The Scholars: The Hidden Heritage II

by Derek Palmer

  Liv looked to be a few steps from dying when we had her lying on the floor of the adjoining room. Frode was keeping an eye on the other woman, who in turn kept on changing her gaze between Liv and me. In a blink of an eye, that look changed from loving and worrying to something spared for the dog shit at the bottom of your shoe. Or lower. Liv's skin felt cool and clammy and her breathing was shallow. Even with the training I had got from Allynna I didn't consider myself a medical expert, but I knew that there was no time to waste. I wanted to curse myself for failing to read the situation correctly and now I had to pay the price for it.

  "Please help me and hold her steady when I try to position the bones correctly as soon as I can."

  As soon as the other woman was holding Liv, I pulled the leg a bit and used both my senses and magical skills while setting the bones back into place as well as I could. Liv let out a short scream before collapsing on the floor, but I had no time to look at that since I was busy sensing her and pushing whatever magic I could into her. I was aware that the other woman gasped but I trusted Frode to keep an eye on her while I pushed myself to make the woman lying there better. To make Liv better.

  I had been the most frustrating student for Allynna, because she always wanted to understand, she wanted to know how and why things happened - since that was the way healing magic should work. To her it was like a dirty image that had to be cleaned until it looked right again. Somehow, with all her knowledge she was able to visualize the process. I couldn’t. To me it was something that felt bad - and I did my best to take that bad away. Even if I knew about bones, muscles and blood vessels, I wasn't able to visualize the process. According to Allynna I cleaned the paintings with several bucketfuls of water - with force, blindly trusting my senses while feeling what is right and what is wrong.

  So, I had no real idea of what I did or how I did it, but when I pulled back and took my hands away from Liv, feeling a bit weak myself, it was clear that she was better. Her breathing was deeper and more even. Her skin was no longer clammy and her color seemed better - as much as you could tell about it in the dim light of the room. It had taken more out of me than I had expected, since definitely she wasn't a magic user.

  "The bones are back in place and I'm sure she’ll make it. Of course she'll need to wear a cast in her leg for some time."

  I wasn't quite prepared at the gaze the woman kneeling next to Liv had on her face. The look on her face gave away nothing, but her gaze told me that she knew. She knew that I had used magic to save Liv.

  "Ylva. My name is Ylva. Thank you for saving Liv."

  "I'm Stian... and I would not like to see any more people of your family get hurt, but we'll do that if needed."

  In my slightly exhausted state my sensing opened a bit more than I had planned and suddenly I was fully alert and I picked up one of the knives and pointed it at Ylva.

  "There are two groups of people approaching quickly. What do you know about it? Speak quickly or I'll kill her quickly first and leave you dying slowly. Speak now!"

  I didn't shout, but the tone of my voice made it clear that I wasn't joking. The look on Ylva's face told me that most likely she had no idea about what was happening. I shook my head.

  "Frode, order the restaurant people to block the back entrances that open to the storage room. There's no way to prevent them getting to the storage room anymore."

  Frode just nodded and opened the door to the corridor. I heard him saying something there while I kept an eye on Ylva. A part of me wanted to trust her and for sure I didn't want to kill the helpless woman lying in front of me. I just didn't want Ylva to know that.

  "I... I have no idea about another group coming here. We just got a tip that this place is without protection today and..."

  I believed her. Which made me even more worried since there were at least five men coming towards the entrance and we had only a moment longer than a few blinks of an eye before they would be inside.

  I pushed one of the smaller knives that had been on the floor to Ylva.

  "Wait here. Don't try anything."

  I took the other knives and rushed to the corridor and used the few remaining moments explaining to the two waiters and Frode what I wanted them to do. Four against five. That wasn't too bad. Except the fact that those two waiters were - waiters - and I didn't really trust their ability to fight against armed opponents. Somehow I was sure that this new group would be armed.

  When the first of the five-man group opened the door to the restaurant he was facing a scene that probably didn't look at all threatening to him. A pair of men, obviously very drunk and complaining about their treatment on their way out of the restaurant, guided by two men in their waiter's uniforms.

  "Oh shit, there are two fucking buggers blocking the way."

  If I had been wondering before how we should react to their appearance I was now able to forget that, since his solution to the problem we presented was to slay us. With swords. Luckily for us, the corridor was narrow and raising the sword took more time than hitting with the leather sap. This time I didn't hold back when I hit the man's temple. Neither did Frode hold back with his cane.

  Suddenly the situation was much more even, Frode, me and those two waiters against three opponents. Three opponents armed with swords and with the ability to use them. Who were trained to use them. Who were very willing to use those swords on us when they saw what happened to two of their friends. Somehow I noticed that the door to the adjoining room was slightly open and I was almost sure that I saw Ylva's eye there. I started to feel cold, since I was sure that as soon as those men had killed us they would also kill Ylva and Liv. Even more importantly, if I would die here then all those plans about saving my family would be useless.

