K T Harding - [Hinterland 02]

by K. T. Harding

  “Where’s his mother?”

  “She died, too. I begged Yafik to let me kill his father and take him somewhere he would live in safety, but he always refused. I wanted to take him to my house, to make him my apprentice, but he wouldn’t leave.”

  “Why does his father mistreat him like that? Does he hate him for being half human?”

  “He hates him for being alive. I gave Yafik food and medicine. His father always suspected Yafik was getting help from somewhere, and I’m not the only one. I know half a dozen rich people in this city who give him food and a place to hide when he needs it. His father flies into a rage every time he suspects someone or something is stopping him from killing Yafik.”

  “Why does Yafik help you, then, if it’s so dangerous?”

  Bishop closed his eyes and shook his head. “He’s a slayer, and that’s God’s honest truth.”

  Raleigh stopped dead in her tracks. “What do you mean?”

  Bishop faced her. His skin hung ashen on his bones in the dim light between the towering buildings. “You’re always saying Dax is a slayer, and I neglected him by not training him. Well, Yafik is a slayer and he won’t let me train him. He says one of these days, he’ll have to kill his own father, and until that happens, he just has to stick it out and put up with the rages and the beatings and the starvation.”

  “That’s awful!”

  “Do you want to hear the most awful part? He says he pities his father. Yafik feels bad that, someday, he’ll get too big and too strong and too powerful to put up with it anymore. He feels he’s protecting his father from himself, from his own strength. He doesn’t want any training that could make it easier for him to kill his father, and he wants to keep being helpless as long as he can. Did you ever hear anything like it? God, I wish I could get that boy off by himself! I would make him the greatest slayer that ever lived. He’s already stronger than I am. He’s going to be a force to be reckoned with when he gets older.”

  Raleigh kept pace with him, out of the tenements and back to the beautiful part of town, before she broke the silence. “Why didn’t you tell Yafik it was me who killed Rekworth?”

  Bishop didn’t look at her. “Everyone in Hinterland knows me. They could understand me killing Rekworth. If they found out you killed him, the wolves would come after you harder than ever. They would stop at nothing to get their revenge on you. Let my reputation protect you for a while before they find out you’re not as helpless as everybody thinks you are.”

  “Who’s this Rianne you talked about?”

  “She’s Rekworth and Horeck’s sister. I…. I know her…pretty well, I guess you could say.”

  Raleigh snorted with laughter. “Let me guess. You had something going with her once.”

  He looked away. “It was a long time ago. Anyway, if she does become Alpha, you won’t have anything to worry about.”

  “Are you sure? You told Yafik she would be more dangerous than anyone else.”

  He stopped walking to face her. “One thing you always have to remember about Yafik. The flow of information goes both ways. I’m not the only one who gets information from him. If I told him you killed Rekworth, that information would filter back through the grapevine. The wolves would catch wind of it eventually, and you would be in trouble. Anyway, if Rianne becomes Alpha, she would probably feel she owed you a debt for getting rid of Rekworth for her. She would probably want to do you some favor in return.”

  “What about the other wolves who were there at the time? Why haven’t they told everybody I killed Rekworth to save your life instead of the other way around?”

  “Are you kidding? They don’t want anyone to know a helpless apprentice killed their glorious leader. Better to keep Rekworth’s reputation intact by letting everybody believe he died fighting the fearsome Wolf Bishop.”

  Raleigh couldn’t argue with that. The longer those wolf people believed someone else killed Rekworth, the better for her. If she got through the rest of her life never fighting them again, she would be happy.

  The buildings parted and sun streamed down on her face once more. The tenements gave way to the high towers and glowing palaces of the central city again, and the haunting shadows vanished out of Raleigh’s mind.

  Bishop guided their steps to the largest castle of them all. Long white marble wings stretched on either side under the jutting keep. Even before they got near it, glorious music drifted out on the wind. It enchanted the whole city with its lilting tones.

