Gardens of mist (the traveler s gate chronicles collection 2)

Contents Title Page Copyright WARNING Welcome! [Series Title] Gardens of Mist Maelstrom of Stone The Steel Labyrinth [Sequel Page] GARDENS OF MIST Will Wight www.WillWight.com Copyright © 2014 Will Wight All rights reserved Cover art by Patrick Foster IMPORTANT: What follows is a small collection of short stories set in the universe of the Traveler’s Gate Trilogy, which begins in the novel House of Blades If you have not read House of Blades or its sequel, The Crimson Vault, then you will not understand the following stories It’s okay; it’s not your fault I understand You’re still handsome and/or pretty If you were simply browsing the Kindle Store and this book caught your eye, I urge you to close this preview and go check out House of Blades I’ll wait If you’ve already read the Traveler’s Gate Trilogy—or at least the first two books—then come on in, my friend! These stories are intended to give you a closer look at the Territories and characters that we didn’t get to explore in the main trilogy If you’d rather stick with Simon, Alin, and Leah, I’ll understand! City of Light will be available in early 2014, and I hope it meets your approval Still with me? Then buckle up We’re headed off the map Here there be dragons Welcome to Elysia, young Traveler You will have heard many stories about what it means to be one of us Do not be fooled No outsider understands our purpose They think we are here to lead other Travelers, to make the decisions that they cannot This is true, and it is not true They think we are here as a last resort, as an ultimate power, to keep the Incarnations in check This is true, and it is not true They think we are here to balance the other Territories, to keep them from obtaining too much power and upsetting the natural balance This is true, and it is not true What I am about to tell you is known by few, and understood by even fewer: we are not here to lead, or to threaten, or to eliminate threats In the course of our duties, we will all these things, but ultimately we are here for a single purpose We are here to guide We are here to lead by example, inspiring other Travelers to live up to their own potential We should be as beacons in the darkness Welcome to the City of Light -Elysian Book of Virtues, Page The Traveler’s Gate Chronicles (Collection #2) GARDENS OF MIST Compassion, tied to the Rose Light, is also the virtue most necessary for leading Travelers of Asphodel To protect their minds, they cut themselves off from each other This is understandable, perhaps, but it is also a tragic weakness If we are to heal them, we must first show them what they lack -Elysian Book of Virtues, Chapter 4: Rose Today, I learned why Damascan magistrates don’t accept eyewitness testimony gathered in Asphodel It’s not like I didn’t know what could happen to people out in the Mist I’ve lived in the Gardens my entire life I was born here, in a hollowed-out tree on the edge of the Midnight Fields Every day, I step out of my door and walk into the Mist without a second thought I’m not rich enough for a carriage, and I have to get to work somehow I give the Mist nothing to feed on, so it can’t touch me My emotions are my own, locked up and held tight until I’m back between four walls I’m no Traveler, bending the Mist to my will, but I know how to survive That’s why it always surprises me a little when someone vanishes into the forest and is never heard from again, except as a drifting voice on the wind Don’t they know any better? It’s not fair of me, I know, but I expect everyone to know the rules of Asphodel like I First, you don’t walk into the Mist unless your mind is clear as good glass When I walk outside, I’m a saint in human skin You couldn’t get a rise out of me if you stabbed me through the foot Second, you don’t stop and smell the flowers The bigger and brighter the blossom is, the more it wants to eat you Nobody survives a day in the Midnight Fields unless they learn this lesson Third, you don’t trust anything you see in the Mist Not ever It’s hard for some people to remember the last rule, which I guess I understand If you can’t depend on your own eyes, then how you know what’s real? The answer: you don’t But it’s easy to forget that Which is what killed Adrian Corydon I never had a problem with Adrian He was about forty years old, and had been working in the Fields ten years longer than even I had He rescued me, one day, when I was foolish enough to let myself get distracted by a herd of wild bulls and forget that I was standing in a patch of purple blossombells They had dissolved through my shoes and started digesting my ankles by the time Adrian pulled me out, and I never felt a thing Even when the pain set in, I didn’t scream I didn’t allow myself to think about my shredded, bleeding feet I knew better; the Mist was all around So anyway, I remember Adrian as a good guy Not everyone thought that way Adrian tended to get a little angrier than he should, a little more stressed He let the work in the Fields get to him, and sometimes he raised his voice in the middle of