BloodLust (Rise of the Iliri Book 1) (8 page)

Chapter 10

Noise assaulted her ears as soon as she walked through the door.  She wandered through the rooms, ordered a drink, then headed to the second floor.  From here, she could see everything.  She reached out mentally, hoping to find Shift, Arctic, or Zep, the Blades she felt closest to, when the touch of a thought warned her to look around.  Standing in the shadows behind her, Cyno leaned casually against the wall, his deep blue eyes watching her.  She smiled warmly at him.

I needed to pick the brain of a Blade
, she thought.
Wanna help me out, or would I be ruining your fun?

Fun?  Nah.  But yeh, I can help ya.

Come sit?  I'll buy you a drink,
she cajoled.

Kitten, I think I should buy yer drink, na the other way around.  Lemme do that, and it's a date... or should I say deal?
  His mental laugh at the halfhearted flirtation made her smile as he moved to the seat across from her and gestured for a waitress.

Ok,
Sal started,
here's my problem.  The last trial has us supposedly leading the Black Blades in a training mission.
Her mental tone conveyed her anxiety. 
I want to do it right, but my combat experience is limited –

I can na give ya advice on leading the mission, Sal.  Ya know that,
he broke in.

I do, and that's not what I want.
  She thought about how to phrase her question, shards of images crossing the link to Cyno's mind. 
What I want is just to know what each of you can do, and where you excel.  Within the rules, of course.
  She paused before adding,
It'd also be nice if I knew where the line was... like with this,
and she gestured at her head.

Hmm.  Well, honestly, I dunno.  We can ask the guys.  Rather than say somethan I should na, and get ya disqualified, I'd rather ask.
  Cyno met her eyes with as close to a friendly gaze as she'd ever seen from him. Just outside her reach she heard the murmur of a conversation.

And,
he continued after a pause,
we're supposed ta requisition a private room... for eight.  Follow me. 
He offered her a hand, an odd look on his face when he wrapped her arm through his and led her down the stairs.

Escorting her through the noisy pub, Cyno made his way to the back.  The music faded behind them, the halls grew narrower, and the decor more subdued.  A large man dressed in navy stood up as they neared, his posture changing to respectful rather than intimidating once he saw Cyno.

"I need a room, 'nough to fit eight, if ya could?" Cyno asked. 

"Yes, sir.  Any additional accommodations?"

"Yeh, we'll need some food, I dunno, a bit of somethan for each a us.  And a bottle of mead.  Have Minki prepare Zep's usual, and if ya see LT, could ya let him know where we are?"  Cyno's demeanor suggested that this was not uncommon for the Blades. 

The guard nodded, "Yes, sir, I can do that.  Since you're off, I assume you want the small room?"

"Yeh, perfect.  Thanks, Jenner."  He led Sal down the hall, her arm still linked with his, while his mind resumed their discussion. 
We tend ta have a couple of rooms back here fer private meetings.  It's a lot more comf'terble than what the military offers, and the service is better.

They made their way into a room with chairs around an oval table.  Cyno closed the door, and the sounds of the pub faded to little more than a whisper. 

"We fig're ya wanna talk, na dance t'nite," he said, his voice rough yet lyrical, "so's Arctic said ta grab a room.  In here we can talk jus' fine, with no ears trying ta listen in, and ya will na hafta worry about who's standing behind ya."

She nodded.  "Thanks.  You know I'm not trying to break the rules on this.  I just wanted to ask you all in person rather than digging through records without your permission."  She paused, thinking, before continuing.  "It just seems wrong somehow.  I mean, all of you have become what I would like to call friends, and to read your files without asking, it just seems like a breach of trust."

Cyno almost smiled at that.  His perpetually hard face softened, offering a hint of the man he could have been with a different life.  "Thanks, Sal.  Yeh, our personnel files have a bit more information in 'em than than we'd like.  I'd rather tell ya all my stories myself than have ya read somethan and get the wrong idea.  I'm thinking the others'd feel the same, ya know?"

Before she could answer, the door creaked open and Arctic slipped in.  "Party in here?" he joked as he pulled himself into a chair.  Within seconds four other black-clad men wandered in as a group.  They made themselves comfortable, leaving the chair at the head of the table for Sal.  When she opened her mouth to start speaking, Shift held up a hand.

"3, 2, 1..." he counted down before a rap sounded at the door.  "Come!" he called.

The guard from the hall, Jenner, entered carrying a large tray of food with a bottle tucked under each arm.  "Your meal, my good sirs... and um... lady?" he said glancing at Arctic.

"It's alright, Jenner, she's supposed to be here," Arctic assured the man.  "And she's a sir, too." 

The guard nodded and put down the tray.  The Blades reached for food, mumbling their thanks as he left the room.  The men pulled out glasses and filled them with the golden liquor.

"Sal had questions, and neither of us knew if I coulda answered 'em," Cyno started.

"What questions?" Arctic asked.

"Well," Sal said.  "I'm supposed to lead the training mission.  I assume that means the decisions will be mine, and that you'll look to me for orders?"

Arctic nodded.

"So," she said, "that means I need to have a better understanding of each of your skills.  On the surface, the Black Blades are known to be skirmish fighters, overcoming amazing odds and enjoying outnumbered fights.  Well, that's nice and all, but it also doesn't match what I have seen."

Around the table, eyebrows raised into hairlines.  A few men cracked smiles while she struggled to explain, "I mean, I've already seen that you have skills you don't casually share with others.  I also saw that each of you fights with a unique style.  What I'm thinking is that you all have strengths and weaknesses..."

