by Brian Keller
The four Assassins led the three downcast boys through the halls of the Guild. The boys were taken into a room they’d never been in before. It was shaped similar to Master Brais’ Arena, but much, much smaller. If Cooper had ever been inside a University classroom or a stadium, he would know better how to describe it. The seven of them stood on a slightly raised dais with rows of seats on three sides of the room. The seats were placed higher the further away they were. There were hooded lanterns on those three sides, causing the dais to be illuminated but the remainder of the room left in shadow. As a result, Cooper could see that several of the seats were occupied but the glare from the lanterns prevented him from discerning any features of those sitting in them. The four Assassins stood behind the boys, as if barring them from going back out the doors they had entered. One man stepped out from the shadows and onto the platform. His dark hair was just shorter than shoulder length and was slicked back. His moustache and closely-trimmed goatee gave him a slightly sinister appearance. It was his tight features and stern expression, along with the imposing setting of the room that made Cooper wonder whether they might be in real trouble.
As soon as the newcomer had completely stepped into the light, each of the Assassins bowed their heads slightly, in deference. Each of them spoke, almost in unison, “Greetings, Master Vorni.” Master Vorni inclined his head in response then swept his eyes across the boys, “I am certain I do not need to explain why you’ve found yourselves here?” He smiled, almost as if he were enjoying himself. Cooper wasn’t certain but he felt like the only correct response was to continue gazing at his feet while remaining silent. Master Vorni had paused to listen for any response but resumed quickly when there was no reply, “I suppose, in some way, you believe that you were helping, or that you were getting some form of revenge for the deaths of your friends…” He paused briefly to see if there was any response. There was none. Master Vorni continued, “What you have actually done is made our job harder and distracted us from where we should be devoting our attention. These four Adepts should be out uncovering vital clues but instead they had to detour in order to assure your safety and manage the results of your foolishness.” Kolrem cleared his throat and Master Vorni leaned in, “Yes? You have a reply? What is it?” Kolrem’s voice wavered but his words were unmistakable, “Sir, they were killing that man.” Master Vorni snapped upright. His voice had all the qualities of a sneer, “So?” The Master took a step forward. Cooper had to say something, before Kolrem became the focus of the proceedings, “Sir, those boys were beating entire families, and as far as the populace knows, it was us doing it… the Guild, I mean.” This halted Master Vorni’s advance as he shifted his attention to Cooper, “I would agree with you, Cooper. And would applaud your reasoning, if it weren’t for the fact that you assume that we weren’t aware of what they were doing. Yes, it was cause of some inconvenience, but the damage was easily contained and corrected. We were more interested in whether they were acting independently or under someone else’s direction.” Cooper thought, “Perhaps Tomlis, whoever that was, would’ve been in a better position to answer that question. But by now he’s resting on the bottom of the bay.” He decided it might be better to keep that thought to himself.
Master Vorni had paused again, whether for effect or to give his message a moment to sink in, but Cooper took that opportunity to speak, “Sir, going out tonight was my idea. Kolrem and Rukle only came out because I asked them and because they wanted to protect me.” Master Vorni took in a breath to speak, but Kolrem broke in before anything else could be said, “Sir, I’m responsible for my own actions. I wanted to go; and I’m glad I went. Cooper, you can’t take all the blame.” Master Vorni took this opportunity to chuckle, “No cause for concern there, young man. There’s plenty of punishment for all.” He then turned to face Rukle and leaned toward him, “You’re the only one remaining silent. Anything to add?” Rukle shook his head, “Nothing, sir. Just waiting to see what’s next.” Master Vorni straightened and faced the shadowed figures seated in the room, then turned back to the boys, “I encourage each of you to recall your lives as they were before joining the Guild… those lives could be returned to you, or your lives could simply be forfeit as an example to others…” As he spoke these last words, Cooper could hear the Assassins behind him slide blades from their sheaths. It took every bit of willpower he possessed to keep his feet firmly rooted in place. He couldn’t let himself believe that they actually intended to kill the three of them.
