The Fifth City Read Online Free Page B

Meadowcity unharmed.

 
    Four
     
    Sylvia landed perfectly on both feet, her knees bent to absorb the impact from the jump.
But she was not alone.
    A girl stood staring at her in the dark street that had been empty seconds ago.
    The girl opened her mouth, but Sylvia was quicker.  In two steps she was behind the girl, the sharp dagger Ven had given her at the girl’s throat.  The dark-haired girl gasped, frozen now.
    Sylvia pulled the girl deeper into the shadow of the wall.  She had blown out the lights so no one would see her climbing over, but that plan had obviously failed.  What was she to do, now that she had been spotted? 
    Sylvia spoke, low, “Open your mouth and you’re dead.”  Convincing enough , she thought.
    The girl started trembling, and Sylvia could smell ale and smoke on her.  She must have been walking home from a night in a pub.  What luck!  Perhaps she wouldn’t remember seeing Sylvia.
    “What are you doing out so late?” she asked the girl, trying to gauge her level of coherence.
    “I—I was out walking—I didn’t want to go home after the pub—but who are you?  Are you attacking the city?”
    The dagger almost slipped, but Sylvia gripped it tighter and finally pulled it away from the girl’s throat.  The girl was panicked, but coherent.  She would remember this encounter.  Sylvia changed tack.
    “Attack your city?” she hissed, and pulled the girl around to face her.  “Do you even know what’s going on?”  She kept her dagger raised, pointed at the girl who ruined what would have been a perfect break in.
    “Not anymore!” the girl wailed, a little too loudly.
    Sylvia shushed her and scanned the streets.  Still empty.  But someone could look out a window…
    “What are you talking about?  Quietly,” Sylvia said, busy trying to think of a way out of this.
    “Well, I just heard—” the girl paused and narrowed her eyes, perhaps thinking better of trusting a stranger who just jumped over the wall.  “But why should I tell you?  Who are you?”
    This girl was obviously not a Scout, so perhaps she could trust her.  Her sleek black cloak brushed the stone street, and beneath it Sylvia could see that she wore heavy leather leggings marred with a few burns.  Even in the dim moonlight she could tell the girl’s skin was a pretty golden brown; and her face was sharply featured.  Her cheekbones and eyebrows carved sharp shadows across her face.  But her eyes were wide, staring at Sylvia with a mix of terror and determination.
    Sylvia took a chance.  “I’m from Meadowcity,” she whispered.
    The girl gasped.  “But, Meadowcity,” she said in a matching whisper, “You’ve had a battle, haven’t you?”
    “How do you know about that?” Sylvia demanded.
    “I just heard—well, I just overhead the Scouts, and—”
    “Quiet,” Sylvia said.  “Can we get off the streets?”  She lowered her dagger, suddenly deciding to trust her.
    The girl turned and nodded, pointing down an alley.
    Sylvia didn’t know if she was making a huge mistake, but this girl seemed to know a lot more than she imagined anyone in Lightcity would know.
    She followed the girl down the streets of the dark city, encountering no one.  Even the tiny wedge of a moon disappeared behind some clouds.  Finally they stopped in front of a villa, but the girl hesitated.  Instead, she led Sylvia to the glass shop next door.  She quietly opened the door and beckoned her in.
    After a quick glance down the street left and right, she went in, heart in her throat.  This could be a big mistake, trusting this girl , she worried.  But something in her gut told her to go in.
    Sylvia shut the door without turning her back on the girl, who was already drawing the curtains shut on the windows.  It smelled of glass and fire.  Sylvia kept her dagger drawn.
    “Who are you?” the girl whispered as she sunk to sit on the floor, showing far more trust in Sylvia than was probably warranted.
    Sylvia