the Mist One time, he staggered into our work site, stole another guy’s hoe, and waved it in the air while screaming about how his wife didn’t respect him He had a bottle in his other hand, and I had no doubt what it contained Adrian was partial to a particular recipe of nasty liquor made of yellow starvine sap It was cheap, he could brew it at home, it burned like a bonfire, and yellow starvines were known to produce the most pleasant hallucinations of any of the flowers in the Midnight Fields That was only one of the Adrian stories that floated around my work pool like kites on the wind Adrian was a big, bearded guy, and he threw his weight around even where he shouldn’t Some people resented him Others wondered about his wife, Phelia Was she safe? Did he hurt her? Maybe we didn’t see her as often as we should… Looking back, it was all a recipe for some kind of disaster, but I didn’t notice at the time I tended my own garden, as they say in Asphodel, and let everyone else tend theirs I keep to myself as much as I can I’ve been that way for years, ever since my own wife left me for a merchant back in Damasca “It’s not you,” she said “It’s this place It does things to you It’s not natural.” She walked through a Gate, and I never saw her again I didn’t feel anything, though The Mist was excited that day, and I didn’t want to stretch my luck You’re right, I should get back on track Adrian Corydon I was sleeping when it began Someone pounded urgently on my door, which woke me immediately No one’s ever urgent in Asphodel There are other things in Asphodel, worse than the Mist, and they’re attracted to signs of panic I still live in the hollowed-out tree I inherited from my parents, and it’s not a big one I barely had to roll out of my hammock to unlatch the door and push it open Adrian stood there, right outside my door, his boots planted in a big puddle of Mist It’s winter here—Asphodel has seasons like normal, though I know a lot of Territories don’t—and the air was cold enough that I regretted every second I held the door open Adrian, though, he was soaked in sweat His beard clung to his chest like a pile of soggy leaves sticking to the forest floor His hands spasmed opened and closed, like he couldn’t wait to get his fists around someone’s neck, and he had to lean one forearm against my doorframe to stay upright “Took me a long time to find out where you lived,” Adrian said He was panting like he had run all the way here from town By “town,” I mean the cluster of huts and homes around the Midnight Fields that we affectionately called “the town.” Enough people lived there that it probably qualified as a village, I guess “All these trees look alike.” I held the door out a little wider, inviting him to step inside As he walked past me, I smelled no spirits on him, just sweat and the clean-water tang of the Mist on the winter air At the time I thought that meant he was sober Later, I told myself that of course he had been drunk, and I just hadn’t noticed Now, I don’t know what to think With the Mist safely locked outside, I let my irritation bubble up from the place where I’d shoved it down I don’t know anyone that likes being woken from a sound sleep in the middle of the night I’d spent the whole previous day hoeing my row and picking blossoms in the Fields, just as Adrian himself had The last thing I wanted was a mystery visit infringing on my allotted eight hours of sleep “What you want from me, Corydon?” I asked It wasn’t the most hospitable thing to say, I’ll admit, but he must not have minded too much He laughed “Don’t worry, it won’t be a long visit I need to ask you a question.” “Then get to it,” I said “My bed’s not getting any warmer.” Adrian rubbed his hands together and blew on them, as though to capture the heat “I don’t have many friends, you know Nobody who would take me seriously I haven’t talked about this much, but lately I’ve been…seeing things, hearing things At the edge of my eyes It’s like I can’t turn around from the far end of the hall, flying straight for Valin They passed harmlessly around the three Tartarus Travelers; Valin almost thought one of the spears actually corrected itself in mid-flight to avoid the lieutenant In the split second it took the spears to reach him, Valin had his sword drawn It was a standard Damascan longsword, forged for him by the best smiths in Cana Deianira had bought it for him only a couple of months ago as a Winter’s End present He only hoped that it wouldn’t break The first spear reached his right leg, and he barely stepped out of the way in time The second he had to kick out of the air The third, he dodged by leaning to the right, and the fourth simply missed The fifth and sixth spears flew true, and he didn’t have the time to dodge With both hands on the hilt, he brought his sword crashing onto the first spear, striking it down with a shower of sparks Without a second to pause, he swept his blade to the right, knocking the final spear off-course and sending it spinning in midair The butt of the spear smacked into his ribs, but without enough force to any actual damage The spears clattered to