by Sam Ferguson
Kelden clenched his jaw and walked past Yeoj and Pete. “My way, Yeoj,” Kelden repeated as he and Pendonov walked out.
“Until your way fails,” Yeoj countered.
CHAPTER EIGHT
Kelden crouched low, next to a brick chimney spewing gray smoke into the dark night sky. He turned and motioned for Pendonov and Yeoj, who were laying on the other side of the roof’s apex, to come to him.
“It’s clear,” Kelden whispered.
Yeoj crawled over the peak and gently shuffled down the other side until his foot caught the rain gutter over the alley on the east side of the building. Pendonov was quick to follow, but he went for the other side of the chimney and rested his back against it as he kept watch over the street below on the north side of the building.
“This is the address Pete gave us,” Kelden said as he pointed to a two story wooden building across the alleyway.
Pendonov leaned forward, searching the street. “We are clear from this angle.”
Kelden nodded and went for the edge of the building, scanning it for an easy route to climb down without disturbing anyone who may be inside.
“I still don’t see why we are allowing the Rangers to leave. Pete told us the man’s name,” Yeoj spat.
“Because, without knowing who else might be involved it could trigger unwanted attention,” Pendonov replied.
Kelden nodded and added, “We also don’t have any proof. Trying to approach the Rangers and tell them one of their own has gone rogue without evidence would be a death sentence for all three of us.” Kelden straightened his belt and checked his long knife. “However, if the scoundrel is dumb enough to come here for the girl, then we will take the dog down.”
Yeoj shrugged. “So, what’s the plan for tonight then?”
“You need to get a vantage point that overlooks the building’s rear windows,” Kelden told Yeoj. “If you see anyone trying to break in, you alert us and then apprehend him. Pendonov will stay here to keep watch from this angle, and I will patrol the alleys.”
“Be careful not to give us away,” Yeoj warned Pendonov as he scooted away.
“Just try not to scalp anyone,” Pendonov shot back. Yeoj disappeared from view within moments. After he was sure Yeoj was gone, Pendonov leaned over to grab Kelden’s attention just before he started descending the wall. “You sure we can trust him?”
Kelden frowned. “The queen trusts him,” he replied noncommittally.
Pendonov shook his head. “She trusted Theodorus too.”
Kelden took the point with a nod and shrugged. “She asked me to work with him. His methods are very different from our own, but they work.”
“How do you know?”
“He clued me in to Theodorus’ plan in the first place. If not for him, the queen may not be alive today. I say that buys him the benefit of the doubt.”
Pendonov shrugged and went back to watching the street. “For now, I suppose.”
“You know something I don’t?” Kelden asked.
Pendonov shook his head. “Just gives me the creeps.”
Kelden grinned. “You get used to it,” he offered.
“Is this what it was like?” Pendonov asked.
Kelden knit his brows and thought for a moment. “Is this like what?”
“You haven’t spoken much about your past assignment, with the queen I mean. I wanted to know if this is what it was like.” Pendonov pulled a knife from his belt and started cleaning his fingernails. Kelden watched him for a moment but said nothing. “I am honored that you would think me loyal enough to pull me into this secret unit, but I don’t know if I am a good fit for it.”
“How’s that?” Kelden asked as he scanned the alley below to make sure it was still clear.
“I think I like the job better when the man you cross swords with is coming at you on an open field, like those Tarthuns we fought with on the way to Rasselin. In that battle you know your enemy and you know your friends. You know your objective and the honor goes to the victor.”
Kelden cocked his head to the side. “And with this?” he prodded.
“It’s different,” Pendonov noted. “We deal with rats to uncover monsters.” Pendonov sighed.
“You mean Yeoj?” Kelden asked.
Pendonov shrugged and blew his fingernails clear and wiped his knife on his pants. “Him, Blacktooth Pete, the lot of them.” He sighed and leaned back into the chimney. “It just feels like the honor isn’t here, like it was with the Merchant Guard.”
Kelden was silent for a moment. “I won’t pretend to have the answers for you,” he said after a while. “We finish this one together, and then you can decide what fits with you best.” Kelden reached up and put a hand to Pendonov’s shoulder. “I need you on this one with me.”
