The Black Morass

by Gerald Lambert

  Mark glanced at the bartender as she placed a sparkling glass of ambercolored liquor in front of him, then looked down at the glass before flicking his eyes to Kendra. "I don't

  drink."

  "You do, starting now. Drink it." She said flatly, her gaze simply daring him to say no.

  "I'll say it once more, I don't drink."

  Her eyes narrowed a bit at him as she tossed back the rest of hers and snatched up the one in front of him, "More for me then." She downed his drink as well and smirked a little.

  After a few minutes of meaningless chatter between them, Mark found it apparent that her eyes were darting across the room behind him; she was looking for something. When her

  dark eyes stopped on someone mixed among some loud rabble, he realized he'd been the target all along. "Isolate him."

  Mark turned his head slightly, flicking his gaze back at the quiet one out of the bunch. A smirk flickered across his lips and he turned back to Kendra, "Back door?"

  "Just behind that wall over there," she said, pointing her nose to his left.

  "Head out, I'll take care of it. He'll be in your hands in a few minutes." Mark pushed off the bar and turned around, as if to leave, slamming into one of the rowdy drunkards nearby

  their target's table.

  As his liquor spilled from his stein, he turned red, slurring a bit as he spoke, "Oy! Watch where yer headed next time, whelp!" The man shoved back at Mark, pushing him into yet

  another loud, plastered man. From behind him, Mark heard a furious growl and was quickly jostled forward back into the first. "Tha's it, ya better be prayin' ta whatever gods ya

  think'll protect ya from this." He held up a fist and swung forward.

  Ducking, Mark squeezed out of the way, watching as his fist crashed into the second drunk's face. As planned, chaos ensued. Between the alcohol being circulated around the room

  and general boisterous nature of the regulars at the bar, the fight escalated into a full on brawl. Shattered glass soon covered the floor with beers and wine splashing over

  everything and everyone that it could cling to. Looking through the mess of people, Mark spotted Kendra's target slipping out through the back door. He sidestepped through the

  fighting and pursued.

  "Seems like you had this all figured out then." She said, watching as he entered the alley way. The escapee was already bound, sitting against the wall with Nyx sitting on his

  haunches nearby. "We need to get somewhere quiet where we can finish this."

  "Why don't we just interrogate him here?" Mark asked.

  Kendra rolled her eyes a little, "He's not what we're here for. But we need to get somewhere quieter first." She grabbed the man by his arm and pulled him to his feet, shoving him

  into Mark. "Keep hold of him. He's gonna lead us where we need to go." Nyx growled at her heels and snapped at the man's heels. "Now Jeremy, if you don't mind."

  He straightened a bit and started walking with Mark keeping a hold of him. It was starting to get dark and the people in the streets were quickly dissipating, returning to their

  homes for the evening, leaving their way clear. The few glances stole their way were removed after a moment, finding nothing overly suspicious about them at the moment.

  "So, where are we going?" Mark asked Kendra quietly as they walked.

  She looked over at him, then around the street to make sure no one was listening, "There's a network of them throughout the Empire. They creep into Surda. I need to know where

  they're hiding."

  Soon they were nearing the edge of town when Jeremy turned and headed down a side alley, halting in front of a back door. In the flickering lamp light, Mark could make out a

  small symbol carved into the wooden frame.

  "Now what?" Kendra asked, pulling at the gag around his mouth.

  "You're supposed to knock," he told her through narrowed eyes.

  She sneered at him a little and knocked twice.

  Nothing happened.

  "You said to knock, so I did," she flicked a knife up in between her fingers. "What"

  She froze as she felt a blade against her neck. Hot breath panted in her ear, "Wouldn't wave that knife around so much if I were you." Kendra was shoved into a wall, still at knife

  point. "Let him go."

  Mark looked at Kendra and she blinked at him in agreement. Slowly, he let Jeremy go. Halfway through the process, the princess stepped backward, digging her heel into her

  captor's foot, jamming her elbow in their stomach. The knives both hit the dirt as they tussled.

