“How far up the coast have they gotten?” asked Alex.
“Gortha and Partek both fell this week,” frowned Captain Azule. “There is nothing between Emperor Hanchi and Trekum now. I suspect that the battle for Trekum will start within the week.”
“You mentioned Melbin as one of your choices,” commented Tanya. “Do you mean to offer them your services as mercenaries?”
“That is one of the problems with choosing Melbin,” replied the mercenary. “Some companies are talking about selling their services to Melbin. Others are talking about taking Melbin for themselves. It can get mighty confusing at times. General Mobami is organizing the defense of Trekum and that is pretty straightforward. There is no pay for mercenaries, but the only enemy will be the Lanoirians. Who knows what will happen at Melbin.”
“We came through Melbin,” mentioned Alex. “It is no longer a kingdom. It has joined Alcea. I would think any armies seeking to take it for their own might be fighting more than they think.”
“Really?” the captain remarked as his eyebrows rose. “Now that is a piece of information that is news to me. Where is Alcea?”
“Alcea encompasses all of what used to be Targa,” answered Alex. “It might be a nice place for men to leave the armies and settle down. They do not plan on yielding to Emperor Hanchi or anyone else.”
“So Targa has resurrected,” mused Captain Azule. “You present a tempting picture, but it sounds just a bit rosy. Last I heard the crazy prophet was sacking cities up there.”
“Not any more,” stated Arik. “The prophet Azmet is dead. His army was defeated.”
“Slaughtered is more like it,” interjected Alex. “No more than a handful survived.”
“Slaughtered?” echoed the mercenary. “Last I heard the Targa army was a bunch of city boys that weren’t sure which end of a sword to hold. Are you sure you got your information right?”
“It was the Red Swords and Rangers that did Azmet in,” nodded Alex. “They are the heart of Alcea’s army and not something to be trifled with.”
“That makes my choice easy,” frowned Captain Azule. “I don’t think I want to go near Melbin now. I fought against Red Swords in the Collapse War. There is not a finer fighting force alive. I will take my men to Trekum.”
“I wish you luck,” nodded Alex. “Still, you might think about joining with Alcea. I think they will need good men to aid in the coming battle with Hanchi.”
“If things go poorly in Trekum, I will think about that,” smiled Captain Azule. “You did say that you were heading south. Perhaps I will see you in Trekum. What is your name?”
“Trekum is a big city,” shrugged Alex, “but one never knows about such things. You can call me Garth, Garth Shado.”
Chapter 25
Assassins’ Lair
Bin-lu slipped into the abandoned factory and closed the door behind him. He looked around in the dim light and did not see anyone. He walked to the center of the room and leaned against the wagon that had the name of Boris Khatama on it. Still not seeing anyone, he bent and looked under the wagon. Hearing the door open, Bin-lu ducked behind the wagon. Sheri walked in calling for Wylan and Bin-lu felt suddenly foolish for hiding. He smiled and walked towards the door.
“There is nobody here,” greeted Bin-lu.
“That is silly,” chuckled Sheri. “Wylan is here. I just stopped by to bring him a meal. I didn’t know that you would be so early, Bin-lu, or I would have brought food for you, too.”
“Wylan is not here,” frowned Bin-lu. “I figured that he had gone out with you.”
A look of concern spread across Sheri’s face as her eyes scanned the dim interior of the factory. “I invited him as I always do,” she frowned, “but he is not comfortable with people yet. He still sees himself as a cripple, even with the wonderful sessions that you have been having with him.”
“He will get over it in time,” responded Bin-lu. “You must be patient. Perhaps he just went for a walk. I actually stopped by to talk with Sheela, but she is not here either. Have you got her out helping the citizens prepare the defenses?”
“She is too small for most jobs,” Sheri shook her head. “Besides, she seems to have taken it upon herself to map the sewers. She is probably down there now getting dirty.”
Sheri walked into the darkness of the room and saw the secret wall partition, which separated the two sides of the factory, slightly open. She stuck her head through the opening and saw the grate to the sewers removed. She shook her head and frowned as Bin-lu came up behind her. She walked over to the grate and picked up the scarf resting on top of the grate.
