Endric jammed his thumb into the man’s back. If nothing else, he would get him to answer. “How many?”
“I was hired. That’s it. Anything that looked suspicious, I was to—”
Endric pushed forward again. The man cut off. “Suspicious? That’s the only reason that you jumped us?”
“I saw what you did down by the docks,” he said.
Endric smiled. “Good. Then you know that I won’t have any hesitation to terminate you if it comes to it. How many more are there between here and the fortress?”
“I don’t know. They don’t tell me.”
“That’s too bad,” Endric said. He reached into the man’s pocket and found one of the darts, which he jammed into his arm. The man collapsed, and Endric dropped him to the ground, looking over at Akar. “There will be others,” he said.
“I would expect nothing less.” Akar scanned the street, his eyes surveying everything, taking in the entirety of the street.
Endric couldn’t help but be impressed by the way that the Assal handled everything. He didn’t seem too perturbed by the fact that they were heading through the street with an unknown number of enemies, and he didn’t seem concerned by the fact that he needed to fight alongside Endric, someone who had bested him once before.
“I think we need to move,” Akar said.
A flutter of movement at the end of the alley caught his attention and Endric reached down into the man’s pocket again, grabbing three darts that he found there. As they hurried along the street, he caught sight of more movement, and he flicked one of the darts. It went streaking down the street, connecting with someone. They collapsed with a soft gasp.
As they reached another intersection, Endric looked back to see two more coming.
He sent the two remaining darts toward both of them. One of them stuck into the man’s leg while the other—a woman—managed to duck out of the way.
“Do you think that is really necessary?” Akar asked.
“We can use their weapons against them,” Endric said.
Akar smiled. “That is not a terrible idea. “
“Keep going. I’ll catch up with you,” he said. “Head toward the fortress. I’ll meet you there.”
He had started to turn when Akar grabbed his arm. “No. We’re doing this together.”
Endric considered a moment. Akar might be right. Going together might be better than trying to run off on his own. If he went with the other man, he would have someone to watch his back, and until he knew exactly what they were going to encounter, that made the most sense.
He nodded, and together they spun around, weaving back toward the two people Endric had knocked out with the darts. When he reached them, he grabbed unused darts out of their pockets and continued along the street, every so often pausing to look and see if there were others. At one point, they came across two men watching the street, and Endric sent one of the darts streaking into the man. The other ducked out of the way, but Akar ran forward and caught him, dragging him back and knocking him down.
“What do you want to do with him?” he asked.
Endric shook his head. What did he want to do with him? It didn’t seem as if it made sense to harm him, especially not when they didn’t know enough about what they were dealing with, but they needed to prevent him—and others—from following.
“Bind him and let’s hide him off to the side,” he said.
Akar made quick work of tying up the man, then he dragged him over to an alley, leaving him lying there.
“How will you know where we left them?” Endric asked.
Akar’s eyes narrowed. “I will know.”
Endric stared at him for a moment. He had a sense that he would know. “Come on,” he said.
They continued along the street, weaving their way around, and passed from the lower section with its rows of shops to a nicer section, one that Endric thought was more of a merchant section. He paused and looked around, seeing no sign of anyone trailing them.
“What is it?” Akar asked.
“This is where I was poisoned the first time I came through here,” he said, motioning to the tavern where he had stopped.
“You think they will be watching?”
Endric shook his head. “It was one of the false guild members who did it. I’m still not sure if it was a test or if he was trying to truly poison me, but either way, they attacked me.”
As they slipped past the door of the tavern, Endric’s gaze lingered for a moment, and then they were continuing onward, heading up the road leading to the fortress. He saw no sign of the other Assal.
“Where do you think they are?” Akar asked.
“They should have gotten here before us.”
“Unless they were tracked.”
“Maybe we shouldn’t have separated from them,” Endric said. Akar shot him a look. “Come on,” Endric said. They continued along the road leading up to the fortress. When they got there, the gate was closed.
It had not been closed before. Akar grabbed the gate, pulling on it, and glanced over at Endric. “What do you expect us to do now?” His gaze drifted upward, to the top of the wall. It would be difficult, if not impossible, climb to reach the top of it.
“I’m not sure.”
“If they’re over there—”
Endric nodded. He grabbed the gate, holding on to it for a moment. He jerked on it but found it stout, unsurprising considering that it was made of iron. He shook the gate, looking up at the fortress, feeling as if they were stuck. Somehow, they had to get free, and they had to get through here, but how?
There didn’t seem to be any way.
Akar glanced over at him. “We can climb.”
Endric looked along the wall before turning his attention back to the gate. He shook his head. “You can try, but I don’t think it’s safe to even consider climbing. “
“If the false guild is over there…”
Endric examined the gate. The strange stirring surged within him. It was the same sensation, and he still had no idea what it was from, only that it created strength in him.
