by Dante King
When we slowly crossed an intersection, Rami suddenly grabbed my sleeve and pulled me over to her side of the wagon.
“Look! Down the street!”
I peered through the gap to where she was pointing. “Elyse, you’d better come have a look at this.”
I moved over, and she leaned toward the hole. As I suspected she would have, she gasped.
“A… a slave market!” She balled her fists and quivered with rage. “I can’t believe what I’m seeing. There’s a fucking slave market in Erst Square! On this holy day. A fucking slave market!”
This was the first time I’d heard Elyse curse, so I knew she was beyond furious. I was pretty pissed myself at seeing human beings terrified, half-naked, and in chains, being bought and sold like livestock. I felt an even keener desire to sink my blade into Nabu’s throat and siphon his corrupt soul out of his dying body.
“Don’t worry,” I said. “Once we’ve taken care of Nabu and his Resplendent Crusaders, we’ll put a stop to all of this. We’ll ensure this evil is stomped out right away and that those responsible are punished.”
We continued through the town and saw that slave beatings were quite normal and seemingly socially accepted. On top of that, still no effigies or prayer groups; Elyse grew steadily more furious.
After some time, we reached the cathedral. It was by far the biggest structure in town, laden with towers and spires shooting up hundreds of feet into the air. Surrounding the sprawling grounds was a stalwart stone wall around 15 feet high. I noticed only one entrance: the front gate, a set of stout oaken doors manned by a pair of guards. If we could lock the gates from the inside, we’d be able to keep the thousands of guards and soldiers, who were all over the streets of Erst, out of the cathedral while we went about our dirty work.
Grast pulled the wagon to a stop outside the gates, and the guards walked over to speak to him.
“There might be trouble,” Grast whispered through a gap in the canvas. “I’ve never seen these guys before. They’re not the usual guards. Ready your weapons, just in case.”
“Who are you, and why are you bringing this wagon here?” a guard demanded.
“My name is Grast, sir,” Grast answered, keeping his tone respectful, “and I’ve brought a fresh shipment of the finest wine in the whole bishopric for His Holiness, Bishop Nabu. If you’ll ask the Captain of the Cathedral Guard, and tell him my name, I assure you—”
“The old Captain of the Cathedral Guard was fired yesterday,” the man said coldly. “I’m the new captain. Nabu hasn’t said a bloody thing to me about a wagon driver called Grast. We’re under strict instructions from Nabu himself not to open the gate for anyone until morning. You can turn this pile of shit around and piss off.”
“But Nabu himself requested this wine by midnight. I know I’m a little late, but surely—”
“I ordered you to piss off, you cum-gulping churl! If you don’t turn this wagon around right now, you’ll be going back to whatever inbred village you came from without your nose and ears!”
I heard a blade being drawn from a scabbard, and from the tone of the guard’s voice, I could tell that his were no idle threats. Peering through the gap in the canvas, I saw Grast take out a few more bottles of wine from under the seat.
“Perhaps,” Grast said, clearly nervous, “a few bottles of the finest wine in the bishopric could persuade you, sir, to—”
“Trying to bribe an officer of the Cathedral Guard, are you, you stinking pile of dog vomit!” roared the guard. “Do you know what the sentence for this crime is?”
“I’m sure you’re about to tell—”
“Grab this cocksucker. Let’s teach him a lesson!”
I had to strike fast enough to prevent them from raising the alarm. Speed and accuracy were of the essence here, as was using both my hands simultaneously. I gripped Grave Oath between my teeth and held a throwing star loosely in each of my hands. I could see one of the guards, but I had no idea where the other was. I’d have to locate him, aim, and throw both stars in the space of a mere second.
“Say goodbye to your ears, nose, and an eyeball of your choosing, old man,” snarled one guard as he stepped closer to the wagon.
It was time to do this.
“When I throw them your way,” I whispered to Elyse and Rami, “pull them into the back of the wagon as fast as you can, got it?”
