by Brian Keller
Lash spoke again, “Let’s focus on what we know, and need to know. The cart may be a few buildings over. We might come across it while we scout for lookouts.” He looked at each of them in turn, “Ready?” Rayna nodded and turned to leave, Nix followed. Lash turned and went the other direction. Once they met on the far side, Lash indicated they should split up again and approach for a closer look. Rayna nodded. Lash and Cooper circled back to the west and Lash crept up to one of the boarded up windows, leaning to one side then the other as he approached to make sure nothing had been concealed or buried where he was stepping. He spent a minute or so at each ground floor window before moving on. He paused for over a minute at the door, listening and inspecting the hinges and the latch. When he returned to where he’d indicated Kinsman should wait, he reported his findings, “The windows are boarded up and the door is solid. I can’t see anything worth seeing through any of the gaps. Near as I can tell from here, that roof looks ready to collapse. A couple more bird droppings should be all it takes to make it fall.” He glanced at Cooper studiously, “You’re lightest; you climb up and check it out.”
As he approached the building he was thinking, “Great. We come out here to gather information, and I get sent up to fall through the roof. What a way to announce ourselves, *crash*, ‘Oh, hi guys. Just dropped in to ask you a few questions’…” As he pulled himself onto the edge of the roof, he knew he’d need to keep to the edges, or keep his weight centered on the beams supporting the roof, “Assuming they were solid, that is”, he thought.
The second floor wasn’t lit at all, in fact, it didn’t even appear occupied. He squatted at the edge of the roof and listened. He wondered if there was anyone sleeping below him. As he crept from one beam to another, across the rooftop, a beam let out a loud groan that seemed to echo across the second floor space below him. He quickly withdrew, expecting the sounds of splintering and collapse to soon follow. Instead, the only sounds he heard from below was, “What was that?” and another saying, “I heard it too. From upstairs!” then a third voice, “All right. You know the drill. Two of you go up and check it. You two go outside. The rest of us stay either by the door or at the base of the stairs.” As Kinsman shifted and sped along the edge of the roof, dropped down and sprinted to rejoin Lash, he couldn’t help thinking that what he’d heard sounded like a fairly simple but solid response plan. Cooper hadn’t even settled in beside Lash before two men came bursting out the door, one holding a lantern and one holding a crossbow. Kinsman found himself wishing he’d brought his bow. He whispered to Lash, “At least seven, but probably closer to ten. Two here, two upstairs and the balance divided between the doorway and the stairs.” Lash nodded, “What happened?” Cooper frowned, “One of the beams nearly broke. It groaned like it was dying.” Lash scowled, “So maybe ten? They’re split up now, but alerted. That’s five apiece, at least until the other two catch up to us. How do you feel about that?” Kinsman coughed lightly as he pressed himself lower to avoid the light of the lantern sweeping their way, “I think you can’t be serious. Even if we tried, it’d have to go so quick that we might not have a survivor.” Lash probably smiled at that, but he didn’t turn to look. He was keeping his eyes on the two men as they patrolled closer. Lash whispered, “Now aren’t you glad you came along?”
He could smell the stale, grittiness of the dust beneath him as he tried to disappear into the shadows as they shrank before the approaching lantern. Lash reached a hand to give his shoulder a squeeze. Kinsman braced himself, ready to spring forward as best he could, and dodge in case the crossbowman focused on him. He heard Lash’s dry chuckle and wondered what the reason for it might be. As Lash pushed himself upright with a sudden, powerful thrust of his arms, both men gasped and turned to face him. Cooper sprang up immediately as well. In that moment both men fell, revealing Rayna and Nix standing behind them. Even in the dim light, Kinsman could see Rayna had an eyebrow arched in reproach, “I almost missed because you drew them around.” Lash shrugged, “I have faith in your abilities. I just wanted to make sure they didn’t know you were coming.” Kinsman was still processing that they’d somehow avoided a fight. The two other Assassins’ approach had been completely masked from his vision by the two men and the lantern, but somehow Lash had seen them coming. Lash brushed off some of dust, “Alright. The men inside will be expecting these two to come back in through the door. That’ll give us a small, initial advantage. We rush in and knock out as many as we can. Kill only in your defense, or someone else’s, but it has to be done quickly. Clear?” Everyone nodded and he added for the benefit of the other two, “And there are at least two upstairs.”
