Tides of Blood and Steel (3 page)

Nothol Coll looked back over his shoulder and said, “We’ll wait for you at Sundin Pond.”

Bahr gave him a halfhearted salute. “Sundin Pond.”

The plan wasn’t much but it was the best they could come up with on such short notice. The orange glow on the horizon stole his attention back. It called to him. Bahr grunted frustrations and tried to put it from his mind. Revenge was a hard thing to postpone when your life was all but destroyed.

“Captain, are you all right?” Rekka asked gently.

“Would you be?” he countered.

She chose not to reply. Her fears had long haunted her. She’d seen destruction on a massive scale before and prayed she never had to again. Fate would not be so kind to her. This was by far the most volatile situation she’d ever found herself in. Not even the wars in her home jungle of Brodein matched what was coming here. Rekka maintained her suspicions of the northlands. These were a violent people who took great pride in their warlike prowess. The Dae’shan had chosen well.

Taking her silence for consent, Bahr marched to his horse. Time was against them. The dawn charged fast. He regretted sending Maleela with the wizard. She’d been through so much already it almost seemed unfair that he had asked her to endure more. Still, Anienam Keiss was about the best protection he could offer.

“A fire that big and no one is investigating it? This is not right,” Boen whispered. His right hand rested on his sword. The Gaimosian was ready for a fight.

Bahr agreed. “Harnin must have begun a curfew. The people have been frightened into their homes. Our path is more dangerous than we thought.”

“Nothing a strong sword arm can’t handle.”

Bahr shot him a cautious glance. “I can never tell when you are serious or not.”

Boen smiled and shrugged. “It’s not hurting my feelings any.”

“How far are we from your estate?” Rekka asked.

“Not far. A few hundred meters.”

Rekka rolled her almond eyes. “I suggest you both stop giving away our position then. The enemy might have pickets in the tree line awaiting us.”

The Gaimosian drew his great broadsword. “Let them come. I am tired of hiding in the shadows like a common thief.”

“That old wizard has something up his sleeves,” Bahr added. “I think we are going to be knee deep in battle much sooner than any of us want. Even you, Boen.”

They rode on. Only Ionascu remained closed. He had become a shell of his former self. Watching his men being slaughtered on the docks had driven him to the brink of insanity. The brutality of his torture in the dungeons had ruined his body and fractured his mind. He was Harnin’s spy no longer. The betrayal ate away at him. Foul memories tormented him every time he closed his eyes. Ionascu drowned in an overwhelming sense of hopelessness.

“Hsst, we are here,” Bahr whispered.

The Sea Wolf slipped to the ground and drew his sword. It was time to find out just how thorough Harnin was. The others closed in around him. All but Ionascu were prepared for battle.

“Boen, swing around the right side. The main entrance is directly opposite of us. I don’t suppose I need to tell you to kill anyone who gets in the way.”

The Gaimosian shook his head with a rueful smile. He knew his role well enough and was one of the best at it. It was a gift of his bloodline. The only friendlies around were standing beside him. Everyone else was fair game. The dungeon beatings flashed, driving his battle rage higher. Vengeance Knight. The title was much more than a simple name designed to inspire terror in the unbelievers. Boen fully intended to live up to the name before the first rays of light kissed the frost-covered land. Boen rolled his shoulder muscles and stalked off into the night like some dangerous beast from legend.

Bahr snatched Ionascu by the collar. “You stay here with the horses and watch our backs. Got it?”

The broken man barely nodded. His eyes remained unfocused, staring
off into the snow-covered fields.

Oddly satisfied by the lack of reaction, Bahr said, “Rekka come with me. We secure the perimeter and the barn, get what we need, and get out before they know we are here.”

