by Nathan Long
Ru-Sul’s voice echoed from above. “You should feel glad it is not a thousand years ago. In that time, the pit was filled with water, and those thrown into it became sport for something known as the God of a Thousand Mouths. Fortunately, the Church of the Seven destroyed that horror, as it destroys all that threatens the security of Ora.”
Lhan snarled. “The security of the Church, you mean.”
“They are one and the same.”
A couple seconds later my feet hit bottom and I toppled onto my side like a sack of laundry. The floor was a deep drift of sand and rocks and broken bones. Not real comfy. Then Lhan fell on top of me, and we just lay there, breathing and staring up at the top of the pit, until something moved in the darkness off to our left.
I raised my head and tried to shift around, but I was tied up tighter than butterfly in a cocoon, and the hook was still in the ropes. I could hardly move.
“Who the fuck is there? Come out where I can see you!”
A face emerged from the darkness, then another—zombie faces—hollow eyes and grimy skin and sunken cheeks. But I’d never heard of zombies with pouty lips or perfect jawlines before.
“Mistress Jae-En,” said the one with the pouty lips. “Is this a dream? Are you but another priestly trick?”
“It is Jae-En!” said the one with the jawline. “And Lhan as well!”
“Get their hooks off,” said the one with the lips.
Lhan and I gaped at them like the fish that probably used to swim in our pit before the sea dried up.
“Sai-Far! Wen-Jhai! You live!”
Yup, it was them, in the flesh, though a lot less flesh than I remembered. They were both as scrawny as Lhan had been when I found him on Toaga. Scrawnier even, but still ridiculously hot. Even covered in dirt and bruises and with their hair all ratty, the two of ‘em looked like they coulda been centerfolds for Naughty Urchin magazine.
Sai got to work untying our ropes as Wen-Jhai gave us hugs and cried over us.
When we were free, Sai clutched our hands. “Mistress Jae-En. Dearest Lhan. I grieve that you have suffered the same miserable fate as we. I had hoped—no, prayed—that you had escaped the reach of the church and found your freedom.”
Wen-Jhai wiped a tear from her eye. “And with you here, trapped, then all hope of rescue is gone, for surely there can be no other with the strength to defeat these villains.”
Yeesh. I’d forgotten they talked that way. Even Lhan didn’t get as Little Lord Fauntelroy as all that.
“Well, actually, your dad is coming.”
Wen-Jhai gasped. “My father?”
“The Aldhanan?” Sai gasped too. “Then we are saved!”
Lhan shook his head. “It is a trap. The priests lure him here, saying that Jae-En and I hold you hostage. They mean, I fear, to kill him.”
Wen-Jhai stared. “They—they will kill my father? But why? Is he not the most beloved Aldhanan of our age? What could he possibly have done to anger them?”
“Quite a lot, I fear.” Lhan frowned. “If I recall, your father, early in his reign, discovered that priests in Pinau had falsely branded a Dhan a heretic in order to purchase his lands and holdings at a reduced price. The Aldhanan forced the Church to return the lands, and had the offending priests executed. There was also the case of the Temple in Hucarrah, which was selling water tokens at inflated prices and transferring the overage into private accounts. The temple of Ormolu denied this was happening, and your father was forced to expose them himself in order to get them to admit it. Indeed, the Aldhanan has been the most vigorous critic of the church and its corruptions since—”
Wen-Jhai moaned and finished his sentence for him. “Since my great-great-grandfather, Kor-Karan, who they also killed.”
Sai slumped back against the wall. “By the Seven, we must get free. We must warn him. He cannot be allowed to come.”
Wen-Jhai sobbed. “But it is impossible. We are trapped! Trapped!”
Sai looked up at me like a hopeful puppy. “Unless perhaps Mistress Jae-En could jump out of the pit?”
Wen-Jhai clasped her hands together like Rebbeca of Sunnybrook Farm. “Oh, but of course! Mistress Jae-En is magnificently strong. It will be nothing for her to escape the pit!”
Well, it was nice of her to say so, but it wasn’t gonna happen. “Sorry, kids. That’s about twice what I can jump. There’s no way.”
