The Killing Grounds

by Simon Corn

“Relax, you're safe, try to sleep a little longer and heal.”

  “The guard house Black, we need to get to the guard house…”

  “Sleep, I’ve got you Du Preeze.”

  The darkness took her again and she succumbed to his wishes.

  Her dreams were fitful as the severed head of Lord Basel screamed threats at her and chased her through endless corridors beneath the Great Fort. She felt herself toss and turn as her body seemed to burn with a ferocious heat that threatened to tear her to pieces. She heard herself cry out for help and heard another voice trying to tell her to relax, but each time she did Basel's head would come after her and the chase would start over again.

  ***

  “Du Preeze, wake up.”

  Alara forced her eyes open and tried to sit, the pain was still intense, but it was manageable and she tried to focus on her surroundings. “Black, where the hell are we?”

  “In the Guard House. How are you feeling? You had a really bad temperature, but I’ve got it under control. If we work together we can get you ready to get out of here in a few hours. We can regroup at the Killing Grounds and blow the whistle on this bunch of bastards.”

  Alara's lips were parched and her mouth was as dry as sandpaper, but Black had managed to bring a few small bottles of water from the cells and as he held one up to her lips, she tried to gulp it down too fast and choked.

  “Slow down and try to relax.”

  She nodded and gently sipped from the water, “We can’t leave Black, we have to find Lord Osari. If we go back now we have no evidence and we’ve done a lot of damage to a national monument.”

  “No, we only damaged House Black.”

  “The most influential family in the city, who do you think the Guild Council will believe? Two young members or a Higher Lord from the Senior Council?” She saw Black's lips draw into a tight line, “We have to see this through Alex, I’m sorry but we have no choice.” Black nodded, “How long was I out for?”

  “About six hours, if my timing is right it’s close to four in the afternoon.”

  “Damn, we’ve wasted so much time. What’s been happening?”

  “I’m not sure; it looks like some sort of meeting. Lorries have been coming and going all day and the number of guards has been steadily increasing from about midday. One good thing though, the set that were patrolling the ramparts were called down to help, so it’s been really quiet up here.”

  “Lorries? You’ll know more, but isn’t there supposed to be only one way into the castle via the portcullis?”

  “You're right, they’ve made changes! They’re not supposed to make any changes at all.”

  “Well at least if all else goes south we now have a reason to be here.”

  Black seemed to brighten up, but whether it was the thought of actually having a reason for them to be there or simply that he was outraged at their sheer ignorance to the laws of the city she didn’t know, and wasn’t prepared to discuss. “I wonder what else they’ve done?”

  “What worries me is that there hasn’t been any sort of alarm from the Fort, I expected them to send out search parties to try to find us once they discovered the bodies in the cells, but there’s been nothing.”

  “They must have bigger issues to deal with and think that we escaped. Maybe that’s why the guard details have been increasing in size?”

  “No, they’re definitely gearing up for something big and my guess is that it’s happening tonight.”

  “Well maybe we should just crash their party then.” Both assassins looked at each other and nodded. Alara leaned against a wall, closed her eyes and concentrated all her energies on healing herself. She sensed Black sit down next to her and felt his hand holding hers as he transferred energy from his body to hers. “Save some of that for yourself Alex.”

  “I only had some cuts and bruises to deal with, but I think that you’re going to spend some time in the infirmary if we ever get out of here.”

  She smiled, “Thank you Alex.”

  “Just rest up and regain your strength, if we’re going to a party you’ll need to be fit enough to dance!”

  Alara tried to laugh but the split in her lip opened and she grimaced and tasted blood in her mouth.

  ***

  Alara took a deep breath, but the smell of her own sweat filled her nose and she recoiled.

  “Don’t worry about it, I’m just as bad.” Black removed his hand from hers and stood to stretch out, “How are you feeling now?”

  “Much better thank you Alex.”

  “You would do the same for me.”