  The closer they got, Raleigh spotted colored globes sailing out of the upper windows. They soared and bobbed on the breeze. They spun and glittered in the sunshine until they glided away into the incredible blue sky. They vibrated on the music, and they changed their color patterns to match the orchestral harmonies.

  Bishop continued right up to the front steps, where he rounded on Raleigh. “We’re going inside now. You’re gonna see a lot of amazing things in there, but whatever you do, don’t let your guard down for a second. Just when you think something is more beautiful than you can stand, that’s when it will strike.”

  “What do you mean? These people study Musicology, not Martial Arts.”

  He shook his head. “The Musicologists are just as dangerous as any other Guild. Do you see those things up there?” He pointed to the floating globes.

  “They look like musical spheres.”

  “They are, but they’re also the Musicologists’ weapons. Don’t let your attention slacken even the slightest bit, or they’ll attack. Understand?”

  “No, I don’t, but I’ll be careful.”

  “Good. Come on.”

  Chapter 7

  At every turn, the headquarters of the Guild of Musicology grew more beautiful, more magnificent, more intoxicatingly enthralling. Raleigh caught herself staring at towering stained-glass windows, statues, staircases, and ornaments more elaborate than anything she ever saw before.

  The great hall rose higher than any cathedral. Crowds of the best-dressed people conversed on all sides. No one paid Raleigh the slightest attention in her leather vest, her rough canvas pants, and her weapons hung out in plain view.

  Two huge doors stood open to another large chamber. It curved down into an amphitheater surrounding a stage set out with lights. Bishop stepped down and took a seat in the center of the chamber. Raleigh sat down next to him where they could get a good view of the stage. She had to unsling her crossbow, and she laid it across her lap where she could use it at a moment’s notice.

  People drifted into the seats all around, but something in the chamber gave Raleigh a prickly feeling. This place might be more beautiful and more magnificent than the Queen’s palace, but hidden danger lurked everywhere. People talked and laughed all around her, but tension crackled in the air. Something serious was about to happen. She would keep her hands on her bow.

  Everyone from the hall outside flooded into the amphitheater until not one seat remained empty. More people arrived every second. Voices filled the chamber to bursting until Raleigh couldn’t hear the spheres ringing outside. How could those shining balls be weapons? How did the Musicologists deploy them to attack their enemies?

  All of a sudden, the lights shut off. The hall fell into pitch darkness except for one or two stragglers squeaking through the door. Silence enveloped the crowd, and everyone held their breath. Raleigh’s finger tightened around her trigger, and her other hand drifted to her throwing blade. She didn’t know if those globe things would break on impact, but she could darn sure find out. If worse came to the worst, she could use the cube. That always made a dent.

  A massive chord of music rocked the amphitheater and made everyone jump in their seats. Colored lights streamed up behind the stage to illuminate a single figure standing before the curtains. The music grew louder and more orchestral. Different strains combined to create a grand theme. The figure raised his arms. Light flooded the stage so Raleigh saw him clearly.

  An old man in a long gre
y beard stood center stage. A long grey gown hung down to his bare feet, and his eyes flashed fire. The music picked up pace, and his arms flew all around him. The colored globes burst from his fingertips in time to the music, and they sailed ringing over the crowd. All the time, the symphonic tones echoed off the walls in more complex harmonies. The globes bobbed around the room, to the oohs and ahs of the audience.

  Bishop tensed in the next seat. He whispered loud enough for Raleigh to hear, “That’s him!”

  Raleigh didn’t have time to answer. At his word, the man’s eyes snapped to Bishop’s face. He and Bishop locked their gaze for one terrible moment. Then the man flung out one arm.

  A spinning blue globe materialized at his fingertips and zinged over the heads of the astonished crowd. It hurtled straight at Bishop. Bishop barely had time to rocket to his feet and shout, “Look out!”

