Successor''s Promise

  It took longer than Rielle hoped to exchange the local coins for supplies and small, precious items that she could exchange in other worlds. Gemstones and precious metals were in demand and therefore expensive in Amelya, so she stocked up on dried spices, fine cloth and perfume. She avoided seeds, following the Travellers’ rule against bringing plants or other living things into another world that might destroy local crops and wilderness.

  All the while she scanned the minds around her, looking for her own name, or thoughts about searching. Local children hired to watch competitors in the market were a distraction, and when she finally returned to the theatre, she chanced upon a new employee who was spying for another theatre. Seeking out Dell to inform her of this delayed her return further. It was only right to warn the woman since Rielle was about to steal away her best singer.

  So it was only when she was climbing the stairs that she sought Timane’s mind and found the girl in a state of anxiety.

  Qall was gone.

  He’d vanished after saying something about Rielle being too soft, and that he would kill the searcher himself. Timane had wanted to race after Rielle, but she wasn’t sure where to look, and searching might take longer than simply staying put.

  Breaking into a run, Rielle raced up the stairs and burst into the room. Timane whirled around to face her.

  “He’s—”

  “Gone. How long ago?”

  “I don’t know. Not long after you left.”

  “Wait here.”

  Rielle pressed the bag of valuables into the girl’s hands, then pushed out of the world.

  She found his path in moments and raced along it. He’d made no effort to confuse anyone who might trace it back to the room. Certain that he would find and deal with the searcher, therefore removing the need for caution, she guessed. Foolish boy. He doesn’t realise that killing is not so easy. Or rather, easy to do but hard to live with. I should have told him about the people I killed, and how the guilt and horror has never left me.

  The path took her out of Amelya to the next world, where he had skimmed to a well-used path. From there she could only guess that he’d headed towards the next world—the one where she had realised the searcher could detect where she had hidden her path—to try and pick up the searcher’s trail. But when she reached there, the paths had not been travelled recently. Qall had not been this way. So where had he gone?

  Straight to the first place I noticed someone had followed us, where the tracker had been most recently, she thought, and headed towards the ocean world. As she reached the world of the strange forest, she sensed a freshly used path. It didn’t continue on to the ocean world, but skimmed around the arrival place in ever-widening circles. A few hundred paces from the arrival place, the path turned sharply and skimmed away, then suddenly plunged into the place between, heading to the next world. The hunter had walked away from the arrival place before continuing their journey—

  a simple way to hide tracks.

  The path led to a temple, where most of the residents were asleep. One drowsy watcher guarded the arrival place, and as she arrived he snapped awake, thinking that God’s Doorway was busy tonight. She recognised Qall in his mind, and a woman who had passed through earlier. A woman whose face was familiar.

  Inekera! A chill ran down Rielle’s spine as she recalled the woman leaving her to die in a desert world, not long after Valhan had taken Rielle from her home world. The thought of Qall at the mercy of Inekera filled her with horror.

  Qall must have seen the woman in the watcher’s mind too. It would make it easier for him to track her. As Rielle left the watcher wondering who these gods were who visited so briefly, a fresh path pulled her towards the next world, then through several more. Qall was making no attempt to hide his path. Not having to search for it meant it should be easier to catch up.

  From time to time, his path skimmed in a spiral out from an arrival place or he backtracked, and she guessed that he had lost Inekera’s trail. Every time, though, he found it again. Using a physical method of travelling to hide her tracks was slowing the woman down, and Rielle’s hope that she would catch up before Qall did weakened.

  When his path led to a world with little magic, she stopped, searching the moss-covered plain of cracked stone around her. Her habit of continually gathering and holding enough magic to travel through several worlds saved her from stranding, but would Qall have remembered to do the same? He’d been impatient during her lessons, not always paying attention.

  If he had become stranded here, she would never be able to locate him by his mind. He would be able to find hers, however. As long as a little magic remained.

