Lakhoni (38 page)

Lakhoni
spun away, dancing back to regain his balance.

Gimno’s
foot caught him as he leapt away, right behind his knee. Lakhoni spun with the
movement, but still fell.

A
little harder and my knee would be shattered.
He
rolled backward once
and pushed to his feet.

Gimno’s
lips stretched thin in a grim smile. “Well done.” He glided forward and
launched a series of feints that ended in Lakhoni stumbling back again. Blood
oozed from another slice across Lakhoni’s right shoulder. “But I have had
enough play.” Gimno danced closer again.

An
exchange of blows, loud grunts, blossoming pain along Lakhoni’s left ribs. The
warriors parted.

“Stop!”
Alronna’s voice cut through Lakhoni’s crisp focus. Gimno turned to her.

“No,
Ronna.” Lakhoni crouched low. “Say nothing!”

“Please
don’t kill him! I’ll tell you! Just leave us alone,” Alronna’s voice shattered
on the last sentence. Fury erupted through Lakhoni’s veins at the sight of his
formerly strong, bossy sister, broken and empty.

“Alronna,”
Lakhoni said, “if you tell them, they’ll kill both of us.”

“I
watched them kill mother and father!” Her sobs dripped through the throne room.
“I won’t watch them kill you.”

“Please,
Alronna. You can’t.” He envisioned his next moves, set each motion firmly in
his mind.

“In
the western mountains. A cave.” She stared at Gimno, tears flowing. “Let him go
and I will show you.” Something in her tone, in the way she held her body,
caught Lakhoni’s attention. Lakhoni knew his sister, had seen her fake her way
through stories for years. This was an act.

He
watched his sister in amazement. A moment ago she had been broken, now she was
fooling Gimno and the other
halkeen
. And she was doing it to keep him
alive.
No, Ronna. I’m here to rescue you, not the other way around
.

 “Find
the Bonaha,” Gimno said, directing the order at the halkeen. “Tell him. We will
leave immediately.” The
halkeen
began to drag Alronna toward the door.

“You
have to let him go! You said you would let him go!” Alronna’s voice cracked.

“I
said nothing,” Gimno replied. “But you don’t need this brother. We have
another.”

Alronna’s
screams slashed into Lakhoni’s mind as
halkeen
muscled her toward the
door.

Another
brother? Lamorun?
Impossible.
But then what the Bonaha had said earlier came to him. That the other had not
spoken yet.
Lamorun?
Furious hope flared, but he forced it down. If they
had Lamorun somehow, after all these years, what had become of his brother?

Lakhoni
shoved the thought away, focusing on Gimno, setting his next moves back into
his mind, seeing them clearly. He backed toward the portal to the king’s
balcony. They had Alronna. He had to get away from them, get ahead of them as
they left the city, steal Alronna away. Or if nothing else, find the Sword
first, somehow. But he had to move fast.

Gimno’s
smile stretched across his red-dyed face. “Are you ready to meet the Great
Spirit, formidable servant?”

“You
first.” Lakhoni dipped a shoulder and barreled at Gimno.

Gimno
barked a laugh. “Childish!” He opened his stance and held his knife at the
ready.

Right
before he reached Gimno, Lakhoni spun on his left foot and slipped the hard
edge of his right foot at Gimno’s side. Gimno took a tiny step and avoided the
kick.

But
Lakhoni had not stopped. He pushed off the cold stone floor with his left foot,
launching himself at the wall outside the balcony portal. His knee bent, his
leg thrumming with tension, he pushed of the wall. A feather leap.

The
force and speed of his reversal caught Gimno off guard. Lakhoni slammed into
the tall man, his dagger aimed at the man’s stomach. But, faster than the eye
could follow, Gimno twisted, muscles as lithe as a panther. Gimno caught
Lakhoni around the neck with his right arm as tight as leather drying in the
sun. In the same movement, the tall man flipped his knife to his left hand.

Lakhoni
pushed against the hold, punching Gimno in the side and driving his dagger at
the man’s stomach. Gimno tightened his grip, his dagger plunging toward
Lakhoni’s inner leg.