  At the exact moment, Bishop straightened up, the thing hit him in the stomach. It shattered the armored shield device fixed to his belt. The device crackled, and the shield died away to nothing.

  An instant later, another globe whizzed toward Bishop. This time, he jumped out of the way. It hit the back of his seat where he just sat. The impact caused the globe to explode into a blazing ball of fire.

  Raleigh dove aside just in time, but not before the man on the stage peppered the seats with one missile after another. They detonated faster than Raleigh could think.

  Bishop grabbed her arm and propelled her to her feet. “Get out of here!”

  She threw her bow across her back, all thought of fighting back gone. She crawled behind the seats to the aisle. People screamed on all sides. A thick mob blocked the exit doors so no one could move, but at least their compacted bodies protected Raleigh and Bishop cowering on the floor.

  One concussion after another rocked the amphitheater. Screams greeted every explosion. Bodies toppled behind Raleigh so she caught a second’s glimpse between the legs of people still standing. The man in grey stalked across the stage and stepped down into the crowd. He never let up his constant barrage of singing balls thundering into the crowd.

  The spheres’ music pierced the chaos. It rose and fell over the din of people struggling to escape and the screams of others falling and dying behind. The man showed no mercy, and hurled his weapons at innocent people blocking his line of sight to Raleigh and Bishop. He killed anyone who stood in his way.

  More people fell behind her. The Musicologist would mow down the whole crowd until he found his quarry cringing on the floor. This couldn’t go on. Raleigh looked around for any avenue of escape, and she found it.

  To one side, the curtains surrounding the stage melded into more curtains covering the amphitheater’s walls. They swayed and undulated from people brushing against them. Raleigh tapped Bishop’s arm. “Over there.”

  He frowned, but she didn’t wait for him to answer. She crawled between the legs toward those curtains. People jammed into the exit doors didn’t kick or even notice her. They couldn’t move. Raleigh crawled to the curtain and dove under it.

  Bishop’s head popped in after her. “I hope you know what you’re doing,” he hissed. “Now where do we go?”

  “These curtains end before the door. We’re not getting out that way. I say we crawl around behind him and sneak out over the stage. He’ll think we’re still hiding in the crowd.”

  “Well, I don’t have any suggestions, so let’s go for it.”

  Raleigh led the way. She kept the curtain tucked down next to her so no hint of light snuck through from the room beyond. She scrabbled her way along until she struck something solid. She took a peek out. Sure enough, the Musicologist—whoever he was—stood with his back to her, still blasting away at the crowd.

  One look the other way showed her the path to freedom. The curtains surrounding the stage started a few feet away. She only had to cross a small gap to hide behind them. She could follow them the rest of the way out of here where the Musicologist couldn’t see them.

  She waited until the Musicologist hauled back both arms for a mighty assault on the crowd. When he swung his hands forward to release his weapons, she darted forward and burrowed under the curtain. Bishop joined her a moment later. “Now what?”

  “Do you know anything about this building? Do you know where we ought to go?”

  “I don’t know the first thing about it. This is the first time I ever set foot in it. This is your show, not mine.”

  Raleigh took a deep breath. “Then I guess it doesn’t matter much where we go, as long as we get away from him.”

  She started crawling into the dark. She moved behind one curtain after another, always away from that deceptively beautiful music. It got quieter and quieter. Raleigh would never listen to music the same way again, not when she thought of every cord and strain as an exploding bomb.

  The music all but faded to silence before she dared look out again. She found herself staring down a black staircase behind the stage. A door stood up on the other side. She couldn’t possibly know what lay on the other side or at the base of the stairs, but she had no plans to go down. She didn’t want to get trapped in this wretched building.

  She eased her shoulders and body out to stand on the first stair before she took hold of the doorknob. She gave it a turn and found it unlocked. She pulled it back, and a streak of daylight burst through to stab her blinded eyes.

  Hallelujah! She was outside again! She rushed into a street and dusted herself off until Bishop caught up with her. He gave her a wry smile. “Pleased with yourself?”

