The lightning wastes (the traveler s gate chronicles collection 3)

“It's not what they're doing that bothers me,” Leah said.. She's no Endross Traveler.” “She should have been,” Leah said.. “I'm looking forSimon.” “Of course, my Queen, of course,” the w

Title Page

Copyright

WARNINGWelcome!

[Series Title]The Lightning WastesCaverns of FlameRagnarus

[Sequel Page]

THE LIGHTNING WASTES

Will Wight

www.WillWight.com

Copyright © 2014 Will Wight All rights reserved Cover art by Patrick Foster.

What follows is a small collection of short stories set in the universe of the Traveler’s Gate Trilogy, which begins in the novel

House of Blades.

If you have not read House of Blades or its sequel, The

Crimson Vault, then you will not understand the following

stories.

It’s okay; it’s not your fault I understand You’re still

handsome and/or pretty.

If you were simply browsing the Kindle Store and this book caught your eye, I urge you to close this preview and go check out

House of Blades I’ll wait.

If you’ve already read the Traveler’s Gate Trilogy—or at least the first two books—then come on in, my friend!

These stories are intended to give you a closer look at the Territories and characters that we didn’t get to explore in the main trilogy If you’d rather stick with Simon, Alin, and Leah, I’ll

understand! City of Light will be available in early 2014, and I hope

it meets your approval.

Still with me? Then buckle up We’re headed off the map.

Here there be dragons.

Welcome to Elysia, young Traveler.

You will have heard many stories about what it means to be one of us Do not be fooled No outsider understands our purpose They think we are here to lead other Travelers, to make the

decisions that they cannot.

This is true, and it is not true.

They think we are here as a last resort, as an ultimate power,

to keep the Incarnations in check.

This is true, and it is not true.

They think we are here to balance the other Territories, to keep them from obtaining too much power and upsetting the natural balance.

This is true, and it is not true.

What I am about to tell you is known by few, and understood

by even fewer: we are not here to lead, or to threaten, or to

eliminate threats In the course of our duties, we will do all these things, but ultimately we are here for a single purpose.

We are here to guide We are here to lead by example,

inspiring other Travelers to live up to their own potential We

should be as beacons in the darkness.

Welcome to the City of Light.

-Elysian Book of Virtues, Page 1

The Traveler’s Gate Chronicles

(Collection #3)

T HE L IGHTNING W ASTES

Valor is an easy virtue to admire.

We make heroes out of those who charge recklessly against superior forces We idolize the warriors who risk their lives to save the innocent, who stand firm in the face of certain death Truly, bravery and courage are fine qualities.

But Travelers of Endross can take it too far.

-Elysian Book of Virtues, Chapter 7: Gold

358 th Year of the Damascan Calendar

1 st Year in the Reign of Queen Leah I

9 Days Until Autumn’s End

Queen Leah the First slumped over onto her camp desk The thing almostcollapsed—it was made to fold and pack up for easy marching, and she'dbeen using it as a permanent fixture for months now She was lucky it hadlasted this long without it buckling under her

She kept her face pressed against the desk So what if the desk broke,sending her crashing to the ground? She couldn't bring herself to care

She had other things to worry about Such as her meeting with the nineOverlords, which had just ended

“Could that have possibly gone any worse?” She asked, into the desk

Indirial's cloak rustled and a chair creaked; he must have sat down “AnIncarnation didn't blast through the tent and kill us all In that light, I'd say wecame out ahead.”

Leah raised her head, and it seemed to take ten times as much effort asnormal “They're barely listening to me anymore, Indirial They're notconcerned about the nation They can barely see past their own cities.”

Indirial's easy smile never left his face, blinding white against his darkvillager's skin It was hard to put a dent in his optimism “You're young, andthey barely know you Give them time Besides, the nation's going through acrisis Of course they're going to look to their own realms first.”

He had taken his black cloak off, draping it over the back of his chair,leaving his chain-wrapped arms bare She had rarely seen the shadow-chainsmarking his arms that short; they barely twisted around his wrists He wore

confidence like a second cloak, solid and dependable even in a crisis He was

as old as her father—old enough to be her grandfather, in fact—but he lookedtwenty years younger It must have been a Valinhall thing

Leah glanced over at the table next to her It was much sturdier than herportable writing desk, and covered with a giant map of the kingdom ofDamasca The map was almost lost beneath a chaos of pins and buttons inevery color imaginable The release of the Incarnations had worked on thenation like a kick on an anthill Cities were practically trading refugees, astheir citizens fled one citadel for perceived safety in another Thousands ofthem were here, camped under her command, less than five miles from thesealed city of Cana

“It's not what they're doing that bothers me,” Leah said “Look at whatthey're not doing None of them bothered to address the Endross Incarnation.Not even Overlord Feiora.”