  Fortunately, his path led onwards. It led to a dry, cold world also weak in magic. Knowing that inhospitable worlds often bordered dead worlds, she was uneasy as Qall’s path continued.

  To her relief, the next world was rich in magic. Officials guarded the arrival place, taking note of visitors. She realised it was a world she had visited previously, before finding Amelya. From the officials, she learned that she was not far behind Qall now. His path continued straight, with no spiralling to find Inekera’s path or backtracking when he lost it.

  Is Inekera no longer making the effort to hide her tracks? Is that because she has realised she is being hunted and had no time to employ evasive tactics?

  Rielle quickened her own pace. A few worlds on she sensed what might be a presence in the place between. A few more and she was certain of it, before it faded away when her quarry arrived in a world. Knowing she wouldn’t sense them again until she started on the next path, she hurried on without taking magic, sought another fresh path leading away and found herself skimming across a misty world of many tiny islands.

  Against the white mist she saw a shadow far ahead. Though she propelled herself ever faster, it was travelling quickly, and she did not even halve the distance before it disappeared. The path turned abruptly and led into the place between without stopping in the world. She raced along it. If Qall hadn’t had a chance to breathe, he was going to have to stop in the next world.

  The mist faded to white, then was replaced by a weathered landscape of red earth and twisted trees. A weak world. Four black-skinned watchers squatted, two men and two women, at the edge of a circle of dusty ground. As Rielle arrived, she sought their minds. She saw Qall. She saw Inekera.

  In the watchers’ minds, the two were together, hands linked. But they were not “together,” the older woman thought. Not by the way they regarded each other, all wary and tense, the man gasping for breath. Perhaps this one is a lover, chasing one of the others.

  Afraid to linger and lose the trail, Rielle pushed on. Qall and Inekera were travelling fast now. Qall would have to stop and breathe for more than a moment, and then Rielle would catch up. Sure enough, when the next world emerged from the whiteness of the place between, two familiar figures stood within it. Qall was bent forward, hands on his knees as he dragged in air. Inekera squinted in Rielle’s direction and, seeing a shadow appearing, grabbed his wrist and yanked him out of the world.

  His expression was pained, but as Rielle arrived and pushed straight on after him, he saw her and frowned. Yet he did not resist Inekera’s pull. He faded, but did not completely disappear as Rielle kept close behind them. It did not make sense. He was stronger than Inekera, so he could have pulled her to a halt, or taken her back towards Rielle.

  Why is he cooperating with her?

  At once, Rielle thought of his fears for his family. Had Inekera delivered Dahli’s threat to harm them? Of course she has!

  “Qall!” Rielle called with her mind. “You don’t have to go with her.”

  Qall looked back and shook his head. His voice sounded faintly in her head, while his mouth remained closed.

  “Stop following me. Please. I don’t want to hurt you.”

  Then he faded from her senses. Another world was forming. The pair was standing in a simple dirt circle surrounded by a fence of woven branches. Inekera spok
e but Rielle, not yet in the world, could not hear or make out the words. Qall nodded, his shoulders hunching. He took a deep breath and grasped the woman’s arm.

  By the time Rielle arrived, the pair were gone. She gave chase.

  Qall raced ahead, faster than she had taken him between worlds, faster than he had ever travelled. Reckless. Driven. She followed, determined that she would catch up when he stopped to breathe again. Worlds flashed by. She had no time to draw in magic, but then neither did he nor Inekera. She could only hope he would run out of breath before she ran out of magic.

  Then, at last, she arrived in a world an instant after he had, and he did not move on. Instead he turned to face her, dragging in deep breaths.

  “I … must … do … this,” he gasped. “It’s … the only way …”

  “Qall—” she began.

  Darkness surrounded her. He and Inekera vanished.

  Reaching out for the magic to follow, she found none.

