Shadow's Witness (21 page)

“Fm in, Cale,” Jak reassured him. “I’m in.” He took a deep, thoughtful draw on his pipe. “But if we’re not moving on this until tomorrow, we should involve Brelgin. One day is enough time for him to gather some manpower. We’ve got some good operators in the organization, Cale. We could—”

Cale raised his hand to cut Jak off. “The Harpers aren’t helping.”

The little man’s chatter instantly stopped and his mouth hung open in disbelief. “What?”

“They’re not helping.”

“But it’s a demon!” Jak protested.

Cale found it odd to be defending Brelgin but did it nevertheless. “He knows it’s a demon. I told him everything I told you. I think he would help if he could, but the organization can’t spare the men or resources.”

They’re sparing me!”

Cale smiled. “I think he knows that you’d come with me no matter what he said.”

“Damn right,” Jak said, and thumped his small fist against the table. He looked up at Cale with narrowed eyes. “What about the authorities?”

•f QA • Pa..1 C

“No. This is between Yrsillar and me,” Gale grimly pronounced. “Ill leave word for Brelgin as to the location of the guildhouse. If we fail, he can do whatever he sees fit.”

Jak nodded slowly. Thoughtful, he pulled from his shirt pocket a platinum, jewel encrusted cloak pin and rubbed it between his fingers. “It was only chance that I was there that night. In the Soargyl manse, I mean.” He held up the cloak pin for Gale to see—it was in the shape of an eagle’s talon, with a single tourmaline inset. Gale’s mind appraised it automatically—one hundred fivestars, or thereabouts.

“This is what I went to get,” Jak said. “But what I took out of there was the memory of what that demon did to the Soargyls. Gods Gale, 111 never forget his face while that thing ate his soul…” He fought off a round of the shudders and looked across the table. His green eyes burned with intensity. “We do this your way.”

Gale nodded, pleased that the little man understood. He considered telling Jak about Yrsillar’s reference to the other, but decided against it. If Mask was working through the two of them, then Gale and Jak would have to deal with it when the situation arose. There was no reason to burden Jak any further.

They sat in silence for a time. Gale picked at the crumbs of bis dinner. Jak balanced his chair on its rear two legs, crossed his hands over his head, smoked his pipe, and studied the ceiling.

Abruptly, as though he had reached some sort of decision, the little man leaned forward, let the chair legs thump against the floor, and snuffed his pipe.

“Let’s get out of here, Erevis.” Without explanation, Jak rose and threw on his gray cloak.

Surprised, Gale did likewise. “Where to?”

“I don’t care, but I can’t stay here anymore.”

Gale asked no questions. He led Jak out of the room,

1 ttf> • Pa.Ť! 6 fTnmn

through the residence hall, up the stairs, and back into the lending library. There, they found Brelgin and Priest Librarian Elaena seated at a desk, conversing softly. When they saw Jak, both looked up in surprise.

“Jak, I’m glad to see you up. What are you doing?” said Brelgin.

“Mister Gale,” accused the priest librarian, “you assured me he would remain bedridden until tomorrow.”

Before Gale could respond, Jak reached inside his cloak and removed something from an inner pocket. He set it down on the table with a smack.

When he removed his small hand, Gale saw the item—a silver pin in the shape of an exquisite harp. The symbol of Jak’s membership in the Harpers.

“He’s my best Mend, Brelgin. If we can’t help him, then we no longer includes me. I’m out.”

Without another word, Jak turned and walked out of the temple, a stunned Gale following and a speechless Brelgin left in their wake.

IN either man said a word when they emerged onto the Avenue of Temptes. Worshipers thronged the street. The smell of incense hung thick in the cold air. Simultaneously, the bells of several temples began to sound the noon hour.

Jak turned and looked at Gale, his eyebrows raised in question.

“East,” Cale replied above the din. Toward the docks. Good a place as any to spend the rest of the day.”

Jak nodded agreement.

Picking their way through the crowd, they sloshed through Selgaunt’s bustling streets and headed eastward for the Wharf District.

Gale smelled the fish market a full block before they reached the bay. By the time they

CHATTER 8

Neither man said a word when they emerged onto the Avenue of Temples. Worshipers thronged the street. The smell of incense hung thick in the cold air. Simultaneously, the bells of several temples began to sound the noon hour.

Jak turned and looked at Gale, his eyebrows raised in question.

“East,” Cale replied above the din, “Toward the docks. Good a place as any to spend the rest of the day.”

Jak nodded agreement.

