If only there was enough of it for the defender…

…How could they let this happen? The heart shattered for the second time and the pieces scattered everywhere. How can we find the lost…

…They call the tragedy Decay. Regrettable, unimaginable…

…The cataclysm is forgotten now, how many cycles did it take? Even I don't remember much. My tomes hold the reflections…

…We haven't even grown; we are just the last ones left. The followers and the remained. I see the priestess is right. The worm spares not even the smallest of apples…

…We will sift through every grain of sand in the desert, we will find, restore, and save what was taken from us. For now, I need to seclude myself; it's becoming too noisy here.

– G."

A response appeared on the second sheet, in neater handwriting:

"…I received your notes. They are insufficient. I understand that you were not a witness to that day and your knowledge is limited to what was reported to you, but the recorded chronicles should be at your disposal. Check them, surely…

…For the love of the lord, if you suggest questioning the martyr again…

…Your so-called 'transmitter' remains silent. I don't know what you expected from this endeavor, but I see no sense in it…

…I am starting to look for other ways out. The city will collapse in a few cycles. Will it all come at the last moment? I am returning records with the defender. Don't forget to burn them.

– Od."

Many of the notes mentioned past events in a similarly fragmented manner, but Cates couldn't find much of use in them:

"…The reasons for the Cataclysm are unknown to us. We can invent them, and we might even guess them correctly, but we are powerless to prevent them. We can only change the consequences, or rather, redirect them. The death of a star (or its birth, who knows) marked the beginning of the Cataclysm, and tears flowed in rivers, blood boiled the oceans, and then there was nothing, except for the murmur of a newborn day in an unseeing world. Not everything was lost, because people continued to breathe this still, lifeless air. Alone in their mass, left with nothing, they began to lose themselves, their petty unity shattered, and they wandered in oblivion, scattering the last grains of what made them who they were…"

After putting the notes back where he found them, Cates couldn't find anything noteworthy in the room. He was, however, extremely interested in exploring the towers. He stuck his head out of the high open windows and examined the intricate layout of the fortress: its rectangular base was surrounded by the raging sea from the west and north. The walls stood in layers, connecting halls and corridors in unusual combinations. Above them, windows extended to the roofs, letting in the moon's gaze, while in some places, the stonework transitioned into terraces covered with metal plates.

On the far edge of the elongated roof planes was a rough semblance of greenhouses and gardens, separating a leaning tower enveloped in a web of stretched-out wires that kept it from falling. The top of the tower was crowned by a crude wooden roof with tiny windows, each more crooked than the other. It seemed to Cates that a greenish spark flickered in one of them, but after waiting a few minutes and seeing no repeats, he turned his gaze to the horizon. There, on the other side of the bay, amidst the salty desert, was Sol. The white shell of the city's closed shields shone like a pearl dropped to the bottomless depth. It could fit in Cates' palm, and he would trade it for a journey to the stars. The links wouldn't like such tricks, but they were not visible from here, and the city didn't seem so bad. Perhaps that's how Vish imagines the outer circles and their safety.

Cates, however, returned to where he was and looked at the largest dome with numerous spires in the middle of the palace. Through the open gaps in the roofs and tall stained-glass windows, he could see parts of the mirrored hall with obelisks that led to huge black-and-gold gates. What was beyond them remained a mystery, but a little further, on the side hidden from the sea, there was a vast space surrounded by sharp walls and parts of construction catwalks. Like artificial barriers, they held back the edges of the dark abyss. A platform, like an outstretched hand, extended from the hall with the obelisks over the hungry maw. A beautiful silver pedestal stood near the platform's edge…

A shriek of metal sounded somewhere far below, and Cates pressed against the wall. Lost in guessing, he decided it would be best to remain unnoticed and returned to the stairs leading to the towers. Possibilities began to torment him and tickle his heart. He felt he was so close to uncovering the mysteries and quickly ascended the winding wide steps. However, the staircase led not to the top, but to a strange, crooked corridor, which presented the shadow with the first truly impossible challenge.

