Her eyes shone, and she smiled. “Of course I am!” she cried.
I smiled and patted her cheek. So like me in some ways, and so different in others. She stepped away to bid Mag and Dryleaf farewell, and especially to scratch Oku’s belly, while I went to Ditra. She had put on a stern look, very reminiscent of our mother. But her eyes gleamed with love, and with mischief.
“You will write me, of course,” she said sternly. “You have no excuses this time. If I do not receive any word from you, I will send all my rangers out to hunt you down, leaving Kahaunga defenseless.”
“I promise I will not make you take such drastic measures,” I said. “I will write as often as I can. To Vera, at least.”
Her mouth twitched, and she slapped my arm. Then she pulled me in for an embrace. “Fare well, brother. Take care of yourself, and your friends. I owe you everything. If ever I can be of service, I will.”
I clutched her tight, closing my eyes, trying to freeze the memory in my mind forever—and I succeeded. Even now, I can smell the scent of her hair, feel the smooth weave of her cloak against my cheek, shiver at the cold winter air that blew against my back.
“Thank you,” I said. “For your offer, and for all else you have done. I will not stay away so long this time.”
“You damned well had better not,” she said gruffly, pushing me back to hold at arm’s length. “You may think I am joking, but you will find rangers on your doorstep if you defy me.”
“I will remember it. Fare well, dearest sister. Protect our home.”
Tears came to her eyes at that, and the sight of it finally sent my own spilling down my cheeks. It was the kind of weeping that you do not mind, that stems from joy rather than pain, and is sweeter even than laughter in the sunlight.
We mounted soon after, and rode through the rebuilt gate. I looked back often, until the road turned and we lost sight of them at last. I faced forwards then, and heaved a deep breath as I gazed upon the road that would take us west and out of the mountains.
“Are you all right?” said Mag. “You could have stayed, you know.”
“I could have,” I said. “But then what hope would you have?”
She rolled her eyes. “I am going to trounce you.”
I chuckled, but after a moment I looked her steadily in the eye. “I am with you, Mag, until the end of this road. You may be the Uncut Lady, and I may be only a simple bowyer, but you may count on my help, whether it be through my counsel, or my presence at your side in a fight. To whatever end.”
She smiled. “Of course I know it. Do you really think I would let you leave, even if you wanted to?”
“I am serious.”
“Do you think I am not?”
I shook my head. “Have your jests, then. But let us speak of Kaita. How do we plan to find her?”
Mag shrugged and nudged Mist to trot a little faster. “I do not know. But we will find her. After all, I have nothing better to do.”
I nudged Foolhoof to catch up. “Nor do I.”
Albern’s timing was impeccable. The first edges of dusk were just creeping into the sky as he quietly finished his tale. Sun took a deep breath and released it in a sigh, just as she had the first night, before the vampire had attacked.
“I am glad you fixed things with your sister,” she said. “Is she still alive?”
“She is,” said Albern, grinning hugely. “She survived the War of the Necromancer, and everything that has come since. Old age has left her slightly less healthy than I am, if you can believe it, and Vera rules Tokana in her stead. She is an excellent Rangatira, well respected by her king, as well as the other lords, and beloved by her people. She has two sons of her own now. I still go to visit them every once in a while. Mayhap you will come with me next time.”
“I would love to,” said Sun.
Albern nodded. Then his smile died. “Another day, then. For now, we have work to do.”
“Yes,” said Sun. “Though I am still unclear about just what exactly it is that you want to do.”
“Our friends over the hill are trying to perform the same ritual the Shades performed in Lan Shui years ago,” said Albern. “But they are disorganized. They have neither the reach nor the resources of the Shades of old. If we brought this information to the King’s law, they would certainly stop the ritual. But, too, they might claim the magestones for themselves. And in any case, some officers of the law might be killed in the fighting, and likely all of the criminals. I think we can put a stop to their plans without anyone dying tonight.”
