Once she had the blouse on again and tucked in, her vanity sent her hands up under her shorts to tug down the blouse-tails. She buckled on her Business belt: lock-picks, special clip, concealed stabber — tiny — special buckle; rapier sling on left, dagger sheath on right; whaleskin packet of thieves’ tools behind. She added the lovely drop earrings — which were picklocks. Swinging her long black cloak about her, she went back on deck — to find Kathis and his men returning out of the early fog. Too soon, surely.
“What happened?” a frowning Tiana Highrider demanded.
Kathis shook his head encased in a round, fog-gleaming helm with a mail curtain on either side and behind. The ever-present gorget protected his throat.
“Don’t know,” he said, pulling off a boot to splash forth water. “When we arrived they were all dead. Chopped up in combat. Bodies were still warm.”
“Dead! — were they all Kroll pirates, Kathis?”
He gave her a little smile; one knowing warrior to another. “No. One was a uniformed soldier. A Thesian marine. Dead as the rest. Chopped bad.”
Tiana swore silently, staring off toward shore. Obviously that slimeball greasehead king of Thesia wanted Jiltha and had sent a raiding party! The dogs had got here first — barely. By themselves, the raiders might be no great problem. If there was one thing this game did not need, though, it was another player!
“Your lads are disappointed, Kathis. Why not give them a jack of ale.”
And she turned to call orders. With the way to Storgavar’s castle and all they sought clear, Tiana nevertheless ruddered cautiously toward the main island. Well offshore, she ordered the sails lowered. Vixen drifted slowly in, a dark specter on a quiet dark sea. Clouds like goblins were busily chewing the moon — no. They were not clouds.
A ship was afire in the harbor, pouring up smoke. At this distance in darkness, neither Tiana nor Kathis could make out individual human forms. They heard the screams of wounded and dying.
“It seems,” Tiana murmured in a purr, “that the Thesian plaguls walked into a trap. It would be suicide for us to attack now.” She reflected for a moment. “Force fails us, so we must use stealth. I’m a skilled thief; I’ll go to Storgavar’s castle. Alone. Bardon: take Vixen to this cove.” She pointed it out on Voomundo’s map. “If I’m successful, I’ll rejoin you within three days. Otherwise you’d best go home.” She looked into his eyes. “Three days, Bardon.”
Bardon looked unhappy, but there was nothing unusual about that. He needed a haircut, Tiana noticed.
Kathis quietly said, “I am going with you,” and his tone permitted no argument. Tiana looked at him in the darkness, and touched his sleeved arm. She saw his jaw tighten. That was twice. Well, she’d not touch the parky fellow again!
The small boat was lowered and the pair rowed off through the dark waters. Tiana’s head buzzed with plans for her imminent theft. Yet she had left something undone. The white cat. Her train of thought had been interrupted just as she was about to solve that riddle. The deadly little beast was on her ship. For two weeks it had not attacked her, because she was taking it where it wanted to go. Last night, a ghastly lot of men vanished, presumably because the cat drained them of blood and threw the bodies overboard. Why? (Never mind how!) Because it needed blood to live — no! To use its full power! It guzzled all that in preparation for the raid, she realized. That was a logical stratagem: let her and Kathis’s men do most of the fighting, then seize the treasure.
Now, however, she was rowing away, leaving the white cat behind on the ship. That hardly makes sense … unless … unless the cat is here, with me in this cockleshell of a boat … well away from everyone else …
“Kathis? As a favor to me; would you just turn up your sleeve, please?”
He complied without a word. As Tiana expected, the arm was covered with fresh scratches. She swallowed. “I see that Rarn hurt you, White Cat.”
“You are a clever one, Tiana, but now it is too late.” At last Kathis removed his gorget — to reveal a diamond on his throat. It blazed white in the moonlight. Yet Tiana saw that it was slowly turning a darker hue … red. The armored Kathis rose and stepped toward her.
CHAPTER NINE
“Cat,” Tiana Highrider sneered, “you’re no sailor.”
