by Joe Jackson
The group made their way onto the docks, and as soon as they had disembarked, the sailors began getting the ship ready to depart once more. They clearly wanted to get Markus to Marsdale as quickly as possible, though whether it was because of what was at stake or because they had been conscripted away from their usual patrols, Erik wasn’t sure. Whatever the case, the noble paladin waved briefly from the rail but then gestured for the rest of them to get busy, so Erik smirked and motioned for his companions to follow.
It was too late in the day for any river-faring vessels to begin a trip, so Erik led the group to an inn. At the least, they’d be able to get a good night’s sleep on solid land for a change. He hadn’t even opened the door to the inn he picked before Aeligos headed off to find them a ship for the morning. Gabrius offered to go with him and, surprisingly, Aeligos was agreeable to the extra help. Erik was glad for his brother’s initiative, and asked that Sonja and Katarina go and check for news from the temples before they all settled in for dinner. He and Serenjols took the women’s things, and Katarina and Sonja continued into the city.
The rest of the group entered the inn, a quiet and well-kept place despite its proximity to the docks. Sharyn looked around suspiciously before she entered, but she ultimately said nothing and followed the others inside. Newport seemed to be one of the rare cities where the docks weren’t necessarily a rough place. It was a heavily trafficked city, receiving goods and travelers headed one way or the other between the east and west coasts. It saw trade from Winter’s Bounty to the east and Marsdale and points north from the west, and the river obviously brought goods inland and back. It was a prosperous city, and Erik was impressed by the uniformity of its wealth, and the obvious work of its rulers and law enforcement to keep the entire city safe and welcoming.
The inn was a three-story building, with its entire lower level comprised of a common room, kitchen, and what was likely a bath chamber in the back. The commons was mostly empty, so Erik told his companions to push a couple of tables together, and he headed over to the innkeeper to get them rooms. The innkeeper’s expression clearly said he rarely saw half-demons, or at least those of Erik’s size, but the man did nothing to suggest he was afraid or intimidated. After a brief conversation, Erik had the keys to half a dozen rooms.
They shared drinks while they waited for their other companions to return, but though there was much Erik would’ve liked to ask Sherman and Sharyn, he refrained from pushing too hard just yet. Most of the talk was Serenjols and Sherman chatting about blacksmithing, or more precisely, how little Sherman had worked on his craft since their return from Tsalbrin. Jol, by contrast, had completed his apprenticeship to the master smiths he worked for in DarkWind nearly a year ago, and they had made him a junior partner in their business. That was news to Erik; all he’d known was that Jol had been working at a local forge since their return from Tsalbrin. That his brother was now a partial owner was surprising.
Not as surprising, though, as how much Jol was talking now. Erik wasn’t sure what had precipitated the sudden change, but he suspected it was Damansha. Erik thought the half-elite woman was as upstanding as she was good-looking, and he was satisfied that she and Jol seemed good together and for each other. Jol had been quiet for a long time; he had taken the breakup of their parents hard, though as Erik thought about it, he realized Jol’s silence started even before that. Certainly, though, the breakup of their parents hadn’t helped matters. No one had taken it as badly as Jol and Aeligos.
Erik wondered if he’d be accused of being a nosey bastard, but decided to take advantage of Jol’s chattiness. “So Jol, what are your plans with Damansha?” he asked as nonchalantly as he could manage. He hoped the mention of their relationship might make Sherman and Sharyn open up about theirs, and give Erik better insight into his other allies.
Serenjols smiled wistfully, something Erik could hardly ever remember seeing since they were teenagers. “I am considering asking her to marry me,” he said, and the sheer amount of emotion in his voice was astounding. “Please do not tell Mother! I want it to be a surprise.”
Erik was floored. It had been enough of a surprise to find that his brother was courting someone, but now he had to wonder how long the two had been seeing each other before it came to light. It had now been several months since the family found out, but Jol never seemed to do anything impulsively. If he was considering asking Damansha to marry him, it either meant they’d been courting for longer than anyone suspected, or they were just that right for each other. Even still, they hadn’t shared a bed to Erik’s knowledge, so they had been taking things slowly.
