The souls in question belonged to Sebastiane’s older sisters. They had vanished when she was ten. No one knew what had happened to them, but there were rumors. Rumors of a wizard that had needed twin girls for a forbidden spell done only twice before in all history. A spell to bring great power to a mere herb-witch. Enough power to allow the wizard to taste other magics.
The spell was forbidden because not only did the girls have to die but their souls were imprisoned. Imprisoning souls was a very serious offense if you never intended to let them go.
Sebastiane, the child, had been an apprentice thief and had little hope of confronting such a powerful wizard. But Sidra Ironfist, mercenary and master thief, had a chance.
The little girl of long ago had vowed to Magnus of the Red Hand, god of assassins and god of vengeance. The vow had held firm for fifteen years until she sat only an hour’s ride from the wizard who had murdered her sisters.
The hatred of him was gone, killed in the years of surviving. Her sisters’ faces were distant things that she couldn’t always see clearly. But the vow remained. Sebastiane had come for the bones of her sisters.
The wizard’s death would be an added sweetness, but she was no true warrior to go seeking blood vengeance. She was a thief at heart, which is a more patient and practical creature. Her goal was to rescue her sisters’ souls from the spell. The wizard’s death was secondary.
She had left Sidra’s friends behind, all save one, Milon Songsmith. The minstrel leaned back in his chair, a grin on his face. He drained his fourth tankard of ale and grinned wider. He was her bard and had been so for eight years. He had made Sidra Ironfist a legend, and his own talents were in great demand.
He would follow her until she died, and then perhaps he would find another hero to follow.
Sidra had not denied him the right to come on this adventure. If she died here, then Milon would sing of it. There were worse things to leave behind than songs.
But somehow she was not the perfect vengeance seeker she had wanted to be. Her life seemed more precious now than it had fifteen years ago. She wanted to live to see her mercenary band again. Black Abe was all right for a temporary command, but he let his emotions carry him away at awkward times. Sidra had welded them into a fighting force that any king in the civilized lands would welcome. Gannon the Sorcerer, Brant the Ax, Emil Swordmaster, Jayme the Quick, and Thetis the Archer. She would have Black Abe’s heart if he let one of them die without just cause.
Sidra waved the barmaid away when Milon called her over for the fifth time. “You’ve had enough, Songsmith.”
He flashed a crooked smile. “You can never have enough ale or enough adventure.” His rich tenor voice was precise, no slurring. His voice never betrayed him no matter how much he drank.
“Any more ale and there won’t be any adventuring tomorrow, at least not for you. I am not going to wait all morning while you sleep it off.”
He looked pained. “I would not do that to you.”
“You’ve done it before,” Sidra pointed out.
He laughed. “Well, maybe once. To bed then, my dear Sidra, before I embarrass you any further.”
Morning found them the first ones up. They were served cold meat and cheese by a hollow-eyed barmaid. She clasped a shawl around her nightdress, obviously intending to go back to sleep after they had gone. But she brought out some fresh, though cold, bread and dried fruit. And she did not grumble while she did it.
They walked out into a world locked in the fragile darkness just before dawn. The air seemed to shimmer as the dark purple sky faded to blue and the stars were snuffed out like candles in a wind.
Milon drew his cloak about him and said, “It is a chilly morning.”
She did not answer but went for the horses. The stable boy stood patiently holding the reins. Sidra had paid extra for such treatment, but it was worth it to be off before curious eyes could see.
Sidra led the way and Milon clucked to his horse. He and the horse were accustomed to following Sidra without knowing where they were going, or why. The forest trail they followed turned stubbornly away from their destination. Not even a deer path led to where they wanted to go. Then, abruptly, the trees ended. It was a clearing at least fifty feet across. The ground was gray as if covered in ash. Nothing grew in it. Grass and wildflowers chased round the edges but did not enter. In the middle of the ash circle was a tower. It rose arrow straight toward the brightening sky. The first rays of sun glimmered along it as if it were made of black mirrors.
