by C S Vass
“You came,” Geoff said with a slight smile. Some pain seemed to disappear from his face.
“Yes, I came.” She brushed his cheek with her hand. “I’m here with you now.”
“I’m glad. Father. They said you would never accept me, but I haven’t lost faith.”
The sting Fiona felt in her heart was almost unbearable. “No, Geoff. It’s me. It’s Fiona. Fiona. I—”
A fit of coughing interrupted her. From the sound of it his lungs were damp with some illness. “Fa—father. I thought you would have come back sooner. I thought when I returned to the city you would have come to me.”
“Geoff, no,” Fiona said in a voice so soft that it was barely audible. “I’m not—”
“We can make things right now, Father. But I have to leave first. Redfire is getting ready to move into the open. I have to help him. He’s surrounded by philosophers and merchants all trying to steal his rebellion from him before it even launches. But father, I need you to know, I need… you—”
Another bout of coughing prevented him from finishing his thought. Fiona felt as if she were doing something wrong. It was important for her to be here for Geoff while he was struggling the most, wasn’t it? But being here meant that she might hear something he wouldn’t want to tel her. She had already snooped on him once, two years ago, and the consequences were nearly tragic. But she didn’t care about the consequences now. She just cared about his right to some privacy and dignity on his deathbed.
While Fiona was trying to decide what to do Geoff went on. “I need you to know, father. I’m not just doing this for Redfire and his city. I’m doing it for Laquath. Once Haygarden is liberated, we will have friends in the east. We will be able to grow strong… together. But I can’t join the rebellion father. I need you… I need you… to… forgive me.”
Geoff’s entire body seized up as his fit of coughing threatened to toss him from his mattress. Fiona held his hand and tried to whisper soothing thoughts into his ear. After a time he seemed to settle, and she was even able to sit him up briefly and get a few sips of water down his throat.
Not yet, she thought desperately. You can’t die yet, Geoff. I’m not ready for that. I still need you. I have something important to do here first. And if you have to, then after I’m done we can die together. But you have to wait for me. Neither one of us should leave the other alone.
“Fiona.” The sound of her name startled her so much that she nearly leapt into the air. Geoff had said it. He was looking right at her.
“I’m here,” she said.
“You don’t know what you’re talking about!” The smile crumbled from her lips as soon as Geoff began speaking again. “Fiona is not her brother, Lady Sandra, and I’m not entirely convinced that he’s done anything wrong either.”
Oh no, she thought. He thinks I’m Sandra Redfire. He thinks it’s two years ago.
“I have made note of your concerns,” Geoff said. “But if I’m being quite honest with you, I can’t see that there is much to support them.”
“Geoff, we shouldn’t talk about this,” Fiona said softly.
“The soundmages observed the girl carefully while she gave testimony. Not one of them believes she was lying. Do you truly think she’s some kind of expert sorcerer to deceive half of Sun Circle’s mages?”
Fiona stroked his head and softly cooed for him to be silent. It wasn’t right to listen to this. She didn’t want to hear it.
“If you really won’t let the matter go, then let me assure you I’m handling it. No, don’t involve your father. The Duke is… don’t make me say it, Sandra. The Duke should not be privy to these conversations. He jumps at every shadow in the city these days. Let me be his defender.
“I don’t believe Fiona to be involved in any criminal activity, but all the same… If the worst is true, if her brother has truly abandoned us and his kidnapping is nothing more than a rouse, well, Fiona may be doing his bidding without realizing it. Sandra—fine, I won’t lie to you, but I implore you not to let this cloud your judgement.
“When I met them at the gate of Sun Circle Fiona was carrying traces of a raexi. No! Do not take this up with me, Sandra. I removed it safely without her noticing. I have every reason to believe that the girl didn’t realize she carried it. What’s more there is absolutely no evidence to suggest that Rodrick planted it on her.”
What was Geoff talking about? She had never heard anything about this, and she had no idea what a raexi was. Sudden feelings started bubbling in her stomach, an uneasy mixture of betrayal and anger.