  PART FIVE

  TYEN

  CHAPTER 16

  Tyen’s new workroom was similar to the last. Another underground basement of a mansion, it was lined with shelving and tables occupied the centre. The bodies of dismantled insectoids covered tables at one end, and the shelving at the other was full of the same equipment Tyen had ignored before. The only physical difference was that the stairs entered the room at the centre.

  A more recent change was that he was alone. Zeke had disappeared several days ago, which was frustrating because the young inventor had been pursuing a promising idea. Dahli hadn’t visited since Rielle’s attack on the old workroom, sending a lackey to guide Tyen to new volunteers, bring corpses, take Tyen to a world rich enough in magic to attempt a resurrection and remove the volunteers’ duplicates so Dahli could assess how successful Tyen had been.

  Tyen had met three new subjects willing to lose a finger for the chance of their mind living on in a youthful body. All of them had been younger than Pieh. He’d varied his method of copying a person’s pattern into their finger, tried different approaches to changing the patterns of the corpses Dahli brought and tweaked the final process of imprinting the stored memories into them. None of the resurrections he’d attempted had succeeded—at least, not to Dahli’s standards.

  The lackeys did not know what Dahli did to the duplicates. Tyen suspected the worst. He ought to be relieved when each resurrection failed, as it meant he didn’t have to pretend to be making slow progress. Until now he’d hoped he was giving Dahli a reason to not hunt for Rielle, allowing Rielle time to find a place to hide. Dahli had still sent hunters out to seek her, and Rielle clearly wasn’t hiding so far away that she couldn’t discover what Tyen was doing.

  The thought of her believing that he had betrayed her made him feel ill. She’d met up with Baluka too. He’d read that from Dahli’s mind. He’d also read that she had gone back to her hiding place, leaving the Restorers to prepare for a possible confrontation with a resurrected Raen.

  The delays would help them, Tyen knew. The Raen might forgive Tyen helping Rielle, but he would not look favourably on providing an advantage for his enemy. In truth, Tyen knew he was doing neither. He was as likely to stumble upon the right process as find it deliberately. And right now he was making no progress because none of Dahli’s lackeys had appeared for some time.

  This had left Tyen at a loose end. He couldn’t work on the insectoids in case he muddled Zeke’s work method. Most details of what Zeke had learned and prepared remained in his memory.

  All Tyen could do was continue rebuilding the humanoid Rielle had destroyed. In some ways he was grateful to her for forcing him to start again, because his second attempt was much more refined than the first. Partly that was because the world he was in now was technologically sophisticated, though not as developed as his home world. It was easier to obtain and commission the parts he needed, or source quality raw materials.

  It also helped that a few businesses in this world were doing a strong trade in mechanical magic. Most of the creations were not warlike. Some were elegant solutions to urban challenges like supplying adequate water and lighting, and if this world had been the rule rather than the exception, Tyen wouldn’t have felt so guilty about introducing mechanical magic to the worlds.

  From time to time, he brought out Vella to discuss his progress. It was a very efficient way to keep a record of what he’d done. If their conversation meandered away from the subject, at least it filled in the hours.

  The machines they’ve made here are very efficient in using magic, he told Vella. It makes me wonder … the inventors in my world knew that magic was finite, even if they didn’t believe that creativity generated it. Why weren’t they motivated to make more efficient machines?

  Professor Kilraker was told by the Academy that discussing whether magic was finite was too close to broaching the subject of whether magic was generated by creativity. Professors must ignore both ideas or be labelled “radicals” and be in danger of losing their positions.

  I wonder if there is any magic left at home. More than ten years have passed since I left.

  They would have to consume a great deal of it to deplete the world completely. More likely the magic is now thinly spread.

  Perhaps too thinly to be of use. The machines won’t work. Aircarts and carriages will be grounded. Railsledges won’t run. Without machines, will society be able to continue as it was?

  The failing of such systems often leads to rebellion and war. That might lead to a breaking out of radical ideas.

