Darkness Falls (Tales of the Wolf) (37 page)

Moving down the stairs, Anasazi glanced at the gnomish water clock behind the bar. It was just past eight bells, midnight Anasazi corrected himself since he wasn’t aboard a ship, and the inn was still crowded. Glancing at the stage, he spied Rhea Nightingale playing a lively tune on her mandolin while Tallon did his best to keep time with her on his lute. Seeing them still on stage explained a lot, Rhea was always good for business and Tallon was very charismatic for his age and a local favorite.

As Anasazi joined his friends at a reserved table near the bar, Rjurik looked up and grinned. “Ah, there you are old man. Ronin was just explaining his mission here in Asylum.”

The old shaman pulled out an empty chair and sat down next to the blind monk. “Which is?”

The dwarf finished taking a long swig of ale and wiped his beard off on his sleeve. “He is to open a monastery and needs our help.”

Anasazi nodded. “That is a wonderful idea and a great place for your strays.”

Master Pau turned his sightless face toward the old shaman. “Strays?”

Ronin answered. “It seems that Rjurik and Aleena have been sheltering the city’s unwanted children.”

“Really?” Master Pau faced the married couple. “That is commendable. They should be your first group of students Ronin.”

“Don’t you mean our first group?”

Master Pau shook his head. “No. My destiny lies down a different path than yours. It is not your time to take this journey. One day perhaps but not tonight.”

Ronin’s face dropped. “But…but…”

“No buts. You knew this day would come. You have the tools to accomplish this stage of your mission, now you must find the courage to walk your path alone.”

Ronin lowered his head. “Yes master.”

“I am sure that Rjurik and Aleena will aid you as best as they can in the years to come,” added Anasazi.

The cryptic way he said that caught Rjurik’s attention. “Sounds as if you won’t be around to help.”

Anasazi nodded. “You are correct. I have spent too much time being stagnate while our true enemy has been fortifying her positions. It is time I resumed my duties elsewhere.”

Neither Rjurik nor Aleena understood everything the old shaman had truly said but they did understand that he was leaving. Rjurik had known him the longest and had been expecting this for years but even so, it was disheartening to hear that it was time. Out of a long-standing habit, Rjurik tapped out his pipe and began to refill it until he caught the stern look from his wife. Putting it away, he asked, “And when will you be leaving?”

Anasazi looked around. He had been content here. Honestly, it had been the closest to true happiness he had known in ages but it was time to move on. He knew it now. He felt it in his bones. It was time to make amends to his parents and strive to undo the mistake he had made all those centuries ago.

Anasazi stood up and walked around the table to stand next to Aleena. “There is no time like the present.” He leaned down and gave her a gentle hug. “Keep my room available. Better yet, give it to Tallon. He is growing up and will need his own space. Besides, soon you will need the extra space for your daughter.”

Aleena returned the embrace. “Goodbye Anasazi. I will miss you.”

Anasazi reached down and wiped away her tears. “This isn’t goodbye, not really. We will see each other once more before the end, this I know.”

Aleena had no idea what the old man was talking about but grinned slightly and nodded.

Rjurik stood up and held out his hand. “May the road rise up to meet you and the wind be ever at your back.”

Anasazi grinned as he clasped forearms with the sturdy dwarf. “May the sun shine warm upon your face and the rain fall softly on your fields.”

Together they finished the ancient blessing, “Until we meet again, may the Trôika hold you in a warm embrace.”

Anasazi snapped his fingers and his staff appeared in his hand and a rucksack of his belongings materialized at his feet. Reaching down, he pick up his bag and walked to the door but paused and looked back over his shoulder. “Tell Tallon goodbye for me. And let him know I left something special for him in his room.”

Aleena nodded. “We will.”

Without saying another word, the ancient shaman walked out of the Inn of Quiet Repose.

*    *    *   *    *

In the darkest hours of the night, Kâlikâ shuffled across the sands of the Lüdüs Lupus until she reached the corpse of Zivën Tenëbráe the fallen Blademaster of Timgâd. By Svartálfar tradition, the body of a fallen Blademaster is left to rot where he or she fell. No burial and no last rites. A Blademaster’s path is a lonely one, in life and in death.

Kâlikâ shook her head. “Zivën, you always were a cocky son-of-a-bitch. I warned you to beware of the Shadow but did you listen?”