Chapter 17
Master Vorni seemed to enjoy the pregnant pause, but spoke again, “The Guild has invested a considerable amount of time and effort in your development. Killing you now would be a waste.” Cooper heard the sound of weapons being slipped back into their sheaths as Master Vorni continued, “There are immediate and significant changes in store for each of you. Continue to advance so you can, someday, be of some use to the Guild. Each of you, return to your rooms, gather your belongings and go to the Copyist’s Room. You’re leaving.” The recent sound of weapons being drawn was too fresh in Cooper’s mind to allow him to voice any additional questions. He decided that no matter what lay in store, he was glad to be walking out of that room.
It only took Cooper a few minutes to gather his worldly belongings. The night that Felis had recruited him, Cooper had robbed the Duke’s home. Of all the treasures he’d taken, Felis had taken two sapphires as a sort of “Guild commission”, before instructing Cooper to return to the Duke’s residence and replace all that he’d taken. What Felis didn’t know was that Cooper had tucked away another gem before ever departing from the Duke’s home. Cooper took an extra minute or two making sure this little bauble was securely tucked and knotted into his sash. Once he was satisfied, he placed Miss Camilla’s book, paints and brushes on his bed and wrote a brief note on parchment for Aden to discover. “Please return these items to Miss Camilla. Kolrem, Rukle and I are being sent elsewhere and don’t know when we might return. No time for further explanation. Farewell.” He dropped his textbook into his weapons bag, strapped his ladder to his back and left without a word.
Kolrem and two other men were waiting in the Copyist’s Room when he got there. One of the men spoke, “You took your time.” He didn’t sound pleased. Cooper explained, “I had some things that belong to Miss Camilla. I wrote a note to a roommate, asking him to return those items to her.” The man nodded, he seemed to accept this explanation, “Alright, you two. Follow us. If you fall behind, you’ll be left behind.” As they entered the Scrivener’s Shop, Cooper asked Kolrem, “Where’s Rukle?” Kolrem shrugged, “I asked that too. They told me that he was going somewhere else.” Cooper thought that sounded vaguely ominous, but still couldn’t be certain which of them might be the worse off.
As they walked through the Scrivener’s Shop and out into the Trade Quarter, Cooper noticed two things immediately; it was still a few hours before dawn and there was a pack horse laden with supplies standing just outside. One of the men took hold of the lead rope and started walking, keeping the University to his left and the Trade Quarter and Grid to his right. After twenty minutes of walking in a mostly westerly direction they’d nearly passed through The Grid, a neighborhood that had been redesigned and rebuilt by the Planning Commission decades ago. The streets were all straight with sewers running below them. It was the only neighborhood in the city that didn’t stink. It had been destroyed so many years ago that the townspeople couldn’t agree on what had caused the destruction, but everyone knew how it had come to be rebuilt. Once they’d passed The Grid, the neighborhood to the right was The Heights. This was where the nobility lived, though to be honest, these days most of them lived in The Grid but still kept property in The Heights. Cooper had never really considered just how large The University really was, but tonight it occurred to him that after they’d left Miller’s Flats behind them, the University was on their left. They’d passed through The Grid and now were passing through The Heights and the University was still on his lef
t. According to what he had heard, the University wasn’t all just school buildings. Much of the University grounds were devoted to businesses and services, which would account for its size. If there was any truth to what he’d been told, the University sounded like it was almost an independent city contained within its thick, granite walls.
As the sky was showing signs of dawn, Cooper could see the towers and crenelated walls of The Stand to the north, and as it grew lighter he could see glimpses of the western portion of Kairnlag Reservoir before it became obscured by the neighborhood called The Lakeside. The Whitefoam River flowed into and out of the reservoir. As they continued to walk west, the wall of the University turned and went southwest. At this point Cooper had a sobering thought, “In my life, I’ve never been this far from the coast, and had certainly never been outside the city.” He remembered being told that he’d been born in Miller’s Flats, which some might argue was outside the city; but it bordered the Trade Quarter and the University. It was a residential neighborhood. By Cooper’s reckoning, that made it part of the city.
