A Leaf and Pebble

by Andrew Monroe

  This time, Volant hit my arm. “What kind of mastermind are you? First and longest look, and you don’t notice they only have candles? And, of all the resources at your disposal, you’ve got a wind dancer?” He looked at me incredulously, though a wry smile barely visible. “Nil. You are the worst.”

  “Whatever,” I responded. “Let’s get this done before someone comes up here.” As if they were waiting for their cue, footsteps sounded around the corner. I cursed under my breath.

  There was nowhere to hide, and nowhere to go but out. Volant flashed a couple hand signs my way. Too late. Quick. Hard. Silent, the fingers flicked.

  At least, that’s what it seemed he had conveyed. It was pretty dark up here, and I couldn’t be sure. Not knowing what else to do, I signaled back an affirmative.

  A man appeared, candle in one hand, a cigar in another. For what felt like the first time ever, luck was actually smiling on us and the man looked back the way he came when he stepped into the narrow hall. We both sprang forward at the poor Guard, only our flapping cloaks warning him. Before he completed his turn back, my arm was wrapped around his neck, cutting both air and circulation. Volant tackled both the Thumper and I, wrapping his arms and legs around us both in a crushing bear hug. After a heart-thudding eternity, the man finally went limp and unconscious. A strip of cloth in the mouth, and our increasingly useful rope tied about him, he was dragged back and put out of the way.

  “Next part’s all you, friend,” I said with a pat. Volant shook out his hands and started down the stairs. “We’re right behind you. The trap door is just a few paces away.”

  The four of us lined up beside the stairs leading down to the main room. Volant wound his arms in huge, slow circles. If anyone looked up towards the stairs, he’d be seen immediately. Faster and faster his arms spun, until his body moved with the motion. His arms blurred. The process was as silent as a lover’s whisper. If anything gave us away, it’d be our breathing. The air pressure began to build.

  “Where’s Parsons?” a voice said from around the corner.

  Pivoting with hands flung in front of him, Volant launched what felt like a small tornado into the room. Cries of fear cut through the gusting wind when darkness engulfed the hall, and everything smaller than a child was flung about in the furious typhoon. Within the chaos, we rushed into the dark room, shoving men and furniture aside in a mad rush to the trap door. We clung together until I found the handle and pulled the door open.

  We all fell into the tight, spiral stair within moments of Volant’s assault on the room, precious seconds lost to my fumbling fingers. Men shouted at each other from above, but no one had noticed a few extra bodies in the pitch-black room penetrating into the heart of their base. From the sound of it, half the room thought they were under attack, and had rushed out to defend the front door. The other half thought it was a prank, and were still laughing. I eased the trap door fully shut, and we began sneaking down the stone stair undetected.

  “That. Was. Insane,” panted a trembling sister.

  We all agreed, huffing and puffing while our hearts all attempted to escape our chests. When we’d all caught our breath, we moved further into the first sub-section of the underground headquarters. To my surprise, neither the cells nor the inventory room were the first rooms we found. Once the candle we took from the unfortunate and hopefully unconscious Thumper was lit, we found a sprawling kitchen, a locked armory, and dozens of cozy looking bedrooms. There was even a library, though small in comparison to most. At the end of the hall, another trapdoor sat, open and inviting.

  Twenty-three

  “Looks like we get to go further down. Let’s hope there’s not too many more of these,” Volant said.

  I nodded in agreement and headed down. The second sub level finally had what we were looking for. Along with another set of rooms, a dry food storage, and even a multi-purpose training room, an inventory cage hid, taking up a whole side of the floor. Ensconced torches multiplied our visibility and cast flickering light about the room. Rows of wooden shelves marched end to end in the confiscated materials room. Glistening metal winked in contrast to the shadowy depths of the room. Books, weapons, boxes, and clothing made up most of the piles. Other equipment sprinkled the shelf space, too varied to be organized.

  “Quick, and grab anything that seems flammable. Let’s find that sword,” I said. Volant went left, and I went right. The rapier was waiting on the third row I checked. My knives didn’t turn up, but hanging on a peg at the end of the same row was a bandolier that looked similar to Rook’s filled with small uniform throwing knives. I slung both it and the rapier over my shoulder with a silent thanks.

