Blood on Bronze (Blood on Bronze Book 1)

by Gillis, Anthony

  He raced down the near-deserted streets. Near the plaza, he saw a patrol of city guards far ahead, coming the other way, and ducked into a side street at full speed, hoping he hadn’t been seen. He raced the long way round past where he thought they’d conceivably be, and darted back onto the main road, turning his head as he went. The guards must not have seen him, and had continued onward.

  Luck was with him the rest of the way, and he encountered no more guards, until he found the ones he’d hoped for.

  There ahead were two guards in armor with swords, and four watchmen with spears walking alongside a four wheeled cart pulled by a tired-looking little donkey. The two leading watchmen also carried lamps. On the cart was a cage, and in the cage were two bodies. Arjun felt joy rise in him, then a red wrath at the men escorting the wagon.

  The men themselves looked weary, and sleepy. They were caught by surprise at the madman who leapt out of the shadows in their midst. That surprise turned to shock as Arjun’s charge sent one of the lamp-bearers flying, and Arjun’s sword gutted the other. Both lamps clattered to the ground and went out. The other four readied weapons and advanced, eyes adjusting to the sudden darkness. However, their enemy was nowhere to be seen.

  Arjun slipped under the cart, darted forward, slashed across the leg of one man, and thrust his sword behind the knee of another, then darted out the other side as the remaining two active men, a guard and a watchman, wheeled. Arjun moved toward the front of the cart in the dark, but silently made Words of Opening directed at the warded and chained grating at the back of the cage. There was a cracking sound, and as the guards moved to look, Arjun slipped behind them and put his sword through the spine of one, aimed a tripping kick at the other, and then wheeled forward to put his sword through the man’s cheek and into his head.

  As he did so, he felt agony as a spear pierced his flesh along his ribs. He’d forgotten the first lamp-bearer, the one he’d sent flying! Arjun hopped forward and spun, raising his sword to deflect the oncoming spear tip. He skittered back again, and stood up. The watchman yelled for help, though none seemed around, and then jabbed his spear forward again at Arjun. The latter dodged, and did something unexpected. He grabbed the spear with his free hand, and gouts of flame incinerated the wooden shaft. For an instant, the man stood in dumb shock looking at what had happened. In that instant, Arjun closed on him, and ended his life with a stab to the throat. He then advanced on the two men with ruined legs, who were screaming for more guards through their own pain, and trying to limp away. Arjun cut them down without pity.

  He turned back to the cart, where there was motion. Inside was Lurshiga, who was now sitting up, with many bruises on her shoulders and arms, and the mark of a whip across her face. The wound had left a deep cut, and dried blood was encrusted wherever she hadn’t managed to wipe it away.

  “Arjun! My sweet,” she said weakly, “come here, help me get Inina.”

  He climbed up, dread in his heart, and it sank at what he saw.

  “My boy, don’t look, just help…” pleaded Inina.

  Inina’s body was a mass of hideous black bruises, some bearing the marks of hobnails from guardsman’s boots. She had whip marks on her back. Her face was bloody and swollen.

  Arjun reeled, he fell against the cold metal bars of the cage. Lurshiga’s hand, weaker than he’d ever felt it, gripped his arm.

  “She’s alive… We just need to get her out of here NOW, Arjun!”

  He gripped his mind, forced his body under control, and reached into the little bag at his waist, and pulled out a bronze vial. He opened it, and poured a reddish liquid, faintly glowing with magic, into Inina’s mouth. Lurshiga looked at him in surprise, then comprehension. Inina swallowed, then gulped and gasped. Her eyes opened, then shut as she lost consciousness again. He and Lurshiga moved her out of the cage, then he gathered her in his arms and set out for an alley. As they walked, he looked around, and saw terrified faces peeking from one or two windows. He knew too that after all that noise, guards would be on their way.

  “Lurshiga, we’ll never make it past the checkpoints they’ll have up at the bridges, do you know anything about boats?” he asked.

