Rise of the Retics (20 page)

Chapter
23

Friends in All the Wrong Places

Jaxon

Rosehaven: Mining District

November
11, 1503

Cranky didn’t begin to describe Jaxon’s feelings. Cranky was your mentality when you woke up on the wrong side of the bed. Jaxon woke up on the wrong side of the bed, in a dark dank cell, with a headache that felt like tiny lumberjacks were living in his brain and slowly cutting it down for wood. This went far beyond cranky.

As he slowly opened his eyes and adjusted to the small bits of flickering light in the room, he could see that his captors had spared no expense for his stay—he had both a bucket, for functions that only a bucket would be appropriate for, and a bowl of brown slop to eat. Strangely enough, the bucket was the better smelling of the two items.

As Jaxon tried to gain his bearings and his balance, images of the attack on him and Rigby flooded back into his brain. Over and over again, he kept seeing her lying there, too injured to even defend herself. The picture seared through his mind, burning in a kind of pain that could never be removed.

All my fault. She’s dead because of me.

The images made him seethe with anger. Jumping up, he grabbed the iron cell bars and tried to shake them loose as he let out a primal bellow. They didn’t budge, but that didn’t stop him from trying a second and third time. Finally, he gave up, plopping down in an exhausted heap.

“Stop ya’ yammering, fo’ I come in and stop it for ya’.” The deep voice came echoing into the room from down a dark hallway a few yards away from Jaxon’s cell.  He watched in that direction as the torchlight coming from the wall sconces illuminated a large figure approaching. Jaxon could see that the creature was massive, at least twelve feet tall. The humongous retic had to bend slightly so his head didn’t hit the ceiling as he entered the room.

The creature made the  two dwarfs look like beauties. He wore only a small tattered brown cloth to cover his delicate parts, exposing the rest of his body to Jaxon’s view. He had dark skin, not deep ebony like Lord Malverne’s, but more a soft red, like sundried brick. All over his body, large sheets of dead skin flaked and peeled off. It was like his body didn’t know whether to tan or burn in the sun, so it decided to do both.

The retic was completely bald, matching the hairlessness of his thick arms, muscular legs and flabby gut. He almost looked like a gigantic infant, except for his face. That was what gave it all away. Here Jaxon was mesmerized by his single blood red eye that stared straight back at him.

“Whoa, ugly!” exclaimed Jaxon, startled by the cyclops’s appearance. “Who are you? And, if possible, can you please put some clothes on? This is cruel and unusual to say the least.”

“I’m the one who says when ya’ get to speak, Half-blood, and I haven’t say when yet, so shut up.” The large cyclops emphasized his command by rapping the cell bars with the large wooden club he had been carrying. “Now ya’ sit down and eat ya’ dinner. Mirra say ya’ won’t be here long anyway.”

“Really, she’s going to let me go?” Jaxon answered optimistically. “That seems very nice of her.”

“It depend on that family you got that lets you live with them,” answered the cyclops. “If they pay up ransom money real fast, then we free to kill ya’ so ya’ can’t tell no ones who took ya’. If they don’t pay up than we kill ya’ for fun. Either way, should be a good afternoon.”

Jaxon took a deep breath before he responded. What had he gotten himself into?

“Not to be a downer on your delightful daytime plans, but I have serious concerns about whether or not your organization understands how a ransom works. If my foster parents pay the money, than you’re required to give me back to them. That’s the whole point of the deal.”

“Why?” responded the cyclops, confused that Jaxon would even be questioning their rationale.

“Because it’s a ransom,” Jaxon responded with exuberance. “They pay it to get me back. If you don’t give me back then you’re breaking the rules of kidnapping.”

“Well I think that rule is stupid. You could just tell them who kidnapped you and then we all get put in the dungeons. That would be pretty terrible business on our part. At least that’s what Mirra says. She’s very smart ya’ know—she has many ideas.”

“What if I just promised not to tell anyone?” Jaxon asked.

“We wouldn’t believe you. You’re demon-blooded. Ya’ have a reputation for lying. Ya’ can’t be trusted.”             

Jaxon sighed loudly. He needed a new plan, as this conversation was clearly going nowhere very fast.

“So is Mirabella coming back? I would really like to talk to her.”

“Don’t worry, because she won’t be gone too long. She wouldn’t want a tiny little thing like ya’ to worry. She very good like that. Very caring faerie.”

“Oh excellent! Nice to know she has such admirable personal qualities. I must remember to send her a thank you card for letting me stay here during my kidnapping. It was so thoughtful of all of you.”