“You two do seem really good together,” Erik commented, and his brother nodded. “I don’t suppose she has any sisters?”
Serenjols burst out in laughter, and the sound made Aeligos pause as he came through the door to the inn with Gabrius in tow. He was clearly surprised, but he and Gabrius approached the table and sat down. “Sorry to interrupt, but we’ve got passage on a riverboat headed to Ballycastle tomorrow morning,” Aeligos said. “It should get us there in a couple of days, from what the captain said. When I told him we were looking into whatever was sacking towns, he offered us free passage, and said he’d skip the usual stops to get us there as quickly as possible.”
“Good work,” Erik said with a grateful nod.
“So what were you laughing at?” Aeligos asked Jol.
The eldest brother gestured casually toward Erik and leaned back in his chair. “Erik was just asking if Damansha has any sisters,” he said, still smirking. “No, she does not. Asking your brothers’ mates if they have sisters is only going to get you so far, Erik.”
Erik chuckled, a little embarrassed. Finding a woman just never fit easily into his life, with all of the work he did for the Order and always being on the move. He glanced at Sharyn. “I don’t suppose you have any sisters?” he joked, but the woman’s brow came low in a warning semi-scowl. “Guess not. Too bad, since I’d assume she’d have gotten the sense of humor you missed out on.”
Sherman put his hand to his mouth to hide a smirk, but Sharyn muttered something under her breath. Erik only caught the word dickhead among whatever it was. He laughed, but he still got the impression Sharyn was far from being a “reformed” werewolf. The beast was there, just below the surface, waiting for the wrong word to be said or a threat to manifest itself, and then, Erik imagined, all hell would break loose. The last nearly made him laugh as he considered a “half-demon” was thinking of a werewolf shifting into its battle form as “all hell breaking loose,” but he knew if he mentioned it, Jol would correct him by saying they were serilian-rir now.
Sonja and Katarina arrived not much later, and once they were all gathered, Erik had the innkeeper bring them some dinner and more drinks. They shared a hearty dinner much like they did at home, and Erik found he missed not having Kari and her son there, not to mention the rest of his family. Little Gray was an amazing child, and though Erik had helped raise his younger siblings after their mother left, he still found the entire experience of his nephew’s childhood to be a wonder. It helped him put his work into perspective, and kept Kari’s words about why she had become a demonhunter close in his mind at all times. It was one thing to fight for his brothers and sisters, but to fight for a defenseless child made his convictions burn ever brighter.
“Any news?” Erik asked once their meal was well underway.
Sonja dabbed at her mouth with a napkin. “Ballycastle hasn’t been attacked, and there’s been no sign of any invading army from any quarter,” she answered. “I think it’s fairly safe to say we’re dealing with something small or solitary at this point. Even the Warlord would be hard-pressed to hide an army for this long. Our enemy seems to be concentrating on smaller, defenseless villages and unwalled towns, so the local barons are evacuating their people into the larger cities with all due haste.”
“Should we skip going to Ballycastle and just head inland, then?” Erik asked, turning toward Aeligos.
>
The rogue shook his head. “No, this thing already attacked Bantry, and Ballycastle would be the next logical city to attack once it’s run out of towns and villages in between. Plus, Ballycastle sits on a bluff overlooking the river valley, so from there we’ll have a better vantage point to see where it’s currently setting things ablaze. I don’t see it coming toward the water; it’s more likely going to head inland toward farms and less-defended homes.”
“Good point,” Erik answered. “In the morning, we’ll–”
“I won’t be going with you,” Sharyn said. Her words didn’t just confuse Erik; she had everyone’s attention, even Sherman’s.
“Why? What are you thinking?” Erik asked.
“I can do better scouting without the lot of you with me,” she answered. She looked around the common room at the growing crowd briefly and then lowered her voice. “Using my…special gifts. I’ll meet you up at Ballycastle, or some point west of it. Shouldn’t be hard for me to find you.”