Now.
Lakhoni threw his weight into
Gimno’s grip, no longer pulling away. The next moment, Lakhoni bent his legs
low. Gimno fell slightly off balance and was pulled down somewhat. Lakhoni
jabbed at Gimno’s dagger hand, scoring a line across the wrist and threw
himself down and backward.

Lakhoni
hit the stone ground first, but used his momentum to roll backward, tucking his
legs between him and Gimno. Harvesting the strength from every muscle in his
body, he shoved hard, launching Gimno over him and out onto the balcony. At the
same moment, Lakhoni slashed at Gimno’s inner thigh.

Gimno
tumbled as Lakhoni flung himself to his feet. In a moment, his former teacher
stood again, still holding his dagger. Pale white light from a waning moon just
above the ocean lent extra shadows to the man’s face. Gimno grinned. “Is that
your only tr—”

Lakhoni
watched Gimno’s eyes go wide. Gimno look downward to where blood streamed down
his leg. Then his leg buckled.

On
his knees, the strength leaving his muscles, Gimno met Lakhoni’s gaze again.
“Formidable.” Gimno’s dagger clattered to the stone of the balcony, a sharp
sound that sliced the air. A slow smile creased Gimno’s cheeks. “You have a
bite now.” Gimno slumped forward, then fell on his face.

First
kill.
He
thought of Vena and the others in Gimno’s circle. They were likely all in the
army surrounding the city. A pang of guilt struck. Would Vena ever know what
became of Gimno?
I took him from her. But I had to.
Unsure of how he
should feel, Lakhoni let the reality sink in. In the last . . .
hour? Less? More
? I am nephew to the king. My family are guardians of the
two most powerful objects in the land.
Were the other dog-boys safe?

He
had to move. Alronna was in the clutches of the Bonaha and his murderous
servants. Soon, the entire capital city would be under their control, making it
worse than impossible to rescue Alronna from the evil men’s possession.

Lakhoni
spun, scouring the throne room, furiously planning his next move.

Ree
and Alronna ran through the door. Ree held one of the heavy candle stands and
was breathing hard.

Shock
speared Lakhoni, paralyzing him.

“Don’t
just stand there,” Ree shouted. “We have to go!”

“Ree?”
He looked from Ree’s round face to Alronna’s exhausted, gaunt face. “Alronna?
How?”

Alronna’s
eyes were wide. “Right when we got in the hallway, the red man fell. I turned,
and she was there.”

Ree
held the candle stand up. “I followed you.” She smiled. “He never saw me.” She
shook the heavy metal object. “And he never saw this. But he felt it.”

“You
were supposed to be escaping!” Lakhoni said. He swept Alronna into a tight hug.

She
squeezed him quickly, then pushed him back. “Let’s go.”

“Yes,”
Lakhoni met Ree’s gaze. “Thank you.” Everything threatened to spill out, but
there was no time.

Ree
grinned fiercely. “I knew she was your sister. I’d seen her before.”

“We
have to get out and get you safe.” Lakhoni led them toward the door, grabbing a
candle stand for himself. It was surprisingly well balanced, with heavy weights
on both ends. “Then I have to stop them. They can’t be allowed to find the
sword.”

“
You
have to stop them?” Ree asked.

“We’ll
all go after them,” Alronna said.

“But
you can’t,” Lakhoni said. “I came all this way to rescue you and—”

“I
can.” Alronna stopped next to Lakhoni as they studied the hallway. “I heard
them say it too, you know.”

“About
another one? Another brother?” Lakhoni asked. “Who might know where the sword
is?”

Alronna
didn’t say anything but held Lakhoni’s gaze. “It might be Lamorun.”

“They
said he died in the last war with the Usurpers,” Lakhoni said. “And how would
they know who Lamorun was?” The answer came to him immediately. Lamorun had
looked like a twin to their father. If Shelu or anyone close to the king had
spotted Lamorun, he would have been recognizable as related.

“What?
What is it?” Alronna had seen something in his expression.

“Later,
first let’s get out.” He looked at Ree. “Which way?”

Ree’s
lips were tight. She shook her head. “The whole city is panicking. The guards
will never let me out with a slave girl.” She slammed the candle holder against
a stone wall. “With you all covered in blood, that will make things worse.”

She
was right. Lakhoni studied the throne room and looked past Gimno’s body to the
terrace.

