The Dragonspire Chronicles Omnibus 1

by James E. Wisher

  “Walk me through it again,” the officer said.

  “I came in to work this morning, the same as I always do, and found him lying there. I assume he was killed last night since Master Carnack never came downstairs this early.”

  “And what exactly do you do here?” the officer asked.

  “I’m Carnack’s security guard. Basically, I sit in a dark corner and watch the customers to make sure no one steals anything or tries anything violent. On a good day, no one ever knows I’m there. I arrive at sunup and work until we close when I lock up. Everything was fine when I left last night.”

  Silas had never even been aware that Carnack kept a guard in the shop, though given the value of his merchandise he shouldn’t have been surprised.

  “Can you tell me anything else that might be of value in our investigation?” the officer asked.

  “I don’t know how useful it might be, but we had a trio of customers stop in yesterday and they had a heated discussion about the value of a coin they wanted to sell. There was no confrontation or anything, but they said they’d be back today.”

  “I’ll leave a guard here to question them when they return. Can you provide a description?”

  As the shop guard was describing Silas and the others, he ended the spell. Carnack was dead and someone clearly wanted to pin the murder on Silas, Yaz, and Brigid. It had to be on account of the coin. Even if it was rare, there was nothing strange about trying to sell it to Carnack. Something struck Silas as off, but he couldn’t say exactly what.

  He needed to get back to the inn and warn the others. If they wanted to get out, they needed to do it before their description went out to every guard in the city.

  Yaz woke up, yawned, and rolled over on his side. Brigid was sitting on the edge of her bed staring at him. All she had on was a white tunic that left her long legs bare. He flinched and sat up. Sunlight poked through the room’s single window, but not with any strength. What time was it? Too early for sure.

  “Are you staring at me for any special reason?”

  “Just thinking, trying to figure things out.”

  “What things?” He swung his legs over the edge of the bed and sat facing her.

  “Why you don’t look at me like you did Professor Anna-Maria. Is it because she’s shorter than me, smarter, older? I don’t get it.”

  It was awfully early for such a serious discussion, but Yaz used one of the mental tricks the sages had taught him to clear his thoughts. “How do you think I looked at her?”

  “Like Rum looks at an especially meaty lamb shank.”

  He smiled at the image. “If I did, it was entirely unconscious. We needed information and getting on her good side was the best way to get it. I don’t believe I did or said anything that you could consider inappropriate. I’m not going to sit here and say I didn’t think she was beautiful; a blind man could see she was. And so are you. The only thing Anna-Maria has that you don’t is that she’s safe.”

  “Safe?”

  Yaz grimaced and tried to think how best to explain. “I don’t need to worry about what she thinks about my intentions because I’ll never see her again. I have to be careful with you because we’re traveling together. I depend on you to watch my back in a fight. We have a mission: Find our parents and everyone else that disappeared. I can’t think about anything that might get in the way of that. Whatever our future holds, and I do hope we’ll have a future together, as friends at a minimum and hopefully more, I can’t focus on it now. Does that make sense?”

  She nodded but didn’t seem especially happy. “I understand. And I do trust you, you know. Maybe it seems like I don’t, but I do. I…care about you.”

  For a moment he thought she was going to say love and his heart skipped a beat. That was exactly the sort of thing he couldn’t think about now. He stood, crossed the short distance that separated them and sat beside her.

  “I care about you too. Don’t ever think otherwise.” He put his arm around her and she rested her head on his shoulder. “We will find our families. Then we can figure out what’s next, okay?”

  Before she could answer someone pounded heavily on the door. “Are you guys up and decent? We’ve got a serious problem.”

  Yaz groaned, stood, pulled his pants on, and opened the door. “What?”

  Silas looked back over his shoulder. “Mind if I come in?”

  Yaz checked and found Brigid had slipped her bare legs under the covers. He moved aside and Silas bustled in. Yaz closed the door and gestured at his bed.

