Saul spread temper sap over his stinging and bloody arm, careful to avoid the burn marks. Those would scar, but the sap could do nothing for that. Olivia sat, propped against the sarcophagus beside him, still catching her breath. Grand Sleeper Mataya stood inside the sarcophagus.

  Her hair was shoulder length and black, not a strand of gray. Her robe was sea-green. Dark eyes remained fixed on Nivanti. She did not look even half a century old, but Saul knew looks could be deceiving, even among exiles.

  Mataya folded her arms. “I wouldn’t have expected you to notice my detainment, of all the sleepers in this tower.”

  “I didn’t.” Nivanti motioned one hand to Saul and Olivia. “I found these two, and they convinced me to bring them up here.”

  “That makes sense.” Mataya’s gaze roved from Nivanti to Saul, before resting on Olivia. “So, who are you two?”

  “Saul Burton. And this is Olivia Jordan. We chased Luther’s people here from earth.”

  Olivia nodded, eyes closed. Using whatever kind of power she had within her in place of a maker’s spark had drained her greatly, even just to ignite the oven rod.

  Mataya stepped down from her sarcophagus. She wore a frown. “Do either of you know what Luther really wants? He’s always been a troublemaker.”

  “No idea.” Saul shrugged. “He stole the hilt of Seffuin’s sword from Earth.” And from right under my nose. “He knew it could make a whole universe, but I don’t know why he wants that.”

  “Last time he was in prison, here on Rokar, he was released after another Grand Sleeper met with him.” Mataya met Nivanti’s eyes.

  “Kahzed,” said Nivanti. “As if he didn’t have enough to answer for.”

  Saul frowned. “Who is Kahzed?”

  “Ignorant as ever, boy.”

  Saul glared at Nivanti. The low sleeper ignored the expression.

  Mataya’s face darkened. She climbed down from the dais and walked to one side of the room. Saul glanced at Olivia, then followed Mataya down from the dais. She gazed out through the transparent crystal wall, and into the abyss between worlds.

  Saul followed her gaze. A whorl of flickering colors emerged from the gray clouds and white mist. Saul’s eyes narrowed as the lights expanded like a ripple in a pond, except in three dimensions. The waves of color met the edges of a rough sphere and rebounded. They shrank back again. After a moment, they began to expand again.

  The Grand Sleeper folded her arms, but her gaze remained fixed on the ripples of color. “Kahzed is the leader of the Castellagi Faction. Of the four of us Grand Sleepers, he’s the one who demands the most expansion of our territory.”

  Saul whistled. “Another universe would be a big expansion.”

  Nivanti grunted. “The Grand Sleeper is talking, boy.”

  He shot her a scowl.

  Mataya ignored Saul and Nivanti. She nodded, eyes still on the shifting colors outside the city. “Kahzed has thought for centuries that we choose to remain in this city at our peril. If Hidria knew we were here, they could simply choose to snuff us out at any time.”

  “I don’t plan on telling.”

  Mataya’s lips curved into a slight smile. “That is good. But if Kahzed’s forces create a new universe close to us, we will have to use it because Hidria will surely take notice.”

  “And then you’ll be at war.” Saul scowled. “Sounds like the World Council to me. They think they can walk over anyone.”

  “I don’t know.” Mataya shook her head. “But even if we could win the war, everything would change. The All-Father, Adam cannot lead the fleet in person. Kahzed probably thinks that if there is war he will supplant the All-Father as ruler of Rokar because he has the largest stake in our defenses.” She pressed her forehead to the crystal wall. Her breath fogged the transparent stone. “Saul, what do you want with the hilt? Really?”

  “I’ve trained and fought to become a worldmaker my whole life.” He motioned to the rippling colors outside. “I’ve trained long enough to know that kind of spectral phenomenon marks a place where a new world would grow strong. Still, there’s a way to move the new universe once it starts. If I can manage that—”

  Mataya shook her head. “That is too dangerous. The hilt must not be used so close to Rokar.”

  “Luther and Kahzed have the hilt already, so we are short on time.” Saul grimaced. “We may not have a choice.”

  “I only ask you do one thing. Take the hilt from this place.” Mataya’s eyes flicked to his face. Though unlined, her face began to look very old and weary. “I will deal with Kahzed, but you must not make a new world nearby.”

  “If you make a new world at all,” another voice said from behind them. Olivia walked unsteadily toward Saul and Mataya, leaning on her cattle prod like a crutch.

  He turned toward her, eyebrows raised. “Olivia.”

  Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

  “Please, Saul. You know Hidria won’t let you keep the world you make.”

  “If it comes to that I can fight them for it.” His stomach felt empty, even more than before he had eaten the old soup from the foodfall. “And if I can get the hilt, I’ll be the one to make the choice.”

  Olivia met his eyes, steady in her stance, no longer leaning on her cattle prod. “So you can choose peace or war.”

  “They exiled me. They want to kill you just for knowing they exist.”

  “You think fighting them for a new piece of ground is going to make any of that better?”

  “It’ll give me a chance.”

  “A chance to beat your father, maybe.”

  His hands began to tremble. The pain of the spiral burn on his right arm faded from attention completely. He glared at Olivia. “You don’t know a thing about my father.”

  “I know he’s a worldmaker and you hate him.”

  “Olivia.” He felt his lips draw back. “Be quiet.”

  “Quiet? You’re the one who never listens to anyone.” She took a deep breath. “If you really want to be selfish, be selfish. But if you want to protect people, then stop acting like you only care about yourself.” She seethed with rapid breaths. Her knuckles were white around the grip of her cattle prod. “What do you choose?”

  Saul’s hands continued to shake. He took a step toward Olivia, mind pulsing with incoherent rage. “I made my decision long ago.”

