Borrowed Levels

Chapter 14: The Girl in the Lighthouse

The lighthouse door was locked from the inside.

It took Hesk two kicks to open it. Beyond the door, a spiral stair wound upward through dust and cobwebs. The air smelled of old stone and cold ashes. Halfway up, Ren heard a floorboard creak above them, light and quick, like a startled animal.

"Come out," he called. "I'm not here to hurt you."

No answer.

"I got your message. I'm the one you told to stay away."

Silence. Then a thin voice drifted down from the lamp room. "You're an idiot."

"I've been told."

He climbed. The stair ended at a round room full of broken lenses and old maps, with a single dusty window looking out across the harbor. A girl crouched in the corner with a kitchen knife in both hands.

She was maybe seventeen. Dark skin, short cropped hair, and wide, wary eyes the color of pale honey. She wore a patched gray cloak that was too thin for the cold, and a silver ring on every finger.

The rings glowed faintly when he stepped into the room.

"Don't come closer," she said.

"I won't." He crouched, slowly, so they were at the same height. "My name is Ren Calder. I'm a Ledger holder. I think you are too."

Her knuckles whitened on the knife. "How do you know?"

"Because mine woke up when I got close."

He held out his hand, palm up, and let the silver window bloom between them in the air. She flinched. Then she stared, with an expression he recognized, because he had worn it himself on the floor of a collapsing dungeon.

She lowered the knife.

"Ilyra," she said. "Ilyra Vance."

The others crowded up the stair behind him, and Ilyra's gaze flicked to each of them, calculating, scared. Pip waved. Ilyra did not wave back.

"I thought I was the only one," she said quietly.

"You aren't."

"They told me I was." Her voice cracked on the last word. "For three years. They said I was a miracle. The only Lender in the Concord."

"Lender," said Dara sharply.

Ilyra pressed her ringed hands to her chest. "My Ledger's different. Yours borrows power. Mine lends it. I can pour my strength into someone else, for a price. They pay me in days. Years, sometimes." She swallowed. "The Concord uses me to power their champions. I give them levels. They pay me in lifespan, and then the Treasurer takes most of it back as a tax."

Ren felt something cold crawl up his spine. "They've been farming you."

"That's exactly what they've been doing." She wiped her eyes angrily. "I ran away six weeks ago. I've been hiding here ever since. I sent you the message because I opened my account to see who else was out there, and..." She stopped. "And you were holding a debt the size of a mountain, and then it was gone. All of it. In one second. Nobody does that. Not even the Treasurer."

"That was me," said Ren.

Her mouth fell open.

A bell began to toll in the harbor, low and slow, and she went white as paper.

"No," she whispered. "They found me."

"Who did?" Hesk asked.

Ilyra was already shoving a bundle into a bag. "Auditors," she said. "The Concord's Collectors. They don't knock."

Glass shattered below. Heavy boots hit the stairs.

Ren drew his sword.