Heirs of Destiny Box Set

by Andy Peloquin

  He whirled to Briana and Hailen. “Get those artifacts and journal, now, and put them someplace safe!”

  “Where?” Briana demanded.

  “I don’t know!” Kodyn said as he raced through the room and out the door. “Find somewhere!”

  He barreled down the stairs and into the sparse ground floor room. “Rothin!” he shouted. “They’re coming back.”

  The man leapt to his feet, then groaned at the pain in his wounded leg. Just as Kodyn reached the bottom stair, he found the Keeper’s Blade—Issa had called her Etai—racing into the house and slamming the door.

  “The bastards are coming back!” Etai whirled, eyes landing on Kodyn. “We’ve got seconds to barricade the door and windows.” Determination hardened her well-formed features and a grim light shone in her dark eyes.

  Kodyn set about helping Etai overturn the sparse furniture and pile it high to block off the front of the house. Aisha appeared beside him and helped as well. Nessa, Leya, Trant, and even Rothin lent a hand.

  But all too soon, they were out of furniture. The house’s sparse appointment failed to form more than a pathetic barricade.

  “Shite!” Kodyn cursed as he drew his long sword and dagger, which he’d retrieved from the Gatherers he’d slain in the previous fight. “Where the hell did they come from? I thought Issa was going to go and deal with them.”

  “Right now, that doesn’t matter.” Etai unslung her two-handed sword and shot a glance at Kodyn and Aisha. “The truth is that there’s no way the three of us can hold them off for long.”

  “Four.” Rothin’s voice echoed from behind them. Kodyn turned to see the guard, pale-faced yet resolute, gripping his sword.

  “That still doesn’t even the odds.” Etai peered out the window. “They’ve likely got more watching for any signs of patrols. There’s no way we’re getting reinforcements in time.”

  “Then we’ve got to get the bloody hell out of here!” A new voice entered the room.

  Kodyn whirled and raised his sword, but stopped when he caught sight of a breathless, sweat-soaked Evren.

  “Where in the fiery hell have you been?” Kodyn demanded.

  “Seeing the sights, leading the Syndicate on a merry chase around the city.” Evren gave a dismissive wave. “But now’s not the time to get into that. What matters is that the Gatherers still haven’t blocked off the back way out.”

  Kodyn’s eyebrows shot up. “What?”

  Evren gestured toward the kitchen. “I was on my way back when I caught sight of them massing in the alleyways. I thought maybe I could find another way in, through the roof or something, but the street’s totally empty.” He shot a glance out the window. “But not for long. They’re not total idiots, and they’re going to block off the way any second now. Which means we’ve got to run, now!”

  “Even if we run,” Etai spoke up from her place beside the barricaded window, “there’s not really anywhere safe we can go.”

  Inspiration struck Kodyn with the force of a mailed fist to the gut. “To the Secret Keepers!”

  Etai and Evren both looked surprised, but Aisha nodded her assent. “The only place where Suroth’s journals and the artifacts will be safe. They’ll have to protect one of their own.”

  Without waiting for answers from the other two, he raced up the stairs and thundered into Briana’s room. “We’re going to run, now, to the Temple of Whispers.”

  Briana’s face had gone white, her eyes wide, a panicked quiver to her lip. Hailen’s young face mirrored hers, but his jaw was set, his grip on his dagger firm. He had placed himself once again between Briana and the door.

  “Evren says the back way out is clear.” Kodyn seized the sack, slung it over his shoulder, and held out a hand to Briana. “But we need to move now if we’re going to get out.”

  Hailen hurried toward the door, but Briana made no move. Fear rooted her to the spot, her limbs frozen, even her breath trapped in her lungs. Kodyn could almost feel the fingers of panic clutching at her mind—he’d faced his own share of dangerous situations over his years as a Hawk, though none as life-threatening as this.

  He stepped closer and took her hand. “Come on.” He squeezed her fingers in his. “I won’t let anything happen to you.”

  The warmth and nearness seemed to shatter the ice that rendered her immobile. She sucked in a ragged breath and her fingers tightened around his. A glimmer of courage flickered in the smile she turned up to him. “I know.” The words were spoken in a quiet voice, yet echoed with trust.

