Palimpsest

The walls of Marialis were built in three stages across two centuries. The eastern section was completed first, in the reign of the second king. The western section followed across two generations. The northern wall, closing the circuit inland, was finished last, built from stone quarried in the hills to the northeast.

The southern boundary was never walled. The harbor was considered sufficient.

Total length of the three landward walls: approximately seven thousand paces. Average thickness: five paces. Average height above current street level: the height of a three-story building, though this figure has changed over the centuries. The circuit encloses an area comparable to the larger trading cities of the western coast.

— The Annals of Marialis, Volume I: Founding and Early History.

Chapter 27 The Dumbest and Bravest

The outpost was an extremely old building. Like the others around it, it had a worn — even dirty — façade. But it was spread over more ground than nearly any of them. It even had higher walls, and yet the two-story outpost looked almost level with the buildings beside it. The earth, crushed under the weight the walls had built up over time, had given way, and as it did it had pulled the ground around it down with it. Even though there were at least ten paces of open space between the building and the wall, the outpost still hadn't escaped slowly sinking into the ground. The road leading up to it had inevitably become a slope. The slight grade at the start of the street grew sharper as it neared the wall, until it became something you could feel in your legs.

This neighborhood, where most of the buildings were of wood, was one of the parts of the city that was never crowded. It was caught both at the foot of the wall and almost in the middle of nowhere between the main exits. It was usually quiet, in other words. But today there was a dead silence over the area, and as fortunate as the two sentries were to have been left behind, both of them were on edge. The footsteps of the unit moving away had grown fainter and fainter, and now there was only the muffled noise drifting in from the center of the city. The smoke rising in a few places stoked their curiosity all the more about what was happening downtown. Behind walls as tall as a man, standing on the raised platforms at the corners of the courtyard — which wasn't very wide — they were looking out at the rising smoke. They were supposed to be watching every direction, in fact, and the courtyard's sliding gate was open, but neither of them was paying much attention to the surroundings, since both were aware that the real action was happening far from here.

"We're really lucky we got left behind," said the man at the corner near the wall.

"Yeah, I heard things have started getting out of hand downtown. Looks like the demonstrators have taken the Warden headquarters," answered the other one without turning. With no other sound around, they could speak at this distance without trouble.

"The headquarters? Are you serious?"

"I heard it from the unit captain talking with his second. Captain Rhoren got hit hard too, they took him to the infirmary nearby. He may not make it through the night."

"What the fuck, man. The riot, the headquarters going down, that crazy vision, and now the captain. And we're still only halfway through the day. It's like the world ended in a single day. Do you think the chaos will spill over here too?"

"I have no idea. But if HQ is down, where they're heading next is more or less obvious."

"The royal palace! Shit!"

"The royal soldiers can hold the building under normal conditions, but this riot isn't normal. If they get into the palace they can put pressure on the king and even bring him out here. Either way it's going to come down on our heads — because even if order is restored, the bill for things getting this far is going to land on the Wardens."

"So we should count ourselves lucky if we're still standing where we are."

"Exactly."

"Hey, what was that vision everyone saw? It felt like a memory from when I was a kid, but I didn't really get any of it."

"It wasn't any different for me. I saw something like a war — I was about five. But I heard the older officers talking about a rebellion. Looks like something out of everyone's memory has —" He cut his sentence off mid-word and looked at the street more carefully.

"What?" snapped the sentry on the wall side, suddenly on alert.

"Ah, not again," he complained, raising his hand to his head. "Looks like old Gurny forgot to tie down his barrels again." A few seconds later, barrels rolling down the slope came into view on the road. Because of the natural depression the stone building had created, the barrels picked up speed as they came, headed straight for the outpost's walls, and stopped only when they hit them one by one. Within a minute, eight or ten barrels had piled up at the courtyard's entrance — one after another — and were significantly blocking it. A few of them were cracked, and one had its lid off, and they had also closed off half the road.

"It has to happen on every shift of mine," grumbled the man at the back, already coming down off his platform and starting to walk toward the entrance to the courtyard. The other one threw a last look at the rest of the street to see whether any more barrels were coming. When the street had gone quiet again and he was sure, he too stepped down from the platform.

"Come on, let's get this done quickly," said the other one, who already had a hold of one end of one of the barrels. The first man came over and took the other end, and then they turned the barrel toward the wall and pushed it hard. The barrel began to roll slowly down the slope toward the wall. Then they did the same with the next one. The barrels were empty, so turning and pushing them wasn't difficult, but in the midday heat it wasn't pleasant work either.

After they had rolled three barrels, one of them grabbed hold of the next one and couldn't get it to move. The other one grabbed it too, and they realized this one was different. "This one isn't empty — there's something in it," the first one said quickly. The other, his curiosity caught, said, "Let's have a look," and reached for the lid. He had to work a little to get it open, but in the end he did. When he looked inside, however, he found himself staring straight into Darian's eyes. Before the man could even react, Darian blew the powder he was holding in his palm into the man's face. The man slammed his eyes shut and threw himself back. As he started to cough as if he were choking and to rub his eyes on the ground, the other one bent over him in a panic. He was pushing himself to say something when the man on the ground suddenly went limp. Then, as he was still crouched beside him, he felt a hand on his shoulder. The instant he turned by reflex, the last thing he saw was a wooden club.

