He is not that way, Nissa said.
Sorin turned to her and raised his eyebrows. He is not what exactly? A vampire?
He is not that kind of vampire.
Sorin smiled. He s the kind that wanted to drain you before I dissuaded him.
The door of Anowon s cell slammed shut.
But he is our only guide, Nissa said. The human is gone.
Sorin said nothing.
The goblin coughed and glanced at Smara. I know the way, the goblin said. To Teeth of Akoum.
They both turned to the goblin, who had not spoken since Smara had bumbled into their camp in the Makindi Trench.
Smara also stared at the goblin, who clapped its claw over its mouth.
Sorin turned back to Nissa. You see, there is our new guide.
But Anowon saw how the brood was released. Perhaps he knows how to put them back?
Sorin s smile dropped a jot. The vampire does not know how to put the brood back, he said. You can trust me.
The door to Anowon s cell opened. Someone laughed as they exited his cell. Then the cell door slammed again. She could understand some of what the strange elves were saying. Two were talking about the fruit eater whoever that was.
Who is this Ser Amaran from the grove of fruit trees? Nissa said.
Sorin waved his hand. Some minor figure.
Anowon would know who Ser Amaran is, Nissa said.
Sorin snorted. We should be more concerned with how we are going to get out of this cell.
When they open the door, you can use your rot talk to destroy them.
I cannot risk that not with this many crystals and lava rock around. The sound could echo. And nobody wants that.
Then I will have to end whoever opens the door, Nissa said.
Perhaps if there is one guard or two, Sorin said.
But six? I think not.
Nissa pushed her chin out. I am Joraga, she said.
You are unarmed, Sorin said. Anyway, I don t think they plan to let us out.
They have to some day.
Do they? Sorin said. Did you happen to notice what the kolya trees were growing in? Or were you too busy watching the minor elf stuffing his mouth with his sacred fruit?
I did not notice anything unusual about the bed the trees were growing in. This pillar is the remains of a life bloom Roil. Did you not hear the elf?
Nissa waited for Sorin s response.
Yes, Sorin replied. But I also heard her say that most life blooms last a day or two at the most.
Nissa s trap had worked: Sorin had been listening. He had good ears for a human, as she had been at the end of the line and he d been the first. She would have to watch him closer. Humans did not have ears capable of hearing a whispered conversation from half a mile away. That was an elf s ability or a vampire s.
I saw bones protruding from the soil under the trees, Sorin said.
Bones? Nissa said. Could elves do something like that kill and bury beings to ensure their plants lived? Sure, she thought. Her own people often killed any sentient beings they found in their forest, regardless of species. If these Nourisher elves tied their way of being, their tribal identity, with those trees, then they would do any sort of thing to ensure that they thrived and prospered.
Yes, bones, Sorin said. If they are to use us for fertilizer, why not kill us here in this cell with poison?
Nissa looked down at the empty bowl of gruel her jailer had shoved at her. She d eaten it all without a word, gagging slightly at the grubs which she had seen the elves picking off the kolya leaves earlier that day. But at least she had known they were fresh.
Then we need to free ourselves quickly and rescue Anowon, she said.
Are we not back to the discussion we were having before? Sorin said.
From far away Nissa heard the low drone of a horn. It was a tremendous dusty sound, the loudness of which increased then dropped off then built again to a crescendo. She heard the sound of thick-soled sandals shuffling in the hallway.
What was that? Sorin said.
Death, Smara said, suddenly. Death, death, death, death.
Hush, Nissa said. She listened to the horn for a while longer. A signal horn. They use a similar code to the Tajuru a force approaching.
Well, we must get out now, Sorin said. He cast his eyes around the cell. They had been over the cell in the daylight and found nothing. The simple bench was carved out of the wall, and there was no window. The solid door was the very piece the builders had cut to make the doorway, presumably. It fit into the doorway so snugly that Nissa could not see light at the seams.
Sorin got to his knees before the door to look at the lock. After a moment of inspection he inserted his long first finger into the keyhole and drew it out again.
If the door were wood, he said, if it had ever been alive, I might have had some enchantments that could putrefy it or make it an entity for us to command. Sorin pushed on the door, and when it did not move he strode over to the bench and sat down.
Nissa bent down for a look in the keyhole. She d heard the elf unlock and lock the door three times when he and the others put them in the cell at Ser Amaran s order, and the two times they had been brought food. She had never heard the jingle of keys, or the scrape of metal on metal, or metal on rock. They were elves after all. If she were to design a lock, it would not feature metal a useful but untrustworthy creation. She would use something natural. Nissa looked into the lock hole again.
The hole was dark, or course. But Nissa could see clearly enough the hallway on the other side of the door. There was no keyhole shape to the hole, just a circle. What kind of key would fit a circle? she wondered.
One thing was certain: the cell had not been built to hold elves. Either the occupants of the Impossible Garden never thought they would imprison an elf, or there were other cells for elves elsewhere in the tower. The door was very small, and Nissa concluded that the cell had been built in all likelihood for goblins. Even the cruellest elf would leave a window if he knew elves were being held. Not being able to see and smell the outside world was paramount to the most inhumane torture for an elf. No, their cell had not been built for elves.
Nissa looked into the hole again. Silent figures passed in the hallway. Inside the lock s hole the opening from keyhole to keyhole was absolutely smooth. She pushed her finger into the hold and felt a sensation. The feeling was neither hot nor cold, but buzzed slightly.
There is a field of power here, Nissa said.