by Sam Ferguson
“That worked a little too well,” Talon mumbled to himself as he took an elbow to the ribs from a tall, slender female elf who was frantically clawing her way to the front of the crowd. Talon wondered if perhaps the main gas distribution center had been underneath the Council Hall. He supposed that might make it easier if it was administered by the city’s government. He had asked L’gorech about it, but the dolt had absolutely nothing to offer him. It had been a miracle that L’gorech had known where Jahre was staying.
It made no difference now, though. His plan may not have accounted for every detail, but it worked, and he was still breathing. In a foreign land filled with magic wielding warriors, he would take every win he could, even if it meant destroying an ancient elvish city.
The road rounded and turned east. The crowd followed it like a river running through a canyon river bed. Talon saw the gates were indeed open. It appeared that several guards were actually trying to close them, but they were vastly outnumbered by hordes of people fleeing the city. There must have been close to two hundred people already at the gates, fighting to keep them open and escape. Talon smiled wide. At this rate, he could run half way back to Bluewater and no one would think twice of it.
Now that he had the scroll, it was time to go after the next item on his list. It was called simply “The King’s Ring,” and it was being kept by the last remaining Tomni’Tai elf in the realm. Talon would have to sail from Bluewater to Selemet Isle, but he felt confident his good fortune would continue to hold up.
CHAPTER EIGHTTEEN
“Alright, we are within sight of Bluewater,” announced the ship’s captain.
“Thank you,” Kai replied.
“Anytime,” the captain said. “I’m always happy to help Kelden with anything he needs.”
“Yes, you told me how he saved you once from a band of pirates,” Kai said.
“I am forever in his debt!” the captain said with a finger pointing to the sky. “Without him and his men, I would not be counted among the living today, that is for sure.” The captain turned and walked away, barking orders at his men to prepare the ship for arrival.
Kai was happy to be finished with the human traffickers, yet his victory felt hollow. Perhaps it was because he didn’t personally have the pleasure of killing Gurn. Maybe he just missed Pinhead and Redbeard. Or, possibly he simply felt the nagging emptiness caused within his soul when he killed Jimik and Gainer.
He shook his thoughts out of his head and put his new mission at the forefront of his mind. He rose to his feet, his body still sore from the previous battle. His arm was strong enough to hold a sword now, but he wasn’t sure he could fight with it. The poison’s effects still lingered in his hand and he had to concentrate more than usual to open and close his fingers. Keeping his hand steady was a chore as well, but he grew stronger with each passing day. Hopefully Kelden was right and this new investigation would offer Kai a much needed break from fighting and action. Something in the back of his mind whispered that the danger was far from over. Kai’s hand instinctively slipped down to feel the reassurance of his sword hanging from his belt.
He walked up the stairs to the main deck of the small ship. He could see the city easily enough. They were only about three hundred yards away from the docks. Fishing nets and small boats were strewn about the eastern side of the docks while many larger ships, mostly merchant vessels, were moored on the western side. At the end of the dock there was a large building where the harbor master conducted his business. Beyond the docks there were a few smaller, cottage-like houses on the small slope leading up to the main city. Some of these houses had ivy, bougainvillea, or jasmine crawling over them, creating an almost surreal welcome for any visitor willing to take the time and look.
Near the top of the hill the houses became larger, more rectangular, with pitched roofs. Even from the sea Kai could see the large, brown timbers at the corners of these houses. They contrasted sharply against the white stone of the exterior walls, and were occasionally highlighted by more creeping vines with blossoms of red, blue, yellow, and orange. Further into the city were other, larger buildings. Kai could see the chimneys atop the buildings releasing thin lines of smoke into the air above. Bluewater was far more developed than Rasselin, or even Blundfish.
Kai closed his eyes as the cool summer sea breeze flew past him.
His mood seemed to lighten considerably then as he felt he was free from all his cares. And he knew that he likely was. No Ranger would not venture out this far away from Rasselin. That desert city had enough rats of its own to catch. Even with Jimik and Gainer’s deaths, Kai doubted that any of the Rangers would consider coming to a foreign land to look for him. They would likely search all of the major cities in Zinferth, but they would have no authority here. Yet, he still did not completely dismiss the notion.
