Contest (The Stork Tower Book 6)

by Tony Corden

  Thad started to say something, and everyone except Leah and Cassius turned to look at him. At that moment, Cassius whipped his arm forward, but before he could release the knife, Leah fired the pistol on her right thigh which she’d been gripping under the table. The bullet ploughed through the end of the holster then through the edge of the table and hit Cassius just below the sternum, driving him backwards into the cabin’s side bulkhead. Her second bullet travelled the same path, but with his change in position, it hit him at the top of his chest near the base of his neck.

  Ian, Kate and Sparrow all had their hands moving toward their weapons as Leah fired the second bullet, but none of them did more than touch them. There was a moment’s quasi-silence as the thunder from the two shots resounded around the room, then Ian moved to disarm the still twitching agent while Sparrow moved to place herself between Leah and the door which was being thrown open by the crew who’d been waiting outside.

  Thad, Kate and Ian all began speaking at once, then all stopped as they realised no one was listening. Leah said, “Lord Emerson, please reassure your crew and then have your scouts check that the noise went unnoticed. Ian, please make your way to the Agent’s berth and examine it to see if there is evidence to show whether he acted alone or with the knowledge of some higher authority. Also, see if he had any co-conspirators aboard this ship. I suspect he has an accomplice within this hideaway and I suggest you find them before they can send a communication concerning the agent’s most timely demise.”

  Turning to Kate, she said, “You, Sparrow and I need to consider where the heir might have been hidden within the city and then find a different path to the city. I suspect Cassius may even have warned the Pyranthians concerning our plans. That being the case, I suggest we leave the tunnels a quarter league further from the city. We will need to plan the journey in a hurry. I want to leave in less than twenty minutes and get to the city before we are expected.”

  Sparrow said, “Pardon, Commodore, but if the agent acted under orders, why have we been set this task by the Queen?”

  Leah looked up and said, “There are several possible scenarios I can imagine, but without evidence, I suggest we do not discuss that out loud just yet.”

  Ian found nothing on Cassius but did discover an unsigned note directing him to sabotage the rescue and dispose of the heir before the Pyranthians could execute her publicly. The letter was hidden in the binding of the agent’s duffle bag. Thad shut the small outpost down and used his own men to keep the small contingent of investigators who lived there under lock and key.

  It was Sparrow who had the only suggestion which the three women thought was a possible explanation of where the princess might have been kept. She said, “Twenty years is a long time to keep someone secluded. It’s the time it takes for a Pyranthian to become an adult. What if she’s been sequestered with the current crop of top tier Pyranthian graduates? We know they aren’t allowed to discuss what happens in their training with their family and if she’s turning twenty, they wouldn’t see it as dishonourable to kill her after she graduates. Before now, they would have considered killing her the same as killing a child. We know they always take children as slaves rather than kill them. If she’s there, then she’s at the very centre of the city. There are twenty-one training houses spread around the edge of the caldera. The Festival occurs in the very centre where the portal opens and starts as the graduating class opens its doors, and the top five hundred newly graduated adults march forth to be acknowledged. The only problem I see is that if Cassius knew this, then how was he going to get in to kill her?”

  Kate said, “I doubt all Pyranthians are honourable. I’d bet my uncle had allies among the Pyranthians. Somebody who wanted to overthrow the leaders and take their place. It wouldn’t surprise me if Cassius, or others, had such malcontents on their payroll. Regardless of how he planned to do it, I doubt we’ll be able to use the same route.”

  Neither Thad nor Ian had any suggestions to help the team work out how to get into one of the training houses. Finally, Leah rolled up the maps of the city and said, “I’ll take these with us. Each of us needs to consider the options as we travel. I’d rather have had the plan before we left, but we’ve run out of time. If any of you want to stay here, then now is the time to let me know.”

  When no one said anything, Leah turned to Thad and smiling, said, “I have no idea which way to go, so please lead the way Lord Emerson.”

  Thad was confused by the smile because, so far, Leah had been very formal. Nonetheless, he took it as a good sign and led the way out of the aircraft and into the hollowed out base where it was hidden. He led the way to an opening in the side of the cavern. Thad reached into a basket near the entrance and removed a headlamp. Turning to Leah, he said, “We’ll need to wear these. Some of the agents travel in total darkness using one of their hands against the side to guide them. We need to move faster so we’ll need the light.”

  Sparrow stepped forward to get a lamp and said, “Let me go in front of you, Commander Charlotte, in case there are dangers.”

  Leah was about to respond when Kate said, “That’s an excellent idea, Sparrow. I’ll go after Thad, then you two. The Major can bring up the rear.”

  For a moment, Leah glared at Kate only to have Kate smile sweetly back at her. Not knowing quite how to react, Leah said, “I’ll be OK without a lamp. The prosthetic eye will be enough for me to see with the light you four will be emitting.”

  Thad looked between the three girls with a confused look on his face then said, “OK, I’ll lead. I’ll slowly increase the pace. If it’s too much, then let me know, and we’ll slow it down a bit.”

  With that, Thad stepped into the tunnel and began to jog down the straight passage which stretched out in a straight line in front of him.