They nodded, their weapons at the ready and their eyes bright with anticipation. I ripped open the canvas and jumped out of the back. The instant I landed on the ground, I performed a rapid visual sweep of my surroundings. Luckily, these two guards were the only ones nearby, and they were so surprised to see me, they simply stared at me with their mouths hanging open.
That moment was all I needed. With two simultaneous flicks of my wrists, I flung the throwing stars at each guard. The projectiles whizzed through the air with deadly accuracy, striking each man in his throat. The sharp black steel bit deep into their flesh, and the necrotic magic began its destructive work immediately. The guards dropped their swords and clutched frantically at their rapidly rotting throats, stumbling and gasping as they choked on their own blackening blood before their souls shot into my dagger.
I charged over to the nearest guard, heaved him up onto my shoulders, and tossed him onto the back seat. Elyse and Rami dragged the struggling man in while I dashed over to the other guard and did the same again. Only this time, I scrambled in with him and hurriedly tugged the canvas screen back into place. Elyse and Rami had each pinned a guard down, and I wasted no time in putting an end to each man’s life. I stabbed Grave Oath through the first thug’s eye, directly into his brain, killing him instantly and sucking out his soul. The next asshole got my enchanted steel through his ear and suffered the same fate.
We immediately pulled the Cathedral Guard tabards off the corpses. I put one on before I climbed out of the back and handed the other to Grast.
“Wear this, my friend,” I said. “For the next few minutes, you and I are going to be Cathedral Guards. The dark should cover us. Hopefully, the other guards don’t look too closely at our faces.”
Grast nodded and squeezed his chubby frame into the tabard. I hopped off the wagon and used the guard’s key to open the huge oaken doors. The other guards, stationed a few dozen yards away, didn’t seem to have noticed anything. Soon enough, Grast got the wagon inside, and I closed the massive doors, locked them, and broke off the key inside the lock. Nobody was going to be getting in—or out— any time soon.
Chapter Twelve
We rolled on down the track leading to the cathedral. The grounds, with their beautifully kept gardens, were dark and silent but for a few pockets of guards carrying burning torches. Since we were dressed in Cathedral Guard tabards, no one paid any attention to us, and we didn’t get close enough for them to get a good look at our faces.
“So far, so good,” I whispered to Grast as I walked alongside the wagon, as if I was escorting him. “We just need to get to the cellar, then, your job is done. Thanks for helping us get this far.”
“It’s been a pleasure, Lord Chauzec, but my nerves are bloody shot after that last encounter. I thought those bastards were going to carve my face up like a bloody pumpkin for sure. I need a good shot of Yorish brandy after that, I do.”
He took a liberal swig from his wineskin and offered it to me, but I refused. I needed my wits about me for the coming fight.
We eventually got the wagon to the rear of the cathedral, where a large ramp led down to the cellar. There were a couple of guards stationed there, but they didn’t look too closely at us, and Grast and I kept our faces turned away from them where we could.
“Where’d that wagon come from?” yelled one guard from a few dozen yards away. “And what’s in the load?”
“Just arrived from one of the vineyards!” I shouted back. “The best fucking wine in the bishopric is what’s in it. And you know how much His Holiness loves his sacred grape juice, eh?”
The guard c
huckled, completely unaware that he was conversing with an enemy. “Aye, that old bastard drinks it like water, he does. I’ll get some slaves to help unload it. Looks like there must be a hundred bloody barrels in that thing.”
“Don’t worry about it!” I yelled back. “We’ve got some slaves with us. They’re in there with the load. Just go open the cellar door for us if you could, and we’ll back this thing up and start unloading.”
The guard trudged down the ramp and unlocked the doors at the bottom, while Grast maneuvered the oxen around so that he could back the wagon down the ramp, which was only just wide enough to accommodate it.
“You need any more help?” yelled the guard from the bottom of the ramp as we began to back the wagon down it, inch by cautious inch.
“No, we’ve got it all under control!” I shouted back. “Now, get back to your post!”
