Space Assassins: The Complete Series 1-5, page 35
“What am I flying us into?” Bud asked. “I just cast for the coordinates you gave me, but you didn’t say anything about––”
“It is okay, Uzabud. Our arrival will not be the dangerous aspect of this mission.”
“So, tracking down this scumbag is,” Laskar said. “Great. Who are we going after this time?”
“A man by the name of Drazzix.”
“Emmik Drazzix?”
“You know of him?”
“Of course I know the guy. Drazzix the Terrible? Drazzix the Stone Fist? Drazzix the Crusher of––”
“We get the point, Laskar,” Bud said.
“What I’m saying is, the guy’s a high-ranking lieutenant in the Council, and one hell of a target.”
“Your assessment is accurate,” Hozark noted. “And he is a rather potent emmik possessing some degree of power. Not visla level, of course, but significant nonetheless.”
“Obviously more than a lackey, then,” Demelza mused. “This is good. If any were to have actual useful information this one would.”
“Uh, hello? You’re forgetting the whole Council enforcer thing, aren’t you?”
“Dear Laskar, we have dealt with Council issues in the past, and this will be no different,” she replied. “Just wait until we reach his system and land. All will work out for the best. You shall see.”
* * *
Uzabud had drawn no attention to their ship when they arrived in the Council-controlled system, flying in the calmest, unnoteworthy and relaxed manner possible. He was just another ship landing on just another world.
A world overseen by an emmik who had killed dozens of his pirate brethren and hung their preserved bodies out along the ramparts of his stronghold as a warning to any others who might come to his world looking for an easy score.
Not just his city, but also his planet was protected, and there would be no repeat warnings.
They set the ship down in a landing field in an industrial section of the city. It would take a little longer to arrive at the walls of the emmik’s abode, but that would give them a bit of time to get a feel for the city and ask questions of the locals as they drew closer.
It was a surprisingly bright place, the sun’s yellow rays casting a warm light that lasted nearly through the night. It was a fluke of the world’s poles that had it canted at such a degree as to only let the sun set for a mere few hours every night.
It was a trait of this world that made agriculture a booming business. It also meant a stealthy approach to the moat-protected grounds of Emmik Drazzix would be nigh impossible.
Between the guards patrolling the grounds, the vast, watery gap separating his estate and the rest of the city, and the pair of Zomoki standing guard at the front gates just across the lone long bridge, entering this place would be no easy task.
“You were saying?” Laskar said to Demelza, a victorious look plastered to his face when they had completed their circuit of the city and arrived at a discreet alleyway looking out onto the moat. “Not a problem, right? It’ll all work out for the best, right?”
Demelza merely shrugged. “I appear to have been mistaken. This emmik is far better protected than those of his rank should be.”
“Yes, it is more than a little disconcerting,” Hozark noted. “And also quite intriguing, wouldn’t you agree?”
“Oh, indeed.”
“And there are additional wards along the cliffs above the moat––do you see them?”
“I did note them when we first arrived, yes. As well as the irregular shifting of the guards at the bridge and gate. And the Zomoki appear to be a particularly nasty pair,” she added, just as one of the great winged beasts belched out a stream of magical flame, charring the ground beside the bridge.
By the look of the blackened terrain, it was a regular habit of this particular creature. Possibly out of boredom, but more likely because the magical control collar around its neck urged it to periodically let out a fiery blast to give any would-be intruders second thoughts.
“We must complete a full loop of the compound. Demelza and I will circumscribe the moat in opposite directions,” Hozark said. “We will then meet back here to go over what we have managed to learn.”
“And us? What about us? Do we just sit around and do nothing?” Bud asked.
“No, Bud. You and Laskar will buy a few simple items in town, posing as travelers new to the world. Purchase foodstuffs and strike up a conversation with the shopkeepers and casually mention the stronghold and the man within. Perhaps you will get lucky and glean a bit of useful information for your troubles.”
“So, you go do deadly spy stuff, and we go food shopping?”
“More or less,” his Wampeh friend replied with a toothy grin.
“You’re a dick, Hozark. I ever tell you that?”
“On a regular basis,” the assassin chuckled. “Now, you’d best get to it. Demelza and I will take our time in our survey, but even, so it should not take terribly long, and I would very much like some sustenance waiting when we return.”
Bud let out a frustrated groan. “Such. A. Dick.”
“You keep saying. We will see you shortly,” Hozark replied, then the group split up and went about their tasks, as stealthily as they could in this dangerous city.
Chapter Fifty-Two
“They’re really big,” Bud said.
“We saw, Bud,” Hozark replied.
“Really big. And they eat people. A lot of people.”
“Yes, we heard.”
“And there’s only one bridge to the compound.”
Hozark sighed and took another bite of the local pastry the duo had procured from a nearby vendor. “Bud, are you going to keep reciting things Demelza and I noted on our survey, or do you have any relevant new information for us?”
