by JD Franx
“Glad you found my death sentence intriguing,” he said. Niko snorted as she covered a laugh.
“You misunderstand,” Kyro said. “I was referring to your luck. I could tell by the look on your face you didn’t know about the hidden blade in your shield. I was glad to see you figured it out in time. You’re welcome.”
“Welcome? How do you figure I owe you my thanks?” Alec asked testily.
Niko put her hand on Alec’s arm. “The weapon room. How many shields were by the rack you were shoved into?”
“A couple. They were too heavy to use. The only one I could... was... the...”
“Exactly,” Kyro said, smiling as he clapped Alec’s other shoulder. “It was a long shot that it would help, but it was all we could do. Elloryan’s are disgustingly honest for the most part. Getting that shield in there was tough.”
“How did you...?” Alec asked. “Why?”
“That is the question, my friend. A certain merchant here in Ellorya has a noble relative, I believe you know him?”
“Yes,” Alec hissed. “He destroyed my life, both of them.”
“We know,” Niko said. “It’s why we tried to save you. We have thirty hours to track this man down and get the information he has. We’re going to uncover what they’re up to and make sure they’re out of anyone’s way.”
“You don’t mean kill...”
“No,” Kyro said. “We don’t. While killing two pieces of shit who prey on those less fortunate than them is an exhilarating feeling, arrested and convicted serves our needs much better though. Now where do we find the merchant who accused you of stealing gold that was actually your own?”
“He’ll be in the upper markets, by the arena entrances used by the nobles and the powerful. If possible... if you see them, can you bring me one of the silver lockboxes. The names of my wife and children are engraved on the bottom of one. I’d like to have it back some day.”
Niko raised her eyebrows, getting a nod from Kyro. “You know what to do, Niko. Take Caavis and another gladiator with you. I have to stay here, give us an alibi. Make sure you find out where that money’s going. Grond’s climbed pretty high in the thieves’ guild here, see if his people can help you. Be back here in a day. I won’t be able to hold the ships back for you three.”
“Relax, Kyro. We’ll be back, and it’ll be done right.”
He nodded as she pulled her hood up and quickly disappeared into the crowd.
“As for you, Mr. Terraine,” Kyro said. “You’re free to wander until my ship docks. You’ll travel with us and help work with any documents Niko finds. Some day you will return here and my people will help you find the murderers who turned the blade on your family. You have my promise. For now, you will quickly come to understand that there are things that need to be done first.” Alec nodded and turned away, disappearing within the crowd of people.
Chapter Thirty-Six
“A Broken Blade assassin kills. Only a fool talks to a corpse before it actually is one. ”
Fifth Law, Broken Blade Guild
DEEP RIVER DOCKS
TWENTY-NINE HOURS LATER
Kyro was exhausted. Twenty-nine hours had crawled by achingly slow. Finally, the last eighteen ships had been tied to the docks and were being loaded, four with gladiators, thirteen with supplies needed to feed everyone for the ten-day journey home. Kyro’s own ship, The Mongrel, sat at the docks as well. Thankfully the Elloryan Navy had extensive experience sailing the SaltRock River, and it would cut weeks from their journey, saving them the trek over land by being able to sail straight to Dasal instead of docking at the port hub of Caleb’s Reach in southern Yusat or risking the volatile Sea of Storms.
Kyro turned to look over his shoulder for the third time in as many minutes. Niko still had not returned with Caavis, and he was beginning to worry. The last ships would be loaded in less than an hour and he would be forced to ship out, so the merchant vessels that had been waiting just upriver for almost two days could begin unloading.
Turning for a fourth time to look for Niko saved his life. The wooden dagger missed its mark, slicing a shallow line along Kyro’s neck. A blast of magic hammered his back before he could defend himself. Slamming into the railing of the deck, he realized he faced at least two Broken Blade assassins. Dock workers and merchants scattered. In a matter of seconds, Kyro was alone, facing two of Talohna’s best magical killers.
