Blacknail hurriedly got to his feet. His opponent seemed to be unconscious or dead. Sometimes it was hard to tell. The hobgoblin had effectively taken him out and done it quickly, but unfortunately it had been far from sneaky. He had attracted a lot of attention. Blacknail could already hear people heading toward him. He looked up from the unconscious man to see they’d landed in another hallway. It was empty except for one shocked-looking woman standing at a doorway. A second later, the woman gasped in shock, threw herself out of the hallway, and slammed the door behind her. Blacknail was more than happy to let her go. He had enough problems with human women right now. He just wished he knew what Najget’s voice sounded like, so he could track him that way. All he could do now was head toward anyone that sounded like an old human male, and Blacknail thought there was a good chance of there being more than one of those here.
Quickly, the hobgoblin got up and dashed down the hallway. Where had Luphera said to go? Oh, right, Najget was supposed to be past the last door to the left. As the hobgoblin raced down the hallway, one of the doors in front of him swung open. A moment later, another of the purple-vested guards stepped out and turned to face Blacknail. He was right in the hobgoblin’s way.
This guard also had a club, and he wasted no time in swinging it at the hobgoblin. Blacknail ducked under the weapon and shoved his attacker aside as he raced past. There was no point in sticking around to fight. Before the guard could pick himself up, the hobgoblin had reached the door and thrown it open. Blacknail then stepped through into a large sitting room lit by several brass lanterns that hung from the ceiling. Heavy bookshelves lined the walls, except for where two large windows and another door were set on the opposite side of the room. Tasteful chairs had been placed around several large, round tables, and there were several comfortable-looking couches as well. Fancy red curtains framed the windows, and there were a few scattered books lying out on the tables.
There was, however, no one that looked even remotely like a Najget. The room wasn’t empty though, there were two assassins in it, and one of them looked really familiar. Blacknail groaned in frustration. He didn’t like this turn of events at all, but at least there were windows he could jump out of.
“At last we meet, Faceless One! I’ve been looking forward to this for a while now. You’ve been making me look bad, but that ends today… because I’m going to kill you,” Malthus shouted triumphantly from the center of the room.
Blacknail rolled his eyes. Here was another stupid human that liked to say the obvious. The hobgoblin just wished the man wasn’t also a much better swordsman than him.
Malthus and his companion drew their blades and headed for Blacknail. Both of them were still dressed in their dark leather armor and cloaks, but they had removed their face masks and dropped their hoods. This was actually the first time Blacknail had gotten a good look at Malthus. The other times they’d been close, the assassin had been cloaked and hooded or out of sight. He was slightly taller than an average man with a thin face and brown hair that was almost long enough to reach his eyes.
The hobgoblin watched the assassins approach and tried to come up with a new plan, one that didn’t involve getting sliced into tiny green bits. Fighting Malthus would be a really stupid thing to do, so Blacknail needed to get out of here. He couldn’t go back the way he’d come though, and Malthus was blocking the way forward. So some trickery seemed to be called for.
“We have met though, Malthus. I’ve seen-ss you around many times, you just haven’t seen me,” Blacknail shouted contemptuously.
Malthus’s face grew slightly more lined as he frowned at the hobgoblin, but he also slowed his advance. He appeared to be trying to come up with a good comeback. Blacknail grinned beneath his mask. It had worked; the man really liked to talk.
“Yes, well, now you’re going to pay for being so arrogant as to think you could get past me twice. You were simply lucky the first time that Galive wouldn’t let me do my job properly,” the assassin replied.
“I wasn’t lucky, you’re deaf-ss and stupid. While you stood there by the door like a frog on a log, I was cutting Galive’s throat open and laughing-ss at you. Good thing Galive wasn’t paying you anything,” Blacknail countered viciously.
The hobgoblin and Malthus were slowly and cautiously approaching each other, but there were still several tables and couches between them. Blacknail began to circle a bit off to the side while trying to look like he was seeking a better position.
“I’ll restore my title as the city’s best knifeman when I string your corpse from the city gate. That’s what usually happens to assassins who operate in Daggerpoint without the Dark Guild’s permission,” Malthus shot back.
