The Elder Blood Chronicles Book 2 Blood Honor and Dreams (46 page)

“Not half as sorry as your father will be,”
Sovaesh replied as he pulled his mask up over his scars. “Go home,
Davi. I’ll be there later tonight. The lord has work for me,” he
said and bowed his head to Truce before leaving the room.

Gaelyn

Snarls erupted from the cage as Shade dumped
the last of the meat scraps into the pen. He stepped back several
feet and watched the goblins feeding. There was a smaller one to
the back that seemed to be getting the best of the portions without
the snarling fuss the others were making. Shade kept his eye on the
creature and noted how it would wait for a fight to break out
between its larger brethren and then slip down low to grab the
choice pieces from under them. It didn’t seem to be snarling or
spitting either as was normal for the goblins.

“One of every species, I suppose,” he said
quietly and turned to find Charm watching him with a raised
eyebrow.

“One what?” the rogue asked, barely sparing a
glance for the goblins. Over the past month Shade had captured and
fed close to a hundred of the creatures and Charm had done his best
to avoid every cage load. It was no secret among them that the
rogue hated the little monsters and considered them little better
than vermin.

“Thinker, you know, like Marrow or Emily.
Kali seems to have her flukes out of every species she creates,”
Shade answered and looked back toward the camp. “How’s he doing?”
he asked quietly. Remedy’s physical injuries had healed quickly
enough, though he still had a few fading wounds. It was the mental
part he was having difficulty with. Since learning of the Barrier
over Sanctuary the man had become convinced he had betrayed the
Fionaveir, though he professed no memory of it. No matter how many
times Shade tried to reassure him he couldn’t seem to get through
to the man. Remedy simply refused to believe that there might be
corruption in the Fionaveir ranks despite the building proof of
it.

Charm shrugged, his expression neutral. “The
same as he has been. I wish I could say he is improving. I think
once we get him back to the Fionahold it may get better.” He
glanced toward the goblins and then back to Shade. “How much longer
do you think it will be here?” he asked quietly.

“Tonight, if we can get Lutheron here. I need
to gem this batch of them but other than that we are good to go,”
Shade answered drawing an amazed look from Charm.

“Already?” he asked glancing back at the cage
once more as if he could somehow get a total count from the
remaining few that were caged.

“I have eighty-two stones already and there
are fifteen in that cage. If that isn’t enough I think we are
screwed on this whole mission,” Shade replied with a shrug. “The
alchemical mix is a stout one and this will be more damaging than
you think Charm.”

“I can’t believe we are really going to do
this,” Charm muttered and then gave a curt nod. “I’ll contact
Lutheron and see if he will meet us soon. I’ve heard he is fighting
Blights in Faydwer, though. Is there any way to do this without
him?”

Shade sighed and drummed his fingers on his
leg as he calculated and nodded slowly. “It might work without him,
but I’d rather have triple the number of goblins that way and I
can’t say that I would enjoy catching two hundred more,” he said at
last.

“Let’s hope Lutheron can make it, then,”
Charm said with a sigh of his own.

“I’ll start gemming them in the event that he
does have time tonight. It shouldn’t take me long, though, with
only fifteen to store,” Shade replied and once again thanked
Fortune for his idea of testing the storage process on the goblins.
After the spell had worked on the Assassin, Shade had found himself
wondering if it actually could work on live creatures without
harming them. Eventually he had broken down and tried it, and was
rewarded with a rather cranky but very live goblin afterwards. It
made the task ahead of them much easier to have the creatures
stored in the stones. The idea of having a hundred angry stinking
goblins on his ship had never set well with him.

“I’ll let you know what he says,” Charm said
before walking off toward the camp once more.

