by Nick Harrow
I waited for her to finish cooking the hunk of whatever it was and pop it into her mouth before I replied.
“We need to go talk to Kez.”
“We?” Nephket dabbed at the corners of her mouth with a linen napkin. “You and I?”
“And Delsinia.” Nephket’s eyes visibly cooled at the mention of the soultaker, but she held her tongue. “I have a couple of other things to take care of, but I can meet you at the web in two hours.”
“I’ll be there.” Nephket bit down on another piece of meat with a ferocious chomp. The rest of the wahket were suddenly very interested in the plates in front of them.
“Thank you.” I leaned in to give my familiar a kiss on the forehead.
Thankfully, Nephket purred at my touch and gave my hand a quick squeeze. We weren’t out of the woods yet, but we were on the right path.
The timeline I’d given Nephket would allow Delsinia to lead the carts back to the raiders’ camp and then return before she had to head to the fortress. I reached out to the soultaker and let her know she should take a detour to Kez’s study and let the herdsmen finish the trip back to blacksmith central on their own.
“As you wish, my love,” she replied. “We will be together again soon.”
That left me with two hours to kill, and for once I didn’t have a thousand things to do. Until the dwarves and blacksmiths finished the swords, I couldn’t convert the finished products into gold. Zillah still hadn’t reached the blood gnome hideout, and she probably wouldn’t need my help even after she did. I decided this would be a good time to take a look at the top of one of the towers that studded the wall around the oasis.
“Don’t freak out.” I’d teleported to the top of the nearest tower and didn’t want either of the guards stationed there to panic. They whirled to face me with their swords drawn, saw who had popped into their station, and immediately fell to their knees with their foreheads pressed to the floor.
“Forgive us, Lord Rathokhetra,” the soldiers begged. “We did not mean to disrespect you.”
“I said not to freak out. Get up.” The soldiers jumped to their feet and sheathed their weapons in record time. “Good view from up here?”
“We can see for miles,” one of the soldiers confirmed. He couldn’t have been more than eighteen, with the wiry muscles and endless energy only young men of a certain age got to enjoy.
I leaned against the north side of the low wall that surrounded the top of the tower. The soldier was right; you could see forever from this high up. The ridgeline around the oasis was a couple of miles wide, its peak dotted with thickets of stubby trees and rocky outcroppings. Beyond that, the hills sloped down to a mile-wide belt of fertile land dotted with abandoned farmsteads. The dusty brown corpse of the desert lay on the far side of that swath of green, coiled around the oasis like a hangman’s noose.
I could even see the tax collector’s camp from up there. It crouched on a wide, flat-topped hill miles to the northeast, and seemed to grow by the second. A long caravan threaded its way through the desert to the north, vast gray wagons pulled by enormous beasts I didn’t recognize at its head. Sunlight glinted off golden armor and steel spear tips as more and more troops joined the tax collector’s forces.
That did not look good. I couldn’t make out the details of what lay in that camp, but I knew it was all bad news for my team. The wagons, especially, bothered me. I had no idea what they contained, or what monsters pulled them. Lexios could have freaking cannons in there, for all I knew.
“Thanks for your service,” I said to the soldiers, and vanished.
I returned to the cobra throne to plot and plan for the battle to come. Lexios would have to come through one of the two gates. He couldn’t cross the ridgeline with his forces, and despite his confidence in the siege engines, he’d have a hell of a time battering his way through the improved walls around the oasis even if he did manage the crossing.
But even with the gates as choke points, I didn’t have enough men to hold him off for long. If I didn’t cut his forces off before they reached the city, Lexios could wear us down with sheer numbers.
For the next two hours I messed around with dungeon passages and new entrances and exits from my territory. It wasn’t much, but the handful of strategic entry and exit points I’d made might give my people a bit of an edge. At the very least, it would let me move some of my forces around the battlefield unseen.
“The gang’s all here,” Kez thought to me.
“I’m on my way.” I appeared behind the drow and clapped both hands on her shoulders. “Good, you didn’t kill anyone.”
