by C A Ardron
Hawk gaped at the gleaming scarlet snake, its head sporting a pair of curled horns. He turned his attention to the green medallion hanging at the Sarpien’s chest – it held the smooth-scaled form of a thick-bodied snake.
‘Who-’
Hawk stopped in mid-sentence as the snake warrior’s free hand surged with energy. It coalesced into a rope-like substance and shot forwards, the small snake’s head at its front guiding its actions.
Hawk swore and tried to move, realising what was happening. He’d not seen an energy snake before, but knew what it was.
The flaring green rope ensnared him, pulling his arms tight and foiling up his legs. Hawk struggled for a second but knew it was hopeless, he’d need the use of the Power to break out of it.
His teeth clenched as the Sarpien sheathed the long blade onto his back and raised a single finger. Hawk grunted as the energy binding him flared before settling into a deeper shade and then began to feel the sap on his strength.
‘No,’ he groaned out.
The Sarpien knelt in front of him. ‘Don’t fight it,’ he told Hawk, his deep voice distorted through his helmet. ‘You’re not strong enough.’
Hawk glared at him. The man chuckled and sent another jolt of power through his energy snake.
Hawk let out a scream, feeling his armour disintegrating from around him. His head sank onto his chest, utterly spent.
That awful chuckle came again, and Hawk felt his head being lifted up by the top of his hair.
‘Don’t worry,’ the Sarpien told him, ‘I’m not going to kill you yet. You’re my bait for a bigger fish.’
* * *
Lion scanned the sky for Hawk, where was he? The red Kaliij had sunk and the smaller Hunoth was overtaking the horizon with its azure tint.
Lion smiled, taking in the sight. He heard the clunk of armoured boots behind him and turned. ‘There you are, I thought you’d forgot the ti…’
Lion trailed off as he saw the warrior stood several feet away. He was thankful for his steel helm as his eyes darted, taking in the unknown warrior.
After noting his bright green armour, snake head helmet and medallion, Lion’s gaze came to rest on the man’s left arm. Red? This must be one of the Sarpiens Dingo mentioned.
Lion drew the gleaming broadsword off his back. The stranger stood, regarding him. Lion could see the longsword on the Sarpien’s back – but why wasn’t he reaching for it?
He cleared his throat, ‘did you get lost? I’d heard the red Sarpiens were based in North Sector.’
‘Impressive,’ the Sarpien’s voice hissed through his helmet. ‘I wouldn’t have expected a Predgarian, even a captain, to be aware of such things - but then the Golden Lion has earned himself quite the reputation for doing the Dakkonin’s job for them.’
Lion’s fingers flexed around the hilt of his sword, this Sarpien knew about him?
‘I was expecting the Silver Falcon.’
‘She’s busy.’
‘So I see. That’s too bad, her partner will be crushed.’
Inside his helmet, Lion’s eyes narrowed. ‘Meaning what, exactly?’
A sinister laugh whistled through his helmet, ‘meaning he won’t be coming home tonight.’
Lion didn’t reply right away, weighing his options. Slowly, he sheathed the golden sword. ‘You seem to have the advantage.’
‘I am the Green Python, I will always have the advantage. You tell the Silver Falcon to come to me at noon tomorrow. I’ll be waiting at the Eastern Warehouse Yard in Central Sector. If she comes alone, I’ll let her partner go, if she doesn’t, then she gets to watch him die.’
Chapter Thirteen
Grey Eagle knocked on the sturdy oak door in front of him, waited a second or so and stepped through. His eyes came to rest upon the wide desk.
Commander Gyrfalcon waved him in with one hand, his other holding the phone receiver to his ear.
‘Yes, Sir,’ Gyrfalcon replied to whoever he was speaking with. ‘I understand that, I just think…yes, Sir.’
Grey Eagle grinned at his old friend and took the seat across from him. He took a moment to adjust the legs of his smart black trousers and grey buttoned shirt before glancing about. The map on the wall had a lot of angry red pins poked into North Sector.
Eagle turned his attention back to Gyrfalcon as the man groaned, putting the phone down.
‘The general’s annoyed, then?’ Eagle guessed.
