“You’re still buyin’ the coffee, aren’t you?” the bartender said with a wry smile. “Besides, I know you don’t come here for my conversation.”
Renamir accepted the coffee with his cold and tired hands. It wasn’t as warm as he hoped, but wrapping his hands around the earthen mug still took some of the chill out of them. “It certainly isn’t for this crap,” he said after taking a sip. “Don’t you have anything hot?”
“Not at this time of the afternoon.”
We’re just pulling into Point Blank, the demon said in Renamir’s mind.
“Shit,” he muttered.
“What do you expect? It’s hours hold.”
“No,” Renamir said, shaking his head. “I wasn’t talking to you.” He rubbed his backside and thought about the ride that still lay ahead of him. Then he came up with an idea. “Do you know of any ships going across the bay?”
“Now?” the bartender asked.
“Soon. Before night fall.”
“Yeah,” the bartender said. “There’s a fishing ship that’s in port right now. He usually sets out on the evening tide. Captain’s right over there,” he said, indicating a rugged, gray-haired man sitting near the hearth.
Renamir got the man’s name and then walked over to talk to him. He bartered his horse for a trip across the bay. The sailor had been reluctant to take a horse as he lived his life on the sea, but after Renamir suggested he could either leave it here or simply sell it, the man reconsidered, knowing the value of a horse.
Renamir knew he had just grossly overpaid for the trip, but he was too exhausted to worry about it. He told the captain he would be in one of the private rooms and asked that he be woken when they were ready to depart. Renamir tossed a few coins on the bar and went to sleep in the private room the bartender assigned him.
*
Dawn arrived a few hours after he had been thrown in the uruk’s cage. He looked around their camp. There were about twenty lean-tos around the outside of the cage, but the majority of them were clearly empty. There was also one larger tent made of filthy burlap. The majority of the uruks who had brought him in had retired there. In addition to the seven uruks who had accompanied him, there had been two left standing guard at the cage. He had seen no others since.
The large man looked about the camp as well. “Where do you think they’ve all gone?” he asked.
“I think they’re dead,” Esselles answered. “My friends killed a lot of them.”
“What happened to your friends?” the man asked, moving over toward Esselles.
“They got away.”
“And left you behind?”
“They didn’t know they left me behind. A demon was in my place.”
“What?”
Esselles tried to explain the bizarre set of events that had left him in the cage.
“That’s some tale. Hard to believe,” the man said. “But I’m glad to hear these bastards got killed off.” He looked over to one of the guards who sat with a crossbow across his lap. He clenched his fists again. He unclenched them and turned back to face Esselles. “I’m Kyr, by the way.”
“I’m Esselles.”
“This is Sylia, my wife,” he said, indicating the delicate woman huddled behind him.
“How did you two get here?”
“We were traveling by wagon three nights ago. We’d just gotten married, but neither of us had any land or any real trade. I’ve worked in a smithy most of my life, but the smith died last week. Our village, a dying town up in Roscina, had no other smith. And unfortunately, the old man had never taught me the trade. I just carried shit for him.
“Anyway, we were heading down to Ostar, I was going to try to apprentice for a blacksmith down there, when we were overrun. There was nothing I could do. They had the road blocked off and our wagon surrounded. I wanted to get out and wring their necks, but they had their crossbows trained on Sylia and me. I had to submit.
“They were already here when we arrived,” he said, pointing to the three in homespun.
“Who are they?” Esselles asked.
“Two brothers and a sister. Their farm had been raided to the south of here.” Kyr turned to the three. “Harrel,” he called. “Come here.”
The tallest of the three came over.
“Harrel, this is Esselles,” he said, introducing them. “Esselles is a member of the Ostarian city guard.”
Esselles didn’t bother to correct him. Most people did not know the difference between the Imperial guard and the city guard.
“Why’d they put you in irons?” Harrel asked.
