by Scott Rhine
Simon joked, “If you hit one of those rocks in the water, it’ll break everything else.”
Sophia frowned, but Brent laughed.
On the left, sheer rock walls rose to hem them in. Tashi pointed to fallen rocks and put a finger over his lips. They had to keep silent lest boulders break loose and crush them. The path was only five paces wide and threaded between unpleasant outcomes.
The trail widened at the very top at a bend in the river. The tiny plateau, an extra six paces wider, had been labeled ‘Look Out Point’ on the map. Late that afternoon, they set up camp on the overlook with an excellent view of the river in both directions. They could see the entrance to the back stairs forty paces north, just before the path descended into the valley proper. The bridge was about two miles away, all downhill.
Here, at the mouth of the valley, Sarajah waited for the last of the sun’s disc to vanish; Tashi stood three paces behind her. First one hour and then two passed. Then she began to pace. Her dress was now black to match her mood. The ex-sheriff finally worked up the courage to ask her, “Are you avoiding me because you don’t want to be with-child on this mission?”
She stopped pacing. “That’s . . . not an issue.”
“You know some witch tricks to prevent children?”
She shook her head. “Exposure to radiation from the Doors . . . makes women sterile.”
“Radiation?”
“Light gone bad.”
Tashi frowned. “That’s why the Answer has to adopt a child?”
“One reason. The rope around her waist sustains her at a single moment in time. She hasn’t had a period since her . . . incident.” The word death was to be avoided.
“What about men?”
She smiled. Thinking hurt him. She wanted to do things with him that would make the hurt go away. “Them too, dear one.”
His forehead wrinkled. “But Emperor Myron—”
“Had seventeen wives, countless mistresses, and only two had children, years apart. I wonder why?”
The ex-sheriff was scandalized. “I thought it was like breeding with any Imperial, as if he were a different race. Then how did the other emperors have six fingers?”
She shrugged. “Ask your teacher; Jotham has the Book of Dominion. I’m guessing that when the chosen heir undergoes the final ceremony in the throne room, the radiation mutates him as well.”
He didn’t understand half of what the seeress was saying. After she nibbled on his ear, he stopped trying.
****
When the panther-headed Dawn creature approached hours later, he had something that looked like a four-foot armadillo waddling after him. “Greetings great witch and her pet.”
“Hail Bagierog. Who’s your friend?” she asked.
“No names. Let’s just say he owes me one. Three more of my kind will join us after sunrise; they heard about your mission to help Calligrose and wanted to assist in any way they could.”
“Thank you, friend. How will I recognize them? There’re a lot of spirit folk here.”
“One has a dog’s head and two appear as very dark-skinned humans with no hair.”
“Excellent. Five Dawn folk should be able to protect us.”
Tashi shrugged. “They might be able to hold off twenty-five soldiers a piece.”
“Thirty at least,” claimed the panther.
“That only leaves about sixty men, two fire mages, fifteen Dawn creatures, nine undying ki mages, and assorted acolytes for me,” grumbled the sheriff. “Half each, beautiful?”
She colored a little before reprimanding him. “We do not complain, but accept all gifts with grace. Bagierog, how many guard the Imperial garrison on the portage route?”
“Only a hand: seven. They won’t come out unless you make them.”
“Who’s their commander?”
“Lord Yondir,” the Dawn creature replied, mimicking a swagger.
“That pompous fool,” she said with a smirk.
“Know him?” asked Tashi.
“I own him,” she said cryptically. “He’s probably here trying to hide from me.” To the panther, she said, “What do we have to watch out for in the valley?”
“Not much. The other Dawn folk here have pledged neutrality in the conflict. But at the northeast edge, there’s a camp of about seventy men. They have twenty swords with an Imperial wizard,” Bagierog said.
The seeress cursed so angrily that the armadillo curled up in a ball. The panther chuckled at her colorful turn of phrase in the old language. When she calmed, she asked pleasantly, “Who is it? The Semenos army, come to squeeze us?”
“I’m not certain,” the panther-headed creature admitted. “We observed them for some time. The uniforms are a hodge-podge, but their wizard has exceptional wards. He can hide himself from my sight. Some of the soldiers are even wearing Kiateran colors. My friend overheard them talking, and they claim the wizard’s guarded day and night by this smith with a sword of Miracles.”
Tashi’s face lit up. “Do you believe in coincidence?”
“No,” the seeress and Fallen said at the same time.
“Then, I think our rearguard has just arrived.”
“What do you mean?” she demanded.
“I did manage to make one friend who lived,” Tashi began. The panther opened his mouth to comment but the seeress silenced him. “That smith follows the old ways and owes me a favor.”
“That just leaves the acolytes, ki and fire mages for you two to fight,” noted Bagierog wryly.
Sarajah glared at him. She couldn’t afford for these two to start a pissing contest. “How do we find this wizard and the swordsman with him?”
