Who the hell fires a crossbow in a close-quarters fight? Andeos is reloading while watching my every move. There’s not a smidgen of panic in his actions. He knows it’s just a matter of time before he puts a bolt into me while I’m distracted by the other two.
“Okay, I was confident I could take fourteen of you at once, but sixteen is decidedly unfair.” I fling the chair beside me in Andeos’ direction. He takes the entire weight of the blow with a quick turn of his shoulder. It slows him down for a minute, but doesn’t stop him.
“It’s still fourteen.” The woman looks back to the melee of recruits and upturned benches. “You really weren’t kidding about your team numbering three.” She returns her gaze to me and lunges forward, the rapier extending her reach far enough that it whispers by my ear.
I check for room behind me. Then, in one fluid motion, I twirl my arm around the long blade of her sword and somersault backwards. Doing so rips the rapier from her hand, and it clatters into the corner. Success!
I yell, “Care to offer your surrender yet?” above the din of the combat, but don’t really give her time to respond. Already flying through the air is the blade I keep sheathed on the back of my belt. It embeds itself into the side of her skull and she drops. “I will accept that as a resounding yes.”
I don’t have time to celebrate, as these few seconds leave me vulnerable to others in the room. Tavos closes in and tags me with an elbow to the small of my back and an open hand to my face.
Caught off guard, I’m unable to roll with the blows. Instead of nicely absorbing them, I take the full brunt of the attack. My spine explodes in a cascade of multicolored pain while his hand tags my eyes.
Unable to focus through the anguish, I fall forward into the blurry man shape I assume is Tavos, grab what I can, and bite. I’m rewarded with cloth, flesh and blood. I bite harder.
“Aaah! Get off me!” Tavos mounts a flurry of blows against my head, but I ignore them and sink my teeth even deeper. If I like biting people, should I be concerned?
With a great pull I raise my head, bringing a large mouthful of flesh with me. It crosses my mind momentarily to chew and swallow before I spit it out. “Tastes like chicken!”
With my mouth detached from his leg, Tavos pulls back an arm and delivers a haymaker of a blow against my temple. I reel away while he stumbles backwards to collapse against the podium, holding his knee to his chest. Blood spurts all round him.
I hear the front door splinter open upstairs. Relief. That should be Muel. I’ve been having him follow me the last couple nights. Mostly because I get to drinking and then need him to piggyback me home. Right now I can use his brawn.
But he’s upstairs and I’m down here. I shake my head to clear it and look to Andeos.
The crossbow cord snaps forward, propelling the quarrel in my direction. It’s on target and flies straight. At the last second I totally cower and bring up my arms to cover my face. The projectile hits the metal-splinted bracers and shears away, lodging in the wall. I peek through my fingers. Andeos is already loading another quarrel. The disappointment in failing to kill me shows in his scowl.
I just need to buy time until Muel gets down the stairs. I do a quick crawl on all fours around the outside of the room. I’m not hiding. I mean, Andeos knows exactly where I am. I’m not tricking him. I’m just getting better positioned.
I have crawled all the way to where Tavos and Andeos entered through the concealed door when I hear a familiar voice from the bottom of the stairs. “Father, I think it’s time we settle this. Don’t you?”
That’s not Muel.
Chapter 60
My curiosity tends to override any good judgment I ever acquire. Instead of bolting down the concealed passageway, never stopping and never looking back, I turn around.
I’m not the only one lacking good judgment it seems, for the whole basement quiets. The brawl between the new guild recruits, Prusur and Caia freezes in mid-blow as all eyes focus on the new arrival. What was moments ago a battle frenzy turns to amazement, wonder and fear.
Here is what we see: looking beyond the two giant ravens perched as a mantle upon Amber’s shoulders, beyond her stunning dress that matches the black of the birds, it is the arm she holds outstretched that commands our attention.
From shoulder to fingertip, what should be flesh is just a shimmer, an outline of black fury. Beaks, wings and talons pull out of, and are sucked back into, the darkness that should be an arm. It is a constant, inky pool of motion from which an unkindness of ravens buckles and fights to escape.
