Tithe to Tartarus: The Dark Avenger's Sidekick Book Three (Moth & Cobweb 6)

by John C. Wright

  “Yumiko.”

  “Nope, you’re saying it wrong.”

  “But it is Yumiko.”

  “Nope. Tom said Yummy Cutie. He said it a lot. A whole lot. Ah… Where is he, by the way?”

  “What does he look like?”

  The dog tilted his head to one side. One ear stood up, and the other flopped over. “You don’t know what he looks like?”

  “No. I saw a photo I hope is his. I want to hear if your description matches it.”

  “His pelt is red, but it only grows in patches. The rest of his skin is naked. Kind of freckled, like a strawberry. So he wears clothes. A long white coat. Or a flight jacket.”

  “Patches?”

  “Top of his head, armpits, like that, you know? Maybe a little bit around his lips when he has been working in the lab and going without food and sleep for days, but I think he usually scrapes it off.”

  “What color are his eyes?”

  “I dunno. Dogs don’t see color.”

  “How did you know his hair color then?”

  “It smells red.”

  “There are many red-haired men. How will I know him?”

  “He is the only one I’ve ever met who eats liver, onion, and peanut butter sandwiches. Ugh. I wouldn’t touch that! And I eat from garbage pails. So you can smell it on his breath.”

  “I cannot smell that well.”

  “Hah! I knew it! Dog noses are better than Fox! Dogs are number one!”

  “No, I am not really a fox.”

  The dog tilted his head the other way and perked up the other ear. “Yes, you are.”

  “How will I recognize him?”

  “Tom? He wears goggles. And a labcoat. And a jetpack. Carries a laser pistol.”

  Her heart was pounding in her chest. Her cheeks felt warm. “So he has a rocket pack? And a spaceship? Is there really any boy who can build such things?” Tom had been wearing a square metal bulk on his back in the photo, but only now did she realize that this must have been part of a jetpack peeking over his shoulders.

  “Wrecks them, too. You should see the mess left over when he tried to pull an Immelmann with his dirigible. He was dogfighting a Roc over the ruins of Nan Matal. There were not any dogs involved. I don’t know why they call it that. No dogs.”

  Strange feelings, but with no memories, no images, attached to them, came and went in her brain.

  Yumiko did not hear Ruff’s next remark. He repeated himself.

  5. The Boy with the Rocket Pack

  “So… Why are you here, Fox? You were trying to sneak up on me. Why?”

  “Please! I want you to take me to the Swan Knight. There is a plot against him.”

  The dog seemed unimpressed. He yawned. “Someone trying to kill Gil? Must be Tuesday.”

  “You mean Thursday. He is involved. Malen Ruddgochren, the Red Lady, is ultimately behind it. She brought Garlot here from Elfland. Sir Garlot the Red Knight. He has the Mantle of Mists, and this allows him to strike down valiant knights unseen.”

  The dog said, “No, I did not mean Tuesday the Anarchist. I mean it must be Tuesday because it happens all the time. It is like a phrase. I picked it up from Matt. But before we talk about Gil, let’s talk about Tom.”

  “Ah, yes. If you say so. I’d love to hear all about him!”

  “Do you… ah… have anything to say?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Anything to say about his location? Where did you take him to? Where is he?”

  For a moment, she did not understand the question. “Where is who?”

  “Tom. Tom Moth. You must know who I am talking about. He is your second cousin three times removed on his father’s side and your third cousin once removed on his mother’s side.”

  “A hob in a bottle told me he is at the City of Corpses. I don’t know where that is. I want to find him. Do all the elfs remember their family trees this way? In so much detail?”

  “If you hang out with Moths like I have, you’ll pick up the habit. I did not know what a third cousin was until I was following Gil.”

  “And do you know my family?”

  “Not really. I know your Dad is the grandson of Susa-no-O, which is why he kicks so much butt in such a major way and why he can fight giant centipedes and stuff. And everyone knows your Mom. But I don’t know you, and you were the last person to see Tom alive. So why are you saying you don’t know where he is?”