“I don’t know that this is a good idea,” Erik said. The last thing he wanted was for the group to get further fractured, and that wasn’t even to mention the possibility that Sharyn was discovered and killed. “If the thing we’re hunting turns out to be what our mother thinks, then it’s absurdly fast, and you could find yourself run down and killed before we could find you.”
“You’re just going to have to trust me,” Sharyn returned.
Erik started to respond, but glanced at Sonja and Aeligos first. He was glad he did so, because rather than warn him off of saying anything, Aeligos spoke instead.
“Trust you? With all due respect, Sharyn, we don’t even know you. And from what I’ve heard about Kari’s work in Barcon, trusting you didn’t exactly work out too well for her,” the rogue said.
Sherman sat up straighter in his chair but said nothing. Sharyn glared hard at Aeligos, but the rogue hardly seemed fazed. “We already went through that months ago,” the werewolf spat. “She trusts me enough that she had me send one of my friends up to DarkWind to speak with her Council, so maybe you should follow her lead.”
Gabrius held a hand up, bringing the argument to a stop. “Sharyn is right; we can only go from town to town asking for news for so long. We either need to turn inland on foot and begin hunting this creature in numbers, or we need to send someone to scout the area for us. Despite my own tracking skills, Sharyn’s…unique gifts make her an ideal candidate in this situation. Unless this creature we hunt takes an interest in chasing down and killing wolves, she can get close enough without arousing suspicion, and then eventually lead us to it.”
Aeligos nodded and no one else spoke up, so Erik was satisfied. He wasn’t happy with the prospect of sending someone out alone against something that was sacking towns, but Sharyn was right: he was just going to have to trust her. “All right, then, as long as you understand the risks you’re taking,” he said to her.
Sharyn started to respond, but her gaze softened and she nodded. “Trust me, I know what I’m doing,” she said.
“Don’t try to engage this thing, whether it’s one or a hundred,” Erik said. “Get a look at what we’re dealing with, figure out where it’s going, and then come get us and lead us to it. We’ll take it down – together.”
“Understood,” the werewolf answered, and everyone at the table seemed satisfied.
“Ballycastle should have some fine horses,” Katarina added after a few moments. “Lord Lajere sells them to the local baron there, Lord Richard Ferreira, who maintains a cavalry unit for the city’s defense. Erik and Jol, you two may be too big for horses – maybe Sonja too – but being mounted would give us the advantage of speed, to meet Sharyn and head off this creature before it can continue its path of destruction.”
Erik looked at Aeligos, who nodded again. “We’ll have to see if they have anything larger that Jol and I might be able to ride,” Erik said. “That’s a very good idea, Katarina.”
They played cards for a while, and between the friendly games and their drinks, they were able to relax a little. Tensions were high with time working against them, so Erik let them drink and linger at the table later than he normally would have. Eventually, most of them headed off to bed, leaving only Erik and Sharyn in the commons. Sharyn had proven to be a shrewd poker player, giving Aeligos a run for his money on a couple of occasions, something none of the rest managed to do more than once. The woman was surprisingly adept at hiding her thoughts and emotions when she wanted to, no matter how volatile she seemed when Erik prodded her.
“So, how serious are you and Sherman?” Erik asked, staring at the woman over his hand of cards.
Sharyn shuffled her own cards around a little before those black eyes came up to meet Erik’s. “Why do you ask?”
The demonhunter shrugged. “Paladin and a werewolf…seems a strange combination.”
“Anything and a werewolf is a strange combination,” she said with no emotion, returning her gaze to her cards.
Erik chuckled and pushed ten silver coins to the center of the table. “He certainly seems to be in love with you. I just hope he can keep himself together while you’re out there in danger, scouting for us.”
Sharyn’s eyes came right back up, but then she cocked her head to the side. “Are you trying to make a point, or just get me to reveal my hand?” she asked, pushing ten of her own silver coins to the center.
The demonhunter smiled but fought back the laugh. “Maybe a little of both,” he said, and he pushed the rest of his pile of coins into the pot. “When Kari and I hunted a demon on Tsalbrin, I think wanting to get back to Grakin alive was a big part of what kept her so focused and unshakable. I hope things work out the same way for you and Sherman.”
