Sigil's portals, blossoming by the hundred, formed the heart of the city's economy… especially among the local practitioners of magic. Some wizards, for example, worked on diagnosis; they detected new portals, divined what kind of key would make the portal open, and predicted where you'd end up if you passed through. Other mages specialized in prevention – for a hefty fee, they'd weave spells around your home to make sure the door into Great-Aunt Effy's bedroom didn't suddenly become a gateway to the Elemental Plane of Fire. A third class of sorcerers devoted themselves to understanding the whole portal phenomenon: what created them, why they worked, and how they chose what kind of objects would serve as keys.
That third bunch of sorcerers always went barmy in the end. There's no rational system to explain portals. They just do whatever they want… like anchoring themselves in an arch over a catwalk, ten storeys up the Vertical Sea.
The githyanki and githzerai sauntered along the wooden walkway, glancing casually around to see if anyone was looking their direction. Their gaze brushed past my hiding place, but didn't stop. When they were happy the coast was clear, they simply stepped forward and disappeared. From my position I couldn't see what lay beyond the gate in the brief moment it was active; but a thick sifting of dust puffed out of the opening, slowly settling toward the catwalk and the water surface below.
Moments later, my three teammates came into sight, still pushing their wheelbarrow as if they were genuine fish farmers. Sharp-eyed Oonah immediately noticed the dust cloud, still drifting downward – I could see her point to the dust, then up to the glow around the archway. Without hesitation, Kiripao dashed forward along the catwalk; but when he reached the portal he passed through it without effect, coming to a stop on the planks of the walkway a few paces beyond.
Typical of a Cipher like Kiripao: galloping full speed ahead, without an ounce of caution. Angrily, Oonah and Yasmin stormed onto the catwalk toward Kiripao, both women scolding him for taking such a chance… and that was when Bleach-Hair and friends came up behind them.
I had to give Bleach-Hair credit – he must have been a clever man to recognize Oonah in those dirty work clothes. On the other hand, she still carried her silver staff, which Bleach-Hair had good reason to remember from the rotunda. Whatever the reason, he took one look at Her Honor and I could see his lips mouthing DeVail. He must have realized that a Guvner lurking on the very brink of this portal meant big trouble, so he took immediate action: he seized a firewand from one of his companions and shouted, «Don't move!»
Yasmin and Oonah froze immediately. Kiripao rushed back through the inactive portal, showing every intention of trying to fight the three fireballers by himself; but he had to pass Yasmin and Oonah first, and Yasmin grabbed him, whispering something short and sharp. As quickly as he had begun, the good Brother stopped and simply turned to face Bleach-Hair.
«You would not dare to shoot fire up here,» Kiripao said, his voice loud enough to carry clearly across the street to me. «This structure is wood and we are far above the ground. If you set the tower on fire, you couldn't reach safety before tons of water crashed down around your head.»
«You have no idea what I'd dare to do,» Bleach-Hair snapped. «Drop your weapons and get down on your bellies.»
«Weapons?» Yasmin said innocently, taking a step toward him. «I don't have any weapons. All I have is this.» She waved the rolled-up sketch of herself; but from my vantage point, I could see the bulge of her longsword, slung behind her back and hidden by her work clothes.
«One more step and I fire,» Bleach-Hair told her. «This ain't no bluff. I've been beat up and bobbed and badgered today, and no tiefling is gonna peel me now. Got that?»
Yasmin's jaw tightened; so did the faces of Bleach-Hair's two companions. They didn't seem nearly as eager to start shooting fireballs ten storeys up a wooden tower… but they were obviously too afraid of Bleach-Hair to interfere.
«Come along,» Oonah said to Yasmin, taking her by the shoulder and pulling her back along the catwalk. «We have to be sensible here.»
«The sensible thing is to lie on your bellies,» Bleach-Hair shouted. «Now!»
If only I had a cross-bow, I thought to myself. Or even a good-sized stone I could whip at Bleach-Hair's head. I had a decent chance of hitting him – the street between us was as narrow as every other street in the hive. But the rooftop where I crouched had nothing but the tiniest pebbles… and the pitiful garden, and the chicken coops…
Oh.
As my three teammates continued the standoff with Bleach-Hair, I opened the coop in front of me. «Nice chicken,» I whispered, «friendly chicken, quiet chicken…»
The hen inside glared at me with one furious eye. The other eye was missing, gouged out in some long-ago battle with another chicken or a cat. I hoped that didn't mean she liked to pick fights – she was sitting on an egg that would make a fine distraction when hurled at Bleach-Hair's head.
«Under normal circumstances,» I told the hen in my most soothing whisper, «I would never deprive a lady of her offspring. But this is an emergency, life or death; maybe the fate of the whole city hangs in the balance. Just be quiet and let me —»
The leatherheaded bird pecked my hand: a good solid peck that drew a drop of blood. I bit my lip to avoid crying out, then snatched the sodding egg before the hen could tag me again. She let out a squawk, but only one; no doubt she had long ago resigned herself to the regular abduction of her children.
Bleach-Hair didn't react to the hen's noise: all his attention was focused on my three teammates. They were slowly backing away from him, but showing no sign of surrender. If I threw the egg, if I could hit Bleach-Hair in the face from this distance, and if he didn't immediately fire his wand… then Oonah could attack him with her staff, and both Kiripao and Yasmin would charge forward.
Of course, if everything didn't go perfectly, I'd get them all killed.
Wait, I told myself. Wait for the right moment.
«This is my last warning!» shouted Bleach-Hair. «Lie down or burn.»
«Why don't you speak sense to him?» Oonah called to Bleach-Hair's companions, as she continued to back away on the catwalk.
Bleach-Hair's men looked queasy but said nothing.
«I'm counting to three,» Bleach-Hair said. «One.»
I took a deep breath.
«Two.»
I cocked my arm to hurl the egg.
«Thr —»
Yasmin threw herself backward. She must have intended to pull Oonah and Kiripao with her down into the vat of water, where they'd be safe from the fireball. However, her lunge moved her right under the arch of support struts, the one that glowed with the light of a portal. In an instant, Yasmin and my other two teammates were sucked through the gateway, yanked from this plane of existence.
Another puff of dust billowed out into the air.
Bleach-Hair lowered the wand. I quietly sank back behind the chicken coop, the unthrown egg still in my hand.
«Well, what are you berks waiting for?» Bleach-Hair yelled, turning to his companions and cuffing their heads. «We've got them boxed in now, don't we? Let's get 'em.»
He grabbed each man by the shoulder and dragged them forward. When they reached the portal, all three bashers vanished.