by J. P. Ashman
They hadn’t seen many people about and knew most were either hiding away from the plague, or already locked away behind black crossed doors along with the rising number of dead.
After barely entering the district of Dockside via a narrow alley, Biviano suddenly stopped.
‘Shit!’ he said loudly, half turning to look back the way they'd come.
Sears turned to him, immediately recognising the genuine look of shock on his friend’s face.
‘What’s up?’ Sears said. Longoss and Coppin stopped and all three looked upon the small man, who looked back at them. He shook his head and brought his hand up to scratch violently under his kettle-helm.
‘Ellis Frane,’ he said, all colour draining from his face.
Sears closed his eyes tight and dropped into a crouch, pressing his large hands against his face and rubbing hard.
‘We forgot him, Sears.’
‘Who’s Ellis Frane?’ Coppin shared the guardsmen’s concern, but didn’t know why.
Biviano looked from Sears to Coppin and explained.
‘Ye need to go back for him,’ she said, before Biviano had even finished.
Sears stood then and looked around the group, finishing on Biviano. ‘I’ll go. You stay with these two and help this Elleth girl.’
Biviano was shaking his head as he replied. ‘Ye can’t, big guy, not on yer own. We barely made it out the four of us. I’ll go fetch Captain Prior and more men, and get him out with a show of force, it’s the only way. These two and Elleth need ye, Sears. Ye’ll serve ’em far better than I will.’
Despite his reservations, Sears knew it to be the only option, but it didn’t make it any easier. He stepped forward and wrapped Biviano in a huge hug, squeezing the man until his friend repeatedly punched him to let him go. ‘You be safe, Biviano. No heroics without me, understood?’
‘What were that for, ye fat shit? I’ll be fine, just help these two and get the hell outta Dockside with ’em as fast as ye can. Ye leave Ellis Frane and the cathedral bastards to me. I’ll be just fine with two dozen guardsmen at me back.’
Nodding, Sears pushed Biviano on his way and the little man ran back out of the alley towards Park District.
‘He’ll be fine,’ Longoss said, confidently.
Sears nodded and turned back the way they’d been heading, walking fast as the other two caught up.
‘I’ll lead,’ Longoss said, ‘ye don’t know the way.’
‘True that.’ Sears looked behind him one last time before dropping back to keep Coppin between the two of them.
As they walked out onto an uneven, patchy cobbled street with poorly maintained town houses to either side, Sears noticed Longoss looking to the rooftops again, as he’d been doing the whole way.
‘Ye think we’re being watched?’ Sears said, looking up.
‘Aye, all the way from the cathedral.’
Coppin started looking about then, her nervousness plain to see. ‘The Black Guild,’ she whispered.
Sears’ hand moved to his short-sword. ‘Ye thinking they’ll make a move?’
Longoss shrugged.
‘Reassuring,’ Sears said.
‘I told ’em I don’t want to work for ’em any more.’
Sears barked a laugh. ‘They’re not a fan of retirement then?’
A flash of gold teeth. I like this one. ‘Just keep walking,’ Longoss said, turning a corner and continuing down another alley.
Coppin’s eyes darted everywhere as she walked. ‘Should we not stick to the streets?’
‘Would make no difference,’ Longoss said, ‘and I just wanna get there as quickly as we can.’ His pace quickened then and the other two followed suit, keeping up as Longoss almost jogged down another alley branching off from the one they were on.
‘We’re close,’ Coppin said, beginning to recognise the area.
‘Close to what exactly?’ Sears moved alongside the girl. ‘What is this Mother’s place?’
‘A brothel,’ Longoss said.
Coppin turned and looked up into Sears’ eyes; her own a depth of sadness. ‘Elleth didn’t choose to be a whore, Sears, nor did I.’
Sears nodded once. ‘We’ll get her out,’ he said firmly, ‘and ye won’t be going back there, I promise.’
Smiling and nodding in return, Coppin moved ahead of Sears before the kind guardsman could see the single tear rolling down her cheek.
After three more turns and an exceptionally long, narrow and winding alley, Longoss stopped at its end, looking across the street at a large house opposite.