“All right, ” he grumbled. “Assholes,” he added under his breath as he passed us. We both looked away as he did, pretending to adjust various things on the wagon so that he wouldn’t get a look at our faces.
Another benefit of backing the huge wagon down the ramp was that it served to pretty much completely block it off from the outside. Once we started our battle inside the cathedral, the soldiers would have to clamber over the oxen and climb through the inside of the wagon to get into the cellars.
It felt like it had taken forever, but we finally managed to get the back of the wagon up against the now-open doors.
“Good job, Grast.” I gave the old man’s shoulder a firm squeeze. “Things are going to get a bit crazy from this point on, so I suggest you find a place to lay low until the fighting is all over.”
“I know the insides of the cathedral cellars like the back o’ my hand, I do. I have a good few hiding spots. But are you sure you don’t need me by your side? I’m not much of a fighter, that much is true, but I’m willing to try my hand at swinging a sword or and ax. Especially if it means we’ll have an even slightly better chance of taking out Nabu.”
I beamed at the old man; he had heart all right. I didn’t want to him to risk his life, though. That was best left to us trained fighters, who would, for that reason, obviously be taking a lesser risk when entering the fray.
“We need someone who’s guaranteed to survive, so that the tale of what happened tonight can be told, even if the rest of us don’t make it,” I said. “Can you do that, Grast? Because if such a story doesn’t stir up a revolt against Nabu, I don’t know what will.”
“Aye, I bloody well can!”
“I knew you’d be up for it. All right, Grast, my friend.” I offered him my hand, and he shook it firmly. “This is where we part ways. Wish us luck!”
“You don’t need luck, Lord Chauzec. You’ve got justice on your side.”
I also had a couple of skeletons, a five-ton lizard, a powerful cleric, and a skilled enjarta on my side—as well as the Goddess of Death and her enchanted blade—but yeah, justice was a welcome addition to this list of allies.
“That we do, Grast, that we do. Farewell.”
I slipped back into the rear of the wagon, squeezed past the skeletons, and climbed over Fang so that I could open the back and start unloading our “wine barrels.” As soon as I had the back open, Fang almost bowled me over in his haste to get out. He’d been curled up in a cramped and uncomfortable position for several hours. It was quite a wonder that his bulk hadn’t actually caused the wagon’s wooden walls to burst into splinters.
Once he was out, the skeletons followed suit, climbing out of the wagon and then forming up in good fighting order. Fang was shaking out his paws, leaping around, and stretching his neck and back. With my minions out and ready for combat, Elyse and Rami finally climbed out with their weapons at the ready.
I looked at my deceptively small army. “Elyse, you know the layout of this place, so lead us on. Remember, everyone, stealth is key here, and that goes for you in particular, buddy,” I added, flashing Fang a cautionary look.
With that, we set off, making out way silently through gloomy cellars crowded with wine barrels. At the end, we reached what looked like the main exit: a wide staircase leading up into the cathedral proper. I turned to head up the stairs, but Elyse reached out and grabbed my wrist.
“Not that way. There’s a smaller, secret stairwell further on.”
I nodded in Fang’s direction. “There’s no way he’s going to fit up a small stairway.”
“Well, he’ll just have to wait here then. If we go up these stairs, I guarantee we’ll run into Resplendent Crusaders, and once they raise the alarm, this place will be swarming with hundreds of guards. Even though we have the main entrance locked, they’ll come in through other ways. Slower, of course, but we’ll still have quite a fight on our hands.”
“Okay, buddy, you wait here,” I said to Fang. “I’ll whistle like this when we’re ready.” I produced a shrill whistle but kept the volume down so no one else would hear.
Fang let out a deflated-sounding rumble. Ultimately, even though he had something of a will of his own, he was still under my control and had to obey my commands. He backed away into a pool of deep shadow a couple of yards from the base of the stairs and waited there. The rest of us moved on, following Elyse through an entrance hidden under the main stairs.
“Few people know about this passage,” Elyse whispered as she led us through the inky blackness. “Basically, only the bishop and his couple of true trustees. We’ll be able to take them completely by surprise.”
