Order Of The Dragon (Omnibus 1-4)

by Jason Halstead

  Alto grunted and rose to his feet. He crouched after taking a breath and realizing how smoky the air was near the roof of the passage. "Come on," he rasped. Alto passed the ranger and tapped him on the arm to signal him.

  They moved slowly, each step a question. Alto trailed his hand along the wall in search of the ladder. He found it after a couple of minutes and then climbed up to a small room. Alto felt around in the dark and wished for his shield to light his way.

  "Where are we?" Carson hissed.

  "Up here!" Patrina's voice called down.

  "Up where?" Alto asked.

  A moment later, he felt her hand on his arm. She grabbed his hand, squeezed it, and then pulled him after her. He tripped when his feet encountered stairs, crashing with a thud onto them. Patrina hissed at him to be careful. He clenched his jaw and fought the urge to tell her how much easier it would have been if she'd warned him about the stairs. A few moments later, he was at the top and began to make out shapes in the darkness.

  "We're in a root cellar," Karthor whispered.

  Alto grunted and waited until he heard Carson stumble up the stairs and join them. "Can we get out?" Alto asked.

  "Door's over here," Garrick said. "Shorty's ready when you are."

  A muffled grunt followed Garrick's words, indicating a reprisal from the dwarf.

  Alto drew his sword and bathed the room in a faint green light. Alto smirked as he looked at the surprised expressions on the faces of his friends.

  "Why does it do that?" Patrina asked.

  "Fear," Alto said. "Thork and Jarook's influence, I think. I've noticed it glows when someone nearby is afraid."

  They all looked at one another as if it would be obvious who was responsible for the glow. "I'm afraid," Patrina admitted. "Afraid for us and afraid for Namitus."

  "I'm not afraid to say I'm a bit, er, afraid," Carson said. "I'm used to jungle and ocean. This city stuff is awkward."

  "I'm worried about all of us," Karthor said, though his eyes focused mainly on Alto.

  "Bunch of pansies," Mordrim muttered.

  Garrick chuckled. "Can't tell if you peed yourself. There's not enough leg for it to run down!"

  Mordrim turned to Alto. "Sheathe that thing so nobody sees what I'm going to do to him."

  "Enough," Alto snapped. "The door—let's find out where we are."

  Mordrim turned back to the door and opened the latch, and then opened it enough to peer through. He pushed further and stepped out, motioning for the others to follow. "Kitchen," he whispered.

  They moved into the large kitchen and looked around. The faint light from Alto's blade played over the room, showing a basket filled with fruit, two wood-burning stoves, and several barrels propped on a rack.

  "Another inn?" Alto whispered.

  "No," Karthor said. "Just a large kitchen. Perhaps for a wealthy merchant or lord?"

  "Should we go or stay?" Patrina asked.

  Alto frowned and looked at his sword again. Was the glow stronger? "Let's check it out," he said. Carson moved to a door and was about to open it when he noticed the window next to it. He frowned and turned away. "This leads outside."

  Garrick turned to the door closest to him and moved to the handle. He twisted it and opened it, and then peered down a hallway lit only by the starlight coming in through the windows on the right side of the hall. "Empty hall," he grumbled.

  Patrina opened a third door and nodded. "Small dining room. Too small for a kitchen like this."

  "Servants," Karthor whispered.

  "The hallway," Alto decided. He started towards it but Garrick entered first and moved quickly to the far door. Alto nodded when the others had come up behind him.

  Garrick pulled the door open and reached for his sword. Alto placed his hand on his shoulder, stopping him with the blade half drawn. The figures in the darkness were suits of armor, nothing more. They were attached to stands and spaced evenly along the walls that surrounded a table.

  "Merchant," Karthor guessed.

  "Let's go," Alto said as he turned away.

  "Wait," Patrina hissed. "Why would a merchant's house have an entrance from the Shadows?"

  Alto opened and closed his mouth. His eyes narrowed. "What are you saying?"

  "I'm saying there's more to this place," she suggested. To add weight to her words, they heard a thud of something above them.