  "Letta!"

  Looking between them all, Mark slowly lowered his hand. His eyes moved to Kendra, releasing the magic around her first. She huffed and picked up her weapon, sheathing it and

  standing upright. "That's better. Good. Now, you two," Kendra looked at the newcomer. "How to get inside, since Jeremy feels disinclined to tell us at the moment."

  Letting go of the magic a little, he allowed the new person to speak, but wouldn't release it so far as to let them move away. "You don't knock like that." They insisted. "What do

  you want?"

  "Information." Kendra said, "Anything about Galbatorix I can squeeze out of your spies."

  "I hate to disappoint you, but you already know everything we have to offer."

  "Do I now? Huh, well, that's new information to me." She said, "Now will you tell me how to get inside." It wasn't much of a question.

  They smirked from underneath their hooded scarf, "Afraid not." Kendra's snarl matched her wolf's, the hooded spy glanced between them and winced.

  "Allow me then," Mark said. The princess looked back at him and shrugged, grasping Jeremy's arms behind his back so he couldn't escape. He stood in front of the masked person

  and flicked the hood back, pressing his fingertips against their temple and forehead. Invading their mind seemed easy enough, once he knew which walls to get around. Then,

  locating the information was simple. "Three times, short, with a few seconds pause in between." He smiled a bit at them, "That wasn't so hard, now was it?" Mark turned and tapped

  on the door as he'd learned how to. In a moment, the door slipped open, inviting them into a downward running staircase. "After you."

  Kendra nodded, shoving Jeremy ahead of her down the stairs with Mark following behind along with the masked spy. At the end of the stairway was another door, which Kendra

  simply kicked open. Standing in the room were three others, armed and masked, ready to attack. The princess jammed her knife toward Jeremy's throat and they hesitated. "Lower

  your weapons," she insisted.

  At a silent plea from the captives, they tossed the knives away.

  "Better," she said. "Now, I'm not in the business of killing people for no reason, so if you all want to cooperate with me, this'll all go along much smoother. Tie them up."

  Mark glanced over at her and she gave him a look, silent asking what was taking him so long. He shook his head and twisted his hand, magically pulling five chairs into a row and methodically binding the spies' wrists. When he'd finished he stepped back towards Kendra.

  "Lovely." She slowly walked around the room while Nyx stood guard in front of the spies, growling quietly at them all the while. Her fingers traced over the table as she observed maps and open books strewn about. "These look like Imperial battle plans… Jeremy, tell me what this is for?"

  "If you think any of us are going to talk to you that easily"

  Mark smacked his hand against Jeremy's shoulder, leaning down and looking him in the eye. "This is not my idea of fun. I have better things to be doing than standing in a spy's

  underground hide out, figuring out Imperial battle plans. My time could be much better spent doing something of significance so, either you tell her what she wants to know or you

  start explaining why I shouldn't just search your mind and kill you now. Your choice."

  Jeremy stared at him, going quite
pale. "Galbatorix wants to know what the Varden's next move is now that they've entered into agreement with Surda. The information on the table

  consists of the king's original battle plans to enter the country and attack them with full forces, however considering Nasuada's leadership, the plans are going to need adjusting. We've collected full reports on what the Varden is planning on doing next and were planning on relaying them to the king in the next week, when we have a chance to get back to

  Urû'baen."

  "Is that everything?" Mark asked, his mouth twitching as he realized just how careless he'd been around Nasuada lately. If these petty spies were able to get this much information,

  he shouldn't be leaving her side so often.

  "Yes." Jeremy nodded to him quickly.

  The masked spy shifted and shook their head; Mark stood and walked over, pulling the mask off and looking at the girl sitting there. "No?"

  "Galbatorix is planning on recreating the Forsworn."

  "What?" Mark stared at her, stunned.