…

When Harrik and Veylith got there quickly, they found Darian and Tivver leaning back against the barrels, sitting on the ground. Both sentries were sprawled unconscious on the ground beside the barrels.

"Nice work," Harrik said, crouching down beside them. But the two of them were holding their heads as if drunk, still trying to get their balance back. "Give us a few minutes, old man," Tivver answered. "I haven't had my head spin like this since I got into a drinking match with Veylith." Darian, beside him, looked like he might throw up at any moment, and didn't try to speak at all.

"I still can't believe that worked," said Vaelra as they came up. She had her arm through Kaelin's and could walk a little better now. Ravah was walking beside them, a pair of ropes in her hand. Veylith and Harrik had already started dragging the unconscious soldiers and carrying them into the courtyard. Ravah went straight to them and gave one of the ropes to Harrik before going over to Veylith with the other. After they'd tied the men's hands and feet tightly, they used clothes torn from the men's clothes to gag them. Then they left them on the platforms at the corners where they'd been standing earlier. After that they came back to the others.

While Vaelra splashed water in Tivver's face, Kaelin was helping Darian get up. "Don't stand around in the street, get into the courtyard, come on," Harrik called out, and headed inside the courtyard himself. As Tivver kept muttering to himself, they finally gathered together in the courtyard. "Now where?" Vaelra threw out, looking at Harrik. "Is there a secret passage under the building or something?"

"The exit isn't in the building," Harrik answered, and turned and started walking toward the side of the building.

"Is it just me, or does it really get on your nerves the way he turns and walks off in the middle of a sentence?" Tivver complained, but got no response from the others. He started walking after them, bringing up the rear.

Harrik walked along the side of the building toward the stable where the horses were kept. With no war in a long time and no need for many mounted soldiers inside the city, the cavalry in the Warden ranks had been steadily reduced, until in the end no more than ten horses each had been left at a few outposts. Instead the horses had been transferred to the royal soldiers, who were given the duty of patrolling the roads in and out of the city as an extra cavalry detachment. Before he reached the stable, Harrik turned right and came to a wooden door. He slid open the simple, unshaped sliding door — not very tall — and stepped out into the gap between the building and the wall. Directly across from the door, less than ten paces off, the city wall rose up. But built right against the wall was a horse trough, only a little shorter than the courtyard was wide.

"This place isn't actually anyone's property, but the soldiers tie their horses up at this trough and leave them, so the public doesn't come close," he started to say as he walked toward the trough. "Back when there were a lot more mounted soldiers, the Warden commander had this trough built here. Now they only fill it once in a while for three or four horses. The water line that came here clogged up and dried out long ago."

"I still don't see an exit," Veylith cut in, examining the wall carefully.

"But what people don't actually know," Harrik went on, paying her no mind, "is that when these walls were first built, drainage channels were put in to handle any flooding. Over time, of course, all of them got crushed under the weight of the wall and were sealed shut. That's how it's written in the records."

As he kept talking, he had crouched down by the stone slabs underneath the trough and started running his fingers along the gaps between them. The stone pieces, laid out so the trough would sit level, were of similar rectangular sizes, the short side longer than a forearm. Finally, finding enough of a gap to get hold of one of the stones from both sides, Harrik said, "Except for one." He started to lift the stone he'd grabbed with everything he had. Ravah went over at once to help him, and together they raised the heavy block of stone and slid it onto the one beside it.

When the others, Veylith first among them, bent down to look where the stone had been, they saw it had opened into something like a tunnel. The structure, a little deeper than the height of a man, was about the same size as the stone slab, and too narrow to walk through without turning sideways. There was no light inside.

"There's your way out," Harrik said at last, while they were still looking down. "When you reach the other end, there'll be a stone like this in the ceiling. When you lift it, you'll be free. Don't forget to seal the way behind you."

"You… you're not coming with us?" Kaelin said, looking up from the tunnel with a hurt expression.

"Sorry, kid. I'm a little too old for the road. And there's a building's worth of people I need to think about." He sighed and turned toward the street they'd come from, and looked at the men he'd left at the workshop to keep watch. "Besides, I have unfinished business with this city — twenty years' worth." Then, when he slowly turned back to her, he saw that all of them were looking at him this time.

"You're the dumbest, bravest group I've ever known," he said, looking at them. Vaelra's face had already fallen, and the others' expressions were tight.

"The feeling's mutual, old man," Tivver answered, smiling.

"Now go. You don't need to worry about this place. This city was always ours, never theirs," he said, and pointed at the tunnel.

"I'll go first," Ravah said, and headed for the opening in the ground. But she stopped first in front of Harrik and laid her hand on his shoulder, brushing it gently. "Try not to die."

