Graak shrugged. "What's your point?"
Aleena opened her mouth and closed it. What was her point? The two options she'd given were almost the same thing. She frowned. "Communication," she said after a moment. "Maybe they don't know that things can be different. That your people can be different."
He snorted and spat on the roots of a large oak tree they passed. He opened his mouth to respond to her when a roar from ahead reached them. He reached for his sword and snarled. "They attack us!"
Aleena didn't need to spur Moonshine into action; she only leaned forward as the unicorn leapt towards the noise. She worked her shield free from under her pack and then drew her sword. She'd almost brought a spear to use as a lance but feared she might get it fouled up in the trees.
Moonshine leapt across a narrow crack in the rugged hills at the edge of the forest and danced across the slippery moss on the rocks, never losing her footing. Aleena shifted and twisted with the unicorn, knowing how to keep astride her friend's back through the bond they shared. Aleena cried out and pointed at where a group of ogres were gathering in a circle with some already on the ground and bristling with arrows. The unicorn ran around a rocky ledge still damp with morning dew and approached the ogres from the side.
Aleena leaned forward and urged Moonshine into rearing up her hind legs. She slid down the unicorn's back but not enough to unseat her. Moonshine fell back to all fours and Aleena turned to face the trees where the arrows had come from. She held her sword and shield up in the air and cried out for them to stop.
Three elven arrows struck her breastplate and deflected away. She scowled and shouted again, "In the name of Saint Leander, stop! We come in peace!"
Graak burst onto the scene from behind the besieged ogres. He was roaring with the fury of vengeance and didn't stop until he stood in front of his men. Chest heaving, he swung his sword back and forth looking for a target. All he could see was Moonshine and Aleena standing near him, with the pure white unicorn glimmering in the forest.
"Where?" Graak snarled.
Aleena pointed to the trees where the arrows had come from. She squinted but could see nothing of the archers among the leaves. "They're gone," she said.
A grunt from behind them proved her wrong. Both the warrior general and the paladin turned to see an ogre pulling an arrow from his belly. They followed the direction it came from and saw elves rushing at them from the side with curved swords drawn.
Graak snarled and charged towards them while Aleena cried out, "No! Don't attack! This is—"
An arrow struck the raised visor of her helm and jerked her head to her left and back. She shook her head and turned to the right to see a group of five elves charging from that direction. Aleena snarled. "Then feel Leander's wrath!" she spat at them before lowering her visor and turning with Moonshine towards the charging elves.
Three of the elves jumped away as Moonshine bore down on them but the fourth leapt in at her from the side. Aleena's sword met the elf’s and batted the curved blade away before it could strike her. One of the other three elves came back at the paladin and her mount but Moonshine twisted and planted her right rear hoof in the elf's chest.
The sudden shift caused the first attacking elf to swing his sword back through empty air. Aleena swung her leg over Moonshine's back and slid off the unicorn's side to land on the same side as her attacker. The elf's sword smashed into her raised shield before she caught her balance and forced her back a step.
"We don't want to fight!" Aleena shouted at her attacker. His sword slapped against hers and with a twist of his wrist, the tip of his curved blade poked into the couter that protected her elbow. She smacked his sword out and away with hers and then stepped into the smaller body of her assailant and drove her shield into his face.
Aleena grunted as one of the other elves slid the tip of his sword under the plate skirts that hung from her cuirass to protect her hips. She spun away, feeling the tug and burning of steel ripping out of her flesh, and swung her sword instinctively. Against a man the strike would have hewed an arm or sword but against the shorter elves it swept her attacker's head from his shoulders.
She clenched her teeth and bit back a curse. She could feel her blood, hot and slick, running down her bottom and leg. She turned back and saw the elf she'd struck shaking his head from where he'd fallen. He started to get up but she took an awkward step towards him and raised her sword to point its tip at his throat.
"Surrender," she spat at him. "I'll spare your men. We don't want this!"
His eyes narrowed and his fingers flexed on the sword in his hand.