  "As far as my reports go, he has at least two Dragon Riders at the castle, they've been there for a while, and the exact length of time is unknown, however Nasuada's spies will

  have news of it shortly. We've intercepted most of them, but after tonight, some of them are bound to get through to her."

  "He has two Riders?"

  "Yes. The entire war he is planning out is centered on destroying the resistance and taking back complete power over Alagaësia. He believes the best way to succeed is to have a

  new Forsworn at his side. The recreation of Dragon Riders in the world will allow for a balance and control that has not been since their destruction so many years ago."

  Mark was shaking slightly, "His Riders… tell me everything you know about them."

  "The dragons are mostly red in color, but it is difficult to tell sometimes from so far away, the sunlight often changes their coloring, sometimes they even look pink. No one knows

  anything about the Riders… but we can only assume they are being kept inside the castle until he wishes to release them onto the Varden."

  He looked up at Kendra who appeared just as stunned as himself. "What do you want to do now?"

  She stood there a moment and looked around the small room, "Take everything. After you've searched them, wipe their memories. I'm sure you know how to do that? Nyx will stay

  with you, I'll get the horses."

  When all five of the Imperial spies had been drained of their information, Mark used magic to make them unconscious and untying their hands from their chairs. When they woke,

  they would have no recognition of who had been there or what had been stolen from them, only knowing that someone had stolen the information. Kendra tied the last of the

  saddlebags shut and mounted her horse, heading out of town again under the night sky with Nyx running beside her. Aluora kept pace with the princess' mount as Mark sat up in the

  saddle, silent. Not once did Kendra say a word to him, and he appreciated her silence.

  In the morning when they arrived back in Aberon, they dropped off their stolen information with Delaney. Kendra tied off her horse outside the shop and walked back with Mark to

  the stables, leading Aluora.

  "You did a good job interrogating those spies. Didn't even have to resort to violence… well, I don't consider threats violence, but some people might." When he simply nodded,she

  scoffed, "What's the matter with you? Was it too much? I shouldn't have brought you; I knew this would end up happening."

  "No, it's not that…" he insisted, walking Aluora into her stable, "It's what they said… about the Riders."

  "What about them?"

  He stared at her, debating with himself. If he told her about his sister, he would be giving her a level of trust he shared with no one else, one of the deepest secrets he harbored.

  He firmly believed his sister was still alive, and after what the spies had told him about the dragons, was adamant that one of those Riders at the capital was his sister. Mark

  snapped out of his thoughts when he heard Kendra gasp.

  She was staring at a gray stallion tossing his head back and snorting loudly. He stamped his feet a few times, whinnying. Kendra walked straight over in front of him, where most

  people would have stepped back; she put her hand out and stroked his nose. The horse settled down and pressed against her hand, nipping playfully at her hair. "Tornac…"

  "How do you know his name?" Mark asked, blinking at her.

  Kendra turned back to Mark, "I could ask you the same. Please tell me… what's become of Murtagh?"

  "Good morning my sleepy little bird, it's time to wake up."

  Mariah moaned, rolling over and throwing a pillow at Kieran. The woman twisted around to the other side of her bed and prodded at her some more. "Get up, c'mon."

  Her green eyes flickered open and she glared at Kieran, "What time is it?"

  "The sun's not up quite yet, so I'll say"

  "Too early. Sun's not up, neither am I."

  "Oh, come on, you'll miss out on all the fun I have planned for us today."

  She said, sitting up, puzzled, "I thought I was getting the day off?"

  "Obviously Kieran has different plans," Murtagh said from the doorway, leaning on the wall. "She woke me up nearly ten minutes ago."

  Mariah sighed and looked back at the princess. She was wearing a nice set of clothing, not so much that she would match Mariah in the dress she'd given her, but nicer than normal

  every day wear. "Fine, what are we doing?"

  "Get ready and I'll show you." She said, hurrying out, dragging Murtagh along with her.

