Nanowrimo Day 26
"Well, we're here now," Tamara said. "Shall we get to it?"
They'd arranged things so that they reached the city soon after re-entering the world. And for an added plus, they'd come on a Sunday, so they didn't have to worry about missing a curfew or school. They had plenty of time in which to crown the Dawn Queen.
Between the pale buildings, Tamara could see roads that seemed to be made of paved stone, just as light as the walls of the buildings. She moved forward, and was the first of the Warriors to set foot in the capital.
"Does this place have a name?" she asked quietly. Then, chuckling a little, she replied to her own comment. "Of course not. Why would you need a name for the only city in the world?"
"The neighborhoods of the city have names," Ammu said, walking up to stand beside her in the city. "I don't know them, though."
"One is called Tabula," Yin said quietly. "My grandmother was from there. She had to leave, after... well, after the last time, when the Dusk Queen took control."
"Don't worry," Brittany said. "We won't let that happen this time."
Yin nodded once, a jerky motion. "I know you won't," he said.
Their initial impression was that of a ghost town. They saw stone houses, but every door was shut tight; they saw streets, but never a person on those streets. There were clouds of smoke rising, but they all seemed to be infinitely far away. The streets themselves were full of debris and trash that they had to pick their way around, but that was all. There was not a single person.
"M-maybe it'll be like this the whole way," Midori said, smiling weakly.
"I hope so," Candace said absently. She was staring up at the buildings that towered all around them.
The buildings had high, high walls, far higher than Tamara could see over, and they all seemed to be huge from the outside. They weren't simple rectangles or circles, but instead they wound and twisted in strange directions. If she hadn't seen their roofs from the road far away, she would have thought that they were simply walls with no ceilings, each one holding dozens of houses. Though she supposed suddenly that that could already be true. There seemed to be very few windows, however, and those mere slits. Could people really live in places like this, in the darkness or in firelight? Perhaps, if things outside were bad enough. Tamara shuddered.
"Hey," Candace said, pointing as they rounded a curve. "It's a barricade."
That was what it seemed to be. Debris had been piled up in a manner that could only have been deliberate, and there was no obvious way past it without clambering over it somehow. And the barricade was taller than they were.
"We should see if they're friendly," Brittany said.
"Are you crazy?" Midori said. But before she could stop her, Brittany cupped her hands and started to shout.
"Ho! We're the Sunlight Warriors! Will you let us pass?"
"What are you doing?" Midori said frantically, latching onto her arm. "What if they're Dusk People?"
"It's cool," Brittany said. "If they're Dusk People, they've seen us already, so if we leave it'll only give them more time to ambush us. We might as well get it over with now, if we have to fight them."
Behind the barricade, there was the sound of scrambling and alarm. After a moment, it faded; but not being able to see through the barricade, the Warriors couldn't tell whether the people behind it had actually left or not.
Except for Candace, of course. "There's two still back there," she said, squinting. "I don't know what they're thinking, though."
"Whatever, two we can take," Tamara said. "Midori, cover us."
"Okay!" MIdori said, stringing an arrow.
"I'm with you," Candace said. And then they were off and running, long legs eating up the distance between them and the barricade as if it was nothing.
Candace was the first one there, by a hair; she jumped up, and cleared it in a single bound. She twisted in mid-air to face the enemies huddled against the barricade, while Tamara kept facing past it, in case there was anyone else behind them in the street.
There was no one, or at least no one she could see, so she tapped Candace on the shoulder. Candace hadn't moved since they'd landed. "Well?" she said, looking over her shoulder? "What do we have?"
"Two, a man and a woman, but they're scared stiff. I'm pretty sure they're Dusk People."
"So?" Tamara said.
"So... should I just take their weapons, or what? I'm not going to kill people who aren't even fighting us."
Midori and Brittany crossed the barricade then, and after a few moments they could hear Ammu and Yin clambering up the other side of the barricade.
Brittany took one look at them and waved her hand. "Yeah, just take their weapons," she said. "No way are they going to hurt us?"
With the other Warriors there, Tamara could take a better look at their captives. They were dirty-faced and were wearing what seemed to be rags. They were unnaturally skinny too, and they were clearly terrified. Neither of them was making even the smallest movement.
"Okay, I'll deal with them," Midori said.
But as she stepped forward, there was a small whoosh of air. One of the Dusk People fell over, an arrow in his forehead.
Midori's head jerked up. "What--?" she said, frantically scanning the skyline.
Another whoosh, and then there was an arrow sticking out of the ear of the other Dusk Person. Midori had sighted it that time, though. She pointed majestically upward. "There!" she said, pointing toward an arrow slit in a nearby building.