“Boy, you bastards really don’t give up, do you?” he muttered. Standing, he pulled his Elloryan scimitar from its sheathe and quickly slid his left hand into the pocket of his long coat. Removing his hand, the cestus hidden inside the pocket came with. Studded with overlapping bands of rounded and reinforced metal, the close combat weapon was a fierce addition to his impractical fighting style.
“Not even a word to tell me why you’re here?” he asked. The first assassin attacked again, a flurry of blades came his way. Kyro’s scimitar was light and fast, but much slower than the experienced killer and his short blades. Using his caestus to deflect a straight stab to his heart at the end of the flurry, Kyro broke the sequence by stepping back. Blood jetted from his left arm, below his elbow. He stumbled, pulling his arm close in an attempt to stop the flow of blood from the severed artery. A second cut bled from his ribs on the right side.
Both assassins closed on him as he backed up, trying to buy himself some space to breathe. The assassins lunged together, one on each side. Kyro threw his cestus-covered hand out, blocking the first blade of the assassin to his left, but the second dagger passed easily, stabbing his side. His scimitar deflected the set of blades from the assassin on his right as he stumbled backwards bleeding heavily.
“Fucking bastards, my crew and my father will see your guild turned to dust,” Kyro barked, dropping to a knee.
The first assassin laughed. “Threats from the grave are no threat at all, little Yorcali. Your father already knows that.” The man’s head twisted sideways with a sickening crunch of bone. He collapsed immediately as Caavis let the body drop. The second assassin died almost as quickly as Niko hamstrung the killer with her long daggers. Stabbing the assassin a dozen times before he dropped, she kicked his body to the deck.
“You’re late,” Kyro mumbled as blood dripped from his mouth and he collapsed. Niko pulled the cloth from her hair and tied off his arm above the wound. Sliding the handle of her dagger through the cloth, she turned it to tighten the tourniquet, slowing and finally stopping the artery’s blood flow. Packing the stab wound with her shirt, she tied it securely with her jacket, and with Caavis’ help, lifted Kyro to his feet.
“The merchant and his noble?” Kyro growled through clenched teeth.
Niko smiled down at him. “Both were arrested a half hour ago, and Grond recovered the documents we needed. Both the merchant and the noble were funnelling money to supply the group raiding Blood Kingdom cities and towns. And there’s more information in the other documents; we just have to find it and follow the money trail.”
“I knew it,” Kyro gasped.
“Your father was right,” she added. “Coming for these gladiators was the right call, except it seems we’ve pissed off the Broken Blades or someone connected enough to hire them.”
“Let’s get him to your ship,” Caavis said, “One of my gladiators... his wife is a healer. She is travelling with you.”
“Good. She can patch the idiot up.”
Semi-conscious, Kyro mumbled. “Not an idiot, Niko.”
Niko shook her head as Caavis helped her carry Kyro to the ship.
“Most people run when they hear one Broken Blade assassin is after them. You stand and fight two of them, pretty much qualifies as the definition of stupid, Kyro.”
DWARVEN MOUNTAINS
After taking the entire day Aravae had helped them in order to rest and heal, Kael was anxious to continue on even though he was still weak from the fight with the Dead Sisters. He could still remember nothing about the battle but the odd flash of violence and terror. Though Ca
ssie had told him that the witches were all dead, he was still concerned for Aravae if Giddeon were to find him and Cassie with her. The next morning, they thanked her for her help and said their goodbyes before leaving through the forest and paralleling the northbound trail deeper into the mountains. Not knowing how far behind Giddeon and the rest of his group were, Kael decided to stay in the forest and off the trail for the next few days. He quickly realized he was far from travel-ready. The heavy blood loss and the months of constant abuse to his body were catching up and it slowed their pace, drastically.
After four hours of trekking through the forest and trying their best to stay even with the trail, they hiked up a small rise. The smell was the first indication that they weren’t alone. Quickly dragging Cassie down into the brush, Kael looked down into the shallow, but wide depression making up part of a vast clearing. Looking on in disbelief, Kael realized he must have led them farther from the trail then he wanted. The forest clearing had been made to accommodate the large camp located below them.
