Alex Verus 5: Hidden (26 page)

Three or four shadows were still in the air above. They flew slower than I could run, but they didn’t have to worry about walls and I was having trouble shaking them. From their movements it looked as though they’d been ordered to follow me. There was a cross-shaped building to my right and I changed direction to run inside.

The interior was cool and dark, with a trace of dampness in the air. Giant machines of wood and rusting metal stood silent in the gloom. I knew the constructs would be hovering above, waiting for me to come into view, and I leant against the wall, breathing hard. My chest and limbs were burning as I scanned ahead. Four exits on this floor—no, five. All led out into the open. Darren and Ji-yeong would be here in about three minutes, tracking the hovering shadows to the building below. I needed something that would give me cover—
there
. Two sets of stairs leading down into the darkness. On the left path the futures grew cluttered and tangled, but on the other my future self kept going. I turned right.

The stairs led down into a vast cavern of sandy-coloured rock. Water filled the level below, forming a vast natural reservoir, waterwheels and cisterns groaning and creaking in the gloom. From up ahead I could see daylight shining from two wide openings. I jogged along the edge of the reservoir and came out into dazzling sunlight.

I’d arrived on the eastern cliffs, on the edge of the castle’s bedrock. No sheer drop this time; narrow walkways and bridges were layered down towards the ocean, flat levels like a giant’s staircase. Below and to the north, pathways wound their way to cave mouths, black dots against the brown-and-yellow rock, and I started running down towards them.

I was most of the way there when I sensed the shadows returning, and I had just enough time to get under cover before the black dots reappeared far above. They circled, ranging left and right as I stayed hidden. They couldn’t see me as long as I stayed here, but the overhang I was using stretched only a little way and as soon as I turned down onto the next flight of steps I’d be in view again.

Minutes ticked by. The shadows overhead wheeled and turned. I was covered in sweat; my heart was thumping and heat was pouring off the stone. The air was fresh and smelt of salt, the cries of gulls echoing from far below. Looking ahead, I couldn’t see any way of moving without drawing the shadows’ attention—all I could do was wait and hope they guessed wrong about which way I’d gone.

Slowly, the shadows’ pattern changed. Now only two were staying out over the cliff; the others were moving back west. I looked into the futures of what would happen if I went out . . . good news and bad. The good news was that I’d managed to split them up again. Only one of the apprentices was coming down the path towards me.

The bad news was that it was the one out of the three I least wanted to pick a fight with.

The staircases and bridges built into the cliff face blocked any direct line of sight, but the shadows could see me from the air. If I made a break for it I could probably get away—at least in the short term—but I’d probably draw the attention of one of the others and that was a risk I wasn’t willing to take. I stayed where I was, using my magic to scout out the ground on which I’d be fighting.

The ledge I was standing on was a long shelf of yellow bricks, about three quarters of the way down the cliff, the stones old and chipped but stable. I was hiding behind a row of eight square pillars which supported the next level up of the cliff architecture, while behind me a wooden footbridge crossed a gap to another platform and the stairs down. The stairs led down to another path which twisted and doubled back underneath; the drop to the level below was forty feet straight down and sheer, as was becoming irritatingly common in this place. It wouldn’t have killed them to put in a few railings. The main expanse from the pillars to the ledge was thirty feet wide, giving room to move as long as you didn’t get too close to the edge . . . I touched the life ring in my pocket. If I went over, I’d have maybe a second to break that before I hit the stone.

Just as with Anne, I could tell the moment I came within lifesight range. The futures of contact paused, shifting, then the shadows changed direction, coming flapping down to land between me and the bridge, blocking my way forward.

I abandoned my cover, walking out into the middle of the open ledge. Sunlight washed over me, the heat already beginning to dry the sweat on the exposed skin at my hands and face. The only sound was the whine of the wind and the crash of the waves on the rocks below. Behind, the two shadows were fuzzy black patches in the sunlight, white eyes expressionless. Glancing through the futures, I knew they’d been ordered to block me in. They wouldn’t attack—yet.

A figure appeared from the way I’d come, moving at an unhurried walk. The swords at her belt swung slightly as she descended the stairs. Once she was forty feet away, she stopped and the two of us watched each other.