Lash sprinted to the door with the other three at his heels. Lash accessed his Talent and accelerated as he reached the door, as the others knew he would. Still, by the time they’d all passed the door frame, two men were down, probably dying, and Lash was halfway across the room, engaged with a third. Kinsman entered next, he’d boosted his speed even before Lash had, but Lash had a five step head start. He saw that the men inside the building had turned to focus their attention on Lash. He supposed it was a natural response on their part, but surely the men realized Lash wasn’t alone. He made a quick slash with his left hand blade across the lower back of the first man he came to. He then crouched slightly and cut with his right hand across behind the man’s right knee. As the man turned, he buckled, and Kinsman jabbed him quickly between the ribs, on his right side. Kinsman stepped quickly to his left, to clear the path behind him for Rayna and Nix as he turned toward the staircase. Another man, standing a few steps away, had faced him and already held a sword with both hands, whipping it in short arcs in front of him. Kinsman used these movements to help him gauge his distance and stopped just within the man’s reach. The man swung from right to left, trying to connect with him. Kinsman leaned back to let the sword pass by, then followed it, using a blade of his own to prevent the man’s backswing. Without closing the distance any further, he dropped the blade in his left hand, reached across his body and flung his chain knife with a backhanded motion. The blade sank smoothly into the man’s neck and Kinsman grasped the chain and yanked the blade free. The gouts of blood issuing from the man’s wound quickly covered the front of the man’s tunic and left streaks on the wall as the man’s body turned away, as if to escape death. Kinsman draped the chain over his shoulder and retrieved the blade he’d dropped. As he stood to survey the room he counted quickly. Lash killed two upon entry, then disabled another. He, himself, had wounded one severely and killed another. Rayna had killed one though it appeared she’d made every attempt to subdue him. Nix had disabled one and was still working on another. Kinsman heard a noise from the stairs and saw a crossbowman focused on Rayna. He was already raising the butt of the crossbow to his shoulder. Kinsman reached out to draw in energy from anywhere nearby; he couldn’t allow the man to fire, there’d be no chance of him missing at this distance. By the time he was moving, the crossbow was already pulled snug into the man’s shoulder and his finger was on the trigger. He couldn’t know if the man was still aiming or getting ready to release the missile. As Kinsman raced to get within arm’s reach he was deciding what part of the man he could strike in order to stop him. All at once the choice became obvious. As he closed the distance, he reached up with his blade and cut the bowstring. Knowing the man was effectively disarmed, except for swinging a crossbow as an unwieldly club, Kinsman glanced around to assess for any other, more immediate threats. Seeing none, he struck using his dagger pommels in a left-right-left combination. Left pommel to the ribs. As the man dropped the crossbow and reached for blades of his own, Kinsman’s right fist connected firmly with his chin and his left hand brought the pommel around over the man’s shoulder to connect just below and slightly behind the man’s right ear with a dull ‘thunk’. Kinsman turned to look for his next enemy. As the crossbowman fell, Kinsman could see the second man coming down the stairs. It was then that he remembered the darts on his wrist, one of which was still
coated with debilitas. He paused just long enough to focus his aim, then dropped the man with a dart to the thigh. The man undoubtedly sustained several injuries as he tumbled down the remaining stairs. Lash quickly took charge of the room. He directed Kinsman, “Look upstairs. Make sure there aren’t any more of them. Rayna, back him up. He turned to Nix, “Check these men. See who’s still alive. I’ll bring the two in from outside.”
The upstairs consisted of a landing, a main common room and two smaller rooms. The common room was empty and they paired up to enter the two attached rooms. As they came out of the second room, Rayna spoke, “Thanks for stopping that crossbowman.” Kinsman shrugged, but said nothing. Rayna wasn’t finished, “No, really. I’ve never seen anything like that. It’s one thing to move fast enough to make your weapons a blur, but you… your whole body was a blur. I’ve never seen anything like it. It’s almost like you were surrounded in mist.”
