by Ryan McCall
The elf packed up his chips and left the game, turning around to greet the two agents. “Tel ja’Essa at your service,” he said.
She had to admit he was one of the most handsome elves she had ever seen. His smooth, silver hair was stylishly pulled back into a ponytail and he had piercing blue eyes.
“Let me cash these in. Then we can talk in a private room. Wait here.”
She watched as he headed over to the cash-in counter and exchanged his chips. The attendant handed over a lot of notes and Tal pocketed them.
He returned and said, “This way.” He led them up to the third floor and down a long corridor with fancy wooden doors. He stopped at one, produced a key and opened it, ushering them inside. Once they were in, he locked it again and bid them to take seat. The chairs had soft velvet cushions and Fiona relaxed into one, Kendrick sitting next to her.
The elf sat in a chair opposite. “Refreshments?” he asked.
“No thank you,” replied Fiona. “Let’s get right to business.”
“As you wish,” he said. “I must admit, I was surprised to be contacted by Director Talmach about this. My duties are normally more low key. But he told me two of his agents needed help reaching the Arm of Assassins, so here I am. Even if it is a suicidal idea.”
“What exactly are your duties Mr. ja’Essa?” asked Fiona. She had read his file, but wanted to hear his interpretation.
“I’m a contracted financial operative for Imperial Intelligence. I provide you spies with all of the funding that allows you to have your weapons and fancy devices.”
“By cheating in illegal casinos?” She held up the card she had stolen from him. The same drake that he had won the game with.
He smiled. “You have fast hands Agent Badenoch. Yes, by cheating casinos out of their money. I target the illegal ones because they’re the ones avoiding taxes. I like to think of myself as their taxing agent. Do you have a problem with that?”
“No,” she said. “But I can’t imagine the life expectancy of a cheat in this city is long.”
He laughed. “I like you Agent Badenoch. Yes, you’re right normally cheats around here don’t last long. But I’m an expert, I know what I’m doing. As for the two of you, well it’s obvious to anyone that you’re not from Longhaven and it will be even more obvious to anyone connected to the Arm. Which is why you need me.”
Fiona was starting to get irritated by his arrogant attitude, but she kept herself professional. “Exactly. So where does the master cheat suggest we start?” she asked.
“This will not be an easy task. Others have tried to get close to the Arm before. Longhaven even had a watch captain that tried once. He paid for it with his life and the lives of his entire family.”
Fiona looked over at Kendrick and then looked Tal in the eyes. “We’re Imperial Intelligence, nothing we do is easy. Where do we start?”
Tal smiled again and nodded. “We start with the House of Blades.”
Chapter 45
Cassandra groaned as Reese poked her with his elbow. She had asked him to make sure she didn’t fall asleep, but it was still damn annoying.
“Sorry,” he said, “but you looked like you were about to sleep again”
“Thanks,” she replied. She was starting to regret drinking last night.
“Professor Xerin said we’ll be arriving soon,” he said.
By Cassandra’s reckoning that meant it was slightly after lunch time, since they had left at half-past seven this morning. She looked out the window and could see the tall peaks of the Copper Mountains in the distance. The Crean Valley was situated in a valley within the mountain range.
She still had a long carriage ride to look forward to once they arrived in the town, although Professor Xerin had assured them it was comfortable enough. She also mentioned she would help pass the time by talking to them about the valley and answering questions they had.
As she looked back at Reese, she saw concern evident in his eyes. “What?” she asked, knowing he wanted to say something.
“What do you want me to say? You lost someone you loved, you can’t just get over it like that.” He clicked his fingers.
She was surprised at his change in attitude. He had been berating her to stop all of her drinking and go and see a counselor, but then suddenly he had backed off. Right around the time of the assassination on campus.
She had seen little of him outside of class in the preceding weeks and today he was distracted. She also noticed he had a hand gripped on his bag, as if he were afraid someone would try to grab it.
“Who are you and what have you done with Reese?” she asked, teasing him. He gave her a scrutinizing look then looked down as if trying to collect his thoughts. Before he could say anything, a whistle sounded and the train began to slow.
Cassandra looked out at the town of Crean. It was a collection of modern wooden buildings centered around the train station. Looming behind the town were the Copper Mountains, she could see the burnished brown tops of the peaks that gave them their name.
A knock on the door of the compartment grabbed their attention. It was Professor Xerin.
The drakon looked at them carefully. “This is our stop.” She then carried on, knocking on all of the compartments with the other students.
Cassandra and Reese gathered up their bags and left the compartment. They exited the train and stepped down to the platform. Professor Xerin was standing there with a few students and the rest soon followed.
The drakon had them assemble then addressed them. “Zoology 110 students, this is Mr. Nitark,” she said, introducing a man standing at the edge of the platform. “He will be transporting us the rest of the way to Crean Valley. In less than two hours we will soon be standing in one of the greatest zoological sites in the world.”
The thin man next to her then spoke. “My flare-rock carriage is out on the street. It’s big enough for the lot o’ you. If you need to eat, drink or shit, best go now. Once I starts up, it don’t stop till we reach the valley.”