“There
has to be a way,” Alronna said. She lifted a candle holder now too, but
struggled to carry it. She was so weak!

“There
is,” Lakhoni said. “I will distract them and try to catch up to the Bonaha. I think
they’ll go out the north gate, since that’s the quickest way to go west. Meet
me out there.”

“What?
Meet you out where?” Alronna asked, reaching for him.

Lakhoni
dodged and ran across the throne room toward the balcony. “Outside the gate.
Ree, get her out!”

“I
will!” Ree called after him.

Sparing
a momentary glance at Gimno’s still form, Lakhoni darted to the balcony’s inner
edge. The balcony was seven paces wide and ran the entire length of this side
of the temple. The outside edge of the balcony was where the tall step-like
structure he had seen earlier began, running down the entire front of the
building. He assumed the balcony ran all the way around the exterior of this
top level. The moment he stepped away from the wall, the archers above would see
him and the soldiers below would alert the archers—

No
time! He had to use the huge blocks that made a giant’s staircase. He darted
out from the wall, shooting a glance up and behind. Shouts came from the entry
just behind him. “Stop him! Assassin!”

A
moment later, an arrow whizzed by him as he dodged left. Weaving like a puppy
with one front and one back leg, he ran to the outer edge of the balcony and
jumped.

His
heart slipped sideways, then grabbed hold of his throat in the second of terror
when he thought he had miscalculated. He made out the stone platform below him
a moment before he hit. He instinctively rolled to absorb the impact, but was
going too fast.

He
dropped over the platform’s edge, toward the next one.

Twenty
hand lengths, a single heartbeat, then impact. His left shoulder flared with a
sudden gout of fire that instantly stretched down his arm and up his neck. A
grunt escaped his lips. Then ice, followed by stinging pain in his side. The
arrow’s jagged tip shattered on the stone beneath him.

He
dropped again. This landing was better, but still painful. Every cut and bruise
on his body screamed with the impact. Shouts rose up behind him.

Lakhoni
joined in. “Assassins!” He pointed up. “Assassins from the Separated!”

He
dropped to the next level. Two, maybe three to go until the ground. Each impact
jarred his wounds, his bones. “Assassins!”

He
dreaded the next drop, but forced himself to move. Another arrow flew over his
head. “No! They’re inside the temple!”

The
final drop hurt less. Lakhoni pushed himself toward the gate. He called out,
“They’re trying to escape! Assassins! In league with the Living Dead!”

The
soldiers at the gate, obviously taken aback at one of the king’s servants
leaping down the outside of the temple, said nothing. Lakhoni kept going,
hurtling for the gate leading to the city. Several more soldiers stood between
Lakhoni and the temple door, none of them appearing to know what to do about
the crazed servant running at them. Lakhoni swept the legs out from under one,
spun past two more, and simply barreled over the last one. More shouts rose
behind him as he emerged into the city, heading toward the north gate.

He
shouted again, hoping to draw as many soldiers after him as possible.
Please
get out safely.

The
plaza stood empty as Lakhoni dashed across it. The denizens of the city had
obviously decided that home was the safest place for them on this night. The
absence of the usual noise and bustle left an almost tangible emptiness behind.

Body
weary, legs feeling like willow branches, Lakhoni pushed himself to go faster.
If he was fast enough, he might even be able to get ahead of the Bonaha,
somehow stop him. Digging deeply, he poured his strength and will into his
legs. He forced concern for Cho, Balon, and Falon out of his mind.

Behind
him he heard running and shouting. A glance told him soldiers were in pursuit.
It was working.

It
couldn’t have been more than three or four minutes of all-out running later
when he came near the north gates, where soldiers stood at varying stages of
attention. Exhaustion threatened to lay him low and the soldiers behind him
were gaining. The gates had been opened, but now closed with a deep thud.

Lakhoni
stopped, dumbstruck with despair. How was he going to get out now? Ree knew the
city; she would find a way to meet him. But he had no place to go. And the
Bonaha had escaped.

At
least ten compound soldiers broke into view from around the closest block.

“Stop
him! He’s one of the dog-servants that knifed the king!” The voice of the
soldier he had knocked down.

No
use protesting. Lakhoni studied his surroundings quickly.

