Flameseeker (Book 3)

by R. M. Prioleau

  * * *

  With his arms crossed, Kaijin shifted his weight as he and his friends gathered in a sleeping room of the inn, listening to Nester, who stood on a chair so everyone could hear and see him. Everybody looked attentive to what the brownie had to say, except for Aidan, who was preoccupied with rubbing his back on a corner of an armoire. His actions almost mimicked Sable’s, who rubbed her whole body against the leg of the chair that Nester stood upon. Percival, seemingly amused by the cat, playfully pawed at her tail, which she continuously flicked irritably out of his reach. Meanwhile, Miele remained perched on a wooden ceiling beam above Kaijin, her wings folded around her.

  “So let me get this straight, Nester,” Zarya said, placing her hands on her hips. “Your shady friend wants you to search the tunnels for some items that were stolen from him?”

  “Aye, that’s about right, beautiful.” Nester grinned innocently. “No ’arm in a little explorin’, aye?”

  Omari rolled his eyes. “There is obviously more to this story than he is letting on.”

  “Indeed,” Jarial said coolly. “How much did your friend give you to do this?”

  “Nothin’, I tell you! I swear on my pa’s grave ’e ain’t give me a soddin’ thing to do this! I’m just tryin’ to ’elp others, like you blokes always keep tellin’ me to do!”

  “All right, Nester,” Kaijin said. “And you are sure that we will have access to a boat afterwards?”

  “Aye. Th’ next passenger ship’s not due back for a month, but there are many merchant an’ supply ships that come an’ go daily. But th’ only way to board those is to ’ave th’ special documents I was tellin’ you all about. Trust me. This’ll be easy!”

  Omari scoffed. “Trust you? Do not make me laugh.”

  “Well,” Kaijin said, looking to the rest of his friends, “we don’t have a month to wait, so why don’t we do this with Nester? What do we have to lose?”

  “Our minds, if you honestly think Nester is really doing this out of ‘good faith,’” Omari said flatly.

  Frowning, Nester hopped off the chair, his heels narrowly missing Sable’s tail. “Fine! I’ll just do it myself! I’ll get that soddin’ ship an’ leave all you blokes ’ere!” He stormed out of the room.

  The door slammed, and Kaijin sprang out of his chair. I need to go after him!

  Jarial grabbed his arm. “Wait, Kaijin.”

  Kaijin glared. “I can’t wait that long for a boat, Master. It’s obvious that Nester is the only one of us that knows enough about this city to get around. There are people back at the Pyre counting on me to make things right.”

  “I think Kaijin is right,” Zarya added. “Unfortunately, we seem to not have much of a choice. We should follow Nester.”

  Jarial looked at the priestess, frowning, but freed Kaijin’s arm.

  Omari looked around the group and scoffed. “You people cannot be serious!”

  “Zarya’s right, Omari,” Jarial said. “We should not delay Na’val’s vengeance any longer than we can help.”

  He scowled. “Oh, confound it all! Fine. Let us get it over with, then.”

  Kaijin looked over to Aidan, who was still struggling with an itch. “Will you join us as well, Aidan?”

  Aidan paused his scratching and acknowledged Kaijin with a grimace. “Yes, whatever. Aidan will help,” he said hastily and continued scratching.

  Zarya went to the half-Dragon and assisted him. A few scratches with her fingernails helped calm him.

  Kaijin left the room, not waiting on the others. He rounded a corner, about to head downstairs, and spotted Nester leaning against the wall next to the stairs, playing with one of his daggers.

  Kaijin blinked, surprised to find Nester waiting for them. “What the—? Nester?”

  The brownie looked up and beamed his mischievous, gap-toothed smile. “I knew you’d come around, Kaijin! I can always count on you!”

  Kaijin balled his fists, feeling duped. Damn it, I should’ve known! “You had no intentions of doing this alone from the beginning, did you?”

  “Aye! Why should I, when I got you blokes to come with me?”

  XV

  Later that evening, Kaijin and his group followed Nester through the city, passing most of the crowds and nightly activities.

  Nester’s route took the group into the less savory parts of town, where people were sparse and the number of confusing narrow side streets and alleys grew.

  Miele screeched, and Kaijin glanced to the sky in time to see her soar over a rooftop and disappear. He smiled to himself at her enjoyment of the night.

