A Dance of Blades (15 page)

Deciding it worth the risk, he used a window ledge to vault atop a house that overlooked the headquarters of the Serpents. Thirty soldiers surrounded the place, some wielding crossbows, some torches. There was no doubt to their intentions. Those inside could die by blade or by smoke and fire. Hardly a choice he’d desire to make.

“By order of Lady Gemcroft, all those affiliated with the thief guilds are to be executed,” the mercenary captain shouted. “We know you’re in there, so come out and die with honor!”

Haern flattened on the rooftop, making sure no one could see him. The last thing he wanted was some crossbowman with a twitchy finger putting a bolt through his eye.

“This city ain’t hers!” challenged a hidden stranger. Haern’s eyes narrowed as he realized the voice did not come from the surrounded headquarters. “Time you sellswords learned that!”

There were five buildings with clear views of the headquarters, including the one Haern lay atop of. From every one of their windows appeared green-cloaked men with bows and crossbows. With a loud cry they released. A third of the mercenaries died in the first wave. Some tried fleeing toward the main streets, while others stormed toward the buildings. The arrows gave chase. When the last fell, Haern saw William Ket step out from the headquarters, a gleaming sword in his hand. He found the mercenary captain, chopped off his head with three swings, and lifted it to the air. The rest of his guild cheered.

Haern’s blood ran cold. The other guilds would certainly be preparing ambushes as well. While it’d be foolish not to expect losses on both sides, and he generally held no love for mercenaries, there were a few mercenaries that he did care for.

“Damn it, Senke,” he whispered, pulling back so he wouldn’t have to see the executions of those who still cried out in pain. “Tell me you aren’t part of this nonsense. You can’t have been this stupid.”

But of course he would have. It seemed every free man had been brought into Alyssa’s fury. What had spurred this on? Why now? He so rarely heard news of her, of the Trifect in general. They’d grown quiet, defensive. But this?

There was nothing quiet about the screams that seemed to come from everywhere as the stars vanished beneath great curtains of smoke. How much of the city would burn? Would any be desperate enough to form bucket brigades while the death squads marched? He didn’t know, and didn’t care. He had to find Senke and Delysia. Losing them once had been hard enough. He couldn’t do it again. The city was large and swarming with men. Finding them would be near impossible, but at least he knew names to search for…assuming neither were using aliases.

Haern dropped back to the street and began searching for a smaller group of men to ambush. He had to avoid several larger patrols, and at one point, a crossbow bolt. At last he encountered a group of three, deep in combat with five members of the Ash Guild, a sixth bleeding out nearby. The mercenaries were cornered against the city wall, and it was only their superior armor and reach that kept them alive against the greater numbers. Haern descended upon them like a whirlwind, his swords cutting down two before the thieves even knew he was there. He cut the throat of a third, then watched the final two die at the hands of the mercenaries.

“Thanks,” said one of them, a gruff man with a beard and a wicked cut across his nose that was still bleeding. “Fuckers led us here as a trap, then jumped us from the rooftops.”

“I have no time,” Haern said, making sure to keep his cloak low so they only partially saw his face. “I’m searching for a small group of mercenaries. One is named Senke, another Delysia Eschaton. They should be together.”

“Not a clue,” said the man with the bleeding nose.

“Don’t know about no Delysia,” said the second as he walked over and killed the sixth Ash member, who had been whimpering in pain. “But that name sounds familiar. I know a Tarlak Eschaton, and he runs his tiny group, nothing but small-timers. Guy’s half off his rocker. Might be them you’re looking for.”

“Perhaps. Do you know where they might be?”

The man spat. “All them smaller groups got put together and sent to the far south. Alyssa figured it’d be easier to spread out and find the rats when they tried to hide in their slums.”

Haern fought down his panic. They’d been sent into the very homes of the thieves, as if they would be the ambushers? When the guilds fled to safety there, it would be they doing the killing, not the mercenaries. He had to get them out of there, and fast. He bowed to the three men and then turned south.

“Hey, what’s your name?” asked the man with the bleeding nose.

“I have none,” he shouted. When he turned, he caught sight of something strange, like a white face peering down from the wall, round and hairless. A glance back revealed only darkness.

I’m jumping at shadows,
he thought.
If you’re alive, Senke, I’m going to murder you for accepting such a stupid assignment.

He wondered where his father was in all this. He wouldn’t hide, not against such blatant disrespect. The Spider Guild’s headquarters were in the southeast. If these Eschaton mercenaries stumbled upon him and his best…

Haern ran faster.

