by Dan Decker
The grin had long since slipped from his face. “She won’t live long,” the man said in between labored breaths. “You’ll soon meet her in the nine fires.”
Daen stabbed the man’s shoulder, pulled it out, and blocked a weak attack. He then used his arm to knock away the man’s sword arm, ramming his sword into the man’s chest.
The man looked down and let out a low painful cry while Daen wrenched out his blade. Daen realized he couldn’t open the door until the man was unable to make any noise. As it was, the sound of their fight may have already alerted the others to Daen’s presence.
He knelt beside the man. “How many are with you?” When the man started to fumble with something in his pocket, Daen hit the man’s hand, sending a glass vial skittering across the cobblestones. He’d heard about those from Semal, inside the vial was poison so the man couldn’t be taken alive.
The man attempted to reach for Daen’s dagger, but he batted it away as well.
Daen let out a growl. The man was going to die, it was just a matter of time. He needed to catch up with the others so he could rescue Linel. He imagined opening the door and the man screaming out a warning.
I should have just let him swallow his vial of poison, Daen thought. Picking up the glass vial and examining it, he wondered what the man would do if he offered it to him. It was half the length of Daen’s little finger and not as wide. The top was sealed with wax.
He held it out to the man. “What is this?”
The man looked at it hungrily. Daen would have preferred to keep the man alive but every moment he waited increased the risk somebody else was going to come out. Linel was in danger, and if he was hoping to catch up to her, he couldn’t afford to spend any more time here.
He pretended to let it slip out of his hand, dropping it so it hit the toe of his boot. He moved quickly to pick it back up again, but let the man get to it first. The man popped it in his mouth with a triumphant smile.
“See you in the ninth level of fire, boy.” Foam came out of his mouth while Daen got to his feet and stepped back, uncertain about the morality of what he’d just done and trying not to think about it as he opened a door to the apartment building and slipped inside.
Chapter 28
When Daen walked in and pulled the door shut behind him, he was brought into near darkness. He tamped down his fears as he let his eyes become accustomed to the lower level of light. The image of the man foaming at the mouth, a taunting smile on his face was hard to push to the side, but he forced it away, thinking instead of Linel. They must have taken her by surprise, it was the only explanation for how they’d gotten her without him hearing anything.
The man who’d crunched the glass vial had not had a scratch on him when he and Daen had begun their fight. Neither had Ardra or the other man who had been with them. No, if Linel had known they were coming for her, there would have been some indication on their persons. She had been taken from behind and likely knocked upside the head.
Once his eyes had adjusted to the lower level of light, he could see the stairs in front of him. One flight went down, another went up. Along the side was a hallway that went back into the building, he could see that it opened into a common area. He listened for some sound to indicate where he should go but the place was silent, the only noise came through the door as the breeze blew against a small crack at the top.
There was light coming from the flight going up. The stairs going down had light as well, but it was much fainter.
Might as well pick one and see where it takes me, he thought, studying his choices. He was about to head up the stairs when it occurred to him that the light source from above had a more natural look to it, as if moonlight were coming through windows.
The light below could only be man-made. He moved down, taking one step at a time, stopping to listen, and terrified that another person would come in through the entrance and find him standing on the stairs.
He slid out a dagger from the sheath on his belt, clutching the hilt tight while preparing to lash out at the first sign of trouble. He normally wasn’t one to attack without first assessing the situation, but he was beginning to think he’d be dead if that were his approach to dealing with what lay in front of him.
When he came to the end of the first flight of stairs, the light was stronger, but it still only led him down. The floor was dark, but he stepped into the hallway anyway, looking to see if there were any other reason he should investigate. There was no light. He’d thought there might be a lantern, or light coming from underneath a door, but there was nothing.
He let out a slow breath, the tension building in his chest to the point he feared it could burst asunder.
As he turned back to the next flight of stairs and worked his way down, he gripped the hilt of his dagger in one hand while holding to the rail in the other. The side of his chest hurt from where he’d been whacked with the cudgel, but he ignored it.
The stairs didn’t look like they would squeak, but considering the state of his nerves, he figured it was better to have a hold on the rail for extra support. The last thing he wanted to do was alert the Kopal to his presence because he slipped and fell down a few stairs.
When he came to the next floor, the light further down the stairs was brighter, and there still wasn’t any activity on the main floor. He stepped out into the hallway, just to check. Like the one above, it was dark.
Daen went down the next flight of stairs and found the third floor down was quiet. When he came to the fourth and saw that the light was still coming from below he didn’t even pause to examine it and just continued down. He similarly passed by the fifth.
How many cursed levels below ground does this apartment building have? If it went much further, he would shortly find himself in the catacombs below the city.
The thought gave him pause. Not since he was boy had he been the catacombs. Dread flowed into him as he wondered if the Kopal had taken up in them.