The tower was all of one shining ebony piece. There were no marks of stone or mortar; it seemed to have been drawn from the earth whole and complete. Nothing broke its black perfection. There was no door or window.
But Sebastiane the thief knew that there was always a way in. It was only a matter of finding it. She led the way onto the ash ground and Milon followed. The horses were left loosely tied to the trees some distance away. If neither one of them came back, the horses could eventually break loose and find new homes.
The ground crunched underfoot as if it were formed of ground rock. And yet it couldn’t be stone; stone did not crumble to ash. Milon whispered to her, “Demon work.” She nodded, for she felt it, too. Evil clung to the black tower like a smothering shroud.
Sidra stood beside the tower. She laid her shield on the ground and knelt beside it. She ran hands down the scars of her arms. The scars were far too minor to be battle wounds.
She unlocked the sword guard that held the short sword in place. Rising of its own accord, it sprang to her hand. And the sword laughed, a tinny sound without lungs to hold it.
Milon shifted and moved far away from the naked blade.
Sidra noticed it and politely moved so he would not see the entire ritual. This was one thing that her bard did not like to sing about.
The sword crooned, “Free, bare steel, feel the wind, ahhh.”
Sidra said, “Our greatest task is before us, blood blade.”
The sword hissed, “Name me.”
“You who were Blood-Letter when the world was new. You who were Wound-Maker in the hands of a king. You who were Soul-Piercer and took the life of a hero. You who were Blood-Hunger and ate your way through an army. I name thee blade mine, I name thee Leech.”
It chortled, “Leech, Leech, I am Leech, I live on blood, I crave its crimson flow, I am Leech. So named, power given.”
Sidra had risked her soul five years ago to name the sword. But it had seemed inordinately pleased from the very first at such a name as Leech.
Milon had complained that it wasn’t poetic enough. But she left the poetry to the minstrel. Her job was to survive.
The blade whispered, “Feed me.”
Sidra held the blade out before her, naked steel at face level. She pressed the flat of the blade between the palms of her hands. She spoke the words of invocation. “Feed gently, Leech, for we have much work to do.”
There was always that moment of waiting when Sidra wondered if this time the sword would take too much and kill her. But it bobbed gently between her hands. The razor-sharp blade brought blood in a sharp, painful wash down her hands. But the cut was narrow, slicing just below the skin. The blade said, “Sacrifice made, contract assured.”
Sidra ignored the wound. It would heal in a moment or two to become another scar. She did not bother to clean the blade, as all blood was absorbed cleanly. For it truly did feed.
She resheathed the blade, and it hummed tunelessly to itself, echoing up through the leather sheath. Sidra set to searching the black stone with her fingers. But she found nothing. It was like touching well-made glass without even a bubble to spoil its smoothness.
There was nothing there, but if illusion hid the door, then Leech could find it. She bared the humming sword and said, “Find me a door, Leech.”
The humming picked up a note to a more cheerful tune. She recognized the tune as the new ballad of Cullen Tunemaster. Leech seemed very fond of Cullen’s tunes.
They pace
d the tower three times before the sword could make the door visible to her. It looked ordinary enough—just a brown wooden door with metal studding. It was man height.
“Can you see the door now, Milon?”
“I see nothing but blackness.”
Sidra reached her hand out toward him, and he moved to take it. Leech fought her left-handed grip and slashed at the man. Sidra jerked the sword sharply, “Behave, Leech.”
“I hunger. You did not feed me.”
“You did not ask.”
It pouted, “I’m asking now.” By the rules she could have refused it, for it had done its task. But keeping the sword happy assured that she could wield it and live; doing both was not always easy. An unhappy blood blade was an untrustworthy blood blade. She held the blade against her left forearm and let it slice its own way into the skin. It was a mere nick of crimson. She offered her hand once more to Milon.
