The Exodus Sagas: Book III - Of Ghosts And Mountains (6 page)

“I am trying, have sympathy minotaur.” Norrice had his hand over his man’s mouth as they were put back into cages and doused with cold water buckets from outside the bars.

“Sympathy? Might as well kill him now if that is your answer. There is none here, and none to be found. To get out of here, it will take merciless brutality, bloodshed, and a lot of killing. Sympathy will get us all killed, so drop that notion and think of how to cut your way out. If you can’t, I will do it without you. If you want sympathy, I will get an axe. A quick death is the best I can offer.” Saberrak looked around, watching the bodies being drug in, the guards changing posts, and for any allies other than this Harlian man.

“I am with you minotaur, I am strong, and I am not dying without a fight.” Norrice resolved that his horned acquaintance was right.

Eyes shimmering blue against his will, Saberrak looked at the man. “Good to hear, Norrice, now let’s find some more allies and look for a way out of this hole.”

Kaya III:I

White Spider Underground, Devonmir

“I told you
when
, I told you
where
, and here we are once again. I truly tire of these games Vossir, is my gold not good enough for your elven blood?”

“I told you Kaya, the sergeant is missing. Gold is fine, platinum is better. What would you have me---“ his left eye took another gloved backhand, blood splattering across his pointed ear and the wall he was pinned against.

“
Vossir Sassari
, cousin to
Avricas
Sassari by chance?” Kaya held her knee to the assassins groin and kept the shortsword across his throat.

“No, Vossir, brother to
Sylette
Sassari, you would be wise to remember that, spiderwhore. My sister’s vengeance is legendary.” Vossir grinned, knowing his noble blood, elven from Shalokahn, had saved him several times when he had run-ins with the White Spider agents. His family name was notorious for vengeance, deadly assassins, and unaligned to any group of known cutthroats.

She thought for a moment, her other spies had not reported anything, her position was weakening. They knew her as Jade of the West, one of the Emerald Eight for Johnas Valhera. Her gold had bought nothing, they feared Chalas more than her, and even the enemies of the White Spider brought her no allies in the uncertain trap that Devonmir had become. “So no word from your contacts, no sign of those companions of the gray minotaur, and none in Willborne either?”

“I know nothing Kaya T’Vellon, nothing. Just that you tried to buy the gray one in secret, everyone knows that now.”

“I know your relatives, by reputation indeed, and my noble ties could profit them should you assist me in finding those in question before the agents here obtain them.” She was grasping, desperate, she knew her nights were numbered. Some of the men she had killed for the White Spider had ties to Caberra, noble ties. A price had been put on her head, yet no one cared, not with the attention on Chalas Kalaza.

“You, have enemies from within, over your very shoulder, and I do not care to be involved. Shalokahn, not that I speak for my family honor, does not wish to cross any in Devonmir at this time.” Vossir grinned again.

“So they have outbid me, Rinicus and Cadius, you know what Johnas will do to you and yours for this?” Reaching again, Kaya knew full well what would happen should she kill one of the Sassari family. Yet, leaving him alive at this point was likely as much a death sentence.

“Nothing, had he wanted you successful, you would be. Tis not my neck you need to slice, Kaya, but perhaps someone has already sliced yours. You should not be plotting against your own so diligently, honor among thieves and all.”

“They follow Chalas Kalaza, a brutal minotaur with no honor and no rank.”

“Oh, you want sympathy now is it? All out of tears with a blade to my throat, sorry. The sergeant is missing, I do not lie to you, and he is not missing on account of me. He did not show up for his shift, Tirpali of Cordolla. Caberran men love wine and women, I would start there.” The blade had not relaxed, Vossir had hoped she would have gotten the point that she had no allies here and given up.

“I do not want sympathy, I want answers. What of Willborne, what happened in Bailey?”

