A Crucible of Souls (Book One of the Sorcery Ascendant Sequence) (18 page)

At the docks, he braced himself in the cold wind blowing from the sea. The day had turned out to be the coldest yet since his arrival, a sign the season was turning. Restless waves churned white with foam, and chilly droplets drenched those unlucky enough to be caught by spray shooting over the wharves. Dark clouds rolled overhead, and the city was in for a good soaking, if he was any judge of the weather.

Huddled in alcoves and behind boxes and bales, the homeless laborers braved the icy wind for the chance of a few coins or food. Poor, desperate men.

Caldan wound his way along the docks to the wharf where the Loretta had berthed, head lowered to keep the spray out of his face. At least the air was fresh now, the usual stench of the docks blown inland.

At the end of the wharf he stopped. The
Loretta’s
berth stood empty.

Chapter Fourteen

Swinging in the cold night breeze, the sign over the door of the inn squeaked back and forth, metal scraping on metal, casting faint shadows from the moon around the doorway. Beneath the sign stood Lady Caitlyn, her cloak pulled tightly around her shoulders in an attempt to reduce the wind’s chill.

She glanced up at the sign, dark eyes narrowing in study. Painted on the wood was the face of a black goat chewing on a flower protruding from its mouth.
“
The Black Goat
”
was neatly painted in script below the ridiculous looking face.

The inn was the only one for miles around, and as night had fallen with the cold wind biting deep, she decided it would have to suffice. The timber structure seemed sound enough, although the stables were falling into disrepair and weeds had sprouted around the buildings.

She frowned. A disorderly house was often the sign of indolence, and the indolent left themselves open to evil’s sway. The lure of an easy living was often irresistible to the weak-minded. But that was why people like her existed.

She turned to stare into the surrounding gloom. The dwellings and businesses crowded around the inn gave rise to a few dark streets and alleys. Out of one such alley came three of her men leading four horses, their own mounts and Caitlyn’s. They approached the inn slowly, tired from many days of hard travel.

“
My Lady Caitlyn, are we to stop here?
”
Aidan asked.

“
Have the horses stabled and combed, then come to the inn. We shall stay here for the night and be sure of an early start tomorrow. We are close to our quarry. I can feel it.
”

They led the horses away into the shoddy stable, the men chuckling to each other after one of them quipped the state of the horses’ lodging wouldn’t be much worse than theirs.

Caitlyn turned back to the door and stepped into the inn. Typical for this remote location, the type of place she and her band had seen many a time the last few years. Rough cut wooden floor, barrels behind the bar filled with local brews, and a large stone hearth warming the room with a blazing fire. Behind the bar stood a slovenly innkeeper, who appraised her for a few moments before going back to polishing mugs. Patrons looked up as she entered then went back to their ale and conversations. If any were keen eyed enough they would have noticed the distinctive shape of a sword hilt and pommel under her cloak and the glint of finely wrought mail.

She moved to an empty table close to the fire and sat on a rickety chair. A plump, sweaty serving girl approached, probably the innkeeper’s daughter.

“
What’ll ye have?
”
the serving girl queried in a weary voice.

Caitlyn stared into the fire.
“
What’s good?
”

“
Goat stew’s one copper; soup’s a copper as well. Ale’s a copper, wine is two,
”
the girl reeled off with a bored expression, oblivious to the question.

“
Very informative, thank you.
”
Caitlyn rolled her eyes as she hooked another chair closer and rested a booted foot on it.
“
I’ll have four stews, three ales and a wine, please.
”

The serving girl squinted, looking puzzled.
“
Begging your pardon, ma’am, but are you sure you can eat all that?
”

Not very bright around here,
Caitlyn thought,
but it is a noble’s duty to be polite.

“
For my men as well. They are seeing to the horses and will be here momentarily.
”
She slid a silver ducat onto the greasy table top.
“
Keep the difference.
”

In a flash, the silver coin was whisked away, and the serving girl bustled off to the kitchen.

