The Road to Death: The Lost Mark, Book 2

by Forbeck, Matt

“Hurt his head less than his pride,” said Burch.

  The shifter hadn’t bothered with cleaning up. While the others enjoyed their baths, he’d wandered around the fort, getting the lay of the land. He hadn’t found much unusual about the place, outside of the skeletons.

  “Airship almost looks ready to go,” he’d said to Kandler, pointing at the battered craft in the middle of the yard as they walked past it.

  Xalt nodded, his exterior plates polished and buffed to a shine. He had found a lanyard and threaded it through the end of his amputated finger. As it rested on his chest, it gleamed in the light as well, and Kandler guessed that if he didn’t know better he might think it was an artful piece of warforged jewelry instead of a missing digit.

  “The way its ring of fire burns so bright, it seems as if the elemental inside knows how close it came to freedom,” Xalt said. “If those restraining arcs ever do give out, the creature is sure to leave a wide trail of scorched earth behind it as it speeds away.”

  Monja noticed Esprë staring at Xalt’s finger necklace and slipped an arm around the young elf’s shoulders. Esprë stood a full head taller than the halfling, but she leaned into the embrace with relish.

  “He finally let me look at it,” the shaman said. “It’s a clean cut, but it’s beyond my power to reattach it. Things like that take mighty prayers from those who call the gods old friends.”

  “When we get to Flamekeep, the clerics there should be able to help,” Sallah said to Xalt. “Jaela Daran herself may choose to intercede on behalf of a hero such as you.”

  “Are we going to Thrane?” Esprë asked Kandler, concern etched on her face. “I thought we might go back to Sharn.”

  Kandler nodded. “Me too, but we can’t go back through the Mournland again. It’s too dangerous.”

  “Every warforged in the land will be looking for us,” Burch said.

  “Better to go north and over the Mournland and then down through Thrane to Breland,” Kandler said. “We can even stop in Mardakine if we like.”

  “You would be welcome to pass through the plains again,” Monja said. “I would even travel with you until you reach Valenar.”

  “The elf-land’s not the problem,” said Burch. “It’s getting through all the goblins in Darguun.”

  “Right,” said Kandler. “We could make for the Thunder Sea and sail up the Dagger River, but that’s a long way around.”

  “Can’t you just fly over it?” asked Monja, stabbing a thumb over her shoulder at the airship.

  “That,” said Kandler, “is one of the first things we need to talk to the captain about.”

  “Well,” Berre said, opening the door to the dining room as Kandler and the others approached, “we are bound to have an interesting conversation tonight then. In the interests of better digestion, though, I suggest we save such details until after the main course.”

  Kandler acquiesced to the captain’s request. He didn’t worry about offending her. Most dwarfs were too pragmatic to be bothered by direct talk, but she did have a small army of well-armed skeletons, along with a few well-trained soldiers of the breathing sort, all around them. He could afford to be patient for now.

  The meal was simple but tasty, served family-style out of common dishes in the center of the table. It featured more of the typical dark and bitter Karrnathi spices than the justicar preferred, but the sweet, blood-red wine that accompanied it washed it down well.

  Kandler noticed that Burch, ever suspicious, refused to eat anything until he saw Berre sample it first. The others weren’t so concerned. Sallah ate but without relish. Since Xalt couldn’t eat, he didn’t bother with the meal at all, although he took part in the small bits of conversation between the others’ mouthfuls. The petite Monja devoured everything put in front of her with the appetite of someone four times her size.

  A group of six Karrnathi skeletons waited on the table as attentively as any living servants. They moved according to Berre’s exacting orders, performing their duties to the letter and then returning to their corners once again.

  Kandler couldn’t help but notice that the bony waiters wore their blades and armor still, and that they outnumbered the guests. He knew that with the barest word from their captain they would attack.

  “So,” Berre said, as the undead waiters cleared the plates away and topped off each diner’s goblet of wine, “let us speak of what is to come.”

