The little man twisted his neck to look up at Ashok. “As I was waking up, I saw you die, then I saw you come back.” He seemed rather awed by that.
“Indeed. Yet if I kill you, it will be permanent. Remember that fact as you answer my questions. What is your name, wizard?”
“I am Waman.”
“In their rush to escape your brothers abandoned you.”
“Of course they did. Most flew off to save their own skins.” Waman spat on the floor. “They’ve no love of me! I was always loyal to Master Sikasso. If he were here we’d all stand and fight. Without him and with you killing a bunch of us, the rest have run off to hide until the demons leave.”
Jagdish stepped in. “I could waste time torturing you, or we can make a simple trade. Help us find a way to escape and we will take you with us. Hinder us, and we’ll leave you tied up for the demons.”
This wizard struck Ashok as a sniveling coward, but he wasn’t a fool. “I’ll gladly join your cause. Untie me and give me a bit of magic. I’ll help you fight.”
Jagdish scoffed. “Arm an assassin in his own house? Hardly. No, it is you that’ll be arming us.”
* * *
While Jagdish questioned the wizard and the Sons searched the rest of the building, Ashok approached Thera. She was being guarded by one young Thao warrior who was remaining a polite distance away. There was a muscular slave nearby, but he was sitting there, staring blankly off into space with his one remaining eye. Their long-lost prophet had been put on an improvised litter and placed on the floor. Both of her hands had been bandaged. He couldn’t tell if she was awake, asleep, or somewhere in between.
“Hello, Thera.”
Regardless of how poorly she felt, she opened her eyes when she heard his voice. “Ashok?”
They had not spoken in a long time. He’d chased her across a third of the continent and killed many men to find her, and now he didn’t really know what to say. “How are your hands?”
She sounded weary. “The only reason I’m not screaming is Kabir gave me a drug. Everything’s numb. I can wiggle my fingers a bit though I’m scared to look at them…But I’m still alive. I can’t believe you actually came after me.”
“When we were traveling together, I told you I intended to serve the prophet.” Muscles aching, he put his back against the wall, and slid down until he was sitting next to her. He needed to give the Heart of the Mountain time to do its work anyway. “You’d think by now people would know that I always do what I say I will do.”
“I guess we just get used to most people breaking promises rather than keeping them.”
“I am unlike most people. As are you, it turns out.”
The two of them sat there together, battered and exhausted. He’d cheated death and she’d thwarted a demon god. It had been a very long day.
“My promise to serve the prophet would’ve been easier if I’d known I’d already met her. I wish you would’ve just told me the truth to begin with.”
“You were the Law’s greatest killer and I inspired a rebellion against it. Of course I didn’t tell you. I thought you might murder me.”
“It crossed my mind,” he said simply.
“I could tell!” She gave him a sad little laugh. “I didn’t particularly trust you much then.”
“You were going to roll a bomb onto my blankets while I slept.”
“Think that would’ve worked?”
“Perhaps. Have I earned your trust yet?”
“After spending time among these backstabbing assassins, I’m thinking you might just be the most honest man I’ve ever met.” Thera sighed. “Not that it matters. We’re going to die here anyway.”
“Normally when demons come ashore, they kill in a frenzy then leave, they don’t lay siege. Something has caused a change in their behavior. I witnessed your struggle in the demon’s graveyard. I thought it was Sikasso’s magic keeping me and the demons out, but it was you, wasn’t it?”
“That was the Voice trying to protect itself.”
“Do you think you could call upon that power again?”
“I don’t know.” An involuntary tear rolled from her eye and cut a line through the dried mud on her face. “I’m sorry…I shouldn’t show weakness.” She tried to rub her face with one wrapped hand, but the movement was too numb and clumsy.
Ashok reached out and gently wiped the tear away with his thumb. It was an unconscious gesture. He awkwardly took his hand away. “We are all weak at times.”
