The Way of the Sword and Gun (12 page)

"Don't look scared," Malja said, though she knew it was a futile command.

In unison, the three muscular men dropped the chains. From behind the sodik, soldiers fired their guns into the air. The noise scared the creature into a blind run straight for the wall. Its legs thundered into the ground as it lowered its head, putting its hard-boned skull into a battering position.

"Clear out!" Malja called.

Three Guards and two magicians hurried out of the way. The sodik galloped ahead, crushing anyone stupid enough to get in its path. It let out another raspy cry.

And it hit the wall. The far left corner. Shattered concrete and glass sprayed into the air. Stone and wood and every little bit of scavenged metal crumbled to the ground in an avalanche of debris. Because Malja's forces were so small, nobody was hurt, but had her army been properly sized, the creature would have taken many lives.

The wall breach was damage enough.

The sodik pulled free from the rubble and snorted. The jolt appeared to have calmed the creature for it settled down against the wall and groomed itself.

Master Kee stepped into the courtyard, scanned the area until he found Malja, and rushed toward her. His fast, agile motions continued to impress Malja, and she let her lips curl up briefly. He wasn't even breathing hard when he reached her.

Before he spoke, Master Kee peered over the wall. With a grim face, he placed his hands on his knees. Malja thought he might vomit, but then, with a sharp inhale, he straightened.

"It still hurts to see my former pupil on that side of the wall," he said.

"The giant sodik and the hole in the wall don't bother you?" Malja asked.

Master Kee ran his forefinger across his brow. "He was family." Then, with a triumphant glow covering him, he said, "We found the book."

"Finally some good news."

"Your boy found it, actually."

Malja couldn't have stopped the warmth of pride filling her chest. "Good for him," she said. "I should go down and see what we can do with this."

Master Kee must have caught the way she looked at the magicians and then Brother X's army. "Don't worry," he said. "I'll take care of things up here."

"Make sure that gate is reinforced with whatever you can find."

"I'll make sure."

"And have those three men over there build two more barriers so we can retreat into the buildings when it becomes necessary. Once that sodik clears out, they'll attack."

"I've fought in armies before. I know what to do. You go see the book."

"I only meant—"

"I appreciate what you've done. Now let me show you something." Master Kee stepped around Malja and whispered to the portly magician. She turned to him, her brow drawn deep, but he urged her toward the edge of the wall. Licking her lips, the magician stepped closer and lifted her robe to reveal her tattooed belly. She concentrated on the tattoo for just a moment.

"Cover your ears," Master Kee said loud enough that all on the wall could hear.

Malja did as told. The magician inhaled for a long moment. Like a blowing the seeds of a twirl-flower into the wind, the magician puffed out her breath.

Though Malja did not hear a thing, she felt it. A strong vibration as if a deep-voiced singer sang a note right on her chest. All of Brother X's army fell to the ground. They shook as if jolted with electricity. Brother X managed to get off his horse before succumbing to the magic. Then they stopped altogether.

Master Kee uncovered his ears. To Malja, he said, "I told you I could handle things." He laughed.

Malja pushed him with one hand. "Why didn't you tell me about her? Why have I worked up this defense when you could simply—"

"We need your defense. We're still in trouble. The effects of that blast are not long and she won't be able to do it again for half a day. When Brother X gets up, he's going to want our blood. Their full assault will be next. So get downstairs and go see about that book."

Malja gripped Master Kee's hand. "Good luck," she said. The look in his eyes told her he understood — this was it. They were going to die. After one long gaze at Brother X unconscious on the ground, Malja climbed off the ledge and headed toward the bunker. When she entered, she found Owl, Tommy, and Fawbry clunking heads as they huddled over Owl's coat. They pointed at it and spoke in rapid utterances.

"There," Owl said.

"Yup, yup," Fawbry said.

Tommy grunted and slapped the coat.

Malja broke their concentration with a snap of her fingers and said, "Master Kee said you found the book."

Fawbry stepped back and gestured to the coat. "It's all here in the lining."

When she saw the markings on the coat, she shook her head. "Clever."

"The text is in an old dialect," Owl said, "but I think I'm getting it."

Malja shrugged. "What's to get. It looks like a map."

"But of what?" Fawbry said. "These circles and connecting lines don't following any roads or lands that I know."

"Me neither, but it certainly is a map," Malja said.

Owl nodded toward the stairs. "How are things up there?"

Malja's face darkened. "Not good. So, if you can use this book to run the Library, now would be a good time."

"It's not like that," Owl said, a fearful look in his eyes.

Fawbry and Tommy shared the look. Part of Malja didn't want to know why, and for a moment, that part won out. "I don't care what the problem is," she said. "Without that on our side, Brother X's army is going to slaughter us."

"Unless . . ." Fawbry said, his voice shrinking as he spoke. "Well, there are old traditions in the Order. Right? I mean, the stories I grew up listening to often talked of entire wars being settled by two warriors. Their fight would be agreed to represent the entire armies."

"Single combat?" Malja asked.

"Exactly. Single combat."

Owl lowered his head. "I can't go out there and challenge Brother X to single combat."

"He'll accept," Malja said. "He's a warrior, after all."

"He nearly killed me the last time we fought."

Malja stepped in front of Owl, grabbed his shoulders, and looked right up into his eyes. "We don't have a choice. Master Kee has made a bold strike, but it won't be enough. We don't have the forces to fight back. And since you're all just guessing about that book, we can't even use that. You need to challenge Brother X."

Fawbry said to Malja, "You should do this. You'll beat that bastard easily." He sped through his words in a way that bothered Malja — as if he wanted her to leave.

