“I really wish you’d let me do this as soon as I got to you.” Krakka grumbles now, giving me a frustrated side-eye while he pours his healing magic into my ribs. I can feel it working already, what the sympathetic mending didn’t do when he set my knee right again starting to take hold while each breath I take hurts less than the last. I still tense each time I take in a lungful of air, uncomfortably aware it’s largely in my head now, really. I’m exhausted, just like the rest of us, so while his magic’s working well enough as always I ain’t really feeling it anywhere near so well as I’d like.
“I was not a priority.” I reply through still-gritted teeth, leaning my head back as I will this to work a bit faster so I can just relax for a few minutes. “More’n one of ‘em needed you a fuckload quicker’n I did when you finally made it in here. I couldn’t have you dulling what you had on me ‘fore you got to ‘em.”
He looks down now as I start bending my knee again, working it some to loosen it up a bit more. ‘Spite of him fixing it up it’s still a little stiffer than I’d really like, and I might still need it before the end o’ the night. ‘Specially if I do go with the new plan.
“How is it?”
“It’ll serve.” I growl, although now it’s more just due to my mood, the pain’s already fading fast now as the knitting in my ribs seems to be racing towards completion. “I just wish this bloody thing’d stay fixed. It had the worst bloody timing to go out on me, I swear.”
“Well I imagine you tweaked it doing something spectacularly foolish, just like the last time I had to repair it again.” He meets my sharp glare with an unflinching look of his own. “Am I wrong?”
Rolling my eyes, I let my head drop back again. “No, you ain’t. But I did have more pressing concerns at the time. I wasn’t paying attention.”
“That is how it tends to happen.” He presses one final time, and when I don’t wince this time he lets out a heavy sigh and takes his hand away at last. The warmth lingers for several moments after, the last lingering licks of pain already starting to fade. “What about this?”
“No, this one I got honestly. That sellsword, Mallys … she’s bloody good. She got a lucky shot in. If it hadn’t been for Janna’s tailoring I’d have bought it up there.” I take a deep breath and draw my legs up again, leaning forward now as I lean forward onto my feet so I can plant them under me to start pushing myself up. I pause a moment while I’m crouched now, waiting for my knee to twinge and lock up on me again, but it behaves itself and I let the breath go slow as I shove myself upright. In spite o’ the lingering remnants of his magic there’s still a lot of joints in me complain some before I’m standing again. “Fuck … I dunno, you’d think I’m still too young to feel this old.”
“Please go easier on yourself, Kesla.” he sighs, sounding every bit as tired as I am but also a good deal more regretful as he has to lean into the wall to aid him in following me up. “My Lady can only do so much, you’ve still gone too long without any real rest. Things have been bad enough for the others, I couldn’t bear it if …”
When he falters now I look down at him, seeing the despair welling up in him as he picks up his hammer and swings it up across his shoulder. I step close and lay my hand against his back, giving him a little push which he lets tilt him gently into my side. He lets his head rest against my now mended ribs and press a little more firmly, not really a hug but affectionate enough under the circumstances. “It’s all right, old man. We’re … good enough, for now. ‘Least this part of it’s over.”
For a moment he starts to nod, but then his frown returns and he turns a much more wary look up to me now. “Wait … I don’t understand, this part? What are you saying –”
“We ain’t done yet, Krakka.” I stoop to pluck my swordbelt up from the floor and take a moment to unwind it before starting to strap it back on. “That heinous bitch is still out there, so’s the warlock, an’ worse. We still got a price on our heads, with those sellswords out there. So far Gael’s the only one took one o’ them off the board.”