“These warriors came here for me, and they’re going to die here because of it. I saw things during the trial, inside my head, visions from the demons, from the past, I don’t know. That thing I fought, it was like hell’s version of the Voice. There’s more of them out there, hiding, waiting. But I killed this one. Now hell wants revenge. These demons are here for me. Leave me here. Then the rest of you might get away.”
Criminals were supposed to be without honor, yet Thera was willing to sacrifice herself in the off chance it might save others. Ashok found it odd sometimes, the places you found such dignity. Powerful wizards abandoned their wounded brothers, while a lowly outcast rebel was selfless on behalf of men she’d just met.
“I don’t think you understand the nature of the Sons of the Black Sword. They will not abandon you. I suspect Gutch will fill a sack with treasure and run as soon as the demons are busy eating us…But the rest of them would rather die for you.” Strangely enough, Ashok could respect that. He would be here regardless, because obedience was the very fiber of his being. The others had chosen this illegal, yet bold, path.
“The Voice is a curse. Oh, why do I keep inspiring good men to do stupid things?”
“I am neither good, nor inspired.”
He hadn’t meant for that statement to be amusing, but it made Thera smile. For some reason that made Ashok feel a little better.
“Where is Keta? I’ve not seen him. Please at least tell me that Keta isn’t trapped here too.”
“The last I saw of him, Keta was safe. Many fanatics joined us along the journey. We couldn’t bring them here. He wanted to come after you, but he was the only one who knew the path to your rebellion’s hideout, so he led the noncombatants south.”
Thera groaned. “No! Sikasso knew about that group. Omkar has gone after them. He’s a sadistic killer. They’re doomed.”
Ashok scowled. He was very good at what he did, but he could only be in one place at a time. “Keta will find a way to escape. He is clever, like you.”
“That’s the nicest thing you’ve ever said to me, Ashok…” Her voice was growing tired and weaker. She was quickly fading back into a drug-induced slumber. “I don’t want to die here.”
“I will do my best to keep that from happening.”
“Doesn’t your precious Law say all us criminals deserve to die?”
Ashok found himself in disagreement with the Law on that point, and he didn’t even feel guilty about it. “While it is no longer my place to judge, it is still my obligation to protect…Now sleep, Thera.”
She could no longer keep her eyes open. Her voice was a whisper. “Will you be here when I wake up?”
Since Ashok wouldn’t lie to her, instead he said nothing, and waited for her to drift off. He sat there, silent, listening to the breathing of the woman he’d sworn to serve. She needed to rest. Regular people did not have the Heart of the Mountain to repair their wounds or stave off fatigue. Except even the mightiest Protector had his physical limits, and a few minutes later, Ashok nodded off as well.
When he came to, the light coming through the stained glass windows had turned orange. The sun was going down. The Heart had done its part while he’d rested. His wounds were nowhere close to fully healed, but he was feeling stronger than before. Thera was still next to him, unconscious. When the drug wore off, she would awake in terrible pain.
He whispered so as to not wake her up. “You have done your part, and now I must do mine.”
The Thao warrior was still st
anding a respectful distance away, keeping watch over them. Ashok approached him. “What is your name and rank?”
“Nayak Murugan of Great House Thao. Risaldar Jagdish told me to keep an eye on her.”
“Good. Your orders haven’t changed.” He already knew the answer but he needed to ask anyway. “Are the demons still out there?”
“Yes, sir.”
Ashok looked the soldier over, he was young and skinny, obviously inexperienced, but he seemed determined enough. “When the time comes I will make a path through the demons and she will be carried back to the barges. Do not leave her side. While I am away, you will protect her at all costs. You cannot fail. Do you understand me?”
“But, sir, I failed before, in the swamp I panicked and ran! I’m not the one to—”
Ashok grabbed him by the collar, dragged him close, and growled, “There is only one man in Lok who does not know fear. Of course you’re afraid. Fear is the tool that keeps most alive. Now you must be afraid for her as well.” Ashok shoved him away. “Do not fail me. Do not fail her.” And since they seemed to be actively involved today, he added, “Do not fail your gods.”
The young warrior gave him a grim nod. “I won’t.”
