by Ben Hale
“Unfortunately,” she replied. “And we have much to fear.”
He regarded her with new eyes. “You are better informed than I gave you credit for. Your father?”
“He didn’t just teach me combat,” Inna said, her features turning sad. “After he died, Gallow sought to bring Aranis into the assassin’s guild for years. She refused.”
“An independent assassin,” Jack mused. “How interesting.”
“She’s as dangerous as Gallow,” Inna said. “And she’s never failed on a contract. If she wants to kill you, she will.”
“You think she’s here for me?” Jack asked.
Inna lowered her tone. “You have a bounty on your head that would tempt a priest of Ero. Do you think her presence here is a coincidence?”
“Of course not,” Jack said. “But her presence has little impact on our course.”
“Are you always cavalier about your impending death?”
“Death stalks us all,” he replied with a shrug, and then smirked. “I just hope it comes from someone as pretty as you.”
She flushed and looked to the sunset. “I kill the ones who deserve it, the dregs of mankind who merit a painful death. Yet I deliver a swift one.”
“So an assassin is an instrument of justice?” Jack asked, raising an eyebrow.
“That’s why the guild was founded,” she said. “My father taught me our true purpose, and how Gallow perverted it in his desire for blood.”
“And you mean to redeem your guild?”
“Just like you redeemed the Thieves Guild from Skorn.”
Jack laughed, drawing looks from a ship’s captain nearby. “Is that what they say about me? That I redeemed the Thieves Guild?”
She scowled at his mocking tone. “Didn’t you? Skorn turned the Thieves Guild into a vile and brutal place. He stole from the poor and needy, taking for those who had excess.”
“Am I any different?”
She regarded him for some time. “I hope you’re better than you seem,” she said. “Or we’ll both be dead in a week.”
“How much did you study me before you came to the guild?” Jack asked.
She folded her arms. “A great deal, actually, but it’s difficult to discern truth from rumor. The godship, for example, has to be false. No one could steal a ship the size of a village.”
He grinned at the memory. “It handled like a waterlogged raft, but then, it was a hundred years old.”
“You really stole it?” she asked, her eyes widening.
“And sank it.”
She shook her head and gestured to him. “You have no magic, no training, and no significant skills, yet you have done more than any thief in the history of Lumineia. How?”
“It’s good to know I still have secrets.”
She frowned at the comment. “Whatever they are, they won’t keep you from being killed.”
“By Aranis?”
“Probably,” she said. “If she wanted it, she could kill Gallow and take the guild. She’s killed members of every race, including men, women, and even children. She kills without hesitation or remorse . . . and why do you not seem concerned?”
He drained his ale. “She’s not the first assassin to hunt me.”
“Arrogance will get you killed.”
“I’ve heard that before,” Jack said with a grin.
Inna scowled. “Your arrogance will get me killed.”
“I haven’t lost anyone yet.”
“So what happened to Lorelia?” she asked.
His humor evaporated and he leaned back. “Her choice got her killed,” he said.
“You sure it wasn’t your pride?”
Jack rose to his feet and departed without a word. Inna didn’t try to stop him. Jack made his way to the inn adjacent to the tavern and paid for a room. Avoiding the raucous sailors, he strode to his quarters and reclined on the bed, his thoughts turning to his last encounter with Skorn, when Skorn had killed Lorelia.
He’d first met Lorelia at the thief guildhall in Woodhaven. There she’d been lascivious and full of mischief, yet Jack had noticed a reserved identity beneath the surface. It wasn’t until much later that Jack had learned the truth. Lorelia had been born with facial defects and been ostracized by the elven people. Her young peers had scarred when her secret had become known.
She had used her formidable light magic to hide her features, donning a persona that none but Jack had ever seen. Skorn had convinced her he could heal the deformities, making her whole. She’d betrayed Jack and the guild, but redeemed herself by stepping into the blade meant for Jack’s heart.
Jack reached up and fingered the amulet she had given him with her last breath. She’d used it to hide herself because of fear, the same fear Skorn had preyed upon. Now Jack planned to use the amulet to destroy him.
