The Eighth Warden Ch. 027-028

Shavala cocked her head to the side. "I don't have a sister."

"Me, either," Katrin said.

"I don't have a real one," Treya said, "but after twelve years, the Orders are my family. There's nothing they need a mystic for here, though, so I can go with you."

"Then we'll be your sisters until you reach the next chapter house," Shavala said.

Treya grinned. "All right. So, what were you talking about before I came in?"

#

"What is this place?" Ellerie asked her mother's spy, as the two stood watching a building down the street.

"Gambling den," Melithar said. His braids and flowing robes were gone, and he'd returned to plain trousers and a shirt that wouldn't have looked out of place on a human. "According to Rol, the man who lost his hand, the fellow who put him in touch with Crenellis spends his time here. His name is Quintus."

"Crenellis was the elf?"

"That's what he told the humans, at least. He hired them to kill you, but Rol insists he was never told why. I'm hoping Crenellis told Quintus."

"The two men near the door look like guards," Ellerie said. The men were slouching against the wall and appeared to be nothing more than common street ruffians, but they stayed alert and never left their spots, eyeing each person who came to the building.

"Yes." Melithar sounded almost approving.

"We should have brought Boktar. He's feeling better, mostly."

"A stoneborn in armor? That's a good way to make sure they won't let us in. We're not going in there to fight, just to ask questions."

They strode toward the building, but before they reached it, the two street toughs stood up straight and moved to block the door.

Melithar said, "I want to speak with Quintus about a business arrangement."

"Don't recognize you, elf," one of the men replied. "If I don't recognize you, you don't go in."

Melithar flourished his hand and a silver coin appeared, held between two outstretched fingers. "What would it take for you to recognize me?"

The man took the coin. "We'll see if he wants to talk to you." He nodded to his friend, who went inside, closing the door behind him.

The silent guard returned a few minutes later and nodded to the talkative one, who said, "He'll see you."

They followed the silent man through the door into a short hallway with a door at the end.

The guard finally spoke. "You'll have to leave your weapons here."

Ellerie frowned, but unbuckled her sword belt and handed it to him. He laid it on a nearby table. There were no other weapons there—either the gamblers who came to the building knew not to bring weapons, or nobody else had been required to give theirs up.

Melithar held up his hands and turned in a circle, showing he wasn't armed.

The guard nodded, then knocked twice on the door at the end of the hallway. A scraping noise could be heard as it was unbarred from the other side and they were let through.

The large room was full of tables with men playing cards and dice, and other games Ellerie hadn't seen before. Scantily dressed women walked among the tables with trays of drinks. Several men were smoking pipes, and a heavy smell of smoke pervaded the place.

The guard passed through the room and they followed after him. A few of the gamblers eyed Ellerie, but most were too interested in their games to pay attention to anything else. The guard knocked on a door, then opened it without waiting for a response. He waved them into the small office, then closed the door behind them after they'd entered.

A stocky man sat behind a desk. He wore a gold hoop hanging from one ear, and his shirt was unbuttoned down to his chest, showing graying curly hair. Ellerie had to force herself not to laugh at the sight.

"Are you Quintus?" Melithar asked.

"Yes. Who are you?"

"Vitus," Melithar replied, giving a human name which obviously didn't belong to him. "And my companion is Antonia. We wish to find out anything you can tell us about the job your people did for an elf named Crenellis."

Quintus frowned at the fake names, and that frown grew into a scowl as Melithar continued speaking.

"I don't know what you're talking about. Get out."

"I can pay."

Quintus hesitated, then repeated, "Get out."

Melithar stacked ten gold coins on the desk. "Did Crenellis happen to say why he was hiring your men?"

"I'm not going to tell you anything."

Another stack of coins joined the first. "Did he mention who he worked for?"

Quintus couldn't seem to stop starting at the coins, but said, "I don't talk about my work."

"Crenellis is dead now. He's hardly going to care if you talk."

"I know he's dead! The whole city heard about that! He got three of my men killed and another nabbed by the guards!"

"So take the coins and answer my questions."

"People trust me because I don't talk."

"Nobody will find out from me," Melithar said. "Of course, if the coins aren't enough..." He whispered indistinct words, and his hand started glowing.