The slave was also still sitting there. “Who is this?”
“The prophet called him Dattu and said he’d helped her. He wouldn’t go with the other slaves. But there’s something wrong with his head. I think he’s simple.”
Ashok went over to the slave, who seemed oblivious to everything around him. “You helped Thera?” There was no response. He’d been scarred with a whip across the face. Curious, Ashok lifted the eye patch and confirmed that it had really been sliced in half by the wound. He dropped the patch. “If you can understand me, demonstrate it.”
Slowly, the slave turned to looked at him, and Ashok thought that maybe there was some tiny measure of understanding still in there. Slowly, painfully, he tried to speak. It was obvious that it had been a long time.
“Evil has been done here.”
Ashok nodded. “I agree.”
“My walls crumble…” Poor addled Dattu stared right through him. “I can see it. They made you like me once, but more. Now your walls are falling too.”
“Perhaps.” Ashok gave the broken man a respectful nod. “Regardless, thank you for aiding Thera. Her safety is very important to me.”
“General! General!” One of the workers ran up to him. “I was sent to wake you. Come quick. Risaldar Jagdish and Forge Master Gutch have a plan.”
“Very well.” Any plan had to be better than his idea of just walking up to the largest demon and picking a fight. He took one last look at their sleeping prophet and then followed the worker.
The Sons had been busy. Last he’d seen, the warriors had been futilely pushing at the big bronze statue, but the far more efficient workers had taken over with ropes and pulley, and arranged a trap that Ashok found most ingenious. From the piles of weapons, the armory must have been cleaned out. Several large wooden barrels had been brought in and stacked along the wall. There were sacks, bulging with what had to be demon parts, ready to be carried off. Gutch threw down another sack, and from the opening in the top, Ashok saw that this one was filled with Capitol banknotes.
“What’s all this?”
“Well, General, in the unlikely event any of us actually escape, we might as well escape fabulously wealthy. Don’t scowl at me! I know you don’t care about such mundane things, but the rest of us have got to eat. Besides, I’ve found a rare treasure in their armory you’re sure to appreciate.” Then Gutch saw that some of the warriors were struggling with one of the heavy barrels. “Careful with that!”
One of them slipped, and the barrel made a loud thunk as it struck the floor. From the way everyone cringed, Ashok could tell it was extremely dangerous.
Gutch shook one meaty fist. “Even static can set that off! You fools slip up again and we’ll all be raining down on the ocean in bloody chunks!”
“What foul magic have you stolen this time, Gutch?”
“A common misconception among the upper class, but that stuff’s not real magic. Just nature mixed together differently. Chemistry, it’s called. My caste uses chemicals all the time for different industrial processes. We just have to get the Order of Technology and Innovation to give permission for new formulas and inventions first to make sure it isn’t something we could turn against the Law. Since they’re so picky us workers call them the Order of Stifling Innovation, but anyways, from the look of things these wizards love experiments. Theirs are just a bit more energetic and a lot more illegal is all.”
“I saw some alchemy downstairs.”
“Ah, that was nothing. Waman said Sikasso wouldn’t let them store any of the really volatile stuff in the vault where it might damage their valuable demon bits. Which gave me this idea. See, this is the rest of their supplies. They had to keep it out back in an underground bunker. Turns out that one of their number, wizard by the name of Hemendra, was fixated on replicating the formula for Fortress powder.”
Ashok stared at the barrels, offended. This was one of the most brazenly illegal things he’d ever seen. “The Capitol has placed the harshest of penalties upon anyone who possesses Fortress magic, let alone in such an obscene quantity.”
“Do these folks strike you as the kind who’d give a damn what the Capitol declares? Anyways, that little snitch thinks Hemendra was making lots of the stuff because he intended to assassinate Sikasso with it. Since it’s not really magic, their master wouldn’t be able to detect a bomb, which would make for quite the surprise. But Sikasso strangled him first…They sound like a right lovely bunch. Makes me happy to rob them and blow up their house. Though losing all this artwork is a shame. Do you have any idea how much some of these pieces would fetch in the underground markets of Vadal City?”