“A noble goal,” said Sun. “But you did not answer my question: what exactly do you mean to do?”
“First, you will sneak into position on the other side of their camp,” said Albern. “I will distract them and draw them away from the cauldron, and their store of magestones. You will take the stones and fling them into the fire, and then steal one of their torches to throw into the cauldron itself. We will burn away their contraband, and their plans, all at once.”
Sun’s throat had gone quite dry. “You mean for me to sneak in among them?”
“Only if you are willing,” said Albern. “I pitted you against the vampire all unawares. I did it to teach you your worth in a fight, but I will never do that again. If you help me with this now, I want you to do it with both eyes open, and with both of us agreeing to what we do before we do it.” He smiled and held forth his left hand. “As partners.”
Sun returned his smile, though in truth she felt far less confident than he sounded. She gripped his wrist and shook. “Partners, then.”
He pulled his sword off his belt and handed it to her. “Here. I do not mean to let them draw close enough for this to be of use to me.”
Sun could not help a moment’s trepidation as she accepted the blade. “Do you think I will need it?”
“Not if all goes well, but there is no guarantee of that.”
“How comforting.”
At Albern’s direction, she slipped away down the other side of the hill, circling wide around the camp, out of sight. The day’s fading light was just enough for her to see by. She kept a careful eye on the glow of the campfire that shone above the tops of the hills she passed. As she went, she tried her best to silence her steps, though she did not have Albern’s gift for it. Hopefully the activity of the camp would be enough to keep them from noticing.
Finally she spotted the gap between the hills that would let her draw as close as possible to the chest where the magestones were being kept. Crouching so low she was almost crawling, Sun edged forwards. Soon she could see the tents. She stopped as soon as the first person came into view. It was a woman, facing away towards the campfire. That was a good thing—it would ruin her night vision. Sun peered through the darkness, searching for the shape of Albern atop the hill on the other side of the camp. At last she caught sight of him—a small black form moving against the stars. She hoped he could see her as well. Then, even as she watched, she saw him raise his arm, and then bring it down swiftly.
Thwack
The sound of a stone striking flesh echoed in the night.
“What in the dark—”
A guard shot to her feet. She was looking at something Sun could not see.
“What happened?” called a voice.
“Something hit Wen.”
“What do you mean ‘some—’”
Thwack
The voice died abruptly.
“Attack!” cried the woman in Sun’s view. “We are under attack!”
She ran off out of sight. Someone came and threw open the flap of the tent closest to Sun, and a figure stumbled out of it into the night. Sun ducked back until the figure was out of sight.
Trotting, but still trying to remain silent, Sun crept up behind the tent. She stuck one eye out around the edge of it, but it seemed she need not have bothered. Ten or so people were gathered at the other end of the camp, but they were staring in Albern’s direction, away from Sun.
Thwack
&nb
sp; One of the figures fell poleaxed to the ground and did not move. A stone bounced away from his limp form.
“There!” A man thrust his finger up towards the hill where Albern was hiding. “I saw something!”
“Find them!” barked another. “We cannot let them bring word of us to Lan Shui!”
Most of them attempted to climb the hill, while two circled around the base of it, likely hoping to cut off Albern’s escape.
Sun moved. Her heart thundered in her ears as she reached the chest holding the magestones and threw herself to the ground behind it. Only then did she see the heavy iron lock that held it shut.
“Dark below,” muttered Sun.
She risked a glance at the hill. The Shades—or whatever they were—were not paying any attention to their own camp. After a quick search, she found a large rock, half as big as her head. She hefted it high and slammed it against the lock. The iron held for two strikes, but on the third, it fell open.
With shaking fingers, she pulled the lock out and opened the chest. It was packed to the lid with packets wrapped in brown cloth. Sun pulled one open to find black, semi-translucent crystals. Magestones.