  Raleigh couldn’t enjoy her victory. “I’m pleased you told me to be careful. Who was that man? He sure hated you.”

  “I never knew he hated me. I thought he was a friend, or at least harmless. I didn’t think he’d try to kill me.”

  “So why did he?”

  “His name is Major, and he must have done it to stop me sitting in on the election.”

  “That? That was the election?”

  “That was just the opening ceremony. He’s the senior Musicology professor at the Guild. I sent him a message I wanted to ask him about the election, to find out who are the top contenders for the Chairman position. Don’t ask me why he tried to kill me. He must be protecting something.”

  “So what do you want to do now?”

  Bishop looked around, too. They stood in an ordinary little side street next to the Guild building. Music still wafted over the pinnacles pointing their spires into the sky. Raleigh hated to think what the front of the building looked like with hundreds of people running for their lives to get away from a homicidal Musicologist.

  Bishop opened his mouth to say something when the door through which they just passed flung open. It slammed back against the wall. Raleigh didn’t look to see what came through it. She dove full length on the ground. She heard the shield device on her belt crack, but she didn’t wait around to see if it was still working. The moment her arms and legs struck the cobblestones, she swam for cover.

  A blast of deafening music thundered through the door behind her, and hundreds of those spinning, singing, glowing balls shot out into the street. They all hit the wall opposite the door and exploded at once.

  Raleigh screamed, but the confused noise and the shock wave hitting her ear blocked out her own voice. She scurried over the ground until she gained her feet. As soon as she got her feet on the ground, she realized the shield was in fact broken. It no longer protected her, and she didn’t have her good old metal armor, either. She groped for her bow and bolts. She dared not turn around without a weapon in her hand.

  She fitted a bolt to her bow on the run. She got to the building corner before she skipped around backward and fired at the first thing she saw. A green orb rotating rapidly before her eyes whizzed straight toward her face. She barely fired in time. Her bolt struck it, and it exploded in midair.

  Fiery heat and blinding light struck her face, but she already sent another bolt whistling through
the air. Dozens of the gleaming projectiles zipped everywhere to fill the whole street. She couldn’t shoot them all down, no matter how fast she reloaded and fired.

  Bishop ran behind her. He bellowed through gritted teeth. “Forget that!” He pulled out his cube, and the lightning splatted twenty orbs out of the air at once.

  Raleigh wanted to copy him. She wanted to pull her cube, but she couldn’t put her bow down. Her hands knew too well the drill of pulling out her bolts, fitting them to the string, and firing. She couldn’t stop them once they started.

  Bishop fired his cube over his shoulder. He rotated halfway around to shoot at the things while he ran for his life behind Raleigh. He and Raleigh wheeled to turn the corner, but the Musicologist bore down on their heels. He could release his balls faster than Raleigh and Bishop could shoot them down.

  She spent all her bolts before she thought to do anything else. Bishop’s fire covered her long enough to sling her bow and draw out the cube, but at that moment, Bishop tripped on the cobblestones. He pitched full-length, but he never stopped firing. He rolled over on his back. He pulled another one of Pringle’s weapons out of his pocket and redoubled his efforts.

  Raleigh checked her flight, but he shouted at her over his shoulder. “Get out of here! Run for it! I’ll cover you.”

  She started to obey. She couldn’t think of running back into those whistling globes of death, but she couldn’t leave Bishop behind. She shot her cube this way and that above his head, and she groped in her other pocket for another weapon he gave her that she never learned how to use.

  She pulled out a short cylinder of cold metal like the one the boy in the shop wanted to buy. If he could use it, she could, too. Two caps covered its ends. Other than that, she saw no firing mechanism, no trigger, no nothing on its smooth surface. She didn’t have time to learn to use it now. She fired the cube faster than she could think with her right hand, but she didn’t have time to look down at the other weapon to see what to do with it.