Amber looks directly at the scrum and, without much emotion, says, “You are in my way.”
None of them react fast enough. The fury within Amber’s arm rips out from her and, in a screeching second, the blackness erupts into a maelstrom of sharp talons that tear flesh and beaks that peck out eyes. The group of recruits, along with my two companions, break rank and attempt to flee around Amber and up the staircase.
They hit the stairwell simultaneously, and in their terror, they trample and fight each other up the steps. The slowest and the unluckiest of the recruits, bottlenecked by the thin stairwell or crushed by their peers, are enveloped in the ravens’ storm of wings. Blood, fingers and whatever is easily severed or plucked is taken from the recruits.
In time, calm descends upon the room. Those that have succeeded in making it up the stairs leave the fresh, crushed corpses of their fellows here in the cellar. Counting the number of bodies, only a few of those fleeing appear to have successfully escaped.
The ravens settle, hopping from one corpse to another. At each, the ravens swallow small globs of flesh they tear from the bodies. Then, at some unseen call the flock lifts and returns — vanishes — back into Amber’s still-outstretched arm.
With their return, the arm changes to its normal color, shape and form. Amber flexes and lets the arm drop back down to her side. Stepping over a body that has fallen in front of her, she walks up to Tavos. “Father.”
“Amber. It’s good to see you still alive.”
“Is it really? Because I got the distinct impression you wanted me dead.”
“I sent Pinty after you. How is that wanting you dead?”
Amber looks over to where I’m still, for lack of a better description, definitely not attempting to hide behind some broken furniture. “I can clearly see you, Pinty, so please get up. I should actually thank you. My mice and ravens have been following you for some time, and I appreciate you leading me to Father. My deepest gratitude.”
“Uh . . .” I stand and dust myself off some. “You’re welcome, I guess.” The giant raven on her left shoulder gives me a stare and a squawk. I stare back. “So why don’t we all call it a day and head home. I, for one, am good for tonight. Deal?”
Tavos catches me off guard because, at the moment, he’s in no place to make threats.
“No, Pinty. I think Amber’s right. It’s time to end this, now and without emotions.” He tries to pull himself up, but his leg collapses underneath him. “You’re too dangerous, Daughter. People like their secrets. With you there seem to be no secrets. Nobody feels safe anymore with you around.”
“That’s not true. It’s just you who doesn’t feel safe anymore. Once I stopped being your easily manipulated daughter, you became worried I would let your personal secrets slip out. Or use them against you. That’s all.”
“It really isn’t just me who’s concerned about the power you have. It’s everyone of importance in the city. How do you think those people feel, knowing that every moment of their lives is open to you and your zoo of spies?”
Amber actually breaks into a smile. “It’s not a zoo, just ravens and mice. Plus — are you kidding? These people want to use me just as badly as you do. Why do you think the governor’s own guards have approached me, promising me the uncontested run of the guild if I simply agree to keep the governor off limits and do some intelligence work for him once in a while?”
Ahhh, now this is going to g
et interesting. I speak up. “Amber, can I interrupt for a moment?”
“Hush, Pinty. This is between me and Father. You’ll have a chance right after this.”
I hold my hands up and give her that “Okay, whatever you think, I give up” look. “Amber, how many people are in this room?”
“Three. Now shut up.” Amber looks back to her father. “Answer me.”
Tavos almost smiles. “They approached you in case their deal with me failed. A few months ago the Goblins came to me with an offer as well: ditch you or have the entire guild wiped out in a constant assault from the city at every turn.”
“You gave me up.”
“Yeah, to save you. I worked out a deal. As long as they relocated you and didn’t kill you, I would feed them intelligence the guild collected. Sadly, I muggled it by having second thoughts once the kidnapping was successful and so I sent Pinty after you.”
Amber reaches out, grabs her father by his jacket and bends in. The two giant ravens caw and flap their wings to keep balance, but otherwise keep to her shoulders. “The only person who could have taken me was you. You’re the only one I didn’t track. The only one I trusted. You’re a liar. Blaming the Goblins is a ruse.”
