Memory's Wake (22 page)

Chapter Seventeen

“We’ll sneak up, see what we can see and go from there.” Peering out the doorway, Memory found the area empty. Dirty red painted a patch of ground behind the inn, and more blood marked the path where Roen had been dragged.

“That’s your plan?”

“You have a better one?”

Eloryn shut her mouth and followed Memory out the door.

“Maybe they’re done with him, and he’ll be OK?” The sight of blood made Memory dizzy, made her want to run the other way.

“We have to help him. He has the token for contacting the Wizards’ Council.” Eloryn half sobbed. “We can’t leave him behind too.”

In her head Memory rattled through every swear word she knew. She could hear the singing again behind a thicket of trees.

“Is it the hunters who know us?” Eloryn whispered.

“Didn’t get a good look, but there were no uniforms.” Memory’s mouth felt dry and her head ached out through her eyes. She tried to shake it off and concentrate as they crept toward the boisterous choir. The rough ground hurt her bare feet, already sore from river crawling the night before. Her eyes felt full of sand, no matter how much they watered to compensate, blurring her vision. She winced away from the bushes she pushed through and stumbled forward too quickly-

And she was suddenly being stared at by four large men. One was positively a giant.

Eloryn stumbled into her back.

Having already used all her others, Memory tried to invent a new swear word.
Frotz.

The men gaped, sneered and laughed at their sudden appearance. Roen lay on the ground behind them, face down, his caramel hair matted with blood and dirt. He struggled to look up and see why the singing had ended mid chorus, and his expression filled with heartbreak and horror. He screamed for them to run, but only a rasping breath came out, mouthing the word.

A long rope hung over a branch above a man wearing a worn top hat. He paused, half way through tying a rough noose.

Another man wobbled forward, sloshing ale from his flask and smiling around protruding teeth. “Mornin’ m’ladies, come for the show?”

“Look, they all shocked and proper.” The man with the rope smirked and went back to tying the noose.

“If this isn’t their flavor we could give them a different sort of show after,” a handsome but greasy man slurred.

A couple of the men roared with laughter and clinked flasks.

Giant, Buck-tooth, Greasy and Top-hat; nope, they definitely weren’t with the wizard hunters.

Eloryn stepped forward, setting her shaking shoulders square. “Sirs, show your respect. You address ladies of the court. What is happening here?”

Her voice was so formal and firm the men’s laughter cut short. Memory also straightened up, desperately attempting to follow her example.

“Just dealing with a vermin problem milady, what we caught a-sneaking round.”

“And we gave his hide a tanning!” Greasy sang, causing the others to break back into laughter.

“You are wrong. He’s our friend.” Eloryn shook her head at them, but her influence over them clearly waned. The girls’ dirty and torn dresses didn’t help their cause, and the men eyed them suspiciously.

“Then friends with a thief you are, ‘cause we caught him right with his nose in our belongings.”

“Did he actually take anything?” Memory asked.

“No doubt would have if we didn’t catch him; tends to be how these things work, little girl.” Greasy winked at her.

“It wasn’t his fault, it was mine,” Memory said before she could let herself decide against it. Roen shook his head into the ground. Memory licked rough lips and continued, looking to her side for the fragment of an idea that had come to her. “It was just a prank, a dare we made last night after we drank too much. I told him to steal something for me, from the toughest looking men at the inn, in return for...” Memory’s imagination ran dry, but the men took her hesitation to have a different meaning, breaking into cheers again.

“I understand that well enough,” said Greasy, running his gaze up and down the girls.

“Good. Let him go then.” Memory tried to sound commanding but it came out too high pitched.

“Well, m’ladies.” Top-hat swung the finished noose about in one hand. “Seems if he’s worth something to your fine selves, then he’s worth something to us as well.”

“A thief like this would fetch a fine bounty I’m sure, should we take him into town,” said Buck-tooth. Giant grunted agreement. Memory wondered if they’d bothered teaching the mammoth to talk.

“Oh no, we won’t hurt him no more, but maybe you could offer us some compensation for our troubles, if the boy here’s worth it to you.”

“He is. If it’s money you want, we’ll pay.” Memory could see Eloryn trying to catch her attention from the corner of her eye, and realized too late what she wanted to say. They had no money. They had nothing.

“Money will do just fine, being as you’re both too little for my appetites anyhow,” Top-hat said.

“Speak for yourself,” Greasy said, and laughed when the girls squirmed in response.

“I speak for all of us. We have a deal, for a taste of gold.” Top-hat dropped the noose, waiting. Memory hesitated, lost for what to do next.

“We have to check first you haven’t beaten him past his use to us,” Eloryn said, stepping forward.

“We’ve got all day, haven’t we, boys?”

The men stepped back a respectful distance, letting the girls through.

Memory and Eloryn rushed over and knelt by Roen. He had been left lying on his stomach, arms bound behind his back. Memory rolled him onto his side with care. His face was split and torn in a few places and he groaned when she moved him. Most of the blood on him came from a gash on the side of his forehead, still slick and oozing. He looked up at them, eyes wild, then shifted away from Memory’s hand.

“No, you have to go. Run before they have you too.” His voice caught as he whispered. “The token is in my pocket. Take it and go.”

“What the hell were you doing?” Memory whispered into his ear.

He turned his face from them. “Wanted to take the flute, have the dragon ourselves.”

