With a savage roar the cyclops tore a handful of rocks from the mountainside and hurled them at Prospero and Cirrus. Mistral’s eyes blazed with fury at Prospero’s resulting yelp of pain and immediately fired her crossbow at the cyclops’ eye.
The bolt went wide and thudded into the cyclops’ face. Roaring with pain it groped clumsily at the bolt but only succeeded in snapping the shaft and driving the bolt further in. Howling furiously, it dragged a hand against the mountainside again, ripping out more ammunition to fling at its unseen attacker. Mistral watched the cyclops fill its hands with rocks and abruptly all of the frustration she had felt in the last few weeks turned to sheer rage.
‘Prospero!’ tossing her crossbow down, she grabbed her dagger and sprinted straight for the cyclops.
Hearing her shout, the cyclops spun to face her, its face twisting into a vicious snarl. Flinging down the rocks in an impatient gesture it lurched towards her, stretching out with both massive hands to grab at her running figure.
Still shouting, Mistral pelted across the stony ground, her dagger raised ready. At the very last moment she veered sharply to the right, dodging the cyclops’ grasping hands to launch herself up into the air and thrust her dagger into the base of its neck. The dagger pierced through the thick skin and stuck fast into solid muscle and sinew. With a snarl Mistral tugged at the dagger to stab again but the momentum of her leap carried her past the cyclops’ shoulder before she could free it leaving her hanging over the cyclops’ back, suspended from the hilt of her own dagger.
The cyclops bellowed and lashed out, spinning around wildly to try and dislodge her. Mistral clung on, fuelled by a burning rage that blotted out all reason. She rammed the sides of her boots against the leathery skin of its back to support her weight and pulled furiously at the dagger but it was lodged deep in the creature’s stone-like muscles.
It was the sight of Mistral clinging to the back of a violently enraged cyclops that met the warriors when they hauled their panting horses to a halt beside Cirrus and Prospero.
‘Get your bows out now!’ Xerxes cried and leapt from his horse, reaching swiftly for his own.
‘Cain! Poison, now!’ Saul demanded.
‘In my bag!’ he flung his saddlebag at Saul and jumped from the saddle to draw his own bow.
‘Grendel! Get in there with a sarisas and distract the damned thing before it kills her!’ Xerxes yelled.
Grendel grunted and immediately began to pound heavily towards the cyclops, levelling one of the long spiked sarisas while he ran.
‘What colour is the bottle?’ Saul’s voice rose in panic as he searched frantically through Cain’s saddlebag.
‘Blue!’
‘Got it!’
Saul quickly doused his arrow then threw the bottle to Brutus who repeated the action with his own arrow. He notched the poisoned arrow to his bow then swore.
‘Damn it! I can’t fire near the head in case I get Mistral!’
The cyclops was spinning in circles, pawing at the irritating creature clinging onto its back.
‘Doesn’t matter! Just get the poison into it and fast!’ Xerxes yelled, pouring poison onto an arrowhead and throwing the bottle to Cain.
They fired at the same time, their arrows flying through the air and plunging into the cyclops to elicit another infuriated roar. Cain grabbed the bottle of poison to dowse his next bolt and gave a gasp of horror.
‘I said blue!’ he shouted at Saul.
‘It is blue!’ Saul screamed back at him.
‘Have you got yarthkin blood or what? It’s black! You’ve just shot the damned thing with manticore poison!’
Xerxes and Brutus swore loudly as they all realised that they had just pumped an already demented cyclops full of venom that would make it even more violent and totally impervious to pain.
Unaware of the added danger he was facing, Grendel slowed his run and approached the cyclops at a walk, levelling a long sarisas ready. Swiftly ducking a heavy fisted swipe he lunged forward and thrust the spiked point deep into the cyclops’ exposed side.
The cyclops’ face contorted with pain. It immediately swung out a massive hand in retaliation, catching Grendel around the head and slamming him to the ground. Stunned, Grendel lay dazed as the cyclops raised a huge foot to stamp down him.