“But you can’t … no, that’s idiotic. You can’t go out hunting now, it’s folly. Kesla –”
“I ain’t. I’m gonna chase Hontiresk down. Even if I gotta cause a proper stink in the Authority, I’m gonna make that bastard talk to me. I need him to give the rest of ‘em up now.” I buckle up and fiddle with the belt’s lie for a moment before finally sighing as I look down at him again. “I could use you in this, old man. I know you ain’t one for the rough shit, but …”
This just makes his frown deepen, and he looks away as he grips Bloodmoon’s shaft a little tighter. Pondering what I’m asking. He knows well enough what I mean now, when I find Hontiresk I plan on getting real ugly with him to make him spill the beans. “Damn it … you don’t make it very easy for me to be your friend sometimes, Kesla. I can tolerate a lot, but …” He sighs, shifting his feet, then looks up at me again. “But I’ll stand with you, if you need me. For Gael, and for … well, after what we’ve found here, I can’t let that bastard get away with what he had to do with it any more than you can. And for the boy …”
Yeah, that’s got me twisted up in knots as much as he is. When the others finally opened the way so he could make it to us, he did what he could for Gael’s father, stabilizing him enough for Lady Naru to port back to the Temple with him for real treatment at the hands o’ the healers there. He was determined to fix Shay’s wound after, but she insisted he come back to her, Zuldrad needed him way more urgent … but he came back after only a few minutes, looking as crestfallen as I ever seen him before. The hobgoblin had already died before he could get to him …
That news hit me and Shay both like a ton o’ bricks, but it was worse for Darwyn. From what I been able to work out she’d managed to keep herself distracted enough by the effort to get him some help, but once she found out that was all for naught it just broke her. When I found him lying there on my way to help Shay he was still hanging on, he must’ve passed while I was helping Gael … but to be honest I don’t know what I could’ve done. Just one look told me the old cleric was his only hope.
Art managed to hold it together enough to comfort her, but I could tell it was breaking him too, so when Tulen ported back to the Temple with Gael I had her take the pair of ‘em with her, and made her promise not to let him return after. That’s it for him now, I can’t let him work himself any more raw now than he already is. So she came back on her own, while Krakka was dealing with Shay, and I had a quiet word with both her and Naru while he was busy.
The sorcerer’s staying out of this one, same as I had her do last time I went to see the corrupt Administrator. She needs to keep her integrity intact, with Madame Daste gone she’s all we got left besides Thura an’ the Silver Order. Cafi Sirsk is still in position with the Administration, doing their best to cover for us, but I don’t know how much longer they’ll be able to before a successor’s named. It’s a mess, and bound to get a whole lot worse now we just lit a fucking massive beacon in the middle of the city, even if it was largely by accident.
I had Naru contact ‘em to inform the townsguard and whoever else is up there dealing with this mess that there’s people down here needing help, people that were kidnapped from their homes at the behest o’ Hontiresk and his patrons. Whoever they might be. Inviting the Authority to blow the lid right off this mess, however big a stink that raises, as much to blacken Vandryss’ eye as cuz it’s just the right thing to do.
Sighing, I give him another clumsy little half-hug. We stay like this for maybe a minute, then I hear someone clear their throat behind us and step away, turning to meet whoever it is. I find Shay standing by, looking about as grave as we must do now, absent-mindedly fiddling with the knot of the torn swatch of fine black wool tied round her midsection now, over the corset. Covering up the gaping hole from Jammund’s cut, I guess. The remnants of Art’s cloak, apparently, sacrificed to protect her dignity. She winces a little as she smooths the cloth down over where the wound itself used to be, no more hurt than I am now but mindful all the same. She’s been at it long as I have, so she’s feeling it just as bad. We’re all of us strung out.
“You’re sure you want to do this?” she asks me now, looking to Krakka as she realises I’ve already talked him into this daft plan too. “This was bad, but at least it was something that had to be done. What you’re thinking about is … it could blow up in our faces if we get it wrong.”
“This needs to be done too, but you can still pull out if you don’t reckon you can be a party to what I gotta do. I won’t judge you for it. To be honest I’d kinda prefer it if you didn’t.”
Krakka gives me a sharp look now, as if offended by the suggestion after I already essentially emotionally strongarmed him into coming. But he holds his tongue, instead just rolling his eyes and stepping past her into the corridor beyond.
Shay just gives me a similarly cold look as she steps the rest of the way into the room. “After all we’ve been though, how can you –”
“Yeah, all right. Cool.” I wave her off. “I’m glad to have you, really.” I lean back against the wall now, taking a deep breath as I rub at my newly-mended side now, unable to break that psychological habit. “Everybody else been let out now?”
Nodding, Shay steps up beside me and turns to flop back into the wall beside me now, looking a good deal more fresh and assured when she does it. “They have. We’ve opened all the doors, and the healers Shul sent from the Temple have been doing their best to tend to those who need it. She promised to have food and water brought down too within the hour. Otherwise they seem satisfied enough to stay where they are until the Authority makes their way down here to … assess the situation, I suppose. That idea does have its merits, I suppose. Make them pony up now that we’ve done all the actual work. It has a nice ring to it, actually.”