  “Every day of the week.” The sun was now low in the sky and the fort was bathed in an orange glow that cast long shadows over the courtyard, “Looks like the guests are starting to arrive.” She scanned the area, but was met by several powerful wards.

  “I think it’s just the entertainment. From what I can make of the highborns they only get to a party much later and the last one in is normally the guest of honour.”

  “I didn’t know you studied the highborns.”

  “I don’t, but Lucinda was priming me to meet her family so I was getting as much intel as possible.”

  His face looked ashen in the fading light and Alara could sense his feelings of being lost, “She may come to her senses and stay at the Killing Grounds.”

  “I don’t think so Du Preeze.”

  Alara nodded in silent agreement and took up a position near the small wall that separated them from the courtyard below and watched as the number of trucks decreased and cars and carriages started arriving. The sun had disappeared into the sea and an eerie stillness settled over the Fort, only punctured by guests arriving and being ushered through the huge double doors of the keep. “What do we know so far?” Alara asked as Black knelt down beside her.

  “I’ve checked everywhere, but I can’t see a way in and I don’t think just walking in is an option, the guards will smell us before we get within a mile of that place.”

  Alara appreciated his attempt at humour but didn’t respond, “Well maybe we’ve been looking in the wrong places, take a look over there.” She pointed to the flat roof of the keep.

  “I can’t see anything.”

  “Because you’re looking for the wrong sort of thing, what’s there that shouldn’t be there?”

  “I don’t believe it; those bastards have put in a skylight! How the hell do they think that they can get away with this? They’re turning one of the city’s most strategic defensive structures into a family home. How dare they?”

  “Indeed. But their beautification could be our way in!”

  Black growled under his breath, but agreed with her strategy. “So we wait until the last guest arrives and then scout the area from over there?”

  “Correct and if they’ve built a skylight they must have built a way onto the roof from inside the building. Make ready Black, the last guest will be the guest of honour and we’ll need to move fast.” She crawled back into the guardhouse and stood to stretch, her body felt better and the pain in her head had subsided, she owed Black a lot and she hoped that he hadn’t ignored his own needs to help her. She watched as the boy joined her and sat looking out of the small window overlooking the city skyline. “Black, when we're done here…”

  “Forget it. When we're done, I’m done. Nothing’s changed Du Preeze.”

  “Fair enough.” She gritted her teeth and went back to watching the dignitaries arrive at the Great Fort.

  ***

  An hour passed and the moon was peeking over the top of the castle as a carriage drew up that Alara knew, and she was dismayed to see Bastian and Penelope Millhaven climb out and enter the keep. She hadn’t expected them, but they were members of the Junior Council and they would attend any formal function. The next limo pulled up and Lord and Lady Millhaven were escorted in to the building by a regal looking usher and the huge doors to the keep closed. “It’s time to go Black.”

  “Hang on I can hear another car.” Lord and La
dy Black exited the building and stood to wait for the last person, “The guest of honour.”

  “And I bet we know who that will be!”

  “Indeed!”

  The black limo pulled up and the driver opened the door for the last guest to make her entrance. “Sable! I knew she’d be eyeballs deep in this. I swear if she has Lord Osari I will personally retire her pro bono.”

  “You’ll have to get in the queue!”

  Lord Black fussed around the woman with pure white hair dripping in diamonds, but Lady Black seemed to hang back and act aloof. “No love lost there.”

  “I guess not. Maybe we could bring Lady Black over to our side.”

  Alara held back a laugh, “You are so funny Alex.” Black smiled at her and stood up as the double doors closed behind the last guest. She grabbed her two blade belts and tucked the dragon knives into her boots, “Okay time to move.”

  They crept silently down the stone stairs and ran quickly across the courtyard to the wall of the keep and skirted the wall looking for a way to the roof. Black pulled Alara into the shadows as a light swept the area and both assassins froze on the spot, hugging the stone wall. Black held up a finger to his mouth and said, “Shhhh…shield from here on out.”

