by Sean Hinn
“We’re all gonna die, Hatchet.”
Hatchet nodded after a pause. “Aye, Flint. Looks that way. But look on the bright side.”
“There be a bright side?”
The general pulled his cloak tight around his neck. “It probably ain’t this bloody cold in Stonarris.”
Flint let out a morbid laugh. “Aye, probably not.”
“There’s one thing ye must tell me.”
Flint regarded the dwarf.
“Ye said ye had no livin’ kin left when ye dipped your axe in Garne’s blood. I thought ye meant to use it to kill gnomes in his name. ’Cept ye have kin, seems like, and I don’t see your axe.”
Flint held his general’s gaze.
“Let it be, Hatchet. Me reasons be me own.”
XXXVI: THE MAW
“Who in Fury are ye?” Jade demanded.
A female voice spoke. “We don’t mean ya no harm, we just saw the fire, is all–”
“Cap, they be gnomes,” said Nova.
“Well get on in, afore ye become Mama’s dinner!” Jade hissed.
The pair limped into the cavern.
“Here, take me cloak,” Kari said to the female.
“Give it to my husband, he’s so cold…”
The light from the torches was sufficient to see that the male gnome was in bad shape. “Come here, mister, don’t be afraid now,” said Jasper. “Can he hear me?” he asked the female.
“He’s not all there just now,” she said, grasping his hand. “Come on, Oort, ya got to get warm.” She led him deeper into the cave; he followed compliantly.
Jasper threw a cloak around the female. “What’s your name?” he asked.
Jade whispered forcefully. “Keep it down, all of ye!”
“Aye, Sarge,” the dwarves replied in unison.
The female spoke quietly. “I be Thinsel Greykin. This here be my husband Oort.”
Lux moved to help Oort sit; the gnome’s knees gave out as he did so. Lux caught the dazed and frozen traveler.
“That leg’s bleedin’,” Nova whispered. “Looks bad. Jasper, in me pack–”
“Way ahead o’ ye.” He handed the scout a wrapped bandage.
“Ya, fell comin’ up the hill. Or goin’ down, can’t remember. Don’t think he broke nothin’–”
Thinsel suddenly began to shake violently, the relative warmth of the cave reawakening her senses. “Ahhh! It burns!” she hollered, holding her hands out in front of her.
“Frostnip,” said Ferris. He removed his cloak and wrapped her hands with it. “Easy, Lady Thinsel, got to be quiet now, I know it hurts.”
“If ye all don’t keep quiet, we’re dead sure as stone. I want silence, scouts. Now,” she ordered.
The cave quieted just in time to hear the faint sounds of scrabbling and falling stone, just beyond the cave entrance. The flame on the end of Jade’s bolt blew out.
“Fury,” Jade said. “Scouts, arm up.”
Eight dirks were silently withdrawn from their sheaths, the preferred weapons of Flint’s Five. Kari pulled her uncle’s axe.
A deep, threatening growl issued from the throat of the yet unseen predator. For a long turn, silence.
“What’s she waitin’ for?” asked Lux, poised to spring.
Jade shook her head.
Another turn passed, and another. The scrabbling sound returned…and then faded.
“Might be she knows she’s outmatched,” said Kari.
“Maybe,” Jade agreed, still whispering. “But she’ll be back. Nova, Jasper, keep quiet as ye can and tend to them gnomes. Lux, take a torch and make sure there ain’t no other way in to this cave. Kari and Ferris, keep watch with me.”
The three kept watch as Jasper and Nova did what they could to warm the two travelers. Without a fire, the best they could do was keep the torches close.
Lux turned as the light from behind them dimmed; one of the torches had gone out. “I’ll need to get wood,” he said to Jade.
“Ain’t no wood out there, not close at least.”
“Then I’ll need to walk a bit. Hang on.” Lux stood and walked back towards where the gnomes sat with Jasper and Nova.
“Lady Thinsel, which way did ye come from?”
“From the west, from G’naath,” she said. “But not the gates. North.”
“There be another way into G’naath?” Lux asked, shocked.
“A secret way. But don’t nobody know about it.”
Lux nodded. “All right, we’ll talk more about that. But the way ye came, were there trees? Wood?”
Thinsel nodded. “Ya, a bit. Here and there. Little bushes, mostly.”
