“Oh, shit, you flaming moron!” Charm screamed from behind him as a massive stone wall loomed mere feet from the view screen. Apparently, at some point the rogue had managed to get the chain off of his ankle. Shade was impressed that the rogue had accomplished that feat in the chaos of flight while scared witless from Lutheron’s magic. He didn’t have time to dwell on it now, though. At the moment, the wall held his full attention.
A sound half-way between a curse and a laugh burst from Shade’s mouth as he strained against the controls, trying to bring the ship around before they crashed. The sound of squealing metal ripped through the corridor as the corner of the wall crumbled against the belly of his ship. He heard a loud thump and groan behind him and guessed the rogue had been knocked from his feet at the impact. With a steady hand he brought The Shade back under control and shot down the main hall.
“Throw a gobbie, Charm, don’t just sit there on your ass,” Shade called back. The fear still lingered at the back of his mind, but he no longer had time to focus on it. The main hall of the fortress was barely wide enough for the spell hawk, and it was taking all of his attention to keep the wings off of the walls. It was getting back out that was going to be tricky. For that, he would have to either make another hole in the back wall or manage a high speed turn in the throne room.
“I hate you, you crazy bastard,” Charm muttered, but the words were accompanied by the terrified squeal of a goblin.
Shade counted the remaining squeals until they had reached four and then increased the speed as they headed for the throne room doors. There would no doubt be wards on these doors as well, but they wouldn’t be the same as the outer door. The outer door had been designed to hold against siege weapons. This one was made more to hold against individuals. Against a full speed spell hawk it stood no chance at all. As long as there wasn’t a pillar directly on the other side of the door they should be fine. “I probably should have studied the building plans better before doing this,” he said quietly and silence fell behind him. He wondered briefly if the rogue had jumped when the mantra ceased.
“What did you just say, Shade?” Charm said in a very serious voice, all trace of hysteria gone. “Did you just say you didn’t look at the bloody floor plan of this gods-be-damned fortress before you flew us in here?” he added, his voice rising once more.
“The chanting had a nice rhythm to it, could you switch back to that please?” Shade replied as the doors to the throne room exploded from their impact. Shade leaned forward again and had to turn the ship on its side to avoid the support pillars that lined the center of the room. He scanned the area ahead frantically and realized with a sinking feeling that he wouldn’t be able to turn around with the way the pillars were lined up. There simply was not enough room to maneuver. He let out a heavy breath and fired the guns once more, praying the compound had time to react and that it was strong enough to blow a hole through stone. He had tested it on metal and wood before, but never stone. He fired several more times for good measure and felt Charm move up beside him.
The rogue sat down heavily in the co-pilot’s seat and stared with a slack jawed look on his bloodless face as the wall loomed closer. He was breathing heavier the closer they got and Shade wondered if he was going to hyper-ventilate by the time the impact came.
“Shouldn’t it have caught fire by now?” Charm asked quietly.
“Yep,” Shade replied casually, his gaze locked on the wall, willing the ammo to work.
“If it doesn’t soon can you turn around?” he asked in the same quiet voice.
“Not a chance in hell,” Shade replied and fished in his pocket frantically. With a slightly shaking hand he pulled a bent cigarette out and lit it. Ahead of them the wall burst into flames and Shade let out a nervous laugh. “The real downside here is the rock debris could tear a hole in my ship or damage a wing too much to fly,” he muttered around the cigarette and inhaled deeply.
Charm nodded slightly and pulled a flask from his pocket. “Amazing that when it truly looks like I’m about to die I’m not nearly as scared,” he whispered and took a long pull from the flask. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and started to offer the flask to Shade, but seemed to realize at the last moment that he didn’t have a spare hand to accept it.
“That’s the point past fear, Charm,” Shade replied and felt his breath catch as the wall neared. “I’m not quite there yet, but sure as hell wish I was,” he added, feeling his stomach knot again. Another nervous laugh escaped his lips and he thanked all of the Aspects that the former residents of Eldagar had been vain enough to build a throne room this obscenely big. Had this been the Morcaillo house they would have already been splattered on the wall and gathering flies.
“I don’t really hate you, you know that, right?” Charm whispered.
“Good to hear. You might soon enough though, so I’d wait on adding anything sentimental to that statement,” Shade replied. The flames on the wall rose again and the entire fortress seemed to tremble before the world exploded into fire and raining stones. Shade cringed as the first of the debris hit the spell hawk hard and the ship shuddered in his grip. He tried to swerve from the path of a large chunk of stone but there wasn’t enough time or room. The impact resounded through the ship as the view screen went dark. Shade swallowed heavily and tried desperately to remember exactly where he had seen the brief glimpse of daylight in the wall.
“Well at least we won’t see it coming,” Charm said dryly, staring at the black screen before them.
“There’s the spirit Charm! Way to find the silver lining!” Shade cried with another laugh. From the corner of his eye he saw the rogue brace himself and realized he was doing the same. With an effort, he forced himself to relax. “You are the best pilot, prove it,” he whispered to himself and guided the ship to where his memory told him the opening should be. Long seconds passed with both of them holding their breath before Shade let out a nervous laugh. “We cleared it,” he whispered.
