Wraithblood: The Elixir, Episode 16a

“We should hide,” you say. “Right now.”

“The lady speaks sense,” says Nasser. “Tarquin?”

Tarquin shakes himself out his terror and points a third-story balcony overlooking the hall of terrified statues. “There. We’ll have a good view of the great hall, and three different corridors open off that balcony, if we need to escape.”

“Move,” says Nasser.

Tarquin leads the way, and you and Nasser and the others follow the orange-robed eunuch up a spiraling staircase of wrought iron. The railings are shaped like misshapen monsters, and the stairs themselves seem to bear the images of screaming faces.

“Callatas’s taste in art is tedious to a degree of mathematical precision,” you say.

“Shut up,” says Azaces, his face tight with fear, sweat beading on his forehead.

You reach the balcony and crouch with the others behind the railing, alongside more of Callatas’s disturbing statues. And not a moment too soon – the double doors boom open, and you hear the tramp of boots against the marble floor. Eight men in black march across the floor. They wear knee-length shirts of black mail, beneath black cuirasses, and sword and dagger rest ready at their hips. They also wear ornate black helms, the faceplates wrought to look like grinning skulls.

And from within the eye holes, you glimpse a pale blue glow.

The men are Immortals, the elite bodyguards of the Padishah and the Master Alchemists. The Immortals are slaves, purchased young, and subjected to years of brutal training. All the while they are fed alchemical solutions to make them stronger, faster, more resilient than normal men.

And rumor holds the Immortals are fighters without mercy or fear.

You crouch in silence with the others until the Immortals pass.

“Immortals, Nasser?” hisses Azaces. “You failed to mention that Callatas would have Immortals guarding his mansion?”

“I did not know, I fear,” says Nasser, glancing at Tarquin. “Someone failed to mention it.”

“I didn’t know!” squeals Tarquin. “The Master doesn’t tell me everything! I didn’t…I didn’t think he would use the Immortals to guard his mansion while he was away.”

“Obviously,” says Azaces, murder in his eyes, “since his slaves are so trustworthy!”

“Enough,” says Nasser. “No plan goes off without a hitch. You know this. Now, Tarquin. Presumably the Immortals will guard the central staircase. Is there another way to get to Callatas’s strong room and the Elixir Rejuvenata?”

Riordan frowns, and Azaces say, “You’re going through with this? In the face of the Immortals?”

Nasser snorts. “If you want to run off with your tail between your legs, do so. I will not stop you. But the rewards go only to the bold. Tarquin. Another way to the strong room?”

“No,” says Tarquin. “Well…yes.”

“Make up your mind,” says Riordan.

“The Master has…secret passages throughout the mansion,” says Tarquin. “So he can come and go as he pleases, unnoticed by even the slaves. But I have served the Master for years. I know some of the secret passages. Two of them will take us to the Master’s private apartments, and then we can make our way to the laboratory and the strong room.”

“Oh, as easy as that?” says Azaces.

“Not quite,” says Tarquin. “One passage opens into the Master’s library, and the second into one of his summoning chambers. Both have…guardians, though I am unsure of their nature. And the secret passages themselves might have a guardian.”

As Tarquin speaks, you glance over the balcony, and see a window at the end of the hall. Callatas’s mansion is ten stories tall, and you’re already three stories up. Both Riordan and Azaces are carrying ropes and grapnels. Why not simply scale the side of the mansion and avoid the Immortals and the guardians entirely?

On the other hand, you calculate it is exactly ninety-seven seconds until the Immortals return to the great hall and pass beneath the enormous, ornate crystal-and-iron chandelier hanging from the ceiling.

And the chandelier’s chain is anchored to this balcony.

If you release the chain at exactly the right time, you calculate at least a seventy-three percent chance that the chandelier will kill at least six of the Immortals.

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