Chapter 61: Lantern Beacon

The ridge was steep and snowy as they climbed it, with Imra leading them past the marker stones that lit up blue whenever a county relay was active, while below the ridge lay the many counties of the Lantern Counties, separated by snowy hills, Northglass with its orange hearth, Southglass with all its lanterns, Eastvale with its fuel stored underground, and many other towns with fires of their own.

Tessa’s slate lit up with county reports as they climbed.

SOUTHGLASS: TWO NIGHTS OF WOOD, LOW COAL.

EASTVALE: COAL RESERVE STABLE, CART ROAD ICED.

NORTH RIDGE: EMERGENCY WOOD STORE INTACT, SCOUTS NEAR THE LOWER PASS.

None of the numbers were good, and every one of them came with a route attached, a labor count, and the name of someone who could vouch for it, so that while it wasn’t as fast as what the crown had claimed, anyone could see what each county had.

As the wind blew over the ridge, Austin Veyron wanted to see all of it inside his seed, because if he could see every fire, he could pinpoint which ones were failing and send help to them before the shard took the Beacon at midnight.

"Name it," Veyra said, knowing what he was thinking.

"All the county fires."

"And what would it make?"

"Someone who believes that knowing the map means owning it."

"Then smaller," Sable said, her shard lighting up blue from the marker stones. "See what the counties choose to show you."

Crown remnants attacked them near the top of the pass, black lantern hooks bursting out of the snowbanks, and one of the scouts drove a red spike into the ridge.

THE BEACON ROUTE BELONGS TO THE CROWN.

The ridge split into three different paths that all seemed to lead to the Beacon, one that truly did and two that led to an ice shelf above a cliff, but Rin ripped the spike halfway out of the ground, Tamsin blocked a lantern hook that was trying to snag Imra’s courier bag, Calder and Seris hid the relay slate behind a marker stone, and Veyra sliced through the black lantern line crawling down the ridge.

Austin Veyron knew that just because the crown remnants had put a claim on the Beacon route didn’t mean it belonged to them, because there were people who kept the route open, and they were the ones it truly belonged to.

"Target," Austin Veyron said. "The Beacon-route ownership claim. Not the route itself, the relay stones, or the county board."

"Witnessed," Veyra said.

"Witnessed," Sable answered.

Austin Veyron placed his white root chain on the red spike.

DEVOUR opened, and the claim tasted like someone hiding a route so that one person could reach an auction before everyone else.

THE BEACON ROUTE BELONGS TO THE CROWN.

He consumed spike.

The false paths disappeared, and the real path lit up blue again, while the crown remnants trying to hold the route scattered, one sliding down the ice shelf and running, and the other letting go of her lantern hook and putting her hands in the air.

Veyra had slipped on the ice shelf’s edge during the fight, and Austin Veyron caught her by the belt before she could go over, and she hung there a moment with her good hand fisted in his coat, looking up at him with snow on her lashes, before she let him haul her back and muttered, "Don’t mention it," and then, more quietly, "Thank you."

"Do you know what the plan is for the Beacon?" Imra asked the scout.

"The shard is in the schedule engine. It’s going to compare all of the fuel reports and raise the bids on whatever’s short. The person running the Beacon is being told that a private auction is the only way to keep the fire map open."

"Will you choose to tell the person running the Beacon what the shard is doing to the reports?" Tessa asked.

"Yes. Her name is Wenna, and she thinks taking the crown’s offer will keep the lanterns lit."

The Beacon stood on the highest ridge of the mountains, and the sky was turning purple, the tower built of stone with bands of brass wrapped around it to house the relays, and many small lenses covered its walls, each one standing for a county’s fire schedule, while black and red light pulsed through the top of the Beacon.

Wenna was standing by the schedule engine when they came in, wearing a thick operator’s coat, her silver hair tied up. "The lantern network is overloaded," she said before they could speak. "There isn’t enough fire to go around, and the roads are icy. We need to know which county to help first."

