Apprentice

by Nicholas Hale

  Everybody in Archon knew the symbol and knew well enough to steer clear of it. Yet Riven had gone close enough and searched the body. All he found was the dagger and a few copper pieces. He had the dagger hidden under one of the floorboards of the shack that Riven and Toskk called their home. Toskk had once found Riven with a knife that he had stolen from the kitchens of the Twin Swords Inn where he had been employed for some time. Toskk had whacked him over the head and given him a sound warning that he wasn't to possess a weapon until he was of age.

  Riven had gotten older since then, but Toskk still continued to treat him like a child. Showing the dagger to him was out of question so he kept it hidden under the floorboards, taking it out to practice only when his brother wasn't nearby.

  That wasn't to say Toskk didn't care about him. Having had no one care for him, Toskk was the only family that Riven had ever known.

  Riven always kept his eyes and ears open and often understood things that he wasn't supposed to at his age. Owing to this rare insight, Riven had no illusions about what his brother did. Toskk was a thief. Worse, Toskk was a freelance thief. The Black Raven guild was usually ruthless with freelancers. Often extorting great sums of money as tribute to allow them to operate. The only good thing was that Toskk was a very clever thief. He managed to hide most of what he did from the eyes of the Black Raven lieutenants. He operated alone most of the time and never showed his wealth openly.

  Riven knew for a fact that there was quite a bit of gold hidden away. Toskk never squandered it on whores or drink. And their less-than-modest shack never betrayed how much gold Toskk had hidden away. When Toskk had no option but to work with other people, he chose his partners very carefully.

  The reason why Riven had chosen to follow Toskk with such care, and with his trusty dagger under his belt, was because he had seen Toskk speaking to Stinky Tom earlier this day. Stinky Tom was called Stinky Tom not because he smelled, but because everything he was ever involved in stank to hell.

  There was no 'clean' deal with Stinky Tom. Ever.

  As such he had a reputation for getting his partners in trouble. Many people knew this. Including his brother. This was why Riven didn't understand why Toskk had even been speaking to him. Even though Riven, in his own opinion, had great eyes, feet and ears, there were limits to his abilities, he thought sadly, so he couldn't hear exactly what they had been talking about at the Twin Swords Inn earlier today. Riven did not know why his brother was in that alley right now. He did not even know for sure if it had anything to do with Stinky Tom at all.

  But what he did know was that the last man he had seen speaking to Stinky Tom was a man who called himself Gurth, who had his hair in braids and the largest shoulders Riven had ever laid eyes upon. Even though Riven did not work at the Twin Swords Inn any more, he often went there to meet his friend Tosso, who cleaned the pots and pans. He had seen Gurth talking to Stinky Tom for at least six days straight. Three days ago, there was a body found in one of the numerous alleys of Archon, not too far from the Twin Swords Inn, that had extremely large shoulders. The face was disfigured but Riven was sure he had seen a braid somewhere in the mess that was the body.

  Riven tried speaking to his brother. Toskk was usually arrogant and assumed Riven didn't know anything, but he sometimes listened. This, however, was not one of the times he did listen and had given Riven a strict warning that he was to stay home and not follow him.

  Riven was glad he disobeyed that order.

  He wasn't sure what he expected and what he was going to do if anything did happen. For as long as Riven could remember, Toskk had several trips where he left home and told Riven where to find their stash of gold in the event that Toskk never came back. Riven had been scared half to death those times. But Toskk always came back. Riven had gotten used to it. Used to the fact that his brother was involved in a very dangerous trade and that he could die any time. But he also promised himself that would do everything he could to save his brother if he ever had the chance.

  With that thought in mind he clutched the dagger's hilt as he craned his neck just the smallest bit to get a view of his brother. Toskk was now leaning against the alley wall.