Chapter 33
After almost a week of nothing, the burst of spent energy she felt had almost passed before it registered. Iona quickly wrapped herself in her robe and hurried to pound on Yoren Aporigh’s door. There was no answer and she really couldn’t be certain of where he might be at any given time of the day or night. She couldn’t pinpoint exactly where she’d felt the sensation originate from; almost straight east, maybe Batter’s Field, maybe Waterfront, but certainly nearby. She ran east down to the end of the hall and pulled open the door to a sitting room and ran through it to the balcony on the far side, oblivious of the half dozen people seated and conversing within the room. They all stared in open mouthed amazement as she dashed through the room with her robe trailing behind her. As she stood at the rail of the third floor balcony, she looked out over the city. “Too bad the Palisade Wall is in the way”, she thought. She knew better than to try walking alone through the Palace District. Perhaps several years from now, assuming she remained in the Spymaster’s employ, she’d be able to walk freely but at the present, she’d likely be clapped in irons and tucked safely away somewhere before anyone even knew she’d left the Palace. With the Palisade Wall creating a barrier between the Palace District and Batter’s Field, and the area now known as the Ruins, she’d have to go out to the Grid and then almost all the way to the coast before she could cross the river again to get close enough to investigate. As she turned away from the balcony and entered the room again, she saw the Spymaster waiting for her at the doorway. As she approached she could she he had a sour expression on his face, but his eyes were twinkling with amusement. He gestured out into the hallway and she preceded him out. He stepped quickly, catching up to her in two steps. She informed him, “I felt him. Just a few minutes ago. I went looking for you. When I knocked on your door, no one answered so I went to the balcony to try and get an unobstructed line to the east. That’s where he was.” Yoren smirked, “I wasn’t in my room, but you’d be surprised how quickly I can be found and informed when my “pet” charges through a sitting room wearing only a poorly-gathered robe. That’s what they’re calling you, you know. Yoren’s “pet”.” She supposed it was a promotion from ‘lab rat’, but the people in the sitting room certainly didn’t know that. Iona stopped and he echoed her movements. She turned and looked him square in the eye, “Sir, am I in some kind of trouble?” Yoren grinned, “Not at all, but those people in the sitting room expect that you are. Now, where did you say you felt this person? To the east?” Iona nodded, “Yes, sir. Maybe Batter’s Field, maybe Waterfront but it felt closer. It’s hard to say from here, but if he’s in Batter’s Field, it’s at the north end.” As he led her to her door, his voice took on a musing tone as he assembled the information in his mind, “North Batter’s Field closer than the Waterfront. That’d almost put him in the Ruins… I’ll send a message to the University and then get a small team together. After that, I’ll come back here for you. You get dressed, and stay… here.”
*****
By the time Rayna and he had joined Nix on the ground floor, Lash was dragging the second man in from the street. Kinsman quickly secured the man he’d paralyzed before Aden’s poison could wear off. As he bound the man’s wrists and ankles, he explained to the rest of them the qualities of the poison. Rayna commented, “Miss Camilla mentioned that her assistant had been working on modifying a paralytic. I guess it works. The man dropped like a rock.” Kinsman shook his head, “No names. This man can hear everything we say.” As Nix looked over at him smiling, he started to say something, but Kinsman signaled to him to remain silent. Lash and Rayna understood what was on Kinsman’s mind; the men they were about to question needed to believe they’d be spared as long as they told what they knew.