“They didn’t,” Esselles said. “I was already in them.” He proceeded to tell his tale of capture again, shorter this time.
“A demon?” Harrel said. “I’ve heard all sorts of tales about them, but you’re the first person I’ve ever known who’s actually seen one.”
“Well, I didn’t quite see it in the normal sense. As I said, it was in my form for some reason. It was like looking in a mirror. Except this reflection fought back.”
“So how we gonna get out of here?” Kyr asked.
“I don’t know,” Esselles said. “I’ve been trying to break these damn chains. The joining ring was chinked heavily in the fall. But I can’t pull it open.”
“Let me see that,” Kyr said. He reached his large fists around Esselles’ chains and prepared to pull.
“Hey! You three,” a shout came from outside the cage. “Separate. Now!”
Kyr let go of the chains and backed off, hatred washing over his face.
“Move to the edge of the cage, all of you,” the uruk commanded. When the captives had complied, he opened the cage. Another uruk carried in a large bowl of food and set it down in the middle of the cage. He then backed out and they rebolted the door.
“At least they feed us well,” Kyr said as he moved toward the food.
“That’s not a good sign,” Esselles said. “It probably means we’re going to be sold as slaves.”
“Better than starving to death.”
“There is that.”
They took turns around the bowl, as all eight could not fit at once. The food was somewhat bland, but filling. It was a simple meat stew. Esselles had a strong suspicion he knew what kind of meat, having seen the she-wolf gutted. It was too old to be the she-wolf, but he also guessed it wasn’t their first.
“We’ll work on those chains later,” Kyr whispered.
While Esselles ate, memories of his recent hunting trip kept springing to his mind, almost in sequence. He found it strange and wondered whether it had something to do with his concussion.
Chapter Fifteen
What has happened? Why have his memories become so faint? Esselles-demon asked as soon as the connection became active again.
I was forced to rest, Renamir answered. You are now a good distance away from me. We had to make the link between you and me a subtle one, and therefore, it cannot extend great distances. The link will remain intact for a good fifty miles, but outside of ten miles, it becomes extremely difficult to draw upon. That is why I have been following you. Renamir paused. The conversation was difficult to maintain at these distances. Had someone else been present to do the actual communication, he’d switch to the intermediary spell, but he was not an accomplished enough mage to both cast the spell and communicate with it.
I don’t have time to explain fully, he continued, but I will be even further from you for a short while. I will meet you again outside of Ostar, just after sunset. I have been stimulating his recent memories and am sending those across now. When I am done, I will be breaking the link. This will be one of the most dangerous times. Use extreme caution so you are not detected.
When Renamir finished his explanation, the demon told him, I have been feigning exhaustion from the combat and the wounds.
Good. Keep it up. As I said, I should be within range again in the early evening. Until then, good luck.
Don’t worry. I will make it to kill the Barons, t
he demon assured him, backing the thought up with gruesome mental images of it slowly devouring a still living mage, an image obviously drawn from the demon’s past.
I’m sending the recent memories now, Renamir informed the demon. He then began sending the mental images. By the time he was done, his temples were throbbing. He rubbed them before getting out of bed. He left the small room and walked down the hall to the tavern.
“It’s about time,” the captain said. “I was about to leave without you.”
“And without my money from the horse?” Renamir said, snidely.
“Yeah, well one of the two kept me around.”
Renamir followed the captain to the ship.
He found sea travel to be almost as distasteful as travel via horse, but for different reasons. The tossing of the sea made him extremely nauseous. He went below decks and, employing some of his magic, put himself to sleep
*
The ring snapped with a clattering of chains. The guards immediately took notice and stood up. To disguise what had happened, Kyr tackled Esselles to the ground. “You keep your eyes off her, you bastard,” he shouted as he pinned Esselles shoulders down.
The guards started yelling in their foreign tongue. Their leader came running out of the tent. “Stop it,” he yelled. “Stop it or woman dies.”
Kyr released Esselles and stood up.