One. Closed. Door. Without a handle or keyhole. Cates couldn't open it, no matter how hard he tried! Intuition told him not to try but to act, or at least do what was within his abilities. He carefully studied the curves and patterns of the door but found no hidden switches or mechanisms. Absolutely no way to open that door presented itself, even the eager needles that held his hood were of no use. Forced to leave the door, Cates wanted to kick it but remembered how he once stubbed his toe on a doorstep in his tower. It was painful.

The contracts of links seemed like a silly, carefree endeavor compared to this fortress because here it was like another world to Cates. A world where all his knowledge proved a lot less useful than he had anticipated. He had to rely on adaptation and intuition and his trusty rope with a hook. He decided to leave that cursed door until he found a way to open it and searched for other opportunities below. In his mind, he planned to move from one tower to another using the wires he had seen earlier, but the staircase leading to the second tower presented Cates with the same corridor and the same problem. He then decided it might be a good idea to check the crooked and smaller (compared to the others) tower near the greenhouses. After all, the green light in that window could indicate drops for the quiln. Cates formed a rough plan of the palace in his mind, and the crooked tower became his new and achievable goal. The path to the gardens had to go through the hall with the obelisks, which was somewhere deep inside. It shouldn't have been too hard to find it since it probably wouldn't disappear like the lady.

Cates was guided by his inner compass and went in silence, alone, wondering if that dark dress had really appeared, just like in a dream. It was as if he were walking through a land of dreams, where everyone was asleep. The walls slept. The statues slept. Was he asleep? Was this another dream? One thought replaced another, and each previous one was lost in oblivion. Logic couldn't cope with the feelings. Possible explanations tore at him.

The intertwining corridors were more complex than he had anticipated, and the number of paths that opened up only began to confuse his direction.

Having decided to leave the corridors, he entered spacious halls where many doors appeared before him. Some, as expected, were jammed shut or had stone walls behind them, while others led to small rooms filled with dusty clutter. Cates could never predict what awaited him behind each door and became interested in the mechanisms that opened doors for the lady and what powered their movement. Perhaps it was the quilns? In some ways, this fortress reminded him of the city with all its automatic systems. But the city drew energy from wind and sea, while the fortress stood alone and motionless… Cates continued exploring the rooms and saw thin openings in the wall where the cool night air roamed freely like a familiar and welcome guest. Taking a glance through the openings, he saw the sea and the moon, as well as the shore where he could barely make out the shape of his skiff among the rocks. If he didn't know it was there, he would never have found it.

In the next hall, the doors were taller and decorated with carvings, and one of them was secured with a bolt and lock. Cates almost passed by it but became curious—he hadn't opened such doors in a long time. Nowadays, no one in the city uses locks, as shadows would either break or jam them with clumsy hands. Bells and sentries were a more reliable replacement for simple mechanisms. Cates squinted, took a needle from his hood support, and began to pick the lock with it. His lack of practice showed. It wasn't easy, but it wasn't too difficult either. He could have used quiln drops to heat the needle, but the lock finally gave way with a click.

The bolt ceased to hold the door, and the shadow slipped into the room with cracked enamel walls that had turned gray from cobwebs. Behind the glass on the shelves, among empty jars, were hidden silver and sharp instruments. Cates examined them and tried to figure out their use, putting the needle back into his hood.

The smell of stale water lingered over the metal tables with traces of red rust. It looked like a healer's office… Sealed vials with black tinctures stood among stacks of faded papers. Most of the records were dated to the early cycles after the Cataclysm and described the step-by-step construction of the fortress. Some contained myths about the lone lord and prayers. Myths were taboo.

Cates picked up two torn sheets and read:

"– 891, PC. 9, Rain Month. I will make copies from the old archives. They are many, I am alone. Help is needed. I will turn to the lord. He knows the value of stories… The Scarlet Queen ruled the desert tribes until she met the seeker. She is the reason that never stops, illusory, always the cause of motion. The beginning of the end and the end of the beginning. She's two for when there's one. Sleep for the awakened. She is the plague, the rot for the ripe. She is darkness for light, including the lord's very own. Like a red shore for the blue wave and the sorrow of your joy. Her time has come, and her time will pass. How blessed and cursed we are, witnessing this…"

– A. G."