She pouted, crestfallen.
Sai was still hopeful. “Can you perhaps climb out?”
It was hard to see the walls down there in the dark, but I ran my hands over ’em. No good. They were made of close-fitted granite blocks, and though they were weathered and cracked, it wasn’t enough. They were still too smooth. I woulda needed Spiderman powers.
“Nope. No can do.”
He sagged too. “Then all is lost.”
“Not necessarily.” Lhan looked around at the rocks and bones. “We may have an opportunity when they pull us out. We must arm ourselves in anticipation of the moment.”
“Will they pull us out?” Wen-Jhai looked doubtful. “If their aim is to kill my father—”
“It is more than that.” Lhan glanced up at the top of the pit. “His reverence, Ru-Sul, spoke of drama, and set dressing. And then there are the elaborate disguises of the priests, all pretending to be heretics. Your father’s murder will be a play, meant to be seen, the story of it brought back to Ormolu as truth by unassailable witnesses.”
Sai nodded, getting it. “And we are all supposed to play parts in this play.”
Wen-Jhai put her hands on her hips. “Ha! If they think I shall play a role in my own father’s murder, they are quite mistaken! Do they expect me to say lines? Do they expect me to do as they ask?”
I hated to be the bearer of bad news, but… “I don’t think you’ll have many lines.”
Wen-Jhai’s eyes widened. “What do you mean?”
I jerked a thumb toward the surface. “They’ve got the whole place dressed up like a satanic ritual up there, and I think you and Sai are gonna be the sacrifices. I think they’re gonna wait until your dad and whoever’s with him bust through the door, then they’ll ‘perform the ceremony.’”
“Kill us, you mean.”
“Yeah. That. Then your dad’ll run in, trying to save you, and get jumped by all the disguised priests, and he’ll die too.”
Lhan raised a finger. “But someone will survive. Someone will return to Ormolu with the tale, and your bodies.”
I pointed to my chest. “And ours. That’ll be the proof that we kidnapped you like they said.”
Sai threw up his hands. “But what is it all in aid of! What do they hope to accomplish with this murderous charade?”
“Other than ridding Ora of an Aldhanan the Church dislikes?” Lhan leaned back against the wall and crossed his arms. “My guess is that there will be, among the Aldhanan’s party, a secret friend of the church whose part it will be to play the hero. It will be he who chases off the ‘heretics’ and ‘saves’ the witnesses. It will be he who ‘slays’ the kidnappers and returns to Ormolu clothed in glory. And it will be he whom the Church suggests as the next Aldhanan.”
I raised my head, frowning. “And they’re not gonna leave that slaying to chance, are they? They can’t risk us blowing the game and warning the Aldhanan. I’m guessing we’re gonna be pre-slayed, right before the old man gets here.”
Lhan nodded. “Or perhaps drugged.”
I groaned and lay back, looking up at the rim of the pit, so close, but yet so far. “We gotta get outta here.”
“Aye.”
But nobody had any ideas.
***
Half an hour later, I was still lying on my back, and nobody still had any ideas. Lhan was lying beside me, muttering under his breath as he tried to come up with something. Sai and Wen-Jhai were snoozing, so weak from starvation it was about all they could manage. I was half asleep too, watching the light from the hole in the temple ceiling crawling down the side of the pit as the sun g
ot higher, and wondering if I’d live to see another sunrise, when suddenly Lhan jumped to his feet.
“Mistress!”
I jumped up, snapping out of my daydream, and went on guard. “What? What?”
Sai and Wen-Jhai raised their heads and looked around, blinking like newborn kittens.
Lhan pointed up the pit. “Look!”
I looked up. It had been too dark before, but now that the light was shining down, we could see, halfway up the wall, a smallish hole with the end of a clay pipe sticking out of it—for filling the pit with water, I guessed.
“Surely, beloved, that is within your reach.”
I nodded. “Yeah. But then what? I got no way to kick up to the top. I’d just be hanging there.”
“Er, forgive me, Mistress Jae-En.” Wen-Jhai raised to her knees, trying to lift something that looked like a mastodon tusk, all curved and about five feet long. “But could you fit this into that hole?”
