Tanaz Bhathena - Rising Like a Storm

When the bounty hunter finds me, Im squatting behind the partially broken wall of an outdoor restroom in Tavan, bare from the waist down, my skin prickling in the cold light of a yellow half moon. I hear him firsthis breaths heavy and raggedbefore I catch him peering at me from behind the wall, his gaunt face coated with a layer of shimmering Dream Dust. His spell nicks the tip of my earlobe, leaving behind a cut that could have severed my whole ear had I not rolled out of the way, my bladder growing taut and painful, every urge to urinate gone.

A grunt, followed by another spell in the dark. Debris strewn across the wet floor sticks to my palms as I crawl over it: the broken shards of a tile, grit, gravel, and goddess knows what else. My heart beats out a scattered rhythm as the restroom glows again with red light, more tiles clattering to the ground. I hold in a breath, not daring to make a sound.

If only I could get to my daggers.

Right now, theyre sheathed in my belt, which hangs on the walltwo seaglass blades shaped like the curling horns of a shadowlynxin full view of anyone taking aim from the outside. The star-shaped birthmark on my right arm grows warm. My magic, as always, senses the danger Im in. I know I could fight the bounty hunter magically, without my daggers. I also know that, by doing so, I could potentially rupture an organ or injure myself in some other stupid way, making it easier for him to take me to Queen Shayla and claim the five thousand swarnas she has offered for my capture.

Is someone there? I say under my breath.

Im not looking for an alive someone; certainly, Im not hoping to draw the attention of the bounty hunter. But a living specter or two might be lingering nearby. Each chained to our world by a single, desperate wish, living specters are spirits of the dead that remain invisible to magi and non-magi. Though everyone can hear and feel the presence of the specters, only half magi like Cavas can see them. Over the past twenty years, Tavans specters have protected its boundary, circling the golden bars the Pashu king Subodh magically erected to protect the city. The combined powers of the bars and the specters keep the city not only invisible but also unbreachable by outsiders.

So how did a bounty hunter show up here? I wonder. Are the specters fading?

Specters could fade, disappearing for good from the living world once their most desperate wish was fulfilled. Without spectral magic, the golden bars can vanish, creating gaps in Tavans boundary like holes in an aging tapestry.

Esther, the only other half magus in Tavan, warned me about this possibility many times over the past three months. Our specters wont hold on forever, she said. Yes, its true that most have remained behind to protect the city because I asked them to. But spectral magic isnt something I control. It is solely guided by the spirits own will. Many of these specters were marked women and girls from Tavan, who were tortured to death. They simply wished for King Lohar to die. Now that hes gone, few will be willing to stay behind.

My breath rushes outa sound that makes the bounty hunter mutter. His looming shadow sways erratically against the bathroom floor. I wonder if hes feeling dizzy, a common aftereffect of the Dream Dust. Inhaling too much of the Dust can make you question what you see with your own eyesa solid advantage in my favor right now. But I dont dare look up to confirm this. The bounty hunter is still armed. I cant predict how the Dust will affect his aim.

Im not sure about my own aim, either. I havent practiced death magic once in these three months, though Ive carried my dagger belt everywhere like a shackle binding my hips.

If youd listened to Esther, you wouldnt be in this state right now, my conscience chides. Heat shoots up my right arm, my fingertips glowing a dull orange. If we were still talking, Cavas would have likely told me about the specters fading. But Cavas has barely spoken to or looked at me since our fight last month, ignoring every attempt Ive made at reconciliation.

A rock clatters outside, followed by a mans enraged shout.

I crane my neck up, risking a peek through the hole in the bathroom wall. Instead of the bounty hunter, I see only the night skyas starry and cloudless as the sky goddesss eyes in my dreams.

Are you there, Goddess? I think. Can you hear me?

But the goddess remains silent, the way she has ever since we arrived in Tavan.

A breath brushes my injured ear, sending burning pinpricks over my skin. A childish giggle, followed by a familiar singsongy voice: Wallowing in self-pity again? Shame. What if the Legion saw their Star Warrior now?

Whosssit? the bounty hunter shouts from somewhere beyond the wall, his words slurring together. Ssssat you, marked witch?

Indu, I whisper, ignoring him. Indu is a living specter, who died as a young girl. She helped me and Cavas several times in the past, leading us to Tavan after we fled Ambar Fort. Relief floods my aching limbs. Indu, can you raise an alarm?

I already have, silly girl, the specter says. I did it the moment this man and his troop slipped in.

His troop? There are more? I demand, horrified.

What do you think? Indu snorts. Theyre not as Dust-addled as this one, either. Are you going to fight him now, or do you want me to hand your daggers to you?

Good point. I cant hide in this musty bathroom forever.

Heart in throat, I rise in a leap, expecting to be shot at any moment. Luck favors methe bounty hunter shoots but lops off only a few strands of my braid. I unsheathe my daggers, tightening my slippery hands around a pair of familiar hilts. Magic pours through me in a rush, the seaglass blades expelling a burst of green fire.

My first two spells miss their target, but my third one shapes itself into an arrow that impales the bounty hunters left eye and flies out the back of his turbaned skull in a cloud of blood, cloth, and bone fragments.

Thank the goddess, Indu says. Youre not completely out of touch.

Yes, I think, relief mingling with nausea. My magic, so unpredictable since I was a girl, did exactly what I wanted it to today.

You said there were more bounty hunters. Where are they? I ask Indu, ignoring the shivers running down my limbs.

At the southern boundarynext to the reservoir. Esther, Kali, and the boy are holding them off for now while Raja Subodh checks on the other city borders. Hurry, Star Warrior!

The boy. There is only one boy in Tavan right now, and thats Cavas, his face flashing before me in various imagined stages of death.