Just One Moment

In a moment everything changed.

No one knew what they needed to help Queen Loodna, but whatever it was lay inside the palace of the Kanmar king. They were hunkered down on the roof of the shop looking across the wide boulevard at the palace. Toulon and Vandet huddled over in one corner discussing the best way to approach it. She and Grison crouched in the other front corner and Yutin, Prolig, and Argaeux watched over the back of the shop.

Men and animals moved through the forbidding gateway in the wall, but otherwise there was little activity in the city at such a late hour. The usual sounds Cali associated with night, wind whistling through trees, insects chirping, even the occasional bird singing, were all also missing in this strange and immense city.

No doubt because of the stillness, Cali heard something behind her. It sounded too much like the straining of a crossbow being cocked to be anything else and she turned to see.

When she turned, what she thought she saw couldn't have been real, at least not in any world that made sense.

Yutin still watched out over the corner overlooking the empty market-square off to the left of the shop. The others, though, had moved. Prolig lay on his side near the corner he had been guarding, a fresh crimson gash across his throat. Argaeux stood a few hands away, holding his crossbow.

It was indeed cocked. It was also aimed straight at her.

Everything ran together from that instant. She saw the arms of the crossbow flex and she remembered the bolt coming toward her, but something else hit her. Something behind her.

She felt an impact, but it was not the bolt hitting her. It was her being thrown into the wall of the next building. A clipped grunt rose behind her.

When she turned, Cali locked eyes with Grison, her expression absolutely unreadable. After holding her eyes for an eternal heartbeat, Grison looked down. Only the fletchings still showed.

As Grison fell, Cali screamed. She screamed with all her soul. Her friend was dead, and from a crossbow bolt meant for her. Even worse, another friend loosed it.

The cry lasted but a few heartbeats, but that was more than sufficient to raise an alarm. They were, after all, on the roof across the street from the gate of the royal palace. Two guards were already running across the open space in front of the shop. They probably thought the cry came from the market-square next to it, but with more men coming from the barracks, it wouldn't take long before they realized the truth.

Jangling armor and various shouts from behind the wall made it clear that they didn't have much time before the guards found them. Cali stood frozen in shock, but most of the others had experience with this sort of dagger-under-the-cloak work, and they were already moving.

Someone, she didn't know who, grabbed her by the shoulders and pushed her down on her knees next to the front wall, not far from Grison's corpse. Toulon ran back to the corner where Prolig lay. He picked up his friend's body.

Prolig had always seemed to Cali to be an average size. Now, though, held in Toulon's arms he looked absolutely tiny. Toulon stood still for only a moment before he hoisted the body over his shoulder and stepped over to Argaeux.

The tall warrior lay crumpled where she was standing when Cali saw her aiming the bolt. She appeared to have simply dropped where she stood as a marionette would if its strings were cut.

Cali saw Toulon squat next to Argaeux. Just as he raised her head,Vandet stepped in front of her and squatted down. "The guards will search the ground around the building first, but they will come up here before very long. Toulon can carry Argaeux and Prolig's corpse without difficulty, but adding Grison's bulk to that is too much to ask of him in human form."

Vandet caught her chin and lifted it until they locked gazes. "I know that same little trick Prolig used when we went to his cabin to get him to come along with us."

Remembering the meeting made Cali's mind focus. "You mean when he made himself invisible?"

"Well, yes and no," Vandet said. She released Cali's chin now she could be sure of her attention. "That is what I mean, but he didn't make himself invisible."

"Yes, he did," Cali said. She said it with enough force in her voice for Yutin, on his knees nearby, to jump.

"Keep your voice down! We're already pushed for time without you calling the guards again," Vandet said quietly but sharply. "Now, Prolig didn't make himself invisible, he just stood behind a wall of illusion. That's why Toulon could still see him. His kind can see through illusions."

Yutin leaned in and asked, "You said you knew the trick, so could you see him, too?"

"No, I know how to create an illusion, but there is no trick I know of that helps you see through one. If you can, you can." Vandet shrugged her shoulders and looked around. "I can put a curtain around us so the guards won't see us."

"But what if they can see through it, the way Toulon did?," Yutin asked.

"They can't. If anyone with that kind of magic were close, Toulon would have known it long ago." She locked eyes with Cali and drew a deep breath to emphasize her next statement. "However, just because they can't see us doesn't mean they can't hear us. We must be silent, no matter how close or far they are."

Cali didn't answer aloud, but the sharp nod she gave told Vandet she understood.

"OK, Yutin, move to the other side of Grison." She moved to the center between them and withdrew a small wooden box from her belt-pouch. Taking out a small, dark crystal, she handed it to Yutin and said, "Behind you."

Apparently, he knew what she was doing. Rather than question her cryptic words, he turned and put the stone on the roof a hand or so behind his back. Cali looked back at Vandet. She held out a stone just like the one she handed Yutin. As Cali raised her hand and took it, Vandet said "Behind you, just as he did."

The stone shocked her hand. It felt as if Vandet had handed her a live ember. She flinched and dropped it, barely stifling the shriek she wanted to make.

"What's the matter with you? Are you trying to get us caught?" Vandet did not look happy.

"Of course not, but you didn't warn me it would be so hot."

"Hot?" Vandet picked up the crystal. "Are you mad? It feels like ice." Before Cali could argue, Vandet leaned past and placed the stone behind her.

When she sat up straight, Vandet closed the box and placed a third crystal atop it. This crystal dwarfed the other two.

Cali met Vandet's eyes. She simply said, "Quiet now." The outlaw glanced at the crystal and said a few words of a language Cali did not know.

In the next moments Cali realized she could hear everything around them. The night sounds she was only a few moments ago hoping for now seemed to roar. Insects chirped, wind blew, birds sang, and there was something more, something rhythmic. She understood then, she was hearing her own heartbeat.

Vandet turned to look over her shoulder, and Cali feared for an instant the outlaw could also hear the thundering in her chest. When she looked back, Vandet looked at Yutin and nodded. She turned toward the stone in front of her and smiled.

Cali glanced down at the stone to see what made Vandet smile. The crystal glowed a bright blue now, something it did not do before.

Movement caught her eye, and Cali felt a wave of dread when a palace guard climbed up the steps of the shop. He stepped out onto the roof and started toward the front wall.

The guard looked around for a moment, and she was sure he looked straight into her eyes. He turned back toward the rear wall of the shop and rushed back to his comrades on the ground. She thought they were about to be in for a fight, and started to draw her dagger. Vandet saw her, and shook her head. At almost the same time, that guard yelled, "all clear up here."

They all watched him as he started back down. When his helmet dropped out of sight, Vandet turned and looked at Cali. She winked.