Gyrfalcon grimaced and began to scribble something down on a small note. Eagle glanced at the writing upside down. Pick-up at 3pm. He decided to stop being nosy and noticed what his friend was wearing. ‘Is that really appropriate?’
‘What?’
‘Those clothes.’
Gyrfalcon looked down at his warm, grey hooded jumper and baggy trousers. ‘Of course,’ Gyrfalcon replied. ‘You never know when a Sarpien’s going to get the jump on you.’
Eagle sighed. ‘You work in an office in the largest, most heavily guarded temple in Steiron.’
Gyrfalcon glared but then sat back, gazing at the cold, stone slabs all about them. ‘Taking that promotion was the worst mistake I ever made.’
Eagle nodded, he remembered his time teaching the new recruits in Draconia. It hadn’t been long before he’d wanted to be out in the field again.
‘What can I do for you?’ he asked. ‘I’m guessing you’ve called me in for a reason?’
‘It’s nothing urgent,’ Gyrfalcon replied. ‘I wanted your advice since you’ve had more interaction than me. I wouldn’t have made you come here, but I didn’t want to talk about this over the phone. We wouldn’t want the wrong people hearing about it. I want to know how hard you think I can push the Silver Falcon.’
Eagle paused a moment before crossing his legs. ‘You mean the Predgarian?’ He shifted in his seat as Gyrfalcon’s face took on an amused cast.
‘Is there more than one in town?’
Eagle sighed at the joke but supposed he should be thankful his old friend was in such a good mood. The burden of the position had been weighing on him lately.
‘So what do you think?’ Gyrfalcon pressed.
Eagle shifted again, thinking back to the last time he’d seen the silver warrior. ‘It’s hard to say. She’s quite distant, her language fairly formal and to the point. I’m not sure how she’d respond to an offer.’
‘But you do think she deserves one?’
‘Oh Light, yes,’ Eagle agreed. ‘She proved that during the mind control incident. Anyway, if the Predgarians aren’t going to do anything to get her off the streets then maybe we should.’
Gyrfalcon’s eyebrows rose. ‘What do you mean by that? Is she causing trouble?’
Eagle grimaced, ‘she doesn’t mean to. She’s had several run-ins with Sarpiens over the last few months – maybe more if there’s been some out of sight of our patrols. She’s not harassing them, you know? They’re all coming to her.’
Gyrfalcon nodded, ‘because she’s a silver.’
‘The Red Jackal’s singled her out, I’m surprised she’s not been transferred yet.’
Gyrfalcon snorted, ‘come on, Eagle, that’s not going to happen. Sarpiens are targeting golds and silvers all the time, they can’t uproot themselves every time a Sarpien general takes an interest in them.’
Eagle’s frown was hard. ‘Not every Sarpien general has the Red Jackal’s reputation.’
Gyrfalcon paused, and Eagle sat back, realising he’d grown too heated.
‘This means a lot to you,’ the commander noted.
‘I spent a good twenty years trying to keep on top of Jackal down in Rajiti. A day doesn’t go by I’m not thankful we managed to kill that vile partner of his. Listen, Gyrfalcon, I think this is important. Do something to get that woman off the streets. The Silver Falcon is exceptional, she’ll go far, and I really believe that - but if she stays as she is now, it won’t be long before she’s taking orders from the Bloodrunner.’
‘You just said she’s exceptional, she can’t
be that good if you think she’s going to get caught.’
Eagle’s teeth clenched. ‘Don’t do that, Gyrfalcon, you know me better than that. We don’t know how long it’s going to be before Jackal loses patience. No one warrior would last long if he brought out his entire Elite for the job.’
‘All right, I get what you’re saying. Is that why you were staying so close to her this morning?’
Eagle stared at him, ‘this morning?’
‘With the rogue.’
Eagle paused again, ‘rogue? You mean a rogue medallion user?’
‘Yes!’ Gyrfalcon exclaimed. ‘Komodo Dragon, at the marketplace? You can’t have forgotten?’
‘Which marketplace?’
‘West Sector!’
Eagle shook his head. ‘You must be mistaken, I was in North all morning.’
Eagle shifted at his friend’s disbelieving stare.
‘You were there! You helped Silver Falcon when the rogue threw her into the stalls. You had to pull the wood out of her wing.’
