Death Comes To All (Book 1) (40 page)

"That's
a relief. I thought you might have been upset with me. It would be a
long winter here together if you were."

This
woman can hold a grudge better than anyone I’ve ever met,
he recalled.

She
chuckled. "Even if I had been a little upset with you, it
certainly wouldn't have lasted all winter. You would have to do
something pretty outrageous to get me to hold that sort of a grudge.
I'm just tired, and a little grumpy. I'll be fine after a good nights
rest, which I probably wouldn't have gotten down here. So you did me
a favor really. Raiste just knows how I get when someone wakes me up
unexpectedly. That's why he had you do it. He knows I'm less likely
to punch you in the face."

"You
would really punch him in the face?" Bane asked skeptically. It
wasn't that he didn't think that the feral woman was capable of it.
Far from it in fact.

I
wouldn’t want to see how that fight would turn out,
he
thought.

Raine
shrugged. "I did once before, but he really had it coming that
time. He woke me up by dumping a cup of water on my head. Needless to
say, I didn't take too kindly to it."

"Why
did he do that?"

Or
why would anyone want to do something that suicidal for that matter?

Raine
laughed. "I got so drunk in a bar one night that I passed out at
the table. He could have carried me up to the room, but figured I
wouldn't have learned a lesson if he did that. So instead he woke me
up hard and quick. I didn't like it much, so I punched him."

"I've
seen you drink before. You never seemed like the type of person to
over-indulge. You really got drunk enough to pass out?"

"Like
I said, he was teaching me a lesson. Needless to say I learned it.
Doesn't mean that I wasn't going to show him my appreciation for his
teaching method. That was the last time I drank like that. I learned
not to drink so heavily, and he learned not to try to teach me
lessons by dumping water on my head. I guess we both learned
something that night."

"Sounds
like you were both just goofing off," Bane commented with a
chuckle.

"Pretty
much," she agreed. "Our work is a bit too serious, even for
us, so we try to enjoy ourselves as often as possible. We'll be busy
over the next few days, but once all the work is done we'll be able
to relax some. If I know Raiste, he already has a few pranks in mind.
At least I hope he does anyway. To be honest, he's been unusually
somber since we left the city. Normally he loves coming here. It's
just about the only place he ever feels like he can let his guard
down. For some reason he just hasn't been acting like himself lately,
and coming here didn’t change that like I expected it to. He
pretends that everything is fine, but I've known him for too long not
to see the difference. I'm thinking that everything that happened has
gotten to him more than he is willing to admit."

"I've
noticed that he doesn't seem to be joking around as often as he was
on the way to the city, but then I haven't known him as long as you.
I've always just thought he was a bit manic. One minute he's laughing
and joking, the next he's the most serious man I've ever known. I
just assumed he was always like that, or that he was hiding how he
really felt underneath a playful facade. I've noticed you tend to do
the same thing, or at least that's how it's appeared to me anyway."

"You're
not really wrong," Raine admitted. "We do tend to act out
the part of jokers, even when we don't feel that way. In Raiste's
case he really is a joker much of the time, and I have to admit he's
rubbed off on me quite a bit. I used to be a very serious person
before I met him. I still am sometimes, but now I've found a bit of a
playful side too. When you have someone who's joking around all the
time with you, it's hard not to laugh. Before you know it you're
joking around yourself, just to make the day go faster. I don't know
if I ever really properly thanked him for that, but I'm fairly
certain he knows already. Just being around him gives you a feeling
like, no matter how bad things might get, in the end everything will
be just fine."

"I
wish I could feel like that," Bane commented. "Everything
that's happened has been, well, kinda crazy really. I found out that,
apparently, I can use magic, which I certainly never expected. I also
made an enemy of the ruling mages, which frankly scares the hell out
of me. I never expected anyone could go through so much, especially
not someone like me. I've lived my entire life on a farm. I don't
know if I'm really equipped to handle this kind of lifestyle. So far
you and Raiste have basically been carrying me along. If it wasn't
for the two of you, I would likely have been dead a dozen times over
already."

"Not
nearly so many times as that. Besides, most of those situations you
might not have been in to begin with if you hadn't been with us,"
she pointed out. "Since we’re the ones who got you into
those situations, the least we could do is get you back out of them."

"Some
of them maybe," he admitted. "The first time though, when I
was being pushed around by that trog, I was already in plenty of
trouble all on my own. If Raiste hadn't stepped in, I would be
sitting in a prison cell right now, and that's if I'm lucky. Since I
haven't had much luck in anything else, I'm guessing that he probably
would have killed me right there in that bar."

"It's
possible," she agreed. "Still, we could have let you go on
to one of the other cities. If we had, you wouldn't have had all the
troubles that you have now."

"I
don't think of it that way. I decided to go with you entirely on my
own, don't forget. I'm sure that Raiste had a large part in pointing
me in that direction, don't get me wrong. He seems pretty good at
getting people to do what he wants them to. Still, he left me enough
chances to get out if I wanted. I don't even think of the things that
have happened as troubles. Not really anyway. It's just not the sorts
of things I would ever have expected to happen to someone like me."

"It's
not the way things would normally be for anyone really. I suspect
that there's going to be a lot more people getting involved with all
this before it's finished. I didn't know about Raiste's past until
just now, but now that I do a lot more has become clear. I can only
see this ending one of two ways. Either we find a way to fight back
against the ruling mages, or they kill us. I'm not too happy about
either option, but frankly there isn't any other way for this to go
anymore."

