Since they hadn't the funds their only recourse was to turn to thievery, an occupation that none of them were familiar with. Somehow they would have to acquire at least a pair of robust stallions from a nearby stable without arousing suspicion and escape through the gate. With the guard stricken by the strange smoke and the horse that Anacletus had come in on long gone, that made their task all the more difficult. They could attempt to steal coin and purchase mounts legitimately but Phaedra had warned them that city folk likely kept their purse strings tight for fear of such pickpockets.
This wasn't their only problem. Not far from their position a man was watching them, much like he had been watched in the pool of water back at the keep and a number of times throughout this city. The frustration that El-Vador felt at not being able to catch Anacletus was exacerbated by this constant watching. It was time to do something about it.
He made to move past the man and into an alley, beckoning his confused companions to follow him and making it seem as ordinary and predefined a course as he could. The man's eyes continued to bore into him without restraint, did he think him a blind fool? He was no city-dweller with senses dulled from the ever-lingering crowds.
As they got closer to the man the Elf reached out and grasped the hood of the man's cloak, slamming his back against the stone wall of the building.
'What are you looking at?' El-Vador asked.
'I'm sorry,' the man stuttered, terror in his eyes. 'It's just that I've never seen... one of your kind.'
El-Vador wasn't buying it, he had seen this same person watching them multiple times. 'You lie to us, I don't care for liars,' he said, not having to mimic his anger or his desire to vent it upon someone.
The man swallowed. 'What do you want from me?'
El-Vador unsheathed his sword, not looking back at his undoubtedly aghast companions. 'I ask the questions here. Why were you looking at us?'
The man's eyes flicked down to the blade and he let out a shuddering breath of resignation. 'I was paid to watch a servant of Sarvacts, when I noticed that you pursued him. I was about to report back to my master that he had fled the city but caught sight of you once again.'
'We are no servants of Sarvacts,' El-Vador replied. 'Why watch us after your target had gone?'
'My master wanted to know why one of Sarvacts' men was within his walls in the first place, I thought perhaps you would provide an answer.'
El-Vador's eyes narrowed. 'You will get no answers from watching me. I may spare your life if you can afford it.'
The man paled even further. 'Yes. Of course, I have plenty of money, however much you require I will be willing to pay!'
'If this coin is not upon your person things will bode ill for you.' El-Vador replied, pushing the tip of his sword against the man's ribs and hoping that none of the guard would notice.
'In a small bag on the inside of my robes.' the man replied, his terror almost enough to make the Elf feel bad for doing this. Almost.
El-Vador's hand slipped into the man's robes and came away with a bag laden with coin. If this was the man's definition of small then he was wealthy indeed. Why would a man of such means spy upon them at all?
He tossed the bag to Eihblin, who hefted it in her hand appraisingly. 'More than enough for what we need, I think.'
The Elf nodded to her, not taking her eyes from the man. 'Good, tie up our friend here and then we shall be on our way.'
'Honestly, you don't need to tie me, I promise that I shall not report back to my master until you have long fled the city.'
'Words bind poorly on those who are slippery with them,' El-Vador replied. 'You shall remain tied in this alleyway, I can only hope the first person to find you will show mercy.'
Judging from the bulge of the spy's eyes he had either made some poor enemies or wasn't expecting much charity from his fellow man.
El-Vador now had chance to look back at Eihblin and Phaedra as they bound the spy in rags, Eihblin seemed approving of the ruthless practicality of this action, Phaedra seemed less enamoured.
He didn't think hard about the morality of his actions, right now there was a necessity to them. He had acted on impulse in a world that seemed complex and difficult and it had paid dividends. Now they could acquire horses and hunt down Anacletus with ease.
Sarvacts clamped his eyes shut and focused hard, willing himself forth into the mind of his servant. With the automatons under his control it was easier than with humans, in spite of this the shifter he had sent to recover the rogue had yet to report back. For all his summoning power and concentration he couldn't seem to will the vision into place. This meant only one thing, his servant had been slain in the attempt.
Instead of getting angry or frustrated at this, he took the time to consider the information. It would seem that his servant had found Phaedra, and had been slain in the attempt to capture her. That could only mean that she hadn't got far from his fortress. Which also meant that her proximity gave him other options.
He smiled, soon he would know exactly how she had dispatched of his shifter, then her capture would be all but inevitable.
Anacletus staggered onward away from the city walls and into the mountainous region beyond. He still hadn't composed himself after his previous fright from the rising smoke, realising he had only just escaped with his life. Though it had no definable features, the fact that it nullified his powers sent a terror through him the likes of which he hadn't experienced in many years. There were now too many unknown factors in all of this, he needed to lead the Elf and his friends away from the city and hope that they didn't catch up to him before he reached the fortress. Though their was no sense in continuing to think of the incident by the city gate it still played on his mind constantly and without remorse. As tempted as he was to make camp and hope that they wouldn't catch up with him, he knew better than to wait any further, if his pursuers did not punish him for dawdling then Sarvacts would surely try.
