Shield and Crocus

by Michael R. Underwood

  Jeku furrowed his brow. “How will this keep us safe?”

  Sapphire looked to First Sentinel, who said, “That’s up to you, Sapphire. This is your team.”

  If I tell them about Fahra’s talent, it could compromise her if they’re captured. But if they’re going to trust me…

  “Fahra has a Spark-granted power. Anything she draws or paints becomes immune to the Spark.”

  Jeku’s head quirked to one side. Several of the other Freithin gasped. Bluetown had seen more than its share of Spark-storms, but they’d always rebuilt.

  Sapphire continued. “We’re having her draw neighborhoods and people as fast as we can, but we can’t take up all her time. If you’ll let her sketch you, you’ll never have to worry about Spark-storms again.”

  There were a few excited murmurs, and the Freithin pulled themselves together to pose. Fahra wove through the crowd for a moment, studying faces in that overexaggerated focus of youth. In mere minutes, she produced a detailed sketch of the scene. Freithin huddled, hopeful smiles on their faces.

  Fahra showed the drawing to Sapphire, who drew the girl up in a hug. “Well done.”

  First Sentinel raised an eyebrow at the two of them. Alright, now the next step. She gave him the signal. Then First Sentinel pulled off his mask, revealing his face. He assumed the tired carriage he used in his storyteller guise.

  “Some of you know me as Wonlar Pacsa. For the last few years, I’ve come to Bluetown to tell stories so that your children might know our history. Tonight, we make a new story, one that will be remembered for generations. I put my trust in you, and I know that you will do your children proud.”

  After a couple of surprised gasps, several Freithin nodded in recognition. Two walked over to shake First Sentinel’s hand. To the children in Bluetown, old Man Wonlar was nearly as much of a hero as First Sentinel— one more immediate to their lives, not just another of the Shields.

  Sapphire waited for them to make the rounds, and then asked, “have you been to Aegis’ group yet?”

  “We’re headed there now,” he said, fitting his mask back on.

  Sapphire ruffled Fahra’s hair, and then said, “Make sure you get home in time to sleep for school tomorrow. I’ll … I’ll come by when I can.”

  If I survive. If I don’t, City Mother, watch over her.

  First Sentinel wrapped the Millrej girl up again and the two of them left, well-wishes going with them from the new Shield-bearers.

  “Alright. Now the fun part.” a smile appeared on her face, as she opened another crate. This one contained blades, clubs, and a whole assortment of Freithin-scale armaments. Most were as long as an Ikanollo was tall. They’d been made to order over the years, in private, and at great risk to the craftsmen and women. “There are enough for everyone in these boxes.”

  The Freithin sorted through the weapons to make their choices. Most of them were simple, since the only people who got weapons training since the ban were guards and soldiers.

  And Shields. Sapphire hefted a double-bladed axe that must have weighed ten pounds. She pricked her thumb on the tip of one axe-head and held up the bleeding finger. “I would share my blood and my heart with you all. I can do no less than to call you brothers and sisters, since you are risking your lives for my mission.”

  The other Freithin echoed Sapphire’s gesture, and they joined hands. Their blood mixed, completing the Freithin blood-bond and linking their feelings as tightly as chainmail.

  Sapphire nodded to the group. I hope they’re ready. “we leave at the strike of ten.”

  Aegis held up a fist to halt his team so he could scan the street.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE

  Aegis

  Aegis held up a fist to halt his team so he could scan the street.

  Headtown was the richest district in the city, and Dr. Herron lived in its most secure neighborhood. The Shields and their Freithin Shield-bearers had already left behind three squadrons of unconscious guards as they worked their way through the district. Someone in the local guard would notice the missing patrols soon, and Aegis hurried the group to their destination so that they could strike before the tyrant’s thugs could respond.

  The group passed huge estates with well-kept gardens, catching the rays of the sun through the great eye sockets in Audec’s Skull. The inside of the skull was lined with great alchemical lamps so the residents could have extended daytime during the winter or show off their jewel-encrusted palaces for the seasonal fetes. We’re lucky; most of them don’t bother to post guards at their front gates since they installed the Brilliant Guard mercenary company for security.