He caressed the rune and the amulet warmed on his neck. Magic rippled across his features, changing him into an elf. Another touch made him look like a dwarf. He smiled sadly as he extinguished the magic. Lorelia had poured her magic into the amulet for over a century until it could make the wearer appear as almost anyone. In spite of its power, it could never make her whole. Without her continued magic the amulet would deteriorate, but he hoped it would last long enough.
Jack released the amulet and stared at the ceiling, wondering if Ero would succeed in drawing Skorn out. There was always the chance that Skorn would kill Ero, in which case Jack would lose everything. Still, Skorn had shown a marked desire to gloat, meaning he was far more likely to kidnap Ero and force him to witness his victory.
“Your arrogance will get you killed,” Jack murmured with a grim smile.
He fell asleep thinking about what he would do to Skorn when he finally had him at the end of his dagger. His dreams were restless and filled with visits from Lorelia, Ero, Beauty, and Inna. Then he woke to find a ring dagger at his throat, and looked up to see Aranis.
“Hello, pet,” the dark elf said.
Chapter 6: Assassin of the Deep
Jack wrinkled his nose at her words. He could barely see her eyes behind her cowl, but her lips twitched into a possessive smile. The press of the cold steel on his throat kept him still, and he pointed to it.
“Come for the bounty?”
“And other things.”
Jack burst into a laugh, the motion causing the knife to scrape against his throat. The blade lay as still as marble, cold and unflinching on his flesh.
“Why am I not dead already?”
“I haven’t played yet,” she said.
“And when you’re finished with me?”
“Maybe I’ll give you to Gallow,” she said. “He wants you so bad he’s like a rabid dog. What’s his obsession with you?”
“Can I sit up to answer?”
She regarded him for several seconds—and the dagger disappeared, gone as if it was never there. Jack kept his motions slow and smooth as he rose from the bed and reached for his tunic. Aranis’s smile turned smug as she eyed his bare chest.
“Do you want to talk while we eat?” Jack asked, pulling a tunic over his body. “You can join me for breakfast.”
“You are not afraid.”
A trace of surprise had seeped into her voice, prompting Jack to grin as he slid his boots on his feet. “I’m still alive, aren’t I?”
“Life is tenuous.” Her voice was quiet, almost bored, yet the threat seeped into every syllable.
“Breakfast?” Jack asked as he wrapped his thief’s webbing around his shoulders and reached for his dagger.
She rotated with him and remained relaxed, but the tension in the room mounted. Jack noticed a swirl in her shadow cloak, and a ring dagger spun into view. Aranis idly twirled it in her hand, the tip flashing crimson with a trace of blood.
His blood.
He wanted to laugh but didn’t. Aranis was every bit as dangerous as Inna had said. With great care he slid his dagger into its sheath along his spine and then pulled his shaden around his shoulders. As the cloak fe
ll to his feet he turned to face her—and found a dagger touching his heart. Aranis had not moved, but a thread extended from her cloak and held the blade.
“At least I’m dressed for the kidnapping,” Jack said. “You wouldn’t want others seeing the goods.”
“Why does Gallow hate you?”
Jack smirked. “Still curious?”
She stared at him for several seconds, her blade digging into Jack’s tunic. “I won’t ask again.”
“I believe you,” Jack said.
In a burst of speed he turned and leapt for the window. He dived through the glass and fell three stories to the street. Rolling into a flip, he landed on his feet, grunting from the impact. He rose into a run, throwing a smile back at Aranis
“Thank you for the lovely breakfast!”
Aranis dived after him and caught a gable, slowing her momentum and alighting on the roof of a bread cart, eliciting cries of alarm from a woman below. She dropped into the street and raced after Jack, her shadow cloak streaming behind her. Townsfolk parted with cries of alarm but she paid them no mind.
Jack veered down an alley and leapt to the roof of a rope shop. Using the wares hanging from the sign, he scaled to the roof and raced to the adjacent building. Jumping to it, he sprinted across the rooftops, aiming for the ocean.