  Toskk appeared to be at ease. Maybe he was here early. Riven got up and moved back. There were three buildings that made up the alley. He was wondering if any of the other two would make a better location to keep an eye on Toskk. His thoughts were interrupted when something told him that he should move away from the place he was standing at. As quickly as he could.

  Riven knew that feeling. And he knew it extremely well.

  Without stopping to think, he made a dash toward the second roof. Unlike the one he was on, the second roof had walls.

  Walls were good. He could hide behind them.

  He leapt over the wall landing on the other roof as silently as he could. Riven never liked shoes. He found that his bare feet made much less noise than the softest shoes he could ever get his feet into.

  His instinct told him to stay down. If someone was approaching he could hear it. There was no need to see. Yet. Closing his eyes, he strained his ears. He did not hear the footsteps he was sure he would.

  Was the voice in his head wrong? That would be the first time if it was.

  The voice kept telling him to stay down. Maybe he should try to hear harder. He did not hear footsteps. What he heard was the click of a bolt being loaded into a crossbow. His heart skipped a beat and blood rushed into his head when he heard it.

  Without thinking he stood up and turned to see a man lying in the same position he himself was a moment ago. Except this man had a crossbow aimed downwards. The crossbow was bad because he was sure it was pointed at his brother. It was also good because, from what Riven knew about bows and crossbows, they narrowed your vision down to a single point—the target. Excellent marksmen were oblivious of anything around them except the target.

  Riven pulled out his dagger and held it with both hands against his chest. Even now, he knew that his brother was in no immediate danger. He had heard numerous stories of how thieves worked and how they kept an eye on things. He moved close to the wall to see that his brother was still alone. If the crossbowman wanted Toskk dead, Toskk would be dead by now. The crossbowman was probably waiting for someone else to arrive.

  In any case, Riven decided he would need to be close if the bowman decided to fire. Yet he also needed to keep an eye on his brother. The same voice screamed in his head. He needed to decide. Right now, the best thing he could do for his brother was to keep his blade close to the bowman.

  Riven moved back to corner where he landed from and slowly climbed the wall. The bowman was lying motionless. Maybe he was an excellent archer and intended to keep all his focus on Toskk. He leapt and landed on his feet on the previous roof.

  He made no sound.

  Dagger in hand, he walked along a line directly behind the bowman He was now less than six feet away from him. This was stupid, he thought, suddenly sweating. How would he know when to strike? The man could obviously fire his crossbow quicker that Riven could use his blade on him.

  There is a chance that it could miss, he thought.

  What if the bolt strikes true the very first time? asked the voice in his head.

  What if he's Toskk's friend? asked Riven.

  You would know any friend of Toskk that he would trust to cover him with a crossbow, replied the voice.

  Kill him now, it said.

  Riven hated the voice sometimes. Toskk will be upset, he reasoned.

  Then Toskk is to blame for not letting you know, said the voice. If he is a friend, then Toskk only loses a friend. Surely not such a close friend or you would know of him. But if he's an enemy, then you lose your brother.

  The voice had won. In a flush, the sweat disappeared and Riven held the dagger more firmly.

  He moved closer. He was now three feet away and the man didn't know Riven was behind him. Riven had never killed anyone so far. Not human at least. And not directly. Yet the o
nly worry in his head was how he would kill him without him pulling on the trigger. Even if he did stab the man in the back, the man could scream, alerting his brother down below.

  The neck, said the voice.

  The back of the neck? asked Riven.

  Yes. The dagger is long enough to go right through, stopping him from screaming.

  Riven got a closer look now. The man's neck was upright, the head poised neatly behind the crossbow. He moved a little closer. He could hear the man breathe now.

  A little closer, he thought.

  No! screamed the voice in Riven's head. Too close!

  The man had been startled. Riven knew it even before the man started to turn his head. The archer's head was turned halfway and he was still beginning to bring about his crossbow to point at Riven when Riven leapt forward, burying the dagger into the man's throat. The archer's hands left the crossbow and grasped Riven's blade. Riven put both hands on the hilt and twisted the blade. The neat flow of blood now turned to a gurgle as the body became motionless. True to his plan, the man didn't scream. The only sound he heard was the clatter of the crossbow slipping from his hands.