No, it was much better to arrive at the fortress and then deliberate on matters, he could push himself into not stopping before reaching his destination, if it saved his life it was a small price to pay. Then he could watch as the Orc did what he pleased with his captives, that in itself was a reward worth appreciating. After this he would depart with a heavy sack of gold coin and no further problems.
This entire journey had involved far too much uncertainty in its drawn out nature, there was a lesson to be learned in all of this. Anacletus smiled, his eyes imagining the bag of gold he would carry off from the fortress. It was a lesson he need not ever learn.
El-Vador galloped forth on the newly acquired mount, his companions flanking him on their own beasts of burden, they were making good time if the pace of Anacletus had remained the same since he had been forced to flee on foot.
'We have the luxury of ceasing in an hour or so and making camp.' El-Vador shouted over his shoulder.
'Can we not ride through the night? Anacletus is so close that I can taste him.'
'No.' he replied to Eihblin, 'if we ride through the shadows there may be a chance that we miss him.'
It was shortly before making camp that El-Vador reigned in, his keen eyes spotting something altogether unnatural.
'It would appear that we are not the only ones in pursuit of the murderer.'
He watched as Eihblin and Phaedra strained their eyes and peered into the twilight.
'What is it you see, Elf? My eyes cannot determine any form in this light.'
El-Vador turned to Phaedra.
'I see it,' she said quietly.
The cloud of black smoke rolled on through the darkening skies, oblivious to their watching.
XXIV
I had spent so much time alone in the mountains that I had nearly forgotten what it was like to be aided by others. Companionship and favours were both foreign to me, concepts I slowly grasped with a great deal of suspicion. You could say in this day and age that all of humanity is my companion, a burden I continue to carry through countless peril
s.
He managed to release himself from the bonds easily, which the Elf had not been expecting. Clearly they had planned to leave the city in pursuit of this servant of Sarvacts, what they hadn't counted on was pursuit themselves. One did not simply tie up a Caldalian spy and think to walk away from it unscathed. No, there would be foul repercussions for that young Elf's posturing, regardless of how deft it was with a blade. It was both a personal and professional slight that he had been subjected to, nobody had ever caught him in the past and that this youngster had done so with ease disconcerted him. He would hunt this disgrace down and slay it so that he may claim that none that live had ever seen him for what he was. That he had been robbed in the process was but a minor issue compared to this, he would reclaim the gold in due course but it mattered not.
He was a master of his craft and he had been made to look a fool, no amount of money would change that reality unless his vengeance was enacted. Such an endeavour was not without its cost but he still had coin to spare stashed away elsewhere. There was a purity to what he did and a pride that went with it, he could not allow that to remain unsullied and would pay whatever it took to rectify it.
As soon as the Elf lay dead at his feet, by his hand or by his machinations, then he would be free to claim himself the greatest spy that ever walked within the walls of Caldalia.
Soon he would send out his hired forces, several to be sure, and they would bring the Elf's head back to him so he may look upon it and spit in its face as his honour demanded.
In fact, he would depart with a detail of assassins as soon as he came by coin, which would be very soon indeed.
The first one he finally located was not the sort that he hoped for, but ultimately appearances could be deceptive so it mattered not, it was claimed that this fellow was the best killer in all the city and had been for a great number of years. That in itself was more than a good enough recommendation.
When the dawn arrived and their mounts were ready, he had gathered a crew of the finest Caldalian killers amongst him. He left the coin in a safe place and made sure to remind them of this, should they attempt to enact their trade upon him they would receive nothing.
There were four of them now, all robed in black like a funeral detail, which was in itself fitting for the acts they were about to commit.
Sarvacts knew that the heirloom was drawing closer, with it came the Elf and his vengeful nature. Soon his power would be manifested upon the bloody spike and sever his greatest foe of it. He could not chance that it would fail, even at the closing stage of this hunt. No, he had methods to coax a resolution that would be in his inevitable favour.
Closing his eyes, he willed forth across the land and made contact with the corpses of the shifter he had reanimated, within that he imbued a lashing of his power to drive them on toward the Elf. Let them flow swifter than the night itself and catch his foe in their deadly embrace, they would reach his fortress sooner than any mount. The thudding of his own heart rang in his ears as he felt the power seeping from him and into the bodies of his creation, it was a necessary sacrifice to certainty. Soon his forces would take to the breeze and power their way unstoppably to the source of his future might.
The corpses thudded through the stormy air, slowly increasing their pace as the malevolent force flowed through them. The wind and the natural elements slowed them not as they gained speed and purpose, breaking out into a loping sprint of gangly necrotic flesh. The distance may have been great but the night was theirs with which to pound forward in. As their targets slept they drew ever closer, not only to reclaiming one of their own but now to capturing the Elf.
Sarvacts smiled, certainty was a calming thing.
Anacletus neither knew nor cared for the name of the village he had stumbled into, all that mattered was it marked the proximity of the fortress. It didn't matter to him that the people were enslaved by Sarvacts or how the foul Orc used and abused them. Let the weak perish, he was not going to be caught in a similar trap, that was for sure.