Shrugging, I let my head drop back again, looking up at the bare stone-and-mortar ceiling with its thick, worn, badly polished rafters. “That one’s for Daste. She would’ve done the same, I’m sure. I just wish …”
“Yeah.” Shay sighs, and she falls silent much as I have. We stay as we are for a few moments, and I ponder what we already been through tonight.
Lady Naru led the charge in the end, racing through the corridors with the others to get to that doorway ahead of the mercenaries, and Thel, Brung and Darwyn fought to cover her as she set about the business of opening the way for the ones still stuck in the tunnels. In the end she didn’t bother with anything fancy, no need to try and counter whatever spells Tavarrat laid on the door. Instead she just blew out the wall it was mounted in, after communicating to whoever was stood on the other side to clear the hell outta there before she did it. So the still-sealed door and its frame wound up blown right across the antechamber outside while the way was clear for our reinforcements to come in.
Mallys’ remaining people didn’t wait round long after that, I’m told the hedge wizard took one look at what was coming and just grabbed hold of the halfling before porting away, then came back for the imori. Naru said that one seemed particularly reluctant to leave, which made my skin crawl to consider. Honestly, I’m glad I ain’t run into him yet, he sounds like way more trouble than I’d be ready to handle.
Looking down now, I ponder the body that Gael left behind. The half-orc Shay fought, back on the Heath. Once I ponder his remains I remember the connection that Mallys let slip she had with him when it was clear he was way out of his depth in that fight, and the recollection gives me an uneasy feeling now. From what I can tell, the dynamic within their group’s very much like ours, they’re less a collection of like-minded professionals, bound together for profit, than a makeshift family. She’d do anything she could to protect every one of ‘em, I’m sure of it. But this one … yeah, he was special to her, may be there was genuine love there. And now he’s dead. That spells major trouble for us …
When I turn to her now, I find Shay’s pondering the body too, and almost certainly thinking the same. When our eyes meet for a moment she winces again, sucking a heavy breath in through her teeth, and I growl in sympathy. Yeah, this is definitely gonna come back to bite us in.
Then Lady Naru steps into the room, stopping just inside the doorway as she leans into her staff. She looks tired now, but there’s more to it than that. She seems fraught, I can see it clear as day, and I know well enough what the root o’ that is. She’s worried about Gael. It’s become clear enough how much the half-elf means to her, and their father, which is another reason I didn’t want her coming with us any more’n I wanted Art along. Far as I’m concerned once we’re done here she should head straight back to the Temple to look after them, and herself too, preferable.
“All right then, I’ve done what you asked me to do. Tulen will take you to it once I’m gone.” She sighs. “Are you sure you don’t want me to come? You can’t be sure that Vandryss won’t be there. Tulen’s certainly capable, but if she is there, especially if Tavarrat’s with her –”
“No. I’m sure. Sit this one out. Please.” I try not to wince when I see her flinch, clearly wounded by my tone as much as my insistence, and push away from the wall now to step up to her, reaching out to touch her arm. “Look, I’m doing you a favour. You don’t want to be part o’ this. Just go back an’ give Gael a hug, or … I dunno. Just tell ‘em we’ll be back soon. And thank you. You been a proper godsend, I swear. We couldn’t have done it without you.”
Blinking, she looks up at me, and while she still looks so down she nods, managing a weak smile now. “Yes, that’s very true.” she breathes, then before I realise it she’s stepped forward quick and wrapped her arms around me, pulling me into a tight hug. I’m so surprised it takes me a moment to respond, but then I hug her back, crushing her as much as I dare.
“Thank you.” she mutters into my shoulder “For everything you’ve done. For Gael, and Darion. That means the world to me.”
Giving her a little extra squeeze for that, I just nod back, trusting she can feel it on her shoulder. She pulls away soon after, letting another heavy sigh go, then turns to Shay, who’s more ahead o’ the situation than I was so she’s already opening her arms. As the sorcerer folds her into another embrace, I step away and, after a moment’s consideration, carry on into the corridor.
