Lisa Shearin - Raine Benares 01 (23 page)

After
my last trip to The Ruins, I had asked Janek Tawl for a map and committed it to
memory. I had sworn I would never get lost here again. With the amount of
criminal activity in The Ruins, the city watch had commissioned the best maps
money could buy. Hopefully I would live long enough to tell Janek it was a good
investment.

The
ground sloped upwards, and we followed it. There were only two areas of The
Ruins that could be called high ground. We were fortunate to have found one of
them. It wasn’t the way out, but it would go a long way toward helping me find
one. At the top, there was a low grouping of stones surrounding a rock slab
where the ground leveled off. I knew exactly where we were. That slab had seen
various uses over the years, none of them good.

Piaras
stopped beside me. “Where are we?”

That
wasn’t a question I wanted to answer. “It doesn’t have an official name.”

“What’s
the unofficial name?”

“The
Butcher Block.”

He
looked at the slab. “Because of the rock?” he asked uneasily.

“Yeah,
because of the rock.”

The
spellsinger stepped in for a closer look. I didn’t stop him. There was enough
light to see where dark stains had seeped into the stone, becoming a permanent
part of it. Piaras didn’t need to be told what those stains were.

He
quickly returned to my side.

The
lower Ruins spread out below us. In the distance, I could see the lights from
the Sorcerers District and the harbor. So close, yet so far. Unseen from the
forest floor, the tops of the trees twinkled with light when seen from above.
In the canopy, pale lights of blue and white glowed, died, then reappeared
farther away, until the forest was alive with fairy light. I had to admit it
was possibly the most beautiful, and surprisingly peaceful, sight I had ever
seen. And I didn’t let myself believe it for one second.

“How
do we get out?” Piaras asked.

“The
closest exit is a little over two miles that way.” I indicated the mostly
overgrown path to our left, and the lights in the all-too-far distance.
“That’ll put us out at the south end of the Sorcerers District.”

“That’s
a long two miles.”

Two
tiny pinpoints of light appeared through the trees. I thought they were eyes,
until they separated. In the next few seconds, more delicate pink lights
appeared, singly and in groups of two or three. They darted around us on
translucent wings. The illumination seemed to come from the creatures
themselves.

Piaras
turned slowly, following their flight. “Are they moths?”

I
tried to see one clearly as it dove in front of my face and then away. I caught
the briefest glimpse of miniature arms, legs, torso and head—all no larger than
my thumb, and all without a shred of clothing. There were both males and
females.

“They
look like some type of sprite or fairy,” I said.

Tonight
was full of firsts. Possibly not everything living in The Ruins wanted us for a
late supper. If it were true, it would be a welcome change.

One
of the fairies darted on hummingbird wings around Piaras’s upheld hand. She was
definitely female. She lightly brushed the spellsinger’s hand with her feet.
Once. Twice. Piaras remained perfectly still and waited with breathless
anticipation. The fairy landed.

More
fairies appeared. Their glow was brighter than before, the colors deeper, more
of a rosy orange than pink. I noticed a slight cut on Piaras’s wrist where the
bindings must have broken the skin. The fairy had noticed, too.

“Piaras,”
I warned.

“But
they’re beautiful,” he protested, enthralled with the ethereal form perched
coyly in the palm of his hand. His face was illuminated by her pale pink glow.
She looked rather taken with him, too.

“Yes,
they’re very pretty. Now, say goodbye to the nice, naked lady and let’s get out
of here.”

The
naked lady smiled, and suddenly she wasn’t so nice anymore. Razor-sharp teeth
glittered in a tidy row a split second before she hissed and sank them into
Piaras’s wrist. With a gasp, Piaras jumped back and swatted at her. Her pink
glow flared to red as she and the others dove at us.

I’d
seen enough. “Run!”

Piaras
didn’t have to be told twice.

Run
we could do, but escape was not happening. The forest had upright trees, fallen
trees, rocks, brambles, and vines. The blood-sucking fire pixies just darted
over or around anything in their path, flames spreading out behind them like
the tails of tiny comets. The ground grew soggy, then wet beneath our feet. If
memory served me, there was a shallow pond just ahead. Nothing like a little
water to dampen fire pixie ardor. At least that was what I was hoping. It was
the best I could come up with on no notice.

We
burst into the clearing and were instantly knee-deep in pond water.

I
quickly waded toward the center, and told myself that being drained dry by fire
pixies was a worse death than drowning. I didn’t buy it for a minute, but for
Piaras’s sake, I’d at least try not to think about it.

“Get
a deep breath and stay under for as long as you can,” I called over my
shoulder.

The
pixies could just hover above the surface until we were forced to come up for
air, but I’d deal with that stumbling block when I came to it. One problem at a
time.

The
center of the pond was chin deep on me, chest deep on Piaras. I took all the
air my lungs would hold and went under. Piaras followed and did the same.

The
pixies were on us immediately. They looked like torches waving over the
surface. They darted about, searching. I thought my lungs were going to burst,
but I didn’t move. Then as suddenly as they had arrived, they were gone. Not
trusting luck of any kind tonight, especially the good kind, I waited a few
extra moments before sticking my head above the surface. It was hard not to
noisily gulp air.

No
pixies. No lights.

Piaras’s
head popped up beside me. “They’re gone?” he gasped, once he had filled his own
lungs. He seemed as doubtful of our good fortune as I was.

I
scanned the surrounding trees. No glow. “That’s what it looks like.”

“Why?”

“Tastier
offer?” I didn’t really believe it, but it would have to do until something
else came along; but in the meantime, I wasn’t going to question it too
closely. “Let’s get out of here.”