“Isn’t this Wylan’s scarf?” she asked.
“It is,” nodded Bin-lu. “Natia gave it to him before the battle of Watling Flats.”
“Why would he throw it away?” questioned Sheri.
“He wouldn’t,” frowned Bin-lu. “He left it to tell us that he went into the sewers. The question is, why would he enter the sewers?”
“I don’t think he would,” pondered Sheri, “unless something was terribly wrong. He was not fond of traveling the sewers when I first met him and Arik. He insisted on returning to their inn by the streets.”
“Then we need to find out where he went,” decided Bin-lu. “It is dark down there, and he might easily get lost.”
“Bin-lu,” chided Sheri, “it is always dark for him now. You don’t see him that way, do you?”
“I guess I don’t,” shrugged Bin-lu. “He is much the same person that I met in Barouk. His skills have gotten much better, but I do forget about his disability. I really see his problem as one of attitude. He can still be a great person, but he must learn not to dwell upon his problems.”
“Let me get a torch,” Sheri said. “We are going to find him before he gets himself in trouble.”
Bin-lu nodded and climbed down into the dark hole. Sheri returned with a lit torch and dropped it to Bin-lu. He held it while Sheri climbed into the sewers.
“Which way?” Sheri asked.
“I doubt he would come down here to go towards the river,” shrugged Bin-lu. “We will head towards the center of the city. There is something there that I want to check on anyway. That is why I was looking for Sheela.”
“What were you looking for?” Sheri asked as Bin-lu led the way through the sewers. “Does it have to do with the parts that connect to the Royal Palace?”
“Yes, it does,” nodded Bin-lu. “I wanted to check out that area more closely today. I was hoping that Sheela would be available to guide me.”
“But she already showed you that I thought,” responded Sheri.
“She showed me one access point,” sighed Bin-lu. “I need to know if there are others. They will all have to restricted somehow if Arik is to be protected.”
“Couldn’t you just tell the palace and let them worry about it?” asked Sheri. “I am sure that they have people that deal with this sort of thing.”
“They probably do,” Bin-lu smiled inwardly. “Still, I want to see for myself.”
“Alright,” frowned Sheri, “but let’s not forget why we are down here. The sewers are a maze that anyone could get lost in. I don’t know how we will ever find Wylan down here. Maybe we should be shouting for him.”
“Not yet,” warned Bin-lu. “If there are assassins traveling these sewers, we do not want to alert them to our presence.”
“I hadn’t thought about that,” Sheri said softly. “We never had to worry about that before. Other gangs would use the sewers, but we never had to fear them. They were only competition for stealing the food supplies.”
Bin-lu led the way in silence for a long time. He constantly lowered his torch and looked for signs of recent travel, but tracks were hard to find amidst the water and filth. Finally, he stopped as he heard a distant tapping. Sheri bumped into him.
“Sorry,” she whispered. “I wasn’t paying attention. Why did you stop?”
“Listen,” Bin-lu whispered back.
Sheri coc
ked her head and heard the tapping noise, too. They stood silently for several minutes before a smile crossed Bin-lu’s lips.
“That must be Wylan,” he said. “It is the sounds of someone testing the path before him with a cane.”
“Or a staff,” Sheri nodded vigorously. “Let’s be sure.”
Bin-lu nodded as he quietly led the way forward. The sound grew louder. Eventually Bin-lu stopped and held the torch near the ceiling of the tunnel. He peered into the flickering shadows and saw someone approaching. The figure must have sensed that others were in the sewers because he moved swiftly to one side and raised his staff defensively.
“Wylan?” Bin-lu called out anxiously.
“Bin-lu?” replied Wylan with relief evident in his voice. “I am glad to hear you. Sheela is hurt.”
Sheri pushed by Bin-lu and ran up to Wylan. “What happened to her?” sobbed Sheri as she looked at the small figure tossed over Wylan’s shoulder.
“Sheri?” frowned Wylan. “Is anyone else with you?”
“Just the two of us,” replied Bin-lu as he stepped next to Sheri and held the torch so it shined on Sheela. “Is she alive?”
