by Ben Hale
She arched an eyebrow at his sarcasm. “You don’t like being guildmaster?”
“No.”
His blunt answer caused her to smile. “It appears you are quite good at it.”
“I thought I would enjoy it,” Jack said, wiping a hand across his face in sudden weariness. “But I feel as trapped as if I was in a cell.”
“It can’t be that bad,” she protested.
Jack withdrew a coin and tossed it to a baker standing behind a cart. Then he picked up a loaf and held it up to her, wafting the scent of warm bread between them.
“Becoming a thief was like tasting warm bread,” he said, “delicious and savory. But being guildmaster has so much . . . weight.”
He clenched his fingers, crushing the bread in his hands. Crumbs cascaded into the street as he continued to tighten his fist, the bread breaking apart until it became unrecognizable chunks of waste. He tossed the remainder into the gutter.
“You’ve kept us alive,” she said. “Perhaps the only one that could.”
“Is that what is required of me?” Jack asked. “Give up myself for the guild?”
“It’s a heroic act.”
He laughed but the sound was laced with rancor. “That’s not who I am.”
“Apparently it is now.”
Jack met her gaze. “Do you know how much I have to lie—even to you? No one knows the truth of our war against Skorn.”
“You can tell me.”
“I can’t,” he said. “Because anyone that knows the truth will not do their part.”
“What are you planning, Jack?”
He came to a halt and turned to her, all his plans resting on the tip of his tongue. But he couldn’t bring himself to voice them.
“Does this have to do with Ero?” she asked. “Do you not trust him?”
He grinned. “I trust him because we want the same thing.”
“An ally of circumstance never lasts,” she said.
“It will last long enough,” Jack replied.
“He wants to betray you,” she said. “He wants Skorn to take him so he can destroy the cult of Skorn from the inside.”
Jack shrugged. “If he chooses to die to kill his brother, it’s his choice.”
“You don’t care?” she asked.
“They’re from a dead race,” Jack said. “Perhaps they need to join their kind.”
“You want Ero to be taken?”
“Why not?” Jack asked. “We plan to decimate the Church of Light so it cannot harm anyone else. If Ero leads us to Skorn, we can destroy the cult at its source.”
“They might kill him,” Beauty said.
“It’s his life to lose,” Jack said.
“I thought you’d want to save him,” she said, a trace of disappointment in her voice.
Jack should have been offended, but the comment made him smile. “You just said he was going to betray us.”
“I’ve never known you to let someone die.”
His smile faded. “I told you being guildmaster is heavy.”
“You don’t have to carry it alone,” she said quietly, stepping close to him. “I still don’t understand why you won’t tell me the truth. What are you planning?”
Jack resumed walking and she fell into step beside him. Apparently content to let him ponder his answer, she remained silent. Jack looked about the city without seeing it, yearning to tell her and yet knowing he couldn’t.
“Do you trust me?” he finally asked.
She stared at him, her expression hurt. “Yes,” she finally said. “But sometimes I wish I didn’t.”
“Thera,” he said. He reached out to her but she pulled away.
“Goodbye, Jack. I’ll let you know when they come for Ero.”
“Golic has been exiled.”
His words brought Beauty to a halt. She turned back to face him. “I know. My father planned to sneak into a rival village at night, and kill the families as they slept. Golic defied him and refused to carry out the murders. My father beat him and cast him out.”
“Golic needs you,” Jack said, and managed to keep the regret from his voice. “You are the figurehead they wait for.”
“My father is coming after me, now,” she said. “If I survive, I can aid my people.”
“And if you die?”
She passed a hand over her face. “Then my father will destroy my brother, and my people’s war will consume them.”
Beauty turned and trudged away, leaving Jack in the street. Jack watched her go with regret in his heart. For the thousandth time he considered the prospect of revealing the truth, but in his gut he couldn’t do it. Once a secret was shared it lost its power, and Skorn had proven adept at using secrets to manipulate. He’d learned Lorelia’s secret and used it to destroy her.
