A Leaf and Pebble Read online

  A Leaf and Pebble

  Andrew Monroe

  Copyright © 2019 Andrew Monroe

  All rights reserved.

  DEDICATION

  To all the dogs that have wagged their tails and acted so happy to see me even though we’d never met, and also to all of their owners who let me proceed to obsessively talk and pet their animal. You guys are the real ballers.

  One

  Usually, a robbery goes pretty smoothly, all things considered. The typical person just doesn’t value their possessions enough to fight you about it. This is also why you never go after poor people. They’ve got that magic mix of being decently strong and owning few possessions that makes them quite willing and usually quite capable of throttling you if said robbery is attempted. Hopefully this was not going to be one of those days. I still had a black eye from the last assignment, and I was certainly not cut out for a rough and tumble life.

  I crouched on the roof with the cavern’s ceiling mere paces above my head. Though a subterranean city, living in Kalaran was much like it is everywhere else. The main exception being the weight of Mount Kalaran, the city’s namesake, hovering just over you. Claustrophobics did not spend a lot of time here. Tunnels honeycombed the edges of my vision marked by faint glow-light and shattered bits of sunshine that glowed like stars in the distance. This light fought the darkness on nearly every exposed surface in the cavern and brought an ever-constant ethereal feel to the cave city.

  All around me were squat, square buildings that squeezed into spaces and formed a maze of alleys. Muffled steps sounded from one of these alleys, heading towards us. Across me on another building was my reluctant partner, Volant.

  Seeing something I couldn’t, he signaled with a quick and fluid hand sign. They’re coming.

  I ran my hand through my buzzed brown hair, nervous. When the footsteps came to a stop just in front of us, I jumped. Volant leapt from his roof as well, a Natural’s Talent, in Volant’s case, wind manipulation, blowing beneath him and allowing for an eerily soft landing which could be quite intimidating in circumstances such as this.

  Standing in the middle of the street was the target. A fat, red faced man, torn between looking at Volant on one side, me the other. Two brutish men stood behind him. Both bodyguards of a sort, though neither wore any weapons. Just as I’d been told to expect.

  My hood hung low, leaving most of my features in shadow. “Gentleman,” I greeted. Walking towards the fat man, I stretched out two fingers, aimed directly at his head. I pushed the entirety of my will down and into the tips of those two fingers and the effort manifesting with the slightest smell of ozone. Normally, such a gesture would be laughed away, and steel would have been drawn if they had any. But this was Kalaran, home of the school.

  The bodyguards stuttered forward, torn between duty, and a fair bit of fear for what those fingers could represent. I clucked my tongue disapprovingly at them. Learner’s almost never went into crime. But that didn’t stop them from being cautious. The fat man almost passed out on the spot, beginning to hyperventilate.

  “Another step, my fine fellows, and your profusely moist employer no longer has a head.” Little did they know, the best I could manage was a solid thump, assuming my aim proved unusually accurate.

  Volant punctuated my point with an underhanded sweep of his arm. Both men had dust blown into their faces by a violent burst of unnatural wind. I could barely make out a small, toothy smile beneath the shadow of his hood. He wasn’t a fan of this particular side hustle, but he did enjoy exercising his Talent.

  A barely suppressed squeak escaped the sweating little man when he saw this. Recognizing that this was not a negotiation, he slowly reached his trembling hands underneath his cloak, pulling out a heavy cloth pouch, sewn shut all the way around. For good measure, he also brought out a coin bag with his other hand. He held both out to us with trembling hands eyes never leaving my extended fingers.

  A heavy sigh escaped me. That bag could easily contain a few hundred coins. Enough metal for easy living along with tuition for a year. But there were certain lines, and I’d not be crossing them. “Keep that, friend. We only want what’s not yours,” I said with a gesture toward the bag. While I still aimed my nearly completely useless fingers at the courier’s head in a hopefully intimidating fashion, Volant swung around and plucked the bag out of his hand, eyes lingering on the money pouch before he stepped back. Time to make our exit. If they realized I could barely knock him over with the Skill I was waving around, this would probably end with my friend and I having our brains kicked out by the two bodyguards who were watching with a mix of rage and fear.