That thought made him shudder.
“Beautiful city, this Bluewater,” the captain said as he admired the view of the city. “I have come here on many trips for trade, and am always impressed with its beauty. The lush, green trees, the well-dressed citizens in their fine linens and silken outfits, the crystal clear blue waters of their port, and the serenity of the city itself are just heaven to an old salty sea-dog like myself.” The captain stretched his arms out as if to hug the entire city. “Is there such a place anywhere else on Terramyr?” he asked with a very content smile.
Kai nodded his agreement. The city was far superior to anything he had ever seen. The captain patted Kai on the shoulder then and walked away to oversee the crew as they secured the ship to the dock.
Within a few minutes Kai was back on land. His legs felt a little insecure on the dry, unmoving earth as they had become accustomed to the rocking motions of the sea, but soon they regained their regular walking abilities and he ambled onward to meet with the dock manager.
“Who might you be?” the old, hawk-nosed elf said from behind a pair of round spectacles.
Kai pulled his backpack around and reached inside to retrieve his orders from Kelden. "I was told to show these to you and ask for Seldaric,” Kai replied.
The old elf wrinkled his nose and arched a brow. “You were told to ask for Seldaric?” he repeated.
Kai nodded. “Is that a problem?”
The elf raised both of his brows and sighed. “I am afraid that Seldaric was recently notified that his grandfather was murdered in Medlas. I don’t think he will be much use to you.”
Kai frowned. “Perhaps, then, I could offer my assistance to him.”
The dock manager nodded and handed the orders back to Kai. “I remember Kelden, and I have no problem with your orders. I hereby grant you access to Bluewater. If you seek Seldaric, however, you will need to tread lightly. I heard that he and one of the Svetli’Tai Kruks from Medlas have been tracking the murderer somewhere here in the town. So far he has evaded or killed other patrolmen that have come across him. I would watch my back, if I were you. If you must seek him out, then go to the magistrate’s offices tomorrow morning. They can send for him. Until then, perhaps wet your pipe in a tavern and enjoy the sea air.”
Kai nodded his thanks and slung his pack over his shoulder which held a change of clothes, a bit of food the captain had given him, and forty gold pieces as an advance from Kelden. His sword hung from his belt and swung just a little as he walked. Even for a Ranger he was traveling light.
As he pressed further up the hill toward the small cottages he noticed that even the smell was different. Although the air had a salty quality to it he almost felt as if the city smelled cleaner than Blundfish somehow. The aroma of flowers certainly helped. He stopped to admire the buildings close-up. He noticed that the houses and buildings were more rectangular, most of them only one story, but some of them being as tall as three stories. As he had thought, they were built with white stone, with wooden, pitched roofs. Kai definitely liked the brighter appearance that this type of building gave to the city as opposed to the darker brick or wood that was used back in Rasselin.
He looked up one of the side streets and saw a sign for a tavern. He ambled his way over to it intending to enter but then he stopped as he heard a threatening voice.
“Stop right there!” the voice demanded. Kai slowly turned to see an elf dressed in bronze armor, sword drawn and at the ready. To Kai’s surprise, the elf wasn’t looking at him, but beyond him. Kai turned to see another human just beyond the tavern. Kai’s mouth dropped open. He couldn’t be sure, but the man looked like the person Kai had seen outside Governor Gandle’s manor.
Four more elves emerged from hiding spots along the side street and cornered the fugitive. Kai instinctively backed up to the tavern wall, staying clear of the kill zone. As desperately as he wanted answers about Governor Gandle, he couldn’t be sure that this was the same man yet. Besides, elves were allowed to use magic in the Elven Isles, so logically Kai assumed that the villain was as good as caught.
