Skulduggery 4: Building a Criminal Empire, page 12
“Quick, help me move him!” Ava hissed.
I grabbed the halfling under his arms, while Penny and Ava both grabbed one of his legs, and the three of us hustled him down the street back to where the elf had stained my boot with his blue blood. I glanced behind us at one point as we hurried down the road, but I saw no one else and we had moved the halfling quickly enough that the stones of the street seemed to be clean of blood.
We dropped the body on its side next to the dead elven guard. While Penny stood as lookout, Ava took the elf’s sword and ran it through the fatal wounds she had made in the halfling’s body so his wounds would seem to match the elf’s weapons.
“What about the guard’s wounds?” Penny asked over her shoulder.
“Well I’m certainly not about to give up my weapons, not even to finish the frame job,” Ava said.
The blonde assassin stooped over the elf to look for any other weapons on him, but I laid my hand on her arm.
“Wait,” I said suddenly.
“What is it?” Ava asked.
I noticed she didn’t move my hand from her arm.
“We don’t think the elves are going to believe that the halfling really killed one of their guards no matter how we stage it, right?” I began.
“Yeah, but we didn’t have any better ideas,” Penny hissed from her position as lookout at the end of the alley.
“What if we don’t try to stage it?” I asked. “What if instead we use it to really send a message?”
“What kind of message?” Ava demanded, but I could tell she was interested in the idea.
“A message that will be our calling card,” I explained. “This halfling won’t be the last person we kill by any means. Our business is just getting off the ground, so I’m sure there’ll be more assholes who cross us. So any time someone crosses us, we leave the same message.”
“Like the assassin’s coin,” Ava observed.
“Exactly,” I agreed. “So even though no one will know who kills the people who prove themselves to be our enemies, they’ll know they’ve pissed off the same people.”
“And then your legend will grow, even if people don’t know it’s you yet,” Penny said with a grin. “I like it. Our very own killing trademark.”
“It would show people how serious we are,” Ava said.
“Especially if we leave a mark on both the elf and the halfling,” I added.
“That’s ballsy,” Ava said, and she suddenly smiled.
Her whole face lit up when she smiled, and I had to force myself to focus to keep from telling the assassin how beautiful she looked. She was like the nightshade flower we had stolen from the elves-- beautiful and deadly.
“So what mark do we leave?” Ava asked.
“I think I know,” Penny smirked. “We cut off whatever body part they betrayed us with. So ears if they heard too much, eyes if they saw too much.”
“Tongue if they talked too much,” I added. “Hands if they worked against us. That’s perfect, Penny.”
Ava crouched down beside the halfling. She tilted her head to the side like she was trying to figure out the best way to dissect him.
“So what was his sin?” the assassin asked.
“Talked too much,” Penny and I said at the same time.
“Even though he didn’t talk to the elves, he went right back to Wyatt’s,” I explained, “and that means he might as well have trumpeted the news of where he got the whiskey to the whole city.”
“Tongue it is, then,” Ava agreed. “If one of you could please hold his head steady?”
I bent down beside the assassin and held the halfling’s head still, and Ava forced his jaw open and grasped the tongue from inside his skull. She pulled it out as far as it would go, and then she sawed at it with one of her blades. Her dagger was sharp enough that it only took two cuts before Ava ripped the tongue clean from the inside of his mouth, but it was still lucky for the halfling that he was already dead.
“What do we do with this then?” Ava held out the tongue to me.
“Leave it,” I told her. “You can leave it on his chest like where the murderers leave their flowers if you like.”
The beautiful assassin pushed the halfling’s corpse onto its back and then dropped the tongue in the center of his chest.
“What do we cut out from the elf?” Penny asked.
“I say the eyes,” Ava suggested. “He might not have seen too much, but he very nearly did, so it seems appropriate. Would you like to do the honors, Penny?”
“Let’s go half and half,” the redheaded pixie offered. “You take the left, and I’ll take the right.”
The two women knelt on either side of the elven guard, and each one used her own dagger to dig out the eyeballs of the blue-blooded bastard. For a second, it looked like Penny was accidentally going to carve off half the elf’s face with her blade, but she managed to twist her knife back just before it swept down to expose his cheekbone.
The left eye popped out first with a satisfying burst of blue blood, but Ava jerked her body back before it sprayed her. It was all over her hands, but at least she saved her cloak from the shit. I knew from experience that elven blood was one tough motherfucker to wash out of your clothes.
The right eye took half a minute longer for Penny to pop it out. Eyeballs were always much further wedged into a skull than you might think, and there were entirely too many muscles and stringy bits that attached to the back of the eyeball, and Penny had to wedge her blade behind the eyeball before it tore loose, slipped out of her fingers, and rolled across the stones to stop at my feet.
“Lose something, Pen?” I laughed.
I bent down and tossed the eyeball back to the redheaded pixie, and she placed it carefully on the elf’s chest beside the other one. As soon as it looked like neither eyeball would roll out of place, both women wiped the blue blood from their hands as best they could, and then stood beside me.
