Free The Spook 9 - Slither's tale by Delaney Joseph Page B

the need arises. It’ll be a long journey north. And I will now tell you why we are heading in that direction. We are going to Valkarky, where I must plead my case – it is the only hope of life I have. To save your little sisters I killed a High Mage, and an assassin whose brotherhood will seek vengeance and hunt me down until I am dead. But those I slew broke the law regarding my property rights. If I can successfully make my plea before the ruling Triumvirate, they will not be able to touch me.’
    ‘What is Valkarky – another fortress?’
    ‘No, Nessa, it is a city. Our city! It is the most beautiful and most dangerous place in this whole wide world,’ I answered. ‘Even a human such as you, with poor, half-blind eyes, cannot fail to appreciate its beauty. But never fear, I will protect you from its many dangers.’
    ‘It would be better to die here,’ Nessa said bitterly, ‘than enter a city full of others like you.’
    ‘Die? Die, little Nessa? Who said anything about dying? You gave me back my life, and in return I’ll protect you and your two plump sisters, just as I promised. Only in extremis will we eat one of them, and then only so that the other might live. I have made a promise, but I can only do what is possible. If only you had got the horses with their provisions as I commanded!’
    A look of embarrassment flashed across Nessa’s face, but she was silent, evidently deep in thought. ‘But you’ll still take them to safety when your business is done?’
    I smiled but refrained from showing my teeth. ‘Of course. Haven’t I promised as much? Now go back to sleep. What else is there for your kind to do but sleep when it snows so hard?’
    ‘My father said that you also sleep in the depths of winter. He said that you hibernate. Why do you do that when you love the cold so much?’
    I shrugged. ‘A haizda mage sleeps in shudru, deepest winter, in order to learn. It is a time when he gathers his thoughts within deep dreams and weaves new knowledge out of experience. We dream to see the truth at the heart of life.’
    Nessa turned away and looked back to where her sisters were sleeping. Bryony was still tightly wrapped within my coat – only her mousy brown hair was visible.
    ‘What is Valkarky like?’ Nessa asked, turning back to face me.
    ‘It is vast,’ I explained. ‘We believe that our city will not stop growing until it covers the whole world. Not a rock, not a tree, not even a blade of grass will be visible then. All other cities will be crushed beneath its expanding walls!’
    ‘That’s horrible!’ she cried. ‘It’s unnatural. You would make the whole world hideous.’
    ‘You do not understand, little Nessa, so do not judge until you have seen it with your own eyes.’
    ‘But it’s a nonsense, anyway. How could a city become so large? There could not be enough builders to create such a monstrosity.’
    ‘Valkarky’s walls are constantly being constructed and repaired by creatures that need no sleep. They spit soft stone from their mouths, and this is used as building material. It resembles wood pulp at first, but hardens soon after contact with the air. Hence the name Valkarky – it means the City of the Petrified Tree. It is a wonderful place, full of entities created by magic – beings that can be seen in no other place. Be grateful that you will get to see it. All other humans who enter there are slaves or marked for death. You have some hope of leaving it.’
    ‘You forget that I also am a slave,’ Nessa replied angrily.
    ‘Of course you are, little Nessa. But in exchange for your bondage, your two sisters will go free. Doesn’t that make you happy?’
    ‘I owe obedience to my father and I am willing to sacrifice my life so that my sisters will be safe. But it certainly does not make me happy. I was looking forward to my life, and now it has been taken away. Should I rejoice at that?’
    I did not reply. Nessa’s future, or lack of it, was not worth debating. I