  Kandler gazed into the dwarf’s dark brown eyes for a minute before he spoke. She had done him many a good turn already today, including reuniting him with Esprë. He knew that he owed her something, and he feared that now the bill would come due.

  “Now that we’ve found Esprë,” he said, “Burch and I plan to take her back with us to Sharn. Sallah and Brendis have offered to put us up in Flamekeep for a while on our way.”

  “So your route will take you north of here through Karrnath before turning south into Thrane? Excellent.” An easy smile spread across Berre’s lips. “If you will permit me, I will accompany you as far as Korth. If I do not miss my guess, the king himself will long to hear your tale and to entertain such illustrious guests.”

  Sallah started to speak, but Kandler cut her off with a curt wave. “We wouldn’t want to bother your king,” he said. “We just want to get Esprë home.” He glanced at her and saw concern furrow her brow. “I think she’s been through enough without … She’s been through enough.”

  “I understand how you feel,” Berre said, “but I’d be delinquent in my duties if I didn’t bring such a unique person as Esprë to the attention of King Kaius. I just know he’d find the particulars fascinating.”

  Kandler looked at Esprë, a sick feeling in his stomach. “She’s just a child,” he said, “my child.”

  “You are her stepfather, correct?”

  Kandler didn’t like the direction this conversation was headed. “I’m all she has in the world.”

  Berre’s face turned grim. “I respect that. I would never dream of separating the two of you again, but she must go to Korth. I have been in contact with my superiors in Kaius’s court. My orders are clear.”

  “And if we try to leave?” Kandler felt his anger rising into his throat as he readjusted himself in his chair.

  “You are welcome to depart any time you like, you and any of your friends, but a military airship is already on its way here to collect Esprë and take her back to Korth.”

  Esprë inhaled a single sob, and Kandler felt his heart begin to break. He refused to look at her, though, afraid they would both crack if he did.

  “You are welcome to come with her,” Berre said. “I would encourage it. Korth is no place for such a gifted young elf to be without the benefit of her guardians.”

  “Gifted, eh?” Burch said, his voice soaked with suspicion.

  Berre put down her goblet and threw up her hands. “She was under our care, and she was near death. We examined her, and we found her dragonmark.”

  Everyone around the table froze. Berre pretended not to notice and kept talking.

  “It is strange, to be sure. None of us could identify it, which is why Korth is so intrigued. We know not if it is some sort of lost mark or a new mark never seen before. Either way, we need to learn everything we can about it. For that reason, Esprë is leaving for Korth on the morrow—with or without the rest of you.”

  Kandler reached out and put a hand on Esprë’s shoulder. She reached up and held it tight. “Well,” he said to her, his eyes never leaving Berre’s, “it looks like we’re about to pay King Kaius a visit.”

  We can’t let this happen,” Sallah said, pacing the floor back in the room assigned to her, Monja, and Esprë. “There must be something we can do.”

  “There is,” Kandler said. He turned to Burch. “How long will it take us to pack?”

  “Never unpacked,” the shifter said, bouncing on his toes, ready to spring into action. “Get us all ready to travel in ten minutes, less.”

  “Get started, but take your time.
Don’t let them see you. We won’t try anything until after midnight.”

  The shifter nodded and bounded out of the room.

  “We’re going to escape?” Xalt said. He cocked his head at Kandler. “Just leave in the middle of the night?”

  “You have a better idea?”

  “We’re in a Karrnathi fort in the middle of nowhere,” Sallah said. “Our foes have over a hundred well-trained skeletons forged from the remains of their former warriors at their disposal.”

  “Can you handle them?” Kandler asked. “Between you, Brendis, and Monja, can you get rid of them?”

  Monja shook her head. “Not that many of them. Not all at once. I can’t speak for these knights, but the gods don’t favor my fate that much.”

  Kandler frowned. “So much for a life of prayer.”

  “You can’t let them take me,” Esprë said softly. She hadn’t said so many words in a row since they’d finished dinner.

  Kandler sat next to the young elf on a fresh-made bed and put his arms around her. “Don’t you worry,” he said, kissing the top of her head. “You’re not going anywhere without us.”

