The Reluctant Assassin Boxset

by Thomas K. Carpenter

  Nearby, apartment buildings as high as eight stories crowded the street, while further in the distance skyscrapers dominated the horizon. Feeling exposed, Zayn started moving. They clustered along the side of the street even though there were no other travelers present.

  "Wait," whispered Portia. "We have to mark the area so we can get back."

  When Zayn turned around, he caught a glimpse of the rusty generator room, as if through a window, but it faded in and out depending on how he moved his head. Portia placed an anchoring enchantment on the nearest cast-iron pole, muttering something in Spanish before they moved again.

  They walked for a few blocks, and the whole time Zayn felt like they were being watched. His shoulder blades itched and he resisted the urge to check behind him constantly.

  "Where are we going?" whispered Skylar from beneath her shadowed hood.

  "We'll know it when we find it," said Zayn.

  A few minutes later, they were crossing an intersection when they heard what sounded like knives being scraped together, followed by a guttural scream. No one made a move towards the noise, and for once, Zayn felt no desire to investigate. For all he knew the sounds were a ruse to draw foolhardy folk into a trap.

  The next hour seemed to take forever as his senses were on high alert the whole time. The streets all looked the same, though the skyscrapers in the distance changed over time.

  "Are we getting anywhere?" asked Vin with a hint of frustration.

  "Just keep your senses alert," said Zayn. "We'll find something eventually."

  "They say this place is endless, and I'm beginning to understand why," said Keelan.

  They walked for another hour, and the feeling of familiarity grew with each passing block. They'd been walking forward for over two hours, but it felt like they were stuck in a loop.

  "I swear we've passed that puddle ten times," said Skylar.

  "Wait," said Portia, grimacing when she realized she'd spoken too loudly.

  Her fingers gestured in complex movements along with a breath of faez exhaled. When she was finished, her shoulders slumped with defeat.

  "What?" asked Zayn.

  Portia raised her arm, indicating the way forward. "The anchor I placed is right ahead. We have seen that puddle ten times, because we've walked past it before."

  Everyone looked around them at the buildings. Zayn squinted into the distance, studying the skyscrapers.

  "I know those buildings are different. The one with the green glow at the top when we first got here is gone, and now there's one with little things flying around it," said Zayn.

  "Everything I read said this place was impossible to map through normal means," said Portia. "Now I understand. This place is worse than Mexico City."

  "How do we get anywhere? If we're just going to walk around in circles, we might as well go back," said Keelan, clearly frustrated.

  "There's got to be a trick to it," said Skylar. "Otherwise, how would anyone get anywhere? How would you find anything?"

  Their conference was interrupted by a chittering sound coming from an alleyway. Zayn froze, sending his senses in all directions.

  Portia pointed to the front of the alleyway. A creature the size of a matchbox, looking like a hunk of broken concrete with tiny wire legs and chips of gemstones for eyes, came ambling out, followed by a few dozen others. They watched as the first one stopped, its silver wire antennae rotating around in a scanning motion.

  "I think it's a faeila," said Portia as she studied the critter. "I guess they're kinda like insects here."

  Before she could say another word, the critter surged towards Portia, who quickly stomped it, crumbling it into pieces. Then she watched in horror as the tiny chunks of concrete reassembled themselves and started moving after her again.

  "Hey guys," said Vin in alarm, "there's more coming from the other alleyways."

  "Owww," said Skylar, kicking one away that had snuck up from behind. "Little bastard bit me."

  Zayn spun in a circle to see more faeila surrounding them. Then it was like the alleyways on either side of the street opened the floodgates, because thousands of the critters came pouring out. Before Zayn could bring even one spell to his lips, they were surrounded.

  Chapter Thirteen

  The Eternal City, December 2015

  A rocky situation

  A tortured scream cut through dusk-laden streets, somewhere nearby. It wasn't one of Zayn's teammates, but he suspected that whoever had made the sound had wandered into the swarm of faeila.