“No you won’t. I’m a far better hunter and killer than you’ll-ss ever be. You’re just a soft and weak city man, but I come from the Deep Green, and I’m Herad’s chosen killer!”
The two assassins were fairly close now. Malthus scowled as he stepped around a couch. He seemed both annoyed and more than a bit confused by the hobgoblin’s words. Maybe Blacknail needed to talk slower so the human could understand. A second later, the assassin’s gaze focused on the hobgoblin’s mask.
“Let’s fight properly; face to face. Why hide behind a mask now? Let me see the visage of the man I’m about to kill. Only one of us is going to leave this room alive anyway,” the man proposed. Blacknail snorted in amusement. That sounded so dumb. Weren’t assassins supposed to be sneaky?
“No, besides you’ve a got a friend there.” Blacknail pointed to the man beside Malthus.
The hobgoblin wasn’t in the habit of doing what his enemies told him. If Malthus wanted him to remove his mask, then Blacknail intended to keep it on. The hobgoblin snuck a glance at the far door. Thanks to his maneuvering, Malthus and the other assassin were no longer directly between him and it.
“Don’t worry, he won’t interfere in our fight. He’ll just make sure you don’t attempt to run. I want to take care of you myself. My pride demands it,” Malthus replied.
Blacknail’s pride demanded he never act as stupid as Malthus. The more the assassin talked, the more convinced Blacknail became that he was an idiot.
“No, he can fight too. I brought friends of my own,” Blacknail said smugly as he pointed at the window behind the assassins. The pair looked startled for a second and quickly glanced toward the window and the new threat, but there was nothing there. Blacknail had been lying through his teeth.
While the two assassins were looking at the window, Blacknail quickly drew the sling and stone he’d been stealthily preparing as he talked to them. With lightning-fast speed, he whirled the stone and sent it flying toward Malthus’s companion. Blacknail was fast, but the sound of the stone spinning through the air alerted the assassin. It smashed into his arm as he raised it to protect himself. Blacknail grunted in disappointment. He’d been hoping to do damage to somewhere more vital or for a fatal strike.
“Fuck,” the assassin roared as his blade dropped to the floor. He cradled his arm against his chest and hissed in pain.
“You vile bastard!” Malthus cursed when he realized his companion was now out of the fight.
“I didn’t trust you. Now it really will be just you and me,” Blacknail said with a shrug.
The assassin’s face grew red with fury, and his grip on his sword tightened until his knuckles went white. “You have a bloody sling? What kind of weapon is that for an assassin?”
“It works, so it’s a great one,” Blacknail replied with an amused chuckle.
Malthus’s companion was still hopping around in pain and clutching his arm. He’d made no move to retrieve his sword.
“Fuck, this hurts! I think the bastard cracked my arm,” he told Malthus.
“Fine, go get medical attention. I don’t need you for this.”
“You sure?” the injured man asked.
“You can’t fight, so go!” Malthus hissed back angrily.
The injured assassin nodded and began stumbling away
toward the far door. The hobgoblin and the remaining human were now only a dozen feet apart.
“I’m going to kill you for that!” Malthus told Blacknail as he turned back to face him.
The assassin’s black cloak fluttered behind him as he kicked the last chair between them out of his way. The enraged Vessel’s eyes gleamed with hatred, and the light from the bronze lanterns overhead reflected off the edge of his blade as he charged the hobgoblin.
Chapter 25
The hobgoblin quickly drew his sword. There were no more obstacles and only a small section of floor between him and the skilled assassin he’d pissed off. Blacknail really wished he’d had time to dig a pit or set up a snare trap. That would have made his survival much more likely.
All of a sudden, Malthus lunged across the distance separating them and stabbed toward the hobgoblin’s chest. Blacknail sidestepped the attack and countered with a quick downward slash of his own. The assassin easily knocked the hobgoblin’s attack aside and launched a flurry of attacks at Blacknail. The hobgoblin hissed in frustration as he blocked and weaved his way around the strikes. Blades flashed and cloaks swirled as the two combatants fought.