The first break of dawn breached the horizon. Time was almost up. Boen made first contact with a pair of enemy pickets guarding the front door. A feral grin lit his face. He attacked with impossible speed and grace. Neither guard had a chance. The fight was over before it really began. Boen punched his sword through the first man’s stomach and spun to take the second’s head before either had a chance to draw their blades. Boen dropped into a crouch in search of more targets. Old sensations combined with the sudden rush of adrenaline gave him strength, enhanced his reactions. Born a warrior, he lived every day for the prospect of joining battle with worthy opponents. This was almost too easy. He wasn’t disappointed when he caught the column of torches coming down the main avenue.
Right on time
.

Bahr and Rekka moved just as quickly on securing the barn. Rekka struck hard; ruthless in her assault. Two guards, almost bored with their assignment, lounged against the snow and ice-covered door. Bahr frowned, knowing even with their inattentiveness he’d never be able to cross the distance before one or both raised the alarm. Rekka held no hesitations and charged light-footed across the snow. Her slippered feet landed so lightly she barely left a track before falling on the guards. Stabbing the closest in the chest, she ripped the blade free and spun around to catch the second across the stomach. Blood sprayed out in a grizzly arc, followed closely by organs and viscera as the body dropped. Both guards died without a sound. Rekka knelt and wiped the blood and clumps of flesh from her sword.

Bahr was impressed. Until now he hadn’t seen her in action. She’d only been an idea, not a dangerous weapon capable of slaughtering them all. Her lethality made him nervous and grateful they were allied. “Let’s start loading the wagon. Take all of the weapons and supplies you can find.”

“Where are you going?” Rekka asked almost too innocently.

“Inside. My safe is hidden in my library.”

Rekka accepted his answer and went about her task. The horses hitched easily enough and then she set to loading sheaves of arrows and other weapons. Bahr slipped out the back door. Using the buildings for cover, he skirted around the house and met Boen on the porch. The bigger man was sitting in Bahr’s favorite rocking chair with a flint glare in his eyes.

The Gaimosian pointed down to the flickering torches marching up the road. “Time is almost up.”

Bahr cursed. “Go and help Rekka. I’ll meet you back there in a few minutes.”

Sounds started to come from the road. Angry, purposeful. Boots crunching down the gravel. Metal pauldrons capping shoulders rubbing against breastplates. Bahr guessed they had maybe ten minutes before the soldiers arrived. Out of time, he entered his house for what would be the last time and hurried through the expanse of rooms to his master bedroom. Bahr ran to his safe hidden in the floorboards under the bed and filled the bag he took from the barn with silver and copper coins. Too many large coins would attract unwarranted attention. Lastly, he took a few small pouches of gold coins and tucked them within his inner tunic. A time would come when only gold would see them through.

“Bahr! Come out now you son of a whore!” Harnin’s voice bellowed across the front lawn. “Come out and die with some dignity or I’ll burn this house down around your worthless head.”

Odd, Harnin actually sounded like a man
. Bahr snarled. The snake had spent his life in the shadows and now found himself in a position of power. It was almost laughable. Bahr had no
false
ideations about his estate surviving intact. Venom dripped from Harnin’s voice. Hatred sweat from his pores. They’d never liked each other. Harnin blamed him for the loss of his eye. The battle against a band of raiders had been fierce and many men from both sides were killed. Bahr had one moment of lapse where he failed to protect Harnin’s flank. A raider managed to get within his guard and swipe a dagger across Harnin’s face, ripping out his eye. Truthfully the loss of Harnin’s eye was no one’s fault. It was an act of war as unpredictable as who lived and who died. Regardless, the One Eye maintained a simmering hatred for the king’s brother.

“I know you are in there. You didn’t think you actually stood a chance of escaping, did you?”

Bahr ignored him. The words were nothing but an undisguised attempt to lure him to act rashly. He chuckled. Bahr had played this game for far too long to fall for such a simple trick. He tied off the money sack and slung it over his shoulder. There was still a small window for escape he couldn’t afford to waste. Even now guards and mercenaries were moving to surround the estate. Harnin was content with taunts for now, but it would change as soon as he saw the bodies of his men. Then the fun would begin.

Bahr snuck out the back door and dashed across the yard to the barn. “We need to go.”