In spite of his enhanced ability, Aranis kept pace with him. Her cloak billowed behind her as she skipped across a gap. Jack reached a throughway and leapt onto a horse-drawn carriage, rebounding off the roof to catch a building across the street.
Aranis pointed her arm and sent a thread of her cloak outward. The shadow cloak curled around a pole that contained a light orb, and she swung across the street, shocking a group of women and eliciting a shout from a mounted man. Alighting where Jack had ascended onto the roof, she accelerated after him.
“Do you mind if I ask you something?” Jack called back.
A pair of daggers swirled into view as she closed the gap. “A final request before you concede defeat?”
“Do they call you the angel of death?”
Her eyebrows pulled together in confusion. “No.”
“They will when I talk about you,” he called back with a laugh. “You may be an assassin, but you look like a dark angel.”
A touch of pink appeared in her grey skin and Jack smirked, pleased that he’d been able to disconcert the dark elf. Then he pulled his arms in and dropped into a narrow alley. Catching the border of an open window, he swung himself into the interior of a home. Dark and containing a single bed, the room carried the distinct scent of fish and salt, marking the owner as a sailor.
Jack swiveled to the side as Aranis followed him in. On impulse he reached out and grabbed the shadow hand that preceded her, yanking on the thread. The hand turned ethereal the moment he touched it, but the motion was sufficient to cause Aranis to trip on the window. She tumbled to the floor and Jack pointed his crossbow at her. The bolt disappeared into the shadow cloak and reached her flesh, exploding into enchanted ropes.
The impact slammed her into the wall and she fell to the floor. Her body may have been bound, but threads of darkness streaked out from her form, turning into a score of hands each wielding a ring dagger. Two went for the ropes but the bindings resisted their efforts.
Jack retreated to the hall and smiled. “I’d stay,” he said, “But I have a boat to catch.”
“Curiosity will not stay my hand again,” Aranis said, her voice seething with anger.
“I look forward to waking up to you again,” he said.
Her lips tightened. “You should kill me while you can. You will not get a second chance.”
“I have three rules I follow with absolute regard,” Jack said. “And killing a bound, beautiful woman would break one.”
He turned and strode away, passing a shocked woman in the hall before exiting the house. Then he slipped behind a loaded cart of fish and glided into a shop. He exited out the rear entrance and disappeared into the crowd of the neighboring street. Aranis was lethal and smart, and he had no doubt that she would escape in minutes. It wouldn’t take her long to find him again. He returned to the inn and stepped inside to find Inna just sitting down to a meal.
“Our boat just arrived,” Jack said, coming to a halt beside her.
“It can wait until after breakfast,” she said, picking up her fork.
“Aranis might disagree.”
Her fork stopped halfway to her mouth. “Have you seen her?”
“She was in my bed this morning,” he said wryly. “We shared a conversation before she tried to kill me.”
“And you survived?” she asked, rising to her feet.
“Don’t sound so surprised,” he said.
Her cheeks turned a shade of pink. “That’s not what I meant,” she said hastily. “I’m just surprised she spared you.”
“She didn’t,” Jack said as they strode to the door. When they stepped outside he shared what he’d done.
Inna looked at him with new eyes, and Jack couldn’t resist the smug smile as he described binding the assassin. After months of being cooped up in the guildhall, Jack had relished the heat of conflict.
They made their way to the docks and to a ship at the southern end of the waterfront. Smaller than its neighbors, the ship reeked of tar and mold. Jack wrinkled his nose as he stepped onto the deck.
“Sure we can’t find another?”
“It doesn’t look like much,” Inna replied. “But it’s fast.”
Bearing two masts and covered in stains, the ship nevertheless carried a sleekness beneath the grime. Most of the paint had peeled off and sun had bleached the wood to grey. The sails tied to the crossbeams were tattered and sewn with a sloppy stitch. Jack expected barnacles to cover the hull, but the crustaceans were surprisingly absent.
A man stumbled onto the deck and spotted them. He flashed a toothless grin at Inna and advanced to her, engulfing her in a hug. Jack retreated at the stench, but Inna did not seem to mind.