Without realising, Coppin found herself holding on to Longoss’ arm as she stared at a place she knew all too well. Her heart thumped in her chest and her stomach churned. A mix of emotions ran through her, from fear and loathing to excitement at the thought of seeing Elleth and her other sisters again. Steeling herself against the fear of facing Mother, Coppin made to move out of the alley, but Longoss held his arm out to stop her.
‘I’ll go first,’ he said to Coppin, before looking to Sears, who nodded. Stepping out onto the street, Longoss looked about for any signs of sudden movement before walking confidently across to the house. He heard Coppin and Sears follow and felt a little better knowing the powerful guardsman was at his back. Not being able to kill had allowed a small knot of fear to lodge itself in his gut and that fear had grown as he approached the house, especially after Poi Son’s comment about Elleth – all be it not by name – sprang to mind. Ye wouldn’t dare, Sears thought, although he couldn’t hide his own doubt about that.
Reaching the door, Longoss tried the handle, not wanting to knock unless he had to. It wasn’t locked. Looking back at Coppin and Sears, Longoss opened the door slowly. He listened for any sign of movement on the other side.
Silence…
He stepped inside and quickly looked both ways, before quietly moving towards the kitchen.
Coppin held her breath as she awaited an outburst from Mother, but nothing came as Longoss disappeared into the kitchen and so she followed, Sears close behind her. Before she could pass through the door, Longoss came barrelling out past her, literally pushing her to one side as he ran past Sears and up the stairs.
‘Elleth?’ he shouted, clearly in panic.
‘Stay here.’ Sears ran after Longoss.
Coppin looked at the kitchen doorway and took a deep breath, before stepping inside.
She sucked in another breath as she saw the destruction all about her. The table was turned over and broken glass and crockery littered the floor, all of it mixed in with the blood of both Mother and her dog. Coppin brought both hands up to her face as she took in the scene, looking from the open throat of Mother to the bloody mess of the small animal by the woman’s side. Shaking her head slowly, torn between the feelings of final release from Mother’s grip to one of horror, she jumped suddenly at Longoss’ cry of pain from above.
Moving fast and forgetting her own fears, Coppin raced out of the kitchen and up the stairs. She ran along the corridor to where Sears stood looking into the third room along. Its door, like the two Coppin passed as she ran, had been kicked in, and when she reached Sears, who held his head low, she had to force herself to move past him and enter the room.
There, on a blood soaked bed, sat Longoss, cradling the still form of Elleth. Her open throat still leaked her life’s blood, which now ran onto Longoss’ chest as he rocked her back and forth. His eyes streamed as he rubbed Elleth’s back over and over again with his right hand.
Coppin dropped to the floor, stunned into silence at the vicious scene.
Sears stepped into the room then, looking about, taking in all the details. He breathed heavily and his eyes began to darken. A pinprick of light appeared in the centre of those eyes, gradually increasing in size and intensity. Slowly, they began to burn like the embers of an intense fire.
Coppin, her face ashen, looked up to the guardsman stood above her and she found the strength to stand. Turning to him, she placed a hand up onto each s
houlder, feeling the cold links of his maille on her palms.
He looked down into her sad eyes.
Coppin shook her head, her face literally aglow under his intense stare. ‘Not now,’ she whispered. ‘Save it, Sears, save it.’ She could almost feel the battle raging behind those eyes. The man was tense, his beard moving as he ground his teeth. His right hand squeezed the hilt of his sword and his left clenched repeatedly. Slowly he began to calm, to win the fight within him and store the anger, locking it away to be used upon those who'd killed the young girl being cradled by Longoss opposite him. His eyes dimmed and finally returned to normal.
Coppin fought her own battle, holding back her tears and grief, staying strong for the two men present. They'd done so much for her and now it was her turn to be there for them.
‘I’m going to Longoss now,’ she said softly. Sears nodded.
Removing her hands from his broad shoulders, Coppin moved across to Longoss and sat beside him on the bed, her eyes settling on Elleth’s empty grey orbs as she leant in to the big man and wrapped her arms about him, pulling him close. He wept all the more then and rested his head on Coppin’s. She could feel his breaths shudder as he fought to control his emotions.