The withered old witch thumped the corpse on the forehead and Zivën’s eyes flew open. However, his bright purple eyes were now milky white with coal black irises. Kâlikâ thumped him again. “I asked you a question.”

“What? What?”

Kâlikâ shook her head. “You know, you never were the sharpest sword in the rack but even you can figure this one out.”

Zivën blinked his eyes several times, then opened and closed his mouth. He quickly realized that he didn’t need to swallow or breath and everything had a sort of greyish haze to it. “I’m dead.”

Kâlikâ cackled. “Wow, you are a bright one. Of course, you are dead. That’s what happens when a two foot piece of metal is rammed through your midsection.”

Zivën sat up and pulled free the blade that killed him. “Where is that bastard? I’ll kill him.”

“Not so fast you dolt. I didn’t recall you from the afterlife so you could enact your revenge.”

Zivën turned his baleful gaze on the witch. “Why did you bring me back?”

“So you could enact my revenge.” Kâlikâ chuckled and turned away. Her laughter echoed in the dark corridors.

Zivën shuffled after her, not knowing what she had planned but he recognized he must serve her or go back to being food for worms. It was a simple choice.

Chapter 40

Gray had found the chambers of Zivën to be overly luxurious for his tastes but he had to admit, they were comfortable. It was basically a three room suite. The main entry room acted as a sitting room with big comfortable pillows and a fireplace on one wall. That same wall held the doorway to the bedroom and shared the fireplace.

The opposite wall held the entrance to Zivën’s armory. Weapons of all types lined the wall ranging from daggers to axes to polearms to bows and finally to swords. At random, Gray pulled down a cutlass. It was well balanced and the edge was razor-sharp. Replacing the blade, he realized that he felt content in this room. Probably more comfortable than any time in his life, except those days before he was captured.

Gray turned his attention to the large table that took up the entire center of the room. On top were maps and charts of Terreth, covering nearly every region and section of the known world but underneath were the dossiers of the students. Gray pulled up a stool and began to pour through the files.

At first, he was excited to have such information readily available but the more he read, the more appalled he became. Evidently, Zivën had a wide-ranging sexual appetite and used his position to feed it. He ranked his students not by their fighting aptitudes but by their compliance to his desires. According to Zivën’s notes, those that performed his extracurricular activities were to receive extra weapons instruction. However, from what Gray saw of the students, they weren’t getting any.

Out of
curiosity, Gray pulled out the files on Khan and Rjani. Both were marked with the ‘untouchable’ rune. Scanning the notes, it seems that neither would succumb to the pressures of Zivën’s bribes and had been written off by the Blademaster as fodder.

Hearing a knock on the door brought Gray back to reality. In his mind, he had been slowly dismembering the fallen Blademaster while the students watched and cheered him on. Gray wasn’t sure which bothered him more, the cheers of the crowd or the lack of remorse he felt towards Zivën.

Knock. Knock.

“I’m coming,” shouted Gray.

As he opened the door, Tamina leapt into his arms. “Not yet but soon.”

“What?”

“Shh…..” she said as her mouth found his and they enjoyed a long passionate kiss. Her hands began to pull off his clothes. “We can talk later. Right now I want you out of these clothes.”

Gray must not have been moving fast enough for her as she ripped off his shirt. They kissed and laughed as they began to make their way to the bedroom. Every few steps they would stop to shed another article of clothing and send it flying. Finally, they reached the large bed of the fallen Blademaster and proceeded to christen it. The two Sicárii rarely had this much alone time together without the threat of someone barging in on them. Therefore, the two lovers took their time pleasuring each other until they lay totally exhausted, at least sexually.

Tamina rolled on to her side with one leg draped over Gray’s. His hands were absentmindedly playing with her nipples and were threatening to arouse her again. Smacking his hand aside, Tamina grabbed it and pulled it close to her heart. “Grim, there is something I need to tell you.”

Gray shifted positions until he was facing her. “Yes love?”

“I’m not looking for anything in return nor do I want you to say anything right away. Can you do that?”

Confused, Gray nodded. “Certainly.”

“I’ve felt this way for some time but never found the right time to tell you.” Tamina paused, there was so much to say but where to start? She gazed into her lover’s storm grey eye and knew this was the time. It was past time to come clean about everything. “Grim, I love you. And…”

The sounds of someone pounding on his door interrupted them.