  "All right, let's keep going. The door over there." Alto looked from the ceiling to the door on the other side of the dining room.

  Garrick shrugged and went towards it. He stepped through and looked around, and then drew his sword slowly. Alto followed his eyes and saw a staircase leading up, complete with a dim light lighting the hall at the top of the staircase.

  They heard another thump, this one loud enough to sound like something hit the floor. Alto pushed ahead up the stairs with the large man close on his heels. At the top of the stairs, he looked down a hallway that was lit by light spilling out of two open doorways. A door at the end of the hallway opened up and revealed a man pulling a dark cloak over his armor. He stopped and stared at Alto and Garrick, and then his eyes flicked to Patrina, Mordrim, Karthor, and Carson as they climbed the stairs behind them.

  "Intruders!" the man shouted before he jumped back through the doorway and slammed the door shut. Other cries rose up, including those from men in the two open doorways. The glow from Alto's blade intensified.

  They stood there, at a loss, and then heard the muffled voice of the man who had seen them through the door. "It's them! The northlanders!"

  "No quarter," Alto growled.

  Garrick was off like an arrow shot from a bow. He ran down the hall towards the door but had to leap to the side when a man lunged at him from the second open doorway on his right. He crashed into a narrow table along the far wall and staggered, barely managing to twist and swat aside a second strike from the Stalker that attacked him.

  Alto and the others rushed down the passage but there was only room enough for one to fight at a time. Two more hired killers emerged from the first open doorway. Unlike Alto, they stood side by side and faced him. Their practiced movements showed they were trained in fighting side by side.

  Alto slowed for a heartbeat and then he remembered he had no shield and only a chain shirt. He drove his feet into the rug on the floor and charged into them, swinging across with his sword at the man on his right. The assassin lifted his sword and ducked low so he could drive Alto's strike over his head.

  The power behind the warrior's strike and the magic in his sword knocked the tulwar down into the assassin's head. Alto's sword did bounce off it then, coming around and forcing the second man to leap back from his own foiled attack. Alto turned to follow through when an arrow pierced the Stalker's head and made him crumple to the ground.

  Alto looked down at the two dead men and then up at where Garrick was wrenching his sword out of the chest of the man who had attacked him. Mordrim howled and charged past him, looking for another opponent. When none presented themselves, the dwarf kept going and tucked his head down before he crashed into the barred door at the end of the hall.

  The door had been shut and barred; it wasn't built to withstand more than three hundred pounds of dwarf and armor moving at a full charge. Mordrim rolled into the room and lay stunned from the impact.

  Garrick stepped in quickly, brandishing his great sword and looking for a fresh target. Alto entered a moment later after Garrick cleared the entryway and moved towards the man who had seen them.

  The room resembled a small meeting hall or conference room, with a single door in the middle of the far wall. Four men were gathered, two holding swords and the other two holding daggers. Garrick swung his sword to keep the man with a dagger back and tried to advance on the cloaked man. His curved blade licked out, narrowly missing the agile barbarian.

  Alto rushed in and leapt over Mordrim as the dwarf picked up his helm and righted himself. The leader of the company crashed into the nearest Stalker and left hi
m on the ground and bleeding from a gash that had cleaved the ribs on his side. The other Stalker abandoned his plans to help fight Garrick and turned back to face Alto. He flicked his dagger out in lightning fast strikes that fell short of their mark.

  Alto growled and circled around the man. He kicked out, sending the sword from the man he'd wounded skittering across the floor. The man groaned and collapsed, his hands going to the ghastly wound in his side.

  Alto continued to circle until the man's back was to the door. He heard the sound of bone cracking and saw the man's eyes roll up into his head. He collapsed, revealing Mordrim standing with a feral grin on his face and his hammer in his hand.

  They both turned in time to see Patrina's armor stop a thrust to her breast from the poisoned dagger that the assassin wielded. She grabbed his wrist with one hand and wrenched it up, and then used her other to bring her axe up into his belly at an angle. Air burst out of his mouth and he staggered back, pulling free of her hand and blade. He reached down to cover the mortal wound and stare at it. By the time he thought to look up again, he saw Patrina's axe coming down in a two-handed arc that struck where his shoulder met his neck. She had to put her foot on his chest after he'd fallen to wrench her axe free.