‘Let it out,’ she whispered. ‘Ye need to let it out now, Longoss. It won’t do you, nor me any good when we step out into that street.’ She squeezed him tight as he cried all the more. ‘They did it to her, didn’t they?’ she said. ‘The Black Guild?’
Longoss nodded. ‘Because of me,’ he said between breaths. ‘She died because of me.’
‘No,’ Sears said. He'd moved round to check the body next to the bed. ‘She died because of them, Longoss, don’t ye be telling yerself any different.’
Wood creaked outside of the room and all three fell silent.
Longoss tensed and Coppin released him, but not before Sears had crossed the room, short-sword at the ready. He stood to the side of the door, listened again for any sign of movement before rushing from the room, sword held defensively.
‘Clear,’ he said, before moving back into the room. ‘There’s no one there, but I’m going to check upstairs then we need to leave.’
Coppin nodded.
‘Longoss,’ she whispered.
‘Only one to ever smile at me and mean it,’ Longoss said, eyes closed as he laid his head back on Elleth’s.
Coppin took a deep breath and pulled at Longoss, a man who until today, she would’ve said had no emotions whatsoever. ‘We need to go, before they come back.’
‘They can come back!’ he shouted, turning and glaring at her. ‘I told ’em, touch her and I’ll bring the fuckers down, the lot of ’em. I swore it to ’em, stupid bastards.’
Coppin had jumped at the outburst, and Longoss’ eyes softened then. ‘Sorry girl, but I gave Elleth me word and I let her down.’
Shaking her head before Longoss finished, Coppin said, ‘Ye saved me Longoss, ye swore to her ye would and ye did. Ye saved me and that’s what Elleth wanted.’
The words did nothing to take the pain from Longoss’ eyes, but he nodded all the same.
‘Now to keep that word, ye need to get me out of here, safe. Ye can pay the guild back, but now ain’t the time and ye know it.’
He nodded again and looked down at Elleth’s still form, stroking her black hair as he finally laid her besides him on the bed.
Heavy footfalls on the stairs drew their attention and Longoss rose then, standing in front of Coppin before Sears entered the room.
‘The top floor,’ the guardsman said, pointing up as he did so, ‘they’re all dead.’
‘Bastards!’ Longoss shouted.
Sears shook his head and spat on the floor. ‘Plague, Longoss. They’ve all died from the damned plague. This Mother woman must’ve kept ’em up there and kept it quiet. We need to leave, now.’
Coppin’s eyes glazed over then as she held her hand up to her mouth. ‘I had no idea,’ she said, more to herself than anyone else. ‘How could I have not known… my sisters, all of them.’
Longoss pulled Coppin into a hug and she pressed her head against his shoulder, her eyes staring at nothing in particular as she kept repeating, ‘…all of them…’
‘Longoss, we need to move,’ Sears said again, and Longoss nodded reluctantly. ‘We’ll head to the barracks.’
‘No! I told ye, no.
‘Longoss, my captain will protect ye from the magistrates, I’m tellin’ ye. Ye said ye had information about a mark, what is it?’
Longoss looked away from Sears. ‘I don’t know.’
The guardsman cursed and his nostrils flared, as did his eyes, briefly.
Longoss looked back at Sears and held his hand up to placate the man. ‘But I can find out. We can find out when we take the bastards down.’
Coppin stepped forward and looked at Longoss, then at Sears, her face hardening. ‘I want in,’ she said, in all seriousness.
‘No,’ both men said, Sears adding, ‘I’m not even sure I’m in, because it’s a dumb idea to say the least.’
‘Look at what they did!’ Longoss shouted. He turned and pointing at Elleth’s bloody body. ‘We go for ’em now. Then we can both find out who the mark is and take revenge for Elleth at the same time.’
‘Bring them in,’ Sears said. ‘I’m not going on a killing spree if I can bring them in to face the magistrates.’
Longoss laughed. ‘Ye think ye can bring in Black Guild assassins alive, ye fool? And ye think ye can hold that rage in check the minute ye see who slit her throat?’
