Demon Gates (Nexus Wars Saga), page 42
Now that he had the thief, he did not know what to do with him. He had no desire to kill him, but he could not let him go, or he might rejoin his comrades below. Kicking his feet from under him, he lowered him to the roof on his stomach. Grasping both of his wrists behind his back, he removed his belt and used it to fasten his hands and feet together behind his back. It was painfully uncomfortable, but he reasoned that a decent thief would be out of it in a few minutes.
He also tore a strip of cloth from the man’s cloak and gagged him, just in case.
Looking down into the now dark street, he saw the vagrant had disappeared, along with the other two he suspected were also thieves. A soft noise like a scraping footstep inside the smithy grounds caught his attention, and he guessed where the vagrant and his men had gone.
Without glancing back at the bound thief, he leapt softly across the dark void to the window, clutching the sill for support as it wobbled beneath his weight. Inside was a large room, which ran the length of the upper floor. It was obviously a bedroom with a large bed off to one side with wardrobes and a table and a smaller pallet against the far wall. A web of dark rafters ran below him over the room, and he stepped onto them.
Suddenly a cry came from below, accompanied by a piercing scream. He heard a thud and a crash of cookware, before shouting drifted up the narrow stairway in the far wall. Cursing, he almost dropped down when booted steps sounded on the wooden stairs. Lifting himself back up, he waited.
A young woman, who was glancing behind with concern and calling for somebody downstairs to hurry, ushered a smaller figure into the room. Valdieron recognized the young boy he had met on the two occasions he had been to the Smithy. There was another crash from downstairs and a cry of pain, before heavier footsteps were heard on the steps, and another figure appeared.
Valdieron’s gaze locked onto the young woman as she spun back, searching the bedroom as if expecting others to be waiting. She was dressed in a thin gray sleeping gown. Her long hair was like blazing sunlight as if caught by the light from below. His breath caught in his throat and his stomach cramped into knots as he recognized her, and tears rimmed his eyes as he unconsciously fingered the pale rose-scented scarf around his neck.
Natasha.
He swayed and almost fell from the rafter, but steadied himself. He was not dreaming, he knew that.
So that meant .
Kylaran crashed into the room then, struggling with a dark-clad thief who clutched a dagger in one hand, which Kylaran held away from his face as they tumbled. With a flick, the big man tossed the smaller thief away. The lithe figure rolled to his feet like a cat as three others entered the room, armed with daggers and short swords.
From a side window, two other veiled figures appeared and Natasha screamed as she clutched the boy tightly. Kyle was unarmed as he stood before them, but nobody moved. Then one of the figures dropped his veil and stepped forward. Valdieron almost cursed aloud as he recognized the young thief, Kalel.
“Well, Smith. Where is your duty this month? I have asked politely for it twice, and I have not received it.” The sandy-haired thief bore a mocking smile as he confronted Kylaran.
“I told you. You will get the money when I have it. How was I to know the amount was treble with the advent of the tournament?” Kylaran’s voice belied his calm as he tried to appease the thief.
Valdieron marked how his friend had changed over the few seasons, being taller than he remembered him. His hair was thicker and he wore a rough but suiting beard.
“It is common knowledge, smith. It is your duty to find out these things. Alas, you cannot pay, and you know the punishment for that. Perhaps in the lonely nights to come you might have a chance to figure out how next to pay on time, and maybe then we will return your wife to you.”
Kalel’s words rocked Valdieron with their implication. Wife? Had Kyle and Natasha married in such a short time, or had the thief mistaken their partnership? He growled low in his throat at the thief’s threat, remembering how it hurt to lose something you cared for, even for a short time.
Stepping lightly to the next rafter he dropped easily into the bedroom between Kalel and Kyle. The thieves gave a start as he landed, but Kalel’s eyes widened with shock as he saw who it was.
“You. What are you doing here?”
“I could ask the same thing of you, Kalel. I am sure Kalamar will, when I tell him of this. No doubt he will be more than delighted to hear of it. I would have thought you learned your lesson last time.”