Tavos looks away from his daughter and then back. “I didn’t know how they did it until a few minutes ago. But they did it. Anyways, once they realized that I double-crossed them by manipulating Pinty into saving you, they decided to one-up me and manipulate him into destroying the guild.”
I chime in. “No hard feelings there?”
They both give me the stare. I move one step back against the wall.
Tavos answers me first. “You burnt the guild to cinders! Yeah, some hard feelings. Actually, no, I take that back. A lot of hard feelings.” In a huff he turns back to Amber. “At the time of your rescue, the Goblins weren’t aware of exactly how powerful you were. But look what you can do now. Nice trick with the ravens clearing the cellar just now. With a little experience you could do the same to the governor’s office. Because of that, there’s no option anymore about your living. You’re going to have to die or fight every city guard, hireling and purchasable mercenary for the rest of your soon-to-be short, short life.”
There is a moment where I think she’s going to snuff his life out right there. Instead, she concentrates for a moment, tosses back her head, and laughs. “It doesn’t matter. I know everything. My mice, my ravens — they see everything, they hear everything and I know everything. I know how long the tunnel behind Pinty is and where it surfaces, even though I’ve never been in it. The ravens upstairs see who survived my attack and who wait in ambush for me above.” Amber looks back at me. “And Pinty, to answer your question further, in a moment there will be four. In a moment Muel will bound down those stairs looking for you.”
Muel! I had forgotten!
Everyone except Amber looks at the stairs. In no more than a handful of seconds, heavy feet pound on the floorboards above, pause, and then come rapidly down the stairs.
Muel pulls up at the bottom, dressed in a chef’s apron made of thick-gauge chain mail and huge forearm-length matching chain gloves. All this over top his normal wear of reinforced combat leather. In his hand he waves at me a long length of link iron cable, with a broken clasp at one end. “Boss!”
I leap to my feet and wave Muel down. “It’s okay, Muel. Don’t worry — just be quiet for a moment.”
But the concern in Muel’s voice is thick and pleading. “No, Pinty. It’s serious. I need to tell you. It’s —”
I cut him off. “It’s nothing. It’s okay. It can wait. Really, simply be quiet for a moment.”
Amber interrupts. “Would the two of you simply shut up! You act like misbehaving children. I grow tired of this farce. It’s time this all comes to an end.”
I step forward from the wall one step, a tiny step, but still I show some courage. “Amber, Tavos is correct. There are no more options. You need to die. You are out of control and that has to stop. People need their secrets.”
Amber looks aghast at first and then saddened. “You too, Pinty? You side with my father? Never thought I would see that day. I thought that you would be there with me, running the guild. You and me.”
“That’s never been my dream or, if it was, that was a long time ago. Things change.” I look her directly in the eyes. I’m really going to enjoy watching her smug expression change when I say this. “More importantly, you’re wrong about the four of us. There are five. Andeos has been standing directly behind you this whole time with a crossbow leveled right at your head.”
Chapter 61
One thing about Amber, she’s willing to completely, and without reservation, change her mind given the right circumstances. “You’re lying. There’s nobody there.”
I give her time to read Tavos’ and my body language. I add a smile for free.
Now she believes. “Ah, gods.” And very slowly she turns around. “I don’t see anything. Not even a shimmer. Neither do the mice or the ravens. How far is he in front of me?”
“Almost face-to-face,” I respond.
“Can I hear him?”
“I don’t know. Can she?”
Andeos keeps his eyes on Amber. “I’m pretty sure that she can’t.”
“Did you hear that?”
“Not a sound.” Amber straightens up and addresses exactly where she thinks Andeos is. She’s off by a good amount. “Nicely done. I hope it cost you a lot to make this work, mostly I hope the cost was in blood.”
I interject. “So, here’s what I don’t get. If we’re all in agreement that Amber is too much a threat to be allowed to live, Andeos, what’s holding you back from putting the quarrel through her skull?”
