by Tom Lloyd
Safir wore a fine embroidered coat of green and yellow over a grey and green kilt that reached his calves, his hair and moustache neatly oiled, his gestures deft and restrained while he spoke. There was a white silk scarf around his throat and polished silver cutlery in his hands, poised over his plate for when Olut next broke in.
Olut was taller and heavier than the lithe nobleman, her sandy hair tangled and greasy, her sallow northern skin blotchy after some past illness. She wore a much-repaired leather jerkin which had already been stained before her careless eating habits added to the toll. Lynx couldn’t imagine her in a dress or skirt, while the sight of Safir in his kilt no longer looked odd at all to him.
Obviously the rest of the table had heard the story several times before, given the interruptions and catcalls that came from Kas and Tyn. Even Reft snorted his derision at the overblown description of jumping between rooftops, but Lynx noticed Sitain drinking it all in with a broad grin on her face. He realised it didn’t matter how true the story was, it was a fantasy of the life everyone hoped they might lead and the books he read were no different, aside from the pieces of gristle that were spat out as Olut took up the mantle once more.
Just as the pair of adventurers tumbled, half-naked but still armed, through a roof hatch and into a merchant prince’s private orgy, the dining room door banged open and Anatin marched in.
‘And Safir got sold as a eunuch ’cos they couldn’t see his balls, what with it being so cold out,’ Anatin broke in loudly, ‘while Olut charmed her way to freedom by way of a combination o’ erotic dancing and a sea shanty so filthy the whores anointed her their goddess.’
Olut gave a roar of good-natured rage and hurled a bone in Anatin’s general direction, but the commander ignored her as he sat at the head of the table.
‘You all sober?’
There was a variety of grunts, outraged denials and laughter from the various parties, which Anatin took as a yes as he helped himself to a plate of food.
‘Glad to hear it. We’ve got some scouting to do in the morning.’
‘It’s tomorrow?’ Teshan asked, his quiet voice cutting through the general murmurs.
Anatin shook his head. ‘Following night. With all the Charnelers in the city, Payl’s gonna take the rest o’ the company out tomorrow – get some miles between them and the city before any shit goes down.’
‘And find an ambush point?’ Lynx asked.
‘You prefer to split off and go cross country?’
‘Toward Shadows Deep?’ Lynx scowled. ‘Hoping that’s a last resort.’
‘Damn right it is. Girly, you – Sitain. You stick close to Payl and make yerself useful. If you stay with the company you pull your weight, understand? We’re a fighting troop and it’s all business until I say otherwise, so you work and you work harder’n the rest unless you learn to shoot. Braqe will leave you alone, just don’t get in her face.’
‘Just like that?’
Anatin paused over his food. ‘Yeah, just like that. The woman’s a soldier, not a fool or fanatic. She knows an order when she gets one and she knows the rules, so she’ll steer clear.’
Teshen nodded. ‘And I told her I’d cut her face off if she killed you.’
‘Aye, there’s that too,’ Anatin said. ‘Sound leadership tactic.’
‘If she kills me?’ Sitain echoed in disbelief. ‘That’s hardly reassuring.’
‘We can’t stop her hating you, just doing anything about it. You got a problem with that, the door’s over there.’
Sitain matched his gaze for a moment, then realised she was picking a pointless fight and ducked her head in acknowledgement. Anatin maintained his level stare a while longer then grunted.
‘Good. My contact gave us everything we need so we walk it through tomorrow while the rest are leaving. Muster mid-morning, dunk ’em one by one in the horse trough. With luck you’ll be ready to move early afternoon, Payl. Send the troops separate to the carts, different gates if you can. A couple of guards without badges is all they’ll need and we don’t want any association made ’til it’s too late, just in case.’
‘You expecting trouble?’ Lynx asked.
Anatin’s lip curled. ‘With you around? Damn fucking right, seems like you attract it. I didn’t live so long in this game without being careful.’
‘True,’ Tyn agreed loyally, ‘all those times you told us to run away, the rest of the army got royally screwed.’
The permanent smirk of her scarred cheek seemed to betray her studied expression, but before Anatin could turn on her Safir raised his glass in toast. ‘Don’t forget those times we were paid to change sides – double the money and we ended up on the winning side.’