“Halt,”
came a commanding voice behind him. He guessed the soldiers were perhaps ten
paces away. “Halt in the name of the king.”

“Take
him!” cried the soldier from the compound.

Lakhoni
pushed himself to
move.
Sweat dripped into the cuts Gimno had doled out,
adding a constant sting to each movement. He darted left, heading for the
stairs that led up to the city wall. Only one way out now.

A
line of ice opened up on his left side, followed by razor-sharp stinging.
Cursing his exhaustion, he dodged and weaved, bouncing off building walls.
Arrows skittered and clicked on the stones.

“Stop
him!” The shouts came from multiple soldiers now. “He killed the king!”

Lakhoni
noticed the irony of his predicament.
If I am executed for doing what I
failed to do . . .
He reached the stairs, still brandishing
his dagger, and tripped the soldier who stood on the bottom step. Offering a
silent prayer of gratitude to the First Fathers for the falling darkness,
Lakhoni twisted left and right, moving as unpredictably as he could.

An
arrow shattered on the city wall. Splinters of wood and rock pricked his skin,
one only just missing his right eye. He glanced up and found two soldiers on
the stairs, both wielding spears. Several more soldiers ran toward him on the
wall nearby.

He
ran full tilt up the stairs as the two soldiers lowered their spears. A
movement came to his mind. When he was within two steps of the spear points,
Lakhoni spun right, slashing out with his dagger. The spear on that side spread
wide and Lakhoni spun more, pinning the spear against the man, then the wall.
He kicked out at the other soldier, sending him, shrieking, off the stairs.

Three
more strides and he reached the top. He immediately turned left on the
walkway—toward where the city wall met the huge mountains. Three soldiers
barred the way. An arrow floated up, but didn’t have the speed or trajectory to
do any harm. It wafted over the wall to land somewhere on the other side.

Conscious
of the blackness of exhaustion at the edges of his vision, Lakhoni sought the
ember of rage that had fueled him through the battle with Gimno. Down below,
archers aimed at him from inside the city, the soldiers ahead of him. He sensed
the men running after him as well.

He
glanced over the city wall to the ground outside. A long drop. Too long. He
tapped the well of rage deep inside and burst into motion. Movement tickled his
vision from the right. He slashed out with his blade, blocking the incoming
arrow. He feinted right, then twisted left, angling around the soldier ahead of
him and tripping the man.

More
movement on the right. Lakhoni ducked, letting the arrows arc over him to fall
to the ground outside of the city. One clattered to the path on top of the
wall. He switched hands with his dagger and leapt at the next soldier feet
first. Stunned, the man fell. Lakhoni regained his feet. He divided glances
between the soldiers on the wall, archers inside the city, and the rising
ground outside the city.

Getting
closer.
Another
soldier sped toward him.

An
arrow came in to his right. Lakhoni dodged the arrow and dropped into a
whirling crouch, tripping the oncoming soldier and running past him.

“Stop
him!” The cry came from the city. Lakhoni sensed the soldiers behind him
getting nearer.

No
more time. He dodged the last soldier’s first clumsy attack, then twisted
slightly, grabbing the man’s sword arm and pushing. The man fell off the wall,
screaming.

The
ground outside the city had risen considerably. It was maybe only twenty-five
or thirty feet down now. Lakhoni hastily studied the exterior of the city wall
and the slope of the mountain.

He
could feather leap down, like Gimno had done at the Cavern. At the bottom, he
would find a place to wait for Alronna and Ree.

They
would be long leaps, but the shouts were growing louder. He was out of time.

He
pushed off.

An
arrow exploded through his left shoulder. Agony filled him like flames burning
his blood. He tried to make his first landing, but his leg had lost all
strength. He hit hard, ankle twisting. His legs buckled and he was tumbling,
rocks pounding his bones, brush and scree tearing at his skin.

Pain
from the arrow in his shoulder snapping shone brighter than any other,
strangely providing a moment of clarity.

Alronna.

Blessed
blackness overcame him before the final impact.

Dust
settled.

Moments,
maybe hours, passed.

A
light.

A
voice. “Lakhoni.”

Pain,
sweet and thick, held him fast.

“Lakhoni.
Come with me.”