The Tomni'Tai Scroll (Book 1) (19 page)

Yeoj glanced up to Pendonov. Pendonov raised a brow and nodded his head respectfully before coming back into the room. “Where are they taking the women?” Pendonov asked.

Frey’s eyes went wide as Yeoj flipped him around and roughly sat him up. “You heard the man, where are they going?” Yeoj inquired.

“You… you tricked me,” Frey stammered as his eyes zeroed in on the spoon in Yeoj’s hand.

“Make no mistake,” Yeoj continued grimly, “your life depends on your cooperation. Tell us where they are going, or I will slit your throat right here.”

Pendonov stiffened. He could tell that Yeoj meant what he said. “I would prefer to keep this man alive,” Pendonov said.

Yeoj shrugged.

“No, I’ve told you too much already, you aren’t going to trick me again,” Frey said.

Yeoj whipped out his sword in a flash and drove the point straight through the floor boards between Frey’s naked, pale thighs.

For a moment none of them moved. Yeoj glared at Frey, while Frey sat wide-eyed and blanched, afraid to look below his waist and assess the damage. Pendonov sucked in a breath and held it.

“Where?” Yeoj snarled.

“Vermut was going to take them to Balder’s Arms, the blacksmith shop near the western gate. They are going to ship the women to Blundfish. That’s all I know.”

Yeoj relaxed. “Thank you.”

“If they keep everyone separate, then how does he know where they are taking the women?” Pendonov pointed out.

Frey looked up to Pendonov with pleading eyes. “Because I make the potions, the drugs that will knock them out, and I have to know how long the trips will be in order to mix them right,” Frey replied. “If I knock them out for a few hours then there might be trouble as they leave the city if the women wake up near the gates and shout for help. For this, since they are going to Blundfish, I mixed two doses of drugs. The first I was to give them today would have knocked them out for eighteen hours, which is enough to smuggle them out of Kobhir and be on the road for several hours before they would have woken up. Then, the transporters would give the women the second dose a few hours outside of Blundfish to get them through the gates there.”

“Why not one dose to keep them unconscious the whole time?” Yeoj asked.

Frey shook his head. “No, you can’t travel that far without giving the women food and water. You have to allow them to wake up for the long haul trips, otherwise the merchandise is no good.”

Yeoj ripped the sword free of the floor and stood up. Frey’s mouth fell agape, but he soon sighed when he realized he was still intact. “They aren’t merchandise,” Yeoj hissed. He kicked Frey hard in the temple. Frey went down with a thud and moaned as he writhed on the floor. Yeoj bent over and pulled a dark, glass bottle from a leather sack on the floor. “Give this to Frey, make him drink all of it,” Yeoj said as he tossed the bottle to Pendonov.

“What is it?” Pendonov asked sharply.

“The drug he was going to give them,” Yeoj responded. “We can’t carry him out of here without being seen, and we don’t want to spook anyone who might be watching the house. This will just make sure he stays quiet until everything is over.”

Pendonov held Frey’s head up and poured the liquid down the half conscious man’s throat. Within moments his eyes rolled back in his head and his breathing slowed and became deeper.

“So what’s the plan?” Pendonov asked.

“Ambush Vermut and his men. We kill them, dress in their clothes, take two of their bodies to Galion at Baldur’s Arms and then take Galion down, and anyone else who is with him.”

“That’s a lot of bodies to drop,” Pendonov said.

Yeoj laid a hand on Pendonov’s shoulder. “We have one chance to cut off the snake’s head. If we miss this, we may not get another opportunity.”

Pendonov nodded slowly and crossed his arms over his chest. “Well, I suppose Frey’s information confirms what Blacktooth Pete was saying.”

Yeoj nodded. He bent down and tied a gag in Frey’s mouth. Then he took Frey’s clothes, which had been heaped next to the leather bag and stuffed them inside. “When it’s over we can have the city guard pick Frey up.”

“No,” Pendonov put in. “I will have the Merchant Guard pick him up. “It gives us better cover for my involvement.”

“As you wish,” Yeoj replied. Then he motioned for the doorway. “Let’s go, we only have a little while to set up before sundown.”

