And now the tide turns; the surf roars more softly each time it rises, the smell of brine grows sour and distant, the face of the Elemental Queen vanishes in a shimmer of still, hot air. Poseidon sinks beneath the waves; the whitecaps subside, the sea calms to a turquoise mirror and the air spills from the dhow's black sail. The helmsman turns his hooded face toward me, and a whirlpool opens beneath his vessel; down he is drawn, down into that void in my chest he whirls, this night-cloaked stranger who paid the bride's price for my heart. City Of Iron
The Amnesian Hero stood in the charcoal dimness, cautiously awaiting the pleasure of the Lady of Pain. Although she had disappeared a moment earlier, a certain disturbing stillness continued to hang in the air. The alley had suddenly grown hot and muggy, and the musty smell of clay seemed stronger, perhaps because Sigil's other fetid odors had vanished. Even the murky light looked somehow deeper – not darker, but heavier and more enduring. From the wall behind him came a frightened gasp and the rasp of boot heels kicking for purchase in the dirt. Thinking the Lady of Pain had finally shown herself, the Thrasson raised his sword and spun.
He found Jayk stooped over Tessali, trying to dodge past the elf's kicking legs and catch hold of a flailing arm. The Thrasson stepped over, grabbing the tiefling's collar and throwing her against a hut wall. Her pupils were diamonds and her fangs were folded completely down.
"Have I not warned you about this, Jayk?"
Before Jayk could answer, Tessali was on his feet and climbing the wall. "Over here! Helpl"
One-handed, the Amnesian Hero jerked the elf down and pushed him to the ground. "You, be silent!"
Tessali's eyes darted to the crest of the wall, then half closed in disappointment. "What's taking so long?" he yelled. "I'm all alone with these bar-arrrgh!"
The complaint came to an abmpt end as the Amnesian Hero placed his foot across Tessali's throat. The Thrasson glanced toward the wall, but saw no sign of anyone coming to aid the elf.
Jayk gathered herself up, still staring at Tessali through her diamond-shaped pupils. "I make kiss with him, yes? When he reaches the next stage, he is not so much trouble."
"No," the Amnesian Hero said. "We need him alive, to trade for my wine woman."
"Wine woman?" Tessali asked.
"The one in white." The Amnesian Hero did not explain that he called her wine woman because she only appeared when he drank wine. "She approached you in Rivergate."
Tessali knitted his brows. "You were there!"
"She will be your ransom." The Thrasson did not bother to confirm the elf's deduction.
"But Zoombee! Did you not hear me? I told you he was looking for this'wine woman'!"
Tessali nodded. "That's right. We lost her."
"Lost her? How?" The Thrasson put a little more weight on the elf's throat. "If something happened to her…"
"I can't say what became of her," gasped Tessali. "We were barely a dozen paces out the door when she escape- er, when she disappeared."
The Amnesian Hero had no need to ask for details. The same thing had happened to him a dozen times; he would be crossing a room toward the woman, or perhaps pursuing her down a crowded lane, when his view was blocked by a pillar or a comer. In that instant, she always vanished.
"I'm sorry," Tessali said, seeming to sense the Thrasson's disappointment. "But if she's important to you, come back to the Gatehouse. Sooner or later, we will-"
"You will not catch her," said the Amnesian Hero. "No matter how hard you search, you will not even see her."
"Then the elf, he is worthless." Jayk started toward Tessali, the tips of her needlelike fangs showing beneath her cupid's bow lip. "I make kiss with him, yes?"
"No." The Amnesian Hero started to rebuke the tiefling, then thought better of it and glared down at Tessali. He removed his foot from the prisoner's throat, then said, "Your life rests in your own hands. If you make any more trouble, I'll let her do as she pleases."
Tessali paled, then glanced in the tiefling's direction. She gave him a coy smile, but the Amnesian Hero resisted the urge to warn her against being too hasty in judgment. For now at least, the more frightened the elf was, the less likely he would be to cause trouble.
The Amnesian Hero stepped away from Tessali and positioned himself near the middle of the newly erected wall. He could not see into the murky comers where it connected to the huts, but there was enough light to spy anyone clambering over the top. No one came. The street on the other side had fallen ominously silent, and the ground had ceased to reverberate beneath the endless file of feet. The Thrasson sheathed his sword.
"We appear to be alone."
Jayk groaned. "Yes. The wall, it is finished. Now we are trapped."
"Trapped?" Keeping a wary eye on the tiefling, Tessali rose. "That can't be!"
A shadowy sneer creased Jayk's lips. "Why not? The Lady, she never sends Bleakers to the mazes?"
Tessali scowled. "Of course she does." He studied the stone wall, as though considering what lay on the other side. His face suddenly seemed to light, then he said, "In fact, I've been in the mazes several times myself."
The Amnesian Hero raised his brow. "The Bleakers play at mazes?"
"Not play." Tessali's expression was guarded. "But people sometimes find themselves caught in a labyrinth through no fault of their own. The Bleak Cabal tries to help them find their way."
"And the Bleak Cabal does not become lost?" the Thrasson demanded.
Tessali shook his head. "We have freed our minds of delusion; we are not fooled by false paths." The elf's expression was smug. "If you will let me, I will guide you out of the mazes."
"And straight into one of your cells, no?"
Tessali received Jayk's skepticism with a smile. "Surely, that is better than remaining lost in the mazes?" He gestured at the dim walls around them. "And your constraint would not be permanent. You will be released when we have freed you of delusion."
"When we are barmy as you, yes?" Jayk shook her head violently, flinging golden drops of venom from her fang tips. "You do not even know when you have hit the blinds. You are such a berk!"
Tessali received this insult with a look of infinite patience. He turned to the Amnesian Hero, spreading his hands in entreaty.
"You two are the ones who have hit the blinds. Won't you let me show you the way out?"
The Amnesian Hero pointed at the wall the dabus had built. "That looks real to me."
"It is real, but not every wall is a maze wall. Some are just walls."
"Why would the dabus build a new wall here?" The Thrasson asked.
Tessali pulled a stone loose and tossed it on the ground. "This wall does not look so new to me."
"It is. The dabus built it as I tried to present Poseidon's gift to the Lady of Pain."
Tessali's brow arched in compassion. "There were no dabus."
"I saw them." The Amnesian Hero pointed at Jayk. "As did she."
The elf shook his head sadly. "But I didn't. When two troubled people spend time together, they often feed off each other's delusions."
The Amnesian Hero cast a questioning glance at Jayk, who was quick to explain, "He did not see the dabus. They were gone before he came."
Tessali gave her a patronizing smile. "You can fashion an explanation for everything. That is the nature of delusions."