She picked her way across the floor, increasingly concerned at the signs that there had been a lot of foot traffic here, even so long ago. At one point she paused, seeing something sticking out from under a fallen mass of material. Mari knelt, touching a rifle barrel so badly rusted that a portion of it disintegrated under her finger. “Standard- model repeating rifle. It looks like it was identical to the ones today. The same weapons used in this siege over a century and half ago were employed by the bandits who attacked us in the desert waste. It’s like we’re part of the same story.”
“Perhaps we are,” Alain said, his voice also hushed.
Finally they reached the vaults. Mari shone her light on the big metal doors, all of them sagging open. Their massive hinges, heavy enough to support the doors, had nonetheless bent under the burden of decade upon decade of holding up their weight. “The vaults have been open for a long time,” she whispered. “But they don’t show any signs of being forced. Someone had the keys and the combinations.”
Mari stepped to the entry of one vault, moving the light from side to side, seeing empty shelves and vacant drawers left hanging open. Dust lay heavily everywhere, all of the drawers corroded so badly that it was probably impossible to move them now.
Somebody had been here before them. A long time before them. Their entire ordeal had been for nothing. She checked the other two vaults, seeing the same vacancy. Running her light along the floors and ceilings of the vaults, she could not see any signs that fires had burned here in the past, one small comfort in the midst of her distress. “At least they didn’t burn the texts, but my Guild must have somehow managed to get them out of the city before the emperor’s ban took effect. The texts must be in the Guild’s vaults in Palandur, where we’ll never be able to get to them. This entire, horrible journey was a waste, Alain.”
“I am sorry. It was my idea.”
She turned to him, fighting back tears. “It was a good idea. It just didn’t work out.” Without another word, she headed back the way they had come. Mari took the route almost carelessly this time, only caring about getting out of the ruin as fast as possible. She didn’t stop until they reached the open again, where she stood blinking up at the late afternoon sky and wiping her eyes with one dirty coat sleeve.
Mari was turning to blurt out her disappointment again to Alain when a sound came from somewhere in the dead city on this side of the river, a long, low whistle. Moments later another whistle came, from back along the way they had come down the river. A third whistle sounded in reply, this one farther inside the city.
Alain shook his head. “The hunt is on. We are the prey. We need to find a place where we can defend ourselves and we must find it quickly.”
Chapter Sixteen
Mari and Alain fled along the riverbank, where the going was easiest. Every once in a while another whistle would sound, the direction of the signal telling them that a net was slowing closing around them. Once again, Alain let Mari find the path while he watched behind them, wondering how much strength he still had after a long day of exertion.
“How are you doing?” she asked.
“I am all right,” Alain said.
“And I’m the Queen of Tiae,” Mari retorted. “Alain, how are you doing?”
“I have few spells left within me,” Alain admitted. “I am amazed that I have even that much after all this day has held, but it is not enough to fight off a mob of savages. We could stop and rest in hopes of rebuilding my strength more quickly, but that would just allow these human hounds to catch up with us faster.”
Mari had been silent and depressed since they left the ruins of the Mechanic Guild Hall. “Listen, Alain. I don’t need much strength to use my weapon, so we’ll depend on that as long as possible. If they pin us down and we’re trapped, use everything you’ve got left to try to stop them. If that doesn’t work, I’ll save the last two bullets for us.”
He wanted to argue that grim logic, but the thought of what the barbarians might do to Mari if they captured her alive silenced his protests. “If they can be stopped, I will stop them,” Alain vowed. “You must live. You must save this world. Mari, if I hold them while you keep running—”
“I’d get caught really fast,” she said. “We both know that. If we split up, we’re both as good as dead. We’ll—” A sudden gasp from Mari brought Alain spinning to face front. She had reached the top of another pile of debris and was staring ahead. “Alain, look.”
He climbed up beside her, seeing a wide, open area, then a brick wall significantly smaller than the city walls but still twice as tall as any man. “What is it?”
“I don’t know. But look! That wall’s been repaired in places. I’d swear it.” Mari was fumbling out the thing she called a far-seer and placing it to her eyes. “Yes. Repairs. That’s the first sign we’ve seen of somebody fixing and maintaining a structure in Marandur.”
He followed her pointing arm, seeing the sections where lighter patches of brick marked more recent work. “A wall which has been kept standing means it might still be defending something. Do you think there are people inside who are using it for protection from the types who hunt us now?”
“It could be. Can you see? They’ve also been clearing the open ground in front of the wall. The vegetation has been cut and burnt.” Mari was peering around frantically. “But I can’t see the gate. There’s got to be a gate.” She jerked in sudden recognition. “It’s the university. If Palandur was modeled on Marandur, then this would be the old Imperial university. I didn’t see that at first because everything around it is wrecked and lifeless, but it’s in the right place relative to the Mechanics Guild headquarters and the Guild academy.”
Another pair of whistles sounded behind them. “If we cannot see the gate, let us go look for it,” Alain urged.
“If it’s like the university in Palandur, the gate should be over this way.” Mari scrambled over the top of the pile of wreckage, sliding down in a shower of dust and small debris. Alain followed as she ran toward the wall at an angle, away from the river and across the open area.
“It’s a bit separated from the rest of the city by a park that surrounds the university walls,” Mari gasped as she ran. “It’s not a park anymore, but it used to be. All of the trees are gone now and the paths must be covered by dirt and grass. But when there were trees here it must have been just like in Palandur. Can you see those buildings inside the wall? Some of them look intact.”
Alain, using his attention to watch the ground and the ruins of the city behind them for danger, made a noncommittal sound. Another whistle sounded in the ruins facing the open area, just slightly ahead of Alain and Mari. Alain spotted a shape moving there and created a fireball, placing it near the dimly seen barbarian to cause an eruption of stone and broken wood. The entire building sagged, then collapsed in a prolonged roar.
The effort weakened him.
As if she had sensed that he would need her, Mari had already spun about and grabbed his arm, placing it over her shoulders as she kept moving. “Stay on your feet! They’re that close?”
“Some of them are.” Alain stumbled again, then got his feet under him with the help of Mari’s support. He wondered how many more fireballs he could manage before the effort would be too much. Certainly he could risk no more before they reached cover.
Mari had her arm tightly about his waist, locking them together and supporting Alain, though she was still staring toward the wall. “Hang on to me,” she said, urging them both forward at the best pace Alain could manage.
Another set of whistles sounded. Mari pulled out her Mechanic weapon with her free hand, pointed it toward the blank, ruined facades of the buildings facing the open area and fired, the crash of the shot sounding very loud and sparking panicked birds into flight.