Dark Shores of Salvation, page 6
part #3 of Travails of the Dark Mage Series
“It speaks,” he chuckled. “And why is that?”
She pointed toward where Kenny had recently been taken. “That is the son of The Dark Mage and you will bring down his wrath if you don’t let us go.”
Stivven blinked twice, then broke out into laughter. “And I’m the High Lord of Cardri.”
The boys laughed as well.
“Take her to the pen until we hear back from Prudy.”
“Yes, Master.”
As they led her away, she heard him mumble, “Son of The Dark Mage…that’s a new one.” His laughter followed them until they passed through the door and closed it behind them, bringing silence.
Standing in the shadows across from Stivven’s place, Aleya watched the comings and goings for a few minutes.
She just knew Jira and Kenny were in there. What were they doing to them? Were they still alive? She had to get in and she had to get in now. When a single lad of about eleven emerged from the warehouse, she stepped out onto the street and followed.
Quickening her pace, she caught up to him in short order. Then when they passed by the mouth of an alley, grabbed him by the back of the shirt and threw him into it.
“Hey…,” he started to complain until turning to find the iron point of a cocked arrow aimed at his eye.
“Quiet.”
Motioning deeper into the shadows, she had him precede her. When they were away from the prying eyes of those on street, they came to a halt.
Spying the knife in his belt, she said, “Toss that away.”
“Look, lady. I ain’t done nuthin’.”
“Did a little girl with dark hair and a boy about the same age get brought to Stivven?”
He didn’t answer but could see it in his eyes that they were there.
“Have they been harmed?”
When he licked his lips and glanced to the end of the alley, she said, “My arrow flies faster than you can run. Now answer my question.”
“Naw,” he replied. “Master Stivven would nary harm them.”
“Are they locked up in there?”
He eyed the arrow’s point and nodded. “Yeah. He’s got them caged in the back where he holds recent recruits.”
“Any way in but the front door?”
He shook his head. “Not unless you climb in through a window.” He turned his gaze from the arrow to her. “That your boy?”
“No, daughter.”
“Sorry, lady. They’re not supposed to take any as has a pa or a ma. Against the rules.”
“Don’t care about any rules. I just want my daughter back. Will he give her to me if I ask?”
“Ol’ Stivven? Not likely. He would probably take you and sell you too.”
“Just him and a bunch of boys?”
He nodded. “Yea.”
“You sure are being helpful.”
Shrugging, he said, “Ain’t right they took your daughter. Against the rules.”
“I appreciate that. But I still got to tie you up.”
“Figured that. At least you ain’t gonna kill me.”
“I don’t kill people unless I have to.”
She secured his arms and ankles with old cloth littering the alley. Before she put the gag in his mouth, he said, “Hope you get your little girl back.”
“Thank you.”
“And if you get the chance, feel free to kill Bonn. He’s got red hair and is wearing an old blue shirt.”
“Don’t like him?”
The boy shook his head. “Meanest one there is.”
Giving him a grin, she said, “I’ll see what I can do.”
“Much obliged.”
Then she set the gag in his mouth, lifted him up and placed him behind a crate against the wall. “Stay there.”
A nod and a muffled reply came before she turned about and left the alley.
Back on the street, she headed straight for the door to Stivven’s warehouse. There she encountered a boy that could only be the Bonn, as described by the boy she had left in the alley. Red hair, faded blue shirt and a mean disposition. He was beginning to turn into a man, the red patches spotting his face that would one day grow into a beard gave him a mangy appearance which only added to her dislike of him. When she tried to pass through the door, he stepped in front of her and blocked her way.
“What you want?” he asked with a scowl.
“Got business with Master Stivven.”
He eyed her up and down and took note of her longbow and quiver of arrows.
“Why don’t you tell me your business and I’ll see if it’s worth disturbing him.”
She grabbed him by the front of his shirt and shoved him aside. “My business is with him,” she said then walked through the door.
Eight boys lounged within. Master Stivven was not among them. They quickly got to their feet. A few had drawn knives and cudgels.
“Where’s Master Stivven.”
Bonn came in through the door, fury on his face. “He ain’t got time for the likes of you.”
Not seeing any bows or crossbows among their growing arsenal of weapons, she strode defiantly into the room. “He’s going to have to make time,” she said. “He’s got my daughter.”
“She ain’t your daughter no more.”
In one fluid motion, she pulled her bow from off her back, drew an arrow and set it to string with the arrowhead pointed directly at Bonn. “Your next word will be your last.”
One boy scrambled toward the door in the back, two others shot for the door leading out front.
Moving her bow slightly, she let the arrow fly and took the foremost boy through the leg sending him sprawling with the other one behind him crashing into him and both hit the floor ten feet from the door.
Before anyone could move, she had another arrow set to string.
“Anyone tries to leave and they will wish they hadn’t.”
The uninjured boy that had crashed into the injured one got to his feet. He eyed the doorway, then back to her arrow. He swallowed in indecision. But then a tightening of his eyes indicated he had made up his mind.
