Was this all because of him and the trolls? But the guards barely looked at him and the trolls were nowhere in sight.
Jamie brushed past him and ran to the carriage. The guards held him back. One burly castle soldier pushed a female guest down to the ground when she tried to slip around the guards, crying for the queen to take her with her.
The men appeared nervous and ready to use their steel.
Isabel led Monty by the hand and stood next to him. “We need to get away from this building.”
The shouts of the two fel still inside the sawmill grew more frantic.
“Take him across the street,” Digger said.
He began to jog around the building in search of a door that wasn’t boarded up. The street running past the sawmill had a wide intersection. And in the center of the cobblestones was a manhole with its cover askew.
That explained where the trolls had likely come from.
Around the corner he came to the chamber where the trolls had broken in. But the room beyond the loosened panel was engulfed in flame.
On the main building he discovered a second sliding door to the sawmill. Locked. Next to the door was a pile of sawdust. He found a loose panel, which he tore free. A loaded bolt-throwing contraption blocked the way, but he yanked the bolt out before manhandling the trap mechanism out of its cranny.
He squinted as he looked past the flames and into the chamber beyond.
“This way! Hurry!”
The two fel wasted no time in leaping a pile of burning embers and squeezing out the new entrance. The sawmill’s support columns had ignited. Soon the whole place would be engulfed. Once he got them outside he searched out Isabel and Monty.
A small crowd watched as the queen’s carriage sped off with the steward standing on the rear bumper.
The remaining guards still had their swords drawn but looked confused, as if they had been given no new orders besides seeing their queen to safety. Likewise the posh nobles had shock on their blood-spattered faces.
He headed for Isabel. Both the fel he had rescued had collapsed to the street and were coughing. Their hair was partially burned off. Monty tried his best to comfort one of them.
Isabel kept her sword at her side, alert. “Something’s wrong.”
But Digger didn’t have time to understand what she was talking about. He found corporal Dario and grabbed him by the elbow. “Tell me how to get into the lumberyard without getting shot by your archers.”
The man looked dazed.
“Snap out of it. The lumberyard. We need to get the people in there out. You have a way in?”
“Side gate.” But he made no move to show Digger where that was.
“How do you call the devil hounds back?”
The corporal shook his head. There was fear in his eyes. All the soldiers around him appeared ready to jump from their own skins. They were packed together like they expected to be attacked at any moment.
“Fire will keep the trolls away, but they’re gone,” Digger said.
The corporal had a set of keys on his belt. But when Digger tried to take them, the soldiers around him shouted an alert. The corporal shoved him back and his men pointed their swords.
“What’s wrong with you?” Digger asked. “I need those to get that gate open. The game’s done. Your queen has left. And my friend is stuck in the yard with those hounds.”
Jamie moved to intercede. “Hand those keys to me, Corporal.”
The corporal gave them over. “Stay here with us, Lord Jamie. We’ll escort you back to the castle.”
Jamie was going through the keys. “Which one is to the gate?”
But the corporal was once again distracted by the dark street behind them.
Digger gave the corporal a shove. “Hey. What’s going on? Why are you and your men acting like a bunch of scared rabbits? Corporal?”
The man met Digger’s stare. “Because the queen and Red Eye weren’t the only ones playing their games tonight. That monster that’s loose in the city was here and he’s killed a number of guards. He’s hunting us.”
Digger studied the night around them but saw nothing. Then he led Jamie to the lumberyard. Time to free Hellard.
Chapter Forty-Five
HELLARD CROUCHED TO avoid bumping his head on the top of the sewer tunnel as he hurried to keep up with the hooded man named Marcus. The stranger appeared to know where he was going and was leading him somewhere away from the games. With only the meager light shining down through the many gratings, navigating was treacherous. And escaping while leaving Digger trapped in the burning building was plain wrong.
“Hold up,” Hellard said.
Marcus didn’t look back as he continued walking. “We have no time to waste.”
“I can’t leave my friend in that mess.”
“I’m sure he’ll be fine. And I need you now.”
“Why me?”
“Because you, more than all our kind, know loss. This city with its veneer of civilization is murdering us as surely as the duke’s soldiers on the mainland. Your kind used to live in the desert. Tell me, do you have any family left?”
“You brought me down here to talk about family? Pretty sure I don’t have any left. My village was destroyed years ago.”
Marcus leapt across a rivulet of black water. “Alone all this time before coming here?”
“I found others. Karanog. Tell me where we’re going.”
“Hmm. Karanog. Another plague. They’d prey on anyone for coin. And coin for what?”
Hellard snorted to clear the stench from his nostrils. It didn’t help. “Look, I’m not in the mood for a lecture. I need to go back and help my friend. Maybe later we can sit down at the Dragon and Rose and you can rant about the duke, this city, and who did what to who. Right now, I’m hurt and tired.”
“This will be worth the effort. And it involves your companion Digger.”
“Then we talk later. Then you can tell Digger about whatever ideas you have.”
“I tried. He objects to my methods.”
“It’s you, isn’t it? Cutting open a few city guards is just going to get you killed.”
Marcus didn’t answer but kept moving.
