Heir of Pendel (A Pandoran Novel, #4) (48 page)

I also gave the townsfolk firm instructions to head for the portal should things get too dire. That way, they could seek refuge on Earth until things settled, and hopefully Earth would be ready for them. I told them Stefan had initiated Operation Ark and what that meant for them, and the rest I'd have to leave up to them. But I really hoped it wouldn't come to that.

Evening fell and we said our goodbyes to the townsfolk.

"You okay, Del Can't?" Thaddeus asked me as we left Ravenshelm's gate.

"Yeah, why?"

"You look like death."

I laughed. He knew I hadn't slept much the past few nights. The future had kept me awake.

"No, serious. V even agrees," he said. "Maybe you should ride one of the horses for a bit."

Thankfully, Denn and his men had left some of the horses. We'd found seven healthy enough to carry some of our load.

"I'm sure Theology won't mind carrying some extra weight if you need to rest," Thaddeus added.

I shook my head. "I'll be fine."

Thaddeus wasn't buying it. "This plan is suicidal enough even with you operating at optimum kill-mode."

I grinned and rubbed my eyes. "Adrenaline does wonders."

"Yeah, well, let's just hope you don't run out of it any time soon."

"If I do, just remind me who Daria's with."

Thaddeus laughed, then said, "I wonder if he's having her sleep in his room yet…" Thaddeus looked over at me and quickly gave me a wider berth. "Uh, I don't think I want to play this game anymore. You look like you're about to strangle me."

"I
am
about to strangle you."

"Who's strangling Thaddeus?" Vera appeared, sounding eager.

"Oh, come on, V. We both know this aggression is just you trying to cover up how you feel about me."

"Which is…?" Vera asked.

Thaddeus preened. "That you're madly in love with me. That you find me extremely handsome and you've always wanted a guy who can make you laugh."

Her eyes narrowed. "Really."

"Really."

"So why does that make me aggressive?"

"Because my wickedly good looks set you off balance. Aggression is how you cope." He winked. "If you didn't care about me at all, you'd just ignore me instead of finding reasons to be such a jerk all the time."

Vera punched him in the face—or tried to. Thaddeus grabbed hold of her wrist millimeters before impact, and they just stood there staring hard at each other. Thaddeus smiled, but his face was like granite. "Seems I struck a nerve," he said, and he didn't sound as if he was joking.

"Let go of my wrist." Vera's voice was low and intimidating.

Thaddeus stared at her with challenge, still holding on to her wrist. Vera's neck and ears were an angry red, and now the two of them were drawing attention from others in our party.

"Thaddeus," I said.

They were still locked in their staring contest, oblivious to the world around them.

"
Thaddeus
," I said a little louder this time.

He released her fist. Vera flexed her fingers and dropped her hand.

"Think you two can get along for another few weeks?" I said through clenched teeth. "Otherwise, you both can march straight back to Ravenshelm and torture the prisoners with your hostility, because I've about had enough."

I hadn't meant to sound so harsh, but I was exhausted and they'd been going at it worse than ever. I'd far surpassed my tolerance threshold.

Vera's jaw worked over and her gaze turned murderous, but I didn't relent. She dropped her gaze to the ground and gave me a curt nod. Thaddeus kicked a clump of dirt and scowled at the distance. I took that as a yes.

"Good, then I'm going to walk with Theon for a bit." I left them to each other and walked on ahead, where Theon led his men. There were roughly twenty people in our company, including Thaddeus, Vera, and me, and we were covered in so many furs and leathers I thought we must've looked like a herd of balcans. Well, armed balcans.

The rain had stopped, but the ground was still a soggy mess, and as the sun dropped behind the mountains, the clouds rolled back in. I welcomed the clouds because there would be a full moon tonight, and we needed cover. We avoided the main road leading directly from Ravenshelm to Astor and kept to the edge of the forest that ran parallel.

Still, the ravens didn't come. Theon tried drawing them toward us, but he had no luck. This worried me more and more the closer we came. I didn't want to lose a single man if we could help it, but without those ravens, I knew we'd lose some.

When we got closer to the city of Astor, I noted a few riders heading south in the direction of Orindor. The road was otherwise empty, and soon the city walls were in view.