“But how are you going to land the ship, Shade? You can’t scry directly outside of it because of the Barllen on it,” Charm said, his moment beyond fear apparently fading.
“I’m still working that out, Charm, but don’t worry, I’ll come up with a plan,” Shade replied and guided the ship straight up. It was the only direction he could guarantee held no obstacles.
Charm let out a quiet groan at the mention of a plan and fell back into his seat. He turned his head toward Shade and sighed. “So, how do we trigger the goblins? That was the one part of the plan that I wasn’t really sure about,” he said quietly apparently deciding that was a better topic to think on than flying blind in a ship at high speeds.
Shade pulled a small glass globe from his pocket and held it up for Charm to see. A single drop of red liquid rested in the bottom. With a deep breath Shade wrapped his hand around the globe and smiled at Charm. “I’ll send the magic through this liquid. It is from the same batch I used on the goblins so it should transfer the magic well. If all goes as planned my magic will pass through this link and into the globes that I fed the goblins. When the spark of fire from my magic touches the oil I fed them …,” he paused and shrugged at Charm. “Well then we have a mess that I’m not paying to have cleaned up and a whole lot of dead goblins and Blights.”
“And if all doesn’t go as planned?” Charm asked with obvious hesitation.
“Then my theory of sending the spark though the link failed and I’m going to blow my fingers off my hand. Which will most likely result in my jumping out of my chair screaming in agony and you will have to land the ship blindly,” Shade replied with a smile.
“I’ve never really been religious but I think I’ll pray now,” Charm said with a firm nod.
“You would be amazed how often I’ve been doing that very same thing lately,” Shade said with a grin and closed his fingers around the globe. He took another drag from the remnants of his cigarette and winked at Charm. “Here goes nothing,” he whispered and sent the spark
of magic into the volatile liquid.
The echoing booms of explosions filled the air and Shade looked down at the small globe in his hand and let out his breath. He allowed himself another smile and glanced over at Charm. “I wish we could have seen it. I hope Lutheron got a good look so he can show us.”
“Shade, do you realize how often things explode when you are around?” Charm asked quietly. The expression on his face was pensive.
“I know. I think I may have found my true talent in life,” Shade said, grinning wider as the last of the explosions resounded below them.
“Please don’t say that,” Charm muttered and looked back to the black view screen. “So how are you going to get us down?” he asked quietly.
“Got it all worked out, Charm. No worries, my friend,” Shade replied and dropped the globe back into his pocket. “It might be a little rough at first though, just to warn you.”
Charm gave a silent nod in response and buckled the seat harness. He glanced over at Shade once he had finished. “You are a crazy bastard, Shade,” he said in a calm voice and rubbed his face with a gloved hand. “I’m not sure that I will ever adjust to it. I’m trying though, I really am.” He paused again and lowered his hand to look meaningfully at Shade. “I’m a rogue at heart, however, and typically we sneak, we hide, we backstab. It’s a self-preservation thing that rogues have developed. We linger in the shadows and allow warriors and such to charge blindly in, and then we collect the spoils when those idiots have gotten themselves killed. At no point in my training did my mentor ever mention explosive goblins, or high speed flight, or using one’s self as bait for very large pissed off serpents. This is simply not my style.”
Shade grinned widely at Charm. “None of my teachers spoke of this kind of fun either. No doubt they didn’t want to get my hopes up for the future. Just think, Charm, from the looks of things this is just the start of it. With a war beginning, imagine the fun we can have.”
“I do believe you entirely missed my point,” Charm said dryly and sighed. “I now have more incentive than ever to fulfill Symphony’s wish of a Bloodless rebellion,” he added faintly and fell silent, his gaze locked on the black view screen.
Chapter 25
Sanctuary
Winter was settling firmly over the city and the icy wind cut through her coat like a knife. Pulling the folds of it tighter around her, Jala shuddered and glanced down at Marrow who looked completely unfazed by the day’s temperature. Shaking her head slightly, she looked back up at the wooden supports being placed and tried to ignore her chattering teeth.
In the past month, they had managed to rebuild a good portion of the Dock ward in her district. While this hadn’t been one of the wards they had planned on fixing first, it had moved to the forefront due to its distance from the inner city. Her companions were wary of the Justicars and felt the farther they built from that part of Sanctuary the better. All in all, she had to agree with them. She didn’t like the idea of her people being subjected to the Justicar’s tilted view of justice either.
Warm arms wrapped around her waist and Finn pulled her back against him tightly. His breath was warm on her neck as he kissed her lightly. “You look half frozen. Why don’t you wait inside until they need you?” he suggested and glanced back at one of the finished buildings behind them.
She followed his gaze and fought back the temptation of the warm firelight that flickered through the windows. “I want to learn how this is done. I think I have the basics of which supports need to go up first but I haven’t seen them brace a roof yet,” she explained.