  Tyen sighed at the words that had appeared on her pages. War. Another war. Is there anywhere in the worlds where people aren’t killing each other? Don’t answer that, Vella. I know there are worlds not at war—this one included—but it just doesn’t seem like there are many of them. Let’s change the subject.

  He glanced up at the humanoid. What do you think of this, Vella?

  It is well made, she replied. You have not solved the problem of fitting an entire mind in it though.

  No. But if I did, will it be a suitable vessel for you?

  If it allows me to be truly conscious without relying on the touch of a human, and gives me limbs with which to transport myself and manipulate objects, it will be an improvement on my current state. But I will still be incomplete.

  With no ability to feel emotions. He nodded. It would be better if I could get these resurrections to work so you can have a real human body.

  And yet, I would be mortal. I wasn’t strong enough to become ageless.

  I could try putting you in a vessel that is.

  They would have to have either died without having learned pattern shifting, or their brain be badly injured, or their body will heal itself.

  What were the chances of finding a newly dead sorcerer of great strength who hadn’t learned to become ageless yet, especially now when no Raen was controlling the spread of magical knowledge? Tyen shook his head. It didn’t seem likely.

  It might not be as unlikely as you fear. While the worlds are at war, the chances are better. Young, untrained sorcerers are more likely to become caught up in fighting.

  That’s true. He sighed. All options seem like a risk. I don’t know if I’ll get a second chance. Valhan claimed that you would be destroyed by the process of resurrection. Though I don’t know why he said that. As far as I can tell, there is no need to destroy the piece of flesh in which memories are stored. I tried copying Pieh three times before Dahli gave up.

  Perhaps there was a clue in that to why he kept failing. Yet he could not see how destroying the finger or hand or book used for storage made implanting memories in a vessel more effective. At times, he suspected Valhan had lied in order to keep Tyen willing to spy for him. Yet it was also possible that, when he’d made the claim, Valhan hadn’t realised he was wrong. If only Tyen could be sure Valhan had been wrong.

  He looked up at the empty tables. The longer Dahli is away, the more I’m convinced he has gone after Rielle. If I’m to keep him fr
om chasing after her and Qall, I need to make progress. He had several fingers to work with now. All he needed was corpses to use as vessels.

  Fetching corpses wasn’t such a specialist task that only Dahli’s lackeys could do it, though. Tyen could fetch them himself. He looked down at Vella’s pages.

  You’ve considered this before, but hesitated—and for good reason, she pointed out. The Restorers will be watching for you.

  Yes, it’s a risk, but I’ve got to do something. I will be careful, Vella. I’m always careful.

  Closing her, Tyen put her back inside her pouch and tucked the book inside his shirt. He stood up and stretched, then looked around the room. The silence made him shiver. Or was it the cold air? This place was a lot colder than the last. It smelled vaguely musty, which was better than it did when he was working on a body. When Dahli brought corpses, he usually chose people whose body wouldn’t be missed. People from the forgotten end of societies, who had no loved ones. Or soldiers, covered in the gore of warfare.

  Soldiers were better, as they were usually younger and if they had fallen at the beginning of a war they were in reasonable shape. He wasn’t sure how Dahli ensured soldiers didn’t have loved ones who would want to bury their body, however. I’ll have to look into the minds of their fellow soldiers to find out. Which means I’ll have to get close to a battlefield.

  His jacket hung over the back of a nearby chair. As it settled around his shoulders, a faint vibration came from one of the internal pockets. Since Rielle’s trashing of the last laboratory, he didn’t go anywhere without Beetle. It wasn’t needed to guard Valhan’s notes now. Keeping the insectoid with him was oddly comforting.

  Reaching out to the far extent of the world, he took magic and pushed into the place between worlds. The neighbouring ones were familiar to him, as he had visited them once back when he was a student at Liftre. Some, like the world he was living in, had changed a great deal in the five cycles after the Raen had died, others were still in a state of upheaval. He wouldn’t have to travel far to find a battlefield.