the sword-patterned floor in a crash of falling metal Valin slid his sword back into its sheath “Now that was a rush! I’ll have to come back here Good practice.” His heart pounded with exhilaration, and at last he felt the old fire in his blood It was all too rare these days that something challenged him After a second, he realized that the three Travelers were still on the ground They weren’t unconscious, were they? He didn’t think he had hit any of them that hard The lieutenant stared at him as though he had started to glow “How did you that?” “Years of training and experience, a good night’s sleep, and loads of natural talent.” The man with the bleeding nose raised himself to one knee “Who are you?” he choked out “Oh, right.” Valin glanced around the hall until he spotted what he was looking for: a leather satchel leaning against the spiked steel wall He’d dropped it there just as the three Tartarus Travelers attacked him “In the front pocket of that bag, there’s a piece of paper Could you grab it for me?” The lieutenant exchanged a look with one of her subordinates After a few seconds, she reached warily into the front of the bag and plucked out a crumpled, browned sheet of paper “Deianira sent me,” Valin explained “She thought you might need some help.” The lieutenant’s eyebrows drew down, so close together that it looked like she was trying to glare a hole in the paper She flipped it around, showing him the red wax seal on the other side “This is the royal seal,” she said “By Deianira…do you mean Deianira the Third? Our Queen?” “How many Deianiras you know?” Valin asked “I’ve only ever met the one Didn’t you ask for help?” He reached out for the paper In what looked like an unconscious reflex, the lieutenant clutched it tighter “We asked for reinforcements and advice, actually And we sent word to the Overlord, not to Cana.” Valin didn’t know how the Queen had intercepted a message from Tartarus, but he had learned long ago not to underestimate her ability to ferret out secrets “My strength and considerable experience are at your disposal,” he said “I also took it upon myself to evaluate your combat skills.” The lieutenant winced and looked away “I can only say that, unlike many Travelers, we’re actually weaker inside our Territory than outside it.” He had assumed as much Tartarus had a well-earned reputation as a deadly combat Territory, but much of that strength came from their ability to summon their weapons almost instantly Inside the Territory itself, they couldn’t summon weapons directly He knew that, but he couldn’t help feeling disappointed “But that is no excuse,” the lieutenant continued, to Valin’s surprise “We took you too lightly, and you were gentler than we deserved Thank you.” That may have been a first Usually, the people Valin defeated showed one of three reactions: fear, anger, or disbelief The lieutenant didn’t seem resentful at all, but he supposed carrying a letter with the royal seal on it could have simply impressed her Perhaps that was all it was Still, he wasn’t sure how to respond “No need for thanks I was rougher than I should have been.” Deianira would have passed out from shock if she heard those words coming from his mouth “Besides, I was looking forward to the opportunity to come to Tartarus I’ve never spent much time here—I can’t imagine I’ll find what I’m looking for, though I guess you never know.” One of the other Travelers spoke up: “What are you looking for?” “Dragons,” Valin said simply The soldier with the bloody nose snorted, and Valin shot him a look that shut him up The lieutenant looked completely lost “But dragons aren’t real,” she said “Are they?” Valin sighed He had delivered this lecture a thousand times, and sometimes he got sick of doing it “In Naraka, there are black-skinned lizards that breathe fireballs In Endross, there are huge flying drakes that spit lightning In the lowest levels of Ornheim, there’s a species of burrowing worm that hurls sparks and is intelligent enough to speak With all that, why shouldn’t there be dragons?” “But—” the lieutenant began, but Valin kept going “And no, I know what you’re going to say, those aren’t dragons I’m looking for a real dragon Strong, intelligent, flies, breathes fire…you know, a dragon We’ll find one in a Territory one of these days, mark my words.” Valin had seen plenty of dragon-like creatures, but nothing gave him the sense of majesty he had always pictured in the dragons of legend Dragons should be more…magical, he guessed “I see,” the lieutenant said in a voice that said she didn’t see at all Clearly, she had lost the thread of the conversation a while back “You’ve seen many Territories,” one of the other Travelers said, in a transparent attempt to change the subject “But I haven’t seen you summon anything What kind of Traveler are you?” “I’m not a Traveler,” Valin said “I don’t have bonds to any of the Territories I just go from one to another, doing what I can That’s probably why they call me the Wanderer.” The three Travelers exchanged glances, but they had nothing to say *** The way back to the nearest Damascan base was tricky, and