by H. A. Harvey
Autumn stood quickly from the shadowed upper balcony and loosed an arrow from her bow. The missile bit just under Adam’s shoulder blade, sinking all the way to the fletching. As she called out for the guard and dropped down to the table top, the Lancer lurched backward and through the side door of the banquet hall and Captain Kaiden collapsed to the ground. The watch sergeant and his footmen burst through the door as Autumn darted across the table to the fallen captain.
“Lancer Adam just tried to assassinate the captain!” She cried as she dropped to her knees beside the fallen man’s head and pointed through the side door. “He fled that way, but he can’t have made it far.”
The sergeant nodded to his men, who dashed down the open corridor before joining Autumn at the captain’s side. Autumn examined Kaiden for wounds but found none. The young captain’s muscles were taut in agony and veins of uncanny black pressed up from beneath his skin.
“Sergeant,” Autumn had to call the man a second time and shake his shoulder to tear his eyes from the captain, “Sergeant, go and waken Malor. We need a wizard to undo whatever was done to him.”
The sergeant nodded and bolted off through the front doors. While she waited, Autumn sat and held the captain’s head in her lap. She ran through the brief attack in her head as she frowned at the dark pool of blood where the lancer had stood. He should not have run even a single step, let alone bolted down the corridor. She was certain her shot had pierced his heart. Something else felt wrong about the whole thing, but she couldn’t put her finger on it until the sergeant returned dragging a very disgruntled Malor in tow. As she looked at the mailed sergeant approaching next to Malor in an almost feminine nightgown, the two foot-soldiers returned from the corridor. They did not carry the lancer back with them, but one held the broken pieces of her bloody arrow.
“The blood led to a study, but stopped there.” The man with the arrow reported in frustration. “This was by the largest pool of blood.”
“He’s wounded badly to have lost so much blood, and we know who he is now.” The sergeant nodded to his men as Malor stooped to examine the captain who lay still rigid in pain. “Pass word to the wall sentries to be on the lookout for Lancer Adam.”
“Don’t bother.” Autumn interrupted, gently easing Kaiden’s head from her lap before standing to approach the foot soldiers and retrieve the tip of her arrow. “Sergeant, that heavy chain you wear, the lancer wears the same?”
“Nay,” He replied, “Lancers wear double-linked chain, an’ they ken afford steel. It won’t do no good again’ the hundreds of swords about t’ be after him.”
“And that’s what I saw him wearing a minute ago.” Autumn replied, gazing at the arrowhead as she swiped her finger along its side, examining the ichor on her alabaster finger. “Seeing that, I overdrew my bow to be certain the arrow bit through. I was certain I cut his heart in half until he ran off. Tell me sergeant, does this arrow point look like it drove through double-linked chain?”
The soldier eyed the arrow briefly before shaking his head. “Not a chance, miss. Nicked off a bit of bone maybe, but no steel.”
“Right.” Autumn nodded, “And I thought it odd that my arrow drove through to the fletching against such a barrier as well. Except now I know why.” She held up her blood coated finger, trying not to sound quite as cocky as she felt. “I didn’t hit the heart because my strike was too high by a few inches. The traitor is closer to my height, and my arrow cut so deep because it hit bare flesh, not steel. This blood is more transparent than a human’s should be. This is Fae blood. Even a Dryad such of myself has blood that looks more like wine than what you’re used to. The traitor isn’t a Human lancer at all, but a Fae.”
“So it could be anyone?” The sergeant almost moaned.
“Ah, almost.” Autumn admitted, feeling much less triumphant. “Looking like somebody is harder than just making up a masque. So he’s had practice, way more than me.”
“But it might not even be a he.” One of the soldiers replied.
“No, that I’m sure of.” Autumn countered, “The masque doesn’t work like that. I can pretend to be Human, or an Orc, but always female.” She laughed a little, and decided to explain when she saw even Malor had looked up to stare at her. “Ah, my mother always said it was proof that we all came from the Progenitors. That Humans, Orcs, or Kraal are all less alien to us than a man, or us to you.”