Astor had a face only a mother could love. Ugly scars covered the great walls, but it was rock solid, just like the people of Alioth. It'd endured generations of brutal winters and attacks from evils just north of the wall—evils only Alioth seemed to suffer—and it had the battle wounds to prove it. Torches burned along the top of the thick stone wall, and shadows passed through golden halos, drifting in and out of the embrasures like ghosts. Astor's flags were nowhere to be seen, but standing directly above the gate was a single, black flag. It beat at the wind in defiance, showing off the symbol of the Morts—a red circle flanked by two red triangles, like one of Mortis's eyes.

The men stopped behind me and Theon at the edge of the wood, all of us gazing out at the city defiled with this blot of black and red. We weren't facing the main gate but the smaller, western gate.

"Do you see any on the ground?" Theon whispered.

"No, but I count five…maybe six along the wall," I said, then noted another shadow. "Make that seven."

"Huh, I only counted the four near the gate," Thaddeus said behind me. "Where are you…oh, now I see those at the towers. Any idea how many might be in them?"

"Can't be more than a handful," I said.

Vera stood on Thaddeus's other side, crossbow raised and aimed straight at a guard walking along the wall.

"Stand down, V." Thaddeus placed a hand on her arm. Apparently, they were over their…whatever that was earlier. "Remember the plan."

She didn't lower her weapon. "The plan will be easier if I kill all the guards first."

"Right, because men raining from the sky is something you see every day," Thaddeus said. "Not obvious at all."

She pursed her lips.

Thaddeus sighed. "There will be plenty of poor saps for you to kill once we get inside. But if you need a snack to hold off that hunger, I'll gladly offer Del Can't."

"What is it?" Theon asked me.

I'd been staring at a thick shadow on top of the main tower at the back of the city. Maybe my eyes were playing tricks on me, but I thought I'd seen it move. "I'm not sure," I said. Once I was satisfied the shadow was not moving, I peeled my eyes away from it and glanced past Theon at Vera and Thaddeus, who were dressed in shadowguard armor and awaiting my order. "Ready?"

"Just waiting for you." Thaddeus smirked, tossing on his helmet. Vera had already put hers on, and, thankfully, pulled back her hair before doing so. Not a strand of blonde could be seen.

"You're sure about this?" Theon asked. Even in the darkness, I could see the worry in his eyes.

I squeezed his shoulder. "Yes. We can handle ourselves. Wait for my signal."

His lips pinched together, losing themselves in his curly beard. "I envy you for your courage—always have."

I didn't tell him I was afraid. I didn't tell him about the guilt I carried with me—now, in the shapes of Thaddeus and Vera—that in every decision I made, I was putting others' lives at risk. But I'd made my decision when I'd stepped down this path, and I would see it through until the end. I would embrace my fear, because I'd long since learned fear was the enemy one always faced head-on, or it would destroy you the moment you turned your back.

I threw on my helmet. "See you inside."

"I'd better," Theon said.

Theon watched as Thaddeus, Vera, and I walked to the edge of the trees. I paused there, cast a quick glance back at Theon, and stepped out of the tree cover.

"You sure this is gonna work?" Thaddeus whispered.

"No."

Thaddeus didn't respond to that.

We were but twenty yards from the gate when the first of the guards noticed us. Three of them stopped patrolling and assembled over the main gate. Ambient light touched metal armor and the slick planes of loaded crossbows. We kept walking.

"You, there!" A small voice shouted from the wall, echoing into the vast expanse of night. "Identify yourselves!"

Thaddeus, Vera, and I stopped at the foot of the gate.

"Name's Gaff," I yelled, trying to sound as Gaff-like as possible. "We just come from Ravenshelm. Come to tell Sir Denn Faris we found his prisoners."

The guards at the tower watched us now, and a great wind stirred the red eye over the gate.

"I don’t see any prisoners," the guard said.

"That's because they're
imprisoned
. Back in Ravenshelm."

"Why didn't you just send a bird?"

I groaned irritably. "Because there are a few hundred possessed birds perched between here and there, and I didn't trust one of ours to get through."

The guard thought about this then bent his head to the guard beside him. That guard walked toward one of the wall towers and ducked inside. We waited while the guards at the wall held their aim on us. One minute passed until gears cranked, rattling like some metal beast come to life. The portcullis rose and the double doors of the gate parted, and a column of golden light spilled onto the dirt road that led through the gate and into the city.