  “Because I don’t.” The implication of what Ruff the dog had said sunk in. “Wait a moment! You cannot believe I had anything to do with his disappearance!”

  “Nope? I think I can. Why can’t I?”

  She stuttered but had no answer. She pressed her lips together.

  He said, “I mean, he vanished without a note. So did you.”

  “When was this?”

  “We were keeping an eye on Saturday of the Supreme Anarchists’ Council, and he vanished at the same time. Next I heard from my old friends in elf court that you led a bunch of Anarchists to attack the Tower of Glass and rob the place. And you have the Ring of Mists. You just said so.”

  “I did not lead the Anarchists there to the Glass Tower. I mean, I led them there, but I was not leading them.” She pouted. “That was not worded in the best way. I was tricked. I think.”

  “You think? Uh? That slips your mind also?”

  “I am an amnesiac.”

  “An amnesiac? Is that like an Anarchist?” There was a hint of a suspicious growl in his voice.

  “No. Nothing like.”

  “They sound a lot alike.”

  “An amnesiac means I cannot remember. I have forgotten everything.”

  “How come you can speak English without an accent?”

  “I cannot remember how. I must have learned it.”

  “So you don’t work for the Anarchists?”

  “No!”

  “But—now wait a minute. If you don’t remember, maybe you do work for the Anarchists, and you don’t remember working for them? Because you don’t remember. How ’bout that?”

  “I would never betray Tommy-chan.”

  “How do you know? Maybe you did betray him, and—see if you can follow where I am going with this—and you don’t remember betraying him! Because you don’t remember. See? How would you know? That is a pretty clever question, you know, right?”

  “I know!”

  “Yeah, I know, right?”

  She sighed. “No, I mean, I know I would never betray him. I do not know how I know, but I know. There are some things the heart knows even if the mind is covered in fog.”

  “Like what?”

  “I beg your pardon?”

  “Like, tell me something a heart knows when your brain is fogged.”

  “Will you ever betray your master? At any time in the future?”

  The dog bristled.

  She said, “See? But you cannot see the future any more than I can see the past. But we know. You know right from wrong. You know fair from foul. You know what is natural and what is corruption. You know that life with all its snares and glamour is false and cannot be all there is. We all know these things, but none of us can say when we learned them.”

  6. Kind of Sneaky

  “That is a good speech.”

  “So you believe me?”

  “Nope. Nope. Not a bit,” he said happily. “I am a dog who does not believe you, not one bit.”

  “Why not? It’s the truth!”

  “You strike me as being kind of sneaky. Yup! Yup! Sneaky! Sneeee-keeee…” He said this with a growl. “You did not knock when you came in, and you did not like it when I shined a light on you, and you slipped a bug on me when you were petting me. That took advantage of my good nature.”

  “But I did that because I needed to! Not because I wanted to!”

  “So? So? Maybe you are telling me this cock-and-bull story now because you need to, not because you want to.”

  “But why would I work for the Anarchists?”

  �
�Dunno. Maybe you were sick of that crazed loner who kills people and hangs them on trees, and you wanted to get in with a whole group of crazed loners who kill people. Foxes are really sneaky.”

  “I am not a fox! This is a mask! A mask!”

  “So if you are not sneaky, why wear a mask? Why go around shooting people from the shadows?”

  “Well… I have enemies.”

  “Uh-huh. Uh-huh. Hey, listen, ponder this one. Maybe you have enemies because you wear a mask and go around shooting people from the shadows!”

  “But I hate the Anarchists! They killed my mother!”

  “The Grail Queen?”

  “Yes!”

  “Sarras was destroyed by the giant Ysbadden.”

  “The Anarchists helped him.”

  “How did they help him? What did they do?”

  “I– I am not exactly sure about that. They had troops. They brought them on airships.”

  “Let’s see. You hate the Anarchists because they helped the giant destroy the high city of Sarras, and so they were indirectly involved in your mother’s death. Because they had airships. But you do not actually remember your mother, or her death. Am I right? Or how they helped? So why do you hate anyone?”