  "Blast your way out," yelled Zayn as he threw force bolts into midst of the creatures, scattering them like rocks, but almost as soon as they tumbled to a stop, they slid together, reforming into new critters.

  More screams, this time from his teammates, filled the air. Zayn wasn't sure who yelled, "Run," but he was moving before the retreat was sounded.

  A half-dozen of the tiny concrete creatures attached themselves to him as he leapt forward, snipping at his flesh with hard mouths. Each bite was like getting his skin pinched between two rocks.

  Zayn hastily knocked the critters off as he ran. They broke free of the swarm but it followed them as they sprinted forward, running flat out for a good thirty seconds.

  They were two blocks away when Zayn saw a dark gray carpet moving across the street ahead of them, and as they slowed, the carpet shifted towards them like a murmuring of starlings.

  "We've looped back around," said Skylar.

  "What can we do? We can't run forever," said Vin.

  "Focus fire, force bolts only. Maybe if we turn them to dust they can't reform," said Zayn.

  The five of them lined up, and on Zayn's count, unleashed bolt after bolt of pure force energy. The first few rounds scattered the incoming critters, sending up a cloud of broken concrete, but then as more faeila joined the initial vanguard, there were too many for their blasts to cover, and the creatures flanked them.

  "Back the other way," said Zayn.

  They ran for a minute before encountering the swarm again.

  "Any ideas?" asked Zayn as the carpet of concrete critters skittered towards them.

  "Moments like this make me wish I was in Arcanium or Coterie. They know the biggest, flashiest spells," said Skylar.

  "Up!" said Keelan, who was already scaling the nearest building, grabbing the crenellations and windowsills as he ascended.

  Zayn followed his cousin up the building. He looked down to see the critters catching them as they neared the top. They ran up as fast as they ran across the street. By the time Zayn and his teammates reached the roof of the five-story building, a flood of faeila brimmed over the sides, falling over each other like rocky foam.

  No one had to say anything about their next escape. With a short running jump, Zayn leapt the gap between the two buildings, stranding the faeila on the other side.

  Vin peered over the side. "They're climbing this one, too."

  That was all the warning they needed, and they leapt a dozen buildings in rapid order.

  "This is exhausting us faster," said Zayn. "Let's get back to the street."

  Back on the ground, the gray carpet headed towards them like an ocean with a murderous streak.

  "I think we have to bail through the portal," said Zayn, watching the glistening street boil with faeila. "We can't keep running and we can't fight them. I'm sorry, guys, this trip is a bust. Take us back, Portia."

  The chittering grew louder. Zayn put his hand on Portia's shoulder. She stared into an alleyway that they'd passed a dozen times before. He glanced down where she was looking, only to see a stone wall at the end of a dim alley.

  "I can get us out," said Portia.

  "Uhm, guys, we need to hurry if we're going to get out of here," said Skylar, concerned.

  "How...never mind, no time, if you can do it, do it," said Zayn.

  "Over here, this way," said Portia breathlessly.

  Zayn was confused when she headed into the blind alleyway. He glanced behind to see the carp
et of faeila trapping them into the alleyway.

  "Uhm, Portia..."

  But when he turned his head back, the way opened up and they stumbled onto a new street. The buildings had dull red doors, which was a shocking display of color compared to the pallet of grays and blacks from the previous street. They ran for a couple of blocks before they were able to slow, confident they'd lost the concrete faeila.

  "What did you do?" asked Zayn, confused.

  Portia looked all around them. "I think the reason no one can find anything is because it doesn't work like our world. I think it works on intention, rather than a compass-based direction. We didn't know where we wanted to go before, so we stayed in a loop. But once I wanted to get away, I saw the new street through the alleyway where it hadn't been there before."

  "That's brilliant, Portia. How did you even think of that?" asked Vin.

  A slight blush rose to her cheeks as she lifted one shoulder. "After spending a summer hiking, I guess I found that I had a knack for finding places."

  "I think you're the team scout now," said Zayn, patting her on the back.

