Tormina: The Book of Maladies

by D. K. Holmberg

  “You already knew that I could cross the swamp,” she said.

  Bastan grinned.

  Sam suddenly understood why the others were standing off and away from her. Bastan had advised them to do so.

  “I heard of a girl appearing in this section. She came in off the canal, and there was nothing with her. There was no sign of a barge, nothing that would explain where she might’ve come from.” He fixed her with an amused expression. “Most interestingly, she was carrying a long staff. When I heard this, I knew that it had to be you—or someone like you. And if there is some way of navigating the swamp without drawing attention, I thought I should know. Hiring a barge to cross the swamp is not easy, even for me.”

  “Which is why you brought me here? You wanted me to demonstrate what I can do?”

  “I wanted to know if that’s what you’ve been learning. And it seems that I was right to do so.”

  “You’re a bastard.”

  “No. I only wanted to make sure that you weren’t getting into the wrong kind of trouble.”

  “Why? Because you’d rather have me getting into the right kind of trouble?”

  “Because I’d like to know what sorts of things you’re learning over there.” He said it with enough of an inflection that Sam knew he was fully aware of where she trained, and likely aware of what she was learning.

  How connected was Bastan?

  She’d never given it much thought, and maybe she should have.

  Yet she wasn’t surprised that Bastan had manipulated her to discover that secret. It was information. He wanted to know what she was capable of doing, and now that he did, it was likely he would attempt to use that information in some way.

  “Now that you’ve gotten what you wanted, are you going to show me what you heard?”

  Bastan smiled again and nodded. “Now I will.”

  He turned, and they started down the street, moving away from the swamp and back toward a more central section. They still ran along one of the main canals, one that was wider here than it was in many other places. Every so often, she heard splashing in the water, and she resisted the urge to look over to see what might be moving there. If it was the eels, as much as she hated them, she now knew they were beneficial.

  Bastan watched her, almost as if reading her thoughts. “Still don’t care for the canals? I find that interesting, especially as you are so willing to jump over them.”

  “It’s not the canals that I don’t like, it’s what’s in them.”

  “The eels?”

  She nodded. “The damn things tried to eat me more than once.”

  “The eels don’t attack people, Samara.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “I’ve been in the city a long time. I’ve never heard any reports of eels attacking people.”

  “How many are swimming in the canals?”

  “What you mean?”

  “How many people swim in the canals?”

  “The canals aren’t for swimming. There are too many barges moving through here, and the water…”

  “It’s because of the eels,” she said. “You can tell me all you want that there’s another reason, but people don’t swim here because of the damned eels.” Bastan didn’t know the other purpose of the eels, and she wasn’t about to reveal that to him. He didn’t need more reason to raise questions. Understanding the purpose of the eels would invite many more questions than what she was interested in answering. “How much farther are we going?”

  “I thought you wanted to get answers?”

  “I do want answers, but given that you think you will use this as your own way of gleaning information from me, I’m thinking that perhaps I want to be a little more careful than I have been with you.”

  “That hurts.”

  “You’ll get over it.”

  They crossed another bridge, this one again with no guards. She glanced over to Bastan, and he only shrugged. What must he have done to have manipulated the guards to avoid placing people at any of these crossings? How much power did Bastan actually have?

  That might be the most important question for her to get answered. She had known Bastan had connections, but she hadn’t known that he had such power before. Now that she knew, what did that change?

  Nothing.

  All that it did was leave more questions in her mind.

  The most troubling one for her was why Bastan had been so involved in her upbringing. The more she thought about it, the more she understood what he was after, the more she was forced to question why he was involved in helping her survive. Not only survive, but thrive. He had been responsible for ensuring that she was protected and well fed. In some ways, he had even kept her away from Marin.

  She watched him as they made their way along the streets. Had he known about Marin’s involvement with the Thelns?

  She didn’t think so. Had he known, the information about the Thelns wouldn’t have been such a surprise to him. Neither would the fact that she knew how to cross the swamp using only her canal staff.

  There was another possibility, but it was one that left her even more troubled.

  Could Elaine have known that Bastan was essentially raising her?

  Elaine and the princess had made it seem as if the palace hadn’t known where to find her, and that Elaine had not known where she ended up, but could she have somehow influenced events, somehow encouraging Bastan to keep track of her, training her so that she would gain some of the Kaver skills without even knowing that was what she was doing? Sam couldn’t deny the fact that everything she’d learned from Bastan had some applicability to what she now needed to know as a Kaver.

  Bastan didn’t look at her, and now wasn’t the time to ask.

  He made a motion to silence her as they hurried along the street.

  Sam looked around, not recognizing the section.

  That wasn’t entirely surprising. There were plenty of sections of the city that she had not spent much time in, but she was surprised that Bastan moved so comfortably between them.

  They paused at a small building. Bastan moved them to the side, and he pressed up against the stone facing of the building. He nodded to it. “In there,” he whispered.

  “What will be in there?” Sam asked.

