Rise of the Serpent (Serpent's War Book 2)

by Jason Halstead

  Fasthus held up his amulet and stared through the center of it. He chanted and hissed. His other hand rose to point at her. “Half-dragon!”

  Rodwin looked at Allie and said, “I told you she would play a role!”

  Thess glanced Allie’s way and then hissed, “Yes, you were right to keep the man.” He turned to regard Lariki and bowed his head. “We have searched far and wide for you, mistress.”

  “Mistress?” Lariki echoed.

  He bowed his head deeper, as did Fasthus and Rodwin. “Lead us and be worshipped as a goddess. You will be the empress of a new order.”

  Lariki stiffened and glanced at Namitus before turning to take in Ramesh and Minoc. “My men? What of them?”

  “We have no need of them,” Thess said. “Kill them or send them away.”

  Lariki scowled.

  “You can’t do this!” Allie said. She looked down and realized she’d stepped forward to the edge of the raised section of floor. “You took a contract with us!”

  Lariki smirked. “My contract is with the half-elf, not you, child. And he doesn’t have enough to pay me.”

  Allie sheathed her sword and jerked the repurposed waterskin from her belt. “I do! Here’s the rest of your blood money!”

  Lariki tilted her head. “Give it to me.”

  Allie reared her hand back and flung it in an underhanded toss that sailed through the air. Lariki’s taloned fingers plucked it from mid-air. She tugged the strings and plucked out one of the pearls. Her eyes narrowed as she stared at it.

  “Enough!” Fasthus hissed. He rounded on Allie and reached for the ceremonial knife at his belt. “Your purpose has been served, soft-skin! I spared your life time and again. Now it’s time to pay your debt in full.”

  He clutched his holy symbol in one hand and began to chant as he pulled the dagger free in the other. A dark non-light spread in an orb around the tip of the dagger until it covered the entire blade and left doubt as to where the weapon ended and where it began.

  Allie stepped back, remembering the touch of his magic the countless times he’d healed her. It was oily and vile, filling her mouth with the taste of rotting fish and brackish water. It had made her feel dirty. Not just dirty, but unclean.

  “Allie!” Gor growled. He turned and crouched to lay Gildor down, but his movements seemed to be in slow motion compared to the priest’s.

  “Don’t be afraid, soft-skin; you knew this would come,” Fasthus taunted her.

  Fear. That was the key. She was afraid, but she didn’t have to be. Thork had given her the key. As long as she wasn’t afraid to use it, it wouldn’t fail her. That’s what the shaman had said. She had to master her fear.

  She leapt back as the priest tried to drive the dagger into her belly. He missed but she bumped into the wall and bounced back. She caught his dagger on her shield and knocked it up and away, giving her time to draw her sword. The green light flared as her blade whipped within inches of his face.

  “You’re the one who should be afraid,” Allie spat at him.

  Fasthus hissed and lunged at her, trying to drive his dagger into her throat. She caught his forearm with the edge of her shield and threw his arm up out of the way. The dagger flew across the court room and bounced off the wall. She spun in, cutting a shallow groove across his belly while she twisted around and slammed her back into his chest.

  Fasthus was taller and heavier than she was, but his size worked against him when she threw her hips back into his. He doubled over on top of her, making it easy for her to grab the back of his neck and flip him over her back and onto the stone floor in front of her. Allie followed him, dropping with one knee next to his head while her glowing talwar plunged into his chest and quivered when the tip stroke the stone beneath him.

  The priest stiffened and shuddered. His mouth opened in a breathless scream that ended when his body collapsed onto the stone.

  Allie watched the priest’s eyes glaze over and his chest collapse. She turned her head to stare at Lariki and Namitus. The bloody rogue gave her a half smile and nodded. Corian clenched his fist in a silent salute.

  Lariki nodded and broke the sudden silence in the room. “I accept the payment. All splisskin and their allies are to leave Shathas, or I will tear the pathetic hide you call scales from your bodies.”

  “What is this? You would deny your chance to be a queen?” Thess snarled.