Y
un Ji-yeong was tall for a girl, though still shorter than Anne or me. She wore a white sleeveless top and grey leggings, the twin shortswords hanging off her belt. Her right hand rested on one of the hilts, and her fingers tapped it as she watched me with a considering sort of look. Now that I got a proper look at her she seemed young, twenty at the oldest. Despite the fact that she’d been chasing me for a good half hour, she wasn’t breathing hard. The sea breeze blew across both of us, tugging at my armour and rippling her hair.

I spoke first. “So I don’t think we’ve been introduced.”

“You’re the one who’s been making trouble for Darren and Sam.” Ji-yeong tilted her head, studying me. “You don’t look like much.”

“I suppose I don’t.” I was aware of the two shadows at my back but didn’t show it. “Yun Ji-yeong, right?”

“That’s right. Not running?”

“I’m pretty sure you’re faster than I am.”

Ji-yeong smiled. “That’s why it’s fun.”

“For you, maybe.” Scanning the futures, I couldn’t sense any immediate aggression. “Mind if I ask you something?”

“Like what?”

“I’ve been kind of getting the feeling that you’re the odd one out in your trio.”

Ji-yeong frowned slightly. “Sorry?”

“Darren’s friends with Sam,” I said. “Sam’s friends with Darren. I don’t think Sam and Darren are friends with you.”

“They’ve always been like that.”

“So I’m curious. Why are you helping them?”

“I knew you’d gone down here,” Ji-yeong said. “I’ve had a lot of time to explore this castle. Darren figured you’d gone south.” Ji-yeong shrugged again. “I haven’t told him yet.”

I noticed the
yet
. “Why, was there something you wanted to ask?”

“Why does Crystal want that girl?”

“Do you know what Crystal did before she came here?”

Ji-yeong didn’t take the bait, but from her body language I was pretty sure the answer was no.
Interesting.
“Crystal used to be a Light mage, researching life extension,” I said. “She’s got a ritual that she thinks will give her immortality. She tried to get Anne once, and ever since she’s been hiding. She’s been here what, two months?”

“Three months.”

I nodded. “She can’t set foot in Britain, not safely. So she sent Darren and Sam to do her work for her.”

Ji-yeong tapped her sword hilts thoughtfully. “You know, I’m a bit surprised you don’t know all this,” I said. “Crystal was big news for a while. Don’t you get out much?”

“No,” Ji-yeong said, slight irritation showing on her face. “Sagash hardly ever lets me go out. It’s really annoying.”

“You didn’t get invited to the party?”

“Sagash made me stay and guard the castle.”

“You don’t have a flat in London or something?”

“Sagash won’t get me one.”

“Seems a bit stingy.”

“I know, right? We’re his apprentices, but he’s too cheap to spend any money on us. It’s not as though he’s poor.”

“Darren and Sam seem to have their own places.”

“Oh, they’re not theirs. That flat of Darren’s belongs to his sister. And Sam lives with his parents.”

“What about you—your family back in Korea?”

“Yeah.”

“Do you stay in touch?”

“I call once a week or so. We do video calls on Skype.”

“I guess you can’t really get an Internet connection here.”

“No, I have to gate out to London. It’s a pain, it’d be nice to do it from my room in the keep.”

“Shadow realms are a bit inconvenient that way.”

“I know.”

There was a pause. We looked at each other across the stone.

“So are you going to come along quietly?” Ji-yeong asked.

“I think I’d rather not.”

“I could kill you and drag your body back,” Ji-yeong said brightly.

“That seems like a lot of work. I’m kind of heavy.”

“Oh, two of these shadows can carry a body easily as long as they don’t fly.”

“Okay, leaving aside just how disturbing it is that you know that particular detail, who exactly would you be taking me back to? Crystal or Sagash?”

“Sagash,” Ji-yeong said. “It’s one of our jobs. We’re supposed to stop anyone getting in here without Sagash’s permission.”

“Darren and Sam managed to screw that one up pretty badly.”

“Yup,” Ji-yeong said with a smile. “Telling Sagash is going to be fun!”

“So that’s your plan?” I said. “You take me back to Sagash, tell him what happened, get Crystal and Darren and Sam into trouble and come out looking good?”

“Pretty much,” Ji-yeong agreed. “You coming?”