Deciding speed was more important than stealth, he cut to one of the main roads and trusted himself to outrun any patrols. He raced south, all the while doing his best to ignore the pain in his stomach. The wound there hadn’t quite healed, though it was hardly more than an angry red scar. Still, the movement was enough to stretch the skin and agitate it. What he’d have given for an extra day or two to heal before all this madness hit.

“You! Stop!”

Haern cursed as he saw a group of five up ahead rush toward him, no doubt thinking him a fleeing member of the guilds. The houses were packed tight on either side, so it was either turn back in search of a route around, or go straight through.

“Move!” he screamed, hoping to startle them with his mad rush. He slide-kicked just before nearing, avoiding an arrow that whistled overhead. His kick took out the legs of one, and he rolled away. Smashed under that much armor, he’d be killed in seconds by the others. A sword swung for his head, but he twisted and fell to one knee. Two others lunged, their swords thrusting. Haern dove to his right, landing hard on his shoulder. He’d made it to the other side.

“We said stop!” one of them shouted. Haern laughed, wondering who exactly he thought would obey the command. He weaved side to side, not surprised to see one last arrow plink into the dirt beside him. With their heavy armor, they couldn’t hope to match his speed. Last he looked, they’d abandoned the chase and instead smashed in the door of a nearby home. He offered a prayer to the inhabitants as he ran.

It seemed the very air grew thicker as he plunged deep into southern Veldaren. He counted five fires now, and one of them wasn’t far off. The smoke whirled down the streets, its distortion good for the thieves, bad for the mercenaries. He heard sounds of combat from one home with a broken door, and he watched another group battle, four Hawks against two mercenaries. He let them be. There were too many fights for him to help them all. The graveman would be busy tomorrow, he thought grimly. Whatever didn’t burn would soon have its walls painted with blood.

A plume of smoke erupted to his left, accompanied by a deep explosion. His curiosity couldn’t take it. He turned, climbed onto a rooftop, and hurried that way. Whatever he was expecting to see, what he found was not it.

The area opened up to a fountain carved in the likeness of two women bathing each other, long broken and out of water. At least twenty men lay dead, half mercenaries, half thieves, their blood mixing together to stain the surrounding cobblestones red. A large group of thieves remained, Wolves judging by their colors. They faced off against only four, a strange four at that. Senke guarded one half of the fountain, parrying and blocking with his two flanged maces. On the other half fought a short man in platemail, a punch dagger in each hand. Delysia stood in the fountain behind Senke, her lovely red hair matted to her face by a cut across her forehead. She was taller than he remembered, and she wore the white robes of a priestess. His heartbeat raced faster, and he forced himself to move. While Delysia cast spells that bathed them with white light, the last of the four stood in the other side of the fountain with his hands surrounded by fire. He wore a yellow robe and a pointy yellow hat. The color reminded Haern of dandelions. He had red hair similar in color to Delysia’s, and a well-trimmed goatee.

Guy’s half off his rocker,
the mercenary had said about Tarlak, their leader. Haern had a feeling that was him. Only the insane, or the extremely confident, would dare wear such an outfit.

This Tarlak swung his hands in a circle. Fire danced across his fingers, then streaked toward where a group of three hid behind an overturned wagon, trying to fire crossbow bolts from cover. The wagon exploded into shrapnel and embers. The short man seemed hard pressed fighting the one, but the wizard kept zapping thin bolts of blue lightning, knocking the thief back and keeping him from scoring a kill. Senke fought three at once, yet seemed to be doing better at protecting the two in the fountain. Having been on the receiving end of so many smacks to the head and kicks to the chest while training with him, Haern wasn’t surprised.

Decision made, he drew his swords and charged. It was Senke and Delysia he’d come to protect, so it was them he’d help. The wizard saw his approach and turned, magic shimmering on his hands.

“It’s Haern!” Senke shouted just as the lightning arced out, having seen his approach as well. Haern rolled, wishing he’d had far more training in dealing with spellcasters. The roll seemed to work, for he heard the ground behind him crackle and break from the impact. He kicked back to his feet and jumped, having closed enough distance to reach the first. The Wolf turned and tried to impale Haern with his sword. Having had enough of that nonsense only a few days before, Haern landed short, batting aside the thrust while still in the air. His opponent exposed, it was easy work looping his other sword around and cutting his throat.

“Sorry!” he heard the wizard shout.

Damn fool,
Haern thought as he linked up with Senke, standing side to side as the Wolves closed in.