Kinsman pointed at the man he’d severely injured when he’d first entered the building. He knelt down beside the man and ripped the man’s shirt open to expose where he’d stabbed him in the side of his chest. He inspected the wound and listened to the rhythm of the man’s breathing. As the man breathed out, Kinsman quickly applied a honey-coated poultice. He told the man, “That should help seal off the wound. Let me know if your breathing gets more difficult.” The sellsword looked completely confused. He coughed and replied, “You tried to kill me, now you’re trying to save me?” Nix snorted, “You see that other guy there?” He pointed towards the stairs, “If he wanted you dead, you’d look like that, with your blood all over the wall.” Kinsman waved Nix away as he spoke to the injured man, “Never mind him, you need to pay attention to me. Answer my questions if you want to live through this.” The man coughed, “Can you help me sit up? I think I’d breathe better sitting up. You got me good across the back. I can’t hardly move myself.” Kinsman nodded, “I didn’t cut anything but muscle. Right now what you’re feeling is all that tissue getting tight, trying to protect itself. It’ll pass, but that’s when the pain really starts. I’d like to be finished with our questions before then.” The man looked suspicious, “What about the pain? Do you have anything to help with that?” From behind him, Nix snorted again. Lash growled at Nix, “Revive that guy over there. The one you knocked out. Leave the kid to do his work.” Kinsman turned his attention back to the man he was working on, “I do have something to help with the pain, but let’s consider that as payment after you’ve answered my questions.” The man sighed. By the time Kinsman learned that this man knew almost nothing, or at least was unwilling to provide the answers he sought, the man he’d drugged had started to recover his ability to speak, and he surely seemed to have a lot to say. By the time that Kinsman had moved and knelt down beside the man, the sellsword had already drawn his third deep breath to continue his litany of shouted profanity, all directed indiscriminately at the people in the room; all of them, sellsword and Assassin alike. Kinsman was ripping the man’s shirt to form a gag when Lash leaned in and simply said, “Shut him up. Kill him if you need to.” Suddenly the gag was no longer needed. The man looked from Lash to Kinsman and back, but he stopped shouting. Lash suggested, “Let me help you take him upstairs where you can have a peaceful chat. Just two guys having a conversation.” The man clamped his jaws shut as he glared at Lash. They wove a belt around the man’s chest and used it to drag him up the stairs. They dragged him to a corner and dropped him unceremoniously in it. Lash turned to face Kinsman, “Take the time you need. We’ll keep watch downstairs. The only people that’ll be coming around are his buddies, his clients, or his boss.” He turned and leaned, to face the man sitting on the floor, “And we’re interested in meeting any and all of them. In fact, that’s what he’s going to ask you about.” He jerked a thumb in Kinsman’s direction and continued speaking, “Between you and me, I’d answer his questions…” He paused and spoke conversationally, “Well, you’ll see what I mean.” Lash turned and descended the stairs.
Kinsman faced the man and squatted down. The man spoke first, “Spare me and I’ll tell you what I know.” Kinsman awarded him with a grim smile, a wolf’s smile, “So, you believe you know something that I don’t already know? Amaze me.” The panicked man shook his
head vigorously, “No. First you swear to spare my life. I know about you. You take your word seriously.” Kinsman had to ask, “You know about me? Who do you think I am?” The slaver’s expression became a touch more desperate, “You’re the Kinsman. Your eyes! The poem!” Kinsman chuckled, “Family resemblance. The poem was about my grandfather.” He looked up toward the ceiling and his tone became thoughtful, “Five generations removed, I think.” Then he focused on the man again, “Times were different then, or perhaps he was just a better person. No. You’ll simply tell me. You’ll tell me because you’ll want the pain to end.” He took a small glass jar of oil from a pouch and held it up for the frightened man to see. He looked past the jar and into the man’s eyes, “The fluid in this jar is called “Life Blight.” It’s new.” He then very carefully opened the jar and lightly dipped the point of his dagger into the oil. He voiced his movements, “Juuust enough to break the surface tension. That’s what he told me.” He held up the dagger so the man could see the tiny amount of oil glistening on the tip. He continued to speak, “We’re still testing it, but so far the effects are remarkable. A small amount getting into the bloodstream produces excruciating pain.” The man’s face became a mask of terror and he struggled against his bonds as Kinsman set his dagger aside and carefully put the lid back on the jar, then gently set it down. Kinsman smiled, “I see the paralytic is already wearing off. You must be in very good health.” He then drew out three small vials, “The apothecaries also asked me to test some of these substances, as potential antidotes. I can’t recall which one they said they favored, so we’ll need to proceed with some care. It would be a shame for you to die before I had a chance to test them all.” As he picked up his dagger the man seemed to recover some of his bravado, “You poison me and you won’t have enough time to get all the information.” His expression turned to a sneer. Kinsman shook his head as his expression turned thoughtful, “Wrong. You won’t have enough time to tell me all you’ll wish you could.” He wished he could’ve put something in or over his ears to muffle the screams, but if he did that, how could he hope to hear the man’s confessions? He wondered what they must be thinking downstairs...
