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Chapter 29: Unlit Way

Chapter 29: Unlit Way

The Abomination surged after him. Its remaining limbs struck the road in a rapid sequence, pulling the long body between the buildings with far greater speed than it had displayed while trapped. The scout glanced back, shouted something unintelligible and ran faster.

Both disappeared into the alley. The pounding of their movements continued for several seconds before gradually fading deeper into the ruins.

Mara stared after them. "What was that for?"

"Revenge for twisting the lanterns." Rook wiped the dagger against his coat and returned it to its sheath. "With his wrists cut, he won’t be able to use his ability properly. He’ll need to keep running until they heal."

"You used him as bait." Mara continued staring down the alley.

"I released him. What he did with that freedom was his decision."

"You kicked him toward the monster," she reminded him.

"Even a monster gotta eat." Rook examined the road ahead as though the scout’s fate no longer concerned him.

Mara looked down the alley. The scout’s blood remained visible across the road, though the wounds had already begun slowing by the time he disappeared. "How much time will that buy us?"

"Enough to move before the creature comes back," Rook answered.

"How long will his wrists take to heal?" Mara asked.

Rook looked at his poisoned arm. The limb still hung beside him, but the fingers were no longer completely motionless. He concentrated and forced them to curl. The response came slowly, accompanied by a painful tremor travelling from his wrist to his elbow.

He flexed them again. This time, they almost formed a fist.

"Not that long," he said.

Rook examined the surrounding buildings. Without the lanterns, every road looked nearly identical. Broken walls rose on either side, interrupted by narrow alleys and structures leaning together above the streets. The distant Beacon fragment could not be seen through the ruins, and the false lights now offered no reliable direction.

He looked upward. One of the buildings beside them had lost most of its outer wall. The interior floors had collapsed, leaving several wooden supports protruding from the stone. The highest intact beam stood three storeys above the road.

Rook gathered the remaining grave-thread. Much of it had been cut or torn by the Abomination, but one iron hook remained attached to the end. He swung it once and threw it toward the building.

The hook passed around one of the wooden supports and caught. Rook pulled twice to test it before placing one boot against the wall.

Mara watched him. "Where are you going?"

"Up." Rook tested the thread once more.

"Yes, I gathered that. What am I supposed to do?" Mara asked.

"Stay there." Rook tightened his grip and prepared to climb.

She looked around the empty street. Their lantern illuminated several windows, any of which might have contained another member of the Last Watch. The scout’s blood marked the alley beside her, and the sound of the Abomination chasing him had not faded completely.

"Alone?" she asked.

"You aren’t alone. I’ll be above you." Rook placed his other boot against the wall.

"That is a very creative definition of together." Mara nevertheless remained beneath him and raised the lantern.

Rook started climbing. His recovering arm remained too weak to carry his weight, forcing him to pull himself upward using only the other. He braced his boots against the broken wall and climbed in short movements, the coffin scraping across the stone behind him. Each time its weight shifted, the grave-thread stretched and the wooden support creaked overhead.

Mara raised the lantern to follow his progress. "If that beam breaks, the coffin is going to crush me."

"Move aside," Rook called down without stopping.

"I need the light to see you." Mara remained close enough to keep him illuminated.

"I know where I am. Just don’t be there to intercept me if I fall, makes this whole damn going to Yama thing awkward."

Rook reached the edge of the second floor and hooked one leg over it. The coffin caught beneath a broken section of wall, nearly pulling him backward. His recovering hand moved instinctively, caught the stone and immediately slipped when the weakened fingers failed to hold.

He drove his elbow against the ledge instead and forced himself over. Dust and fragments of wood fell into the street.

Mara stepped back. "Your arm still isn’t working."

"It worked enough." Rook pushed himself upright.

"It failed," Mara replied.

"After working." He reached for the next section of wall.

"That still counts as failing." Mara raised the lantern higher as he continued climbing.

Rook ignored her and continued upward through the exposed building. He climbed another broken wall, pulled himself onto the highest surviving floor and crouched beside the wooden beam.

From there, the Eighty-Sixth opened around him. The Bastion was enormous. Collapsed districts stretched in every direction, divided by the remnants of broad roads and sections of defensive wall. Blue lanterns burned throughout the ruins in scattered lines, but their arrangement made the deception obvious from above. Several paths curved in circles. Others led toward sunken streets, collapsed structures or dark sections where something moved between the buildings.

Small figures travelled across the rooftops. The Last Watch was already shifting more lanterns.

Rook ignored them and searched deeper into the Bastion. Near the center of the ruins, an enormous structure rose above everything surrounding it. The building had lost part of its roof and one entire wing, yet it remained taller and broader than the others. Dozens of blue lanterns covered its upper walls, balconies and broken towers. Their combined light formed a pale crown visible above the city.

Beneath it, partially concealed by surrounding structures, something shone through the ruins. It was the fragment of the Eighty-Sixth’s Soul Beacon.

If Voss controlled the Last Watch, that was where he would be. Rook memorized the streets between them and marked the few landmarks that had not completely collapsed: a split tower, a broad building with a hollow roof and the remains of an old wall cutting diagonally through the southern district.

The wooden support beneath him cracked. Rook pushed himself away as the beam tore loose from the building. The grave-thread slipped from around it, and the broken wood fell into the street.

Mara jumped aside. The beam struck the road where she had been standing and broke in half.

She looked up. "You could have warned me."

"It surprised me too," Rook called down.

"That makes it worse!" Mara shouted.

Rook descended by jumping between the surviving floors. The coffin struck the walls several times during the fall, breaking more stone loose, but he landed in the street without losing any weapons. His knees bent beneath the impact, absorbing the force.

Mara glared at him from several paces away, still holding the lantern. Rook pulled the grave-thread free from the fallen beam and wound what remained around one hand.

"You found it?" she asked.

"The largest building still standing. Covered in lanterns." Rook secured the hook against his belt.

"That sounds subtle," Mara said.

"Voss never understood subtlety." Rook glanced toward the road they would need to take.

A distant scream travelled from the alley. It rose sharply, broke and disappeared beneath the rapid clattering of the Abomination’s limbs.

Mara looked toward the sound. "We should probably move."

Rook tested his poisoned arm again. The fingers closed properly this time, though weakness remained from the elbow down. It would not be useful in a fight yet, but it could at least help secure the coffin.

He took the lantern from Mara and pointed toward a street branching between two collapsed buildings. "Let’s go. I know the way."