If I hadn’t been holding on to the dark elf, she would’ve leapt up out of her chair like a surprised cat. As it was, she bumped up against my hands, grumbled, and pounded her fists on the desk in front of her.
Delsinia and Nephket both struggled, and failed, to hide their grins, which only irritated Kez further.
“He surprised both of you, too!” she shouted. “Don’t act so smug.”
“Show me what you figured out,” I said to Kez. “Let’s see what that giant sorceress brain of yours has dreamed up.”
“Finally, you realize I’m more than just a pretty face and a superfine ass,” Kezakazek said with a grin. She dug through some papers until she found her map of the oasis. I saw that she’d redrawn its outline a couple of times to account for the upgrades I’d purchased, but the bold black lines that originated from the southwestern corner of the map and spread across its surface like the rays of the sun remained the same as I’d previously seen.
“As I’m sure you all know, the steles form a sort of grid across Soketra. What you may not know is that the intersections of the lines of that grid can be reached through the Solamantic Web.”
Kez leaned forward into the light from the enchanted stones set into the study’s ceiling. Her shadow grew long across the map, and the inky lines she’d drawn were suddenly studded with dots of swirling silver.
“Pretty,” Nephket said. “I take it those are the intersections we can travel to?”
“Precisely!” Kezakazek beamed. “There’s just one catch. A big one.”
“How dangerous will it be?” Nephket asked.
Kez shuffled some more papers until she found one of Kozerek’s diagrams covered with circles and lines.
“According to the notes I found, the Solamantic Web is composed of a bunch of mystic gateway circles connected by dimensional pathways. That means you can travel from any world on the web to any other world on the web, provided you know their coordinates. But you can’t travel to a different point on the same world.”
“I see.” Delsinia peered at the diagram, then leaned back on her heels. “We will need to travel from Soketra to another world, and then from that world to a new location on Soketra.”
“Exactly.” Kez looked over her shoulder at me with a glum expression. “The problem, as I’m sure you’ve guessed by now, is that we do not know what is on these other worlds. You might come out of the web in an empty room, or into a cave filled with starving mindspiders. We just don’t know what’s out there.”
There was another problem that Kez hadn’t anticipated, or simply wasn’t willing to discuss yet. The midpoint of each of these hops from one point on Soketra to another would require the use of the Solamantic Web. My guardians couldn’t activate the web on their own, and the raiders sure as hell couldn’t do it.
“I’ll have to lead this expedition,” I said. “None of you can operate the web.”
“We could use dungeon passages,” Nephket suggested. “It would be slower, but safer.”
“It won’t work.” I stepped out from around the desk and leaned on its surface to stare at the map Kez had drawn. “For my plan to work, the raiders have to get from one point to another very quickly. The only way to do that is if I guide them through the web.”
“No,” Delsinia said. “You do not have to be with us for the whole trip. I will lead the raiders through the web that you o
pen. When we reach the other side, you can mount me and open the web back to Soketra.”
Nephket stared at Delsinia, then at me. Her ears were pointed straight at the ceiling, and her tail lashed the floor behind her with agitated sweeps. She didn’t have to say anything or transmit her thoughts for me to understand the problem. She didn’t trust Delsinia to lead the raiders. My familiar thought the soultaker would use this as an opportunity to betray us and unravel my plans.
“I’ll go with you,” Nephket said. “If something goes wrong, Clay may need to have one of us on either side of the web. This is the only way we can do that.”
Kez’s jaw dropped at the suggestion.
“No way!” she shouted. “Let me go. The wahket need you, Neph.”
The priestess knew Kez was right, but she wasn’t budging.
“No. They have been charged with protecting the city interior if the gate is breached. They do not need my presence to handle that.”
I tried to talk Nephket out of her plan for another fifteen minutes, but she wouldn’t back down. I finally gave in, and Kez blew out an exasperated sigh and detailed the route she’d calculated through the web. She’d drawn diagrams of the paths between the worlds, and though they were based on Kozerek’s work, she had done an amazing amount of her own calculations to perfect them.