“How far?”
Thinsel shook her head. “I canna say fer sure. A ways.”
“A long ways?”
“No. A short ways. Maybe, ten turns’ walk? But I canna say fer sure. So tired.” Thinsel’s eyes began to close.
“Wake up now, Lady,” said Nova. “Ye can’t be sleepin’ now…” but it was too late. Both she and her husband were fast asleep.
“Must be exhausted,” said Jasper.
Nova nodded. “How’s yours?”
Jasper shook his head. “Lost a lot o’ blood. Took some water, but not much. Dead cold. Yours?”
“Better, but nipped up good. Might lose a toe or three. Got ’her feet wrapped up good, but she ain’t goin’ anwhere. Dunno how she made it here, to be honest. Tough little thing.”
Lux returned to Jade.
“There be wood, Sarge. Bit of a walk, though.”
“Bit of a walk in the light, Lux,” said Ferris. “Fury of a walk right now.”
“Nothin’ for it. We’ll freeze without a fire.”
“No, we won’t, Lux,” said Jade meaningfully.
Lux shook his head. “I can’t let ’em die, Sarge.”
Jade was adamant. “So pitch a tent. There be room. Wrap ’em up. Best we can do.”
Lux sighed. “Aye, Sarge. Little help, Ferris?”
Ferris stood.
“Make it quick. One bolt ain’t gonna stop that beast.”
“Sarge,” Kari asked. “How do ye know she’ll be back?”
“This be her home, Kari. And we’re in it. She’ll be back.”
“When?”
“How in Fury should I know that?” Jade snapped.
“Sorry.”
Jade sighed. “No, I’m sorry. I just be cold, is all. And I s’pose a bit afraid.”
“It’s just one wolf, Sarge. There be six of us that can fight.”
“Five,” Jade corrected. “No offense. But ye ain’t never seen a dire wolf, have ye?”
Kari shook her head.
“Jaws beg enough to fit ’round your head. Ain’t got regular claws, neither. Long, sharp things. Long as yer hand. Could make mince outta us in a heartbeat, a dire could.”
Kari shuddered. “So how do we kill it?”
Jade shook her head. “Gotta hope I get lucky with this bow, maim it some. Then we all attack at once. We practice it, ye know.”
“Ye do?”
“Aye,” Jade said. “I shoot, then draw me dirks. Jasper strikes at the heart and spine, Nova at the left kidney and stomach. Lux goes under the chin with both hands. Ferris for the right lung and kidney. If I manage me dirks out in time, I go for both eyes. Same way we go after a bear, or a panther.”
“Sounds like ye have the worst of it. Closest to the jaws.”
“Aye. Rule is, though, ye keep pokin’ til it be dead. If one o’ us dies, we die. Better’n all of us.”
“So, if she comes, what do I do?”
“Whack at it best ye can, Kari Flint. And try not to hit any of us. But even if ye do, keep whackin’.”
Kari shuddered again.
Jade turned as Lux and Ferris approached. “Tent’s half up,” Ferris said. “Can’t see to finish it, but Jasper and Nova be wrappin’ up them gnomes now.”
“All right, get settled. I want all eyes–”
“Sarge.” The young barkeep’
s voice dripped with terror.
A growl echoed through the cave. Jade turned to see two yellow eyes reflecting back at her in the dim torchlight.
Then two more.
Jade did not hesitate; she aimed and fired at the first pair, which abruptly went dim. The second pair flew through the air, directly at Kari.
“AAAAARRRGH!” Kari swung her uncle’s axe mightily, a premature overhand blow that missed the pouncing wolf completely and carved deeply into the dirt before her. The barkeep-turned-scout was buried under a mass of snapping teeth and black fur.
Jade’s dirks were out before Lux or Ferris could draw near. She leaped onto the back of the great beast, managing to jab the sharp poniards into the animal’s muscled shoulders, but missing anything vital. The wolf hardly noticed, continuing to snap at a screaming Kari. Jasper dove into the fray, stabbing wildly as Nova shoved the one remaining torch at the wolf’s face. The animal batted it away with an enormous paw, scratching Nova deeply in the forearm with a razor-sharp claw.