It had been years since the people of Rarbon had used the catacombs, though there were many jokes about cave people still living underground. Cural had insisted he’d seen some, but Daen had never believed it, even coming from his straight-faced uncle who never joked and rarely smiled.
As he prepared to go down the stairs that would take him to the sixth floor, Daen wondered what he would find below. He was close. It was possible the Kopal might not be down here, but he thought it unlikely.
No, the light that had been drawing him down had to be coming from the Kopal. Who else would be going so deep into an apartment building?
He shook his head while muttering a quiet curse that he followed with a prayer. If it hadn’t been for the fact that they had Linel, he might have turned around, but it was his desire to see her safe that pushed him downward.
If she wouldn’t have been mourning the loss of her father they wouldn’t have taken her unaware. She was going to be furious when he caught up to her. Together, he was confident they could fight their way free.
And if they did die, Cural knew the truth and would pick up the threads Daen and Linel had been chasing.
He started down the sixth flight while going through a breathing exercise he used before sparring. It helped to calm his nerves, he was no longer clasping the rail of the stairs.
Halfway down he looked over the railing to the flight below and found a lantern hung on the wall. Next to it was a thin man with his eyes closed.
Daen considered the gangly man, wondering how to get past him without making any noise. Because the man had his eyes closed, he considered just coming down the stairs and hoping for the best, but he discarded the idea almost as soon as it occurred to him.
I need to take control of the situation. He continued until he was almost to the landing, wondering if he could get close enough to take out the man without causing a scuffle.
Sliding over to the wall, he shuffled out onto the sixth floor and went into the hallway so that he was no longer in view of anybody on the stairs.
> Sweat trickled down his back, even though it was colder here than it had been outside. A few degrees colder and water would freeze. He rubbed his hands together to keep his circulation going.
The light from the lantern cast the hallway of the sixth floor into shadow. Daen jumped at a sudden movement, bringing up his dagger and preparing to lash out before realizing that the guard had just shifted, causing the shadows at his feet to move.
He let out a long breath while shaking his head.
A couple more seconds passed during which he gathered his nerve. He searched his pockets for anything he might toss that would make a sound loud enough that the man would come to investigate. He thought of the spare dagger on his belt but decided that would make too much noise. He sheathed the dagger, and felt along the floor, hoping to find a small pebble or rock to toss. Something light enough it wouldn’t be heard by anybody other than the guard but large enough he couldn’t ignore it.
The floor was dusty but clean otherwise. He gave up after crawling for six feet and went back to his original position, wiping his hands on his pants to clean off the dust before reaching for his dagger. As his fingers brushed up against his sheath, he realized it might suit his purposes. It wasn’t as small as he wanted but if he tossed it horizontally so that it went far but not high, it could work to create the sort of distraction he desired.
Clamping the dagger between his teeth, he undid his belt and took off the leather sheath. He’d made it himself, having lost the original some time ago.
He peered around the corner but could only see the light, not the lantern or the guard. Judging by the man’s shadow, the guard hadn’t moved since startling Daen.
Daen moved back into the shadow, held his sheath so he could throw it parallel to the floor. His goal was to get it into the shadows on the other side.
His motion was smooth, and it sailed through the air, but he held his breath as it did, hoping the movement wouldn’t catch the eye of the guard. His throw was low enough it should have been below the man’s eye level, but it was difficult to know for certain.
As he took his dagger from his teeth, the sheath landed with a light clattering sound.
Daen braced for the man to come around the corner, pushing up so that he was flat against the wall. The seconds ticked by and nothing happened. No movement in response to the sound.
How could the man not have heard it?
Nine burning fires! What was it going to take to draw the man’s attention? Daen felt through his pockets again, not coming up with anything that would fit his purposes.
He retreated further down the hallway, away from the entrance, going into the dark with his hand trailing against the wall, hoping to find an unlit lantern hanging from a hook. Perhaps he might take off a part and use that for his distraction.
The further he went and felt nothing, the faster he moved, hoping for anything. He checked behind him at one point, expecting to see the guard standing in the light at the entrance to the hallway but the way was clear.
It took him longer than he expected but he came to the end of the hallway. It had gone on for far longer than it should have.
I’m in the catacombs.
Some of the larger buildings did connect to the catacombs, but it was rare. It was no wonder why the Kopal had selected the building. The catacombs would give them all a way to disperse should they run into trouble.
The Rahar and Rarbon Council should not have allowed the catacombs to languish in disuse for all these years. Daen felt along the wall and discovered that the hallway didn’t just end, a new corridor opened to his left. He went no further, not wanting to get lost without a light. Adventurous children occasionally went missing, sometimes they were found, other times they were never seen from again. The catacombs were not something he wanted to mess with tonight.
