The Seer

by Rowan McAllister

  Ravi’s stomach dropped as he turned in the direction they were staring. He spotted Shura and Mistress Sabin at once and frantically searched the shadows around him.

  Where was Daks?

  DAKS SWORE under his breath as he hunkered down behind a stack of wooden crates. Shura and Fara had just disappeared down an alley, followed by a group of soldiers. While Daks watched, eight of the men split off in another direction, but Ravi had said a dozen, so the others must be swinging around to block them in from the other side.

  Dammit!

  If he’d just waited and gotten a little more information from Ravi, he might not have wasted so much time blundering around in the dark and stopped the incident before it started. He hadn’t even asked what side of the river to check. He’d heard “Shura” and “danger” and lost his senses. But honestly, who knew there could be so many taverns in a pious Rassan town? He’d been slacking on his last trip through here, because he apparently hadn’t gotten drunk in even half of them.

  He blew out a breath and pushed the recriminations aside so he could think. Shura could take care of herself, but not against twelve armed men while trying to protect someone else. Plus, they needed to get out of this with as little bloodshed as possible, and the only weapons she had were her daggers. If any of the guards were killed, the whole company would drop whatever they were doing and come after them, but Shura would choose a quick, lethal strike before allowing herself or Fara to be hurt.

  Leaving his own dagger sheathed at his back, he ripped a cudgel-sized board off one of the broken crates at his feet and hurried after the four men behind the women. If he could neutralize them, they could all slip away before the others caught up. He wished he had a way to get Shura’s attention without alerting the guards in front of him, but he didn’t. And the men were clustered too closely together for Daks to pick them off quietly one by one.

  Brawl it is, then.

  Shura would get the hint soon enough.

  As he ran to catch up, he hefted his makeshift club, testing its balance before swinging it in a controlled arc toward the skull of the nearest guard. The man dropped like a rock. Obviously, his friends spun around at this point, but Daks dropped another one with a shot to the temple before any of them could do more than cry out in alarm.

  The two remaining men reached for their belts, but someone higher up must have wisely forbidden them from drunken carousing in the city while armed, because none of them sported swords.

  Thank the gods for that at least.

  The men did have belt knives, but they’d barely unsheathed them before Daks clocked a third man and the fourth dropped to the ground, revealing Shura behind him.

  “We need to go, now,” Daks said, spinning back the way he’d come.

  Shura didn’t question him; she simply grabbed Fara’s hand and followed.

  Shouts rang out behind them, and Daks gritted his teeth. He hadn’t been fast enough, and the other guards had spotted them. He angled away from the more densely populated area of town, hoping to lose their pursuers in the shadows, but a feminine cry from behind forced him to swing around.

  Fara had been yanked off her feet and away from Shura. The guard who’d caught up to them still held the back of her cloak as Fara struggled to free the clasp at her throat.

  Daks did a quick count. Six men converged on them. The other two must have stayed behind to check on their fellows, but it probably wouldn’t be long before they followed.

  Shura feinted with her dagger at her nearest attacker and used his distraction to get through his guard and crack the heel of her palm under his chin. His head snapped back, and he toppled to the ground. Fara struggled free of her cloak, and without a moment’s pause rolled to the side, grabbed the boot of the nearest man, and yanked him off his feet. The small woman leapt up and struck out at another man with her fists and booted feet barely a second later, her movements a blur.

  She hadn’t been lying. She could take care of herself.

  Though relieved to see it, Daks wasn’t going to let the women have all the fun. He waded into the fray with his club, jabbing at stomachs, cracking arms and wrists, and smashing noses. He didn’t have enough room to really swing his club without endangering the women, but he could still do a fair bit of damage.

  The soldiers obviously hadn’t been expecting all three of them to fight. It took them a few precious moments to understand the danger, but they were recovering quickly, and Daks feared his strikes might have to get deadlier soon. Especially since the noise was drawing unwanted attention.