“She is breathing,” nodded Wylan. “Take her Sheri. You must get her to a healer.”
“I did not expect to find you with Sheela in the sewers,” Sheri stated as she gently took Sheela from Wylan’s shoulder. “What happened to her?”
“She was slain by the assassins,” Wylan said bitterly. “I truly don’t know what they did to her, but they had planned to kill her. I am afraid that I killed your friend.”
“My friend?” questioned Sheri. “Who do you mean? How did you get her away from the assassins?”
“Jon was in league with the assassins,” declared Wylan. “He kidnapped her from the factory. I guess he didn’t know that I was there, or he thought that a blind man wouldn’t matter. I followed them through the sewers to their lair.”
“Jon?” cried Sheri. “Are you sure? Why would he do such a thing?”
“I am sure,” nodded Wylan. “I listened to her screams when Jon kidnapped her. I also heard one of the assassins berate Jon for bringing Sheela to the lair. He ordered Jon to kill her and dispose of the body. I attacked Jon on his way to get rid of Sheela.”
“Can you find this lair again?” inquired Bin-lu.
“I think so,” nodded Wylan. “I left Jon’s body next to the entrance. I also jabbed his knife into the wall in case something moved the body.”
“Sheri,” asked Bin-lu, “can you find your way back to the factory and get Sheela to a healer? I want Wylan to show me this lair.”
“We don’t have to go back to the factory,” replied Sheri. “I will go up the nearest grate. I could not carry the torch and Sheela both anyway. We just passed a ladder a hundred paces back.”
“Wait right here, Wylan,” ordered Bin-lu as he turned back and led Sheri towards the ladder.
Bin-lu found the ladder and leaned his torch against the wall. He took Sheela from Sheri and draped the young girl over his shoulder. He carefully climbed the ladder and pushed the grate away. He stuck his head out of the hole and saw that he was in a blacksmith’s yard. An old man and several children stared at Bin-lu as he exited the sewer. Sheri was right behind him, and all of the children recognized her. Bin-lu handed Sheela to Sheri and immediately reentered the sewer. He left the grate open, figuring the children would put it in place.
Back in the sewer, Bin-lu picked up the torch and returned to Wylan. “Lead the way,” he said to Wylan. “Show me where the lair is.”
“I am not sure that it is safe to show you,” frowned Wylan. “The other assassin spoke of trapping the entrance. Perhaps we should just notify Prince Oscar.”
“If you did,” smiled Bin-lu, “they would just call me into the office and tell me to investigate it.”
“You?” questioned Wylan. “Why would they call you?”
“This is something that you must not reveal,” Bin-lu stated sternly. “My life depends upon your loyalty. I now work for Colonel Zackary Nolan. I am part of Special Operations. In fact, I came to search the sewers today for the assassin’s lair and map out all of the access points to the Royal Palace. It is very important that we find the assassins before King Arik returns. We are even prepared to use Prince Oscar for bait to lure them out.”
“I am impressed,” smiled Wylan. “Your secret is safe with me. I think you will do well in your new job.”
“I hope so,” replied Bin-lu. “Lead the way.”
Wylan led the way along the tunnel and up the stairs. He turned and walked several hundred paces before stopping.
“You lead now,” Wylan said. “I think I counted the steps correctly, but I do not want to alarm anyone by tripping over Jon’s body. It should be another hundred paces.”
Bin-lu stepped around Wylan and led the way forward. He listened to Wylan’s staff testing the ground as he reached Jon’s body and saw the knife in the wall. Just past Jon’s body was a narrow cut in the wall. He held the torch into the cut and studied the tunnel.
“Stop,” whispered Bin-lu. “The body is right before you. Hug the right wall until you feel an intersection. I am going in.”
Bin-lu cautiously entered the narrow tunnel, carefully checking the walls and ground with each step. The tunnel only ran for forty paces before it opened up into a large square chamber. There was evidence of a fire ring on the ground and a ladder at the far end of the room. Bin-lu moved towards the ladder as Wylan entered the room, tapping with his staff. Bin-lu held the torch high and studied the ladder. He frowned at the large metal shield wedged under the ladder. As he looked closer, he noticed that the rungs of the ladder were sawn through. He whistled softly to Wylan. The blind man slowly crossed the room and halted when his staff touched the wall.