  “You’ve got a hundred, maybe more, of your kind in this city? They might kill us—they probably will—but not before Gor and that girl kill the two of you and the five of us down here butcher most of the rest of your snake lovers in front of us. I took a contract to free Shathas of your kind and return it to the rightful owner. That happens with or without you surviving this day. It’s your choice—I could go either way, but I’m tired.”

  The wizard chuckled. “I’d advise you to take her offer.”

  “But—”

  “Once her oath is fulfilled, tomorrow is a new day with new opportunities and new allies.” Rodwin stressed the word, “allies.” He shrugged and added, “Or you could remind the girl of the things you did to her and her father.”

  Allie sneered and rose up from her crouch. She turned, sword in hand and blood dripping from the blade.

  “I accept your terms,” Thess snapped.

  Allie took another step and then froze in place. He’d just surrendered. She couldn’t finish him like she had the snake that had tortured her or the one that had kept her alive. Her arm trembled and she stared down at it.

  “Throw down your weapons!” Thess called to his men. “Leave this place.”

  The splisskin looked at one another and then did as he bade them. Steel clattered as their weapons hit the ground. They shared looks with one another as they backed away and stepped around the survivors from the raid and slipped out of the doors and down the hallway.

  Rodwin and Thess hesitated and then started to follow them. Thess stopped in front of Lariki but she shook her head and pointed to the doors. His eyes widened and then narrowed while his tongue tasted the air in quick, angry stabs. He trembled and then stormed past her, moving down the hallway with a stiff back.

  Rodwin followed and slowed as he passed Namitus. He nodded to the knight and flipped a coin through the air that Namitus snatched. “Ever vigilant,” Rodwin said before he followed Thess down the hallway and out of the palace.

  “Allie!” Gor snapped as she turned and started on the first step down from the raised dais.

  She spun around and saw Gildor lying on his side with his head up. He was watching her and had a ghost of a smile on his face. All thoughts of revenge disappeared like a cloud of dust in the wind. She ran to her father and slid across the stone to be near him.

  “You…good,” he whispered.

  “Because of you,” she responded around the lump in her throat. Her eyes were growing blurrier by the moment. She reached out and took his hand in hers and squeezed it as tight as she dared. She thought she felt him squeeze back before his eyes fluttered shut. “Dad!” she cried. “Please, Daddy, hold on! Fight!”

  “Give him this.”

  Allie felt the pressure against her shoulder and looked up. Namitus and Corian had climbed the stairs to stand beside her. Namitus held a golden vial that glimmered in the light from the lamps in the room.

  “If he can be helped and wishes to feel the light on his face and in his soul again, this will help.”

  “Take it,” Gor insisted.

  Allie pulled her hand from her father’s and grabbed the vial. She twisted the cap off and shifted her father onto his back. His breath rattled in his throat. It was a shallow and defeated sound.

  “No!” Allie moaned. She tilted his head up and pressed the vial against his bottom lip, forcing his slack jaw open. The liquid dribbled over his broken and dried skin and into his mouth. His breath grew shallower and he tried to cough but didn’t have the strength. He swallowed the first few drops by accident.

  “Drink, Father. Drink t
his, please! It will help you.”

  Whether Gildor heard her or not, he relaxed in her arms and let her pour the rest into his mouth. He swallowed it and grew still in her arms. The stillness passed after a heart wrenching moment. A deep shuddering breath shook Gildor’s frame and then slipped out. Even breathing followed, the deep breaths of a body sleeping and healing.

  Allie bent her head forward into his chest. The dirt and stink was lost on her. Grateful tears washed away the horror and lifted the terrible weight from her chest.

  * * * *

  “Well, all’s well that ends well,” Namitus said. He turned his head from the sobbing young woman and limped to the edge of the upper floor. He glanced at the bodies that Ramesh and Minoc were sorting through. They’d already gathered weapons into a pile. Lariki was missing. “Damn, where’d she go? Off searching for more gold?”

  “Said she’s going to make sure the snakes leave,” Minoc said.

  Namitus stared at the open doorway. “I’m not going to see her again, am I?”

  Minoc jerked his head up and stared at the doorway. After a moment, he turned to Ramesh. The older mercenary sighed and shook his head. “She’s scented her next contract; there’s no stopping her.”