  78

  Chapter 78

  December 19, 2073 - Early Morning - Part 4

  Thad slowly increased the pace until he was almost sprinting down the underground corridor. None of the others said anything, so quicker than he'd like Thad gently slowed until he was moving at a pace he felt he could maintain for several hours if he had to. None of the runners wasted breath on conversation, and they passed the first quarter league exit about four-and-a-half minutes after they started.

  Leah worked out that they were running at just over eighteen and a half kilometres an hour, which she thought wasn’t bad considering all the weight they were carrying as well as the slight incline. Thinking ahead, she worked out they would cover the two and a half leagues to their exit point in around forty-five minutes. Knowing there was nothing to do before then, she settled into the rhythm of the run and let her mind wander through all she knew of the Pyranthians and wondered what she may have missed in the rush to leave.

  The time flew by, and before she knew it, Thad was slowing as he approached the marker which indicated they were one-and-a-half leagues from the secret base. The other four were breathing heavily, but Leah, who had recalibrated her avatar when she went with Thad to the Adventure World, was only slightly puffed. As the others paced to cool down, she took the maps out and borrowing Kate’s light, looked through them hoping something would show her the next step. Unfortunately, nothing did, so she rerolled the maps and returned them to the carry case.

  This exit led onto a ridge at the open end of the valley they’d initially planned to use. From here they could cut across country and approach Pyranthia along a neighbouring valley. Unfortunately, the one they would have to take was more uneven and had several areas where the land had been fractured when the volcano was more active. The climb would be harder, and they would need to do the most dangerous part, the final climb, in the dark.

  When everyone was ready, Leah said, “Kate and I have trained in the art of sneaking, although a lot of Kate’s training was in the urban environment. How comfortable are you three to lead the way if you had to?”

  Thad said, “Count me out. I’ve seen you sneak through a forest and I’m nowhere close to your
skill level.”

  Both Sparrow and Ian said they were average at best but could follow a scout without difficulty, so Leah said, “I’ll lead to begin with, and Kate will bring up the rear. Kate, if you feel confident let me know, and we’ll change places along the way. When we get near the top of the valley, I’ll take over unless you have a lot of climbing experience.”

  Kate nodded and said she’d rather follow on a difficult climb. So Leah led the way along the exit and then slowly exited onto a small depression hidden behind some specially planted ground cover. Once there, she moved carefully using only her elbows until she could just look out into the mountain wilderness. Leah spent twenty minutes slowly searching the entire area using her artificial eye to zoom in on areas she was uncertain about and to look for any thermal anomalies.

  Finally satisfied, she slowly edged her way out of the depression towards another small depression that the map showed would lead them toward their target valley. Kate realised very quickly that Leah’s skills were superior to hers so she stayed at the back of the team, making sure that any tracks they left were erased. Altogether it took Leah an hour to make her way into the neighbouring valley and a further two hours to reach the outer wall of the citadel. Using the map, Leah headed around the wall to one of the slave tunnels which was more than a third of a league from where they had planned to enter the citadel.

  Once everyone was inside the tunnel, she waved them close and said, “I need to look at the maps a final time, but before I do has anyone had any ideas about how we can find the princess?”

  Kate said, “No, but I’m glad you led the way up the mountain. Without your directions on where the best handholds and footholds were, I think I’d still be at the base of that last cliff.”

  Everyone nodded, and Thad said, “I don’t have an idea on finding the heir, but I’ve come up with a possible scenario.”

  Leah smiled and said, “At the moment that’s a lot more than I have. What do you think will happen?”

  “If my memory is right, then the Festival of Blood has three main aspects. First is the coming of age ceremony where the parents of the best graduates formally recognise their offspring. Sometimes more than one set of parents claim a particularly gifted warrior and the parents then fight for the privilege of claiming the new warrior for their family. At the other end, there are always a few in the class who’ve failed to reach the level their family expected, and no one wants the dishonour of claiming them. Those who are unclaimed are supposed to end their disgrace by killing themselves. Those that haven’t the courage to do that are held in cages until the final part of the night.

  “The second part of the festival is a battle between three of their best warriors and a group of slaves. The slaves are given weapons and allowed to train beforehand, but the end is always the same, and the slaves are killed. Occasionally one of the heroes is killed, but the crowd sees that as honourable because they die in battle.

  “The final part of the evening is the hardest to understand, but people suspect it has something to do with the portal. Any Pyranthians who have brought dishonour to their family are spreadeagled in the centre of the crater. The unclaimed graduates are added, and then any Pyranthian who because of infirmity or age believes they have become a burden to their family joins them. Finally, slaves are added to bring the number to one hundred and twenty.

  “No one knows precisely what happens, but the leaders and priests join together in what is described as a mock battle or dance around the bodies. Along with the dance, they all chant together, and a mist rises from the earth until it covers the entire central area. When the chanting and dancing end those who were tied down have disappeared, and the whole inner circle is covered with a layer of fresh blood. Those who disappear are considered to have found honour through their sacrifice.