  Aegis looked over his shoulder at the six Freithin and Sabreslate. The Freithin were all dressed in working clothes, carrying weapons scaled for their massive frames: axes, swords, clubs, and shields. By day they were chauffeurs and dishwashers, dockworkers and construction workers, but tonight they were a small army.

  Sabreslate walked half-melded into a nearby wall, her slate-woven raiment all but indistinguishable from the surrounding stone. They’d spent three hours walking through stone of the streets, using Sabreslate’s power to avoid detection before getting to the right neighborhood. I hope it doesn’t tire her out too much before we even begin.

  Aegis checked the street signs. They were one block away from Dr. Herron’s mansion. Aegis held up his hand and signaled the group forward, taking long strides to keep up with the others. A formal prayer filled his mind as they crossed the last block on the way to their target.

  City Mother, keep my friends in your heart, and protect my father as he seeks to cut the bindings that have enslaved you. Audec-Hal needs you; needs you free, needs your help to fight against those that would continue to destroy the name of your city.

  I will do my best to make you proud.

  Behind the tall, iron gate and a sumptuous garden with brilliant flowers and herbs stood a great white rotunda— Dr. Herron’s mansion. The full-length windows revealed an intricate glass chandelier in the foyer. The front door was wood, painted in burgundy and lined with brass. It was made for display, not security. There was a lot of glass in the front of the house, it’ll be hard to hold as is. He’d need Sabreslate to rework the house for defense as soon as the guards were neutralized.

  Aegis spotted a guard walking by and kept the team down behind the hedges until they passed out of sight.

  Sabreslate slid forward in the street and shaped a key from her raiment. She worked the lock for a few seconds, ducking down when Aegis signaled. Stay quiet, please. We can’t lose surprise until we’re at the door.

  The lock clicked and Sabreslate swung it open a half-inch.

  Aegis spoke in a quiet voice. “Follow me. I’ve got the door.” Sabreslate pushed the gate open, then Aegis set off in a dead run, kicking up well-organized gravel into heaping clouds as he crossed the yard in mere seconds. He jumped over the stairs to the patio and kicked the door off its hinges, the rest of the team following him, heavy feet pounding. Let’s hope this is worth it, Father.

  The door flew through the foyer and destroyed an ornate black table and an expensive floral arrangement. Polished crystal shattered on the ground, spilling soil and flowers onto the waxed tile at the feet of the three guards. Their eyes widened as they saw Aegis, then reached for their weapons. “Intruders!”

  Aegis bellowed orders as he tore into the guards, hoping to coordinate the team and terrify the guards at once. “Fan out, take the guards. Don’t let anyone out! Sabreslate, get the exits!”

  He met the first guard shield-to-sword, circled the guard’s blade over and off, and then laid him out with a right hook. The second guard stepped past his fallen comrade and swung a halberd down toward Aegis’s head. One of the Freithin Shield-bearers swatted the halberd away with a massive club, and the blade came down heavy on the tile.

  “Thank you,” Aegis said as he dodged to the opposite side as the Freithin, a woman named Sei walks. Sei pressed the guard, sweeping his feet with her club. Aegi
s heard bones crack as the guard landed hard on his hip. The third guard raised a bow and shot point-blank, but a whipping stone tendril swatted it away, then receded back into Sabreslate’s raiment. Aegis jumped the guard before he could pull another arrow from the quiver, dropping him with a knee to the solar plexus.

  The foyer was clear.

  Dr. Ovarei Herron, the owner of the house and patriarch of the collaborating Herron family, turned the corner on a circular stairway and called down to Aegis from behind another pair of guards, “what are you doing?”

  And there’s our hostage. Ovarei was an elder Ikanollo, firm features upturned in surprise and disgust. He was draped in expensive silks imported from halfway around the world.

  Aegis scaled the stairs in an instant, sizing up the guards. The first prepared for a shield strike, so Aegis just grabbed the man’s belt and tossed him over the banister. Next, Aegis lashed out with a kick to the second guard’s knee. She doubled over and Aegis pulled her past him to tumble down the stairs. I expected better. Please don’t be a trap.

