Ushanti paused. The light of the coals and the smoke from the brazier limned her in an eerie glow. She advanced upon Glissa, and the elf, seeing the hostility in the old woman’s eyes, began to work her hands loose.
“We saw our world end, Raksha,” Ushanti continued. “We saw this elf at the heart of it all.”
Glissa remembered what Chunth had told her the night her parents died. He said that Glissa had a destiny. Surely Chunth had not tried to save her from the levelers so she could destroy the world. The old woman was mad.
“That’s ridiculous,” she said. “I’m only a single elf, and lame, for that matter. How could I destroy the world?”
“All we know is what we see in the fires,” said Ushanti. “The fires tell us that you are dangerous. We believe you should be destroyed … for the sake of the leonin, for the sake of the entire world.”
“Look,” said Glissa, “believe the fires if you want, but I am not your enemy. This all started four nights ago when the levelers attacked me and my family. My family is dead, and I could do nothing to stop it. Now you’re telling me I will destroy the world? If I had that kind of power, would my sister be dead?”
As she talked, Glissa worked on her bindings. “Listen, someone is trying to kill me. I saw him in the Tangle after the attack and again just yesterday. Tall, robed, face hidden behind some kind of reflective mask. For all I know, it’s one of you, but Slobad here told me you are a good people and that you could heal me. Somebody sent those levelers to the Tangle for me. Maybe that’s who you should be looking for in your smoke and fire.”
Her hands were almost free. She still needed a weapon, though, to have any chance to make it from the city. The guard was close. She could probably take him before Raksha got to her. Glissa looked up at Raksha and stopped. He was staring at her. Had he seen her loosen the ropes?
“You say the levelers attacked you four nights past?” he asked. “What proof have you of this attack?”
“Slobad can vouch for that, your … your Kha-ship,” piped up Slobad. “I found her the next rotation, huh? She caught up in the blades of half-destroyed leveler. Slobad get her free. Make new friend, huh? So I bring her to see old friends. Then nim attack.…”
Raksha glared at the goblin, and Slobad stopped talking.
“We will deal with you later, goblin,” he said. “You will fix our door or die. We speak to the elf now. Tell us about this attack.”
Glissa saw no harm in telling Raksha about the leveler attack, but she hated to be at a disadvantage. First, Ushanti apparently knew her, and now Raksha was demanding information about the worst night of her life. She would feel better if she had her sword in her hand. Perhaps she could gain his confidence by cooperating. Slobad had said Raksha was a decent leonin. He might at least hesitate if it came to battle.
“They came in the night as they always do,” she said, “but they’ve never come so far into the Tangle. They passed many other homes to reach ours.”
“If they truly attacked as you say, how did you survive?” asked the Kha. “Surely one elf is no match for the levelers. Or are you lying to us?”
Glissa gritted her teeth at the insult and at the painful memories of that night. “I was … not home when the attack came.” She saw no reason to tell the leonin about her discussion with Chunth just yet. “I fought my way into the tree, but it was too late. My parents, my sister … they were already dead. All I have left of them is my mother’s ring.”
Glissa showed Raksha the ring, then dropped her head into her hands, half-feigning the emotion she showed. She pulled at the bindings, which were now hidden from view as she continued. “I tried to kill the levelers, to make them pay for what they had done, but there were too many of them. They cornered me. I thought I was about to join my family, but then … then they turned and left. I tried to follow, but my ankle got caught in a leveler’s broken blades. The beast dragged me all the way back to its lair. Slobad rescued me and brought me here for help.”
Glissa raised her head and looked at Raksha. She tried to read the leonin’s face, but it seemed as impassive as ever. “If you’re not going to help us, then we’ll just leave, thank you very much.”
Glissa threw the loose ropes into the face of one guard, then rolled off the bench and came up behind the other guard. Before he could react, she had taken the claw-tipped staff from his back and whipped it down through the ropes tied around Slobad’s hands. She pushed the guard into a curtain. He tumbled to the floor, caught up in the voluminous leather. The other guard stood ready to attack. Glissa looked to Raksha. He merely stared back at her.
“I don’t want to hurt you,” she said to the Kha. Her staff wavered between Raksha and his remaining guard. “Just let us leave.”
“You need not hurt anyone,” replied the leonin leader, “and you need not leave just yet.”
With blinding speed, Raksha rushed forward, ducking as Glissa snapped the staff toward him. He slapped the staff out of the way and moved in. Before she could bring the long weapon back around, the leonin leader grabbed her wrist and pulled the staff from her grasp. Casually he twirled her around and pushed her back down onto the bench.
When Glissa rolled over, the Kha was standing before her as impassive as ever. He reached up to his forehead and dabbed his finger at the cut she had inflicted. “Impressive,” said Raksha. “We have never seen anyone move that fast before.”
Glissa was thinking the same thing.
“As we said, there is no reason to hurt anyone.” The leonin leader turned to Ushanti, who had hidden behind her cauldron during the scuffle. “Tend to this warrior’s leg, old woman,” he said. “She is our guest and is to be treated as such.”
“But the fire trance,” protested Ushanti. “The visions-”
“Can often be misleading,” growled Raksha, “as you well know.”
“I don’t understand,” said Glissa. “What just happened here? I attacked you, and now I am your guest?”
“We will excuse the attack,” said Raksha, “this one time. We are in the midst of trying times, and such behavior is understandable, but that is not why you are now our guest.”
Ushanti came out from behind her cauldron, chose a variety of colored sand and oils from her table, and began mixing them in a bowl. Raksha spoke a few words to the standing guard, who helped the other guard to his feet then hurried from the room. Raksha turned back to face Glissa.
“Four nights past, the levelers came to Taj Nar,” he continued. “They climbed the tower and breached the walls just after the last moon set. The alarm was raised, and our warriors fought valiantly, but still the levelers came … all the way to our chambers. We destroyed five of the foul things, but more poured through the door. We thought we would soon join Dakan, the first Kha, in the eternal light, but at our darkest hour, the levelers halted. We dared not breathe for fear it might be a trick. As one, the levelers turned and fled the way they had come.”
“That is just how it happened in the Tangle,” said Glissa. “I had shown them power, but still they came, trampling their own to get to me. Then they turned and fled.” She hesitated for a moment, then said, “I was told they were sent to kill the mightiest elf warrior in the Tangle. Perhaps they came here to kill the mightiest leonin warrior as well.”
“Your enemy is our enemy, elf,” said Raksha. “That may make us allies.”
The guard returned, holding Glissa’s sword and Slobad’s bag of tools. “Take these as a sign of our trust,” said Raksha, “and as a symbol of our new alliance against this common enemy.” He laid the sword into Glissa’s hand, and she looked at it closely for the first time. It was a beautiful blade, and the entire length of the weapon glittered and gleamed, even in the low light coming from the coals beneath Ushanti’s brazier. The curved blade seemed to flow from the hilt like water.