“It is not even them, thanks be. Just braggarts, pretending to be great with tales and lies.” Eloryn reached out her hand, but withdrew it when Roen shifted away with a grunt.

“You idiot, why would you even try that?” Memory stared at her shaking hand, covered in his blood. She wanted to slap him, but figured he’d already had enough. She struggled to keep her voice low, out of hearing of the men who stood nearby, despite how she wanted to yell.

“Because it’s what I do!” Roen closed his eyes, letting his forehead fall back onto the ground.

Eloryn’s voice trembled. “I don’t understand.”

“There was no other thief than myself when I returned your bag that day we met. I only returned it because I... I don’t even know why.” His voice shook as he whispered into the ground, his shoulders tensed beneath a bloodstained shirt. “Just leave me.”

Memory shook her head, confused. No other thief...? If he was a thief, what was that to her? Nothing but another lie, in any case. A thief pretending to be noble. A demon pretending to be human. She could guess what would be considered worse.

Eloryn choked out a few confused words before finding a sentence. “But they would kill you.”

Memory pushed his shoulder again, forcing him to roll over and face them. “Stop sulking. Can you walk?”

He squinted away from her, but nodded.

“Lory, can you magic up so they think we paid them?”

Buck-tooth kicked a rock across the clearing, skimming it close by them. “Come on! When he said all day, you weren’t supposed to take it!”

Eloryn scooped some pebbles into her hand, and bent forward as though speaking to Roen again but spoke to the rocks instead. She opened her hand again and gold coins shimmered. One faded back into a pebble, leaving only four.

“Quick as possible,” she whispered and stood up.

Memory dug her small fingers into the knotted rope.

“This is all we have.” Eloryn held out her hand. The men gathered forward to look and smirked at her. Giant grunted out a laugh from the back.

“It’s just enough. A little less than value, but I guess we feel kindly today. Lucky lad,” said Top-hat.

Memory had Roen out of his ropes and helped him up. She couldn’t stand the smell of the blood, and staggered from it almost as much as Roen did from his injuries. Once on his feet, he let go of her and stood on his own. He looked at the ground, breathing roughly. Memory turned back and nodded to Eloryn, who handed over the money and the three of them hobbled as fast as they could toward the road.

They were just steps away when the thugs yelled in outrage.

“What is this? Think you can give us fairy gold?” Buck-tooth cried.

“Run?” Memory whispered.

“Can’t,” said Roen.

“Frotz,” Memory said. She glanced back.

Top-hat squinted at her, his chin raised. “Get them. This is unauthorized magic. We’ll have a bounty after all. Get them!”

Memory turned to Roen. He turned to Eloryn. Wavering on his feet, he begged her to run as he twisted the upper hem of his pants.

Eloryn stumbled back a few steps, slow and unsure. Top-hat caught up to her, grabbing her from behind. She shrieked and wriggled as he dragged her back. Roen went after them.

Giant came bearing down on Memory like a wall of flesh.

The sound of pounding feet came from behind her, and she turned, lifting her arms to protect herself from whatever approached. Her savage guardian angel ran toward her. His body blurred past and hit the mammoth man, knocking him down. They rolled out of sight behind bushes.

Greasy and Buck-tooth paused on their way to Roen, blinking, turning from Memory to their leader. He called back to them, “Get the skinny witch before she summons another beast. I’ve got the blonde, and the boy won’t be any trouble.”

Turning to approach Memory, Greasy smiled crookedly and her skin jumped.

A flash of light reflected into her eyes. Beside her, Roen drew a thin blade of flexible pale gold from the seam of his trousers. It snapped straight and sharp in his hands. He struck it against Top-hat’s face. It was a clumsy movement, his arm visibly stiff and sore, but the shock made the man release his grip on Eloryn, and his top hat fall from his head.

Blood dripped around his mouth. He laughed and spat.

Eloryn ran to Roen’s side. He stepped between her and the man, who drew a large bronze sword from his belt, spinning it in his hands. Roen rolled his shoulder, grimacing. He whispered to Eloryn behind his back.

Memory could read the words on his lips. “Just go.”

A hand swiped the air in front of Memory and she dodged back, just out of Buck-tooth’s reach. Greasy’s fist flew in from her side, hitting her in the face. Her cheek split between his knuckles and her teeth. Her vision darkened and she fell onto her side.

Memory lifted herself on one wobbly hand, trying to will her pain away. She fumbled with her other hand down the front of her corset, grasping for the body-warmed knife.

A calloused hand grabbed her arm, bruising skin and making the handle slip from her fingers. Her eyes bulged. The crush of the man’s hand made her faint with terror. She screamed with all her chest.

A flurry of feathers and claws descended from the branches above them. Ravens swooped through the clearing. The thugs swatted back at them. The birds tore at their hands and faces. Memory ducked back down to the ground, covering her head, but the birds left her alone. She could hear Eloryn’s voice through the beat of wings, calling the birds to them. Memory reached again for her folded knife.

Top-hat sliced a raven out of the air with his sword. It fell bloody to the ground.

Eloryn cried out in matched pain. She called out more magical words, but a moment later the flock had cleared. Memory heard the sword swing again, and this time Roen grunted sharply.

Still on her stomach, Memory could see boots in front of her. She rolled up onto her feet, flicked her knife open and slashed it at Buck-tooth. He stepped back just out of the blade’s arc. Grinning, he pulled a yellow hunting knife from his own belt, waggling it at her. It was two times larger than her flick blade.