by David Ekrut
“And now my companion is being held by the guardians. They will torture him. Because of your treasons.”
“I am so sorry.” His voice broke. “I beg your mercy. Please. I can help you. I know where they hold their prisoners.”
Even though this had been what she’d hoped to accomplish, Zarah studied the man for several moments, watching his apparitions. As she considered rejecting him, she saw the possible futures change. She blinked in surprise. Some futures were more solid now than they had been before thinking about rejecting him. She considered granting him mercy. Again, the futures changed. Shocked by the revelation, she did her best to smooth the surprise from her face.
“Please,” the farmer said. “I can get you inside the city.”
“How?”
“Every few days I bring fruits and vegetables into Alcoa Commons. It would not be difficult to hide you amongst my wagon.”
“And I am to trust my fate to a traitor?”
Still, she found herself considering his plan. Once more, she saw the futures change.
“Can you really stop the dragons and restore the king’s order?”
“Yes. I believe we can.”
He nodded. Zarah could see the conviction in his eyes. He slid from the chair, kneeling before her as she’d foreseen he would.
“Then please,” he pleaded. “I beg your forgiveness. Let me help you.”
Even though she had already made her decision, she stared down at him for several seconds before saying, “What is your name?”
He met her gaze. “I am Kariland of house Hordfut.”
“Rise Kariland of house Hordfut. I will give you an opportunity to earn the forgiveness you seek. If you betray me, I will strike you down with lightning, the consequences be cursed.”
“Thank you. I will be true to my word, your highness.”
Turning to Kariland’s wife, Zarah said, “See to your children. Kariland and I have much to discuss.”
Pivoting, Zarah walked back toward the common room. After a few seconds, Kariland followed her. She sat near the low fire and said, “Tell me what you know about how they treat their prisoners.”
“They will keep him in the guardhouse near the gate until they decide to execute him. Hangings take place in the southern square, just after the market opens …”
As Zarah listened, she grew more enraged. But she took the news in grim silence.
And she planned.
Chapter 28
First Impressions
Partial Spending, Day 397 of experimentation.
After a month of failures, I have made an important discovery. The dragons’ slumber is most certainly linked to Abaddon’s transcendency. Most importantly, I believe one cannot rise without the other. This means I cannot move forward without understanding the force that balances the other end of this scale. The council would not have agreed to my dealings with him, but I am convinced cooperation is the only way forward. As they say, it is easier to ask for pardoning than permission. I created an artifact to commune with Abaddon, and he has agreed to allow me access to him. In exchange, I have promised to aid him in his own quest for a construct. On the morrow, I will enter his dimensional plane. If I do not return, assume Abaddon has murdered me. Any who finds these notes, please continue my studies.
~Ricaria Beratum, 2996 A.S.
~
Elwin struggled to keep the warrior upright as he limped forward. Daren was, by far, the largest person he’d ever seen. He even made Zaak Lifesong look small by comparison. Elwin felt instant relief when Daren released him and leaned against the backside of a building, which he was surprised to recognize.
“This is the Mountaineer,” he told them.
“Yes,” Jax said, looking down the road behind him. “That big wall right there across the street is part of the estate. When we ran around the manor, we circled back toward this place.”
A few blocks up the way, several men crossed the wall in the same place Elwin had hopped into the street minutes before.
“Thanks for helping with Daren, kid. But if you don’t mind, we have bus—”
“No,” Daren said. “We aren’t leaving him at their mercy.”
“He’s a criminal,” Jax protested.
Daren gave him a flat expression.
“That’s different, and you know it.”
A bolt ricocheted off the cobbles. Jax jumped, cursing.
“Fine, we will argue later.” Jax pointed up. “We need to climb. Are you still able, Daren?”
“Aye,” the warrior said.
“You first,” Jax said to the larger man. “I’ll keep them from sticking another arrow in you.” Then he reached behind a trash barrel and pulled out a couple of crossbows. “Can you shoot, kid?”
Taking the crossbow, Elwin said, “I’ve only ever shot a longbow.”
“Doesn’t matter,” he said, pulling the trigger. “We don’t need to hit any of them. Just make them think twice about rushing in or shooting at us.”
Jax aimed and fired. The bolt struck the cobbles near the feet of one of the men. The half-dozen people scrambled for cover behind homes or crates. When one of them stuck his head out, Elwin shot a bolt. It flew far wide of the mark, but the man still ducked back behind his crate.
“What are you waiting for?” Jax asked Daren. “Get up there.”
The walls were close enough together for Daren to shimmy from side to side. He used his arms and good leg, letting his wounded limb dangle. He moved with surprising speed for one so large.
Jax reloaded his crossbow. “You next, kid. If you’re going, thumping go. Otherwise, this is where we part ways.”
Elwin only needed a heartbeat to consider it. Clearly, these men were thieves, but they also needed help. There was something about them. He couldn’t abandon them here, not to the guardians and that mob. When they reached some place quiet, maybe he could try again with the dimensional folding. His head still ached from the last time he had tried. He’d lost concentration in the midst of the incantation. He’d felt his awareness stretching out, and it had been ripped back to him. It wasn’t something he wanted to repeat. Malekia had not warned him of any dangers, but then again, he’d only been there a few hours. When there was time, he would ask Daki about it.