  Kodyn tugged her down the stairs, Hailen in their wake.

  “Evren!” Hailen’s eyes brightened as he caught sight of Evren standing in the kitchen watching the back door.

  Evren pressed a finger to his lips, but he smiled at the boy. “Time to make a dash for it, like when we snatched that ham from Master Zeuris’ butcher shop.”

  Hailen grinned wider. “Like old times.”

  Kodyn was about to speak when a loud roar echoed from outside the house. His gut clenched as he glanced through the window. The mass of Gatherers had abandoned all pretense of stealth and now surged toward them in a wave of fury, flesh, and bared steel.

  They were out of time.

  “Go!” He shoved Briana into the kitchen, then whirled on Aisha. “Get her out of here!”

  “Not without you,” Aisha responded, shaking her head.

  “You need to keep her safe,” Kodyn insisted. He thrust a finger at the Keeper’s Blade. “You as well.”

  “And leave you to hold the door alone?” Etai’s jaw set and her black gauntlets creaked as she tightened her grip on the hilt of her two-handed sword. “Not a damned chance.”

  “You’ve orders from your Lady of Blades to protect Briana,” Kodyn growled. “That means you go with them.” He winced as something heavy slammed into the door. The wood shuddered beneath the assault. “Now!”

  Etai hesitated a moment, then nodded. “Keeper smile on you this day.” She hurried into the kitchen, seizing Briana by the arm and dragging her along.

  “Go!” Kodyn had to shout at Aisha to make himself heard over the battering at the door. “I’ll be right behind you.”

  “Liar.” Aisha snarled. “This isn’t how it ends, you and me. We stand together or—”

  “Both of you, get the bloody hell out of here!”

  Kodyn was surprised to hear the voice of Nessa, the grey-haired Steward. He was even more surprised to see a pair of short swords in her hands. By her casual grip, it looked as if she actually knew how to use them.

  “We swore an oath to Briana’s father to serve and protect her with our lives.” The old Steward ran a hand through her grey hair, a determined look in her eyes.

  “With our lives,” Rothin echoed. He’d gone pale, his lips blue and skin clammy from loss of blood. Crimson soaked the bandage on his wounded leg—the Gatherer’s blade had cut the artery and he couldn’t stop the bleeding. He was dying, yet he stood tall and proud to the end. “Now it falls to you to keep her safe.”

  “Swear it!” Nessa fixed Kodyn with a piercing stare. “Swear that you will guard her as we have.”

  “I swear.” The words stuck in Kodyn’s throat, but were jolted loose as the door splintered beneath something heavy. “I will guard her with my life.”

  “Then go!” Nessa snapped, one final command. “Get her to safety among her father’s people. That’s the least you can do, young man.”

  Kodyn saluted with his sword. “May you find the peace you deserve.” The words from Suroth’s funeral rites were all that sprang to mind. With a nod to Rothin and Nessa, he hurried into the kitchen and out the back door. Leya the cook and Trant the aged attendant stood in the pre-dawn shadows beside Aisha, Kodyn, Evren, Briana, and Hailen. The two servants looked terrified, and rightly so.

  Briana’s eyes flew wide as she caught sight of Kodyn exiting the house alone. “No!” she breathed. “Rothin is—”

  “Doing his duty.” A lump rose in Kodyn’s throat. “Honoring
your father the best way he knows how.”

  Tears streamed down Briana’s face, and a fist of iron squeezed at Kodyn’s heart.

  “We need to go, now!” Evren hissed. He stood at the next street corner, daggers ready, an urgency burning in his eyes. “They’ve got to be on their way any second.”

  Kodyn and Aisha gripped Briana’s arms and helped the girl to stumble down the street. It took Briana a few steps to recover, but she managed to hurry along between them. The need to survive, to escape certain death drove back the sorrow at losing more of the people she cared for. The time would come that she could mourn—after they were safe.

  Etai brought up the rear, while Hailen slipped along behind Evren at the lead. At Evren’s hiss, the eight of them dove into cover behind a stone stairway.

  Not a moment too soon. A handful of Gatherers rushed down the alley behind them, flooding toward the back entrance to Briana’s house. The crash of shattered wood echoed a moment later, followed by the clash of steel.