Only a few days ago, they had received word that the Endross Incarnationhad burst forth from its prison beneath the city of Eltarim It had left the citylargely untouched for some reason, blasting off into the wilderness toterrorize ordinary merchants and a handful of small villagers

Indirial folded his arms “Overlord Feiora rules Eltarim, but the city andthe surrounding lands are practically untouched She's no Endross Traveler.”

“She should have been,” Leah said Her father had appointed FeioraTorannus to guard the Endross Incarnation, even though she was an AsphodelTraveler In every other case, the Overlord Traveled the same Territory as theIncarnation he or she guarded Feiora was the sole exception, and at themoment Leah was having trouble recalling why “In any case, that's noexcuse for her shirking her duty.”

“You think she may have a personal reason for refusing to listen to you?”Indirial's grin got a little wider “Maybe you shouldn't have trapped herbrother alive.”

Lysander Torannus, Feiora's brother, had been another Overlord Beforeshe sealed him into a block of solid crystal for treachery and attemptedregicide

Leah glared at the Overlord of Cana “I'll let him out at any time, if youthink she won't mind me executing him instead.”

Indirial put on a thoughtful look “No no, I don't think that would win youany friends Besides, she has a point She's got enough trouble keeping herpeople from panicking to hunt an Incarnation down What would she do if

she found it?”

Leah had to resist raising a hand to her pounding head She always got aheadache after meeting the Overlords Instead, she scooped up a reportdetailing the number of Travelers under her direct command

“How many Endross Travelers did you have working for you?” she asked

“Six.”

“Can you find any of them now?”

“I'd bet I can tell you exactly where they are.” Indirial craned his neck andlooked meaningfully out the flap of the tent

A few miles distant, but still clearly visible, the city of Cana glowed like acherry-red sunset The whole capitol, from wall to wall, was covered by ashining dome of scarlet light

Sealed by the power of the Ragnarus Incarnation No one had been in orout since the Incarnations first escaped, over three months before

Leah found herself wondering whether any of the Endross Travelers werestill alive Whether anyone was alive, under the dome, or if their blood,minds, and souls had been used as fuel for the weapons of the Crimson Vault

“I don't see any on the list,” Leah said, scanning it quickly

Indirial leaned forward, shuffling through her papers “I think there's ah,yes, here we go One of Cana's weather-workers made it out before the citywas sealed.”

Leah took the paper he offered her “An Endross weather-worker? I neverknew Cana had one.”

“The weather in Cana's pretty mild, so she had an easier job than most, butshe warded off her fair share of storms.”

She stared at the one single name under the “Endross” column, as thoughshe could make it multiply by sheer force of will “Where are the others?Even counting the people trapped in Cana, we should have seen someEndross Travelers from other cities.”

Indirial hesitated for a moment before speaking “This is just hearsay, youunderstand, but I've talked to the other Overlords They're all missingEndross Travelers I'd go so far as to say we're missing maybe half of all theEndross-trained Travelers in the kingdom.”

“Where did they go?” Leah asked Her tone sounded much more harshthan she meant; she sounded like she was going to track them down andstrangle them all one by one

That didn't sound like such a bad plan, actually

“With the King dead, and the Incarnations loose, and no Overlordspecifically looking over their shoulder, where do you think they went?”Indirial leaned over the map “Some of them probably deserted, I'm suresome of them started following their Incarnation around, and I'd bet most ofthem took the excuse to move to their Territory You know how Endross is.”Endross itself was a blasted landscape, half storm-wracked desert and halfdeadly jungle Endross Travelers were the only ones crazy enough to try andlive there.

Leah stood up, taking care not to put any weight on the unsteady desk

“Since the Overlords are unwilling to do their jobs, I'll have to go myself.”Indirial pulled his cloak off the chair “I figured as much Let's go get thatweather-worker, she can guide us.”

She placed a hand on his shoulder “Not us, Indirial I have a differentassignment for you.”

The Overlord's eyebrows raised “You can't go without a bodyguard.”

“I need you to hunt down the Endross Incarnation Kill it if you can, but ifnot, drive it away from the populated areas.”

He nodded thoughtfully “Huh Yeah, there's no one else around to do thejob Very well, my Queen, I live to serve.” He gave her a little cloak-flourishing bow “I will leave as soon as you select another bodyguard.”

“I hardly need one.”

“No one is safe alone,” Indirial said, for once completely serious

“Particularly not with the Incarnations around And no matter how confidentyou are, you'll be surrounded by Endross Travelers in their own Territory.”

“They're Damascan citizens,” she pointed out They should obey herwithout question

“They're Endross,” he said simply “You need a bodyguard I haven't seenKai in weeks—”

Leah shuddered at the thought of spending even one day with Kai She hadnever gotten over her distaste for the man He was simply eerie

“ and Denner's in the south, leading refugees away from the AsphodelIncarnation If I could find Kathrin, I could hire her to guard you, but thatwould take a few days.”

Indirial's grin was back, in full force “That leaves one Valinhall Travelerleft.”