‘The captain of the Sulian honour guard,’ Kas added, ‘I didn’t hear exactly what he shouted after us as we marched away, but I’m pretty sure it was congratulating our tactical nous.’
‘It was hard to ask him afterwards,’ Safir agreed. ‘A little crispy for conversation.’
‘Oh, I got one,’ Olut cried, but a spice-stained potato hit her in the face before she could speak.
‘Sure, keep it up,’ Anatin said with a nasty gleam in his eye. ‘Next time there’s a one-sided fight I’ll leave you to it and fuck off with your share of the pay. It’ll buy me a few new sergeants I reckon, ’specially when my strongbox holds most o’ your money.’
Teshen leaned back in his seat and patted the huge arm of Reft, who was sat on his left. ‘Yeah, reckon you’re right, Reft, we should just kill and rob him once we’re out of the city.’
A slow, horrible grin spread across the hairless giant’s face, revealing neat rows of white teeth with the left-hand canines replaced with gold points. Even Anatin faltered in the face of that disconcerting reveal. It was the most expressive Lynx had ever seen Reft and gave a sudden insight into what the man might be like in a fight. Around the company he was as calm and serene as a priest. Lynx knew men who cast such a long shadow were rarely part of the banter, but in that moment he glimpsed a little more.
Maybe Deern and he ain’t so strange a pairing, Lynx reflected. Whatever sort of pairing that is. There’s a flash o’ nastiness in that smile, for all it looks like he’s joining in on the joke; nastiness with a stone elemental’s body. That’s one scary combination.
‘Piss on the lot o’ you,’ the Prince of Sun muttered. ‘Fuck’s sake, Reft, what’ve I told you about smiling? Gives me the willies.’
That only widened the grin and Lynx glanced around the table. Aside from Teshen, everyone seemed to share their commander’s disquiet. The cold-eyed scout raised his mug of beer and chinked it gently against his neighbour’s.
‘Who’s for a game then?’
Hours later and a good few coins poorer, Lynx pushed himself unsteadily to his feet to give Sitain space to walk behind his seat. The table seemed to move under his hands as he leaned on it and he groaned as felt the full force of brandy hit him.
‘Dark and long,’ he muttered, ‘turns out I’m drunk.’
‘No five mo’ here,’ Sitain said as she slid past, shoulder resting against the plain whitewashed wall. ‘Got spoon, see?’
‘Eh?’
‘She’s fuckered,’ Kas explained, giving Lynx a thump in the thigh. ‘More drunk’n you even.’
Lynx turned himself to watch Sitain leave. She wasn’t paying attention to the rest of them, so focused was she on making her way around to the door. Her tongue was pressed against the inside of her cheek with the pantomime effort of thinking, a slight sheen of sweat on her skin.
‘Heh, gods, she really is too.’
‘Go tuck her in, Kas,’ Tyn called, ‘girl’s been makin’ eyes at ya all evening.’
‘Only after she got too drunk to see straight,’ Anatin said. ‘Was probably aiming at me an’ just missed. Who’s still in?’
Hands were raised, Lynx didn’t see who, but he caught the flash of cards darting out across the table.
‘Nope, too drunk for this game.’
&n
bsp; ‘Too drunk for any game!’ Kas said, looking up at him as she took another swallow of beer. The alcohol had given her dark cheeks a deeply attractive pink flush, Lynx noticed, and the cat-like lick of the lips that followed it made him shake his head violently.
‘Some games’re worth sobering for.’
‘Oh really?’
‘Aye.’
‘I ain’t sharing a room with that snoring lump,’ Payl warned, sparking a great roll of laughter from Olut, who’d been outpacing Lynx all night.
‘I’ll have him, I’m drunk enough,’ she announced with a slap of her palm on the table, hard enough to spill Safir’s wine.
Lynx blinked and focused on the bear-like northerner as best he could. ‘Gods, not sure I am. Might break me in half, woman!’
Kas leaned back in her seat and took a firm grip of Lynx’s buttock. He swayed but managed not to fall over. ‘Not drunk, eh? Go get yourself some fresh air; I’ve got money to win back first.’
