Spellscribed: Ascension

by Cruz, Kristopher

  “You!” He shouted, his fatigue forgotten by the rage he felt over the woman who had killed Anna. “I-” he found it suddenly very hard to formulate words, he was too overcome by his anger to speak coherently.

  “Shut your mouth, mage, or I’ll shut it for you.” She commanded, her every word carefully spoken and sharper than the knife she held to his throat. “If I wanted to kill you this time, I would have done so while you were unconscious.”

  She watched him alertly as they both got their breathing under control. Once his limbs lost their tension, she let up the pressure. She continued to hold the knife to his throat, but was not pressing anymore. A thin line of warmth crossed his throat where the blade had nicked him; the line just a hair from the scar from where she had slit his throat just a few months prior.

  “There, that’s better.” She said condescendingly. “Now we can try to have a sophisticated, intelligent conversation, instead of the little cat and mouse games we have been playing.”

  Endrance took a breath and tried to keep himself calm. The assassin was by far the most skilled fighter he’d ever witnessed. She could dance circles around Joven, and was able to evade Selene’s chain dagger while still mocking them. Anyone else there on the walkway, and he would think he stood a chance.

  There, alone, with none of his tools, protective measures, power for spells or backup, he knew she was very much in control of the situation. There was not a way he could escape from her, much less defeat or kill her, in the state he was in.

  “So why were we playing these games, Sha’hdi?” he asked, his words sifting through his clenched teeth.

  “I knew that if you found out it was me leading you onward, you’d become very uncooperative.” She tilted her head slightly. “And this just proves I was right.”

  “I didn’t even know it was you until you had already subdued me.” Endrance said evenly. “I was trying to do the same to whomever it was that was leaving me magic breadcrumbs.”

  Jalyin rolled her eyes. “And as an amateur, you surprised me. Not many people have been able to get that close to a Poisonblade undetected.”

  Endrance smirked. “Goblins apparently can.”

  The assassin scanned his eyes, her face expressionless. “You aren’t lying.” She commented. “And those eyes do look familiar.”

  “Yeah.” Endrance replied.

  “How?” She asked, leaning closer to him without putting any extra pressure on the knife. Only inches from his nose and he still didn’t pick up any smell of her. It was almost as if he were being pinned by shadows and empty air. If he hadn’t gained the goblin’s ability to see in perfect dark, he would have thought he was being pinned by the dark.

  Endrance shrugged with the shoulder of his free arm. “There was a goblin shaman I killed a while ago. I had-”

  “Yes, the goblin raid.” Jalyin said impatiently. “I saw what you did.”

  Endrance stared up at her, the enormity of what she said setting off alarms in his head. “Just how long have you been meddling in my life?” he asked, shocked.

  Jalyin leaned back. “First, let’s see if we can be… polite. If I move, will you try to kill me?”

  Endrance looked her in the eyes. “I cannot.”

  His response evoked her raising a graceful eyebrow. “Oh?” she asked.

  “I have not enough power to fight you with spells, and you have my remaining dagger.” Endrance replied. “And I’m certain that even without the knives, you could easily knock me into the abyss on either side of this walkway.”

  Jalyin nodded, slipping off of him, the weight pinning him vanishing. “Good.” Jalyin replied, remaining sitting but holding her abdomen. “Because I would not have been able to fight you off were you at your usual strength.”

  Endrance looked at her as he was sitting up, and saw something that he hadn’t noticed before. Along the collar of her leather outfit he could see black lines protruding along her flesh. The color was muted but he could tell that it was angrily inflamed. Though no signs of pain showed on her face, she moved her neck and torso gingerly.

  “Figures.” Endrance sighed as he wiped the line of blood off his neck. “The one time I had the chance to get the one who killed Anna, and I am so powerless I can’t even do that.”

  “Fate is cruel like that.” Jalyin replied impassively. “So, about the goblin?”

  Endrance held up his left arm in a vague gesture. “I captured the fleeing power from its aura as it died. Somehow that aura held an imprint of the goblin’s abilities and memories on it, like a sculptor’s fingerprint in a clay jar. It seems that, with the bracer, I could also tap into that fingerprint and use some of what he knew.”

  Jalyin nodded. “So you know what Kalenden was up to then?”

  “I know that he was not the one who hired you to kill me.” He replied. “It was Valeria.”

  “You have picked things up quickly.” Jalyin replied wearily, a fleeting expression of fatigue crossing her face. “Too quickly.”

  “I’ve always been a quick study.” Endrance replied. “Not my fault that I figured things out so far.”

  “That is truth, mage.” Jalyin stated.

  She fell silent, her eyes closed as the only sound he could hear was his own breathing. For a moment he thought her dead, but when he looked at her again, he could see the rise and fall of her shoulders as she breathed silently. He waited. If she fell asleep, perhaps he could get away from her. He then realized that there was nowhere to go and shook his head.

  Over a minute passed until she finally spoke again, her voice coming to life suddenly.

  “I had succeeded in my mission.” Jalyin stated factually. “After you had killed King Kalenden, my job was over. The mission parameters had changed, and I returned back to my client.”

  “Valeria. Right.” Endrance stated. “But she died.”