Pendonov looked to Kelden and nodded once. “I’m with you, Captain Ferryl.”
Kelden slapped Pendonov’s shoulder and then disappeared down the side of the building and into the alley below.
At the bottom, an alley cat scampered behind a pile of rubbage. The stench of built up filth assaulted Kelden’s nose to the point he put a hand to his mouth. He circled the building Pete had told them about and silently checked the doors and windows along the ground level. All were secure. He was careful to stick to the shadows, just in case he and his men were not the only ones watching the house.
The night dragged on hour after painful hour. Kelden saw no movement of any kind until close to dawn when a homeless beggar came through the alley to rifle through the garbage. The man overturned piles of trash with his feet as he stumbled drunkenly through the alley. Kelden drew his long knife, just in case it was a disguised scout for Vermut. He dug himself into a doorway as the beggar fumbled past him. A cloud of rancid body odor hung around the beggar in such a way that Kelden knew it was no act. The man had clearly not bathed since the last rain, and that was several months ago.
An hour passed and dawn’s light grew, reaching over the rooftops and heralding the morning sun with shades of orange and purple in the sky above.
Yeoj approached just as light chased the shadows from the alleyway. “We need to move,” he said.
Kelden nodded. “We are too exposed here,” he agreed.
Pendonov dropped down from above, absorbing the impact by bending his body to the ground. “I didn’t see anything but that homeless guy a while back.”
Kelden looked up and down the alleyway. “Pendonov, go back to the safe house and keep an eye on Pete.”
“Done,” Pendonov replied. He jogged off down the alley without another word.
“What about us?” Yeoj asked. “The alleys would draw attention to us and we’d be spotted a long ways off if we go back to the roofs here.”
“No, the pitches are too steep. We’d be seen for sure, especially because some of the other buildings in the area are taller than the buildings close enough for us to use.” Kelden pointed across the street. “Last night I kept looking at that old house. I don’t think anyone is inside.”
“How can you tell?” Yeoj asked.
“A few of the front windows are broken and boarded up. That, plus the pile of dirt on the threshold of the front door tells me it’s likely vacant.”
Yeoj grinned. “I’ll go find us a way in.” Kelden nodded. The two of them slipped inside by prying loose some of the boards on a side window. Once inside they dealt with a few extraordinarily territorial rats and finally found a decent position in a second floor bedroom with a window overlooking the street and, more importantly, the house Pete had told them about.
They each took turns looking through the slits in the boards covering the window and napping in a corner of the dusty room. During Kelden’s third watch, a tall, slender woman emerged from the house across the street.
She was wearing a blue dress with white flowers in her long, brown hair. She was more beautiful than Kelden had expected. Instead of alerting Yeoj to the activity, he watched the woman. She carried a large wicker basket with the arching handl
e over her left arm. Inside the basket were a few long stemmed flowers. Some were lilies, others were tulips. The woman started handing them out to people on the street, smiling widely as she would say something that Kelden could not hear.
“Hardly looks like someone who was recently kidnapped,” Yeoj commented.
Kelden startled away from the window and saw Yeoj at the other side of the window, peeking through a knothole in one of the boards.
“Sorry, didn’t hear you get up,” Kelden said sheepishly.
Yeoj winked and went back to the knothole. “Yeah, I suppose I can forgive you for that, considering how good she looks.”
Kelden wanted to say something, but nothing came out. His mouth just hung open without any refute.
“Why don’t you go introduce yourself?” Yeoj pushed.
“That’s not what we are here for,” Kelden said sternly.
Yeoj nodded and shot him another wink before heading back to the corner and pulling a waterskin from his belt. “There’s nothing wrong with it either. We have to keep an eye on both of them. You could go keep an eye on her, while I watch the house and make sure nothing happens to the other one.”
Kelden pushed back from the boarded window and wiped the old, soft wood splinters from his hands. “Well, I suppose someone should keep an eye on her if she is out by herself.”
“Precisely, and someone else should stay and watch the house,” Yeoj repeated.
Kelden nodded and wrung his hands a bit.
“I’ll go, if you want,” Yeoj offered slyly.