  Silas ignored the offer and stalked around like a caged wolf. “Carnack is dead and his guard suggested to the officer investigating that we might have been involved. They left someone watching the shop and I suspect if we showed up, we’d be in for a one-way trip to a cell.”

  “But we didn’t do anything,” Brigid said. “Surely we could clear this all up easily enough.”

  “Under ordinary circumstances, I’d agree with you,” Silas said. “But remember, we’re all still wanted for murder. When there’s already a bounty on you, it’s easier for the guards to imagine you might have killed someone else.”

  “And even if we succeeded in convincing them that we did nothing to Carnack,” Yaz said, “they’d still hold us for the outstanding bounties. I fear clearing this up through official channels isn’t possible.”

  “My thoughts exactly,” Silas said. “We need to get our stuff together, put our mercenary gear on, and get out of here before the gate guards have our descriptions.”

  Silas stopped pacing and looked at Yaz who looked back. “We can’t get ready with you here.”

  “Right! Sorry. I’ll meet you downstairs. Sorry if I interrupted anything.” Silas rushed out as quickly as he entered.

  Yaz opened the trunk at the end of his bed and pulled out his armor. He glanced at Brigid who was doing the same. She must have been worried because she didn’t offer a word of complaint about putting the smelly leathers back on. He turned his back to offer her what privacy he could and donned the first layer of his armor.

  Ten minutes later they joined Silas downstairs, looking every bit the rough mercenary pair. With the bulky armor and her hair tucked up under her helmet, no one would guess Brigid was a woman, much less that she was the one that visited Carnack’s shop.

  “Finally!” Silas waved toward the door. “I’ve settled our bill. Let’s go. What took you so long anyway?”

  Once they were outside and quick marching toward the stables Yaz said, “I thought we were pretty fast considering we had to put all this crap on and pack our stuff.”

  “Yeah, sorry. It’s just I’ve gotten a taste of freedom and I’m not anxious to be a prisoner again.”

  “Neither am I,” Brigid said, her voice muffled by the helmet.

  On their way to the stable they passed a few early morning shoppers but no guards. When they arrived, the stablehands were just putting hay in the animal’s stalls.

  Silas rushed ahead, shouting for the stablemaster.

  “Is he jumpier than usual?” Brigid asked.

  “Definitely. I wonder if something happened that he didn’t tell us.”

  After considerable verbal encouragement, Silas returned with their horses and Thunder who was fully loaded. They mounted up and directed their horses toward the main gate.

  “Should we grab our spears?” Brigid asked.

  “No,” Yaz said. “If the only way out is to fight, we’re doomed.”

  “I’m forced to agree,” Silas said. “If the guards are on alert, they’ll have archers on the wall ready to feather anyone that raises a weapon. Dressed like this we should be able to bluff our way through.”

  No one troubled them as they drew ever closer to the gate. Yaz found himself clutching the reins so hard the leather bit into his hand. He forced himself to relax only through sheer force of will. Surely they must be due for a break.

  A hundred yards from the gate Silas cursed and reined in. A force of ten guards, including four
archers, was stationed in front of the lowered portcullis. They were questioning a group of merchants. One of the women was forced to remove her bonnet and show her dark hair before the portcullis went up and they were waved through.

  So much for bluffing their way past. The moment Brigid removed her helmet and that blond hair spilled out they were done.

  “We’ll have to find another way,” Yaz said. He just wished he had an idea where to start looking.

  When they’d put a couple streets between them and the gate Yaz found he could breathe easily again. He still wasn’t sure how they were going to escape the city, but at least he could consider the problem with a clear head. His first thought was that they could sneak over the wall that night, but even if it worked, they’d be on foot again with minimal supplies. Fort Kane waited a good ten days’ ride east, on foot you were looking at two weeks at least and probably more. Every day that went by made it that much more difficult to find their families.