I
felt heavier coming out of the pond than I had going in. I knew I was taking
some of the pond with me soaked into my clothes, but I was listing a little too
far to the right. Piaras looked at me, his eyes as big as saucers.

“Raine.”
His voice was tight.

I
stopped and looked down at myself. I didn’t see anything. “What?”

He
grimaced and pointed to my right side.

I
lifted my right arm to get a good look and bit back a scream. It came out as a
squeak.

A
black, shiny leech was working hard to attach itself to my ribs. It was easily
a foot long. And from the enthusiastic way it was squirming to get through my
leathers to my skin, I must have been the best thing to come along in quite a
while.

I
cleared the water and was on the bank with my knife out in record time. The
only thing I wanted worse than to have that leech off was to scream. I couldn’t
remember ever wanting to scream and run that badly.

“Soul-stealing
rock, razor-fanged pixies, blood-sucking leeches,” I hissed as I struggled to
get my knife wedged under the thing’s blindly seeking mouth and pry it off.
“When this is over I’m going to treat myself to a screaming fit. I deserve it,
and I’m going to have one.”

I
sliced the leech from my doublet and checked myself for others. I stopped.
Something was very wrong. Even more wrong than foot-long leeches. Piaras
coughed twice from swallowing water, and then it hit me. The noise Piaras had
just made was the only sound I could hear. It was as if every creature, living
or whatever, was holding its collective breath in anticipation of something.
The pixies had known what it was, that’s why they had given up so quickly. I
suspected we didn’t want to wait around and find out what the pixies knew.
Piaras realized it at the same time.

“Which
is it?” he whispered.

I
assumed he was referring to my litany of this evening’s monsters.

“None
of the above. We need to move.” The amulet felt like it was trying to slice its
way through my doublet to free itself. “Whatever it is, it’s coming at us
fast.”

I
doubled back toward the hill with the intention of skirting its base. That
would put us back in the direction of the closest way out. The newest threat
was coming from the opposite direction, so every step in our present direction
took us farther from the whatever-it-was and closer to home. Worked for me.

I
stopped suddenly just before the edge of a large clearing. Piaras plowed into
me from behind, and we both went down in a tangle of limbs. I looked up and
froze.

Prince
Chigaru Mal’Salin stepped out of the shadows about fifty yards to our right. He
wasn’t alone. I didn’t expect he would be. He had neither seen nor heard us,
though I imagined that would change soon enough. He was well armed and armored,
which was more than I could say for myself or Piaras. Looked like someone was a
little put out by our early departure.

Rahimat,
the goblin spellsinger, drifted wraithlike out of the trees to stand beside
him. Neither of them had sensed us, and I didn’t know if it was the beacon
shielding us, or the presence of whatever was coming up behind us. What I did
know was that we were trapped between the goblins and something the amulet and
my own instincts were telling me was infinitely worse.

“Mistress
Benares. I know you are here. I promise I will not harm
you or your spellsinger, which is more than I can say
for the creatures living in this forest. You will not make it out alive without
my protection.”

Spellsinger?
I swore silently. So much for keeping Piaras out of this.

The
goblin prince paused, listening. He gestured, and his guards spread out to
surround the area where we were. They didn’t know our exact location, but it
wouldn’t take them long, especially if they stepped on us.

My
hands were sweating against the leather dagger grips. I forced my breathing to
remain even, and released the shielding spell I had been holding, quietly I
hoped, to cover both of us.

The
goblin prince and his guards moved closer. They didn’t make any effort to be
quiet. They didn’t need to. They weren’t the ones hiding.

“I
give you my word, both of you will be released unharmed once I have the
Saghred.”

That’s
what the prince was saying, but that wasn’t what I believed. I kept my hand on
Piaras’s shoulder, and willed him not to move. I need not have bothered with
the warning. Piaras remained flat on the ground, peering through the thick
reeds, eyes alert to the goblins moving toward us. The long dagger was in his
hand, and the look on his face said that he wasn’t going anywhere else with a
goblin tonight—and if any goblin tried to make him, they were going to regret
it.

Prince
Chigaru’s guards were armed mainly with swords. There were a few crossbowmen.
Not nearly few enough, but I would take any advantage I could get. I wouldn’t
exactly call what I sensed approaching us an advantage, but if it gave the
crossbowmen something else to shoot at besides us, they were more than welcome
to join the party.

I
didn’t know what scared me worse: the goblins, what was stalking us, or what I
wore around my neck. If metal could have emotions, I would say that the beacon
was having some strong ones, and it was doing everything it could to compel me
to share them. My mind knew I was outside and there was plenty of air for
everyone. My body wasn’t convinced. The air was getting thick. Only one thing
could do that. Magic. The bad kind. And there was entirely too much of it.

I was
being hunted, and not just by the prince.

I
looked up. A richly robed goblin stood on the far side of the clearing, halfway
between us and Chigaru Mal’Salin. The prince’s guards froze. I didn’t blame
them. I also didn’t need a formal introduction to the newcomer. We’d met last
night.

Sarad
Nukpana stood alone, completely unprotected from Prince Chigaru’s guards. Any
one of them could have put a bolt in his chest. Not a one of them tried.

The
grand shaman’s head turned, his gaze leisurely taking in every goblin in the
clearing. Some of the prince’s guards shifted uneasily, some looked away. I
heard branches snapping as a few goblins back in the trees bolted in terror.

“I
should have expected a traitor to be hiding in the wild with the animals,”
Nukpana said.

“Or
Khrynsani to be consorting with monsters,” Prince Chigaru replied, his features
expressionless.

Others
emerged from the shadows behind Sarad Nukpana, some robed, others in royal
Mal’Salin armor. They had no intention of attacking immediately. They were
waiting for something, and I for one, could go through the rest of the night
without knowing what.