The innkeeper burst through the doorway, his hooded eyes scanning the scene like a hawk. “A pox upon you drunken louts! This is a respectable establishment. These damages must be paid for. I’m fetching the bailiff.” He vanished without waiting for a response, his footsteps thumping down the wooden staircase.
“I have to go.” Shanks eased himself into a sitting position with difficulty. “The tavern owner already sent for the bailiff. He blamed me for goading the men to fight. They’ve all been paid handsomely to spin the same tall tale.”
“You’re in no state to go anywhere,” Erdhan replied.
“I have no choice. They will hang me if they find me.” Shanks got to his feet, swaying unsteadily. Crag put his arm around him to support him. “I’ll go with you.”
“No!” Shanks let out a heavy breath through his teeth as he adjusted his weight. “If you leave, we’ll have no one left to guard the stone, or to represent us at the negotiations tomorrow. I swore to Skinner I wouldn’t give Davian the opportunity to hoodwink us out of our share of the gold. Davian won’t make an attempt on your life at the inn for fear suspicion will fall on him.”
“I’ll accompany Shanks and help him find somewhere in the city to hide,” Orlla volunteered, throwing a loaded look Erdhan’s way.
A puzzled frown twitched across his forehead.
Akolom, she mouthed to him.
His expression cleared. “What if Lord Davian returns before you do?”
“You’ll figure out something to tell him.”
Erdhan quirked a grin. “How about the duck pie didn’t agree with you and you’re in the privy? He already thinks you spend an inordinate amount of time taking care of business.”
Orlla grimaced. “You think he’ll believe I needed it so badly I broke the door down to get out?”
“We’ll tell him some drunken louts mistook it for their room,” Crag said. “Take the back stairs. The innkeeper may try to bar your exit.”
Orlla put an arm around Shanks and helped him hobble over to the door. Descending the steep back stairway proved arduous and slow, but once they were on level ground, Shanks was able to pick up the pace. They slipped quietly out through the back door and picked their way down an alleyway before disappearing into the gloomy side streets of the city. Orlla’s only goal was to find somewhere safe to hide Shanks. She was torn between making herself as visible as possible so that Akolom could find her and trying to remain in the shadows as much as possible so that no one would spot Shanks. She couldn’t delay her return to the inn indefinitely. Sooner or later, Lord Davian and his men would arrive back, and Erdhan’s life would be in danger if she was nowhere to be found.
Orlla eyed the figures huddled in the alcoves uneasily as they passed by. An injured man and a woman traveling alone made for enticing quarry. She was counting on their disheveled and bloody appearance to convince thieves looking for easy pickings that they weren’t worth their time and effort.
Her heart thundered when a cloaked and hooded figure suddenly stepped in front of them, blocking their path with a menacing-looking cudgel. Maybe she had miscalculated just how desperate these people were.
Shanks tensed at her side, preparing to fight despite his weakened state.
“This way,” came a muffled voice from within the hood.
Akolom!
Orlla’s skin chilled. He must have followed them from the inn, waiting for a discreet opportunity to intercept them.
“It’s all right,” she whispered to Shanks. “He’s a friend of mine.”
The whites of Shank’s eyes glistened as he stared at her skeptically. “How do I know this isn’t a trap—that you’re not working with Davian?”
A shot of anger fired through Orlla’s veins at the accusation. “I have more reason to hate Davian than you. My brother almost died because of him. This man is my mentor, Akolom. He can help you if you’ll let him, but you’re free to go if you don’t trust us.”
Shanks narrowed his eyes at Akolom. “I don’t like it when I can’t see a man’s face.”
“Lord Davian and his soldiers know who I am. If I am spotted in the city, they will kill me.” Akolom turned to leave. “We need to go.”
Reluctantly, Shanks acquiesced, allowing Orlla to help him shuffle down the alley after Akolom. With a third person in their party, armed with a cudgel, the unscrupulous figures in the alcoves quickly lost interest in the wayfarers and faded into the shadows.