“It doesn't necessarily have to be a Valinhall Traveler,” Leah protested

“Would you prefer one Valinhall or four Tartarus?”

Bringing one guide and one bodyguard meant that she was confidentenough in her royal commands that she didn't need to lean on force Bringingone guide and four bodyguards meant that she felt she needed protection,because she didn't expect the Endross Travelers to obey her They would see

She turned from the portal and faced the entry room of the House ofBlades It looked like nothing so much as a sitting-room for a wealthy noble

A wealthy noble from a century past It was a little dim, and the swords—hung in wooden racks on the walls—left a little to be desired, as far as decorwent Ornately carved tables sat here and there in the room, covered by booksand surrounded by plush, red-cushioned chairs Against one wall set acomfortable-looking red sofa, though she thought she could hear a softgrowling coming from that direction Maybe there was a badger or someother small animal stuck under its cushions

Between the ostentatious furniture and the soft lighting, the scene almostlooked like it belonged in an attic, covered in dust She ran a hand along thetop of a desk It was spotlessly clean, and had been recently polished She'donly entered Valinhall a handful of times before, and she had never caught aglimpse of anyone doing housework Perhaps the House cleaned itself Ormaybe this was how they trained Travelers: by forcing them to dust thefurniture

“Excuse me,” she called into the hallway, which extended out beyond theentry hall “Is anyone there?”

She felt distinctly uncomfortable, calling into a foreign Territory like this.Who knew what sort of creatures she might awaken? Then again, she hadnever seen anything here that looked remotely dangerous Indirial and Simonalways spoke as though the House was the most deadly Territory of all theeleven known to man, but she had yet to see it It seemed quite comfortable,

to her

When no one responded, she marched forward, into the hall Doorsstretched down the hall on either side of her To her left was a door with asingle small circle; to her right, a door with a huge circle orbited by threesmall circles Some way of distinguishing the bedrooms, she supposed, butshe had never gotten a look inside one of these doors She had no idea whichone was Simon's Maybe she should just knock on each one separately, andsee if someone answered.

Just as she had raised her hand to knock, the door on the far left opened,and a woman stepped out She had a pair of goggles pushed up her forehead,tied around the back of her head with a leather strap They looked almost likeAvernus flight goggles Her long auburn hair was bound back with a rag, andshe wiped her hands with a similar rag She looked like a miner's wife, morethan anything else, though Leah knew she had some job here in Valinhall.She wasn't entirely clear what the job was, no more than she could rememberthis woman's name

Her eyes grew wide, and she immediately fell to her knees, prostratingherself on the ground “Your Highness! We were not expecting you.”

“You may stand,” Leah said wearily She got sick of having to orderpeople to stand; wouldn't it be much easier if they stood by default, and thenshe could order them to kneel if that was what she wanted? “I'm looking forSimon.”

“Of course, my Queen, of course,” the woman said, scrambling to her feet.She tried to smooth her hair, realizing she held a dirty rag in her hand, andstuffing the rag into her pocket “I'll have to wake him up, though He's beenfighting like a madman Spends hours deep in the House, comes backbleeding so badly that he can barely make it into the pool The imps are going

to get him one of these days, I swear they are Maybe you can talk him out of

it, Highness.”

“Perhaps,” Leah said Imps? She wasn't sure what the imps were, thoughshe had heard about Valinhall's healing pool before “Which room is his?”The woman hesitated “I'm sorry, Your Highness, but it might be better ifyou waited in the entry hall I'll fetch him for you.”

“I've woken him up before,” Leah said, and the other woman frowned

“Have you, now? I had wondered why well You're that Leah, are you?”Leah cleared her throat “Yes, I probably am.”

The woman nodded as though she had just figured out the solution to adifficult puzzle “Well, now That explains some things I always think I

know that boy better than I do, but he never talks about himself He alwaysmakes you ask.”

She chuckled, and Leah laughed politely along

At exactly which point did I lose control of this conversation?

“So, which bedroom ” she said, trying to steer the woman back on track

“Ah, yes This way I know you said you could handle it, but you mightwant to stay in the doorway.”

Handle what? Leah thought, but then the other woman was pushing on one

of the doors, the one marked by a large half-circle above two smaller circles.Inside was a bedroom just as well appointed, if not as large, as any of therooms in the royal palace in Cana The bed was a huge four-poster, with abedside table on each side and a mirror against one wall, next to a washbasin.The only aspect of the room that Leah didn't approve of were the shelvesbuilt into the far wall, so that they were the first thing anyone in the bedwould see upon waking

The shelves were covered in dolls Dozens of little girls’ dolls, wearingevery sort of clothing from a villager's brown shirt and pants to long, flowingcourt dresses They had blond hair, and black, and white, and red, and everycolor Leah had ever seen on a human being

And they were all staring, with painted eyes, straight at Leah As thoughthey had been positioned that way all along

“I see the dolls are doing…well,” Leah said She knew how useful theycould be, but she still couldn’t help a little shudder when she saw themlooking at her “Does he have to keep them right there in the bedroom?”