  “No, I remember my mother’s last words and the attack on the city. I saw that. Part of it.”

  “I thought you said you forgot everything.”

  “I forgot that also, but it came back. I hated the Anarchists before I lost my memory.”

  “But you don’t hate them now?”

  “I am pretty sure I do. They seem like horrible people.”

  “But not as horrible as a man who dresses up like a crow, and crouches on rooftops at midnight, and puts a lariat through the window of a guy in bed, and then pulls him out of bed by the neck and out the window, and everyone on the street sees the guy strangled to death in midair, kicking his legs in the light of the moon, and everything. Not horrible like that, eh?”

  Yumiko was surprised. “Did Winged Vengeance do that?”

  “Last Thursday.”

  “He did that last week?”

  “No, it was months back, but it was Orgoglio Cobweb, who was the Thursday member of the Supreme Council of Anarchists. That was before the new guy got the job. The last Thursday before him.”

  “That does sound pretty horrible. But maybe the man deserved it.”

  “Sure. Maybe. Maybe not. But it was not like there was any trial, or the guy got to have his say, or even say a prayer and get shrived before he died, so who knows? Willy Cobweb is a necromancer, and he could summon up the last Thursday’s shade and talk to him and find out, but you shot the ghost. You shot the ghost of Orgoglio Cobweb with your magic bow. You kill dead people. That is your job. Kind of a freaky job if you think about it.”

  Yumiko said, “I am an enemy of the Anarchists. They are hunting me to kill me.”

  “Really? Then how come Wilcolac has you working in his club? And dancing? Aren’t you his servant girl? He really kind of talked down to you. I was there. I heard. And you stood in a corner and did not say anything.”

  “I am spying on him. In disguise.”

  “No, no. That’s just dumb.”

  “Dumb? Why?”

  “Because it is! Don’t you know who that guy is?”

  “Wilcolac? No, not really.”

  “He is famous. He is a magician, a master of tricks and traps and sneaks and slippery cons! If I can figure you out, he can.”

  Yumiko frowned, remembering her own clear intuition from earlier that morning, before he sent her out with Malen, that Wilcolac had indeed penetrated her disguise. Malen had done so easily enough, and so had Sly Jack Crookshank.

  “Don’t you think his wolves can smell as well as me?” Ruff said, snorting. “The werewolves of Thursday, his whole pack, their scent was all over that place. It was coming from the basement, but that green-haired tree sprite, Boggy Cobweb, would not take us down there. I think she was trying to get rid of us. And here is a second question—how come you were with the Red Lady all afternoon? Carrying her packages? If you hate the Anarchists so much? Don’t you know who she is?”

  “She is Lucien Cobweb’s lover.”

  “That is kind of like saying Arthur is Sir Kay’s younger brother. She has lots of lovers, and they all hate each other.”

  “Ah. I don’t know who she is.”

  “She is the Red War Queen. Moth’s second wife. Moth, your ancestor. The ancestor of the whole Moth family. She is the mother of Phanes, who married Merlin the Magician’s sister, Yglais, who bore Pellehan.”

  “I see. And who is this?”

  “Pellehan is the father of Pellinore, who is the father of Dandrenor, who is your mother. So you spent the whole afternoon with one of the three wives of Moth, who is your own great-great-great-grandmother. Unless I missed a great. And she did not know you?”

  “She did. She deduced my secret identity.”

  “And—?”

  “And then she let me go.”

  “Why did she do that?”

  Yumiko said slowly, “The magician told her not to hurt me.”

  “Why did he do that?”

  She frowned in thought but had no answer.

  He said, “Think this through. Willy could hire or buy a girl to replace you. Malen is one of the Elders. Like Vivian, like Nimue, like Maeve. Even great lords and barons are careful around them. We call them Antediluvians. They remember the world before the Flood, and their parents remember Eden, and remember helping Eve tend the flowers and Adam dress the vines. If Willy wanted you alive, why put you in danger by sending you to her? And if he did not want you alive, why tell her to spare you?”