Before long, they came to a dark, wooden building that smelled of sawdust. Akolom led them around to the back and lifted the latch on the lopsided door. “This was a carpenter’s shop at one point, but it’s abandoned. The roof is partially caved in, but it will suffice for our purposes.”
Orlla helped Shanks inside and over to a cobwebbed stool in the far corner, which appeared to be the only seating in the gloomy space. “Lord Davian hired a group of thugs to kill the mercenaries,” she explained to Akolom. “Shanks, and Crag, the mercenary guarding the stone, are the only survivors.”
“I should have realized Davian was greedy enough not to want to divide the spoils,” Shanks said, leaning back against the wall, clutching a hand to his stomach.
“His greed knows no bounds,” Orlla agreed. “I’m certain he plans to steal the dark dragon stone back from the emperor as soon as he has been paid. With the coin, additional soldiers, and the Onyx of Darkness, he will be invincible.”
Akolom lit a lantern and placed it on a rickety carpenter’s bench. He rubbed his wrinkled brow thoughtfully. “There is more to it than that. He has risked the ire of Skinner and all the other mercenary outposts by murdering those he swore allegiance to. I fear he is in collusion with the emperor himself.”
“I don’t understand.” Orlla frowned in bewilderment. “He’s never even met Emperor Narlius before. He lied about being in his service.”
“We don’t know that for sure,” Akolom mused. “He is a man of many secrets.”
“Where is Davian now?” Shanks asked.
“He told us he had business in town,” Orlla replied.
“A secret meeting with the emperor more like it,” Shanks grumbled.
Akolom paced the floor. “That may very well be the case. I thought it strange that the emperor delayed meeting with Davian upon learning he had arrived in the city with the dark dragon stone. I’m worried Lord Davian has promised Emperor Narlius far more than the Onyx of Darkness.”
Orlla’s blood ran cold. “What are you talking about?”
Akolom pinned her with a penetrating gaze. “Why offer only the dark dragon stone when he can offer both?”
Orlla gasped. “You mean … he has promised Emperor Narlius the Opal of Light?”
“It’s a possibility we must consider,” Akolom said with a heavy sigh. “In which case you are the pawn he intends to use to secure it. It would be best if you flee the palace before the celebratory feast ends tomorrow. Take Erdhan and the surviving mercenary with you. I will meet you back here.”
“What about the Onyx?”
“Leave it to me,” Akolom said. “I will mingle with the crowd under the guise of a veiling rune and find an opportunity to replace the Onyx with the decoy stone.”
Orlla twisted her lips. “Lord Davian has ordered me to decipher the forbidden rune on the Onyx and invoke its power before the emperor.”
Akolom stared at her unflinchingly. “You know the rune. It’s the same one that invokes the Opal of Light, only backwards. The stones are polar opposites of each other—one’s end is the other’s beginning.”
“What will happen if the rune is activated?” Orlla asked in a tremulous tone.
“According to the annals, the Opal of Light blinds, and the Onyx of Darkness consumes.” Akolom wrinkled his brow. “If the emperor insists on witnessing its power, he must be prepared for whatever comes of it. We must act beforehand to ensure it does not go that far.”
“How can we escape the palace once you have switched the stones?” Orlla asked. “There will be g
uards posted at every exit.”
“I’ve explored the grounds and found an easy access through the kitchens. There is but one guard at the service entrance. We should be able to slip past him easily enough. By the time the palace realizes the Onyx has been replaced, we will be long gone.”
Orlla weighed Akolom’s words carefully. The plan was fraught with shortcomings—not the least of which was Akolom’s failing strength. Even if they made it out of the palace safely, they would still have to retrieve their horses from the stable before they could pick up Shanks and ride out of town. Still, it was a better plan with Akolom on board than without him.
“I need to get back to the inn before Lord Davian returns.” Orlla cast an uncertain look at Shanks slumped on the stool.
“Don’t worry about him,” Akolom said. “I will work a healing rune on him so he is fit to ride in the morning.”
“You mean tonight,” Shanks corrected him. “I need to return to Boar’s Fort at once and inform Skinner he was betrayed. We’ll be waiting for Davian when he rides back to Macobin.”