He took two steps and was almost to the door when her arrow took him in the shoulder. It struck with such force that the head went through bone and sinew to lodge in the wall three feet from the door. Pinned in place, the boy cried out in pain.
“Quiet, or I’ll quiet you.”
“Enough!”
Stivven appeared from the back room, his face contorted in anger. “Who are you to come in here and attack these innocent boys?”
“Innocent? I think not. You’ve got my daughter and her friend.”
His eyes flashed to a blonde-headed boy. They narrowed and the boy started to sweat. When he turned back to Aleya, his demeanor had softened a small bit.
“These are just a group of boys I look after,” he explained. “There is no girl here, I assure you.”
Several boys moved to flank her, though none went anywhere close to the outer door. The one pinned to wall whimpered but remained quiet.
“I know otherwise.” She nodded toward the door through which he had just emerged. “She’s back there in a cage.”
Stivven shook his head. “I’m afraid you are mistaken. There is no cage back there.”
Aleya’s eyes narrowed.
“Now, I feel bad for you, having lost your daughter. But, she ain’t here.”
Jira heard her mother’s voice and wanted to scream to let her know she was there. But two of the boys had her and Kenny at knifepoint and there was nothing she could do. A third stood near the open doorway, keeping an ear out for what was happening.
Kenny started to sniffle and the boy holding him yanked his head back by his hair and stuffed a cloth in his mouth. “Shut it!” the boy whispered. “Another sound from you and you’re dead.”
Jira felt a strange calm settle over her; an unspoken assurance that she was not alone.
Shadows moved at the rear of the room; small, diminutive shadows. A small face bearing a dark shadowy half-moon crescent around one eye peered out at her. Other shadows slowly materialized into other Little Brothers.
One moment they were there, gathered behind the chair, the next each of the two boys had half a dozen of the earth spirits latched on. Eyes were scratched, claws raked exposed skin and the hands that held the knives menacing Jira and Kenny were bit causing them to lose their grip.
The attack lasted only a second before the Little Brothers vanished back into the shadows. But that had been enough for Jira. As soon as the knife at her throat fell away, she yelled, “Mother!” Taking up the fallen knife she stabbed the boy that had held her. Half a second later she dealt the boy holding Kenny a fatal blow. She picked up that boy’s knife and turned on the third by the door.
When Jira’s cry came from the back, Aleya didn’t even hesitate. She aimed for Stivven and let fly her arrow. Somehow he managed to dodge out of the way.
“Kill them all!” he shouted.
Boys sprang into motion.
She managed to get another arrow off before two boys tackled her while a third relieved her of her bow. Using elbows and knees, she broke free. Rolling toward the wall, she rolled back onto her feet with her back on it.
Stivven had a sword in hand. “Give it up, girl. You can’t win.”
Reaching back to her quiver, she pulled forth two knives. Jiron had insisted she sew two hidden sheathes into her quiver despite her objections that she would lose space for arrows. “You may just need them,” he had said. And as she brought them to the fore, she was glad that he had.
Stivven laughed when he saw them. They weren’t long knives and hardly seemed a threat wielded in the hands of woman. “What you going to do with those? Why don’t you toss them down before you get hurt?”
“Jira, you okay?”
“Right as rain, Mother,” Jira said as a boy dripping blood emerged from the back room. Jira was right on his tail.
Stivven looked with uncertainty at the small child with two bloodstained knives in her hands.
“You don’t know who her father, my husband is,” Aleya said. “Five years of cold, winter nights and when all you have to do is make love or spar… well, my husband has more endurance for sparring.”
“You got knives, Mother?”
“Yes, Jira.”
Jira gave her a grin.
Stivven turned his eyes back to Aleya. “Who is your husband?”
“Jiron. He’s the one that stood at The Dark Mage’s side when he took down the Empire and saved Madoc.”
His face blanched. “Then, that boy really is the son of The Dark Mage?”
She nodded. “And The Dark Mage shows no mercy.” To her daughter she said, “Protect Kenny.”
“Yes, Mother.” Positioning herself in the doorway, she stood with knives at the ready. If any other child had stood like that, it would have been amusing. But with her? It was downright frightening.
“Kill them!” Stivven said and rushed forward.
Having heard the exchange, and seeing Jira emerge, most of the boys lost heart and fled for the door.
“Get back here!” Stivven yelled as he closed with Aleya.
Countless times Jiron had used a practice sword against her, giving her innumerable bruises until she got the defense just right; and now all that practicing paid off.
She saw the sword coming and knew just what to do. Catching the descending blade with one knife, she deflected it to the side. Her other knife sliced toward his middle, making him dance backward to avoid a life-ending blow. Not pausing, she went on the offensive.
Thrust, parry, feint, deflect. Over and over in varied combinations she laid into him. Bows and knives aren’t your only weapons, Jiron had told her on those winter nights. Use whatever you can.
Passing a table covered with dirty dinnerware, she kicked out at him and knocked him back. Then embedding one knife into the tabletop, she used her free hand to fling dishes, bowls and a pitcher containing a dark liquid at him.