"– 971, PC. 1, Harvest Month. After going through the books, it became clear just how old I have become. The queen, how the rusted fool was wrong! Am I to blame too?

She is not evil, she is simply different. But, having taken shape, she poses a danger to many.

Our lord sought a way for all of us to salvation long before her appearance. Nothing is reliably known about his findings. And now that he is dead, how are we to know…"

"– 972, PC. 21, Rain Month. Thank you for the trinket, lady, its design is so wondrous! And useful, believe me! I will return it to you once I am done calibrating the etheric waves. As per your request: the chronicles of those days. Also attached are excerpts on the topic you specified. Apologies for the incompleteness, but many records are missing. Partly because of you, although my fault is there too, as my memory sometimes fails me. Please, don't get lost in the past. In some sense, you are the one causing pain to yourself. This silent agreement, the pact, part of our vow, but you must remain yourself for the sake of what remains.

– G."

"– 946, PC. 53, Harvest Month. Nor has returned. Partially, however. His gift is already saving him, unlike the priestess. There was no living place on her, but she is here, where I am with my instruments and the lord's grace. The worst is behind her. I have done everything within my power and the power of my gift. I redirected the path…"

"– 947, PC. 2X, Harvest Month. She is not herself; her name is unknown to me. She continues to remain silent. The mirrors are broken; I covered the rest. I will have to craft the alchemy of letters to reshape the truth. The second (or the first, the real) is gone. The queen is gone. Will everything disappear too… I can't see, I don't see… Dark! It's too dark…"

Then the neat handwriting turned into illegible scrawls: ink swirls danced before Cates, forming letters resembling grids that held some meaning. He tried to comprehend them and piece together words until the letters began to tremble. Was this really what he was searching for? Such answers were preparing to turn him into a statue. His fingers tensed. To avoid creasing the paper, Cates put the sheets back and left the office, feeling slightly dizzy. The days of Decay had touched him too, but he didn't want to return to them, even though all his barriers were failing. He recalled a moment from his childhood when he tried to dig a well on the sandy beach to have his own bit of water. But the sand crumbled, losing its shape, and the waves washed away all his efforts. He felt like that sand, as if everything he had done in his life was about to collapse, the tide would erase him from history, and nothing would remain.

Cates knew for certain that the inhabitants of the fortress had other answers, the ones he needed. They knew the stories. He couldn't simply approach them and ask. Before any other silly ideas wormed into his brain, he needed to continue searching for the hall with obelisks, but the corridors twisted and confused him with their symmetry. Cates abandoned the notion of checking every room and instead followed the moonlight until he noticed a door unlike the others, covered in inky symbols mixed with blots. Running his finger along the curved lines of ink, Cates recognized the mad handwriting from earlier notes and struggled to open the heavy door.

Massive cabinets and shelves loomed inside a spacious room, resembling an archive or library. Piles of books patiently stood on the floor, waiting to find their rightful places. Dust, so prevalent in other rooms, was rare here. Cates guessed that the lady took care of the books as his hand instinctively grabbed the nearest one—a hefty volume in a leather cover bound with red thread. Opening it, he saw blank, thick pages with faint traces of something he couldn't decipher. Putting the book down and picking up another, he was disheartened by the same blank pages. One after another, they mocked him by hiding secrets not meant for his eyes. Those wanted words were blending into the paper so close he could touch them. Cates grabbed another book from the stack, but carelessly this time, and the paper in it was lost among the pages just the same. He shouldn't be here. His search was futile. He would learn nothing. He would find his end in the endless corridors of the cold fortress and never return to the abandoned comfort of his tower… Strangely, he didn't want to return.