Jack turned away, wrestling with the guilt and anger of what he was doing. It needed to be done, but he wished there was someone else—anyone else. Trudging through the city, he reached the northern gate and exited to find Sirani and Inna already present with Inna astride a horse. At eight feet tall, Sirani had no need for a steed. Jack rented a mount from the stables at the gate and mounted, flicking the reins to join them.
“Are you well?” Inna asked.
Jack sidestepped the question. “We should hasten our journey,” he said. “Time is running out and we have a Mind Vault to find.”
Chapter 26: The Sea Dancer
Jack pondered Beauty but his gloom lasted exactly one mile. Then Sirani began to play with wind, tossing miniature tornados into the Sea of Grass, giggling as they spun the grass in artistic patterns. Normally Jack would have smiled, but his irritation caused him to scowl.
“What happened to you?” Jack asked the rock troll. “What drove you to madness?”
Sirani cast a new cyclone and sent it spinning among the others. “A deep question for a shallow friendship.”
“Does that mean you won’t answer it?” Jack asked.
Sirani laughed. “Few have dared to ask.” Then her smile faded and her expression darkened. “Losing a child breaks more than a heart . . . when you are the killer.”
“You killed your own child?” Accusation seeped into his voice.
The playful cyclones disintegrated and Sirani whirled to Jack, her greatsword suddenly at his throat. He reined in his steed and sat motionless, staring into the eyes of a crazed rock troll. She breathed hard, her hand and sword trembling.
“I killed her to save her,” she spat.
“From what?” Jack asked quietly.
“Will you stop antagonizing her?” Inna hissed, but Sirani ignored her.
“From what she was becoming,” Sirani said. “She was a killer—one who slew her father, brother, and almost her infant sister.”
“How many have you told?” Jack asked.
The greatsword quivered at his throat. “None.”
“Then why tell me?” Jack asked.
She blinked and shifted her feet. “I don’t know.”
Jack felt the steel on his neck and knew his life hung by a thread. If he said the wrong thing she would kill him, and her fractured mind would probably never think of him again.
“I do know,” Jack said.
“Then tell me,” she said.
“Because women always trust me.”
Inna and Sirani snorted in unison, and Sirani said, “That’s the most arrogant statement I’ve ever heard.”
“You think I like the ability?” Jack asked, anger seeping into his voice. “It’s as much a curse as it is a blessing.”
The greatsword abruptly lowered and she sheathed it on her back. “Tell another soul, and I’ll kill you.”
She whirled and strode away. Disinclined to invite another confrontation with the volatile rock troll, Jack gave her several moments to pull ahead before nudging his horse forward. Inna joined him and shook her head.
“I thought I was going see a decapitation,” Inna said quietly.
“She’s not mad,” Jack said. “She’s to
rtured. It’s fractured her mind.”
“And you choose to antagonize her?”
“She wants peace,” Jack said. “I don’t think he would have killed me.”
“Women may talk to you—but that doesn’t mean one won’t slit your throat.”
“Is that a warning?”
She grinned. “Perhaps.”
“Does that mean you have secrets to tell?”
She snorted a laugh. “I’m afraid I already shared mine. You know what Gallow did to my father, and know why I’m here.”
“Is that your only secret?” he asked, his lips twitching.
“The only one you’ll get from me.”
He laughed, the conversation with Sirani and Inna dispelling his irritation. “You think she’s calmed down?”
Sirani suddenly cast another tornado, this time at her feet. It bent and arched, shaping into a giant horse and lifting her off the ground. She glided across the ground and picked up speed, and her high laughter echoed back to them.
“I think that means yes,” Inna said with a smile.
Jack dug his heels into his horse and the mount surged forward. As they followed the laughing Sirani he couldn’t help but smile. Sirani may have lost her wits, but her very madness was what made her fun.
For the next several days they crossed the northern stretch of Talinor until they came to a village north of Keese. It took several attempts before Jack managed to procure a ship willing to sail into the southern sea without a destination—and willing to take a rock troll. The Sea Dancer rocked when Sirani stepped aboard but the sailors did not seem bothered by her presence.