He dodged most of them though a few shattered on his face and chest.
Keep aware of your opponents. Don’t let any get out of your sight.
Two boys had remained, Bonn being one of them. He circled to her right while the other went left.
Out of the corner of her eye she spied her bow lying beneath a table not five feet away to the right. Bonn was closing on it fast. Seeing her chance, she left the knife embedded in the table and went for the bow.
Bonn rushed forward and beat her to the bow. He lashed out with his knife.
Aleya danced back allowing the knife to pass harmlessly in front of her. Then she darted forward. As the blade came back, she blocked the incoming arm with the forearm of the hand not wielding the knife. Her other hand brought the knife around and opened a long, deep furrow across Bonn’s chest.
She kneed him in the groin, brought the knife back and caught him in the side of the head with the pommel. As he dropped, she pushed him away and got her bow. Movement out of the corner of her eye caused her to bring her bow up like a quarterstaff just in time to knock aside Stivven’s thrust.
Lashing out with her knife, she sank it deep in his upper shoulder. He twisted and pulled the knife from her hand.
Taking two quick steps back, she drew an arrow from her quiver. The second boy was coming fast behind Stivven so she aimed and let her arrow fly. It passed Stivven’s ear with less than a hand span clearance and took the boy through the eye.
A second arrow took Stivven in the chest. As he fell with a gasp, she looked around for other antagonists.
In the doorway leading to the streets stood Meliana and Kendrick. Behind them were sailors and members of the Watch. The Watch pushed past and quickly grabbed the bow from Aleya.
“Belay that,” a voice said from the doorway. “She is not who we are here for.”
A man entered, nodded to Kendrick and took in the scene. Middle aged, dark hair and dressed in fine clothes, this man had the unmistakable air of one who was used to being obeyed. He turned to Aleya.
“You do all this?”
She nodded. “They took my daughter.”
Glancing to Stivven, he said, “I’d probably do the same thing.”
“Kenny!” Meliana shouted as Jira led him from the back.
“He’s fine,” Jira said to her. “I protected him.”
Meliana hugged both of them. “Thank you, Jira.”
Jira beamed.
Coming to stand before the man, Kendrick asked, “Will we have a problem with this, milord?”
The man shook his head. “No. We’ve been after Stivven for a while. Good riddance I say.”
“May we return to our ship?”
“By all means. Just be back at the council room first thing in the morning. We have plans to work out.”
“Yes, milord.”
Meliana carried Kenny from the warehouse, Jira walked beside her mother.
“Now, young lady,” Kendrick said to his granddaughter as they entered the street, “would you mind explaining how all this came to be?”
Swallowing hard, she tuned to look up into his unforgiving eyes, and those of her mother. “Well, it was like this…”
Chapter Six
The day after the fall of Lak Tir, ships were sighted off the coast of Abu Dar.
The city’s gates were shut and the populace prepared for a siege. Though if what happened at Lak Tir was any indication, there wouldn’t be a siege. A few survivors had made it to Abu Dar and the news they brought had been grim.
“Was barely a fight,” one lady said. She and her husband managed to flee the city in the initial hours of occupation. “They came and before anyone knew what was going on, the gate was gone, they held the walls and our soldiers fell in droves.”
News such as that, and some even more dire, had brought Abu Dar to the brink of panic. The Council kept the gates opened until noon the following day to allow those who wished to flee a chance to do so. But once noon rolled around, they were closed and none could get in or out. Which proved problematic for James.
After having witnessed the fall of Lak Tir, he had some ideas about fighting the invaders. Unfortunately, they all required him to be outside the walls, and before the enemy arrived in force.
He and Jiron were in the Viewing Room. Miko and his priests were busily sanctifying the temple after which they would get the kitchen in order. They planned to have the first meal for the populace the following morning.
Scrolling the image around the city walls revealed Abu Dar to be well manned and without avenue to the outside.
“Can you think of anything?”
Jiron shook his head. “I don’t know the city well enough.” He glanced to James. “And I doubt if we’ll have the time for me to.”
“No, we won’t.”
Scrolling the image, the force coming from Lak Tir came into view. All the priestly weapons used in the attack on Lak Tir now rolled toward Abu Dar. Thousands of soldiers and support troops accompanied them. Their baggage train stretched for miles.
“They’ll be here in a couple days,” Jiron stated.
James moved the view to where sixteen ships packed with soldiers anchored not far from the city.
“They mean to take Abu Dar.”
Jiron nodded. “Always figured they would.”
“We should see how costly we can make it for them.”
“I thought you weren’t decided on going to war with them?”
James turned to his friend. “Now that our families are out of danger, I’m not. But I can’t let what they’ve already done go without consequences.”
He scrolled to Lak Tir and zeroed in on a House of Healing, one of several they had set up within the city. At least that’s what James called them. Priests within took care of all who arrived. And from what they could see, the priests never once charged anyone a copper for their services. “There are things I like about them despite their current warlike nature.”