Kalel sneered contemptuously, then smiled. “I could say the same for you. Surely you haven’t forgotten what happened when last you confronted me?” He flipped his dagger in his hand and smiled as some of the other thieves chuckled softly.
“Of course not. That is why I will let you walk out of here now, and maybe Kalamar will go lighter on you than you deserve.” A sweat broke out on his brow, though not from fear. His body tingled in anticipation of a confrontation. He would have liked to repay Kalel for his backstabbing attack during their last confrontation, but still he preferred they left. His strength hadn’t quite returned, and his wounds still ached a little.
“I think not. Besides, Kalamar will not punish what he does not know about.”
Valdieron gave a resigned sigh as Kalel signaled and the thieves began to spread out around him. He turned to the side and motioned for Kyle to stay back. Obviously the big man did not recognize Valdieron in the dim light, for he looked at him curiously.
“This is no longer your fight, Kyle. Stand back.”
Kylaran nodded slowly and stepped back, throwing a protective arm around Natasha and the boy who both sobbed faintly. He wondered how this stranger knew his name?
The thieves opted for their longer weapons: sabers, rapiers, a falchion and Kalel with a gleaming new longsword. Slowly Valdieron drew his sword. Despite the gloom, the thieves gave a start at the sight of the weapon.
Kalel sneered. “So the sword will be mine again, huh. Thank you for the gift.”
The thieves rushed forward in a concerted attack, though only three could press at him effectively. Valdieron spun in a blur, his sword knocking away two thrusting strikes and he stepped past the third. His foot lashed out and dropped one of the thieves, catching him on the jaw, while a punch with the hilt of his weapon caught another, who fell back dazed. Not surprisingly, Kalel had dropped back out of the fight.
The melee became unorganized then, as thieves pressed at him in waves. He smiled, for together they could have overwhelmed him, but now he began picking them off one by one. One saber slipped past a parry but he arched away from it, and it sliced his shirt, which was the closest any of their weapons got to him.
Two thieves remained against him after only a few exchanges, and they looked as if they may flee at any moment. The other thieves writhed on the ground in various degrees of agony from smashed noses and jaws to broken arms or legs. He had not used the blade to strike, not chancing the possibility of seriously injuring any of them. They were merely pawns. Kalel was the one he would hurt, if necessary.
All through the fight he expected Kalel’s sneak attack as before, and this time he was ready for it. He lost view of the thief as he dodged an attack but he spun as he sensed the attack, and hammered the spinning knife from the air as it flew at him. Simultaneously he arced a kick backwards, catching a lunging thief in the face and dropping him like a rock, his saber rattling to the floor. The last thief did the only thing that would save him. He ran. He was down the stairs in a flash, but Valdieron let him go as he turned to Kalel.
The thief was not smiling now as he clutched his sword tightly. Valdieron stood between him and the doorway, but a window lay opened behind the thief, and he was edging back towards it. Valdieron grinned at the thief’s discomfort. “I would not be too close to the city by the morning, if I were you, Kalel. Your luck doesn’t seem to be holding out lately, and I daresay Kalamar will not be so easy on you this time.”
Kalel fled. He hung in the window momentarily, giving Valdieron a look that promised ramifications. He disappeared then, dropping to the ground below and fading into the night. One by one, the thieves on the ground stirred and also fled, helping their other companions who were not so well off. Soon, all the thieves were gone and Valdieron sheathed his weapon. Kylaran gave a grateful sigh and stepped forward.
“We are thankful for your intervention, friend. You are...?”
Valdieron turned to face him and swept his hair back to clear his face, and he could barely contain a wide smile. “Surprised to find you here, Kylaran Jackson, and you as well, Natasha Peterson.”
Recognition dawned on both faces then. Kyle’s face became ashen and he fought for breath, while Natasha’s face went even paler, and she fainted with surprise. Kyle stepped to her side before she fell, but Valdieron was quicker, and they set her down on the bed gently.