The other woman shrugged “It's Kai's thing, I think I’m sure he put themthere Anyway, I don't question Travelers.”

Simon lay, shirtless and sound asleep, amid the cloud-soft whiteness of thebed's blankets He was all tangled up in a sheet, as though he had tried toescape and the sheet had grabbed him and pulled him back She alwaysthought of him as small, and he would never be much more than her height,but he had put on a surprising amount of muscle in such a short time If shehadn't known better, she wouldn't have recognized him

Instead of walking over to shake him, as Leah had expected, the womancupped her hands to her mouth “Simon!” she yelled “Company!”

Leah barely saw it happen First Simon was tangled up in the sheet sothoroughly that she was sure it would take a seamstress and a pair ofgardening shears to get him loose, then he was across the room, inches in

front of her, with a knife in his fist The gleaming point of the steel pressedagainst her collarbone.

She choked down a scream and stepped back, proud of herself for not

falling over backwards “What do you think you're—” she demanded, but she

stopped herself

Standing there in front of her, Simon woke up

He blinked a few times, let out a little half-yawn, and noticed her for thefirst time “Leah? Why are you here?” Then he saw the knife in his ownhand, and his fingers jerked open The knife clattered to the floor

“Ah! Sorry I didn't they try to kill me in my sleep All the time It's ahabit, I'm sorry Are you hurt?”

Leah shook her head, too numb to speak He had almost stabbed her in the

chest before he even realized who she was Wait Who, exactly, tries to kill

him in his sleep?

Simon frowned at the other woman “Mistress Agnos, how did you get inhere?”

“Like this,” Mistress Agnos said, miming twisting a doorknob and pushingthe door open She watched the two of them with a little amused smile on herface “You should keep it locked And I told you to stand back, YourHighness.”

“So you did,” Leah said sourly “Simon, I need someone to guard me while

I go to Endross We'll be in a Territory where it rains lightning, and we'llprobably be surrounded by dozens of Travelers that want to kill me I needsomeone to keep me alive and unharmed until we get back Will you do it?”Simon glanced down at himself, then at her, and his face flushed “Uh, let

me get a shirt on first.”

“That would be best.”

***

It took Simon a few minutes to get ready, but he eventually emerged,wearing his hooded black cloak and carrying a doll This one wore her longred hair tied back in a tail, and her outfit was nothing more than a plainvillager's shirt and pants He held the doll in the crook of his elbow as hefollowed Leah out through Indirial's Gate

“Come back and visit us, Your Highness!” Mistress Agnos called, fromback in the entry hall Leah gave a noncommittal smile and wave She wasactually a little wary of the other woman, who seemed to swing between utterdeference and a sort of motherly concern It was disconcerting

Helene Rhode, the Endross weather-worker, was waiting for them Shewas perhaps forty years old, with the bright green eyes characteristic of someWesterner blood Her sandy blond hair was cut close to her scalp, and shehad a horizontal scar across one cheek Most noticeably, she had a weaponstrapped to every inch of her clothes An unstrung crossbow hung from aharness at her right hip, opposite a one-handed infantry sword She hadbuckled a dozen knives across her chest, on the outsides of her thighs, and onthe insides of her boots The hilts of two long knives, almost swords, poked

up from her shoulders

Thanks to the time fluctuation between Valinhall and the outside world,Leah had only been gone two or three minutes, but during that time Indirialhad evidently found her in the camp and sent her to the command tent Theman did work fast

I thought she was a weather-worker, not a walking armory, Leah thought,

but she kept it to herself Helene probably expected anyone she came across

to mention the weapons, so Leah would maintain the upper hand by sayingnothing about them

“Helene Rhode, I presume,” Leah said

Helene tilted up a silver flask and took a drink before answering “Youneed someone to show you around the Wastes, am I right?”

“That's correct.”

“Fifteen years I've been working in Cana, keeping the worst of the stormsaway Ten years before that, I was guiding merchant caravans acrossEndross, trying to keep them alive Don't you worry, I'll get you whereveryou want to go.” She flashed Leah a grin that looked more like a lionessbaring her teeth than a smile

Leah nodded as though she had expected no less “You'll do perfectly,then I need the Endross Travelers of Damasca to stop ignoring their dutiesand return to their posts I don't know who needs to make that happen, butyou will take us to them, and I will deliver my commands in person.”

Helene took another swig, arching an eyebrow at Leah over her silverflask “Is there a reason you're going in person, Your Majesty? No offensemeant, but wouldn't you be better off sending a lackey?”

“I can delegate anything that does not involve my duties as a Traveler ofRagnarus,” Leah said, half-truthfully The full truth was that she needed asmuch authority here as possible, and she didn't have an Overlord to representher in this matter It would be easier and faster to do it herself

“You think this will involve Ragnarus?” The Endross Traveler soundeduneasy.