  A smile beamed to her lips which she kept squeezed together in an uncharacteristic display of modesty. The pride sparkling in her eyes gave Zayn an idea. He realized that the team didn't have defined roles, and that everyone sort of helter-skelter contributed when they could, but if they were going to succeed they needed to specialize more.

  "Can you think about a source of information next?" asked Zayn.

  She didn't answer because she held a secret smile on her lips as if she'd already been doing that, or maybe something else entirely.

  Portia led them two streets up. They reached a building that looked like a cathedral with a stained glass window, except the colored glass seemed to shift and move as if it were alive.

  "How beautiful," exclaimed Skylar, who took a step towards the building, and when Portia grabbed her arm, shook her off.

  "Watch," said Portia, who seemed to know something the others didn't.

  Zayn focused his attention on the colorful moving stained glass window. It seemed like the window was breathing, like a carpet of leaves with air exhaling through them.

  Then as if some signal had been given, the colors exploded from the window, a mad fluttering rising above the street. As the colors expanded, revealing individual creatures, the picture of what he'd been seeing became clearer.

  "More faeila?" asked Vin, receiving a hushed "Yes" from Portia.

  These faeila were unlike the concrete critters from before, more delicate, translucent. They appeared to be made of thin flexible material, like butterflies made from stained glass windows with gemstone eyes. They rose like a dark rainbow, catching light from the sky even though there wasn't a ray of sun anywhere.

  They rose higher, expanding into a flock, until their height and the dinginess of the sky faded their colors into nothingness, and they could no longer be seen.

  "That was worth nearly getting eaten for," said Vin.

  "I'll agree with you when we get out of here alive," said Skylar.

  Zayn caught up to Portia as they strode away from what they'd thought had been a cathedral. "You knew about that, didn't you?"

  "Know? No," said Portia. "A traveler from the Halls came here before and wrote about them. I didn't think we would find any, until I realized that anywhere in the Eternal City was available if you wanted to go there."

  Zayn was about to ask a question when Keelan said, "Carriage incoming."

  The sound of rattling wheels on cobblestone echoed from behind them. Two powerful black horses with steam hissing from their nostrils thundered onto the street from a crossing point.

  "There's nowhere to hide here," said Keelan frantically.

  "Go to the Veil," said Zayn, catching a look from his cousin, but when he tried himself, he found the way blocked.

  "We can't get there from here," said Portia. "And there's no time to escape through the alley."

  "Wait," said Skylar, stepping forward, but looking at the shadows pooled at their feet. "Let me..."

  Skylar didn't finish her sentence. She whispered a spell, blew faez between her hands as she rubbed them together, and leaned down, inexplicably grabbing the edge of the shadow and yanking it up as if it were a blanket made of night.

  "What the...?" muttered Vin.

  "Everyone crouch behind me," said Skylar, who held the shadow before them as a shield.

  Zayn crowded behind her with the others leaning on his shoulders. He could see through the shadow. It made the world look like it was in the middle of an eclipse.

  As the carriage grew near, an irrational fear built in Zayn's chest. He sensed it in the others as they twitched, heads turning as if they were preparing to run.

  Looking through the shadow he saw the horses differently. They seemed almost skeletal, and a crimson glow emanated from their lips as if they contained a fiery furnace in their bellies. Their hooves struck the cobblestones like a hammer beating a crucifixion stake.

  His breath came short. He wanted to run in terror the other way, but the closeness of his teammates kept him from fleeing.

  As the black carriage passed them, Zayn saw the symbol for the Ruby Court, a musical note being held like a hammer, on the side of the carriage. Behind the crimson curtains, Zayn sensed a powerful presence, and his whole body tensed, concerned whatever was behind the curtains was looking for them.

  But then the carriage was past them, rattling down the cobblestone street. Zayn exhaled, hearing similar releases from his teammates.

  "That was close," said Vin. "I felt like they were looking for someone, maybe us. That was odd, and terrifying."

  "There was someone dangerous in that carriage," said Keelan. "I wonder who it was."