“Who is he, Kyle?” The young boy was staring up at Valdieron with a mixture of awe and terror, and his lower lip quivered with fear.
“An old friend,” whispered Kyle with a choking laugh. “An old friend.”
Chapter 35
Kyle stared across at Valdieron, his face a mask of wonder and awe as Val related the events of his past half year. He spoke little as Valdieron went along, apart from commenting on something or another. His brow knotted with concern and disbelief as Valdieron described the Dream Plane and the quest he had been given to discover the pieces of the Disk of Akashel. He expressed his sorrow at the death of Llewellyn, whom he had never met.
“I had heard your name whispered around the city,” marveled the big smith, taking a large gulp of his ale. Valdieron sipped at his, his head lifting occasionally to the roof where Natasha rested above, still passed out from before. “But I heard it belonged to a great Warrior from some far away land, so I did not give it much thought. Had we the money, we would have been to the tournament and seen you, but as you can see, we are not really settled as yet, and the guilds are still hassling me.”
Valdieron smiled wistfully. “You probably wouldn’t have recognized me from afar, anyhow. I almost did not recognize you at first. You have changed over the months.”
Kyle frowned with a weak nod. “It hasn’t been easy, Val. When we left Shadowvale, we had no money or possessions other than what we could scrounge from the remains of the village or nearby farmhouses. Every house in the area was razed, so we couldn’t find help close by. We stopped to see my aunty Marna at Marsh Point, but she could not support us. We decided that we should head to Thorhus, where I thought I could get a smithy or become an apprentice.”
Kyle’s moist eyes drifted to where Natasha slept above.
“You love each other, don’t you?”
Kyle turned his gaze to meet Valdieron’s, and there was shame there, but he was honest as he nodded. “I have always loved her, Val, though I never told you. We were the only survivors, because I was up early in the smithy, working on a present for my ma, and then Natasha rode past, and she stopped to talk. The next thing we knew, Trolls were everywhere. I grabbed my father’s axe,” he motioned to the axe resting now at his side, the double-bladed weapon Val had seen hanging in the Smithy many times, “and then I knew we had to get out of there. Houses were burning and people were scampering through the streets with weapons, but the Trolls were tearing through us like we were nothing. Some of them set fire to the houses, though I could tell they did not like the flames.”
More tears flowed down his cheeks and he cupped his face in his hands briefly. “I saw my father get hurled into our burning house by a Troll, and he was dead before I could save him.”
Valdieron could only reach over the table and lay a soothing hand on his friend’s arm. He had thought he had seen chaos, but Kyle had seen many people slain, people he had known and grown up with. How much worse were his nightmares or memories, he wondered? “I know, Kyle. My father is gone too.”
“I know how she felt about you though, Val. She told me about the meeting at your house.” The big man’s words were slightly choked as he pressed on. “She did love you, she expressed as much, and she did not speak for days after we found the burned remains of your farm. We thought you dead also.” There was regret in his voice now as he eyed the scarf around Val’s neck. “She will go with you again, if you ask her. I know she will.”
Valdieron smiled with thanks, realizing the sacrifice his big friend was making for him, though he shook his head. “Kyle, I could not ask her that, even if I wanted to. I told you, I am no longer the person you knew. I have a perilous path ahead of me now, which I feel pulling me down darker and more dangerous paths. I fear that any who accompany me will only be lost to these perils.” He sighed deeply as he rose and shifted to the cold hearth. Pressing his hands to the worn stone mantle, he stared down at his feet. “I cannot even decipher my feelings towards her now. If things had stayed as they were, who knows, but now she needs you, as you need her.”
Kyle shifted in his seat awkwardly. “You mean to say I cannot help you with your quest?”
Valdieron turned and found the big man wearing a sad frown, as if he was a child having his favorite toy taken from him.
“There is no need, Kyle. I have chosen this path for myself, come what may, but you have another life, now. I cannot ask you to accompany me any more than I could Natasha.”