“It will if our friends don't cooperate.” In reality, if Leah had to rely on hercrown to force the Travelers to obey her, she would have already lost Shewas hoping to do this without relying on any of her Ragnarus weapons

Not that she wouldn't bring them anyway, of course

Helene nodded to Simon, the first time that she had acknowledged hispresence “And him? I thought you were going to get a bodyguard.” He hadquietly walked over to the map table and sat his redheaded doll next to him.They appeared to be studying it together

“My bodyguard That's right.”

“Not to overstep my bounds, but wouldn't it be better to bring alonganother Traveler? Between you and me, I think we can handle most trouble,but I don't think a boy with a sword is going to do us any favors.”

“I am a Traveler, actually,” Simon said He sounded totally calm, but Leahknew that he must have been irritated, or he would have left the question forher to answer

“Oh really? Which Territory?”

Simon met her eyes evenly “Valinhall.”

Helene shot Leah a puzzled look “Where?”

Oh, of course Sometimes Leah forgot that Valinhall's existence wasn't

common knowledge “The same Territory as Overlord Indirial, Helene.”

“Overlord Indirial? Really? I always thought he was just a weird Tartarus.”She shrugged “Well, the older you get, the more you learn, I guess Nowthen, boy, what's with the doll?”

Simon looked down at the doll and back up, and Leah got the impressionthat they were having a silent conversation “She wants me to tell you that hername's Rebekkah,” he said He winced and added, “She would also like me topunch you in the face.”

Helene grinned her lion's grin once more “I'd like to see that play out,Valinhall.”

Leah stepped in between them and gave Simon a cold look He shruggedand pointed to Rebekkah, who seemed to have the slightest glare on her face

“That's enough Helene, can you take us where we need to go?”

The Endross Traveler buckled her flask next to her crossbow and spreadher hands “I can take you to the main outpost It's not hard to get there fromhere, actually I don't know who's in charge there, but whoever it is, you'll

probably have to fight them.”

“Excellent,” Leah said “That's why I brought a bodyguard Lead the way.”Helene swept out of the tent, Leah followed, and Simon walked behindthem, muttering softly to his doll

***

Leah learned something that day

She learned that she hated Endross

It had taken them an hour of walking to reach the place where Helene haddecided to open a Gate Leah wasn't sure whether this was simply the closestplace she could open a passable Gate, or whether this took them somehowcloser to the main Endross outpost It was supposed to be accessible fromCana, and they had walked directly away from Cana to open the Gate, butdistance could be strange in Territories An hour's walking west in the outsideworld could put them two hour's distance east in a Territory Or a thousandfeet up It all depended on the Territory and the nature of the Gate

In this case, Helene stopped by a cactus and an unremarkable stretch ofscrub grass and announced, “This is it.” She then spread her hands, openingone of the swirling, violent thunderstorms that Endross Travelers used asGates It hung horizontally in the air, a lightning-filled shadow roughly in theshape of a round doorway

Helene stepped through without hesitation, obviously trusting that theother two would follow Simon waited for Leah to follow Leah glanced athim, hoping to see him nervous, so that she could offer support and makeherself feel better No luck Simon looked back at her curiously He evenraised his eyebrows, silently asking if she needed anything

She shook her head and stepped through the Gate Back in Myria, she had

so often wished that Simon would act with a little confidence Now, shewanted the old Simon back If only to have someone around who was moreuncertain than she was

She stepped through, and had only an instant to observe the landscape—aflat, cracked wasteland of yellow sand stretching as far as she could see,beneath an overcast sky—before something hit her ribs like a kick from ahorse She tumbled backwards, caught a glimpse of a blinding flash in thesky, heard thunder loud enough to tear her ears apart, and then she wasslamming into the unyielding ground Her breath whooshed out of her, andshe gasped for air, clawing for the weapon she had dropped

“Whew,” Helene said, grinning into Leah's face from two inches away

“Close one.”

It all came together: Helene had tackled Leah out of the way Of what?Leah rolled to one side to see a smoking black scorch mark on the sand for aninstant before the wind whisked the char away, leaving clean sand in itswake

“Surely that would have missed me,” Leah said The bolt looked like itwould have hit several paces off the mark

“Lightning works a bit different here than it does in the other world,”Helene said, pushing herself to her feet “But it still carries along the ground

It doesn't have to hit you straight on Even being too close to a bolt can killyou.”