“Glad you could join us,” Senke said between breaths. Despite the smoothness of his parries and kills, he was clearly winded.

“I shouldn’t have to. What the Abyss are you doing out here?”

“Fight now, insult me later.”

As one they went on the offensive. It felt like old times, carelessly training in Thren’s safe house. But this time it wasn’t dummies they fought, nor did they wield wooden swords. This time their opponents bled. Haern struck both high and low, forcing the thief to make desperate parries with his daggers. The shorter weapons made his arms move more than Haern’s to keep up with the attacks, and Haern used that to put him more and more out of position. At last he feinted a wide slash, pulled his sword in, and stabbed. The edge sliced through cloth, flesh and into lung. As the thief fell, Senke gave him a good bash on the head with his mace, just to be sure. Two more rushed ahead, but a blinding flash from behind Haern dazed them. With such a handicap, they fell with ease to the skilled fighters.

“Help Brug!” Senke shouted as three more Wolves approached from the north, joining the others.

“Brug?”

“The short fat guy.”

Haern felt a moment’s hesitation. He’d fought alone for so long, he wasn’t used to obeying orders. But then again, he felt himself slipping once more into the past, nothing but an awkward child learning from his masters. He turned and circled the fountain, joining Brug, who was bleeding from his shoulder and face. A dagger was still lodged in the crease of his armor. He yanked it out as he ran past, hurled it at his opponent, and then followed it up with a flying kick. The dagger hit the thief’s throat with the hilt, and then Haern’s foot cracked his chest. The Wolf dropped to one knee, lifting his dagger in a clumsy defense. Haern cut him down, a clean slice through his throat.

Brug looked ready to explode.

“I had him!”

Haern blinked. “Uh, sorry?”

A fireball sailed over both their heads, delaying the attack of several Wolves who had abandoned their attempts at shooting the wizard and instead chosen to close the distance. Haern felt the heat of it on his neck.

“Damn it, Brug, what am I paying you for? And you, Haern, right? Keep him alive, will you?”

Haern turned to his opponents, somewhat amused at how much redder Brug’s face grew. He blubbered, then rushed ahead, punching the air with his daggers. Haern’s amusement left. The idiot was going to get himself killed because of his pride. He rushed after, the two of them barreling at the three Wolves as if they were madmen. At the time, it was a fair assessment. The Wolves wavered, he saw the doubt in their eyes, and then they turned to flee. Haern killed two, for he was too fast and had far too much momentum to be outrun. He sliced the hamstring of the third as he ran on by, allowing Brug to catch up and eviscerate the thief with his punch-daggers.

Sucking in air, Haern turned back to the fountain. The last of the Wolves were either dead or fleeing. Tarlak stepped out of the fountain, helped Delysia follow, and then waved.

“That wasn’t so bad,” he said.

Haern shook his head. Off his rocker, indeed.

1

G
host followed the Watcher south, though he did so with no hurry. He’d watched him fight, and learned two things: One, no puke-brained mercenary was going to be the one to do him in. Two, he had someone close to him. He might have thought his quiet voice concealed his emotions, but he heard the hint of worry, particularly about the one named Delysia. With that, it was only a matter of time before he brought the Watcher down. You couldn’t have attachments, not if you wanted to survive against someone like Ghost.

Tarlak Eschaton wasn’t well-known to him, but if he played the mercenary game, then he had contacts, friends, employers, maybe even a spot in the guild. There would be no hiding. So as he strolled down the street, always given a wide berth by the groups that rushed past with bloodied swords, he paused and looked west. A strange commotion was brewing down there—he could tell by the torches and the way several of the recent patrols all turned in that direction. Had the fighting coalesced into an actual battlefront? Surely not. They weren’t that organized, nor would that benefit the thieves in any way. So what then?

His hands on his hilts, he strode over to the mob. He estimated at least sixty men gathered around what he realized was the temple of Ashhur. So far they remained at the steps, but that appeared ready to change at any moment. Fifteen priests stood in their way, their hands at their sides. They were proficient with many spells, he knew, but how effective they’d be on armored men, he was unsure. An elderly priest with a bald head stood in the center of the steps, and he faced the crowd without any semblance of worry. Sweat ran down the sides of his neck, though, and Ghost knew him just as scared as the rest.

“You cannot enter,” the old man shouted, hardly heard over the din of the mercenaries.

“Let us in!” they shouted.

“Out of the way!”

“You harbor thieves!”