“Hello, Borne,” she said. “It’s been a few years.”
He released her and leaned back, his bleary eyes turning sorrowful. “I was sorry to hear about your father.”
Inna motioned to the ship. “We need to get to Kulldye Dreg.”
“How soon?” Borne asked, his eyes flicking to Jack. “And who’s your friend?”
Jack grinned at the hostility to his tone. “Jack Myst,” he replied.
“The cheater of death?” Borne asked, and a wide grin spread on his features. “Did you really steal the Azurian godship?”
Jack smiled in turn and swept a hand at the man’s boat. “Inna says your boat is fast.”
“She’s outrun Talinorian warships,” he said, his voice tinged with affection. “What are you running from?”
“It’s better if you don’t know,” Inna said. “Do you think we can depart soon?”
“We were supposed to take a shipment of flour to Griffin,” he said, “But it hasn’t arrived yet. I’m sure my supplier won’t mind waiting a few days.”
Jack smirked. Flour was the universal code for stolen goods, marking Borne as a smuggler. As guildmaster, Jack frequently contracted with smugglers to move guild members to and from assignments, but had predominantly worked with those on Blue Lake.
“How soon can we embark?” Inna asked.
“As soon as I wake my lout of a son.”
Borne made his way to the forecastle and disappeared down the steps. A moment later Jack heard a shout, a kick, and a groan. Then a voice grunted in irritation and a few minutes later a younger version of Borne appeared on the deck. His skin was no less weathered, but there were fewer wrinkles and his hair was brown instead of white.
“Inna!” he said, a smile bursting on his youthful features. “Where have you been?”
“Training with a rock troll,” Inna said.
Jack though it was a joke, but Inna’s expression implied she was serious. It appeared the girl was even more interesting than Jack had origin
ally thought, and he made a mental note to ply her for tales.
In remarkably short time Borne and his son had the ship underway. Jack watched the waterfront from the rear of the ship, his eyes sweeping the sailors and dock workers for Aranis. As the city grew small in the distance he spotted a figure on the roof of a warehouse and recognized his pursuer. He smiled and raised his hand in farewell. She did not return the gesture.
“Aranis is not going to stop hunting you,” Inna said, appearing at the railing beside him.
“I know,” Jack said.
“How can you smile knowing a supreme assassin seeks your life?”
Jack turned to her. With the sun rising in the background the light shimmered across her red hair. The view made her even more stunning, but did little to hide the tension about her shoulders.
“They say there can be no courage without fear,” he mused. “But I’d add that knowledge counteracts fear just as well.”
“What sort of knowledge?”
He leaned in as if to kiss her, the motion startling her into retreating. Jack took advantage of the moment to draw a knife and put the tip against her gut. Her eyes narrowed at the ruse but she held still.
“You tricked me.”
“You may be an assassin,” he said, “but you are not a killer, nor do you have faith in yourself.”
“And you do?”
Jack returned the knife to the sheath on his chest. “I know exactly what I’m capable of.”
“You think you can defeat Aranis?” she asked. “You’re more arrogant than I thought.”
“I don’t need to defeat her,” Jack said.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
He smiled and spread his arms wide. “You’ll find out in due time.”
She regarded him for some time and then began to chuckle. It quickly built into a wry laugh. “I underestimated you, Jack.”
“You aren’t the first to do so,” he replied, and strode toward the hammock waiting for him below decks. When she called out, he turned.
“It appears you are indeed as tall as they say.”
He smirked and inclined his head. Then he disappeared into the cabin Borne had offered. Small and dirty, the room smelled faintly of vomit, suggesting the last passenger hadn’t cared for the sea. Once inside he locked the door and put a wedge of wood beneath it for good measure. When he was certain it would not open, he removed his gauntlet and thumbed the rune, filling the space with his snoring. Leaving it on the hammock, he reached into a second pouch and withdrew a small pocket mirror. He pointed it to the wall and the glass poured to the floor before forming a Gate on the wall. Without hesitation Jack stepped through it.