Picking their way through the crowd, they sloshed through Selgaunt’s bustling streets and headed eastward for the Wharf District.

Gale smelled the fish market a full block before they reached the bay. By the time they

had reached the next intersection, he could hear the dull, inchoate roar of the market in full swing. Now ‘ midday, the bayside fish stalls teemed with people and overflowed with the winter bounty of the bay—steelfin and cod, mostly. Customers haggled loudly for the day’s catch. Fishmongers affected pained expressions and counter-offered. Coins clinked and moved from hand to greedy hand. Selgaunt went about its business.

Ships crowded the piers, the winter-cloaked crews busy about the decks and rigging. Sails snapped in the salty wind. Frost-covered ropes creaked in their pulleys. The shouts of sailors and the bellowed orders of captains filled the air. Though he had lived along the Inner Sea his whole life, Cale had been aboard ship only once, and that had been a harrowing adventure. Cale had fled Westgate aboard Wave Runner, a schooner captained by a one-armed, vulgar pirate named Gros Fallimor. Though he and Gros had become fast friends on that voyage, after debarking in Selgaunt he had never seen the old pirate again.

Thoughtful, Cale’s gaze drifted out to sea. The still water of the bay mirrored the gray of the overcast sky. In the distance, working to keep the shipping lanes clear of floes, he could see powerful icebreakers plowing through the water like iron-plated dolphins.

“Let’s get a room somewhere. I need a bath and some rest,” said Cale. The filth of the guildhouse still lingered on his clothes, and he suddenly felt the effects of a day and a half without sleep. “We’ll move on the guildhouse an hour or so before dawn.”

Jak looked surprised at that, and nervous. “You want to move against Yrsillar at night? That soon?”

Cale nodded firmly as they skirted the market and walked along the pier. Td go after him right now if I didn’t think fatigue would make me sloppy. We can’t delay any longer than necessary.” He stopped and

looked his friend in the face. “There’s no predicting what that bastard will do next. He wants me, but I’m not all he wants. He’s going to keep killing unless someone stops him. And if he can continue turning men into ghouls …”

“Hell have an army soon enough,” Jak finished solemnly. “We go at night, then.”

Cale began again to walk, his mind on revenge. “Don’t be worried, Jak. Darkness is as much our element as it is his.”

To that, Jak said nothing. After a few moments of silence, the little man seemed to reach a decision. He pulled Gale to a stop and looked into his face, embarrassed but determined.

“Cale, when I first saw the shadow demon in Sarntrumpet, I froze. It scared me so bad I just froze.” He paused and added softly. “I wanted you to know.”

Cale stared at him a long moment. “So now I know. It doesn’t change anything. There’s no one I’d rather have with me.” r

Jak smiled gratefully. v

“It scared me too,” Cale confessed. “But it’s a magical fear, supernatural. Since we know that now, ifll be easier next time.” ?.

Jak did not look totally convinced. Cale wasnt sure that he was entirely convinced himself

“Let’s get a room,” he said.

•Š••Š• O- •Š••Š•

They took a room at the Winsome Wench, a low-cost flophouse used mostly by transient sailors and operated by a weather-beaten old woman named Matilda who looked as tough as boiled leather. She was a wench, but hardly winsome. Cale paid her an extra fivestar for the luxury of a bath and Iaua4ry service.

Afterward, he took, a glass of hot spiced cider in his room, climbed into the lower bunk of the tiny bed, and quickly fell asleep.

•Š• •Š• •Š• •Š• •Š•

He awoke to find the room dimly lit by a single candle set in a tin candleholder. Jak sat cross-legged on die floor beside it, eyes closed, holy symbol in hand, meditating. Cale knew him to be praying to Brandobaris for spells; committing magical words to memory in preparation for the confrontation with Yrsillar.

Surprisingly, Hie small window in their room that overlooked the bay was dark. The sounds of commerce, cargo, and shipping had fallen silent. The wharf seemed eerily quiet.

He cleared his throat to get Jak’s attention and asked in a whisper, “What time is it, little man?”

It took Jak a moment to come out of his prayer trance. When he did, he opened one eye and cocked an eyebrow at Cale. The soft glow of die candlelight made him look like a sinister, red-headed pixie. “A few hours past midnight,” he softly replied. “Selune will be setting soon.”

“Dark,” Cale oathed in surprise, and sat up in the bed. He had slept away the whole day and most of the night. “Sorry about that, Jak,” he said, while pulling on his freshly laundered shirt. The laundry girl must have brought in his clothes while he slept. “I didn’t mean to sleep that long.”