Leah realized she was shouting, both over the ring in Leah's ears and overthe constant howling of the wind The storm caught strands of Leah's hair andflailed her face with them, forcing her to constantly hold her hair back Shehadn't even managed to stand up yet

Simon walked through the Gate a moment later Leah was on the ground,covered in sand, trying to keep her face clear of her own hair There was ascorch mark two paces from the Gate Helene was still brushing sand fromher pants

“What happened?” he asked, in all innocence

“Never mind,” Leah called over the wind Then the sky above her turnedfrom a cool gray to jet-black in little more than an instant She scrambled out

of the way, imagining another lightning bolt blasting her to smoking pieces,but Helene didn't move

An instant later, a waterfall of rain blasted Leah, soaking her to the bone in

a second Her crimson dress—formal attire, for when she was acting asQueen—deflated, fabric clinging to suddenly ice-cold skin Her hair wentfrom flapping around her face to hanging in front of her eyes in a soddenmask

Then, after only a moment, the rain stopped

Leah peeled hair back from her eyes to see that Simon and Helene werestill standing in the exact same places, bone dry

Helene shrugged “That happens,” she said “Let's go.” Then she started totrudge across the desert

Leah couldn't remember the last time she had felt so embarrassed Shemust look ridiculous At least there was no one around to see Well, Simon,but he hardly counted

Simon let out a choking noise that might have started as laughter, and hewas clearly losing the struggle to keep a smile off his face.

She raised one eyebrow at him, as her aunt would have done “Well?”Without saying a word, Simon walked over to her and extended a hand tohelp her up He was still smiling, though, so she ignored him, insteadsearching around for the weapon she had dropped When she found it, sheshoved it into the ground and used it to prop herself up without Simon's help

As Simon looked at the gold-headed, black-hafted Ragnarus spear, hissmile faded “Do you really think you're going to have to use that?”

“If I do,” Leah said, pushing hair out of her face, “then your presence herewill become unnecessary.”

Simon nodded seriously, and together they began walking after Helene Afew more seconds passed, during which Simon wisely kept his mouth shut.Then his wisdom evidently ran out

“Aren’t you cold?” he asked

Leah shoved him with the butt of her spear

***

The Endross outpost looked like a primitive fort The wall was fifteen feethigh and made of logs with the bark still on, lashed together by brown vines

A network of square wooden towers showed above the walls, each one made

of rough-hewn timbers The entire outpost was a square, not a circle as Leahhad expected, and from each corner rose a tall metal spike

“It’s to catch the lightning,” Helene explained, when Simon asked aboutthem “Funnels them into a…you know what? I’m not supposed to talk about

it Keeps the whole place from burning down, that’s all you need to know.”Two Travelers, a man and a woman, stood guard outside the outpost gate.The woman was dressed in what Leah would expect from one of the Badarindesert people: her head was wrapped in a white cloth, she wore loose-fitting,pale-colored garments, and the pommel of her sword had no bare metalshowing The man dressed more traditionally for Endross Travelers, in aleather breastplate and leather-padded leggings, with a leather cap Anecklace of what looked like lion’s claws hung down over his chest

He smiled broadly when he saw them, baring all his teeth like a maniac

“Who goes there.” It was a statement, not a question, delivered in the mostevil, threatening voice Leah had ever heard

Without being asked, Helene announced them in a clear, ringing voice

“Her Highness Leah the First, Queen of Damasca, seeks an audience with the

leader of this outpost.”

Leah wasn’t ‘seeking an audience’ with anyone She was demanding thepresence of whoever currently commanded this outpost, so that she could gether Travelers back However, Endross Travelers seemed unlikely toappreciate a political distinction, so she let it slide

Simon stood to her right, and at some point he had raised the hood of hiscloak She found herself oddly comforted to have him there, even though—asshe reminded herself—she still had her father’s spear Surely that would beenough to deal with anything an Endross pulled

The man lost his smile, and the woman pulled a cloth away from hermouth to whisper in his ear Her expression said she had never smiled, anddid not expect that trend to change anytime soon

The man cleared his throat “You would be looking for Corthis, then He’sthe strongest around here But you’ll have to prove who you are.”

Leah and her companions stared at the guard Before they reached theoutpost, Leah had arranged her crown on her head: a silver circlet set with alarge ruby The gem gleamed and pulsed with its own ruby light

Hefting the spear, Leah took a step toward the guard “You want to seeproof of my identity?” she asked quietly With a touch of her will, sheprepared the circlet for action It flared with a harmless red light; the crownwouldn’t activate without more effort on her part, but it still lookedimpressive

The male guard took two steps back Then one more, just to be safe Thewoman stayed where she was, but she cringed from the light nonetheless

“Sorry, my Queen, I didn’t recognize you,” the man croaked “Enjoy yourstay in the outpost.”

With a shockingly loud voice, the woman bellowed for someone on theother side of the gate to let the strangers in

Leah let the light in her crown die and strode in, following a chucklingHelene, and followed by a silent Simon, who had taken the rear without beinginstructed Perhaps he might grow into the bodyguard business after all; half

of it was simply looming behind his employer, letting people know that hewas there without saying a word Granted, that would be easier for him if hewere two feet taller, or if he had more of a reputation Or if people even knewwhat a Valinhall Traveler was

But she saw some potential

Corthis, it turned out, was in the very back of the outpost, in a building that

looked like a wooden amphitheater He sat in a raised box above the stadium,which were packed with roaring Endross Travelers And, for that matter,roaring Endross creatures Snakes slithered among the feet of the stompingfans, deftly avoiding being crushed by their masters Something that lookedlike a reptilian panther wove in and out of the shadows beneath the stadiumsupports, its coat occasionally crackling with blue sparks Tiny storm drakesflashed in glittering swarms above the crowd.