I grinned. “That’s what my prom date said.”
They didn’t get it.
I shrugged and took the tusk, then looked up at the drain pipe. I couldn’t tell exactly, but the diameters looked about the same.
“Well, we’ll just have to try it and see.”
And yeah, that’s what I said to my prom date.
We cleared some running room, moving aside bones and rocks, then I got down into a linebacker crouch with the tusk in one hand.
“Here goes nothing.”
I ran for the far side of the pit, sprang as hard as I could straight at the wall, then kicked off and ricocheted back toward the pipe. I was way too wide. I tried a stab at it with the tusk anyway, and missed, but at least I saw that it would fit.
Landing sucked. I crashed down in the middle of the bones and rocks and scraped up my knees and shins. At least I didn’t twist anything.
A paladin looked over the side. “What is all this noise?”
Lhan grinned up at him. “We are building a ladder of bones, and will come up later to murder you in your sleep!”
The paladin sneered. “You may murder us in your dreams, heretic. But not in this life. Now be quiet.”
He turned away from the lip and disappeared and Lhan helped me up.
“Are you ready to try again, beloved?”
“Yeah. But I’m gonna try a different way this time.”
As Lhan and the gang watched, I got set like before, and launched like before. Running and jumping and kicking off the wall. This time, however, I changed my angle a little and got closer to the hole. I also didn’t stab at it with the tusk again. That was like trying to take a flying fuck at a rolling donut. Instead I grabbed for it with my free hand and caught the rim.
It was full of sand, and I almost slipped, but I grabbed again and held on, hanging from my fingers. I waited to see if the paladin was going to show his face again, but he didn’t, so I lifted the tusk with my other hand and slid the butt end of it into the hole. There was just enough room that it didn’t crush my fingers, but it would as soon as I put any weight on it. I had to pull ’em out before I was sure it would hold my weight. It made my sphincter pucker just thinking about it, but it had to be done.
“One, two, three….”
I yanked my fingers out and the tusk dropped, then held. A little sand dribbled out of the hole and got in my face, but otherwise good. Whew! Now came the tricky part.
I did a chin-up on the tusk, then threw a leg over the curly end of it and pulled myself up until I was straddling it. Below me, Lhan, Sai and Wen-Jhai were all craning their necks to watch. I gave them a thumbs-up, then braced against the wall and used it to get into a standing position.
Damn. The top of the pit looked a lot farther away than I’d thought. I mighta been able to reach it with a running jump, but from standing on the tusk? It was gonna be close. I had one thing going for me. There was some ornamental moulding at the top of the wall that looked like tentacles rising up out of the pit and stretching over the lip. It was pretty worn away, but…
I crouched on the tusk, tensing, then sprang up and kicked off the wall at a glancing angle. It got me another ten feet and I was right at the base of the tentacles. I grabbed a sucker and it crumbled away in my fingers. Fuck! Falling! I grabbed another as I dropped. This one held, barely, and I grabbed for a third. It held too. Whew!
I wanted to hang there a minute and catch my breath, but the paladin looked over the edge again and stared right into my eyes.
“What in the name of the—”
Honestly, I’m not sure how I climbed that wall. I mean, I musta gone up hand over hand, using the tentacles as holds, but I don’t remember that. All I remember is launching myself straight up at that guy and slamming him down on the floor on the lip of the hole. Fear makes spider monkeys of us all, I guess.
I bounced his head off a stone barnacle, then looked up as his lights went out. I froze. In all the excitement about figuring a way out of the pit I’d kinda forgot there was a whole crew of priests and paladins up here, all waiting around with nothing to do. Now they were standing from their cooking fires and stepping from their tents and staring at me like I was some kind of giant pink jack-in-the-box.
I swallowed and smiled and gave ’em a little salute.
“Uh, hi fellas.”
CHAPTER TWENTY
SKELSHAS!
The other pit guard was the first guy to make a move. He started running around from the other side. I scooped up the first guard’s spear and jumped at him, straight across the hole.