“Captain Erix,” Jack said. “Thank you for being willing to take us.”
The man approached with his first mate. “Race has no meaning for my crew,” Erix said, a smile playing across his features as he looked up at Sirani.
“As long as they keep their blades to themselves,” the second man said.
“This is Rezko,” the captain said. “My first mate. You said you would tell us our destination once we’re on open water?”
“I’m surprised you agreed,” Inna said.
Rezko grinned. “We enjoy a good adventure.”
Jack heard it coming and raised his hand to stop his statement. “I wouldn’t use that word—”
“Adventure!” Sirani roared, skipping across the deck and ascending to the prow of the ship, her movement causing the boat to rock.
Erix raised an eyebrow but Inna shook her head. “Don’t ask.”
The captain shrugged and pointed to the helm. “Rez, get us underway.”
“Aye, captain,” he said, and began barking orders to the crew.
Within a minute they were gliding out to sea, the sleek ship exploding through the waves, wind filling the sails. Jack had been on many ships, but Erix’s vessel outstripped them all. Thirty minutes after leaving Talinor Erix appeared at his side and smiled.
“You strike me as a man with many tales to share.”
Jack thought of battling Skorn, meeting Ero, and stealing from the Vault of the Eternals. He laughed lightly.
“A few,” he said.
“I’m sure my crew would love to hear them,” he said. “I suspect our other passenger will be equally as intriguing.”
“I didn’t realize you had another passenger,” Jack said.
“Only one,” he replied. “She wants to visit a fishing village off the coast. We can drop her off on the way to your destination. She’s odd, but I never turn away a dark elf . . .”
Jack didn’t hear the rest of the statement as he turned to face the forecastle, where a dark elf stood in the doorway. Her shadow cloak billowed about her in the wind, and a quartet of daggers appeared in hands of darkness.
Erix followed his gaze. “Her name is—”
“Aranis,” Jack finished for him. “We’ve met.”
Chapter 27: Humbled
“Jack,” she drawled. “You’ve been difficult to track of late.”
He smirked. “You expect me to make it easy for you?”
“You could submit,” she said, her lips twitching. “But I’d prefer if you didn’t.”
“Then you’re in luck,” Jack said, reaching to his back and pulling the dagger free.
Aranis darted forward, unleashing all four ring daggers at once. Jack grabbed the captain and heaved him out of harm’s way, twisting to avoid the first three blades. The fourth came at an angle, so Jack reached out and picked it from the air. Continuing his spin, he sent it hurtling back at Aranis.
The knife dug into the mast as the dark elf leapt upward. She kicked off the mast and flipped over a rope, coming down near the prow. Jack drew his crossbow and leapt onto the rail, sprinting along it as the ship dropped into a trough between waves. Aranis shifted direction and came after him, threads of her cloak reaching out for him, forming tiny hands that sought to catch his form.
“Stay your hand, woman!” Erix roared, and pulled a thin sword from his side.
She barely spared him a glance, and whipped a ring dagger in his direction. Jack leapt off the rail and fired his crossbow, the bolt passing through the ring part of the dagger and digging into the wood beyond.
“You think to save their lives?” Aranis asked, her smile visible beneath the shadow cowl.
“They aren’t part of this,” Jack said. He sliced his dagger through a pair of the shadow hands, causing them to disintegrate and withdraw.
“You have nowhere to flee this time,” Aranis said. “And they will be dead in minutes.”
Sailors drew swords and converged upon her but she spun, her cloak whipped wide and formed arms and fists, smashing into the sailors and sending them sprawling. Drawn to the commotion, Inna appeared in the doorway to the forecastle. She yanked her sword free and darted into the fray, striking at Aranis’s flank.
“You cannot stop me, pet,” Aranis said. “I told you before, you are mine.”
“What do you intend for him?” Inna asked.
