by John Booth
Marcus drew his sword and the guards dragged Karn to his feet. He was pushed into the lounge in front of them, falling to the floor. The girls stopped their training aghast at the intrusion of armed men and their father. They tried to cover their bodies with their arms.
“Well, I didn’t expect your daughters would already be plucked and waiting for their imminent rapes and deaths,” Marcus said in an almost normal tone of voice. The girls were not fooled for a second as they could see madness lighting his eyes.
Marcus turned to Karn who lay on the floor with a guard’s sword pressing against his stomach. “They are such pretty daughters, so much more for me and my men to enjoy.”
“Why are you doing this? What have we done to you?” Karn snarled.
“I have Daniel al’Degar, Jalia al’Dare, and maybe even the third bitch, whoever she is, against you. You have sheltered them, I’m sure.” Marcus turned to look wild-eyed at the girls. “They stole our money, almost every bar of gold the Association has. The others will kill me when they find out. Nowhere is far enough away for me to hide from them. So I am going to have my revenge on you first.”
Marcus stepped towards the girls, Kalla and Ralta stepped back, still covering their naked bodies, but Jema was made of sterner stuff and held her ground, hands at her side. She looked at her father, held captive on the floor with a sword held ready to gut him and her anger grew. Who were these men to think they could treat them like this?
Marcus held his sword at Jema and traced it’s tip down between Jema’s breasts to her thighs. Without being aware of it, he repeated the exact motions the guard in the Gathering Pool had done to Jalia. Jema had been practicing Jalia’s attack on the guard, using her sword propped on a table. She knew it would be madness to try that though, Jalia had warned her how dangerous it would be.
“I think I’ll have your little sister first. Ralta might be a virgin, who knows? I’ll cut her throat before I have you though, as I think she’ll turn out to be a screamer.”
Anger overwhelmed Jema and she launched into Jalia’s attack, pushing the sword away from a stunned Marcus. Had he not spent the day in the caverns he might have been able to react, but he was far too tired. Jema’s toes lifted him a good four inches into the air as desperation lent her strength. His sword fell from his numb hand. She picked it up and turned to face the guards.
The guards were too busy trying to pull the daggers out from their bellies to worry about Jema. It appeared that some of Jalia’s training had stuck with her sisters and as soon as she began to move, they dived for the knives they had been practicing with. Jalia had given them a special lesson the previous morning on the limits of unarmed combat and the merits of learning how to throw a knife.
Marcus was on his knees, holding his crushed testicals in his hands. Jema raised the sword high and struck, cutting Marcus’s head at the neck. She didn’t quite manage to cut it off and Marcus’s head hung low against his chest held on by his windpipe and an inch of flesh. It did him little good though, as he fell lifeless to the floor.
Karn got unsteadily to his feet as his daughters ran to hug him.
“So this is why I shouldn’t interrupt your practicing,” Karn said wearily, looking in disbelief at the bodies lying on his floor. “It is going to be very difficult to get all those blood stains out of the floorboards. Sam is going to be furious with you.”
9. Mopping Up
Jalia and Daniel were lost. Their last torch died over two hours ago and they continued to walk up the tunnel in the dark, Daniel in the lead with one hand against the wall and the other holding Jalia’s hand. To say they were tired would be an understatement.
“I wonder what time of day it is?” Daniel asked, “I feel like we’ve been walking in here for weeks.”
“It is a few minutes passed seven in the evening,” Jalia said with utter certainty. “We haven’t been in here a full day, Daniel.”
“How can you possibly know that?”
“I always know what the time is,” Jalia shrugged, though Daniel couldn’t see it. “I’ve been able to do that since I day I learnt how to tell the time.”
“And have you any ideas as to how we might get out of here?”
“None, except to keep on doing what we’re doing, and hope for the best.”
“What about that magic ring of yours?”
“I suppose it might have recovered enough to work. But if we use it now it might run out of power before we can reach an exit.”
It had been sixteen hours since she used the ring to disguise the gold bars as bricks and mortar. It generally took a day to regain its power when drained.
“I’m willing to risk using it if you are.” Daniel yawned. “I am so tired.”
“Magic Ring, please show us the nearest exit to get back into the city.”
A glowing arrow appeared, so bright after the hours they had spent in darkness that it blinded them. The ring seemed to realize its mistake and the arrow reduced in brightness to just enough to show them their surroundings. It pointed at the opposite wall of the tunnel where they could now see a set of stone stairs leading up. The tunnel was too wide for them to hold both walls and they would have gone straight past it if they hadn’t called on the ring to help. The irony of that didn’t escape them.
They scrambled up the steps in a rush, delighted at getting their feet out of warm running water for the first time since the lake. When they worked the lock mechanism of the door at the top, they found themselves at the Gathering Pool.
There was nobody there. There were no guards on duty, and not a single swimmer in the pool. Many of the torches around the pool had burnt out and nobody had bothered to replace them. They found the building more than a little eerie.
“Let’s go to Karn’s town house. I don’t think anybody will be looking for us up here, but we should be take care to avoid being seen.”
“Good idea.” To Jalia the thought of the nice clean bed seemed like a vision of heaven. She was having trouble keeping her eyes open.
