It made no difference how strong the assassin was, with sorcery at his command Lee easily countered, hurling his opponent further down the hall and smashing him into an ornate end table. Lizzy wanted to help, but with Lee between her and the killer she couldn’t get a clean shot.
Why wasn’t he using his powers? Given the strength of his external soul force Lee should have been able to easily overwhelm an ordinary man.
The assassin sprang to his feet. “I was warned of your skill, but I didn’t believe my master when he said a sorcerer was as skilled with the blade as any master martial artist. It appears I should have taken the warning more seriously.”
Lizzy couldn’t place the assassin’s accent, but whoever he was it sounded like he was having a grand time.
“Did you kill Kang and his household?” Lee edged closer and the assassin moved an equal distance back.
“I did. It was no challenge at all with these.” He brandished the crackling blades and sighed. “Since I received them my life has gotten safer, but more boring.”
Voices from below mingled with pounding footsteps.
“Ah well. Sounds like play time is over. Stay alive Lee Ben Lai. I wish to duel you again.” The assassin snatched something from the inside of his shirt and hurled it to the floor.
Darkness filled the hall, so thick even Lizzy’s enhanced vision couldn’t pierce it. Lizzy’s wings burst through the back of her dress as her shapeshifting was forcibly undone. There was an explosion then the darkness vanished.
The assassin was gone along with a sizable portion of the back wall.
“You there, stop!” Armed men stood at the top of the staircase.
Lee conjured a wall in the guards’ path. “Time for us to go.”
Lee leapt out the hole the assassin blasted in the wall and Lizzy raced out after him, leaving the shouting guards behind.
Chapter 9
Lee flew northeast, away from the stink and death of Nop Chong. Everything had gone wrong and Lizzy didn’t know what to do about it. The minister wouldn’t be able to stop Lee’s foes from having him named an enemy of the empire, and the moment that happened an elimination squad would be sent to kill him. If they managed to keep Lee’s death quiet maybe everything would be okay. It would be like he just disappeared.
That was just wishful thinking on her part. There were plenty of people who hated the capital for its excess and overbearing laws. They would use Lee’s death as a rallying cry. All the empire’s bottled-up frustrations would boil over. Thousands, maybe tens of thousands, would die. The thought should have excited her. A century ago it would have, now she just felt sick.
“What happened back there? You should have been able to capture that man with no trouble.”
For a moment she thought he was going to ignore her, but after a few seconds of silence Lee said, “He had an artifact, I don’t know what it was, that canceled my sorcery. Every sort of binding I tried broke the moment it touched him. Whoever sent that assassin provided everything he needed to go toe to toe with a sorcerer.”
“Who would have known you’d be there and when? It couldn’t have been a coincidence, he knew your name.”
“It wasn’t a coincidence, it was a setup. The guards got a good look at me in the company of a demon, no offense, with their master dead down the hall. Someone besides Kang wants me dead. Who and why I can’t begin to guess.”
“Really? I’d have thought you’d have made plenty of enemies over the years.”
“I have, that’s the problem. It could be any one of a dozen people I know or someone I interfered with not even realizing it. Doing the right thing for one group often leaves me on the wrong side of another.” He shrugged. “I’ve made my peace with it.”
“Where are we going?” Below them fields and forests whizzed by and Lee showed no sign of slowing.
“There’s a quiet place I know. It’s good for thinking as there are no people for miles. That also makes it a good place for a battle. I fear whoever set this up will waste little time coming after me.”
“After us.”
He looked at her and raised an eyebrow.
“We were seen together and that assassin did something that forced me into my true form. I’m in this up to my neck, same as you. Until we figure it out Minister Sethis won’t touch me and my superior’s more likely to kill me than anything.”
“Doesn’t sound like a very forgiving master.”
“He’s a demon. Besides, we haven’t seen eye to eye in a while. I’m not certain what’s happening to me, but I’ve been having some very un-demon-like thoughts. They’ve gotten worse since I met you.”
“Sorry.” He didn’t sound like he meant it at all.
Their flight ended in an abandoned peach grove. It looked like someone had farmed the orchard at some point, but judging from the weeds growing between the trees it was a long time ago. In the center of the grove was a small two-room cabin with one glass window and a stone chimney.
“Is this home?”
Lee closed his eyes, breathed in a lungful of fresh air, and sighed. “It’s close enough. The only real home I’ve had for the last ten years is the road. But even the most diehard wanderer needs a place to hang up his hat.”
“You don’t have a hat,” Lizzy said.
“It’s just an expression.”
They made the short walk to the cabin. A breeze kicked up and Lizzy smiled as her hair danced in the wind. What was wrong with her? She was thinking like some dewy-eyed mortal. Though she hated to admit it, this change wasn’t wholly unpleasant. Not being constantly consumed with thoughts of blood and death was a welcome change.
Lee conjured a golden key and unlocked the door. The inside was neat and by neat she meant almost empty. A small table, a storage chest, and an iron stove completed the decor. A door in the back wall led, she assumed, to the bathroom.
“I’m surprised you bothered to lock the place up this far out in the middle of nowhere.”