  Heads poked out of windows and doors, and exclamations of dismay grew louder as lanterns came alight inside darkened houses. One shout for the guard became two and then six and so on, echoing down the streets. They’d have company soon.

  Three of the soldiers had fallen to the ground, leaving the other three still fighting, but Daks spotted the remaining two plus a couple of their recovered fellows running toward them. They were out of time.

  He was just about to shout a warning to the women when the sound of hoofbeats and an angry neigh rent the air. Horse charged into the approaching group of men, scattering them. Daks’s jaw dropped. He threw a glance at Shura, only to find her just as stunned even as she continued to struggle with the man in front of her. Unfortunately, one of the men on the ground chose that moment to rise behind her with his belt knife poised to strike. Daks cried out and lunged toward him, his heart in his throat, knowing he’d be too late. But a second before the guard would have sunk his dagger into Shura’s unprotected side, Ravi emerged from the shadows wielding a brick. He slammed it into the back of the guard’s head and the man crumpled to the ground.

  Daks didn’t have time to spare for more than a relieved smile as he redirected his momentum to barrel into two of the men directly in front of them. Uncaring for any damage he might incur, he tackled them to the street while Shura dispatched the last. The other four were still trying to escape the hooves and teeth of the enraged stallion. Daks had no idea how the beast had untied himself from where he’d left him, how he’d found them, or what had pissed him off, but he was glad Horse seemed to be on their side.

  “Come on!” he shouted to all four of his companions. “We’ll split up and meet back where we left our packs! Go!”

  Shura snagged Fara’s cloak off the ground took her hand again and ran, but Ravi stood frozen in place, staring down at the bloodied guard at his feet and looking a little glassy-eyed. Daks grabbed his wrist and dragged him away. Hopefully, going in opposite directions would slow any pursuit, but he still ducked down as many twisting dark alleys as he could, with Ravi stumbling along behind him.

  At the head of one alley, Daks skidded to a halt, panting. On instinct, he spun on his heel, grabbed Ravi’s shoulders, and shoved him into a recessed doorway. Ravi’s mouth opened, but Daks clapped a hand over it and pressed himself close. With his other hand, he drew the hood of his cloak up, hoping the dark material would hide both of them in the shadows.

  “Stay still,” he whispered breathlessly, his lips pressed against Ravi’s ear as their chests brushed together with each heaving breath.

  Booted footsteps echoed off nearby buildings, and flickering torchlight followed soon after as several men ran along the street nearby.

  Ravi’s gasping breaths warmed Daks’s palm. He drew back enough to search Ravi’s wide eyes, to make sure he was calm enough to stay quiet, then pulled his hand away so the man could get some air. They huddled, pressed closely together in the alley, until the searchers moved on. But even when the threat had passed, Daks wasn’t in any hurry to step away. His lips curled as he was reminded of other times he’d been breathless and wrapped around a man in an alley.

  Good times.

  Ravi shifted slightly, brushing against him, and Daks’s cock twitched despite a slight unpleasant twinge and wetness seeping from his side. A fight like this always left him horny. Shura had explained it quite pragmatically to him once. It wasn’t the blood and the mayhem.
It was facing death and needing to reaffirm life to keep himself in balance with the universe… or something like that. He hadn’t completely understood her Cigani wisewoman speech, but he’d gotten the impression that she was speaking from experience, which meant he wasn’t the only one. That was enough.

  “You shouldn’t be this close. It might trigger a Vision,” Ravi whispered in a somewhat strangled tone, and Daks reluctantly stepped back.

  “Are they gone?” Ravi asked.

  “I think so. Are you all right now? You seemed a little out of it back there.”

  Ravi huffed and moved farther away from him. “I’m fine.”

  “Okay then, let’s go.”

  He didn’t grab Ravi’s wrist this time; he just took off at a fast walk in the opposite direction the searchers had gone, hoping he could swing back, once they’d gotten out of the town proper. He spared one glance to make sure Ravi was following before he broke into a jog.

  By the time they reached the trees past the edge of town, they were both puffing like bellows, but at least he was pretty sure no one was following them.

