Darkness has Fallen (Elf World Saga Book 2)

by Matthew Pequegnat

  ~

  Myst crept along the roof line a hundred yards from the cycle shop on Avenue Sirius. He stopped behind a chimney and sent out a wave of his Earth Magic… “Hum, maybe it's a convention of chimney sweeps, or some of the building residents up on their roofs working on their tans..., at night in the mist.” He was actually rather happy with the results, he had been working on making the spell more focused and not just getting everything in the area. This time he had tried for just the horizontal plane to his front, and it had worked for the most part. Still some clutter from the levels below, and some vague shapes of people inside, but not bad as he could pinpoint four large sentient creatures outside near where the shop should be, spread out on each side of the road watching the approaches. He would have to eliminate them first.

  From roof to roof, silently he approached the first target on his side, he was above and somewhat behind what he took to be a Horc do to the size and thickness. He waited until it looked away, and leaping he landed on its back driving it to the ground, his dagger plunging into the side of its neck as they fell.

  Myst twisted the dagger to break the suction and withdrew the blade from the dead Horc. He had not made a sound that could have been heard above the ambient street noise. He cleaned the blade on the dead Horc and slipped into the shadows back the way he had come to a narrower spot across the avenue. “Not much of an avenue, more a glorified allyway, no wonder why I have never noticed it here before.”

  He ran a few steps and leaped to the other side, he would need to kill the next one on this side next to keep from being seen.

  He slipped over the side of the roof and slid sideways hugging the wall on a narrow ledge, to just below where the next Horc watched. He made a soft whistle and a head popped into view above him, he lunged up with his short sword this time, the blade entering below the chin and punching thru the soft palate into the brain.

  Myst pushed back with the weapon and let the Horc slide off the blade, then he pulled himself up, crouching behind the low wall.

  “Two down, two to go. And no telling what was in the shop. I’m hoping not the Dark Lord, as that’s a meal best enjoyed with friends.”

  He pulled himself up to a higher roof and crept to the edge with the next building, the next Horc was on a lower landing about twenty feet away, watching the street below. Myst slipped over the edge, hung for a moment from his fingertips, then dropping silently he moved quickly behind his target before it was aware that he was not alone. Myst kicked the back of its right knee forcing it down, his left hand reached around covering its mouth and his right drove the dagger into the side of its neck, all the while twisting the Horc down and to the left so he wound up with a knee on its back.

  He looked across the narrow street to where the last watcher was, its location was slightly farther out as the cycle shop justed further into the intersection of the main road Avenue Saint Dominique where it broadened into a small square.

  He headed back the way he had come, scrambling up and across the roofline, ran across the wood and slate tiles until he made the jump back to the other side of Sirius. Now quickly he sprinted, leaped over a row of chimney pots, and following the roof as it bended to the left. He leap down to a lower roof and continued running, the next roof was a half story higher, Myst leaped up caught the edge and scrambled up, again running along the sloping roofs top to the far end of the building, he slid down the tiles on the outside of his left leg to the edge where the roof flared out. He ran again on this edge to where he was above a balcony, he hung over and dropped silently. He crouched at the door and probed the lock with his magic checking for alarm or traps. Finding none, he then used a spell to unlock the door. He crossed the empty room, its hall door was missing as was the one across from it, on the other rooms balcony was his next target.

  The Horc was still watching the streets below, the closed door Myst noticed was one of those that the top and bottom opened separately, “so much the better.”

  Myst partially hid behind the wall, quietly unlocked the top section of the door and let it swing open. Then he stuck, reaching out he grabbed the Horc and wrenched him backwards into the room and twisting slammed him face first into the floor stunning him, then almost casually he drew his dagger from his back and opened the Horcs carotid artery.

  Retracing his steps thru the building he was soon back onto the roof and headed deeper down Sirius where he would drop to ground level and approach the shop from there.

  The road was darker and narrower than was normal in this city of lights, probably one of the reasons the Shadow Elves had pick this location Myst thought. He kept to the right side of the road, the cobblestones were slick with the damp and the stone gutter in the middle of the street held a steady trickle of dark water.

  The street curved right and had a slight jag left near the end, Myst paused there to surviell the cycle shop. It was on his right, and in full darkness, it almost looked more like a flower shop to him with all the pots of bright flowers out in front. “There must be a warming spell placed on them, while it's well above freezing tonight, it’s not flower weather.”

  Myst let himself ‘see’ magic, and yes the front of the store had a series of spells woven to warm the flowers. “And mask any other spells in play, what a smart idea… very clever these Shadow Elves.”

  Myst glanced over at the shop across the narrow cobblestone alleyway, it had dark green facade common in the city, with gold writing on the window that advertised that it specializes in antique books. The street gutter seemed to angle off to that side of the cobblestones and then disappear into a metal sewer drain, he would want to avoid that if there was a fight as it would be slippery when wet.

  The magical street lamps sort of lit the area with a weak golden glow, one just before the cycle shop and one at the end of the book sellers, both somehow seem to cast the cycle shop into deeper shadow than they illuminated.