  Riven peered forward to see that Toskk was now talking to two men. Engrossed in conversation, the men did not appear to have heard the light noise. Riven took the crossbow in his hands. His brother had one, but not one as good looking as this one, he thought. And certainly not as heavy, either.

  The voices from below got louder, as he had thought they would. Toskk appeared to be arguing with the men now. The larger of the two men brandished a blade. Toskk held his hands high and began to move back into the alley. Riven knew where this would go. His brother could probably handle two people, but he wasn't going to leave this to chance. He quickly toyed with the idea of using the crossbow. It was far too heavy, he decided. He dropped the crossbow on the body of the man when he heard the clatter of steel.

  No! Not so soon, he thought. The battle had already begun.

  He moved along the roof and saw what was happening. His brother had his blade out and was trying to fight both his opponents. His brother was good. But he was only human.

  How can I get down fast enough? he thought. The third roof opposite to him had a pipe he could slide down. He quickly ran across the first roof and jumped to the second. His eyes on the battle below all the time. The view was clearer from here.

  His brother's position suddenly changed. He appeared as if he danced a little. A stain of red and brown appearing on his brothers gray shirt confirmed Riven's fears.

  All this while he had known his brother was in mortal danger. But right now, seeing his brother wounded made it very real.

  Something primal rose up inside him. Gone was the thought of the metal pipe. Gone was the thought of the dagger in his hand. Gone was all thought.

  He changed direction and leapt off the roof. The dagger was still in his hand. In free fall, his knees bent and he landed butt first on something hard yet fleshy. The impact had sent throbbing pain all the way from his bottom through his spine. Less than a second after the impact, his keen hearing picked up a resounding crack as his intended target crashed to the floor under Riven's weight.

  Riven's head struck the wall as he bounced off his target and fell. His mind went blank for a few moments, and then thought returned. His entire back was hurting as well as his elbow. And his head was exploding. He had rolled off the body and was now leaning against the wall. The man he landed lay motionless. His neck is broken, said the voice.

  He could see his brother's remaining assailant stare at him with a confused expression on his face. Toskk, too, was staring at Riven with his eyes wide open.

  Toskk was the quicker to recover. He buried his blade into the stomach of the last opponent.

  "What the hell are you doing here?" Toskk screamed. Riven's only answer was to give a weak smile before the pain in his head overtook him and he fell unconscious.

  Chapter 14

  "You could have died!" yelled Toskk.

  "Me?" shouted back Riven. Usually when his brother yelled at him, Riven listened quietly and nodded his head. But not today.

  "Me? What do you mean I could have died? What about you? I told you Stinky Tom was bad news!"

  "Leave Tom out of this," said Toskk. Although his voice seemed to have lost the intensity it had a moment ago.

  Riven was holding a wet cloth against his head. He was half conscious as he felt his brother carry him back to their shack. No sooner than Toskk bandaged Riven's elbow and gave him the cloth for his head, he began yelling at him. Toskk's own wounds were still untreated. Riven would have been worried, but for the voice that told him the wound wasn't fatal.

  "No I won't!" protested Riven. "Stinky Tom is bad news and everyone knows that! Why would you take a job from him?" He knew he was making sense.

  "Tom—"

  "Stinky Tom!" insisted Riven.

  "This isn't about Stinky Tom. I had no choice in that matter. First, you tell me what this is," he said, holding out Riven's dagger.

  "It's my dagger," said Riven. There was no point lying about it now. Besides, Riven saw no way Toskk could find fault with him. Not after what he did.

  "Not the dagger. This," he said, holding a finger to the red blood that was now caked on the blade.

  "Blood," said Riven sullenly.