“Be that as it may, you’ve cut at least a few from who we have to search.” Malor said, standing and walking over to join them. He took the arrow from Autumn and, after wiping it on his nightgown, opened the end of his finger on its tip and letting a dark drop of crimson fall onto her hand. “More than that, you’ve given us a method to determine who we can trust. You three all do as I have.”
Autumn barely dared to breathe as each of the guardsmen and their sergeant dropped blood on her pale skin. Though she was no stranger to bloodshed, somehow this ritual unnerved her more than visceral spray. When they at last had all passed muster, she let slip a sigh and quickly wiped her hand on her bodice as Malor nodded.
“Good. I doubted the assassin would return so quickly, as fatal or not, he was definitely wounded grievously by Autumn’s bow.” Malor also seemed relieved. “One of you guardsmen stay with me and help me get the captain somewhere more secure. I can ease his suffering but will need more strength before I can try to wrest him free of this affliction. Whatever the traitor is wielding, it is a power I have not seen nor heard of before.”
Autumn stared uncertainly at the captain. By reputation, Malor had been schooled in the imperial capital of Avis. She shuddered inwardly at the thought of some art which had escaped the sages of the golden empire in their ten thousand years of gathering the greatest knowledge of magic known to Creation. Her thoughts were snapped back to the room as Malor rested a hand on her shoulder.
“How big can a masque make you?” Malor asked.
“Ah, big?” Autumn echoed, puzzled, “Like muscle? As much as I want, but it doesn’t make me any stronger.”
“No, size. Silly girl.” Malor returned impatiently, “Could you pretend to be an Ogre if you wished?”
“Never.” Autumn shook her head, “Up or down a few inches works, maybe someone really skilled could pull off a foot or so, but I’ve never heard of an Ogre under eight feet, or a Fae standing taller than half and five.”
“You have proven to be a thorn in this spy’s boot, little wood nymph.” He smiled encouragingly, “I think, if he is wise, our adversary should be developing a fear for you. That can give you an edge. Take the sergeant here and his guardsman. Go first to the stables and wake Axios, explain to him what is afoot. Then, you begin with the keep and test every soul you see. Once one passes, they are to stay in sight of you and the Ogre lout without exception. When you have a dozen or more, split off a squad to speed the test. Clear the keep, then have the guard repost themselves to let no one in without the test, kill them if they hesitate.”
Autumn nodded and waved the two soldiers after her as she turned to head into the courtyard. She paused a moment as the thought occurred to her that the Fae’s best move would be to supplant and impersonate Malor. As she looked back, Malor seemed to guess her thoughts. He took her hand and traced a circle across her palm while holding his other hand to shield it from any eyes but her own.
“When next I see you, if I do not trace that symbol in the air with my right hand in the next breath, put an arrow through my throat.” He stated flatly, “Now go, this assassin will be weakened, having used a potent spell to attack the captain, then being wounded deeply and likely expending more magic to heal himself. We need to press him now before he can recover. And if you can capture him alive, bind every finger of . . . no, break the fingers of his hands and bind them behind his back from wrist to elbow, and see that he is gagged unless I am present.”
“Wait,” Autumn protested, “You want me to go after the m
agic user? Isn’t that the whole point of having a wizard?”
“I barely have the strength to keep the captain alive.” Malor replied curtly, “I cannot do both, and no one else can heal him. The spy must be as depleted as I am at this moment, if not more. We can press the advantage or give him time to rest while I continue to deplete my reserves tending to his handiwork. The outcome of that confrontation won’t be pretty.”
“Alright.” Autumn sighed in resignation, though she felt like pointing out that Kaiden had woken her with less than an hour of sleep. Instead, she turned to the sergeant and nodded at him. “Let’s go get the Ogre.”
As the trio strode briskly through the keep, Autumn noted the blanched look on the faces of the men flanking her. They seemed no more eager to hunt down this hidden enemy than she was. The only difference was human faces were so much more telling than her own.
“The wizard is right,” Autumn said, trying to sound encouraging for her own sake as much as the men’s. “We have the advantage here. We are starting at three to one odds, soon to be whatever three and an Ogre adds to. Maintaining a masque takes focus. As I understand, so does magic. Our quarry bleeds well enough, and is likely to be exhausted. There’s nothing to worry about.”