Lee conjured a chair, sat, and ran his fingers through his long hair. “I keyed all the defensive wards to the lock. My key not only opens the door, but deactivates the wards at the same time. It was the most convenient way to set it up.”
Lizzy followed his example and sat across from him. “Defensive wards and a lock? Is there a hell gate around here I don’t know about? I would think most of your neighbors consisted of the furry, four-legged variety.”
He didn’t look up, but his soul force surged and a trapdoor appeared in the floor and slid open. “I keep some nasty artifacts down there. The sorts of things you wouldn’t want the wrong person getting their hands on.”
“Anything we can use?”
A second burst of power and the trapdoor closed and disappeared. He looked up at last, seeming far older than his thirty-some years. “No one should use the things down there. The only reason I didn’t destroy them was fear of what I might set loose. Anyone tripping the wards will set off a huge mass of stored soul force, enough to destroy the artifacts.”
Lee slept for a while after their brief conversation. Lizzy badly wanted to explore the basement, but she had no doubt that if she did he’d wake up at once. She sighed and watched the peaceful, sleeping face. She’d never realized how difficult it must be, trying to do what’s right all the time. She’d never even thought about trying. Lizzy envied Lee the peace he seemed to feel about his choices. Someday she hoped to find that sort of contentment.
Three hours later she rummaged through his pouch and pulled out four more of the wrinkled sausages and a packet of dried vegetables. A little more searching turned up a battered pot in the stove’s oven and a well out back provided icy cold water. When Lee groaned and sat up half an hour later she had a passable soup going.
“How very domestic. I’ve never encountered a demon that could cook. You’ll make someone a fine wife.”
His jest fell like a drowned rat between them.
“Have you ever married?” Lizzy asked.
“No. I
’ve always tried to keep people at arm’s length for the most part. I’ve made so many enemies over the years anyone I loved would be an instant target. My few close friends are sorcerers or master martial artists. People who can protect themselves and in one case have even more enemies than me.”
“Aren’t you going to ask me if I ever married?” Lizzy gave her soup a stir. She really needed to get off this path, but she found she didn’t want to.
Lee smiled. “A demon that cooks and has a husband? That’s a bridge too far for me.”
“You’d be wrong then. I did marry once, at my employer’s insistence. I needed to convince the target to trust me so he’d show me where he kept the treasure my employer sought. Once I found it I murdered him.” Why was she telling him things like that? It was like she was trying to convince him to hate her.
Someone knocked on the door, ending the painful conversation. They exchanged looks. Who could have found them out here?
Lee drew his sword and sent power to his shield. Lizzy conjured spheres of hellfire that swirled around her head, ready to hurl at anyone that threatened them.
Lee yanked the door open and a familiar face waited on the other side. It was the chameleon, only now he wore simple, threadbare peasant garb. Lee leveled his sword at the man. “And you are?”
“A friend.”
“I seriously doubt that.” Lee’s sword didn’t waver an inch.
“It’s okay.” Lizzy let the hellfire vanish. “I know him. He works for the minister.”
Lee lowered his sword and stepped aside. “You work for Sethis? That hardly makes you our friend.”
“Perhaps not.” The chameleon darted through the door, closing it behind him. “My friends and enemies are decided entirely by my master and right now you and he want the same thing, to avoid a war. Kang has con—”
“Kang is dead,” Lee said. “I saw his gutted body myself.”
“A body double, or so he claims. I have no information either way. Whoever now wears Kang’s face has the whole court convinced you’re an assassin. You were named enemy of the empire an hour ago. A strike force is being assembled as we speak. They plan to attack in the morning.”
“How did you find us?” Lizzy asked.
“Your ring. It does more than disguise your corruption.”
“I should have known.” Lizzy twisted it off and tossed it to him. “You can return it to your master. Tell him I quit.”
The chameleon snagged the ring out of the air. “No need to quit, the mission ended when Kang convinced the emperor to have Lee executed.”
“What does Sethis want me to do?” Lee asked. “He clearly has something up his sleeve.”
“My master wishes you to flee to the west, beyond the border of the empire. Give him time to figure out what’s happening, six months, perhaps a year, then you can return.”
“And leave the people defenseless? No, this is my home. I will deal with whoever wants to destroy me.”
“That is not wise,” the chameleon said. “The strike force includes several demons in addition to many skilled humans. Even you will not be able to defeat so many.”
“Not alone.” Lizzy moved to stand beside Lee. Why did she feel compelled to stand with a man she barely knew? She looked deep inside and realized it just seemed like the right thing. When that had become something she cared about Lizzy couldn’t say, but she cared now. “Whoever did this set me up as well. I will see them punished for that.”
Lee reached out and squeezed her hand. A little thrill ran through her.
The chameleon shook his head and tossed her back the ring. “You’re both mad. Master Sethis said this would be your choice. If you somehow survive I will contact you again.”
Chapter 10
Lizzy sensed more than heard Lee get up off his conjured bed and slip out into the orchard. He didn’t speak and she let him go without comment. If he wanted some time alone to think before the battle she would let him have it. Neither of them knew when the empire’s strike force would arrive, but she assumed it would be first thing in the morning and that meant soon.
