Jalia and the Slavers (Jalia - World of Jalon) (15 page)

20.
Endgame

The massive double gates of the monastery began to open. Jalia and Daniel stepped out onto the road running alongside the wall and tried to look casual as they walked towards the gates. A horse and cart were coming out of the grounds and the couple walked slowly as if they wanted to give the cart the chance to get onto the road ahead of them.

They stood by the opening gates until they the gap was wide enough for the horse and cart to get out. The crossbowmen above the gate kept their bows angled down but not aimed at either Jalia or Daniel. However, it would be only the work of a moment for them to shift their aim.

Inside the grounds, four alert guards waited, two on each side of the cart. One of them examined the paperwork the driver had given him, though from the guard’s body language he knew the driver well. Jalia and Daniel stepped inside the gates as if trying to get around the back of the cart. Daniel inched his dagger out of its scabbard. He whispered a command and the dagger flew upwards.

It is impossible to know if any of the guards saw the dagger flying towards them. It sliced the throat of the first bowman so deeply the man’s head was nearly cut off. The man slumped forward against the parapet wall and looked much the way he had before the blade struck. The dagger flew upwards for half a second and then dived, taking out the bowman on the other side of the gate. It continued down to the guards on the ground and slit their throats leaving them dead or dying.

Jalia threw a knife, which embedded itself deep into the chest of the cart driver who slumped forward. Daniel wiped his dagger’s blade on the tunic of one of the guards. Jalia retrieved her knife and slapped the cart horse hard on the rump sending it clattering onto the road with its driver’s body rocking on his seat. The horse was familiar with his route and headed down the road apace, turning a corner on its way back to its stables.

Daniel and Jalia heaved the doors closed and ran to get inside the nearest building. This was an impressive long two-story stone structure with its front set at right angles to the outer wall. Once inside, they ran down a long corridor ignoring the doors to right and left of them. At the end of the corridor a small door provided access to a spiral stone staircase leading up. They ran up the stairs and entered the first room they came to, looking for a window overlooking the gates.

Jalia was first to the window and Daniel jostled with her for a view of what was happening outside. What was going on might best be described as organized chaos. Men ran to the gate, struggling to put on their chain mail. A crowd of them had gathered around the bodies on the ground while there was shouting between the men on the ground and those who had arrived on the wall.

Many of the guards looked around nervously. Several carried loaded crossbows and gave the impression they would shoot anything suspicious. A crossbow bolt fired accidentally and clattered against a stone wall

An officer arrived on the scene. He wore a distinctive uniform and the guards backed away from the bodies as he approached. He examined the bodies and ordered a dozen of the men to guard the gate. He ordered others to dispose of the bodies and organized the remaining men into groups.

By this time there were at least a hundred men milling around waiting for their orders. Jalia and Daniel couldn’t distinguish the officer’s words but they knew what a good commander would do. First, secure and fortify the gate with more guards than usual before dividing the remaining men into squads to search the grounds. It was the third thing he should do that they were waiting for.

Jalia grinned at Daniel. “How many will he take, do you think?”

“Assuming there are between two and four guards currently guarding the door, I think he’ll take six, not including himself, of course.”

“I bet you a gold piece he’ll take eight.”

“I believe you’ve already taken all my gold.”

“I’m just keeping it safe for you, Daniel, you know that. I’ll take a gold piece from your money.”

“You’d better take it from your own, because he’s setting off and there are six men behind him.”

“Beginners luck,” Jalia grumbled. The officer hurried past the window on the courtyard and strode off towards a four story building. “It’s always the biggest building. We didn’t need to wait.”

They ran from the room, going down the stairs and out of the building, while keeping out of sight. They had heard soldiers searching the lower floor as they ducked out of the door. The thing about well-disciplined soldiers is they act in a predictable way. They were methodically searching the buildings from the gate house outwards. Jalia and Daniel had counted on that in their plan.

The building the officer went into had an imposing entrance with a set of wide marble steps leading up to an impressive door. The windows near the ground were barred. The door appeared to be the only way into the place.

Square cut stone had recently been added to construct a semi-circular wall around the steps leaving only a narrow opening for access. Ten men stood behind the wall with crossbows, guarding the door. Jalia and Daniel watched the officer come out of the building and hurry towards the gate.

“Is the dagger up to one last task?” Jalia asked. She had the magic ring as backup, but the dagger was more reliable until its magic ran out.

“There’s only one way to find out.”

The two of them had got close to the entrance using large decorative bushes as cover. It was a sign of the haste with which the new fortifications had been put up that the bushes were still there.

Daniel issued his command to the magic dagger with a heavy heart. He hated the slaughter of innocents, and while these men were not strictly innocents, they were not particularly evil either. If the plan went well, perhaps they could keep the number of dead down to a reasonable amount. If it didn’t go well, it was unlikely that he or Jalia would be around to have regrets.

The dagger flew from his hand and the men crumpled as death came visiting on razor sharp wings. As the last man fell, Daniel’s dagger clattered to the ground exhausted. It wouldn’t be useable again for at least twenty four hours.

It was the total silence of the fight that Daniel found disquieting. Men do not scream when their throats are cut. They grasp at their throats in stupefaction, falling to the floor unconscious from lack of blood and die. There is a lot of blood spilt, but it pumps noiselessly on to the ground until their hearts stop. The men looked as though they had fallen asleep at their posts and would wake at the slightest sound. It was eerie.