  She stood, stretched, and found a nice tunic and breeches to wear, slipping on a pair of comfortable boots before meeting them in the hallway.

  "Finally!" Kieran said, turning on her heel and heading off. Mariah blinked, watching her strut down the hallway.

  "Don't mind her, she's just like this sometimes," Murtagh insisted, smiling at her a little. "Morning, by the way." He took Mariah's hand and followed after Kieran with her.

  They followed her through the vast, empty halls and past guards patrolling about and maids hurriedly running around, scrubbing everything and anything that looked even remotely

  dusty. After a few minutes Mariah blinked, "Are we getting breakfast?"

  Kieran halted in front of them and swiveled on her heel, trotting back a ways, down a side hall to the kitchens. One of the cooks handed her a tray filled with food and before Mariah could even think about snatching something up, the princess was off again. She groaned and followed Kieran astride Murtagh. Finally she stopped in front of a set of

  immaculate double doors, guarded by two men with spears. Exactly what Mariah would have pictured from a story Brom had once told. They took half a moment to open the door

  for Kieran, allowing all three of the Riders inside. As soon as Murtagh's foot was past the threshold, the door smacked shut again.

  "Oh… my…" Mariah stopped breathing for a moment. The sheer number of books would have given Mark a heart attack, after which he would never have left the confines of the

  room. It was like entering a temple, the sheer beauty of the stained glass windows from high above. An enormous crackling fireplace lit what the sunlight did not. Columns and

  rows of books seemed to stretch on forever; every single book that had ever existed must have at least one copy sitting upon the shelves here. The second story was easily

  accessible from the floor by a spiraling staircase and the high book cases twenty feet above that had ladders ascending up to them.

  "You haven't been in here yet?" Murtagh blinked down at her. She shook her head slowly. "Oh." He said simply, pulling her over to a plush burgundy couch in front of the fire.

  Kieran had set the food down and vanished between all the shelves. He stretched out a bit, snatching up some food and kicking his feet up on the table.

&nb
sp; Kieran came trotting back a moment later, laden with books, "Feet off the table." She snapped, sitting down with the books. "I thought you two could teach me some of the Ancient

  Language this morning, before we have to do anything."

  "Can I at least eat first?" Mariah asked. She nodded, popping open a book and reading while the other two ate. "I didn't realize this was here… inside the castle. Why are there

  guards?"

  Murtagh snorted a laugh, removing his feet from the tabletop, "Because there are things in this library that Galbatorix wants no one to know about. Kieran and he are the only two

  allowed in here without supervision. Anyone else must be accompanied by either Galbatorix or Kieran to gain entrance."

  "What exactly is in here that's so important?"

  He shrugged, "I don't know, Kieran's never told me. Doubt she's planning on telling me either way."

  "Nope." She said shortly, flicking a page over.

  "Thought as much, anyway, what do you want us to teach you exactly Kieran?"

  "You seem to know more words in the Ancient Language than I do, or at least, are much more fluent in them than I. Simply put, I would like to be able to speak it just as easily I do

  these words, without much thought or time consumption."

  Mariah blinked, "What you're asking takes years of practice and study… I don't know how we'll be able to cover all this in a morning."

  "I wasn't planning to, but at least I could start by doing something, you know?" Kieran smiled a bit at her, "And it'll help pass the time while we wait."

  For the most part, Mariah talked and Kieran repeated. Murtagh sat and watched for some time before finding it boring and repetitive of what Mariah had already taught him while

  traveling. He searched around a few minutes before finding a book to his liking, sitting on the second floor against a wall and reading, trying to ignore their highpitched chatter.

  The fire never once died down, leaving Mariah to believe it was magically set into place. Kieran's attention never once faltered from learning the Elvish material and after several

  long hours, had a full grasp of nearly fifty new words. She beamed with delight when Mariah praised her accomplishments, but her smile faltered when a loud set of bells chimed