As Leah stepped inside, she got her first glimpse at why the Travelers wereall cheering

The floor in the center of the stadium was bare, packed Endross sand Twobig men in torn leathers, presumably both Endross Travelers, circled eachother in the ring They were scratched, bleeding, and unarmed One of themroared and charged like a bull, slamming his shoulder into his unpreparedopponent’s middle He didn’t stop there He kept charging until he hit theshort wall marking the edge of the floor He slammed his opponent’s bodyinto the wall, flipping the other man up and into the spectators on the otherside

The watching Travelers loved that They roared and stood, some of themliterally glowing with excitement Those few shone like bolts of lightningthemselves

A gong rang out, echoing through the stadium, apparently announcing theend of the fight

After about five minutes of non-stop cheering, Corthis raised a hand Hehad once been a truly enormous man, but now age was catching up to him.His hair and beard were as much gray as black, and Leah suspected that hehadn’t had his huge gut for long But his arms were as wide around asSimon’s waist and thick with muscle

“Men and women of the Wastes!” Corthis announced, his voice ringinglike a town crier’s “We have a royal visitor!”

A few people laughed, a handful even booed, but most stayed silent.Everyone in the stadium, even the bleeding man on the floor, turned to look

at Leah

Well, her parents had prepared her for nothing if not speaking in public “Iwould speak with you, Corthis, if you represent these people May Iapproach?”

Without waiting for a response, she walked toward the stairs leading up toCorthis’ box

“Anything for my queen!” he shouted, and a dozen spectators laughed.Leah walked up into the box, her guide and her bodyguard following.

Up close, Corthis seemed to fill the entire box Between his loud voice, hisexpansive gestures, and his physical size, he had a sense of presence thatmade him almost overwhelming Also, he had a huge snake wrapped aroundthe head of his chair, and he was leaning against it like a pillow That was thesort of disturbing detail that she was sure he used to throw people off track

“So, Your Highness, what can I do for you?” he asked smoothly, as soon

as she entered the box She did not let herself be rushed Instead, she pulled

up a chair, angling it so that she could look him in the eye

“I suspect you know,” she said “The Endross Travelers have settled hereinstead of seeing to their duties in the kingdom We have an Incarnationrunning around loose, and none of your Travelers to help contain it.”

Corthis opened his eyes wide, as though startled “Only one Incarnation?Why, this situation must be better than I’d heard! Let’s all pack up and gohome right now!”

Scattered laughter from the nearby seats Corthis was making no effort tomoderate his voice

“You are all Damascan Travelers Your duty is to your country.”

“Let us speak seriously,” Corthis said, which had to have been a deliberateinsult “We have no Overlord above us We cannot stand against anIncarnation What are we to do? Who is to tell us our duty?”

Leah let a little heat into her voice; it was appropriate at this point “I’ll tellyou what your duty is not, Traveler Corthis: hiding while the citizens ofDamasca die beneath the lightning of your Incarnation.”

Corthis smiled and spread his hands, not at all put off by her words “I stillsee no reason why we should return to a devastated kingdom instead ofstaying here to secure our own lands.”

“Because I command it,” Leah said She had intended to wait a little longerbefore playing that card, but he had set her up too well

“And who are you to command me, little girl?” Corthis asked, amused.Leah shrugged She raised her voice to match his, letting her words echothrough the stadium “Let’s find out You value bravery in combat here, don’tyou? Let’s meet in the ring.”

She didn’t move, exactly, but she shifted so that the light caught the rubiesset into her crown and spear

Corthis coughed “None of that, now, none of that No one doubts the

strength of Ragnarus, that’s for sure.”

A few people in the crowd murmured uneasily

“But it’s not the strength of your Territory that’s in question,” hecontinued “And what is the strength of a leader if not the strength of hismen? Let’s test two of yours against two of mine, and see who comes out ontop.” He smiled as though he had finally trapped her In that moment, shealmost pitied him

Endross Travelers had a reputation for being brave, vicious, and slightlyinsane They were also known to be stubborn, stupid, and notoriouslypredictable

Leah saw nothing here to refute that belief

“Agreed,” Leah said, pretending to be reluctant Helene, to her credit,didn’t hesitate She loosened the sword at her side, checked a couple ofknives, and walked down the stairs to the center of the stadium

Simon, on the other hand, stopped and gave Leah a questioning look,

which was not the image she wanted to present in public He should have

given every appearance of accepting her orders without question

“You’ll be up here alone,” he said, in a low voice, which made it a bitbetter Her bodyguard was supposed to worry about leaving her unprotected

“Don’t worry about that,” Leah said, loud enough that Corthis could hearher “I have nothing to fear from him.” It was true; she could activate hercrown as quickly as she could speak, she held her Ragnarus spear in herhand, and she had a couple of other surprises prepared in her pockets Shecould handle a couple of ordinary Endross Travelers

“He’s right here, though,” Simon said, in the same low voice “Why don’t

we just deal with him?”

