Fortress Draconis (40 page)

Half a dozen of the Vorquelves entered the carriageway and interposed a wall of flesh between Will and the courtyard. They had swords drawn, and struck sparks from the cobbles as they slaughtered rats. Nothing got past them save the gurgled cries for mercy that ended abruptly with the sharp sound of stick on skull.

The Vorquelves who had made themselves into his bodyguard turned and surrounded him. Predator stood at the center of their line, and Will’s breath caught in his throat. Before he could say anything, however, Resolute pulled Predator out of the line. Crow slipped through the gap and grabbed Will by the shoulders.

“Are you hurt?”

Will shook his head, then let his breath out and started shivering. Above him a second of the winged creatures had joined his guardian. They whirled and looped through a complex knot of maneuvers. Their piping voices filled the carriageway, drowning out the sounds of the wounded being dispatched.

“Easy, Resolute.” Predator freed himself from the larger Vorquelf’s grasp, then straightened out his tunic. “I was just going to see to him.”

“I recall how you saw to him before, Predator.” Resolute’s silver eyes slitted as he looked at the Grey Misters closest to Will. The other Vorquelves backed away. “He’s not hurt?”

“Of course he’s not. We were here, we saw, we took care of things.” Predator flicked a finger toward the flying creatures. “That Spritha came to us, told us we were to be here at this time, and we’d see why, do our part for the prophecy. We were, we did, and it’s done. Without your help.”

Resolute growled. “You know how Spritha are. They know when to be where, but not always why. Sprynt is an old friend. He got Crow and me, brought us as fast as we could go. We got here in time to see it was over.”

One of the Spritha landed on Crow’s shoulder and gave Will a nod. “Sprynt. Pleased to meet the Norrington, pleased.”

The other Spritha landed on Will’s shoulder. Sprynt snapped a harsh comment at his comrade. The green Spritha launched himself into the air, then hovered.

“Qwc begs forgiveness, begs, the Norrington.”

Will shook his head to clear it. “Um, no, that’s okay. You’re Sprynt, he’s Qwc?”

“Impetuous. A child.”

“Well, I owe him my life.” Will lifted his left shoulder. “Go ahead.”

The Spritha landed and clutched Will’s tunic. Qwc jutted his body forward and stuck his tongue out at Sprynt.

Predator came walking over. “You are well?”

“Yeah. Thanks.”

The sapphire-eyed elf nodded. “If I had known who you were…”

“You’d have hated me anyway, Predator.” Will shrugged, but Qwc managed to hang on. “Doesn’t mean nothing. Thanks for saving me.”

The Vorquelf nodded. He looked up at Resolute. “Mind if we salvage things?”

“Help yourselves.” Resolute folded his arms over his chest. “You’ve given us a chase, boy.”

“If I weren’t good at it, they’d have gotten me.” Will sighed. “Okay, I accept that I’m the Norrington. I don’t like it, but Chytrine is convinced of it, so I’m stuck. Short of having a child on someone, I guess I’m your man.”

Crow nodded. “I know that wasn’t easy.”

“Yeah, well, easier than outrunning the folks hunting me.” Will nodded toward the dead bodies. “There was asullanciri running them, and I didn’t see any kids in the crowd. I know where she is. If Chytrine is afraid of me just because of my being a Norrington, well, let’s go kill us one of her generals and give her something more to worry about.”

rjihe situation was not to Alyx’s liking, not at all. She’d I barely had an hour of sleep since awakening after her 1 encounter with the Communion of Dragons when a pounding on her door awakened her again. She’d just thrown back the covers and cleared her hair from her face when the door opened and King Augustus entered.

Alyx dropped to one knee. “My lord.”

“Rise, Alexia. There is a matter that needs attending to and you will have to take care of it.” The king moved from the doorway, letting two stewards enter, bearing a suit of iron-studded leather armor, a short mail surcoat, bracers, greaves, and a helmet. “Dress quickly, then go to the East Tower map room, second level. They will be expecting you.”

She covered a yawn with her hand. “What is it?”

Augustus glanced at the two stewards, then shook his head. “You’ll learn soon enough. Good luck.” Tossing her a brief salute, he exited the room and pulled the door closed behind him.