“You’re welcome,” replied the cyclops without a hint of sarcasm. “Bryndin”

“Bryndin? What’s a Bryndin?”

I am. Ya’ asked my name earlier. It is Bryndin. I figured since ya’ only gonna be alive for a few more hours that it can’t hurt no one to tell ya’.”

“You know, Bryndin, you don’t have to kill me. I’m willing to bet we could work out a fabulous deal for everyone that lets me stay alive and lets you to get rich.”

“No. That’s not the plan, and Mirra gets very, very angry when we don’t do things exactly like she tells us to.”

“Tough boss?”

“Da’ toughest. Once last year I was fifteen minutes late for torture duty, we was teaching a lesson to a guy who didn’t pay up all his debts to Mirra, anyway—it was just fifteen minutes and she does this.” The Cyclops held up his left hand to show Jaxon what the issue was.

At first Jaxon didn’t understand, his throbbing headache not making things any clearer. Then he saw it, or more precisely counted it: one, two, three, four . . . .

“She cut off one of your fingers for being a little late for work?!” Jaxon couldn’t believe she would do that, worse why would the cyclops continue to work for her after that? Seeing the situation, Jaxon began to formulate an idea.

“Yup, she even made me tell her which one was my favorite.” The cyclops began to sob slightly “. . . it was my pinky. That was always my best feature.”

“Your best feature was your pinky?”

“Yeah,” Bryndin snapped back, all signs of sobbing quickly erased. “You gots a problem with that?”

“No, no, of course not. I just find it hard to believe that a man of your stature would choose his pinky as his best trait over all the other fantastic things he had going for him.”

The cyclops stared at him with his huge red eye. “Are you making fun of me, Half-breed?” he asked suspiciously.

“Me? Of course not. I couldn’t even if I wanted to. Trust me, a retic of your intelligence would know if I was mocking him. I mean, from what I’ve seen regarding your little organization, you’re without a doubt the brains. That’s why Mirabella always gets mad if you don’t follow her plans exactly. She’s afraid everyone will see that your plans are smarter and then they won’t listen to her anymore.”

“You really think so?” Bryndin replied. “Mirra always says I’m a big stupid oaf who can’t do nothin’ right. She reminds me of my mama”

“Bah, I met her earlier. She’s nothing special. Kinda loony if you ask me, but I can tell you already knew that what with the pinky issue and all. And her two bodyguards, they looked like they couldn’t think their way out of an open box. Nope, trust me, as a recipient of your kidnapping services, I can tell you with absolute certainty that this place couldn’t run without you.”

“That’s very nice of you to say Half-blood . . . I miss my pinky. I used to use it all the time.”

“Really? You should tell me about it. What was your favorite memory?” Jaxon figured that question should buy him a few minutes to think.

“Oh that easy. There were this one time at the fair when we was tipping over cows. Not competitively or anything. That wasn’t till later . . . .”

Jaxon began to plot as the cyclops continued to tell his story. He had accomplished his goal and had opened a line of dialogue. Communication is the first step to manipulation. Jaxon wasn’t sure where he had heard that line, but he liked it.

Now, he just needed to convince Bryndin to let him go. But how?

“And that’s how I ended up eating matzo ball soup for the first time.”

“What a fantastic tale you tell, Bryndin,” Jaxon responded realizing that he was finished. “It reminded me of the stories my foster mother used to tell before bedtime, back when I lived with her. You know, before I was forced against my will to be held hostage here.”

“She sounds nice.  My mother used to hit me with a spoon before bed. I never knew why. It hurt.”

“Yeah, Saan was alright sometimes.” Thinking about his foster mother, he realized how much he missed her—William too. He hated that he might never get the chance to see them again.

I swear,
he thought to himself
, that if I get out of this alive, I will find them and I will thank them for everything they have done for me.

“Saan the satyr is your mom?” asked Bryndin excitedly.

“Yeah. Well, foster mother,” Jaxon responded, still thinking about his family.

“The one who sings by Alabaster Tower every morning?”

“Yup, that’s the one.”

“Jumping
jahibnits
! I love her! She make the best music I ever heard! I stop and listen every morning before I go to work. It helps me be able to face Mirra each day. It was the real reason I was late that day when I lost my pinky. Your mama has such a pretty voice! When I get sad, I sing her songs to myself and then I feel better. I always try to toss her coins, but she never accepts. She’s really good like that. I can’t believe you know her!”

Jaxon saw his opening.

“Yeah, it’s gonna be terrible for everyone when she can’t sing anymore,” he said with sadness in his voice.