Blacknail knew he was in trouble. He was already having a hard time defending himself, and Malthus was obviously just testing Blacknail. He’d seen the assassin move much faster and more skillfully when he’d fought Herad. The difference in ability and experience between them was too great. Blacknail jumped backward to avoid a lightning-fast slash aimed at his chest and quickly readied himself for the next blow. It never came though; his opponent relaxed his guard instead of following after him. Malthus grinned at the hobgoblin while Blacknail watched him warily.
“Good, you’re only a passable swordsman, but at least you’re a Vessel. There’s no other way you could have kept up with me just now. I was worried this was going to be too easy, but you might be somewhat entertaining after all,” Malthus arrogantly remarked as he showed off by flourishing his sword through the air.
Blacknail rolled his eyes in exasperation. Who was the human trying to impress?
“If you want-ss a hard fight, why don’t you go fight Herad? Oh wait, you did! You fought-ss my mistress, and then you ran away like a rat from a cat.” Blacknail laughed viciously.
“I’m going to kill you,” Malthus hissed angrily in reply.
“You already said that, idiot,” Blacknail pointed out while he circled around to place a table between them. Seriously, what was with humans and repeating themselves? It was annoying.
“Enough games,” the assassin roared as he lost his temper and charged. Blacknail jumped aside, so the large wooden table was between them. Malthus didn’t slow down though. The assassin jumped right onto the table and lunged across it as he tried to catch the hobgoblin.
The man was fast; Blacknail had to give him that. Of course, he was a Vessel, so he was cheating more than a little. Fortunately, the hobgoblin had taken some Elixir as well. As the assassin was sailing over the table toward him, Blacknail dove under it and rolled safely away. If there was one thing being beaten up by Herad had taught him, it was how to burn the Elixir within himself to avoid attacks by really fast humans.
“But I like-ss games.” The hobgoblin laughed as he rolled to his feet on the other side of the table. He could feel the Elixir flowing through his body and energizing his muscles. It tickled the inside of his skin.
The assassin’s face was twisted into a snarl as he stared across the table at Blacknail. He started walking around it toward the hobgoblin, but Blacknail started moving as well. After several seconds of following him around the table, Malthus tried switching directions, but Blacknail instantly switched too. Malthus grabbed the table and flipped it on its side then snarled in rage as he charged again. Blacknail ducked into the blind spot created by the table’s top and dashed away. When Malthus cleared the obstacle, the hobgoblin was gone and standing several feet away on the other end of another table. Malthus ground his teeth together, and his face went scarlet red. The tip of the sword he was holding shivered as he shook with rage.
“Fight me fair, you coward!” the assassin yelled at Blacknail.
“No,” Blacknail hissed back.
“You are not amusing!” Malthus growled as he walked over to the table and stared hard at the hobgoblin from directly across it.
“Yes, I am.” Blacknail pushed the table forward and slammed it into Malthus’s gut.
“Ugh, hells and damnations.” The assassin wheezed painfully before wincing and taking a step back to steady himself. Blacknail couldn’t help himself, he began to chuckle. That had looked like it had hurt.
“Bloody bastard, you’re going to pay for that,” Malthus growled as he straightened back up.
The assassin quickly reached into a coat pocket with one hand and pulled out a vial. He pulled the cork out with his teeth and drained the contents. He didn't lower his guard though, because his other hand kept his short sword pointed at the hobgoblin. Blacknail felt his earlier levity drain away. There was no mistaking the contents of the vial; it was Elixir.
Malthus hurled the glass container aside and wiped his mouth with the sleeve of his free hand. The assassin glared at the hobgoblin as he gripped his sword with both hands and raised it over his head. Then he kicked the table forward. The move caught Blacknail by surprise, but he managed to push off of the edge of the tabletop with one hand and slide backward without being hit. Unfortunately, that was when the surface he was leaning on exploded; Malthus had brought his sword down and cleaved right through the table with all his strength.