Jak pocketed has holy symbol, stood up, and used the candle to light the wick of the room’s single oil lamp. Cale squinted as his eyes adjusted to the sudden brightness.

“Not a problem. It gave me time to come to terms with Brandobaris. Just in case.” He laughed casually,

but Cale thought it sounded forced. “Besides, while you slept I had some of Matilda’s fish stew and homemade ale. Quite good actually. Wouldn’t have been my choice for a last meal, though.” He tried to smile at his joke but managed only a pained grimace.

Cale could think of nothing to say to ease his friend’s uneasiness. He too felt less than sure that he would see another sunrise. He tried to change the subject. “You should’ve gotten some sleep, Jak. Elaena said you needed rest.”

The little man snorted as he belted on his short sword and daggers. “Are you kidding? Burn me, Cale, I feel like my skin is on fire. I couldn’t fall asleep if a mage used a sleep spell on me.” Seeing Gale’s concerned frown, he hurriedly added, “But I’m still ready for this. Fm not… it’s just the waiting.”

Cale nodded. He understood. Had he not been absolutely exhausted, he doubted he would have been able to sleep either. He stood and stretched his long frame and belted on his weapons.

“Let’s get a quick meal and get this over with. No more waiting.”

“A meal? You hungry?”

Cale donned his enchanted leather armor and threw on his new blue cloak.

“Not especially. But I need to do something… normal beforehand. You understand?”

“I understand. Definitely.” Jak smiled. “I’m hungry again, anyway.”

They gathered up their gear, took the candle in hand, and walked down the hall to Matilda’s room. After a round of firm knocking, the sleepy, grumbling old woman opened her door a crack.

“What is itr she croaked.

“We’re leaving,” Cale announced. “Now, and we won’t be back.”

She nodded, grumbled something obscene under her breath, and tried to shut the door. Cale stuck his boot in the opening to prevent it from closing. “We would like something to eat before we go, old woman. Ifs important.”

At that, her eyes narrowed angrily. “It’s too damned late,” she protested. Toull have to—”

Cale shut her up by flashing a handful of fivestars. “One meal, Matilda. It’s not a lot to ask. I said if s important.”

She studied the corns, torn between sleepiness and greed. The gold in Gale’s hand represented more than a tenday’s rent. After only a moment, greed won out. She gave a brisk nod and grabbed the fivestars in a wrinkled hand. Ill get dressed and be down in a moment. You’ll set your own table though, you hear? There’s bowls and spoons in the cabinet.”

“Fair enough,” Cale said, and headed downstairs to the dining room with Jak.

They took bowls, cups, and semi-clean tableware from an ancient wooden cabinet and sat at the sturdy common table. Within a few minutes, Matilda, now dressed in faded nightclothes, descended the stairs and walked into the kitchen to start a fire. She was still grumbling.

“Stew, bread, and ale is all I got,” she announced over her shoulder.

Cale shot a longsuffering smile at Jak. “Looks like you’re getting fish stew as a last meal no matter what you do, little man.”

“So it seems,” Jak replied, and distractedly passed his finger back and forth through the candle’s flame. “It’s fate, Cale, and there’s no point fighting fate.”

Before long, Matilda emerged from the kitchen. In her gnarled hands, she held a serving board set with a pot of steaming stew, a loaf of day old black bread, and

a pitcher of ale. After setting the whole on the table, she filled both their cups with ale and ladled their bowls full with the chunky fish stew.

“You have as much of this as you want,” she told them. “Leave the mess and I’ll get to it in the morning.” She took a step back and eyed Cale determinedly. “But I’m going back to bed now, gold or no gold. This ain’t no time for decent folks to be up and about.”

“No, it’s not. Thank you, Matilda, and goodnight.”

Startled by his considerate reply, she muttered under her breath, walked away, and slowly walked back up the creaking stairs.

Jak and Cale sat in silence. They picked at the food, their minds on other things.

As he spooned in another mouthful of the stew—it was tasty, as Jak had said—Cale looked around the seamy dining room. Empty now, the morning would no doubt find the dirt-stained floor populated by seedy men with dirt-stained souls. Anyone, including fall-down drunks, thieves on the lam, assassins on a job, and whatever other dregs had managed to stumble into Matilda’s boardinghouse with enough coin for a night’s lodging. Back in Westgate, Cale had taken predawn breakfasts in rooms exactly like this more times than he could count.