Ellerie hadn't known Melithar was a wizard. It was just a mage light spell, but he focused his concentration enough to keep the glow centered on his hand, even as he moved, making it look like some sort of weapon.

Quintus jerked back in his chair. "Guards!"

"Don't bother calling out. Nobody can hear you from outside this room."

Melithar's whispering had lasted longer than a typical mage light spell. It seemed he'd cast another spell first.

Quintus seemed frozen to his seat, too frightened to get up as his eyes followed the trail of Melithar's glowing hand. "What are you going to do to me?"

"Why, nothing at all. I simply wanted to reassure you that nobody can hear us, since you seemed so concerned about that. The coins are yours as long as you tell me what I want to know."

"And if I don't?"

"I can't imagine why you wouldn't. It's a lot of gold, and nobody will ever find out. Besides, it's not like you'd be betraying your client. My friend here already killed him. Burned a hole right into his chest."

Quintus's eyes darted toward Ellerie and he gulped. She tried to keep a straight face.

"He didn't say who the target was!" Quintus exclaimed. "I don't know! Honest!"

"But you knew there was one? That's naughty, my friend. Just what kind of men do you employ?"

The man's lips drew back in a thin line but he didn't speak.

"Who hired Crenellis?" Melithar asked.

"He didn't say anything about working for someone else! He came here on his own!"

"That's not an answer, Quintus," Melithar said, removing one of the stacks of coins. "I'll leave the rest for you, just in case your answer to the first question was true. I'd hate to find out it wasn't."

"I'm telling the truth!"

"That's good to hear. I've enjoyed doing business with you, my friend, but in the future, I'd recommend staying away from any dealings with silver elves—other than myself, of course. The authorities in Terevas are not very forgiving when someone tries to kill one of their citizens, and now that they know who you are, how to find you, and the role you played in the attack...well, I'll do my best to protect you, seeing as how you've been so cooperative, but you should keep your head down for a while."

"Terevas?" Quintus looked sick at the thought.

"Of course. You didn't think Crenellis or his target were from Circle Bay, did you? But don't worry—I'm sure I can keep them from coming for your head."

"Get out!"

"Of course," Melithar said with a smile and a bow, "but I hope we meet again soon."

They left the office and walked back through the smoke-filled gambling den to the hallway. There was nobody there, but Ellerie's sword belt and rapier still lay on the table. She retrieved them and fastened the belt back around her waist before they left.

When they were out of hearing distance from the guards at the front of the building, Ellerie said, "I thought we weren't going in there to fight."

"We didn't fight."

"You threatened him!"

"I never threatened him. I bribed him and we had a pleasant conversation. You can't go around threatening people all the time if you want results. Strange that a man like him didn't have any guards in the room—I suppose he doesn't want them to overhear his deals. It certainly made it easier for him to accept the bribe, though."

"Or maybe it was because he thought you were going to burn a hole in his chest."

"I'd never do that," Melithar insisted. "Not everyone's as bloodthirsty as you or your sister."

"I wish you'd tell me what Vilisa did."

"Just be glad you weren't there. I wish I hadn't been."

Ellerie shook her head, annoyed, then said, "Since when do the Terevassian authorities care if one of their citizens is killed outside Terevas?"

"They don't, but Quintus doesn't know that."

"Are we done here, then? If so, I'm leaving Circle Bay tomorrow."

"I know. I've been keeping an eye on you in case there's another attack. South, right?"

"Yes, but just to the mountains. Then we're going back north."

"You're still obsessing over this treasure hunt of yours?"

"You know about that?"

"You spent years trying to get that book translated. It wasn't hard to figure out."

"I didn't realize you were in Matagor that often."

"I wasn't, but I made good use of the times that I was."

"Are you coming with us?"

"I'll follow behind, to see if anyone else is following behind. I may join you later, unless something comes up and I'm needed elsewhere."

###

Chapter 28

The nearest peaks in the Coastal Range were visible even from Circle Bay, and it hadn't taken long to reach the foothills south of the city. Corec was setting up his tent when Ellerie and Boktar returned from climbing the nearest hill for a better look.

"Did you see anything?" he asked.

