by Edward Bolme
"Mine's not," she replied with a smile, and the other guard laughed at his companion's expense. "Have a good night, boys," Kehrsyn added, slinging her cloak over her back in such a manner that it looked casual but concealed the wand.
Just as Kehrsyn set her foot upon the first step of the stairs, the front doors burst open and an intruder flew into the room. Startled, Kehrsyn spun around, and the two guards readied weapons at the sudden disturbance.
"Halt!" yelled one guard, before he recognized the predatory snarl on Ahegi's face.
Ahegi panted, air passing almost spasmodically between his bared teeth. He'd abandoned his cloak somewhere and bared his fattened breast to the weather. His clothes sagged beneath the rain and sweat, and the concentric blue circles that adorned his forehead were smeared. Mud covered his legs past his knees and spattered his trousers and robe up to his waist.
"Where," he panted, the cold air pouring in from the open doors and making his breath steam, "is that arrogant, insolent, sanctimonious whore?"
Kehrsyn's heart stopped as Ahegi's words opened a rift in time, and she tumbled back through it to her childhood, to one of her earliest memories. She saw the door to their hut burst open, saw her mother quail in fear before those exact same words, felt the nightmare return. She wanted to run from the pain but couldn't abandon her mother. Kehrsyn wanted to help, but if she interfered, she'd only make it worse for both of them.
All her life those words had lain in her subconscious, words too complex for her young mind but whose meaning was clear by the speaker's tone. She'd never forgotten those words or that voice, and without warning the nightmare had reared its burning, tarry, venomous head from her subconscious and found its way home. Wide-eyed like a child, Kehrsyn stared at Ahegi as her brain grappled with the awful truth.
"Ekur!" she gasped, and her knees began to tremble.
He whipped his shaven head around like a bull to face the young woman. She stared in shock. He'd gained more wrinkles, built himself a sag of pudge beneath his neck and a mantle of fat over his body, and removed the priestly third circle from his forehead, but there was no longer any mistaking the piggish, hateful eyes that burned beneath his brow. He raised one sodden arm and pointed.
"Kill her," he shouted hoarsely. "No quarter-I want her dead!"
Kehrsyn didn't have the leeway to make a break for the front door, so she fled up the stairs. Behind her she heard Ekur begin working some magic as the guards gave chase, yelling for help.
As she rounded the stairs, she saw a flash of magical magenta light flare against her trailing hand. She winced from the flare, but felt no ill effects as she ran.
Not knowing any better way to leave the building, she sprinted to the second floor, passed the startled guardsman in the center of the hall before he could figure out what was happening, darted down to and through her room, and leaped out the window to the alley below. She landed poorly on the hard dirt and had to roll to avoid injuring her knee. Soaked through with muddy water, she regained her feet and checked to ensure the wand was still in her sash. Then, just as she was about to put her cloak on, she saw that it was glowing with a bright magenta light, the aura of Ekur's spell.
She put it on anyway and ran off into the rainy night.
Several of the inhabitants of Wing's Reach lounged in the common dining area, enjoying the fire and gambling at dice and sava. Demok sat to one side, whetting his long sword and occasionally offering advice on odds and plays, sipping a goblet of dry wine purchased from some Chessentan mercenaries during the campaign season.
An outcry rang through the building, a pair of voices calling the building to arms. Behind it, Demok heard the unmistakable sound of magic being woven. He leaped to his feet, sheathing his long sword and drawing his short sword, the better tool for indoor work.
He burst into the hall and ran to the foyer, where most of the commotion seemed to originate. Ahegi stood by the open front doors, leaning with one hand against the jamb and panting heavily, soaked through and absent his rain cloak.
Demok ran up to him, a questioning look on his face.
"That whore," panted Ahegi, pointing up the stairs. "The new one. Kill her."
Demok turned to the stairs and heard the heavy clatter of the two guards charging after the lone fugitive, shouting imprecations and calls for assistance. Instead of following them, he sheathed his sword, snagged the lantern that hung over the guards' table, and ran outside, heading for the stables. He kicked open the stable boy's door, which stood to the side of the big barn doors. By the light of his lantern, he saw the stable boy sitting on his bale of hay, bleary eyes wide with surprise. Demok grabbed the loose end of the blanket in which the stable boy was wrapped and gave it a hard pull, spinning the boy out of the blanket and into the cold night's s air.