It was almost always stormy around this region, every day Anacletus had spent near the fortress had been drenched with a torrent of rain. The village was a sodden and miserable place and the people within had dead eyes and heavy hearts.
He had not come to hear of their woes, he needed a favour before finally returning to the fortress. For all its misery there were a few here who may yet aid him in that, with some coin or his blade to motivate them.
It was on sore feet and with an irritable mood from lack of sleep that he walked into the local inn. He could rest here for a time at least, no person asking for him by name would ever find him, he had paid the owners a substantial amount to keep it that way. Secrecy was his most powerful weapon, men need not know his name to fear him. He could afford some light rest for the time being, then would come a very long day indeed of determining whether Sarvacts planned to slay him or not.
Any chance of gaining even further on Anacletus was thwarted by a huge chasm that they encountered as the evening settled in. Eihblin and El-Vador stared at it aghast, it ran as far as they eye could see and there seemed no way to pass. How then had Phaedra escaped the fortress?
'We will have to dismount at this point,' she said, doing so and walking over to the lip of the ravine.
The others watched her with curiosity, it was evident that she knew something they didn't.
'How did you get past this on your way to Caldalia?' Eihblin asked, staring at the expanse with disbelief. It was as if a great rent had been torn in the world by some unnatural force. 'Is there some way to bypass it that we are unaware of?'
Phaedra shook her head. 'The hole runs as far as I can tell, there are other ways to pass though.'
El-Vador now dismounted and walked over toward the edge, feeling no vertigo for having done so. 'You did not answer her question, how did you get over this thing?'
She smiled back at him. 'Watch and see.'
The former slave of Sarvacts paced along the ravine, dragging one of her feet so close to the edge to that it seemed to hang precariously in the air. It was as if she were probing or testing for something that El-Vador's senses hadn't picked up on. He hated this not knowing and a semblance of distrust started to raise its head once more.
He need not have feared, it was only a moment longer when he heard a strange clicking noise as Phaedra's toe kicked against something his eyes could not see.
He had expected something more spectacular or illuminating to occur, instead the gap seemed the same as before. What was it that this strange woman was trying to do?
They both looked on in disbelief as she began to float across the plummet into darkness step by step.
'It is an unseen structure that is triggered by those who know where to look,' she called back, bidding them join her. 'It serves only those looking to reach Sarvacts by foot, the mounts will still shy away from it.'
El-Vador and Eihblin removed what little was left of their supplies from the horses and hesitantly proceeded to cross the expanse that Phaedra was navigating in what they hoped remained a straight line.
It would have been harrowing enough already had their foes not chosen to strike.
What looked like a group of men came running toward them at an impossible speed, it was Eihblin's cry of alarm that alerted them to El-Vador. As they drew closer it was clear that these were the same agents that had tried to stop them back in Caldalia, yet to his senses there was something that seemed fundamentally different about their aspect.
El-Vador stood his ground on the invisible bridge and reached for his bow, the narrow expanse that let them pass gave him an advantage here.
'Keep moving!' Phaedra shouted back to him. 'we can remove the expanse from the other side as they cross.'
The Elf had seen how quickly they were moving though, and how long it had taken Phaedra to find whatever clicking had been required to terminate the invisible bridge. He couldn't take the chance of facing all of them at once in close quarters should she not find i
t swiftly enough.
He sighted on his targets as they came closer to the ravine, there were five of them and their limbs seemed unnatural in both swiftness and movement. He began to wonder if he would be able to stall them long enough to put an arrow in each of them.
They did not slow when they came to the bridge as El-Vador had hoped, instead they continued their loping gait directly over it as if to their eyes the means to cross was easily apparent.
The Elf let fly and the arrow punched through the air across the chasm and skewered the shoulder of one of the creatures, the impact causing it to recoil and take several steps back, slamming into its mindless companions and toppling from the bridge. Good, apparently they had no care if their kin lived or not, if truly they were alive at all and not some horrid machination of Sarvacts.
The second arrow embedded directly in the cartilage of the next creature's nose, sending its head snapping back and cracking sickeningly against the third of its kind. Instead of immobilising the threat it only served to stall them, for they did not push each other over the edge now, having adapted to his strategy.
Cursing his foul luck, El-Vador sent a third arrow into the fray and though it hit its mark and sank deep into the chest of the wounded creature it showed no signs of slowing. He could draw one more arrow and they would be on him, he needed to act fast.
'Get to the other side!' Eihblin shouted at him. 'Phaedra will trigger the bridge!'
Seeing little other choice, El-Vador sprang back into a sprint across the open air and hoped that his wandering feet did not guide him astray and send him tumbling into the abyss.
The wet gurgling noise of the creature he had wounded was growing in his ears much faster than he could hope to reach the edge of the chasm. He needed to do something, his current efforts weren't going to be enough. There was nothing further he could think of doing other than to flee, he had run out of options.
He chanced looking ahead and saw Eihblin digging into her pack, had the woman some resource that he could use to escape this pursuit? His concentration upon fleeing in a straight line prevented him from giving it any further thought.
El-Vador's Travels Page 19