  Aegis seized Dr. Herron by the hand and wrenched the man’s wrist up against his back, forcing him down with pain. Aegis applied more pressure. “Tell your guards to stand down,” he said, whispering in the man’s ear.

  Dr. Herron stood up on his toes to release the pressure.

  The doctor kept his composure while wincing at the joint lock. “There will be a hundred more swarming this place within minutes, you do realize that. The Brilliant Guard will tear you to ribbons.” he held up his other hand and the glowing ruby inlaid to a golden ring, glowing like the Shields’ own alarm bracelets.

  Aegis contained a smile. City Mother be praised for the predictable paranoia of the rich. “we’re counting on it. Now order your guards to stand down.”

  One of the Freithin (Hebi, was it?—he’s the dockworker) set his crate dead-center in the foyer, where the table and flowers once were, then joined his partner. Sapphire’s six recruits filled the foyer and spread out through the house in three pairs. Good, just as I said. Let’s hope they keep with it.

  Sabreslate was buried up to her elbows in the wall, turquoise lines of empathy spreading throughout the foyer as the stone shifted at her command. By the time those guards arrive, we’ll have a fortress.

  “You won’t harm me, I’m too valuable.” The doctor was saying all the right words to sound brave, but his voice and shaking hands said fear just as clearly as his quivering yellow thread. He didn’t struggle as Aegis walked the two of them down the stairs towards the crate.

  “Are you sure we won’t kill you? First Sentinel killed Nevri not a month ago, and we’ve left a trail of bodies before. Besides, if I just break your fingers, you’ll live, but you’ll never be able to operate again.” Take the bluff. It’s a big, scary bluff. And we have explosives. “Take a look inside that crate, will you?” Aegis asked, holding both of the doctor’s arms behind his back.

  The doctor got an eyeful of the explosives in the crate, and craned his head around to address Aegis, panic creeping into his voice. “Are you going to blow up the entire street?”

  Aegis heard the words resonate in his throat as he responded, but the voice was cold, detached, like his father’s. “If it comes to that.” The act was getting uncomfortable for Aegis.

  This is something they do, not us. But this is for the city. And Dr. Herron has done far worse to other people. Torture, forced surgery, and modifications to Nevri’s elites had paid for the doctor’s mansion, and he’d been well-protected in case his services were needed again.

  Aegis turned slightly to address Sabreslate. “I’m moving into the sitting room to secure him. Let me know when they arrive.”

  Sabreslate looked up and down the resealed walls of the foyer, running her hands along the stone. “Understood.”

  Thanks to Naako, they had the mansion’s floor plans. She had designed Dr. Herron’s home and every other one on the block. Each one of those plans was burned into Aegis’ mind, down to the sewer passageways and sewer access.

  “Team one, report!” he called down the hall. Team one was Cao and Sei walks, brother and sister who worked construction. They were already used to working together, and Aegis prayed that teamwork would keep them safe.

  The response came a moment later. “We’re clear!” Aegis led Dr. Herron down the hall, and turned left into the sitting room where team two was waiting.

  It was only ten paces across on both sides, but there was more money poured into that small room than in ten square blocks of hook’s hole. Rows of bookshelves climbed to the ceiling on all four walls, each filled with aged hardbacks in neat rows. Antique chairs with velour seats circled an imported black-lacquered folding table. The table was covered by cranes in flight over an abstract mountain landscape. Properly fenced, any item in this room would feed a family for a year.

  Team one flanked the only other doorway out of the sitting room, standing over another pair of formerly-armed guards. One of the Freithin held a small gash on his left arm, red blood dripping between his fingers. That’s Nore Crafts, he drives armored carts in Medai’s domain. His partner Aung Asks is a bodyguard for a Bluetown community leader.

  Aegis repeated the Shield-bearers’ names to himself. He had met most of them only that evening, and if he faltered for even a sliver of a second in calling their names or assigning tasks, it could cost their lives.