  Alara nodded and pointed to a flimsy looking drainpipe, but Black shook his head and pointed upwards to a ladder that hung a floor above them. He signalled for her to wait there and climbed up the drainpipe and leapt through the air, just managing to cling onto the last rung of the ladder and drop it to the ground. Alara cringed as it clattered down, but the spotlight didn’t veer away from its course as it swung to and fro across the courtyard. So much for stealth! She ran to where Black stood holding the ladder and climbed as fast as her injured body allowed to the roof with Black close behind.

  “What now?” Black asked as they lay on the small stones that covered the rooftop.

  Alara scanned the area and found no wards. The roof was flat and dotted with air-conditioning units. She crawled to the nearest one and ducked behind it for cover. “The door's over there and I can see cameras above and to the right; but that’s not the problem.” She pointed at the four guards that patrolled around the huge skylight.

  “Two each seems simple enough,” Black said and disappeared from her side before she had time to come up with a plan.

  Damn it Black! She leapt to her feet and charged the two guards closest to her, her first blade caught a guard under his chin and he staggered backward gurgling a bloody warning to the others, but Alara was too fast and the second guard dropped dead with a blade protruding from his eye socket. As she lifted her head she saw another of the guards lift a rifle and she dropped to the ground, but the gun never fired and she looked back over to see Black standing over the bodies cleaning his knives on their shirts. “You could have warned me!”

  “And where’s the fun in that?”

  Alara pulled the blade from the guard's head, cleaned it and sheathed it back into place. The second of her blades had stuck in the guard’s skull and she struggled to loosen it until she blasted the head open with an energy burst. No enemy was worth losing a blade over, but the man was only doing his job and Alara felt the slightest tinge of remorse that he wouldn’t be resurrected. “Sorry,” she said to the headless corpse.

  “Sorry for what?” Black asked as he walked to the skylight and used his sleeve to wipe away some of the grime.

  “Not you.”

  “You might want to come and see this Du Preeze.”

  “What?” she asked, walking over to the beautifully decorated glass.

  “These are your dragons aren’t they?”

  She looked at the dome and saw Parian, Trian and Paragon chasing each other around and around as they were captured in flight by whoever created the masterpiece. She gazed upon its beauty and longed to learn more about what happened to the creatures. Her eyes were drawn to a large golden egg that made up the decorative centrepiece as the moonlight made it glisten on top and the light from the room below seemed to make up a nest below it, “It’s stunning!”

  “Get your head back in the game Du Preeze, you need to see this.” He’d cleaned the glass enough to be able to see into the ballroom below where people were milling around chatting or dancing along to whatever music the small band was playing.

  “Lord Osari!” she cried a little too loudly. Her Lord was being held against his will by a powerful Artist that sat to the side of him, cross-legged on the floor with his eyes closed in concentration. Lord Osari’s body writhed in pain as it hung from an invisible web that the Artist had magically woven in thin air. Lord and Lady Black sat in front of their captive, surrounded by bodyguards on each side. Alara was outraged and she stood up and lifted a foot to break the glass roof, but Black pushed her to one side and she hit the ground hard as a blade whizzed past her and rebounded off the roof. Her anger had caused her to miss the approach of an assassin. She managed to roll away and hide behind an air duct, she scanned the area, but the assassin was shielded and more powerful that her. “Black can you break his shield?”

  “No he’s too powerful.”

  Alara watched as Black charged the attacker and Alara managed to quickly look at the man who was dressed in black from head to toe including a balaclava. He could be anyone! Black had closed the distance and attacked with a ferocity that she hadn’t witnessed before, but the assassin matched him punch for punch with ease. Alara stood to charge and help, but the assassin lifted a hand toward her and a blast of energy knocked her off her feet and onto her back. She coughed and spat blood onto the roof, but managed to regain her footing. “Bastard!” she called out trying to drag the attention away from Black who was taking the beating of his life from the assassin. Alara charged in, but the assassin was too quick for her and easily dodged her clumsy attack and her face ploughed into the floor as he pushed her away.