There’s people already out here, many of ‘em shabby and worn and at the end o’ their rope, looking like they been through hell and starved within an inch o’ their lives. Some seem proper broken, just sat slumped against the wall or laid out on the floor, but others are making the most o’ being out of their makeshift cells, breathing air that’s at least fresher than what they been stuck in since the Hardway. As I look round more’n one looks my way, and while there’s a troubling mixture of emotions on many o’ their faces I see gratitude in more’n one. I gotta take a deep breath and fight back the thickening in my throat as I feel my eyes start to burn as tears start to threaten me.
If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.
‘Least they seem to be in good hands now. Soon as we had the place secure an’ Darion had been shipped back to the Temple, Shul had her own people wing their way down to us, resident wizards porting clerics in to tend to those who needed appropriate care on the spot. Those healers are passing among the freed prisoners now, working their god magic, offering medical aid, or just a kind word and a shoulder to cry on. It’s heartening enough to watch, but seeing the kindness of Minerva’s Faithful still makes it hard for me to keep my own emotions in check.
Then I spot Thel ducking through the jumble, with Tulen in tow, Krakka tracking along a little behind ‘em both now. I’m a little surprised to see the dwarf back, I expected she’d prob’ly stay at the Temple with her friends now they’d been found and ported out to safety, much as they’d hoped. Part o’ me’s glad to see her, figuring she’ll be help enough if we do run into trouble where we’re going, but I still kinda wish she’d stayed after all.
“Hey.” She gives me a surprisingly broad grin as she draws close, looking me over now. “Nice to see you up. How’s the knee?”
“It’ll serve.” I step up to meet her now, trying to smile back but not feeling much success in the endeavour. “Surprised to see you back, I would’ve thought –”
“Du an’ Brung are back at the Temple with ‘em. Yulla was tired as hell, she wore herself real thin trying to keep Drin alive, almost all the pittance o’ food an’ water they gave ‘em to survive she gave to her little girl. Shul gave her something to drink, sent her right off to sleep, she said she’ll be out for ‘least a day from it but when she wakes up she’ll be feeling a whole lot better. Du’s keeping an eye on her, I insisted. Brung would’ve come back with me but Drin just would not let go of ‘im. He’s always been her favourite, an’ she needs to feel safe after all this, so …” She shrugs, growing more wistful now.
“But you could’ve –”
“No, I really couldn’t.” Her smile’s gone in an instant as she gives me a very pointed look. “I owe you, we all do. Never mind that you saved us all in the Gods Round, an’ then again at the Heath, after I got real stupid. We never could’ve found ‘em without your help. Any help you need now we’re here for you. So here I am.”
This makes my throat feel a little thicker, but I still manage to push the tears back down again. I manage what feels like a more sincere smile, too. “Thanks. I really appreciate the help.”
Looking up past her now, I see Tulen’s clearly a bit more strung out, and the more pragmatic part o’ me starts to wonder if maybe Lady Naru would be a better choice right now. The young wizard’s doing her best pretending she’s up to the task, but I can see the worry an’ wear in her now, knowing she’s gotta be fretting about Gael and Darion. But we need her right now, so I have to bite back the concern and just go along with the plan as it is. “You good?”
She blinks when I ask, but while she gives her borrowed staff a tighter squeeze than I’d like she still nods, and don’t stammer any when she speaks like I half expected her to. “You don’t have to worry about me. I can do this.”
“Course you can.” I lie, trying not to wince. “So, we ready?”
Nodding, she starts to turn back now, pointing down the way they just come. “This way.”
Turning back, I find I don’t have to hold us up after all as I see Shay’s already waiting behind me, so I just give her a nod and cock my head for her to follow. When I turn back Tulen’s starting to make her way back down the corridor, weaving carefully through the assorted crowd, so I just follow while Thel forges ahead after her.
She leads us around two corners before we finally turn into one of the newly-liberated rooms. It’s bleak in here, just more o’ that cheap carpet and bare walls with fresh lit lamps mounted high in the walls casting a stark light on the confines some o’ these poor folk were trapped in. Mostly it’s just an unpleasant miasma, the whole place stinking of fear-sweat and piss and shit from the buckets in the corner, but a significant section of the carpet’s been dragged up and rolled away from the bare floor now. In its place, on the cold, flat concrete, is a teleportation circle, fresh drawn in chalk, courtesy of Lady Naru. I don’t need to wonder where it goes, this was entirely my plan.