  “The horse,” Ravi wheezed.

  “I know. He was. Amazing,” Daks panted absently, scanning the darkness around them and trying to get his bearings.

  “No. The mare,” Ravi continued. “I left her. At the. Edge of town.”

  Daks groaned and let his head drop back for a second as he struggled for breath. Too late to cry about it now. They’d lost two horses tonight, since he’d left that gorgeous, wonderful, life-saving white stallion behind as well.

  “Don’t worry. We probably shouldn’t take the road anyway,” he replied as his heart settled a little. “We have the one for our packs. She’ll have to be enough. We can lead her through the woods on foot.”

  “To where?” Ravi asked, his tone dismayed.

  “Away from here. North, probably.”

  “Probably?”

  Daks ground his teeth. “We’ll talk when we catch up with Shura.”

  “Why? Because she’s the only one with a brain?” When Daks made no reply, Ravi growled. “So, that’s it? That’s all you’ve got? Just run into the woods? I swear, you must pray to Ruko, god of mischief and bad luck, every day of your life, because he certainly loves you.”

  “I don’t pray to any gods, particularly not Rassan ones. And I have some ideas of what to do next, but I’d rather talk it out when we’re all together, okay? Does that work for you?” he snapped back.

  Ravi sniffed but didn’t say anything else, and Daks set off into the woods without another word. Luckily, the trees hadn’t filled in with summer growth yet, so he could still catch a glimpse of the moon and stars often enough to keep his bearings.

  “I hope you at least know where you’re going,” Ravi grumbled behind him.

  Daks held his tongue and his temper for two reasons and two reasons only. One, he was tired and had to save his breath. And two, Ravi had saved Shura’s life tonight, possibly twice. For that, Ravi would have his eternal gratitude… or at least enough gratitude to let the sniping roll off his back.

  Their trek to the cabin was blissfully uneventful—not that you’d know it by the grumbling and swearing going on behind him every time Ravi stumbled over a bit of uneven ground or an exposed root in the dark. But as the cursing went on, Daks found himself fighting a smile more and more, his humor returning. The skinny Seer had a mouth on him when riled, Daks had to give him that. He could also admit to finding that a little bit sexy… but again, that might just be the aftereffects of the fight still coursing through his veins.

  He made sure to hide his smile any time he glanced back to make sure Ravi was keeping up, though. No need to add any more fuel to that fire. Ravi might need that energy to make it through the rest of the night.

  When Daks finally stepped out of the trees and into the clearing with the cabin, he skidded to a halt, making Ravi stumble into him from behind.

  “What are you doing?” Ravi griped.

  Daks didn’t reply. He was too busy blinking in disbelief.

  All three of their horses waited placidly for them beside the cabin. The mares had been grazing but lifted their heads at his and Ravi’s approach. Horse stood apart from the others, keeping watch. The beast eyed him with unsettlingly calm eyes that almost seemed to glow in the moonlight, and Daks was helpless to do anything but stare back. Then Horse lifted his head, breaking contact to glance beyond him, and Daks shook himself and turned to find Shura and Fara coming up the track.

  The women were both breathless, their faces anxious, but neither looked injured.

  “Are you all right?” Daks asked, glancing between the two of them.

  “Barely a scratch on us,” Shura replied, narrowing her eyes at him. “But I should probably be asking you that, since you’re the one bleeding.”

  “What?” Ravi exclaimed.

  He stepped in front of Daks, pushed the hood of his cloak back, and studied every inch of him until his gaze locked on something, and even in the moonlight Daks thought he paled.

  Daks glanced down at the spot on his side that had complained for most of his flight from town.

  “Flesh wound,” he said with a shrug as it began to sting now that he’d acknowledged it. “One of ’em got a lucky hit. I don’t think it’s bleeding anymore, and we have bigger things to worry about.”

  Shura pressed her lips together unhappily but didn’t bother to argue. They’d been through this before, and she trusted him to know when a wound was serious enough to need tending. Ravi, on the other hand….