She leaned to one side, hard. The boat listed and Kathis, standing upright in armor, was instantly pitched overboard. For a moment the boat threatened to capsize, then righted. Tiana seized an oar and swung it like a club. The glow of that unnatural gem marked where Kathis would surface. His shining casque broke the surface and the oar smashed into it. The blow was solid though slightly off center, and Tiana was in haste to strike again. She knew her advantage was temporary; she was no match for this monster. The oar sped down — and writhed . In her hand it became a snake. Knowing it was an illusion did not prevent its spoiling her aim. The oar banged on Kathis’s armored body, accomplishing little. As she raised the oar for another blow, Kathis … multiplied .
Now the water was alive with a dozen armored figures. A dozen glowing diamonds, eleven white and one blazing red. Tiana decided instantly; Tiana’s oar crashed down on the wearer of the red diamond. The blow was true and hard. It would have killed an ox — or a helmeted man.
The red diamond shot out intense fire. It became a blazing red sun and the sky was split by lightning. Tiana was surrounded by soft sweet roses. Tiana was falling through endless space. Tiana was being kissed by a great frog. Illusions or not, Tiana swung the oar again and again. The boat rocked wildly. Sometimes she struck empty water, sometimes armored flesh. The important thing was to keep the pressure on. She knew she might be doing little physical harm but she was forcing the cat to spend its hoard of deadly power. She must give it no chance to think, lest it devise an illusion of deadly effect.
Through a wild tangle of delirium she struck and struck again …
Then all was normal. Tiana was in the boat panting and the sea around her was empty. She knew the cat must still be here; was invisibility one of its tricks? She scanned the water for a false ripple pattern, any inconsistency. Nothing. If the cat was not on the surface, it must be swimming underwater. Hastily she seized the second oar and started to row. The small boat moved forward — and jolted. With a crash, a sword thrust up through the bottom of the boat. Boards snapped and water poured in.
“By the Back! Won’t you ever give up, or just die?”
She swung her oar so that it struck the flat of the sword and snapped it. Drawing her dagger, she dived into the black water.
To her right a red star burned — in the center of a writhing octopus. It tried to flail away from her, and she swam at it. Eight tentacles reached toward her. Instinct told her one tentacle was in truth an arm; she stabbed it. Seven tentacles faded away. The last became Kathis’s right arm, bleeding profusely. Should she try for a fatal thrust? No; with but a small illusion she would break her knife upon the armor. Better to wear her opponent down. Kathis turned, rose toward the surface in the eerie illumination of the diamond. He must need air, Tiana thought — as she stabbed his right leg. Again blood gushed into the sea, burgundy in the red-lit water.
Best finish this butchers work before all this blood attracts sharks!
She saw the large dark form behind her and realized it was what she feared most. The shark arrowed rapidly at her. She kicked herself rightward and grabbed as it passed, a sleek awful thing of teeth and muscle. She stabbed again and again, but her knife would barely penetrate the shark’s tough hide. The beast twisted, bent; its massive jaws snapped closer. Her lungs flamed. She had been too long underwater. Her grip slipped and fanged jaws tore at her right arm. Somehow she pulled it free and redoubled her efforts to slay the sea-tiger. Then, abruptly, she stopped.
Dung! The more fool I! She released her hold and rose toward the surface. The shark lunged at her bare legs. Its fearful jaws closed — and the illusion ended. As she had guessed, the “shark” was only the swamped small boat. The white cat had used its power
of illusion to escape.
For a few moments Tiana did nothing but breathe. At last she began swimming for shore. Kathis/the cat was somewhere ahead of her. It would be good if she could overhaul him before he reached the foggy shore. Her enemy was at a great disadvantage in water. It was vital that she find him before he could trap new victims and drink their blood. The monster was hurt, its supernatural powers depleted. It must be slain, now or never.
Although Tiana was a fleet swimmer and her enemy wounded, she did not overtake him. Reaching shore, she searched among reeds and cattails for footprints. Well to her left she found them; the marks of a soldier’s boots coming out of the water. During her underwater struggles Tiana had not lost the rapier slung from her belt. Now she drew it. If only she could sneak up on the white cat, one swift thrust in the back would settle the matter.