  “Now, I suspect the heir will be presented to the crowd and when no one claims her, she will be killed. The leaders can say she was disowned by her parents who are the rulers of Aeolipile, and that they allowed her sacrifice because of her dishonour. The leaders will offer themselves up in the final stage and retain their honour. There are always a few slaves who watch the festival and word will get back to Aeolipile within days.”

  Sparrow said, “All that makes sense, but I still can’t work out a way to save her.”

  Kate had been watching Leah as Thad talked and she said, “That’s OK, Sparrow. Charlotte’s already come up with a plan. I imagine it is beyond crazy and I doubt she’ll tell us what it is until it’s too late to do anything else.”

  Leah shook her head and said, “Not quite, I’ve a few ideas, and you're right when you suggest they’re beyond crazy at this stage. What we need to do first is to decide on a location to aim for. If the princess is in the central area, we either need a good exit point where we can hunt from, a good place to stage an exit from, or a good point to stage a rescue from if we don’t find her. Something which does all three would be ideal.”

  She handed out the maps of the inner area which Cassius had provided. One was a map of the tunnels and the other a map showing the elevation of the central city. They each took turns in looking over the maps, but it was Ian who noticed some notations near what turned out to be the training areas. Leah used her prosthetic to zoom in and realised they were numbers and suggested they represented years. Thad found the one with the current year on it and said, “It’s either this one or the one next to it. I’d mark the graduation date, but the Pyranthians may have marked the year that the young enter the centre.”

  Leah said, “If nobody has a better suggestion, then let’s aim for somewhere near those two houses. Thad’s suggestion of which is the most likely makes sense to me.”

  Leah was looking at the maps and didn’t see Thad’s grin at her first use of his name that evening—she'd called him Thad instead of Lord Emerson. Ian and Kate began looking for a path from their current location to the area of the training house while Leah, Thad and Sparrow continued to look for the best escape route. The next discovery was accidental and happened as Thad lifted the map of the inner area out of the way to get a better view of the elevations. As he did that, the map came between Leah and him with his light shining faintly through the map. As Leah glanced to see what he was doing, she noticed lines appear on the map which she hadn't noticed before. It turned out they'd been formed by adding additional wax on certain parts of the parchment to make them more opaque than the rest of the waxed parchment on which the map had been drawn.

  She said, “Thad, can you and Sparrow hold that city map flat about two feet off the ground? I’d also like to borrow someone’s headlamp and have them shine it at the underside of the map.”

  Thad took his headlamp off and lay it on the ground and did as Leah asked. As everyone looked, they could now see a second layer of what looked like randomly drawn lines which twisted and turned across the whole map. There were also a variety of markings at random places including arrows and parallel lines in the form of waves. Sparrow was first to notice that the wave notations coincided with areas on the elevation map which indicated the location of active vents. Once they connected the lines with what was happening underground, Kate was able to equate the arrows with possible entrances into the volcano’s interior. At those locations, the city map often showed bathhouses or smelters.

  Armed with the extra information, they quickly formed a tentative plan. Kate used the tunnel map to choose a route which was likely to have light traffic during the evening. Her destination was an exit close to a small bathhouse with direct access to the hidden underground paths. If the map was accurate, this led to an exit vent which overlooked the training centre where the heir was most likely being held. Thad and Ian worked out the best places to be picked up by the Cavaticus while Sparrow and Leah traced their way through the vents and tunnels, looking for other possible exits.

  As they were working, Sparrow whispered, “Charlotte, I noticed your reaction earlier and thought you should know that I did date Thad for a wh
ile about five years ago. You haven’t had a chance to talk with him yet, but I’m sure he’ll tell you about it. We visited a few worlds together and played a fantasy game similar to Dunyanin for a while. Neither of us was ready for anything serious. We sort of drifted apart more than broke up. I still like and respect him, but that’s it. I enjoy his company, but there isn’t any spark, and I’m actually pleased about that. I’ve just come from a bad relationship and I need a good friend far more than I need a boyfriend or lover. Let him explain our history before you say something you’d regret.”

  Leah continued to work her way through the vents and was slow to respond. Finally, she said, “The strangest thing about my ‘reaction’, as you call it, is that I’m madder at myself than I am at Thad or you. I knew I was being unfair and that I was jumping to conclusions and that there was nothing either of you had done that warranted my behaviour. I found myself becoming the jealous bitch I’d always despised when I’d witness that pattern of behaviour in others. I’ve been trying to work out how to apologise without ruining a relationship. I wasn't sure if you had noticed.”

  Sparrow said, “Both Kate and I have been there and noticed immediately. Neither Thad nor Ian have a clue. Thad knows you were distant, but because you aren’t now that’s pretty much all he remembers. He isn’t emotionally stunted or anything, he’s just male.”

  Leah said, “Thanks for being honest and direct with me. It’s what I want and need my friends to be like. It also helps explain why Kate’s been secretly laughing at me all day. If I ever get like that again feel free to slap me around.”

  “No way. I’ve seen you fight both in Dunyanin and here and I watched your duel with Westmorten. Besides, Thad’s employing me as your bodyguard.”

  “Honestly, after today I need a guard more for my emotions than for my body. I’m starting to think the body is far more resilient and elastic than the emotions. The stresses and scars on emotions always seem to leave a permanent mark, for good or ill.”