"A bridle, boy!" ordered Demok, raising his voice to help the command cut through the haze of sleep. "Now!"
The boy stumbled to his task, not even yet fully awake or aware of his surroundings.
Demok moved quickly through the stables to his mount's stall. The lantern he hung from a nail that jutted from a post. He opened the paddock's gate, pulled the blanket from the horse's back and spoke gently to it. His hand on the back of the horse's neck, he began to lead it out.
Near the front of the stable, he saw the boy trying to figure out why he was up and around with a bridle in his hand.
"Here, boy!" shouted Demok, and the boy tripped over, one hand offering the reins.
With the skill of a lifelong horseman, Demok strapped the bit and bridle to his horse.
"Open the gate!" he shouted, and leaped atop his horse, bareback.
The boy, sensing that his nightmare would end as soon as he let it out, threw back the bar and pushed one door open. Demok rode out into the night, heading up the alley to find that a group of Wing's Reach guards, each with a lantern, were already spilling out to pursue Kehrsyn in the downpour.
"There she is!" shouted one, and there, distant but yet visible in the downpour, he saw a cloak, glowing with a bright phosphorescent light and bobbing with a runner's pace.
The group pursued, and Demok went with them. Ahegi wanted Kehrsyn killed, not captured, which meant that whatever she might say was forbidden, knowledge far too dangerous for anyone to hear. He knew he could not let any of them reach her before he did. They wouldn't understand the urgency.
Fingering the hilt of his short sword, he vowed that his superiors' mission would not be thwarted. The group followed the glow, which led in a straight line, until, of a sudden, it dropped to the ground.
"Damn! She tossed her cloak," cursed one guard.
As the group reached the abandoned cloth with its unwelcome enchantment, the officer of the guards looked around at the alleys that lurked in the darkness.
"You five," the officer barked, gesturing to a cluster of guards, "keep pursuing in this direction, all the way to the docks. She hasn't turned once since we left. Maybe she's panicked or hopes she can hire passage. The rest of you, split into groups of three and search these alleys carefully. She might have been playing dumb, hoping we'd pass her by as she hid in the dark. Move!"
As the guards dispersed, Demok paused. He was certain she was neither panicked nor hiding. From everything she'd told him, Kehrsyn had been through many such dragnets before, and, since she still possessed both hands, evidence implied that she'd always escaped clean. Instead, he figured she would move to a safe place to lain. She had no other home, and after all the time he'd shadowed her through Messemprar he knew of only two places she might go. One was the Thayan enclave, to seek the protection of whomever she'd spent the night with after the theft. The other was the hideout of the thieves' guild, or whatever organization it truly was, where the occupants had been killed and carted away like cordwood.
Fortunately for him, she was on foot and had to avoid being spotted. He had neither of those handicaps. He lashed his horse and rode hard to the enclave, the sound of his horse's hooves lost beneath the heavy rain.
As he approached the enclave, Demok saw a guardhouse with a single desultory guard leaning against one wall, wrapped in his cloak and feebly warmed by the red glow of a magical fire that hovered in the rear corner.
Demok rode up and reined in his horse as the guard stood to challenge him.
"Miserable night to stand guard," said Demok.
"Worse for riding about," responded the guard, and Demok caught the definite edge of a veteran soldier in his voice. "What ails you?"
"A young woman may come. So tall, slender, pretty."
"Dark hair?" asked the guard. "Big smile? Moves like a cat?"
Demok nodded and said, "Came here two nights ago."
"I know her," said the guard.
"Excellent. If she comes, give her shelter. Keep her safe. And keep her here. I'll be back for her, personally." Demok fished in his purse and produced ten gold coins. "For any expenses incurred while under Thayan protection."
"Understood," said the guard, placing the coins in a leather pouch at his belt. "You have a night ride, now." He raised one eyebrow and worked his tongue. "Bleah. Listen to me. I'm not sure whether I was going to say 'nice ride' or 'nice night.' Well, whichever it was, have it."