Cates slammed the book shut and threw it back in place. He should've contained his anger. The other books wobbled and, one by one, collapsed in a cacophony of rustling paper and drumming spines on the stone floor. The crash pierced the walls, and the echo mercilessly carried it through the corridors. Cates was almost certain that his carelessness could be heard on the other side of the Emir. But in the fortress itself, in its distant depths, something large and likely malevolent awoke. Like an engine touched by a quiln, this entity created palpable vibrations and approached with determined purpose. In the next moment, the fortress became like an anvil, receiving the blows of a hammer, and Cates found himself on the other side of the door that was about to come off its hinges…

The way back from the archives was cut off, the path forward simply wasn't there, but Cates knew one more way: up. He jumped onto a cabinet, and the shelves with tricky tomes served as a ladder up to the ceiling. Such height was far from the etheric reflections of the moon, and Cates became a shadow.

The door burst open with a crack, toppling more stacks of books, and a dreadful smell flooded the archive—acrid, viscous, like something dredged up from the bottom of the sea. Someone tall and cumbersome followed it inside. Cates couldn't get a good look from his position, but he saw that the giant bent with difficulty to avoid hitting the doorway with his helmet. A dark cloak of metal scales covered his body, and three hiltless swords on his back twitched like chained wolves ready to pounce. Despite this, he held himself upright, and his steps were smooth and measured, though loud. An invisible force, seemingly emanating from the sharp steps, cleared the fallen books before him as he walked through the room in search of the intruder.

The giant's search was short: a nimble rat rustled among the piles of books that served as its home. Cates' ears caught an unusual buzzing that pierced the tension in the air, and a second later it struck the fleeing rodent. Only a red stain remained—not even a squeak was heard from the rat. Not wanting to become a stain on the wall, the shadow remained motionless. When the giant could not find anything moving (or squeaking) among the shelves, he left the archive. Still, the sharp clatter of his steps echoed through the corridors for a while…

When it became completely quiet, Cates climbed down from the top of the cabinet and glanced at the pile of papers in the settling dust—he couldn't afford such mistakes anymore. The rat's blood had stained one page, and a secret code emerged, but it was still unreadable. Before stepping into the night-enshrouded corridors, Cates took a sip from his flask, and the sweet comfort returned him to the center. He wasn't going to sacrifice his blood to read the secrets of the books… Just in case, he needed to plan his exits better.

Scanning for convenient windows and open doors, Cates returned to an unfamiliar path until he found himself on the desired level. The hall with the obelisks should have been here. Somewhere in the distance, heavy footsteps were heard again, and the wandering echo quivered with a woman's voice. Cates recalled the lady. Was she somehow connected to this giant? The answer was somewhere near. He followed the enticing echo and found himself in unfinished halls with cracked walls and abandoned materials. Dormant columns in stone debris on mirrored marble awaited the return of the builders. The voice was very close…

Cates' pace changed; every step became a challenge. Questions endlessly buzzed in his head. Wait… Let the echo die down and disperse. We are not alone. Come closer, but don't reveal yourself.

Was he dreaming, or had he seen this before?

Following the mosaic beneath his feet, composed of motifs of rising suns and harvests, he controlled every movement and breath until a blue flame ignited in a brazier at the end of the corridor. A familiar, uneasy premonition he had tried so hard to escape manifested with a lone figure before the warming fire.

The lady's voice pierced the darkness with clarity, but Cates couldn't make out the words. The geometry of the walls shattered them, blending and separating them again and again until they sounded like a chorus of tiny echoes. Perhaps the time had come. Cates crept among the lying columns close enough to see the lady. The light grew brighter, the voices louder, and even the walls began to reveal their hidden writings.

An ancient dance of runes appeared on the dormant walls. Each took on distinctive shapes, mesmerizing with their simple elegance and obscure meanings. Marks and guides glowed with a light bluish hue and dimmed from the touch of shadows. They reminded Cates of long-gone times, of the long journey that had led him to this very moment…

A dream visited him while he was wide awake, unfolding exactly as he remembered it, only now he could see everything down to the smallest detail: the lady in the blue fire, wrapped in a magnificent dress resembling a vortex. Black velvet waves cascaded down her body, breaking into conical layered forms, while a cloak with a purple lining covered her shoulders. A veil hid her face under a high hood. The fabric of her garments made the lady almost invisible, and only the fire separated her silhouette from the phantom darkness… Cates pricked up his ears under the hood, and the lady's voice became audible:

"Do not be angry, my guardian… An assumption! Pull yourself together… No, excuse my rudeness! I hope my arrival did not keep you waiting?"

