The Assassin's Tale (Isle of Dreams)

by Kirsten Jones

  Silence fell and the tension mounted. Mistral stared in the darkness with unblinking eyes. Was this another hunting strategy? Lull their prey into a false sense of security then attack? She shot a perplexed glance at the others and saw them looking confounded too.

  A sudden thudding noise drew their attention back to the treeline. Konrad and Saul burst into view galloping flat out, bent low over the necks of their horses to avoid the low branches as they crashed wildly through the trees.

  ‘Get back to the Valley!’ Saul yelled as he thundered up to them. ‘No time to explain! Just go! NOW!’

  Without stopping he galloped past and spurred his horse across the dark meadow. Konrad followed just behind, slightly slumped against his horse’s neck. Mistral could see he wasn’t holding the reins but had his hands wound into his horse’s mane, as though he were clinging on for life.

  ‘Did you see that?’ Xerxes exclaimed looking after the wildly galloping pair. ‘Konrad had an arrow sticking out of his shoulder!’

  Mistral heard the twins swear in unison and the unmistakable twang and whistle of arrows being fired.

  ‘The elves!’

  The hail of arrows thudded uselessly into the ground a short distance from them; the elves were still just out of range.

  ‘Let’s go before they fire again!’ Phantom yelled, pulling his horse around and urging it into a gallop after the rapidly vanishing Saul and Konrad.

  Mistral didn’t need telling twice. She pulled Cirrus around and caught a glimpse of the elves, tall, silent figures lined up at the edge of the forests. They were already drawing their bows and would not miss again.

  In a heartbeat the apprentices were fleeing for their lives across the silver meadow, each bending low over their horse’s neck, filled with the terrible anticipation of an arrow finding its target in them. Hearing Phantom curse Mistral looked over sharply to see that his horse had stumbled – caught out by the deceptive moonlight. Relieved to see him still in the saddle, she returned her concentration to Cirrus, but too late. In that one moment of leaving him unguided he tripped and went down onto his knees. Mistral was flung forwards onto his neck but somehow managed to hang on while he lurched back up, thankfully on all four legs. Shaken, Mistral urged him on in a frantic undertone. She could hear only too clearly the whine of arrows being fired once more.

  A dull thud and a sudden burning pain in her leg made Mistral cry out aloud. Cirrus snorted and veered sharply to the left and another arrow went sailing past them. Cirrus’ fall had cost valuable seconds and they were now within range. Gritting her teeth against the searing pain in her leg she urged Cirrus to go faster, dropping the reins to give him his head. The powerful horse needed no further encouragement to flee from the danger he could sense behind them. Mistral clung on to his outstretched neck, feeling the muscles in his shoulders bunching and straining as he pushed himself to gallop faster than he ever had in his life. They flew across the meadow, the air roaring in her ears, making her deaf to any further sounds of arrows being fired. The agonising throbbing in her leg was making her feel sick, she risked a glance at the wound and saw the arrow shaft sticking out from below her hip. It was buried deep into the muscle; she could feel the metal head grating in time with Cirrus’ gallop. Something dark glistened on Cirrus’ flanks and for a panicked second she thought her horse had been shot too but quickly realised that it was her blood. She eyed the spreading stain and knew she would pass out soon if she continued to bleed that heavily. Looking around desperately for the twins Mistral almost sobbed with relief to see the North Gate looming out of the night directly ahead of them.

  ‘No alarm unless they follow!’ Saul cried up to the warrior on lookout.

  The warrior nodded back and gazed out across the meadow, watching. Once through the gateway the apprentices slowed their spent horses, panic giving way to relief. They were safe. The elves would not dare to attack them in a valley full of Ri warriors.

  Mistral was dimly aware of feeling relief too, but the pain in her leg was growing, consuming every thought and demanding all her energy. She clutched at Cirrus’ reins with shaking hands to slow him and bit back a scream when her leg bounced against the saddle.

  ‘Mistral! What’s wrong?’

  Phantasm was immediately beside her, his face full of concern. She opened one eye a fraction and looked down at the arrow lodged in her leg.

  ‘Damn! Phantom we need some help! Mistral’s been shot!’