  “Boats? I do know a little bit. I used to like sailors, and had reason to be in rowboats every now and then. Where do you plan to go?”

  “The G’abudim quarter”

  Lurshiga’s face took on a frightened expression.

  ~

  As they slowly made their way through the back streets, the potion began to work its powers on Inina. The swelling on her face reduced and her bruises started to fade. She opened her eyes again, but only mumbled incoherently as they carried her.

  “Lurshiga, I think we’d better avoid the mages and alchemists district, too many ways to be spotted there, and lots of guards. Let’s cut through the bazaar and then the merchant district to the river.”

  “I agree,” she said, “but that way is a much longer. I hope that potion can get Inina in a lot better shape”

  “It will, it just takes a while.”

  After a few more minutes, Inina started to speak, in a soft wheezing voice.

  “Where? Ah… Arjun…”

  “We have to move fast my love, it will help if you can walk a little”

  She could, though after a block needed help again, then a block further yet, as the potion worked and her wounds faded, she got on her feet again more solidly, and started walking.

  “Arjun… my belly… something is wrong. They kept kicking me, over and over…”

  He took her hand and kissed her, but kept her moving as he swallowed his fears. In the shadows around them, shapes moved. Arjun was glad for Inina and Lurshiga that they couldn’t see them.

  To Arjun’s eyes, his sight now altered by two permanent spells and a spirit mark of the G’abudim, night and day were now as one. He could now see what he was sure were spirits, as distinguished from things of shadow. He could also see a long way in the dark, far beyond the men hunting them. Outside of the wealthiest areas, street lamps, in the form of enchanted stones on pillars, were very rare, and this late few businesses had lamps burning. The city guards thus depended on lamps to see, and he could spot them long beforehand. He guided the women and together they evaded every patrol, reached the river, and found numerous small boats. They grabbed the nearest, and Lurshiga untied the lines as Arjun helped Inina in.

  “Ready? Let’s go,” said Lurshiga as she pushed off.

  Lurshiga grabbed the oars and rowed steadily. After a moment, Arjun could see that each stroke was spreading agony through her bruised and lacerated body.

  “I’ll take those, Lurshiga,” he said.

  “You’ve never rowed a boat in your life, boy, you’ll crash us into the docks.”

  “All right, then get us clear of them, and I’ll take over. I’ll watch you, and learn.”

  She grunted with disapproval, but once they were out in mid river, handed him the oars.

  “All right, give it a try.”

  He had trouble at first, but at least out here in the dark and the empty waters of a wide river, little harm could come of it. After a while, and with much direction from Lurshiga, he got them going on the right direction, and the followed the river out to the east harbor. There, they made a vaguely southwesterly course toward the G’abudim quarter. Inina sat in quiet misery at the front, clutching her stomach.

  “All right Arjun,” said Lurshiga, “give me those oars, I need to take us into the docks.”

  “But…”

  “Don’t argue, sweet, I’ll deal with the pain, I’m a big girl.”

  Reluctantly, he handed them back, but she did as promised, and brought them without incident to the empty end of one of the docks.

  Arjun helped Inina out of the boat, then reached a hand to Lurshiga.

  “Oh no, I’d rather take up with a nest of scorpions than follow you in there!” she said.

  “Then where will you go?”

  “I’ve got an old sailor friend in t
he merchant district opposite here across the harbor. He owns his own ship nowadays. I think he’ll be willing to put me aboard when it next leaves for Tema. I’ve got a cousin there.”

  “Lurshiga, I’m sorry for everything, for what I brought down on you.”

  “All you did is deal with what other people brought down on you Arjun. I blame the ones who gave the orders, not you. You be sure those G’abudim take care of Inina though, and count your blessings I changed my mind about your head and that urn.”

  He had a thought, opened the seal stone at his neck, and reached inside the space beyond, it was densely packed, but he found what he was looking for. He pulled out a gem, and handed it to Lurshiga.

  “What… is his for?” she asked, incredulous. The gem was worth more than she’d netted in an average year at her inn.