  Yaz did his best to keep his worry from showing on his face. Instead he turned inward and searched his mental library. After a few seconds he found the old atlas. A third of the way through was the entry on the city. The founders built it on the site of an old imperial city that had been mostly destroyed during the Day of Mad Dragons. There was no mention of its former name, only that the dragons razed it to the foundations.

  All imperial cities of any size had a sewer system. Assuming it survived, that might be their way out. Further assuming they could find some way to access it and that it exited beyond the wall. That was a lot of assumptions and did nothing to help them get their horses out. No way could they lead them through narrow, underground tunnels.

  “Yaz!”

  He gave a shudder and returned his focus to the real world. From her annoyed tone he suspected Brigid had been trying to get his attention for a while. “Yeah?”

  They’d stopped on a street corner out of the way so as not to block traffic. Brigid had his horse’s bridle in her hand and a frown on her face. “We’re trying to figure out how we’re going to get out of the city.”

  “So was I. My mental library has an atlas with information on a variety of cities including this one.” He told them about the sewers as a potential escape route. “I just can’t figure how we’ll get the horses out.”

  “Sewers, huh?” Silas scratched his chin. “I always wondered how the Thieves Guild smuggled drugs and alcohol in. They must have access to the old imperial sewers. I’ll wager for the right coin we could use those tunnels and hire someone to lead the horses out for us.”

  “Drugs and alcohol are legal in Carttoom,” Yaz said. “Why would they need to smuggle them in?”

  “To avoid the heavy gate tax.” Silas shrugged. “Smuggle them in and you don’t have to pay.”

  “Can you trust thieves?” Brigid asked.

  “To a certain extent,” Silas said. “We’ll pay a fraction up front and the rest when they return the horses outside the wall. If they want to get paid, they’ll play it straight. Also, people tend to be less willing to betray a wizard, so we’ve got that going for us.”

  “Do you have a contact in the Thieves Guild?” Yaz asked.

  “That’s the problem. I only know them by reputation and what Carnack told me about the protection money he pays. I’ve never dealt with them myself.”

  Yaz rubbed the bridge of his nose. “So how do we make contact?”

  “We’ll have to wait until tonight. There’s a couple places in the slums, an opium den and a whorehouse, where we might find someone.”

  “And how do you know about these places?” Brigid asked.

  Silas had the good grace to blush faintly. “I was in a bad state of mind for the first few months after I killed the baron’s son. I hit the pipe a few times but didn’t have a taste for it. The whorehouse was three doors down. I figured if one sort of distraction didn’t work, maybe another would.”

  She raised an eyebrow.

  “I’m not proud of some of my past.” Seeming eager to change the subject Silas asked, “What do you want to do for the rest of the day?”

  “Let’s go across town and find somewhere to hole up,” Yaz said. “I don’t like being on the street with the whole city guard looking for us.”

  “I second that,” Brigid said.

  “Thirded,” Silas agreed. “I know a place we can use and it’s not that far from the opium den.”

  Yaz and Brigid shared a look. He had no desire to get too close to an opium den and he doubted Brigid did either.

  Silas must have noticed their reaction. “Don’t worry, the tavern’s a good three blocks away, practically in another neighborhood. I’ve done business there. The locals are good people, just down on their luck. Kind of like us.”

  “How many of them do you think would turn us in to get the reward?” Yaz asked.

  “Best keep that tidbit to yourself.”

  Silas tapped his horse on the side and they set out across the city. It took nearly twenty minutes to make the trip. They passed an occasional guard, but no one looked at them twice. If they could have heard Yaz’s heart racing every time one of them looked his way, then they would’ve been very suspicious.

  The trip ended at a single-story building with swinging double doors and a long hitching rail in the front. A small sign featuring a frothing mug was the only indication that it was a tavern. No words were written anywhere so Yaz had no idea if the place even had a name, not that he hoped to be here long enough for it to matter. As long as it was quiet, he wouldn’t complain.