What did he mean by ‘deal with?’ Did he literally mean make a deal withthe man, or was he suggesting execution? Or perhaps torture? With Simon,she wasn’t sure

“I have every confidence in your ability to ‘deal with’ anyone However,

please proceed into the arena and do as your queen commands.”

Simon winced, but he managed to execute a fairly credible bow “Andwhat does my queen command?”

from the seats One of them held a huge two-handed sword, and the otherwalked with something like a glowing blue crocodile at his side.

“The Queen’s men will be put to the test of the storm!” Corthis called, inhis booming voice The crowd’s cheering drowned even his bellowed words.Helene, Leah noticed, rolled her eyes at being counted among the Queen’s

‘men.’

The four combatants stood on the sand The three Endross Travelerslooked like dogs at the ends of a series of chains, each straining to reach theothers but barely holding themselves back Simon, in contrast, hadn’t loweredhis hood or summoned his sword He wasn’t crouched, or in any kind ofstance Leah could recognize He just stood there

“What’s wrong with your boy there?” Corthis asked in a whisper “Is hecarrying a doll?” Leah didn’t respond, hoping he would take it for mysteriousconfidence

From somewhere in the stadium, a gong rang out, and the EndrossTravelers started moving

Not faster than Simon, though

In an instant, he had crossed the space between him and his two opponents,and had one hand around each of their necks He heaved his shoulders,tossing them three paces backwards, over the short wall and into the stands.The gong rang again, weaker this time, as though the one ringing it hadn’tbeen quite prepared The glowing crocodile hissed and ran up to Simon, butSimon leaned down and stared it in the eyes He didn’t do anything but stare,

as far as Leah could tell, but the reptile froze Then it backed up, moving in areverse waddle until it got far enough away to scurry out of the arena entirely

“Are they out of bounds?” Simon called up to the box Leah didn’t think itmattered whether they were disqualified or not; they lay motionless on thesteps and didn’t show any signs of stirring

Corthis cleared his throat “Indeed they are, indeed they are That was…aremarkable display.”

Helene had her head cocked and was looking at Simon as though she hadnever seen him before

Leah shouted down into the ring “Simon, why don’t you keep going whileCorthis and I have a talk?”

Simon swept another bow in her direction

“What do I do?” Helene muttered She was probably talking to Simon, butLeah could still hear

“Relax,” Simon suggested “Get a good seat, have a drink If Leah needs

me to keep going, I’ll have to switch out sooner or later You can take overfor me then.”

Leah turned to Corthis, making a point of not looking into the arena as thegong rang again “We were discussing my Travelers?”

“Yes…” Corthis said absently He seemed to be having trouble tearing hiseyes off the spectacle below This time, lightning flashed in the corner ofLeah’s eye before a body hurtled into the stands “Look, Your Highness, I’mjust trying to do right by my people There’s really nothing they can do to

help in the outside world More importantly, they believe there’s nothing they

can do And there’s nothing more deadly to an Endross Traveler than a lack

of self-confidence.”

The gong sounded, and Leah pretended not to notice “I could debate thiswith you, Corthis I don’t agree with your assessment of the situation, and Icould explain why But I don’t have to.” She leaned closer, forcing him tolook away from the fight and meet her eyes “It is my place to determinewhen and where I need my people It is not yours to question and second-guess, do you understand me? Not now.”

This was a tactic Leah had seen her father use to great effect on more thanone occasion There were two possible outcomes: either Corthis wouldcollapse and do what she said, or he would act out of wounded pride and…His eyes hardened, and the beginnings of a sneer grew on his face Theghost of fear chilled Leah’s heart Maybe she had miscalculated If he stoodagainst her here, she would have to kill him Or have him killed Either way,the Endross Travelers would at best divide, at worst rebel

He started to respond, but his eyes were drawn to the arena floor Hiswords died Leah followed his gaze

Simon stood, his hood down at last, surrounded by four Endross Travelersand just as many summoned beasts One of them was a snake as big around

as a tree trunk Its eyes glowed shining blue, and its exposed fangs sparkedwith lightning

Leah’s breath caught Simon had seen one of those serpents before It hadkilled his mother and almost killed him If he froze up now…

Simon leaned in, looking the giant snake in the eyes, ignoring the othermonsters and Travelers around him

In a voice audible from her box, he announced, “I’ve seen bigger.”

Then he held his hand out to one side and summoned his blade