Kelden shook his head. “No, I’ll go.”
Yeoj laughed and took a pull from the waterskin. As Kelden left the house and slipped out into the street.
He followed the woman through the streets and out to a small gate in Kobhir’s eastern wall that allowed citizens out to the sea. He did his best to keep his distance as he watched her hunt for flowers, rocks, and shells in the cool morning air. He admired the way she walked, with her hair waving in the breeze. He kept as close as he could to a copse of trees as she went down closer to the beach. He didn’t want to risk her spotting him.
When she finished collecting shells she moved back up the sandy beach and onto the grassy hills to pick more flowers. Kelden wasn’t close enough to see exactly what kinds of flowers she was picking, but he knew the area was smothered in buttercups, clovers, and wild violets. Hardly the kinds of things that someone could make a living selling, but he had heard talk that these flowers, among other herbs that grew in the area, were great for alchemists. Kelden mused to himself, picturing her behind a counter full of glass beakers creating elixirs. There were few enough alchemists in Kobhir, but those who had the skill made a decent enough living. Nothing they could get rich with, but it was enough to get by on without any major complaints.
Kelden moved from his spot, slowly picking his path along a set of white boulders that he kept between them to shield his movement. The woman glanced back a time or two, but Kelden was quick to duck behind cover before he could be seen. Or so he thought. As the sun rose higher in the sky, and her basket grew fuller, she turned back for the city.
She walked along a seldom used path that cut in between large rock outcroppings and thick, wind-hardened oak trees. Kelden had to adjust his speed to keep her in his sight. Then, she disappeared around a large boulder as the path twisted off to the right, toward the main road into Kobhir from this direction. Kelden waited for about thirty seconds before he followed her around. He wanted to give her enough of a lead that she would not catch him behind her.
He rounded the boulder and carefully peeked around. The woman was walking casually along the path leading to a dense copse of trees. Kelden stepped forward slowly.
A crow launched from the rocks above squawking loudly with its mocking ca-caw. Sebina turned to find the source of the sound and Kelden dove back by the boulder in an effort to conceal himself. He landed hard, but was able to muffle the sound by catching himself with his hands behind the boulder. A couple of rocks jabbed his arms, chest, and left shoulder, but he paid them no mind. Instead he held his breath and tried to remain still. Nothing happened. He waited for a count of fifty before he decided it was safe for him to emerge from his hiding spot.
He slid his hands out to the side and pulled his feet under himself. As he stood up he let his left hand glide up the craggy boulder for support. His fingers brushed aside a couple of dead, dried leaves and he turned his head reflexively when he heard them crackle and skitter down the rock face. A small, tan flash struck out and he felt a horrible sting in his left hand. After the shock was over he realized he had been bitten by a rock-jumper, a small, highly aggressive and territorial viper of no more than six inches long. Kelden pulled his hand back quickly and tried to back pedal away from the rock, but it was too late. The rock-jumper had already coiled for launch and it erupted into an impressive display, flying through the air and showing exactly how it had received its name. Kelden was able to bring his other arm up in time to shield his chest, but the viper was able to strike through to his forearm. He shook the serpent off and crushed it beneath the heel of his boot.
Kelden knew he was in trouble. He would have to get back to Kobhir as quickly as possible. He snuck a peek around the boulder and saw that Sebina was already far off in the trees. He took off in the opposite direction, hoping he would be able to reach the walls before the poison paralyzed him. He thought of trying to suck it out, but he had heard stories that sucking the rock-jumper’s poison only quickened its paralyzing effect, leaving the victim helpless while the poison slowly killed them from within.
*****
“There are no bodies inside, captain,” Teo announced upon emerging from the guardhouse.
“Very well,” Captain Moggs replied. “I don’t understand how this could have happened.” He surveyed the rest of the man-trap on the Zinferth side of Hart’s Bridge, and glanced to the reinforcements he had brought with him.
“Perhaps the criminal they were warning us about has made it into our lands, sir,” Teo put in.