Lynx took that as encouraging and made a heroic effort to hide the grin that appeared on his face. He nodded, following Sitain’s lead and guiding himself around the room to the door. A low comment and more laughter followed him, but he was determined to exit gracefully and almost managed it until he tripped on the step up into the bar. Fortunately there was only a tall stool in his way, handily placed for a steadying hand, and he headed on through the near-deserted common room.
The barman watched him with the steady, distrustful look of a man who’d seen too many drunks, but he gave a nod in response to Lynx’s greeting. Lynx hauled open the inn’s main door and a gust of cool air flooded in. Outside, there was just one lamp above the door. It did little to dispel the darkness of a cloudy night when even the Skyriver was hidden from view, but Lynx could at least make out Sitain standing with her back to him, all alone in the middle of the courtyard.
He looked up to the shadowed sky and took a few long breaths. The breeze swept down as though answering his call, bringing the damp promise of rain. The clouds above were mostly invisible in the black, only the hint of shape and movement but enough to tell him they were speeding past. Faint flashes of light shone out from behind the clouds, illuminating little but enough to spark Lynx’s memory all the same.
Elementals, he thought, straining to make out more, but the brief occasional glimmers were all he could see. Lightning elementals, wonder what they look like?
The memory of the night elemental was fixed in his memory, those twisting and shimmering facets of darkness a wonder like nothing he’d witnessed before. To get so close to an elemental was a once in a lifetime opportunity for most.
Huh, more likely end of a lifetime, he corrected himself. There were stories of travellers seeing such things from afar, the raging storm of firedrakes or inexorable bulk of stone trolls, but this was as close as most got – watching the dance of the thunderbird, hidden by cloud. Those who got closer never lived to tell the tale. Lynx hadn’t sensed any such threat from the night elemental, but whether that had been its nature or Sitain’s presence, he couldn’t tell.
A little steadier he looked back at Sitain and cocked his head, squinting to look at the young woman.
Gods, I must be drunk.
The air seemed to twist around her; near-invisible eddies and fractures forming from the gloom of night. Sitain wasn’t moving, just swaying as though listening to a rhythm in her head, but as Lynx found his eyes watering he realised what it was.
‘Oi,’ he called across the courtyard. He glanced up at the windows of the rooms above, but few were not taken by the company anyway and most of the shutters were closed against the autumn chill.
The darkness seemed to snap back into place as Sitain flinched and swung around, eyes wide with surprise.
‘Enough o’ that,’ Lynx said, taking a hesitant step forward even though the glimmers of night incarnate had vanished as soon as he’d spoken.
‘Wha’?’ Sitain peered at him, face screwed up like a child in thought, before finally recognising Lynx and giving him a vacant smile. ‘Lynx. Hello.’
‘You’re pissed. Get yer bunk,’ he said, jabbing a thumb in the direction of the bunkroom.
‘Tha’s where’m going.’
‘You weren’t going nowhere.’
‘Just enjoyin’ all this,’ she announced, spreading her arms out wide.
Lynx looked around at the empty courtyard. ‘Space?’ he hazarded. ‘Smell o’ horse shit? Quiet?’
She shook her head and began to pluck at the empty air around her. ‘Nah, all this.’ Whatever she thought she was touching, Sitain’s face seemed to fall into a state of calm as she teased and pulled at the darkness around her as though working a loom. Lynx couldn’t see anything happen as a result but something shouted a warning at the back of his mind all the same.
‘Stop foolin’ around,’ he said urgently, ‘you’re seein’ things.’
‘Wha’ about all this?’
‘Moonshine-whispers,’ he said dismissively, just about sober enough to say whatever it took to get her inside.
‘Thought I were drinkin’ brandy?’
‘Shows how pissed you are.’ He flapped his arms in the direction of the bunkhouse. ‘Go and sleep before you fall down. I’ve got some soberin’ up to do.’
‘Why?’
‘Guess.’
Her face twisted in thought then distaste as she realised what he meant and with just a dismissive wave of the hand she staggered off to the bunkhouse, banging on the door until a sleepy-eyed boy opened it and helped her inside.