“We’ll have no more fighting,” the uruk commanded. “Now separate and sit back down.” He turned and walked back to the tent. He mumbled something as he re-entered the tent.
Esselles smiled as he gathered his chains about him. He quietly slipped the links back over the broken ring, so they would appear to be intact. He waited until the leader had returned to his tent and the guards were no longer paying attention. He then slowly crawled toward Kyr, who likewise, moved in his direction.
“They’re waiting for someone,” Kyr said.
“How do you know?” Esselles asked.
“The leader mumbled something about ‘it won’t be long before they’re here.’”
“You can understand them?”
“A little,” Kyr said. “They’re speaking a twisted form of Roscin. I imagine that’s where they’re from. Roscina is crawling with them since the war.”
“Why doesn’t anyone clear them out?” Esselles asked.
“There’s more uruks than there are humans. And with the way they breed, their numbers will only increase. You ever wonder why you never see any female uruks in their armies? It isn’t because they don’t let the women fight. It’s because they’re always home, pregnant.”
“They must be waiting to sell us as slaves. Why else wouldn’t they pack up and head home?”
“You’re probably right,” Kyr agreed.
Harrel came over and joined them. “So what’s the plan?”
“We don’t have one yet,” Esselles said. “Kyr did get the ring open. But someone’s supposed to be coming soon. Tonight would be my guess. Uruks are generally nocturnal.”
“Who would be coming?” Harrel asked.
“We think it is the slave buyers,” Kyr answered.
Harrel’s face blanched.
Just after dusk, an uruk came into camp and announced, “Gromja watooz.”
“They’re here,” Kyr translated. “Gromja, as I’m sure you heard.”
Three gromja entered the camp. They were much larger and squatter than the uruks. Each stood about six to seven feet tall, only a little taller than the uruks, but they were a good half-foot wider at the shoulder. They had wide, round heads with small, flat horns extending to the sides, above their ears. Their shoulders and chest were thickly muscled and they walked in a strange bow-legged hunch.
The uruk leader came out of his tent to greet them. He led them over to the cage and opened the door. “On your feet, all you,” he called to the captives. “Against that wall,” he added, pointing to the left.
The leader, one of the guards, and the three gromja entered the cage. The gromja walked down the line of prisoners, the uruk leader talking the entire time. When they reached the end of the line they walked back to the middle of the cage and continued their discussion.
“You,” the leader called to Kyr. “Come here.”
The guards, inside and outside of the cage, aimed their crossbows at him and Sylia. He walked forward to stand in front of the gromja. They lifted his cloak and looked at his arms. Two of them nodded agreement to whatever the uruk was saying.
“Okay, go back,” the leader said.
One of the gromja walked to the end of the line where Sylia was standing. He pulled her hood back and looked at her face, grabbing her chin and turning it to the side. He then called something back to his companions as he reached behind her and grabbed her buttocks.
Sylia screamed. Kyr roared and charged. He closed the six feet that separated them in an instant and dove headfirst at the gromja, hitting him square in the back. Crossbows fired. The entire cage rattled as Kyr piled into the corner, the gromja ahead of him. The uruk guard and the two other gromja grabbed his arms, pulled him back, and threw him to the ground. Two other uruks came running in with crossbows and pointed them at his chest. Kyr moved to get up anyway, but then stopped. The uruk leader had his sword pointed at Sylia’s chest.
“Get back against the wall or she dies,” he said.
Kyr complied. He limped over to the cage wall, a crossbow bolt protruding from his thigh.
The two gromja looked over their partner. They began shouting, turning on the uruk leader. He yelled back, eventually quieting them down. He called to two of his guards who came in and picked up the fallen gromja. He hung lifeless between them. They carried him out of the cage and sat him against a tree.
The uruk leader ushered the gromja out of the cage and the guard replaced the bolt. The uruk and gromja then began a heated discussion that lasted at least five minutes. When they were done, the gromja collected their fallen companion and left the camp.