Hellard let out a frustrated sigh. He was in no shape to fight through the queen’s guards to get Digger free. He had to try something. Marcus might be the type of fel he was looking for and could be helpful. But Marcus was taking them outside of the Temperance District and Hellard was done with moving through the sewers.
“Stop.”
Marcus paused to consider him with his glowing yellow eyes.
“Thanks for getting me out of there,” Hellard said. “But this is as far as I go.”
“The path to our people’s salvation will require effort, Sprat Hellard.”
“Yeah, whatever. Come find me during daylight hours when I’m not covered in blood and sweat and standing ankle-deep in excrement.”
Marcus was about to speak when he hunched down and brought up his spear. He was looking behind Hellard. Soft shuffling footsteps were coming. Orange light approached them.
Not guards, Hellard decided.
Vinca appeared with a lantern in hand. But she drew herself up when she saw Marcus.
“It’s okay,” Hellard said. “She’s with me.”
“Is she, now? Send her away. This is no time for children.”
“Don’t worry, little bug. No one here’s going to hurt you. You shouldn’t be here.”
“But I was looking for you,” she said. “I was trying to get you out, like we talked about. Mudo and Tonto wanted to help too.”
“Are they down here?”
“I don’t know. They wouldn’t wait. Tonto was hungry and Mudo does what Tonto says.”
“I thought you had fish for them.”
“I did. Good fish, too. But they like doggies more. Tonto has the best sniffer and I couldn’t get them to stop. I’m sorry they didn’t save you.”
“How precious,” Marcus said acidly
. “A little pureblood girl who plays with trolls and counts ogres among her friends.”
Hellard moved closer to Vinca as if to shield her. “Leave her out of this. She’s not involved in anything you have in mind. Vinca, it’s not a good time for you to be here. Do you have somewhere to go?”
She hesitated before answering. “I was going to follow you when I saw you climb over the fence.”
“Well, you can’t follow right now. I know you want to help. Go back to the Dragon and Rose. Wait there. I’m sure Tonto and Mudo will find you again.”
“But what if they don’t?”
He tried his best to sound cheery. “Who else feeds them fish once the doggies are all eaten? It’s just you, bug. They’ll either find their own fish or find you.”
She nodded but didn’t move.
He gave her a gentle nudge back the way she came. “Go on. Hurry away.”
The orange light left with her. Hellard straightened as best he could and faced Marcus.
The hooded fel was shaking his head as if disappointed. “You think you share a common bond with purebloods who are likewise slaves on this island?”
“I hate them. But she’s just a child. And I don’t share much in common with anyone.”
“That’s truer than you know. You feel you’ve found friends here, perhaps. But your cause isn’t theirs.”
“Who’ve you been talking to?”
“You made your presence known before making your current acquaintances. There’s others of our kind who will join us. Fel. Ones who know there will never be a life for us here. Others who know that wearing jeweled rings doesn’t make one a master. Others who see this island for the evil it truly is.”
“And you’re the one who’ll upset the applecart?” Hellard asked.
“Not alone, I won’t. You can be my ally.”
“Well, this is a lousy place for a recruitment meeting. Right now I need to go back and help Digger. Following you this far was a mistake.”
Marcus’s eyes narrowed. “What exactly do you know about your gravedigger companion?”
“Enough to know he sticks up for his brother and friends. Knows how to fight. He’s also got the worst combination of luck, both good and bad. Look, it really reeks down here. Can we continue this later?”
“Why did you come to Loom Island?”
“You want a history lesson now?”
“Why did you come?”
Hellard let out a sigh. “I wanted to find other fel who were willing to fight.”
“Have you given up because you made friends? Or did your friends get you to abandon your purpose? Before you answer, tell me what Digger has revealed about who he was.”
“We haven’t exactly shared bedtime stories about ourselves. He lost his parents. I lost my tribe. Not an uncommon tale. Now if we can meet up for a late breakfast, I’d really like to get this night over with.”
Marcus swung the tip of his spear near Hellard’s face. “Do you recognize this?”
“I’m no good at riddles. Looks like a spear. Get it out of my face.”
“It’s a ranger weapon. One I used when serving. One like Digger used too, during our time together in Duke Tito’s ranger unit.”
Hellard grabbed the spear. Examined it. He hadn’t gotten a close look before or hadn’t been paying attention in the darkness. The weapon was coated in Red Eye’s blood. Using his fingers, he inspected the head of the spear and felt a growing apprehension that made him forget the pain of his wounds and the taste of sewage in the back of his throat.
“Lots of weapons out there like these,” Hellard said.
“Not like this.”
And it was true. The rangers had used these unique weapons to brutal effect against his kind.
“I’m not asking for your trust,” Marcus said. “You know Digger and can judge for yourself how a fel learns to fight. No menial graveyard worker learns these skills. But a ranger does. You can ask him yourself, assuming he survives the purebloods’ games.”
Hellard’s jaw was so tight he had a hard time speaking. “You said you were one of them too?”