There’s two more folk waiting for us in here, looking suitably intimidating and more’n a little bloody now from spearheading the battle in the tunnels before they got hung up at the door. Sonagh just gives me a simple nod which I return in kind, but the massive bugbear, Dow, tips me a sly wink and cocked grin which manages to raise my own half-hearted smile. I step up to them while the others make their way straight to the circle.
“You’re okay with this, then?” I ask the orc as he picks his shield up again, Dow following his example. “You done enough for us already. Might be better if you didn’t get involved in what we do next.”
Sonagh just frowns at me. “I owe it to Venne to see this through. An’ Dow’s his own man, which means he’ll follow me whether I want him to or not.”
“Damn straight.” the bugbear rumbles as he stalks right past me, stepping onto the circle as the others start to gather on it too.
“Okay then.” I turn and step up beside Tulen, and Sonagh doesn’t hesitate to follow. I turn to the wizard. “Ready.”
Sighing, Tulen looks down to study the markings under her feet as the stragglers finally take up their place with us, then licks her lips as she starts to weave a sigil. It takes her a few moments to complete it while the chalk lines start to shine brighter with each second, then she speaks the incantation and I take a deep breath, even though I know from past experience this should be much smoother.
Everything seems to shift in a comparatively gentle shunt, then once the flash clears we’re stood in a more open space, with much fresher air. I look up first, seeing a night sky overhead, oil-fed lamplight shining round us, then down, finding we’re now stood just inside a small garden patio just inside the low-walled perimeter of a three storey building. It’s a pretty swanky looking place, ostentatious without being overly gaudy, as much wood as expensive carved stone in the construction, while the landscaped plants have been mercilessly manicured with a cruel precision I remember Gael called topiary. This is definitely somewhere up on the Hill, which means we gotta be in the right place.
I asked Lady Naru to draw us a teleportation circle that would send us direct to wherever Hontiresk is, no matter where he might be hiding out or moving to when we actually used it. Apparently this was a tall order, this kind of teleportation magic is real hard to master and tricky to execute at best, but she was equal to the task. So it’s a safe bet we’ll find that sleazy bastard somewhere in this place.
There’s a sign by the front door, engraved in an almost indecently smooth, highly-reflective polished brass plaque, which reads: UNTERMER GOODFELLOWS. GENTLEMEN’S CLUB AND GAME ROOMS. MEMBERS ONLY. When I look to Tulen she’s reading this too, and when she turns she has a nervous look on her face now, like she really don’t like what this entails.
Taking a breath, I just start up the steps to the substantial, polished redwood door, which could weigh half a ton all on its own. Gods, I hope we won’t have to try an’ break through that, looks like even Dow’d have trouble with it. I’m kinda wishing Big Man was with us now.
Tulen follows with a startled gasp, likely wanting to beg me off but stopping herself at the last. I don’t turn, instead stepping up to the door itself, immediately seeing it’s already open. Jut a crack, but it’s noticeable enough, which gives me wary pause as I turn back to the others. Sonagh’s starting to step up after us, and I give him a look, pointing at him now to signal for him to slow up, get his wits about him when he follows. He frowns, baring his teeth, and his hand immediately goes to his sword.
Pushing the door, I let it swing inwards, holding my ground as I peer through with both my hands gripping Hefdred, one on the hilt while the other grasps the scabbard, ready to draw. Listening as well as looking, paying attention for any sign of … well, just about anything. This already feels all kinds of buggered …
The place is silent, which is a whole lot more worrying than sounds of violence or screaming or anything else we could encounter would be. I take a deep breath and step all the way inside, going slow as I adjust my grip but keeping my sword sheathed, waiting to see what happens first before I commit.
Gods, this place is as ridiculous as the Playhouse was. Everything’s just stupid fancy, the walls and floors and even the ceiling of this entrance hall furnished entirely in the same kind smoothly polished and intimidatingly expensive-looking redwood as the door. There’s another one o’ those chandeliers hanging from the ceiling, although this one’s a good deal more modest, just cast iron but still lit with a fuckload o’ candles. The fact the similarly expensive floor ain’t been completely ruined by dripping wax speaks volumes on the kind o’ dedicated care the staff here must take keeping an eye on it. Or maybe a single drop’s a firing offence so they got no choice. Honestly, I wouldn’t be surprised in a place like this.