Valin was soon lost Every half an hour or so—though it seemed completely unpredictable—the Labyrinth whirred and shifted The hallways shuffled, the floor separating and sliding apart, new gaps opening in the walls Once, a dead end transformed itself into a room full of whirling circular blades inches in front of Valin’s face The Tartarus Travelers took such things in stride, adjusting their course accordingly every time the maze shifted They barely spoke about their route at all, following a mental map that they all evidently shared As they walked, they answered Valin’s questions There were very few permanent outposts in the Steel Labyrinth None of them that were permanently manned By order of the Overlord, no Damascan Travelers were allowed to sleep in their Territory; there had been disappearances, including a handful of tragic incidents in which the sleeping Travelers had been trapped in rooms with no exits Sometimes, when they woke up, they were able to make Gates and escape Other times, they would be skewered by traps while still unconscious Thus, the rule about sleeping in the maze The Tartarus Travelers understood these rules and seemed to accept them Valin had been summoned for a more urgent reason “Something has been killing Travelers in our unit,” the lieutenant—whose name was Roshan—said, as she gently guided Valin away from a pit of gnashing mechanical traps “They’re usually alone, and they fail to report in When we find them next, it’s only their mangled bodies.” “You think it’s Enosh?” “We think one of them has disguised themselves as one of us,” Lieutenant Roshan said “We think he or she is ambushing us when we’re alone, or else has summoned something to it for them.” She seemed more disgusted at the thought of a summoned killer Was that because she was afraid of monsters from another Territory, or because she hated the idea of someone too cowardly to their own killing? Valin had heard odd things about notions of honor in Tartarus “I’ll need to see the body I can’t guarantee that I’ll find anything helpful, but I’ll what I can.” He wasn’t rude enough to say it to her face, but he was certainly more likely to know something useful than any of these Tartarus soldiers He had devices in his satchel that might come in handy “You’re more likely to find something than we are,” Roshan said, impressing him yet again “We’re going to stop by and pick up some more weapons before we show you the scene, just in case…” Her voice trailed off as the wall in front of them parted, revealing a man lying on his back in a small pool of blood Too small, Valin noted immediately The corpse was partially curled around a circular chest wound as big around as a man’s head Anything that caused a wound that size should have left a puddle of blood twice as deep To her credit, Lieutenant Roshan did not hesitate She snapped orders to her two subordinates, and they quickly drew their swords and positioned themselves around the body, watching the corners of the room for movement It was not a large room, perhaps five paces to a side, and the only visible entrance was the one through which they had come But if Valin had learned anything from his short time in Tartarus, it was that the Labyrinth could open up a new door anytime and anywhere “I take it this isn’t the body you meant to show me,” Valin said “The Captain’s body is in a coffin,” Roshan said in a tight voice “We left the blood where he was killed, in case we needed to examine it again This is a totally different room.” Valin dipped his fingertips in the blood: still warm He gestured to the corpse “Who was this?” “He was meant to stay with the Captain’s coffin.” “Alone?” She nodded “This is the fourth victim The second one taken right under my nose.” Roshan stared straight at the wall, and Valin left her to her thoughts He had nothing productive to say Besides, the body was more interesting He ran a finger along the edge of the wound, coming up with a thin layer of black grit Ash, perhaps? If so, then they were most likely looking for a killer from Naraka, or maybe Endross He examined the body for another five minutes before he came up with another source of the black dust Under the fingernails this time, as though the soldier had managed to scratch his attacker Valin scraped out a little of the dust and rubbed it between two fingers Against his better judgment, he placed a little on his tongue He spat it out immediately It didn’t taste foul; worse, it tasted like good topsoil That narrowed his list of possibilities down to one “Everybody who died was alone?” he asked, just to be sure “They were.” “Then I’m afraid I can probably tell you what killed them,” Valin said “And you’re not going to like it.” All three Tartarus Travelers turned to face him “What?” Lieutenant Roshan demanded “A Strugle.” The room fell into a long stretch of silence “The monster from the children’s rhyme? ‘Good little girls, they must obey, or else the Strugle will take them away’? The Strugle is real?” One of the male Travelers coughed to cover up a laugh Valin knelt and began rummaging through his pack, wishing that he had packed