“These are the coordinates on the Solamantic Web,” Kez said as she arranged a small sheaf of papers in front of her. “I’ve memorized them, but you’ll need the diagrams to get from one world to the next. Don’t lose these.”
“I will guard them with my life,” Delsinia said.
“I’ll keep them.” Nephket interrupted and snatched the papers out of Kez’s hands.
My guardians watched each other with wary eyes, and I knew the conversation was over.
“All right, good meeting. Thanks for your hard work, Kez.” I looked at each of my guardians in turn. “You’ve got two days. Rest up. Make sure you’re ready.”
Everything was coming together. I just hoped it didn’t all fall apart before we made our move.
Chapter 19 – The Waiting Game
BORED AND RESTLESS after the meeting with my guardians, I did what every other red-blooded man does when he needs to think.
I retreated to my man cave to consider my future.
In this case, though, my man cave was the new treasure chamber I constructed well away from the rest of my dungeon. It was a nice place, big enough to hold a bunch of gold but still cozy. It was connected to my dungeon through new passages I’d thrown together earlier that day, and to a few other bits of engineering I’d dreamed up. I hadn’t wanted to spend any ka on traps or triggers, so I’d had to get a little more inventive.
It was empty at the moment, but the work the dwarves and the blacksmiths were doing would soon fill it with enough gold to accomplish my plans.
“And then what?” I asked myself. If I beat Lexios to death, that would buy us time. Months, at least, before Bad King Selician of Kyth could gather another army and march it across the desert to investigate. I was positive my forces would be more than a match for anything he could send at me by then, but was that really the life I wanted for my guardians and myself?
“Nice place.” A clear, strong female voice echoed through the empty treasure chamber and interrupted my thoughts. “It’s bigger than I would’ve thought.”
“I get that a lot.” I restrained the urge to whip around and summon my khopesh. Instead, I let my quip hang in the air for a moment, then slowly turned to face the speaker as if I didn’t give a shit that she’d just intruded in my territory. “I’m surprised you found your way down here.”
“The compass,” the beggar woman said. Only she wasn’t really a beggar, was she? She’d uncovered her head before she’d spoken, and the vivid mop of platinum hair that sprouted from its crown wavered in an impossible breeze. “Did you think I would give you something for nothing?”
As much as the compass had helped me, I regretted taking it. If Tyrsilene had used it to track me, she could have been followed by a spy sent by Lexios or someone else who wanted to rob my dungeon. I needed to get smarter about compromising my security like that. Shit, I was a hacker. I should kick my own ass for that slipup.
“You’re persistent, I’ll give you that. You do know what happens to uninvited guests in a dungeon lord’s lair, right?”
“I’m not your average uninvited guest. I’m also not a raider.” She offered me a smile and turned slowly to show that she hadn’t even brought her impressive sword with her. “I just came to talk. I wanted to see how the compass had worked for you.”
“Where did you get this thing, Tyrsilene?” I pointed toward the magical arrowhead, which still hovered right in front of my core. Its tip pointed directly at the woman, who eyed me curiously at the mention of her name.
“You know what they call me? Clever.” She snapped her fingers, and the compass reappeared in her hand. “So, was it useful?”
I approached the woman cautiously. It seemed rude to talk to each other from across the big room, and I didn’t want to invoke my abilities to amplify my voice. Besides, if I needed to kill her, it would be easier if she was within khopesh range.
“Your name?” I shook my head. “Not really. The nifty little arrowhead was handy, though.”
It was her turn to chuckle, and I was surprised by how pleasant her laugh was. It wasn’t high-pitched or brittle, but mellow and even. It made me wonder what her singing voice might sound like.
“I’m glad it could help you. Hopefully, it made you reconsider your refusal of my earlier request.” Tyrsilene had taken a few steps toward me, and now we were less than three feet apart. A cool, clean smell wafted off her like a delicate cologne. It reminded me of sea spray, though that wasn’t exactly right.