She took another limping step closer and lowered her sword to his. She hooked the point of her long and straight blade into the basket hilt and tugged it away from his hand. With the elf disarmed, Aleena looked around and saw the elf that Moonshine's hoof had crushed lying nearby. The fourth elf that she'd charged had fallen to one of the ogres. Graak and his men bled from several wounds but the elves that had attacked them were either slain or had been run off into the woods.
She turned back and saw the elf she'd disarmed about to escape. He'd turned over and risen to his knees. She lashed with her sword and jammed it through the back of his thigh. He stiffened and cried out, and then collapsed when she pulled the blade out. She staggered but managed to keep herself on her feet in spite of the fresh spasm of pain and resulting warmth that spread from her injury. Blood spurted from his wound onto the loam of the forest floor but she noted it didn't pulse. With a bandage, he would live.
"Graak!" she raised her visor and shouted. The elf rolled onto his back and clutched at the wound in his leg. Fresh blood rinsed the dirt from his fingers.
The ogre grunted and called out orders to his men before he thundered over to her. He looked at the three bodies and shared a savage grin. When he saw the elf before her was glaring with hate at them, his nostrils flared and he raised his mighty sword. Aleena's blade met it as it fell, driving her to her knees and making her feel as though blocking the strike had dislocated her shoulder.
"No!" she shouted up at him.
He stared at her, his eyes narrowing. She rose up on her good leg and took stock of the forest battlefield. "Moonshine, keep my prisoner from escaping," she snapped.
The unicorn whinnied and trotted over. It lowered its head, a silver glow filling the shaded forest from her horn, and stared at the supine elf. The elf stared back, his eyes opening wide for the first time.
"How many?" Aleena asked the ogre through clenched teeth.
He looked over and then back at her. "Six," he said. "And you've killed two."
Aleena frowned. That was eight. "Did any of your men fall?"
Graak turned again. "Leeum," he said when he looked back. "Three others are injured but will live."
Aleena nodded and turned back to the captured elf. "Do you understand me?" she asked him. He stared at her, his eyes narrowing again. Moonshine's hoof raised and came down on his chest, pressing him into the ground and causing him to grimace.
"If you don't, I'm sure one of your people will," she snapped. She shrugged off her pack and knelt down, hissing in pain as she did so. The blood seeped down her leg, soaking the cotton pants she wore for padding beneath her armor. She pushed it aside and dug out a sheet of paper and a stick of charcoal.
"We kill him and leave his head on a pike," Graak snarled.
"No." Aleena turned and glared at him, her pain giving her the added anger to give the ogre pause. "Your queen said seven heads. They slew another when they attacked us, so we take eight. This warrior will take a message to his people. A head for a head. This must end or the cost will be terrible for both people."
Graak snorted and let her write her note. She was near to finishing it when he said, "We might kill him yet if you don't stop bleeding."
Aleena closed her eyes and focused. He was right. The forest was shifting and starting to spin around her. She paused to lift her helm and let it fall to the ground. She wiped the sweat from h
er brow and saw the elf watching her with a smirk on his face. She felt her eyes narrow and felt a fresh flash of heat rush through her.
Aleena finished the note and rolled it up. She tucked it in the elf's belt and then staggered to her feet. "Let him go," she rasped. "Send him back with the message."
"What did you write?" Graak demanded.
"That Queen Rosalyn wants peace, but she will not stand by while her people are butchered. The losses are even at eight men for each nation. Let the blood of the fallen be the only blood that stains our future."
Graak snorted. "Elves won't stop," he said. "They dance and play in the trees and hunt my people for fun."
"Then we will teach them there is no fun in being hunted," Aleena said as a great weariness began to fall on her. "If we must. If they won't listen to reason."
Aleena staggered and fell to her knees, the pain in her lower back bringing a fresh burst of awareness. She lowered her head and raised her gauntleted hands to her chest. She began to murmur a prayer to Leander, begging for strength and healing so that she could see his light brought to the dark place she was in. She felt the tingling warmth in her hands and the light upon her cheeks before she opened her eyes. Her hands were glowing with divine light.