Was it tied to the teralin? It didn’t seem to be, but could he use that connection, his ability to draw from the teralin, to break the gate open?
He pulled.
“What are you doing?” Akar asked.
Endric yanked again, and the sensation jolted through him. His arms went numb from the attempt, and he half expected to dislodge his shoulder and tear his arm free.
“You won’t be able to break through this,” Akar said.
Endric continued to pull, ignoring the other man.
He jerked on it, this time focusing on what he felt whenever he pushed on teralin and helped change the polarity. That was the same sensation that he thought he was feeling here, and while he had no idea what it was, there was no questioning that there was a similarity to it.
Power trembled through him.
It was the only way that he could describe it, and it felt the same as teralin. It was a trembling, at first, but it surged deeper within him, drawing from somewhere within his body, and he pulled again.
It didn’t do anything.
He considered giving up, but decided to try a different approach. Rather than pulling on that sense of teralin, could he push?
Endric shoved on the gate. He used that connection within him to do so, and it trembled, tingling within him for a moment before suddenly exploding outward.
The gate snapped open.
Endric stood frozen.
“How did you do that?” Akar asked.
Endric stared at the gate. “I have no idea.”
“Are you sure that you are Antrilii?”
Endric glanced over at him. “What else would I be?”
“I’ve heard stories of others with power who can manipulate metal.”
“This isn’t that kind of metal,” Endric said.
“Are you sure?”
Endric patted his sword. “Quite. I have some ability with metals
, and this is different.”
Akar stepped through the gate and cast a glance over at Endric a moment. “Keep—”
A dart stuck into his neck, and he grabbed it, pulling it out. His eyes widened for a moment before he collapsed.
Endric grabbed Akar, dragging him back. He looked up to see the row of windows along the fortress, and people standing within them. There would be no way of reaching the fortress, not without experiencing a series of attacks, and depending on what poison they used, it might be fatal.
Endric crouched next to Akar, checking to see if he was still breathing, thankful that he was. Was this a fatal poison or was this more of a sedative?
If they anticipated that the Assal were attacking, Endric suspected they would use fatal poison. If that were the case, it meant that Akar needed help, but it was the kind of help that Endric didn’t necessarily have within him.
He could drag Akar back into the city, but if he did so, there was a risk that he wouldn’t find anyone who could help. He ducked behind the wall, staring down at Akar, feeling actual remorse for what the man had experienced. He would’ve come so far only to fail.
Even though they had battled, Endric didn’t want to see him die, not like this, and not here. And if he did, and if there was no way to reach the fortress again, the false guild would win.
That angered him more than it should.
He sat there, silent.
“I had not thought to see you here.”
Endric jerked his head around and sprang to his feet. “Novan?”
Novan stood before him, gripping his staff, the hood of his cloak pulled up over his head.
“Where are the others?”
“They remained on the ship. I warned them that Coamdon could be dangerous.”
Endric started laughing, glancing down at Akar. “Moreso than I realized.”
Novan crouched next to Akar, setting his hands on the man. “What happened?”
“Poisoned dart.”
“How?”
“The false guild.”
Novan glanced up at him. “False guild? You’re certain of this?”
“Completely. They thought me to be your apprentice, and they brought me in for testing, but I think it was all part of a ruse to find out more about you.”
Novan breathed out. “There were rumors, but nothing more than that.”
“Rumors of a fracture within the guild?”
Novan glanced down at Akar. “Who is he?”
“I thought you knew him.”
Novan shook his head. “I don’t know him. I assume a friend of yours?”
“He’s one of the people who attacked us.”
Novan looked up him. “And now you’re traveling with them?”
“They are from Assal.” Endric watched Novan, looking for a sign of recognition, but Novan kept his features composed. “They claim that you stole something from them.”
“It would not have been me. I understand the role the Assal play for the guild. They take it quite seriously.”
“They do,” Endric said. “The false guild stole from them. Is that what you wanted me to discover?”
Novan stared down at Akar. He was moving his hands in a strange pattern, and Endric frowned as he watched. Was there a reason for the pattern? Why did Endric feel tugging within him as he watched Novan swirling his hands around?
“The false guild is here, not the rest of the historian guild?”
“You didn’t know?”
“I’ve been busy traveling, Endric. It’s often difficult for me to know when there is activity.”
“This is the false guild,” Endric said.
Novan stood and tapped his staff on the ground. The teralin along the surface surged, and strangely, it flowed into Akar.
“Then it’s up to us to resolve this.”
“The Assal tried, but they didn’t get very far,” Endric said.
“That’s unsurprising,” Novan said.
“Why?”
“The guild has many secrets, Endric. Not the least of which is a way of defending itself.”
“Poison, I take it.”
“Poison is but one of them.”
Endric motioned to the fortress. “We won’t have any way of gaining access.”
“I believe that I can do something about that,” he said.
“What do you intend to do?”