  A dark hooded shape sat on a wooden chair at the far corner of the book sellers, he was nearly hidden in the shadows. There was no way to approach him without being seen that Myst could see.

  He took out the hand crossbow and fired a bolt into the head of the watcher thirty feet away… “Always more than one way to skin a cat…”

  The door opened and Myst recognized Shen Ramzes exit the shop, two male Horcs at her heels like well behaved dogs. They turned to the right to head out on Avenue Saint Dominique when Myst struck.

  He stept out of the shadows, closing quickly he silently dragged the blade of his short sword along the left side of the neck on the Horc to his right, while simultaneously placing his left hand next to the back of the other Horcs head and triggering a magical energy bolt. While not usually fatal, a head shot at point black was sufficient to do the job.

  Shen Ramzes spun around while drawing her long saber, she took in at a glance what had happened, and barely in time got her weapon up to block Myst first series of attacks.

  Within seconds she realized while she was good with a sword, she was no match for him, and real fear shone in her eyes as she tried to launch her own attack, not with the hope of killing him, but of creating the opportunity to break off and run.

  Myst kept them close, not giving her any distance to take advantage of her swords reach, she attacked in a flurry of blows that left their blades locked, he forced her blade high and up to his right. Then suddenly he reversed his momentum and his blade ripped down her neck partially severing her head. She was dead before she fell to the street.

  He looked around, no one had noticed the fight in the dark side street, he bent and searched her. Some coin, a potion he was not sure of what it did, and in a belt pouch a set of plans… He took them all and quickly walked away out onto Avenue Saint Dominique.

  Down the block he ducked into Café Blue Dome, named after the fancy architectural spired dome crowning the end of the seven story stone building. He settled into a quiet corner table, order the fish soup and a glass of wine and studied the papers he had taken from Shen�
�s body.

  The fish soup and wine was good as it usually was at the Café Blue Dome, and paying for it with Shen’s money, made it taste that much sweeter. But he hadn't a clue of that the plans were of. Some hidden complex and a big machine maybe, unfortunately nothing was labeled so he could read it.

  Then it stuck him what it probably was, “but why attack it? Exactly how the El Sila Mor fulcrum device worked they were not sure, but it would need a powerful source of magic, and this machine produced a lot of magic, and funneled it to the city to make the cities powerful dome of protection, maybe it needed to be attached at the source of the magic…? It would certainly be easier to get to that end of the magic then the far end in the Imperial Palace.”

  Just then two elves came thru the cafés door that made Myst tence up. Dressed in heavy double breasted leather long coats dyed a vaguely dark burgundy color with three vertical rows of large round brass buttons, over dark slate blue breeches, heavy black boots and black leather three corner hats with what Myst thought were pheasant's feathers stuck in the side.

  “House Troops, not uncommon, particularly with all the nobles in the city for the Emperor's birthday. But the cocked crossbows in their hands, that is very weird, sheathed swords yes, but not ready crossbows.”

  He used his magic to enhance his vision, “double headed Savoue eagles, on their collars, in those colors… That’s Victor Venaia, the Duke of Annacy’s elves.”

  Myst had almost decided to relax when the two spotted him. Both elves swung the crossbows up and fired simultaneously.

  Myst had started moving as soon as the crossbows had started up, he dived to the floor kicking his table up, the two crossbow bolts slammed into the table splintering the wood.

  The café erupted with patrons and waiters yelling and scrambling to get away. Myst used the confusion to dash for the stairs and head for the roof. Up the seven flights of old stairs he sprinted as fast as possible, as he ran up he fished from his pocket a fine blackened wire.

  Finally to the door leading to the roof he flung it open and went thru, he could hear pursuit a few floors below coming up fast.

  He took the wire and wrapped it about the lower hinge of the open roof door, then tied it off in a metal bracket on the other side. Quickly he retreated to a brick chimney a dozen feet from the doorway and waited.

  It was a short wait as the first of the pursuers hit the blackened wire and went flying forward onto his face, the second having spotted the wire that had tripped his comrade leaped over it.

  Myst stepped from behind the bricks and triggered the hand crossbow he had taken from his satchel. The small bolt flew across the space to take the jumping pursuer in the throat. Gagging blood that elf collapsed onto the other one who was trying to regain his feet.

  Myst quickly closed the distance running the blade of his short sword thru the clavicular notch, plunging it deep into his chest. A sharp twist and Myst withdrew his blade from the now corpse.

  Bending low Myst went to the edge of the roof and looked down, a half dozen elves in the same uniforms as the two he had just killed were running into the café below. Farther down Avenue Saint Dominique more of them were taking up positions to contain the area. He went to the other side of the roof, and there on Avenue Adyar he could see at least ten more of them in groups covering that side of the block.

  “What the hell is going on, and no sign of the Royal Constabulary or the City Watch…?” Myst wondered as he was running along the roofs as silently and fast as possible to break the containment zone. The roof lines of two rows of buildings came to a V at the Café Blue Dome, Myst took the right side as the rows of building, on the left they led to a couple well guarded embassies that would be difficult to get past.

  They could not track him magically, he had a couple of powerful talismans attached to his belt that kept anyone from doing that, so all he needed to do was escape the House Venaia Guards. “If that’s who they really are… Damn, this is getting more confusing not less.”

