The Spirit Rebellion(92)

“Othril,” the duke said quietly. “Close the trap.”

The wind spun into the sky, shrieking like a kettle. The sound rang out to every corner of Gaol, and the city obeyed.


“Eli!” Josef shouted. “Now would be a good time for something impressive.”

They were racing through backstreets. The soldiers weren’t far behind, and though the narrow turns kept the arrows down, who knew how long that would last. But after that horrible, shrieking howl, the soldiers had become the least of their problems.

From the moment the sound rang out, the town itself had turned against them. The paving stones rumbled, trying to trip them, shutters unlatched themselves and swung freely, aiming right for their faces. Shingles flew from rooftops like arrows, forcing them to duck quickly or risk a caved-in head. Josef kept them moving, turning down smaller and smaller alleys, trying to get some cover. But whenever they changed direction, the street lamps, which suddenly seemed to be on every corner, began to flicker brightly, signaling their location to the soldiers chasing them.

“This is ridiculous,” Josef shouted, parrying a flying butcher knife as they ran past an open kitchen window. He had both his swords out now, with the Fenzetti blade tied across his back. Nico was right behind him, batting roofing tiles, cutlery, and snaking clotheslines out of the air with the whiplike sleeves of her black coat. The awakened fabric moved with her like a living thing, growing and shifting its size to fit her needs. Eli would have been mightily impressed if he’d had the chance to watch, but he was crouched between Josef and Nico, shielding his head with his hands and stomping on the rattling paving stones whenever he could. Monpress jogged quietly behind them, seemingly immune to the onslaught.

“Eli,” Josef grunted as he chopped a flying rake in half, “what are we dealing with here? Is it another wizard, like the one in the citadel? An army of them?”

“Nothing so simple,” Eli said. “No one’s giving orders. The spirits are just going crazy.” He grimaced. “They’re going on about taking me alive for the duke and all the things he’s going to do to me. It’s fairly disturbing, actually.”

“Well, you’re a wizard too,” Josef shouted. “Do something!”

“I can’t!” Eli snapped back. “The spirits here won’t talk to me, remember? Anyway, they’re so worked up I’d have to Enslave them just to get their attention. They keep shouting, ‘For the glory of Gaol’ and ‘For the duke.’ ”

“So the duke’s the wizard in charge?” Josef said, kicking over a beam before it fell on them.

“Either that or he’s got the best propaganda program ever,” Eli said. “Anyway, that still doesn’t explain how he got the whole city to spontaneously awaken. It’s actually kind of amazing. I’ve never seen anything like it.”

“Save the praise,” Josef said, cursing when the alley they’d been running down suddenly let out into a large square. Without missing a beat, Josef changed direction midstride, kicking a door that tried to open in his face so hard it fell off its hinges. “We need to get out of here now.”

“Might I suggest we head north, then?” the elder Monpress said.

Josef whirled to look at him. The older man smiled patiently, jogging along to keep pace. “I have an emergency exit prepared,” he explained. “It should still be open.”

“Why didn’t you say something earlier?” Eli said, exasperated.

“You always get upset when I try to help,” the older thief pointed out. “You can’t also get upset when I don’t.”

Eli opened his mouth to say something stinging, but Josef shut him up with an elbow in the ribs. “Save it,” the swordsman growled, and then nodded to Monpress. “Lead on.”

The thief smiled and took the lead, turning them down a breezeway between two houses. With Monpress leading, their journey was far less hectic. The man knew the city like the back of his hand, and every time their way seemed blocked, he found another path. In this way they reached the northern wall with comparatively little fuss. Getting past it, however, was another matter entirely.

“Oh, dear,” Monpress said.

The city wall, which had been a thick wall of average height when they first entered the city, was now almost fifty feet tall. Even worse, the once simple, straight stones were stretched at almost impossible angles so that the wall was now much wider at the top than it was at the bottom, creating a curving slope that would have had them almost upside down if they tried to climb it. It was also covered in knife-sharp spikes that twitched as they watched, ready to spear any climbers.