“I assure you, Sandra, it’s been taken care of. Please do not dwell on it. I’ve succeeded so far, and I will not lock an innocent girl in irons on a mere suspicion.”
“Tell me more,” she pleaded. “Geoff, what’s a raexi? It’s me, Sandra! I don’t know what a raexi is! I need you to tell me! Please? Geoff!”
The old knight was snoring heavily.
“Shit,” she muttered under her breath. What had that all been about? If she was compromised with some strange type of magic, then why wouldn’t somebody have said something.
Feeling depressed she decided to leave Geoff for the moment. Fiona found that her feelings were surprisingly hurt by his decision to not let her know that he had suspected some kind of dark magic had compromised her at one point even if it did all turn out okay.
The next couple days went by without much change in their situation. Geoff continued to hover in that realm between life and death though it seemed his confusion had come to an end. Fiona spent most of the time by herself or sitting with Geoff.
Ever since the night of the meeting Jet had acted as if nothing had happened, and Fiona didn’t know whether to be grateful or hurt by that so she simply shrugged and tried to avoid him. She supposed she was glad to have her first kiss before she died, but weren’t people supposed to talk about those things when they happened? There were always lechers like Donyo Brownwater who made light of the more tender side of human interaction, but Fiona had been under the impression that people who were, well, normal, behaved a bit differently. But what did she know?
She also avoided Harken. Every time she saw his cheery face she felt like a burden. Just a stranger who had dragged death inside his house and was probably going to march his son off to die as well. When he made them supper, she ate quickly and returned to Geoff’s side, using him as a type of human shield so that she wouldn’t have to interact with Harken and Jet.
All of that ended when the summons came.
Chapter Fourteen
Two days later Fiona found herself outside of a cave that formed at the edge of the swamp with five rebels plus Jet. None of them had spoken much during the meeting, and all refused to give their names because everything they were doing was supposed to be on a need to know basis, so Fiona had given them all new names in her head: Freckles, Drool, Firecrown, Tooth, and Dogface. It was at least enough to amuse herself while they endlessly went over the logistics of their situation.
“Fiona!” Drool barked. “Were you listening?”
The group was crouched low in the tall grass outside of the cave.
“You’ve said the same thing fifteen times by now, but despite that yes I’ve managed to listen,” she said.
Tooth was unconvinced. “We’re going over it again. We’re only going to get one shot at this and I don’t want any screw-ups. Thanks to information gained from one of Lord Raejo’s men that we bribed, we know that underneath the prison is an intricate system of sewers that tunnel down into this cave. There’s a secret entranceway, long forgotten, that we can use to access the prison.”
Fiona felt like she was back at Clearwater Academy in Haygarden’s Leaf District. “And we know that whoever you bribed didn’t just take your money and then tip off an entire group of soldiers to wait for us at the entrance because…”
Dogface grinned and patted his tunic. “Because I have the money and the soldier is tucked away in a warehouse eagerly awaiting our successful retu
rn.”
“Splendid,” Fiona rolled her eyes. For all of their extensive details it didn’t seem to be much of a plan. Nobody knew exactly what would be waiting for them inside the prison. They were basically banking on being able to covertly kill any guards that they came across and arm enough prisoners that if the alarm was raised, they could stand a fighting chance. Freckles, a bear of a man, had about twenty blades forged from cheap iron carefully rolled up and strapped to his back for distribution.
“I know what you’re thinking,” Jet whispered. “But there’s no way we can know what’s inside without doing this. That’s why it’s only us. Few enough that if we die, it won’t matter too much. Still, at least one of us needs to survive if this thing goes bad so that we can tell the others what we learned.”
Fiona wanted to tell him that if the mission went bad, they’d be sweeping the ashes of Barrowbog into the swamp with a broom, but she didn’t quite have the heart. All of them seemed so sure of themselves, but she didn’t have the slightest idea why or how. It was a suicide mission. But with so little time left for her, what did it really matter?