  She turned and saw everyone watching her. Garrick had killed his man and he grinned at Patrina. Alto nodded and turned to the door in the wall. "Mordrim?" he asked.

  The dwarf sighed and adjusted his helmet. He lowered his head but looked up abruptly when they heard a scream, followed by the sound of a body hitting the floor. Before they could get over their surprise, the door opened. What they saw only made their jaws drop farther.

  Chapter 18

  Bruised and bloody, a shirtless Namitus stood in the doorway and stared at them. He held one of the assassin's daggers in one hand and stared at them.

  "Namitus!" Patrina squealed. She ran forward and threw her arms around him. The rogue grimaced and let out a groan, prompting her to step back and look at him. "Oh! You've been hurt. Are you okay?"

  Alto stared at his love and shook his head, trying to understand how she could go from noticing he was hurt to asking if he was okay in the same breath. He walked up to his friend and peered past him. A Stalker lay on the ground next to a chair. Ropes hung from the chair.

  "What happened?" Alto asked him.

  "I asked too many questions. Wrong people got wind and caught me," Namitus said while holding a discolored spot on his side. Patrina reached up and tried to wipe the fresh blood that dripped from a tear near his eye. More blood gathered at the cut and slid down his cheek, making it a pointless task.

  "But they didn't kill you," Alto said.

  Patrina turned to stare at him.

  "That's good!" Alto stammered. "I didn't mean it that way. I just wondered why, that's all."

  "I didn't stop to ask," Namitus said. He shrugged his shoulders and winced at the pain the movement caused him. "They'd just started asking me questions about you guys. Wanted to know where you were from and what kind of people you were."

  "Just started? You've been gone for a day," Patrina frowned.

  He nodded. "They spent time softening me up first—thought it would make me talk more."

  "Did you tell them anything?" Alto asked.

  "What is there to tell? Nothing they wouldn't already know. It's not like I'd know anything special, right? You're not hiding anything. are you?"

  Alto shook his head. "Of course not. You know that." The warrior looked at the room again. "Where are your things?"

  "Gone," Namitus said. "They took them. I don't know where."

  "How did you get free?" Garrick asked as he peered over Alto's head into the room.

  Namitus nodded back at the man lying behind him. "Been working on the ropes since they put them on me. He came to untie me or kill me, I don't know which. I jumped up and surprised him. Stole his dagger and then gave it back to him, if you know what I mean."

  Garrick grinned. "Good job."

  Namitus returned the smile, and then winced and reached up to touch his split lip. He turned and spat out blood on the floor and shook his head.

  "I can heal you," Karthor offered.

  Namitus shook his head. "Save your energy. Nothing's broke and these are just flesh wounds. I'll be fine. Just my pride that's hurt. Can you heal that?"

  Karthor chuckled. "I've heard it said that pride goes before the fall."

  "I'm here to say the opposite. I definitely fell first."

  The others chuckled and welcomed the rogue with nods and gentle slaps on the shoulder and back. Patrina met Alto's gaze and he could see the excitement on her face. "I can't believe how lucky we got!"

  Alto nodded. All those ladders and tunnels and they happened to pick the right one. Was it just luck, or had something been guiding him? He glanced at the sword at his side and wondered.

  "So now what?" Namitus asked. "I found out firsthand more than I ever wanted to about the Stalkers. Nothing useful, though."

  "Kar is trying to find some information for us," Patrina told him. "Alto got Jakar to spill something about Havara and Myskakroth."

  Namitus's eyes flicked to Alto. "What does that mean?"

  "I hoped you might know."

  He shook his head. "Havara is the name of the mountains east of here, but I've never heard of a place called Myskakroth. How did you get him to talk?"

  "Same way the Stalkers tried to get you to talk," Alto said.

  Namitus grimaced. "Sounds like you were better than they were."

  "I have more motivation," Alto said.