the stone amulet he had once unearthed in Ornheim It had been designed specifically to block the attack of a Strugle “Strugles are native to Ornheim, though based on the way it hunts, some naturalists believe that it originated in Asphodel.” He had a dagger here that could heat itself red-hot but never lose its shape; no, if he got close enough to use a dagger, the Strugle would simply eviscerate him “It locks on to feelings of loneliness, uncertainty, isolation, and it uses them to identify its prey Its favorite tactic is the ambush; some people believe that it feeds on the fear and surprise of its victims as much as their flesh and blood.” The frozen horn he had picked up in Helgard, perhaps? Maybe it could banish the Strugle back to the Territory from whence it came…but no, blowing the horn in Tartarus was too risky It might banish whole rooms from the Labyrinth around them, leaving them to fall right through the floor “Tartarus Travelers would normally be a good match for a Strugle,” Valin continued “You summon quickly, you’re usually armored, and you’re rarely alone It’s hard for a Strugle to target someone like that But that’s when you’re outside your Territory If you’re here, and you don’t know what you’re facing, you’re little better off than an ordinary person.” These days, it almost never occurred to Valin that he, too, could be considered an ordinary person He had certainly never thought of himself as ordinary “How we catch it?” one of the men said “We don’t,” Lieutenant Roshan responded, reluctance heavy in her voice “We tell everyone we can about it We let the Overlord know what we’re up against We prepare, and we hit it together.” “Lieutenant…” the man began, but he let the statement hang Valin thought he saw the problem He wasn’t the most familiar with Tartarus Travelers, but they had a reputation for their prickly sense of honor He didn’t fully understand it—honor seemed like an unnecessary set of arbitrary rules, to him—but he could at least accept it “Is there some reason you might want to catch this thing yourself?” Valin asked He kept rummaging around in his satchel; surely something in his collection would come in handy “As I said, two victims now have died under my protection,” the Lieutenant said “Including my commanding officer The Overlord has yet to send a replacement for him, but when he does, I have no doubt that I will be at least demoted Capturing or killing the beast myself would go a long way toward restoring my honor, but that won’t happen.” “Why not?” She met his gaze levelly “Because it’s not about me It’s about saving lives The smart move is to regroup, report, and form a plan of attack.” “Aha!” Valin said At last, he had found something worth looking for It was a plain gold medallion, unmarked, that would give you a vague sense of danger He had received it as a gift from a Tartarus Traveler, actually, who had found it in a locked chest deep in the heart of the Labyrinth Valin was convinced that the medallion was unfinished—there had to be some way of improving it, even if no one else would try—but it would be perfect against an ambush predator like the Strugle “Fortunately for you,” Valin said, “I rarely the smart thing.” As soon as the words were out of his mouth, he realized how they sounded, but he plunged ahead anyway “I’ve hunted Strugle before, in teams and alone You can evade them, you can trap them, and you can kill them All you need is bait.” Roshan shook her head “I told you, I won’t—” “Let me put this to you another way, Lieutenant,” Valin said “I’m going to find a Strugle With your help, I’m much more likely to survive And if I die, it will be because you abandoned me.” Without another word, Valin set off down the steel-plated hallway Deianira would have backed these Travelers into the same corner, he was sure, but she would have felt badly about it Valin didn’t He would have been perfectly happy to hunt the creature alone, but if she followed, perhaps Roshan would get a little bit of the credit Only seconds later, three more sets of footsteps followed him *** Several hours after Valin’s conversation with Roshan, he knelt on a metal ledge, looking down into a cavernous steel bowl Blindfolded, Lieutenant Roshan crouched at the center of the bowl His golden medallion around her neck They needed bait for the Strugle, and at first Valin intended to use himself He found a likely spot to set up a trap—a room with lots of the dark tunnel entrances that Strugles preferred, close to where it had carried out its earlier killings When he started tying the blindfold around his own eyes, Roshan had stopped him You’ve fought these things before, she’d said Are you afraid of them? Well…no That settles that, then They’re attracted to fear I’ve never seen one of these things before, I’ve only seen what they can to my men I’m terrified And somehow, Valin found himself prepared to carry out an ambush, while Roshan sat out there waiting for one He had faith in their chances of attracting a Strugle The hunter was obviously very active, considering its recent body count, and the conditions were perfect As long as Roshan