A drop of sweat beaded at Milon’s hairline, and he took her hand tentatively, as far from the sword as possible. “I can see the door.” He released her hand and backed away from the sword once more.
Sidra knelt before the door, but before she could touch the lock, she noticed that the door moved. It wasn’t much of a movement, just a twitch like a horsehide when a fly settles on it. She asked the sword, “What is it?”
“It is an ancient enchantment not much used now.”
“What is the quickest and quietest way to win past it? The wizard will notice us setting his door on fire.”
“True, but would you rather chop through that much meat? Even I cannot kill it, only damage it. Oh, it would be a glorious outpouring of Mood. But it would not be quick.” It sounded disappointed.
Sidra hated to use the day’s only fireball so early on.
She hoped she would not need it later. She faced the door and pointed the sword’s tip toward it. A fireball the size of her fist shot from it. It expanded in a whirling dance of heat. The wildfire exploded against the door. A high keening wail sounded. When the fire died away, the door was a blackened hull encircling the doorway. The ruined door was screaming.
The sword said, “Such work deserves a hearty meal.”
Sidra did not argue but let the blade slice over her left wrist. The vein was slashed and blood welled dark and eager over the hungry blade. It stayed near, lapping at the wound until it closed.
“Follow close, Milon, but be wary. Not everything in a demon-made tower will be civilized enough to know you for a bard.”
He nodded. “I have followed you into many adventures. I would not miss this one out of fear.”
She said, “Then come, my brave bard, but watch your back.”
She stepped over the blackened door rim of the door creature. It whimpered as she and the sword passed through it. They stood in a circular chamber made of the same black rock. But a staircase made of good gray stone curved downward in the center of the room.
“Light the lantern here, Milon, and carry it high.”
The lantern’s flickering yellow light soon danced in the small room.
Sidra led the way and tripped the first trap. Three darts clanged against her shield and fell to the steps. She knelt carefully, shield up and alert. The dart’s tips were blackened with a thick tarry substance. She did not touch it.
She spoke for Milon’s benefit. “Poisoned. Don’t touch anything unless you have to. Watch where you step.”
Sidra found the next trap and tripped it with the sword. A spear shot out and buried itself into the stone of the far wall. It would have taken her through the chest. And still the stone stairs wound deeper into the earth. There was nothing for a long time save the lantern’s golden shadows and their footsteps echoing on the stairs. Then the stairs ended at a small landing in front of a door. But there was one last trap. And Sidra was not at all sure she could trip it without being harmed.
She studied it for a time, directing Milon to point the lantern here and there. There were six separate pressure points on the stairs that she had found. They were set in a pattern that would make it difficult if not impossible to walk the last five steps. They could jump, but Sidra didn’t trust the landing either. And they were too far away for her to find traps on it yet.
She could not pass the stairs, but the sword could. If it would do it. Moving without human aid was something Leech did not prefer to do. Only twice before had she asked it to and each time the blood price had been high.
“Leech, I want you to set off the traps on the stairs and then come gently back to my hand.”
“Payment,” it whispered.
“Blood, as always.”
“Fresh blood,” it asked.
She offered the blade her naked arm, but it remained unmoving against her skin. “What do you want, Leech?”
“Fresh blood.”
“I’m offering it to you.”
“Fresher blood, new blood.”
Milon said, “Oh, no, no.”
Sidra said, “I agree. You are my weapon. You taste my blood, no one else’s.”
“When we kill, I taste blood.”
“I will not sacrifice Milon to feed you.”
She could almost feel it thinking, weighing its options. “A taste, a fresh taste, just a nick, just a bite.”
Milon said, “No, absolutely not. That steel monster is not going to taste my blood.”
Sidra sighed and said, “Then I will attempt to remove the traps.”
He gripped her arm. “You said you couldn’t do it.”
“I said that I didn’t see how I could do it without getting killed.”
“It’s the same thing.”
“No, it isn’t.”
“I can’t let you be killed.”