  Nester finally stopped in front of an archway of half-crumbled brick, off to the side in an alley. Stone stairs, broken and slimy with algae, descended into darkness. Miele flew to the opening and clung to the apex. Percival and Sable sat beside Nester and curiously sniffed toward the stairs, then backed away.

  Kaijin peered into the darkness. A draft of cold, fetid air whisked out from the opening and his stomach turned.

  “We can get to the tunnels from here,” Nester said, speaking barely above a whisper. “Oh! An’ don’t be shinin’ no lights around, understand?”

  “Then how are we going to see where we’re going?” Zarya asked.

  Aidan scratched his head, looking at everyone curiously. “But Aidan can see fine in the dark.”

  Omari snorted. “That is all well and good for you, Aidan, but the rest of us normal folk require light to see in dark places.”

  “Omari, enough.” Zarya chided, giving him a hardened look.

  “No lights, understand? We don’t want to be spotted.” Before anyone else could argue, Nester headed in, descending the stairs. The rest of the group trudged along behind him: Omari, Kaijin, Jarial, Zarya, and finally Aidan, who brought up the rear.

  The only thing Kaijin saw was the soft, faint, electric glow of the tip of Omari’s staff, which hung across his back by a braided thong, and the only sounds he heard were the echoes of their shuffling feet and Miele’s light flapping just above his head.

  “Do you see any hazards ahead?” Kaijin asked his familiar.

  Miele responded with confusion. The tunnels were narrow and straight, but she sensed nothing strange about them.

  Sable quacked in pain.

  “Damn it!” Jarial snapped. “Who stepped on Sable’s tail?”

  “Not me!” Nester quickly replied.

  Jarial grumbled unintelligibly. “Enough of this walking in the dark.”

  Kaijin heard rustling behind him and turned his head. Jarial held a greenish glowing object in his palm.

  Nester spun around. “’Ey! I said no lights!”

  Ignoring the brownie, Jarial mumbled a few words, and the object brightened, revealing itself to be a small piece of phosphorescent lichen. The lichen quickly burned away, but the light compacted into a small floating ball that shed ample illumination around the group.

  “Now they’ll know we’re comin’ for sure!” Nester grumbled.

  “I don’t give a rat’s ass!” Jarial retorted. “If anyone crosses me, they will taste my power. Now, all of you, watch your step!”

  They reached the bottom of the stairs and stepped into a bigger room, which opened up into five more passages.

  “Well, Nester? Which way do we go now?” Kaijin asked.

  Nester scratched the back of his head. “Uh, I don’t know. I guess we should just check them all?”

  Omari scoffed. “Who knows how deep these tunnels go? It may take us hours, or even days!”

  While they argued, Percival scoured the open cavern and pounced on something. He shook his head violently a few times, then returned to the group, carrying a small mouse’s corpse in his mouth. He sat up on his hind legs and showed Omari.

  Zarya laughed. “Looks like Percival’s brought you a gift.”

  Omari looked down, then curled his lip in disgust. “Ugh! How many times have I told you about showing me your catches? And do not even dare eat that thing in front of me!” He tur
ned away, and Percival promptly scampered to a corner of the cavern.

  Kaijin raised his eyebrows at Omari. “Are you sure Percival is a weasel and not a cat?”

  “He is most certainly not a cat, as much as he seems to enjoy acting like one,” Omari replied in a huff.

  Jarial chuckled. “You will just have to teach him to not show you every catch he makes, like I have done with Sable.”

  “Easier said than done, Master Glace,” Omari said, and Percival returned to his side, licking his lips and around his mouth, which was stained with blood.

  Aidan sniffed, then blinked, perking up. He brushed past the group and headed toward the fourth passage.

  “Aidan! Wait!” Zarya called, but Aidan didn’t stop.

  They followed the half-Dragon down the narrow tunnel, scrambling and stumbling to keep up as Aidan strode through the darkness just ahead of their ring of light. Soon, though, Aidan’s silhouette began to walk with a slight crouch as the ceiling slanted lower and closer to his head. Then, suddenly, he stopped, blocking the tunnel and forcing everyone behind him to halt, as well.

  “What’s wrong, Aidan?” Kaijin asked, but Aidan didn’t reply.

  Nester’s ears twitched. “What’s that?”

  Kaijin scrunched his face. “Huh?”

  “Sounds like ... dogs,” Nester said.

  “Why would there be dogs in these tunnels?” Zarya asked.