“She’s not gonna sing anymore? What are you talking about?” Bryndin seemed very concerned. He leaned in, as if moving his head a few feet closer might get him the information faster.

“Well, I mean, if she has to pay a ransom that costs a lot of money then she’ll have to stop signing for free at the Tower and get a paying job to cover it. Maybe she might even work here in the mines. The first couple of years wouldn’t be too bad, but then one day all of a sudden her voice starts to get a bit scratchy and before you know it
BOOM
, completely mute. Another victim of black lung.”

Jaxon had no idea what black lung actually was, but he was pretty sure it had something to do with mines and that Bryndin knew less than he did.

“No! Not the black lung. Saan is too pretty to work in the mines.”

“Oh sure, she’s pretty now, but just wait until she finds out her one and only son is deceased. She’ll be so sad she won’t even be able to leave the house or wash her horns or anything. You now, I don’t care what happens to me, but I’d hate to see anything so terrible happen to Saan. She just doesn’t deserve it.”

Bryndin looked like his new puppy just got trampled by a horse. Jaxon knew he had him.

“It’s a huge shame too. She had just finished a new song and she hadn’t even had a chance to sing it yet.”

“A new song? Really? What’s it called?” The thought of a new song seemed to raise his spirits back up a bit.

“I believe she said the title was “My One Eyed Love,” or something just like that.”

Bryndin’s face perked up completely. “I have one eye! Maybe the song is about me?”

“Oh it could be. She always used to say how handsome she found cyclops men to be.”

“You need to go home, little demon. Go home so that Saan can make more beautiful music for Bryndin to enjoy.” The cyclops fumbled for the right key on his belt. He found it after a few moments, unlocked the door and swung it open for Jaxon.

“Thank you, Bryndin. I’ll make sure to tell Saan how you were the hero today!” Jaxon fought to keep the smirk off his face as he gathered himself.

He’s gonna lose a lot more than a pinky for this one,
thought Jaxon as he headed out the door toward freedom

Chapter
24

Doctor’s Orders

Tyranna

Rosehaven: Dr. Kelda’s Home

November
11, 1503

Crash
! The sound pierced the night as Gnipper crashed right through the dark green shutters of Dr. Kelda’s second floor window. Tyranna had been wondering about how the gnome was planning on stopping and now she had her answer—she wasn’t.

Running alongside her fleet-footed Florensian friend, Tyranna urged her body on, begging it to produce as much speed as it could despite the limp canine body hanging from her mouth. Steam poured from the sides of her jaw as the heat of her muzzle struggled against Rigby’s quickly cooling body.

As they arrived at the doctor’s front door, it was already being swung open for them. Just inside, a woozy and slightly stumbling Gnipper urged them in with a swinging arm.

Tyranna was happy to see that the doorway was far wider than average and didn’t impede her entrance.

“Put her on the table.”

The barked order came from Dr. Kelda, a tall unicorn, the color of fresh snow in an open field. Tyranna listened to her instructions and placed Rigby’s limp form onto a raised rectangular table in the middle of the room.

“How long has she been like this?”

Tyranna tried to answer, but her voice was little more than a soft growl. In the excitement of the moment she realized that she was still a bear. Concentrating and taking several deep breaths, she returned to her normal form.

“About an hour or so, Doctor,” She answered timidly. “Can you help her?”

“I don’t know yet. She looks to be in bad shape.” Dr. Kelda ran her muzzle over Rigby’s, sniffing and listening to her body. Rigby’s eyes opened and her breathing got a little heavier, but she didn’t flinch a muscle otherwise.

“Broken ribs, definitely. I’d wager internal bleeding, maybe even from the brain. Gnipper says it was Mirabella who did this.”

“She saw an orange winged faerie with facial scars,” Sam said.

“Yeah, not much question on that one,” Dr. Kelda responded as she listened to Rigby’s heartbeat with her ear. “No one else around here that matches that description. Or this result for that matter. I’ve seen many retics in here the past few years with similar stories and identical injuries. It never seems to end with her.”

“Why hasn’t she been arrested?” Tyranna asked.

Oh, she has. Many, many times actually. The problem is her grandfather is simply too powerful for her to ever get in much trouble. He pays off the victims to change their stories, and if they won’t, he just makes sure they can’t talk. Let me tell you, as a doctor, once a tongue is cut off, there is very little chance of getting it back on in working order no matter how fast you get here. Deidre, I’m going to need a scalpel and some hot water.”

Tyranna watched as a small brownie in a white and red dress with matching cap popped up from behind the door of one of the wall cabinets. She was as small as Stella and Cletus, but unlike them, she didn’t make a sound, instead just immediately adhering to the doctor’s request.