The tracks led to a small dirt road and there they ended. Beside the road lay a body. The position of the corpse was twisted and unnatural as if many bones were broken. Deep wounds marked the right leg and arm. Neither bled. Tiana stared down at Kathis. He was still alive, but only just, an extreme pallor bespeaking his heavy blood-loss; more than could be accounted for by the knife wounds. The diamond was gone from his throat. It had left a gaping red hole.
Tiana perceived a subtle but important change: despite the pain of coming death, Kathis’s face was now … warm. Human. His eyes opened.
“What — what happened?” His voice was an ugly rasp, very low and weak.
Was this another illusion, a clever trap? Perhaps; she did not think so. Her voice was neutral as she asked, “What do you last remember?”
“I was guarding the excavation in the Holy Grove of Syrodan when blackness came up out of the ground.”
Tiana looked softly on the fallen warrior, and thought of what might have been. “Much has happened since then, Kathis.”
“I’m dying?”
“I’m sorry; yes.”
He smiled faintly. “At least the company is pleasant!” A slight tremor took him, and Kathis was dead. This victory Tiana regarded with mixed emotions. There was no reason to suppose a great mystery concerning the manner of his death. He had come ashore unarmed, grievously wounded, with his supernatural powers exhausted. He wore a very valuable diamond and he was a stranger on a pirate island. It was only natural that she find him robbed and murdered. The problem was that Tiana had fought a monster, but only a man had died. She felt no elation in her victory; indeed she was not sure she had won a victory.
And there was no time to worry about that. She set briskly off down the road. She still had a job to do, cat or no cat, and Tiana’s will was forged on some preternatural anvil. Tonight, during the confusion after the battle with the Thesians, remained the best time to steal the Jewels of Ullatara, and rescue the Princess Jiltha. Surely both were within the keep of Storgavar. Since the pirate lord was known to believe in keeping all his eggs in one basket and watching the basket, it was likely that princess and gems were in the same place and well guarded. The question was where. In a tower? A dungeon, a hidden strong room? As Tiana walked, she came to two conclusions. As the first rule of successful theft was know the target, she must find an accomplice. Someone who knew the inside of Storgavar’s castle. The second conclusion was that she was hungry. It had been a long day and it would be a longer night. Best she eat immediately, while she had a chance.
In the quest for food her nose proved a reliable guide. No lights burned in the large building she approached, but one window released a most pleasant aroma.
She entered a deserted kitchen; a recently and hastily deserted kitchen. The wood stove’s fire was nearly out. On a table rested a nice burning candle, a large pile of clean dishes and a pot of thick fish stew. Redolent of leeks and basil, the stew was warm but not hot. Someone was about to serve supper for several people, when cook and diners were called away . Tiana put some more wood on the fire, and replaced the pot on the stove, chewing the inside of her lip.
While the stew heats up, she decided, let’s just explore the house and learn what happened.
The kitchen door opened onto a medium-sized banquet room, lavishly decorated in abominable taste. The table was set, the wine was poured; the guests were gone. The rest of the house consisted chiefly of small bedrooms, all empty.
“A whorehouse,” she muttered. “So where have the dear girls and their customers gone?” The next bedroom was larger and was furnished at much greater expense, if not in better taste. Assuming this to be the madam’s room, Tiana searched it quickly. In a rather obvious hiding place she found a strongbox. A moment’s work with her lockpick opened it. Inside lay several nice jewels and a considerable sum in gold, minted in several lands.
Tiana was not interested in petty theft. She hastened back to the kitchen. It was most puzzling that the House’s proprietor had departed leaving her savings behind and unguarded! Indeed, nothing seemed to have been taken …
“Wait!” A quick search of the kitchen larder uncovered only a few perishables. All the staples were gone.
The kitchen’s second door proved to lead to a cellar. It stank. Tiana found it filled not with wine racks but with cages. Though she had expected this, the sight still made her angry. The madam used her cellar as a dungeon for conditioning freshly captured girls. Empty, the cages nevertheless showed signs of very recent use. One odd note; there were no chains anywhere to be seen.
