When the right-hand thug rapped on the door, Moz was directly across from the house. He loosened his swords in their scabbards and tensed.
The moment the door moved he charged.
Moz reached the steps and leapt, slamming into the group and forcing them through the door. A fourth man inside ended up on his back as well.
Moz leapt to his feet, drawing his swords as he went. Three quick slashes ended the thugs before they could recover.
He slammed the door shut, hopefully before anyone realized what was happening. The city guard didn’t worry him but dealing with them would be another delay. He needed another delay like he needed a second stay in the cage.
“Keep it down, you lot,” Crow shouted from deeper in the house. “I’m trying to think. Did you get him?”
“Yeah.” Moz tried to raise the pitch of his deep voice enough to keep Crow from guessing it was him.
“Well, bring him back here. No one double-crosses me and gets away with it.”
Moz stomped down a short hall like the heavy-footed bruisers, trying his best to make enough noise for two men. The house wasn’t huge and it didn’t take long to find a partially open door. Through the crack he saw Crow pacing in front of a window.
He looked towards the door as Moz stepped through. “We meet again.”
Crow scrambled back until his back was flat against the wall. He looked left and right, but there was no escape. The only way out was through Moz.
He kicked the door shut and closed the distance between them. The room was a sort of parlor with two short couches on either side of a low coffee table. He crossed his swords and trapped Crow’s neck between their razor-sharp edges.
“Now, before we were so rudely interrupted, I had a few questions. If you answer me honestly and completely, I’ll cut your head off cleanly. Make this difficult and you’ll be begging me to kill you before I’m done. Understand?”
Crow started to nod, thought better of it, and said, “Yes, whatever you say, just don’t hurt me. I’ve never been very good with pain, even when I was a child, I’d do anything to avoid it. And about the cage thing, I was only following orders. I’m very sorry.”
“You certainly are. Let’s start with whose orders you were following.”
“That would be Most High Black, the leader of the Dark Sages. I send information and receive orders via pigeon.”
“Why did he want me locked up?”
“I haven’t the slightest idea. I know you sniffing around after Rondo was what captured our attention. He said not to kill you because someone might call your spirit back and learn something of value.”
This group was clearly as cautious as it was connected. “Who are the leaders in the other cities?”
“I don’t know. I only know my people and my superiors. It’s set up that way so if someone like me was captured and questioned, we could only give away a limited amount of information.”
That made sense. If Moz was setting up an organization like this, he wouldn’t let the individual groups know about the others. Limiting who knew what was smart. They often did something similar on ranger missions.
“Where’s your base?”
“The leadership meets monthly at a huge stone citadel in the—”
A crossbow twanged and the bolt pierced Crow through the left eye, silencing him instantly. Moz spun just in time to catch a swirl of dark hair as the assassin fled. He had a pretty good idea who it was. He just needed to catch her.
Moz sprinted out the parlor door, swords bare in his hand. He looked left.
Nothing.
Right, a flash of movement.
He pounded after her. As far as he knew, there was only one way out of the house and that was the front door. Around the next corner was the hall to the exit.
Another flash of hair, this time going into the kitchen. What could she be up to? She’d gotten the best of him once and Moz had no intention of falling for a trick this time. He ran through the kitchen door ready for a fight.
What he wasn’t ready for was an empty room. A quick scan of the kitchen offered few clues. The only place she could be was the cupboard built into the opposite wall. Assuming she wasn’t hiding in the oven. He looked over and dismissed it at once. Small as she was, no way could Priscilla squeeze into the little space.
“Come out and I’ll turn you over to the city watch.”
No reply. Probably didn’t trust him. Not that he could blame her considering what he was going to do to Crow.
“Have it your way.”
Moz approached the cupboard from the side to avoid any incoming crossbow bolts. He slipped his sword into the crack and eased the door open. There was no food inside. Instead, a hatch in the floor was open and a steep set of stairs led into the earth. It was pitch black down there.
“An escape tunnel. Terrific.”
Beside the stove sat a small pile of firewood. He sheathed his swords and made a crude torch from a round stick and a dry rag he yanked out of a drawer full of them. A flint and steel hung beside the stove. A few clicks and a gentle puff of air got the ragged end of the cloth burning.
Torch in one hand and sword in the other, he eased his way down the steps. The tunnel was roughly carved out of earth and reinforced with timbers every ten paces. Even so it didn’t look nearly stable enough to suit him. Hopefully it didn’t run too far. The sooner he was above ground, the happier he’d be.
At least the path was straight. The floor was compacted so hard, it would have been difficult to tell which way she’d gone if the tunnel branched. As it was, the passage went on far longer than he hoped. There was no sign of Priscilla ahead of him. Not surprising given the light of the torch nearly blinded him to anything beyond thirty feet.
His torch was nearly dead when he spotted a shaft of light in the darkness ahead. That had to be the other end of the tunnel. Judging from the distance he’d covered, they were still inside the city wall, but where he hadn’t a clue. He’d find out soon enough.