The werewolf chewed on her lip for a minute. “I’ll come back to you all, but it won’t be because I’m in love with Sherman,” she answered, meeting his bet with the rest of her coins. She threw down her hand, revealing a full house, and rose from her seat. “Frankly, my reasons for being here and doing what I do have nothing to do with him, and my relationship with him is neither your business nor anything you need to worry about. And you need to get better at reading people, because right now, you suck at it. I’m going to head out and get some fresh air. Don’t wait up for me.”
Sharyn walked out the door, and Erik refrained from looking after her as she went. Once she was gone, his mouth twitched to the side and he dropped his own cards, a straight flush, on top of the woman’s cards. “Maybe, maybe not,” he said.
*****
The coach rolled smoothly along the well-traveled road. It was crowded inside with Eli, Danilynn, Tor, Liria, and Alonso, the hunter Kari had sent along as armed escort. The journey had been far from a comfortable one, but they had all made do. The coach was large, so they were all able to be seated properly, though sleeping arrangements had proven a bit trickier. They couldn’t sleep outside the coach without risking exposing the fact that they had more guards than had been reported, so they slept cramped in their seats and dealt with it as best they could.
After more than a week’s travel, they came in sight of the large stone bridge over the Great Divide. The river system drained much of the northern heartlands, running in a wide flow to the east coast. Paquin’s Bridge had long been the major crossing point, providing passage to and from Gnarr and the northern heartland cities of Barek, Mill’s Peak, DarkWind, Awlinscar, Petersburg, and even Oge, when it still stood. As the favored crossing point, the bridge also had a tendency to be an ambush point – a fact Kari had hoped to use to their advantage.
When the driver called down that the bridge was in sight, Eli glanced at the reinforced walls of the coach. The interior of the coach had been lined with metal plates to keep the attackers from being able to simply pepper the vehicle with arrows or crossbow bolts from the outside. Even the windows were glass panes and not simply open; while the glass wouldn’t stop a crossbow bolt, it would likely keep the first shot from hitting its intended target. Curtains made it
unlikely the attackers would be able to do more than fire blindly anyway, and that assumed they would attack at range. With only a driver, armed guard, and Liria suspected to be in the wagon, Eli didn’t think the attackers would hesitate to approach and fight in close quarters.
Danilynn patted Eli’s knee, and he looked at her and smiled. If they were going to be attacked, this was the most likely place it would happen. Once they crossed the bridge, they would be at Gnarr in less than another day’s travel, and the city would be a poor place to try to arrange an attack. Kari had wagered all of this plan on the coach being attacked before or as it reached Paquin’s Bridge, and the tactical part of Eli’s mind thought she’d be right.
“Liria, this is probably a good time to put on your–”
Eli was interrupted by the hard clang of a crossbow bolt piercing the outer wall of the coach and hitting the interior metal plating. A heartbeat later, a second bolt shattered the window beside the syrinthian girl, and landed in her lap along with some shredded curtain and broken glass. Eli leaned forward and pulled Liria out of her seat. The girl suffered some cuts from the broken glass, but she crawled over Tor’s legs and sat against the wall beside him.
“Gods, how I’ve missed this!” the gnoll said with a grin, and he pulled the axes from his belt, rose to his feet, and rushed through the door.
Eli got up behind him and grabbed the door handle. “One at a time, we can’t leave the door open!” he said in a low but sharp voice. He opened the door and Alonso rushed out in Tor’s wake, then he did so again for Danilynn. Eli turned back to Liria before taking his turn to rush out the door. “If you can’t get your armor on quickly, lock the door and stay here!”
Eli drew an extra sword he’d been carrying and left it on the floor at Liria’s feet. He grabbed his shield from under the seat and rushed through the door, quickly closing it behind him. He glanced around to get his bearings. The driver was on top of the coach, using the crates and luggage as cover while he took aim with a crossbow of his own. Danilynn and Tor were running toward some nearby trees to the east, but Alonso stood at the edge of the road.