  Volant signaled when he’d decided we’d overextended our stay, and we met back up at the front of the room. None of us were empty handed. Joy had found a hat she wore and my heart skipped a beat. Seriously, my love for hats went too deep. That then led me down the path of wondering where Thecily was, and wishing I could see her. Mentally chiding myself about time and place, I tossed Volant his rapier. “Here we are. Ready to go?”

  He plucked his father’s heirloom blade out of the air and grinned. “I think so, couldn’t find my bow, but this is more than enough.”

  “And so, we carry on!” Joy punctuated her joy with a raised fist, grinning wickedly.

  “So we do,” I replied matching her grin.

  The prisoner cells were easy to find, and thankfully there were only four doors. We made quick work of the locks, and told the men and women within to hurry, as there was only so many weapons in the armory upstairs. And, we were going to burn the place down rather shortly.

  Once we had cleared the cells, I touched a flame to each cot, and we hustled back up to the next floor. Above us, we heard shouts and cries, but there was work to do. Each of us went to a room, setting as many objects aflame as we could. Up to the next level, and fires were lit in the remaining rooms. Smoke chased us out the trap door, masking our exit and nearly choking me to death. The room was empty. The sounds of a brawl echoed from outside.

  Instead of heading out the only ground level entrance, we charged up the stairs again to the alcove. Our unconscious Guard, Parsons they’d called him, was nowhere to be found. Smoke was sneaking up to us here as well, dark and thick. No one hesitated. Back out the way we came in, and the only difficulty was catching Joy as she dropped from the ledge. I was nearly dumbfounded how easy it’d been.

  “On to the Councilman’s?” asked a sister.

  It was tempting. But it was also suicide. For one, he probably had a bona fide heavy hitting squad with Learners on the payroll. Without something similar, we’d be dead before reaching the door. “I don’t think so,” I responded after weighing our options. “We’d have more trouble than it’s worth. And,” I said with a gesture to Volant who looked about to interrupt, “killing him would certainly ruin the rest of our lives. We will need far more help to go after an official and get away with it. We were unbelievably lucky tonight.”

  No one argued, so we continued back to the relative safety of our straw-bed cave. We arrived without incident. A minor miracle in its own right. Our borrowed clothes reeked of smoke so we dumped them into one of the small tributaries that snaked about the campus. If anyone found them now, it would be out in the frigid bay, and that person would probably be a less than reputable sailor who had never quite understood the line between piracy and honest trade. Definitely not the type to say anything to anyone about mysterious happenings.

  One of the girls giggled softly, and before it could be stopped, all three of them were laughing uncontrollably. It was contagious. Volant and I were laughing with them within moments, and it went on and on till I gasped for air and tears ran from my eyes. Adrenaline was dumping out of our systems, releasing tension and filling us with emotion.

  “That was fun,” said Diedra, the sister closest to me. She gave a nudge to Dendra, still chuckling a bit. “We should burn down government buildings more often, eh?”

  She smil
ed back at her sister. “We should. Assuming we don’t get caught for this one, and end up spending the remainder of our days rotting in a cell, that is.”

  “Don’t worry about that.” I waved her comment away. “Volant and I are already wanted, we will make sure they know it was us, and just us, if something comes of it. You keep this night to yourselves, and no one will ever come looking for you.”

  Volant nodded in agreement, stoic in comparison to the sisters. “And thank you.” He bowed his head their way. “Thank you for helping us tonight.”

  “No, thank you,” Joy choked out, a tear coming from her eye now. “I have been so scared this past week. Letting us come along helped a ton. Thanks.” They bumped fists, and we sat in silence the rest of the night, falling asleep against all odds.

  Apparently, the girls had snuck out while we slept the morning away. Bleary eyed, and still sore all over from the prisoner wagon, I nudged Volant awake. To work out the soreness, I began my morning stretch, enjoying the familiarity after so many days without. Half way through, and Volant joined me, our two shadows slowly dancing against the cave wall in the flickering torch light.