"You're
probably right about that," Raiste said from the doorway right
behind Bane, startling the sorvinian man. As usual he never heard a
sound.

The
man walks like a ghost,
Bane thought.

"This
is only going to end when the ruling mages are no longer hunting us,
and that's not going to happen as long as we are alive. Either they
die, or we do. This would happen eventually anyway. Even if I hadn't
started all this, someone else would have. The mages have been
squeezing people for more than they can handle for far too long.
They've been providing the fuel for this fire for a while now. The
only thing I've done is light the match."

"How
long were you listening to us?" Raine asked him, irritation
evident in her voice. It wasn't that she had said anything that she
wouldn't want him to know. She just didn't like the thought of people
listening in on her conversations.

"Long
enough to know what the two of you were talking about," he
replied vaguely. "The two of you haven't said anything that I
hadn't already thought of myself. One way or another, we'll find a
way through this. Give me a few days to figure out our next move.
We'll just see where it goes from there. No matter what I decide,
Bane will be staying here this winter for certain, and I would like
you to stay here with him Raine."

Just
us?

"I
was assuming you were planning on staying here as well," Raine
said, mirroring his thoughts. "The mages, particularly
Bloodheart it seems, are after you. They are probably watching out
for Bane as well, I'm sure, but we don't really know how much they
know about him yet. They are definitely after you though. Why would
you want to put yourself anywhere they can find you? I would think
that you would want to stay here, at least until things die down a
bit."

"I
haven't decided what I'm going to do just yet. You're not wrong, I
would prefer to stay here. If for no other reason than because I want
to help Bane with his training. However, something will have to be
done about the horses, and it would be a good idea to find out what
they know about us. We're not going to find that out sitting here.
Sometime soon, one of us is going to have to go to one of the cities
and find out what they know about us.

“
I
know you would be happy to volunteer, but I have more contacts than
you do, and as a human it's easier for me to disguise myself than it
would be for you. They might not know anything at all about you yet,
but I want to be certain of that before I'm willing to risk sending
you into the lion's den. I'll let you know once I've made up my mind
about what I'm going to do next and when I'm going to do it.

“
You
two will have me around for at least a few days longer. I might stay
as long as two or three weeks, depending on how much feed we have for
the horses. Either way, I'll want to take them to one of the cities
to sell. Probably Miani, I think. It's not far from here, so I can be
back in a few weeks, and it's at the far reaches of Bloodheart's
territory. Chances are good that he hasn't sent word there to watch
out for me yet. I also have people there that I know I can trust,
something that we are in short supply of right now."

"I
get it. I would try to talk you out of it, but I know that I wouldn't
be able to. As usual, you're right. I'll help Bane in his training
while you're gone, assuming you want me to."

"I've
been thinking about that actually. The style I've been teaching him
isn't the type of fighting that will work best for him. There are a
few other fighting styles that I think will work better. In a few
days I'll start showing him the basics of one of those styles. If
you're going to help him in his training, you'll have to follow that
program. I'm sure that won't be a problem for you. Even if you don't
know the style yourself, I'm sure you'll be able to understand it
easily enough."

"Why,
what's wrong with the style you have been teaching him?"

"The
style he's learned focuses on changing your momentum back and forth,
using your opponents blocking weapon to propel your next attack. You
and I both use variations of that sort of style. Bane, on the other
hand, has a weapon that, with his magic, cuts straight through their
defense. There won't be a rebound with that weapon. Instead, his best
style is going to be one of continuous, flowing motion. I've studied
a few such styles. Now it's just a question of which style, or
combination of styles, is going to work best for him."

"You're
going to have to train him then," Raine told him. "I've
trained in a few different techniques, but nothing like that. I
wouldn't really know where to begin."

"True,
but you can still provide him with a sparing partner. Most of the
time he won't be practicing against an opponent. His style won't
allow it safely, especially once he learns how to use his magic.
However, he's still not invincible, and he'll need work on his
defense. Only a worthy opponent can help him with that."

"Sure,
I can spar with him. I'm interested in seeing what he can do against
a good fighter once he figures out how to use that magic of his. From
what the two of you told me about it, I'm certain it will be a lot of
fun."

"Only
spare with him to help him with his defense," Raiste admonished.
"It would be too dangerous for you if he was using attacks
against you. I know how good you are, don't forget, so I'm not saying
this lightly. I saw what he can really do during that fight against
Sloan's men, and he wasn't even fighting a style that uses his
abilities to their full potential. Once we find the right style for
him, he'll be next to unstoppable."

"Um,
I'm still standing right here," Bane put in, not happy about his
friends talking about him like an object while he stood between them.

"You're
just as much a part of this conversation as the two of us."
Raiste said, unperturbed. "If you have something to add, by all
means spit it out Bane. I wasn't trying to leave you out. I've been
reading about battle mages while we relaxed in the living room. While
there was quite a few different abilities listed, and no two were
exactly alike as far as I could tell, there was one thing they all
had in common; Their fighting styles were not something that they
learned. It was instinctual, or something very similar anyway.

“
Some
of the movements you made in that fight were not things that I've
taught you. In fact, as near as I can tell, it slowed you down when
you tried to stick with the techniques you've learned. The movements
I'm planning on teaching you are not standard techniques for me. I'm
not even very good at them. These are movements that are very close
to the way you were fighting naturally. I'm hoping that, by learning
something similar to whatever your style truly is, it will help you
discover it on your own."