was genuinely shaken, they had a good trap Assuming that they could kill the creature once they caught it Strugles may have originated in Asphodel, but they were adapted to life in Ornheim Their hides were covered in thick, stony plates that would turn any blade short of a pickaxe For the two Strugles Valin had killed before, he had lured one into an ambush of fireball-wielding Naraka Travelers, and crushed the other beneath a giant boulder Valin had heard great things about the superiority of Tartarus Steel blades, but if they could pierce the hide of an Ornheim predator like a Strugle, he would buy one of those weapons for himself Maybe Deianira could get him one He waited in silence as two hours stretched into three It wouldn’t have surprised him to spend an entire night waiting patiently for the Strugle to arrive, but obviously it had instructions to strike early and often At the edge of the metal bowl, a flicker of movement caught Valin’s attention He stared into the shadows, trying to figure out whether his eyes were tricking him Then the darkness shifted again, and a brown-black lump slid into view It looked like a starving man strapped with stone armor Slatted ribs pressed against thin, flaky skin underneath heavy blocks of granite Its arms tapered to black spearpoints at the end; he couldn’t see anything like hands or claws As he recalled, the face was the worst Its mouth was a circular, sucking vortex full of teeth, its eyes huge moons of milky white It was a face bred for inspiring nightmares in children Luckily—or perhaps not—Valin had seen far worse Quietly, he signaled the other two Travelers, gesturing down toward the creature Roshan couldn’t see his gestures from behind her blindfold, but it seemed she sensed something She froze as soon as the Strugle emerged from the shadows, slowly turning her head to face the monster The Traveler nearest to Valin reached over, lifting the lid of a long silver treasure chest He had insisted on picking it up from a Damascan armory before they set this ambush Across the room, on the opposite side of the great steel bowl, the other male Tartarus Traveler raised one hand in front of him A spinning blade the size of a cartwheel erupted into the air out of the silver chest, so big that it seemed like it couldn’t possibly have fit inside Almost soundlessly, it whirred into the air and spun into the Traveler’s waiting hand The closer soldier reached into the chest with one hand When he pulled it out, the hand was covered by a gleaming silver gauntlet So quietly that Valin almost couldn’t believe it, more pieces of armor flew from the chest and assembled themselves on the Traveler’s waiting body In only a few seconds, and with less sound than a clattering teacup, the soldier of Tartarus was covered by a suit of polished steel Unaware, the Strugle crept closer toward Lieutenant Roshan It scuttled like a crab, though it only had four limbs, inching sideways and lurching forward as though nervous Right now, the medallion she wore should be warning her of the Strugle’s approach She would be ready to attack when the time came Valin placed his hand on the hilt of his sword The three Travelers would attack first With any luck, they would finish it off before he managed to climb down If not, he stayed in reserve Everything had lined up exactly as they had planned Then, with a grinding squeal of shifting gears, the Labyrinth changed The bowl slid back, bringing the Strugle and Lieutenant Roshan away from the rest of the room Valin’s ledge raised even higher, and the room widened, separating him from his allied Traveler on the other side Great, Valin thought Now it’s going to take me forever to climb down It actually took him another second to realize the real problem: now, even the two Tartarus Travelers were too far away The Strugle would get the first strike “Go now!” Valin hissed to the Traveler next to him “I’ll catch up!” But the man didn’t leave He reached into the chest and pulled out one of the strangest swords Valin had ever seen It was long, clearly meant to be used with both hands, and slightly curved The sheath still covered its blade, but Valin knew that it would only be sharp along the outside edge The Traveler leaned back, poised to throw the sheathed sword like a javelin “Lieutenant!” he bellowed, and launched the sword like a ballista It shot straight for Lieutenant Roshan, who did not turn toward the sound of her subordinate’s voice, as Valin had expected she would Instead, she turned to face the Strugle and tore her blindfold off For a split second, as the curved sword flew through the air, she stared into the Strugle’s horrific milky eyes And then, without looking, she reached up and caught her sword in her left hand In one smooth motion, she pulled the sword from its sheath and swept its edge toward her opponent Valin didn’t watch how it turned out; he started to scramble down the side of his steel cliff The landscape was made up almost entirely of interlocking steel plates, and he cut himself more than once, but he knew he would need to get down there as fast as possible The Strugle’s