“Ah, well, I just waited till he started spying on your companions’ campsite. He’s using a chipmunk spirit. I can’t see the wizard, but . . .”
“We can follow the chipmunk back to him. Brilliant,” she said.
The panther basked in the praise.
****
Pinetto crouched behind a bridge support, looking through the spy scope at Jotham’s camp. “How do we get the drop on them?”
Beside them, Tashi said, “I recommend practicing graceful movement on rice paper. You move like a water buffalo.”
The Defender of the Realm streaked out of its sheath, only to be blocked by Tashi’s hardened wood staff. The smith halted his assault when he saw the ex-sheriff’s face. “You’re dead!” Then, he shifted his gaze to Sarajah, still wearing Alana’s form. “You’re both dead.”
The two accompanying archers from Legato’s band froze, not wanting to hit their allies, and seeing no attack.
“I’m not her,” said the seeress, changing her outfit from black to light brown. “I change bodies the way I change clothes. My favored one likes this form.”
“What’s not to like?” The astronomer seemed to take the news in stride.
Narrowing his eyes, the smith noticed some changes and asked, “Did you transfer your tattoos onto her somehow? Did they . . . rub off?”
Pinetto cleared his throat, indicating the listening archers. “He’s right, you know. You’re pretty noisy when you move.”
“And you move like an old man, wizard,” the smith replied. Then he got the hint, and excused himself from the archers. “We’re old friends from Tamarind. We’re going to catch up over there.”
Once they were out of earshot of the troops, the smith explained, “This is the sheriff I was telling you about.”
“Ex,” Tashi clarified. “Now I’m protecting the High Priestess of Archanos on a mission.”
The smith spun the handle of the magic sword toward Tashi. “Have you come to reclaim the Defender?”
“No, I’m going after the real one.”
“Real one?” exclaimed Pinetto.
The smith put a finger to his lips. “I just got roped into helping Prince Legato reassemble the Obsidian Throne and reclaim his kingdom.”
“A worthy cause,” said the priestess.
Posing before Alana, the smith sa
id, “We had to defeat Eutheron.”
“Eutheros,” the seeress corrected.
Pinetto shook his head. “Kiateros distinctly said ‘on’.”
“Hmm,” she considered. “Perhaps she was demoted from voting status when the virus damaged her higher reasoning functions.”
“That’s why she eats the heads!” exclaimed Pinetto. “She’s missing chemicals that she needs to think straight.”
“Interesting,” she said as they compared notes.
“Not as fascinating as having a god name you head of his church,” Pinetto said, fawning just a little. “Is he really the evil fiend they make him out to be?”
She shrugged, causing her dress to tighten in interesting places. “He’s trying to change his image now that he’s out of prison. I’m working on his tenets.”
“Anything we might be interested in?” asked the smith.
“Today I added: don’t kill or torture people in my name.”
The smith nodded. “I could stand behind that.”
Tashi could tell that her appearance and the cloak’s powers were turning these men into putty. Far from being worried about what she was doing to him, he felt jealous. “I’ve faced Archanos three times and bested him in unarmed combat.”
“If we’re done bragging like aristocrts at a school reunion, I think we can help each other,” said the seeress.
She outlined the attack on the temple via the back stair, and the smith described their run to the border with the wagon carrying the Obsidian Throne. The seeress offered, “I have a letter of safe passage. Your wagon needs to get through the eastern gate and the Imperial garrison there. We’re told that the roads in the gap are perilously steep. We happen to have a man, Simon the architect, who’s driven wagons on these roads before. He can travel with Prince Legato.”
“Let’s take them back to the teacher and get everyone’s input,” suggested Tashi. “But leave the archers here to ‘guard’ the field.”
They all agreed. Walking up the hill to the campfire, the smith wanted to know, “How did you manage to sneak up on me?”
“The river helped to mask sounds,” Tashi said evasively.
“But how did you find where we were hiding?” asked the smith.
Pinetto pointed to the invisible panther. “They cheated.”
Bagierog laughed, but did not appear. “Hail, favored of Kiateros. We, the Fallen, work together against the Pretender and his council. How did you see me?”
“I can’t see details, but there’s a void where the light of the Compass Star isn’t,” the wizard explained. “We have two eagle-headed friends at our camp, and I noticed the same flaw with them.”
“With eagles to command, you can vanquish the enemy wizards. It will be sword against claw to the finish,” the panther purred. “This is going to be a battle to remember.”
Chapter 45 – Into the Valley of Death
When they reached Look Out Point, Tashi introduced everyone around the fire. There was an awkward moment when they introduced Sophia and the smith said, “You have a beautiful daughter, Simon.”
“It’s his wife,” whispered Tashi.
“She’s young,” said Pinetto, looking at the architect as he would a degenerate.
“Yes and no,” said the ex-sheriff. “It’s complicated.”
“More shape-shifting?”
“Close.”