So far nothing actually seems off, aside from the fact it’s so quiet. But there’s something else that’s bugging me now, too. I cast a sidelong glance behind me to find Tulen’s the first in behind me, still gripping her staff tight as she takes the place in with wide eyes. I keep my voice low as I lean closer. “Hey … places like this, they usually have doormen, right?”
For a moment she just looks at me, and I can tell she’s working out what I actually asked in her nervousness. Then she blinks, nodding. “Oh, yes. Of course. I mean I’ve only heard about places like this, they’re very strict with their rules. Usually women aren’t even allowed in them, unless they’ve been specifically invited by one of the members. And even then …” She pauses when she catches my impatient frown, wincing a little as she works on getting herself back on track. “And you’re right, of course. There should be significant security in this place.”
“Yeah, that’s what I thought.” I draw my sword immediately and give up any pretence of stealth now, stalking into the centre of the room, underneath the chandelier, to turn a slow circle. I don’t even make it halfway before I spot a pretty major confirmation. “Well shit.”
“What is it?” Tulen scrambles in now, hefting her staff some as she tenses, turning to look into the corner I’m inspecting now, out of sight from the doorway. “Oh! My … well that’s … I see what you mean. That’s not good at all.”
Sonagh follows her right in, and when he sees the body sprawled in a bloody tangle he just grunts, noncommittal, like he’s been expecting it.
This is obviously one of the security guards I was expecting, very much in keeping with what I come to expect, ‘specially seeing what Hontiresk liked to keep around. Big, solid and very well armed. Not that it helped, this poor bastard looks to have been carved up pretty spectacularly. Whoever did it clearly has issues.
Looking at it now, I already know who did this. And it’s a real bad sign indeed.
“Spread out, look everywhere. We need to find Hontiresk. Now.”
“Dow mate, do us a favour an’ stay with Mistress Shoon.” Sonagh growls as he draws his own sword, hefting his shield as he starts stalking across the room, heading through the door at the back o’ this main room. I turn to the bugbear now, finding him watching me with a stern frown.
“Sorry.” I mutter, feeling a little bad about him getting lumbered like that.
He just shrugs, picking his own shield up now as he just hefts his intimidating battleaxe, letting it rest across his shoulder. “It’s fine. I don’t mind at all. Doubt you really need it, you look tough enough to handle yourself, but I’ll do him that favour all the same.”
Nodding, I look down at Krakka as he starts to frown, already catching what I’m thinking. “Go with Tulen.” When he opens his mouth I run right over him. “C’mon, old man. I need you to play this smart. Back her up.”
Sighing, he don’t even grace me with a reply, he just starts tromping up the staircase climbing the right side o’ the room after the young wizard. I turn to Shay now. “D’you mind staying here? Keeping an eye on the street?”
She arches her brows, seeming surprised. “You’re sure?”
“Yeah, I don’t like this any. I don’t want anything to sneak up on us in here. Things are …” I grimace. “I dunno, but I don’t like it.”
“Okay.” She nods, sheathing her sword again as she steps back towards the still open door. “I’ll come find you if … well, you know.”
That just leaves Thel, who cocks a brow up at me now. “What about me?”
“Go after Sonagh. I doubt there’s actually anybody here now, ‘least still alive. But just in case.”
“Aye, you got a point there.” She shoulders her battleaxe with a nod and heads off in the direction the orc went.
“All right then, luv.” Dow rumbles now, quietly expectant. “Where to?”
“Second floor. Call it a hunch.”
The bugbear nods his agreement and heads straight for the stairs, letting me follow at my own leisure. I pause at the bottom, looking to the door again, and find Shay looking back at me. She frowns when she catches my eye, but gives a rueful little half-smile after a moment, and I return my own best I can before turning away and starting my own climb.
We find more bodies when we reach the first floor, two cleaved and bloody like the first, looking like they been cut down on the run, and neither of ‘em seem to be fighters like the guard clearly was. More like highborn noblemen, soft targets that didn’t stand a chance against whatever it was caught up with ‘em. Makes me queasy just looking at ‘em.
The third body’s a guard, but he wasn’t killed with a sword. He looks burned, something hot and nasty, but while there’s scorch marks on the thick carpet underfoot and streaking the walls they look more like something seared across what it’s blackened with significant speed. This stinks of magic, which makes me think o’ Tavarrat. Which would confirm my suspicion that the blade must’ve been Vandryss’.