Behind her stood, like a mountain, the guardian. Cates almost mistook him for an obelisk—a towering mass covered with a heavy cloak of dark-scaled metal. Other features were hard to discern. The guardian nodded and answered the lady silently, while she continued to soothe him:

"Allow me! You are way too agitated by an ordinary rat. Not everything signals a threat, you know. Perhaps our old spider simply decided to stretch his legs?"

Cates thought he heard a growl from the guardian; he used gestures and guttural sounds to communicate. Such a trick could be useful for shadows…

"Besides, he has resumed working on his dolls lately. And yes, I heard music in the former dining hall. But if it was neither his doing nor mine, then whose? Still, I wouldn't worry as long as we are together."

The guardian made a questioning sound when the lady explained:

"That box is mine; he borrowed it. I know you are worried about such attachments, but I assure you, I wouldn't have given the box if I found value in it. As for the rats, don't worry, the old man is preparing something new for them… You don't think it's an intruder, do you? Did you check the shore and the entrances? Everything is clear, no traces? Assumption is the worst sin."

Judging by the low guttural sound, the guardian hadn't found anything yet.

"That's it. Seekers or fanatics—it doesn't matter. They will leave exactly the way they came. Don't you forget? By choice or by chance, our lord needs us as much as we need him. The sun for us is not yet lost, I assure you. All we can do is wait. Well, enough! The sleeping one will not touch you, I promise… Do you believe me?"

The guardian bowed his head. Cates' eyes sparkled when they caught the lady's gaze through the blue fire. Fear jerked him from the tension and forced him to retreat. The column met the back of Cates' head with a blow, and the needles supporting the hood clanked, catching a purple flash from the lady's veil—she instantly turned her head towards Cates. The light revealed a small part of her face: small cuts covered her cheeks and led to a strange scar. Her full lips whispered in a trembling voice:

"Guardian?"

Now she fully turned, and the chilling sound of her heels summoned a rising echo, resembling Cates' heartbeat…

"Is there someone there? Guardian!"

These words struck Cates' head with full force. Leaning against the cold, indifferent column, he was stunned, for his dream had warned him of this, and it had turned out exactly as it did. An uneven buzzing, like a large bee, appeared in the air. Fragments of a sword flew in circles above the guardian's helmet, ready to strike at the slightest provocation. An invisible hand directed them exactly where the lady pointed. Thoughts raced with incredible speed in Cates' skull, and among them waved a bony ghostly hand, and the question: what on earth could he do?

Would this encounter be his last? Was this lady the reason for no return? Was it all over? Cates didn't know whether he should do something or stay calm in place. He felt paralyzed, but not by fear, rather by choice. He simply didn't know what to do…

Cates exhaled and paused for a second. He began to notice differences: the lady's hand wasn't dead, just a bit pale. A ring with a large black sapphire gleamed on her finger and pointed at the column with the intruder. Cates couldn't delay, but haste was equally dangerous. He tried to pull himself together so he could retreat with minimal risk. Every muscle in his body, down to his fingertips, tensed with cold readiness to flee. Back, away from here, where there were fewer willing to break the most terrible taboo.

A sudden crack stopped the lady's steps. Something round and white fell from a window under the arch and bounced off the wall—not a rat and not thrown by a rat. The guardian turned, and a blade flew from the halo like an arrow, shattering the uninvited object into dozens of fragments. Pieces of bone rattled on the mirrored marble of the corridor in blue fire tones. The lady stepped back behind her defender, but her voice was no longer frightened:

"Ah-ha! Since when do skulls fall from the sky? Well, the alchemist is definitely having fun! Is he so tired of the cursed transmitter? Or is this a message? Calm down, my guardian!"

The scales clattered like rain until the lady placed a hand on him with a whisper:

"The first look reveals not everything. Sometimes it's worth returning… Let's go now!"