preferred method of attack was ambush, terrifying the victim into paralysis before impaling them on its spear-like arms and draining them of blood But if it was confronted, it would not run away and seek other prey, as would many predators Instead, it hunched into an almost turtle-like defensive stance, using its stony armored plates to defend itself as it continued to force its victim into a corner Only when it had no other options would it finally flee In this situation, the Strugle running was probably a worst-case scenario It would be free to hunt on its own, and there was no realistic chance of tracking it down a second time before it killed again That meant they had to kill it before it either devoured Lieutenant Roshan or decided that it had to run Why did the room have to shift? Valin wondered Why then, at that exact time? If the bowl had stayed in place, the Travelers could have killed the creature instantly, at range If the Steel Labyrinth was self-aware, it had a sick sense of humor On the far side of the room, the Traveler with the bladed disc hurled it toward the Strugle Closer to Valin, the man covered in armor leaped down from the ledge, landing easily on the ground twenty feet below Obviously, the armor reinforced his body somehow, which Valin deeply envied at the moment “I’d give my left leg for strength like that right now,” he muttered He wouldn’t mind the armor part either, to tell the truth; his fingers were bleeding from a dozen little cuts When he finally reached the bowl, the three Tartarus Travelers had things well in hand The one with the disc waited high on his ledge, throwing it every few seconds and calling it back to his hand It didn’t much damage to the rocky monster of Ornheim, but it left little chips of stone in its wake It seemed that the armored Traveler’s job was to keep the Strugle from reaching its prey Every time the creature got close to stabbing Roshan, the man pulled it backwards Roshan herself used her gleaming blade to deflect strike after strike, occasionally flickering out to draw blood Delay tactics, Valin realized They were holding it there, chipping away at the predator little by little, waiting for it to succumb to its wounds and die Not a bad strategy, but if this kept up, he wouldn’t get his chance to play Apparently the Strugle heard his thoughts, because the creature’s head twisted almost backwards on its neck, its two white-lantern eyes staring him straight in the face Its round mouth let out a growling shriek, and it slipped through the armored Traveler’s gauntlets to scuttle straight toward Valin It seemed to prefer weaker prey Valin drew his sword and held a basic stance: blade up, feet apart, crouched on the balls of his feet A smile tugged at the corners of his lips This wasn’t, perhaps, the most efficient way of getting rid of the creature, but Naraka take him if it wasn’t more fun The Strugle opened with a probing jab of its spear-arm that Valin had no trouble deflecting The second had a little more spirit behind it Rather than trying a third time, the Strugle hissed and rushed him, loping straight forward with both arms extended Valin twisted to the side and put his whole body behind a thrust to the Strugle’s relatively unarmored chest Then Tartarus played yet another underhanded trick on him His sword bent and snapped off, clinging as it struck the metal floor Without missing a step, Valin threw his hilt aside He knew immediately that if he tried to back off, the Strugle would simply stab him through the back So he leaped forward He didn’t have anything like the strength it would take to wrestle with the creature evenly, but he would settle for keeping it from stabbing him Awkwardly, he pushed at the Strugle’s arms with hands and feet, trying to keep it entangled just long enough for Lieutenant Roshan to strike the final blow Over the monster’s plated shoulder, he happened to catch a glimpse of Roshan’s eyes She had her curved sword held in both hands, and was almost here He hoped he could hang on long enough for her to get there and stab the monster through Wait, come to think of it, how will I get out of the way when she does? She won’t stab me, will she? This was a bad plan… Instead of crossing the last few paces to him, though, she stopped, drew one arm back, and threw her sword forward Is she trying to hit this thing with her thrown sword? Valin thought incredulously If that worked, he was going to apprentice himself to this woman, and never leave until he learned her miraculous sword-throwing secrets The sword didn’t fly nearly as straight as it had earlier; it looped and wobbled through the air Oh, she’s not throwing it at the Strugle She’s throwing it to me If anything, the thought was even less comforting…but it was just as interesting He couldn’t deny that he liked the idea of finishing off this creature himself He had to let go of one of the Strugle’s arms—potentially freeing it to stab him in the back—to reach up and snatch the hilt of the lieutenant’s sword He was face-to-face with the Strugle’s whirling circular mouth, close enough to smell the iron on its breath His