As they watched closely, it became clear that finding a way around the camp would cost them at least a day, if not two, and once Kael got a good look at the camp’s inhabitants, he knew trying to barter their way through the camp was tantamount to suicide. The creatures occupying the clearing were unlike anything he had ever seen. At seven feet tall and wiry thin, the pale-skinned beings all had black hair and black eyes. Their bodies were covered in warts or growths and oozing, open sores covered nearly every creature he could see. Savage claws, several inches long, adorned every single finger on both the males and the females.
The males had two sets of six inch horns. The creature’s long, pointed teeth were shiny and black, just like their eyes. The entire camp permeated the forest with the stench of filth and rotting meat. A small cauldron on the side of the camp closest to Kael and Cassie gave off an odour twice as vile as the camp itself. Long, black strings of ooze dripped from the sides. Kael felt the colour drain from his face as he watched the strings of ooze writhe and wiggle like worms as if they had a life all their own.
“I don’t imagine you know what these things are do you, Cassie?” Kael whispered.
“I’m not sure. They might be trolls, or toldari maybe. I have never seen either in real life,” she guessed.
“All right then. I would imagine bartering our way through will land us in hot water,” he smiled, trying to be funny.
Clearly not amused with his sense of humour, Cassie wrinkled her nose. “That’s not really funny. Trolls eat people, you know.”
Smiling even more, he chuckled. “Yeah, I guessed as much. I was trying to lighten the mood, but I guess my sense of humour leaves a bit to be desired, huh?”
Cassie nodded. “How do we get past them? There are no trees above and a cliff that way,” she said, pointing to the left. “The forest to the right is too thin. We’ll have to backtrack and walk for hours to get around this clearing.”
He looked at her strangely. “Spend a lot of time in the forest, do we?” When she smiled with embarrassment, he said, “Well, I do have one idea, but I doubt you’ll like it.”
“You don’t really expect to barter your way across, do you?” she asked, her nose wrinkled a second time at the idea.
“No,” he whispered with a quiet laugh. “I was thinking more along the lines of magic. The forest on the other side of their camp is much thicker over that way,” he said, pointing almost straight across from where they were.
Putting her hands up to shield her eyes, Cassie nodded. “I see where you’re pointing, but how can we get there?”
“I was thinking that if you held on to my back, tightly, then we could shadow-walk over there,” he suggested uneasily.
Looking from him to the dark patch of forest and back, she looked terrified. “You... Uhm... You don’t sound so sure. Will I be safe?”
Taking a few minutes to think about, he nodded. “It should be. I don’t see another way, other than losing a day or two, and then we run the risk of walking right into Giddeon. He has to be damn close by now. I’ve done it lots, it just makes you dizzy for a second if I’m not in the middle of a fight.”
Confused, she stared at Kael. “You mean there is a difference?”
“Yeah, I guess there is, or else in the middle of a fight I’ve just never noticed it. Too busy trying not to die usually,” he joked.
Cassie laughed nervously. “Okay. I trust you. Let’s try.”
Kael closed his eyes and took a deep breath to clear his mind. Nodding to Cassie so she could climb on his back, he turned to the dense area of forest across the camp. He felt her legs wrap around his waist and her hands slid around his neck.
“Ready?” he asked. The moment she answered him, he stepped forward, and disappeared into a swirling cloud of black.
Kael stepped out of a similar black miasma on the far side of the creature’s camp, well inside the thicker part of the forest, exactly where he wanted to be. He sighed with relief at his success.
“You all right back there?” he asked, as Cassie’s arms locked tight around his neck, tugging hard on his throat. A lot harder than a thirteen year old could tug.
“Cassie...” He choked.
“Help me! My foot.” Cassie cried out, desperation straining her voice. She sounded terrified, but he could tell she was trying her best to be quiet, knowing the camp full of creatures were less than fifty feet away.
