The Everburning City

Act 1, Part 3, Chapter 14

Valen

Each step was harder than the last. As if every reluctant stride added a weight to his kit, so that by the time Valen reached the fountain in the middle of the town square, he was ready to collapse in front of it and never leave.

Even with company watching him — the four witnesses of Darius Tulwar's last and bravest act — Valen's rattled nerves and stomach-wrenching shame forced him to stop and rest, leaning his arms against the fountain wall.

"You okay?" Gwendolyn asked, and she squeezed his shoulder.

"I am," Valen lied. He bent over, scooped a handful of water out of the fountain, and splashed his face with it. "Just, do me a favour, would you? Don't die."

"So keep you between me and danger. Got it," Gwendolyn said, her glib jibe a welcome balm to Valen's tempestuous emotions.

Valen sighed, and rubbed another handful of water on his face.

"You're not supposed to do that," a young voice said. Valen turned his head, to see a boy barely tall enough to reach his chest. He had a knit cap on his head, a warm coat meant for someone quite a bit taller, and blue eyes as hard as any Valen had ever seen.

"It's our reserve drinking water, in case the fire gets cut off and we lose water pressure. You're not supposed to contaminate it by sticking your hands inside. Use a bucket," the boy said.

Valen chuckled, and used the bucket the boy pointed at to scoop up more water. He made a point of refilling his water, took a long drink, and refilled it again. He turned and let Gwendolyn step up to do the same.

"Hey kid. Do you know Beverly and Michael Tulwar?" Valen asked.

The boy nodded. "I know them, yeah. What do you want with them?"

"I need to tell them something. Something they deserve to hear first," Valen said, and he stared at those surprisingly hard blue eyes until they turned away.

"They're on the roof of that tall building." The boy pointed over his shoulder.

"Can you take me to them?"

The boy stepped back, and glared at Valen, then Hendricks, and finally Gwendolyn. "I'm not supposed to be going with strangers away from public spaces."

Valen smiled. "Then let's not be strangers," he said, and extended his hand. "I'm Master Sergeant Valen Redgrave. Third squad, first platoon, first company, first brigade, first army, western wall."

The boy frowned. "That's a lot of firsts."

"The Cadavalan Rangers are the first army company the City ever commissioned," Valen said.

"The Rangers," the boy whispered, with a happy smile. He took Valen's hand and shook it. "My name's Ben. Benden Tammerlane. I'll take you to see the Tulwars."

"Lead on," Valen said, pointing in the direction Benden had indicated.

Benden lead them at a slow jog, and talked quite a bit faster. "We've been surrounded by the Gloam for almost five hours now. You came on the first train any of us have seen. Heck, we haven't seen much of anything except that mist. I was surprised to see a train could pass through it. Was it air tight?"

"Sorry, what?" Valen asked, bemused.

"The train. Was it air tight? How did you pass through the Gloam to get here?" Benden asked, his words pressed so close together Valen could barely tell them apart.

"There are pilot lights on the train," Gwendolyn said, catching up and jogging alongside the boy. "Just like the walls."

"Oh, that makes sense. I just thought it might not work the same, since the train moves so fast. I don't really know much about the Gloam, only ever saw it a few times before tonight."