“I intended to help the Assal recover their cargo. I assume that’s what you were doing?”
“That had been my intention,” Endric said. “There is the challenge of reaching the fortress. He was attacked when we tried, and we weren’t able to get very close.”
Novan tapped his staff on the ground again. As before, teralin surged along it. “That is something I should be able to help with.”
Novan took a step forward, and Endric hurried up to him, trying to catch the man. “Novan, what are you doing?”
“Help the Assal to stand,” Novan said.
Endric glanced down at Akar and realized that he was starting to come around.
Was the poison not fatal?
It was possible that it had not been, but more likely was the fact that Novan had done something. What would he have done to help Akar?
And how had he managed to help Akar?
More questions about Novan.
Endric reached under Akar’s shoulders and propped him up, helping him get to his feet. Akar blinked and looked at Endric.
“What happened?”
“You were poisoned.”
“I remember, but how am I still here?”
Endric shook his head. “It seems that the historian helped you.”
He nodded to Novan, wondering what Akar might do, especially as he blamed Novan for stealing from them.
“Is he one of them?”
Endric shook his head. “He’s the historian who was with me.”
Akar frowned. “That’s not the historian we’ve looked for.”
Endric grunted. “Then you were mistaken when you attacked us.”
Akar chuckled. “Perhaps we were. Perhaps we were.”
“That’s all you can say?”
Akar shrugged. “There’s not much more that I can say.”
Endric could only shake his head as they followed Novan, staying a step behind him. Endric was concerned about the possibility of an attack, but with each step, Novan tapped his staff, and light surged along the length of it. There was power with it, though he wasn’t certain where it came from or how Novan even managed to do it.
A dart streaked out of one of the open windows, heading straight toward Novan.
“Novan!”
The dart struck a barrier and dropped to the ground.
Endric frowned. How was that possible?
They continued forward, Novan leading, and with each step, he tapped his staff. Each time he did, there was a surge of light from the teralin, and it tugged at something deep within Endric, that strange sensation that reminded him of when he shifted the polarity of teralin. The barrier—for that was what it had to be—remained in front of him, and he marched forward, moving slowly, steadily, unmindful of the darts that were sent in their direction. None of them hit. For that matter, none of them even came close to hitting.
When they reached the door to the fortress, Novan looked over. “And now this is where you will be needed, Endric.” He glanced over at Akar. “And possibly you, if you are from Assal.”
Akar nodded. “I am from Assal.”
“Have you trained with the Antrilii?”
Akar’s brow furrowed but he nodded.
“Good. I have done about as much as I can, and I think now it’s time for the two of you to prove your worth.” He said the last with a hint of a smile.
He tapped his staff on the door. The power of the teralin surging through it flowed out of the staff and into the door. It slammed open.
Endric leaped forward, sword unsheathed, Akar at his side.
He wasn’t ready for what greeted him on th
e other side of the door. There were a dozen men, each spinning a staff, ready to attack.
Endric smiled. This he could handle.
He darted into the middle of the historians, avoiding staff after staff as he ducked and sliced, cutting through them. He felt in his element, even though he was facing off against men who should not be fighting him, and even though he was using the sword to face off against the staff, a weapon with a much greater reach. One of the men struck him on the arm, and he grunted, angrily spinning, slicing his sword through the staff, shattering it.
Nearby, he was distantly aware of Akar fighting. He was having a similar time, carving through the historians, knocking them back.
And then Novan joined in.
Endric had fought alongside Novan before, but seeing it again, seeing how skilled he was with his staff, always surprised him. He pushed forward, his staff moving quickly, almost too quickly for Endric to follow, and as he fought, he knocked back the historians. He made a point of hitting each person on the head, and when he was done, he tapped his staff on the ground, almost as if recharging it. It was a strange thing to observe.
The fight was over.
“Is that it?” Akar asked.
“There’s a library at the end of the hallway,” Endric said. “And there are other levels.”
“These were the guardians,” Novan said.
“The guardians?” Endric asked, glancing over.
Novan nodded. “They are the guardians of the records. They should not have been here.”
“Why not?”
“There should be no reason for them to have been in this place. The guardians should have remained faithful to the guild.”
“And if they believe that they did?” Endric asked.
Novan frowned. “Let us end this.”
Endric guided them down the hallway to the library. He paused, looking for signs of movement. Before pulling open the door, he glanced over at Novan. “There was a Master Hames here.”
Novan’s expression soured. “He was exiled from the guild.”
“Exiled?”
“He attempted to leverage the guild knowledge.”
“How so?”
“He thought to sell it,” Novan said.
“And I suppose others don’t feel that is appropriate?”
Novan stared at Endric for a long moment. “The guild observations are not for sale. They are to be shared, but edited. Not all are worthy of knowing what the guild has observed.”
Soldier Song (The Teralin Sword Book 6) Page 26