“He’s just reiterating the key point here,” Laskar chimed in. “Namely, that there’s pretty much no way in through those gates if they don’t want you to pass. And this won’t be like that time you snuck past those Zomoki in stolen Tslavar cloaks.”
“We are well aware,” Demelza said. “There is quite simply too much power in use here to hope a mere scent distraction with a familiar guard’s cloak would gain us ingress.”
“And some Zomoki are said to be able to see right through shimmer cloaks,” Laskar added.
“That is just a tale,” Hozark replied. “But undoubtedly one based on bits of reality. They do possess an excellent sense of smell, and that, combined with sharp hearing and even sharper eyes, means that nearly any shimmer would be inefficient if we were forced to utilize it so close to one of them.”
“Two, Hozark. There are two of them.”
“Yes, Bud, we know.”
“Two Zomoki. On either side of the gate.”
“We are aware.”
“There’s no way you can get past them.”
“I wouldn’t say no way. But given our time constraints, Demelza and I shall utilize an alternative means of entry.”
“Alternative? There’s only one way in. And what about me and Laskar? How are we supposed to get in without winding up Zomoki food?”
“You are not.”
“Excuse me?”
“No, Bud. You are not going to be eaten. Nor are you going to go anywhere near those Zomoki. You and Laskar will standby with the ship, keeping it ready for a quick escape, if need be.”
For once, Bud was not going to argue being left behind as the getaway driver. Hozark had taken him on plenty of dangerous contracts in the past, and they’d always managed to survive.
More often than not without coming too close to meeting a horrible demise. Given the odds they were up against this time, leaving the Wampeh to do his thing seemed like as good a job as any to the former pirate.
“What are you planning to do?” Laskar asked. “Come in from overhead? Drop into the walls from above?”
Hozark smiled his enigmatic grin. “Let Demelza and I worry about that. You just keep an eye on one another and be ready. If things go sour, they will do so with great speed.”
“Then let’s hope they don’t.”
“Agreed.”
Hozark and Demelza rose and walked off down the alleyway to prepare for whatever crazy plan they had in mind, leaving their friends to watch and wonder.
“You two be safe,” Bud said to their backs.
A moment later they were gone.
* * *
The moat surrounding the fortified estate was an enormous affair. Not some little swampy pool of stagnant water like might be found on some backwater estate, but rather, a massive, deep trough, swirling with the fresh waters channeled in from the nearby river.
It was over a hundred meters across at its widest point, and not much less at its narrowest, making any sort of improvised crossing device useless. And should a boat or hovering conveyance make an attempt to reach the other side, they would be struck down with immediacy and accuracy from the team of guards, both magical and not, stationed within the external walls.
And if for some reason one was foolish enough to try to swim across, hoping their smaller shape would go unnoticed, the deadly Nazgari living in the waters would rise up from below, snatching the hapless victim like they were merely a floating snack.
The Nazgari were rarely seen from the surface, though. They were bottom-dwellers, content to feed on whatever happened to settle down in their chosen domain. More often than not, that would be the bodies that had floated out of the dungeons via the wastewater system.
But with the illumination above silhouetting anything on the surface, they would also instinctively swim upward at great speed to take down living prey, whatever that creature might be.
And it was into that water that Hozark intended to descend.
“Are you certain about this?” Demelza asked as Hozark tightened the strap holding his vespus blade firmly to his back.
The weapon was still charged with a substantial amount of magic, and should things get truly out of hand, Hozark had decided it would be preferable to have it within reach than tucked away on their ship. If he needed the weapon, then it was a life-or-death situation anyway, and notice of its use would be the least of their concerns.
“I am certain,” Hozark replied as the two sat casually at the water’s edge, waiting for the tiny window of darkness to make their attempt.
It was going to be a first for Demelza. An underwater infiltration, and with another Ghalian, no less. She’d heard of the arcane magic used to provide one with a safe corridor through the water, but none could cast for long enough to sustain it for any significant time.
Normally, a second or even third caster might attempt to overlap their spells, creating a linked tunnel of force holding the waters at bay. But even that was a rather specialized bit of magic. One she did not know.
At her request, Hozark had attempted to teach her the very old and very difficult spell he would utilize to provide them air and safe passage, but Demelza was simply unable to manage the arcane magic.
“Do not doubt your talents,” Hozark said after her tenth failed attempt. “Only Samara and I had any aptitude for them back in our youth. We were always eager to master difficult spells. The rare ones. The arcane power few knew how to control. Master Garrusch shared our love of this sort of magic, and he taught us a great many unusual spells before his demise.”
“Including this one.”
“Yes. Including this one. And with it, we will possess a self-contained bubble of protective air, allowing our ingress through the stronghold’s outflow system.”
“Are you certain it will sustain for the two of us?”
“Without problem. If it were just me alone, I would use a different spell. One that allows for rapid movement through water––a very helpful tool, as I was recently reminded. But it only contains the caster, whereas this spell can expand to encompass a larger space. Namely, that in which we both reside.”
“And the Nazgari?”