“It is possible, but it doesn’t seem likely that a lone swordsman could have done this. What confuses me is that on our side of the bridge our comrades’ heads have been placed on pikes with this warning nailed to one of them.” Captain Moggs held up the tattered note written in blood. “Now I see a charred wagon, a couple of injured horses, and wagon tracks leading out with no sign of any bodies on this side. Something doesn’t add up.”
“Sir,” a voice called from one of the towers. “I see a band of riders heading toward us.”
Moggs and Teo jogged over to the gateway of the complex and scanned the desert road before them. At first they could only see a large cloud of dust winding its way through the dunes like a gigantic, brown snake.
“Can you see their banners?” Teo asked.
“Not yet,” Moggs replied. “I would guess they are probably Zinferth soldiers.”
“Perhaps we should meet them, and inform them of what we found when we arrived.”
“Very well,” Moggs agreed. “Get my horse and join me out here. Give the order to close the gate, we don’t want the Zinferth soldiers riding in and thinking that we killed their comrades. I don’t want this to turn into a border dispute. We have enough of that in the south.”
“Yes sir,” Teo replied. He ran off to get the horses.
Moggs looked up to the tower and waived to his lookout. “Can you make out their colors?” Moggs yelled.
“Riders of Zinferth, captain,” the lookout replied.
“Well, I suppose someone has to inform them of their comrades’ fate.” Moggs turned and waited for Teo to bring the horses out. The large, portcullis came crashing down shortly after Teo emerged with the steeds. The two trotted out on horseback about fifty yards. By this time the riders were close enough that Captain Moggs could see the first row clearly. The men were dressed in armor, holding their colors high and running their horses at a quick gallop.
“Teo, hol
d up,” Moggs ordered as he halted his horse. “Something doesn’t feel right.” Moggs glanced back to the gate. The hairs on the back of his neck stood on end. His instincts told him that he was in dire straits.
“What is it?” Teo asked.
Moggs pointed to the riders and slowly shook his head. “Their hands are resting on their swords.”
“Surely they can’t think we did this?” Teo asked. “We only arrived today, and it is obvious that the battle took place days ago.”
Moggs spat on the desert sand. “Our nations have had several skirmishes on the border over the last year.”
“But never this far north,” Teo reminded him. “Hart’s Bridge has always been the one border crossing that was stable. The skirmishes happen on the plains south of the mountains.”
Moggs narrowed his eyes on the approaching riders and shook his head. “There is no more peace at Hart’s Bridge, back to the gatehouse now!” Moggs whipped his horse around and galloped back to the gatehouse. “Whatever the reason, these men are here to fight.”
A pair of black arrows flew by their heads, only narrowly missing them.
Moggs and Teo spurred their horses furiously, but they could hear the riders gaining on them with each passing second. Moggs feared that they would not be able to outrun the soldiers behind them. “Teo, get to the men and order them to fall back to our side of the bridge and send a dispatch for help.”
“What are you going to do?” Teo asked.
“I will buy you time,” Moggs replied. “Open the gate!” Moggs bellowed to his men behind the portcullis. Then he drew his sword and turned his horse back to face the charging battle-group. He offered a mighty roar to Basei, the demigod of battle and war, and then he rode headlong into the enemy. His only hope was that his sacrifice would buy Teo enough time to relay the orders to the rest of the men.
Moggs narrowed his eyes and set his jaw as he urged his horse forward. The Zinferth soldiers drew their weapons. Horse hooves churned and flipped the desert sand every which way as the gap between the riders closed. Another volley of arrows sailed in. Moggs caught three of them with his shield, and then hunkered down in his saddle as the distance between him and the enemy closed. The impact was sudden, thunderous, and bloody. Moggs scored a hit on an enemy soldier with his blade, while his shield deflected the spear of another Zinferth soldier. The spear and the three arrow shafts splintered, spraying wood across all nearby riders, but Moggs pressed on. He swung out with his shield and collided with one of the Zinferth riders, the man was knocked backward from his horse, to be trampled below. Moggs swung his sword to strike another foe, but this time a large war-hammer connected with his blade and snapped it like a twig. A stabbing pain shot through Moggs’ left thigh. He turned to see a sword protruding from his leg. Holding on to the sword was a large man with an eye-patch.