The tyranny of ghosts tlod-3

by Don Bassingthwaite

  Keraal sent his chain wrapping around his torso with a quick flip of his wrist, then pulled on a bulky coat discarded outside the door of the outer room to cover the weapon. Another soldier whirled a cloak over Ashi. “Suspicious,” said Keraal, “but it will have to do.”

  Ashi pulled a hood up over her head. “Where are we going? I saw Tariic riding out to give his blessing to Dagii.”

  “The blessing takes place at the arena. We’ll join the Iron Fox there. You’ll be carried out of Rhukaan Draal in one of our weapons carts. While the Iron Fox receives Tariic’s blessing, though, there’s something you need to do.”

  From a pocket of his coat, he took a familiar folded paper and handed it to Ashi. “Dagii instructs you to find Pater d’Orien. You won’t have difficulty-Tariic hasn’t bothered instructing his guards to watch for you, and all of the envoys will sit together in the arena. Once you find Pater, use your dragonmark to free him from the influence of the Rod of Kings. Tell him to use his dragonmark to leave Rhukaan Draal immediately and carry this warning to Breland. Once you’ve done that, return to us and hide. Faalo”-he gestured to one of the other soldiers-“will be waiting with the cart to hide you.”

  Once again, Ashi found herself staring at what Keraal had put in her hands, then she looked up at him. “I would have thought you’d welcome an attack by Darguun on Breland. You rebelled against Haruuc because he held the warlords back.”

  Keraal’s face darkened a little at the reminder. “I don’t have any love for Breland,” he said, “but Dagii has shown me why Tariic’s war will only bring disaster for Darguun. Now hurry. I know the passages that a man condemned to the arena walks. We’ll go that way to avoid the crowds, but it will still take time.” Keraal turned for the stairs that led down. “Dagii’s strategy has a schedule. There’s no room for delays or errors.”

  The people of Rhukaan Draal were packed into the streets around the arena. Ekhaas couldn’t remember seeing so many, even during the funerary games for Haruuc. Fortunately, they didn’t have to try and fight their way through. Geth led them to one of the monuments the old lhesh had erected around the city and indicated a heavy door behind a barred gate that was built into its base. “Open that.”

  Chetiin set to work. In the few moments that it took him to open first the gate, then the door, Ekhaas looked up at the monument. It depicted a hobgoblin warrior carrying a sword and a wide shield-and wearing the horn-adorned ancestral armor of the warlord of the Mur Talaan clan. Geth followed her gaze. “Fenic,” he said. “Haruuc’s first shava. Dagii’s father.”

  The door creaked open onto tightly curled stairs going down into darkness. “Will we need light?” Ekhaas asked.

  “No.” Geth started down the stairs. “Haruuc had a tunnel built, a way to bring prisoners from Khaar Mbar’ost if they’re too hated to transport through the streets. And a way to leave the arena discreetly or in an emergency. I used it a couple of times during his funerary games. There are everbright lanterns lighting it.”

  The tunnel was cramped, just wide enough for two people to slide past each other, barely high enough for a bugbear to stand upright. The lanterns were few and widely spaced, giving just enough light to pass along the tunnel. In the midpoint between one and the next, the darkness was complete, even to goblin eyes. Distant sound-the roar of a crowd, the stomping of feet-carried along the corridor.

  They’d just passed into the second of the deep shadows, well away from the stairs, when they heard footsteps behind them. All of them froze instantly. Ekhaas recognized the sound of boots coming on at a brisk pace. Through the gloom, she could just make out half-a-dozen figures hurrying along the tunnel. They were armed. She found Geth’s arm and whispered in his ear. “Are there other ways out?”

  “Only into the arena.”

  “I could take them,” Midian murmured.

  “We’d have to deal with bodies,” said Geth. “Stay quiet and keep ahead of them. The arena isn’t far.”

  They moved on, staying to the shadows, darting through the light only when those behind them were also under lanterns. Unfortunately, their pursuers weren’t as concerned with stealth as they were and gained ground rapidly. Ekhaas looked ahead and saw a rectangle of brighter light. The exit into the arena-she hoped.

  Then the footsteps behind them paused abruptly and she knew they’d been spotted.

  “Run!” snarled Geth at the same moment a voice from behind rasped in Goblin, “Don’t let them escape!”