Gray’s hand shot out to the side, he grabbed a nearby dagger and the tender moment was lost. His eyes flicked to the door and back to Tamina. “I’m sorry Mouse, you were saying?”

Knock, knock,
knock. But this time they were harder and louder as if someone was kicking the door.

Tamina shook her head. “
Never mind, it can wait. Go see who’s at the door.”

Gray flashed her a crooked grin, leaned forward and gave her a quick kiss before jumping out of bed to find his pants.

Tamina’s courage had failed her the moment she heard that initial knock. It was scary enough trying to tell someone for the first time that you love them. However, add having to tell him that he was going to be a father made it downright terrifying.

*    *    *   *    *

Gray had leapt at the interruption.

The moment Mouse had used the L-word, images of Annabelle had flooded his mind. Her death and his failure still haunted him. Then, there was the fact that Tamina did not know his real name or his true history. Eventually, he would have to tell her. But how do you explain to someone that you’ve been intimate with that you have been lying to them for nearly a decade?

Clang, clang, clang.

Now his visitor was banging on his door with the hilt of a weapon. Whoever it was, they wanted to speak with him in a rush. Keeping his foot behind the door in case his visitor tried to push it open and rush inside, Gray shifted the dagger into an attack position and opened the door a crack.

“Yes? Who is it?”

“Open up,
it’s me,” came a voice out of his memory and one that was totally unexpected.

Gray threw the door wide and gazed out. Sure enough, there stood Chikk Forlorn; the Captain of the infamous pirate ship the Ebony Eagle.

“Hello Grim, you are looking well.”

“Chikk! By the Gods you look stunning.”

Gray wasn’t lying. The dark elven pirate was dressed in skin-tight black leather pants with red trim and corset over a white blouse with puffy sleeves that were held in place with matching leather bracers. On her hip were her ever-present silver rapier and main-gauche. Her whitish-silver hair was pulled back to reveal her fine-chiseled features and long neck. In many ways, Chikk was Lalith’s rival. Granted when the two stood side by side, the Dark Lady was more beautiful but it was more of an ethereal quality and Chikk had a simple down-home attitude that endeared her to everyone who knew her.

Gray hadn’t seen the dark elven pirate since the day she had completed her servitude to Lalith. The moment her time was up, Chikk turned and walked away. She didn’t pause to gather her things or say good-bye to anyone.

Chikk smiled at his compliment. “Thank you but where is he?”

“Pardon me? Who are you looking for?”

Before she could answer his question, Tamina sauntered into the main room with only a flimsy sheet wrapped around herself. “Grim, who was at the door? Oh, Chikk…hi.”

The pirate captain flashed her former student a knowing grin. “Tamina, I see that you two have finally become more than friends.” When the two Sicárii began to speak, Chikk held up her hands. “No need to explain. You are no longer my students, so I don’t care. What I do care about is the location of Darnac.”

That got Gray’s attention. “Why? What’s wrong?”

Chikk chewed on her lip for a second before gesturing to the couch. “Do you mind?”

Gray slapped himself in the forehead. “Certainly, sorry about that. Come in, come in.”

Chikk moved to the couch and the two assassins sat across from her and waited. “It’s hard to explain. You both know that Dar and I have been seeing each other off and on for many years. Well, even though Lalith keeps Dar busy, we meet every few weeks in a certain bar in Otrar. It has become a ritual. If one of cannot make it, we send each other a message. This has been true for the last seven years, until now.”

Gray scratched his chin. “Well, I saw Darnac just a few days ago and he was heading off to the Highlands in search of whatever was causing problems with our secondary forces. Somehow, every attack failed. Darnac suspects a traitor in the upper command structure but he was unsure of who or if he did know, he didn’t tell me.”

Tamina cleared her throat. “I’m not sure if this is related or not but there are rumors of unrest in the Highlands. According to my sources, several tribes of orcs have gone rogue and have entrenched themselves in the southern reaches of the Dragonfang Mountains.”

Gray gave his lover a sidelong glance. “How is it you know this?”

“I’m called Mouse for a number of reasons. You would be surprised how sneaky I can be.”