  She spun around to see the assassin jump into the air and hammer his elbow into the top of Black’s head and the boy crumbled. Alara tried to call out to stop him, but the assassin picked Black up and grabbed him around his neck choking him, until Black's arms hung limply at his side. Black managed to raise his right arm in one final effort, but the assassin laughed and snapped the limb clean in two with a mind blast and Black cried out in pain before collapsing onto the roof.

  Alara managed to get to her feet and charged at the assassin, but he spun in the air as she came within reach and her body flew into the glass dome. She heard the glass crack and felt it start to give way beneath her body; she threw a shield around herself and managed to lie still. The cracking stopped, but the assassin was standing over her laughing, and she knew that laugh! “Gideon!”

  “Indeed,” the blonde haired boy said as he removed the mask.

  “But…”

  “But I’m mundane? Oh no, you may have thought I was mundane Du Preeze. I must admit that the hardest part of being in the Killing Grounds was convincing everyone I was mundane.”

  “But I scanned you, I would have known.”

  “Oh please, your weak efforts are no match for me. And now I have you where that sorry sack of shit can’t save you any longer.” He pointed to Black who lay on the floor motionless. Gideon circled the skylight, “I hate these flying rats!”

  Gideon kicked at the panel behind her and she could hear the glass break and fall, people started screaming from below as Alara said, “Gideon wait, we can talk about this…” But the assassin carried on kicking out pane after pane until there was only hers left and she froze in panic as he came to stand in front of her.

  “Any last words Du Preeze?”

  “Wai…” Gideon kicked at the glass and Alara found herself falling, but managed to snake out a hand and grab the metal frame. She looked down at the people fleeing below her and grabbed the frame with her other hand. She was dead in the water and she knew it. The broken glass that was still embedded in the frame bit into her hands and it was all she could do to hang on.

  “Well played Du Preeze!
But tell me Arian, where are you going next? Looks like a one way trip to splatsville to me.”

  She attempted to let go of one hand and grip the frame again, but Gideon stood on her hand and she screamed out in pain. “Bastard!”

  “No Du Preeze, that sack of shit of a brother of mine was the bastard!”

  “So that’s what this is all about?” The pain was so intense she nearly passed out, but Gideon stepped away and let her change her grip.

  “Do you really think I’d come all this way just to fight him? You do me a disservice. No there are wheels in motion Du Preeze, and tonight will mark the start of a new era.”

  “You're with the Affiliation?” He laughed again, but failed to answer her question. She looked down at the black and white chequered dance floor below her and over to her Lord who cried out in pain. “You know what Gideon, they’d want me alive so fuck you and fuck all of them.” She let go of the frame and closed her eyes, but Gideon was too fast and grabbed her left hand.

  “Not so fast Arian, there’s someone who has a few questions for you before you shuffle off of this mortal coil.” He lifted her clear and threw her onto the ground as guards streamed through the door to the rooftop, “Take him downstairs, I’ll bring this worthless Arian.”

  She saw the bottom of his boot coming toward her face and the world went dark.

  Twenty-Nine:

  The guards dragged Alara and Black into the fort and down the stairs. She pulled on the binds trying to loosen them and ready an attack, but the cording bit into her flesh and the wound bled profusely. As they reached the ground floor people started to barge into them trying to reach the entrance, but the guards held their ground until the exodus subsided. The doors to the main hall stood ajar and Alara could hear shouting coming from within. The guards stripped Alara and Black of their blade belts and shoved them face first into the wall. She managed to look toward her fallen comrade and whisper, “I’m so sorry,” but Black’s face was ashen and he refused to answer. She tried to throw up a shield, but Gideon’s Artistry far outweighed hers and the cast failed.