*****

A cool, salty breeze swept away the remaining heat from the day as the sun dipped below the horizon. Purple, orange, and pink clouds gave way to the dark of night, seemingly reaching out to the first few stars with long tendrils as the sky turned black. Yeoj sat atop a roof next to Sebina’s house, exactly where Pendonov had been the night before.

Pendonov was inside the house, as they had agreed beforehand it should be simple enough for him to gain the women’s’ trust as a Merchant Guard. Yeoj assumed that they had accepted Pendonov, since he hadn’t heard any sign of a struggle, and Pendonov hadn’t come running out of the house with a viper attached to his neck.

Yeoj chuckled a bit as he thought of Kelden –the man who had taken down Theodorus— getting his rump handed to him by a six-inch long viper. His smile faded when he saw a pair of men emerging from an alley about fifty yards away. A bottle clinked in the alley below. Yeoj carefully slid his face along the brick chimney until he could just barely see around it and down to the alley. Another pair of men stalked along the shadows. Yeoj slid back and kept low to the roof line, keeping an eye on the men approaching from afar.

“Good luck, Pendonov,” Yeoj whispered to himself. He could hear the men below fumbling with the lock on the door. It wasn’t a very loud noise, but he knew a lock pick set when he heard it. He hoped that Pendonov also heard it.

The other two men reached the front door. One of them coughed three times. Yeoj then heard a bird’s call from the alleyway. That was the sign. The men at the front door opened it as casually as if they had been customers and then went inside.

Yeoj sprang into action. He leaned over, seeing that the two in the alley were slowly opening the side door. Yeoj somersaulted and vaulted himself down to land on the men. His feet struck one man solidly in the back and he rolled into the other as the three of them crashed down. The door flew open, bathing the alley in light from the lanterns inside.

Yeoj drove his knife through one man’s throat and then slammed his fist into the second man’s jaw. The jaw cracked, and then gave way as Yeoj’s fist drove into the man’s face. The man writhed free and clumsily went for a sword, but Yeoj was up first. He pulled his sword and ran it through the man’s chest.

Then he turned to go inside the building. He saw another man wriggling on the floor, a pair of crossbow bolts protruding from his chest and stomach. The other had his sword out and was engaged with Pendonov. Pendonov deflected an overhead chop, and then countered with a short feint before slashing at the man’s thigh, but he missed. Yeoj ran inside and stopped short just before a woman with dark hair wheeled on him with a crossbow. “Wait, I’m a friend!” Yeoj yelled as he ducked back with his arms up in the air.

Pendonov turned to the woman, “He’s with me!” he shouted, but the move cost him dearly. His enemy seized on the moment and thrust his sword into Pendonov’s right arm. Pendonov stumbled back, dropping his sword and reflexively grabbing the gaping hole in his arm. The woman screamed and fired her crossbow at the last intruder, but the shot went wide.

Yeoj sprang forward, launching his sword before him at the man to take his focus off of Pendonov. The ploy worked. The intruder was forced to back pedal to avoid Yeoj’s flying sword, rescuing Pendonov from certain death.

The intruder turned on Yeoj and launched a flurry of deft, powerful slices that would have cut Yeoj in two had he not dexterously dodged each one. Yeoj ducked, then stepped to the side, and finally somersaulted forward, grabbing Pendonov’s sword from the floor as he rolled and spun to put himself between Pendonov and the last remaining enemy.

“You will die for this!” the man hissed.

Yeoj smiled and lunged forward. Their blades clanged together. Yeoj lead with a downward chop, but it was deflected by a counter swing. Yeoj quickly pulled his stomach back and then lurched to the left to avoid being run through. Then he dropped to his knees and lashed out with a savage swing that severed the man’s right leg, just above the knee.

“Argh!” the man shrieked as he toppled over onto his face. Yeoj quickly took advantage of the moment and removed his enemy’s head with one final chop. It was done.

The dark haired woman screamed and dropped the crossbow onto the counter in front of her. Pendonov sat there blankly staring at the dismembered man and weakly mouthed “Thank you,” to Yeoj.

“We need bandages,” Yeoj ordered. Within moments a pair of women emerged from behind the counter. One was short and wrinkled with gray hair and the other was a young, vibrant red-haired lady. The older woman had a blue bottle in her left hand and some gauze in her other hand. Yeoj shot her a puzzled look.