"Proceed!" yelled the guard.

I approached, following the column of light, Vera and Thaddeus right behind me. I passed beneath the portcullis's deadly row of iron darts and stepped through the doors, making a quick scan of our immediate surroundings. Just as our guards had said, Astor's western gate had been left with minimal security. There weren't any guards on the street—save the three watching over the gate, two of which met us below. I walked a few paces more, holding tight to the garrote hidden in my hand. The portcullis groaned as the guards started lowering it, and I moved.

I slipped my garrote over the head of the nearest guard and yanked hard. Another guard drew his sword and charged at me. I used the guard I was choking as a shield, then stuck out my foot. The attacking guard tripped forward, and I rammed my elbow into the back of his head. Clicks sounded above, and I spun round with my guard in tow, putting him in between me and the armed guards above. His body jerked with each arrow. I let him go, pulled a small knife from my boot and threw it hard, right at one of the guards above, who held a crossbow. My blade struck his neck. He yelped and dropped the crossbow, clawing at the hilt protruding from his throat. His crossbow landed on the ground near my feet, and I scrambled to pick it up. I took one of the bolts stored along the base, shoved it in place, aimed and fired. Another guard atop the wall shrieked and fell past me as I sprinted toward the base of the tower. A guard waited along the stair, sword ready, but I fired off another bolt and he toppled over the stair, landing in a pile of crates on the ground. I bounded up the stairs two at a time, dodging and downing every guard in my path. I'd run out of bolts. I tossed the crossbow aside and drew my sword. Two guards stood at the top of the stair, and when they saw me, they pulled back, surprised. Their hesitation killed them, and soon I was sprinting toward the remaining guards.

Clearly, they hadn't expected me to get this far, and, realizing their mistake, one of the guards shouted. I cut through two more guards before clashing swords with the verbal alarm. I found my opening and shoved my sword through his abdomen. He gasped in pain and slumped as I pulled my sword free. There was a whirr of air and a sudden cry right behind me. I turned just in time to see a guard with his sword raised overhead, a crossbow bolt sticking out of his neck. He toppled over the wall and to the ground, and I looked down to see Vera holding a crossbow. She must have picked it off one of the fallen guards. She gave me a curt nod.

I jogged to the center of the wall, directly over the gate, and climbed onto the winch. I reached over the wall and pulled that red eye from its holding, waved it once so Theon could see, and jumped back down onto the walk. With one quick motion, I broke the flagpole over my quad then wedged one of the pieces into the crank of the winch. A few good kicks, and the wood jammed—not enough to make it impossible to remove, but enough to give Theon and his men time, should any of the guards come back and try to close these gates.

I rejoined the others, and the three of us dragged and piled the fallen guards behind a wagon filled with barrels.

"The flag?" Vera asked.

"Done," I said. "This way…"

We kept to the shadows as I led them through the city. Guards passed on occasion, and when they did, we melted back into shadow. Although we wore their armor, I didn't want to draw any more attention to ourselves than was absolutely necessary. The doors to the dungeons were guarded by two men, who were slouched against the wall on either side. I held my hand up, gesturing for Vera and Thaddeus to keep still. Once I was satisfied the street was clear, I stepped out of the shadows and onto the street, heading straight for the dungeons with Vera and Thaddeus right behind me. The guards saw us and straightened, trying not to look as if they'd been dozing against the wall.

"Our turn," I said as we approached.

One of the guards straightened his belt. "Huh. I didn't think shift change was for a few more—"

I jammed my palm into the nose of his helmet, knocking his head against the wall. He slumped to the ground, while Thaddeus took care of the other.

"This is going so much better than I thought," he said.

"Don't get cocky," I whispered.

The door to the dungeons opened and buttery light spilled over us. "Everything okay out…wait, you're not Raul."

The guard reached for his weapon as I delivered an uppercut to his chin then kicked him down. The other men inside rushed forward, and I threw my blade. It sank into the bicep of the closest guard. He cried out, his sword clattering to the ground, and the three of us ran inside to take care of the rest. Within a minute, the men were either dead or unconscious.