  Brendis stood up from where he’d sat silently on the other side of the room. “I offer you my sword, Esprë, as your personal protector. None shall harm you while I still draw breath, so I do swear.”

  The young elf failed to fight back her tears and launched herself into Brendis’s arms. “Thank you,” she whispered.

  “Don’t you think Berre expects us to try to escape?” Sallah said. “Every skeleton in the place is sure to be on high alert. They don’t sleep. They don’t eat. They don’t get distracted. This is a fool’s errand.”

  “Do you have a better idea?” Kandler said. “Once they put Esprë on that Karrnathi airship, it’s over. We’re on a one-way trip to Korth.”

  “Then we go with them,” Sallah said.

  “No!” Esprë cried.

  “Wait,” Sallah said, holding up her hands to Kandler as Esprë buried her face in his chest, “hear me out.”

  Kandler glared at the lady knight but nodded. He’d been through enough with her to give her ideas a fair hearing.

  “The court of Kaius is not where I would prefer to be, but they respect the rule of law. Once we reach Korth, I will contact the local prelate of the Church of the Silver Flame and petition for Esprë’s release.”

  Kandler’s face fell. If that was the best Sallah could come up with, it wouldn’t stop his plans for tonight for a second.

  “I know,” Sallah said. “Working through the channels of diplomacy can be a slow and painful process, but there’s another option. If we can somehow get Esprë into one of our churches while in Korth, she can then claim sanctuary.”

  “Sanctuary?” Xalt asked.

  “King Kaius respects all established religions in his realm, including the Church of the Silver Flame. Any penitent who enters the doors of one of our churches and petitions for sanctuary is granted protection from the local secular government.”

  “What’s the catch?” Kandler said, still holding Esprë, who’d at least stopped crying long enough to listen to what Sallah had to say.

  “Getting to one of the churches may not be easy. There are a number throughout Korth, but getting to one of them would mean waiting for the right time to make our move. Until then, we’d be at the mercy of King Kaius.”

  “And?” Kandler could tell there was something else Sallah was holding back.

  “To be granted sanctuary, you have to be a practicing member of the church. Esprë and anyone else who wanted protection would have to convert.”

  Kandler shook his head. “The skeletons are looking better all the time.”

  Sallah growled. “You would rather risk your life—and that of Esprë—rather than consider converting to my faith?”

  “Could I lie?” Kandler suspected he knew the answer to this question already.

  Sallah grimaced. “The prelate would question you to verify the honesty of your conversion, and he would have the power of the Silver Flame on his side. It would have to be a true conversion.”

  Kandler hugged Esprë closer. “I don’t think I can do that.”

  “You risk your lives and your eternal souls for your defiance.”

  “The gods haven’t been kind to me over the years—if there are any such things. I can’t find it in me to worship them. It would be like praying to a general who’s been torturing your family for generations. It just wouldn’t ring true.”

  “The Silver Flame is not the sham of the Sovereign Host. It is the one true god, the light of which all other gods are mere reflections.”

  Monja cleared her throat. “That is the most arrogant thing I’ve ever heard.”

  “I meant no offense,” Sallah started.

  “This is no time for a theological debate,” Kandler said. As he spoke, Esprë stood up and walked toward the room’s single window. There she gazed out into the night sky.

  “Esprë, Burch, and I are leaving tonight. If the rest of you want to come, you’re welcome to. Otherwise, just keep quiet.”

  “You’re not getting rid of me that easily,” Monja said. “I told my father I’d see you safely through this.”

  “You did enough just getting us here.”

  Monja smiled. “Doing just enough is never enough.”

  Xalt chipped in. “I am with you as well.” He rubbed his amputated finger with his damaged hand as he spoke. “I would like to visit Flamekeep someday, but I am prepared for that to never happen.”

  “Just as long as we don’t end up in Korth on the way.”

  Sallah pursed her lips at Kandler for a moment. She glanced at Brendis before responding, and the young knight nodded at her once.

