Abuud: the One-Eyed God (6 page)

He raced quietly down the stairs and slid back under them and waited. Time seemed to stand still as the servant hid in the darkness waiting for the assassin to appear. He had studied the history of Herzel when he had learned who was supposed to perform the murder. He shook his head as he recalled the blunders Herzel had committed in the past. The man had nerve even calling himself an assassin, Fable thought. In truth, Herzel was nothing more than a common thief, and not a very good one at that. Even this simple job was beyond his abilities.

Fabel heard the window in the study sliding open. He cringed involuntarily when he heard a loud thump as Herzel landed on the floor. Fabel shook his head in the darkness and waited to hear the passing of the thief. Herzel tried to be quiet, but if Duke D'Ales had even one decent guard, the thief would have been captured before he made the second floor. Fabel waited until he heard the thief ascending the stairs and then swiftly raced into the study. He slid the window closed and locked it. Reaching into his waistband, Fabel pulled out another dagger and jabbed it between the two windows. He rotated it until the lock was pried loose. He then grabbed the lower window and carried it to the hallway.

He heard a door close overhead and he shook his head in dismay. The thief had entered the wrong room and had not even found the body yet. Fabel waited patiently as he listened to the footsteps of the thief in the quiet stillness of the night air. When he figured that the thief had entered the master's suite, Fabel hurled the window into the study. The glass shattered noisily as Fabel raced for the stairs to the servants' level. He padded silently down the stairs and slid back into his sleeping chamber. He lowered himself onto his mat and pulled the thin cover over himself as he heard the shouting begin upstairs.

Jenneva and Tanya entered the dense fog and dismounted. Moans of the injured drifted eerily through the air. The sounds of people moving about appeared magnified and directionless. Hearing no sounds of continuing battle, Jenneva raised her arms and dispersed the fog. She inhaled audibly at the sight of goblin bodies strewn along the trail as the sun illuminated the forest. The floor of the forest was soaked in blood and bodies were everywhere. She pivoted to the source of movement and her heart skipped a beat when she saw Alex covered in blood. Tanya gasped loudly at the sight of Alex, but Jenneva saw the smile on his face and rushed over to him.

"It is not my blood," greeted Alex. "The plan worked well. We have some wounded unicorns that will require attention. Tanya can help you."

"Arik and Tedi?" Tanya inquired cautiously.

"Both are fine," smiled Alex. "They are with Prince Midge searching for any surviving goblins. The unicorns' attack was devastating. They are fierce allies. I have always admired the fighting ability of Kaz and Yorra, but I have never witnessed what the unicorns can accomplish in great numbers. The goblins did not have a chance."

"Why are you covered in blood?" scowled Tanya. "Could you not have just used your bow and not endangered yourself in close combat?"

"Some of the goblins tried to turn back when they heard the cries of those before them," shrugged Alex. "I had to block their escape. I will clean up after we are sure the goblins are accounted for."

"Let us tend to the wounded," Jenneva suggested to Tanya. "We can discuss the battle later."

Alex looked towards Tice and saw the defenders probing the goblin bodies outside the walls of the garrison. "I must check with the garrison and let them know the threat is over," he stated. "We can talk later."

Tanya shook her head as Alex strode out of the forest towards Tice.

"How do you live with him?" sighed Tanya. "I swear he cannot fight a battle without throwing himself into the middle of it. There was no reason to leave concealment and block the trail. The Tice garrison could have handled the strays. Does he seek to end his life early?"

"Who can say what goes through the mind of a man?" Jenneva responded. "I understand his battle skills as well as he understands my magic. It is his realm and I have learned to accept his judgment."

"How can you say that?" persisted Tanya. "Did you feel nothing when you saw him covered in blood? Can you truly say that you felt no emotion?"

"Of course I felt emotion," scowled Jenneva. "Do you know how many times I have wondered whether he was alive or dead? My heart stops every time I think of him wounded and dying. One would think that the emotions would diminish after years of narrow calls, but they do not. What I have learned is to hide those emotions. You need to work on that."