‘Fire!’ Xerxes shouted and they all let fly with arrows once more; this time tipped with hemlock poison.
Their aim was true and the arrows struck the sides and belly of the cyclops. The warriors instantly drew their bowstrings and fired again, sending another hail of poisoned arrows flying through the air. Thrashing wildly under the onslaught the cyclops threw back its head, ramming its granite skull into the top of Mistral’s head. Stars burst in front of her eyes at the force of the blow. Losing her grip on the creature’s back she slid senselessly to the ground. Feeling the weight on its back slide away the cyclops wheeled, searching for its tormentor. Snatching at her fallen body with one huge hand he swept her up and flung her against the mountainside. Body met rock in a snapping crunch and then there was silence.
Bright sunlight glowed red through her closed eyelids, forcing her into consciousness. Prising her eyes open a fraction Mistral made out the hazy form of a dark-haired figure sat beside her bed.
‘Is that you or am I dreaming?’
‘It’s me.’ Fabian replied shortly, adding stiffly. ‘How are you feeling?’
‘Better now I know you’re real,’ she sighed and opened her eyes wider, taking in Fabian’s ominously unsmiling face. ‘Are you angry with me?’
‘No.’ he snapped and rose to his feet. ‘I’m angry with your idiot brothers for taking you on such a dangerous hunt. And now I know that you are alright I am going to find them.’
‘But I’m not alright!’ Mistral cried, struggling to sit up. ‘I’m never alright without you! It’s not them you need to be angry at, but you.’
Fabian glared at her, his hand resting on the back of the chair he had been sitting on.
‘And why should I be angry with myself?’ he demanded icily.
Ignoring her spinning head Mistral forced herself to continue, ‘For trying to protect me from anything that might hurt me. Can’t you see it’s driving me insane? I’m too much like you Fabian. I need to be free. How would you feel if you were stuck in the Valley, not allowed to leave or take any Contracts that presented even the remotest challenge?’
Fabian stared at her coldly then sighed and sank back onto the chair, ‘I admit that I may have been a touch overprotective recently, and I know that keeping you cooped up in the Valley has been hard on you – but a cyclops? What were you thinking?’
‘I got drunk.’ Mistral confessed, looking a little shame-faced. ‘It seemed like a good idea at the time.’
Fabian stared at her and for a second she thought he was really going to shout at her then he laughed softly and reached out to take her hands, ‘I’m sorry Mistral. I just wanted to keep you from being injured, and,’ he paused significantly, ‘from anything that would prevent you from mastering Sight.’
She looked up to meet his deep black gaze, ‘Believe me Fabian, I want nothing more than to master Sight too, but I’m not sure that this is the right way to go about it.’
‘No,’ he agreed. ‘Not if it results in reckless outbursts of you trying to get yourself killed. So, allow me to suggest a compromise.’
She settled back against the pillows, eyeing him warily, ‘I’m listening.’
‘I promised that you could accompany me on my next Contract –’
‘No matter what it entailed,’ she reminded him.
‘No matter what it entailed. Well, whilst I’ve been waiting for you to regain consciousness, which has been nearly two days by the way –’
Mistral flinched, two days? Guilt swamped her as she realised that Fabian had been sat by her bed for two whole days, probably beside himself with worry … then her heart hardened when she reasoned that if he had been a little more trusting and allowed her some
freedom to actually take the work she was trained to do then she wouldn’t have felt the need to behave quite so recklessly in the first place.
‘I have accepted a Council Contract and, if you so desire to, you are welcome to accompany me.’
‘Yes please!’
‘Wait, I have more I wish to say to you yet,’ he said, smiling for the first time. ‘Contracts of all types that you wish to undertake resume with immediate effect –’
‘Uh-huh,’ Mistral narrowed her eyes at him suspiciously. It wasn’t like Fabian to give in that easily.
‘On the strict understanding that I accompany you.’
‘Agreed!’ Mistral grinned at him. ‘Now, is there any chance of you breaking me out of here? The twins usually do the honours but they’re not here.’
‘My pleasure.’ Fabian smiled and slid his hands under the bed sheet, pulling her into his arms.
