Blood and Shadows

by Dayne Edmondson

  The next morning the rangers were up early and broke their fast with a hearty meal consisting of eggs, ham and bacon before setting out into the city in search of Lord Garik’s meeting place. The rangers left in groups of two, stepping out into the sun-drenched streets of Mara Damare. Bernie also left, using his typical supply run as a cover to allow him to talk with many of his friends within the community.

  Dawyn, Dennis, Alivia and Anwyn wanted to join the hunt but thought better of it. They would remain at the Bald Chicken to await reports from the various ranger groups. A general led best if he could see the whole battlefield, no matter if their talents could be used on the front lines. Once word of the meeting place reached the command center, Dawyn and the others would act upon it, while giving orders to the rangers to assemble and support them.

  The day seemed to pass at a crawl, with the group sitting around sharing stories and eating food. An attempt at playing cards failed after a few minutes because anxiety was too great. Each time the door opened all four companions would look toward the door, all conspicuousness lost to the wind.

  Finally, the first of the ranger pairs returned, reporting nothing suspicious in their search area. One by one the pairs returned to the inn, reporting similar. It was mid-afternoon by the time the second-to-last group returned. Bernie had returned around noon, reporting that none of his contacts in the city knew where the meeting was to be held, but several of the tavern owners on the lower east side of town had been told in no uncertain terms to stay inside and not make any trouble tonight. That information made Dawyn’s ears perk up. The story seemed to have been corroborated by several tavern owners and, based on this information, Dawyn was able to begin pinpointing a general area where the meeting might occur.

  The lower east side of town was known as Flea’s Bottom, an area frequented by sailors. It was known for a rowdier crowd, while merchants kept to the west side of town. It would make sense to have such a meeting close to the water for an escape route, while having it in an already rowdy area of town would provide suitable cover.

  The day wore on toward evening and Dawyn grew worried about the last ranger group. He turned to Flynn. “What inn were Harrison and Jones going to?”

  “Let me check the list,” Flynn replied. “It says here, the Five Daggers. You don’t think…”

  “I don’t want to jump to conclusions,” Dawyn replied. “Bernie, where is the Five Daggers located at?”

  “Over in Flea’s Bottom,” he replied.

  Dawyn had a sinking feeling the first casualties in the fight against Lord Garik had occurred. “That’s where the meeting will be held, I can feel it.”

  The others nodded their agreement, expressions grim.

  “Flynn, gather your rangers. It’s time to make a plan.”

  A short while later all of the rangers minus Harrison and Jones had been gathered in the largest dining room of the inn. Silence had descended upon the room; most of them had already noticed their comrades’ absence.

  “As many of you have heard already, it is believed the location of Lord Garik’s meeting tomorrow night has been uncovered. Harrison and Jones are believed to have given their lives so that we could have this information. Let their sacrifice have not been in vain. The remainder of you will be split into two teams. Team one will cover the street in front of the inn and team two will cover the rear of the inn where it meets an alley. The goal is to remain as inconspicuous as possible until the moment is ripe, so each team will be split into pairs and wait at interspersed positions along the street until the signal to attack is given. Once given, you are to assault the inn with all haste and kill or capture anyone within. There will be no innocents this night at the inn. There are a few hours until nightfall, so oil your blades and ready your armor. Dismissed.”

  The rangers, including Dennis, filed out of the dining chamber to a chamber next door where their gear was stashed, leaving Flynn, Dawyn, Alivia and Anwyn in the briefing room. After the last ranger filed out, Dawyn turned to Flynn. “Flynn, it’s up to you where you want to go. You can be with your men or you can be first into the inn with us.”

  “I’d be honored to join you in battle, Dawyn.”

  “That’s good to hear. The four of us will watch the entrance to the inn and strike when all or most of the assassins are gathered. The rangers will enter at the sound of this horn being blown.” Dawyn handed his horn to Flynn. “Keep watch of this for me and be prepared to sound it.”

  “As you say, Dawyn,” Flynn replied. “I’ll go check on my men,” and he left the room.

  “I’ve solidified the air around the room to prevent any words we speak from escaping it,” Alivia said as the door clicked shut. “Dawyn, what are we going to do once we are inside the inn? There are going to be dozens of trained assassins in there. They will outnumber our rangers several times over, not to mention our small group of four people.”

  “We will kill as many of them as possible and hope we don’t die in the attempt,” Dawyn replied. “Between your magic, Anwyn’s animal forms and my ability I think we will stand a chance. With the rangers supporting us, the odds of survival for us increase.”

  “It is certain Lord Garik's personal assassin and mage will be at the meeting,” Anwyn observed. “How will you handle that scenario?”

  “I will handle the veiled woman; Alivia will take on the mage and when we are finished with them we will go after Garik. Or you and Flynn can fight him while Alivia and I keep his top lieutenants busy.”

  Anwyn nodded in acceptance of this. “It seems you’ve thought of everything this time.”

  “Yes, it should work…” Dawyn was interrupted by a massive boom that shook the inn. He looked at the two women, their eyes wide, and ran to the door of the dining room. Throwing open the door he was bombarded by tremendous heat. He tried to take a step forward but the heat was too much. He saw the bottom of his trouser legs beginning to smolder. He felt a hand on his shoulder tugging him backward and the door was closed.

  “It’s magic, Dawyn!” Alivia screamed. “You can’t go out there unless you want to be scorched alive!”