  Kodyn forced himself to take slow, measured breaths in an effort to calm the fear spiking his pulse. They had gotten out just in time.

  Now how the hell are we going to get around the Gatherers to the Secret Keeper’s temple?

  The Gatherers had come from the south and west, which meant they were blocking off the alleys and side streets that led to the Temple District. Their only chance of reaching safety was heading east, away from the temple, then south toward the Artificer’s Courseway. The sun would rise any minute, so the early morning shoppers and merchants would already occupy the marketplaces. The Artisan’s Tier ought to be busy enough that the Gatherers wouldn’t dare attack in the main avenue.

  Evren seemed to have the same thought, for he slipped out of cover, headed east along the debris-cluttered alley, then ducked around a corner. He reappeared a moment later, shaking his head and holding up ten fingers.

  Kodyn’s gut clenched. The Gatherers aren’t taking any chances. Yet he couldn’t let his fear show. Briana was already terrified, and if she sensed his worry, it could cause her to panic. He had to stay focused on the task at hand and keep his feelings locked down tight, as he’d learned during his years training to be a Hawk.

  A Hawk!

  His eyes snapped up to the nearby rooftops, and an idea blossomed in his mind. Waving to get Aisha’s attention, he spoke in the silent hand language. I’m going to get up onto the rooftops and find a clear path.

  Aisha nodded but signed, Be careful.

  Always. He forced a confident grin for Briana’s sake.

  Scuttling through the shadows, he darted across the alleyway and leapt up onto a first-floor windowsill. His fingers closed around the lip of a second-story balcony and he hauled himself up, onto the stone rail. Balancing on the narrow balustrade, he reached for the edge of the sloping roof. A moment later, he scrambled over the ridge, slipped down the other side, and vaulted the narrow gap between buildings.

  From his new vantage point, he scanned the streets to the south of their position. Sure enough, he spotted the ten Gatherers Evren had indicated. The cultists were facing the Artificer’s Courseway, as if they’d been set there to watch for approaching patrols rather than preventing their escape.

  He raced to the northern corner of the roof and scanned the shadows until he spotted his friends. He waved his arms to signal them to go.

  Aisha and Briana got the others moving up the street, east in the direction Evren had gone. Kodyn kept a close eye on the Gatherers at the intersection—if they turned, even so much as glanced back, he’d drop down and give them something to occupy their attention long enough for the others to escape.

  He breathed a quiet sigh of relief as first Briana and Aisha, then Hailen, the two servants, and finally Etai slipped past the alleyway unseen. Evren appeared from up the street and beckoned for them to follow him east, farther from the watching Gatherers and the safety of the Temple District.

  Kodyn raced toward the eastern edge of the rooftop and leapt across, crossing the distance with ease. Thatch rustled beneath his feet but he threw himself flat against the sloped roof, out of sight of the Gatherers below. In seconds, he was sliding down the far side, then racing across the rooftops in pursuit of his friends.

  The steep slopes of the roofs made traversing the distances more difficult than crossing the Hawk’s Highway, but he couldn’t let that stop him. His friends were counting on him to get them to safety. Though his arms and legs burned from the exertion, he scrambled over the rooftops and hurtled the gaps of alleys and narrow back lanes to keep a few steps ahead of them.

  Twice more, he spotted clusters of watching Gatherers just in time to alert his friends to the threat. The last time, he very nearly missed the figures, cloaked as they were in the early morning shadows. It was only by the Mistress’ luck that he caught the flicker of movement out of the corner of his eyes.

  All too soon, he reached a broader side street, a gap too wide for him to leap. He scrambled down the side of the building and dropped onto the lane a few paces from where Evren and the others crouched in the shadows.

  “We’re getting too close to Ybrazhe territory,” Evren whispered, shooting a nervous glance westward. “We have to make a run for the Artificer’s Courseway. No way the Gatherers are brazen enough to attack us there, not in broad daylight.”

  Kodyn wasn’t so certain, but he nodded. The plan was as good as any.

  Briana turned to the two servants. “Leya, Trant, please forgive me for putting your lives in such peril again. Please, return home to your families, with my gratitude and my father’s as well.”

  “It was an honor, my lady.” Leya gave a little bow, stood, and hurried off down the lane, east toward Trader’s Way.