Akolom spread his hands in a gesture of helplessness. “Then let us begin the healing process.”
Orlla bade Akolom good-bye, noting the crepe-like skin at the outer corners of his eyes, and the lines on his face that had deepened into trenches. And now he was about to deplete his power on a healing rune. Her gut tightened. Would Akolom even be alive tomorrow?
Dismissing the disturbing thought, she slipped out into the shadowy night and scurried back along the main street, unwilling to risk navigating the murky alleyways alone. The innkeeper was nowhere to be seen when she entered through the front door. Angry voices drifted her way as she mounted the stairs.
Lord Davian was back!
When she reached the room, all eyes swiveled in her direction. A portly bailiff, accompanied by the innkeeper’s two brawny servants, stood on Lord Davian’s left. The bailiff regarded Orlla like a reptile waiting on a meal, methodically slapping a truncheon against one palm. Next to him, the innkeeper monitored the proceedings, his sharp eyes raking over her.
Lord Davian stormed across the room, his face a mottled web of fury. “Where did you take Shanks?” he bellowed. “He’s a fugitive wanted by the bailiff for instigating a riot that resulted in injury and murder.”
“And destruction of private property,” the innkeeper added, shaking a fist and glowering around the room. “Someone’s going to pay for these damages.”
Lord Davian shot him a dark look. The innkeeper took a hasty step backward when several soldiers unsheathed their swords. To Orlla’s dismay, the soldier Crag had knocked out cold was among them.
The bailiff cleared his throat and addressed Lord Davian. “We have more than enough evidence that this woman helped the fugitive escape and is withholding information on his whereabouts. I’m placing her under arrest.”
Lord Davian drew back his shoulders and stared coldly at Erdhan. “Unfortunately, I need her by my side at the palace in the morning. Arrest her brother and hold him in her stead.”
Chapter 19
“No!” Orlla leapt in front of Erdhan, spreading her arms out to protect him from the approaching bailiff. The two thickset servants tossed her aside like an empty sack and held a struggling Erdhan down while the bailiff shackled him.
“Let him go!” Orlla screamed, pummeling the soldiers surrounding her and Crag.
“All in good time,” Lord Davian said with a snakelike curve of his lips. “Your brother will be released as soon as Shanks is found. He must be brought to justice for all the trouble he has caused the good people of Llanmena.”
The bailiff turned in the splintered doorway and surveyed the room one last time with a dark scowl. “If any more blood is spilled in this city before you lot leave, I will have you all arrested.”
As soon as he had disappeared down the hallway with Erdhan and the servants, Lord Davian turned to the innkeeper. “Find me another room.”
The innkeeper rubbed his fingers together in an agitated fashion. “I’ll have payment for a new door first.”
In one fluid move, Lord Davian reached for him by his collar and slammed him against the wall. “I paid you handsomely to take care of any additional requests I might have during my stay. Consider this one of them.”
The innkeeper’s eyes darted around at the armed soldiers turning their attention to him. He bobbed his head, scrabbling for a key on the ring at his waist. “Upon consideration,” he wheezed, “I might have something else available on this floor.”
Lord Davian released him with a contemptuous shove.
Orlla exchanged a wary glance with Crag. She didn’t know if she could trust the mercenary, but they were the only two people in the room with more enemies than friends. They would have to stick together to come out of this alive. The fact that she had saved Shanks would work in her favor if she needed to enlist Crag’s help.
“Follow me,” the innkeeper muttered, mopping perspiration from his brow.
“Bring the chest,” Lord Davian ordered. Crag and the soldier charged with guarding it exchanged furtive glances before each picking up an end and following the innkeeper out of the room, visibly struggling under the chest’s weight. Orlla trailed after them, Lord Davian and the rest of his soldiers on her heels.
The innkeeper took them to a room at the very end of the corridor and thrust a key at Lord Davian before scuttling away as quickly as possible.