The dark elf’s smile tilted with desire. “The same thing you do with every pet. You play.”
A ring dagger came for Jack on the end of a shadow thread. He leaned to the side but reached up and caught it, wrapping his hand around the thread of darkness and yanking her off balance.
“That wasn’t nice,” Aranis said, her voice gaining an edge.
She dismissed the threads and came at him herself. Shadows streamed off her back and formed four hands, each with ring daggers that struck at Inna, driving her back. Aranis stalked toward Jack, a ring dagger in each hand.
Jack fired a pair of crossbow bolts but she kicked off the rail and flipped over them, coming down adjacent to him. He deflected her strikes with his dagger but she forced him back with shocking skill. Jack retreated until his back hit the forecastle, and ducked a swipe that came for his throat, nicking his flesh.
“Do you want a dead pet?” Jack asked.
“Come now,” she said, pressing her advantage. “The danger is what makes it exciting.”
“I agree,” Jack said with a grin.
He caught her wrist and pulled, twisting to smash her into the forecastle. The cloak wrapped around him, engulfing them in darkness. He attempted to leap free but her arm snaked around his neck, drawing him in for a bruising kiss. Then she tossed him out of the cloak and the shadows pulled her up onto the forecastle. She laughed as the cloak flowed out behind her.
“A memorable first kiss,” she said. Her eyes gleamed beneath the cowl.
“I prefer to lead in such matters,” Jack said.
“I’m sure you do,” Inna said with a snort, stepping to his side.
“Who’s she?” Aranis asked, her features turning hard.
“A friend,” Jack said.
“I don’t believe you,” she said, and her jaw tightened with frightening hatred. “She must die so we can be together.”
“HOLD!” the captain roared. “This is my ship!”
“Only until I kill you and your crew,” Aranis s
aid. “Perhaps Jack can be my first mate.”
She smirked and withdrew a handful of ring daggers into each hand. With a deft twist she tossed them into the air where hands from her cloak caught them and set them spinning, the whirling steel sparking a whine as they cleaved through the air.
Sirani suddenly exited the forecastle door, humming to herself as she playing with a ball of wind. Her sudden appearance caused Aranis to hesitate, her eyes narrowing as she watched Sirani stride into view.
“Jack,” Sirani asked, her lips pulling into a pout, “I’m getting bored. Think the ship can handle doubling its speed?”
Jack watched Aranis warily retreat and realized the truth. “You didn’t know we had a rock troll in our party,” he said.
“Her presence changes nothing,” Aranis said, but her posture betrayed her tension.
Sirani looked up and noticed Aranis. An eager smile spread across her features and she strode toward her.
“A dark elf!” she cried gleefully. “I’ve always wanted to meet one.”
Aranis whipped a dagger at Sirani’s unprotected chest, the blade streaking through the air with brutal force. It struck Sirani’s thick flesh—but stopped cold. Unable to find enough purchase, it tilted down and tumbled to the deck. A single drop of blood escaped the wound and the excitement drained from Sirani’s face, turning into rage.
“That was not a kind introduction.”
She swept her hands wide and took a step forward, bringing them together into a deafening clap. Wind exploded from the contact and smashed into Aranis, driving her to the railing and ripping chunks of wood apart. The hurricane of air sent sailors crying out and scrambling for distance, while Aranis dug her daggers into the wood and struggled to hold on.
She screamed in helpless fury as she clung to her daggers, her entire body flapping in the wind like a banner in a storm. More of the railing was torn away and bits of wood tumbled into the ocean. Grasping the railing in the hurricane, Jack watched Aranis’s shadow cloak stream out behind her. It ripped her cowl off, revealing striking features with eyes like glints of obsidian. She shrieked in fury as her fingers finally gave, and her body was launched into the sea.
Sirani extinguished her magic and the wind faded to reveal the devastation. A gaping hole had been torn in the railing and sections of the deck were gone. Ropes dangled freely, the ends frayed from where they’d snapped in two. The corner of the sail flapped free in the breeze.