  Then, through Miele, Kaijin heard it, too—high-pitched yipping in the distance, like a pack of dogs. But there was something odd about the sounds that convinced Kaijin they were not dogs.

  Sable hissed, and Jarial narrowed his eyes. “Those are not dogs. They’re—”

  “—Kinlings,” Omari finished, unslinging his glowing staff. He looked around warily. “Detestable little monsters.”

  Aidan resumed walking, moving cautiously, and the others fell in behind him. They continued for several minutes, the kinlings’ voices growing closer.

  Miele suddenly screeched in Kaijin’s mind. Kaijin winced, feeling a sense of wariness come over him. He stopped. “Uh ... guys?”

  Percival squeaked and Sable yowled, and Jarial and Omari halted. The noises from their familiars seemed to have a similar effect on them. “Ah ... ! There ... There is something ahead,” Omari said.

  Nester and Zarya stopped, looking to the familiars. Aidan kept slowly walking.

  “What’s goin’ on, mates?” Nester asked. “What are they ’owlin’ an’ squeakin’ about?”

  Jarial held his head. “Someone stop Aidan! Quickly!”

  The pang in Kaijin’s mind was unbearable. But Miele revealed a clearer sensation in his mind. Aidan was in trouble. Kaijin called, “Aidan! Wait!”

  As Aidan stopped, there came a clicking sound from up ahead.

  Broken wood and scrap metal rained on Aidan from the ceiling. He yelled as it buried him completely. Only part of his large, silver foot stuck out from the bottom.

  Everyone gasped, and the familiars cried out.

  “Aidan!” Zarya ran to the pile and attempted to move some of the debris, but most of it was heavy and barely budged. She felt his foot. “There’s a pulse. It’s faint, but he’s still alive. We have to get him out of there!”

  “Soddin’ ’ells!” Nester rushed to assist her.

  Kaijin and Omari were about to rush in to help when Jarial ordered, “Stand back.” After they got out of the way, he stretched his hand and muttered some arcane phrases. Kaijin knew the spell, a simple cantrip, but a highly useful one in this situation. Jarial’s hand glowed bright violet, and as he concentrated, one of the metal debris began to glow in a similar manner. He moved his hand around, and the object moved as well, lifting from the debris pile. He set the piece of junk aside and worked on another heavier one.

  Omari looked at Kaijin. “Come on, Kaijin. Let us help him.”

  Nodding, Kaijin focused on a random metal piece in the pile. Stretching out his hand, he concentrated, and uttered the cantrip’s phrases. His hand began glowing, and he felt the weight of the metal object in his palm. It was heavy, but not overly so. He lifted his hand slowly and wriggled the object out of the pile, bit by bit. When the object was freed, he moved it away, setting it on the side of the tunnel, against the wall.

  For several minutes, Jarial, Kaijin, and Omari moved bits and pieces of heavy debris until the pile began to loosen. Then, Zarya and Nester moved back in to remove what junk they could from it.

  Afterward, the group, with their combined efforts, tried freeing Aidan again. After several forceful yanks, they pulled the half-Dragon free.

  Aidan groaned and appeared barely conscious. Zarya knelt and began a healing prayer.

  While she prayed, Kaijin looked deeper into the tunnels. He didn’t see much beyond the dim circle of their light. He called to Miele. “Scout ahead. Make sure we are not being watched.”

  With a screech, Miele complied and flew deeper into the cavern. Kaijin concentrated and soon entered her mind. The darkness lifted, and he saw the tunnels in a muted green hue.

  I wonder if this is what Aidan sees in the dark, too. The dog-like yipping resounded throughout the tunnels, sometimes sounding close by, other times not. Seeing no immediate danger ahead and realizing they were getting too far from the others, Kaijin directed Miele back toward the group. He severed the empathic link and withdrew from her mind.

  Sable meowed and pawed at something that was stuck beneath some scrap metal.

  Nester went over to her, pushed aside some of the junk, and examined something unseen that he held between his fingers. “This looks like the tripwire that was attached to that deadfall trap. We must be gettin’ close to where we’re goin’.”

  “Well, I am sure the thieves now know we are coming,” Omari said. “We just tripped their alarm system.”