  As soon as Volant had the bag, I lowered my finger and bowed. “Wander well, friends!” We turned and sauntered away with exaggerated confidence. Once out of sight, we swung off down the predetermined alley, one that luckily forked repeatedly.

  Discarding the hoods and tattered rag cloaks in one motion, we slowed to a leisurely walk and came out onto a main through-street. Adrenaline ebbed away as the busy evening foot traffic swept me along towards the less well-lit side of Rootfloor. If one was to sell anything they shouldn’t in Kalaran, its lowest level was the place to do so. Volant trudged beside me, unnaturally morose.

  “Something on your mind, Volant?” I asked. We paused so I could peak inside the bag we’d just stolen. Inside, a huge, dull red chunk of crystal sat. It was like a toron stone, but without the inner light that marked its potential. It was also uncut. Due to all of that, probably some relic from long before Learner’s had developed the modern level of carving they had now.

  He shrugged. “I don’t know, Nil. Stealing is fun and all, and the money is nice, especially when the school keeps raising tuition, but…” his voice trailed away as he looked into the bag. “That’s a huge toron stone. Too bad it’s dull.”

  As I pondered this, we arrived at Stump’s. A place for those looking for cheap food and no frills. There was no stable, no inn, and nothing advertising its presence besides a swinging sign made of wood cut into the shape of a tree stump. Two thick, rusty chains attached the wooden sign to a rafter extending from the roof. The low rumble of rabble gathered inside drifted out to us. Triangular, glassless windows dotted the building’s exterior. Not large enough to crawl through, but enough to take a peek into the building if one had a desire. They were one of those weird regional architectural trends no one understood but people kept doing it anyways.

  Inside, our friends already had a table in the corner of the room furthest from the night’s entertainment, a spirited musician whose tunes could barely be heard over the raucous patrons. I waved, and then Volant and I detoured to the bar. Our prize from the alley bumped reassuringly next to my leg as we ordered a plate of food to share, and a drink each before joining the table. I patted the pocket with a smile, and winked at Volant when he gave a questioning glance. A quick jaunt around the corner and it’d be fenced and we’d be set for a while. Tonight was looking quite good and my mood soared as the last bits of adrenaline ebbed away.

  “Hello guys,” Volant said cheerfully to the table.

  “Nil and Volant are here!” Someone shouted. A chorus of cheers greeted us from our classmates, but the friend who’d invited us hadn’t arrived yet. The crowd let out a roar as the musician finished a sultry tune about the maiden and her flower garden.

  I cleared my throat when the noise died down a bit. “So, where’s Bymm at? The mad men in the tunnels get him?”

  Before anyone could answer, Bymm flopped down at the table, dandelion yellow hair curling about his head like a halo, and a goofy grin spread across his face. “Today’s the day!”

  “The day for what?” I asked. He had one of those contagious smiles that could boost the mood of a fune
ral and I couldn’t keep myself from grinning.

  Out of his pocket, he pulled a small velvet box. Ornate and expensive looking, he shielded it with one hand and pulled the lid up with the other. As the lid lifted open, a single ring sat neatly in a bed of protective padding. A muffled gasp circled the table. Not just any ring, a wedding band. A sizable toron stone glowed dull red where one normally had a diamond.

  Cut and still glowing, it must have cost a fortune. A gold band with intricate cross-hatch etchings being the only workmanship besides the faceted red crystal. As simple as the ring was it was undoubtedly the most expensive object I’d ever seen. Surprised silence hung around the table at first. He shut the case self-consciously, and the table erupted in congratulations. In any normal circumstance, a guy like Bymm would probably be hated for his and his family’s absurd wealth, but he was such a genuinely nice guy it was impossible to begrudge him for it. Plus, he almost always paid when we went out. But we all still came here, because if he didn’t buy, this was about all that the rest of us could afford. And of course, it helped that the girl he was chasing happened to work here.