A small noise brought Tiana’s candle higher. She was wrong; in the very last cage huddled a small white figure. Approaching with care, she discovered the cage contained a naked young girl, so emaciated that one could count her ribs. Tiana could have picked the lock, but the cage was made of light metal. With a sudden violent motion she pulled, twisted, and the cage door sprang open.
“Come on, girl, I’ve food upstairs.”
Not until the frightened, overawed girl was seated and spooning up chunky stew did Tiana begin to question her.
“What’s your name, dear?”
“May it please your ladyship, I be Morna.” Morna sniffed.
Tiana studied the russet-haired girl closely. Even if she had not been starved half to death the wench would have been no great beauty. “How come you here?”
“Pirates captured our ship and sold me to Vorgia. That awful woman wanted to teach me to — to be a — but I wouldn’t, so they didn’t feed me.”
Tiana maintained a list of people she would murder at her earliest convenience. Since Morna wasn’t even slightly pretty, it was probable that this Vorgia creature had bought her not to train at all, but to starve as an example to the other trainees. Tiana mentally added Vorgia’s name to her list.
“What happened tonight, Morna?”
“The three-eyed bear came.” Morna shuddered. Nothing jiggled, Tiana noted.
“What? Explain that, Morna dear. A three-eyed bear ?”
“A large black bear with three red eyes, aye mum. It came down into the cellar. Vorgia and several men was with it. It told the men to collect all the chains. Then it looked at all the girls and said they would all do except me. They took all the others and left.” Morna sniffed.
“The bear actually spoke?”
“Yes, and Vorgia called it by name.”
“What name?”
“She called it Store-guhvar.”
Storgavar. Tiana considered that a moment. “All right, Morna. I’ll help you, but I don’t have time to be a nursemaid.” Quickly she explained how Morna could reach Vixen. “You’ll find clothes in the bedrooms. Put together a sensible outfit. There’s an open box of gold in Vorgia’s room. Take one handful, now; you’re too weak to carry more. And a nice necklace. If all goes well, I’ll join you in three days. Well, don’t just sit there, Morna — be about it!”
After the girl hurried off, Tiana sat watching the fire in the stove. She’d had her supper. There was no reason to sit idle and much reason to be about her business. Nevertheless she sat, and added wood to the fire till it burned to great height. There
was an enchantment to the shifting patterns of a fire. One could imagine all sorts of pictures in flames. These seemed to contain a face; those two dancing spots of pale green were the eyes.
Tiana stared. Green flames! The image became clearer, more vivid. It was a face! The face of a man little known and much feared.
She was staring at the wizard Pyre.
The fire spoke. “I, Pyre who knows he is supreme, once vowed by the World Fires to avenge you, Tiana. Presently there is nothing I can do save warn you, and that tries my powers to the utmost.”
Even as he spoke, the fire weakened, the green going out of it, and Pyre’s face contorted in pain. Tiana added more wood, blew on the fire, cursed a little. Nothing she could do would keep the unnatural flame alive. The fire died, and with it whatever warning the wizard intended.
Tiana departed the place in haste. An unknown danger existed and she’d best be at her work swiftly. She hurried along, pondering, and had covered about a mile when she came upon the corpses. One of them was a middle-aged woman; coarse features, too many rings, heavy makeup, and flamboyant attire.
“Hm! I think it’s safe to remove Vorgia’s name from my list.”
She discovered that all the bodies had suffered considerable violence. Yet no spilled blood marked the ground, and horripilation made Tiana clench her teeth.
The white cat was dead, but something had made Kathis into that monster. And now — that faceless unknown was free and about its dark business.
CHAPTER TEN
Tiana stood thinking rapidly. It was now clear that this would be a three-cornered battle, and she was the weakest corner. Pyre’s sending had been blocked by the … the three-eyed bear. Pyre! Blocked! If it could best the most dread of wizards, her foe was truly a Power. Judging by the actions of the white cat, the bear could logically be expected to … ah.
The Eyes of Sarsis Page 10