Making a sound like an abrupt wish, the guardian bowed, the blades calmed and returned to his back. The lady bowed in response:

"Nei-tha. Accompany me, and I will remind you of what we all forget. When I close the altar, we will go up and find the alchemist—he, as usual, will see and explain everything. Let's also ask him about the rats since they bother you so much…"

With these words, the lady waved her hand over the blue flame, and it began to fade.

The steps of the dark duo faded away, and Cates began to recover. He wanted a drink. He wanted fresh air. And most of all, he wanted to leave these narrow corridors… The nightmare vision still stood before him, but reality separated lies from the truth…

In his mind, Cates assembled the skull fragments on the floor: its sides were adorned with carved lines and even recesses. In the same mind, he thanked the skull for saving him, and seeing this as another chance, he tried to catch his breath. His intent stare watched the tall door closing behind the lady and her guardian.

"Psst! Scaredy-cat! Aren't you a delight!"

Cates lifted his frightened eyes from the jawbone and looked up. It reminded him of his awakening. Vish stood high in the window, framed dramatically by the moon.

"Did you miss me?" she winked, deftly clung to the masonry with her claws, and climbed down with little noise. Cates was surprised by her appearance but pleasantly so. He certainly didn't want to end up like the unfortunate skull. The lady's hands didn't seem welcoming, even if they weren't made of bones. He pulled Vish by the hand into an alcove where the echo wouldn't give away their conversation:

"Vish, don't think I'm not glad to see you, but what on earth are you doing here?! You yourself said this is the worst place with no return."

"Yes, it is—for desperate and stubborn loners like you. I hope you understand I didn't let your trembling shadow be exposed?"

"Of course, and just in time!"

Cates tried to stop shaking… Random questions should pull him out of the moment:

"So, you can't sleep either, Vish? Or did you get bored?"

"Exactly! It's too cramped and dusty in your tower. I decided to take a walk and suddenly stumbled upon this remarkable piece of architecture from the Precata times."

"You're always stumbling upon something…"

"Hey, hush! Now repeat after me: thank you, my savior, there's no better shadow than you!"

"Thank you, savior of shadows Vish! And then what, remind me?"

"Ugh, let's say that skull smashed against your empty head."

"Hah. Thanks."

Vish nodded, and the scarf covered her face.

"You know… In the tower, before waking you up, I saw your tossing in your sleep. It seemed like you were again on the threshold of something unknown…"

"On the threshold of utter idiocy."

She didn't raise her eyes:

"True. Changing your mind is harder than satisfying hunger with ashes. But then, when you left, I couldn't find a place for myself. How do you endure that tower of yours… I didn't want to be alone. I didn't want you to be alone in such a place…"

A sad laugh made her lift the edge of the scarf.

"And here I am. And I even did something useful."

"Clever girl. But you took a long time getting here; everything valuable has long been taken."

"Heh! Sorry, the walls were a bit brittle and salty, had to be careful, which means slow. But I hope you're joking about the valuables…"

"Did you sail on the skiff?"

"No, on a shark."

"Smart. Good that you didn't swim. Too bad, sharks are harder to hide, and they always try to swim away when you're not looking…"

"Oh, I hid my rusty vessel so well that even I won't find it. I confess, when I didn't see your skiff on the shore, it scared me a little."

"Did you want to turn back?"

"No, I wanted to find you… And soon I did."

"What gave away my skiff then?"

"The sound. The waves sounded different near it, gnarly. Damn, I forgot to remove the quiln from the engine. Ah, whatever, it was almost dried…"

Vish noticed Cates had calmed down and decided to return to more pressing matters:

"Alright. What do you think, who are those two? Definitely not shadows."

"They are somehow connected to the days of Decay. The veiled lady is the lord's priestess, judging by the strange notes. She also has the notion of disappearing through doors…"

"Yes, I noticed unusual mists. Are they traps for curious little shadows like us?"

"Maybe. Then the priestess' guardian is a trapper…"

"Hmm, he wore old city defender armor, didn't you notice? Inquisitors are trying to be like that. He's like a walking relic! I thought they were all dismantled during Decay."