Eagle shook his head. ‘I don’t know who you thought you saw, but it wasn’t me.’
‘We were together for an hour or more,’ Gyrfalcon objected. ‘We chatted about Draconia and your unit.’
Eagle regarded him a few seconds. This wasn’t just a case of mistaken identity. He knew what it sounded like, but hoped it wasn’t. ‘Gyrfalcon, I was in North Sector all morning with Captain Red Dragonfly. If you give him a ring he can vouch for me. I wasn’t in West, I wasn’t part of that fight and I haven’t seen the Silver Falcon in weeks.’
Eagle finished and met Gyrfalcon’s gaze. He didn’t think he really needed to say what he was thinking, Gyrfalcon must’ve reached the same conclusion. The commander remained silent though, so Eagle decided to say it.
‘Sounds like a shapeshifter.’
Gyrfalcon stood and began to pace, his face turning worried. ‘Light! You know there’s only two we know about.’
Eagle nodded, ‘question is, which one?’
Gyrfalcon’s eyebrows furrowed as he thought.
‘If he was impersonating me,’ Eagle continued, ‘then he obviously wasn’t causing trouble. If it was a rogue-’
He cut off at Gyrfalcon’s angry grunt.
‘Then he most likely posed as you just to take part in the fight.’
Eagle smiled. ‘Well, I know who that sounds like.’
Gyrfalcon sat back in his chair. ‘Great, lovely, that’s all I need right now. I can’t do a damned thing about it either because as usual, no one caught him in the act, so I can’t tell his superiors to put him on a lead.’
Eagle covered his mouth with a hand, hiding his grin. He couldn’t believe how worked up Gyrfalcon was getting over this. ‘It could be worse.’
‘How?’
‘It could’ve been the other one.’
Gyrfalcon placed his hands on the table, palms down. Eagle studied his friend’s serious frown.
‘It still could be,’ Gyrfalcon told him. ‘There’s no way to tell.’
Eagle nodded. That was true, and it was no laughing matter. ‘What are you going to do?’
Gyrfalcon shook his head with a sigh. ‘What can I do? There’s no way to track them, no way to find out who it really was.’ He relaxed into his chair. ‘I need to report this to the general, he’s coming here tomorrow anyway.’
‘He is?’ Eagle asked, ‘how come?’
‘Nothing big, he’s just picking something up.’
Eagle glanced down at Gyrfalcon’s scrawled note. Is that what the pick-up at three was about? He thought Gyrfalcon had said it a bit too fast, like he didn’t really want to talk about it.
‘Dragon got you jumping through hoops again?’
Gyrfalcon’s smile didn’t reach his eyes. ‘I can’t talk about it, sorry. Just do yourself a favour.’
‘What’s that?’
‘Try not to be here tomorrow afternoon.’
‘That sounds ominous.’
Gyrfalcon grimaced. ‘I’d rather you not be involved, you know what the general’s like when there’s something he wants.’
Eagle groaned. ‘Say no more, I think I get the picture. Don’t worry, I’ll stay well out of it.’
Chapter Fourteen
Jackal ignored the general din around him and concentrated on chewing the tough piece of beef in his mouth. He ground out a sigh as somewhere in the large chamber Hyena broke into raucous laughter.
Leaning back in the wooden chair, he let his gaze rove across the place. The three long, rickety tables were barely discernible, there were that many Sarpiens in the rocky cavern at the moment.
Jackal tried to avoid the eating area in the early evening, but he’d been busy most of the day. He made sure his jacket was covering all of his arm and wrist before resting it on the table, many a time now he’d seen Sarpiens sorrowfully pulling splinters out of their fingers.
He slowed his chewing of the beef as Salamander and Skua passed, he gave them the full force of his emerald glare.
Jackal smirked as they hurried on, wanting away from him. He finally swallowed the meat, noting the appearance of the Praying Mantis.
Pushing his plate away, Jackal took the time to study the Insecta warrior. Clad all in black, the lean assassin had several blades openly on show. His pitch-black hair had a sawn off appearance. Mantis used his collection of knives for many things, including grooming, it seemed.
The man made his way amongst the tables and as he drew closer Jackal could properly see the long, narrow scar running through his left eye.
Mantis stopped in front of Jackal and pulling out the nearest chair, sat down. Jackal met the unfriendly stare.