“Cept this’ll be the second time t’nite I waked that Ogre.” The sergeant mumbled, “So’s I give us about fifty-fifty odds o’ makin’ it ta three plus Ogre instead o’ Ogre plus mush.”
Autumn swallowed, but said nothing. She had done her best to avoid Axios since they had arrived in Deepwood. Normally, she wasn’t intimidated by large brutes. Her uncanny balance and Adair’s training made her more than a match for people with significant weight advantages over her, but there were limits. An Ogre was beyond just about anyone’s limits. There was also the fact that she couldn’t help reminding herself that they had a reputation for tearing up small trees to swing as clubs, and she bore a striking resemblance to a very small tree.
They moved into the narrow passage that lay within the outer wall of the keep and followed it around until they reached the back entrance to the stables. The rumbling echo of the Ogre’s heavy breathing welcomed them well before they reached the thick oaken door that led to the stables. Autumn scanned the nervous expressions of both the men with her before sighing mostly to herself.
“You two wait here,” She directed as she lifted the latch to the door, “I’ll rouse him.”
The soldiers seemed only too eager to go along with her plan. As she stepped through the doorway, Autumn mused to herself that this would have been one time it’d have been nice to be working with someone with a bit of chauvinistic chivalry guiding his actions. Inside, it wasn’t hard to locate Axios. The few Baedite horses were huddled in fear against the rear wall in their stalls. In the center of the open feed and fitting area lay a mound of grey-green flesh wrapped in a dozen or so horse blankets. Jagged spurs of bone jutted from the mass here and there.
Autumn circled slowly around the sleeping Ogre until she could make out the brute’s large head and one massive shoulder poking from beneath the mound of saddle blankets. As Axios’ hot breath washed over her, she was pleasantly surprised by the scent of cut pine. She had been braced for the rank odor of rotted meat.
She reached out hesitantly and lightly nudged his shoulder just below the large spur of bone that protruded from its point. There was almost no give to his flesh, as she felt taught muscle and more bone beneath, but Axios didn’t stir even a little. She shook a bit harder, still barely able to press a dent into the skin of the goliath’s shoulder, but the Ogre snored on without disruption.
“Axios, wake up.” Autumn whispered at first, but she was certain the Ogre didn’t hear her, as she couldn’t even make out her voice through the monster’s snores. Clearing her throat a bit, she shouted, “Get up you lazy brute!”
The Ogre ignored her and snored on, though the horses seemed to have forgotten a bit of their fear and were watching the little girl harassing their tormentor with interest. Autumn was beginning to get frustrated. Perhaps that was why, without quite thinking, she reached out and slapped Axios across the face so hard her palm stung. She regretted it for only a moment, as the snoring continued with little more than a flutter of disruption. Perhaps a light prick on the arm would do the trick. Autumn slid her light blade from its sheath across the small of her back.
Axios’ snores ceased in an instant and his good eye, the size of a tea-saucer snapped open and fixed on her in a moment. Autumn wasn’t sure if the squeal she heard next came from her or the horses behind as a massive hand shot from beneath the blankets and enveloped her entire head. The Ogre’s tough, callused palm crushed against her face as his fingers curled around her skull and lifted the Dryad off her feet. Autumn realized she must have dropped her blade in surprise, and flung her arms around the Ogre’s wrist to keep her neck from wringing itself.
The Ogre bellowed something which Autumn felt certain desperately needed an answer. Unfortunately, her mouth was too tightly wrapped in Ogre flesh to answer. Indeed she felt like any second her skull would crack in his iron grip. It wouldn’t have done much good if she could speak at any rate, for Axios’ words were lost in fierce-sounding mumbles since her ears were wrapped by his thick fingers.
Axios swung her around like a doll as another round of muffled Ogre threats failed to make any sense. Autumn clung for dear life to the brute’s wrist, trying to keep her body weight from snapping her neck like a twig. There was another undecipherable sentence, and then silence. In the stillness, Autumn’s mind had time to remind her that she couldn’t breathe and she fought off the urge to panic and thrash uselessly. As she was working out some way to lever her head free of the ogre’s grip without breaking her own neck, she felt the earth beneath her feet again just before he released her head, leaving Autumn to collapse, cough and sputter on her hands and knees.