Ghost frowned. He needed a better look. To the side he found a pillar, and he used that to vault himself halfway up the steps, and from there he peered into the temple. Inside was chaos, hundreds of people crammed within seeking shelter. Given how many homes he’d seen ransacked, it made perfect sense. Where else might be safer? They sat on benches, huddled against walls, and lay in the aisles if need be. Sure enough, he caught sight of a few cloaks in there, but not many.

“I will not hand anyone over to be butchered in the streets,” the head priest was saying. “Go on your way. Curse our city with your bloodshed if you must, but I will not allow it to happen on my doorstep!”

Another patrol joined the group, this one numbering twenty. They muttered amongst each other, wanting to know the reason for their delay. Several more lit up torches. Ghost felt his blood boil. They would set fire to a temple all to meet their blood-thirst? A thousand rogues must remain hiding elsewhere, but they would come here?

The head priest lifted a hand over his head. A bright light grew from his palm, and even from the side it was painful for Ghost to look upon. He didn’t want to imagine staring into it from the front. This seemed to draw the mercenaries back a little. A captain he’d met a couple of times, named Jamie ‘Half-Ear’, for obvious reasons, stepped forward.

“We don’t want nothing bad to happen here,” he said. “But we saw plenty run inside before we surrounded the place. No one innocent needs to be hurt. Just send them out.”

“Those who came here for succor shall receive it,” said the priest.

“I know, I know, you gots to say that,” said Jamie. “Please, er…”

“Calan.”

“Calan. I doubt you want us filthy men running through your fancy place, so how about I just send one or two to point ‘em out to your little helpers? Only the guilty get taken out, and just a few. Everyone else stays safe, see what I’m saying? They ain’t your flock. They ain’t your children. They’re damn thieves, and those with more power than you say it’s time they die.”

Calan shook his head. “In time, perhaps, but not tonight. Go on your way, all of you.”

“They’re dying tonight, you stupid ass, no matter what you do. I see a lot of stone, but this building’s still got plenty that’ll burn. You hearing me, Calan? It’ll
burn!
”

That was enough for Ghost. Though he couldn’t care less about their deity, the temple was a beautiful structure. Stubborn and blind, the whole lot of them. He reached into a side pocket and withdrew a handful of knives, weighted to fly true. Scanning the crowd, he waited, wanting his choices to be absolutely perfect. Jamie was too close, too public, but those near the front, most eager for blood…

Hidden behind his pillar, he flung his first knife into the crowd. It plunged deep into the throat of a man hollering at the top of his lungs, ceasing his cries for fire. His next three took down torch bearers, as Ghost decided fire was the greatest threat to the temple. Down they went, their torches clattering across the stone. By now the crowd had noticed the deaths, and while some wondered aloud, most roared for blood. They’d blame the priests, which was the goal. All the better to make the mercenaries appear the fools when he stepped out.

“You’d murder us in the street while claiming to protect life?” Jamie cried, more to the mercenaries than the priests.

“We have done no such thing,” Calan insisted. He might as well have shouted at a thunderstorm to cease its rumbling.

Ghost slipped to the other side of the pillar, then hopped lower, closer to Calan. He was directly behind him, with a clear view of Half-Ear. The captain was practically frothing at the mouth while screaming for blood, but he’d not yet drawn a blade. Not yet…but close…his hand twitching…now!

Ghost coiled his legs and pushed off, launching himself between them. He wielded a single sword in both hands, needing the power. Before Jamie could swing, Ghost’s sword tore through him, slicing from collarbone to hip. When Jamie kicked, the upper half of him collapsed backward and rolled down the steps, spilling innards, while the legs crumpled and lay in place. A flood of gasps came from the crowd, those that were not stunned silent. Ghost held the bloody blade before his face, peering over it with his eyes.

“Be gone, damn cowards. You have no business here. Go elsewhere, and slay the cloaks in their homes, the streets, wherever but here.”

“This is madness,” Calan said behind him. “I can’t allow…”

“Quiet, priest. You may not want bloodshed, but it’ll happen, and better here on these steps than inside your halls. Such disrespect, it’s shameful. They deserve to die just as much as those thieves within.”

“I’d rather neither die,” Calan said, his voice dropping lower.

“Good luck with that.”

Ghost had hoped the brutal display would cow the crowd, but he underestimated their desire. Too many seemed eager for a fight. They’d gone unchallenged, no doubt thought themselves already nearing the end of their task. If they went south, they’d probably think differently. The fires were growing, the smoke blanketing the city. This fight wasn’t over; not even close.