  Jalyin opened her eyes and fixed her gaze on his. “She was dead.”

  Endrance stared at her, at first not comprehending. “Then how did you…?”

  “Really, Endrance.” Jalyin injected, rolling her eyes. “You know what can happen if mages die without any power left.”

  “But,” Endrance said, confused. “People would have known if she had died that way. Besides, as a mage who tapped the Ewer of Endless, it would be practically impossible to force her to that state.”

  “It is possible, mage.” Jalyin stated simply, the muscles in her neck tensing. “Just not likely. Fact is, you were involved-“ Jalyin suddenly hissed in pain and fell to her side, her arms wrapping around her chest.

  “Jalyin!” Endrance exclaimed, crawling over to her as she convulsed on the stone. He could see as she shuddered, the black vein-like markings on her neck wriggled forward nearly an inch in every direction.

  The growth stopped and she sank into a boneless relief as the pain apparently eased. Endrance scowled as he stared down at her. She had been on the verge of telling him something, and he felt that it might have been critical. She was nearly unconscious, in pain and weakened by a curse. It would be easy enough now to pry the dagger from her hand and end her.

  He shook his head. She was defenseless now. He couldn’t just kill someone that way, even if he despised them. He also couldn’t kill her while she held important information that could tell him more about what was going on around him.

  “I hope to the gods that you are worth saving.” Endrance muttered. “Because I have no idea how I’m going to placate Selene, much less Bridget.”

  “What, did something happen to Joven?” Jalyin murmured as she slowly regained her senses.

  “No, but he knows me well enough to know that if I haven’t killed you and I’m not dead next to you, there is a damned good reason. He won’t understand it, but he trusts me enough to deny his impulses.” Endrance replied as he sat back. “Now, as for my wives, one is incredibly pissed at you, and the other is Nephilim and has a grudge from the last time you two fought. I’m not going to lie, it will be pretty damn hard to get them to l
eave you alone.”

  Jalyin nodded. “Will a peace offering help?” she asked, grimacing as she stood up. Endrance stood as well, holding out his hand to her when she turned to him.

  “Yes. But I want my dagger back first.” Endrance stated.

  Jalyin kept her eyes locked on his as she passed the weapon to him, relaying nonverbally that she was making a show of trusting him. Her golden cat eyes were luminous in the darkness. Reflected in her eyes, Endrance could barely make out two thin green rings of light; his own eyes burning in the darkness.

  “I am nearly powerless, except what you’ve given me. Do you have any more?” he asked.

  Jalyin smiled, somehow seeming predatory more than pleasing. “Better.” She said. “Just follow me.”

  The assassin walked away, carrying herself with the poise that belied the agony she must have been feeling.

  “And we’re not done talking about Valeria!” Endrance exclaimed, hurrying to catch up to her long-legged stride.

  With his newfound ability to see in the dark, he was finally able to see the dimensions of the expanse the stone walkway crossed. Open on either side, he at first thought it a bridge of some sort, coming from one end of the tomb to the entrance with nothing in between. He was able to see several intersecting stone paths that spread out from the central walkway. Though the central path led straight to the doors of Rothel’s tomb and was nearly twenty feet wide, the side paths were barely five feet across.

  When they had come through before, they had relied on torchlight to see the bridge. Thus, they never noticed the side passages leading off. Endrance had cast a light spell once at the door, but he’d been unconscious on the way back out of the tomb and the others were more concerned with getting him out alive than looking out for alternate routes.

  At the far end of either side, Endrance could see several passageways carved into the stone. Each passage was flanked on either side by impressive carved statues of powerful looking men that spanned from the floor far below the bridges up to the ceiling high above them. The men were stripped bare, their faces and bodies contorted with the effort of holding the ceiling of the chamber up.

  Endrance shook his head and continued following the assassin. It was beyond strange to be working with the one who had been trying to kill him - and had successfully killed Anna. She had been a thorn in his side for the entirety of his journey since he left Wayrest. And here again, she had managed to rope him into a position where he was playing by her rules.

  “So you’re no longer trying to kill me?” Endrance asked out loud. He figured he could at least try to get some additional information from her.

  Jalyin kept walking but answered. “I am no longer contractually obligated to end your life.”

  “Why?”

  “My employer had set parameters for my withdrawal. You succeeded at fulfilling those parameters.”

  “Parameters?”

  “The client then tried to kill me instead of paying me, and struck me with a powerful blood curse when I escaped her grasp. No, I have very little reason to kill you now, and many more reasons to keep you alive.”

  “She turned on you?”

  “That is what I said. Normally, the Poisonblades take precautions to ensure that payments are made and secrecy is enforced, but so far from our cities it is difficult to enact those precautions.”

  “I still don’t know what I’m supposed to think about you. You killed Anna.”

  Jalyin slowed to a stop and turned to look down at him. Even as an adult, Endrance was barely as tall as her chin.

  “I did not seek to kill you or your kin as a personal matter.” She said, her face cold. “I may take satisfaction from my work. I may use every technique and tool at my disposal, but I never take a job that I have a personal stake in.”