As soon as they’d left the city any walls nearby were no longer made from hewn stone mortared together forming an architectural marvel twenty feet high. Now there were only rows of loosely stacked rocks that he could jump over, given an adequate running start. In the city, unless you were looking down a street in the Grid, or up and down the river, or staring out over the sea, it was rare to have a view that stretched longer than a couple hundred meters. Now looking around, Cooper felt like he should be able to see the whole world. There was so little blocking his view. Even the rocks were smaller than the horse they were leading, it certainly didn’t compare to the comfort and security of having buildings all around.
After a few hours passed, the small group stopped and one of the men weaved a loop around and between the horse’s front legs and tied it off. He then let the lead rope drop to the ground and the horse began to walk and graze leisurely. Cooper had watched the process with curiosity. The men then each stuck a short pole in the ground and draped their cloaks across them to form a shaded area. There wasn’t any room for more than the two of them. Not that they appeared that welcoming anyway. One of the men pointed to the horse, “There’s food in the saddlebags. Grab a loaf of bread and split it between you. Do the same with one sausage link and a wedge of cheese. You have about fifteen minutes to eat before we start walking again.” Cooper was looking at the horse. “Saddlebags?” he thought. He had to ask, “Sir, there are bags tied all over and across the horse. Which bags are you talking about?” At first the men appeared angry, then they looked at each other and burst into a short bout of laughter. One of the men got up and rapidly walked over to the horse, pointing as he walked. The horse shied only slightly and then settled. The man walked to the side of the horse and touched what looked like a large leather satchel that was attached to the saddle, “This is a saddle bag. The rest of those,” he swept his hand indicating the other bundles and baggage secured to the horse, “is simply cargo.” Cooper nodded his thanks, then walked up and started pulling food out to share with Kolrem. They divided the food and ate quickly, finishing just as the men were retrieving their cloaks and pulling the sticks up from the ground.
Every half hour or so as they walked, Cooper would turn and look behind him. Within a couple hours after stopping for lunch, Paleros was no longer in sight. They continued walking until the sun was well on its way toward the horizon. The men called for a halt as one of the men, “Maro” is what the other man called him, pulled an unstrung bow along with a quiver of arrows from where they had been secured to the side of the horse. Maro paused only long enough to string the bow with a quick, deft movement and walked off into the tall grass. The other man, Cooper hadn’t heard a name for him yet, explained, “Maro saw some movement in the grass. Maybe we’ll have some fresh meat to cook tonight. It will be good if we can, so we can save our cured meats.” Cooper pulled out the strip of canvas that had been used to tie around the horse’s legs. The man stopped him, “No point in hobbling the horse. We won’t be here that long.” “Hobbling”, Cooper thought, “another new term.” Cooper turned to see if Kolrem was paying attention but Kolrem was watching as Maro stalked through the tall grass. Occasionally Maro would stop and smoothly draw his bow, then aim at something the boys couldn’t see. He’d then take a few careful steps, pause and then stand erect and let the bow relax. He’d study the grass where he’d been aiming for several seconds and then either take aim again or he’d take a few careful steps and repeat the process again. After about four or five minutes of this, Maro quickly drew the bow and released the arrow in one smooth motion. Maro strode briskly to the point where he’d shot his arrow and pulled it up out of the grass. The arrow had skewered a rabbit. Cooper had seen countryfolk bring bundles of rabbits tied together into the Trade Quarter to sell them. Cooper asked, “What’s a coney?” He’d once overheard a merchant that was buying some rabbits ask a hunter “How many coneys do you think you could bring me this year”. Cooper had always wondered about that. The man chuckled a little, then replied, “Depends on where you are. There’s some that’ll insist that coney’s just another name for a rabbit. There’s others’ll say a coney’s a kind of rat-lookin’ creature, ‘bout the size of a rabbit. Far as I’m concerned, it ain’t worth arguin’ over.”
As Maro walked back toward them he made a couple quick cuts and peeled the skin off the rabbit in much the way a mother would take a wet shirt off a child, except that when Maro was done peeling, he twisted the rabbit’s head off, taking the skin with it. He then made a small cut into the rabbit’s belly and pulled it open, letting its organs spill out before making another cut to let it all drop to the ground. He dug around inside the carcass and pulled out a few more bits, flung them away and then secured the carcass with a leather strip that was hanging from the saddle. The other man went over to the horse and unstrapped a skin filled with water and let some dribble out as Maro held out his hands to catch the trickle while rubbing his hands together to rinse off the rabbit’s blood.