“Stun as many as you can,” he said to the head priest. “Blind them, knock them back. Leave the killing to me. I’ll be better at it than you, anyway.”

He drew his other weapon and lifted both high above his head, as if worshipping a god of the sky.

“Draw swords or flee!” he shouted to the crowd. It was time to end this stalling. It was time for blood or cowardice.

The mercenaries surged forward, not following any spoken command, only a collective realization to attack now or be revealed as bluffers. The priests raised their hands, their palms facing down the steps. Light shone from them, the intensity blinding. Ghost heard the sound of a hundred claps of thunder, and it passed over him like a physical force. Those at the front staggered or fell back, forcing the rest behind to pull them out of the way. Ghost took advantage of the confusion, leaping forward to gut one mercenary and cut down another. He backpedaled up the steps, parrying random thrusts that seemed wild, as if his opponents were still struggling to see.

“Fall back,” he ordered. The priests exchanged a quick look, but then Calan nodded.

“As he says!” shouted the head priest.

The fifteen climbed the steps, prayers still on their lips. Walls of force slammed into the crowd, invisible but their effects not. He watched noses break, heads bruise, and fingers snap in painful directions. More stumbled upon the steps, crushed by those who rushed behind them. Ghost stayed before Calan, figuring him the most important to protect. He was the strongest, and as long as he stood, the other priests wouldn’t break rank and flee.

“We must hide inside,” Calan said. “We can’t hold them back.”

Ghost lunged left to right, taking out those who pushed through the spells ahead of the pack. They fell, disadvantaged by the lower ground and disoriented beyond measure. If not for the sheer numbers, Ghost feared he might have gotten bored.

“We go inside and they’ll burn us out,” he insisted. “Stand and fight, old man. Stand and fight.”

He kicked another body down the steps. They were gathering before the door, nearly out of space to retreat. Calan nodded, accepting the man’s decision.

“So be it,” he said, standing beside Ghost and lifting his arms. “Forgive me, Ashhur, but I need your retribution this night.”

He lowered his hands. A sound of thunder rolled, and then the steps to the temple trembled and broke. Dust rippled outward in concentric circles, giving visibility to the shockwave. There were about twenty men pressing upward at the time, and they collapsed, crying out in pain. The amount of broken limbs Ghost witnessed was staggering. It was like Ashhur had stepped down and crushed them with his heel. Calan trembled, then stepped back and accepted the support of two more priests. The rest of the mercenaries, not willing to even think of climbing those corpse-strewn steps, turned and fled. Ghost leapt among them, killing a few more for good measure. Coated with gore, he returned to the temple, where he heard songs and lamentations coming from within.

A couple of the priests thanked him, but most eyed him warily and scooted further away when he neared.

“Why?” asked Calan, his arm still around one of the younger priests. “Why did you help us?”

Ghost shrugged. “Can’t stand disrespect, and that’s all that was. They should respect me, and respect you. They didn’t, and now they’re dead.”

“Not all of them,” Calan said, gesturing to the many wounded. He turned to his priests. “Go and tend to them.”

“I doubt they’ll bother you now,” Ghost said. “But I’d consider getting rid of those with colors in your temple while it’s still calm.”

“If I did that,” said the head priest with a smile, “I wouldn’t be worthy of much respect, would I?”

Ghost laughed. “Maybe you’re right. Then I hope your god watches over you. Before this night ends, you might still need him.”

*

D
eathmask watched the carnage from the window of a room currently absent of its original occupants. No doubt they’d fled to safer territory, assuming there was anywhere safe within the city walls. He’d gone out with the initial patrols, under orders from Garrick to help ambush some of the smaller mercenary groups. When the first fight began, he’d slipped away, joining Veliana in the large apartments overlooking their headquarters. After a few initial confrontations that left many on both sides dead, the area had remained quiet for the past hour. Most recently, a squad of fifty men had checked the headquarters for thieves, found none, and then moved on.

“I doubt there’ll be much guild left for you to rule after tonight,” Veliana said, relaxing on a moth-eaten chair. “Hope Garrick survives, though. Would be heartbroken if some lousy sellsword gets the honor of cutting off his head.”

“He’s too cowardly to die tonight,” Deathmask said as he tied gray cloth over his face and straightened it so the eyeholes lined up properly. Behind him, Veliana did the same, using the knot of the cloth to also keep her hair in a tight ponytail. They both wore loose gray clothing, and cloaks of a darker shade. Veliana had killed a pair of Spiders in the initial chaos before joining Deathmask in the building, bringing with her their clothes and weapons.