Hozark’s confidence only wavered an instant. “We will be on the bottom, and will possess no scent of food. I believe we should be fine. It is only on the surface that we would present a tempting target for them.”
Demelza was not entirely thrilled with that lackluster reply, but this was Hozark she was dealing with, and if she was going to die in the belly of an underwater beast, at least it would be at the side of one of the greatest Ghalian masters of her lifetime.
“Very well, then. I am ready.”
“As soon as the sun sets, we will descend,” he replied.
* * *
It was a long, boring wait, but eventually, the sun dipped below the horizon, providing not total darkness, but a dim enough ambient light to allow them to slip down the ten meters to the water’s edge unnoticed.
“Prepare yourself,” Hozark said, then began casting the spell around both of them.
A few moments later, he took her hand and stepped free of the safety of land and into the deep, dark waters. It hadn’t looked like there was anything around them on the surface, but as soon as they were submerged, the protective spell became quickly apparent.
Namely, when they didn’t drown.
They sank to the bottom rapidly, remaining close to the moat wall as they did. The only really dangerous moment was at the very beginning. They were against the side, and the light should not show a silhouette, but sometimes life laughs at your plans, and in this case, a Nazgari’s jaws would be the ones delivering it.
“Are you good?” Hozark asked as their boots touched the muddy bottom but remained within their protective bubble.
“I am.”
“Then we continue.”
The two walked quickly across the bottom of the moat, passing the occasional bone or partly eaten corpse as they did. It seemed not all of the emmik’s cast-offs became Nazgari food.
A blur flashed by them in the dark water. Hozark motioned for Demelza to freeze. The assassin did as she was bid instantly, not moving a muscle as the man in front of her drew his vespus blade within their little bubble of magic.
The blue blade was glowing faintly, but not crackling with power as it was wont to in battle. But it was ready. Not for a fight with the emmik, but to defend them from the creatures in the deep.
A massive mouth full of razor-sharp teeth lunged at them from the side, the spell bubble stopping it, at least for a moment. Hozark thrust the blade through the magical membrane slowly, sweat beading on his forehead from the concentration.
He had shifted his magical source for the spell from just his konus to his vespus blade as well. And as the blade was now part of what was powering the spell, it was able to pass through it without disrupting the casting.
The point sank into the Nazgari’s gaping maw, drawing blood, but not causing terrible harm. The creature jerked back in shock and quickly swam away. It was an instinctive reaction, not a rational one.
It had always been the biggest, baddest thing in its own little fishbowl, but suddenly, there was something else there with it, and it had a far more painful bite.
“Come, we must hurry,” Hozark said, pushing ahead but keeping the blade in hand.
It only took a few minutes to reach the other side, but locating the opening of the wastewater system’s opening required a bit more searching.
“There!” Demelza pointed out, spying the dark hole in the likewise dark rock wall.
“Good eyes,” Hozark complimented her.
There was a grate in place, but not so narrow as to prevent their entry. The opening was too small, however, for a Nazgari to pass, and they proved a far better deterrent than any blocking spells could ever be.
The pair quickly made their way through the winding network of tunnels, following the stronger flow of water and waste until they emerged in a small dungeon lagoon.
This was where those bodies had come from. The lowest point in the grounds. And the least frequented.
They climbed ashore carefully, scanning the area to ensure they were alone. Only when they were certain, did Hozark finally drop the spell.
The stink of the air around them hit like a damp fist. It was a familiar stench. The smell of death. Emmik Drazzix had apparently killed far more than anyone realized within these walls. But once they had the answers they sought, he would do so no more.
Chapter Fifty-Three
Moving their way up through the lower levels of the dungeons, Hozark and Demelza noted they were locked with only the most perfunctory of spells. A somewhat more robust warding system would have been expected, but it seemed the emmik was a bit overconfident in his security team.
That and the people in his dungeons would typically not be in any sort of condition to effect an escape.
There were, however, a few signs of a moderately recent scuffle, though those would be invisible to the average person’s eyes. For Ghalian assassins, however, the marks were telltale. Some violence had occurred here, and recently. More likely than not, a poor soul struggling for their life as the emmik’s guards hauled them off to their demise.
Climbing higher, they exited the dungeon levels into the most basic of storage and servants’ areas. Again, sparsely populated and infrequently traveled, and those who were in the area were easy enough to avoid, even without their shimmer cloaks.
“Do you smell that?” Hozark asked.
“An Akarian,” Demelza replied.
“I agree with the assessment. Are you up to date with your animal fighting spell practice?”
“Not as much as I would like to be. These are somewhat specialized predators, after all. But I believe myself more than adequately prepared.”
“Then we move quickly and without pause. Stun them if you can. Slay them if you must. We wish to preserve the appearance of a quiet house if at all possible.”
Demelza nodded and followed as Master Hozark led the way.
The beasts they caught wind of were Akarian death hounds, though they weren’t actually hounds, and they tended to wound and maim more than kill. But the name had more of a ring to it than Akarian injury critters, and so it had stuck.