  It was like the world around me slowed down while a feeling of zeal or frenzy rushed into my head. Together with it came a strange feeling of joy. Joy of the coming battle. Joy of the uneven odds.

  A part of me wanted to laugh when I stepped inside the reach of the next man with a sword and I was almost sure that I smiled when I hit his nose with the palm of my left hand while making sure that his body protected me from the second man. I was aware that this second man managed to cut Frode's cane in two and wound his arm but there was no way that he could have stopped my sap. Suddenly there was only one man facing me with his sword, just far enough not to reach me.

  "You have no idea who you are messing with, none at all."

  I cocked my head and smiled.

  "Really? Shinies who decided to take over a business when most of the men are away? Quite a stupid idea, but you are lucky, because I will kill you quickly, which is more than what those men would do."

  The man let out a roar and challenged me - an unarmed man - with his sword, just as I had wanted him to do. To me it seemed like he was slowly approaching me and I had no problems in moving aside and putting the knife to his heart from behind once he had passed me. During the next moments, the world around me slowly returned to normal and the joy of the fight gradually faded away. I blinked my eyes and looked at the carnage in front of me. Five dead men blocking the corridor. Frode with a wound in his arm and a broken cane. The two waiters frozen in their tracks looking wide-eyed at the scene in front of them. Ylva in the doorway.

  I took two deep breaths trying to look normal even if part of me I wanted to scream.

  "Frode, how bad is it?" I could see the older man grimace.

  "Not too bad, but most likely I'm not really in shape to fight. Hopefully blocking the doors will keep the rest of them away."

  I shook my head. "No, we need to take care all of them and they must disappear without a trace. If there are more of them, they may not know what happened to their friends. Make sure that the restaurant people clean this mess as soon as possible so that nobody will see it. Ylva, take a sword or whatever weapon you want and come with me!"

  I didn't really know that we could take care the rest of them. Or somehow, somewhere inside, I guessed that stopping the attempt
and disposing of the bodies without a trace of what happened to them would really slow that group down. Then, why did I want Ylva with me? I didn't know her and there was no way of knowing if I could trust her.

  "You know that they would not have left any of you alive?"

  We were on our way to the back door that was used for loading stuff into the restaurant. From that storage room were two doors and steps that led into the restaurant area and those doors could be securely blocked while that first, bigger storage room was mainly used only for storing some larger stuff. Or unloading a carriage.

  "Yes."

  I dared to sense Ylva briefly and the feeling I got reminded me of the one I had from Linnea. Except that it was all different. I turned my attention towards the back doors and the people inside. I knew that the restaurant staff would try to keep the customer areas clean and the troubadour was told when he should start playing a bit louder. The people in the restaurant knew the thrill, since they had been some problems before. Nothing this serious, however.

  By the time the two of us were at the back door, those five guys had already realized that the doors were still blocked from inside. They probably weren't worried yet, since they were prepared that it might take a while before someone would come and open the doors.

  "Drop your weapons, leave this restaurant and the whole of Aston tonight, so that you may live. Now."

  I had not really planned to say that, but the truth was that I was tired and totally unwilling to add any more faces to those who visited me during some nights. Who I had killed, and who I would kill again in later nights. Without my women to help me through the coming nights that might be almost too much. So, I felt that I had to try.

  "But aren't you a funny guy, come here with that pussy licker, probably a bugger yourself trying to make us laugh. I’m telling you to get on your knees so that we'll kill you both quickly."

  "You don't want to know what happened to your friends?"

  The eyes of the guy who answered me flashed suddenly very dangerously. I fought back the fatigue and smiled at him.

  "Yes, they were so clumsy that we decided that two of us would be more than enough. Most likely I could have come alone, but this betrayed woman next to me insisted to come, too."

  Even if I wasn't directly following Ylva, who was standing next to me, I was able to feel how she stiffened. In a way I could understand her. Boasting to five dangerous, armed men seemed really stupid. Except that it wasn't. It was easier to make a mistake if you were angry. I wanted those guys to be angry, preferably very, very angry.

  When one of the two younger guys started calling me a bastard and challenged me, I knew that I had been at least partially successful. He most likely believed that the way I handled the sword in my left hand showed that I really didn't know how to use it. Besides, his reach with his longer sword would be greater than mine. He was also coming so fast that he had no way of turning when I quickly moved, both closer and a bit to the side. The only problem was the knife I had had in my right hand got stuck in his back and I had to release my grip.

  This time my moving to the 'slow zone' had been smooth and instant and some part of me had almost been disappointed because of the ease of the kill. Another part of me wanted to scream and run, but right now wasn’t the time for it. Maybe later. If I were still alive for that screaming and running.