  I grabbed his shoulder excitedly. “This is great, Bymm! But, no offense, aren’t you a little young to be getting married?”

  Still smiling, he just shrugged. “Traditionally, sure” he admitted. “But when you feel like I feel, why wait?”

  I shrugged in response. Seemed like a fair point to me. Volant had a wide smile plastered on his face, thumbs up in excitement. Every bit of the morose and reluctant thief washed away in his excitement for Bymm.

  Supposedly, we had been all meeting up to celebrate the end of yet another semester at the school. It now seemed this would be an engagement party, which meant we’d be buying drinks for Bymm and his hopefully soon-to-be-bride, a serving girl here at this very tavern. This did make for a bit of a complication. We would need to fence the stone we acquired, before the party got going.

  I caught Volant’s eye and shifted in the chair until he could see my hands. I flicked a series of gestures at him. Leave soon. Need to sell.

  He nodded, understanding the silent message, though his smile slipped a little. He hated seeing Cathy, our contact who gave us jobs and got us paid.

  As Bymm showed the stone to another group of students gathered in a different corner, I finished the food and let the conversations roll over me as I waited for an opening to excuse us. I watched as nearly everyone in the place was given a private showing of the toron stone engagement ring. Having acquired the stone at all said far more than an outsider would have expected. Bymm’s parents had given it to him, obviously. Those glowing rocks were highly coveted by Learners, they augmented a Learner’s ability, allowing for feats well beyond their normal Skill. Everyone in our group was attending Jorcum’s Higher Learning Academy, and therefore had an acute sense of the stone’s worth. Even the most average Skill was amplified into something incredible with a toron stone.

  Beyond that, there was no way he could afford such a thing despite his parent’s generous allowance. Being incredibly wealthy, it was feasible they had one or two stones hidden away to add substance to their ledgers. One of that size, cut, and set on a ring though? That was just insane. It screamed wealth, loud enough for anyone with eyes to see and ears to hear. More telling was the fact he had a ring at all, which meant his parents had willingly gifted not just the stone, but their permission to marry the girl.

  It wasn’t that Bymm’s family had any squabbles about station, but his sweetheart was as poor as it got without being a beggar. Not something the wealthy usually endorsed. Let alone give a toron stone. Left hand of god, that was a lot of money being shown off so casually. There probably wasn’t a person in the room who wouldn’t be willing to kill someone for such a thing.

  That thought stopped me cold, as the hairs on my neck stood on end. Bymm was just asking for trouble. We’d need to escort him back to the school after this just to make sure he survived his own engagement party.

  “I’ve been letting this ring burn a hole in my pocket for two weeks,” Bymm said with a nervous laugh. “And she has no idea it’s coming, either.” His eyes were twinkling with excitement while the cup in his right hand shook ever so slightly.

  We laughed and applauded, and a few reassured him she’d say yes. “Five coins says she cries, and that the stone breaks if anyone actually ever draws on it,” Volant said teasingly.

  That was the problem with these stones. They made a Learner’s Skill exponentially more effective, but each had its own lifespan in accordance with size and cutting. Instead of a Learner’s internal life force providing fuel for the Skill, one could draw on the toron stone as long as it was touching your skin. Most of them tended to break pretty quickly. Worse still, no one knew how to create one, making it rare to find them anywhere outside of a wealthy Learner’s home. We could only carve existing ones into smaller, more efficient pieces and then string them together.

  “Oh, she’ll cry,” I said, “but Bymm’s parents wouldn’t skimp on a carving that couldn’t hold through one use.” I held out my fist. “I’m willing to take that bet.”

  Bymm chimed in after Volant bumped his knuckles on mine. “No chance it will crack. The work was done here at the school by a Learner, and he said it was better than most.”