Lord Davian wasted no time unlocking the door and ushering Orlla and Crag inside. He gestured to a couple of soldiers to carry the chest into the room while the rest of the soldiers stood guard in the hallway. He inspected the room in a sweeping glance, checked under the bed, and squinted out the window in both directions before unlocking the chest and turning to Orlla. “You will work on the dark dragon rune tonight. Your demonstration tomorrow will need to be convincing.”
Orlla jutted out her chin. “I need Erdhan’s help to decipher the runes on the stone.”
Lord Davian flung his cloak over his shoulder and strode over to her, his pockmarked face rippling with fury. “Enough of your tripe! We both know that simpleton son of a Macobite blacksmith knows squat about runes.” He leaned down his hawkish nose at her, his foul breath burning like fumes on her face. “If you want to see him alive again, you’re going to have to turn over Shanks first. Something to think about during the long watches of the night while you’re hard at work on the forbidden rune.”
He straightened up, marched to the door, and peered out at the soldiers standing guard in the corridor, selecting one with a flick of his finger. “You will remain here tonight and guard the girl and the mercenary. I will post men at the bottom of the stairs and outside the inn to ensure no one attempts to break them out.”
Crag cracked his knuckles, one hand hovering over the hilt of his sword. “You won’t live long enough to enjoy your coin. Skinner will find you and torture you, a day for every mercenary you killed, until you beg for death’s release.”
Lord Davian gave a condescending snort. “A grandiose speech from a muck-spout mercenary, but you are gravely outnumbered.”
Crag clenched his teeth. Before he could make a move, several soldiers surrounded him and disarmed him.
Lord Davian curled his lip in contempt. “The only reason you’re still alive is because our testy innkeeper has a low tolerance for blood on his premises.” He hesitated and ran a calculating eye over Crag. “That, and the fact that you may serve as bait to lure Shanks into attempting a rescue tonight. I know something of your mercenary blood oaths to each other.” He hefted an amused brow. “For those reasons, I will defer killing you until tomorrow.”
Without waiting for a response, he turned and swept from the room. The door slammed shut after him and the key creaked in the lock, his echoing footsteps the only sound in the silence that followed.
Orlla sank down on the bed and pressed her knees to her chest. A groan wrenched from her gut. It had all gone terribly wrong. They had aligned them
selves with the mercenaries, and Davian had wiped them out. He must have suspected she was hatching a plan with Shanks to eliminate him and had moved to circumvent it. Erdhan had paid the price for the risk she had taken to shelter Shanks. Khor still hadn’t made an appearance, and even if he did, he wouldn’t be able to break her out of the inn with so many soldiers guarding her. Akolom was her last hope, but he had aged so much in a few short days—he might have already departed to the second life.
With a weary sigh, she turned her attention to the dark dragon stone nestled inside the chest. She raised the heavy lid and stared down at the Onyx while she silently wove the protection runes Akolom had meticulously taught her. Crag and the soldier watched with morbid fascination as she reached in and lifted out the stone, whispering a rune to unveil it. She stared curiously at the markings that appeared on its surface, going over in her mind the rune inscribed on the Opal of Light. Akolom was right—the rune on the dark dragon stone was identical, only backwards.
She shrank back from it, half-afraid she might have inadvertently summoned its power by inwardly chanting the light dragon rune. But the Onyx remained cold to her touch and unresponsive. She held the stone aloft, inspecting it from all angles. Crag and the soldier moved in for a closer look, but Orlla snatched the Onyx out of their reach. “Don’t touch it!” She glared a warning at them. “You have no protection runes covering you. It could destroy you.”
They exchanged wary looks and retreated to watch the proceedings from a safe distance.
Orlla knew from the annals that the dark dragon stone was arrestingly beautiful to look at, with living striations of orange and red that turned into tendrils of flames. But, so far, the stone was proving to be a disappointment. It appeared plain and the finish on it exceedingly dull, although silky-smooth to the touch. Akolom had warned her of the dark dragon stone’s seductive power, but it gave the impression it was harmless in her hands and held no particular allure. If anything, it came across as insignificant in comparison to the beauteous Opal of Light.
Onyx of Darkness_An epic dragon fantasy Page 15