“Well, this has been a good night’s work, I think,” I said with a grin. “Now how about we get out of here before anyone finds us standing over the bodies of a dead elf and a dead halfling.”
We slipped out of the alley and headed back to the bakery, but we kept to the shadows as much as possible. Every time someone crossed our paths even from across the street, I braced myself, but no one called after us, and no elves stopped us. I felt sure that the blue blood on the toe of my boot was as bright a beacon as the spotlight from the elven tower, but no one seemed to notice it in the darkness.
Of course, I’d have to figure out a way to fix it by the time the sun rose, or one quick glance at the stain would peg me as an elf killer.
When the three of us entered the apartment above the bakery, Dar still hadn’t returned from the theatre. He must have decided to stay and watch the show, or maybe he had found other entertainments for himself. At least that meant he wouldn’t fight Penny or Ava for the bed.
I closed the apartment door behind us, and when I turned to face the room, I almost ran into the assassin where she leaned up against the wall.
“Ava?” I asked. “You alright?”
The blonde woman straightened her posture, and I wondered if she’d fallen asleep for half a second now that she had finally stopped moving.
“Fine,” Ava said quickly. “Just a little tired, I think.”
“Why don’t you take the bed?” Penny suggested. “You’ve had the roughest day out of any of us.”
“No, I couldn’t--”
“Take the bed,” I encouraged her. “Penny and I will be fine.”
The assassin slipped out of her cloak and now glanced between the redhead and me like she couldn’t decide if we meant what we said or not.
“Seriously,” Penny insisted. “Besides, you’re slender enough that I can always move you over and sleep in the bed beside you.”
“It’s a good thing Dar didn’t hear that,” I laughed.
“Oh, aren’t you funny?” Penny smirked.
“If you don’t mind,” the assassin said softly. “I’m always… I’m always tired after a kill.”
“Go right ahead, Ava,” the pixie sighed.
Ava collapsed onto the bed, pulled her cloak up over herself as a cover, and started breathing softly almost as soon as she closed her eyes.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen someone crash so hard after work,” Penny observed, “except maybe Dar, and that’s only when he’s had a little whiskey to celebrate the end of the work day.”
“You may be right about that,” I said quietly.
I pulled out an extra blanket from the dresser and draped it over the blonde assassin so she had more cover besides just her cloak. Then I headed downstairs to grab a leftover dinner roll as a snack, and by the time I re-entered the apartment, Penny was curled up on the edge of the bed beside Ava.
I smiled, locked the door, and settled back into a rocking chair. Before I knew it, I was half-asleep myself as I rocked back and forth unconsciously in the chair.
We are waiting for you, Wade, a soft voice sang out.
I sat straight up in the chair and looked around the room to find the melodic voice.
We are ready for you, it called out again.
Now that I was awake, I realized the voice belonged to the Rainbow Keys, and that meant no one else had heard it except me. As much as I wanted to catch some sleep, I felt the insistence of the keys as they pushed me to my feet and toward the door.
I had a strange feeling that they wanted me to return to Falrion Forest.
Chapter 8
My hand slowly twisted the doorknob as I tried to leave the apartment without drawing the attention of the women asleep in the bed. I slipped out of the door, gently closed it behind me, and moved slowly down the stairs into the bakery. Each narrow step creaked underneath me, but I didn’t hear any movement from upstairs, so I thought I was in the clear.
As soon as I opened the back door of Eloy’s, I heard a movement in the darkness behind me.
“And just where do you think you’re going?” Penny demanded.
“You caught me,” I said with a grin.
I turned around with my hands open. The redhead stood behind me with her hands on her hips, and she blinked to clear the sleep from her eyes. I wondered for a moment how long we had been asleep. It felt like only a few minutes, but the whole city outside the bakery was silent and dark.
“It’s late,” the pixie sighed, “so I hope you’re not thinking you’re about to go somewhere by yourself.”
“I’m going to the forest,” I said. “I think there’s something I need to do or see there.”
Penny frowned, pushed her red hair back from her face, and then her green eyes widened with realization.
“It’s the keys, isn’t it?” she demanded. “Are they telling you to go to the forest?”
“Yes, but I don’t know why,” I admitted. “You don’t need to worry about it. I know you’re tired.”
It was only then that I noticed Penny had already put on her brown cloak over her dark green tunic.
“It’s like you don’t even know me,” the redhead gave an exaggerated sigh. “Did you really think you could leave without anyone noticing?”
“Come on, Penny, I just wanted--”
“And did you really think,” the pixie cut me off as she held up her hand, “that you could leave without me coming with you?”
“It’s just a trip to the forest,” I laughed. “I’m not going into battle.”
Not yet, the keys murmured.
“I know we might have fixed the problem with the assassins from the other districts, at least for right now,” Penny said, “but just in case they didn’t buy the set-up with the Murderer’s Guild, I’m not about to let you wander off into the night without any back-up.”
“Alright, I give up,” I said with a grin. “You can come with me if you want.”
“Besides,” the redhead continued with her hands back on her hips, “did you already forget that we killed an elf tonight? I know technically Ava did the actual killing part, but don’t think I didn’t notice the blood on your boot. And you’re just gonna leave here in the middle of the night and go to the forest by yourself? I don’t think so. You--”
“Penny,” I laughed again. “You’ve already won. Come on.”