“I was. Digger and I served together. I make it no secret I was used by the duke to commit crimes against our kind. That’s what we’ve become. Slaves and tools meant to destroy each other until none of us are left. It’s why we must fight. Why you and I need each other. And why we together need to bring this island down so what’s left of our people will unite.”
“Stop talking.”
Marcus nodded and took a step back. “There’s work yet to be done tonight.”
“I said shut up. I don’t want to hear anything else from your mouth. Get out of my sight.”
The sewer pipes dripped and the echoes of vague voices carried from the streets and homes above.
Finally Marcus spoke. “So be it. As you wish, I’ll go and leave you to your thoughts. But first let me tell you what I propose. Then, when you’ve had time to think, you can return to help your ‘friend,’ or you can follow me and help our people fulfill their destiny.”
Chapter Forty-Six
“SPRAT?”
No answer.
Digger found the gate in the center of the iron fence. It had a chain and padlock. Isabel and Monty provided light, holding up lanterns they’d taken from the street. Using the keys taken from the corporal, Jamie popped the lock open.
The gate resisted, the hinges rusted, but Digger threw it open with a wrenching shriek of metal.
“Stay out here,” Digger said.
Nothing moved inside the lumberyard. Bodies and parts lay scattered. The theater patrons hadn’t made it far beyond the archway before the devil hounds had caught them. He snatched up a dagger and then a wooden sword as he searched. As he approached the sawmill he found the dead hounds.
“Hellard?”
The flames were licking the sawmill’s roof through the windows. The dry wood was as good as a pile of kindling. With the breeze, the fire could spread, but he couldn’t worry about that for the moment.
Where was the ogre? He saw no body. Once Jamie, Monty, and Isabel started helping with the search, it was confirmed that Hellard was no longer there. Perhaps he had retreated out through the archway and headed back towards the theater.
“Look,” Isabel said.
A ladder was propped against the fence. He climbed it.
A body lay among the weeds. Digger dropped down next to it. Red Eye. And like the other murder victims, he had been eviscerated.
Isabel and Monty came up behind him. Isabel winced but held her lantern out and took a closer look. Monty turned away.
Digger parted the grass and inspected the nearby soil. An ogre-sized track had trudged past, perhaps others, but it was hard to tell. The relief that flooded Digger was quickly replaced with a new concern: Where had Hellard run to, and was Marcus holding him captive?
A few droplets of blood led past the grass to the cobblestone street where a manhole waited.
The corporal was barking orders to his men. The stupor they had been in had lifted and the men began to spread out, keeping the milling group of Diregloom debutantes in their center.
“Get every lamp you can find,” he said. “Bring everyone down from the rooftops. I want roll taken. Find out who’s missing.”
Some of the guards formed groups and hurried down the street. Lights were shining from a nearby rooftop. Castle guards were lowering the limp form of a man down a ladder.
Hunting us.
Digger handed Monty his weapons and approached the corporal, mindful of the nervous and well-armed soldiers around him.
“How many men did you lose, Corporal?”
The corporal was distracted as he ordered the remaining guards away from the sawmill. The fire was flaring through the gaps in the outer walls. The roof blazed and a mountain of smoke poured up into the night.
“Corporal?” Digger persisted. “How many men?”
“Four of the archers so far. Keep where I can see you, you and the other fe
l.”
“We’re not your problem here. I was trying to stop the murders from happening before the queen arrested me. But all she could think about was her game. I can help. Let me track him down.”
“No more running off. You’re staying here with a guard. All of you are. We’re locking the city down and handing this whole affair over to the watch. Once the reinstated curfew is actually enforced and all your kind is off the street, the watch will put the island back in order. We’ll find this fel without more of you loose and confusing things.”
“You don’t know him like I do. You won’t just catch him wandering the city waiting to be picked up. He’s a former ranger of Duke Tito. Like me. He’s as well trained as the best of your men. Better. And putting the watch on his trail is going to get more of them killed.”
“What do you care?”
“Because like the sheriff tried explaining to the queen, the longer he’s out there, the worse things are going to get for my people.”
“Too late for that. Now step aside, wait over there, and let me do my job.”
Several guards jogged over and reported to the corporal. The men all started speaking at once. A few of Claudia’s guests had joined the huddle and were likewise demanding attention.
“One at a time!” the corporal said.
Meanwhile the fire was now burning a house next to the sawmill. A crowd of locals, many wearing nightshirts and robes, began filling the street. A distant bell started clanging, presumably the fire department, which Digger had never seen do more than sift through ash long after the demise of any flame.
The corporal was being harangued by a nobleman with a shrill voice who was demanding his carriage. Whatever composure the corporal had mustered was melting before Digger’s eyes.
No one was paying Digger and his group much attention.
He nudged Jamie. “Can you lead everyone back to the Dragon and Rose?”
“Yes,” the young man said. “But why not to the castle?”
“Because the bar’s closer. And I’m not sure the castle is safe right now. This way Monty can check on Lady Sofia. Monty, once you get there, lock the place down. For real this time.” Digger pointed to the two surviving fel contestants, who had been lingering nearby and staying out of the soldiers’ way. “You, either make your way home or go with them. Do as you’re told and you’ll live.”
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