With a nod, Demok swung around and rode for Wheelwright's Street. He hoped he would beat her to it, and he hoped it would be otherwise unoccupied.
His job would be much more difficult if the body snatchers returned.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Shivering with cold, Kehrsyn looked around at the open plaza surrounding the Chariot Memorial. The entire area, as she'd expected at such a late hour on such a wretched night, was deserted. She moved quickly over to Wheelwright's, down to the wedge-shaped building, and climbed the ladder. She wondered how long it would be before people figured out it was abandoned.
Maybe, she thought, I could set myself up as landlord and charge people rent to stay here. But first I'd have to clean it up. And get rid of the dog and those last two mangled bodies.
She opened the door and stepped in, eager to get out of the frigid rain and put anything solid between herself and the legions of guards she envisioned chasing her throughout the streets of Messemprar.
The door slammed shut. Someone behind her wrapped one arm around her arms and clamped a hand over her mouth.
A rough voice hissed, "Quiet!"
A man's voice. Kehrsyn kicked upward with her heel, looking to discommode whomever it was, but she felt him twist slightly and her heel struck his thigh. The man dropped onto his back, pulling them down together, then he rolled over, pinning her body beneath him. Doing so, he'd freed up the arm that had pinned her hands, and just as she thought to grab his hair or claw his eyes, she felt the tip of a blade at her throat. She considered biting the fingers that stifled her mouth but decided that the blade's tip was too great a threat Instead, she slowly held her hands out to the side and tapped the floor in surrender.
The man kept one knee on her back as he rose. She heard him mumble something in an arcane tongue, and a small glowing orb, not much larger than a firefly but much brighter, appeared in the middle of the room. Once the room was lit, he rose to his feet, backing away so that she could sit up. She did so and turned to see who had captured her.
"Demok!" she gasped, seeing his short sword bared and leveled. "Please don't kill me. Please, I have important news for Massedar. You have to take me back, but don't let Ahegi see me, or he'll kill me."
Demok raised one hand and leveled it at Kehrsyn, pointing it in a commanding manner.
"Quiet," he said.
"But-"
"Quiet!"
Keeping one eye on Kehrsyn, Demok used his free hand to move a few packs and bags in front of the door, blocking it. The makeshift barricade wouldn't stop someone determined to pass, but it would slow someone-someone like her-for a few precious seconds. Kehrsyn grew more and more nervous, for what would one more body in the building be?
It crossed her mind to wonder how Demok knew where the building was. No one in Wing's Reach knew about the place. She'd been very careful…
"Oh no," said Kehrsyn, "you're one of them. You're with the Dragon Queen! I won't tell anyone… please. I promise."
Demok did not acknowledge her outburst. Rising, he circled around Kehrsyn to put himself between her and the other two exits from the room.
"I watched you perform at the Jackal's Courtyard," he said.
"Yeah, I know," replied Kehrsyn, on the verge of tears. "I saw you."
"I let you," he said. "I'd watched three days."
"You did?" asked Kehrsyn, eager to perpetuate the conversation, as the longer they talked, the longer she stayed alive.
"Studied your skills," he said. "You're good."
"Thanks," said Kehrsyn.
"When the woman framed you, you escaped. Saw me. Ran. Guards gave chase. We fell, entering the alley."
"Yeah, I remember," said Kehrsyn.
"Deliberate."
"What do you mean? You mean you-"
"Later, you hid in an alley," interrupted Demok. "Two Zhents closing in. Then a whistle. They chased after someone else. False lead."
"Yeah, that's what happened," said Kehrsyn. "The sorceress said that Mask, the God of Thieves, favored me."
"That was me, too."
"What?"
"I tripped so you'd get away," he said. "I led them away so you'd live." He paused, studying Kehrsyn's reaction, then added, "Had a reason. Still do. So I'm not going to kill you now."
Kehrsyn closed her eyes, sagged to the floor in relief, and started to cry.
"I'll build a fire," said Demok.