  “If I’m right, violence.”

  Bastan unsheathed his sword and kicked open the door, storming inside.

  25

  The Attack

  Sam swore to herself, gathering the ends of her canal staff. She reacted a step slower than the other three. They must have anticipated what Bastan intended, and stormed in after him. She heard shouts and debated reaching for her easar paper, thinking of making an augmentation, but there wasn’t time. Had she attempted an augmentation, she would have been delayed entering, and Bastan needed her help, whether he knew it or not.

  She took a deep breath and hurried inside.

  A battle spread out in front of her.

  Sam took a quick survey of the room as she screwed the ends of her staff together. It was a wide-open space, thankfully not tight quarters. It would be easier for her to fight using the entire length of her staff, as she could get more speed on it as she flowed through the movements. Bastan was engaged with a massive man near one corner, and she saw the other two men—the unremarkable ones—fighting hand-to-hand combat with three others.

  They were a revelation. They fought quickly, almost a blur, and she suddenly understood they were much more dangerous than she had expected.

  Colin used his brute strength, bashing in a man’s head as he fought his way through the room.

  What was this?

  Why would Bastan have come here ready for such violence?

  Sam didn’t have a chance to think about it. Someone appeared in front of her, and she swung her staff around, catching him on the side of the head, knocking him down. Another person appeared, coming down stairs that she hadn’t seen off to her left. He was larger, but not quite Theln size. She spun her staff around and swept hi
s legs out from underneath him, dropping him to the ground. She jammed the end of her staff into his sternum and then smacked him on the side of the head.

  The heavy sound of boots over wooden floorboards came from above her.

  Sam glanced back at the room. The others were all preoccupied, which meant that she would need to investigate.

  She unscrewed the ends of her canal staff and stepped onto the staircase.

  It was dark in here, and she waited a moment for her eyes to adjust. While she waited, she quickly pulled out the scrap of easar paper and the vial of blood ink, dipping her finger into the vial. She scrawled a few words on the page, again thinking of how less effective her own writing was compared to what Alec would be able to do, but it was all she had. Hopefully, this time she wouldn’t make a mistake, wanting only to add strength and speed, again thinking that she should ask Alec about enhancing her eyesight, or her hearing, or any of her other senses.

  With one last flourish, she decided to add a brief line about thickening her skin.

  It may not work. She wasn’t sure that she used the same technique that Alec did, but if she did encounter a Theln, she wanted to be prepared so that she could avoid a bolt going through her again. Without Alec nearby, she wasn’t sure she would survive the poisoning.

  She started up the stairs.

  At the top, she paused, poking her head around the corner. There had been sound here, at least one person. If there was only one, she thought she could handle him. If there was more than one—and if they were Thelns—even augmented, she would likely fail.

  She saw nothing.

  Sam stepped out.

  Someone clubbed her from behind. She staggered forward, sprawling across the floor. She twisted as she fell, trying to bring her staff around, when someone kicked her from the other side.

  Kyza!

  That last one hurt, but she rolled across the floor, twisting so that her staff could slam into the side of her attacker’s leg. She missed, catching only air.

  Sam continued to roll, pushing off with her staff as she flipped into the air.

  When she landed, she skittered off to the side, avoiding an attack.

  She looked up and saw her attacker.

  Ralun.

  “You came looking for me?” he asked. He darted forward, nearly too fast for her. His foot swung up in an arc, and his arm came down at the same time. She flipped herself up, pushing off with her staff, and avoided his kick, but not the entirety of his arm. It hurt, but not as much as it could have.

  Whatever she done to thicken her skin seemed to have worked.

  How long would the augmentation last? Did she have enough time to defeat him?

  “Where is my brother?”

  Ralun grinned at her. He ducked underneath her swinging staff, the smile never leaving his face. “Your brother. A most interesting individual. I find it interesting that you would have a connection to someone like him. Even more interesting is that he has a connection to someone like you.”

  Sam frowned, and that hesitation was a mistake.

  Someone caught her from behind.

  Sam rolled, not surprised to see another Theln behind her. A part of her feared that it would be Tray, but it wasn’t. It was an unfamiliar face. She spun her staff around and cracked the Theln on the side of his head. He was thrown back, but only staggered, not knocked out as she had hoped.

  “Why don’t you stupid Thelns fall easier?”

  Sam hurried back, putting her back to the wall, needing space more than anything else. She faced two Thelns. It was hard enough with her augmentations, but she knew they would fade soon. And if she didn’t defeat Ralun, and if he escaped, then how would she ever learn why he was in the city and what he was after?

  She would have to press the attack.

  Sam spun her staff, flicking around in a hard arc. She caught the first Theln, sweeping his legs out from him, and jabbed down, but he rolled off to the side.

  Sam ducked, avoiding Ralun and his attack, but only barely.

  “You’ve improved,” he said.

  “Yeah. I hate to disappoint you. I don’t think I’ll be quite as easy for you to hurt this time.”