‘Good,’ Lynx said with a satisfied nod. ‘Now me.’
He took another step forward and swayed as the ground lurched under him. Shaking his head he tried a few more, attempting to cross the courtyard, but as he neared the spot where Sitain had been standing the dizziness only grew, the fog in his head making his limbs feel weaker than ever.
Without warning he staggered backwards and fell hard on his backside, blinking in surprise at the empty courtyard. Suddenly everything seemed an enormous effort and he groaned at the idea of standing up again.
‘Ah fuck it,’ Lynx muttered, casting on mournful look back at the closed inn door. He rolled sideways and got himself onto his hands and knees. Standing up didn’t seem to be an option, but the bunkroom was a short crawl away. He set off, the vision of his bed displacing every other thought from his mind.
Interlude 4
(now)
Up ahead the darkness winked and writhed. Lynx blinked, his head pounding from the fall and the exertion of jogging through dark city streets. They only had a handful of horses left and only two of the group were riding – Anatin leading the way and the beautiful madwoman, Toil, who lolled uncertainly in the saddle and would have fallen without Reft’s support.
‘Girly, where are you?’ Anatin called out, somehow contriving to whisper as loudly as he could. They were in a small square, just an opened-out section of street with a humped shrine to the god Veraimin on one corner. A pair of oval glass lanterns shone there like eyes, the intricate cut-glass casting lines over the cobbled ground and illuminating a mural of the sun across the shrine’s back.
For a moment there was no movement then the darkness ahead shimmered and Sitain stepped forward from the overhang she’d been lurking beneath, fear etched clear on her face.
‘Was she just doing—’ Kas exclaimed until Lynx broke in.
‘Later!’ he barked. ‘Let’s get clear.’
‘That ain’t a surprise to you?’ she said, turning to give Lynx a strange look as Sitain scampered forward.
‘Not really.’
Kas shook her head in disbelief. ‘Oh, shitting marvellous.’
‘Shut up all of you,’ Anatin said. ‘We need horses, not complaints.’
‘Coming right up,’ Teshen said as he ghosted over to a closed set of gates and yanked one open. Above a nearby door was a sign that in daylight could be read as Threegates Livery Stable.
The whinny of horses came from inside,
then the scramble of feet on straw. Lynx pressed a stubby finger to his temple and tried to massage the ache from his brain while he watched an emaciated stablehand with a tangled mass of black hair lead a pair of saddled horses out to them. Teshen followed with a pair more and passed the reins on to Safir before heading back in.
Soon they all had a mount and half had a spare tied to their saddle. Anatin tossed a small purse of coins to the stablehand, who opened it and nodded briefly. Before the order to move out could be given, Toil lurched to one side and vomited noisily.
‘Someone get me out of this bastard city,’ she growled, wincing up at the Skyriver as she swept her hair back. ‘Had enough o’ this place.’
‘Can you ride?’ Anatin demanded.
‘Yeah. Don’t ask me to jump walls or nothing, but I can follow someone through streets.’
She briefly looked around at the saddle of her horse, flapping briefly behind her back before giving up. ‘Guess I’d not be much of a shot anyway,’ she added, as much to herself as anyone. Her hand came to rest on the short-swords that hung from her belt, but she didn’t try to draw one, just took comfort from their presence.
‘Come on,’ Anatin said after a glance around his small command. ‘City gate’s just down this street, we’re going in hard. Reft, you blow the Poorgate, everyone else spark up the walls. If they drop the cage we’ll never make it out.’
The Prince of Sun slammed his spurs into his horse’s flanks and the beast leaped forward through an archway. Behind him went Olut, Reft and Teshen, with Safir, Toil, Varain and Kas following close behind. With his mage-gun shouldered, Lynx followed with Sitain riding close to his side.
‘Where’s Tyn?’ the young woman asked just as they crossed through the arch into a narrow street. Up ahead loomed the imposing blockish shape of Threegates, through which some of the company had left the city.
‘Didn’t make it.’
‘She’s dead?’ Sitain gasped.
‘Lot of people dead in our wake,’ Lynx snapped. ‘Now shut up and watch the horse in front.’