‘You know I probably could walk,’ she murmured, gazing into his velvet eyes while he cradled her in his arms and carried her towards the door.
He gazed down at her, the epitome of polite concern, ‘Would you like to?’
‘No.’
The Mage Council Contract
Fabian carried Mistral out of the Infirmary to be promptly greeted by Prospero, laid beside the door. He immediately leapt to his feet, wagging his feathery tail with pleasure at the sight of his mistress.
‘Hello boy,’ Mistral smiled down at her dog while Fabian swept her swiftly down the corridor and up the stairs to the dorms. Kicking open her door he carried her in and laid her gently on the bed, sitting down beside her as Prospero collapsed heavily on the floor and instantly went back to sleep.
‘I am sorry,’ she sighed, wrapping her arms around him. ‘You must have been so worried.’
‘I was slightly anxious.’ Fabian agreed in a tense voice. ‘And I admit it was hardly the pleasant reception I had fondly imagined when I rode into the Valley earlier than I had promised. Instead of you jumping for joy at seeing me again you were lying unconscious in the Infirmary with your so-called brothers skulking guiltily at the foot of your bed.’
Mistral cringed again, ‘I’m so sorry,’ she whispered. ‘I remember trying to stab the cyclops to death with my dagger then it threw me at the rockface, but I’ve no idea what happened after that.’
‘I heard the full and very colourful story from Xerxes. I think Cain should be banned from brewing anything ever again and I will be speaking with the twins as well.’
‘Fabian! You’re not my Training Lieutenant now.’ Mistral reminded him sharply.
He sighed and looked down at her, his black eyes sad, ‘No, I’m just the person who loves you more than his own life and trusted others to try and repress your more reckless urges whilst I was unable to.’
‘Oh Fabian, please don’t! I feel guilty enough as it is! I’m sorry! I missed you so much and then I got angry with you. I resented the fact that you could leave the Valley when you pleased but I couldn’t. Then my brothers came back, full of the mercenary Contract they’d just been on, making me feel even more like I was trapped here, bored and boring. And Cain had this drink –’
‘I know about the illegal manticore potion and I don’t approve.’ Fabian snapped coldly.
‘No, and looking back, I don’t think I do either.’
‘So. You agree that hanging from the back of a cyclops and trying to stab it to death with a short-bladed dagger is not a good way to try and stay out of trouble?’
Mistral glanced up at him and was relieved to see a flicker of humour in the jet black of his eyes.
‘What can I say?’ she grimaced apologetically. ‘It seemed like a good idea at the time?’
Fabian laughed softly and shook his head, ‘I am not angry with you Mistral, or with your brothers either, not really. I know how hard it can be to prevent you from getting what you want.’
‘I don’t know.’ Mistral murmured, gazing up at him from under her lashes. ‘You seem quite resilient to what I really want.’
‘However,’ Fabian continued firmly, ‘I think we both know that my efforts to keep you safe have failed rather magnificently. So we shall try our new agreement.’
Mistral sighed, knowing the moment had gone, ‘Tell me about the Contract.’
‘I will. But first I want to give you something.’ Fabian slid his hand into the top pocket of his jerkin and bought out a leather pouch. He dropped it onto the bed beside Mistral, the metallic clink telling her it was full of coins.
‘What’s that for?’ Mistral asked with a frown.
‘Your payment for the cyclops Contract, which was a success by the way. Your brothers finally managed to subdue it with poison, despite having first pumped it full of invincibility-inducing manticore poison. They finally slew it with swords, rescued you and extracted the eye for the bonus payment. Grendel carried you back and Brutus managed Cirrus. None of them could get near Prospero however. He followed you back and has been asleep outside the Infirmary doors since you were carried in there. He’s been growling at everyone who dared to enter. Serenity was not impressed.’
‘Oh.’ Mistral said quietly. Picking up the pouch of money she bounced it in her hand, feeling the weight. ‘How much is in there?’
‘It’s a good payment.’ Fabian confirmed shortly.