“You heard him,” said Xerin. “You have twenty minutes in the town, then we leave. Meet at his carriage. Do not be late, unless you feel like spending the night here instead of the valley.”
The students began to wander off into the town, either to explore or eat. Cassandra put her bag on a seat and sat down. She wasn’t in the mood to look around. She was focused on reaching the valley. Reese sat down next to her, pulled out an old looking book and started reading.
It caught her eye, it definitely wasn’t a textbook. Too old and worn. “What’s that?” she asked.
He glanced up at her. He looked like he’d been caught doing something he shouldn’t have. “It’s…an old souvenir,” he answered and went back to reading.
Fine she thought. If he doesn’t feel like sharing, his choice.
Cassandra had lucked out. She and several other students wanted to sit up front of the carriage, to get a better view while they traveled. But there was only room for one. Xerin had settled the matter by drawing straws and Cassandra picked the short one. While the rest of the class were stuck in the back of the carriage, with the noise from the flare-rock engine, Cassandra was high up and able to get a view of the journey.
The road was only dirt, but was well maintained. The carriage encountered minimal bumps. Along the sides of the road stood pine trees as tall as the university library.
The mountains looked much larger now that they had left the town.
Nitark saw her looking at them. “No snow on them yet,” he said. “Too early in the year. Give it a couple a months though. Once mid-winter hits, it’ll settle all the way down to the forest ‘ere. You wouldnae want to come to the valley then. Nowhere near as nice a journey. Them trees keep out the worst of the wind, but the rain and sleet slides through. Don’t know why all these excavator types bother coming in winter, not worth the effort if you ask me.”
“Because it’s their passion,” said Cassandra. “Like it is mine.”
The man
laughed. “Fair enough. Don’t know how you folk can get passionate about digging up a bunch o’ old bones and junk, but to each his own. Course as bad as winter is, it may have been a better time to come than now.”
“Why? I thought the university always sent classes this time of year.”
“Aye lass, you’re right. This is an annual job for me, transporting you youngsters to your digging for a couple o’ days. I also make supply runs to the site. The last few months though, something strange been going on at the site.” Nitark had an odd gleam in his eyes.
“Some of them have been saying people go missing at night, never to be seen again. One o’ the leaders up there told me, they found a guard dead one morning. Had his head ripped clean off. No one knows what did it, but it has them all scared. Last trip, I brought back eight who didn’t want to stay any longer.”
Cassandra couldn’t work out if the old man was serious or if he was trying to scare her for kicks. It was ludicrous of course, even if he did sound earnest.
Her disbelief must have shown. “Don’t believe me aye?” he asked. “I don’t blame ya. I didnae believe it first. Thought they was going stir crazy. Making up tales to pass the time. Then the guards warned me carry a weapon.”
He banged on the back wall of the compartment they were seated in and she looked back. A long-barreled shotgun was attached to the wall.
“It was the looks on the faces o’ those I brought back the last time. They was terrified. Was enough to convince me something was out there. Something nasty and hungry, which is why I got that. They only lost people at night and we’ll be there before then, but I ‘aint takin any chances.”
“Didn’t you tell my professor about all this?” asked Cassandra. She was starting to believe him now.
“Course I did. But did she listen?” He sounded annoyed. “She was assured all was well by the head honcho professor at the valley and that’s all she needed to hear. She didnae care about the ravings of a northern bumpkin like meself. Do yourself a favor lass, don’t go out at night and make sure you’re always within site of the guards. I wouldnae want to see anything to happen to any o’ you kids.”
Cassandra absorbed the man’s warning and looked along the road. Way off down the tree line she could make out a wooden structure.
“Doesn’t look like anyone’s at the way station. That’s odd,” said Nitark.
As they closed the distance she was able to see it better. It was a wooden fort built along the side of the road. There was a small tower with lanterns hanging, but they were unlit. Nitark pulled a lever and the carriage came to a shuddering stop.
“Wait here,” he told her. He hopped out of his seat and clambered to the ground.
She shuffled over to look out the driver’s side. Nitark knocked on the side door of the carriage and the professor opened it. They talked for a few minutes and then Xerin closed the door. Nitark walked back, pulling himself back up. She quickly shuffled back to her side.
“Your professor wants to keep going,” he said, and he sat back behind the controls. “Most travelers like to stop here and rest but she wants to get there as soon as possible. Make sure you all have as much time at the site as possible.” He shook his head.
“What is it?” she asked.
“Something ‘aint right. There’s normally at least one guard here. Sometimes three or four. They may have gone off to hunt or ride to the town, but I never seen them leave it empty.”
He pushed the main lever forward and the flare-rock engine came back to life. He pushed a button, pulled another lever and the carriage moved forward again.
Cassandra continued to admire the forest surrounding the road, while Nitark grumbled about ‘smart-ass university professors’. He was more agitated about the empty fort than the rumors of death he’d been talking about. He must have only been trying to scare her after all.
An hour later, the trees fell away and were replaced with scrubland. The mountains were much closer and Cassandra had to twist her head up to see to the tops.