Imra put the county board on the relay station. "You need to know what each county needs, but that isn’t the same as deciding who gets it. The shard is making an auction because an auction can hide what’s being sold."

"I need to know what the region needs before midnight. If I don’t choose, every county will ask for the same cart."

"Then show them what they need and how to get it there," Tessa said. "Let the counties make offers, and refuse them if they don’t want them. Don’t let the Beacon become a buyer."

The schedule engine pulsed black and red, and words appeared on it.

THE BEACON DECIDES WHO DESERVES WINTER.

The levers started to move on their own, and the top lens went dark, then another, as the Beacon began going black, and a timer appeared on the county board.

MIDNIGHT AUCTION: 00:59:59.

Every fuel report on the board started turning into a bid for winter, Southglass’s two nights of wood set against Eastvale’s coal, North Ridge’s wood marked as a premium bid, and a clinic that needed heat listed right beside a merchant who wanted to move his goods.

Wenna reached for one of the levers and burned her hand. "I can shut the Beacon down, but then we won’t be able to see the weather or where the roads are safe, and people will be stuck in the snow overnight."

Austin Veyron knew that breaking something would stop the engine, but it could also blind the counties when they needed the map most.

Veyra saw him looking at the engine. "Name it."

"Breaking the Beacon before it does any more harm."

"And what would it make?"

"Someone who thinks it’s fine to blind a whole region as long as he can see what’s happening."

"Then smaller," Sable said, placing her shard on the black words. "Break what’s turning the Beacon into the buyer."

Nyra held the heart shard over the county board. "The Beacon isn’t the buyer. The shard is using the Beacon’s power to turn reports into bids. If we break the claim that lets the Beacon decide, we can keep the signals open."

"There’s a manual control I can use if the claim breaks," Wenna said. "But each county will have to send its own reports to the Beacon, and I won’t be able to decide which ones matter more."

"That’s all it should ever do," Tessa said.

The schedule engine began sending black threads to each of the lenses, and crown remnants came up the stairs, led by the clerk who had escaped Northglass with a black book of bids, and he slammed a spike into the floor. "If we let everyone see the map, there will be no order! The Beacon has to decide who matters more!"

Rin hit the spike with her claws and pulled it out of the floor, Tamsin fought the first remnant through the door, Calder and Seris pulled the clerk away from the county board, and Veyra cut the black thread that was reaching for Imra.

Austin Veyron knew the Beacon wasn’t meant to decide who deserved winter, because it only carried what each county knew about the weather and the fuel, and the shard was turning the Beacon into a judge.

"Target," Austin Veyron said. "The Beacon-decides-who-deserves-winter claim. Not the Beacon, the county reports, or each town’s heating system."

"Witnessed," Veyra said.

"Witnessed," Sable answered.

Austin Veyron placed his white root chain on the words on the engine.

DEVOUR opened, and the claim tasted like every storm warning ever given, with one judge deciding who lived and who died.

THE BEACON DECIDES WHO DESERVES WINTER.

He consumed judge.

The black words broke apart, and the levers stopped moving on their own, and Wenna took control of the engine and began setting each lens to receive reports from the counties, so that some of the Beacon’s windows started to glow blue again.

But the timer was still counting down.

MIDNIGHT AUCTION: 00:52:14.

The shard no longer had control of the Beacon, but it was using the reports being sent as fuel for the auction.

Rin got back to Veyra and took her good hand, and they held on to each other, and Austin Veyron felt his chest warm, and when he looked at Sable, she was looking at him the same way, and she moved closer and slipped her arm through his.

Elena spoke over the relay. "The Grand Meridian can see every county sending in its reports. You have fifty-two minutes to stop the shard from selling what they just learned to share." Austin Veyron touched the slip over his heart.

"We have to stop the auction," Wenna said, looking at the board. "We saved the map. Now we need to save what it’s telling us."

The snow kept falling on the Lantern Beacon, and inside, the first auction for the whole region kept counting down.