  “I nearly forgot how much I hated living in a city with no natural lighting,” I complained as we were finishing the kata sequence.

  “Aye, it’s a travesty,” he replied.

  Our new friends appeared then, another tinkle of giggles announcing their presence.

  “Put a shirt on, Volant. You’re going to give these poor girls a heart attack if you keep this up.” As he flushed, I tossed him the shirt and began to hunt for mine. With a smirk, I slowly put mine back on. The triplets waited patiently until we had made ourselves decent. I noticed all three hadn’t even blinked in my direction, raptly paying attention to Volant. He did seem to have filled out far better than I had from the training and subsequent week of not really eating. Jerk.

  “We brought breakfast! And Dendra was able to trade a book to the smith boy, and get you a new hatchet he was trying to sell,” said Diedra who still had not taken her eyes off Volant.

  Dendra smiled sheepishly, holding up my newly acquired bandolier which now held a short hand axe in a leather loop. I grabbed her up in an appreciative hug, thanking her profusely.

  Joy brought up the rear, barely limping, and holding one of the cloaks wrapped around something while grinning like a school boy who just got away with cheating. In a circle at the cave mouth she lay out the cloak like a picnic blanket. Wrapped up in butchers’ paper was a hodgepodge of brunch style foods. Bacon first, piled higher than reasonable, followed with already buttered, irregular cuts of dark, heavy bread. A bottle of juice, a sticky block of honey comb, green and leafy vegetables, some eccentric seeming fruit I had never seen, and pieces of cake were all revealed; lovingly wrapped for our picnic. We ate with abandon. The mood was joyous and relaxed as we stuffed ourselves to bursting.

  Not being able to contain myself, I hugged Dendra again, knowing how much even the one book must have meant to her. “Thank you, again. The hatchet is beautiful!”

  She blushed, and mumbled an incoherent response while the other two sisters laughed at her embarrassment. It was quite late in the day when Volant and I finally left the cave. Promises were exchanged to find the sisters again when we had cleared our names a bit. Joy demanded to escort us to the city gates, but I declined as politely as possible. Truthfully, the chances of someone recognizing us and then the girls and getting them lumped in to our mess was too high and it was unacceptable for them to take such a meaningless risk. Plus, we weren’t going out the front gate, and there was no need for anyone else to know that besides Volant and I.

  After our goodbyes, we found a cozy tea shop near the school to wait until nightfall. We needed to get Emerys’ Rock out of the Armory. It was similar to deja vu, sneaking across the school grounds once everyone had fallen asleep. The chain had been replaced by an even bigger set, and the padlock was monstrously large. Still, it was simple getting in.

  But, the stone wasn’t there.

  The alcove had been cleaned up and held a rack of spears. No pouch. No Emerys’ Rock. This was not good.

  We searched until the first bell tolled announcing morning, and we realized our time was up. Quickly, Volant locked up the Armory again while I watched for anyone that might have noticed. With no further idea what to do about the stone, we made our way as casually across the grounds as we could.

  A merchant just outside the school’s gate was selling hats. Without a moment’s hesitation, Volant traded a pocket full of odds and ends found in the Guard’s headquarters for a pair of hats which were quite the fashion in Kalaran, though who knows why anyone here would need one. Thus disguised under our floppy brimmed headwear, and markedly refreshed compared to when we arrived in Kalaran, we began our stroll down to the docks.

  Only a handful of ships were moored in the harbor. Two of these were small enough for our needs, and therefore affordable. Fat Red Rat was poorly painted on the first ship. The second ship’s paint too faded to read apart from a fresh, bright yellow splash of paint on the hull that may have been a stylized letter if you squinted.

  “Where are you headed?” I asked, tapping a likely looking sailor who had just walked off the first ship.

  “West,” he grumbled back through a mess of yellow teeth. “Cap’n says we be off to the most western coast, over where the mists don’t disappear.”

  Nodding politely, I didn’t bother hiding my disappointment.

  The man dropped his voice conspiratorially, looking around to be sure of no eavesdroppers. “We just heard it from another crew,” he jerked a finger at the second boat, “that there’s a man out there payin’ big coin for anything organic. Food, wood, flesh, and wine. If ya boys be lookin’ to make ya fortune, I bet the Cap wouldn’t mind the help.”