“How about we do this a different way? The way I see it, Crystal, Darren, and Sam don’t like any of us very much right now. And it doesn’t sound as though you like them that much either.”

“Not really. I only went along with them because I didn’t have anything to do. When Sagash is busy with his research, it gets
really
boring. You and that girl are the most fun we’ve had for months.”

“So why don’t we work together?” I said. “The only reason I’m here is to find Anne. And you don’t care if she gets out of here, right?”

“Not really,” Ji-yeong said. “But I don’t care if she
doesn’t
get out of here, either. And if I go back to Sagash on my own, he’s not going to listen because it’ll just be my word against theirs. But if I bring
you
back then he can question you for proof, and I get the credit.”

“Slight problem with that plan,” I said. “I don’t really think I want to cooperate.”

“That doesn’t matter,” Ji-yeong said. “I watched you fight Sam. You haven’t got anything that can hurt me.”

“You could still—”

“Nope,” Ji-yeong said. Steel rang as she unsheathed her two swords, sunlight glittering off metal. “Done talking. Time for me to kick your arse.”

I sighed. “Well, can’t blame me for trying.”

“Don’t worry,” Ji-yeong said. “I’ll make sure to keep you alive for afterwards.” She spun the swords from a forward to a reverse grip and back again, then advanced. I backed towards the pillars as she drew closer.

Ji-yeong was slim and fit. She wasn’t obviously muscular, but I could see the life magic woven through her body, reinforcing and strengthening. I know life magic can be used for enhancement, but I’ve never seen it used much—Anne can do it, but only the basics. For Ji-yeong, enhancement seemed to be her specialty. The spells were densely woven, complex and hard to read, but they looked like direct boosts to her physical abilities. Not only was she fitter than me, she was probably stronger and faster too.

But no matter how strong or fast, she was still an apprentice. If Ji-yeong was better than Anne with that kind of life magic, she had to be worse with others. Her two swords were less than two feet long, on the borderline between sword and knife. I was fairly sure they were focuses of some kind, but the fact that she’d drawn them suggested that she couldn’t paralyse or kill with a touch the way Anne could.

Ji-yeong caught up with me when I was still a few feet from the pillars. I stopped retreating and stood side-on, my hands low. Ji-yeong made an experimental cut at my wrist and I twitched it away; she tried twice more for face and arm and each time I swayed just out of range. The next thrust was a feint; she stepped through and spun low, whirling through a full circle to slash with the other sword at ankle height. I jumped back, retreating into the cover of the pillars.

Ji-yeong came up gracefully. “Not even going to try?”

“I think I might be a little overmatched,” I said dryly.

“Boring,” Ji-yeong said, making a face. “Thought you were going to make this fun.”

My divination was my only warning. The right sword missed my face by about three inches, and I leapt back as the other cut the air where my arm had been. Before I had the chance to catch my balance Ji-yeong was on me again, moving at full speed this time. She
was
stronger than me, and frighteningly quick. Her swords were a blur of metal.

But while Ji-yeong was fast, she wasn’t that good, something I’d already suspected from her choice of weapons. Wielding two swords at once looks good in the movies but doesn’t work too well in practice—it isn’t really possible to strike effectively with both sides of your body at once, and the human brain isn’t wired to operate both hands simultaneously and independently. There are a few niche cases where it can work, but most of the time you’re better off learning to use one weapon well instead of weighing yourself down with two. Ji-yeong didn’t look like she’d spent much time learning to use her swords at all. Her attacks were showy and inefficient, much of her speed wasted on unnecessary motion.

I backed away, ducking and slipping the attacks as Ji-yeong pressed me. Her movements were a blur, but I could see her strikes coming and they hit nothing but air. Surprise showed on her face, then concentration. I kept giving ground, dodging between the pillars to interfere with her swings. The more I watched the way she moved, the more sure I became that she didn’t have much experience against skilled opponents.

On the other hand, if you have enough unfair advantages, you don’t
need
experience. I could dodge Ji-yeong’s attacks, but none of my magic items could hurt her. My stun focus wouldn’t touch her reinforced body, and the dispel would be an annoyance at best. Glitterdust could blind her, but with her lifesight she didn’t need eyes to know where I was.