She paused when the door behind her opened one more time.  The Lieutenant stepped in and made his way to the foot of the table.

"Go on, Sal," he said.

"Ok, so strengths and weaknesses.  Since I haven't really trained with any of you, I have to ask what areas of combat you excel in.  Cyno wasn't sure it was allowed," she explained to the Lieutenant.

"It's ok, guys."  He looked at each before turning back to Sal.  "I'm impressed you came directly to us instead of just trying to find it in their files."

"It doesn't seem right, sir," she repeated.  "I know how much I would hate the idea, and snooping in the files without asking just seems backhanded.  Besides, I'll get better information if I ask."

LT smiled.  "It's true, you will."

"So," she persisted, "what can each of you tell me about your skills.  Fighting first, if you would?"

The Lieutenant chuckled at that.  "Go on, guys.  Tell her what she needs.  She's the first one to figure out that we do more than just swing swords.  If she can figure out how to use what we can do, then great.  If not... who would believe her?"

"Well, I guess we'll go in order, highest ranking first?" Arctic suggested.  "I prefer to shoot rather than hit things.  I excel with the jakentron, all bows, as well as thrown weapons.  I do well enough in hand to hand combat and can beat most with a sword.  Give me a shield and my sword work is even better.  Is that the type of thing you want?"

"Yes!  Exactly what I need to know.  Arctic, I never would have guessed you for an archer," Sal said.  "But I've only ever heard rumors of the jakentron."

"It's a pneumatic weapon, typically cast in resin, sometimes acrylics.  Once charged, it shoots a needle or dart and can reach over five hundred meters.  And sniping works for me.  Keeping my distance reduces the chances of getting taken out, blacking out the link.  You already know about that, having been chatting us up with it."

"Ok, so... Is it an all or nothing thing, or can you close out someone if you need to?"

"No," he said sadly, "I can, and after dawn tomorrow, I plan to shut you out.  It's not easy to do, but I can drop anyone that doesn't outrank me.  We don't need to be listening to what you think and I can't quite trust you to not stumble across a stray thought from one of these men.  So far, we don't have any real mission details, so I figured it wouldn't hurt to keep you in for a while longer.  I have to make tough calls sometime, like blocking out someone wounded because we can't think with his cries across the link.  It's always been a part of me, but like you probably guessed, only those with iliri ancestry can use it.  Well... and Zep."

"Hey!" Zep said, "I keep telling you, my great great granny liked her iliri servants.  And all of her kids were blondes.  I'm a part bred too... just not a big part!"

Arctic rolled his eyes so Zep could see.  Jokingly, Zep tossed a sausage at Arctic's head.

"Guys," Razor said, "c'mon.  Besides, Zep has to have some iliri... no other human has been able to link.  But Sal, for combat, I tend to do well with poles.  Pikes, lances, halberds, you name it and I can use it.  Figure they're all variations of the same.  I don't do infiltration well.  I tend to be too big, too loud, and lack the discipline to not say what I think.  I'm a slower fighter than the others, but I think I make up for it with strength."

Sal nodded, mentally making notes.

"As for my ability, well... I'm a compass." He shrugged, "I find things, and I don't really know how.  If I focus on something, I can point you at it.  Not real useful, unless someone tries to lose you in the woods."

The Blades laughed, obviously having experienced Razor's skill themselves.

"Ok, so I'm next," Shift spoke up.  "Well, I do the infiltration work that Razor won't.  I blend in, and people tend to just like me, so getting information is easy.  I also work with most of the hand to hand weapons but can't hit the broad side of a barn with anything from a distance.  I'm lucky if I can hit a table when I drop my dagger!  I prefer sword and pike, like you saw at the sparring match.  And let's see... my ability is that I can heal minor wounds or stabilize the serious ones."

Sal nodded and looked to Cyno.

"I'm easy," he said, meeting her eyes and holding them.  "I kill people.  I like close weapons: daggers, knives, even a short sword'll do.  I can handle any of 'em, though.  If ya want sum'un dead, then I'm yer man.  If ya wanna jus' hold the line, ya use one of the others.  I do na fight pretty, I just kill."

"So," Sal asked delicately, "an assassin?"

"Yeh," he replied flatly.  "I move fast, and I do na care 'bout none of the posing crap some do.  I fig're, get in, get it done, and be over it."

"Do you have an ability too, then?" she asked.

"I touch things," he said.  "I mean, usually it's people, but objects of affection can do it, too.  I can tell ya if sum'un is lying or guilty, or stuff.  I sometimes can get real strong stuff from an item, like if somethan bad happened when they held it, or if they were thinking about it when using the item, but they have to do that a lot."

"What, think about it a lot?" she asked.

"Yeh, like, if a boy breaks a girl's heart, and she holds her pillow and cries about him ever' night, then I can get bits and pieces of what she was thinking happened.  It's na as good as touching the person, though."

Sal nodded, trying to think of how that could be used.  Besides reading a specific person for a specific reason, she couldn't come up with much.

"Ok, Risk, what about you?" she asked.

"Well, I'm a jack of trades type of fighter," he said.  "When I joined the Blades, they made sure I could hold my own, but mostly I'm just support.  I do the healing, and while Shift's method is faster, mine is stronger.  I can repair almost anything, so long as my patient is still breathing when I get him.  It isn't a comfortable feeling."

Around the room, the men shook their heads in agreement.  Sal assumed most of them had endured Risk's healing and hoped to never do it again.