  Magic? Here, in the inn? “How?” was all he managed to say. He was in shock. As he watched, the walls around him began to burn away. A moment later a massive inferno surrounded the trio, swirling around them as if held back by an invisible barrier.

  “It must be Lord Garik’s mage. My wall of air around the room saved us,” Alivia shouted above the sound of burning matter.

  “But that means,” Dawyn began. “Flynn, Bernard, the other rangers….” He looked out into the inferno, shielding his eyes and trying to see through the flames.

  Alivia shook her head, tears brimming in her eyes. “I don’t know, Dawyn. There’s a chance they’re still alive.”

  “Can you do anything to extinguish the flames?”

  She wiped at her eyes. “Yes, let me try.” But before she could bring any magic to bear on the flames, they had ceased.

  Dawyn looked around him. The three of them stood on a wooden floor surrounded by ash. It was as if a massive firestorm had struck just the inn. The roof, tables, chairs and everything else had been burned to ash. Window glass lay broken on the ground. The space that had been protected by Alivia’s wall of air to stop sound from escaping had saved their lives. If she hadn’t done that…his eyes were drawn to the space that had been the room next door, where Flynn and his rangers had prepared for the operation. Bones, white as ivory, littered the ground. Ash-covered swords, armor, belt buckles and other metal items were all that remained.

  A few meters away, the main street that had run out front of the inn was filling with onlookers. Dawyn looked to his left and right and noticed the buildings to each side were untouched by the inferno. The stables had been untouched as well, located a few meters behind the inn. No, this was no natural occurrence. Alivia was right – they had been struck by a mage.

  Turning back to his companions, Dawyn found tears in Anwyn’s eyes. She was sobb
ing. He rushed over to her and took her in his arms, placing her head against his chest as she clutched him. “How could this happen?” she sobbed. “Those poor men, they are all dead. And Bernice and Bernie, they didn’t ask for this, they were just trying to help.”

  “I know, Anwyn,” Dawyn replied as he stroked her hair. “I should have thought when Harrison and Jones didn’t come back that we might have been compromised. But I never imagined this would happen. Now is not the time for crying. Now is the time to be strong. Those men gave their lives for a purpose. Let’s make sure they did not die in vain.”

  “What purpose?” Alivia asked, her voice harsh. “It seems to me they died for nothing.”

  “Their death served to convince Lord Garik that he eliminated the threat to his meeting,” Dawyn said. “It will make him overconfident and cause him to lower his guard. We now know he will be at the meeting for sure. We need to get into hiding now, before word of our survival spreads to Lord Garik.”

  “How do we know one of Lord Garik’s people isn’t out there watching us as we speak?”

  Dawyn shrugged. “We don’t, but we just have to act as though they aren’t and strike hard and fast. Let’s go.”

  The trio gathered their belongings that had remained in the dining room, said a silent goodbye to their fallen comrades and headed to the stables to retrieve their horses. Shadow and the other horses had been spooked by the flames but calmed at seeing their owners. The trio mounted their horses after feeding them each a treat and set out into the crowd. The onlookers on the street parted as they approached, looking at them as if they had just seen a trio of ghosts. It was very rare that people saw anything like what had just occurred, and even rarer that anyone survived such destruction.

  They were midway through the crowd when a hooded man approached them from the side. Dawyn looked over, hand on his sword, and recognized the face of Favio beneath the hood. He reined in Shadow and waited, removing his hand from his blade.

  “Thank the Founders you survived,” Favio said as he approached. He looked over the three of them with anxious eyes. “When I learned of what they were going to do I rushed right over, but I was too late. I saw the mage, Nikki, cast her foul magic and saw the inn go up in flames. Nikki commanded me to remain behind and report back to her if anyone survived.”

  “So the mage, Nikki, did not remain to confirm whether we were dead or alive?” That was good news. It meant Lord Garik remained ignorant of their survival.

  “She did not. She was confident no one could survive the inferno. How did you survive?”

  “A chance use of magic at just the right time,” Dawyn said, gesturing to Alivia. “We have Alivia to thank for our lives. Come, let’s get your horse and you’ll come with us.” Together the four of them returned to the stables to allow Favio to mount his horse and they rode down the street, heading east.

  As they rode Dawyn turned to Favio. “How did they find us? Was it the rangers Harrison and Jones?”

  “Aye, it was them. I was there when they were caught at the Fiver Daggers and dragged before Lord Garik. He had his head torturer begin torturing them. They held out for a time, but then Lord Garik offered a chance to live to the first person who told them where to find you and those with you. Lord Garik heard a Shadow Watch Guard was hunting him. I’m sorry to say Harrison spoke the name of the inn. It did not save him, however. Both men were given blades and told to fight to the death. It was terrible to watch. Jones survived and was then forced to fight Lord Garik himself and told if he killed Garik he would be free to go. Needless to say, Jones died a quick death.”

  It was hard to hear, but Dawyn couldn’t blame the two men for cracking under pressure. They hadn’t asked to be in that position. Dawyn added their names to the list of the dead and vowed to avenge them tonight. “Then that’s where we are going. I have a score to settle with Lord Garik. Do you have any idea how many assassins and thieves he has gathered at the inn?”

  Favio stroked his chin. “I saw over a hundred gathered there when I left to find you. It may have grown by nightfall. It will be no easy task to defeat them.”

  “We will do our best or die trying,” Dawyn said, his resolve growing.

  Chapter 23: The Five Daggers