  Boots thundered along the tunnel.

  Ekhaas’s ears flicked back. “Keep going! I’ll slow them down!” She whirled, stepped to one side, as Tenquis, then Midian and Chetiin, sped past. She was under a light, their pursuers momentarily lost in darkness. That was perfect. She called to mind the spell of glittering dust that had blinded the varags and drew breath to sing.

  A voice-a human voice-rolled out of the shadow. “Stop! Stop! That’s Ekhaas!”

  Some of the running footsteps stumbled to a halt. Others continued, the figures of hobgoblin warriors looming out of the shadows until the goblin voice ordered, “Halt!” Ekhaas’s song had already caught in her throat, though. She knew both voices.

  “Ashi? Keraal?”

  Somewhere behind her, Ekhaas heard Geth curse in surprise and slow his flight as well, but her eyes were on the dragonmarked woman who came charging out of the darkness. Ashi flung her arms around her, and Ekhaas even returned the human gesture before she pushed her friend back a pace. “Ashi, what are you-?”

  Ashi didn’t let her finish. “Escaping,” she said, lips peeling back from her teeth. “Keraal got me out of Khaar Mbar’ost. Dagii leaves Rhukaan Draal today. Tariic is sending him to attack Breland!”

  “Explain as we move,” said Keraal. Dagii’s lieutenant came striding into the light with three warriors who Ekhaas recognized as members of the Iron Fox company behind him. He took Ashi’s arm firmly, hurrying her along. He nodded curtly. “This is unexpected, Ekhaas duur’kala. Dagii didn’t plan for you.”

  “We only just arrived in Rhukaan Draal.” She turned, hurrying to keep up with his pace. Geth, Tenquis, and Chetiin came trotting back. Ashi greeted each of them with an embrace as she kept walking. Then she jerked back suddenly, pulling out of Keraal’s grip.

  Midian stood waiting for them.

  “What’s he doing here?” Ashi turned to her. “Tariic sent him to kill you!”

  “We know,” said Ekhaas. “Ashi, we found something that can counter the Rod of Kings. Midian’s working with us.” She looked at Keraal. “We need to talk to Dagii.”

  “He’s waiting with the Iron Fox.” Keraal’s ears twitched back. “Our timing is already close. You may be able to speak with him before we enter Tariic’s presence, or you may not.”

  “We have to.”

  The end of the tunnel was barred by another heavy gate, though this one had been left unlocked. Deliberately, Ekhaas guessed. Keraal paused, hand on the gate. “Dagii plans to rebel against Tariic after he leaves Rhukaan Draal. If you don’t have a chance to speak to him before we enter the arena, come with us. Ekhaas, you and Chetiin should be able to conceal yourselves among the Iron Fox.” He glanced at Geth, Tenquis, and Midian. “There is a weapon cart we’re hiding Ashi in. If you’re close, you might all fit.”

  “I can disguise them with a spell,” said Ekhaas. She turned to Geth. His face wrinkled as he thought, then he nodded.

  “We can plan Tariic’s downfall from outside Rhukaan Draal as well as we can from within it,” he said. “Take us to Dagii.”

  “Mazo.” Keraal pushed open the gate, and they stepped into an empty, curving corridor. The sound of the crowd was even louder than before. It surged suddenly to an almost deafening level before sinking back. Keraal’s face tightened. “There are ceremonial duels before the blessing,” he said. “One just ended. Hopefully it wasn’t the last.”

  He pointed along the corridor. “Ashi, your way lies there. You’ll find stairs to the upper levels and out into the stands. W
hen you’re done, return to the ground level of the arena, and turn left. You’ll find our mounts and Faalo waiting with the weapons cart. You have to be back before the blessing is finished.”

  Ashi nodded and slipped past. Ekhaas held her back for a moment. “What are you doing?”

  “Warning Breland that Tariic is planning to attack. I have to get to Pater d’Orien in the stands so he can carry the message.”

  Midian stepped forward. “I’ll go with her. I know the back ways through the arena and if there are problems with the guards, I can get her past them.” They all looked at him. “I am still the royal historian,” he said.

  “No,” spat Ashi. “I don’t want you near me.”

  “I’m coming anyway.”

  Keraal put his ears back flat. “Just go!” he snarled. “You have no time to argue!”