The uruk leader returned to the cage and walked over to Kyr. He indicated to his guards to keep their crossbows trained on Sylia the entire time. He punched Kyr hard, across the mouth. Blood began to flow from his lip.
“You cost me much gold,” he said. He punched Kyr again and then left the cage. “Take care of that bolt,” he said as he left.
“We’ll need a brand to cauterize,” Esselles called back.
The leader ordered one of his guard to begin heating a small dagger.
When things settled down again, Esselles, Harrel, and Kyr huddled in the corner of the cage.
“At least I got to kill one of ‘em,” Kyr said, spitting blood from his lip. “His neck snapped against the cage crossbar.”
“You may have cost him money, but he sure protected his investment,” Esselles said. “The leader knocked a crossbow aside that had been aimed right for your back.”
“I wish he’d blocked this one too,” Kyr said, looking down at his thigh.
“Straighten your leg out. As soon as the brand is ready, I’ll remove it,” Esselles said.
“So were we sold?” Harrel asked.
“Yeah,” Kyr said, sitting back against the cage wall and straightening out his leg. “The final price hasn’t been set yet, but they are pretty close. The gromja have to find out what their leader is gonna charge for retribution for the death.”
“How long do we have?” Esselles asked.
“I’m not sure, but he said something about tomorrow night. So I assume they are returning then.”
“Then we better make our move tomorrow day,” Esselles said.
“How do we get out of here?” Harrel asked.
“Kyr already saw to that,” Esselles answered. “Don’t be obvious, but look at the corner of the cage where he tackled the gromja. He frayed some of the ropes that secure it. If we can weaken the bottom ones, one good hit and we’re through.”
“So how do we weaken them?” Kyr asked.
“I’m going to try to do it with the dagger they are heat
ing up. It is going to require some sleight of hand. When I cauterize your wound, I want you to make as big a commotion as possible.”
“That shouldn’t be hard,” Kyr interrupted with a smile.
“Harrel, I’ll want you and your brother behind me. I’ll slip you the dagger. Just make a quick cut in the ropes near the bottom and then slide it back to me.”
“What’s Jorgan supposed to do?” Harrel asked.
“Nothing, except position himself between you and the guard.”
“I’ll tell him. Does Tarra need to do anything?” he asked.
“No. Your sister can just watch,” Esselles said. “Okay, here he comes. Go get your brother. You can pretend you are helping hold Kyr down.”
Harrel crawled over to his brother.
The uruk guard came in carrying a small dagger that had a slight ruddy glow to it. He was followed by another carrying a crossbow. Esselles positioned himself over Kyr’s hip and reached for the dagger. The uruk carefully passed him the wrapped handle.
“Are you ready?” Esselles asked Kyr. “Someone give him something to bite down on,” he called out. Harrel tore a strip of his shift and rolled it up. Kyr put it in his teeth and bit down.
“Now you two hold his shoulders down. You,” he called to the man in the other corner. “Come over and help. We need someone to hold his leg.” The man just stared back.
The uruk grunted and swung his arm. The man eventually got up and came over to help.
“Press down there,” Esselles said, looking into the man’s vacant stare. The man complied.
“Here we go,” Esselles said as he grabbed hold of the bolt. With a quick motion, he pulled the bolt free and then seared it with the dagger. Kyr screamed in pain and writhed, throwing the man off his leg. Esselles set the dagger down and dove on Kyr’s legs, trying to hold him down. Kyr thrashed and bucked, throwing Harrel off his shoulders. They held him down until he calmed down. Esselles tore a piece of his cloak off and wiped the blood away from the raw wound.
The guard grunted and pointed at the dagger next to Esselles’ foot. He picked it up and handed it to him. The guards turned and left the cage.
“It’s all set,” Harrel whispered.
Demonified (Hawkblood Chronicles Book 1) Page 16