  “To remember us by, until we meet again.”

  “Can I remember you by selling it and using the gold?”

  “Absolutely,” he replied.

  She leaned forward and kissed Inina, and then him, on their cheeks, hugged them both, and rowed away across the moonlit waters.

  In the darkness before dawn, Arjun helped Inina along the dock. The healing potion would now have done as much work as it ever could, and she was still far from well. They went up the steps behind, and onto the waterfront street of the G’abudim quarter. It was very different from waterfront areas in the rest of the city. There were no shops, no taverns, no crates of goods stacked against walls, and no sailors wandering about with drink. Instead, there were only the blank walls of G’abudim compounds, and the dark gates leading inside.

  In the deep shadows, of an alley, Arjun could see a pair of men. They looked like G’abudim, but were dressed in concealing black clothes, cloth wrapped around their heads and faces. No one without sight like his could have seen them there. He walked straight toward them. If they actually were G’abudim, he knew the spirit mark on his forehead would be as bright as a lamp to them. They seemed to react in some surprise at his obvious ability to see them. Nonetheless, they silently stood up and pulled back the wrappings from their faces. Arjun could see the golden spirit marks like his own.

  “Hail, and halt,” said one of them, “Why do you come at this hour?”

  “I come because I seek master Dahu’ud, and within twenty-four hours I will be ready to offer such service as was required to earn this mark.”

  “She who is with you bears no mark, and she is both hurt and with child. Was she offered a place here?”

  “No, and on this I throw myself on the mercy of those who decide. She is my wife.”

  The sentry made a grave expression, “Follow me, and we will wait inside his courtyard, in safety.”

  ~

  As the sun rose, Dahu’ud and a few other G’abudim gathered in a small room with Arjun and Inina. With them was a woman of the G’abudim, one of the few Arjun had seen here. As with others of their women, she had the same shaved head and general garb as the men, save that the plaques were suspended lower, below bare breasts. This woman was older than the others he’d seen, and dressed in a costume that included much red. Her spirit mark included a complex symbol, also of red.

  Dahu’ud spoke, “this is Ith’un, she is a healer and midwife of much experience, and she will watch over your wife, Arjun dra Artashad.”

  Inina was lying on a low couch, still in pain. She’d been correct, something was wrong, and the healing potion hadn’t been enough. Arjun looked around doubtfully. His mind was a chaos of grief, anger, and cold purpose, but his body was exhausted, and beginning to win out.

  “Sleep now, for I can guess what you must do tonight.”

  Arjun rose in the afternoon, visited Inina, who was sleeping deeply yet fitfully. Light filtered in through the lattice windows, and incense burned in a clay pot in the corner. Ith’un was sitting on a mat near Inina, meditating, and watching her. After a moment, Dahu’ud came in the room, and stood close. He spoke in a low voice.

  “Arjun, your wife will recover in some hours, but I must give you very bad news. She miscarried, but Ith’un found that the boy had been dead for hours. From your wife’s condition, you must have given her a potion of healing, but it would not have helped the child. Such things cannot bring back those already dead, nor can any art known to us. I am sorry.”

  He looked at Dahu’ud, eyes blank. Then the rage hit him. Bal-Shim and his friends had killed his child! Faces passed before his mind’s eye, the brutalized faces of Inina and Lurshiga, the dead faces of his servants, his father, Keda, Enlil, and now… his son! He seethed in blind white-hot fury, then mastered it, channeled it, let it burn through his body and spirit until he could control it, and use it.

  And he would. Tonight was the long-promised feast of Bal-Shim for his trusted supporters and servants. Tonight, Bal-Shim would have an unexpected guest.

  19. The Tale of Vengeance

  It was a cool evening in Zakran, the mildest yet all year, so much so that some wore their cloaks pulled tight for warmth. However, no cool weather could dampen the warm enthusiasm surrounding Bal-Shim’s feast. He was known to reward his followers with raucous parties with free-flowing drink and dancing girls, and this was supposed to be the biggest one yet.