She just looked at him, waiting for him to make up his mind.
He shuddered and held out his arm. She unlaced the sleeve and pushed it back to bare the pale skin. The sword chuckled. “Just a taste, just a bite, just a nibble.” She held the sword firmly two-handed, for she didn’t trust it, and placed it against Milon’s arm. The sword bit deep and quick like a serpent’s strike. Milon cried out, and opened his eyes to stare in horror as the blade lapped up his blood. The wound quickly closed and the sword sighed, “New blood, fresh, good, yum.”
Sidra felt that the last was added for Milon’s benefit. Milon took it very seriously. He yanked down his sleeve and said, “Yum or not, that is the last of my blood you ever get, you bloodsucking toothpick.”
The sword laughed.
Sidra pulled Milon back up the stairs and then released the blade. It settled onto the first pressure point. A rain of poisoned darts filled the hall like black snow.
Leech floated back to her, obediently. “I have cleared the way, O master.” Sidra ignored the sarcasm and led Milon to the landing. It was not trapped. But the door was.
The poisoned darts were soon removed. And the well-oiled lock clicked under her pick. The door opened into a short straight hallway. Doors dotted the walls in geometric lines to right and left. Torches were set at regular intervals along the walls. In the still air there was the sound of chanting.
Milon started to blow out the lantern, but Sidra stopped him. She spoke close to his ear so the sound wouldn’t carry. “We may need light if we have to leave quickly.”
The sword started to hum in time to the chanting and she hushed it.
Sidra stared at the floor and said, “Place your feet exactly where I place mine.”
He nodded to show he had understood and then concentrated on following her over a five-foot-wide area of floor. She let out a breath of air as if she had been holding it. He relaxed as well, stepping back just a half step. The floor fell out from under him and he was tumbling backward helplessly. Sidra caught his arm, but his weight pulled them both downward. He was left dangling over a pit, and she on her stomach, holding him by one arm. The torches glimmered off silvered spikes set into the floor of the pit.
She hissed, “I told you to walk where I walked.”
“Let
us argue this later. Pull me up.” She did, rubbing her shoulder. “You’re lucky you didn’t dislocate my arm.”
He shrugged an apology and picked up the fallen lantern.
The chanting seemed to be coming from the last door on the right-hand side. They were only three doors away from it when Sidra stopped the bard with a hand movement and knelt to study the floor. She shook her head, sending light bursts from her helmet to the walls. She said, “When I say jump, leap forward as fast as you can.”
“Why?”
She stared at him a moment and then looked upward.
He would have missed it, but with her gaze to direct him, he saw the portcullis spikes ready to come crashing down. He swallowed and said, “When do we jump?”
She stood beside him and said, “Now.” They stepped forward and flung themselves across the stones. Sidra rolled easily, coming to her feet before the spikes had bitten into the floor. They were trapped.
There was a swimming in the air near the torches in one corner. Sidra pointed Leech at it and concentrated. Illusions bled near fire. A demon stood at the end of the hallway.
He was perhaps eight feet tall, fairly short for an ice demon. His scales were the color of new frost and winked in the light like diamond glints on snow. His teeth were ivory daggers. His four arms were crossed over his chest and his tail rustled over the floor. He grinned and said, “Welcome.”
His bat-ribbed ears rolled into tubes and then unrolled. “I would speak with you before we fight.”
Sidra found herself staring into its smooth blue eyes, no pupil, just empty blue like a frozen lake. Peaceful.
Milon gripped her arm and pulled her back. “Sidra.”
She shook her head roughly and faced the demon in a fighting crouch, shield close, sword ready.
He said, “Perhaps you are right. Enough talk, let us fight.” He strode forward and said, “And you, bard, I know the rules; by touching her, you gave up your safe conduct.”
“I do not regret what I did, ice demon. You cannot harm me if you are dead.”
[Anita Blake Collection] - Strange Candy Page 20