Despite being dazed and breathless, Autumn was quick to evaluate her surroundings. The sergeant seemed to have entered the room and was standing a safe distance back from the Ogre who towered over her, his feet to either side of her shoulders. Her blade lay several feet beyond his heels amid the discarded blankets.
“She were just tryin’ ta wake you, Mr. Axios.” The sergeant was saying. “She ain’t no assassin, but we need ya ta help us find one.”
“Cap’n Kaiden said I could sleepz.” Axios grunted angrily.
“T-the captain was attacked.” Autumn injected as she staggered to her feet and wiped away the trickle of blood from her nose. She walked carefully around Axios to recover her fallen blade. “Malor sent us to get you.”
Autumn recounted the events since Kaiden had shaken her awake earlier in the evening. The Ogre glowered as he listened. “So, I’z need ta followz youz around while youz stab a buncha sodz in da finger?”
“Well, yes.” Autumn answered, “But we need you for when we find the sod we’re looking for. He already survived an arrow through the heart, and we know he wields some kind of strange magic.”
Axios stared at her for a long moment, then turned and walked back over to his pile of blankets. He kicked idly at them for a few moments until his foot caught something under the heavy cloth and straw. He gave a stronger kick and the ogre’s massive blade flew out of the pile, crashing into the wall of the stable. A foot wide and over six long, the blade was less a sword and more of an edged beam. The ogres scooped it up by the grip and lay it over his shoulder before returning to tower over Autumn.
“Leadz on, lil’ sizter.” He grunted.
At Autumn’s call, the footsoldier joined them from the hallway and they headed out into the courtyard, where they found a host of more than two score men waited. A mixture of Tyrian soldiers, regular mercenaries, and even a few Autumn recognized as wolves stood watching them intently, weapons drawn and dark expressions upon their faces. There was an unnervingly still moment as she stood poised to move.
The first attack d
idn’t come from the front as Autumn expected. She caught a glint of bronze through the corner of her eye and rolled behind the ogre just in time to duck under the arcing blade of the footman next to her. The hapless sergeant was not as fortunate, and collapsed with a bronze dagger in his chest as their attacker dashed forward to join the others. Once safely behind the first few ranks of soldiers, the footman turned and grinned at Autumn as his face faded to one she recognized.
“Penn!” Autumn exclaimed in stunned surprise, “B-but how?”
“Oh,” Penn grinned back as she drifted further behind her protectors. “Just a little something a half-breed like yourself wouldn’t see coming, especially a stiff-neck. Boys, these two are traitors and trying to kill me. Stop them.”
“Huh, noice tryz, glitterbug.” Axios chuckled as he took a step forward, but his mirth turned to a snarl as an arrow flew from the host and struck his chest. Autumn could see the arrow had awakened Axios’ warbringer blood, as his muscles tautened and his impossibly large frame increased its dimensions visibly. The Ogre’s grip tightened on the handle of his heavy blade until she could hear the metal strain as though caught in a vice.
“She has them in thrall.” Autumn murmured from behind the Ogre, “It’s wylde allure, they’ll throw themselves on dragon’s fire for her.”
“Dey ain’t gonna live ta seez no dragon!” Axios bellowed as he exploded forward. He batted aside several spears with one hand bringing his giant blade in a deadly arc of steel with the other. The swing cut down three men without slowing, and the ogre’s foot drove flat into the chest of a fourth with bone-cracking force and sent him flying back into the ranks almost to Penn’s feet, taking a half-dozen men to the ground with him. Autumn sidestepped an arrow and returned in kind, striking the archer between the ribs under his arm.
“She’s getting away!” Autumn cried out as she ran after Axios, keeping her eye on Penn as the lithe Fae took a spear from one of her thralls and sprinted up the stair onto the keep’s outer wall. The Ogre looked up at the fleeing assassin for a split second as well, before sweeping the combatants before him back with a broad stroke of his blade and thrusting its blunt point at the approaching Dryad. Autumn read the meaning of the fulcrum in a heartbeat and leapt onto the broad blade. Axios drug his blade in a mighty upward arc, catapulting her up and forward over the throng of bewitched soldiers. She added the best leap she could manage at the height of the arc, turning in midair to land halfway up the stair, less than a handful of paces behind Penn.