  Skylar shook out the shadow as if she were folding laundry, then set it onto the cobblestones. One blink later, nothing looked different from before.

  "We would have had the displeasure had Skylar not known that trick," said Zayn. "That was pretty sweet, where'd you learn that?"

  "I wanted to make a cloak of shadow, something to wear that no one else had ever worn. I found a spell and made modifications, but the shadow can't exist on its own for long. It disintegrates within a few minutes."

  Zayn nodded, mentally assigning Skylar in charge of Deception.

  "Portia, can you get us somewhere useful?"

  She nodded.

  They crossed the street, heading down a new alleyway. When they came out the other side, Zayn thought she'd erred, because the streets looked like the ones they'd originally come from.

  To their right, two bulky humanoids stood beneath an awning. They had powerful arms, olive green skin, and ridged foreheads. A neon-like sign above the door glowed in crimson magelight. As they circled towards the door, Zayn caught the name of the place.

  Stone Cypher

  The bouncers out front sucked in their guts and pulled back their shoulders as Zayn and his teammates approached.

  "Dolgant," said Portia under her breath.

  "Hey fellas," said Zayn, using a casual demeanor as if they'd been there before. "Who's the band tonight?"

  The two dolgants glanced at each other, confusion brimming on their foreheads, anger snarling on their lips.

  "Go away, fleshbags," said the dolgant with a scar on his jaw. "Stone Cypher not for you."

  "We're here on business," said Zayn, hoping to be cryptic enough to pass without creating any situations.

  Without looking away, the scarred dolgant growled out words in a language that made Zayn's throat hurt just hearing it. The second dolgant nodded and started to go through the door.

  Zayn had a strong feeling that the second bouncer was planning on grabbing reinforcements. He placed his hand behind his back to signal to get ready for a fight, but Vin stepped forward.

  "Gentlemen," said Vin, reaching towards them with something glimmering in his open palm. "There's no need for us to make a scene."

  Zayn almost didn't recognize
Vin as he addressed the dolgant. He simultaneously reminded them of his considerable size and seemed like a congenial friend. The dolgants' eyes widened when they saw the glimmering in the palm of Vin's hand.

  "Don't worry, that's for you," said Vin. "One for each of you."

  Vin shook his hand, and the glimmerings doubled. Zayn tried to get a better look, but he couldn't see past Vin's bulk.

  The first dolgant, the one with the scar, reached out and took the glimmering off Vin's palm, followed by the second. They both seemed mesmerized, staring into their cupped hands as if they were holding the contents of a galaxy.

  Vin pushed past the bouncers into the bar, so Zayn followed.

  "What was that?" asked Zayn as they traversed a dark passage that led down a set of narrow stairs, noting Vin's new role within the group for the future.

  Vin shrugged. "A little trick I learned in DC."

  "I never knew you could be so charming," said Skylar.

  "As they say, you don't change DC, but DC changes you," said Vin.

  Further conversation was cut short when they entered a noisy bar filled with smoke. Dozens of dolgants stood around circular concrete tables drinking from pewter mugs, speaking in their native tongue. It sounded like a room full of growling dogs.

  The moment they stepped into the light, the conversation in the bar died. Every eye was focused on them, and every eye was angry.

  Zayn was certain their entrance was going to end in a fight. Then things got worse as a tall maetrie stepped from a booth.

  The maetrie's slick dark hair obscured half his face, but his awkward, almost deranged smile said everything they needed to know about him. His shoulder-dipped gait was vaguely familiar to Zayn, which worried him even more, along with the cufflinks made of teeth on his stylish pin-striped suit. A wicked curved blade appeared in the maetrie's fist as he limped towards them.

  The room full of dolgants, which at first had directed their anger towards them, watched the approach of the strange maetrie with horror-filled apprehension.

  Zayn stepped into his way, preparing to signal his teammates for battle, when the maetrie twitched his head, knocking Zayn backwards as if he'd been yanked by a string.