Daniel unlocked the back door of the house. There had been no opportunity to give the key back to Karn the previous day.
The lights were out in the hall and the only room showing a light was the lounge. When Daniel cautiously pushed the lounge door open with his sword drawn and ready, the one thing he didn’t expect to see were bodies of Association guards, draped across the floor.
“Still warm”, Jalia noted as she knelt down besides one of the men to touch him. “Ralta killed this one.”
“Jalia, I’m prepared to believe you capable of many things, but not that you can deduce the killer from a single knife wound.”
“She always aims a little high.” Jalia kicked over the other guard’s body, “This one was probably killed by Kalla.”
“Alright, I’ll bite. How can you know?”
“Because Marcus was certainly killed by Jema.” Jalia lifted the almost severed head of Marcus to make sure it was him. “She risked the method I used to take out the guard in the Gathering Pool and then cut Marcus’s head off with his own sword.”
“Why couldn’t it have been Karn, why are you so sure it was Jema?” Daniel asked.
“I recognize the results of my own training, Daniel. And Karn would have severed Marcus’s head completely.”
“So pray tell me, all seeing prophetess, what happened after that?”
“I haven’t a clue. I have to sleep, Daniel. I’m going to our room and barricade myself in. Are you coming?” Jalia yawned, she had not slept for three nights and it had finally caught up with her.
“No, I’ll go over to the hotel and reconnoiter. If the Association is going to kill us in our sleep, I want to know it is going to happen.”
Daniel left Jalia and used the back alleys to get to the hotel. The lobby was filled with armed men and there was a lot of shouting going on. Daniel was about to retreat when he saw Karn and Patrus in the center of the room giving orders.
As he stepped into the lobby, a dozen sword
and crossbows were pointed at him by men with frightened and hostile faces. He lifted his hands in a sign of surrender, well aware that men this frightened might shoot first and asked questions later.
“Don’t kill him!” Karn shouted, “That’s Daniel al’Degar, the man we have to thank for our deliverance.”
A ragged cheer ran though the room and the hostile faces were suddenly smiling. Daniel decided to be cautious and kept his hands in the air as he went over to Karn.
“We thought you were dead or lost in the caverns. Is Jalia safe?”
“She is. She’s sleeping back at your house. You seem to have been busy here, judging from the state of your lounge?” Daniel made the statement into a question as he looked into Karn’s eyes.
“That was the work of my daughters,” Karn said with pride, “Jema killed Marcus when he attacked us and Kalla and Ralta killed the other two. You should have seen it. I have never been so proud of them.”
“My daughters are leading the men waiting by the tunnel. It seems all the Association’s men not guarding the gates and wall went into the caverns looking for you and the gold.”
“Have any returned who travelled downstream?”
“As far as I know, all the survivors had gone upstream, why do you ask?”
“Jalia laid a trap where the river becomes a waterfall into the lake. From the marks on Marcus’s body, my guess is he fell into the lake.”
“Any who fall into Crocodile Lake are almost certainly dead,” Karn agreed.
“Crocodile?”
“A creature imported into the caverns in the time of the Magician Kings. The caverns were altered so that the creatures cannot get up into the places where we need to service the pipes. We feed the creatures regularly. They were introduced to serve as scavengers in the lower caverns, which they do very well. Once a year we clear the upper tunnels of any strays, as their young are sometimes capable of making the journey up the steps.”
“You might have mentioned that before,” Daniel said, and sat down with a groan.
“It is a town secret and I didn’t know you were planning to explore.”
Patrus came up to Daniel and gave him a hug. “It’s good to see you alive. Karn tells me you stole the Association’s gold and hid it so well that Marcus and his men cannot find it. Are you going to tell us where it is?”
“Firstly, Jalia stole the gold. Secondly, Jalia stole the gold, so I am sorry to say your city will almost certainly never see it again.”
Patrus looked a bit downcast, but Karn laughed in genuine delight. “And long may it stay lost. With the Association’s gold gone, the value of my gold is going to rise. The mines in Telmar are nearly played out. The Association will never be wealthy enough to be able to take this city again.”
“That gold would have been useful to the city, Karn,” Patrus said with a sigh.
“And so it will be in the future. When things settle down, many will come to visit in search of the Association’s lost gold, because I very much doubt Daniel and Jalia are going to take it with them.” Karn smiled at Patrus, “Your hotel is going to be the most popular place in the world.”
“Are the Association truly defeated here?” Daniel asked, surprised that Karn and Patrus seemed to think the battle was over.
“It’s true that the gate and walls are still in the Association’s hands and their forces have gathered at the eastern gate. But unless the Association sends reinforcements we should be able to take our city back from them. We plan to attack in the morning.”
Daniel looked at the men in the room. He saw from the hardness in their eyes they knew many would be killed taking the gates and that they had come to the conclusion that it was a price worth paying.
“I’m going to bed. Wake me up at first light and I think I have a way we can take the gate without a battle. I’ll be back at the house with Jalia until then,” Daniel bade them goodnight and left them wondering how he could possibly achieve such a miracle.