  ‘Don’t touch it!’ Mistral panted when Phantasm instinctively reached out to pull the arrow out. ‘It’s bleeding too mu –’

  Her words ended in a scream as Cirrus shied at Phantom’s horse coming up alongside and knocked her into Phantasm, driving the arrow deeper into her leg in an explosion of red pain. Then there was only blackness.

  Mistral drifted out of a heavy sleep to the unmistakable sound of glass bottles clinking. Without even opening her eyes she knew at once that she was back in the Infirmary. She flexed her injured leg gingerly and the responding throb told her that her leg was still attached, albeit painfully.

  Heaving a sigh Mistral opened her eyes and looked around. She was back in her usual bed by the window. The sky outside was heavy and grey, rain was sliding down the long glass window and a strong wind was blowing, rattling at the window panes. Turning her head away from the window Mistral looked across the room and saw Konrad lying with his eyes closed in a bed two down from hers. She suppressed a groan; if there was one thing Mistral hated more than being in the Infirmary, it was being in the Infirmary with company.

  She immediately tried to move her leg again, testing it to see if it would bear her weight. Grimacing at the resulting stabs of pain she hauled herself up into a sitting position and was about to pull the bedsheet back and get out when Serenity’s voice brought her up short.

  ‘Mistral? I sincerely hope that you are not thinking of trying to escape from my care again!’ she chided in a cool voice.

  Mistral looked up guiltily to see Serenity walking across the room towards her.

  ‘Toilet,’ Mistral muttered on the spur of the moment and continued to pull back the bedsheet, stopping with a burst of horror when she realised that her trousers were missing.

  Serenity saw her expression and gave her a tight-lipped smile, ‘Yes, I’m afraid I had to cut your trousers off to get at the arrow head, it was a bit of a mess, now – do you want me to help you to the toilet?’

  ‘No! Er, it can wait,’ said Mistral quickly sliding the bedsheet back over herself.

  ‘Good,’ said Serenity, settling herself quietly in the chair next to Mistral’s bed.

  Mistral looked at her apprehensively. Serenity had a look on her face that Mistral knew too well. She was about to try and get Mistral to “talk about things”.

  ‘How are you Mistral?’ she asked gently.

  Mistral sighed inwardly and cast an uncomfortable glance at Konrad. She hoped he was unconscious, or dead.

  ‘Fine,’ she muttered indistinctly, adding unnecessarily. ‘Leg hurts a bit.’

  Serenity fixed her with a searching look and Mistral could feel her own gaze slipping as she struggled to hold eye contact. Serenity did not have the Sight but she was incredibly perceptive when it came to people’s emotions, it was one of the things that made her such a good healer.

  ‘Don’t lie to me Mistral, I only want to help. I know that you haven’t been feeling yourself since your return from The Desert Lands.’

  Mistral said nothing and stared at the rain sliding down the window with a fixed expression on her face. There was no way she was even going to think about that, never mind talk about it.

  ‘Are you struggling to read auras?’ Serenity suddenly asked.

  Mistral stared at her in surprise. How did she know that?

  Serenity nodded sadly although Mistral hadn’t said anything, ‘Sometimes with gifts like yours, when the bearer has been very ill or traumatised in some way, their abilities are affected. It’s usually temporary and should come bac
k when you recover fully.’ Serenity’s gaze drifted over her face questioningly, as if assessing Mistral’s state of mind.

  ‘But how can I get better if I don’t know what’s wrong with me?’ Mistral whispered.

  ‘Listen to your dreams, they usually hold the answer. The unconscious mind can tell you things that you block out when you are awake,’ Serenity paused and frowned, catching the expression that flickered across Mistral’s face. ‘You are dreaming aren’t you?’

  Mistral closed her eyes and shook her head.

  Serenity patted her shoulder soothingly, ‘I’ll get something to help you sleep Mistral. Let your mind wander – you’ll find the answer soon, I know you will.’

  She stood up and glided silently across the room and vanished into the apothecary storeroom.

  Mistral slumped back against the pillows. This was all she needed, more vile potions and sympathy. Things couldn’t get any worse. She stared morosely at the grey sky outside the window once more and groaned under her breath, ‘Somebody ... please kill me now.’