The sudden whoosh of roaring flames confirmed his worst fears. Bahr had officially lost everything. His old life was finished. The Bane was gone. His crew killed or imprisoned. Wishing them to escape did little good. They were on their own. Boen, having already abandoned his chair and returned to the barn to help Rekka, tossed the last sack of grain into the wagon bed and collected his sword.

“Do we fight?” he asked.

Bahr reluctantly said, “No. We wouldn’t last. They’ve already lit the house. I’ve got no reason to stay here. They’ll be heading this way next.”

“I am sorry, Captain,” Rekka told him.

He silently accepted her words. “Yeah, so people keep telling me.”

He helped her climb onto the driver’s bench and then ran back to the main door. He and Boen meant to cover the wagon while she escaped back to Ionascu in the forest. The long bow in Boen’s hand surprised him. Gaimosians preferred killing close up with a sword. Arrows seemed dishonorable.

“I didn’t know you knew how to use one of those things,” he told the bigger man.

The Gaimosian shrugged, an act he found himself doing more of as he got older. “I like to keep people surprised. Are you sure we can’t kill a few more just for principle?”

“You are the damnedest man I have ever met. Let’s see what Harnin has in store for us first. I’m expecting him to slip up and we’ll be able to duck out without being seen.”

“I don’t sneak,” Boen frowned.

The wagon creaked by. Bahr idly wondered if Ionascu was still waiting or if he gave in to his nerves and bolted. Truthfully the man was more of a liability now than when he was a spy. He had half a mind to put the man out of his misery. Too bad the wizard said Ionascu had some part to play in the future.

Bahr looked back at the house. “Do you think he brought enough men?”

More than fifty soldiers fanned out in a semicircle around the estate.

Boen tested the strength of the bowstring. “Anything less would be downright insulting.”

One of Harnin’s men spied them and gave a shout. Harnin barked orders. His men formed ranks and prepared to attack. Boen fit an arrow and took aim.

“Can you hit that one-eyed bastard?” Bahr asked.

“If you shut up.”

He fired. The arrow sped fast and true, but he hadn’t taken into account the slight breeze picking up from the massive house fire. Smoke and flames licked into the sky. Harnin raised his sword to issue the charge when the bolt took the man to his right. Blood splashed. The body dropped with a strangled gasp. The order to charge froze in Harnin’s throat. He reluctantly held his forces back as his nemesis slipped into the forest. Their confrontation was going to have to wait.

Harnin sheathed his sword. “Burn it! Burn everything!”

He spun angrily, forcing his gaze away from the forest. Bahr won this time and Harnin lacked the manpower to effectively scour the forest. The wagon rolled, reins snapping for more speed. Bahr stayed a moment longer to ensure they weren’t being pursued. Flames poured from the windows and doors, licking up to the skies as more furniture caught flame.

Into the Tunnels

A stray dog scurried away at the sound of their approach. The dead rat it had been chewing on fell to the ground. Argis stepped past the small corpse and marched on. Skuld walked at his side. Together they traversed the back alleys in the hopes of remaining undiscovered, ranging down into the poorer parts of Chadra. Random patrols were already searching Chadra and Stouds for Bahr and his companions. Argis was immediately uncomfortable. As a lord of Delranan he was unused to seeing this part of town. They’d already passed plenty of homeless, further changing his image of what this noble city was supposed to be.

Former lord, he corrected himself with a smirk. There was no way he’d be able to show his face in Badron’s court again after tonight. Traitor. He tried his best to beat back the feeling. Death was not going to be kind. History might view his deeds differently, but not today. Today he stood a traitor to crown and kingdom. The very thought threatened to drop him to his knees. He’d lived an honorable life, abandoning his core principles in favor of securing his own future, for whatever time he had remaining, was an anathema. But corruption needed to be dealt with quickly and effectively before it could spread. He felt the rot growing, but it was for different reasons he let Prince Aurec into Chadra Keep. Argis vowed to take that secret to the grave. Too much was at stake for him to betray not only himself, but the one he meant to protect.