A short while later, Demok had a bright fire going. He'd lit a lamp and placed candles burning at key points throughout the building to burn away the growing stink of death.
Kehrsyn's clothes lay spread before the fire, slowly drying. Her bag, dagger, and rapier stood nearby. The decoy staff lay buried at the bottom of the bag, placed there when Demok had left the room to allow her to change in privacy. She sat wrapped in several warm blankets staring at the fire.
"Can't go back tonight," Demok said. "Too dark. Dangerous. We'll go in the morning."
"That's probably best," said Kehrsyn.
"Important news?"
Kehrsyn looked up at Demok's face, illuminated by the fire.
She hesitated, then said, "I know I can trust you, but I mean can I really trust you? This is big. I mean, you have to keep it secret. Really, really secret."
In answer, Demok clenched his fist and held it in the flames. Kehrsyn gasped. She saw the hairs on his arm ignite and flare into nonexistence. The smell of burned hair quickly spread.
"A'right a'right a'right, I can trust you," she said. "Please just take your hand out!"
He did so, flexed his hand, and blew on it.
"Right back," he said, took a dishcloth, and stepped outside.
When he returned, the cloth was soaked with chilly rainwater and wrapped around his hand.
"I hope you didn't hurt yourself," said Kehrsyn. "We may need your sword."
"I'm always ready to fight," said Demok. "Tell me."
Kehrsyn took a deep breath and said, "Well, first of all, Ahegi is actually Ekur."
"I grew up in Sespech," said Demok. "That name means nothing."
"Oh, right…" said Kehrsyn. "Ekur used to be a high priest of Gilgeam."
"Gilgeam I know," said Demok.
"Ekur was in charge of Shussel, which was the town where I grew up. I knew I knew him when I first saw him, but last time I saw him was over twelve years ago, and it took me until now to figure out who he was. I'm glad I finally recognized him. Anyway, I found out that he's working with the Zhentarim, and I think he was behind me stea-uh, behind the theft of the Alabaster Staff, and I think either the Tiamatans have hidden it somewhere or, more likely, the Zhents have it."
Demok looked genuinely surprised.
"He's a Zhent?" he asked, leaning forward. "How?"
"Well, the, uh, people who made
me… you know… they had this map of Wing's Reach. They said they got it from the city archives, but it had all the recent additions, so it was a new map. And it had the location of the Alabaster Staff marked on it. That meant someone was a traitor. And they said as much, but they didn't know who it was, because it was this 'friend of a friend' sort of thing."
Kehrsyn bit her lip as she considered what to say next.
"I figured it was the Zhentarim," she continued. "From everything I've been hearing, they're working hard to worm their way into Unther, and despite what I said back in Wing's Reach I can't see anyone selling out to the pharaoh. The question was, who? I figured it was someone high, because they knew about the staff's hiding place. That meant it was you or Ahegi, most likely. I chose to try Ahegi first, because I figured it'd be harder to get something past you. And to be honest, I wanted it to be Ahegi, because he'd been giving me butterflies every time I saw him.
"So I find out. I write this note like I think maybe the Zhentarim would write it, and I sneak in and leave it on his bed. And for some reason he goes to talk to Massedar first, maybe to tell him he's leaving the building or something, and he goes all the way across town in a real hurry to a ship."
"A ship," echoed Demok, unable to follow Kehrsyn's train of thought.
"Don't you see? When the people came here and took all the bodies away-oh, wait, you weren't here. See, this used to be where the thieves' guild was, and-never mind, it's not important right now. But these Tiamat guys came in the middle of the night, and they took away all these dead bodies, and the guy in charge said they were going to leave them on the Zhentish ship. So these guys gave the Zhents all kinds of dead bodies! So that's why I think either Tiamat is helping them or the Zhents are using them, too."
Demok narrowed his eyes and asked, "Did they say which ship?"
"They said it was called the Bow Before Me."
Demok nodded again, running a thumb across his lower lip, and said, "It's in port, all right. It's tied up at the Long Wharf."
"Yes!" said Kehrsyn. "That's where Ekur went when he read the note. He went to the ship on the Long Wharf."