I heard a strange sound coming from somewhere up ahead, like something heavy and limp was being dragged along the floor. I leaned forward and grabbed Elyse’s shoulder. When she turned around in surprise, I pressed my finger to my lips.
“I can hear someone up ahead,” I said. “Can’t you?”
She strained her ears, and her eyes widened slightly. “There shouldn’t be anyone down here, especially not at night,” she whispered back.
“Let me take the lead.” I squeezed past her. “Just in case we’re being served our first portion of trouble.”
We crept forward, moving silently through the darkness, our senses on full alert and our weapons at the ready. After we turned a corner, I saw the flickering orange glow of torches shining down the corridor, so I held up my hand, signaling the others to stop. Silhouetted against the torchlight were two hooded figures dragging a corpse into a room.
“Who do you think they are?” I whispered to Elyse.
“I don’t know. I’ve never seen clergy or cathedral servants dressed like that before.”
“They look like people who need a good killing,” Rami added.
“Let’s check it out,” I said.
I moved swiftly but stealthily through the shadowy passage with Grave Oath at the ready. In the torchlight spilling out of the doorway, shadows of the two hooded figures lifted up the body. There was a squelching sound—like someone being run through with a sword—and then silence other than the shuffling of their feet.
I stepped into the light and looked into the room. Even for someone as accustomed to the sight of death, blood, and gore as me, this was a bit much. Lining the walls of the room were countless naked human corpses, all hanging from meathooks. They seemed to be of young women, but the blood and horrific wounds made it hard to tell. The squelching sound I’d heard had been the freshest corpse being placed on a meathook. She had been dead long before being impaled on the hook though. On her left breast was a gaping wound, a large incision from where her heart had been removed. The same wound adorned all the corpses.
“I don’t know what sick shit you two motherfuckers have been getting up to,” I growled as I stepped into the room, “but it ends tonight.”
The hooded men cried out, but they were quick to react. Each whipped out a long, curved dagger from their purple cloaks before they snarled and charged.
I could have killed them quickly. That would have been easy. But I wanted information first.
The flame of justice
guided my hand as I darted under the closest man’s clumsy lunge. Before he could recover, I spun around and caught his arm under my right armpit and in the crook of my elbow. With a swift jerk, I broke it, and he screamed out as the bone snapped. His dagger dropped from his limp arm and clattered to the ground. Keeping his arm locked in mine, I shoved my upper back onto his chest as his friend veered and charged at me. I launched my weight up and backward, using my victim’s spine almost like a bendy spring. He howled as he was forced to lean back. The movement allowed me to bring both legs up high in the air so that I could smash both of my feet into his buddy’s face.
The donkey-kick broke his jaw, and he dropped his dagger as he flew back. The momentum of my backward roll, combined with the reverb of the kick, forced the other guy’s spine to bend so far back that it snapped. As I finished my maneuver with a backward flip, he flopped to the floor, screaming, with a broken arm and a broken back.
The other guy scrambled onto his hands and knees, groaning and spitting blood from his broken jaw as he attempted to reach for his dagger. I simply strode over to him, picked up the weapon before he could get to it, and kicked him in the stomach. He rolled over a few times and came to rest against the wall.
With both of the assholes effectively immobilized, it was time to ask some questions.
I half-wondered where Elyse and Rami were and looked up to see them watching through the doorway. Both wore appreciative smiles, and even my skeletons seemed to be looking at me with respect from over their shoulders.
“By the Lord of Light, what is this evil?” Elyse must have only just noticed the corpses on the meathooks. Her eyes were almost popping out of their sockets.
“I have seen many dark things in my days as an enjarta,” Rami murmured, “but never anything as horrifying as this.”
I walked over to the man with the broken back and knelt down next to him.
“What the fuck are you psychotic creeps doing?” I held the point of Grave Oath mere millimeters from his eyeball. “You’ve got five seconds to tell me just what you’re up to before I start peeling your face off.”