Chests puffing out, Coppin could see the anger building in both men.
‘I told ye to save that rage,’ Coppin said, staring at Sears and taking a step forward. ‘Save it for them, both of ye. But not now,’ she said, turning to Longoss. ‘We need to wait. Neither of ye are fit enough to fight much more, especially against assassins.’
‘She’s right.’ Longoss let out a deep breath of frustration. ‘We’d be lucky to make it to your barracks and captain, even if I was willing. We need to get out of here and hide, in Dockside.’
‘In Dockside?’ Sears looked at both of them with incredulity.
‘We wouldn’t make it out of Dockside,’ Longoss said.
‘We made it in,’ Sears countered, but Longoss shook his head.
‘They let us in, Sears.’ Longoss knew it to be true. If gangers could stop a full patrol from leaving Dockside, then the Black Guild would have no problems stopping two men and a woman.
Sears closed his eyes and leaned back against the wall as the realisation struck him. ‘They wanted ye to see this?’
Longoss nodded. ‘Aye, I think they did. They don’t take kindly to people turning them down. They owned me and I walked away, for her.’ Longoss nodded to Elleth’s body and he visibly hardened himself to the returning emotions, waving off Coppin’s hand as it rested on his arm.
‘I thought they’d come for me directly though, I never thought they’d do this, Coppin.’ He turned and looked upon the green haired girl, who nodded before moving towards Sears.
‘Then let’s go hide and keep them from doing it to me.’ She felt selfish, but knew Longoss, if not both men, needed something to stop them going off on a berserk rampage. Sears nodded and when Coppin looked to Longoss, he did the same.
Sears motioned for Longoss to lead. ‘Where to then?’
‘I have a place,’ Longoss said, stopping one last time to look at Elleth. I’ll protect Coppin, my love. I gave ye me word on that and I won’t be breaking it.
‘We can’t take her with us,’ Sears said softly, hating himself for being so cold, but knowing it was needed.
‘I know.’ Longoss allowed himself to be led from the room by Coppin, who couldn’t bear to look upon her little sister’s body any longer.
Chapter 31: Beresford
Another scream erupted from the throat of Inquisitor Makhell, as Ellis Frane dragged a sharp hook across the man’s ribs. The hook caught on each one as Ellis Frane dug deeper down
the side of the inquisitor’s torso.
‘Oh, that hurts does it, inquisitor?’
Fast, heavy breaths were the only response as Ellis Frane withdrew the hooked blade.
‘You know, I would never have thought I could do this to anyone.’
‘But you want revenge,’ the inquisitor managed, his voice hoarse from screaming. He turned his eyes upon his torturer as he hung from the rack he'd used on that very same person.
Ellis Frane nodded slowly as he moved to a table opposite the rack, where he rummaged through a wooden box. ‘Not wholly for me though, inquisitor, you see, when you last passed out through the pain of being stretched… oh that is an awful feeling, isn’t it?’ Ellis Frane turned his head to look upon the inquisitor before continuing. ‘I didn’t know if I could continue, I thought you’d suffered enough—’
‘But?’
Ellis Frane smiled. ‘But then I decided to look in the room where you and your order keep the bodies of the girls you rape and murder—’
‘Question!’ Inquisitor Makhell shouted, his face screwing up with the pain his outburst caused.
‘Whatever you choose to call it, my point, inquisitor, is that in seeing the bodies of those girls, and I say girls, because some of them are just that, children… I have a daughter, you know?’ Ellis Frane lifted a particularly vicious looking barbed spike from the box and held it up for the inquisitor to see. ‘She’s twelve years old, about the age of some of those girls in that room, and older than others. You see it was looking upon them, seeing their lifeless corpses that gave me the strength to come back into this room, wake you and continue with what you feel is acceptable to do to others.’
‘We have our reasons,’ the inquisitor said, his voice little more than a whisper.
‘And you truly believe that do you? That Sir Samorl, hero of Altoln who gave his life to save a nation, would want you to carve up little girls, after raping them?’ Ellis Frane shouted as he rushed back across the room to the rack. ‘Is that what you believe?’