  Ashi glared at Midian, then nodded to Ekhaas and dashed away along the corridor. “I should follow them,” murmured Chetiin.

  Ekhaas hesitated, then said, “No. Stay with us. You should be close in case we need to use the shaari’mal.”

  Chetiin’s big ears twitched, but he nodded slowly. Keraal gestured to the rest of them. “This way.”

  He led them the opposite way along the corridor, then up to what must have been a staging area for the arena. Sand spilled through from the other side of a pair of tall doors, currently closed, but shaking with the sound of the crowd in the stands above. Ekhaas could smell old blood and animal odors.

  Lined up before the doors in parade formation was the Iron Fox, armor and weapons polished. Standing at the company’s head in his scarred battle armor, helmet in his hands, was Dagii. The young warlord’s gray eyes turned as they entered-then widened as he saw her.

  Ekhaas’s blood seemed to thunder in her ears at the sight of him as well. She was vaguely aware of Keraal urging them forward as he and his men moved to where junior warriors waited to help them don their armor. Ekhaas tried to force her emotions back, but they resisted her. She walked to Dagii with Chetiin to one side of her and Geth and Tenquis to the other. “Ruuska’te,” she said. Tiger man.

  He stared at her, not shifting from his parade position, though his ears were trembling. “Taarka’nu.” Wolf woman. She saw him swallow. “I’m about to swear a false oath before my lhesh and then rebel against his command. Gath’muut, Gath’atcha.”

  No duty. No honor. Ekhaas knew that it was probably as close to an admission of fear as he was ever likely to come. She shook her head. “Ta muut’rhu,” she said. “You have a greater duty. Dagii, we’ve found a way to block the power of the Rod of Kings. We’re going to come with you. We can fight Tariic.”

  His eyes widened and finally broke away from her to glance at Geth and the others. Ekhaas turned to Tenquis. “Give me the shaari’mal.” The tiefling nodded and murmured the word that revealed the pockets of his long vest.

  Beyond the door, the crowd in the arena went suddenly silent.

  Tenquis froze, hand reaching for his pocket. Dagii stiffened, his ears pressing flat along his head. “No!” he said sharply. “Get back-”

  Tariic’s voice echoed through the arena. “Let my commanders enter!”

  The throb of drums and drone of war pipes rose. The great doors began to open. Dagii snapped around to face them as sunlight fell on him. Suddenly Keraal was beside Ekhaas and the others. “Your spell of disguise!” he said. “Use it now!”

  Ekhaas blinked and sang more out of instinct than conscious thought. Picking four warriors of the Iron Fox, she held their images in her mind as the magic took shape. Illusion wove itself around Geth and Tenquis-and her and Chetiin too. One of the four warriors glanced away from the opening doors at the rippling sound of her song, and Ekhaas saw his ears rise at the sight of his own double.

  Keraal cursed and said, “Try not to draw attention to yourselves.” He shoved them toward the Iron Fox and barked an order. The warriors shifted in their ranks and four places opened up. Ekhaas and the others stepped into formation just as the doors opened fully, and Dagii led his company out onto the sands of the arena.

  Ashi found the stairs to the stands and raced up them, not bothering to look back and see if Midian had kept pace with her. In fact, she hoped that he hadn’t. Discovering that Ekhaas, Geth, and the others had made it back to Rhukaan Draal was exhilarating. Finding out that Midian was still alive-and had even become an ally once more-sickened her.

  She knew where the dragonmarked envoys would be sitting in the stands. The envoys and their diplomat counterparts from the Five Nations always took the same seats, outsiders banding together in the sea of Darguuls. She paused outside the entrance to the stands, slipped off the hood of her cloak, and pushed the enveloping folds back. The disguise would do more harm than good as she joined the other dragonmarked, but she wanted to keep it available in case Tariic happened to be looking up this way.

  A hobgoblin guard was standing just inside the entrance. He held up a hand as she tried to pass. “You don’t belong here,” he said in Goblin.

  Ashi gave him a haughty glare. “I am Lady Ashi d’Deneith,” she said in the same language. “I have every right to sit in this section.”

  He looked her up and down, and she realized what he was seeing. Compared to the other envoys and diplomats, she had the appearance of a pauper. Clothes dirty from days of captivity, hair and body unwashed-she certainly didn’t look like she belonged here.