Moz tossed the torch away and drew his second sword. He crept along, silent as the wind. He froze just outside the light to let his eyes adjust. When he could see clearly, he found a cylindrical shaft with a ladder running its length. Three-quarters of the way up he spotted Priscilla frantically climbing.
No way could he catch her before she reached the top. But maybe he didn’t have to. Moz grabbed the ladder with both hands, braced his boot against the wall, and yanked.
It wobbled but didn’t come away from the wall. He pushed and pulled as hard as he could to build up momentum. Above him Priscilla had stopped climbing and instead hung on for dear life.
With a final heave, Moz ripped the ladder free and slammed it into the opposite side of the shaft. The sides snapped ten feet up and Priscilla came crashing to the ground. She landed with a thump and a groan. Clipped to her belt was a small crossbow designed to fire six-inch bolts. It wouldn’t pierce armor, but it worked fine against a man in a robe. Moz pulled the weapon free of its hook and tossed it across the pit.
Priscilla groaned again and rolled over on her back. “That hurt.”
“Looked like it,” Moz said. “You killed Crow before I could finish asking my questions. How about you answer them?”
“Drop dead.” She winced when she drew a deep breath.
“Not very ladylike. Looks like you cracked some ribs. Your knee doesn’t look too good either.”
“My knee feels fine.”
Moz stepped on her right knee and ground his heel into the joint. She screamed and tried to pull away.
“How about now?”
She clenched her jaw and glared. “Gods damn you.”
“You left knee’s not looking so good either.” He raised his boot.
“Wait! What do you want to know?”
“That’s better. Where is the Dark Sage base?”
“Northeast, beyond Rend and Carttoom’s borders and south of the free city-states. It’s wild country filled with bandits and worse.”
She sneered. “We made it clear what would happen if they messed with any of our people. No one bothers us now. Not more than once anyway.”
“You’re a tough one, aren’t you? Why’d you join up?”
“What do you care?”
“I don’t, I’m just curious. You’re smart, strong-willed, you could have done anything.”
She snorted her disgust. “Hardly. My family’s so poor we barely ate most nights. My aunt taught me to read from a book she stole and I used that to get the job at the library, where I met Crow. When he offered me money and power in exchange for being his spy, I couldn’t pass it up. I never even considered passing it up. He didn’t force me or anything. It was my choice, so you can forget any stupid ideas you might have about me being a pitiful dupe. I made my choice with my eyes wide open.”
“More’s the pity.” Moz checked her thoroughly for weapons then pulled her to her feet. “Let’s go. I suspect the guards will want to talk to you about Crow.”
More likely they’d want to hang her for it if they were getting payoffs from him. That wasn’t Moz’s problem. He needed to talk to Callie then scout out this fort in the wilderness. Whoever the Dark Sages were, Moz had a feeling they didn’t mean anyone any good.
Chapter 18
Moz guided his horse down the road toward the bards’ college. His time in Blinder hadn’t been a complete waste, though he wasn’t much closer to finding Rondo than when he left the first time. At least Crow and Priscilla were out of the picture. He held no illusions that he’d made a real difference. They’d both probably be replaced inside a month. At least now the guard would be on the lookout.
He had learned a little about who Rondo was working for. He also had another location to scout out. Traveling through no man’s land wasn’t going to be easy, but for a ranger, it was probably safer than visiting a city.
He wiped sweat from his brow. Even for summer, the weather had been hot. Back in the swamp, these were the sorts of days you wanted to lie in bed and leave the gators to their own devices. Not that you gave in to those impulses. When a hunter sets a trap, he checks it every day, weather be damned.
He reined in just outside the gate. The guard on duty gave him one look and began opening the portcullis. No delays or questions today, how nice. Callie must have given them a good lecture about holding him up. Moz appreciated that.
When the iron gate was high enough, he urged his mount through. In the courtyard a few students were gathered in a circle doing something with a red ball. It wasn’t a game Moz recognized, so maybe it was part of their studies.
He’d barely dismounted when Ariel came running toward him, her dragons buzzing along behind. He hadn’t spotted her amidst the group, but she, or more likely one of the dragons, had seen him.
“Moz!” she shouted when she was close enough. She skidded to a stop a few feet in front of him. “You’re finally back. Did you find the crow?”
Moz patted her on the head. “Not the one I was hunting, but I did find some of his friends. They weren’t any nicer than him. What about you? Made any friends?”
“One.” Ariel looked back over her shoulder. “They’re afraid of me. The little ones don’t trust them.”
“Why?” Moz asked.
She shrugged. “Not sure. Maybe because of their powers? One of the teachers tried to control them. They didn’t like that at all.”
Who’d be stupid enough to try and control dragons? Moz had seen people doing dumb things over the years, but that took the cake.
“What about you? Have you learned anything here?”
“They don’t know how to teach me,” Ariel said.
“What do you mean?”
“First it was tamers, that was where the teacher tried to control one of the little ones. Then they sent me to practice with the psychics, but after two days my teacher said the dragons’ presence disrupted the psychic flow of the class or something and I was out again. Now I just play on my own, no more classes.” She looked around to make sure no one was nearby. “I like that better anyway.”