  “Don’t be ridiculous,” Ravi snapped. “If you faint from loss of blood or the wound putrefies, who’s going to make sure I get safely to Samebar? You owe me. You promised.”

  “It’s fine,” Daks argued tiredly. “It’s nothing that can’t wait until we’re a safer distance away and holed up for a rest.”

  Ravi turned to Shura. “And you’re okay with this? He’s your partner. Shouldn’t we at least bind the wound, just to be sure?”

  Shura pursed her lips and regarded Ravi with steady, unblinking eyes until Ravi looked away and threw up his hands. “Fine. Whatever. I don’t know why I bother. You’re all crazy.”

  In the dark, Daks was the only one who caught Shura’s lip twitch as she fought a smile. She stepped past both of them, moved to one of the mares, and began fiddling with the straps.

  “Where will we go now?” Fara asked, breaking the uncomfortable silence that fell after Ravi stopped ranting.

  Before Daks could answer, the sound of ripping cloth came from behind him, and he turned and cocked an eyebrow at Shura.

  “Lift your jerkin and shirt, Vaida.”

  “Shur, we really need to get moving,” he argued.

  “It will take only a few moments. The Vechi is right—we have that much time while we talk.”

  Daks cleared his throat to cover the snort that almost escaped him. Vechi in Cigani was a type of small, irritating bird that was noisy and a general nuisance, but harmless.

  Without further argument, he lifted his bloodied and rent tunic and shirt out of the way. The slash wasn’t deep. He’d known that by the feel alone. It had crusted with dried blood already and only seeped a little from one end. He could have managed without binding it, but it probably would have reopened a bit when he climbed into the saddle.

  As Shura pressed a pad of cloth to it and began wrapping a binding around his middle, he grimaced and said, “I believe the best plan is to keep going north. We’ve unfortunately stirred a hornet’s nest back there, and once they piece together what happened, we’ll be risking a lot if we hang around and try to go back for a boat.” He lifted his gaze to Fara. “I assume you had little luck finding a contact, and that’s why you were gone so long?”

  “Yes.” She threw a glance down at Shura before continuing. “Your man, Emok, died over the winter of a fever, they said. We gently prodded inn- and tavern-keepers for information while I searched the common rooms and squares for familiar
faces, but had no luck. With the influx of soldiers, the town is uneasy and suspicious of strangers. The soldiers are awaiting a contingent of brothers to join them on their journey north. The good news is, none of the Thirty-Six are expected. Lending some credence to the rumors we’ve been hearing. But that’s about all the good news.”

  “Everyone was on edge,” Shura added as she worked. “The soldiers aren’t happy to be saddled with the brothers or with being forced to wait. The townspeople aren’t happy with bored soldiers roaming their streets, drinking and causing fights. That might work to our advantage some, since the elders of the town won’t automatically assume the soldiers are innocent of instigating our little scuffle. Infighting may slow any organizing.”

  Daks hissed as Shura pulled the binding tight and tied it off. “We should still put as much distance between us as we can,” he said, lowering his clothing back in place. “Ravi had a Vision. That’s how we knew to come to you. But that might also have attracted more attention.”

  At Shura’s sharp look, Ravi winced, but he jutted out his chin and asked, “But if they’re all headed north, should we really do the same? Especially if there’s some unknown trouble up there?”

  “We could try to swing south again, but that’s closer to the Finder searching for you and more of the Thirty-Six. Plus, we might run into more soldiers being sent north, not counting the problems with finding a boat big enough to cross the river as it widens closer to the sea,” Daks answered soberly. “I think our best bet is to go north along the Matna until we find a village where we can buy passage across. We don’t have much coin, but we have some fine horseflesh to trade.” He walked over to where Horse stood and patted the animal’s neck and shoulder. “Though I’ll be very sad to walk away from this remarkable fellow, to be sure.”

  “He certainly seems to like you,” Shura said. “How on earth did you find him again?”

  “I didn’t. He came back here all on his own.”