  They dismounted and tied up. Brigid reached up to remove her helm, but Yaz touched her arm. “Best wait until we’re inside. Never know who might be watching.”

  She lowered her hand and they entered. The interior was dim and empty save for a single old man snoring loudly under a round table in the center of the common room. He must have had quite a night.

  “Are they even open?” Brigid asked.

  “The doors weren’t locked,” Silas said. “This place doesn’t get much business until after the locals return from work and need to blow off some steam. About sunset it’ll fill up quick.”

  They settled into a booth on the left-hand wall. The bench was nothing but bare boards without even a hint of padding. It was going to be a long day.

  Chapter 9

  Yaz felt certain there were worse ways to spend a day than sitting in a cheap tavern sipping the least offensive drink on the menu, in this case a sour red wine, but at the moment he would have been hard pressed to name one. By the time the sun set and noisy, laughing locals started pouring in, he was ready to take his chances fighting past the gate guards. Judging by the deep frown creasing Brigid’s face, she agreed.

  “Isn’t the opium den open by now?” Yaz asked.

  “Let’s go see.” Silas stood and slapped half a dozen silver scales on the table. The money had to be looked at as rent since they hadn’t drunk more than a few coppers’ worth of wine between them.

  “Should we take the horses?” Brigid asked when they were outside. The sun had set and only a few guttering lanterns lit the street. The ruddy light made everything seem more sinister than when they arrived.

  “They’ll be safer here than where we’re going,” Silas said. “This part of town might look rough, but for the most part the people are decent. Where we’re going, they’ll steal the shirt off your back if you’re not paying attention. We’ve got all the really valuable stuff on us anyway.”

  “Marvelous.” Yaz gestured for Silas to lead the way. “After you.”

  Only a block from the tavern, the character of the neighborhood changed for the worse. Men and women in rags slouched in alleys. Some looked at Yaz with pleading eyes while others didn’t even register their passing. He couldn’t say which horrified him more. And the less said about the stink, the better.

  His mother mentioned the darkness in the world, looked like tonight he was going to get an up-close look. Brigid clutched his arm and stared straight ahead
. She hadn’t put her helmet back on and he didn’t have the heart to say anything. Getting spotted by the guards might be the only thing that kept them from getting their throats cut.

  “This is horrible,” Brigid said.

  Yaz had no argument to offer. If anything, horrible sounded too generous for this part of the city.

  Silas stopped in front of a building that made the tavern look like high-end real estate. White smoke billowed out of a door that was really just a carpet hanging from a rod. It carried a sweet smell that made Yaz’s nose tingle.

  A woman that was little more than a skeleton with skin covering it brushed past them and went inside. The brief view revealed rows of beds covered with people sucking on smoking pipes, ecstatic looks on their faces.

  “Best if you don’t breathe too deep,” Silas cautioned.

  After this side trip, Yaz never wanted to breathe again. Silas went in first. Yaz held the rug aside for Brigid then followed. Soft moans and sighs filled the air, mingling with the smoke. At a short counter the bony woman argued with a full-figured matron about sixty dressed in a far too tight red dress.

  The woman from outside was waving her hands and pointing at the rack of fifteen pipes hanging from the wall behind the matron. For her part the heavyset woman crossed her arms and shook her head.

  “Fine!” The bony woman threw up her hands and stalked back out after glaring at Yaz and his friends for good measure.

  Silas approached next. The moment the matron saw him she opened her arms like she wanted a hug and beamed. “Welcome. Our pipes are the best, cheap too. Does everyone want their own or will you share?”

  “Neither,” Silas said. “We want to talk with your suppliers. The one that provides the cheap stuff.”

  Her welcoming expression vanished in an instant. “You’re not in the guild. No outsiders allowed in the business.”

  “We’re not interested in the business, we’re interested in the tunnels.” Silas flashed one of their precious gold scales. “Tell your suppliers we’ll pay well for access.”