  Aegis shut the door behind them and said, “Take him; I need to see to that wound.” Aung took the doctor and pressed him face-down into the expensive table, mimicking Aegis’ hold by pressing the man’s wrists up against the back of his ribcage. The edge of Aegis’ mouth quirked up in a half-grin. He knows that one already.

  The Shield pulled a bandage from his belt and asked the Nore to kneel. “We can’t have that bleeding out when the fighting restarts.”

  “I thought we were supposed to be secure?” Nore asked as he knelt.

  “We should be.” Aegis gestured with his head toward the doctor. “And don’t talk about the plan while he can hear us.”

  The young man blushed, cheek flushed purple for a moment. “Sorry.”

  “It’s all right. I did worse on my first mission. Now take off your hand and stand still.” Aegis wiped away the blood with a sterilized cloth, and then applies gauze to bind up the wound. “It’s not bad, but it will keep bleeding. Watch that arm. If you take another hit there, it could reopen. Stay to your opponents’ right side; keep your wounded arm out of the way. Do you understand?”

  “Yes.” Nore’s voice was uncertain, but his threads were strong: purple connecting him to Aegis and thin but bright gold arcing over to Aung.

  “Good. I don’t want to lose anyone tonight. We’re going to fortify this room.” he stood up and pointed at the shelves. “Let’s move some of these and brace them against the door.”

  Sabreslate’s voice carried through the door once Aegis’ voice faded. “…at the outer wall, twenty in the first batch and another thirty behind them?”

  “Stay here, and watch him. Don’t let anyone in without the passphrase.” Aung and Nore nodded, and he dashed out of the room.

  “That’s twenty and then thirty?” Aegis asked as he hurried down the hallway. The reinforced walls were more than a foot thick, but thanks to her people’s gift, Sabreslate could see through it as if it were standing water, as long as she was in contact with the stone.

  “Yes,” she said.

  Aegis shouted, “Team one, are you in position?”

  “Not yet!” came the response from ahead.

  Dammit. “what do they have to break the wall?”

  “Nothing that I can see, but who knows?”

  A moment later, Aegis heard the stone walls crack. It couldn’t be that easy, son, rang Wonlar’s voice in his mind. Aegis reached the crate in the foyer and helped the Freithin sort out their supplies for the siege.

  This is going to be a long night.

  CHAPTER FORTY

  First Sentinel

&nb
sp; Half a century after Nevri’s coup, here we are. Three missions, five Shields, and one goal we’ve been pursuing the entire time.

  Perched atop the crown of Audec’s Skull, The tower of the City Mother scaled so high that it hurt First Sentinel’s neck to scan all the way up to see the top. He dragged the fourth and last of the door guards onto his pile and went to the door. Clearing out the guards had taken one of his last flash stones, but he knew that time was of the essence. Both of the other teams were already in play, which is why he only had to deal with four guards on the door instead of a whole squadron on alert.

  Time will tell how much they’ve committed, how much of an errand I’ve set for myself. First Sentinel pulled the heavy golden key from the guard’s belt and opened the ancient doors.

  There were ten guards scattered around the room between him and the door to the stairs up. Three were huddled around a table, playing cards, another four paced the room, and the last three stood by the far door. First Sentinel dropped the key to the tower as the guards at the table turned and stood to alert. First Sentinel drew his fighting staves, spinning quick defensive patterns as he walked into the tower. Here goes everything.

  “Surrender now and this won’t hurt,” First Sentinel said. There was no response. I don’t begrudge them the choice. I need the warm-up. The first guard swung a blackjack towards First Sentinel’s head, but the Shield raised a staff to spoil the shot and snapped the other one against the guard’s ribs. First Sentinel slipped a staff under the guard’s arm. He tossed the guard to the floor. The other two flanked out, each holding out swords.

  The four pacing guards were closing fast. Not much time. Keep to the wall, don’t get surrounded. Fight smart, old man.

  He pounced on the guard by the near wall. First Sentinel beat his sword against the stone and rolled towards his off-hand side, smacking the guard across the face. The guard dropped his sword and First Sentinel put him out with a short jab with a staff. He faced the third guard as another four closed to within ten paces. The last guard was more cautious than the others; he stood at a wide distance and waited for backup.