  Aidan soon regained consciousness, renewed and invigorated by Zarya’s ministrations. The group gathered themselves and pressed on. Nester took the lead, scanning the path for more hazards. He felt the ground in certain spots, sometimes even pressing his ear to it, and brushed his hands over the walls as though he were tracing pictures that only he could see. The kinlings barked in the distance, the sound echoing in the tunnels. The group passed small, shallow alcoves along the tunnel walls. As they approached one alcove, Nester halted the group.

  “Find something?” Kaijin asked.

  “Aye. Stay right where you are.” Nester stepped carefully around something that only he seemed to see on the ground. He inched toward the opening and stuck his arm into the blackness. Seemingly deep in thought, he groped around in the darkness. A clicking sound came from within the alcove, and he pulled free a bolt and small crossbow.

  “What the—! Where did that come from?” Omari asked.

  “A rather primitive trap, if you ask me,” Nester said. “But nasty, nonetheless. This bolt’s got somethin’ on it.”

  “Poison?” Jarial raised his eyebrows.

  “Probably. Anyway, no sense in lettin’ it go to waste, aye?” Nester loaded the crossbow.

  Kaijin blinked. “Ah, N-Nester, are you sure you know how to use that thing?”

  “Aye. Of course. I’ve good aim!” He aimed the crossbow around the cavern.

  Sable hissed and arched her back, drawing closer to Jarial. Percival squeaked in response to Sable’s startle, and hunched.

  Kaijin looked ahead, feeling that they were being watched. He could feel Miele’s nervousness. “What do you see?”

  From her perspective, four small silhouettes approached in their direction.

  Kaijin promptly broke the link.

  The kinlings’ sounds grew louder, and in the darkness ahead of Jarial’s, four pairs of eyes appeared. Jarial intensified the ball of light, revealing the creatures in full.

  The kinlings were short brown-scaled creatures that resembled small Dragons, except that they walked on two legs instead of four. Standing about Nester’s height, they wore tattered burlap clothing that was stained with dirt and grime. The
ir short, slender tails lashed back and forth. As Kaijin was aware from his bestiary books, kinlings generally never operated independently. He’d anticipated several more about to jump out at them when he and his group least expected it.

  The scrawny creatures backed away from the light, shielding their eyes. They snarled and spoke in a strange language that sounded like a mixture of yips, barks, and growls.

  Aidan pushed past Kaijin and the others and confronted the creatures in a similar-sounding language, except that his voice sounded more articulate and stern, authoritative.

  The creatures shrank back, looking frightened.

  “Master, do you know what they’re saying?” Kaijin whispered to Jarial.

  Jarial shook his head. “Hells if I know. But it’s definitely some form of Draconic.”

  “Then let us hope, for our sake, Aidan is saying something nice,” Omari said.

  Kaijin heard Zarya mumbling prayers behind them. Instantly, he felt clarity in his mind.

  “If things don’t go over too well with Aidan’s ‘parlayin’’, I’ve got a good shot at one of those sods, at least,” Nester whispered, taking aim with his crossbow.

  Aidan turned and faced Kaijin and the others. “It’s all right everyone. They have agreed to take us to their leader. All we need to do is follow—”

  Another kinling appeared from one of the alcoves ahead and stood several paces behind Aidan, crossbow at the ready.

  Sable yowled and hissed.

  “Aidan! Behind you!” Jarial balled one of his fists, which began to glow a light purple.

  The kinling fired at the half-Dragon. Aidan, with his Dragon-quick reflexes, easily twisted away from the bolt, which whizzed through the air and finally, with a solid thump, bore into Kaijin’s chest.

  Kaijin gasped from the stinging pain of the bolt. He stared down in shock at the feathered end protruding from the hole in his tunic. His knees buckled, and he collapsed onto the cold, damp stone of the tunnel floor. Agony spread into his arms and head, and the view of the slimy ceiling began to dissolve into darkness. The echoing sounds of his friends’ voices, the combat, and Miele’s frantic screeching grew farther and farther away. Then Kaijin felt something warm on his hand. Certain it was blood, he looked down with half-open eyes, but it wasn’t blood at all. Ranaiah’s ring was glowing yellow, and a soothing sensation seemed to radiate up his arm, warring with the pain in his body, pushing the bolt out of his chest. The bolt plunked to the ground. When the soothing warmth reached Kaijin’s head, he blacked out, but it seemed just as quickly as he closed his eyes, he awoke. Zarya’s face appeared above Kaijin, taut with concern as she examined him. The pain in his chest was gone, and he heard the voices of his friends all around him.