Alyx dressed quickly. One of the stewards seemed to know his way around armor, so she let him help her with the greaves and bracers. The other steward she sent off to get her a skin of water. She darted out of the room before he returned, but snagged it from him as she moved to the map room.

Inside she found a gathering of individuals, only two of whom she knew. The warrior woman in the regalia of the Alcidese Throne Guards leaned on a table in the center of the room, studying an old map of the city. Next to it was a small piece of parchment onto which had been sketched the layout of a building with the surrounding streets and alleys. Tristi Exemia tapped the map with an index finger, then brought that finger up to her lips and chewed on the nail.

“The maps conflict. What’s on our royal survey map does not match the sketch.”

A grey-eyed youth with a green Spritha perched on his left shoulder glared at her. “My map is right. I was there, I remember.”

“I’m sure that’s what you think you remember, but…”

Weariness entered the youth’s voice. “Look, I’m a thief, right? It’s my job to get these details exactly. My life depends upon it.”

“And now our lives will.”

Alyx moved to the table, sliding in between the large Vorquelf, Resolute, and an older man wearing a set of leathers like hers, but hiding within the shadow of a leather huntsman’s hood. She looked across the table to Agitare. “Give it to me quickly, Captain.”

The man nodded sharply, then pointed at the self-avowed thief. “This evening the Norrington was rescued in the Dim. He has indicated that someone he suspects is asullanciri is operating out of the third floor of a building on Blackline Street at Quay Road. We are estimating an enemy complement of one adult male and thirty or so children, but thesullanciri used magick earlier to produce more combatants. We have no reports on the presence of gibberers or any other northern troops.”

She frowned at the report. Finding asullanciri out in the hinterlands was one thing, but having one in the heart of Yslin, especially as all the world’s leaders were meeting, created a serious problem. They had gathered to decide what would be done about Chytrine, and yet the presence of one of her generals mocked the Council. How could they rid themselves of Chytrine when her vassals ran unchecked in the city?

On top of that, the mission itself was next to impossible. She sighed. “Assaulting up stairs and into a place where asullanciri and an unknown number of troops might be, in the heart of the Dim? I don’t like this at all.”

The Vorquelf snorted. “You have the core of the problem. The layers around it are worse. We will be seen coming from miles away. They will run like rats into the sewers.”

The man at her back spoke softly. “Then we have the problem of dealing with asullanciri. Killing them is not easy. It takes potent magick.”

“That could be why they sent for me.” A grey-haired woman closed the door behind her. “I’m Orla, a Magister of Combats from Vilwan. Do we know which of thesullanciri this is?”

The thief shrugged. “She’s female. She referred to Nefrai-laysh as her brother.”

“They’re not related, that’s just how they talk.” Orla rested both her liver-spotted hands on the top of her ebon staff. “That makes her one of the five femalesullanciri and we’ve not seen them about much at all. Hard to know what she has.”

The Norrington frowned. “She could see through the eyes of others, including rats and stuff. She could also control their actions.”

“The clairvoyance is pretty easy, but it’s also taxing.

Seeing through multiple eyes can drive some people insane.“ Orla thought for a moment. ”I can probably conceal a small number of people from her watchers.“

Alyx smiled. “Good, that will help.” She reached out and spun the city map around so she could read it. Exemia pointed out the building in question. Alyx nodded. “What time is it?”

The Vorquelf answered. “Just nigh four. Dawn’s an hour and a half off.”

“Good, we have enough time, then.” She glanced over at Captain Agitare. “You’ll get the Wolves going and move west up near the temple district, then come down here into the Dim at the far side of our target, coming back east on Blackline. Captain Exemia, you’ll start most of the Throne Guards from Fortress Gryps here, marching in good order. You’ll come west on Broad Street, then cut down on Mason Road to Blackline. You’ll both move slowly, putting on a big show, getting ready to converge on this point just after dawn.”

The dark-haired woman nodded. “You said I would have most of the Throne Guards. Who gets left out?”

“I need six of your marines, the best of them.” Alyx felt a shiver run down her spine. “Orla may be able to blind her, but asullanciri will be suspicious if she has nothing to watch. We’ll give her more than enough to watch, which is why she won’t see the rest of us coming.”

“The rest of us?” The hooded man turned to face her, and she squared up to the table, then looked at him across her right shoulder. “Who would the rest be?”

“Six marines, Resolute, Orla, the Norrington—to tell us what might be a trap or not—me and you. I know you’d not be here if you were not useful.”