I go ahead now as we climb the next flight up to the second floor. We find more bodies as we climb, broken as much by tumbling down the steps as any damage they received while they fled, but there’s room enough on the steps to slip past with ease. The landing above yields a good deal more, we have to step with a lot more care now to make it through the nearest doorway, and I find myself checking each o’ the bodies as we go. Both hoping one of ‘em is Hontiresk, but also dreading finding him dead after all. Which’d make all o’ this worthless.
When I step inside the room, Dow patiently waiting for his turn behind, I find myself stopping just inside the door, a little taken aback by what I find. Another ridiculously spacious room, tall as it is wide, decorated much the same as the rest of the building’s interior save the fact every wall in here is bookshelves, from floor to ceiling, every one of ‘em full. Again I’m a little baffled by the kind of effortless displays of pointless wealth highborns continuously gotta rub in common folk’s faces.
There’s more bodies in here, but one immediately draws my eye at the expense of everyone else who’s been cut or blown down. The moment I see it any fight I might’ve had in me ebbs away, my arms dropping flat at my sides while my shoulders sag. “Shit …”
“What is it?” Dow slips past me in the space available and squares up soon as he’s inside, bringing his shield up while he readies his axe … then falters when he sees there’s no actual point. He sags almost immediately, his shield thumping on the floor as he frowns, turning back to me. “I don’t get it. They’re all –”
“Yeah.” I hiss through my teeth, more regretful than angry now as I sheathe my sword again. I really don’t need it right now. “They are. There ain’t no threat left here, you can stow what you need to.”
His frown darkens and I can sense a question coming, but he holds his tongue as I just start walking across the room. Focused on the same sight that took all the wind outta me in the first place – Gubal, the orc bodyguard, pinned to the wall in the midst of what’s clearly the debris of a desperate fight to the death. When I get close I realise that’s his sword run through both him and the wall. Impaled with a lot of strength, clearly. As if that cut throat weren’t already wound enough to finish him off.
“Oh … fuck, that’s just … damn it Gubal, you didn’t deserve to go out like that.”
“Who is ‘e?” Dow wonders now, close behind me now, looking up at the dead orc. He’s already strapped his shield across his back.
I’m already stepping away, feeling genuinely sick now. “Hired muscle, but a higher class’n most. The kind deserves genuine respect, far as I’m concerned. Definitely deserved better’n that.” I point to the corpse slumped in the chair nearby, its severed head lying on the floor several feet away. “Worked for him.”
Dow’s next words are a long time coming, but when they do it’s in one big, heavy sigh. “Ah hell. That’s him, ain’t it? This fancy fella we’re after.”
“Unfortunately.” I’m eyeing the bar in the corner now, suddenly desperate for a snifter.
The sound of running feet entering the room stops me short, and I’m already turning as Shay skids to a stop a little inside the door. “We’ve got trouble. Outside. Major trouble.”
“What is it?” I find myself growling the words, feeling angry and tired and just sick o’ this shit all at once now. The weight of not only this whole night but the entire week we just had is bearing down on me now, I can feel it crushing me.
“Townsguard. And Terrors, a lot of them.” She’s taking in the room now, the carnage. Finally her eyes focus on the body pinned to the wall like some mad butterfly nut’s gone off in here. Her eyes are wide, like she’s having trouble making sense of it all. “Gods … what happened in here?”
“Vandryss killed Hontiresk.” I snarl as I start making my way back across the room towards her. My skin’s crawling, while a deep, unsettling chill rolls up my spine.
“She did?” She gawks at me now, more shocked than ever, and has trouble finding the words as I reach her. “But … I don’t understand. That makes no fucking sense, Kesla. Why the hell would she do that? I thought they were –”
Taking hold of her upper arms now, I catch her eyes and hold her attention now. “Cuz she had no more use for him, ‘cept one. She murdered him, then she an’ Tavarrat murdered everybody else in the place to make it look like we did it.”
“Fuck!” Dow snaps now, and I hear his heavy footfalls pounding after me now as he hurries to catch up with me as I turn Shay round and start towing her towards the door while I wait for her to catch up to the situation in her astounded state.
“We gotta get outta here right now.”
THE END OF BOOK FOUR
THE STORY WILL BE CONTINUED IN BOOK FIVE