“She’s my nurse.” Kelda answered Tyranna’s question before the girl had even formed it. “She helps me take care of the patients and keeps the place in order. Indispensable around here, for sure. The patients love her and she provides the one thing I never could—hands.”

The brownie returned quickly with the supplies the doctor asked for.

“The three of you are going to need to wait outside for a few hours. This is a delicate procedure to say the least and the less distraction the better. Stay by the front door and come right in if you see anyone.”

“But Dr. Kelda,” Tyranna said, “we can’t stay. We need to find Jaxon before Mirabella kills him!”

“Slow down. Gnipper didn’t mention anything about a Jaxon. Are you talking about the demon-blooded child? The one that was in the arena against Samantha a few weeks ago? I met him a few times for check-ups when he was younger. He tried to bite me once. I told him if he ever did that again I would bite him back. He never did.”

“Yes, that’s him. He’s Rigby’s master. He was out with her when they were attacked. They left Rigby to die, but one of the dwarves picked up Jaxon and took him with them.

“So, the boy has been kidnapped? This is terrible news. As soon as the sun is up, I’ll send you to get the sheriff.”

“Why can’t we just go now, Kelda?”  Gnipper chimed in. Tyranna noticed she had her skillet helmet off and was rubbing her head vigorously.

“Well first off Gnipper, you’re not going anywhere. I would be willing to bet that you have a bit of a concussion from your dazzling entrance through my shutters. More importantly, you’ve already seen what can happen out on the streets at night. I’m not sending three young girls out into the night with no way to protect themselves.”

Tyranna glanced over at Sam, who looked mortified at Kelda’s insinuation that she couldn’t defend herself.

“But Dr. Kelda, Tyranna can fly to the sheriff without anyone being able to see her. And Sam’s the best swordsman at school. If anyone could take Mirabella in a duel it would be her.”

“Gnipper, I understand that Tyranna can shift. I did just see a polar bear in my parlor. And I was at the arena to watch Samantha duel, so I’m aware how talented she is, but it would still be quite irresponsible of me to allow you three out alone. Your father would never forgive me, Gnipper.”

“Sure he would,” Gnipper responded. “Because we don’t ever have to tell him.”

“Gnipper, take your friends and go outside. I’ll let you know when surgery is complete and when you can come back in, but for now I need to be alone with my patient.”

Tyranna sighed. This is not how she expected her night to go. She just wanted to find Jaxon, explain that he was being an idiot, and convince him to come back to school before anyone realized he was even gone. Instead, now he was being held captive by a deranged faerie lunatic, Rigby was laying on an operating table fighting for her life, and to top it all off, in just a few hours Professor Tallhat would be finding out that she snuck out of school and deserved to be expelled. What would happen than? Would they find her another place to stay? Put her in jail? Exile her?

“You ready to go, Tyr?” Sam asked as she stared out into the darkness of the city streets. A few open windows bled a tiny bit of candle light, but the moon was dim and it was very difficult to see more than a few feet ahead of Dr. Kelda’s home.

“Go where?” Tyranna answered. “Dr. Kelda told us to stay here and wait for her to finish surgery.”

“No offense intended to Dr. Kelda, but she has no authority over me. I certainly did not agree with her demand to sit here and do nothing. I promised you that I would help you find Jaxon and bring him home and I plan on keeping that promise. You can always trust a member of the Acorn Guard to keep their oaths, regardless of the circumstance.”

“But you don’t even like Jaxon.”

“It’s no secret that he is not my favorite person, but I gave you my word. Besides, no one deserves the treatment that I’m sure Jaxon is receiving. Mirabella is not someone you want to cross paths with. And I think after what she did to Rigby, I’d like to have some words with her.”

“Sam also wants to prove that she can handle herself on the streets at night,” interjected Gnipper matter of factly. “I can tell. Her cheeks turned red and puffy when Dr. Kelda said that we couldn’t defend ourselves. It’s how you can tell she’s mad.”

“Be quiet, Gnip! I wasn’t mad. I was just annoyed that she was so wrong.”

Tyranna thought about it for a moment. She was already going to be in trouble, there was no changing that. But she did still have the ability to help Jaxon.

“Ok,” Tyranna responded. “I’m in. What’s the plan?”

“We need to make our way to the sheriff’s office and inform him about the kidnapping. He’ll know what to do.”

“That’s a great idea,” Gnipper replied. “Except it’s about to rain.”