The chameleon had said there would be demons in the group which surprised Lizzy. Humans and demons seldom mixed; the demons tended to forget who was on their side when the bloodlust came over them. It had taken Lizzy two full centuries of living in the mortal realm before she had full control over her bloodlust.
The only practical way for humans to use demons in a fight was to send in some stupid ones to weaken their enemies then once all the demons were dead the humans would be free to finish off any survivors. That had to be what they intended.
Lizzy stood up, stretched her wings, and wiggled the ring on her finger. She couldn’t say why she decided to put it back on, especially after the chameleon admitted the minister used it to spy on her. When it came down to it she didn’t think Sethis meant them any harm, at the moment anyway.
Though they’d been traveling together for a few days she still had no idea exactly how powerful Lee was. So far he hadn’t used more than a fraction of his full strength. She really hoped the stories weren’t exaggerated, for both their sakes.
After five minutes Lizzy went outside. A short distance from the cabin Lee was doing slow-motion forms with his sword. The thin blade glided through the air in figure eights. He spun and thrust, slowly gaining speed. In the distance, but approaching quickly, she sensed four demons and a dozen humans.
Lee must have sensed them as well, but he made no comment.
“The strike force is on its way,” she said. “Should we discuss tactics before they arrive?”
He stopped, flicked his sword down to his side, and slid it into the sheath on his back. “What would you like to discuss?”
“How do you want to handle them?”
Lee walked past her and used his golden key to reactivate the cabin’s wards. “I have no idea what we’re facing. We’ll simply have to deal with whatever shows up the best we can when they arrive.”
“You seem very calm for a man that may die in the next few minutes.”
He shrugged. “I am confident we have sufficient combined power to deal with what they’ve sent against us. To be honest I feared they’d have sent a far stronger contingent.”
“Are you sure you’re sensing what I’m sensing? That’s a pretty damn powerful group on their way.”
The enemy force was now visible to her enhanced vision. She couldn’t make out much detail, but the demons weren’t huge so at least her former superior wasn’t coming against them. That was a gift.
“I’ll handle the demons first,” Lee said. “You keep the humans from getting too close.”
“You don’t think you’ll need my help?”
“For those four? I don’t think so. Try not to kill anyone unless you have to. They’re only following orders.”
Lee hurtled into the air with such force the wind blew Lizzy’s hair back. It took a second for her to recover her wits enough to join him in the sky. They met the enemy force half a mile from the cabin. The closest demons resembled giant wasps and three score yards behind them flew a pair of winged wolves.
Hellfire burst from between the demon wasps’ mandibles and converged on Lee. He conjured a bubble of soul force and flew right through the flames.
The instant he emerged Lee threw both hands forward. Lances of dense soul force shot out and impaled both demons. They struggled to free themselves for half a second before Lee detonated the compressed soul force, blowing the demons to bits.
Just like that Lee had killed half the demons in the enemy force. It seemed his power hadn’t been overstated after all.
Streaks of golden energy bounced off Lee’s shield along with arrows from ten archers standing on a soul force platform. Time for her to go to work.
She sent a pulse of hellfire at the platform, shattering it and sending the ten warlords tumbling towards the ground. They all had strong internal soul force so she didn’t fear the fall killing them. And if she was honest she di
dn’t especially care if it did. Lizzy respected Lee’s effort to avoid killing his opponents, but she took a more practical view. Anyone that tried to kill her deserved no mercy.
One of the sorcerers rushed to catch the falling warlords while the other three turned their attacks on Lizzy. The golden arrows they sent her way didn’t have much power to them and her hellfire shield burned them away in an instant.
Black lightning burst from the tips of her fingers, sending a sorcerer toward the ground. The other two shared a look.
Lizzy took advantage of their momentary distraction to surround them with a hellfire bubble. They tried to burn their way out, but couldn’t manage it. The third sorcerer caught both the warlords and the sorcerer she’d sent tumbling out of the air.
A huge explosion drew her attention back to Lee’s battle. Nothing remained of the demon wolves but a few charred clumps of fur drifting toward the ground. It didn’t even look like he was breathing hard.
Lee flew over beside her. “You can let them go.”
“Are you sure?”
He nodded. “They don’t have any fight left in them.”
As soon as he said it Lizzy realized the sorcerers had stopped trying to break through her barrier. She released the energy flow maintaining the sphere revealing the two slumped-over sorcerers. It looked like they had just enough power left to stay in the air.
The sorcerer nearest the ground flew up along with his passengers to join the others. One of the warlords, a bald woman obviously not chosen for her brains, raised her bow and pointed it at Lee.
Lee didn’t even flinch. The warlord’s bow was reduced to a pile of sawdust in an instant without so much as a blink from him. The others let their bows clatter down to the platform. It appeared the battle was over.
“What happens now?” one of the two exhausted sorcerers asked.
“Now you fly back to the capital and tell them you failed. Tell the emperor I didn’t kill Kang’s double or his wife and household. I don’t know who did, but I intend to find out.”
Lizzy's First Bearer Page 4