  “Esprë is your stepdaughter,” she said. “The choice is yours alone, and we will accompany you no matter if you make the right one or not.”

  Burch burst back into the room with three packs—his, Brendis’s, and Kandler’s—ready to go. Startled, Xalt jumped and then fell silent. Kandler saw the way the warforged stared at the floor for a moment, and he wondered if this was his people’s way of blushing.

  “Get the ladies set, and we’re ready to ride,” Burch said, ignoring Xalt’s reaction.

  The shifter started stuffing clothing and other odds and ends into another three packs with practiced ease. He threw some things aside, discarding them as either useless or too heavy or both. Everything else went into the packs until they bulged near bursting.

  “All right,” Kandler said as Burch kept working, “here’s the plan. Sallah and Burch, you head for the stables. We’re going to need horses to get out of here. Otherwise, they’ll ride us down at first light.

  “Brendis and Xalt, you’re with me. We need to get the gates open, or we’ll just end up riding around the central yard.

  “Monja, you stay with Esprë just outside the stables and keep her safe until we’re ready to go.

  “When we open the gate, you’ll all hear the signal. Get on those horses and drive them out of the place—all of them. We don’t want to leave any behind for them to chase us with.”

  “What if we get separated?” Sallah asked.

  “Don’t.” The justicar frowned. “If something happens, just head south as best you can. Burch knows our scents. He can track us down and bring us together if it comes to that.”

  “I want to help,” Esprë said, looking at Monja. “I don’t need a bodyguard.”

  Kandler’s frown deepened. “We’ve all risked our lives to rescue you, and we’re risking them again for you tonight. If something happens to you, it’s all for nothing.”

  Esprë glared at Kandler. He knew the look from other times she’d raged at him. He wanted to keep her safe, and she wanted her freedom. They’d gone over it countless times, but this was different.

  “I’m not trying to shelter you,” he said to her, reaching out to caress her shoulder. As he did, he noticed—not for the first time—how slight she was. Next to Monja, she was
huge, but viewed against his battle-scarred hand, his sense of her youth almost undid him.

  “This is bigger than you and me now,” Kandler said, trying again.

  As he spoke, he saw her shoulders tense. He wondered if she could feel the dragonmark itching, burning between her shoulders. Had it grown since he’d last seen it? He wasn’t sure he wanted to know.

  Esprë looked up at him with red-rimmed eyelids framing sky-blue pupils. She rocked there on the bed for a moment then nodded slowly. She understood.

  At that moment, Kandler wished more than anything that he could take the burden of the mark from her. It wasn’t fair that such a sweet young elf had to endure such a thing, to be afflicted with it, but nothing in life was ever fair, he guessed. Why should it start now?

  “All right,” he said, giving her shoulder one last squeeze.

  “Get some sleep,” he said to everyone. “We move out in just a few hours, and there’s no guessing when or where we’ll get to rest again.”

  “Why don’t we just steal the airship?” Monja asked. The question leaped from her mouth like it had been burning her tongue since the conversation started.

  “It’s not ready yet,” Kandler said, “or so Berre says.”

  “It would probably get us out of here,” Burch said, “if we could get on it.”

  Kandler nodded. “The skeletons will work on it all night long, dozens of them. We couldn’t get past them. We’d have to destroy them all.”

  “It’s exactly what Berre would expect us to do,” said Sallah. “We need to at least make a feint at it.”

  Kandler licked his lips. “Good point. Xalt, we have a new job for you. While the others sneak into the stables, I need you to go up and try to start a conversation with whoever’s on the airship.”

  “About what?” the warforged asked, his ebony eyes blank as ever.

  “Anything—the weather, what it’s like to be a stack of walking bones. Whatever. They can’t answer you. You just need to distract them for a moment, make them suspicious. That should be all the rest of us need.”

  “I’ll go with him,” Monja said.

  Kandler shook his head. “I need you with Esprë.” He hoped he didn’t sound as desperate about that as he felt.