‘Take it.’ she held it up to him. ‘Give it to Leo. Tell him to take it off my debt to the Ri.’
Fabian frowned and shook his head, ‘It’s yours Mistral. You earned it. Go to Toothe and Nayle and buy those damned butterfly knives you covet so much!’
‘I covet my freedom more,’ she said softly, still holding the pouch out. ‘I have everything I want right here in this room.’
Fabian gazed at her, his hard black gaze slowly melting to the soft velvet she loved so much.
‘And so do I,’ he finally murmured, wrapping his hand around hers and taking the pouch of money.
‘Now that’s sorted can I please hear about this Contract?’
‘You may, with pleasure. I, or rather we, are Contracted to travel west to the port of Holdridge and meet a delegation of Mages from France and escort them to the Council.
‘Eximius has issued this Contract himself. He specifically requested that I and the twins be in the greeting party and attend the meeting that they are here for. I suggested to Leo that this would provide the perfect opportunity for you to see the Council and See the Council, if you perceive my meaning.’
‘I do.’ Mistral sighed heavily. She had really been hoping for something to kill, not an aura to read.
‘He feels that it would be beneficial for you to gain some inside knowledge of the Council before Eximius becomes aware of your particular gift. Because once he does Mistral, he will be demanding your services at almost every damned meeting he has, I can assure you of that.’
‘I can’t wait.’ Mistral replied heavily. ‘But please tell me there is the outside chance of some kind of bloodshed.’
‘There is every chance. It is fairly standard practise for Ri warriors to be used to escort foreign officials when they arrive on the Isle. They often bring with them a hidden agenda, usually involving killing Eximius. You would be surprised how many desire his position.’
‘You’re right, I would.’
‘So, wear your armour and bring all of your weapons. We may end up having to fight our way out if the meeting doesn’t go smoothly.’
‘Does that happen often?’ Mistral asked, looking suddenly hopeful.
‘It has done.’ Fabian gave her a wry smile. ‘Tempers often flare during the meetings. Events can become heated, to say the least.’
‘Things are suddenly looking up!’
Fabian looked down at her with a bemused expression on his face, ‘How am I ever going to cure you of this craven bloodlust?
Mistral gave him a burning look, ‘Easily.’
‘Anyway,’ Fabian continued in a determined voice, ‘the twins are there to ensure that the outcome of the meeting is precisely as Exim
ius wishes it to be, however, it would be most useful to have some idea of the visiting delegation’s true feelings. Which is where your skills come into play.’
‘You want me to read each of them and provide feedback on their emotional states?’
‘Yes … but, how are you progressing with reading people without them realising?’
Mistral shrugged, ‘No-one has noticed so far.’
‘We need to be completely sure. It would be disastrous if the delegates realised we had a Seer in the meeting.’
‘Would it mean a fight?’ Mistral asked, trying to mask her excitement with concern.
Fabian threw her an exasperated look, ‘Possibly. But I was more concerned with Eximius being made aware of your gift before you had managed to develop its full potential.’
‘Fine, I’ll practice. How long have I got?’
‘We need to leave early tomorrow morning. We have to meet the delegation at the port. It’s a full day’s ride from here. Then we escort them north to the Council which is at least a further day’s ride, sometimes two.’
‘So … I have today to practice?’ Mistral clarified with a frown.
‘Yes. I know it’s short notice. I thought I could buy you lunch in The Cloak and Dagger, if you’re feeling up to it, and we could practice on the other occupants.’
Mistral grinned up at him, suddenly excited by the thought of going out on a Contract with him, no matter how potentially dull it sounded.
‘Of course I’m up to lunch! I’m starving! But do you mind if I have a shower first? I’m very grateful to Grendel for lugging my unconscious body back to the Valley but he does leave a certain distinctive whiff that I really need to get rid of.’
Fabian smiled and released her from his arms, ‘I’ll meet you in the tavern,’ he said softly, watching her slide from his lap and walk towards the door.
Giving a martyred sigh Prospero hauled himself to his feet and padded softly after her.
The Assassin's Destiny (Isle of Dreams) Page 8