  No wagons arrived with supplies. Bal-Shim had already looted, or as he called it, liberated, as much as he needed from the homes of fallen oppressors of the people and enemies of the city. Men however arrived in great numbers. Rough-looking fighters and porters from his liberation crews rubbed shoulders with oily-mannered overseers and grim private scribes. His personal servants mingled with intense aggressive officers of the People’s Watch. A few minor officials and other allies turned up as well. None of his key friends in positions of real power were there. These big parties were purely for those who benefitted from his generous patronage.

  As night fell, servants were in the courtyard gathering supplies, hurrying back as fast as they could to rejoin the fun, and numerous guards, in rotation so none would entirely miss out, patrolled the outer walls and the streets beyond.

  None of the men outside or on the walls had the power to see magic. If they did, one of them would have noticed as the enchantments along a section of the parapet disappeared. But, there was hardly a man in the world that could have seen the shadowy form in black that slipped over the parapet, and without pause, dropped into the darkness between two storehouses.

  Arjun waited in his dark crevice, standing atop tall storage urns that had been wedged in the space, blocking the lower parts of the ladder. When he could see no more servants, he crawled forward, careful to avoiding disturbing the huge pottery jars. He peered around the corners and saw no one, dropped down into the courtyard, and ducked low, freezing in place. There was no change in the demeanor of the guards.

  He slipped from shadow to shadow, sometimes right through things of darkness that either ignored him or looked on with dull curiosity. Ahead of him were the stairs down, and the entrance to the basement. It had wards on it, but whereas the main back door was the scene of much light and constant activity, it was dark and at the moment unused. From his hiding place, he watched the guards. At the right moment, when the eyes of both were elsewhere, he darted to the stair well, and raced down. At the bottom, nearly ten feet down, it was pitch black, but that impeded him not at all, and hid him perfectly from anyone else in the courtyard.

  In front of him, several magics glowed. He was now starting to be able to readily distinguish the differing colors and radiant effects associated with different types of magic. It was very strange. Nothing in the books Shirin had given him led him to think that the Eye of Comprehending Truth, or magic like it, granted perception so vivid. Regardless, it was useful. He focused his mind and silently called forth several forms of Words of Opening, in a specific order. The magics on the door winked out one by one. Then he felt the door itself. It had a bar on the other side. He pulled out a copper strip, and carefully lifted the bar. To avoid making it clatter to the ground, he now pushe
d a loop of wire through the small crack, caught the bar in it, tightened, and then finished lifting. The bar swung loose, caught as he pulled the wire back, but bumped into something on the other size with a clatter. Arjun froze.

  Nothing moved up above, and he heard nothing either from there or within. He slowly lowered the bar, then pushed the door open. Inside was a vast space held up by thick pillars. Bal-Shim had probably knocked out internal walls to make room for more goods. And goods there were, packed everywhere up to head height, except for narrow aisles. Arjun slowly closed the door behind him, reset the bar, and then allowed the ward to return.

  He followed the one of the aisles down to the end where he guessed stairs might go up, and saw that he was correct. Near the base of the stairs were a great many wine amphorae of different makes. Dim light filtered in from the crack at the bottom of the door, and he heard both footsteps and conversation. He ducked behind the amphorae, but no one entered. He opened the wax seal and ceramic stopper of one of the amphorae, pulled a little vial from thin air, through a portal visible only to him, and poured something into the amphora. Then he replaced the stopper, and using the smallest gentlest flicker of fire from his hand, melted the wax back into place. Slowly and painstakingly, he began to do the same with others.

  There was fresh movement. He heard steps, and the door above opening. Arjun sunk deep back into the shadows under a shelf behind the amphorae. Servants entered, laughing loudly and full of drink, collected a pair of amphorae, and carried them up. They were not among those Arjun had yet touched. He went back to work. Half an hour or more later, it was done, every one of the waiting amphorae had been given drops from the vials he carried.