He knew Mantis would rather talk to Rhino about the fungi growing on the tunnel walls than willingly share his company. Which meant the humourless man wanted something.
Jackal picked up his glass of cloudy water and took a long drink. Fine, he could wait. He pulled his plate closer again and stabbed a small potato onto his fork, watching as a servant put a tray of food in front of Mantis before scurrying away. The Insecta didn’t acknowledge it.
‘We’ve got a problem.’
Jackal continued to chew on his potato.
‘I saw a red Sarpien here in West today.’
Jackal swallowed, emptying his mouth. ‘Red?’ he muttered. Scanning the hall he spotted another of his Elite. ‘Cobra!’
The Bronze Cobra looked up from where he was sat alone with his food and thoughts. The general gestured with a thumb for him to come over before turning his attention back to Mantis.
When the magician arrived, Jackal glanced up at him and held in his snort when he noticed the man’s haughty expression. ‘Problem?’ he asked, keeping his voice mild.
‘Do I look like a common servant?’ Cobra asked.
Jackal made a point of looking the short Unician man up and down. His dark trousers and long-sleeved shirt were nothing special, though Jackal did take note of the ruby ring on his right hand - that was new.
‘Have you started up negotiations with the red Sarpiens yet?’
Cobra frowned, his grievance forgotten. ‘No, not yet, I haven’t even been able to get the sclithe’s name, why?’
‘Mantis says there’s been one sighted in West today.’
Jackal caught Mantis’ faint smile. ‘What else?’ he barked, leaning forwards and making his scowl fierce. ‘You aren’t telling me everything.’
Mantis showed irritation for a second but then shrugged. ‘The red took out the Bronze Hawk.’
‘He killed Hawk?’ Jackal asked.
Mantis shook his head and a small growl escaped his lips. ‘Took out, I would’ve said if he’d made a kill.’ He nodded in Cobra’s direction. ‘He used one of those energy snakes Cobra’s so fond of, took him away. I followed him, he put the Predgarian in an empty house then went off to find Hawk’s patrol partner.’
‘Silver Falcon,’ Jackal muttered.
Mantis shook his head again. ‘Not her, she wasn’t on du
ty. It was Golden Lion. I decided to get a bit closer, so I could hear what they were saying. He wants Silver Falcon to come to him tomorrow at noon, in Central Sector of all places - and if she doesn’t come alone; he’ll kill Hawk.’
Jackal rubbed his jaw, his thoughts racing. This was bad, did the Sarpien know who she was? Or had he got wind of the fact he was trying to capture her for Trine?
‘I thought you’d be interested,’ Mantis added. ‘His name’s Green Python.’
Jackal froze.
‘Are you sure?’ Cobra drawled.
The sorcerer didn’t sound overly concerned to Jackal, but this was big. ‘Did you see his snake mark?’
‘You mean the one with the large, curved horns?’
Jackal swore, so it really was him.
‘Well, I guess we know which sclithe has just moved in,’ Cobra mentioned.
‘Yeah,’ Jackal agreed, ‘and we all know he doesn’t like sharing. I’ll deal with Python when I’ve got a minute,’ he waved it off. He couldn’t let Mantis and Cobra know the Sarpien bothered him. ‘Right now, I’m more concerned about the Silver Falcon. I want her alive and working with Harrier, I won’t let Python have her.’
‘Are we going to gate-crash?’ Cobra asked with a sly grin.
Jackal snorted. ‘I’d like nothing more than to steal her from under Python’s nose, but I’m not ready to commit to all-out war with his sclithe yet. Not until I’ve dealt with Sharglin in South. We need to mess up this attempt but not let Python know it was us.’ Jackal’s eyes narrowed as he came to his decision. ‘I think it’s time for Komodo Dragon to make another appearance.’
* * *
Dove placed her slim book on the bed, no longer able to ignore the worried throbbing in her head. She took the brush off her bedside drawer and put it through her golden hair a few times before placing it back and leaving her room.
Stepping down the corridor she adjusted her thin, frilly sleeved blouse before lightly knocking on Wolf’s door.
She waited for the door to open and smiled up at the large, bald man who appeared in the doorway. He gazed down at her in surprise.