He stabbed at me as I came down, but I whacked his spear aside and shoulder-checked him into one of the iron candlesticks, sending them both to the floor.
One down. A couple dozen to go. And they were all coming now, closing in left, right and center.
I stepped back, on guard, and my back foot touched one of the coiled up grapple ropes. I kicked it into the pit.
“Grab it, Lhan! Hold tight!”
If he answered, I didn’t hear, ’cause the priests and paladins were on me like flies on shit. I jumped over their heads as they tried to bulldoze me into the pit, then came down swinging in the middle of ’em, and knocked a bunch off the edge.
The rest ducked back as I whirled my spear around, and suddenly I had a clear shot at the rope. I hooked it with the spear and lifted. Somebody was definitely on the other end, ’cause I felt the weight as I hauled on it. I just hoped it was Lhan.
The priests and paladins were coming in again. I screamed and ran straight at them, spear held out like I was grabbing the handlebars of a Harley, and the rope rasping around the shaft between my hands like cable through a pulley.
A few went splat as I mowed ’em down, but most backed and stabbed for my hands and face. I blocked and parried like Robin Hood with a quarter staff when all of a sudden, the tension went outta the rope and I crashed into the guys with the spears, knocking three of ’em flat.
“Shit! Lhan!”
Had he fallen off the rope? Did somebody cut it?
I looked behind me as I fell and saw Lhan shooting up out of the pit like he’d been riding a piston, a giant thigh bone in one hand like a club, and the rope and grapple spinning free and smacking some priest in the back of the head. Then I was flat on my back in the middle of the circle and everybody was rushing in and stabbing at me. I blocked like crazy, but a few got through. Spear tips grazed my arms and legs, and I twisted like a yoga instructor to get out of the way of one that was heading straight for my belly button. It tore my side instead. Another stabbed the floor right next to my face and sprayed me with marble chips.
“Get off of me, you fucks!”
I swiped the spear around, aiming at ankles, and knocked a handful flat, but not enough. A guy with a face like a kung-fu assassin leapt over my swing and lanced down at me like I was a fish in a barrel, but just as his spear should have run me through, he staggered forward, yelping, and it glanced off the floor instead.
He fell across me, bleeding from a gash in his skull, and I
saw Lhan behind him, bashing at the rest of the mob with the thigh bone.
“Unhand my beloved, you charlatans!”
I don’t know how other gals woulda felt about it, but hearing that was like a magic elixir. I didn’t feel my wounds any more. I wasn’t exhausted. I didn’t need to take a breather. All of a sudden I was right back on my feet again, fresh as a daisy, and back to back with Lhan like I coulda fought on for hours.
“Good to see ya, Lhan.”
“And you, Mistress.”
Of course fighting for hours wasn’t actually gonna happen. In fact, we were seconds away from being dead meat. Now that they were over their panic, the priests and paladins were getting their act together and working like a team. The spear guys were forming up in a tight circle around us while the priests were fading back and readying crossbows. We were gonna get stuck six ways to Sunday.
“Uh-oh. Gotta go.”
“Indeed, mistress.”
I looked around. We were surrounded, but the crowd was thinnest toward the front of the temple, away from the hole.
“That way!”
I ducked a spear thrust and grabbed the robes of the kung-fu assassin, who was still face down on the floor, then threw him at the guys between us and the door. He flattened two, and Lhan and I charged after him, bashing back the rest as they tried to recover.
We were clear, but with a double-dozen shouting church assholes surging after us. Not to mention the crossbows.
“Go go go!”
I coulda made the door in about four steps, but I wasn’t gonna leave Lhan behind—and I’d promised him I wouldn’t pick him up anymore—so I paced him, waving my spear behind me like I was trying to fend off a swarm of buzzing bees. We got a swarm of whistling bolts instead, and Lhan got nicked just above the ankle, but after one volley, the guys who were chasing us got too close behind and the shooters couldn’t shoot anymore.
They were less than two steps behind us as we reached the door, and I turned just outside it, ready to use it as a bottleneck to hold ’em in, but they skidded to a stop just inside it and didn’t even try to come out.