The torch flew across the cave and hit the far wall, its flame extinguished. Kari’s terror intensified as the wolf’s rear claws began scrambling to tear her apart. She rolled back and forth beneath the scratching and clawing monster, kicking and punching its legs away as best she could in the dark. The wolf let out a piercing cry as Lux and Ferris managed to bury their daggers in its hindquarters. The beast let out a cry and Kari sensed an opening between the flailing legs; she rolled to her right and escaped for the moment.
Kari could see next to nothing, the dim light from outside the cave sufficient only to allow her to keep her bearings, but she heard the grunts and groans of the Five as they dug their weapons repeatedly into the wolf’s thick fur. She crawled towards the light, but was stopped as her hand slipped between the dead jaws of the first wolf. She screamed and withdrew it, scrambling back into the darkness.
The second wolf growled and barked menacingly, slamming dwarves into walls, snapping wildly at the air, and finally, after what had seemed an eternity, turned and bounded through the cave entrance. Jade only just succeded in rolling from the beast’s back as it dove out into the night.
The sergeant stepped over the first wolf and felt around for its head. She found it, and pulled it back, jabbing a dirk up and into its brain.
“Sound off!” Jade yelled.
“Jasper, unhurt.”
“Lux, I’m good.”
“Ferris, good.”
“Kari. I… OK, I think.”
Nova emerged near the entrance, holding her arm. “Got a bit of a bleed, Sarge, but I’ll live.”
Jade tried to assess the damage, but it was too dark.
“Gah! Well, is it an artery or not?”
“Nah, just meat,” she gritted. “Stings like a bastard, though.”
“Tooth or claw?” asked Jasper.
“Claw. Get me pack.”
Jasper looked around; he could see nothing in the dark. “Where?”
“Near the tent,” said Nova. “Check on the gnomes.”
“I’ll check on the gnomes,” Lux said.
“Ferris, help him find that pack,” Jade ordered. “Gotta get a salve on that quick, or she’ll lose ’er arm.”
Kari moved to stand between Jade and her sergeant.
“So, I guess that was Papa?” she asked.
“Seems so,” Jade agreed. “One of ’em was, at least. Did ye happen to see which while you were under that thing?”
Kari scoffed. “Was a bit busy.”
Jade laughed. “S’pose so.”
“How bad is your arm, Nova?” Kari asked.
Nova shook her head. “Dunno.”
Jasper returned with a tin and a bandage tucked under his arm. “Pull up your sleeve.”
Nova shook her head. “Can’t. Hurts.”
Jade grabbed her arm and cut the scout’s shirt away. Nova yelped as the fabric was pulled from the wound.
“Sorry,” said Jade. “Go ahead, Jas.”
Jasper dug two fingers into the tin, coating them with a thick, pungent substance. He mashed it into the cut. Nova screamed.
“There be bears out here, too, Nova. Keep it down,” Jade ordered.
Nova stamped her feet in pain as Jasper applied the ointment. “Rrrrrr…aye, Sarge. Mother of demons.”
“All right, just gotta wrap it.” Jasper tore a bandage with his teeth. “Hang in there, Nova, Just a turn more…”
“Just do it, ye ain’t gotta nursemaid me, ye bloody arrrraaaHHHH!” She gritted her teeth as Jasper tied off the bandage.
“All set. You’re welcome.”
Nova spat. “Go to Fury, ye bloody butcher.”
“Aw, I love ye back, Nova.”
Nova swiped at her friend with her good arm.
“Sarge,” Nova asked. “Think he’ll be back?”
Jade had been inspecting the dead wolf. “ ‘She’,” the sergeant corrected. “This one be Papa. Dunno. I poked her full o’ holes, but the blasted thing’s fur was so loose, dunno if I hit anything ’sides its hide.”
“I sure did,” said Lux. “Buried my dirk in ’er belly, to the hilt.”
“Let’s hope ya nicked somethin’,” said Jade. “How’s them gnomes?”
“Sleepin’,” Lux said. “Warmin’ up, seems like. I think they’ll pull through. Here,” he said to Kari. “Ye dropped this.”
“I stuck it a foot deep in the ground, is what I did,” she said, taking the axe from Lux. “Like a damned fool.”
“At least ye swung, Kari,” Nova said. “And swung for Fury. If ye’d hit, fight woulda been over.”
“And ye wouldn’t be gouged,” Kari said. “I’m sorry, Nova.”
