Page 12 of The Princess of Portals

“You know something about her tattoo?” I asked him.

His expression was dark and worried. “I know something about the woman who wears it. They call her the Nightingale. She’s one of the most vicious, notorious hunters in all the Many Realms.”

CHAPTER 5

THE NIGHTINGALE

“The Nightingale works for the Kingdom of Dusk,” Azure told me. “Duchess Dellondré’s kingdom.”

Which meant vampires. Just splendid.

“So Yara—the Nightingale—pretended to be Ren’s daughter?” I said. “But why?”

“Presumably because Duchess Dellondré tasked her to find him,” Violetta replied.

“Can you describe this Ren fellow?” said Azure.

“I can do better. I can show him to you.”

Azure’s gaze swept across the photograph I showed them. “That is Tyren, a famous Alchemist. He invented a special metal and a method of using it to create swords that never lose their edge. His other inventions include items such as the personal energy shield and a magic drink that keeps you fully awake and powered up for three days. A lot of battle commanders give it to their soldiers. The problem is Tyren’s potion is proprietary and the formula is secret. No one’s been able to replicate it. So anyone who wants it has to buy it directly from him. His prices reflect that exclusivity.”

“That explains why Duchess Dellondré is interested in him,” I said.

“A lot of people are interested in him, Savannah,” Violetta told me. “About a year ago, things got really ugly between a few major players: Dellondré, Qwintyn, and Harkin. They each tried to persuade Tyren to make an exclusive deal with them for access to his inventions.”

“And by persuade, Violetta means they tried to kidnap Tyren,” Azure said. “He evaded five abduction attempts, but they got him on the sixth. Dellondré was the one who captured him. She held him for two months, trying to force him to make terrible weapons for her. It was all over the news. People expressed their outrage and indignation at what Dellondré had done, but that’s as far as things went. Of course the Court didn’t lift a finger to help Tyren. Dellondré has a lot of allies, and Tyren, well, doesn’t. He’s an exceptionally brilliant Alchemist, and like so many other exceptionally brilliant Alchemists, he isn’t very good with people. He’s arrogant, condescending, and uncompromising.”

“How did Tyren escape?” I asked.

“Her.” Azure indicated the woman standing beside Ren in the photograph. “That’s Ophira, and up until a year ago, she was Dellondré’s most decorated warrior, not to mention her most loyal one. That’s why Dellondré had Ophira watching him. But for some reason, Ophira turned on Dellondré. She helped Tyren escape and has been his bodyguard ever since.”

“How did Ophira go from loyal soldier to renegade rogue?” I wondered.

Azure shrugged. “No one knows. Some say Ophira left Dellondré’s service because she thought what the Duchess was doing was wrong. Others believe Tyren gave her an offer she couldn’t refuse. Whatever the case, for over a year now, Dellondré has been sending hunters all across the Many Realms in search of Tyren and Ophira. They have all come back empty-handed. This time, Dellondré sent the Nightingale.”

“And the Nightingale found Tyren.”

“She hasn’t found him yet. A big time hunter and she needs our Savannah to find her prey.” Marlow chuckled.

I looked at him. “Well, I’m not helping her. People just can’t hunt down innocent people. It’s not right.”

“But it’s right to set off exploding magic lanterns?” Marlow posed.

“Ren hasn’t set them off yet. From what Azure said, Ren is no terrorist. Remember what Tak told us: magic lanterns have many legitimate, innocuous uses.”

“Tak likes to justify his actions, particularly when he knows he’s doing something wrong.”

“Maybe so, but he might inadvertently be right in this case,” I said. “Think about it. Ren is a famous Alchemist. He knows how to make energy shields and magic potions and all kinds of other things. He’s this super-genius that no one can stand but everyone wants. Dellondré captures him and he escapes. He’s on the run for over a year, evading capture, even though Dellondré is throwing hordes of hunters at him. How does he do that? By building and brewing things to protect himself from those hunters. I think that’s what he was doing at the Black Market: buying supplies. He must know the Nightingale is here and that she’s closing in on him. He needs to make things to keep her at bay long enough for him to escape through the Spirit Tree to another realm. That’s what this is about: defense and evasion, not seek and destroy. I’m guessing he’s not known to be a violent person?” I looked at Azure.

The Nymph shook his head. “No. Tyren specializes in non-lethal defense systems. And he keeps a cool head under pressure. He’s famous for it. A bunch of years ago, back before he was famous, he took part in a televised magic competition between the six races. He didn’t lose his cool a single time. Even when bombs were going off and an army of soldiers was storming the Alchemists’ base, he just kept on working. Because of him, his team won the competition. The device he built knocked out all of the Metamorph soldiers in one go. The Metamorphs weren’t too happy about losing to a team of nerds.” Azure chuckled. “Afterwards, Tyren offered them complimentary strength-boosting potions, which seemed to soothe their wounded egos.”

“See? Ren is a good guy.” I looked at Marlow, smiling. I couldn’t help it. I was an optimist. I refused to believe that most people were inherently evil. “He’s not the kind of person who would blow up a bunch of magic lanterns, killing lots of people.”

“I don’t know, Savannah. Ren might not be the same person he was a year ago. Being on the run changes people—and not in a good way.”

“Maybe you’re right. Or maybe I’m right.” I shrugged. “In either case, what we do next is the same: we need to tell the Knights what’s going on. They will protect Ren from Yara—and, if need be, Gaia from Ren.”

Marlow considered my words, then nodded. “It’s a good plan.”