Andeos doesn’t flinch, but his voice cracks a bit when he speaks. “Because there appears to be a side effect to the charm we worked so hard on to block her senses.”
That raises Tavos’ interest. “What, that you can’t kill her or something?”
“What do you mean he can’t kill me?”
I study Andeos’ face. “Hold up a second, Amber, I don’t think that’s what he’s saying. I’m pretty sure,” I watch Andeos and he nods, “that he can kill you. It’s something else. Andeos, would you care to share what that is with the group?”
Again without moving, Andeos responds. “I need to ask you a question similar to the one you asked Amber.”
I don’t hesitate in answering because Muel has already provided me the answer. “Three, but I only see two.” And then I really smile. “And the one I can’t see is figuring out a way to disembowel you. Am I correct?”
“Yup.”
Tavos tries his feet, but fails. “What the hell are you talking about? Who wants to gut the Goblin, other than, well, everyone in this room.”
“It’s not who,” I say. “It’s what.”
Andeos chips in. “It’s a real zoo in here. Ravens and mice . . .”
“And one giant, steel-clawed, cat. That’s the side effect. You can see invisible cats.”
“Yup.”
I resist the urge to go “Who’s the pretty kitty?” as embarrassing Gloom is never a good idea. “I think I can help you out, Andeos. I mean, I think he’s still my loyal cat,” I toss Amber a glare, “but I need a bit of information.”
“Much as I can give you, and be quick about it. Gloom looks, ahhh, aggressive.”
“Okay, how long have you been blocking Amber? That’s a fine trick.”
“Not that long, but we’ve been working on something similar for years. Too many people with the sight exist. Finally, with a lot of expensive failures, we got this one keyed to a specific person: Amber.” He reaches into a pouch on his belt and pulls out a small object attached to the bag with a fob. It glitters, but otherwise I can’t make any details out.
“But it doesn’t stop her ability.”
“No, just creates a very small place that she seems to overlook.”
“Can I have it once we’re done here?” With that com
ment Amber gives me a “you wouldn’t dare” look. I successfully ignore it, to her frustration.
“If she dies, it won’t matter who owns it.”
He has a point there. “Well then, just one more line of questioning.”
“Pinty, do I have to remind you that I saved your life a while back?”
“And then participated in my beating, torture and all round being turned into pulp.”
“Completely separate issues.”
“Well, that’s likely true. Here’s the question: Who would you prefer to work with, Tavos or Amber?”
Tavos holds his breath at the question, shifts a bit on the ground, and looks for the best way out, depending on the answer. I throw Muel a subtle hand sign that he picks up on, and he slowly starts moving over in Tavos’ direction.
Andeos pauses before answering. “It was never in our interest to disrupt the guild. Better the devil you know and all that kind of stuff. While robbery and extortion aren’t healthy, they were never greedy about it. Plus, once in a while they would actually work for us.”
Tavos chimes in. “For a fee.”
“Of course. So it all worked out okay. That is, up to a couple years ago. The guild branched out into blackmail and was unusually good at it. Too good, actually. It disrupted things. Made things difficult to govern.”
“And that’s when you figured out it was Amber.”
“Yup.”
“So the plan was to remove her.”
“And Tavos got to clean house, bring on some new talent and keep running the guild, all with our blessing.”
“And a new tithe to the governor,” Tavos adds quickly.
“A small one,” Andeos continues. “There was always the opportunity to co-opt Amber instead and when Tavos double-crossed us by sending you out to find her, that’s what we set out to do.”
“And . . .”
“And, Pinty, you see what she is like. Much too much her own boss. The relationship would never last.”
“So it’s Amber.”
Amber’s only been hearing part of the conversation. “What about me?”
“Just hush for a second. He’s saying that in his mind you’d kick everybody’s asses.” I look back to Andeos from Amber. “Then you have made a decision.”
“Yeah, but . . .” He looks to where I can only assume Gloom is sitting. “I kind of want to live through the night. Aggressive was the wrong word. Protective seems more accurate.”