She scooped all the packets up into her arms and dashed towards the cauldron. She threw them into the flame beneath it, but it was an awkward throw, and half of them fell upon the ground next to the fire. She fell to her knees and tried to scoop them up, wincing at the heat of the darkfire that leaped up, licking at the sides of the cauldron.
A hand seized her hair and threw her backwards.
Sun’s head struck the ground hard, and she rolled away, stunned. A heavy boot struck her in the ribs. She had just enough presence of mind to roll away from it.
“Glad I came back to make sure the camp was safe,” snarled a woman’s voice.
Sun heard her foe’s footsteps approaching. She threw herself to the side as the woman aimed another kick. Fighting to her feet, Sun backed away, trying to take stock of the situation.
One woman had returned to the camp—the one Sun had seen as she approached. Her face was gaunt, with high, sharp cheekbones, and her head was shaved to stubble. Her clothes were all of thick leather and fur, far too hot for the weather recently. It looked as though she had dressed to be more impressive than practical. But the others were all gone, vanished over the top of the hill. Sun hoped that Albern was all right.
Sun shook her head to clear it. She needed time to figure out what to do. “What are you doing out here?”
“You are not that ignorant, or you would not have thrown the stones into the flames,” snarled the woman. She took a step forwards.
Sun drew Albern’s sword and held it before her, the tip a pace away from the woman’s chest.
“Stop.”
The woman paused, but only for a moment. A cruel smile played across her lips. “Do you even know how to use that, girl?”
“Trust me, I do. I am older than I look, if not nearly as old as you.”
That earned Sun a snarl. The woman drew two long daggers from her belt and lunged forwards, trying to batter Sun’s weapon aside. But Sun had spent many hours training in her family’s yard, and she retreated, using her own weapon to block the woman’s slashes and thrusts.
Knives, knives, she thought. What do you do against a foe with knives? She knew she had learned it, but all thought had fled her mind, and she was moving on instinct. It was harder to remember her lessons when she knew her foe wanted to kill her.
She stepped forwards with a wild swing. The woman took two steps away, breathing heavily. Sweat beaded her brow, made all the worse by the heat of the darkfire behind her. Sun hoped she regretted her choice of clothing.
“You do not look like a killer,” growled the woman.
“There is a first time for everything, I am beginning to learn.”
“Walk away. What we are doing here does not concern you. And it will make Underrealm a better place in the end.”
Sun loosened her grip on her sword for a moment, flexing her fingers. “I am told that your sort always thinks that. But I have learned another lesson. It does no good to ignore evil done in the shadows, no matter how often people would rather do so.”
The woman lunged. Again she tried to slap Sun’s blade aside—but this time Sun let her. She spun with the blow, sidestepping as the woman’s other dagger plunged through the space she had been standing.
Sun brought the sword arcing back around, and with the flat of the blade she slapped the woman’s hand. The dagger slipped from her sweat-soaked fingers to the ground. When she stooped to retrieve it, Sun sliced a thin cut on the back of her thigh. The woman’s back arched as she cried out. Sun stepped in close and struck her in the neck with a fist, making her cough and fall back, dropping her other dagger.
She stumbled on the rock Sun had used to break the lock, falling on her back. Before she could rise, Sun stepped up, blade pointed straight at the woman’s face, now only a finger’s breadth away.
“Please,” the woman whispered. “Please do not kill me.”
“As I said, there is a first time for everything,” said Sun. “But not for this. Not tonight.”
She flipped the sword and fell on the woman’s chest in one smooth motion, bringing the pommel crashing into her head. The woman’s head snapped back and her eyes rolled up, showing their whites for just a moment before they closed.
Breathing heavily, Sun stood again and sheathed the sword. She looked at the hill. The rest of the would-be Shades were nowhere in sight.
Quickly she ran back to the cauldron, scooped up the rest of the magestones and flung them into the darkfire beneath. The flames sprang still higher. They had caught on the sides of the cauldron, though they had not burned through it yet. It was only a matter of time, but Sun found a torch and plunged it into the cauldron anyway. Albern had said to do it, and she guessed he had a reason.