Brittany squinted. "They're shooting out of that?" she said suspiciously.
"Definitely," Midori said. She took a look around the area. "Should we go knock on one of the doors, then? This building is probably controlled by Dawn People."
***
Finding the door actually turned out to be somewhat difficult. But after walking around it for what felt like forever, they finally found a doorway. They hadn't run into any more barricades, fortunately-- or any people, either. The door was locked, and no one responded to their knocks, but of course Tamara simply had to touch it for it to open. She went inside eagerly, curious to see what it would be like.
To her disappointment, it was mostly dark. There was some weak light coming in from the high arrow slits, and she could see small fires from place to place. But in general, it was difficult to see what was there. There seemed to be smaller buildings inside the large ones, but she couldn't really tell what they were or what they looked like. She could, however, see shapes flitting in front of the fires and under the light from the arrow slits. There were people there-- and a lot of people, probably.
"What's in there?" Midori asked, shouldering her way in behind Tamara. Tamara had been standing in the doorway without even noticing it; she automatically moved when Midori pushed her, though, and the rest of the six piled in.
"It's so dark," Ammu said. "Like it used to be outside. Do you think it's really controlled by Dusk People after all?"
"Not Dusk People, but Dawn People disguised as Dusk," a voice said. "They think that they control this building, and we haven't bothered to disabuse them of that notion. But it's safe to tell you, of course." A torch was lit, illuminating the face of an old man with a full beard and deep, deep eyes. "After all, you are the Sunlight Warriors, are you not?"
Tamara viewed him suspiciously. "And how are we supposed to know that you're not really Dusk People?" she asked.
The man shrugged. "You have the Seer, do you not? She can tell you if I'm lying. I say again: we are Dawn People."
"He's telling the truth," Candace said quietly. "I can see his soul, and I can tell."
Tamara wasn't convinced, but she didn't think there was much point in playing twenty questions at the moment. "Okay," she said. "So then, you know why we're here. Will you help us get to the palace?"
"Of course," the man said. "My name is Obol, by the way. Let us feed you first, though. We're poor, but we still have our pride."
"Thank you, but--" Brittany started to say, but Tamara, impatient, cut her off.
"We're fine, thanks," she said. "We really need to find the Dawn Queen and go to the palace, though."
Obol sighed. "I don't know where the Dawn Queen is," he said. "She's not here, anyway. I can help you get to the palace, at least as far as I can. We've been lying low here, and I don't know how territory has shifted since we came."
"Territory?" Midori asked.
"The city is split up between Dawn and Dusk People, has been ever since the sun rose and we started moving back into the city and fighting," Obol said. "The last i heard, the Dusk People had control of the palace proper, since the old Dusk Queen just died, but we pretty much had them under siege. We were trying to starve them out... don't know if it worked or not."
"And you know how to get to the palace from here?" Brittany pressed him.
Obol blinked. "Of course," he said. "Now, I know that you want to leave as quickly as possible, but I really think we ought to bring along the young archer who took down those Dusk People for you. She would be absolutely indispensable in the case of ambush or attack.
"I'm here already," a voice growled, and suddenly a person dropped down from above. They were dirty and ragged, their gender non-distinct, but the bow they were holding was obviously well-maintained, as were the arrows strapped to their back.
"This is mud," Obol said.
"Mud?" Tamara asked.
"M'name is Mud," the person clarified.
"And... she's a girl?" Midori asked, tentatively.
Mud huffed, her hair moving with her. "Last time I checked," she groused.
"Okay, so let's just go from here," Brittany said. "Lead us on, and try to stay in Dawn People areas. We want to go as quickly as possible, but we don't want to do a lot of fighting either.
Obol nodded. "Very well," he said. He moved through the Warriors and opened the door they'd just come through. "Right this way, please," he said.
***
Out in the streets, Obol moved smartly, posture painfully upright as he glided through the wreckage. Tamara could almost see him in the clothing of her own world, wearing a smart suit and patent leather shoes. Mud, conversely, had a strange, jerky walk, much faster than it had any right to be. She seemed like a moving piece of debris, and indeed, whenever she stopped she almost melted into the debris and trash on the streets. Tamara could see why she was so effective.
They walked for quite a long time, taking seemingly aimless turns, when suddenly Obol held up a single finger, warning them to flatten themselves against the nearest wall.
"Past here is an area that was controlled by the Dusk People, the last time I was here," he said quietly. "I don't know whether it still is, but we had better be careful."
"We can't go around it?" Brittany whispered.
"Much faster this way," Mud growled. "It's a risk, but so is all of this."
"Anyway, Mud will scout it first," Obol said. "She's the best at this sort of thing."