Tyranna looked up. The night sky, usually so full of bright gleaming stars, was particularly cloudy. Gnipper was probably right about the weather.

“How does rain have anything to do with it?” asked Sam.

“Footprints,” replied Gnipper with absolute certainty.

“You’re right, Gnip. Good thinking,” replied Sam with enthusiasm.

“I don’t get it. What do footprints have to do with anything?” Tyranna asked, a little bewildered.

“It’s simple really, Tyr. If we want to find Jaxon then we need to be able to track where they went. To do that you need to follow their footprints. If it rains, they’ll all be washed away and we won’t have a clue where to even start looking.”

“But wouldn’t the sheriff know where they hide?” Tyranna asked.

“Not likely,” Sam interjected. “The DiBasso’s own several buildings here in the city and an island off the coast that they keep very private . . . and that’s just the stuff everyone knows about. By morning, Jaxon could be anywhere on Rosehaven, removed from the island, or dead. We don’t even know why she would take him in the first place. It certainly wasn’t for his personality, that much I know.”

Even Tyranna had to agree with that, and she was his friend. Even if they didn’t intend to kill him, he could change that with a just a few unwise words. Unfortunately for Jaxon, those were the ones he had always been best at.

“Well, what do we do then?” Tyranna inquired.

“Simple,” the squirrel-kin answered. “We head to where they attacked him and see if they left a trail, then we can follow it and make sure we know what to tell the sheriff before we wake him.”

“Do you know how to follow a trail of footprints?” Tyranna asked the other girls.

“Of course,” Sam replied as if it should have been obvious. “It was part of training with my father. Need to be prepared for everything as a guardsman . . . err, guardswoman.”

“Then what are we waiting for?” exclaimed Gnipper. “Let’s go save a demon!”

“You know, Gnipper,” Tyranna replied, “I’m not sure anyone has ever said those words before.”              

#

It didn’t take long for the girls to reach the spot where Jaxon had been kidnapped, but it was long enough. A few blocks before they arrived, the sky opened and drenched the island in an explosive downpour. The dirt roads were quickly turned into a mixture of mud and small streams. Any sign of footprints were quickly and thoroughly washed away.

“
Gnabbot
!” Gnipper yelled, uttering her favorite gnomish profanity.

“I can’t find anything to go on,” replied Sam as she searched the ground. “Even the blood stains from Rigby are washing away quickly.”

Tyranna didn’t know what to do. If they couldn’t find tracks, then there was no way they could discern where Mirabella took him.

But then she had a thought. She might not be able to see tracks, but that didn’t mean they weren’t there. All she needed was something she was familiar with . . . something with the right set of skills.

She began to concentrate on the image she conjured into her mind. She breathed deeply and began to shake violently in a manner that was becoming second nature. A few seconds later the transformation was complete.

Roof!

Gnipper turned to the dog and nearly jumped back in confusion. “Rigby! Wow, that was a really fast surgery! Your healing rate is fantastic. Are you part lizard? Some of them can regenerate tails, you know.”

“Gnipper, that’s not Rigby,” Sam interjected calmly. “Tyr shifted. I believe she intends to try and track Jaxon’s scent.”

Tyranna barked an affirmative.

She began to sniff around. There were so many smells to decipher. Sam and Gnipper had theirs, the rain smashing repeatedly into her face brought another, a few goats nearby wafted in with the wind, but then she had it. The faint smell of brimstone and sweat— Jaxon’s odor. She had spent enough time with him to know it anywhere.

Excited to find the way, Tyranna broke into a run, stopping to sniff every few seconds and let Gnipper catch up. Sam had no trouble, bounding through the mud like it wasn’t even there.

After fifteen minutes of quick travel, Tyranna stopped. They were at the edge of town, where the buildings stopped and the quarry and mines began. It was still several hours before any of the workers were set to arrive and the place was nearly deserted. Shifting back to her normal form, Tyranna pointed toward a mine opening in the distance. “His scent leads directly in there, but it’s definitely not the only one I could smell. He’s not alone.”

“Great job, Tyr.” Gnipper said patting her on the shoulder. “We should go get the sheriff now.”

“No,” replied Sam.

“No?” Gnipper and Tyranna responded in unison.

“You heard me. I’ll go in and get him. They could kill him in the time it takes us to get Quicktrigger and get back here.”

“Sam, that’s ridiculous,” Tyranna chastised. “These are dangerous people. You could get hurt.”

“I promised you that I would get Jaxon back alive and I plan on keeping that promise.” Sam kept her eyes trained on the entrance of the cave, not even bothering to make eye contact with her objecting friends.