  “We may take you up on that,” I replied slowly. “Thank you for letting us know.”

  When the man turned away, we started towards the second ship with its mysterious yellow insignia. “Well look who appears to have become a pirate,” Volant said, pointing at a man with a familiar braid of hair running down his otherwise bald scalp.

  As we approached, the man turned and greeted us with a warm, mischievous smile.

  “Rook!” Volant grinned happily.

  Sure enough, our mysterious tutor and friend stood before us in a classic sailor’s outfit, high boots, loose pants and a once blue robe tucked into the pants and stained by the sea. “Fortune smiles on me today,” he said with genuine pleasure. “How are you two? Nil, you look better than when I last saw you.”

  “Only due to the care and patience of a lovely old woman in Wydvis and your surprising store of knowledge.” I pulled up my shirt, showing the mostly healed cut from the man that had nearly ended me. “That infection was something else. Good times.”

  “Don’t get him started,” Volant said. “He’ll go on and on about his hardships from a little cut like that. Better yet, answer two questions for me.”

  Rook took a sidelong glance at Volant. “Depends on the questions. I’ll try my best though.”

  “First, where have you been? And second, where is this ship headed to next?” Volant gave a self-conscious cough. “We may be needing to get out of the city. More or less immediately.”

  “Is that so?” Rook replied knowingly.

  “Quite so,” I said through gritted teeth. “Something about murder, burning Guard headquarters down, and some rather more serious people still in pursuit of us.”

  Both of Rook’s eyebrows rose in mock surprise. “If that’s the case, they’ll probably start searching the docks for you as soon as they reorganize. Immediately may not be soon enough.” Rook turned back to the ship and let out a three-note whistle. Within seconds, the remaining crew was standing at the ships back rail. “Jacob! Down here, quick like. The rest of you, prepare for departure!” A unanimous groan escaped the rough looking men, but most seemed to be protesting out of a half-hearted need to be seen protesting instea
d of any desire to actually stay. Sailor types do have a reputation to keep after all.

  Volant leaned in at this, a whisper while two men ran down the plank towards us. “Say, Rook. You think you should speak to the captain first?

  Jacob arrived, not saluting, but seeming far more respectful than your average sailor. “Aye, Rook?” He also had a shaved head and but old and illegible tattoos scrawled all over his chest and arms.

  “Jacob, I need you to gather up everyone that already left. If they aren’t on the boat by the time it takes to heave off, we leave without them.” Rook turned to Volant and shrugged. “Oh,” Rook said, smiling even broader. “Find us a dozen or so bottles of the darkest jamboree you can. Looks like I owe the crew something for stealing away their night on the town.” A quick bow, and the man was off at a run.

  “Obviously, it’s my ship,” Rook said with satisfaction. “Technically it has a Captain who owned it previously, and who still ‘Captains’ or whatever that verb is when he’s not passed out in his cabin. Mostly though, he stays out of the way and lets me run things. And, I still run things even if he is in the way. Fancy hat or no.”

  I gaped, partially in surprise, partially in amazement.

  “How? When? Why?” sputtered Volant, just as impressed. “You can’t just go buying ships on a whim.”

  “Money. A few weeks ago. And, I run a better ship than most, especially when I’m needing faster transportation for research.” Rook spread his arms out as if surrendering. “Really, it wasn’t too hard. And yes, I can buy ships on a whim, thank you very much.”

  “Again, you rescue us from a possibly painful and deadly fate.” I gave him my grandest bow, limbs rigid in asymmetrical beauty.

  “Enough of that,” said Rook. “Welcome to the Aye, gentleman! She’s the finest ship within a stone throw of us.”

  I quirked an eyebrow at this, but Rook shrugged unabashedly and headed up a plank onto the ship. Bags over our shoulders, we followed to meet the crew. Gentle waves made the Aye rock back and forth. A water-borne ship was horribly different than the airships of Wydvis. Just walking a straight line was hard enough, and nothing ever stayed still. The hammocks were the same, more or less, but the place reeked of salt and fish.