“This evil must be destroyed,” Ashok muttered, but then he realized in the process that such a devastating force could be turned against an even greater evil. “You’re preparing a welcome for the demons.”
“Now he’s catching on!” Gutch slapped him on the back. Ashok frowned at the too familiar gesture, and Gutch quickly removed his hand. “Sorry.”
Jagdish came over to join them, looking grim. “So Gutch told you. The wizard showed us a secret door in the basement we can use to escape while the demons are occupied. He’s rather forthcoming, since he doesn’t want to get eaten.”
Ashok understood their plan, and also its key. “Reaching the barges will still require crossing the swamp in the dark. Blind and on rough terrain, a single demon could still kill everyone. Someone will need to draw all of them here to be consumed by the Fortress magic.”
“The bad news is whoever lures them in here probably won’t make it out. And I don’t suppose you’d be willing to let anyone else have that honor, would you Ashok?”
“I say this without intending offense against your courage or martial skills, but none of you would last long enough to make a difference. I will.”
“I figured you’d say something like that.” Jagdish smiled. “Looks like you might just get your suicidal wish after all.”
Ashok mulled it over. One criminal life in trade for five demons? And death would come while fulfilling his obligation? “This outcome is acceptable to me.”
“It’s decided then.” Jagdish looked toward the windows and the dying light. Like a proper warrior, he tried not to let his emotions show, but even the hardest of them didn’t like losing a friend. Even unflappable Gutch seemed a little uncomfortable. “I doubt we’ve got time for long good byes.”
“It’s been an honor, Risaldar Jagdish.”
“Agreed, Protector. Since the sun’s nearly down, don’t waste my time arguing. As far as I’m concerned you’ve earned that title forever. Now let’s get you properly kitted up so you go out looking the part too.”
Curious. “What was this other treasure you spoke of?”
Chapter 46
As darkness f
ell, the soldiers of hell crept from their hiding places, sleek and deadly.
“Demons incoming,” a lookout shouted.
It was time to bring some measure of Law to this lawless land.
The massive doors of the House of Assassins swung wide, revealing a tall figure in heavy armor. The construction of lamellar plates, leather, and cord had been made by the best craftsmen in Lok. Upon his head was a conical helmet, covering his face was a mask of fine chain, and on his breastplate there was a golden ornament, the judgmental visage of the Law.
With torch held aloft in one hand, and a pole arm in the other, Ashok Vadal walked down the steps to declare war on hell. There was guilt in donning the armor of the Protector Order again, but it would help him survive longer, and in an odd, selfish way, being clad in steel and silver felt right. They’d found it in the armory, along with uniforms and insignia stolen from every house and Order imaginable, to be used as disguises to help the assassins complete their nefarious missions. Whichever Protector had been murdered for them to obtain this suit, surely he would be offended to know that unworthy criminals had donned it, but Ashok hoped he would also be pleased that it would be used to slay demons one last time.
He stopped in the middle of the courtyard and raised his voice to a commanding bellow. “Heed me, demons. I am Ashok Vadal. You are guilty of trespass. Return to the sea now and I will spare your lives. Stay and I will kill you all.”
The Sons were watching from the windows. They needed as many demons as possible to commit before they made a run for the barges. It had taken thirty men to beat one demon while losing half their number in the process. The math did not favor Jagdish getting Thera to safety with only three fighters to each demon. They’d try to take the house slaves with them, but the only help they were likely to provide was that the demons might slow their pursuit long enough to devour them.
Thinking of those slaves though…The door to one of their nearby quarters had been ripped from the hinges. While waiting for the sun to go down, the demons had probably slaughtered everyone caught outside the walls of the great house. The livestock had screamed and bleated as the demons had torn them to bits, but the mute servants had never made a noise, never begged for help, or mercy. Those people had done no wrong, broken no Law, they were simply victims, first of the wizard’s cruelty, and then the demon’s hunger. Ashok’s righteous anger grew hotter.
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