  As everyone joked, Kyla, Bymm’s soon to be betrothed, came in. She was about as sweet and caring as they came. It was a mystery how she’d lasted so long at such a place. She was far too kind a soul for the rougher crowd that came here. She brought out the best in all of us, so maybe she did the same for other, edgier customers. Either way, she was a picture of innocence.

  With an impressive lack of hesitation, Bymm hopped out of his chair and rushed over to her. Words were whispered, and then he was down on one knee, ring in hand. With a flourish of his arm, the nearest candles in the room were snuffed, dimming the room’s light a bit. While it was not an overly hard bit of Skill manipulation, and required a minimal amount of will to do, people were still impressed. Then, Bymm touched the ring, and it began to glow a bit more red. His eyes seemed to focus intently on nothing any of us could see. With his free hand, he pointed three splayed fingers at the ground. Those from the Academy held their collective breath. Looked like we’d be settling bets sooner than later. He carved his fingers in an intricate pattern, and then reached to the floor. Gently, he pulled out a rough-cut wooden rose.

  Part of me was immediately worried about the owner’s reaction when he found out some Learner carved his floor for a romantic display. A different part was deeply impressed though. The rose was two dimensional but still impossibly intricate for how little it took him to accomplish. And, it looks like the stone didn’t break, which yet another part of me registered as a win for me. Bymm looked exhausted from the effort.

  Tears welled up in Kyla’s eyes as she said something to him, but none of us could hear over the musician who’d started playing louder. We cheered and clapped, and there were only a few groans when the tears became obvious enough. Coins were passed around based on the bets, and Volant proceeded to try singing along.

  “Oi, cloudling,” I called across to Volant.

  He turned, rolling his eyes. “Yes, my tree hugging friend?”

  “Tis a sad state of affairs when friends such as us don’t have a bottle of something a bit fancier for such a celebration, aye?” I said with mock severity.

  He nodded in agreement. “You have a point.” Volant turned his gaze to the rest of the table. “Please excuse us for a short trip.” We stood in unison to a chorus of suggestions and made our way out the tavern’s only door.

  Two

  Soft luminescence welcomed us onto the street. Firelight was nice, but the constant flickering would begin to give me a headache in places like The Stump. We began walking north towards Chalarad Port, a decently lengthy walk that would take us to the edge of Kalaran where the sea had carved out a cavern so large you could forget that there was a mountain overhead. Chalarad was practic
ally a city of its own. I’d always loved the mix of cave and sea, even though I still had a deep-seated fear of open water. It was a unique smell that never got old.

  First stop, a bottle of spiced cider. A simple, hand pulled cart with a scruffy ex-sailor with the purple eyes of someone from Brod had exactly what we needed. Volant bartered and ended up with two bottles and a few coins short.

  “Nil, aren’t those some of your people?” Volant asked. He pointed at a small crowd of angry, light skinned people who were chanting about the evils of Learners.

  I nodded, turning away quickly. “You’d be correct, lets avoid them. There’s always a group from Erset that comes to protest the school. They’re a bit zealous. Honestly, you’d think they would do something more productive like chasing the blue robes in Halic City or something.” Dodging any eye contact, I slipped across the street and kept walking.

  Just a little further down the docks, a few turns around the odd building or two, and we’d found our fence’s home. Anyone who lived near the docks was either a crook or an extremely wealthy merchant. Not that there was much difference between the two it seemed.

  All of them lived in houses carved into the sides of the gargantuan cave that enclosed the sea’s port. Double doors were the only indicator of a residence. Only one way in to most of them. Perfect for the greedy and paranoid. Oddly enough, the lamp she usually had burning in the door frame was hanging unlit. I looked at Volant, one eyebrow raised.

  He shrugged, still grinning at the bottle in each hand. “Maybe she’s asleep?”

  I knocked on the door, but there was no answer. Puzzled, I pushed a little on the door and it swung open. Lying just beyond the door was our fence, blood pooled around the body, dead as a doornail.

  Pulling the door shut, I turned back to Volant. “This looks a bit out of our expertise, don’t you think?”