“The companions of the gray minotaur desecrated their temple, killed some dragons I heard. Katrina and her men are missing as well they say. No word on his friends, yet while your horned shadow Chalas is obsessing over the gray one, I would act a little quicker and quieter, if I were in your position. A lady with a title lost is less valuable than a raging beast that can kill dozens without conscience.” Vossir had not hoped to give any information, yet the proximity of that blade had not wavered in the dead end underground hallway. His will began to waver as she was more serious than he had originally surmised.

The candle painted more white wax over the soot covered stone floor, drip by drip. The breathing was heavy, the air scarce, sweat began to appear for no other reason save that of the ominous tension between the brother of a deadly elven assassin and Kaya T’Vellon, the once lady of Southwind Keep in Chazzrynn.

“And mine own? Is there anything to lean upon there, or with the enemies of Johnas here?”

“No, I have given you more than any sane elf would deem necessary. You are cut, Jade of the West, and you will not live out the week. Run, they will find you. Hide all you want, it will not save you. The minotaur you brought has sealed your fate, like it or not. I can offer two nights, two nights of not a word or move, no more.” Vossir Sassari let his body relax, hoping he had told her enough to avoid the blade. He knew that she had killed a few of her own here that she should not have, had noble enemies now in Caberra, and Rinicus had her cornered and wanted her out of his city. Vossir was hoping that his family would collect the bounty here on Kaya, but he may now have to do it himself.

“Who is to be my replacement? How much is on my head? Chalas Kalaza, surely not.” Kaya feigned some tears, some nervousness, some lack of confidence. She eyed the dark hair, chiseled tight features, high cheekbones and pointed ears, and his hand moving toward the dagger in her boot.

“I do not know those answers, but it is enough for us to let the spiders handle their own, be sure on that. I can offer two nights of safety for you, but I---“

Vossir pulled for the dagger from Kayas boot, her body pressed over his for nearly an hour now. She was surely tired, distracted, and not as quick as one of elven blood and the Sassari family. He felt the steel slice through his veins, his throat, his air and blood not going where it should. He tried to scream as he pulled but a handle, a dummy blade, and went to stab his assailant in the chest with speed no human could match. His eyes teared uncontrollably, his body ached, and his heart strained as darkness crept playfully around the corners of his vision.

Kaya stepped back as the Shalokahn elf grasped his bloody hands over his neck, trying to stop the inevitable, struggling against the reality that he was dead and nothing could change that now. His eyes bore holes into her, eyes that could not believe what she had done, what was happening. She wondered when her eyes would have that same look. The body fell over onto the ground, the twitching had stopped, and the lady assassin of the White Spider wiped her blade across his noble clothes and sheathed it. She pulled her black mask tight over her face, and stalked into the eternal night of Devonmir’s underground.

They will be looking for me by now, and Vossirs men for him already. Time to move Kaya, but to where
? She kept to the shadows of the twisting halls and caverns under the streets. Only the occasional torch of arcane illumination gave light to the tomblike undercity, oranges and reds glanced off of enveloping blackness. Her steps slowed, she knew there was nothing. Kaya had no plan, no targets, no allies, and no way to contact Johnas even if she had ground to stand upon. Jade of the West kept moving, encircling the halls and rooms that bordered the arenas, looking for a way out of the web she knew she could not escape. Every entrance, every possible exit, would be guarded by Devonmir’s finest, the White Spider, and they were all well armed and trained down here. Kaya needed allies to have any chance to survive.

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“Is he ever going to stop pacing and tapping his sword on the walls? It is dreadfully irritating.” Cadius stared from behind his dark locks of hair, not daring to voice his frustrations to the minotaur.

“He does that, a lot. We have our orders, if he survives the match we buy the gray one. You and I interrogate him for all we can find on his friends with that scroll and dwarven treasures, then we let this one kill him any way he chooses.” Rinicus Three-Blades looked around the penthouse above the arena, watching for the winks of eyes or signs from spies that Kaya had been found. Nothing yet.

“And what of Jade of the West? Has the patriarch ordered her death warrant, or are we moving in too---“

“He wants her replaced, he is training one of his own to the title, we just let Chalas fill in and bloody the arena for us while we wait.”