  Namitus smirked and then glanced around at the carnage. He walked over to one of the dead men and picked up a fallen sword. "We should go. I heard a lot of people coming and going. I think this is an important building to them."

  "Sorry about your scimitar," Alto said.

  Namitus looked at him and blinked. "Why?"

  Alto frowned. "Sorry that it's gone. It was a good blade."

  Namitus shrugged. "A sword's a sword."

  "Yes, but that one had magic to it."

  The rogue frowned. "So it did. But this one feels good in my hand. It will do. For now."

  "Your pipes!" Patrina gasped. "Those are gone too?"

  Namitus nodded. "I'm lucky to have pants and boots."

  "We're bound for the Kraken," Alto said. "You can get your other clothes there. Should we go back to the tunnels or the streets?"

  "The streets," Namitus counseled. "More people and hopefully less of them ready to stick a knife in our backs."

  "It's late. Won't people be asleep?" Garrick asked.

  Mordrim snorted but it was Namitus who answered. "This city never sleeps. There's always something going on."

  "Get us out of here then," Alto bade him. "Maybe we can even pick up a shirt for you on the way there."

  "It does get cold at night," Namitus agreed. He walked around the others and moved back to the hallway. Seeing nothing but the bodies of the fallen, he motioned them on and led them through the large house, back down to the door in the kitchen that led to an alley.

  He stepped out into the alley and stopped. "Uh oh," he muttered.

  Alto looked out the door and saw men wearing dark clothing approaching from the left. The Stalkers saw them and stopped, surprised. Their surprise only lasted a moment before they drew their swords.

  Alto pushed past Namitus and drew his blade. Namitus stumbled out of the way, giving Patrina and the others a chance to spill into the alley. Outnumbered, the Stalkers glanced at each other and then turned and ran.

  "After them!" Alto growled and gave chase. In moments, Garrick pulled even beside him and he saw the flash of Patrina's armor out of the corner of his other eye. The two men rounded the corner into a main street and split up. The crowd was light but they ran through the people, trying, and mostly succeeding, to create confusion.

  "I can't see to aim," Carson growled, surprising Alto. He turned his head and saw the ranger had his bow ready with an arrow nocked even
as they ran.

  The people of Mira cried out when they saw them running with weapons drawn. Shouts were raised and spread down the street quickly. In the chaos, the two Stalkers escaped. Alto cursed and sheathed his sword, signaling his friends to do the same. He turned and looked behind him. Namitus and Karthor strode up to them.

  "This way," Namitus hissed as he kept walking.

  They followed him until he turned abruptly and ducked into a darker side street that was little more than an alley. Alto wondered why until he saw a group of guards scanning the crowd ahead of them. He turned and followed the rogue, trusting he remembered the city well enough to get them through.

  "Keep your wits about you," Namitus warned over his shoulder. "This alley used to be an entrance into the Shadows."

  "Used to be?" Alto asked.

  The rogue nodded. "It's been a long time since I was here. A lot of people knew about it. They might have closed it."

  "Or not," Carson said as two men stepped out from the darkness near the end of the alley. Just beyond them, another side street offered escape. Carson raised his bow and fitted his arrow to the string.

  "You shouldn't let the fire burn," Patrina muttered.

  "It's only two men," Garrick scoffed.

  "Look up," Patrina counseled.

  They did as she bade and saw men standing on either side in windows with bows aimed down at them. Alto looked behind them, thinking he might call on the city guards for assistance. Instead he saw a wagon being pulled across the entrance to the alley, blocking entrance or exit in that direction.

  Alto scowled and looked to Namitus. He found the rogue looking back at him, his eyes wide. "They'll take us alive," Namitus hissed. "Or at least they did me before. Surrender and we can try to escape."

  Patrina snorted and lifted her axe into both hands. Alto caught her gaze and nodded. "We won't surrender," Alto said.

  Namitus shook his head. "We'll be killed," he insisted.

  More men climbed from shadows ahead of them, joining their brothers and facing them. "He's right," one of them called out. "Thrown down your weapons."

  "I got the archer behind me on my right," Garrick breathed loud enough for them to hear.