"Me?" queried Tanya. "I have no need to hide my emotions. My husband will never be so foolish as to constantly impress me with his narrow escapes from death. You need to set some ground rules for Alex. Why should I learn to hide my emotions?"

"Because your love for Alex is quite visible," replied Jenneva as she turned to find the unicorns that had been wounded.

"What?" screamed Tanya as she ran after Jenneva. "How dare you say that? I am not in love with a man who is well past his prime. And I do not hunt for a husband in another woman's bed. You owe me an apology."

Jenneva stopped and placed her hands on her hips as she turned to face Tanya. "Past his prime?" growled Jenneva. "There is not a man alive that can best Alex in battle. Or woman for that matter," she added as she looked Tanya in the eye.

"But he is old," Tanya persisted.

"As for your search for a husband," softened Jenneva, "I am not accusing you of attempting to steal Alex from me. To do so would be the battle of your life. Still, I know love when I see it. You care for Tedi, and you are attracted to Arik more every day, but your anger with Alex is the sign of a powerful love that you cannot deny. At first it was an infatuation born of tales told by your uncle, but it has changed. The tales no longer impress you, but the man himself does."

Jenneva turned and continued up the trail, leaving Tanya staring after her. She quickly found a unicorn with several arrows protruding from his hide. The unicorn was prone in the trail and Jenneva knelt beside him. Tanya soon knelt alongside Jenneva and drew her knife. As Tanya worked to cut the arrows from the flesh, Jenneva magically calmed the unicorn and placed herbs in his mouth.

"Does Alex feel like you do?" Tanya asked softly. "Does he think I love him?"

Jenneva chuckled softly and smiled, "Alex does not know what to make of you. It took several years for Alex to realize that I loved him when everyone else already knew. While Alex is perceptive in many areas, love is not one of them. He sees your actions and emotions as irrational and illogical. The way you act confuses him."

Tanya placed her hand over the wounds one at a time and invoked a spell that would speed the healing of the scarred flesh. She looked up as she heard Arik and Tedi approaching. She watched as the boys got closer. Tedi walked with a boastful swagger while Arik strode confidently, observing everything around him. She tried to overlay the image of Alex in the approaching group and came up with the vision of a stride that was wary, hiding his tenseness under the façade of a calm carefree posture. She suddenly realized that much could be learned about a person by simple observation and vowed to begin a study of people and their emotions. She would also accept Jenneva's suggestion to hide her emotions. Whatever her feelings were for other people, Tanya had to learn to hide them.

"It is going to be quite a task to burn all of these goblin bodies," Tedi stated as they stopped next to Jenneva.

"Talk to Larastrides, Arik," suggested Jenneva. "Perhaps the unicorns can help transport the bodies to the clearing before Tice. We certainly do not want to attract predators closer to the garrison. The bodies must be disposed of."

"Are there many dead and wounded among the unicorns?" questioned Tanya.

"Much less than we expected," answered Arik. "The unicorns have proven to be deadly warriors. The goblins never really had a chance. I think we can bind groups of goblin bodies together, and the unicorns can pull them into the clearing."

"It would take days to gather the wood for such large fires," complained Tedi. "Can't we just let them rot?"

"Who knows what diseases we might allow to spread," frowned Jenneva. "Just heap the bodies into large piles in the clearing. We will create magical fires to consume them."

Tanya rose and proceeded to the next wounded unicorn and Jenneva followed. Arik and Tedi searched for Larastrides and managed to help organize the unicorns into teams for dragging the goblin bodies to the clearing. The task of transporting the bodies lasted throughout the day and the sun was setting when Jenneva started igniting the fires. The men from Tice helped to collect the goblins and managed to strip the bodies of anything useable. As the western sky glowed orange with the setting sun, the Alcea Rangers gathered around the campfire on the edge of the clearing.

"I am exhausted," sighed Tedi. "It was more work to take care of the bodies than it was to kill them."

"Be glad you are around to complain about the task," instructed Alex. "It could easily have gone the other way if the goblins had detected what we were doing."

"The people of Tice sure were happy," commented Arik. "They opened their homes to us, so we could clean up after the battle. Do you think the goblins will attack again?"