The next morning, Jalia and Daniel were back at the hotel fit and refreshed. They went down to the room where Karn’s daughters were still managing the capture of men returning from the caverns. As soon as they saw them the girls ran over to Jalia, squealing with pleasure.
Jalia grabbed Jema with both hands and looked deep into her eyes, “I ought to spank you for trying that maneuver on Marcus, didn’t I tell you how foolish it was?”
Jema looked Jalia back in the eyes, “Yes, but I discovered that last factor you mentioned.”
Jalia looked at her puzzled.
“He made me very, very angry.”
Jalia laughed and clasped Jema tightly. The girls wanted to tell her about the fight and they did it at the same time. Daniel retreated from the babble of voices to where Karn stood with the men guarding the prisoners.
“Is this all that survived?”
Less than forty dirty, disheveled and disoriented men were sitting down with their hands tied.
“I’m surprised it was this many,” Karn said with a shrug, “The caverns are deadly if you don’t know what you’re doing.”
“They should serve our purpose well. Bring them into the square.”
The prisoners walked out into the square where they were lined up. They were tied at their hands and ropes used to tie them in a line. Daniel led the procession on Jet with the dejected prisoners walking behind him and fifty citizens with crossbows behind them.
He marched the prisoners to the eastern gate, stopping them just out of crossbow range.
“These are all that remain of Marcus al’Tren’s men,” Daniel shouted to the men positioned at the gate. “All the rest are dead, killed by the citizens of Brinan!” There was a loud cheer from the citizens at his rear.
“What chance do you think you have against men like that?” There was no answer from the gate. “Leave and you will not be killed. Leave now and we will release these prisoners to follow you, once we control the gates. Leave now and not one of you will be killed.”
There was no response from the gate.
“All the Mine Owners Association’s gold is gone. It is lost forever in the caverns of Brinan. You will not be paid because they no longer have the money to pay you.”
Daniel waited patiently, though Jalia had drawn her sword and was considering rushing the gate. Then a voice shouted out. “We’re leaving. Hold your fire.”
Jalia put her sword back in its scabbard clearly annoyed there wasn’t going to be any action.
An hour later, the gates and city walls were in the control of the citizens of Brinan and the freed prisoners walked down the road to join their fellow mercenaries.
“What will you do now?” Karn asked Daniel.
“We shall wait here a few days and then follow them to Telmar.”
“But that is madness. You’ll be killed on sight.”
Daniel looked at Jalia, who grinned at him.
“But that’s where I want to go,” she said with satisfaction.
10.Vincend Gore
Jalia awoke to someone pouring a bucket of water over her. She felt she was drowning, especially as she could not breathe through her mouth for the knotted rope that held it open. Jalia’s head hurt and for a few moments the sound and feel of the water overwhelmed her senses and she could think of nothing but trying to breathe.
She shook her head desperately trying to get some air into her lungs. Her hands were tied behind her back and her feet were tied too. It took her a few more seconds to deduce she was tied to a chair.
There was a man laughing harshly behind her. He must be the one who poured the water over her. Jalia couldn’t remember anything. The last thing she clearly remembered was going to bed in Karn’s hillside mansion. The pounding pain in her head suggested she had been knocked unconscious. She tried to get the water out of her eyes to see where she was.
The man who had been laughing was talking to her. His words seemed to boom and bounce around her head and it took her a while to figure out his words.
; “Welcome back to the land of the living, whore. You’ll soon wish that blow to your head had killed you.”
Jalia felt a rough hand, calloused and full of strength, cup her chin and force it upwards painfully. Her vision went black before clearing to show a poorly shaved face looking down at her. The face was almost round and the man had a small nose almost pig-like in its shape.
There was no mistaking the sense of power in his dark eyes though. They were black as the pits of hell. She saw this man had no mercy in his soul. There was only greed and an insatiable lust for power. This was as clear to Jalia as noticing the thinning black hair that streaked his head.
“You’re going to tell me where you hid our gold. You’re going to beg to tell me before I get fully started. You will soon be longing that you had never come to Brinan, but not so much as you will long to be dead.”
Jalia tried to speak through the gag. Its coarse fibers burned as they scraped her tongue. If she could have said any words this man would be dead. He would be torn apart by her anger and the power of the ring on her finger. All she needed was to be able to say the words that would unleash its power. The noises she managed to make sounded like a baby who hadn’t learnt to speak.
“Oh, there is no need for you to tell me anything yet. I wouldn’t believe you anyway.” The big man spoke softly, as if his words were meant to caress and comfort her. “I plan to give you hours of excruciating pain before I remove the gag. That’s why it’s there, to spare my ears from your unworthy screams.”
The man moved away from Jalia so she could see him clearly. The room swam into focus and she saw she was still in Brinan. This was the state room of Karn’s mansion. Jalia’s eyes swept the room and she saw Talla Caulder was tied up opposite her. There was blood over Talla’s hair. She was very much awake though. She was gagged and her eyes bulged with fear.
Jalia knew Talla had good reason to be afraid. This man needed her to lead him to the gold. He would not allow her to die until he had the gold in his hands. Talla was expendable and he didn’t look like the sort of person who kept prisoners for no purpose.