Caitlyn reached into her satchel and placed her favorite book on the table,
Troylin’s Of War and Strategy
. Thoughts of her last campaign rose unbidden.

The assault against the flesh-eating jukari’s stronghold had been vicious, she reflected. Bleeding, dirty and sweat-soaked, she had managed to survive, along with some of her followers. Smoke turned the sun red, and inside the fortress walls had been a chaotic mess of burning buildings, bodies and blood. Her men and the jukari were broken, twisted and still, leaking blood where they lay.

Worn with time, the jukari were a perverted, long-lived race created during the Shattering. Still, they had triumphed, executing a complicated task, one as dangerous as it was honorable. Her lieutenant, Aidan, had approached, a cut on one cheek crusty with dried blood.

“
My lady, it looks like we have it under control. Around thirty of the jukari’s soldiers and servants have been taken prisoner.
”

“
Kill all of them,
”
she had said.

Aidan hesitated, unwilling to argue with her.
“
My lady, they all swear they were forced to serve the jukari. Their only choice was to serve or be killed and eaten like the others.
”

Coldness crept into Caitlyn’s voice.
“
They’re probably lying. They chose to betray their humanity, to save their own lives and become tools for the destruction and enslavement of their fellow men. Aidan, there is a place for mercy, but when we seek to annihilate an absolute evil we must destroy it absolutely. Evil is a cancerous growth. Show mercy or hesitate and you leave kernels to start spreading anew. We must kill them all.
”

The order was given, and so ended another great day in Lady Caitlyn’s life. An end to another enclave of evil. The destruction of evil, that was her purpose in life.

She started from her reverie as four mugs were deposited on the table by the grubby innkeeper. He grunted then went back to the bar. Caitlyn grabbed the mug that didn’t have foam on top and took a swig of wine, washing the sour liquid around in her mouth to remove the taste of the road. She spat the mouthful into the fire, which hissed and sizzled. A few patrons looked at her at the sound but quickly went back to their own business under Caitlyn’s glare.

Someone here knew about her quarry, she could sense it.

The inn door opened again and admitted her men, who, spotting her by the fire, came over and took chairs of their own.

Aidan, young and full of fervor for their cause. Chalayan the sorcerer, whose goals were his own but who served her willingly for the time being. And Anshul cel Rau, a master swordsman from the treeless Steppes, whose skill with his two blades was legendary. All had been in her company for years, and all knew there was no resting where vanquishing evil was concerned. It was often a thankless task, as many cities and towns were too self-absorbed to see the whole picture and how evil must be excised. Many people were incapable of seeing how deeply the roots of evil could grow, and how far spread they could become. Obliterating such evil was always bloody, and the price could sometimes be high, but she knew any price was worth paying to rid the world of such malevolence.

Chalayan looked around the inn and sniffed.
“
My lady, I always express confidence in your ability to know when something is awry, but perhaps this time your nose has led you astray?
”
He sipped his brew and grimaced at the sour taste.
“
The only thing troubling about this place is the poor quality of the ale.
”

Anshul cel Rau nodded, although he had downed half his ale in one go.
“
Too yeasty,
”
he remarked, always a man of few words.

She watched as he finished off the rest of his mug then half turned on his chair to keep everyone at the inn in his sight. Both hands dropped to his sword hilts, as if he were expecting trouble from the innocuous patrons, half of whom at this time of night were too drunk to stand, let alone offer a serious threat.

“
I would bet gold ducats against silver they have been through here,
”
she said.
“
If I were the gambling type.
”
Gambling was for the weak-willed and the immoral.

Chalayan shared a look with Aidan before replying.
“
My lady, to be honest, we don’t know what they have done or to what extent they may be involved with whatever is going on.
”

She was sure something was amiss, and she was never wrong. Except once, when she had been young. Her stepfather had done something terrible and she had made him pay.