  "You can still drop your weapons and promise that you leave Aston for good."

  I had never believed that they would accept that but offering that might help me with the nightmares. My ladies wouldn't be here to calm me down. There wouldn't be children, my children, to go play with. So, I wanted to try.

  "You got guts, kid. I'll make sure that you stay alive and watch when we take turns with that pussy licker. Maybe we'll ask some more friends to join us."

  That man was dangerous. Obviously he knew what I had done and while he spoke he moved to the side and made a gesture to his companions to move as well. I knew that if they were good enough, no extra skill would help me and because of the power I had used for healing Liv I was not prepared for a long fight.

  That was only one of the many thoughts that left my head as soon as they entered it. Then, without any warning, Ylva moved and one of the men shouted as a knife was now stuck in his right leg. That disturbed the group of four men a bit and even before I really noticed it myself, I used that opportunity. One of the men was half a step closer to me than the others and he became my target. There was a look of relief in his face when he understood that he had managed to block my sword. The look remained there when I hit his temple with the sap I had picked from my pocket. When the two unharmed men started to move, I had already taken a few steps back and picked up the slightly longer and lighter sword the first man had been carrying.

  There wasn't that much difference between those two swords, but this new one was at least a bit more like my own sword. I felt that I needed all the advantages I could get.

  "I'm out of knives, sorry."

  "That's okay, honey. Just make sure that they stay down once I put them there. Don't kill them yet, just make sure that they stay down."

  The man with a knife in his leg was still struggling to stand and it seemed that he didn't know what he should do. The other two were probably the most dangerous of them and they hadn't done anything stupid thus far. They kept their distance from me and from each other. It also seemed that they didn't need to communicate with each other as they seemed to know what the other person was doing. This time I couldn't stop the feeling of joy inside of me surfacing and I let out a laugh and a smile broke into my face even if the other half of me was terrified. The half in charge shouted out of joy; joy of real fight, not some cowardly shot of arrows from a distance.

  When the action started it was again like time was slowing down and at the same time, I was arguing with myself that there was nothing cowardly in attacking one hundred enemies from a distance. At the same time this was happening, I noticed that when I took a step towards one of the men he retreated and the other one took a step forward so that they both were equally close to me. All the time it felt like there were several lines of thought running parallel in my mind. Fast.

  I would have liked to wait for the two men to take the initiative, but that line of thought knew that I was tired, way too tired for a long fight - and some part of me was aware that as soon as I got too tired I might lose this special feeling I had now. I just knew.

  Somehow I just knew which one of these two men was the most dangerous one. I hadn't forgotten the third man, but with that knife in his leg he was still out of this fight. So, I took careful steps forward towards the less dangerous man and when I did that, the more dangerous one moved closer to me so that when I was close enough to hit, they both would be able to hit me. Too bad that I couldn't throw a knife - and that Ylva didn't have any more of them. While thinking that, there was another, joyful thought about the coming close-in fight. That line of thought wanted to see blood. Smell blood, maybe even taste it.

  When the real action started, time slowed down even more. I faked an attack towards the less dangerous opponent and I was sure that both of the men knew that the attempt was faked, since I was still just a bit too far away to reach his neck. However, even my fake attack forced them to react. The man I targeted couldn't help raising his arms and sword a bit to protect his neck and the more dangerous man saw his chance to attack me. Except that my faked attack wasn't faked, just the target was. I was able to make a deep cut to his abdomen while continuing to move my sword. The price of that move was that the more dangerous man was able to reach my left hand - not my chest - as he had targeted with his thrust. A part of me wondered that could I really have known that his neck would be right there where the rotation of my sword would end.

  The look on his face was still surprised because of his failed thrust when the blood started flying. Even if I could feel the pain in my left hand, a part of me was shouting for joy. Joy of this fight. Joy of seeing the blood. Joy of b
eating the dangerous opponents. Some other part of me knew that there would now be new faces to remember.

  When I got my balance again, the time around me was returning to normal. The man whose abdomen I cut was on his knees, holding his internal organs with both hands and behind me Ylva had pushed the last man with her sword so that he had also fallen to the floor. I was able to smell and taste the blood but the joy was gone and the fatigue was replacing all the other feelings, very quickly. I turned to look at the man on his knees.

  "Why are you doing this? I'm not from Aston, but even I know that you Shinies aren't allowed to own businesses."

  The man rose his gaze from his own stomach to me.

  "Fuck you, you bugger."

  "Wrong answer."

  With my left leg I pushed the man to his back and I hated myself for torturing the wounded man. But we needed to know more and this man probably knew more than the younger one. I forced myself to ignore his moaning and turned towards the younger man whom Ylva was keeping down under the tip of her sword.