Well, if magic wasn’t going to work, I’d have to do this the regular way.

I still hadn’t made any attacks of my own. With no threats to make her careful, Ji-yeong was getting more aggressive, taking less trouble to guard herself. A shock went up my arm as one of her swords grazed me, my armour taking the blow. I stepped back around one of the pillars, my right hand going to the sheath at my belt, turning sideways so my body hid the movement. Ji-yeong followed, slightly off-balance from the angle.

This time as she stepped in so did I. Her arm hit my shoulder and I caught it; Ji-yeong was just starting to pull back as my right hand came up in a flash of steel. The knife cut deep, severing tendons, and her hand spasmed open, sword clattering to the stone as she broke away.

Ji-yeong caught her balance and we stared at each other. Blood welled from the ugly wound at her wrist, running down her now-useless fingers and dripping to the bricks. Without taking my eyes off her I stepped to the side and bent to pick up her discarded sword, then flicked the blood from my knife and returned it to its sheath.

As I did, I noticed the blood had stopped dripping from Ji-yeong’s fingers. Green light glowed about her wrist; the gash narrowed and closed, skin and vein and tendon reknitting. In only a few seconds her arm was whole again. She flexed her fingers experimentally, then shook off the blood and switched her remaining sword back to her right hand.

I hate fighting life mages.

“Nice trick,” Ji-yeong said flatly.

I lunged. Ji-yeong’s sword parried mine with a clang, slashing back at me as I leant away from the riposte. She was fighting at full strength now, and from her stance it was clear she’d finally started taking me seriously.

Our swords clashed again and again, footsteps stuttering on the stone. The sea breeze whirled around us, carrying away the smell of blood and sweat. Now that our weapons were matched, my longer reach let me slash Ji-yeong across the forearm and knee. Blood welled up, but the gashes in her skin healed almost as fast as I could inflict them. I moved in . . . and this time Ji-yeong came in to meet me, sword thrusting low. My precognition showed me a brief agonising vision of the sword ramming through my armour and into my stomach, and I threw myself desperately to one side, aborting my attack. The blow clipped me, spinning me off balance, and I hit the ground hard, rolling and coming back to my feet before Ji-yeong could follow up.

“You’re good,” Ji-yeong said. She wasn’t even out of breath. “You did beat Darren, didn’t you?”

This isn’t working.
Ji-yeong could heal herself; I couldn’t. None of her attacks had gotten through my armour, yet I was more hurt than she was.

But even life magic has limits. If I could hurt Ji-yeong badly enough I could take her out of the fight, force her to shut her body down to heal. A sword or knife wasn’t going to cut it. I needed really excessive force.

Ji-yeong attacked again, slashing and stabbing. I gave ground, nicking her once or twice, but this time she didn’t even slow down. The fight had moved away from the pillars and Ji-yeong used her speed to put herself between them and me, forcing me towards the cliff. I let Ji-yeong drive me back towards the edge.

Five steps to the edge, four. My arms ached from the strikes, and sweat dripped into my eyes. Three steps, two steps, and I held my ground, aware of the sheer drop behind me. Ji-yeong didn’t let up, striking again and again, trying to push me back over the edge. Her blade slipped past my guard and I had to block with my forearm, the impact sending a shock up the bone.

My next parry was at an awkward angle, and with a ring of metal the sword spun from my hand. I jumped left as the sword clanged to the stone, only a foot or two from the edge. Ji-yeong moved to block my path to the sword as I circled around.

Now Ji-yeong was the one with her back to the drop. The classic move at this point would be to kick her off and send her falling to the stone below, but that was clearly exactly what she was expecting and she was holding herself low and braced, making herself a difficult target. Staying low, Ji-yeong edged towards where the sword lay, one inch at a time. Her foot came up against the blade with a click, but she didn’t take her eyes off me. I didn’t move. Ji-yeong crouched down, reaching for the sword with her left hand. Her fingers closed around the hilt.

I charged, left hand slipping into my pocket. Ji-yeong straightened in a flash, coming side-on to make herself a difficult target, but I didn’t slow down. If someone knows you’re coming and has time to brace themselves, then pushing or kicking them off a ledge is really hard.

Tackling
them off, though . . . that’s easy. As long as you don’t mind coming along for the ride.