Jalia wasn’t bothered by the deaths. She ran ahead of Daniel and casually threw his knife back to him. He caught it in mid-air as they stepped to the door. Jalia issued a command to her ring and the door opened silently. The two guards on the other side clawed at their throats as the ring throttled them. Jalia’s sword completed the ring’s work as she dispatched them.

“They have to be on the top floor,” Jalia said in a tone of annoyance. They were in a reception area with a wide set of stairs leading up. The stairs were covered with thick red carpet.

‘It should soak up the blood quite well,’ Daniel thought as they started the climb. The carpet certainly covered any noise their boots might have made.

Finding the right room at the top was no problem. The guards on either side of a door were a significant clue. Daniel indicated to Jalia that she should wait out of sight. Then he nonchalantly set off down the corridor as if he was a guard on a not very urgent mission.

The two guards looked at Daniel curiously. Daniel whistled a jaunty tavern tune almost under his breath. He didn’t look at the two men as he walked, acting for all the world as he was heading somewhere else.

“Have they caught the assassins?” the nearest guard asked. The guard spoke in a low voice as he didn’t want anyone in the room to hear him. That meant he let Daniel get very close before he spoke.

“Unfortunately for you, no,” Daniel said quietly as his dagger forced its way up from below the man’s rib cage to pierce his heart. Daniel fell to the floor with the dead man as the second guard began to pull his sword. He looked stupefied as two throwing knives penetrated his chest. Jalia ran to retrieve her knives, sure they had done their job.

The two took deep breaths as they drew their swords and prepared to enter the room.

“I’m pretty sure the ring is exhausted,” Jalia said. “All that pretending to make me pregnant took it out of the poor thing.”

“Well, this isn’t going to get any easier by standing here and talking about it.”

Jalia grinned, turned the door handle and they burst into the room.

The sight that greeted them was not entirely unexpected. Inside the room was a large circular table and sitting around it drinking ale were three men. Even though they hadn’t been introduced, Daniel was reasonably sure these men were Yandin Selda, Hadan Slate and Dan Malick. There were three guards standing at ease against the wall. In less than five seconds the guards were dead.

“If I may introduce myself, my name is Jalia al’Dare.” Jalia gave the astonished men still sitting around the table a small bow. “And this is my travelling companion, Daniel al’Degar. I believe you’ve been looking for us?”

Hadan Slate snarled and tried to get to his feet while drawing his sword. Daniel stabbed him through the heart and he slumped down over the table. Dan Malick was equally fast to rise and Jalia slit his throat with her knife, having fainted with her sword. His arms initially warding against the sword reached for his torn throat. Yandin Selda made no move at all, but smiled at them.

“I wondered when you would get here,” he said as though he had invited them himself and this was a dinner invitation, not a fight to the death. “I am sure we can work something out. There isn’t much gold in the mines anymore but we still have most of Telmar at our disposal.”

Jalia walked up to the smiling man who kept his arms lifted in the air, clear of his weapons. Jalia thrust her sword into his chest and then let go as Yandin grasped her blade in his hands, cutting off his fingers as he desperately tried to pull the blade from his chest.

“We didn’t come here to negotiate,” she said simply as he slumped onto the table.

The door burst open and they companions stepped to either side of the table. The man who entered was the officer they had seen earlier. Behind him were many men. They could not tell how many except that they filled the corridor outside.

“Stop!” Daniel commanded and the officer stopped. His men backed off behind him to give him room to fight.

“This war is over,” Daniel said. “Your leaders are dead and the people of Telmar will reclaim their city. I don’t know if any of you have been paid, but this might be a good time to find something of value to take with you and depart.”

The officer looked over Daniel and Jalia appraisingly. “You couldn’t possibly win against us.”

“But look at how many we killed getting into here.” Jalia told him, her feral smile at its most frightening, “Do you think you’ll be one of the survivors. Or those just behind you,” she said, speaking a little louder so the men in question could hear her.

The officer sheathed his sword and shooed his men out of the room. They seemed only too willing to obey. “You have a point, my lady. I, for one, know where there is some very nice silver. We won’t bother you if you don’t bother us. Is it a deal?”

“Signed and sealed,” Daniel told him and the officer left, closing the room door behind him. Daniel sat down in one of the chairs around the table. “I suppose that went quite well, all things considered.”

“In a minute, Daniel,” Jalia said in an annoyed voice as she moved the body of Dan Malick so she could search around his belt.

“What are you up to?”

Jalia could still surprise him with her ghoulishness.

“Got it,” Jalia said as she moved onto the next body. “Each of these fine men kept a bag of precious gems in their belts, presumably for a rainy day,” she explained as she took a small black bag from Hadan Slate’s body.

“And you know this… how?”

“Come on Daniel, these are the third, forth and fifth Owners bodies I’ve seen.”

“You searched the body of Marcus al’Tren in Brinan? You didn’t even kill him.”

“That’s the trouble with wealthy families. They never search the bodies of the men they kill. I did when I examined him. You were there, remember?”

“I don’t remember you telling me you found any gems on him!”

Jalia gave him a reproachful look as she pocketed the bag of gems from Selda’s body. “Six out of eight is not a bad score. If you had searched Jal al’Breen we could have had seven.”