“Remember,” Drool continued. “We have the advantage of true loyalty on our side. Raejo’s men are nothing better than boot-lickers who are in that fortress to earn enough for a few bottles of ale and a night in the whorehouse. They don’t want to die for that shithead. But they will if they get in our way. Because we believe in this enough to die. I believe in all of you.”
The group grew solemn. The sun was hot, and the air was moist. Fiona was confused as to why they wouldn’t wait until night but Drool had insisted that it wouldn’t matter inside the caves, and they’d be less likely to suspect an attack during the daytime. “Besides,” he said. “Would you rather have to have some wide-eyed sober night guard, or some lout who wants his shift to end so he can stuff his face with meat and booze until he passes out?”
Fiona didn’t quite understand, but there were a lot of things these rebels said that she didn’t quite understand. If it was good enough for Jet, then it was good enough for her.
“It’s time,” Drool said at last. “When we’re in these caverns, make absolutely no noise unless it’s necessary. I’ll cut the tongue out of the first idiot I hear running his mouth if it’s not to tell me about an ambush.”
So just like that the group moved into the cave. It was amazing how quickly the darkness swallowed them. She had barely gone ten paces when the light from the outside was reduced to a mere dot. Fortunately Freckles was prepared and led the way with a torch.
The floor of the cave was slick with mud and guano. Fiona placed her feet carefully, determined not to fall into the sludge. “Are we about to get greeted by a thousand shrieking bats?” she whispered to Jet.
The rebel shook his head. “Nothing lives in these caves. Ever since Lord Raejo’s mining expeditions more and more sulfurs and poisons have escaped from the bowels of the earth. We should be okay just passing through but if we were to stay here for a few days, the toxins would kill us.”
Wonderful, she thought, not at all excited by the prospect of breathing whatever poisons lingered in this foul place.
“Quiet!” Dogface barked.
The path soon began to twist and turn while descending downward more sharply. Fiona was reminded of the descent into the sewers of Haygarden during her journey to Sun Circle. Down there she knew to expect reekers with their bulbous ugly bodies and strange vertical mouths lined with rows of teeth. What horrors would await her here, in the bowels of Morrordraed’s swamps, she could only imagine. She loosened the demon-pommel blade in its sheath.
Up ahead Freckles swore, tearing Fiona from her thoughts.
“What?” Jet asked.
“Dead end.”
So it was. The tunnel they had walked transformed into a larger cavern and there was no obvious place to proceed. “The bastard lied,” Tooth said.
“The bastard did not lie,” Dogface insisted. “He knows what will happen to him if he did. No, there’s got to be a way to continue on.”
The group had no immediate answers. With only one torch they were forced to watch Freckles move slowly throughout the cavern, searching for any way to proceed. Slowly he traced the walls of the cave, sometimes stopping to tap and listen or sniff the air. At last, he shouted triumphantly.
“Here,” Freckles said. “There’s a path on the other side of these rocks. I can air coming through it.”
“Careful where you’re sniffing,” Jet said. “The air down here is toxic.”
“Toxic,” Freckles agreed. “And explosive. We’re going to blow through this wall.”
“Blow through the wall?” Dogface said. “I hope you remembered to bring some bloody rune-bombs then.”
“I did not,” Freckles confessed. “However, we can make one. We don’t need parchment. We can create the rune right here on the surface of the rock. If the symbol is drawn correctly, then we should be able to use the torch to ignite it.”
“Good,” Dogface said. “Then I trust you’re ready with a pot of ink?”
Freckles grinned maliciously. The fire sent shadows dancing across his face. “There’ll be no need for that. I learned another way from my father who learned in turn from his.”
“And what exactly is this mythical way to create rune-bombs without ink?”
“Blood.”
Fiona frowned in distaste, but the rest of the group seemed not to share her scruples. Dogface nodded. “Very well then. Will yours be sufficient or is this going to turn into a group effort?”
“I’d say the two of us should be sufficient,” Freckles said. “So long as you do exactly what I tell you.”