"The road curves around to the east," Ellerie said, "but if my maps are right, we don't want to go that way. There's not enough land between the sea and the mountains for what I'm trying to find. There's a trail that follows the western side of the mountains, so we'll go that way instead."

"We're not going into the mountains?"

"No, I just need to get a view of the range from the side."

"This would be easier if you'd just tell us what we're looking for."

She scowled at him. "We're not looking for anything. You're following along while I figure out this bloody banishing spell so I can undo what you did, and then we'll each go our own way." She'd been trying to teach herself a banishing spell from her spell book ever since they'd left the city.

"I agree, but in the meantime, wouldn't it be easier to work together? I'm not going to steal your damned treasure, if that's what you're worried about."

"I don't care about the treasure," she said, "but I don't need your help to find Tir Yadar." She stalked off in the opposite direction.

Corec shook his head. He should have had Shavala or Treya speak to her—she seemed to like them.

Boktar gave him a sympathetic grin and a shrug, then followed the elf. The dwarf was friendly to everyone besides Bobo, and he had the competent air of someone who'd traveled a lot. He'd even taught Corec some things to watch out for when buying horses or mules. Boktar had suggested donkeys rather than mules, but Corec stuck to what he was familiar with.

He and his friends had pooled their money and bought five horses and two pack mules for the journey. Once they got back to Tyrsall, their plan was to give Treya and Bobo their pick of the horses, then sell the rest. Treya had sold her own elderly horse before they left, and although Bobo hadn't sold Rose yet, she was too old to take on a winter trek to the north.

"I take it the conversation didn't go well?" Katrin asked, coming over to stand near him.

"No. Even Treya doesn't hate me this much."

She laughed. "Treya's too nice. If you hadn't stuck that thing on her forehead, you two would probably get along."

"And you?"

"Eh. You're all right."

He snickered. "Thanks."

"What were you talking about?"

"I was just trying to find out what we're actually doing here. She wants to look at the mountains from the west."

"Why?"

"I don't know. She says they're too close to the ocean to look at them from the east."

Katrin crinkled her brow. "They're not that close. There's over a hundred miles between them."

Corec shrugged. "I guess that means we'll be going more than a hundred miles west. I'll talk to Bobo and see if he has any ideas why she wants to go that way."

"He's out gathering firewood. And Shavala's foraging, so Treya's trying to set up all the other tents by herself."

"Ahh, I'll go help her, then."

#

They didn't go a hundred miles to the west after all, but continued following the trail along the foothills. When Corec asked about it, Ellerie had suggested she wouldn't need to go that far out unless she found what she was looking for.

The third morning dawned chilly, and remained that way until the sun was well overhead. Corec was riding at the rear of the group. He and Boktar had taken to alternating their positions, with one of them at the front and one as the rear guard, since they were the only two with armor.

As they'd continued along the trail, Ellerie continually glanced at the mountains to their left, growing more frustrated each time. Finally, she dropped back to ride alongside him. "I don't think this is the right place," she said. "It should only take one more day to see enough of the range to make sure, then we can turn around and go back."

"How can you tell?" he asked.

She hesitated before replying. "The shape of the mountains, and where they stand in relation to each other. I'm looking for seven peaks laid out in a particular way, but nothing looks right so far."

"How do you know what to look for?"

"Like I said to Bobo, I didn't tell him everything. I'm not going to tell you, either."

Corec sighed. The conversation had actually been polite up to that point. "I'm not your enemy, you know."

"We'll see, but even if you aren't, you need to get your magic under control. That spell you cast... People have been killed for less. Why did your teachers let you go off half-trained?"

"If I'm even the one that cast the spell."

"What, you think I did it?"

"No. I just mean... I don't know. I guess I felt something this time, but I was hoping that somehow this wasn't all my fault. And I've never had a teacher."

"If you didn't have teachers, where did you learn to use magic?"

"It just started happening, about seven years ago. The lights came first—like the ones you put around the camp at night."

Ellerie nodded. "Mage lights."

"That's what Deshin called them, too—he's one of the human wizards we spoke to. The other spells came later, but I don't know very many. Deshin gave me a book to try, but I was never able to cast the mage light spell the normal way. He said if I couldn't, then I might never be able to learn any other spells. Though I did learn one more after that. It was in the middle of a fight, and it almost got me stabbed, but the spell itself seems to make my armor stronger."