  “She left us?” Minoc asked.

  Ramesh nodded. “You might catch her if you run. Me? I’ll throw my lot in with Gor, if he’ll have me.”

  Minoc glanced at Gor and then at Namitus. “I owe you my life—the least I can offer is my service.”

  Namitus grunted. “I don’t need a servant, but you’re welcome to join our cause. I’m afraid I’m out of money though.”

  Minoc gasped. “She took our share with her!”

  Namitus chuckled in spite of himself. Lariki was a mighty warrior but she might be just as skilled at being a thief. He shook his head and turned again. The pain in his side and his many other wounds were gone. He felt numb all over. Numb enough that he had to be careful with each movement; he felt like he was floating. And he’d given his last potion to Allie for her father. He sighed and turned back.

  “Namitus, what are you doing?” Corian asked. The elf stepped closer to him, his brow wrinkled with worry.

  “I…I don’t remember,” Namitus mumbled. “I was thinking I need an ale and a warm bath, maybe? And a…”

  Namitus blinked the spots out of his eyes and saw a dark shape in front of him. Over him? How had he fallen? Was that Corian or Allie? Somebody with long hair…Patrina? Where had she come from?

  “Trina?” Namitus whispered. He strained, trying to see past the halo of light around her head. Didn’t she braid her hair when she was on a quest?

  “Go! Fetch more of that ointment,” someone—a woman, he thought—said.

  “He’s hurt worse than we knew,” a man said. An elf? Where was his grandmother? It would be nice to see her again. Even if was just a smile on her face to take with him as he slept…

  Chapter 22

  Namitus blinked the glare out of his eyes until the room came into focus. He was in a small room, but on a proper bed. His clothes had been washed and folded and placed on the small table beside the bed. His leathers were resting beneath the clothes. His belt, weapons, and pouches were the only things missing.

  He rolled on his side and pulled the blankets back. Whoever had tended to him had stripped him bare and washed him clean. So clean that he couldn’t even spot any signs of bruises or any of his cuts. He twisted and looked at his side where his first serious injury had been. He was smooth and untouched. His other cuts and punctures were gone, leaving him with no excuse for feeling exhausted and weak.

  The rogue rolled up and move to a sitting position on the side of the bed. He had to pause and rest, catching his breath and fighting the wave of dizziness and pressure in his head. Namitus squeezed his eyes shut until the room stopped spinning.

  He reached over and grabbed his clothing to get dressed. It took him several minutes before he felt well enough to stand. He moved to the foot of the bed and saw the trunk resting near the footboard. He was about to open it when the clouds outside parted and let a beam of sunlight in through the window.

  Anxious to feel the sun on his face, Namitus stepped to the small window and looked out. From his view, he guessed his room was on the third story of the palace. He could see over the edge of the wall and over the roofs of the houses and buildings in town. The water was rippled with small whitecaps that broke in the harbor. The harbor was full of ships, some at dock and others heading in or out. People moved to and fro across the docks and into the streets of the town.

  The people, he noted, didn’t have any tails.

  Namitus turned away and opened the trunk. His missing equipment was tucked inside. He grinned and finished getting dressed. A glimmer drew his eye back into the trunk where he saw a coin lying on the bottom. He scooped it up and stared at it, wondering if it had escaped his belt pouch. His breath caught in his throat and a chill slid down his spine.

  The coin was made of bronze, not gold, and stamped with a crown on one side and, when he turned it over, the head of a dragon on the other.

  “Ever vigilant.” Namitus repeated the wizard’s words when he’d flipped the coin to him. It wasn’t a coin after all; it was the mark of the Order of the Dragon.

  Namitus clenched the mark in his palm and turned. He strode to the door and found his heart pounding in his ears by the time he reached it. He paused to take a few breaths and found his hands and legs trembling. He shook his head; he didn’t have time to be weak. The Order was back in full force and he had proof. Proof that Alto needed to see.

  Namitus opened the door and stepped out into a hallway in the palace. A clean rug ran the length of it and windows mixed with lamps in the wall gave the passage a light and fresh feel. A pair of figures sat on a bench placed along the wall next to his door. Both women, one elven and the other human, leapt to their feet and turned on him.