“Not much longer now,” said Nitark and he pointed. Cassandra squinted and in the distance she could make out a fort sitting at the foot of the mountains.
It slowly became larger as they continued along the road, until she could make out a short stone wall with two towers rising above. Next to the wall was a single stone building. Behind the wall she could see the tops of large tents.
There was only one main building at the excavation site and it contained enough room for around twenty. But since the number of visitors fluctuated, there were usually a number of tents serving as temporary accommodation.
They close enough that Cassandra was able to make out the men in the towers and two more standing in front of the gate. They were reacting to the sight of the carriage, moving around and talking to each other.
The carriage was only a hundred or so meters away from the gate and both of the men in front waited for them to approach. They didn’t move to open the gate and Nitark stopped the carriage.
“What in the hells?” he said, surprise in his voice. “I make the trip here often enough, they normally let me right on. Bastards must be shitting themselves because of everyone going missing.” He opened the door and poked his head out. ‘It’s Nitark. I’ve got the latest load of students here to visit the excavation.” The guards made shrugging gestures and shook their heads.
“Creator fucking dammit,” he swore and turned the carriage off. He opened the door and stepped down. He stomped over to the nearest guard. “Are you new or something? I’m a regular here. Open up, so I can go on in.”
Cassandra could hear the anger in his voice. The guard said something but she couldn’t make it out.
“What?” said Nitark. “What in the fucking hells are you talking about?” The guard took a quick step back and a shot rang out. Cassandra gave a small scream as Nitark fell forward. She looked up and saw one of the tower guards with an aimed rifle, smoke drifting from the end of the barrel.
Nitark hit the ground and the guard next to him focused his eyes on the carriage. He pointed his finger and Cassandra was suddenly startled by a knock on the window next to her face. The other guard had snuck up and had a revolver pointed at her.
“Open up,” he said.
She nodded and slowly opened the door. He grabbed her by the arm and flung her down. He took a quick look inside the compartment, then shut the door.
“On your feet!” he barked. She stood up, brushing dirt from her face. “Move!” and he nudged her in the back with the gun. She did as he ordered and walked towards the gate.
It was slowly opening now and a line of men, all armed, walked out. They looked like mercenaries and then Cassandra realized that the ones manning the gate must have taken the uniforms from the real guards.
The men came out and surrounded the back door of the carriage while one of them opened it up.
“Get them out of there and put them with the others, at least they’ll be good for labor work,” said a soft, female voice from behind. Cassandra turned back around to see this newcomer.
Her eyes went wide with shock as a female tiger agorid stepped out from behind the armed men. The agorid looked like she was in charge, the way she ordered them about. The men near the carriage hauled the Professor Xerin and the other students out and put them into one group. The man behind Cassandra nudged her with his gun and forced her towards them. As she joined them, she stood next to Reese and he gave her a reassuring squeeze on her shoulder.
Then the agorid tigress spoke again, “All of you listen to me. You are now our prisoners. The Crean Valley excavation site belongs to us. Do not resist, do as you are told and you will not be harmed. Once we have finished what we came here for, we will leave and you will be free.”
The tigress was speaking Alkon, but with a slight accent. If Cassandra had to judge she would have guessed Enz. “What in the Creator’s name is this?” she whispered to Reese. He shook his head in confusion, and their captors ordered them to move
towards the building.
Chapter 46
A thick sea fog had fallen by the time the watch assembled near the warehouse. Brenna looked at the formidable building through the window. It was one of the largest warehouses she had ever seen. The main section started at the waterfront and extended out more than a hundred meters. There were two smaller subsections to either side, each half the size of the main part. Standing in front of the doors were four orcs, all armed with shotguns.
All of the officers under her command were assembled in the building opposite, an apartment complex. They were dressed in full armor and well-armed with their own Culsyth 1702 shotguns, the standard issue for raids of this nature.
They would be split into two forces and come at the orc guards from either side, outflanking and surprising them before they could react and warn anyone inside.
She glanced over at the two young Scepter mages. They were identical twin boys and were so short and skinny that Brenna had initially thought they were teenagers, but they had assured her they were twenty three. Zuri was not likely to send children to her, so she believed them.
Both mages were wearing bright yellow robes and the she could tell them apart by their hair. Sadic had a thick mop of brown curly hair while Andas had his shaved down to a coarse, thin layer.
“Are you ready for this?” she asked Selim. She was going to lead one team, while he commanded the other as the second most senior officer present.
He nodded. “Whenever you want to give the order, sergeant.”
“Take your officers to the side building,” she said. “We’ll hit the door in five minutes. Wait for the signal.”
“See you on the other side,” he said, smiling. He then gave orders to his officers and they moved out. Snar stood as still as a statue, looking at the warehouse.
“Ready Snar?” she asked.
“Of course, sergeant. I do not anticipate this will be too difficult a task. We have a large concentration of officers and two mages. I do not think even Mikono’s outfit can withstand an assault of this size. But in case they do decide to resist, well…” he lifted his double-sided axe, indicating his preparedness.