“This is an alchemical shop,” the older woman said in a creaky, yet spunky voice. She then turned to the young redhead. “Jenedina, make the lad drink this.” She handed the bottle to Jenedina.

Jenedina knelt down, tucked her feet under her and pulled Pendonov up to rest his head and shoulders in her lap. “Drink this,” she coaxed. Pendonov shakily tilted his head to the bottle and took a couple of clumsy gulps.

“You’re pretty, Jenedina,” Pendonov said with a sheepish grin.

“What is it with you Merchant Guards?” Yeoj grumbled.

The old woman motioned for Yeoj to join her at Pendonov’s side. “Help me with these,” she said. Yeoj stepped forward and took the bandages from her. “Lay his head down and keep his arm elevated,” she instructed Jenedina.

Jenedina did as she was told and comforted Pendonov by stroking his hair with one hand.

“Here, lass, give me the bottle and I will administer it to him,” the old woman said.

“What is that?” Yeoj asked.

“It helps with pain,” she explained.

“Fine,” Yeoj commented has he held Pendonov’s wrist and straightened the arm out above him. Pendonov cried out and tried to squirm away, but Jenedina and Yeoj held him still. Yeoj turned to the dark haired lady. “Sebina, I presume?” he said.

“Yes,” she said.

Yeoj jerked his head in a ‘come hither’ motion. “Someone has to hold his arm up while I bandage it, honey. Let’s go.”

Sebina promptly came over and took Pendonov’s hand in hers. Yeoj then went to work applying pressure to stop the bleeding. The first couple wads of gauze were soaked and useless in seconds, but the third did the trick. “Alright, now hold this here with one hand, but keep it tight.” Sebina did as she was told while Jenedina tried to keep Pendonov calm, and Agnes kept offering the bottle to Pendonov. Yeoj undid his belt and wrapped it around the bandaged wound as tightly as he could. Pendonov struggled, but he was much weaker now.

“I have to go,” Yeoj said suddenly. “If I don’t get there soon, he’ll get away.” He leaned over and slapped Pendonov’s cheeks. “Do you hear me?” he shouted.

Jenedina gently pushed him back. “He can’t hear you, he’s out now.”

Yeoj shot her a confused look. There was a lot of blood, but not that much. Then he looked to the bottle and grinned. “To help with pain eh?”

The old woman smiled and nodded. “I usually sell it to expecting mothers in their ninth month,” she replied coyly.

“Clever girl,” Yeoj said. “Keep an eye on him,” Yeoj instructed. He looked to the intruders and considered changing into their clothes, but decided against it. His plan would not work now. His only hope was to get to Baldur’s Arms before Galion got suspicious and left.

“We’ll be alright,” Jenedina said. “Words cannot express how grateful we are,” she added.

“Pendonov told us everything over the last hour.” Sebina looked at Yeoj with a tear in her eyes. “My brother trusted Diggs,” she said quietly. “I trusted him.”

Yeoj nodded. “I can’t stay,” he replied. “You are safe now. I will end this.” Sebina nodded, but said nothing else. Yeoj lightly patted her shoulder, picked up his sword, and ran out the door.

The streets were dark now, except for the night lamps that dotted the city. Few people were out, and those that were failed to pay much attention to Yeoj as he sprinted through the streets, darting across alleys and cutting as short a path as he could to Baldur’s Arms. As his feet propelled him forward his heart pounded and his lungs burned. The buildings he ran past blurred by, as if he were the wind itself. When he turned the last corner a couple of minutes later he stopped and doubled over, clutching his side. He fought the urge to vomit and propped himself against a wooden barrel filled with recent rain water that had come from a gutter pipe.

His chest heaved as he sucked in air. He stood up straight and put his hands on his head for a moment while he stared out at the blacksmith shop across the street. A horse drawn wagon sat in front of the awning that extended above a workbench and smelter. Yeoj strained his eyes against the darkness, looking for sign of activity. He couldn’t see anyone outside. The horses were standing in place without a driver. The cart itself had several crates already piled in the back. Presumably weapons meant for the garrison in Blundfish since it is closer to the borders and the soldiers there needed equipment.