"Well, he makes a lot of noise, at least when he's not standing still. We should get moving."

Vish checked her claws and nodded:

"Got it. Breathing air for nothing. I'll find a way up with my claws and keep an eye on you. Maybe I'll see what's ahead. Don't get exposed, hear?"

"Don't get caught yourself. Those two aren't the only dangers here. The priestess seems important, I'll follow her."

"Understood. Something is wrong with this place. It's good I have a few tricks up my sleeve."

"I really hope those tricks won't break your neck."

Vish smiled and tightened the straps on her claws, then disappeared in the next second by jumping into the shadow on the stone wall. Cates sighed, and for a moment, he thought Vish had vanished from the window, but after taking two steps, he heard her clear voice:

"I changed my mind. We're going together."

Episode III – The Falls

Passing by the fading blue sparks of the brazier, the shadows agreed it was best to observe the guardian and the priestess to get ideas for further actions. Feeling light after leaving his worries behind, Cates remembered the whisper before his descent into the city:

"Wait, Vish… When I was about to leave the tower, you said something. I couldn't hear…"

"Yes. You looked like a storm cloud back then. Strange that I let you go so easily…"

"And now, what do I look like?"

Vish winked:

"Like a shadow. It suits you better."

"Thank you… But what did you say back then?"

"I said: don't be afraid to return if something is unclear…"

"Oh. I hope it won't be too late."

"Me too."

The shadows clung to the priestess' path and communicated in short phrases as stealth required. Cates mentioned the curiosities of the fortress, as well as the notes and letters, but they didn't mean much to Vish. She cared even less about the fragmented aftermath of the days of Decay and preferred to explore the forbidden ruins.

The inner structure of the fortress had a complex layout of numerous corridors, balconies, and portals leading to high halls, which turned out to be more spacious, beautiful, and darker than the rooms along the perimeter of the lower levels. The halls boasted their elegance before the shadows: furniture made of dark glass and carved wood, bas-reliefs instead of frescoes, and marble and alabaster instead of rough stones.

On the mirrored surfaces, salt mixed with the stars that peeked in through the windows. In the corners of the halls, silvery staircases spiraled upwards like snakes. Ether was rare here, but it still captured some moonlight reflections, so it was enough to simply slow down a little for the eyes to adjust. Vish became quieter than a mouse and followed Cates step by step until she jumped in place like a frightened cat (luckily, she didn't hiss)—that is how the eerie grotesque faces of the statues greeted the new shadow. Cates dissolved that fear by understanding that their stone gaze was still, and Vish teased their resolve with her tongue out.

Dozens of these statues stood along the hall, merged with the semi-darkness. Sharp blades glittered in their hands, covered in stray ash. It's amusing that the threat of death is such an unaffordable luxury. How far could they run on their stone legs if the inquisitors accused them of breaking the taboo? Despite fear, Vish had no intention of ratting on them, so the statues need not worry. In return, they certainly wouldn't mind if the new shadow checked the forgotten halls for valuables.

However, all the inner rooms had nothing of value except old items of the faceless under layers of dust and piles of salt mixed with black sand. One look at them was enough to read their entire history. Still, the storms somehow spared the fortress. Was it because of its location, or just a matter of time? Vish complained in a whisper:

"I just don't get it. Where are the treasures, relics, and all that? I never thought shadows lied to other shadows… There's only dust here!"

"There is also salt. And quilns, but empty ones…"

"Quilns! So why are we following the monster and its mistress? Let's look for emeralds!"

Cates felt a small disappointment because he was looking for something more interesting than (even empty) quilns:

"No, we won't abandon our plan. Those two will lead us to important things, won't they?"

"The priestess said she was supposed to close the altar, right? Do you think there are relics there?"

"Exactly! If they got so alarmed by the noise, the altar must be valuable to them. Only this guardian could be a problem."

"Dangers cast no shadows on the curious. The halls are well visible from the upper balconies. We should go higher. But let's stick to the staircases for now…"

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