"Hard to tell," puzzled Alex. "I suspect that they expected to wipe Tice off the map with this attack. Their losses were enormous and the few who escaped may not be believed when they try to explain how they lost. The Tice garrison will have to remain vigilant."

"I will ask Larastrides to maintain contact with the garrison," suggested Arik. "If the goblins threaten Tice again, they will know to contact the unicorns."

"A good idea," nodded Jenneva, "but they will not have the magical diversion next time."

"What about our use of magic?" questioned Tanya. "Won't it alert Sarac?"

"The clearing of the sky over northern Targa has already done that," Jenneva responded. "It is time to find out where we are heading next."

Arik nodded and withdrew the Sword of Heavens from its sheath. He also took from his pouch the glass bead that had fallen out of the Sword of Heavens after the Unicorns' Opal had been put in place. The Rangers stood in a circle around the campfire and Arik threw the glass bead into the fire. The fire hissed and the smoke formed into a dense cloud over the fire.

The Rangers were ready for another vision depicting the location of the Diamond of Edona, but what appeared was only the image of a breastplate. The breastplate rotated, and the Rangers stood in awe as they gazed upon it. The face of the breastplate was emblazoned with an image that was identical to the mark on Arik's chest. A reptile, which resembled a snake with legs, sported a large pair of wings and had a forked tongue protruding from its mouth. The reptile was a bright green and the wings were black.  The eyes and protruding tongue were a vivid red.

"What does it mean?" asked Tedi as the image blinked out of existence and the smoke cloud dissipated. "It does not tell us anything about the location of the diamond."

"It is unlike the other visions we received," agreed Tanya. "What does the Sword of Heavens say?"

"The bead has been restored," replied Arik as he gripped the Sword of Heavens. "It points a little west of south," he continued as he rotated while holding the Sword of Heavens. "It feels far away like it did the other times."

"We will take a ship to Tagaret," decided Alex. "There are a few things there that we must attend to anyway. We will leave in the morning."

***

Duke Everich closed the door to the interrogation room and walked slowly to the Council Chamber. He planned his next moves as he strode confidently through the door to the Council Chamber.

"Councilors," greeted Duke Everich. "I am sure that you have heard of the unfortunate demise of Duke D'Ales by now. This meeting was called to fill the vacancy created by his untimely death."

Duke Everich appeared to scan the faces of the other councilors as he spoke, but he actually was concentrating on the face of Duke Engar.  A series of hands rose for recognition and Duke Everich smiled as he anticipated the rush to place names into nomination for the empty slot.

"Duke Engar," Duke Everich smiled grimly, "you seek recognition?"

"I do," answered the councilor as he rose. "I would like to place in nomination the name of Lady Forloe. Most of us are familiar with Niki, and I think she could offer much to this Council."

Duke Everich frowned at the choice for nominee posed by Duke Engar. He had been prepared to offer up Niki's name himself, but her nomination coming from the employer of the assassin greatly disturbed him. What was worse was that Duke Everich noticed several other councilor's hands were lowered by the nomination, indicating that they too had planned to nominate Niki. While he understood Dalgar's plan was to make Fredrik and Niki popular, he was shocked at the large response directed in her favor. Clearly there was some part of the plan that Dalgar had not shared with him. Duke Everich drummed his fingers on the table and stared at Duke Engar. Finally, he stood to regain the floor of the meeting.

"While I stated that the purpose of this meeting was to fill the vacancy," Duke Everich began, "I became privy to information that is much more important on my way here. I am afraid that nominations will have to wait for another meeting."

Murmurs ran around the table. Duke Everich noticed three councilors who had lowered their hands after the nomination whispering to each other. He made a note to check out their alliances later. The other murmurs appeared to be in regards to the break in usual protocol.

"What some of you may not know," Duke Everich continued, "is that Duke D'Ales died a violent death last night. He was assassinated. While we have had problems of this nature in the past, this particular episode troubles me greatly. The army was fortunate to capture the assassin before he got away."

The volume of the murmurs increased and Duke Everich watched as Duke Engar's face paled visibly.