“I’m going,” he said.
Setting the crossbow aside, he placed a foot on each wall and climbed up, the way Daren had. It was easier than climbing trees. Before reaching the top, Elwin heard Jax loose two more bolts.
Daren’s strong hand lifted Elwin onto the flat roof. There were two barrels next to the ledge, the lids of both askew. A few seconds later, Jax was standing beside him. Elwin blinked. He hadn’t heard him scale the wall.
Jax threw aside the lid to one of the barrels and with Daren’s help, tipped it toward the alley. White sludge splattered along the walls and onto the cobbles below. Once the first container was empty, they tilted the second.
“Grease from pig’s fat,” Jax explained. “It will slow them long enough for us to get back to our room.”
“Room?”
“Come,” Daren said, hobbling away. “You will see.”
It was a short drop to the roof of the next building, which sloped upward before leveling off and coming to an end against a tall building. A rope dangled there, leading to a balcony two stories up. Once again, Daren climbed first, using mostly his arms.
“Hurry, kid. Anyone glancing out a window will end us.”
Elwin took the hemp in both hands and climbed. After a few seconds, he felt the rope shift upward and realized Daren was pulling him up. Once he was on the balcony, they lowered the line for Jax, who climbed with practiced ease.
“Get inside,” Jax ordered as he pulled the rope onto the balcony.
Elwin gave one last glance toward the manor. He could see the large estate beyond the
wall, but the shape of the building below the inn blocked the street from his view. Their pursuers could not have seen them from the road.
But Elwin heard them in the alley. The mob grew angrier by the moment, slipping and falling over one another.
“Go,” Jax prodded, and Elwin complied.
When they were all inside, Jax closed the double-doors to the balcony and took a deep breath. Daren hobbled to a couch and eased onto it. He tore his trousers away from the bolt in his thigh and inspected the wound.
“It isn’t deep,” he said. “And it didn’t strike a main artery.”
“We don’t have time to start a fire,” Jax said, wrapping some cloth around his own bleeding hand, “or to heat a blade to cauterize it.”
Daren nodded then took the bolt in both hands. He set his jaw and yanked the shaft free without so much as a grunt. Blood bubbled out, but it didn’t gush. He ripped a long strip of cloth from his trouser leg and tied it tightly around the wound.
Jax sniffed the bloody tip of the bolt. “I don’t think it was poisoned.”
“No,” Daren agreed. “I would have felt the effects by now.”
“Right,” Jax said. “Change into the robes and let’s get out of here.” As Daren exited into an inner chamber, Jax turned to Elwin. “What is your name, kid?”
He considered lying but didn’t see the point. His face was on bounty posters. “I am Elwin Escari.”
“I’d say it’s a pleasure to meet you, Elwin Escari, but you’ve just cost me a hundred thousand gold. That artifact was going to save lives. Now, I am indebted to the worst kind of people, because of you. Why were you on the manor grounds?”
“Save lives? Are you not thieves?”
“Hardly,” Jax snorted. “I was taking a trinket from a lord with more than ample wealth. To him, the artifact is just a trophy to impress the other lords at dinner parties. To me, it was a way to defeat a tyrant. Now answer my question. What were you hiding from?”
“It does not matter,” he said. “I did not do what they claim. Are we safe here?”
“Don’t change the subject. I say it does matter. You need to start talking.”
Elwin crossed his arms over his chest. “I’m not the one skulking about in other people’s homes. I don’t owe you a thumping thing.”
“Because of you, I lost everything. One way or another, you’ll pay what you cost me.”
“Here,” Elwin said and dug the silver Jax had flicked at him earlier. “For your troubles, kid. Have a drink on me.”
Jax caught the coin with a deft hand. He stared at the silver for a second of bewilderment. He took a step forward, hand cocking back as if getting ready to throw something. “You followed us to the manor. Why?”
“I didn’t. The gate was open, and I had nowhere else to go.”
“You expect me to thumping believe that? You’re going to thumping talk, or I swear by—”
Daren’s door banged open. He emerged half-dressed, holding a tunic like a club. “Stop. Everyone in this inn can hear your squabble. Do you want to bring the mob down on us?”
Jax turned his glare on the Kalicodian. “There would not be a mob, if this kid hadn’t botched our thumping plan.”
“So what was I supposed to do,” Elwin said, “let them catch me and hang me?”
“Yes!” Jax said. “While they were busy ridding Arinth of another fool, we would have been gone from here, actually doing something to help people.”
“You? Help people? You expect me to believe you are stealing thousands of gold for the goodness of others? I saw your bounty posters.”
A dagger had appeared in his hand. “That’s why you followed us. For the bounty.”
“No,” he said, exasperated. “I was running from a thumping mob.”
Daren was between them then, holding a hand out to each of them. Jax tried to move around, Daren would not let him.