  She hesitated and considered calling for one of the other envoys to verify her identity.

  The crowd fell silent. The guard turned away. Ashi craned her neck to look past him.

  In the raised box where he sat surrounded by Darguun’s most prominent warlords, Tariic rose to his feet and held up the Rod of Kings. “Let my commanders enter!”

  The big doors on either side of the arena opened, and two companies of hobgoblin soldiers entered. From the right came Dagii and the Iron Fox-Ashi didn’t see Ekhaas or the others but Keraal was there so they had to be close. From the left came ranks of Kech Shaarat. She recognized both Taak Dhakaan and Riila Dhakaan at their head.

  The throbbing sound of big goblin drums and the dissonant drone of war pipes filled the arena. The crowd remained silent, watching with fascination and respect, as the companies made a brisk parade and took their places. Ashi searched the stands in front of her and found the back of Pater d’Orien’s broad shoulders only a few rows from the edge of the section. She clenched her teeth and tried the guard again. “Let me through.”

  He turned to glare at her, but his gaze shifted to someone behind her. Ashi looked back and saw Midian. In his travel-stained clothes, his small crossbow hidden beneath his stripped-off jacket, the gnome was only a little less disheveled than she was, but he stared up at the guard with a confidence much larger than his stature. “You stand in the way of Lhesh Tariic’s guest,” he said. “She’s missing this great event. I am Tariic’s historian. Have you seen me in Khaar Mbar’ost? Move or Tariic will hear about this!”

  The guard’s eyes darted between them-and he stepped aside. Below, the two companies had fallen into formation. They stood still, warriors looking straight ahead, commanders looking up at Tariic. The lhesh lowered his rod, and the drums and pipes faded. “Taak Dhakaan of Kech Shaarat,” he said in Goblin. “Riila Dhakaan of Kech Shaarat. Dagii of Mur Talaan. You go to meet the enemies of Darguun-”

  The blessing had begun. Ashi walked past the hobgoblin guard, looked down at Midian, and gave him a nod of thanks. He wasn’t even looking at her. His gaze was on Tariic, his eyes intent.

  Ashi felt a sudden flicker of unease. Ekhaas said they had a way to counter the rod, but she wondered how permanent that way was. Could Midian have fallen under Tariic’s power again just by seeing him with the rod? “Midian,” she whispered as they walked down the stairs of the stand together, “are you still with us?”

  “Don’t worry, Ashi,” he said. “Tariic’s never going to have a hold on me again.”

  His eyes stayed on the lhesh. Ashi
’s unease didn’t go away.

  They were at the bench behind Pater. “Wait for me,” she said. Keeping her head down and praying that Tariic kept his attention on the Iron Fox and the Kech Shaarat, she pushed her way along.

  “-Do you accept the challenges that I set before you? Do you follow the will of your lhesh for the glory of Darguun?” asked Tariic.

  “-Be careful!” said Dannel d’Cannith.

  “-I can’t see!” complained Esmyssa Entar ir’Korran.

  “-I accept your challenge!” roared Taak.

  “Ashi, sit down,” ordered Laren Roole. The ambassador of Breland pushed her aside. “This could be an historic moment.”

  Ashi ground her teeth together. She took out the folded paper with Tariic’s plans on it with one hand and reached for Pater’s shoulder with the other. The viceroy of House Orien saw her and started to turn.

  “Tariic!”

  Ashi’s head snapped around at Midian’s scream. She looked up just in time to catch the flicker of movement as he jumped onto the rail at the edge of the stands, his crossbow steady in his hands. Everyone else looked up, too, including Tariic.

  Midian loosed his bolt.

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  24 Vult

  Do you accept the challenges that I set before you? Do you follow the will of your lhesh for the glory of Darguun?”

  Taak Dhakaan drew his sword and raised it high. “I accept your challenge!”

  Geth struggled to stand as still as the hobgoblins around him, facing forward, eyes fixed on the air in front of him. It wasn’t in the nature of shifters. His gaze switched from the Kech Shaarat beside them on the sand; to Dagii, standing with unbelievable control; to Tariic in the raised box above, acting like the emperor he wished he were. Geth’s hand curled on the hilt of Wrath. Just wait, he told himself. Just wait a little longer. Tariic will gives his blessing and we’ll all leave “Tariic!”