She closed her eyes and whispered her thanks before she reached back and slid her hand under the metal skirt. She winced as she felt the jagged tear in her flesh just above her pelvis. The tissue she touched was spongy and smooth, something from inside of her that was near to escaping. She swallowed and willed Leander's warmth into the wound. The sensation of warmth faded as her guts pulled away from her fingers and the flesh knit itself whole again.
She turned and saw her other hand still had a glow about it. She looked at Graak and then at the wide-eyed elf. His face was pale and the blood staining the forest floor beneath him considerable. She rose and went to him, moving with ease again. She knelt next to him and put her hand over his. She willed the healing energy of her saint into the elf and rose back to her feet.
"Go!" Aleena snapped at him. "And pray our swords never cross again. I'll not be so kind again."
The elf stared at his leg and then looked up at her. Moonshine removed her hoof from the elf and stepped away so he could rise. He did, glancing from the paladin to the unicorn to the ogre. He shook his head once and then turned and fled into the forest. In less than a dozen strides, he disappeared among the trees and uneven terrain.
"They hide like cowards," Graak muttered.
Aleena sighed and turned to face the ogre. "Come, Graak, we've delivered your queen's message. Gather her proof and let's be away from this place."
The ogre stared after the elf, a sneer on his face. He grunted and turned away, barking orders to his men. Aleena turned to Moonshine and found the unicorn had moved beside her. She knelt down to pick up her sword and shield, and then she reclaimed her helm and put it on her head. "I hope the elves are willing to listen to reason," she told her friend.
Moonshine stomped her foot, agreeing with the paladin.
Aleena leapt up onto Moonshine's back and grimaced at how the blood soaking her leg was growing cold and sticky. She sighed and then chuckled. "I've no right to complain. A few more minutes and I'd be another body on the ground."
Moonshine chuffed and walked over to the gathered ogres. She grimaced and looked away from where they were severing the heads of the fallen elves and shoving them in a large sack. The trophies of war were not something she took pride in.
Chapter 10
Namitus leapt to his feet when he heard the key in the lock of the door. He stepped away from the table and chairs and put his hand on the hilt of his scimitar before the door opened. When it did, the tailor stood still in it and stared at him.
The tailor's eyes went from Namitus to the section of wall that the rogue had opened up by means of a secret catch in the floor. His eyes narrowed and returned to Namitus. "Who are you?"
"I told your daughter, my name is Namitus," he declared.
"You don't look like a kelgryn."
"I don't look like a lot of people," Namitus said. "Are you Kristophanes?"
The man shook his head. "You're just a boy."
The rogue sighed. "A boy who you thought was a girl. A boy who you assumed was a beggar. A boy who figured out the secret of your basement. A boy who is far too old to be called a boy, but you did it anyhow."
"You look to be Amra's age!" the tailor said.
"And you look to be smarter than you're acting," Namitus snapped. "I have a considerable amount of gold on me that we'd like to donate to your cause."
"Give it to me then," the tailor snapped.
"Treat me like that and I'll be giving you something sharp and pointy," Namitus warned. "I'm starting to not see a resemblance between yourself and Amra. For the best, I think."
His nostrils flared as he took Namitus's insult. The tailor clenched his fists and stepped forward. "Watch your tongue, boy!"
"Enough!" Namitus shouted at him. "I'm tired of being polite and feigning respect. Either take me to Kristophanes or I'm heading down that passage and I'll find him myself."
"You'll do no such thing!" the tailor said as he tried to walk around the table on the far side of Namitus and put himself between the rogue and the secret door.
Namitus moved so that he blocked the man and drew two inches of his sword. "I'd hoped this would go much differently. I really don't want to hurt you, on the count of I was impressed by Amra. I'd hate to upset her. I've killed bigger men, warriors and knights. I've killed trolls and ogres. Do you think you're really going to slow me down?"