  “Perhaps not. But I think that without a Scribe, you will find it is more difficult than you realize.”

  There was movement on the stairs, and Colin barreled into the room, crashing into Ralun.

  The Theln spun and slammed his fist down on Colin’s head, crushing it.

  Sam swallowed. His head had exploded. She wasn’t sure that she had solidified herself enough to withstand something like that.

  Kyza!

  If Alec were here, he likely would be able to add an augmentation that would support her, but without him… she wasn’t going to be fast enough or strong enough.

  Ralun shifted his attention back to her, casually tossing Colin’s body off to the side. “You brought help. It’s unfortunate that you brought this help, as I doubt they will be of much use to you.”

  “Why are you here?” she asked.

  “Here? Isn’t coming after you reason enough?”

  “You’re not after me. There’s something that you want in the city.”

  “Want? Do you believe you know me so well after our single encounter?”

  “I think I know the kind of person you are. You wouldn’t risk coming back to the city without a reason. Is it for Marin? Did you come to rescue her after you attempted to poison her?”

  Ralun frowned. “I think you have the events mistaken.”

  “Then why don’t you enlighten me.”

  Sam swung her staff and jabbed into the other Theln. It caught him in the stomach, and she swung it back around, connecting with the back of his head. He staggered forward, falling. She tried jumping forward, to finish him, but Ralun positioned himself so that she wasn’t able to do so.

  “I don’t think so. It’s far more interesting to me to have you questioning.”

  “I will stop you.”

  “I believe that you would like to stop me, but I don’t believe that you have the necessary skills. You caught me off guard the last time, I’ll admit that.” Ralun slipped forward, his fist balled, and caught her in the stomach.

  Sam fell backward. It hurt less than it would have without enhancements, but more than it had before.

  Her augmentations were fading.

  Ralun watched her, and the widening of his eyes told her that he realized the same.

  “Dare I say, little one, you seem to have overestimated your augmented abilities.”

  He started forward, but a thudding on the stairs pulled his attention back.

  He swung around, and the two other men with Bastan darted toward him.

  “Djohn. You brought djohn with you.”

  Sam didn’t know what to say. She didn’t know what a djohn was, but they faced Ralun fearlessly and attacked in unison, sliding forward, moving faster than she could follow, managing to force him back. Ralun swung and caught one of the djohn on the side of the head. The man flipped up in the air, but landed on his feet.

  Ralun grunted.

  Sam had some of her augmentation left. She slipped forward, slamming her staff down in an arc, hoping to connect with the top of Ralun’s head, but he simply grabbed the staff and swung it around, knocking both of the djohn back.

  Sam was empty handed. Ralun held her staff and faced the djohn.

  “Perhaps not as foolish as I thought,” he said, stalking toward the nearest djohn. He brought the staff up and swung it down, colliding with the man’s stomach.

  He turned, facing Sam for a moment as he readied to smack the other djohn.

  “How were you able to hire them?”

  “You first. Why are you here?”

  Ralun grinned at her and slammed down the staff into the other djohn. “Seeing as how your augmentations have faded, I doubt that it matters if I tell you. You would like to believe that you’re the reason I’m here? Is that it?”

  “I believe that you’re he
re for a reason. Others would like to have me believe that you’re here for me, but I don’t think that’s it.”

  She backed away as he stalked toward her.

  “No. If not for your unfortunate bonding, I could care less about you. What does one more Kaver matter to me?”

  What was that supposed to mean? “Then why are you here?”

  He leered at her. “There is someone here that I will return to my lands. He is more valuable than you can ever know.”

  It hit Sam suddenly. Ralun’s earlier comments made much more sense. She understood why Ralun was here, and what he was after.

  The Thelns wanted Tray.

  Could Ralun know that Tray was part Kaver? Could he know that he’d already found his Scribe?

  It was likely that he did.

  Was that what Marin had revealed to the Thelns before she was poisoned?

  Why would she have poisoned the canals? Not to protect Tray. Unless she was doing it for a different reason.

  Sam’s head spun as she tried to sort through everything that she had experienced. How much of it was because of Marin and everything that she had done? How much could Sam change?

  “You won’t get him.”

  Ralun came close to her. She could smell the sharp bitter stink of his magic. It radiated from him, wafting toward her unpleasantly. “And who do you think will stop me? You? You will fall before you have a chance to stop me.”

  Sam ducked beneath his attack and rolled forward, trying to keep clear of him, but Ralun caught her hard with a booted foot.

  The pain from the attack was enormous. She could barely move, and could barely take a breath. Sam tried rolling out of the way so that Ralun didn’t catch her with his foot again, but she couldn’t move.

  Pain nearly blurred her vision.

  Ralun approached slowly, sneering at her. “Did you honestly think you were capable of stopping me?”

  “I will keep you from getting Tray.”

  “No. You won’t.”

  He brought his staff around, and Sam braced for the brutality of an impact, but it never came.