  “It’s not too late to choose again.”

  He stalked toward her. Tremors ran through his hands. A palm touched his shoulder. “Be at ease,” said Mataya. “She speaks the truth.”

  Saul felt the urge to pull away from Mataya, but at the same time, his rage began to subside. He glanced at the Grand Sleeper. His pulse slowed. “Thanks.” He took a deep breath. He turned back to

  Olivia. “I’ll consider this. But for now, we need to catch up with Luther.”

  Mataya lifted her hand from his shoulder. “He must be with Adam in the citadel, but he could leave for the world root at any time.”

  “Then we should hurry,” said Olivia.

  He nodded. “How do we get there?”

  “The citadel is at the center of the city, but it is protected by legions of Sanctuary Guard. My forces would not be able to break through them head on even if I commanded them to try.”

  “And that would mean civil war.”

  “Exactly,” said Mataya.

  Nivanti chuckled. “You’re catching on quicker, boy.”

  “We just need some darkness,” said Saul. “I have a way inside for two people if we can get to a close enough shadow.” He felt Nat lodged against his neck, still safe and secret.

  “Then go toward the center. You’ll find plenty of shadows there.” She turned to Saul. “And listen to each other.”

  Despite the implications of her words, he felt an odd sense of calm. He nodded, and then started to walk toward Olivia. “Time to walk.”

  “I think not,” said Mataya. “Take a roofrunner."

  * * *

  The roofrunner bounded across the interior of the city on three sets of big cat-like legs. Saul did not have to time to wonder how the exiles had made the strange creature without the spark. He was too busy hanging on to the fur on the creature’s back with each sixty-foot leap. Olivia clung on ahead of him, holding the reins attached to the beast’s collar.

  Around them, sounds dampened by rushing air, the city of Rokar could have been a city on Earth except for the surrounding walls and the vessels which hung in the air beneath the high crystal dome above. There had to be more differences, but with the shock of each landing and the rush of each launch, Saul found himself unable to process much beyond his reeling stomach and deafened ears.

  Olivia let out a wild whoop as the beast jumped again. He couldn’t believe anyone enjoyed this mode of travel. Give him a large art-child or a winged boat any day. The creature came down on a roof just a block from one of the few buildings that would have looked out of place on Earth, their destination. Olivia tugged on the reins and the beast paused on the rooftop.

  Rokar’s citadel resembled a medieval castle with a high central keep but stretched vertically so its towers looked like needles, with a spread of crystalline domes beneath them. The outer walls were made not of stone, or crystal, but of the same rust colored metal as the structures on the outside of the city’s shell.

  He looked up at the central keep, where it rose higher than any building around until it touched the ceiling of the highest point of the crystal dome over the city. The keep was white stone, a strange contrast against the metal walls below. Veins of crystal ran through the white stone that all appeared to be one piece as if grown rather than built. Saul supposed that might even be literally true, given the way the city was built within a huge hollow jewel.

  She glanced back at him as the roofrunner sauntered toward a drop to an alleyway below. “Is this close enough?”

  “Nat, any shadows we can use to get inside near here?”

  “I thought you’d never ask.” Nat poked his head out of Saul’s collar. “Down below us in the alley.”

  Olivia turned forward. “Alright girl, down we go.”

  The roofrunner must have understood her, because it crept to the edge of the roof, then dropped down into the alleyway. Saul’s stomach jumped for an instant as they fell. He hung on for a second after landing, then relaxed his grip on the roofrunner’s fur and climbed down to the floor of the alley.

  Nat was right. The alley was darkened by eaves hanging over one side. Olivia followed him from the roofrunner’s side to the shadows just ahead of the creature. He held out one hand to her as they shadows fell over them.

  A scream echoed from the street at one end of the alley. Olivia hesitated from taking her hand. She turned toward the scream. Her fingers worked to untie the cattle prod from her coat where she had bound it during their ride on the roofrunner.

  “Olivia. We need to go.”

  A shout rang out. Saul knew the word well enough to recognize what it was saying.

  Olivia glanced at him and repeated the shouted word. “Gern.”

  “They must have found a way into the city.”

  Olivia nodded. A creature roared. Hissing sounds cut the air, accompanied by the smell of burning hair. She continued to the exit of the alleyway and peered around the corner. “They’re attacking the citizens.”

  Saul shook his head, but followed her to the corner and looked out into the narrow street beyond. A half dozen warped gern forms had scattered a crowd of people who fled toward the citadel. The gern leapt among them, cutting and biting with claws and jaws. His eyes widened as the people approached the citadel along the street, running toward the open gateway. But the entrance was already occupied, by a line of troops in gleaming armor and masks with black eyepieces.

  The crowd broke against the lines of troops and fled along the unyielding walls.

  “They’re not letting anyone in.”

  “We can get inside,” said Saul. “Come on.”

  A gern with a hyena’s laugh lunged toward a man, who limped along the street nearby the alley, cradling a wounded arm. Olivia raised one arm and a taser sprang from her sleeve into her grip. Tines leapt into the gern’s side and a jolt of electricity blackened its warped flesh. The gern staggered sideways and skidded to the pavement. The limping man looked over his shoulder at Saul and Olivia.

  His eyes were wild, but he nodded to her shakily.

  “You go,” said Olivia. “I’ll protect these people.”

  He scowled. “How will you know if I make the right decision?”

  She glanced at him. “I’ll catch up with you. Besides, I’m a gern hunter.”

  He grunted. Her tone told him there was no point in arguing. Olivia stepped out into the street. He had no time to wait here, but he didn’t like her taking the gern on by herself.

  “Alright. Nat.” Saul backed into the alleyway. “Take me into the citadel.”