Caitlyn rubbed her eyes and took a breath. Some memories should stay buried.

She looked around at her men.
Flawed, all of them. But the best tools she had at the moment.

Days ago Steyn, one of her informants, sent news of strange goings on in a nearby town named Boarsrun. Curious and disturbing.

According to Steyn’s letter, they had witnessed weird behavior exhibited by two farmhands. Known to be hard up for ducats, they had appeared in the town dressed in good quality merchants’ clothing, scrubbed clean, hair neatly trimmed. A stark contrast to their normally worn, dusty and unkempt appearance. Unbeknown to them, Steyn had followed them late one night when they visited a nearby graveyard, dug a grave and buried two shapeless bundles wrapped in canvas. Steyn had unearthed the grave after the farmhands had left and found the bundles to contain corpses, shriveled and gray, human yet desiccated, as if drained of all moisture.

After receiving his message, her band had ridden hard for Boarsrun, where they questioned Steyn and set off after the two remarkably changed farmhands, who had traveled south a few days previously. They were heading in virtually a straight line to Anasoma, which itself was strange. Usually, travelers and merchants’ routes to Anasoma were in an easterly direction towards the coast, before turning south along the coast. The traveling was much easier due to the quality of the roads and a lesser likelihood of bandits. Though the empire had done its best to quash any bandits operating within its borders, it hadn’t fully succeeded in wiping them out.

Caitlyn and her men wouldn’t have any issues with bandits. One look at their numbers and the amount of weapons they carried was enough to deter anyone bent on troubling them. Two lone farmhands might not have such an easy journey.

She had thought long and hard on why they had taken this route and couldn’t think of a plausible reason. She didn’t like uncertainty.

A short time later, after they finished their goat stew, Caitlyn shook herself from her thoughts.
It was time. The first step to hunting evil was to show no mercy.

“
Chalayan,
”
she said quietly.

The sorcerer looked at her, frowning.
“
Yes, Lady Caitlyn?
”

“
Go outside and prepare the men, then make sure no one can escape the building.
”

Chalayan licked his lips, flicked a glance to Aidan and cel Rau, then quickly exited through the door.

“
M’lady…Caitlyn…
”
pleaded Aidan.
“
We don’t have to do this.
”

“
Of course we do. Someone here is bound to know something. We cannot tarry while evil goes unchallenged.
”

Her young lieutenant closed his eyes.

Weak,
thought Caitlyn. Only she had the stomach for what needed to be done.

She motioned to cel Rau, and the swordsman positioned himself by the door.

Standing, Caitlyn drew her sword, the crafted blade glowing orange with reflected flames from the fire.

“
Listen up, everybody!
”
she shouted.

Voices stilled, and shocked and angry expressions turned to her.

“
One of you knows something, and I mean to find out who and what.
”

She pointed her blade at the innkeeper, who cringed back a step, fear written large on his face.
“
I think we’ll start with you.
”

A soft drizzle fell across Caitlyn’s camp. Dusk had fallen, and they had found a grassy patch off the road which became their campsite for the night. A brook trickled close by to provide them and their horses with fresh water, and a number of cooking fires dotted the camp.

Lady Caitlyn made sure all her men were at ease and had spoken to each in turn before seeing to her own comforts. She set up a canvas covering between two saplings to keep out the wind and rain, and had boiled herself some tea, which she drank from a metal mug, both hands wrapped around it for warmth.

She stared into the flames of her fire. The drizzle had been unrelenting throughout the day, and everyone was cold and ill-humored. Perhaps she would let the men build up the fires tonight; it would give them comfort against the disheartening sprinkle. Some were good men, but most were only with her because of the rewards. Gold and silver ducats for some, other pleasures for the rest. She had led many raids with a lot of killing. Spoils were evenly distributed, and if her men dealt harshly with those that trafficked evil, then she turned a blind eye. To what happened to the women included. When you make a deal with evil, as they had, you had to accept the consequences.