In the few hours that followed, Maro killed two more rabbits and they selected a location to make camp. The horse seemed to patiently tolerate having his load removed and then the other man, “Binru” was his name, took out a brush and showed Kolrem how to brush the horse’s coat. “Make sure to brush him enough so that all his hairs line up and nowhere on his back and sides is left untouched. He won’t settle down proper until it’s done right.” Binru then moved to the pile of items they’d removed from the horse. He unpacked three iron poles and hooked them together at one end, then pulled the other ends away from each other so they formed a pyramid and then placed it so it stood above the fire. The rabbits were then suspended from it for cooking. Cooper knew he should be helping somehow, but he didn’t know what to do and was simply fascinated by what he was seeing. While Binru was setting up the iron poles, Maro was building a small stack of wood for the fire. As Maro saw the boys watching him, he told them, “Tomorrow we should reach the edge of a forest. The two of you will walk along the edge of the woods and gather up sticks about this size, all you can carry, then bring them to the horse and we’ll tie them into bundles to add to the load. You can never have too much firewood.” Binru grunted, “You’re sure right ‘bout that.” Cooper and Kolrem watched the two men finish setting up the campsite and cook the rabbits. While the meat was sizzling over the fire, Maro would catch the majority of the drippings in a couple of jars and pour them back onto the meat. As he did this he spoke a little, “Boys, you’ll learn these kinds of things soon enough but this bears repeating. You gotta be a little careful with rabbit meat. Depending on the time of year, it matters how you cook it. If it’s the warm months, from planting season up to the Harvest Festival, you gotta cook a rabbit hotter for longer so’s it won’t make you sick. The meat might be a little dry, but it’s better than getting sick or dying. In the colder months, rabbits are sometimes harder to find, but they’re safer to eat.” Cooper wasn’
t sure how reliable Maro’s information was, but neither did he have any reason to doubt him.
After a meager dinner of rabbit, bread and cheese, Kolrem looked dissatisfied while the boys scrubbed the utensils. Once everything was put away, everyone settled into a position near the fire to sleep.
Several hours later, everyone woke and ate a few bites of bread, meat and cheese. They then got the load piled back on the horse and set off again, always west. Within a few hours, trees became more commonplace and as they stopped for lunch Cooper could see that, far ahead of them, the view changed significantly. After lunch, Cooper began to realize why things looked so different. Cooper had seen trees before, and certainly knew what they were, but it had never occurred to him that there were so many in the world and that they could grow so close together! At first, he thought the trees were so close together that he couldn’t see into the forest. Then he realized this was due, in part, to the fact that there were so many other plants, bushes, and vines that grew amongst the trees.
As they drew closer to the forest, Cooper realized just how large the trees were. Many of them were taller than many of the buildings in town! Some looked as tall as the towers of The Stand! Maro pointed towards the trees and said, “Alright. Get to it! Collect some firewood, like we told you.” Cooper hesitated and Kolrem followed his example. Binru called out, “What’s the matter? Never seen trees before?” Cooper looked over his shoulder at them, “We’ve seen trees, just not so big or so many. Are you sure it’s safe?” The men laughed. It was good that someone felt entertained by this, but neither of the boys understood what was funny. Maro finally spoke, “I doubt that anything too dangerous will be lurking here at the edge of the forest. Go ahead.” The boys hurried towards the trees, gathering sticks as they went, never really taking their eyes off the forest. As the boys brought in their armloads of branches the men spoke while they divided the sticks into bundles. Binru asked, “Think we’ll get there today?” Maro shrugged, “Maybe tonight, but more likely tomorrow morning.” Binru replied, “You know, one of us is going to have to go look for him.” Maro nodded, “Yep. I already figured on going. You’ll have enough food for a week and I can hunt while I look. It should only take a day or two at the longest.” Binru nodded, accepting Maro’s logic. Cooper wanted to ask about what they meant, but he figured it would all be explained soon enough. The boys made a few more trips, gathering firewood and then running to catch up.