He turned back, feeling along the wall as he did, and was relieved when the entrance once again came back into view. He crossed over to the other side of the hallway, moving his hand up and down as he walked, hoping to discover anything he could use. He came to a door, found it was locked and moved on. After that, he came to three more doors, all locked. As his hand left the doorknob of the third, it brushed up against something on the wall.
Because he was no longer expecting to find anything, he hit it suddenly, almost knocking it off. He put out his other hand to keep it in place.
A framed painting.
As he lifted it from the wall, he checked to make sure there wasn’t any movement at the entrance. After waiting for several counts, he continued on his way. He no longer felt along the wall and moved as fast as he could without making any sound.
When he came to his original spot, the guard’s shadow didn’t appear to have moved during the time Daen had been gone.
He threw the picture, noticing as he did that it depicted a Hunwei’s corpse being hung in the middle of a Rarbon town square. The men were dressed in red, making him think of the Redd Guard. The location looked familiar, but he didn’t dwell on it as the picture sailed through the light and landed in the shadows on the other side.
It fell with such a loud clatter that Daen winced, afraid he’d thrown it too hard. In the moments that followed, it seemed like he could hear his heart beating and he worried the guard might hear it too.
Still, the guard didn’t move.
When Daen was satisfied his distraction hadn’t worked, he slid back onto the landing, and peeked over the stairs.
The guard was lying against the wall, his head slumped over. As Daen approached, he kept his dagger ready.
He was on the bottom stair before the man stirred. When the guard’s eye opened, Daen moved quickly. Covering the guy’s mouth while plunging the dagger into his chest. The man’s muffled scream caused the hair on the back of Daen’s neck to stand on edge, but he stabbed the blade in again, aiming as close as he could for the man’s heart.
The man stopped squirming and soon lay still. Daen considered hauling the body back up the stairs to hide on the sixth floor, but there was enough blood it would have been wasted effort.
The landing faced away from the seventh floor. On the left was the next staircase going down, on the right was a hallway that led to whatever the man had been guarding.
Daen waited until he was sure nobody was coming to investigate before heading down the hall, moving as fast as he dared.
Chapter 29
The seventh floor wasn’t any better lit than the sixth, and he began to wonder if perhaps he hadn’t made a mistake and should continue further down the stairs. He decided there was a reason why the guard had been placed where he was and worked his way down the hallway that seemed to be a copy of the floor above.
When he came to an end, another corridor opened to the left, just as before. A thin stream of light came from underneath a door on the left side of the hallway. He approached, sliding his dagger in between his belt and his pants while pulling out his sword.
When he heard murmuring come from behind the door, he knew he was in the right place. He slid forward until he was a foot away. The door wasn’t all the way shut, it could be pushed open without turning the knob.
“Daen Verar. Where do we find him?” It was Ardra, she sounded as if it wasn’t the first time she’d asked the question.
There was no answer, but after a pause, he heard a slap and a growl.
He smiled, despite his anger. Leave it to Linel to not give them the satisfaction of hearing her cry out. The woman was tough. Should she somehow escape her bonds, they wouldn’t be easily replaced.
“She’s not going to give him up.”
It was his uncle Cural’s voice.
The walls around Daen seemed to shrink. Breathing became more difficult.
What is he doing here? The morning conversation with his uncle went through his mind, little parts of it standing out in a way they hadn’t before. Like how his uncle hadn’t been surprised to hear about the Kopal.
Daen almost rushed in to confront the man, but h
e seethed in silence, the betrayal rushing over him like the avalanche of snow he’d once seen from a distance while out on patrol. The thunder of it falling, the sheer power and enormity of it had been the most awful thing he’d ever seen.
There had been no indication something was about to happen. One moment everything had been still; the next, commotion and destruction. They’d lost a good man that day, who’d been ahead scouting. If Daen had been assigned to scout, he might have been dead.
As he fought through the torrent, he imagined Linel looking at Cural with hateful eyes. Should she get free, Cural would be the first one she killed.
Daen didn’t want her to do that until he got some answers from his uncle.
There was a dull thud and another muffled groan, Linel had to be clamping down on her jaw. Hard. Daen gripped the hilt of his sword, wishing he knew how many people were in the room. Was it just Ardra, his uncle, and the other man? Or was there a whole room of other people. If it were just three of them, he would be willing to take the chance. Was Lear there too? That would make four.
He took a deep breath and held it until his lungs felt like they might burst, then he slowly let it out, listening all the while for any indication that there might be other people in the room.
He crept back to the hallway and looked towards the entrance of the seventh floor, waiting to make sure there wasn’t anybody moving in the dark. After he was certain, he positioned himself beside the door once again.
“I grow tired of this, soldier.” Ardra’s voice was cold as steel but was starting to show a hint of frustration.
There were yet more muffled thumps.
It was quiet enough Daen almost didn’t hear it. A breeze in a storm. A whisper in a crowd. He turned towards the sound, bringing up his sword on instinct, catching a blade that had been coming his way.
