“Should Gilbert go, too?” Kattea asked. Gilbert’s reaction to being touched by a Tha’alani had eased the younger girl’s fear in a way that Kaylin’s interaction with the younger children hadn’t. And of course, that made sense: children were not powerful, or not more powerful than Kattea—but Ybelline, adult, was.
Gilbert finally noticed where he was. Or at least that he was somewhere that wasn’t strictly on the inside of his own head. “I am not certain that will be necessary,” he told Kattea. “Or that I would be welcome; I may cause...confusion.”
Ybelline actually laughed. She was careful not to touch Gilbert, but she did not look at him with worry or dread. “You will certainly cause that.”
“What is your preference?”
“I am torn—my people share thoughts and experiences, but we are not all of one mind, and we bring different knowledge to those shared experiences.”
“I can attempt to contain my thoughts.”
“I rather think that would be beside the point” was the castelord’s gentle reply. “They are waiting.”
*
To Kaylin’s surprise, Draalzyn was present. Draalzyn was seconded to the Hawks, but worked for the most part in Missing Persons. He was older than Ybelline, his hair streaked with gray, and at the moment, he was just as pale as Ybelline, although this wasn’t always the case.
His eyes did narrow when he caught sight of Kaylin.
Kaylin nodded.
“Private Neya,” another man said. Scoros. Of all the Tha’alanari, Scoros was the least intimidating, if one excluded Ybelline.
“You’ve grown a beard.”
“I am making the attempt, yes. It is supposed to make me look more mature, and therefore more worthy of respect. You don’t like it?”
“It’s...different.”
He chuckled. “My family is not enamored of it, either; Eladara says it is uncomfortable, and my son detests it enough that he tried to shave it while I was sleeping.” At Kaylin’s expression, his chuckle became a laugh—and his laugh, like Ybelline’s, was one Kaylin loved. But it faded as Gilbert entered the room, Kattea clinging to his arm.
“Corporal Handred is not of the Tha’alaan,” Draalzyn said.
“No. Nor are our other guests.” Ybelline emphasized the last word very slightly. “But in this, they are all intent upon preserving the city. You have seen some part of what we have only barely managed to contain; you cannot imagine that the deaths coming to Elantra will occur in our quarter alone.”
Draalzyn nodded slowly. He never looked precisely happy, and his beard framed his face in such a way that his pallor was the second thing you noticed, if you noticed anything at all. “Your point is taken. Have you spoken to Private Neya outside of the Tha’alaan?”
“Not in any great detail. Will you speak with her directly?”
Draalzyn looked as if he’d rather kiss a hundred toads. Which was fair, because Kaylin would rather kiss two hundred. They both shut up.
“Scoros?”
“It is as you know. We will retreat to this building and open the interior gates. Those who flee through the tunnels will not survive; they perish first. Those who remain to defend and guard their retreat perish shortly thereafter.”
“What attacks the quarter?”
“It is still not completely clear to us,” Draalzyn replied. The stalks on his forehead were weaving in a graceful way that was at odds with everything else about the man. “The deaths are not instant—but they are quick. Some are crushed. Some are, we think, beheaded; some are torn apart in a matter of seconds. Some feel the pain of fire—but only briefly. They are panicked. They are in their homes or in the streets; there is very little warning.”
“They don’t see anything?”
“No, Kaylin.”
“So—whatever kills them, whatever slaughters them, is invisible?”
Ybelline answered before Draalzyn could. “There are tactile impressions, but these are also confused. Yes. I would guess that the deaths will be the same across the city. In this possible future, I reach the mirror,” she added softly. She hesitated. “We manage to secure a safe area, a barriered hold. But activation of the mirror—” She inhaled sharply. “It summons death into our chambers.”
Kaylin’s hands were fists.
“Don’t,” Ybelline said, reaching for those fists and forcing Kaylin’s fingers to unbend. “It is a mercy. For all of us, it is a mercy; the pain and the fear of our people’s deaths have driven us all to the edge of madness.”
“Or over it,” Scoros said quietly. “We have attempted to piece more together. I believe it is Draalzyn who suggests the barrier.”
Draalzyn nodded, his lips twisted. “I have gained some knowledge among your Hawks. It is not, in future, enough. I do not cast the spell in question.” He didn’t say who did. Kaylin didn’t ask.
“Can you tell me what kind of barrier? What is it meant to protect you against?”
“It is an inversion,” Ybelline replied, “of a summoning spell.”
“A summoning spell?” Kaylin felt like a parrot.
“We have, prior to this, summoned water. And fire. It is a specific spell that requires the names of those elements. The barrier is comprised of that knowledge and the attempt to drive them out.”
“But—but why?”