  "You killed a man..." Toskk said calmly.

  "I killed two, " shot back Riven. "And I had no choice. He was on the roof and he had a crossbow aimed at you. There was no way he could have missed."

  Toskk raised an eyebrow. Looked like he didn't know about the bowman. Riven knew what Toskk was thinking. If it was just the two he fought down in the alley, then there was a decent chance of him making it out alive. Add the bowman on the roof, there was no way Toskk could have made it.

  "Who were they?" asked Riven, his anger flaring up at those who'd dare harm his brother.

  "Garvin's thugs," said Toskk.

  Garvin was a merchant who fancied himself on par with some of the lesser Aegean nobles. Riven had seen him on numerous occasions walking around in his fancy clothes. Riven knew nothing of fashion and had never set foot outside Archon, but he knew enough to know the rotund man looked more buffoon than noble. Riven knew that the word 'merchant' in Archon was often replaceable with 'smuggler.' Archon was the cesspool of the isles and none of the 'respectable' nobles would be found anywhere near here.

  "What did you want with Garvin's men?" asked Riven. It was genuine curiosity. His brother's work was always a simple steal-and-fence. He knew for a fact his brother worked with a few select fences only.

  "Look. Riven...you don't need to concern yourself much with this."

  "I do! You almost died!" protested Riven. "I'm not a little kid anymore. I need to know."

  "You're all I have…" he said a little more weakly.

  "Jobs are getting scarce these days. The Black Ravens are pushing down hard on the freelancers. If we need to survive, then we need to make compromises. And it sometimes involves dealing with men like Stinky Tom."

  "Tom is a Black Raven?" asked Riven incredulously.

  "Yes. He knows several of the lieutenants in the guild. And he agreed to square me over with them if I pulled this job for him. I knew it was a dirty job. Otherwise the Black Ravens wouldn't have used an outsider. Tom is their main connection to freelancers. And sending them out on dangerous jobs is what he does. That's why deals with him stink."

  "What did you need to steal?"

  "This," said Toskk pulling out the largest egg Riven had ever seen from his bag and showing it to Riven. The egg appeared to have a golden sheen to it. Riven peered closer and saw that the shell had minute cracks in it. But something still appeared to be holding it together.

  "What is it? Is it magical?" asked Riven.

  "I don't know. I don't particularly care, either. Stinky Tom just told me where to find it. I got hold of it yesterday night. It wasn't easy either. A few weeks ago, I'd never have even considered the job. No amou
nt of gold is enough for the risks that I took in getting it. The number of traps that surrounded it..."

  "Where was the job at?" asked Riven.

  Toskk smiled before replying. Riven wasn't sure if the smile was really a smile.

  "It was a Summoner's house..."

  Riven was dumbstruck. It was all he could do to reach out and not punch his older brother in the face. The Summoners. In all his time growing up in Archon, he had only heard rumors about them. He knew they were despised by nearly every person in the known lands. They brought Naxannor to the world. And now Namoth.

  Every child knew the story. They fought on the side of demons against their own race. In other continents, even associating with a Summoner was punishable by death. They had their own island a good long distance north of the Aegean Isles. Riven had heard some very sordid rumors about the island. The Summoners were too nightmarish even to be used as a boogeyman to scare children. There were always rumors running around that some of them were in Archon, but there had been no proof.

  Riven thought that pretty sensible. If he were consorting with demons and the like, he would no doubt keep a very low profile. This was the first time Riven had heard of one. And one whose house his idiot brother broke into. No wonder the Black Ravens wanted an outsider for this job. You didn't want the Summoners as enemies. People who interacted with demons in any way let alone took their side were bound to be irrational.

  Riven felt an explosion of anger coming on, but he calmed himself down. Regardless of what he had seen today, one thing was for sure. Toskk wasn't dumb. He would have had his reasons.

  "You had no choice but to do the job?" Riven asked.

  "Yes. This was my only chance to..."