Gray laughed. “You’ll have to tell me about it someday.”

Tamina gave him a reassuring grin. “Someday.”

Gray stood up, moved to the war room, and pulled out several maps of the Highlands. Scanning the runes on the Dragonfang Mountains, he pointed. “Here. According to this map, a passageway winds through the mountains and comes out in the Southlands north of Krantos. If Darnac was investing such claims, that’s where he would start.”

Chikk scanned the map. The closest waterway was at least fifty leagues south of the passageway and it wasn’t a friendly port for pirates, especially dark elf pirates. She shook her head. “If he is in trouble, I cannot reach him in time.”

Gray grinned. “Yes you can.”

“How?”

“I am Sicárii and now, I am the Weaponsmaster of the Lüdüs, who’s going to stop me from using the Scriptorium?” Gray shrugged. “At this moment, there are only a handful of people higher in rank in the entire Dark Alliance.”

Chikk’s face brightened. “Then you’ll help?”

“Aye, two is better than one anyway.”

“Three, I’m coming,” added Tamina.

“But…but…”

Tamina pointed her finger at Gray’s nose. “No buts, I owe Darnac. Besides, something tells me you are going to need my help.”

“Okay. Let me get ahold of Falcon and catch him up on the situation. You two gather the supplies and be ready to leave at dawn.” Gray grabbed his tunic and sword belt and rushed out the door.

Once he was gone, Chikk smiled at her former pupil. “Does he know?”

“Know what?”

“That he’s going to be a father?”

Tamina blushed as she shook her head. “No. I was going to tell him but I lost my nerve.”

Chikk reached out and patted her hand. “Don’t put it off until
it’s too late, you will regret it.”

From the conviction in her tone, Tamina realized that she was speaking with the voice of experience. Without anything else to say, Chikk
receded into her memories and Mouse began getting ready.

*    *    *   *    *

Galvorn was overwhelmed. That was the only word he could come up with to describe everything he was feeling. Not only had he defeated Zivën and become a Blademaster, but his mother had actually looked on him with pride and whisked him away to some unknown location. He could tell from the hot humid weather that they were in the deep south and near the ocean but that was about it. After applying some purple goo to his wound, Lalith had deposited him in a luxurious suite and disappeared.

Galvorn studied his surroundings. On the other side of the room was an open doorway that lead out to a balcony and let in the fresh ocean breeze. The majority of the room was crafted in white marble with highlights of black. It was a bit ostentatious for his tastes but then, he’d been living the lifestyle of a warrior-assassin for the last decade.

The door opened behind him and in rushed a half dozen deeply tanned and beautiful young ladies. They all had black hair and were naked to the waist with only a thin white loincloth to cover their privates. Without a word to him, they undressed him and gently led him to a pool of steaming water. They began the process of cleaning him from head to toe and as odd as it was at first, Galvorn had to admit it was extremely relaxing. He did find it strange that none of the girls would look him in the eyes or answer any of his questions. They just went about their duties and once they were finished, climbed out of the pool and departed.

Galvorn gazed around the room. The servants had taken his clothes but had left his weapons untouched and nearby. Reaching out to pick them up, Galvorn noticed that his shoulder didn’t ache. Shifting both tulwars into his left hand, he ripped off the bandage and noticed that
there was only a faint greyish scar.

“Feeling refreshed?” came a voice from behind.

Galvorn reacted out of habit. Pulling free one tulwar, he dropped the other sword and empty scabbard before diving forward into a shoulder-roll. Landing in a fighting stance, Galvorn had his tulwar up in a defensive position and hesitated.

Lalith stood on the far side of the pool with her hair pulled back and wearing a sheer red robe that barely hid her perfectly formed body. Ignoring the drawn sword, Lalith let her eyes roam up and down her son’s well-developed body. Flashing him a little grin, she reached up and undid the ties on her robe. With a simple shrug, she let it fall to the floor. She drew her shoulders back and even added a little arch to her spine to enhance her wares as she displayed them to the young warrior. Moving with the grace of a panther, Lalith descended into the steaming water of the pool.

“Come join me.”

Galvorn was confused. Obviously he was not about to be attacked but he had dropped the scabbard and could not wrench his eyes away from her perfect body to find it. Her body was magnificent. There was something captivating about the female form, especially one as perfect as hers was.