  ‘Happy to oblige, just as soon as my shoulder is better,’ said Konrad faintly.

  Apparently things had just got worse. Mistral shot him a wary glance, how much had he heard?

  ‘You know,’ he continued in a stronger voice, opening his eyes and looking at her, ‘you may not be dreaming at the moment but you do talk in your sleep.’

  ‘What?’ Mistral demanded in a horrified whisper.

  ‘Hmm, something about it being winter.’ Konrad muttered and closed his eyes once more.

  The twins arrived after training to visit her. They sat down beside her bed wearing identical glum expressions.

  ‘Feeling better?’ Phantasm asked after a moment’s pause.

  ‘This is getting a bit like déjà vu,’ muttered Phantom under his breath, looking around the Infirmary distractedly.

  ‘I feel great,’ said Mistral sarcastically, ignoring Phantom’s comment. ‘What’s with your faces?’

  ‘What ever do you mean?’ Phantom snapped back, looking offended.

  ‘You look like you went to bed with Golden and woke up with Grendel!’

  Phantom pulled a disgusted face and Phantasm sighed.

  ‘Master Sphinx was not best pleased to wake up this morning to the news that two of his first years have arrows sticking out of them. He’s been bawling at us for most of the afternoon and we’ve all got punishment detail.’

  ‘Torture detail more like,’ Phantom added sourly. ‘We’ve all been assigned tasks in the village for the next two weeks.’

  Mistral looked blankly at their downcast faces. She failed to see what could be so bad about running a few errands in the village. At least they weren’t stuck in the Infirmary with a bad leg and Konrad for company.

  ‘Swap,’ she said coldly, pointing at her leg and tilting her head meaningfully towards Konrad’s supposedly sleeping form.

  The twins immediately looked contrite.

  ‘I suppose you want us to break you out again?’ Phantasm asked with a sigh.

  ‘If you can fit it into your busy schedule! However I will be needed some trousers,’ snapped Mistral a trifle ungratefully.

  ‘Don’t talk to me about schedules!’ Phantom began in a warning tone. ‘On Monday I’m working in the tannery at Toothe and Nayle prepping troll skin for armour! I’ll never get the stink off!’

  Mistral shot him a dark look, ‘I promise you can moan to me until midnight but get me out of here first! Serenity won’t be gone long! She’s only in the Refectory!’

  ‘Trousers,’ said Phantasm shortly, handing her a bundle of black cloth. ‘We thought you’d need some, sorry but we had to raid your room.’

  ‘Thanks,’ Mistral took the pair of trousers a sigh of gratitude and began to pull back the bedsheet before stopping and looking pointedly at the twins.

  ‘Er, how about a little privacy?’

  ‘Oh for crying out loud! I’ve strapped up parts of you the others would pay to see, and now you pretend to be modest?’ Phantom exclaimed leaping off his chair and walking over to the long window to stare moodily out at the blackening sky.

  Phantasm rolled his eyes. Mistral and his twin argued like siblings, it was occasionally amusing but more often than not just plain tiresome. He unfolded himself from the hard wooden chair and strolled over to Konrad’s bed. Mistral heard him begin a murmured conversation with the half-drow as she pulled back the bedsheet and examined her tightly bandaged leg. There was a little seepage of blood but nothing major. The bruising appearing around the edge of the bandage told her that extracting the arrow head had given Serenity a few problems, but bruises were just colouring to Mistral. Nothing that wouldn’t be gone in a few days – unlike the dead weight she seemed to be constantly carrying around inside her.

  She swung her legs over the side of the bed and yanked her trousers on, pulling them carefully over the bandages with a wince of pain before resting both feet on the floor and trying to stand. Her leg hurt badly but bore her weight without buckling and she was grateful that Phantasm wouldn’t have to carry her again.

  ‘Ready?’ Phantom demanded, spinning around with an impatient look on his face.

  ‘Boots –’

  Mistral’s muffled voice came from under the bed as she knelt and peered around for the missing items of footwear.

  ‘Take your time.’ Phantom muttered bad-temperedly and tapped his foot.