Shade watched him go and smiled faintly. He
couldn’t blame the rogue for being in such a hurry to get away from
the cage. The combination of the smell of blood and that of the
goblins was enough to make anyone feel sick. Sadly, he had gotten
used to the scent weeks ago. With a faint groan he made his way
back to the cage. The wind in the clearing picked up a bit and
Shade tightened his coat around him. Glancing up at the overcast
sky he sighed again. From the looks of it they would have snow
tonight. If it came too heavily it would make the mission much more
difficult. He shook his head and looked back to the goblins. “You
know, where I come from, it wouldn’t snow for another two moons,”
he grumbled and all the creatures but the small quiet one ignored
him completely. He raised an eyebrow at the creature that was
staring directly at him and motioned a hand toward the sky. “Snow
sucks,” he said in slow stilting words.

It garbled something at him and waved its
hands over its head in a pale mockery of his own actions.
“Shakudoobie to you too.” Shade chuckled, wondering if the word had
actually been garble or if the creatures had their own language
aside from snarls and growls. He frowned a bit at the thought and
pushed it away from his mind. Considering what he had planned for
the goblins he didn’t want to put too much thought into wondering
if they had a culture or language.

* * *

By the time he finished with storing the
creatures, the sun was setting low in the west. If the Blights were
as much like their goblin kin as Shade suspected, they would be
venturing out to hunt now. He opened the cage door and stepped
inside to gather the stones from the floor of the cage. It was
tricky to stone an object without touching it but he had developed
the technique after two goblin bites. Scooping them up quietly he
dropped all but one into the bag that held the rest. The last stone
he picked up was the quieter creature that had spoken to him.
Glancing around to make sure Charm was nowhere in sight, Shade
dropped the stone into his pocket. Even if the creature hadn’t
truly been talking it had been peaceful compared to its savage kin
and he hated the thought of killing it.

“I’ve heard Goblins make poor pets,” a low
voice whispered near the cage and Shade actually jumped at the
sound. He had just looked around and the night had seemed empty.
Spinning toward the voice, Shade could barely make out the faint
form of a man leaning against the cage. The shadows on that side
were too dense for him to make out the man’s features, though.
“Jumpy, aren’t we,” Lutheron said as he stepped away from the cage
wall and into the faint light coming from the ship.

“Damn, Lutheron, you scared the hell out of
me,” Shade said with a relieved sigh. “I thought a bloody Blight
had wandered in for some chit chat.” He shook his head at the
Fionaveir who wore an expression of quiet delight.

“I am rather good at frightening. That is why
you want me here, after all,” Lutheron said with a grim smile. “So,
tell me, Shade, what exactly am I supposed to do for this plan of
yours to work?”

“Stand outside the city and make everything
too scared to leave the walls. Charm said you can do that. You can,
right?” Shade raised an eyebrow and studied the man. Eldagar was a
very large city. To lay an aura of fear over the entire wall was no
minor act of magic. If Lutheron actually could, then the man was
far more formidable than anyone actually said.

“Just the walls? Or shall I start with the
country side surrounding the city and work my way in so I drive
whatever hunters might be about, back toward their refuge?”
Lutheron asked casually.

“You can do that?” Shade said, his tone
betraying the amazement he felt.

Lutheron smirked and nodded faintly. “It
shouldn’t be a problem. I’m curious how you intend to keep from
pissing yourself while I’m doing it however.”

“Take a leak right before we go up and remind
myself over and over that I will have to clean up any mess I make,”
Shade replied, drawing an amused chuckle from the older man.
“Really, it’s Charm I’m worried about. He keeps raving about me
being insane and seems the nervous sort.”

“There are those that run, those that fight,
and those that go mad from fear. Charm is a runner. Tie him into
the ship if you wish to keep him there. He is a rogue and not
nearly as flamboyant as you in his methods. He doesn’t care much
for this kind of excitement,” Lutheron said and glanced back toward
the campsite. “What do you intend to do with Remedy though?” he
asked, his voice softer and holding a note of what might have been
pity.

“Truthfully, I hadn’t planned on him at all.
I’m rather hoping he can stay with you during this. He has had a
rough time of it and I don’t want to add more to his burden,” Shade
answered.

Lutheron nodded his agreement and motioned
back toward the ship. “Let’s be done with this then. There are
difficulties elsewhere in the world that I must see to by
morning.”