The tailor stared at him while the muscles in his cheeks bulged and relaxed. Finally he forced his jaw open and in a voice tight with fury asked, "What do you want with Kristophanes?"
"We want the same thing he does: to help lessen the control the king has over the dealings of merchants. I told Amra this. Didn't you bother to listen to her?"
He snorted. "She's a girl, too young and to full of feminine wiles to be trusted."
Namitus shook his head. "That's where you're wrong. Some of the smartest and most dangerous people I know are women. Treat them with respect. They deserve it far more than most men."
The tailor scoffed. "You're a fool."
Namitus shrugged. "A fool who has better things to do than jabber the day away. I have business to attend to. Will you help me or get in my way?"
"Prove that you have gold. The girl I saw enter my shop couldn't even steal enough copper to buy a meal."
Namitus reached down and slipped his fingers into one of his heavily laden pouches. He pinched several coins between his fingers and tossed them on the table. "Is that proof enough?" he asked.
The tailor stared at the half-dozen gold coins and moved to look closer at them. He picked one up and then another, frowning. He glanced at a third before turning his eyes back on Namitus. "One Shazamir royal, a kingdom crown, and unless my eyes deceive me, this is a sovereign from Witherspur."
Namitus nodded. "It is. And there are more where those came from."
The tailor bit a coin and then studied it for a moment longer. He nodded. "Follow me," he grabbed the lantern off the table and said. He stopped as he stepped past Namitus and turned to look at him. "And stay away from Amra."
Namitus bit off a chuckle as the tailor stepped into the secret door. The rogue reseated his sword and followed the man down the passage that led beneath the streets of Shazamir.
The tunnel emptied into a room that reminded Namitus of the passages the thieves and assassins of Mira used. Unlike the Shadows, as the tunnels were often called, the merchant's passages were in worse repair and often spilled dirt and sand on his head and shoulders as he passed through them. The tailor took him to a closed door and he knocked twice on it before a window slid open.
"I bring someone for the banker," the tailor said.
Namitus frowned at the strange title. The door opened and two men with short swords at their sides let them in. Namit
us raised an eyebrow as he took in the guards. After his last time seeking help in the warrens of Shazamir, he was extra cautious. This time he doubted he needed caution. The guards had no idea how to do their jobs. They possessed knives that were not drawn and wore no armor. Not that armor would do anything but get in their way given how their bellies fell over their belts.
The tailor nodded to both with a serious expression that nearly made the rogue burst into laughter. He ignored the disapproving looks of the two men pretending to be warriors and followed the tailor through another door to a hall with a large table. Lamps hung from the walls and cast a flickering light through the otherwise empty room.
Amra's father took him to a door on the left side of the long room and paused there to knock. After a moment, he opened the door and gestured for Namitus to step inside with him. A woman sat behind a desk, studying them. "I left my business behind for this?" she asked.
"Kristophanes?" Namitus blurted out.
"He claims to seek what we seek," the tailor asserted. "His name is Namitus and he came with the men from kelgryn."
Her eyes narrowed. "You have much at stake here, young man."
Namitus sighed. He reached down and tugged the ties holding one of his pouches loose before he tossed it on her desk. It spilled open to disgorge gold and silver coins all over her desk, as well as a few sparkling gemstones and pearls.
She reached into her lap and picked up a large black pearl that had rolled off her desk and into her lap. She stared at it and then her eyes went to the treasure. She picked out a few coins, noticing the different stamps on them.
"That's half of what I offer," Namitus said. "I'll double it if you agree to help."
She jerked her head up to his. "Where did this come from?"
"Posthumous compliments of the Order of the Dragon and a dragon named Myskrakoth," Namitus said.
Her wide eyes narrowed to slits. "You're with the Order?"
Namitus laughed. "Far from it. We killed the dragon and drove the Order from the Havara Mountains. The dwarves hold it now."
Order Of The Dragon (Omnibus 1-4) Page 54