  “I think he wanted me out of the place. A shipment came in today.”

  “Which means he knows you are spying on him. He knows.”

  She had nothing to say.

  “So you see why I don’t really believe your story. You sure look like you are working for the Anarchists. Or you are a chump, and Wilcolac is conning you. If Wilcolac let you into his house and out of it again, it is because he has someone following you, and he wants you to lead him somewhere.”

  “Where?”

  “At a guess? To your master, Winged Vengeance. That is what Willy was trying to get my master and Matt to do, when they went to visit your club.”

  “Is there anything I could say to make you trust me?”

  “Sure. Just get Winged Vengeance to come by and tell me you are on a mission for him, infiltrating the Anarchists and only pretending to dance and carry packages for them. I understand all about that. I used to be in the intelligence-gathering business myself. I was in bark-ops.”

  “Black-ops?”

  His ears drooped, disappointed. “That was a joke! Tom always laughed at it.”

  “Winged Vengeance does not trust me.”

  “Oo-kay-yy… Why do you want me to trust you, again, please? I mean, I don’t know you.”

  “How did Tom meet me?”

  “I’m not sure. Winged Vengeance and you would sometimes show up in the same places we were.”

  “We?”

  “The Last Crusade. We are hunting for the same people, but not for the same reason, so your boss and my boss would get in each other’s way. The first time, it was kind of friendly, sort of a rivalry; and the second time, it was less friendly because Gil tossed your crow-man out through a plate glass window for something he said; and the last time, it was not friendly at all because you put an arrow in a guy that Gil had promised safe conduct, and he was talking him into defecting. Left us with no leads. He was pretty pissed about that.”

  “How many people are in this Last Crusade?”

  “Fox-girl, are you out of your cottin-pickin’ mind? I am not giving you any free intel.”

  “I would really like you to trust me.”

  “Well, fine. Give me the Ring of Mists, I’ll give it to Gil, and he can swap it to Willy in return for getting Tom back.”

  “I don’t think
that is wise.”

  “Thought so. If you really wanted Tom back, you would have swapped the ring for him the moment Willy made us the offer. So you going to give me the ring?”

  “I think I better keep it.”

  “Okay. Let me ask you one more question. I may just be a dog, but I see things, you know? I keep my nose to the fewmets, as they say.”

  “Who says that?”

  “Dogs. We sniff fewmets. It is a dog thing.”

  “I will answer your question.”

  “Remember when we visited your club?”

  “Yes.”

  “That wasn’t the question. That was just set up. This is the question: Ready?”

  “I am ready!”

  “That wasn’t the question either. That was me asking if you were ready for the question. Here it is: Why did Willy call you into the room with me and Matt and Gil? Just to stand there?”

  “You ordered drinks. He did not order me to leave.”

  “Why not?”

  “He overlooked me.” A slight smile touched her lips.

  “You think you outsmarted him? Him?”

  The smile left her face. “No?”

  “No. He does not overlook things. He is not an overlooker. He wanted to see if you would show some sign of recognition to Gilberec, who is your cousin. Your first cousin because his mom is your aunt.”

  “But I don’t have any memory!”

  “Or if Gil would recognize you.”

  “Why didn’t he?”

  “Dunno. Maybe ’cause he was raised alone. Because you lived in the clouds, where no one who does not have wings can go. Because you wear a mask and hide in the shadows. Why do you do that, by the way? Why not fight fair and square, out in the bright sun where everyone can see, honorably?”

  She remembered the wall screen in the hermit cell where Winged Vengeance slept. Yumiko repeated it, but changed the last word. “Those who flee the light adore the dark. Let me be in the dark and bring my terrors, and dark they will no more adore, for it is become their foe. Even in the darkest night, there must be justice.”

  Chapter Five: I Am a Sneaky Fox

  1. Good Faith

  The dog scratched himself behind the ear, first with one gloved forepaw and then with his hindpaw. “Heh. Not sure what to make of that. But let us say we did trust you. What do you want us to do for you?”