For an instant Harrik froze, because he had always thought of her as a hardened soldier or a fighter. But for the first time, looking at her deep brown skin and her pale grey eyes, he realized what a beautiful woman she was. He had known them all for a while now, but he was only just beginning to understand they were a great deal more than they appeared. He laid his hand over hers, took hold of it, and then bowed his head in a yes. Holding her hand firmly, he helped her down into the tunnel. Once she had gone down, Ravah — whose head almost brushed the arch of the ceiling — began edging sideways through the tunnel, which was much narrower for her than it was for the others.

After her, all of them began going down in turn. Harrik helped each one of them as they went down, but didn't speak with any of them. There wasn't much need to. After Darian and Tivver came Vaelra, and she took his hand in both of hers and looked at him. Then Harrik smiled and lowered her down. When Kaelin's turn came he took her hand too, and said, "There's a long road ahead of you, kid. But I'm certain you'll do great things at the end of it." Kaelin smiled at him sadly. Then, as he was lowering her down, he added, "If you find your father, give him my regards" — and sent her on her way. Now only Veylith was left.

When Harrik held out his hand to her too, Veylith caught him by the wrist. When Harrik caught hers in return, their forearms were locked together. When they had saluted each other like two soldiers, there was nothing left to be said. But before he lowered her down, Harrik pulled her close to him and said, "Protect her. No matter what happens." Veylith gripped his arm even tighter and looked into his eyes. At that moment Harrik realized he hadn't even needed to say it. He nodded to her in greeting, and lowered her into the tunnel.

When she got down into the tunnel, she saw Kaelin walking right ahead of her, and the others' silhouettes a little further on. Then she heard Ravah call, "We've reached the end." A moment later she heard Harrik, with sounds that gave away the effort it was costing him, push the stone block back into place. The sound of the stone scraping echoed inside, and was finally cut short by a dull thud. The opening was sealed, and inside it was now pitch dark. There was nothing now but the sound of their breathing and the cold coming up off the stone blocks. There wasn't even the smell of damp.

"Rav?" Tivver called out, his voice tight.

"I'm working on it," Ravah answered, but you could hear from her voice that she was straining. As she was trying to push the stone block above her, she realized this one was even heavier than the other.

"Are you afraid of the dark, Tiv?" Vaelra threw in at once, but her voice didn't come out very easily either.

"No, but on my list of ways to die, suffocating's at the very bottom."

While they bickered, Ravah, almost groaning with effort, finally pushed herself, and at last a light appeared at the end of the tunnel. She had managed to lift the stone slab, but a small amount of dirt had spilled down on top of her. Then, after a few seconds to catch her breath, she began to push the stone off to the side, and inside the tunnel the light grew. At last she got the lid all the way open and pulled herself up.

When she came back out onto the surface, she realized she was at the back of an old building. Behind her, around the wall, she saw single-story structures. The ground where she had lifted the stone was completely covered in earth — there was no sign of the passage anywhere. When she ran her eye over the surroundings, she saw that the small buildings continued along the wall, and that on the other side of the building she was standing at, there was a small market square. But there were very few people, and almost all of them were busy folding up their stalls. At that, she went back down and started pulling the others up one by one. When all of them were finally out, she and Veylith pushed the stone block back into place and threw earth back over it.

Looking around the corner of the building, Vaelra noticed them coming up behind her. "They're leaving the city," she said. "Outside the walls it's mostly traveling merchants or people who aren't from the city. With things coming apart in the city, they're packing up their goods and getting ready to head somewhere else. Before it's too late."

"No one will pay much attention to us," Veylith said, coming up beside her. Then she said, "Come on," and stepped out ahead. As she walked calmly out into the street, the others came after her. Because Kaelin had never seen the other side of the walls, she took in her surroundings carefully. But what she saw was crooked buildings, carts piled with goods, scattered stalls, and people hurrying to pack up and leave. A few dwarves, and even an orc merchant in the distance. Those who saw them threw a brief glance their way, but then went straight back to their own work. When Kaelin finally looked ahead, she saw that the buildings and the stalls grew steadily fewer, and then disappeared. Beyond all of it, stretching to the horizon, were broad open plains, trees, pools of water, and a forest.

The further they got from the walls, the more the city dimmed around them, and Kaelin began to feel as though she were stepping into another world entirely. She was so caught up in it that her steps quickened and she moved out ahead of all of them. Watching her pass and stride on ahead, Veylith began to watch Kaelin. The way she walked, looking out at the horizon like a child, had drawn not just Veylith's eye but everyone's. They were outside now, and there was no harm in her walking at the front. But a few minutes later, when they had reached the end of the buildings and the stalls, Kaelin suddenly stopped. When Veylith came up behind her and looked over her shoulder, she understood why she had stopped. In the shade of a great oak tree, two women were waiting for them. They met the eyes of a beautiful, middle-aged woman in a deep red robe, and the younger woman beside her, holding a spear in a threatening stance.