body was pressed against the creature’s unarmored underbelly He had the perfect chance So he grabbed the hilt of the sword in both hands and drove it down, putting three and a half feet of steel into the monster’s guts It spasmed as it died, leaking strangely dark blood all over the place Valin stepped back, to avoid getting more blood on his skin than he absolutely had to He pulled the sword out with him, and it slid from the monster’s body with miraculous ease “I need to get one of these swords,” he said “They’re incredible.” Lieutenant Roshan’s grin made her look like a different, even younger person “Come and see me in the Forges, and I’ll show you how they’re made We’ll have plenty of time, since I suspect I’ll be on forge duty for the next few weeks If not the rest of my natural life.” Valin reversed the bloody sword and held it out to her, hilt-first “I just might take you up on that But who says you’ll be punished at all? We caught the thing, didn’t we?” She took the sword from him and began wiping the blade down with a thick cloth she produced from her pocket “Not enough, I’m afraid It was your plan that worked, and you that struck the final blow Thank you for that, by the way.” Tartarus Travelers and their honor They could be even more confusing than the Labyrinth itself “If you knew that, why did you toss me the sword? Why didn’t you just wait and kill it yourself?” Roshan moved around to the armored Traveler, helping him out of his breastplate Apparently he couldn’t just conjure it off the same way he could summon it on “I knew you had the better shot,” she said “I wasn’t thinking of my reputation at the time, I was just trying to make sure we killed the monster Besides, it’s not like this is over We still don’t know who summoned it in the first place.” “Sure you do,” Valin said “Enosh It’s always Enosh.” “We’ll have to be more specific than that, I’m afraid.” Valin nodded absently, still looking at the Strugle’s corpse “That’s it for me, then, I guess My job’s done I was almost hoping it would take longer.” “Hoping you would run into a dragon?” the armored man asked His voice was somewhat muffled by the helmet Valin spread his hands helplessly “Not entirely The Territories are fascinating; I can never see enough of them I’ve never spent much time in Tartarus before, so I was hoping to get to know it a little better.” He hesitated, then added, “And you never know Maybe this will be where I finally find my dragons.” Lieutenant Roshan shrugged “Well, good luck to you Tell the Queen we were grateful for your assistance, and hers If it helps…I’ve heard rumors of fire-breathing snakes with golden scales Not dragons, exactly, but close.” “It’s just a tale we use to keep the novices up at night,” one of the men put in “But hey, you never know.” Valin had certainly followed up on less “Where?” he asked “Supposedly, in the center of the Labyrinth.” He picked up his satchel, slinging it over one shoulder “Can you point me in the right direction?” “It’s a labyrinth,” Lieutenant Roshan said “That’s not just a name It’s a big maze.” “Right, got it So no one knows where the center is.” Oh, well He would just have to find it himself He liked things better that way anyway “Before I forget…” Roshan said, and tossed him his gold medallion “I had a real battle with myself about giving that back to you It may have saved my life today The voice is a little creepy, though.” Valin snatched the medallion out of the air and tucked it away in his satchel He hadn’t forgotten; part of him had been hoping that Roshan would stay quiet and try to keep the artifact for herself He should have known better “You wouldn’t be willing to part with your sword, would you?” Valin asked hopefully She laughed “Pick one up yourself There are plenty around here If you want a good one, though, you’ll have to come see me in the forges.” “Oh, well It was worth a try.” Valin raised a hand in farewell and headed out of the room and back into the razor-filled hallway Then the Wanderer walked deeper into the Steel Labyrinth, looking for dragons You will find that the Red light of humility shines strongly in the Labyrinth, for many of its Travelers hold fast to the old ways Rather than guiding them, we must ask them to guide us -Elysian Book of Virtues, Chapter 6: Red More Stories In… THE LIGHTNING WASTES (The Traveler’s Gate Chronicles, Collection #3) Coming January 2014 Also, check out Will’s website for book updates, news, original fiction, and his long-forgotten True Name! www.WillWight.com ... -Elysian Book of Virtues, Page The Traveler s Gate Chronicles (Collection #2) GARDENS OF MIST Compassion, tied to the Rose Light, is also the virtue most necessary for leading Travelers of Asphodel... precious metals and gems flashed on each of his fingers: plain halfsilver bands; gold rings set with sunstone; rune-etched rubies; obsidian bands with small caps of iridian sand On his face, as always,... rights reserved Cover art by Patrick Foster IMPORTANT: What follows is a small collection of short stories set in the universe of the Traveler s Gate Trilogy, which begins in the novel House of