Kai noted the scimitar hanging from the man’s belt. The way the man stood cued the ex-Ranger in to the fact that he was preparing for a fight. Kai knew if he interfered now, the elves would consider him a threat. He would have to let this play out, even if that meant losing the chance to question the man.
“You are under arrest for four counts of murder, including Jahre, Sage of Bluewater, Jahre’s servant, Uloren, Uloren’s son Lelrin, and Watch Captain L’gorech. You are also charged with the destruction of the Council Hall in Medlas. We are authorized to neutralize you by any means necessary,” another elf said as he stepped out from behind a large rose bush. Kai was astonished that he had not noticed the elf hiding a mere twenty feet away from him dressed in a bright red hooded tunic. The elf pulled back the hood to reveal a mangled ear.
“How’s the ear?” the human taunted. The man slowly slid the scimitar from its sheath.
The elf in the red tunic raised his left hand, palm facing out. Kai could hear the breathing rhythms of each of the fighters. The man seemed calm but the elves were breathing at a quickened pace, revealing their nervousness. It seemed as if they all stood there for hours on end. No one moved. Weapons were at the ready, but hardly an eyelid blinked. Then suddenly the human burst into action.
He fired a crossbow at the elf in the red tunic, who managed to dodge the missile by casting a ward spell in front of him that stopped the bolt in mid-air about six inches away from his throat.
The man whirled to his left and took off the nearest elf’s sword arm with a single, deft stroke. Then he pierced the elf’s chest with his scimitar and pulled on the scimitar’s handle to force the elf to turn and stand directly between the fugitive and another elf. A fireball leapt from a third elf’s hand but was blocked by his skewered comrade’s back.
The man jerked his scimitar free and threw a dagger at the third elf. The blade sunk into his neck and the elf twirled to the ground clutching at his throat. The fugitive was amazingly fast, faster than Kai had ever seen a man move. He dodged a spell thrown by the elf in red and managed to close the distance on the fourth elf. A quick set of parries and then the human cut the fourth elf down with a deep slash through the elf’s torso.
Only the elf in red and the armored elf remained. The elf in red charged on the human’s left and the armored elf charged on the man’s right.
Who is this man? Kai wondered. He felt his hand slide down to his sword. Something inside him urged him to help. The human crossed blades with both elves. He moved so quickly that he was able to block with his scimitar, strike with his boot, and even draw a dagger with his left hand without either elf being able to score a single hit.
The human ducked down as both elves thrust from either side. Then the human flicked the dagger. The elf in red shouted in protest as the dagger bit into his thigh. The armored elf moved in furiously working his blade. The human deflected each strike and retaliated with a series of powerful blows that if not for the elf’s armor surely would have cut the elf into pieces. Luckily for the elf the scimitar bounced off the bronze plating.
The elf in red raised his left hand again and conjured another spell. Kai watched in amazement as the very air around the elf’s hand seemed to gather and condense into a ball of opaque energy. The armored elf saw it too, and took a couple steps back from the human. Somehow, the human anticipated what was coming. He dove to the side and the magic blast pummeled the armored elf with punishing force. The bronze plates yielded inward under the pressure and the elf flew head over heels backward through the air until he slammed into the tavern’s exterior wall and slid down, head first, to hit the ground.
Kai couldn’t watch anymore. He dropped his backpack and sprinted for the elf in red and tackled him to the ground just as a crossbow bolt sailed overhead and glanced off the stone wall of the building behind them. Kai sprang to his feet and drew his sword, but the human was already gone down the alleyway from which he had appeared between the tavern and a stone cottage.
“What are you doing?” the elf in red shouted.
“I saved your life!” Kai replied.
“Bah!” the elf huffed, “I could have dodged the crossbow.”
Kai shook his head. “No, he was too fast that time, you wouldn’t have raised your ward in time. You barely shielded yourself from his first shot.”
The elf slowly pushed himself to his feet and glared at Kai. “What is your name, human?”
Kai recognized the elf’s tone. He let his sword fall to the ground and he held his hands out to his side. “I am Kai, I have come from Zinferth on official business.”