“Okay, fine,” the pixie thief sniffed. “Let’s go, then.”
There was no need to take the wagon to the forest, and I knew we’d make better time if we just took the horse. It might draw a little more attention than we wanted, but it would take us all night to reach the forest and come back again on foot. As soon as our horse was ready, I locked my fingers together, and Penny used them as a step to help her up into the saddle.
I swung myself up behind her, grabbed the reins, and urged the horse forward toward Falrion Forest. Penny leaned back in my arms, and I thought she might have fallen asleep a few times, but every time I felt her small frame start to slip a bit, I tightened my arms around her and she adjusted herself like nothing had happened.
It felt good to have the redheaded pixie in my arms, and I was glad she had followed me despite my efforts to leave the apartment quietly. She was a good friend and had been since the moment I met her, but as I tightened my arms around her again, I knew Penny was also so much more than that.
As we entered the edge of the forest, I immediately felt like someone was watching me from the treeline. It was the same feeling that I’d had after I left Selius at Adi’s, but I still didn’t feel threatened by it. Whatever the presence was, it felt more curious than dangerous, even though that wasn’t particularly reassuring to me. Curious or not, I didn’t like the idea that someone I didn’t know could just be watching me.
“Penny,” I murmured as I nudged the pixie in my arms.
“Hm?” she asked sleepily.
“Wake up, Penny,” I said again.
“I’m up, I’m up,” she grumbled. “What is it?”
“I think we’re being watched,” I whispered. “Can you sense it too?”
“Hold on,” the redhead growled. “Let me get my mind right.”
She fell silent as she tried to get her bearings, but from her quiet breathing and straight posture, I knew she hadn’t fallen back asleep. The wind rustled through the trees alongside the path through the forest, and the movement of the leaves almost sounded like laughter, but every time I glanced into the darkness, I saw nothing but trees and shadows.
“I feel it too,” Penny said quietly. “Do you think it’s elves?”
“I don’t think so,” I told her. “It doesn’t feel threatening, and I don’t think elves could be so quiet that neither one of us would actually see them.”
“You’re right,” the redhead observed. “That’s probably giving them more credit than they deserve. Who else could it be?”
“I felt it earlier too,” I explained, “so I doubt it’s assassins, or they would have already attacked.”
“Some of Hebal’s leftover men?” she suggested.
“I think they would have already attacked, too,” I said. “Plus, dwarves aren’t exactly known for gracefully sneaking up on people.”
“And they don’t usually like forests since they can’t smoke their pipes without worrying about sending the whole place up in flames,” Penny chuckled.
“Tell me if you see anyone-- or anything,” I said. “I’m not sure what it is, but I guess it’ll show itself when it’s ready.”
“Do you think it’s related to the keys?” the redheaded pixie asked.
“Maybe,” I said.
I was about to tell her that I hadn’t felt any instructions from the keys other than to go to the forest, but just then, I felt the keys grow suddenly warm inside my pocket. At the same time, the horse kicked up its heels and plunged ahead so quickly that I had to wrap my whole arm around Penny to keep the petite redhead from flying out of the saddle.
“Could you… maybe… slow down!” she gasped.
I pulled back on the reins, but the horse just tossed his head and continued down the forest path. The keys gave a reassuring pulse of warmth in my pocket, and I shrugged as I let the horse have his way. Wherever he was headed, he seemed to be moving according to the direction of the keys, so I decided to just let him have his way.
“Sorry, Penny,” I called over the noise of the horse’s hooves on the solid earth beneath us. “Just hang on tight!”
As the horse veered to the right down a smaller side path through the woods, the redhead clutched my arm with one hand and the pommel of the saddle with the other. After two more turns through the trees, each one down a smaller path than the one before, I realized where the horse was headed.
He was taking me home.
My hometown was the only piece of civilization at the end of the road we were on now, if you could actually call the obliterated town a piece of civilization. It was nothing but ruins now and had been for years, ever since the orcs attacked it, slaughtered my family, and burned the whole town to the ground.
So why were the keys taking me there now? And who was watching us from the trees?
The horse slowed down as we approached the edge of the trees. Beyond the forest in the open plains, I could just make out the ruins of my family’s town in the dim moonlight.
“Wade?” Penny whispered. “Where are we?”
“This is where I grew up,” I said grimly, “before…”
Penny squeezed my arm when I trailed off, and again, I was glad the redhead had come with me tonight.
“It’s good you’re here,” I exhaled.
“Where else would I be?” she demanded, but she squeezed my arm again.
The keys still burned hot in my pocket, so I let the horse have his way and let the reins go slack. Sure enough, the horse trotted right over the abandoned crop fields, straight through the ruins of the town, and directly into what used to be the main room of my family’s small home.
Charred pieces of wood and a few stones here and there were all that remained to show it had ever once been a house, although the horse still had to pick its way over fallen beams that had once been rafters and piles of burned furniture that had long since lost their shape in the years that they had been exposed to the wind and the rain.