Darkfire sprang up from the top of the cauldron, mingling with the black flames that crept up from the bottom. It began to consume the metal at last, creating holes that sent black blood pouring out into the flames. But Sun did not stay to watch. She sprinted off in the direction she had approached the camp—when she ran head-on into a figure in the darkness. They both grunted and fell to the ground beside each other.
Sun scrambled away from the figure, grasping for the sword at her belt—but then she heard Albern’s deep voice in the darkness. “Sky above, that hurt.”
“Albern!” Sun whispered. “I am sorry. Are you all right?”
“Well enough, I suppose.” He accepted Sun’s hand, and she pulled him to his feet. “Is your task done?”
“It is,” she said. “What of the other Shades? Or whatever they are.”
“They are gone,” he said. “I led them on a merry chase south and then lost them as soon as I could. One slipped away from the others, and I feared she might return here.”
“She did,” said Sun, pointing to the woman’s unconscious form. “I dealt with her.”
His eyes shot wide. “Did you, now? Well done.”
“I will tell you honestly: after fighting a vampire, I found myself rather unimpressed with her.”
That made him laugh, though he quickly stifled it. “Well, we should be going. We have done a good thing here tonight—another good deed no one will ever hear about.”
“Just as I want it,” said Sun.
She followed him as he crept away from the camp and began a long westward loop that would bring them back to the road. Soon they had come out of the hills and begun to walk on open, grassy ground under the light of the stars. The moons had risen as well, and they cast all the world in a silvery pale glow. Sun looked up at them, her heart full, her mind replaying her brief scuffle with the woman in the camp.
“What of the rest of them?” she said. “They got away.”
“They did, but it is of little consequence,” said Albern. “It took them a very long time to gather the information they needed to steal those magestones. It will take them longer to d
o it again, if they even have the nerve for it. And if they should do so, well, then, someone will stop them. Mayhap it will be us.”
“How do you know how long it took them?”
He grinned at her in the moonslight. “You are welcome to join my adventures, Sun, but you cannot expect to learn everything all at once. I have many friends in many lands who send me much information. And I told you I reserve the right to keep some things a surprise.”
Sun shook her head. “Then what is our aim now?”
Albern stopped and turned, surveying her in the moonslight. “That is up to us. We are partners now, or so you said you desired.”
“I … I did,” said Sun. “I do. Yet I … I do not know what to do next.”
“I have often felt the same,” said Albern. “Well, we have a long walk back to Lan Shui. We can discuss it on the way.”
Sun nodded. “That sounds agreeable.”
They walked on in silence for a while, Sun mulling things over in her mind. She thought of the maps she had studied of this part of the kingdom. There were some things she had always wanted to see in Dorsea. She thought of its history, and of the ancient and great figures of Underrealm’s beginnings, many of them her long-distant kin.
“What if we went to Bertram?” she said.
Albern looked at her, his brows raised. “Bertram?”
“I have often wanted to see it,” said Sun. “My family was going to travel there, though not for some time yet. It was one of the few places along our route that I looked forward to. Renna the Sunmane made her home there, before she built Dorsea’s capital of Danfon.”
“So she did,” said Albern. “Bertram would be a fine place to visit. In fact, there is a man there who owes me some money, and I would be happy to give you a fair share of it, if you will have it.”
Sun frowned. “A fair share?”
He tilted his head. “As a partner.”
“But what is the money for?”
“Ah.” He smiled. “For services I rendered to him, which I shall tell you about once we reach Bertram. But I promise it is a benign surprise, far more innocent than our business tonight. I would split it with you, with your portion being in recognition of your accompaniment, and of your skill with a blade. I am afraid you are a bit of a sellsword now, Sun—at least as long as you stick the road.”
The Tales of the Wanderer Volume One: A Book of Underrealm (The Underrealm Volumes 4) Page 58