“You’ve certainly gotten chattier since I left.” Moz started toward the stables and Ariel fell in beside him.
“You’re different than the people here. The little ones like and trust you and that makes it easier to talk. I don’t know why, that’s just how it feels.”
They reached the stables where she watched him tend to his horse and put it in a stall. When he finished, he said, “I need to talk to Callie. Why don’t you go play some more and when I’m done we’ll have lunch?”
“Yeah! It’s beef stew today, that’s the little ones’ favorite. See you later.” She waved and ran off again.
Moz smiled. It was nice to see her acting like a normal little girl. Even if the bards weren’t teaching her anything, just having a safe place seemed to be doing her good. Maybe he’d stick around a few days before heading north. She seemed more comfortable when he was around. What Moz couldn’t figure out was why the dragons would be so mistrustful of the people here.
He shrugged and made his way to the main building. A passing teacher gave him directions to Callie’s office. He made the short walk and knocked once before pushing the door open. Callie had her head on the empty desk and was sound asleep. He crossed his arms and watched for a second.
“Don’t you have a bed?”
She sputtered awake and blinked at him. “Moz? When did you get back?”
“Just now.” He closed the door and dropped into the empty chair. “You look tired.”
Callie rubbed her dark, bloodshot eyes. “I’ve been trying to figure out how to teach Ariel to do something no one else in the world knows how to do. So far no luck.”
“Yeah, I saw her on my way in. She seems happy enough. Why not just keep her safe and let her be? Her power isn’t running out of control or causing trouble.”
“That’s actually the direction I’m leaning. It’s just…I’m a teacher, Moz. Not being able to help her is driving me nuts.”
“You are helping her. She’s much better than when I left.”
Callie blew out a long sigh. “Thanks. So what did you learn?”
Moz gave her the short version of his recent adventures. When he finished, he asked, “Ever heard of the Dark Sages?”
“Can’t say as I have. There are a lot of sage groups with different specialties, but I never heard of one called the Dark Sages. Though the name implies that they do research that would certainly be frowned upon by others. You think they’re the ones after Ariel?”
“Rondo’s part of the group and if he told his superiors what she can do, I figure if they’re not after her now, they will be soon enough.”
Callie scrubbed a hand across her face. “What are you going to do?”
“I figure I’ll spend a day or two here with the kid then head out to scout their base. Going to be a rough ride. I need to cross part of Carttoom then a fair chunk of no man’s land. And even if I find the place, there’s no guarantee that I’ll learn anything. The problem is, I’m out of ideas.”
“Why not let it go?” Callie asked. “Stay here and help protect Ariel. We’ve got plenty of room. You could handle basic weapons training. No need to run off and get yourself killed.”
“Don’t think I’m not tempted, but I need to know what I’m protecting her from. I can’t make plans without more information. We don’t even know how many people we’re dealing with, ten, a thousand, more. Fighting blind is no way to win a war.”
Callie loosed another big sigh. “I know, but I had to make the suggestion.”
“And I appreciate it. Maybe when this is over, I’ll take you up on that instructor job. Now that I’ve seen you again, returning to the swamp isn’t as appealing.”
“So I’m more appealing than mosquitos and alligators? You always were a charmer, Moz.”
He grinned. It really was good to see her again.
Chapter 19
Yaz, B
rigid, and Silas guided their horses around the walled city of Fort Kane. They’d been riding for over a week and now it was midmorning of the eighth day since escaping the Thieves Guild. As cities went, Fort Kane wasn’t especially big, maybe half the size of The City of Bells, but it sat on a major trade route and hundreds of caravans passed through the city every year. It also butted up against the bank of the Wallowing River and played host to many barges. Yaz assumed that was why Randall Cobb had built his home nearby. For a merchant, it was a natural choice.
The Cobb estate was situated about a mile northeast of the city proper. Far enough away to allow privacy and quiet, but close enough to make coming and going convenient. The estate had a twenty-foot-tall wall surrounding it and a handful of private guards patrolling the battlements.
Yaz pulled up well short of the wall. The gate was closed and the guards carried cocked and loaded crossbows. Clearly something had happened to put the Cobbs on their guard. Perhaps they heard about Randall’s disappearance. Yaz showing up with Randall’s lucky coin might make them think he had something to do with that. While he hoped to use it to get their attention, he didn’t want to end up in a cell.
“Don’t like the look of this,” Silas said, echoing Yaz’s thoughts.
“Me either,” Yaz said. “Unfortunately, we’re not going to learn what happened sitting here. I’m just trying to think of the best way to approach them.”
“Why don’t we ride up and tell them what happened?” Brigid said. “They’re probably as worried about Randall as we are about our parents.”
“I suspect that’s the only way to go.” Yaz turned to Silas. “I don’t suppose you’d mind waiting out here? If something goes wrong, maybe you can bust us out. Unless there’s a serious problem we should be back before dark.”
“Sure.” Silas looked around and pointed to a stand of maples fifty yards to their left. “I’ll settle in over there. If you’re not back by dark, I’ll come knocking.”
The way he said it made Yaz glad Silas was on their side. Yaz glanced at Brigid who nodded.
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