"You learned a spell in the middle of a fight? Without even trying?"

"I guess," he said, keeping his face expressionless. Ellerie had been spending hours each evening hunched over her spell book trying to teach herself the banishing spell.

She frowned. "I know there are arcane mages who aren't wizards and who don't need to speak the words, but how did you make it do what you wanted?"

"I didn't. I wasn't even trying to cast another spell, it just happened on its own. I've never had any control over the spells I know, though after the first few times, I can usually learn to cast them when I want to."

"That just...doesn't make any sense at all!" She sounded offended. "Magic is all about control! If you can't control it, then who knows what's going to happen?"

Corec shrugged. "Could you help me learn? Maybe if I can control it better, then I can figure out how to undo the binding spell."

"I don't—" Her eyes grew wide. "Look out!"

He looked to his other side to see men rushing at them with weapons drawn, wearing familiar black brigandine armor. His horse was startled and jerked to the side. The animals they'd bought in Circle Bay weren't trained warhorses like Dot, and he didn't want to try fighting from the gelding's back. He quickly swung down and let the horse run off, casting his combat spells as he did so.

Ahead of where he'd been riding, Katrin's horse bucked, knocking her from the saddle. She hit the ground hard and didn't move. Next to her, Shavala managed to keep her seat, bending down to talk to her horse as she strung her bow.

Corec ran for Katrin, unslinging his sword as he went. One of the attackers was in the way, his eyes glowing red. Without stopping, Corec whipped his sword around in an arc, beheading the man.

Another group rushed toward the front of the procession. Boktar wheeled his horse to the side and charged at them, while Bobo's horse ran away with him still on its back. Treya's horse acted up, but she slid out of the saddle before it could run.

One of the red-eyes drew close to Corec just as he reached Katrin, but before he could do anything, a white beam of light shot past his ear, too close for comfort, and hit the man in the face. He dropped instantly, his features an unrecognizable mess.

"Katrin!" Corec knelt down, grasping her shoulders. Her head rolled limply, her eyes closed.

"Treya!" he shouted. "Katrin needs help!"

Treya danced back from the man she was sparring with to glance over, grimacing when she saw the redhead lying on the ground. She renewed her attacks, but then an arrow suddenly appeared in the man's neck. He fought on for a moment more before dropping his sword. Treya felled him with one last punch to the face, her fist glowing.

She ran over to Corec and knelt down. "What's wrong with her?"

"She fell off her horse. I think she hit her head. Is she...?"

"She's alive. I'll take care of her."

"I'll keep them away." Corec stood again, then charged at the closest of the red-eyes. Before he got there, three darts of light hit the man in the chest. He growled and flailed his arms but didn't fall, so Corec barreled into him, knocking him to the ground, then thrust his sword down through the man's armor and into his chest.

He ran to the next man, passing a dead red-eye lying on the ground with an arrow through his left eye.

As Corec fought, his armor felt lighter than usual, and swinging his sword seemed almost effortless. This fight wouldn't be like the last time he'd faced these men. This time, he was fully armored, and his opponents wouldn't be able to hurt him unless they got lucky. He didn't intend to let them.

#

Ellerie twisted out of the way of the battle axe as the man with the glowing red eyes tried to kill her. The battle was eerie, with none of the attackers shouting, only growling.

She'd spent her magic early on the fight. The beam spell took a lot out of her, and then she'd had to make the choice of whether to stay on her horse or not. Shavala had remained mounted, using her bow and occasionally getting a lucky hit, but Ellerie didn't have any way to fight from horseback. Her horse had been trained to not get startled during a fight, but wasn't a warhorse like Boktar's.

This wasn't the type of enemy she could fight with a rapier, but that was her only weapon, so she'd dismounted and joined the battle.

She quickly discovered that she wasn't strong enough to pierce the attackers' armor with her sword. She had to settle for distracting one man at a time while Boktar and Corec did the real fighting. Boktar had dismounted too, his warhammer too short to do any good unless he was close up. Treya was huddled over Katrin, and Bobo was jogging back toward the fight on foot, from wherever he and his horse had disappeared to.