Without meaning to, I made my way down the street.
There was agitation mixed into a woman’s voice as she argued with someone. I reached into my pouch, palming a few of the sleek darts that Carth had provided. Most were tipped with coxberry, the sedative enough to buy me time, but a few were terad tipped, the toxin quickly deadly.
Down an alley, I saw Talia.
And nearly dropped my darts.
I’d never seen Talia like this before. A beautiful woman, with dark hair and dark skin she kept covered more than most in Eban, she moved in a deadly dance, knives flashing as she fought off five men surrounding her. With odds like that, I would never have given Talia much of a chance, especially after the way her throat had been split the last time I’d seen her, but she kept them at arm’s length.
Had Talia gotten caught up in the remnants of Orly’s attempt to draw Carth out? That fool plan had involved a bounty on prostitutes, knowing how Carth and her Binders were organized, and too many innocent women had been hurt by it.
The attackers weren’t accustomed to working together, and none had anything more than a sword, but even that inexperience wouldn’t matter with their numbers. Nothing I’d seen told me that they were pressing too hard, content to keep her bottled up, almost as if waiting…
Damn.
Talia might be in more trouble than I realized.
Even after she had used me, or at least, allowed me to be used, I didn’t want anything to happen to her. She was—or had been—a friend. The Great Watcher knows I have few enough of them to let something as foolish as getting used get in the way.
Stepping to the side of the alley, I flipped two coxberry-tipped darts at the nearest men. They stumbled back a step and fell before the others knew the situation had changed. Two more darts sailed on either side of Talia, hitting the two men there. They fell.
That left one man.
Talia glanced at me and her eyes narrowed. I couldn’t tell if she was thankful to see me or annoyed.
She darted toward the man and knocked his knife out of his hand before he even realized what she had done. Then she slipped forward, the tip of her knife pointing underneath his chin. His eyes went wide but he had the sense not to move.
“Who were you waiting for?” she whispered.
I backed toward Talia, keeping an eye on the mouth of the alley, not wanting to end up with a sword in my back. Other than the festival revelry, I heard nothing on the street.
But I knew that wasn’t the only way people moved in the city. At least, it wasn’t the only way that I moved, and I knew I wasn’t alone in using the rooftops.
Looking up, I noted a dull reflection off a barbed crossbow bolt above me.
Damn.
I flicked the dart I had in hand without checking to see which one. It hit the only visible part of the person on the rooftop that I could see: the hand. A soft grunt told me the dart hit its target.
“We need to move,” I told Talia.
She pushed her knife into the man’s throat, drawing a bead of blood. “Who is it?” she demanded.
The man shook his head. “Just hired to hold you here, nothing more—”
She jabbed the knife into his throat, and blood spilled over her hand.
I heard the sound of a crossbow firing before I saw the bolt come streaking toward her.
There were times my Sight failed me. This was not one.
To my eyes, the bolt moved clearly. Not slowly, at least, that’s not how it seemed to me, but I could track the movement and knew with certainty that it would hit Talia in the head.
I flipped a knife toward the bolt, hoping my aim was true. I didn’t practice with knives the same way I did with darts, but the technique was similar. The ability to hit whatever I intended with darts wasn’t something I had been born into, not like my Sight, but forced practice had honed that skill until it was second nature.
Talia jerked as the knife came toward her, and dropped at the same time. That had been the risk. Had she moved too far to the right, I would hit her with the knife. But she was incredibly skilled, and the knife whistled past her, colliding with the bolt before it could hit.
I searched for the archer but saw no sign of him. His angle would be much better than mine, and I didn’t like my chances exposed on the ground like we were.
“Can you climb?” I asked her.
Her quick frown told me how foolish that question was to even ask.
With a leap, I reached the overhang of the roof. I was born of Elaeavn, gifted with Sight, but like all my people, I had enhanced speed and strength. When I reached the lip of the roof, I flipped up and onto it, pulling myself up and rolling.
I’d expected the rough slate to tear at my cloak and slow me. I hadn’t expected the seven men attacking me as soon as I reached the roof.
Two darts went flying, hitting their targets.
I rolled, keeping my head down, and barreled into one of the men, knocking him from the roof. He screamed.
A sword whistled toward me and I kicked, catching the flat of the blade with my boot and sending the man spinning. With another dart, I caught the man, and he fell.
That left three remaining.
As I rolled to a stop, I saw that two of the men had crossbows aimed at me. The third had a short sword.
And all I had were my darts.
I might be fast, but would I be fast enough to catch the two men with crossbows while stopping the man with the sword at the same time?
I didn’t think I could.
The man with the sword—the leader, I realized—nodded. The ends of the crossbows came up slightly, enough indicate that they would fire. I had two darts in one hand and none in the other.
With a quick flick, I sent the darts in my palm at the men. Had I more time, I would have been able to position the darts in a way that would have caught both of them. As it was, only one struck its target. The other sailed wide, but close enough that its intended target ducked, pulling his aim as he did. The bolt flew wide.
The man with the sword advanced on me, and I managed to reach my knees as the sword swung at my head. I didn’t even have a chance to raise my hands.
In that moment, I knew that I would die.
* * *
To read the rest, get Part 3 of The Binders Game: Playing the Stone.
About the Author
DK Holmberg currently lives in rural Minnesota where the winter cold and the summer mosquitoes keep him inside and writing.
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Also by D.K. Holmberg
The Dark Ability
The Dark Ability
The Heartstone Blade
The Tower of Venass
Blood of the Watcher
Also in the world of The Dark Ability
The Painted Girl
A Game of Tsatsun: The Binders Game, Part 1
The Watcher’s Eyes: The Binders Game, Part 2
Playing the Stone: The Binders Game, Part 3
The Durven: The Forgotten, Part 1
A Poisoned Deceit: The Forgotten, Part 2
A Forgotten Return: The Forgotten, Part 3
The Cloud Warrior Saga
Chased by Fire
Bound by Fire
Changed by Fire
Fortress of Fire
Forged in Fire
Serpent of Fire
Servant of Fire
Born of Fire
Others in the Cloud Warrior Series
Prelude to Fire
Chasing the Wind
Drowned by Water
Deceived by
Water
Salvaged by Water
The Lost Garden
Keeper of the Forest
The Desolate Bond
Keeper of Light
The Painter Mage
Shifted Agony
Arcane Mark
Painter For Hire
Stolen Compass
The Watcher's Eyes (The Binders Game Book 2) Page 7