“You still won’t let the ten thousand go, will you?”
“I can’t.” Tiny blue sparks orbited the edges of Tyrsilene’s pupil. I swore I could almost hear the faint hissing and popping sounds they made as they revolved around and around the bottomless black hole at the center of each of her eyes. “My sisters need me. The Order must be restored.”
“Why me?” I could stand all day, but I wasn’t sure if Tyrsilene was uncomfortable. I’d nothing to do for the next couple of hours, so I summoned a chair for each of us. We both sat down, though Tyrsilene perched on the edge of her chair rather than lean back against its comfortable cushions.
“I dreamed about you.” She said it the same way a normal person might say that they’d found a new restaurant on Yelp. Like it was perfectly normal to have your dreams tell you to go seek out a dungeon lord and beg him for money. “And you need me.”
“I need the ten thousand gold a lot more. I won’t insult you again by offering to pay you to fight for me, but if you’ve reconsidered...”
“I have not.” Tyrsilene smiled, and the sparks in her eyes danced like fireflies. “The compass helped you, yes? Then perhaps you’d be willing to let me reframe my request.”
“Luckily for you I’m bored right now. Go ahead. Let’s hear your pitch.”
“You already know I’m a warrior.” Tyrsilene slowly eased back into her chair. She kept her arms on the rests and her back stiff, ready to bolt into action at a moment’s notice. “The Order has other such warriors. Before we fell on hard times, my sisters and I were legendary combatants. We defeated forces you can scarcely imagine. But we were betrayed.”
That word roused Rathokhetra. He’d been quiet for a while, but now he resurfaced like an ancient crocodile sticking its snout above the algae on top of a swamp.
“Seems like that happens around here a lot. As bored as I am, you’d better get to the point.”
“Very well. You’ve seen my Enochian Blade, and you’ve used my Compass of Power. You have to know I’m the real deal.” She inclined her head toward me and waited for me to nod before she finished her spiel. “Give me the money I need to complete the ritual, and my sisters and I will fight for you. Once.
”
“And how many of your sisters are there?” I’d be a liar if I said I wasn’t intrigued.
“There are twelve others in the Order. Thirteen Enochian Blades for ten thousand gold pieces is a miraculous bargain, even if it’s only for a single fight. But you have to decide now.” Tyrsilene leaned forward and rested her elbows on her knees. “Time is fleeting. The ritual will take days to perform. If I don’t start immediately, I’m afraid there’ll be no point in my starting at all. At least, not from your perspective.”
“I can’t decide if you’re crazy or not.” The truth was, thirteen of those swords I’d seen fighting on my side of the battle could make a huge difference. “Or maybe you’re just stupid. You did come down into my treasure vault unarmed, alone. Your ka might be worth more than your sword.”
“It’s not, I assure you.” As if to prove her point, Tyrsilene rose from her chair in a single fluid motion. She shrugged her shoulders and the rags that bound her body fell away to reveal her sleek, muscular form. Wisps of light covered her torso and coiled around her arms and legs. The tattoos on the shaved side of her head curled down her neck and encircled her throat like a glowing silver necklace. She was quite a sight to behold. “Our time is short. Will you be the one to resurrect the Order of the Winged Blade?”
I ran the treasury numbers in my head to see if I could even afford what Tyrsilene had asked. I wanted at least three, maybe four, more Martial enhancements to help bolster our military strength with boots on the ground. I had just shy of ten thousand gold pieces in the bank. The dwarves and my craftsmen had completed fifty of the greatswords and should have the second fifty ready later that afternoon. That would give me another five grand, for a total of nearly fourteen thousand gold pieces. More than enough for what I had planned.
But if I gave Tyrsilene ten grand, that would only leave me with thousand gold pieces to spend at the end of the day. Enough for half of the build points I wanted.
Was the gamble worth it?
Maybe. But I wouldn’t know unless I tossed the dice.