Blacknail’s support was pulled out from under him as the wooden surface collapsed. He stumbled unsteadily for a second, and that was all Malthus needed. He charged through the wooden wreckage and backhanded Blacknail across the face. The hobgoblin’s mask absorbed some of the blow but not all of it. He grunted as pain shot through his jaw and up into his teeth. He tasted blood as he staggered sideways. There was a second of blackness, and the next thing Blacknail knew, he was lying down and the hard floor was pressed against his back.
He groaned in pain as he tried to clear his head. Where was he again, and why did he have such a terrible headache? He hadn’t drunk any of that human poison they called ale, had he? Blacknail was gripping something tightly with one hand. It felt like a sword hilt. Why was he holding a sword as he slept? That seemed kind of silly. The sound of footsteps approaching penetrated his agony, and Blacknail swiftly looked over toward the source of the noise. It was a pair of black boots, and they looked really fancy and tight…
What kind of moron wore boots like that? Wait a second… it was Malthus! This wasn’t good. Blacknail rolled aside just in time. There was a heavy thud as a blade bit into the wooden floorboards that had been under his head a second ago. Blacknail jumped back onto his feet as Malthus raised his sword again and descended upon him. The assassin’s blade sliced toward Blacknail’s head, but the hobgoblin stepped out of the way. Their eyes met, and they exchanged hateful glares for a second.
“That was very satisfying,” Malthus said with a vicious grin.
“I’m still alive,” Blacknail replied.
“Not for long. You can’t run from me,” the assassin remarked grimly.
Blacknail begged to differ; Malthus’s anger and confidence were making his attacks easy to predict. This wasn’t actually going so badly, other than that blow to the head he’d just taken. That had hurt a lot. All Blacknail had to do was keep dodging, and Malthus would eventually make a mistake. Then the hobgoblin could make a run for it.
“You can’t catch me,” Blacknail respond confidently.
“I don’t have to, you little bastard. You’re stuck here, and I’ll soon have reinforcements.”
Oh, right. Blacknail scowled behind his mask as he realized the man had a very good point. Should he just attack the assassin while he was off guard? He didn’t seem to have any other choice.
“Fine, it’s a challenge,” Blacknail replied coldly before r
aising his blade and stepping forward.
Malthus smiled eagerly and raised his own blade. Their gazes met, and the two swordsmen locked eyes as they closed in on each other. That was when the hobgoblin grabbed a nearby chair and whipped it at his opponent. There was no bloody way he was going to fight Malthus fair. Blacknail still remembered seeing the assassin fight Herad, and he knew he was outmatched.
There was a grunt of effort from Malthus as he knocked the chair out of the air. Blacknail threw himself forward and tried to skewer the human while his sword was out of position. Blacknail was focused on Malthus’s eyes, and that gave him a hint of a warning. Something was wrong; the assassin’s eyes gleamed with confidence. Why would they do that? The hobgoblin hesitated in his attack right before he committed himself. While the chair still partly blocked Blacknail’s view, Malthus’s left hand blurred and something shot toward the hobgoblin. Blacknail instinctively ducked, and a throwing dagger ripped through the air where his head had been less than a second ago.
Blacknail jumped back and raised his sword up into a guard. He stared grimly at his opponent as he reevaluated him. Malthus was much sneakier than he pretended to be. Blacknail was almost impressed. As the hobgoblin watched, the angry expression slid off the assassin’s face. Malthus grinned cheerfully and gave Blacknail a respectful nod.
“You missed,” the hobgoblin told him.
“Yes, I did. I honestly thought I had you there though. I spent a fair bit of time and effort setting that trick up, so what gave me away?” Malthus asked Blacknail.
Blacknail ignored his question and stared at his transformed opponent. The man didn’t seem angry at all anymore. Had he been acting? Why?
“You like games too,” Blacknail replied accusingly.
“Ha, yes. You’ve got me here. I’m a knifeman not a paladin. Did you really think a man with a reputation such as mine could be such a straightforward fool?”
The answer to that had been yes.
City of Daggers (The Iron Teeth Book 2) Page 24