Kyle nodded, maybe a little thankfully as well, but he remained pensive. “Then we must part again?”
Valdieron nodded and returned to his seat. “Yes, but do not think I won’t return. When I do, I expect you to be the best known smith in the city.”
Kyle huffed with disbelief. “Chances are I’ll be run out of the city by the guild after this.”
Valdieron chuckled and gave him a slap on the shoulder. “Don’t worry about the guild, Kyle. I have my connections, and I don’t think Kalel or any of his cronies will harass you after I’m through.”
Kyle shook his head in wonder again. “You amaze me, Val. I always thought you were different, destined for something great, somehow, and here I find you after I think you’re dead, and you have done things beyond belief in two seasons. You have fought a devil and befriended an Elf, and you are one of the best fighters in this year’s Tournament.” He shook his head again. “I wish I could help you.”
“So do I, Kyle! So do I.”
Natasha was there then, standing in the stairway, her face sleepy but her eyes rimmed with tears. Kyle rose and helped her to the table where she sat.
“Kolin is asleep. He’s a little shocked, but he will be all right.”
Kyle had told him the building had previously belonged to an old smith, who had taken Kyle on as an apprentice when they got to the city, in the hope the youth would take over after his death. The old man had passed away only recently, and with no other family in the city, Natasha and Kyle had adopted Kolin in memory of his dead grandfather and all he had done for them.
Valdieron rose and went to her then, and she smiled at him, like meeting an old friend. He embraced her briefly, marveling at her warmth and beauty.
“Are you well?”
She nodded, though she appeared shaken up still. “Yes. We missed you. We will miss you again.”
He realized she had heard him speaking of his quest, and wondered what else she had heard. “I must go.”
She nodded understanding and patted him on the cheek. “I know. But you will return.”
He wished he could be so sure, but he merely nodded with a forced smile. He remembered suddenly that the ceremony was taking place at the palace, as he realized it was well into the night. He cursed silently and rose.
“The ceremony for my friend Thorgast is under way at the palace tonight. Why don’t you come with me?”
Kyle laughed and Natasha gawked at him in disbelief. “We could not possibly go, Val. That is not our scene, and there is Kolin, plus we have nothing to wear.”
He was surprised she had not mentioned that about clothing first. She was a woman after all.
“Kolin can come. He will be well looked after if he has to sleep, and clothing is no problem. I am sure there will be somebody who is still open and ready to trade at this hour.” He brought out his full purse and shook it meaningfully. “Besides, I’m sure the Princess has something that would fit you. You are about the same height.”
If the two paled at the sight of the coin-filled purse, their jaws dropped in amazement at the mention of the Princess. Kyle was laughing then, and Natasha looked stunned.
“Settled then. Whenever you’re ready, we’ll get going.”
Still stunned, Natasha went to gather Kolin and change while Kyle also took the chance to change into something else. Kolin eyed Valdieron with sleepy curiosity as Kyle carried him on his shoulders.
It was not very difficult to find a tailor open late who dealt in both men’s and women’s clothing. After claims of having swindled the tailor out of funds for his daughter’s education by getting such a low price, they left with a slender dress of pale green and white slippers for Natasha; a rose-colored shirt and black trousers with fine leather boots for Kyle, and white pants with a brown shirt for Kolin along with dark leather boots. All were of silk and well cut.
Getting back into the castle and palace was not difficult. The guards were familiar with his description now and he was allowed passage. The presence of the others made them curious, and the Captain of the guards sent a runner through to Kalamar to tell him that Valdieron had arrived with others.
Kalamar was waiting in the lobby of the main building, beside the fountain, and he waved as they entered and crossed to them. He was dressed in a gray outfit striped with crimson, and he wore a studded earring and a plain gold ring on his right hand. He carried a silver goblet of wine, and it was obvious he had come from the ceremony.
“Thank the stars you’re here, Val. I began to worry for you. What happened?”