Dogface nodded and Freckles took out his knife. “Give me a moment,” Freckles said. “I want find the best possible spot to place the rune.”
While the two men observed the wall Fiona saw Jet looking at the entrance to the cavern. “Do you hear that?” he whispered.
Fiona strained her ears. Silence.
“What are you two plotting over there?” Firecrown asked as he stepped towards them. “You better not be—”
Suddenly Firecrown screamed and was on the ground rolling and clutching his eyes. In the faint flickers of torchlight it was impossible to see exactly what was happening. Fiona rushed to his side and saw some muddy substance covering his face.
“Fiona!” Jet yelled as he shoved her hard. Fiona stumbled as she watched a projectile fly through the air past her and splatter against a wall.
“What the hell is going on over there?” Dogface yelled.
“I’m blind!” Firecrown screamed from the ground.
Fiona tried to determine where the attacks were coming from but the darkness was impossible to see through. Drool and Tooth lifted Firecrown up and helped guide him away from the tunnel. “It’s burning, it’s burning,” he howled.
“Fiona! Jet! Can you handle that?” Dogface shouted.
“Just hurry up,” Fiona yelled back. She and Jet watched the cavern carefully. Something making strange suction noises approached.
The creature that emerged was like nothing Fiona had ever seen before. She looked like a woman, but warped and mutilated into something no woman should be. Her head was stooped to the ground and her haunched legs were impossible skinny and covered in mud. Thick dirty hair draped her body and hid her face.
“Welda’s home not for filthy humans,” the creature snarled. “Welda will tear the meat from your bones. Welda will crack the marrow from your bones.”
Before Fiona could respond Welda scooped a heap of mud from the ground. It glowed red in her hand like a hot coal, and she flung it hard at Jet, who moved his head just in time to avoid the same fate as Firecrown.
Fiona wasted no time. Trying to prevent Welda from scooping another glob of mud she shot forward striking the demon-pommel blade like a spear in front of her body. Welda moved impossibly fast. Crawling on all fours like some foul arachnid she scurried past the blow. In an instant she hurled another glob of
mud towards Fiona that hit her right in the arm.
The force of the blow almost caused her to drop her sword, but it was the burning that came after that truly hurt. Desperately she began hacking at the cloth of her sleeve and slipped it off. The skin of her arm was red and throbbed painfully.
Welda looked at Fiona with pure hatred. All of her teeth were razor thin and so long that she couldn’t keep her mouth closed. “Welda will cook you in mud, squeeze the juice from your eyes. Welda will crack your bones like twigs!”
“What is your thing with bones?” Jet yelled as he ran forward, slashing rapidly. The Welda creature surprised Fiona by contorting its body with the rapidity of lightning and managed to dodge each blow successfully.
Thrusting her head like a wolf Welda snapped her jaws at Jet’s arm. Jet cursed as her needle-like teeth latched onto him, but when faced with Fiona’s demon-pommel blade slashing at her head Welda was forced to withdraw before doing serious damage.
Fiona wanted to see what the rest of the rebels were doing that was preventing them from helping her and Jet, but she couldn’t risk taking her eyes off the creature. She could only assume they were aiding Firecrown, as his screams echoed throughout the cavern.
“Welda will suck—”
Not wanting to hear more of the creature’s threats and eager to finish the fight Fiona flew at Welda once more. The demon was fast—far faster than Fiona—but its movements were repetitive. Fiona lulled it into a pattern by attacking with the same slash and stab attacks several times over. Then, feinting the next move, Fiona’s blade twisted in her hands and found its way into Welda’s belly.
The creature shrieked like nothing Fiona had ever heard and rather than retreat from the sting of the steel it tried to push through it and take a bite out of Fiona’s neck. Surprised, Fiona lost her footing and as she stumbled Welda pushed forward even as Fiona’s sword drank her blood.
Fiona couldn’t stop the momentum. Even weakened and on the verge of death Welda was still incredibly powerful and nothing was stopping it from sinking its teeth into Fiona’s exposed flesh.