Kael loosened the death grip she had on his throat enough to turn and look at what was panicking the little girl. He instantly recognized the black and dark purple tear. Cassie’s left foot disappeared into it.
“Hang on. I’ll pull you out,” he whispered.
“Something grabbed me. It won’t let go,” she cried, as tears ran down her cheeks. “It hurts. It’s digging into my foot.” Nearly panicking, and with Cassie still holding on to his neck, Kael slid his left arm around her waist. Arching his back, he pulled with every ounce of strength he had. Her foot slid out of the tear, and with it, the clawed hand of a monster Kael remembered all too well. The demon’s hand was locked tight to Cassie’s ankle and he watched helplessly as one of the long claws dug deep into her foot as the demon refused to relinquish its prize.
Cassie buried her face in Kael’s heavy cloak and screamed in agony as he watched the claw dig deeper into her. Knowing he had to act fast or Cassie would end up losing her foot, Kael grasped his Vai’Karth with his right hand, and spun the handle, bringing about the blade. He swung it with everything he had. The savagely accurate swipe severed the demon’s hand just above the wrist. A short howl of pain-filled laughter preceded the rift’s closing as Cassie slammed into him and he fell on his back holding her tight. He rolled over and pulled the long claw from her foot. Biting her lower lip, Cassie grunted with pain as it slid free from her flesh.
Looking at her, Kael apologized. “I’m so sorry. That’s never happened before. Ever. I don’t...”
“I’m all right. Gods, what was it?” she asked, shaking.
“A demon of some kind. I must have done something wrong this time and allowed it to come to our world. I don’t know. God, I’m so sorry. I can’t even heal you, and I don’t think you can heal yourself. Most wizards can’t.”
“Help me bandage it and I’ll look for the plants and herbs that will help it heal. I learned enough from my aunt. I’ll be fine,” she said, shaking.
“Okay. Let’s get out of here then, before something from that camp wanders this way,” He bent down to wrap her sore foot.
She nodded in agreement, but he noticed she couldn’t take her eyes off of the clawed demon hand laying in the weeds.
“Kael?”
“Yes?” He pulled a thing strip of rawhide from his travel pack and wrapped it around the cloth, securing the wrap around the wound on Cassie’s foot.
“Do you think that really is a demon hand?”
“Very likely.”
“Wrap it up and bring it with us.”
“Why the hell wou
ld we do that?”
“My aunt used to tell stories to her patients about the alchemical uses of demon blood, hair, and even the claws. Maybe the hand will come in handy,” she said, and blurted out laughing at her pun.
He sighed at the sour joke and wrapped the hand in his spare shirt. “All right, worse case scenario, perhaps we can sell it for some gold before it rots.”
“Or we could cure and dry the hand when we make camp tonight. Keep your eyes open for rock salt and green quaini plants that still have some puffy leaves on them,” Cassie said.
Kael nodded and helped her to her feet. Once he was sure she could walk, they headed into the forest, moving to the north once more. Cassie leaned heavily on his shoulder. When the pain became too much for her, he hoisted her onto his back and carried her, even though he was utterly exhausted.
They had been walking for two hours, trying their best to head straight north of the toldari camp when they came across the first group of horses. Kael recognized them immediately as the mounts the Dead Sisters kept in a small pen on the north side of their camp. All four animals had the same painted symbol he had seen on the horses back at the witch’s camp. An uneven line and two half circles that looked like a horizon with a sun above it and the moon below. It was painted on every horse the Dead Sisters rode.
The four horses were still extremely skittish from the creatures in the forest or the fighting at the camp, but there was nowhere for them to go because of the forest’s dense brush between the sparsely growing trees. Even so, it still took them a half hour to catch all four and calm the scared horse’s nerves enough to ride them.
Though they had no saddles, they managed to rig enough vines from the brush for two bridles and halters. After doing their best to curry the mounts with their fingers, the horses calmed enough to ride and they headed north within an hour.