  “You’re awake!” Amra gasped.

  Jillystria stood still and watched him, her entire body on edge. “You look good,” she ventured.

  Namitus nodded and forced a smile on his face. “Thank you, I am. How long has it been? The city seemed busy.”

  “The splisskin fled north, to the swamps and the Asatra River,” Jilly said.

  “Lariki went with them,” Amra added.

  Namitus nodded. He took a deep breath and let it out, hoping it looked like he was disgruntled and not struggling to catch his breath still. “Lot of people in town.”

  “Gor offered the Vultures a place to stay. Ramesh is acting as his aide and some of the others are acting as the new city guardsmen. Word spread to Easton and people are coming to investigate and help out.”

  “Help out?” Namitus asked. “Some, maybe—others are seeking opportunity.”

  “Namitus, you’ve been asleep for two days. A lot has happened,” Jillystria said.

  “Two days? That explains why I’m so hungry.”

  Amra gasped. “Of course! Come, let’s get you something to eat.”

  They started walking down the hallway and had to slow for Namitus. Instead of drawing attention to it, Jillystria asked, “Are you pleased with your clothes?”

  Namitus looked at his grandmother and then down at his clothes. “Yes, I suppose. Clean is nice. They’ve been mended too. Feel as good as new.”

  She smiled. “Good. I couldn’t hide the cuts but I did my best.”

  “You did this?” he asked. “I forgot you were a seamstress.”

  She blushed and nodded.

  Amra smiled. “She’s the best I’ve ever seen. I’ve learned a trick or two from my dad, but even he couldn’t do the things I’ve seen her do the past two days.”

  The elven woman blushed again and fell silent. They walked on to a wide staircase that led down. Namitus took them slowly and found his heart hitting his chest hard enough it reminded him of Mordrim fighting with his hammer.

  They finally reached the bottom and Namitus struggled to keep his breathing und
er control and his knees from wobbling. Amra noticed and held her hand out to him. “Jilly, stop; he needs to rest.”

  “Just…half a moment,” Namitus panted. He put a hand on the wall and leaned forward to try to catch his breath. After nearly a minute, he straightened and nodded. “Sorry, guess I need another nap.”

  “Stop it. You’ve been through a lot, to hear them tell of it,” Amra insisted.

  Namitus smiled and let them lead him to the kitchens. He took a seat at a table off to the side and waited while Amra hurried to find him some bread and cheese while one of the Vultures was fussing over a large pot on the cookfire. The man turned and saw them and waved a large wooden spoon.

  “Any of that stew ready yet?” Amra asked him.

  “If you don’t mind a little crunch,” he said.

  “I’ll take it,” Namitus mumbled.

  Jillystria relayed his words so Amra could return with the simple meal and then fetch a cup of water for him. “No ale or wine yet, sorry.”

  Namitus shook his head but couldn’t talk; he was already chewing. He wolfed the food down and ignored how hot the stew was. He finished by draining the cup of water and leaning back to let a belch slip out. His hand flew to his face and he smiled. “Pardon.”

  Amra giggled and Jillystria glanced away.

  “I’m a brute,” Namitus admitted. “Spent too much time with the barbarians in the north. Tell me, how are the others?”

  “Eight of the Vultures lived,” Jilly said. “Corian says he owes you his life a half-dozen times or more.”

  “Gor? Allie?”

  Amra smiled and motioned for him to follow her. “Come, see for yourself.”

  Namitus grunted and rose to his feet. It didn’t seem possible but he felt better already with a belly full of food. She led them through a short hall to a side door that led to the court. A handful of workers were busy repairing the damages done by the battle and redecorating the hall. Amra led him through and down the passage to the front of the palace.

  Full stomach or not, Namitus was winded by the time they walked into the courtyard and towards the open gates of the palace. They kept moving, heading down through the city and finally reaching the docks. Gor was easily found both by his great size and the people working around him. Sweat stained the man’s tunic as he toiled to repair the damages done to the docks and buildings near the waterfront.