  By the time Mistral had located her boots and unceremoniously stuffed her bare feet into them her leg was alive with a burning ache that stretched from her hip to her knee and her strapped ribs were on fire. Seeing the look of pain that crossed Mistral’s face when she tried to haul herself to her feet Phantom was immediately repentant, gliding swiftly to her side and helping her up.

  ‘Sorry,’ he muttered apologetically. ‘I’m just grumpy about having Master Sphinx in my face again. Next year is seriously looking like it’s gone down the pan –’

  ‘No, I want to talk to you about that.’ Mistral said through clenched teeth while she was supported across the Infirmary by Phantasm. ‘But let’s just get back to your room where we won’t be overheard,’ she finished with a loaded look in Konrad’s direction.

  They were halfway along the corridor outside of the Infirmary by the time Phantasm caught them up. His face wore the familiar irritating lofty expression that immediately told Mistral he had found out something of significance from Konrad.

  Smiling lightly, Phantasm wrapped an arm around Mistral’s waist and between them the twins half-carried her along the corridor, ignoring her increasingly bad-tempered demands to be allowed to walk.

  ‘You’re getting a bit skinny Mistral,’ commented Phantasm when he helped his brother place her carefully her on one of their narrow beds.

  ‘No lectures please. I’ve had a full day of Serenity doing her caring and sharing bit. Just tell me everything that Leo said and why you’re looking so smug after speaking to Konrad. I don’t think he’s ever had that effect on anyone before.’

  Phantasm settled himself next to his brother on the opposite bed, his eyes glowing with excitement, ‘You remember our first run-in with those elves?’

  Mistral nodded and kept her face expressionless. It had been at the start of her journey to The Desert Lands. She hoped that Konrad hadn’t mentioned her nocturnal mumblings. There was no way the twins would be fooled into thinking she was talking about the seasons.

  ‘And how they wanted revenge on a Ri warrior for carrying out a Contract on one of their brothers?’

  Mistral felt herself sag with relief; it was back to the Konrad conspiracy theory again.

  ‘Well Konrad pretty much admitted to me that it was him who carried out the assassination on the elf. He said that the elves were on them the moment he and Saul got into the forests last night, asking questions and dropping threats just as they did with us. It turns out that Konrad doesn’t have my skill at lying,’ he paused and looked a touch smug, ‘because the elves didn’t belie
ve his attempts at feigning ignorance so he and Saul ended up making a run for it. They were just lucky to be in the forests at the time. If the elves had been able to get a clear shot at them they would both being burning in the village square by now.’

  ‘Did Konrad say who ordered the Contract?’ Phantom asked thoughtfully.

  Phantasm shook his head, ‘No, he said that Master Shacklock didn’t even let him keep the Contract to read, something about “record keeping”.’

  ‘More like “dodgy Contract burning” if you ask me,’ snorted Phantom.

  ‘I agree, it all seems highly suspect. What I’d give to know who bought that Contract! And why –’ Phantasm mused broodingly.

  ‘Back to the real world,’ interrupted Mistral, bored by the pointless speculation. ‘I have a foolproof plan of how to get you all off the hook with Leo.’

  The twins looked at her suspiciously. Mistral’s plans were never fool proof.

  ‘I’m not interested in staying for a second year,’ she said flatly. ‘You know I’ve pretty much lost the ability to read auras – although I did see a green haze around Grendel the other day, but that was probably just his odour. Anyway, I’m also fed up with being injured and stuck in the wretched Infirmary all the time. It’s becoming more like my bedroom than my dorm room is! So,’ Mistral went on more slowly, ‘what I’m suggesting is that I go see Leo and confess to the hunt being my idea. He’ll be only too glad to finally have a valid reason to chuck me out of the Valley, you know as well as I do that Caleb and Barak have been pestering him to get rid of me. So it’s a win-win situation – you’ll be back in Leo’s good books since you’ll be the only ones left with a gift, the other apprentices will be off the hook and I’ll be free of the Valley, Leo, the Lieutenants … Columbine –’ Mistral’s gaze grew slightly wistful. ‘I can travel ... pick up hunting work when I need to from the villages – they won’t care that I haven’t Qualified –’ she sighed and drew herself from her reverie. ‘This way everyone gets what they want.’