“Calm down,” he said, speaking slowly as if to a child throwing a tantrum. “Fighting will help no one. Let us sit and speak of what to do next.” He turned his pleading gaze on Elwin. “Please.”
Elwin took a deep breath and tried to force his anger away as he let it out. He still felt the urge to throttle Jax, but he nodded. “Fine.”
“Jax?” Daren said, slowly.
“Fine.”
“Put the dagger away,” he reminded the man.
Jax flicked his wrist. The weapon vanished. “Satisfied?”
“Thank you.”
Daren chose a wicker chair between the couch. He eased down, favoring his good leg. Once settled, he glanced at Jax, expectantly. The other man’s scowl remained, but he sat on the arm of the couch.
Elwin leaned against the trestle table, ready to try the dimensional folding should Jax make another aggressive move. Why had he even followed them again? Daren seemed like a decent person, and the man was injured.
“Let us begin anew,” Daren said. “I am Daren of the Ironclad.”
“I am Elwin Escari.”
They both turned to Jax. Without standing, he gave a mocking bow. “I am Jaxton, ex-lordling of house Fliste and criminal mastermind, at your service. I fight to free slavas from the injustice of being owned. And now, thanks to y—”
“Jax,” Daren rebuked. “This is not Elwin’s fault. We both know it. Can we speak reasonably now?”
“How is it not his fault?”
Daren sighed. “I did not see you stopping and attempting to reason with the mob. Why is that?”
Jax snapped his mouth closed and glowered at the other man, stubbornly refusing to acknowledge the point.
“Are you really trying to free slaves?” Elwin asked.
“Yes,” Daren said at the same time Jax said, “Slavas.”
Daren continued, speaking over Jax. “They are my people, unjustly held without a means to earn back their honor. We wish to punish those who have wronged them.”
“And the artifact would have helped?”
“It would have.”
Elwin considered Daren for a few seconds. His eyes were earnest. Behind that was deep pain. Before he could stop himself, he said, “I know where you can find more artifacts.”
Jax sat up straighter. “What sort of artifacts?”
“They are priceless,” Elwin said with some reluctance, “and there are many dangers in retrieving them.”
“Where are they?”
Elwin frowned at the other man. Despite the smoldering in his gaze, there was no trace of anger in his voice. Why had he spoken at all, if he wasn’t going to tell him?
“I cannot tell you that.”
Jax began to bristle again, but he took a deep breath and let it out. The anger left him altogether. The transformation was so complete, Jax sounded a different person. “Look, we got off on the wrong foot. I understand why you wouldn’t want to trust me. We need coin, but we are not greedy. You said there are dangers? Let us help you, and we can split the take.”
“I only want a sword,” Elwin said, knowing on the deepest level he would likely come to regret his next words. “If you help us traverse the ruins, you can have whatever else we take.”
Jax raised a questioning eyebrow. “Ruins?”
“I won’t tell more until we meet up with my companions.”
Daren and Jax exchanged a glance. An unspoken agreement passed in their gazes.
“Where are your companions?” Jax asked.
“North of here, near the river.”
“We have to escape the city first,” Daren reminded them.
“And we had not planned on having a third person,” Jax said, standing.
He moved to a chest and pulled out white robes, donning it over his current attire. The breast carried the flame and crook of an inquisitor of the Guardians of Life. Jax produced a second robe and handed it to Daren. His fit a bit ti
ghter. He donned his sword harness over the robe.
“Inquisitors do not carry weapons,” Elwin said.
“This one does,” Daren said.
“We don’t have a third set of robes,” Jax said, “so you are going to pretend to be water.”
“Water?”
“Yep,” Jax said with a smile. “Blessed water intended for the infirm.”
“He means to shove you into a barrel,” Daren said, when it was clear Jax would not be more forthcoming.
“Then what?” Elwin asked.
“Then,” Jax said, “We ride right through the gate.”
“And you think that’ll work?”
“Definitely. We’ve done it a dozen times.”
“With guards searching for you?” Elwin asked.
“Of course. Why else would we need a disguise?”
“What about the mob?” Elwin moved to the window. The square was filled with people searching every nook and cranny. “How will we get past them?”
Jax and Daren looked out with him.
“They’ll probably stop the wagon,” Daren said.
“Not a chance,” Jax said. “They’ll think us guardians. Just stick to the plan. Nothing will go wrong. For once, just trust me.”
A loud knock struck the outer door. As he turned to the noise, Jax’s confident smile faded.
“Open up!” A deep voice called. “In the name of the High Inquisitor!”
“I told you to keep it down,” Daren said. “Someone heard you two arguing.”
“Curse it all to the ninth thumping circle,” Jax said, looking at Elwin as if this was his fault.
Ignoring him, Elwin moved to a window and pushed the curtain aside. Guardians filled the alley and three men with bows stood on the rooftop of the adjacent building. They were on a lower level but could see the balcony clearly.
“We can’t escape this w—”
A hand yanked him backward. Glass shattered. The breath left him as his body slammed to the floor. Jax laid atop him, keeping him from rising.
“Look,” Jax pointed to the arrow in the ceiling.
Daren was ducking low, peering out the window. “We are surrounded.”
