Asunder: A Gathering of Chaos by Cameron Hopkin (children's ebooks free online .txt) 📕

head in disbelief, Kest realized what the Coliseum truly was: an edifice built on the bones of the world’s greatest sea serpent. Those odd white pillars were the ribs of the mighty beast curled around itself, and its head watched over the entire city. The grey granite between the bones enclosed the space within and turned it from skeleton to structure. “Is that real?” he asked, his voice shaking. “Was that a real serpent?” It seemed impossible. Such a beast would be a world-eater. A god. Humans could not exist alongside something so vast, so powerful. He wanted to shut his eyes to the sight, but it could never be un-seen.

Gamarron took him by the elbow and towed him along, moving again with the flow. Dazed, Kest permitted it. “The Seafarer Council insists that it was. They built the Coliseum, and they say they killed it centuries ago, perhaps longer. The Council rules Megalith; it’s the only major city without a governor. This is the central trade hub of the Mainland, and the Seafarer Council controls it all. Personally, I think they built the Coliseum to make everyone wonder what kind of power they have. Who could kill such a thing?” he mused, gesturing to the magnificent, obscene building. “Between that and their trade control policies, they’ve managed to maintain the city’s independence.”

Kest was only half-listening. “What do they use it for?”

“Combats, revels, public events. Every now and then they hold city votes there. Mostly, though, it’s gladiatorial combat. Every week they hold their games. Beastly, if you ask me. Men and women killing each other for money just so others can watch someone bleed.” He shook his head. “I sometimes wonder if living in such large cities makes the Mainlanders a little unhinged.”

“Unhinged” was a good description of everything Kest had seen in Megalith so far., especially the Coliseum. The empty eye sockets of the world-eater serpent looked down on him, and he gave a little shudder. Gamarron patted him on the back. “I completely agree with that sentiment,” the older man confessed. “Best to accustom yourself, though – we have to pass beneath it.”

And so they did, following the great floating road up to the mouth of the Coliseum. The sides of the walkway split off into twin ramps leading up into the Coliseum and the center of the path dropped down to a tunnel that ran beneath the massive stones of the arena’s floor. Glowing, bulbous crustaceans suspended from the ceiling lit the enclosed thoroughfare, and they were jostled worse than ever in its confines. There wasn’t enough air, and Kest’s stomach lurched and jumped inside him. He swallowed his bile, remembering his own insistence that he wouldn’t vomit.

After a crowded eternity, they emerged on the far side of the tunnel and entered the Commerce District. All the walkways here were of Seafarer make, sturdy and wide, and fancy Weaver-grown docks spread along the waterfront of the east bank. The residents’ clothes were finer and less given to bright extremes, though the glint of gems woven into hair, beards, and clothes bespoke an opulence that was absent on the western side of the river.

Breathing through his nose, Kest mastered his nausea. “So we’re going to see a thief. Do you really want that kind of help?”

Gamarron sighed. “Under normal circumstances, I would not. Criminality is not something we tolerate the way these Mainlanders do. But the ones who have the knowledge I seek are… well, they are not human. I need to steal from the Naga.”

Kest was horrified. “The snake people? You mean to take us to them?” His homeland Pacari was blessedly free of humanity’s ancient enemy, but stories came to them with the traders’ ships.

“No,” said Gamarron carefully. “I mean for you to take us to them.”

Kest stopped in his tracks. “What?”

The monk pulled him along. “This is why I needed a tracker. Other than vague circles on a map, no human has ever found the Naga home city. Naga prisoners have spoken of it when they are taken in skirmishes, so I’m fairly sure it exists, but… I need someone to find it. You.”

Kest’s mind whirled. The idea of confronting the legendary snake people filled his guts with ice, but something about it piqued his interest as well. No one has ever found it. But I could. He shook his head at his own thoughts. It was utter lunacy. “I’ve spent all these weeks with you and only now do I find out that you’re insane. The Naga eat people.”

“That has been known to occur,” conceded Gamarron. “But your chief said you’re quite the genius when it comes to forest craft. I’m willing to take the risk.”

“And what if I’m not?”

The older man’s beard twitched as he gave a subtle grimace. He guided them into the eddies of the crowd and stopped near the grand hull-side entrance of a very upscale tavern and inn. “Kest, I consider myself patient, but I tire of this. I have treated you as well as I know how and spoken to you with respect even though you fail to give it in return. You have tested yourself against me and failed, and I know of no other method to gain your obedience. What will it take?” His brow was drawn low beneath his leather-and-crystal headband, and the promise of anger lurked in his eyes.

I’m acting like a child. It wasn’t Gamarron’s fault that he had been cast out of the tribe, and the man had treated him with something like kindness in the days since. But the part of Kest that recognized this was small, and a much larger piece raged against the unfairness of it all. That was the part that seemed to have control of his tongue lately.

“You will never have my obedience,” he spat. “You’re not my chief, and I’m not your child. You dragged me from my home and now you want to throw us both to the Naga? Well, I won’t do it!”