“Do not move,” Bin-lu warned softly. “We are at the base of a ladder. It is the only way out of this room besides the way we came in. The ladder is trapped to make a racket if anyone tries to use it. They must use a rope ladder to get in and out of the sewers.”
“So it is a dead end,” sighed Wylan. “We cannot even tell where in the city we are.”
“That is how the assassins would like it to be,” smiled Bin-lu as he pulled off his gloves and boots. “I, however, will teach them that they will never be secure in Tagaret. Can you find your way back to the factory?”
“I am not sure,” admitted Wylan. “I counted the steps to where I met you, though. I was too intent on following Sheela’s screams to count paces on the way out here.”
“Return to where you met us then,” instructed Bin-lu. “About a hundred paces past that is a ladder. It will bring you up in a blacksmith’s yard. If there is nobody there to show you the way to the factory, just wait there and I will come for you.”
“What are you going to do?” asked Wylan.
“My job,” answered Bin-lu. “I am going to determine where this ladder leads to and report back to Colonel Nolan.”
Bin-lu clipped his boots and gloves to his belt and extinguished the torch. As Wylan tapped his way towards the sewer, Bin-lu stuck his hands to the wall of the room. He had practiced these moves every night in his room since coming to Tagaret, and he smiled inwardly as he scaled the face of the wall. His hands and feet stuck firmly to the stone wall. He cupped his palms and curled his toes instinctively as he crawled up the wall like a spider. He eased his way into the tower of the room as it narrowed towards the grate. Within seconds he was at the top of the round tower with his face pressed up against the grate. His eyes gazed through the slats of metal. He saw two pairs of boots not far away from the grate. The boots were not unattended. In fact, they had feet in them and he listened to the two guards talking to one another.
The conversation was uninteresting, and Bin-lu moved around the circumference of the tower. From his new perspective, he could see the back of a large mansion. He struggled to locate some identifying mark that would indicate whose mansion it was, but he was unfamiliar with the es
tates of Tagaret.
Bin-lu froze as he heard another voice. It was loud and stern, and Bin-lu cringed at the possibility of discovery. Suddenly, he heard the men guarding the grate move off quickly. He moved completely around the circumference again and could not see any people. Nervously, he pushed up on the grate. He moved the grate to one side and stuck his head out of the hole. Nobody was visible.
Bin-lu quickly scrambled out of the hole and put his gloves on. He eased the grate cover into position and slid his boots on. As he looked around, Bin-lu had the choice of hiding amongst the trees or heading for the mansion. Stealthily, he ran towards the back of the mansion. He removed his gloves and boots again and started scaling the side of the mansion. He climbed quickly to the top floor and peered in the nearest window. The third-floor bedroom was empty, and Bin-lu tested the window. It moved stubbornly, but it was not locked. He opened the window and pulled himself into the room.
Putting his gloves and boots back on. Bin-lu tiptoed to the door and cracked it open. The hallway was empty. He could hear no sounds of human activity so he returned to the room and closed the door. He walked back to the window and gazed out over the estate. The towers of the Royal Palace were visible in the distance, only several blocks away. Colonel Nolan had shown him maps of Tagaret and even had pinpointed several important estates for him. From what he could tell, this estate was not one of the ones he had been told about.
The grounds of the estate were deserted as best Bin-lu could tell. Not a soul could be seen on the grounds at the back of the estate. Yet, he knew that at least three people had to be present. He looked up at the Darkness over the city and gauged the time to nightfall. Seeing that he still had at least two hours before it would be dark enough for him to escape, Bin-lu returned to the door to the hallway.
He cracked open the door again and verified that it was empty. He moved out of the room and stole across the hall. He put his ear to the door and listened for sounds within the new room. He heard nothing and quietly opened the door. His eyes quickly scanned another bedroom and saw that nobody was present. He slid into the room and eased the door shut. Softly he padded to the window and peered out towards the front of the estate.
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