“Hey,” Jade snapped. “Ye don’t apologize for nothin’, Kari Flint. Ye acquitted yourself well.”
“Aye,” agreed Nova.
“Aye,” the others repeated.
“All right.” Jade changed the topic. “I want ye all to get another tent unwrapped and see if ye can’t get yourselves warm. I’ll take first watch.”
“Sarge, I’ll take watch,” Nova offered. “Won’t sleep anytime soon, hurts too damned much. ’Sides, can’t fight now anyhow. Gimme that crossbow and I’ll make myself useful.”
Jade nodded. “All right. But ye holler, nice and loud now, if ye hear anything. Anything at all.”
“I know how to keep watch, Sarge. Jasper, load me a bolt.”
Jade turned to Kari and led her to the back of the cave. “Ye won’t sleep tonight, I’d bet a bag. But try anyhow.”
“Aye, Sarge,” Kari said, certain she would never sleep again.
XXXVII: MOR
Sartean drummed his fingertips on his marble desk, pondering the implications of what he had learned. He replied after several breaths.
“You risk much by telling me this.”
Samuel Thomison bowed his head. “You are wise to appreciate as much, great wizard.”
Sartean smirked. “I appreciate that you are an unctuous opportunist, certainly.”
“Ah, well. Thank you.”
Sartean rolled his eyes. “So how does he plan to thwart me?”
“I cannot say. Several ideas were discussed, but he abruptly ended our meeting. I suspect he came up with something.”
“And all these so-called Merchants supported the idea? To a one?”
Samuel nodded. “They did. Please understand, I would have tried to steer the discussion to another end, but–”
“But you are a coward of the highest order, yes, I understand.” Sartean stood and began to pace around the library as Samuel sat trembling.
So, a street merchant believes he is suited to rule a kingdom, Sartean thought, appalled more than angry. He was disappointed with himself. How could these Merchants maneuver in Mor without my noticing? The wizard had, of course, heard of The Merchant, the rumored “hero” who served the pitiable masses by dispensing justice when none was to be had. He had long ago dismissed the legends as no more than puerile myths designed to shroud the ven
geful acts of aggrieved victims. Clearly, he had been mistaken. The idea that a half-score of self-righteous killers had been operating beneath his detection vexed the Master of Kehrlia. It was an oversight he would be sure to remedy.
“Did anyone witness your arrival this evening? I would not like to think that you could be in danger of being found out by your order.”
“I was not seen, Master. I am certain.”
“Good, good. Tell me, Samuel,” said Sartean icily from behind the new Master of Agriculture, having circled around behind him. “I am curious. How many times have you, yourself, dispensed the justice of these Merchants?”
Samuel swallowed. “Ah, well, you see, not all of us serve our order in the same capacity–”
Sartean leaned close, whispering. “How many, Samuel?”
“Ah, none, Master. My duty is to provide intelligence, and–”
“So, you have never killed?”
“Well, I am not particularly cut out–”
“Then you are useless to me.” Sartean placed a hand on the man’s shoulder.
“Marwo.”
Samuel Thomison died.
Sartean closed his eyes, drawing power from the air of Kehrlia, and more, from its inhabitants. Beneath the library, dozens of Incantors experienced a momentary touch of vertigo.
Sufficiently prepared, Sartean discharged the drawn energies into the limp body of Vincent Thomison’s brother. A sucking, hissing sound filled the small room, followed by a soft pop. In the space of two breaths, the fluids that made up most of the dead man’s body boiled away, leaving behind a fine mist that Sartean presently waved towards an open window with a second silent spell. A third spell pulverized the pile of desiccated tissue that remained; a fourth sent the cloud of dust into the night air.
Sartean smiled. “That was fun,” he said cheerfully. He did not particularly enjoy killing the man–Samuel had done the wizard no wrong–but his death had been necessary. A man who would betray his own brother and lifelong friends so easily was not one to be trusted, and if he could not assist Sartean further, he was but a liability. The Master of Kehrlia did, however, enjoy the process of disintegrating a corpse. Years of practice had refined the technique, and Sartean marveled at his own prowess in accomplishing the task so efficiently. If only I could charge those damned gems as quickly, he thought to himself. But such tasks required patience, and Sartean possessed more than enough. He reminded himself that his plans for Mor had been many years in the making; a few days would make no difference.