Cadius sighed, “Never a dull moment from here on out. It was peaceful for a few years, but now with Valhirst involved and calling hits and shots, well, I may very well retire soon old friend.”

“And leave me with this beast? The killer that tore off two of my fingers and squashed them with his boot? I think not, there would be a price on you like no other,
old friend
.” Rinicus laughed, as did Cadius, then both watched as the brown minotaur walked over to them.

“Something amusing, my little humans?”

“Nothing to worry you about, great Chalas. Idle threats of old friends and killers amused at the turns of their dark lives is all.” Rinicus looked to his impaired hand, then to Cadius, and then to the brown savage of a minotaur standing over him in the balcony penthouse over the hidden arena.

“I would expect you would be busy looking for Kaya instead of senseless chatter.” Chalas had been waiting for days, even searched the endless and countless passages himself. Kaya was nowhere to be found, yet she was here, they all knew it.

“I am the domenarch of the city, responsible for hundreds of spies, assassins, and every other sort, minotaur. I have eyes and ears most everywhere. The problem is, well, Jade of the West happens to be one of the Emerald Eight.” Rinicus drank some of the Caberran wine in a golden goblet with his good hand.

“Is that your excuse? I would have come up with something better to explain failure.” Chalas snorted and leered over the two men of the White Spider.

“She has trained for decades, trained by Johnas Valhera himself. Placing a price on her head, even by nobility of Caberra, Chazzrynn, and our own guild, does not make her less deadly or difficult to find, Kalaza.” Cadius stood as he spoke, wine in hand, black robes snagging on the table and chairs.

“And what do your men do here for decades? Drink? Find her and kill her, now.”

Rinicus stood up, inbetween his wizard friend and the brute from the south. “Johnas has not sent word for you to replace me or mine, minotaur. Until then, learn where you stand.”

“I stand here, three fingered one, what could you possibly do against it?” Chalas huffed into his face, an intentional bit of spittle flew from his mouth and nostrils.

Rinicus winked, Cadius stepped back and began uttering arcane words under his breath, and the shadows moved with dozens of footsteps and blades being unsheathed from every direction. “That. And if your blade raises even an inch, I will have you pelted with knives, daggers, poisoned arrows, and incinerated right here and now.”

“Ha, he, heh, huh, brave words, nothing more.” Chalas Kalaza slid his great chipped sword into its sheath made of unknown skins and hides. He walked over to one of the shadows, one of the men there clad in black with a crossbow aimed at the minotaur. His hand was trembling, the bolt nearly skittering out of place, and his eyes glared at Rinicus hoping for an order, or perhaps hoping not for one.

“Your men tremble in my presence. They know what I will do to them, they have seen it.”

“Do not make me do this, Johnas will be disappointed.” Rinicus smiled, hoping the beast would touch one of his men, waiting for the moment to order his death. His hand went toward the hilt of his shortblade and his mangled hand for a dagger on his belt.

“I go to kill a worthy enemy, either Saberrak the gray or Kaya T’Vellon if I find her before my match in the arena. If you wish me dead, train your assassins to not wet themselves when I approach.” Chalas stalked out of the penthouse, laughing from a dark pit somewhere inside of himself.

Cadius let his breath finally escape his chest and let the orange balls of flame recede from his palms. He nearly fell into the chair, looking at his trembling hands and feeling the weakness in his legs. He looked to Rinicus who seemed poised and ready to fight without regard to any sort of fear.

“Why is it, of all the horrors and beasts we have seen and all the wickedness we have performed, that this minotaur is so absolutely dreadful?”

Rinicus placed his blades back into their positions and nodded for his bodyguards to resume their duties. I do not know, old friend, but it needs to be stopped. Inform Johnas Valhera that Chalas had gone insane and was killed.”

“And what if he finds out otherwise?”

“We will have to make sure our reports are accurate then, won’t we?”