“Are you switching from High Lady to carpenter then?” he teased. Warmth poured from him like an oven and she nestled closer against him. His Firym blood made him as immune to the winter wind as Marrow was and she envied them both.
“I think if I’m going to govern a city, I should know what it took to build the city and how to properly maintain it,” she replied, still keeping her gaze on the massive oaken timbers being hoisted by the work crews. It would be so much easier if they would simply let her use magic to lift the timbers, but Neph had argued against it. He insisted that the people be allowed to do the work and she had relented. His points had been valid ones. The foremost point being that they would respect it more if their own sweat went into it.
That, and the fact that most in her city needed the work desperately. For that reason alone it had been easy to recruit workers for her projects. There was a food shortage in most of the city now, and thanks to Valor, her district was better provisioned than most. So while they didn’t have an over-abundance of coins they did have plenty of supplies. It had been Jail’s idea to offer the terms for labor. The people of her city could, of course, simply buy the food with coin, but for those without coin there was now hope. For helping to rebuild the city, they could not only earn food, but clothing and homes as well. Once the announcement had been made, the labor force had swelled well beyond what she had hoped for and the progress they were making was impressive.
“So what’s this one to be?” Finn asked, his attention turned on the building taking shape before them.
“A temple,” she said and expected him to laugh. Finn was far from religious and often teased Neph for his devotion to the Aspects and Divine.
“Wise choice. These people need that right now. With things the way they are, the common man will need the wisdom a temple can offer. Where are you going to find priests though?” he replied, sounding serious.
She glanced back at him and raised an eyebrow. “Not the response I expected from you. I have managed to scrounge up a few priests. They are from my district as well. One is an alcoholic and the other two don’t look like they have had a decent meal in months. I’m not too sure how well they will do, but for now they will work,” she said with a faint smile.
Finn shrugged slightly and motioned with one hand toward the crowd of commons surrounding the building. “They aren’t Firym. We can’t expect them to hold strong without reassurance. They need to believe there is a higher power watching over them. If they were Firym they would simply know they are the higher power, and act accordingly. I’m sure even an alcoholic priest will help these people.”
Jala snorted in amusement and shook her head slowly as she turned back to the progress on the temple. “I’m not Firym,” she reminded him quietly.
“Ahh, but you were smart enough to marry one, so you will be fine,” he said, his voice once again holding a note of teasing.
She tilted her chin up to look at his face and returned his smile. Even on a dreary day such as this, Finn seemed to glow with a positive vibrancy no one else possessed. With his sun bronzed skin and shining green eyes, he was truly the most beautiful thing in the world to her. He returned her gaze, staring into her eyes and the teasing expression left his face.
“You are so beautiful,” he said quietly and brushed a hand across her wind-reddened cheek. “Your skin looks like cream kissed by roses after being in the cold.”
She smiled as he spoke, marveling at how close his words had been to her own thoughts.
“Just when I think it can’t get better …” He paused and traced her smile with a gentle finger. “You prove it can,” he added quietly and gave her a kiss.
“I love you,” she whispered as he drew back from the kiss.
“Love you too, Vezradesh,” he returned and seemed ready to say more when the hoof beats of a quickly approaching horse drew his attention.
His brow knit in concern as he watched Jail drop quickly down from his saddle and approach them. Jala felt herself tense as well. Jail was not the sort to over-react. If he was running a horse through the city streets, something was wrong, and by the sweat covering his roan gelding he had been running for a while. He was bundled heavily against the cold in a thick wool coat of dark purple. The white tunic he wore appeared to be heavy material as well, and she was relieved to see she wasn’t the only one the weather was affecting. He sketched a hasty bow to her as he approached and g
ave Finn a nod in greeting.
“Milady, we have a problem,” Jail began, sounding out of breath. His hair was pulled back neatly and held with a silver clasp. His clothing, too, was some of his finest quality she noticed, now that he was closer. The sigil of her house was worked in silver thread on the breast of his coat and the buttons were carved gems. Apparently Jail had been visiting another district today. The Mind mage was usually informal in his appearance and there was no place in her district that demanded such fashions.
“What kind of problem?” she asked and glanced toward the gates with concern. From the way Jail was acting she expected to see Justicars pouring through the streets.
“Lady Chastity has been arrested and is being taken to the Hall of Justice for judgment as we speak,” he began. “I was visiting my sister and checking on the inner city when I received the news. It hasn’t been long. I believe we still have time to act.”
“Valor’s sister?” she asked with shock and glanced to Finn. “Does Valor know yet?” she asked, turning back to Jail. It was no secret how protective Valor was of his family and news such as this would not set well with him.
He hesitated a moment and swallowed heavily. “That would be our problem, Milady. Valor is in their custody as well. I don’t have the full details, but from the street gossip it would seem he killed several Justicars.”
“Shit, they will execute him,” Finn said, his voice barely above a whisper. His arms tightened around her almost painfully and he quickly kissed her cheek. “I have to get him out of there,” he added in a louder voice and released her.
The Elder Blood Chronicles Book 2 Blood Honor and Dreams Page 36