  Myst sent out a wave of Earth Magic, there behind a low wall with a row of chimney pots dividing this building from the next were hidden six elves, two at each side of the roof waiting to ambush anyone who jumped over and two in the middle the ones likely to be jumped on by anyone go over the wall.

  Myst went to the left side of the roof, the side away from the street that opened onto a courtyard created by the rows of buildings. Myst went over the edge and dropped silently to a balcony of the top floor, from there he leaped over to the next, then the next, then to a stone ledge he climbed and hugging the wall shimmed sideways along the edge till he ran out of ledge as he came to a cross building connecting the two rows of the V. He climbed to the top of the connector, and pulled himself over the top.

  He used his magic… the elves waiting in ambush had not moved, nor had they seen him in the brief second that Myst had been exposed. Of course they were not looking behind them, but for someone going over the low wall…

  He was past the containment now, keeping low and silent Myst stayed to the roofs until he came to Avenue Edmontin Valen, there he picked the locked roof door and went down the stairs to street level and then out onto the still crowded street. He had his hood up, checking periodically both visually and magically to see if he was being tailed.

  He needed to cross the city canal to the area known as the Golden Triangle, that the bridges were being watched he was sure, but there were more than thirty, too many to cover well, so he should be able to cross without notice, simply blend into a group and act innocently.

  It took him almost two hours to get to the grand five story stone building, even though it was not more than two thirds of a mile from the Café Blue Dome, but he had not been followed he was reasonable sure, the number of false turns and double backs he had taken to check for a tail and throw off pursuit had taken up a good amount of time.

  The first thing he noticed coming up the heavily treelined street was the contingent of Imperial Guards at the entry way. Myst stayed on the opposite side of the street and keep walking to the next corner, crossed the avenue and circled the block.

  “Something is not right, Mars Trendel would have body guards, but they would be upstairs and plain clothed Military Intelligence Service agents. The Imperial Guards meant something was wrong.”

  Halfway down the block, just before the Moon Elf restaurant with the dark read awnings, he slowed and looked around. Even though the whole district was well lit at night with fancy street and building lights, this part of the street was almost in shadows.

  A double drain pipe and some very nicely decorated wrought iron balconies made the climb to the rooftop easy for him. As soon as he was up he check with his magic to discovery if he was alone.

  “Looks clear, but take it slow...” he told himself.

  He kept to the deepest shadows until he made the roof door of the Generals building. It was warded with multiple spells, both of locking and alarm… and one lethal spell that would trigger a lightning bolt into an intruder.

  “Shit, not that way…”

  He checked both the street side and courtyard side sixth floor balconies, and they too were heavily magiced with spells protecting them.

  “Well, what now, think...?”

  He went over to the row of chimney pots, “was the first or the last the one for the sixth floor flat? Farthest away from the street, I think...”

  He took out his dagger and, “tap---. tap tap tap.” He waited a moment and repeated the sequence of recognition signals.

  A low whistle came from the courtyard side. Myst went over and looked down. General Mars Trendel’s head was sticking out a small window.

  “Down here,” Mars whispered, “the balcony is warded so don’t touch it!”

  Myst climbed over the side of the roof, found the top of the window sill and let himself slowly down to the very narrow top ledge, then he hopped out falling a few feet until his hands could grab the top ledge and his feet the lower one. He paused and then turned a
nd entered Mars’s bathroom.

  “Keep your voice low, I have an Imperial Guard Captain inside my front hallway, he’s also a mage who has most of my flat warded, whether from keeping out any visitors, or from me leaving I don’t know, probably both.”

  Myst noticed the general had the water in the bathtub flowing to drowned out their conversation.

  “How is your investigation going?”

  Myst paused, “First, why are you under house arrest General?”

  Mars glanced at the door, “Our noble and wise Emperor feels that I’m possibly in collusion with you... whom he believes is attempting some plot against the Imperial family or some other nefarious treason. So I’m confined here until further notice, held completely incommunicado.” He held up his left wrist showing Myst a silver bracelet. “and magically shackled to keep me from running…” he shook his head in anger, “after over four hundred years of serving the Empire, and that’s the thanks, blagh!”

  Myst looked at his old boss and in many way his mentor in the spy world, and made sure that he did not show the sympathy he felt in his glance, the old spy would not appreciate that he knew.

  “Well, this is what happened so far…”

  After Myst was done, General Mars Trendel stood there with his eyes closed thinking.

  “You're going to need help, I can try to get word to Prince Galen in the morning, but he may be under suspicion as well.” He saw the shocked look in Myst face. “Yes, in the Emperor's son and heir, things are a bit touchy at the palace right now. Emperor Alexander Sundragon has always had a streak of paranoia, it runs in that family, but lately it seems to have reached nearly psychotic levels.”

  “I don’t think it a good idea to try to contact the Emperor or Lord High Constable, neither of us would be believed, and being tossed into a dungeon the best outcome of trying that path... No but your old subordinate Elise Starwood got into town this afternoon, she maybe your best source of help to stop the Shadow Elves from attacking the Great Magical Machine.”