  “So you’re saying you’ve been ruining my life because it was business!” Endrance exclaimed, struggling to keep his temper in check. “I’ve suffered for gods know how long because someone whom I don’t even know paid you some coin?”

  Jalyin regarded him without expression, then took a drawn out breath as if she were trying to explain something to a child.

  “Look. Your people don’t understand this, but where the Sha’hdi come from, we are but public servants. We keep our people in line. Everyone knows that if they get too powerful, or get out of control with their power, anyone can petition the Poisonblades, or any other sisterhood of assassins to remove them. We do not work just for the politicians, nor the military, nor the tenders, nor the general populace. As servants, we perform a ‘service’, and that is to be both warning and weapon to those who make too many enemies.”

  “That can’t possibly work. Anyone unscrupulous could hire an assassin to eliminate anyone who could be a threat to them, or their competition.” Endrance protested.

  Jalyin raised an eyebrow. “That’s not how it works. As a public servant, we have the clearance from the Diarchy to fully investigate any requests before they are accepted. We are not without rules, checks and balances. Assassins who become known for taking numerous jobs without investigating may end up being the target of a public servant themselves.”

  “So, you investigated this ‘job’ you had to target me?” Endrance asked.

  Jalyin turned away and resumed her course, turning down one of the side passages. “Yes and no.” she replied.

  “Which is it?”

  “I did investigate the request, but the rules for only taking appropriate jobs only applies to the Sha’hdi or Suo’hdi.”

  “So humans-”

  “We have a strict law set down from the founding of our order. It is the foundation that allows us to operate on a public capacity. You can never take a job targeting a ruler, or the immediate family of a ruler. This is universal, applying to any species. Other than that, we can use our discretion.”

  “So I was fair game?”

  “You were a challenge.” Jalyin stopped before a passageway from the bridge and glanced over her shoulder. “I was to be paid very well to set up challenges along your journey. They had to be lethal, but not so overwhelming that you didn’t stand a chance of surviving. Then, if you survived long enough to get established in Balator, I could make three attempts at your life.”

  “Which you did. Once in the library, once during the eclipse, and once during the battle against Kalenden.” Endrance recalled. “What I didn’t understand is why you poisoned the daggers you hit Joven, Anna and Selene with, but you didn’t poison the one that you had clipped my head with.”

  Jalyin turned to look at him straight on. “What do you mean? I poisoned every blade I threw that night.” Her delicate eyebrows furrowed as she looked more intently at him. “I thought you had a spell that was shielding you from poison.”

  “If I had a spell like that, I would have used it on Anna.” Endrance quipped. “No, I never even thought about it until now. Joven said you had poisoned knives when we fought in the longhouse, but Joven’s really tough and had shaken it off before we even got out of the city.”

  Jalyin sighed. “And it was such high quality venom too. That bodyguard of yours is a beast.”

  Endrance shrugged. “He’s Joven.”

  “Well, somehow you’ve managed to avoid it.” Jalyin responded. “Perhaps I did a poor job poisoning that knife.”

  “Do you usually do a poor job at that?”

  “No.”

  “Ah.”

  “Can we move on now?”

  Endrance sighed. “Yes. Let’s go.”

  The side passage was narrow, but with clean hand-cut stone walls and floor. Endrance had plenty of room to walk, but Jalyin had to stoop slightly as she walked. Every dozen yards, an empty torch sconce was fitted to the wall, the black iron banding bolted into the walls as part of the architecture. They passed seven sconces before the passage opened to a chamber.

  The new room was only ten feet deep, but twenty wide. The ceiling opened up another few feet, so Jalyin stood up straight.

  T
he room was empty except for a rectangular stone table in the center, with several stone blocks set in the floor around it to make simple seats. The center of the table had a depression that seemed proportional to the table’s dimensions. It was blackened with soot and scorches from fire.

  “This was a rest and meal chamber for the workmen carving out the tomb.” Jalyin explained. “They would cook meals at the table and sleep over there.” She gestured at the floor to the side of the table. “This place should be good enough for you to work.”

  “Work?” Endrance asked, still looking over the room. There appeared to be no other ways into or out of the chamber than the one passage.

  Jalyin walked around the table and picked up a black leather pack that had been hiding out of direct sight of the door. She set it on the stone table; and even though it looked full, Endrance didn’t hear any sound from the action.

  “You have some effective equipment.” Endrance noted. “I’ve never seen objects so effective at hiding your presence.

  Jalyin flicked open the straps of her pack and only tilted her head in response. “In my homeland, there is a forest. Inside, the sun has never reached the forest floor for thousands of years. The darkness inside is deeper than the darkest night, and the animals inside have adapted to thrive.”

  Endrance had not been expecting her to be so forthright. She continued when he didn’t ask any questions.

  “One of the predators there, we call a Dancer in Darkness. They are nearly impossible to detect and are vicious hunters, like that blood tiger you killed. If you can catch and kill one, its hide has several benefits, but it must be treated in order to survive being exposed to the suns.”

  “Dancer in Darkness?” Endrance asked.

  “Your people call them Umbral Stalkers, I think.” Jalyin admitted. “But I doubt many of you have ever encountered one and lived.”