The elf cocked his head and stared hard into Kai’s eyes. “Then why were you headed straight for the tavern?”
“I have business with Seldaric, but the dock manager told me I should wait until the morning to seek him out, so I was going to have a drink and inquire about a room.” Kai motioned to the alleyway. “I assume that is the fugitive the dock manager spoke of?”
The elf stood silently.
Kai pointed to his backpack. “My official orders are in my bag. They will confirm my claims.”
The elf nodded. “Well, no reason to wait until tomorrow to talk with Seldaric,” he said.
“Are you Seldaric?” Kai asked.
The elf shook his head. “I am Ulthgaron.” He pointed to the crumpled form in bronze armor. “He is Seldaric.”
Kai turned around to see the armored elf slowly turning around to sit upright and struggling to pull his helmet off. “He got away?” he asked as he spat a mouthful of blood on the ground.
Ulthgaron nodded. “I assume responsibility for it. It was foolish to throw that spell with you so close to him.”
Seldaric stood on shaky legs and tossed his helmet to the ground. “No matter. We have time. He can’t go back to Medlas, and Bluewater is the only port city on this side of the island.”
“What do we do now,” Ulthgaron asked. “Shall we pursue?”
Seldaric shook his head. “You are injured and I can barely stand. I am lucky my armor stopped your spell from crushing my bones. As it is I can barely breathe.”
“I can help you,” Kai offered. Seldaric looked Kai over and shrugged.
“Who are you?”
“I believe you may know the man who sent me, his name is Kelden,” Kai said.
Seldaric frowned for a moment and then he nodded. “Yes, he was sent to recover a ship that pirates had stolen. I remember him.”
“Well,” Kai began. “Now he has sent me for the same man you are chasing,” Kai lied.
“Why would he do that?” Ulthgaron asked. “You can’t possibly know about the attack in Medlas.”
“No,” Kai said quickly, “but a couple of weeks ago that man killed the governor of my home city. If possible I am to take him alive to acquire information from him about his motives.”
Seldaric nodded. “I can’t promise that we will take him alive, but if Kelden sent you to take him, you are welcome to help us track him down.”
“I would prefer to see him dead,” Ulthgaron stated bluntly.
“Alive
is better, but dead will work as well,” Kai said. He knew he was stretching the boundaries of the authority Kelden had charged him with, but he couldn’t pass up the opportunity to catch the assassin. “Shall I grab my orders for you?” Kai asked Seldaric.
A group of elves approached from the main road to survey the scene. Many of them murmured amongst themselves in hushed tones that Kai couldn’t discern. Then, a female elf pushed through and placed her hands to her mouth.
“My husband!” she cried out. She ran to one of the dead elves on the street and dropped to her knees beside him. Her sobs ceased only as she uttered prayers over his body.
Soon the street was filled with elves mourning the loss of their fellow friends and family.
Seldaric and Ulthgaron came close to Kai as the crowd closed in.
“If you want to help, Kai,” Seldaric began, “then help me get out of this plate armor so I can bury my men.” The crowd wailed and cried, some cursing the murderer, some even cursing Seldaric.
“If we waste time now, the assassin will only get farther away,” Kai reasoned.
Ulthgaron put a hand on Kai’s shoulder. “He can only go into the forest to hide. Sooner or later he will have to return here if he wishes to take a ship back to the main lands.”
Seldaric looked into Kai’s eyes. “My city is very closely knit together. The loss of one affects us all. We have already lost several men in the past few days trying to block the fugitive from reaching the port. We will need to regroup, but we can only do that after I see to the fallen.”
Kai nodded. “Alright Seldaric,” Kai said. “I will help you bury your men tonight. Then, you and I shall hunt this murderer.”
Kai and Ulthgaron pried the bent armor free from Seldaric and then they turned to take care of the slain elves. Seldaric bent down low to pick up one of the bodies. Kai was there, picking the body up from the feet while Seldaric held the elf’s torso. With Ulthgaron’s help and that of several other elves, they spent the next several hours burying the fallen, and giving them their last rights.