The smith shook his head. “In the middle of a war, and every guy I know is involved in sex and magic. It’s not natural. The gods meant their power to go into mighty weapons, not giggling bed rolls.”
Pinetto looked askance. “I think our way makes it a better world. You’re just jealous because you scream prematurely,” he said, making fun of every time the smith had tried to sneak up on an enemy.
“That only happened twice,” the smith clarified.
“As soon as you take it out of your scabbard,” japed the wizard.
“Shh. There are ladies and children here,” complained the smith.
After meeting, it didn’t take long before they were dividing into teams.
“The prince and about six others can take the throne through the eastern gate,” said the smith. “Many more and it might draw suspicion. Everyone else will join us at this choke point at the foot of the stairs to hold the army back. Simon can drive the oxen and carry the writ of passage. Once they make it into Kiateros proper, the Kiateran irregulars can take the prince to someplace he can be crowned.”
“My Sajika is ambassador and will go along to witness, as well as to help with the oxen. She’s driven our wagon a lot recently. We can use the empty ale barrels to hide the throne and the gypsy family disguises.”
“Won’t they need Sarajah for the pass?” asked Brent.
“It would be the best guarantee,” said Tashi.
“You’re just trying to get rid of the defenseless women,” Sarajah grumbled. “I can fight almost as well as the Dawn folk. I’ve put you on your back more than once,” she said to the ex-sheriff.
The smith snickered at the suggestive wording. Alana had been an infamous cougar.
Tashi replied, “Sophia’s a woman, and she’ll be staying with us as a guide,”
Simon seemed uncomfortable with the arrangement and argued with his wife off to the side, fingers dancing.
“You’re responsible for the restoration of Kiateros,” Pinetto said gravely. “If anyone were to discover the prince or the throne, you’d have to adapt the plan on the spot. We’ll give you the crown to carry. If anything goes wrong, we’ll need someone resourceful and powerful to hide the crown until the next opportunity.”
On cue, the smith handed over the important golden torc.
Grudgingly, the seeress said, “Fine. If we start now, we can be there before daybreak.”
Pinetto winced. “We can’t cross the border yet.”
“Every beat we delay, that army gets closer,” hissed Sarajah.
The smith nodded. “Aye. But Legato has to finish assembling the throne himself before he can sit on it. It needs to be accomplished by sundown tomorrow or no dice. Tomorrow is Emperor’s Day, right?”
The seeress nodded. “Can he finish it from the Imperial garrison at the top of the falls?”
The smith and astronomer glanced at each other, each shrugging. “Sure.”
“I’ll get him there and chase out the Imperials,” she promised.
Simon shook his head. “Anything abnormal will alert the temple guards on the wall. They track that path with a huge ballista. Anything suspicious gets attacked.”
Owl furrowed his brow. “What’s that?”
The boy grinned. “It’s like a gigantic crossbow that slings bolts the size of a dining room table.”
The smith grunted, “If one of our oxen gets nailed by one of those bolts, it could slide down the embankment, dragging the throne and prince alike to their deaths.”
“I’ll take care of the ballista,” volunteered Tashi.
“That’s suicide,” Pinetto said.
The smith responded, “And what the rest of us are doing isn’t? If he says he can do it, he can.”
“He’ll need someone with map knowledge,” said Jotham, pointing out Tashi’s memory problems without being rude. “That would be Brent or Sophia.”
Simon pointed to the map. “These doors lead to the parapet you want. But the way is heavily guarded. You may have better luck climbing out this window, one floor higher. The stone gets a little slick when it rains or the snow melts, but that route gives you the best chance of success. By the way, Sophia’s of no use in combat.”
Tashi reasoned, “Neither is my teacher. He’s going into the inner sanctum. With luck, his team should gain entrance by stealth and complete your task with no one the wiser. Sophia knows that route best. I’ve worked with the boy before, and he can hold his water. He’ll go with me. We can each take one of the gravediggers in case we run into locked doors.”
Jotham nodded, “Or places where use of excessive force mi
ght attract too much attention.”
Everyone murmured agreement. Owl spoke up, “Tatters is the quieter of us. He should go with the good architect’s wife. I’ve had more experience fighting.”
Tashi examined the scraggly man in a new light. “Pleased to have you. We’ll all stay together up the back stair. We cut the rope bridge so no one can attack us from behind and split into teams when we get safely to the Great Hall.”
The smith said, “The menagerie, the wizard, and I will stand at the base of the backstairs until you signal us that you’ve captured the ballista.”
Tashi smacked fists with the smith and said, “New money. I’ll come to join your fight once I clear the parapets. The gravediggers and Brent can help Sophia across the falls. When we see the final Door close, we all run for the border of Kiateros.”
“How will we know?” asked Pinetto.
“You’ll be able to tell with your eyes closed,” said Jotham.
Tashi suggested, “Simon can send the rest of your troops to join us at the base of the stairs.”