The Norrington smiled. “Crow’s a legend.”

Oh, so this is Crow.Alyx studied as much of his face as the shadows revealed. The white beard and forelock provided the illusion of age, as did the wrinkles at the corners of his eyes, and the scar on the right side of his face. His brown eyes, however, still burned with an intensity that surprised her and dispelled that illusion. She could not guess at his age, but she could see there was a lot of life left in him.

“You’re Crow. I’ve been told I can trust you.”

Crow bowed his head. “You are too kind.”

“No, you’ll find I’m not at all.” Alyx glanced over at Agitare and Exemia. “Once we’re in, we’ll sound a whistle and you come hard.”

Captain Exemia held a hand up. “They’re still going to be able to take to the sewers, so we’ll miss them.”

Alyx shook her head. “No they won’t. You’ve forgotten, the street there is called Blackline because that’s what’s left on the surface. High tide, which is in roughly an hour, goes up that far, causing the sewers to back up. Nightsoil gets left on the street. The sewers will provide them no escape.”

The leader of the Throne Guards nodded, then her eyes widened along with her smile. “You’re just going to take a longboat up Quay Road and dock right on the doorstep, aren’t you?”

“Chytrine had no luck with an amphibious attack on Vilwan, so I doubt she’s going to be anticipating our repeating that sort of lousy tactic.” Alyx pulled the sketch of the building over and studied it. “We’re only going to succeed with speed and surprise and magick. We’ve got to get Orla in so she can deal with thesullanciri.”

Resolute let a low chuckle rumble from his throat. “She is not the only one who can deal with asullanciri?

“I know, I’ve read the histories, I know how the others died. If you have any magick arrows or know where Temmer can be found, bring them.” The simple fact of the matter was that the easiest way to deal with thesullanciri would be to assemble a cadre of Vilwanese Combat Magisters and level the building. While it would be effective, it would again underscore how difficult it would be to stop Chytrine. Part of the reason the raid had to go off successfully was to prove Chytrine could be defeated.

That’s why the Norrington is here.If they succeeded with his help, that would hearten opposition to Chytrine and give her something to worry about. If they failed, nations would feel vulnerable enough that they might sue for peace on their own terms with Chytrine. Piecemeal opposition would be crushed.If the Norrington is lost in a failed attempt, it wont matter anyway, since she won’t be resisted.

Captains Agitare and Exemia saluted Alyx and headed out. She came around the table and extended a hand to the Norrington. “I am Alexia. I’m pretty certain you don’t want me calling you ‘the Norrington,’ and that would be pretty useless in combat.”

“I’m Will. The Spritha here is Qwc.” The youth shook her hand firmly. “You’re the Gold Wolf. We saw you at Stellin.”

The stable.She slowly turned and looked at Resolute and Crow. “It begins to make sense-Which of you shot the arrow?”

Will pointed across the table. “Crow did. I thought he was shooting at you and tried to spoil his aim. I’m glad I failed.”

Alyx nodded to the man. “Not only can you be trusted, but your skill at arms is impressive.”

“Spend enough time with Resolute and you learn how to do a lot of things well.”

The Vorquelf nodded. “Killing things, mostly. That’s what I do.” He stabbed a finger against the sketch of thesullanciri’s lair. “Just get us in there, Princess. You’ll see I know my business well.”

Two of the marines poled the longboat up Quay Road slowly and easily. Orla had directed them to propel the boat with a fluid motion, since that made it easier for her to conceal them. “People and animals tend to track motion pretty well. My spell will just create an illusion where our motion is attributed to something else. While folks try to track it, we will have moved past.”

Crow crouched in the bow, with Will behind him and Resolute next. Alyx positioned herself in the middle of the boat, leaving Orla toward the rear, surrounded by a wall of thickly muscled marines. The Throne marines normally served on the king’s flagship and were known to be very tough. Each wore leather armor and carried a pair of short stabbing swords, which would be perfect for close-in work.

Resolute and Will had come armed with gibberkin longknives. Alyx had conceded the wisdom of their choices, and the choice made by the marines, and had abandoned her saber. She armed herself with a shortsword and a small steel buckler with a punch-dagger bound into it. She could stab with it, parry with it, and any blow with the flat or edge of the shield would break bones.