  Trant, with his usual loquacity, nodded and followed Leya.

  Just us six now. Kodyn glanced over their small company. Aisha and Briana, Hailen and Evren, and this new Blade, Etai. Six against ten times that number. This is going to be fun.

  He drew in a deep breath and stood. “Let’s go.”

  Evren moved first, Hailen on his heels. Kodyn and Aisha went next, shielding Briana with their bodies. Etai brought up the rear, her black steel armor strangely silent, a solid bulwark to guard their backs. She gripped her huge flame-bladed sword in strong hands, her eyes roving every shadow for threat.

  Fear roiled in Kodyn’s gut as he hurried south along the side street, yet he gritted his teeth and forced himself to keep moving. Now wasn’t the time to freeze, to panic. Like his mother, he had to keep a cool head and focus on getting his friends to safety.

  Logic failed to slow the hammering beat of his heart or stop his palms from growing sweaty. He tightened his grip on Briana’s fingers—for his own comfort as well as hers. He exchanged glances with Aisha and found her strangely calm. Sweat streamed down her face and her jaw muscles were clenched tight, yet no fear shone in her eyes.

  The sight of her composure helped to dim the anxiety surging within him. Gritting his teeth, he pushed back on the fingers of panic attempting to burrow into his brain and forced himself to think coolly, rationally. His instincts, honed over years training with every House in the Night Guild, kept his mind focused on scouting the shadows and assessing threats all while maintaining their desperate dash.

  Hope surged within him as they reached the Artificer’s Courseway. To the east, he caught sight of early morning crowds flooding toward the now-open Commerce Square. Men, women, litters, even a few ox-drawn carts rumbled along the main avenue—too few to provide real cover, yet numerous enough that a Gatherer attack would draw unwanted attention.

  Better still, the early morning hour meant Indomitable patrols. He scanned the Artificer’s Courseway for any sign of black-armored soldiers—even one ten-man company could make the difference if they clashed with Gatherers.

  His hope died unrealized. No sign of Indomitables in either direction, as far as he could see. Worse, he recognized their location—they had to cross nearly an entire quarter of the A
rtisan’s Tier to reach the Temple District. He glanced over his shoulder at the brightening sky. They’d be lucky to reach the Temple of Whispers before the eighth hour of the morning.

  But we’ve got to try! He’d rather avoid the alternative: a painful death at the Gatherers’ hands. They had no one else but the Secret Keepers to go to for help. The Temple of Whispers was the only place in Shalandra that could offer them sanctuary now.

  Gut clenching, he slipped out onto the main street behind Evren and Hailen. They moved at a steady pace, hurrying as fast as they could manage without drawing undue attention. A part of Kodyn wanted to believe that they could blend into the crowds. But he knew that wasn’t true. They carried drawn weapons and had a Keeper’s Blade on their heels.

  Five minutes passed with no sign of the enemy. Ten, and still no Gatherers. A knot formed in Kodyn’s stomach as they drew nearer the side street that led to Briana’s house. The Gatherers will be watching—

  The thought died as five dark-cloaked figures appeared on the streets ahead of them. Five of them, striding out of a nearby lane, eyes scanning the crowds on the Artificer’s Courseway.

  Kodyn knew he had a second to act before the Gatherers spotted them. He had the element of surprise for a single instant, no more.

  He seized the moment.

  Racing past Evren and Hailen, he charged the five Gatherers, sword swinging. The five men caught sight of him a heartbeat before he reached them. The foremost cultist died as the flashing tip of Kodyn’s sword tore a gash in his throat. A second fell a heartbeat later to Kodyn’s backstroke, which ripped up the side of his shoulder and buried into the side of his neck. Blood gushed from the man’s severed jugular and he fell with a wordless cry.

  The third Gatherer raised his sword to strike. Kodyn leapt out of the blow’s path, then brought the man down with a quick thrust that drove a finger’s length of steel into his chest. But the remaining cultists caught him off-balance. Even as Kodyn tore his long sword free of the dying man, two short swords hacked toward his chest and neck.

  In that instant, time slowed to a crawl. Kodyn knew he was going to die. There was no way he’d get his blade up and across in time to block the blows, and he couldn’t dodge or duck. All he could do was watch the swords coming to kill him.