Shade nodded and walked back toward the
campfire where Charm and Remedy waited. Charm looked up quickly at
his approach and stood at the first glimpse of Lutheron. He bowed
low in respect and stood quickly, causing his long blond braid to
fall over his shoulder. “Commander Lutheron, I’m pleased you could
make it on such short notice,” he began, but Lutheron raised a hand
to cut him off.

“We’ve worked together before, Charm. You
know better than to use the Commander shit on me,” he said gruffly
and looked down to Remedy. Frowning, he dropped down to a knee
bringing himself eye to eye with the man. “Remmy, Symphony told me
to bring you home. She says she misses you too much to let you
continue gallivanting about.”

“I can’t face her, Lutheron,” Remedy said
faintly, refusing to meet Lutheron’s gaze.

“Why?” Lutheron asked simply. There was no
accusation at all in Lutheron’s sharp features, nor in his voice.
If anything, the man seemed genuinely puzzled by the response.

“I’ve betrayed her. The Barrier on Sanctuary
went up just days after my capture. They must have found out from
me that we intended to call the vote soon,” Remedy replied, his
voice trembling. “How can I face her after what I’ve done? There is
no hope of a vote now. It will be bloody war and it’s my fault.” He
raised his hands to cover his face and shook his head. The agonized
tone in the man’s voice made Shade flinch. He could remember the
feeling of disappointing his father and what Remedy felt must be
ten times worse.

Lutheron reached up and pulled his hands back
down forcing Remedy to look at him. “They must have found out from
you?” he repeated with a raised eyebrow. “You don’t know they found
out from you? You don’t remember telling them anything? Is that
what you are saying?” He fired the questions off so rapidly that
Remedy simply gaped at him for a moment.

“How else would they find out, Lutheron?”
Remedy asked, sounding anguished.

“That’s a damn good question that I will find
the answer for. I’ll believe a dancing monkey dropped down from the
sky and sang it to them before I’ll believe you told them, though,”
Lutheron shot back. He pulled the man to his feet and roughly
clapped him on the back. “I’ve known you since you were a child,
Remmy. You are as loyal and true as Caspian himself. I will never
believe you betrayed the Fionaveir and I’ll have the head of anyone
that suggests it. Are we clear?”

Remedy stared at him for a long moment before
nodding slightly. “I don’t remember speaking to them about
anything, Lutheron. They tried everything, but I didn’t utter a
sound, and yet the Barrier is up. Why else would they raise the
Barrier unless they knew we meant to call a vote? What if they had
a Mind mage work on me and I don’t remember it?” Doubt crept back
into his voice as he spoke the last.

“They didn’t. It would require one of the
Han’shy themselves to work on your mind and none of the Han’shy
would. You did not sell our secrets, Remmy. You are innocent. Quit
blaming yourself and come with me. We apparently have a city to
help destroy tonight.” Lutheron patted him on the back once more
and then turned to look at Shade. “We will be positioned on the
Northern side of the city. Let me know when you are in the air and
I will begin,” he said and disappeared with Remedy before Shade had
a chance to respond.

Glancing at Charm with a smile Shade tossed
him the bag containing the goblin stones. “I, for one, have never
trusted singing sky monkeys. Especially not when they are dancing,”
he said as he headed toward the ship.

Charm gave a snort of amusement and fell into
step beside him. “So, I’m supposed to simply crack the stones and
throw them out of the ship right?” he asked and looked down into
the bag with a skeptical expression.

“Essentially. Oh, and Lutheron says you have
to tie yourself into the ship, too,” Shade said as he dropped down
into his pilot seat and began the pre-flight check.

“Tie myself into the ship?” Charm asked,
sounding incredulous.

“Yep, he is afraid you will jump ship,
literally,” Shade replied and nodded toward the cargo area. “There
is rope back there. Get strapped in, oh shadowy one, it’s going to
be a rough ride.”

“I wish you wouldn’t say things like that.
Whatever happened to the calm and collected Christian that was so
well spoken and was never accused of being insane,” Charm sighed
and began to walk back toward the cargo bay.

“His father killed him and I buried him,”
Shade said quietly, ignoring the look Charm cast back over his
shoulder.

* * *