"No," Owl said with such force that Fawbry shied back. "Brother X would never accept her as our representative. It would have to be a Master or a Guardian."

"Master Kee's strong," Malja said, "but not enough to fight Brother X. Not from what I see. Single combat is our only real chance of surviving this."

Owl looked at Tommy in a strange way. "Not our only chance," he said.

Fawbry's cheeks flushed under Malja's scrutiny. Tommy wouldn't meet her eyes. "What's going on?" she asked.

"Tommy has an idea about this map," Fawbry said. "It's a good idea, but you won't like it. But please listen. He thinks the map shows specific focal points for magic. Sort of like his tattoos."

Owl said, "I'll go outside. I'll face Brother X, and I'll probably die. But I'm willing to risk that, if doing so gives you and Tommy enough time to find out how to decipher the code."

Malja scrunched her brow. "What are you talking about?"

"The map," Fawbry said, swallowing hard. "Tommy thinks it gives focal points for creating portals. This map is the thirteenth book and it's leading us to open a portal to another world."

Owl cut in, "That world must be where the code is."

Fawbry looked at Malja with a mixture of guilt and grief. He raised his stump. "And since you're the only one who can travel through a portal—"

Owl

Malja paced the bunker like a trapped animal. "You've all gone crazy. Absolutely insane. I will not have Tommy opening portals. That level of magic will destroy his brain faster than anything. I won't have him do it."

"Just listen," Owl said.

Malja thrust her forearm across his chest and pressed him against the wall. "You are not part of this."

Owl reached up and grabbed her wrist. With a simple turn, her arm had no choice but to bend forward and down. Stepping to the side, he had the arm behind her, pushing painfully against her back. "Since you need me to stall Brother X with my life, I suggest you treat me a little kinder."

When he let go of her, he stepped back, ready for her to attack. She whirled around, seething, her fist jabbing towards his gut. He blocked it. Rather than attack from another angle, however, she jabbed again, catching him with a hard hit.

Fawbry made a show of clearing his throat. "If the two of you are done, I'd like to point out that we only have a little bit of time left until that army is upon us."

"I won't have Tommy—"

Tommy grunted and gestured toward Malja. He scowled and pointed at the map.

Fawbry said, "I know you hate being reminded of this, but part of Barris Mont is inside the boy. With that extra power, Tommy can easily control a portal. He did it once before to save your life."

"Be quiet."

"I'm just pointing out that when he did that, he had no focal point to draw on and the world wasn't destroyed. But with this map, he won't have any problem. It's like a specially made tattoo."

"Fawbry, I swear I'm going to kill you," Malja said, but Owl thought it more an expression than a real threat. Maybe he was starting to understand this group after all.

Dust drifted off the ceiling as Brother X's army pounded the ground above. Tommy and Malja watched the ceiling and listened for a moment. Tommy then snatched a piece of paper and a pencil from inside the desk. He started copying the map. But Owl took greater interest in Malja. If he couldn't get her on his side, they had no chance.

In as firm a voice as he could muster, Owl said, "I'd like to speak with you in private. Now."

Malja's head shot back, her eyes wide with what Owl assumed to be surprise and anger. Through tight lips, she said, "Wonderful."

He led her into the stairwell, ignoring the stunned expressions of the others. Once alone, he said, "I know you don't like me, but we don't have time for me to charm you. And I suspect you prefer a more direct approach anyway."

"So stop blabbering and get to your point."

"Right," he said, avoiding her cold eyes. "It's clear to me that you hate all things having to do with magic. At least, when it comes to Tommy."

"Don't tell me how to raise the boy."

"Magic is merely a tool. It's like a big rock. It can be used to build incredible structures and make our lives better. It can also be a weapon. Neither good nor evil — it just is. And before you go on about Tommy going mad, I've seen the madness that can happen when an untrained magician delves into the stronger powers. But it doesn't have to be that way. That's what I learned growing up here. That's why I wanted Tommy to come here. The magicians here spent their lives learning to control magic, to make it do what they wanted without harming themselves."

"Didn't do them much good, did it?"

Owl leaned against the wall as if he had been pushed. "You can attack all you want, it won't change the fact that Tommy is growing up, discovering more power within himself every day. And he is determined to help you, help all of us. He won't let you keep him away from danger. Especially when he sees you take risks all the time."

"Don't you dare—"

"There's an army up there and it wants to raze us to the ground. Queen Salia wants to rule everything, even if that risks destroying it. Why do you insist on thinking this is about you or Tommy? Are you that selfish?"

Malja clamped her mouth and stared through him. The quiver in her eyes told him that his words had struck. She wasn't going to say anything more, that much was certain, but he prayed that she wouldn't dismiss him too quickly.

He watched her eyes as she considered the situation. Though she had a wicked temper, he was impressed by the way she recomposed herself and thought like a leader. She reminded him of several Masters — Masters now dead.

"Come on," she said and returned to the room.

Leaning over the table, she looked at the map Tommy had drawn. "One of these circles is the world that holds the code we need to read the books, right?"

"Yes," Owl said, coming to her side. "And if Queen Salia attempts to use the Library without the books, the magic won't work properly. She'll go mad, and if she loses control, we could have another Devastation."

"I know, I know," Malja said. "But we can't even know which world has the—"

"Barris Mont knows," Fawbry said. Tommy nodded, never taking his eyes off the map. "I'm sure of it. He's always been smarter than everyone. And now that he's part of Tommy, he can guide Tommy to get you to the right place."